JOIN THE CONVERSATION
THE CONVERSATION
thinking together about the crucial issues for mission in Europe today
INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS AN IMPACT GROUP
ONLINE REFLECTIONS
Articles and Media
Podcast
Apple Podcasts
Google Play
Spotify
Stitcher- Vista
- Evangelical Focus
- Lausanne Europe
- February
- March
- April
- May
- June
- Summer Edition
- September
- October
- November
- December
- January 2021
- February 2021
- March 2021
- April 2021
- May 2021
- June 2021
- July 2021
- Summer Edition 2021
- August 2021
- September 2021
- October 2021
- November 2021
- December 2021
The October 2021 Conversation Page
Lausanne Europe, October 2021, FacultatifOctober 2021 ConversationWelcomeWelcome to the October 2021 Lausanne Europe Conversation page. The news during the month of August was dominated by events in Afghanistan. Some Afghan refugees have already arrived in Europe and many...
Muslims in Europe and the Response of the Church
Articles, Vista, October 2021, FacultatifHow should the church in Europe respond to the growing visible presence of Muslims in our continent? I suggest in a fourfold way, with i. a compassionate heart; ii. an informed mind; iii. an involved hand; and iv. a witnessing tongue....
The Church in a Sexualised Culture
Lausanne Europe, September 2021, FacultatifThere is probably no other area where Europe’s Evangelical Christians so often clash with the secular humanistic culture as the area of sexuality. On the one hand, this is certainly nothing new, as also the early church clashed with...
The September 2021 Conversation Page
September 2021September 2021 ConversationWelcomeThis is the September 2021 Conversation page. We hope you have had a great summer and are ready to join in again with the Lausanne Europe 20/21 Conversation. This month's Impact Group will wrestle with...
The Summer 2021 Conversation Page
Lausanne Europe, Summer Edition 2021Summer Conversation 2021WelcomeThe summer gives us a chance to slow down a little and there will be just one Lausanne Europe Conversation for the months of July and August. We anticipate that Impact Groups will just meet once over...
LECTIO DIVINA … VISIO DIVINA
Articles, Summer Edition 2021, FacultatifThis spiritual exercise connects the verbal with the visual. Beginning with Origen in the third century, Lectio Divina is an Early Church practice of scriptural reading, meditation and prayer intended to promote communion with God and...
We Seek Your Kingdom
Uncategorized, Summer Edition 2021You could be at work. Maybe you’re looking after the kids. Or seeing friends (finally). But whatever sphere of society you’re in, God can work through you to bring his kingdom there – as in heaven....
Interview | Prof. John Lennox with Iain Morris
Articles, June 2021, FacultatifINTERVIEW | PROF JOHN LENNOX with IAIN MORRISTranscript Iain Morris John, as the Producer – or at least one of them – of this film, Against the Tide, it’s a privilege to talk to you, the central character in it. I’ve a number of...
Bearing Witness to Christ in the Realm of Ideas: A Holistic Missional Approach to Apologetics in Europe
Articles, June 2021, FacultatifMy first encounter with Christian apologetics was during my high school years. I was deeply encouraged as a disciple and witness when I discovered that the biblical Gospel makes sense as a worldview, is founded on historical facts, and...
The Ecclesial Apologetic for God: Becoming a Good Church in the Eyes of a Watching World
Articles, June 2021, FacultatifAs a lecturer in apologetics, teaching others to defend and commend the Christian faith, I’m convinced that Christianity makes more sense of our human experience than any other worldview, religious or secular. Followers of Jesus,...
The June 2021 Conversation Page
June 2021, FacultatifJune 2021 ConversationWelcomeHow can we make Christ known in today’s Europe where scepticism and misconceptions about Christianity abound? The focus of the June 2021 Lausanne Europe Conversation is apologetics. Traditionally,...
Understanding and Discipling Youth
Articles, May 2021Photo by Eliott Reyna on Unsplash I am so thankful that from a young age my parents introduced me to the Bible and took me to kid’s camp, conferences and youth groups. I met some wonderful people that loved children and teenagers, and...
