The Cape Town Commitment: Study Edition

by Rose Dowsett

In October of 2010, over 4,000 Christian leaders from 198 countries met in Cape

Town, South Africa, to discuss critical issues of our time as they relate to the

Church and evangelization. This was the Third Lausanne Congress, convening nearly

36 years after the original Lausanne Congress in 1974, called by Billy

Graham.

Written as a roadmap for the Lausanne Movement going forward, The

Cape Town Commitment presents a statement of shared Biblical convictions, and

calls churches, mission agencies, seminaries and Christians all over the World to

action.

This study edition of The Cape Town Commitment includes

additional commentary by the drafting committee and carefully composed questions

for further reflection. Groups or individuals will be prompted to interact on a

deeper level with the text and will have the opportunity to engage in the same

discussion questions that engaged those at the Third Lausanne Congress, for which

The Cape Town Commitment was first created.

Prominent authors involved in The

Lausanne Movement include John Stott, John Piper, Ajith Fernando, Vaughan Roberts,

Joni Eareckson Tada, Christopher J. H. Wright, and Rebecca Manley

Pippert.

“It is hard to believe that so many years have gone by since

Lausanne ‘74. How many changes we have seen since then! The world has changed, the

church has changed, younger leaders have been raised up, but the Gospel has not

changed, and the need for evangelism is more urgent than ever before.”—Billy

Graham

“The Cape Town Commitment is not the memorial of a moment.

It is the conviction of a Movement and the voice of a multitude. It distils a vast

quantity of input from the global Church. We profoundly hope and pray that we are

hearing not just the voice of Cape Town 2010, but the voice of our Lord Jesus

Christ who walked among us there.”—From the Foreword

120 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 31, 2012

About the author

Rose Dowsett served as a missiological adviser to EA-UK and Lausanne, and as Vice-Chairman of the World Evangelical Fellowship's Mission Commission; she was also on the Board of Directors at International Christian College. Previously, she worked with OMF in the Philippines with students, in church planting, and in theological training. Latterly, she taught Church History, and Mission Studies at BTI/GBC in Glasgow.