As the Fourth Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization is coming to a close, the Lausanne leadership sent a note to the more than 5,000 participants inviting them to provide feedback to the Seoul Statement that had been published at the beginning of the event. The comments will be evaluated by the Theology Working Group and senior leadership who will decide next steps in the coming weeks, according to a Lausanne spokesperson.
Initially, the release of the statement ahead of the event caught many participants by surprise as they expected the week-long deliberations to be captured and processed into a final document, as it had been the case with the previous three Lausanne Congresses. As they began to study the 20-page document with seven sections and 97 paragraphs over the following days, an increasing chorus of participants began to privately and publicly discuss sections they agreed or disagreed with.
This ultimately led the Lausanne leadership to decide to offer a channel to capture responses more systematically and to consider possible adjustments to the Statement in the days and weeks to come.
A “final” statement opens for change
On the opening day on September 22, Congress Director David Bennett announced the release of the Seoul Statement, explaining that unlike its predecessors that were published following the event, the document was meant to “inform and inspire” participants’ deliberations throughout the gathering rather than summarize what was discussed.
He emphasized that the purpose of the Seoul Statement was not to be a new stand-alone response to the missional challenges that the global Church is facing today. Instead, it “stands as part of the larger collection of key documents within the Lausanne Movement, building on the legacy of the Lausanne Covenant, the Manila Manifesto, and the Cape Town Commitment. It is designed not to replace, but to complement these foundational documents, providing fresh insights into contemporary theological and missional challenges.”
At the time, Bennett left open whether or not there will be some form of summary of the conversations that take place throughout the week.
While translations were presented as “drafts” that were still in the process of being reviewed due to the complexity of theological terms, the English version was presented as “final” during a press conference on Monday. The following day, however, edits in two paragraphs related to homosexuality raised eyebrows, as Christian Daily International reported earlier.
Asked about the change during the press conference on Tuesday, Lausanne’s spokesperson said the edit was in fact meant to be made before the release of the Seoul statement, calling it “an oversight”. He also added that “the adjustment was not significant.”
He pointed to broader conversations about issues that are of specific concern to the Korean Church, and that he would therefore “anticipate that there may be more [changes] but the finality of it is never going to be ‘dipped in amber’ and called ‘done’ perhaps.” He also repeated the earlier comment that “it is not the Congress’ statement, it is not one of the foundational documents that we are pinning everything on.”
“And so, like in any editorial process, there may be changes, but those changes are not substantive or significant, at least from an editorial perspective,” he said.
Still discerning the process forward
Then on Friday morning, Lausanne circulated an email by its Director of Communications and Content Mike du Toit inviting participants to share their feedback through a newly prepared online form.
“In consultation with the executive leadership of the Lausanne Movement and the Lausanne Theology Working Group co-chairs, we wish to take the opportunity to clarify a few points related to the Seoul Statement,” he wrote, again highlighting the purpose of the Seoul Statement as having been “intended to be a gift to the global church […] with the purpose to ignite meaningful dialogue during our time together and beyond.”
He expressed his gratitude for the “broad engagement” with the Statement, which “focuses on certain theological topics identified by the Lausanne Theology Working Group as needing greater attention by the global church, and reflects on them on the basis of the gospel, the biblical story we live and tell.” He added that “these topics are not the only topics for focus going forward.”
He then went on to acknowledge that there had been some confusion and misunderstandings among participants, saying, “We recognize that in introducing the Seoul Statement, we should have been clearer in explaining its purpose and the way in which participants are invited to engage with it.”
Providing a link to an online form, he invited participants to comment on the Statement and share their perspectives either individually or on behalf of an organization or group.
“As we journey through this Congress and beyond, we look forward to continued collaboration, with the shared goal that the church will declare and display Christ together,” he concluded.
Asked by Christian Daily International what led to the change and how the feedback will be processed, du Toit said during the afternoon press conference that the Lausanne leadership appreciated the engagement with the Statement and “we've heard the people.”
The intention had always been to invite discussion, which is what happened throughout the week. “But people have also requested a more official feedback mechanism and so we've established that now and people have engaged with it,” he said, and added that it will take some time to see how much feedback will come in and what kind of responses will be received.
“We do have a team in place to process the feedback that we do receive and then to take that forward to the Theology Working Group to determine the next steps together with the Lausanne senior leadership team,” he said.
“We will communicate the next steps in the days and weeks ahead. There's not an official plan to exactly announce what those look like,” du Toit added, acknowledging in response to another reporter’s question that this feedback process had not initially been foreseen.
Asked whether substantive changes might be expected, he said it is too early to say what will happen in the end. “There's room for the leaders that are concerned to discern the process forward.”