The May 2021 Conversation Page
May 2021May 2021 ConversationWelcomeThe May 2021 Lausanne Europe Conversation focusses on the challenge of reaching the next generation. We have two fascinating articles by specialists in this area. We will look at some very recent research...
The Legacy of John Stott through the Lausanne Movement
Lausanne Movement, May 2021John Stott was a colossus. As Jim Packer said on hearing news of his death in 2011, ‘He had no peer, and we should not look for a successor.’ As decades pass, history will further unfold the extent of his influence on theological...
Church Planting in Europe: Perspectives of an African Pastor in Romania
Articles, April 2021Church planting is a command from the Lord Jesus Christ himself, the Master and founder of the Church who said: “I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matthew 16:18). It is the best strategy for bringing...
The April 2021 Conversation Page
April 2021April 2021 ConversationWelcomeThis month's Conversation provides two complementary perspectives on church planting in Europe today. We will hear from a dynamic Norwegian church planter who has helped to catalyse the planting of...
Resilience: Hope and Patience Embrace Each Other
Articles, Lausanne Europe, March 2021Resignation seems to be the word that best sums up the present moment (according to sociologists). After a period of struggle and resistance has come a period of weariness and resignation. People feel disoriented, frightened, and...
The March 2021 Conversation Page
March 2021MARCH 2021 ConversationWelcomeThe last year has been an extraordinary time for all of us. Many of us are weary from all the challenges that adapting to Covid has posed for life and ministry. So we decided that this month's Lausanne...
Conversation Report | February – April 2020
Lausanne Europe, ReportThis is a brief summary of the conversations for the first quarter of 2020. For each month the main points of the postings in response to an article and discussion questions were read. Then the principal themes were identified and...
Advocating for Persecuted Christians in a Way That Reinforces our Christian Witness
Articles, Lausanne Europe, February 2021As Evangelicals who believe in salvation by grace, through faith - a personal and individual decision – our desire is for every human being to live in a context where he or she has the opportunity to freely choose Jesus Christ as...
The Challenges for Christians in Secular Western European Contexts
Articles, Lausanne Europe, February 2021The nature of society in Europe is changing. My experience is primarily in the UK and even here gone are the days when culture was automatically framed by Judeo-Christian values, and laws passed based on these timeless truths. Since...
Freedom of Religion or Belief – An Introduction
Articles, Lausanne Europe, February 2021The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, hugely influenced by the prominent Christians who helped to draft its articles, begins by recognising the inherent dignity, worth and equality of the human person and family. The premise...
The February 2021 Conversation Page
Lausanne Europe, February 2021February 2021 ConversationWelcomeWelcome to February’s Conversation page. You can find everything you need for the February Lausanne Europe 20/21 Conversation right here. This month’s Impact Group looks at the issue of Freedom of...
The January 2021 Conversation Page
Lausanne Europe, January 2021January 2021 ConversationWelcomeHappy New Year to you from the Lausanne Europe 20/21 Planning Team. The turn of the year is always a good moment to review and our first Conversation of 2021 will help us all to do that. But we also want...
The December Conversation Page
DecemberDecember 2020 ConversationWelcomeWelcome to the December Conversation page, the last one for the unforgettable year of 2020. The focus for the final Impact Group of the year is community, so we are giving you fewer things to discuss...
‘Engage’ inspired mission with insights by evangelicals from around Europe
Evangelical FocusThe online event looked back on the impact of the Cape Town Lausanne Movement global gathering, 10 years ago. ‘Impact groups’ shared about how they prepare for the 2021 European conference. Over 300 people from 36 countries joined...
Gospel, Church and World – the impact of the three ‘Wholes’ ten years later
Articles, Evangelical FocusRepublished with permission by Evangelical Focus, see original article herePhoto by Lausanne Movement on Flickr Three years prior to Cape Town 2010, the Lausanne Theology Working Group had been meeting. It had a core of about 12...
