Billy Graham and John Stott

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Remembering Billy Graham | Remembering John Stott

The story of the Lausanne Movement begins with a special friendship. In 1955, the evangelist Billy Graham was invited to lead a mission to Cambridge University with John Stott as his chief assistant. These two young men formed a lifelong friendship, which would later lead to the launching of the Lausanne Movement.

About twenty years after their friendship began, Billy Graham perceived the need for a global congress to reframe Christian mission in a world of political, economic, intellectual, and religious upheaval. He believed this could only happen if leaders from around the world gathered to unite in ‘the common task of the total evangelization of the world’.

Graham and Stott’s friendship was foundational for the First International Congress on World Evangelization in July 1974. Over 2,400 participants from 150 nations gathered in Lausanne, Switzerland, for what TIME magazine described as ‘a formidable forum, possibly the widest-ranging meeting of Christians ever held’.

From this Congress issued the biblical declaration that Billy Graham had hoped for, The Lausanne Covenant, with John Stott as its chief architect. The Covenant was to prove one of the most significant documents in modern church history, shaping evangelical thinking for the rest of the century.

Throughout their lives, Billy Graham and John Stott gave peerless leadership to evangelicals around the world. We should not look for successors. Their joint work in establishing a movement that bound evangelistic passion with theological reflection, and orthodoxy with orthopraxy, has proven a watershed for evangelicals. To this day, world congresses, global gatherings, and issue-specific forums and consultations have continued to be convened in what Billy Graham called ‘the spirit of Lausanne’—a spirit of humility, friendship, prayer, study, partnership, and hope—the very spirit mirrored in his friendship with John Stott.

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Remembering Billy Graham: A Video Tribute

This special video provides a window into Billy Graham’s legacy, anchored around the clarion calls he issued at the First Lausanne Congress in 1974 and encompassing clips from his crusades to all corners of the world.

Lausanne Movement Pays Tribute to Founder Billy Graham

News release announcing Rev Billy Graham went to be with the Lord.

Tributes to Billy Graham from Lausanne Leaders around the World

Lausanne leaders from around the world reflect on their interactions with Billy Graham. Also read Michael Oh’s blog post, with prayer and reflections on the funeral.

Why Lausanne?

Rev Graham’s plenary address from the First International Congress on World Evangelization in
1974—as compelling today as it was more than 40 years ago.

More from Billy Graham

Remembering John Stott: A Video Tribute

John Stott—pastor, theologian, evangelist, author, and chief architect of The Lausanne Covenant—was ranked among TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world before he went to be with the Lord in 2011. This stirring tribute video depicts the monumental impact he had in shaping evangelical Christianity.

The Lausanne Covenant
by John Stott

Billy Graham once wrote that Stott ‘represents a touchstone of authentic biblical scholarship that . . . has scarcely been paralleled since the days of the 16th century European Reformers’. The Lausanne Covenant exemplifies Stott’s scholarship and evangelistic passion.

More on John Stott