The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association is planning to host a high level European summit of churches devoted to evangelism. The European Congress on Evangelism is scheduled to take place in May 2025 in Berlin.
Around one thousand church leaders from 60 countries and regions will be invited to attend the three-day that will take place in eight languages. The theme will be ‘Romans 1:16’ which stresses the importance of being unashamed of the Gospel.
The Congress will mark the 25th anniversary of the late Billy Graham’s Amsterdam 2000 conference. Similar events in Europe have taken place starting with the first World Congress on Evangelism which was held in 1966 in Berlin. Similar conferences took place in Lausanne in 1974, as well as in Amsterdam in 1983, 1986 and 2000.
The UK-based Churches in Communities International welcomed the Congress. President Hugh Osgood said “The church in Europe needs to rise up with fresh confidence. The European Congress on Evangelism will provide the inspiration, strength, and confidence in the gospel that will enable us to do this. Let’s prioritise this opportunity to be together to advance God’s kingdom.”
Ulrich Parzany, a German evangelical pastor who participated in the Amsterdam 2000 conference said: “In our challenging times Christians and churches must join hands for spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ all over Europe again.”
Per Ewert, who serves as director of Sweden’s leading Christian think-tank, The Clapham Institute, said, “Europe in the 21st century is experiencing two parallel trends, a continued wind of secular individualism, and a growing opposition to this philosophy and its consequences for society and individuals. It is vital to proclaim the Good News about Jesus Christ in a culture in need of a moral and spiritual foundation, peace and agape love.”
A 2018 Pew Research study found that Western Europeans are less likely to believe in God than those in Central or Eastern Europe, with fewer than two-thirds of respondents from most Western European countries claiming to believe in God. Hungary, the Czech Republic and Estonia were the only three Eastern and Central European Countries where less than two-thirds of respondents said they believe in God, according to the study.
