Influencers Strategize on South-East-West-North Partnerships
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
São Paulo, Brazil – 16 June 2014 – Fifty-six key influencers of global theological education, representing every continent, gathered 2-6 June in São Paulo, Brazil, for the Lausanne Consultation on Theological Education: Toward Biblical Partnership in Global Theological Education. The group included seminary presidents, institutional principals, heads of accreditation bodies, and leaders in theological education supporting agencies. In addition to The Lausanne Movement, the consultation was sponsored by The World Reformed Fellowship, World Evangelical Alliance, Overseas Council, Fellowship of Evangelical Seminary Presidents, Langham Partnership, and International Council of Evangelical Theological Education, and was hosted by Mackenzie Presbyterian University.
Chaired by Sam Logan, President of the World Reformed Fellowship, and hosted by Davi Gomes, chancellor of Mackenzie Presbyterian University, the consultation was intended to explore The Cape Town Commitment’s call (section IIF.4) to the world’s theological education institutions to have an active partnership with other theological institutes, with the church, and with the work of evangelism and church planting.
The consultation also served as a follow-up to the first Lausanne Consultation on Global Theological Education in 2012 where 63 key decision makers and leaders of organizations that provide, support, or accredit theological education, from 31 countries, gathered on the campus of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, MA, USA. At that gathering, it was clear that the challenges and opportunities for theological education in the 21st century required the intentional building, and continued working, of a global community. To that end, this consultation in São Paulo was a strategic gathering which allowed for exploration and emphasis on practical steps forward which would enhance South-East-West-North partnerships.
The consultation was organized around a tri-partite structure of: Our Roots, Our Dreams, Our Challenges. Participants had their roots in looking toward Scripture and reflection on the biblical and missional foundation for theological education. Envisioning the unrealized opportunities and possibilities that biblical partnerships could achieve gave space for dreams. Finally, case studies and focus groups were utilized to examine challenges—critical topics such as models of institutional partnerships, partnership in the digital age, the role that accreditation plays in facilitating or hindering partnerships, the sharing of resources, and partnership between formal and informal theological education. Videos of the presentations will soon be available.
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RELATED LINKS
- Videos from the consultation (coming soon)
- The Cape Town Commitment (Section IIF.4)
- Videos from the 2012 Consultation on Global Theological Education
- News release from the 2012 Consultation on Global Theological Education
BACKGROUND
Lausanne is a global movement that mobilizes evangelical leaders to collaborate for world evangelization. It grew out of the 1974 International Congress on World Evangelization convened in Lausanne, Switzerland, by Rev Billy Graham and Bishop Jack Dain. John Stott was chief architect of The Lausanne Covenant. The Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization (October 2010) in Cape Town, South Africa, brought together 4,000 Christian leaders representing 198 countries. The resulting Cape Town Commitment serves as the blueprint for the Movement’s activities.
Lausanne is convening several consultations each year around the issues articulated in The Cape Town Commitment. Most recently was the Lausanne Global Consultation on Islam, held in Ghana. For more information, visit lausanne.org.
CONTACT
For interviews or more information, contact Sarah Chang at [email protected].