Background
This conference is the seventh in a series of Lausanne International Researchers’ Conferences held since 1987 in Holland. The second conference was then held in 1996 in the UK, followed by the third in Thailand in 2001. The fourth conference was in 2005 in Cyprus, then the fifth and sixth conferences were held in Australia in 2008 and Brazil in 2011.
The 7th International Researchers’ Conference is for those who are:
- Early-career researchers with a passion to share findings and learn new research methods
- Leaders in a mission agency keen to understand and act strategically on research results
- Members of a research agency with important findings to disseminate
- Members of a denominational Research Department
- Christians involved in social science or human science research
Conference sessions
Plenary speakers include Dr Kang-San Tan (Director of AsiaCMS, Kuala Lumpur, and Lausanne Senior Associate for Buddhism) and Professor Ruth Powell (Director of the National Church Life Survey, Sydney, Australia). They will speak on the topics of ‘Global Challenges’ and ‘Local Responses’. Breakout sessions will follow on the same two topics as well as ‘Equipping for Mission’. The conference will also include ample time for informal networking among participants.
The Seventh International Researchers’ Conference is being run in parallel with a number of local and regional training events. We expect participants to significantly represent the Asian and Southeast Asian regions. Conference partner AsiaCMS will organise one breakout sessions, which will explore training models, regional leadership, emerging mission movements, and mission research. Other research and training agencies have shown initial interest in planning shorter programmes to precede or follow the main conference programme.
Invitation to present papers
This conference is designed to be a place to showcase your work and that of your organisation. We welcome and encourage presentations from researchers of all levels of experience, from novice to expert, during the breakout sessions.
Papers will be assigned to either the ‘Global Challenges’ or ‘Local Responses’ topic, though some papers will inevitably cross over. If you would like to present in one of the breakout session segments, please send a brief synopsis (250-300 words) of your presentation by 28 February 2015 to Dr Peter Brierley (Lausanne Senior Associate for Church Research) at peter@brierleyres.com or Dr Todd Johnson (Lausanne Senior Associate for the Study of Global Christianity) at tjohnson@gcts.edu.
Final papers in Word format (or Open Office) of 5,000 words maximum and/or presentations in PowerPoint format should be submitted by 31 March 2015 to Rev Dr Darrell Jackson (Senior Lecturer in Missiology, Morling College, Sydney, and Chair of the Lausanne Researchers’ International Network) at darrellj@morling.edu.au.
Registration and contact information
Registration information and further details about visa requirements, costs, and accommodations will be available on the website of the Christian Research Australia, one of our partner agencies. Please register online. Download Draft Programme.
The conference Facebook page will continue to be updated with the latest conference news, including pictures, details of papers being presented, and participants planning to attend. We invite you to visit and ‘like’ our page.
For further information about this conference, please contact Rev Dr Darrell Jackson at the email address above.