The Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization has just released 31 documents that address many of the major issues facing the church in the 21st Century.
The documents, known as the 2004 Forum Lausanne Occasional Papers (LOPs), are the result of work done by hundreds of Christian leaders leading up to and including the 2004 Forum for World Evangelization last fall in Pattaya, Thailand. The 2004 Forum LOPS provide information, analysis and theological perspective on each of 31 issues identified as barriers to world evangelism and include ministry case studies and strategic recommendations to the church for addressing each issue.
Rev. Dr. David Claydon, former Lausanne International Director, served as LOP editor. Claydon says the papers are enriched by the contribution of Christian leaders from every corner of the earth who offer, “an amazing level of fresh thinking, case studies and practical suggestions as to how the church can move forward in this post-modern world.”
According to Claydon, the papers share the experiences of the rapidly growing church of the developing world and the challenges of the postmodern west in such a way that “every Christian community will be able to use some new ideas in the task of sharing the Good News in their own unique situations.”
LOP topics include: the HIV/AIDS pandemic and other holistic evangelism matters; medical and bioethics; the persecuted church; reaching children and young people with the gospel; ministry to the “Hidden and Forgotten” including Unreached People Groups and the disabled; identifying and equipping future leaders; business as mission; making disciples of oral learners; and racial and ethnic reconciliation.
Alongside the 2004 Forum LOPs is a report from a Forum gathering of Lausanne Senior Advisors, Senior Pastors and Executives of International Evangelistic Organizations.
All documents are available online at www.lausanne.org.