Transforming Communities: Making an Impact through Making Disciples
Articles, Lausanne Europe, NovemberThis article serves as a call to action, for us as Christ-followers to imitate Him through seeing those in all kinds of physical, emotional, relational and spiritual need around us, and engaging with them to provide comfort and...
The November Conversation Page
NovemberNovember 2020 ConversationWelcome November is here and with it a fresh set of materials for the Lausanne Europe Impact Groups. What does it mean to follow Jesus in 21st Century Europe? This question lies behind all the material in this...
Reaching Europe – Jesus’ Strategy for Today?
Articles, NovemberWas Jesus right about the way to do mission? That’s the question. Across Europe, across the Western nations, we’ve been looking for ways to reach our nations with the gospel of Jesus. We’ve seen two decades of extraordinary creativity....
Discipleship in a Context of Suffering and Loss
Articles, Lausanne Movement, NovemberThis article [1] explores the relationship between mission and suffering with a particular focus on how we disciple people during and post COVID-19. The pandemic has been on a global scale, affecting at the time of writing 213...
The Lausanne Covenant
Lausanne Movement, OctoberThe Lausanne Covenant is widely regarded as one of the most significant documents in modern church history. Emerging from the First Lausanne Congress in 1974, with John Stott as its Chief Architect, it served as a great rallying call...
The October Conversation Page
Lausanne Europe, OctoberOctober CONVERSATIONWelcomeThis month’s Impact Groups will think afresh on the Lausanne Covenant. Some of you will already be very familiar with it, but others may be less so. Then in the second part of the Impact Group, we will return...
An Intercultural Church Perspective on Mission in Europe
Articles, SeptemberOne of the most daunting challenges I have ever faced in my whole life was relocating from the spiritually vibrant Global South to the spiritually tepid Global North, specifically when I moved from my native Zimbabwe to my adopted...
The September Conversation Page
Lausanne Europe, SeptemberSeptember 2020 ConversationWelcomeNow it is September, many Impact Groups will be starting again after the summer and some groups will be starting for the first time. Either way, everything you need is right here. One of the...
Jars of Clay
Articles, Lausanne Movement, Summer Edition‘All the unhappiness of men comes from one thing, which is not knowing how to be at rest in a room.’ Pascal...
Burnout
Articles, Summer EditionBurnout is something I hear about often in my conversations with people. Our self-test for burnout (Are You Showing Signs of Burnout?) has been a very popular resource over the years. Through my consultations with aid workers and...
The Summer Conversation Page
Lausanne Europe, Summer EditionSummer ConversationWelcomeThe summer has arrived! We want to give you all a chance to rest so, for the months of July and August, there will be just be a single Summer Conversation page for the Lausanne Europe 20/21 Conversation. Your...
June Prayer Meeting
Prayer MeetingsJune Prayer MeetingFollowing is a recording of the Zoom call from the 26th of June, 2020 where we spoke about the Conversation, heard a testimony of what the Lord is doing in one of the Impact Groups, and spent some time praying for...
The June Conversation Page
Lausanne Europe, JuneJune conversationWelcomeImpact Groups can find everything they need for the June Lausanne Europe 20/21 Conversation right here. This month’s Impact Group looks at the issue of Reconciliation and introduces the final of the five threads...
Reconciled to Changing Circumstances: Missionaries and COVID-19 in Europe
A Story of Reconciliation, Articles, VistaCOVID-19 restrictions are posing challenges for missionaries in Europe and across the globe. In late April, the Vista editors asked Darrell Jackson to develop a questionnaire to explore the response of two European mission agencies:...
Reconciliation and Coronavirus
A Story of Reconciliation, Articles, Vista, JuneKathryn Jean Lopez’s article in the Catholic News magazine “Our Sunday Visitor” on reconciliation in times of Corona has inspired me deeply.(1) “Maybe it is time for reconciliation” states Lopez to her Catholic readers. Locked in our...
