The church in all its diversity is undergoing a major global reconfiguration, but Europe, with humility, should not fail to contribute what it is able to. A reflection based on Jason Mandryk's talk at the General Assembly of the World Evangelical Alliance in Seoul.
Jason Mandryk, speaking in panel on the state of evangelicalism in the world, during the WEA General Assembly in Seoul. / Photo: Video snapshot [link]Youtube WEA[/link].
The morning began with introductions and early panels setting the tone for the World Evangelical Alliance’s General Assembly in Seoul. Almost nine hundred delegates from 124 nations gathered under the theme “The Gospel for Everyone” – an invitation to reimagine mission in a rapidly changing world, with a focus on the year 2033 when Christians round the world will celebrate two millennia since Christ’s coming, ministry, death and resurrection.
From the very first session, the atmosphere carried expectancy. The delegates had arrived with an anticipation to see God moving. Keynote speaker Rick Warren insisted from stage that we have eight years till 2033 to finish the task of the Great Commission. He went on with a Bible study on Acts 2, drawing out ten models from the life of the early church. “The Church at its birth was the Church at its best”, he said. To get ready for celebrating two thousand years since the birth of the church, we would do better to draw from its roots at Pentecost.
[destacate]For centuries, the Christian map was drawn from Europe to the rest. Now the spiritual energy of the Church today beats in places like Lagos, Mopa, Crissiumal, Addis Ababa, Kampala[/destacate]The forum included 12 panel discussions, 23 afternoon seminars, lengthy plenary sessions with rich worship. The meetings were hosted by a Korean megachurch called “SaRang” with a massive auditorium and an imposing church structure planned for conferences and event of vast size.The WEA delegates were joined by an impressive crowd of five thousand local believers. A huge 400-people choir called “Shekinah Singers” and a skillful worship orchestra called “Integrity Music” led the crowd into immersive and inspiring worship.
It was during one of these opening panels that Jason Mandryk from Operation World presented his research on the global growth of Evangelicalism – a talk that redefines how many see the Church. For me, a European participant, the day felt like a living parable: relevant data in the morning, gorgeous worship in the afternoon – together contributing to the same timeline of God’s current workings in our world.
The opening of the @WEAnews 2025 General Assembly.
Leaders from around the world gather with one heart and one mission—to see the whole Church take the whole Gospel to the whole world.
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— Finishing the Task (@FTT2033) October 27, 2025
Mandryk’s presentation, Living the Gospel in Global Growth, began with a simple statement: “We, the Evangelicals, are many.” Within the World Evangelical Alliance framework, more than 650 million people around the world identify as ‘Evangelicals’ – roughly one in four Christians today.
The term ‘Evangelical’ is broad and hard to define, but it encompasses a vast community that exists on every continent. It was the second statement, however, that stunned me: “We are increasing, and most of that increase is far from Europe.”
Since 1960, Evangelicals have grown from 8 to 25 percent of global Christianity. Around 70 percent now live in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The tipping point, Mandryk reminded us, came as early as 1980. Which is to say that almost everyone alive today was born into a world where Evangelical faith was already a majority-world phenomenon.
As the graphs appeared on screen, I felt like history was turning upside down. For centuries, the Christian map was drawn from north to south, from Europe to the rest. Now the arrows were pointing elsewhere. The spiritual energy of the Church today beats in places like Lagos, Mopa, Crissiumal, Addis Ababa, Kampala, rather than London or Geneva. This is not so much a loss of territory. Rather, it is the unfolding of God’s own geography during the first decades of the 21st century.
The figures shared by Mandryk carry significant weight. Africa alone has accounted for nearly 70 percent of the increase in world Christianity during the past half-century. Cities are swelling with new believers. Pentecostal and charismatic congregations multiply at breathtaking speed.
[destacate] Education often lags behind evangelistic enthusiasm. Pastors lead vast congregations with little access to Biblical training. Prosperity teachings spread faster than solid Bible study[/destacate]Mandryk called this a blessing that brings responsibility: “Rapid growth means discipleship must be among our top priorities.” His words stayed with me. When numbers grow faster than spiritual formation, the foundation can crack.
The Church in the Global South faces enormous challenges of theological depth. Education often lags behind evangelistic enthusiasm. Pastors lead vast congregations with little access to Biblical training. Prosperity teachings spread faster than solid Bible study.
This tendency was later confirmed by another conference speaker, representative of the Association of Christian Theological Education (ACTE) which has done a study in several countries. Nine of every ten pastors in Africa do not have theological education, he said, and this has led to all sorts of Biblical and theological issues. About 80 percent of the pastors do not hold even bachelor’s degree.
None of this diminishes the miracle of what God is doing. It only highlights how the Evangelical community must work as a body: the mind cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you.” Europe, with its long tradition of theological reflection and education, still has gifts to offer. Perhaps the time has come for European believers to send teachers rather than preachers, humble servants rather than high experts.
Listening to Jason Mandryk’s talk in Seoul, I realised how small Europe has become on the global Christian stage. Once the sending continent, we are now one of the smallest branches of the Evangelical tree. Our societies are tangibly secularised, our churches are ageing, our public voice sounds kind of faint.
But maybe that is precisely where grace begins. While Evangelicalism may be losing its momentum, it can regain authenticity. The Gospel does not need privilege, heritage or buildings to be credible; it needs faithfulness and integrity. In a culture that prizes autonomy and doubts transcendence, a minority church can bear strong witness through humility, service, mercy and truth lived out in daily life.
