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One participant observed that the congress "shaped a mood in which evangelicals sensed their larger need of each other and of mutual encouragement and enrichment." Western delegates, long accustomed to furnishing the impetus for mission efforts in non-Western countries, seemed particularly surprised and affected by what another observer called "the dynamic surge of evangelistic emphasis coming from the newer churches of Latin America, Africa, and Asia." The Berlin Congress proved to be a pivotal event for evangelical Christianity, helping to create a kind of third worldwide ecumenical force, alongside Vatican II and the WCC, and establishing evangelicalism as an international movement capable of accomplishing more than its constituents had dreamed possible.

Graham was responsible for another, probably even more important conference in 1974, the International Congress on World Evangelization in Lausanne, Switzerland. In the words of "Time" magazine, this ten-day meeting, attended by some 2,400 evangelical leaders from 150 countries, "served notice of the vigor of conservative, resolutely biblical, fervently mission-minded Christianity" and "constituted a considerable challenge to the prevailing philosophy in the World Council of Churches" by laying the groundwork "for a post-congress 'fellowship' that could eventually develop into a rival international body."

By 1970, the WCC and its member denominations had begun to speak openly of a "moratorium on missions," a shutting down of traditional attempts to win people to Christ through proclamation or other forms of explicit evangelism. Cultural relativity and the pressure of the problems of poverty, war, and racism had pushed evangelism off the agenda. All this, of course, seemed egregiously wrongheaded to evangelicals, whose churches were growing all over the world. Still missing, however, was a firm sense in their ranks that they were part of a coherent worldwide movement. The Lausanne Congress helped overcome that lack.

In what has been called the most carefully crafted presentation of his entire ministry, Graham called for a biblical declaration on evangelism that would rally evangelicals and challenge the WCC, and for a working out of the proper relationship between evangelism and social responsibility. He warned, however, against identifying the Christian gospel with any particular political program or culture. He also encouraged delegates to think of themselves as part of a worldwide movement and to examine ways to identify and pool their resources to accomplish the awesome task of world evangelization.

The most notable artifact to emerge from the congress was the Lausanne Covenant, a 15-paragraph document that covered the major bases of evangelical belief and strongly affirmed the need for both a renewed commitment to world evangelization and unselfish cooperation between churches and parachurch agencies engaged in the task. In subsequent conferences and myriad extensions of what has come to be called "The Spirit of Lausanne," the Lausanne Covenant has played a major unifying role—particularly in the Third World, where it provided a formal basis on which evangelicals of varying stripes could work together.

"It's a coalescence of the spirit of evangelism as exemplified by Billy Graham," one missionary explained to me. "It is not so well known in America or in some parts of Europe, but it's a household word in Third World churches. If we want to organize a meeting in Africa, we can say, 'This is what we believe,' and that is all we need. It is a very, very significant document."

Copyright © 1995 Christianity Today, Inc./Christianity Today Magazine

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November 13 1995, Vol. 39, No. 13