MOSCOW, Soviet Union (FR) – A few weeks after the Supreme Soviet legislature had voted to abolish laws which restricted religion, nearly 1000 of the nation’ evangelical church leaders gathered for the Soviet Congress on World Evangelization. This marked the first time in 73 years that Soviet believers were able to gather for such a large interdenominational gathering.

1100 Soviet participants came from a cross section of evangelical churches and all 15 provinces of the Soviet Union. The participants of the Lausanne Congress in Moscow, coming from many different church denominations, affirmed the common tenants of Christian doctrine outlined in the Lausanne Covenant.

The Congress examined evangelism in a variety of ways including unreached groups, nominal Christians, business people, and young people. Participants looked at the mass media, spiritual discipleship, and church leadership and organizing new churches.

The Congress theme, “The Gospel for All Peoples,” was designed to bring delegates face to face with the immensity of the task before them. The earth’s largest nation, the Soviet Union occupies over one-seventh of the globes land surface and is the world’s third most populous country.