Lausanne 3

'Possibly the most representative gathering of the Christian church in history', is how the organisers of Lausanne 3 are describing this meeting in Capetown of 4,200 participants from 198 countries, with a further 100,000 individuals at nearly 700 global sites attending 'virtually' in more than 95 countries. I heard the Radio 4 Sunday morning service which was broadcast from All Souls, Langham Place, the home of the Rector Emeritius John Stott who was instrumental infounding this important movement back in the 1970's. What is happening at this gathering is very significant in terms of the whole Anglican Communion. For more details see http://www.lausanne.org/cape-town-2010 ) The Archbishop of Uganda said at the opening ceremony: 'It is an amazing privilege for Africa, which is fast becoming a centre for world missions, to host men and women whom God is bringing from around the world as we begin a new chapter in the 21st Century'.

Sadly the representative nature of the event was lessened by the refusal at the last minute of the Chinese Government to allow the 200 delegates from China to leave the country in order to attend. These Chinese representatives included observers from the Chinese Christian Council, the Three Self Patriotic Movement and participants from rapidly growing urban house fellowships and large rural churches. Like many parts of Africa, China too is surely becoming 'a centre for world missions'. Watch this space.

The history of Christian mission in China takes us back to the Jesuit mission inaugurated by Mattio Ricci in the late 16th century and the 19th century Protestant initiatives, most notably perhaps that of Hudson Taylor in 1865. But how many Christians are there now in China? Answers vary from the official line which says there are 20 million to the World Christian Database headed by Todd Johnson who suggests that the number of Christians in China has risen from 1 million in 1970 to 120 million today, of whom 70 million are in unregistered churches. Perhaps Philip Jenkins - author of The Next Christendom - is right to go for a figure between these and suggest that theer are some 65-70 million Christians. He noted that most are converted to Evangelical Ptotestantism, mainly amongst the Charismatic and Pentecostal churches and include a high proportion of urban, professional and business people.

'The Economist' carried an article about the church in China recently with the title 'Inside China's fastest growing non-governmental organisation'. What a shame that those representaives could not be at Cape Town 2010 for the third Lausanne Conference, but perhaps by the time Lausanne 4 comes about we will all be heading for Beijing.