What is the role of research in the context of church and mission? It is to pursue an understanding of what God is doing in the world so that we might celebrate and rejoice in his good works, and cooperate with him in his redemptive plans. Research is crucial to world evangelism, to our understanding of what helps churches serve and grow, and to sustaining the life of individual believers.
The Lausanne International Researchers Network, together with the Community of Mission Information Workers, brings together organisations and individuals, strengthening research efforts on regional, national, and local levels. Participants in this network work with global databases and other information resources as field practitioners with mission organisations or denominations, in missiology and other academic fields, with project evaluation or efficacy studies, and more.
Through humble observation and Spirit-directed inquiry, we collect and analyse information to mobilise the Body of Christ to worship, prayer, and participation in Jesus’ great commission to make disciples of all nations.
‘We must respond in Christian mission to the realities of our own generation. We must also learn from that mixture of wisdom and error, of achievement and failure, that we inherit from previous generations.’ (CTC, preamble)
