Died. C. Peter Wagner, 86, missiologist, author, professor, and church growth specialist, on October 21, 2016. After committing his life to Christian faith, Wagner earned degrees from Rutgers University, Fuller Theological Seminary, Princeton Theological Seminary, and the University of Southern California. A New York City native, he and his wife, Doris, served as missionaries in Bolivia (1956–71) with the South American Mission and the Andes Evangelical Mission. Then from 1971 he taught at Fuller’s School of World Missions as professor of church growth, retiring in 2001. Wagner was president of Global Harvest Ministries (1993–2001) and chancellor emeritus of the Wagner Leadership Institute, an international network of apostolic training centers that trains leaders for the Pentecostal/charismatic New Apostolic Reformation. Wagner was a charter member of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization. As the first chairperson of the Lausanne Strategy Working Group, he focused on reaching unreached people groups. In 1985 Wagner became founding president of the North American Society for Church Growth. His many books include Your Spiritual Gifts Can Help Your Church Grow (1987) and On the Crest of the Wave: Becoming a World Christian (1983). Wrestling with Alligators, Prophets, and Theologians: Lessons from a Lifetime in the Church—a Memoir (2010) and “My Pilgrimage in Mission,” published in October 1999 in the IBMR, tell more of Wagner’s ministry.
