Lausanne 1974
T H E I N T E R N AT I O N A L C O N G R E S S O N W O R L D
E VA N G E L I Z AT I O N
Copyright © 2009 All Rights Reserved.
Essential facts about the 1974
Lausanne Congress
The [First] International Congress on World Evangelization
(Lausanne I) took place in Lausanne, Switzerland, 16-25 July
1974.
Over 2,700 invited delegates from over 150 nations worldwide
attended the Congress. Almost 50 percent of the delegates were
from majority world settings. Counting observers, media, and
guests, more than 4,000 people were present. Because of the
diversity of the participants, the proceedings were translated
into various languages. As a result, Billy Graham said, "I believe
this could be one of the most significant gatherings not only in
this century, but in the history of the Christian church.“
Theme and Purpose of the 1974
Lausanne Congress
The Theme
The Congress theme was Let the earth hear His voice. Billy
Graham lamented that we have heard all the other voices, now it
is time to "let the earth hear His voice".
The Purpose
The immediate purpose of Lausanne was to gather (by
invitation only) the international leaders of evangelical
Protestant Christians together for strategic planning, inspiration,
and fellowship. The ultimate objectives were to (a) birth fresh
determination to complete the task of world evangelism, (b)
forge a spirit of cooperation amongst evangelicals committed to
the task, and (c) seek strategies to facilitate world evangelism.
What took place in Lausanne?
Along with the major plenary addresses (including the opening
and closing addresses by Billy Graham), there were Bible studies,
demonstrations of evangelistic methods, small group
discussions, reports on aspects of the theology and strategy of
evangelism, reports on the situation of the church in various
geographical locations, debates by citizens and workers on the
strategies necessary for particular nations, an evangelistic
meeting for the general public held in the city's stadium
(Laustade '74), and the agreement by a large number of the
participants to the Lausanne Covenant, a statement intended to
define the necessity, responsibilities and goals of spreading the
gospel.
The Motto of the 1974
Lausanne Congress
In his plenary address, "Why Lausanne?" Billy Graham urged that
"the whole church must be mobilized to take the whole gospel to
the whole world." This became the rallying cry of Lausanne, and
one of the most famous Christian slogans: The whole church
taking the whole gospel to the whole world. This emphasis on
the holistic gospel ably sums up what the Lausanne Movement is
all about. A large focus of Lausanne II, in Manila 1989, was
devoted to fleshing out each of three elements in greater detail,
namely, the whole church, the whole gospel, and the whole
world.
The spirit of Lausanne
The spirit of Lausanne: a mood or attitude with 5 ingredients:
 the resolve to work together for world evangelization;
 the humble penitence to confess our past shortcomings;
 the courage to meet one another face to face to discuss the differences that
divide us;
 the mutual respect to listen open-mindedly to one another’s viewpoints;
 the determination to submit to Scripture as we conscientiously understand it,
while not breaking fellowship with those who interpret it differently.
The Lausanne Covenant
The most significant achievement of Lausanne I
15-point Covenant, signed by over 85 percent of the
delegates
 broadly acceptable to evangelical Christians
 widely adopted as a statement of faith
 serves as a basis of cooperation
Unreached People Groups
In his plenary address, Ralph
Winter introduced the term
“unreached people groups”.
This focus on unreached people
groups became a landmark
event in 20th century missions’
strategy, introducing a different
way of approaching the task of
world evangelization—by
focusing on strategies geared
towards specific people groups.
Dr. Ralph Winter
The Holistic Gospel
The whole church taking the whole gospel to the whole world has
become the battle cry of the Lausanne Movement. The 1974
Lausanne Congress explored in detail the wholeness of the gospel
or, as some called, the holistic gospel.
Fresh impetus for evangelization
The Congress resulted in fresh passion and impetus for the task of world
evangelism. Many new evangelistic initiatives and co-operative ventures were
launched as an outgrowth of Lausanne.
New perspective on the task
Lausanne helped evangelicals to develop a broader and
more balanced biblical view on issues such as:
 evangelism
 social responsibility
 culture
 other religions
 the Holy Spirit
Review Quiz
J U S T F O R R E V I E W, H E R E I S A S H O R T Q U I Z .
Review Quiz – Questions 1 and 2 of 5
1. What was the stated theme of Lausanne 1974?
_ The whole church taking the whole gospel to the whole world
_ Reaching the whole world in this generation
_ Let the earth hear His voice
2. Which of these are true statements about the Lausanne Congress? (There is more
than one correct answer.)
_ There were no delegates from Africa.
_ There were 2,700 invited delegates.
_ Approximately 70 percent of the delegates agreed to the Lausanne Covenant.
_ The proceedings were translated into various languages.
_The Congress took place in Sweden.
_ The delegates cane from over 270 nations.
Review Quiz – Questions 3 and 4 of 5
3. Dr. Ralph Winter introduced the term “unreached people groups” in his
plenary address. This became a landmark event in 20th century missions,
resulting in a significant change in missionary strategy.
_ True
_ False
4. The most significant achievement of the Lausanne Congress was that it gave
fresh impetus to joint evangelistic initiatives.
_ True
_ False
Review Quiz – Question 5 of 5
5. Which of these is NOT one of the five “ingredients” of “the spirit of
Lausanne”?
_ The mutual respect to listen open-mindedly to one another’s viewpoints
_ Resolve to work together for world evangelization
_ The determination to work only with those who share our
understanding of the Scripture
_ The humble penitence to confess our past shortcomings
Review Quiz – Answers
1.
Let the earth hear His voice
2.
There were 2,700 invited delegates; the proceedings were translated into
various languages
3.
True
4.
False
5.
The determination to work only with those who share our understanding
of the Scripture
Lausanne 1974
Congratulations!
You have completed this lesson.
Copyright © 2009 All Rights Reserved.