Dr Michael Cassidy has been appointed as the new Chair of the Lausanne Movement.

The African Enterprise founder was appointed during a meeting of Lausanne directors in Boston, in the United States.

Dr Cassidy has been involved in evangelism, teaching, leadership and reconciliation ministry in his native South Africa, as well as across the African continent and in other parts of the world.

He succeeds the Rev Dr John Stott, who died last July.

Dr Cassidy, who was mentored by Stott and Billy Graham, said he was "overwhelmed, deeply humbled, and profoundly honoured" by the appointment.

Lausanne Movement Executive Chairman Doug Birdsall said Cassidy embodied the “spirit of Lausanne”.

He is a "global statesman and advocate for reconciliation and for Christian unity, while at the same time a persuasive evangelist who has been used on every continent for the cause of world evangelisation”, said Dr Birdsall.

"He is a visionary leader who sees beyond the horizons of his own time frame," he said.

Dr Cassidy was part of the initial planning meeting for the First International Congress on World Evangelisation held in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1974.

“That Congress itself and the [resulting] Lausanne Covenant changed the nature of missionary and evangelistic playing fields in the world and introduced a wonderfully biblical, holistic philosophy and methodology of evangelism," he said.

Dr Cassidy called The Lausanne Covenant a document that “could well stand as the major theological statement of mission in the history of the church”.

“The Cape Town Commitment, issued from the 2010 Lausanne Congress, is a major statement to guide the worldwide church in both its theology and its practice of evangelism and world mission," he said.

"We pray it will have a significant theological impact on the church, and also guide many of the new strategies and mission impulses which are developing.”

As a native South African, Cassidy has been widely involved in both the visible and behind the scenes reconciliation and political change in the country.

He developed the National Initiative for Reconciliation in 1985, which brought together leaders of different Christian denominations and races for the purpose of reconciliation among themselves and their communities.

He also chaired the Consultation on Human Rights and Religious Freedom in 1993. These and other activities have been broadly acknowledged as important contributions to the 1994 peaceful South African Election. In 2008, he spearheaded the National Initiative for the Reformation of South Africa.

African Enterprise has announced that Dr Cassidy will visit the UK from 21 to 28 October and will speak at a variety of venues around the country, including Holy Trinity Platt in Manchester and All Souls Langham Place in London.