The Movement in Motion - Boston and Other Upcoming Activities

Details: 04 April 2011; Written by Doug Birdsall, Executive Chair

In June, many Lausanne leaders will gather for our Lausanne Annual Leadership Meetings here in Boston. While this meeting is by invitation only, we are exploring various ways to connect other leaders around the world with what happens in Boston through live webcast and other technologies.

I want to share with you the five primary objectives for our meeting this year:

Celebration and Doxology: We want to praise God for his tremendous blessings on Cape Town 2010 and we want to express gratitude to those who worked so hard to make the Congress a reality.
Vision and Direction: The challenge before us is to translate ten days of discussion and ideas at Cape Town 2010 into ten years of solid progress in the work of world evangelization. It is important that we have clarity of vision and are aligned with one another as we develop more specific objectives, calendars and budgets for the coming years.
Roles and Responsibilities: We want to ensure that every person in Lausanne has clarity with respect to their role. Additionally, we will share advancements in our communications resources and structure, decision-making processes in Lausanne and the responsibilities of working together in a Movement.
Training and Team Development: Together we will focus on the post-Congress message of Lausanne so that we can share the vision, mission and history of the Movement, as well as the significance of Cape Town 2010, in a way that is consistent and compelling.
Cape Town Commitment: This beautifully crafted document will be our road map for the decade to come. We will review it and discuss ways in which each person involved in Lausanne can find their place in the outworking of the Commitment. If you have not already done so, please read The Cape Town Commitment at www.lausanne.org/ctcommitment. A summary of the document is also available at www.lausanne.org/docs/ctc-summary.html. Our thanks go to Kevin Smith at The South African Theological Seminary for crafting this helpful summary.

These are exciting days in The Lausanne Movement as we see God on the move in the development of partnerships and strategies addressing the important issues discussed at the Congress. Please be praying that God will enable us to be wise and generous stewards and that under his guidance our June meeting will continue progress in these areas.

Let me also share just a few notes on upcoming activities:

ORLANDO 2011: The U.S. Lausanne Gathering in Orlando, Florida (4-6 April) has reached capacity as 650 participants will gather to consider the implications of Cape Town 2010 for the U.S. church. Several organizations and networks have consultations within the time frame of Orlando 2011.

LAUSANNE RESEARCHERS NETWORK: This network will meet in Sao Paulo, Brazil (5-9 April) to share results of their research and develop new projects as a result of the Congress.

UPCOMING MEETINGS AND TRAVEL: Following Orlando 2011, I will be in Lausanne, Switzerland with a host committee to begin making plans for our gathering there in June 2012. I then travel to Oslo to meet with Lausanne leaders in Norway before going on to London and Oxford for Lausanne meetings and research and writing at the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies. April will close with a few days in Moscow with several hundred pastors who are eager to be more fully engaged in the work and vision of The Lausanne Movement.

Thank you for your prayers and your partnership in the gospel.

God’s best to you.