Reconciling a Wounded Planet in the Midst of a Pandemic
A Story of Reconciliation, Articles, Vista, Summer EditionI am writing this looking out into my garden. I can hear the birds singing loudly and the silence from the lack of traffic noise is stark. If I stand outside and look up at the sky, it is clear blue with no airplane trails across it....
Forgiveness – Why Not Europe?
A Story of Reconciliation, Articles, Vista, JuneThere’s no question that we, in Europe, need reconciliation. East and West, North and South - our great continent has witnessed numerous wars and conflicts....
Reconciliation in the Conflicted Continent
A Story of Reconciliation, Articles, Vista, JuneEurope's history is a story of conflict. For centuries, the nations of Europe have fought bloody wars over territory, power and religion. However, since 1945 Europe has experienced an unprecedented period of peace. Of course, that...
The May Conversation Page
Lausanne Europe, MayMAY CONVERSATIONWelcomeThis is the Impact Group page for the May Lausanne Europe 20/21 Conversation. If this is your first time joining in the LE20/21 Conversation, everything you need is right here. Just follow the steps below to...
The April Conversation Page
Lausanne Europe, AprilAPRIL CONVERSATIONWelcomeWelcome to the Impact Group page for the April Lausanne Europe 20/21 Conversation. If this is your first participation in the LE20/21 Conversation, just follow the steps below to guide your group through the...
From the Housetop
Articles, AprilWorkplace ministry has taken on a new meaning for us here in Spain. For most of us our workplace is now located in our homes. This has levelled the playing field in that all of us have a similar workplace and are facing similar...
The coronavirus and the ministry of touch
Articles, Evangelical Focus, AprilI lead a congregation in Rome that thrives on handshakes, greet kisses, and physical contact. This winter, the coronavirus has taught Italians the cautions of distance and isolation....
A Psalm in the epidemic: Trust overcomes fear
Articles, Evangelical Focus, AprilPsalm 91 has breathed encouragement and peace into millions of believers in the midst of trial. Its message is very relevant to our current epidemic situation....
Press Release | Lausanne Europe 2020 Postponed
Lausanne EuropePress Release 30 April 2020 Lausanne Europe 2020 Lausanne Europe 2020 Conversation and Gathering Dynamic Gospel – New Europe Postponed until November 2021 The Lausanne Europe 2020 Coordination Team has taken the decision to...
Lausanne Global Classroom: Nominalism
Articles, Lausanne Global ClassroomThis Classroom episode is on Nominalism. Nominalism is a problem that is as old as Christianity itself. It means to be identified with a religion in name only. People may self-identify as a member of a religion or belief system, but...
Olof Edsinger: Christians Must Oppose Secular European Lifestyle.
Articles, Evangelical FocusThe general secretary of the Swedish Evangelical Alliance says that part of our European way of living is downright harmful. As an example he mentions shopping or consumerism. He points out that shopping is a necessity, but it can...
Usha Reifsnider: Mission Needs Decolonisation
Articles, Evangelical FocusBorn a Hindu Usha Reifsnider is saying that Western culture is very much a hinderance for reaching non-western people with the gospel. With her Indian background her experience was that you became British in order to be a Christian....
The March Conversation Page
Lausanne Europe, MarchMARCH CONVERSATIONWelcomeWelcome to the Impact Group page for the March Lausanne Europe 20/21 Conversation. For some of you this will be your first participation in the LE20/21 Conversation. Just follow the steps to guide your group...
No Discrepancy Between Talk and Walk
21st Century Discipleship, Articles, VistaThe early Church (in the countries around the Mediterranean) experienced violent persecution. Countless sisters and brothers were martyred for their faith in Jesus Christ. It began at the first Church in Jerusalem with a deacon Stephen...
Being a Disciple in Europe in a Media Age
21st Century Discipleship, Articles, VistaWherever we live in today’s world, media technologies and messages increasingly influence our everyday lives, our Christian witness, and our Christian ministries. The missional issues related to media engagement are therefore of real...
