A Clear Center for Shared Mission
Greater Austin Mission Society is an evangelical Protestant mission society. It is not a church or denomination, and it does not ask every partner to share every secondary conviction. It does ask people and organizations entering a defined partnership to work from a clear confession of the gospel.
The Lausanne Covenant provides that center. It names the good news of Jesus Christ, the authority of Scripture, the mission of the whole Church, and our responsibility to bear witness in word and deed. Within that center, the Society seeks generous and honest collaboration across traditions.
The Lausanne Covenant
Adopted in 1974, the Lausanne Covenant is a widely used evangelical confession and call to mission. It holds Christian belief and Christian responsibility together, joining the authority of Scripture, the gospel of Jesus Christ, evangelism, justice, cooperation, and hope.
Greater Austin Mission Society uses the Covenant to state the theological center from which it works and the shared confession that anchors defined partnership. The Covenant does not erase differences in denomination, culture, worship, church practice, or secondary doctrine.
What the Society Confesses
For readability and brevity, the Society has updated the presentation of the Lausanne Covenant’s fifteen sections in the summaries below. These are our words, not a revision of the Covenant itself. We encourage every reader to read the full Covenant, where its complete argument, language, and emphasis belong together.
The Purpose of God
The one eternal God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—calls a people to Himself and sends them into the world as servants and witnesses for His kingdom, Christ’s body, and the glory of His name.
The Authority and Power of the Bible
The Old and New Testament Scriptures are divinely inspired, true, and authoritative in all they affirm, and the Church receives them in humility as its rule for faith and life.
The Uniqueness and Universality of Christ
There is one Savior and one gospel. Salvation is found in Jesus Christ alone, and every person should have the opportunity to hear, understand, and receive the good news.
The Nature of Evangelism
Evangelism makes the good news of Jesus known and invites people to repent, believe, receive forgiveness, and follow Him in the fellowship of His Church.
Christian Social Responsibility
Because God creates and judges every person, Christians are called to justice, reconciliation, service, and freedom from oppression; evangelism and neighbor love belong together without becoming identical.
The Church and Evangelism
Christ sends His redeemed people into the world as the Father sent Him. The whole Church is called to bear witness, and every congregation should examine whether its life advances or hinders that mission.
Cooperation in Evangelism
The visible unity of Christians in truth strengthens the Church’s witness. Churches and Christian organizations should seek deeper fellowship, shared planning, and practical cooperation where conviction allows.
Churches in Evangelistic Partnership
The Church is global, and mission is not the possession of one nation or culture. Churches should share people, resources, wisdom, and responsibility across old lines of giver and receiver.
The Urgency of the Evangelistic Task
Many people remain without meaningful access to the gospel. The Church should receive that unfinished task with repentance, prayer, sacrifice, and renewed resolve.
Evangelism and Culture
Mission must take culture seriously without placing culture above Scripture. Churches should be deeply rooted in Christ and faithfully present within the cultures and communities they serve.
Education and Leadership
Church growth must not be separated from Christian depth. Churches need leaders formed in biblical conviction, mature character, and forms of training that serve local realities.
Spiritual Conflict
Christian mission takes place amid spiritual opposition. The Church therefore depends on truth, prayer, holiness, discernment, and the power of God rather than technique alone.
Freedom and Persecution
Christians should seek freedom for all people to practice and proclaim faith, stand with those who suffer for Christ, and remain faithful when public witness carries a cost.
The Power of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit bears witness to Christ, gives new life, forms holiness, equips the Church, and supplies the power without which Christian witness is futile.
The Return of Christ
Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly to complete salvation and judgment. Until then, the Church works with urgency, perseverance, humility, and hope.
Unity Is Not Uniformity
The whole Church is larger than the Society, the evangelical community, or any one tradition. Christ knows and shepherds His people. Greater Austin Mission Society does not define the universal Church or stand above it as an arbiter.
The Society can still be clear about its own confession and defined partnerships. Unity does not require churches to erase real differences, and charity does not require theological indifference. It asks Christians to speak truthfully, love one another, and carry shared responsibility where conscience and conviction allow.
How Belief Informs the Research
The Society’s beliefs shape the questions it asks and the aggregate inclusion policy used in its research. The Data property applies documented public evidence and consistent published methods so categories can be understood, questioned, and corrected.
An aggregate classification is not a judgment about an individual congregation’s salvation, faithfulness, spiritual health, fruit, or value to its neighbors. Detailed classifications, source tiers, limitations, privacy, and correction practice belong in the published methodology.
Partnership Begins With Clarity
Partnership does not require agreement on every secondary question. It does require enough shared conviction, trust, and responsibility to work together honestly.