GLOBAL LEADERSHIP FORUM ~ Bangalore, India ~ June 17-21

“The whole church taking the whole gospel to the whole world.” So, here I was, a week ago, participating in a leadership forum focused on collaborative efforts to bring the gospel to the remaining unengaged and unreached people groups of our broken world.

High level consultations like this come and go. I’ve been a part of many of them. They inspire, stimulate and challenge. And then they are over. But when intentional, collaborative partnerships come together in a context like this, there can be strategic traction and action. The Lausanne Movement was ignited by Billy Graham and John Stott in 1974. I participated in Manila in 1989, and Pattaya, Thailand in 2004. I was invited to Bangalore because of my expertise with city movements. Our working group got traction! We birthed a global leadership learning community of theologians and practitioners working hands-on in urban environments.

In the months and years ahead, I will help to facilitate the networking and mutual learning of John 17 communities emerging in cities around the world, with a bottom line aim: to more effectively bring the gospel to yet unengaged and unreached peoples.

Mac Pier, CEO of The New York Leadership Center and Chair of “Movement Day,” took point with our working group. Over two working lunches, the Holy Spirit stirred vision and called us to action (Mac is to the left, white shirt):

So what’s next in my world with this agenda? I’ll be on-site August 7-9 at the Global Leadership Summit, hosted by Willow Creek Church. On Wednesday, I’ll have opportunity to connect with leaders from some of the global cities that host this annual simulcast. Then, October 8 & 9, with associates Glenn Barth (Good Cities) and George Ordway (Communities, INC), we lead the annual “City Advance” in New York and participate in “Movement Day” on Thursday, October 10. If anyone reading this has any interest in being a part of these back-to-back gatherings of veteran practitioners, let me know.

“The whole church, taking the whole gospel to the whole city.” What better endeavor could one hope to be a part of?