Lausanne Movement

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The Lausanne Covenant Course

The Lausanne Covenant is an important document produced at the Lausanne International Congress on World Evangelization in 1974. Many churches, denominations and ministries use the Lausanne Covenant as a statement of faith. Some have compared the Lausanne Covenant to the writings of the early church fathers. We are in the process of developing a curriculum that explores the Lausanne Covenant. It is our expectation that this course will be used by various Bible schools and seminaries leading up to the Congress.

Meanwhile, we encourage you to use the Lausanne Covenant as a tool with your own Bible study or church group. It could be used over a two-month or fifteen-week period. Each Covenant article and section deserves in-depth study and discussion. The material is rich and deep and it will take time to understand and grasp the content. We believe whatever time given to this study will be richly rewarding.

The following are a few questions that could be used as you go through the Covenant section by section. Apply these questions to each individual section of the Covenant.

1. Before you read through the section, what are your preconceived ideas about the titles of each section? For example, what do you think is implied by Christian Social Responsibility?
2. Are there words or meanings you are unsure of? Look them up in a dictionary or Bible dictionary. Try to write out an expression of each concept in your own words.
3. Look up the Scripture references. What is the connection between each passage and what is stated in this section?
4. Are there areas where the church/individuals have met the standard expressed in this section? Which ones? How have they met the standard? Conversely, in which areas have we failed? How and why?
5. Why do you think this section is important to the Christian faith? How is it different from a non-Christian view? In what ways has the church been tempted to dilute or weaken this point? What would change if its truths were taken seriously and followed by decisive action? How would it impact us and our community?
6. What does this section show us about God’s character or about his plans or purposes for the world? What does it show us about ourselves?
7. Some sections call for repentance. What does that mean?
8. How can we as individuals and as a church enter into this solemn covenant with God?
9. What other questions do you have?