World Council of Churches - News Release
Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org For immediate release - 05/11/2007 11:02:34 AM
MOST DIVERSE CHRISTIAN GATHERING EVER TO DISCUSS UNITY AND COMMON WITNESS
A unique gathering of high level church leaders to start Tuesday 6 November near Nairobi, Kenya, features the broadest range of Christian traditions ever represented at a global meeting, allowing for a discussion of unprecedented ecumenical breadth on what Christians are called to do - together if possible - in the world today.
The 6-9 November gathering, called the Global Christian Forum, brings together about 250 high level representatives of all the main Christian traditions and of their global organizations at the Jumuia Conference Centre in Limuru, near Nairobi.
The Forum's stated purpose is to create a new, open space in which a broad range of Christian churches and interchurch organizations can gather in a multilateral setting to foster mutual respect and explore and address together common challenges. It aims to include all streams of Christianity, including those which have not been in conversation with one another. In Limuru about half of the participants will be Evangelicals and Pentecostals.
Over four days, with the theme âOur Journey with Jesus Christ, the Reconciler,â participants will discuss how best to promote dialogue and co-operation on issues of Christian unity and common witness to the world. They will debate proposals for the future of the Forum, and it is hoped that a âLetter to the Churches†will summarize the results of the meeting.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is represented by the moderator of its central committee, the Rev. Walter Altmann; its general secretary, the Rev. Samuel Kobia; its president from the Pacific region, Mr John Doom; and the Rev. Robina Winbush, member of the continuation committee of a process called "Ecumenism in the 21st Century".
First proposed in the mid-1990âs by the Rev. Konrad Raiser, then WCC general secretary, the Forum was born out of the recognition that the ecumenical movement is broader than the WCC. Although it helped to initiate the process, the WCC sees itself as one of the participating organizations alongside others.
Regional consultations have taken place since in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America. The methodology used in those encounters encouraged the sharing of the participantsâ faith journeys and of the stories of their faith communities.
The Forum process, which is led by a 12-member continuation committee, has so far avoided becoming a new organization or institution, and continues to be based on âparticipationâ as opposed to âmembershipâ.
The Christian traditions represented at the Forum meeting in Limuru are: African Instituted, Anglican, Baptist, Evangelical, (Roman) Catholic, Disciples (Churches of Christ), Friends, Holiness, Lutheran, Mennonite, Methodist, Moravian, Old Catholic, Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, Pentecostal, Reformed, Salvation Army, Seventh-Day Adventist, United and Uniting Churches.
In addition to these Christian traditions or âfamiliesâ, a number of Christian organizations are also represented: regional ecumenical organizations, youth and student international movements, YMCA and YWCA, United Bible Societies, World Vision International, the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, the World Council of Churches and a number of forum-type organizations.
Media contact in Limuru:Juan Michel (+254) 7 3516 8676
The participants list will shortly be available on the Global Christian Forum website [in English, French and Spanish]: http://www.globalchristianforum.net/ Additional information:Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363
The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, tod ay the WCC brings together 347 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from the Methodist Church in Kenya. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.
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