[destacate] The Gospel does not need privilege, heritage or buildings to be credible; it needs faithfulness and integrity. Humility, service, mercy and truth lived out in daily life[/destacate]Europe’s future contribution may not be measured in numbers. But its churches still own theological, cultural and ministerial depth: in careful thinking, transparent ethics, artistic beauty, creative social media messages, embracing migrant congregations, a renewed energy of partnerships in church planting, publishing its own authors instead of simply translating American literature, creating enough space for Gen Z initiatives, as well as a rediscovery of community in fragmented societies. The question is not how to restore influence, but how to embody integrity.
Mandryk’s warning that Evangelicals have “failed to live up to the Gospel we preach” applies to all of us, but especially to the West, where the term ‘Evangelical’ has too often been tied to political or cultural battles. The next revival we need may not fill stadiums. It may simply be expressed in restored credibility due to the simplest solutions of all: loving humbly serving your neighbour.
One of the most hopeful moments in Mandryk’s talk came when he described Evangelicalism’s extraordinary diversity: geographical, ethnic, generational, denominational and practical. “No single denomination owns the good news”, he said. What might sound like fragmentation can, in fact, be a sign of health. Isn’t this what Pentecost was all about – one message, translated to many by the same Spirit?
Yet diversity also demands clarity. The word ‘Evangelical’ means different things to different people, sometimes even within the same country. Some associate it with joy and renewal; others hear hypocrisy, partisan arrogance or extremism. Mandryk urged the global family to live out this identity in a way that clearly speaks who we are and whose we are.
This is where Europe can once again play a constructive role. Our heritage of confessions and catechisms, our historical memory of reform and repentance, can serve the wider family by helping maintain theological clarity and ethical coherence – provided we speak with humility, not superiority.
As I listened, I thought of how often God has redrawn the map of His Church. The centre of gravity has never stayed still. It started from Jerusalem and then kept moving to Antioch, to Rome, to Constantinople, to Moscow, to Wittenberg, to London, to the American “Bible Belt”. Now it is shifting to places like Nairobi, São Paulo and Seoul.
Each shift has the potential to renew the Christian faith and correct its blind spots. The Reformation revived doctrine but fragmented unity. The missionary era expanded the Church but often carried colonial arrogance. Perhaps the rise of the Global South is now coming to remind us that the Gospel is not owned by any civilisation.
In God’s story, the movement of the Spirit through history is unpredictable, border-crossing, constantly reaching towards new marginalized groups.
So, what is God telling Europe through this new chapter?
First, Evangelicals need to listen. The future of Christianity will be spelt in new languages and will be sung in new rhythms. Will we be ready to hear the voice of our non-European and non-American brothers and sisters? Will we catch their sermon message and probe into their theological thought? Will we pay attention to the way they formulate the same solid Biblical doctrines in their context?
[destacate] We must learn. The passion, prayers and perseverance of majority-world believers can reawaken our European tired hearts. Their breakthroughs are a treasure well that cannot be ignored[/destacate]Second, we must learn. The passion, prayers and perseverance of majority-world believers can reawaken our European tired hearts. Their stories, their discoveries, their breakthroughs are a treasure well that cannot be ignored if the global Church wants to remain relevant and in sync with the movement of God’s Spirit.
Third, Europeans should be ready to serve. If our continent has intellectual and institutional resources, they are meant to strengthen others, not to build our empires. If our heritage has a wealth of Christian culture, literature, music and art, we need to find ways to share it. If Europe has trained theological capacity and academic potential, this can be made available to serve the needs of the bigger church.
The next expressions of mission will necessarily be based on partnership. The Korean hospitality that marked every moment of the Seoul Assembly was a visible reminder of that spirit. The Church grows not by control but by generosity.
When the international delegates and the local believers sang together in the vast hall of the host church, a living image of Revelation 7:9 came to mind. We felt like “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages”.
[destacate] The World Evangelical Alliance is stepping into a new mandate with optimism, a sense of unity and a commitment to invest double effort for the completion of the Great Commitment[/destacate]As I looked at all the men and women in that assembly, and all the international flags hanging from the second and third floor, a thought crossed my mind. The future of Evangelicalism is here and now, in this mosaic of faces. It is Middle Eastern as well as Latin American. It is European as well as African. It is Asian as well as Caribbean. It is South Pacific as well as North American.
According to Dr. Brad Smith, World Evangelical Alliance director of Alliance engagement, of the 850 delegates present, 36% came from Asia and 21% from Africa, with additional representation from Europe (12%), North America (17%), Latin America (5%), the South Pacific (3%), the Middle East and North Africa (3%), Central Asia (1.5%), and the Caribbean (1,5%).
Significantly, the General Assembly affirmed that the new mandate of the WEA will be in the hands and hearts of Botrus Mansur (Nazareth) as secretary general and Godfrey Yogarajah (Sri Lanka) as chair of the governance body called International Council (IC).
The World Evangelical Alliance is stepping into a new mandate with optimism, a sense of unity and a commitment to invest double effort for the completion of the Great Commitment as the world nears the year 2033. The map may feel upside down for some Europeans, but the mission remains the same. The Gospel is indeed for everyone.
Vlady Raichinov, Baptist pastor in Sofia, member of the board of the Bulgarian Evangelical Alliance.
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