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The Cape Town Commitment: Lausanne in the 21st Century

Rev. C•D•F• Warrington, M.Div.
By Rev. C•D•F• Warrington, M.Div.

Ordained Minister, M.Div.

June 6, 2026

2 min read

cape town
Aerial view of Cape Town with Table Mountain and diverse Christians gathered, representing the Cape Town Commitment

In October 2010, over 4,000 evangelical leaders from 198 nations gathered in Cape Town, South Africa, for Lausanne III - the third major congress in the Lausanne Movement's history (the second, Manila 1989, produced the Manila Manifesto). They met for ten days, heard testimony from the global church, and produced the Cape Town Commitment: a comprehensive statement of evangelical faith and mission for the twenty-first century.

Structure: Two Parts

The Cape Town Commitment is organized into two major parts. Part I is titled 'For the Lord We Love: The Cape Town Confession of Faith' - a series of affirmations about what we love, centered on the triune God, the Bible, the Gospel, and the global church. Part II is titled 'For the World We Serve: The Cape Town Call to Action' - concrete commitments about how the church is to engage the world in mission.

New Challenges Addressed

The Cape Town Commitment addresses issues that were not yet on the radar in 1974: the rise of global Christianity's center of gravity to the majority world, Islam, pluralism, and persecution of Christians; the crisis of integrity in church leadership (corruption, sexual failure, financial abuse); the relationship between the Gospel and creation care; the need for evangelical engagement with the arts, science, media, and business. It is a considerably more comprehensive document than its predecessor.

Continuity With Lausanne 1974

Throughout the Cape Town Commitment, the continuity with the 1974 Lausanne Covenant is explicit and intentional. The same convictions about the primacy of evangelism, the uniqueness of Christ, the authority of Scripture, and the integral relationship between evangelism and social responsibility are maintained and developed. Cape Town does not revise Lausanne's core commitments - it extends them into new territory.

Together, the Lausanne Covenant and the Cape Town Commitment form a remarkable body of evangelical missional theology. They represent the fruit of global evangelical consultation - not imposed by a single denomination or leader, but agreed upon by thousands of church leaders from every continent and tradition within historic Christianity.

Tags:cape townlausannecommitment21st century

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Cape Town Commitment?

The Cape Town Commitment is the confessional and missional document produced by the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization, held in Cape Town, South Africa, in October 2010. It consists of two parts: a confession of faith (Part I) and a call to action (Part II), together representing the Lausanne Movement's vision for global Christian mission in the twenty-first century. The document was received by approximately 4,200 participants from over 190 countries.

How does the Cape Town Commitment relate to the Lausanne Covenant of 1974?

The Cape Town Commitment builds on and extends the Lausanne Covenant, which was produced at the First Lausanne Congress in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1974 under the leadership of Billy Graham and John Stott. While the Lausanne Covenant focused on evangelism, world mission, and the relationship between social action and evangelism, the Cape Town Commitment addresses contemporary challenges including religious pluralism, global poverty, creation care, the integrity of Christian witness, and partnership across the global church. John Stott served as the primary drafter of the Lausanne Covenant; Christopher Wright led the drafting of the Cape Town Commitment.

What does the Cape Town Commitment say about the uniqueness of Christ?

The Cape Town Commitment reaffirms the historic Christian conviction that Jesus Christ is the unique and only Savior of the world, the only way to the Father (John 14:6), and that salvation is found in no one else (Acts 4:12). It does so in the context of engaging religious pluralism and interfaith dialogue, insisting that genuine dialogue must never compromise the missionary imperative. The document calls Christians to love people of other faiths while maintaining the exclusive truth claims of the gospel.

What new topics does the Cape Town Commitment address compared to earlier Lausanne documents?

Compared to the 1974 Lausanne Covenant, the Cape Town Commitment gives significantly more attention to creation care and environmental stewardship, the role of the church in addressing global poverty and injustice, the importance of integrity in Christian leadership, the global rise of Islam and other religions, and the partnership between the Global North and Global South in mission. It also engages more explicitly with questions of biblical interpretation, theological education, and the church's engagement with arts and culture. These expansions reflect the changed landscape of global Christianity since 1974.

Who drafted the Cape Town Commitment?

The Cape Town Commitment was drafted primarily by Christopher J.H. Wright, an Old Testament scholar and International Ministries Director of the Langham Partnership, who served as the chief drafter for the Lausanne Movement. Wright incorporated input from hundreds of participants at the 2010 congress and from prior consultations. The document reflects a broadly evangelical, theologically Reformed-influenced framework with particular sensitivity to the perspectives of the majority-world church.

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