Creating a Discipleship Culture
21st Century Discipleship, Articles, VistaCreating a discipleship culture is key for mission in Europe today. Creating a discipleship culture is to create a biblical culture that shines a bright light against ungodly aspects of society. I would argue that discipleship is not...
How Can We Overcome the Gods of Europe
21st Century Discipleship, Articles, Vista, MarchThe topic of this article may seem a bit odd. Not least since, to a large extent, today’s Europe is perceived as a ”godless continent”. As an example, data from the European Social Survey 2014–16 showed that in twelve of the European...
Lausanne Europe Launches Major Initiative
Articles, Evangelical FocusLausanne Europe 2020 sets out to host 800 invited delegates in a gathering in Wisla, Polen 21-25. October. They will represent every country in Europe, men and women, young and old. They are church leaders and professionals and there...
The February Conversation Page
Lausanne Europe, FebruaryFEBRUARY CONVERSATIONWelcomeWelcome to the Impact Group page for the February Lausanne Europe 20/21 Conversation. Whether you are meeting face-to-face or virtually, delegates should make use of the following steps to guide their groups...
Nominal Christianity – A Typical European Phenomenon
Articles, Nominal Christianity and Contemporary Europe, Vista, FebruaryOne of the most striking aspects of the socioreligious context of Europe is the high proportion of so-called nominal Christians. These are people who are affiliated to a Church and/or identifying as ‘Christian’ in surveys. They only...
Optimism or Despair?
Articles, Vista, Who Speaks for EuropeAre you optimistic or pessimistic about the health of Christianity in Europe? And speaking on behalf of your network, agency or church, what makes you optimistic about the church and mission in Europe? All the leaders who responded to...
The Headline
Articles, Vista, Who Speaks for EuropeSpeaking on behalf of your network, agency or church, what do you think is the most important message to be communicated about mission in Europe today? This question elicited some very passionate, interesting and profound reflections....
Vox Pop
Articles, Vista, Who Speaks for EuropeIn what ways do you or your agency/church make a distinct contribution in outlining a vision or addressing a challenge for mission in Europe? In answering this question, respondents demonstrated a wide range of approaches and...
Opening the Floor
Articles, Vista, Who Speaks for EuropeHow can we make sure that these voices are heard? What kinds of platform can we provide for them to speak from? Given our tentative identification in Theme 1 of some of the voices being marginalised or ignored within European mission...
Stop Talking and Listen for a Minute
Articles, Vista, Who Speaks for EuropeWho are the dominant voices speaking for Europe within the churches or mission networks with which you are most familiar? Not surprisingly, our respondents’ answers depended very much on their own context. Some interpreted “dominant”...
A Romanian Perspective on Mission in Europe
Articles, Visions of Europe, VistaWhen analysing the crosscultural mission of the European Churches, one might see different characteristics. We will share a few observations from a Romanian perspective....
Rethinking Mission in Europe: An African Contribution
Articles, Visions of Europe, VistaI am an African. I was born and raised up in Southern Malawi. I have worked in Europe and the United States for the past twenty years. I came to Europe in 2000 to teach at a now defunct school of ministry in Saint Gallen, Switzerland....
A Woman’s Perspective on Mission in Europe
Articles, Visions of Europe, VistaMany women across Europe face incredible challenges due to their gender. Sadly, the church often contributes to these as well. Reflecting on some of these here will also highlight some beautiful initiatives where churches and networks...
The Spiritual Hunger of a Secularised European Youth Culture
Articles, Visions of Europe, Vista, May 2021A study released in 2018 entitled “Europe’s Young Adults and Religion,” by British professor of theology and sociology of religion Stephen Bullivant, demonstrates one of the most crucial issues for mission in Europe today....
Reimagining Europe
Articles, Visions of Europe, VistaLong after the UK had joined the European Union (on New Year’s Day, 1973) it was not uncommon to hear Brits tell me they were ‘going to Europe for their holiday’. To be fair, when I started visiting the Scandinavian countries, I heard...