A first-of-a-kind global gathering that has brought together the broadest range of Christian tradition ever is not “going to be easy,” predicted the leader of a global church body.
“I don’t think it is going to be easy, but I hope we will find a meeting space,” said the Rev. Setri Nyomi, general secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, according to Ecumenical News International.
The Global Christian Forum began Tuesday in Limuru, near Nairobi, and will end on Friday. Some 240 participants from a wide range of faith groups – including Anglican, Baptist, Evangelical, Roman Catholic, Friends, Mennonite, Moravian, Eastern Orthodox, Pentecostal, Seventh-Day Adventists, and United Churches among others – are part of the meeting.
"I am stunned we have here what might be described as a new Pentecost," said the Rev. Dr. Cecil "Mel" Robeck, an Assemblies of God minister from the United States and a member of the Global Christian Forum continuation committee, according to the World Council of Churches.
The idea for the forum was first proposed in the mid-1990s by then World Council of Churches general secretary the Rev. Konrad Raiser with the recognition that the ecumenical movement was broader than the WCC, which represents 560 million Christians in 110 countries.
Raiser had said the forum could reach out to Roman Catholic, Pentecostal and Evangelical churches that are not part of WCC, according to ENI. WCC is mostly composed of Orthodox, Anglican and mainline Protestant traditions.
About half of the forum’s participants are evangelicals or Pentecostals.
“Our differences are not bigger than what binds us together,” Nyomi said. “We have more in common, but how we express it is different.”
The stated purpose of the forum 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.
"It is a wonderful opportunity for the broad spectrum of Christian churches and communities to encounter one another and to be in conversation with one another, not with the view of creating complicated structures, but rather with the view of maintaining the fellowship of conversation and of Christian hope," said the Rev. Leonid Kishkovsky of the Orthodox Church in America.
Addressing the forum’s opening session Tuesday was the Rev. Peter Karanja, the general secretary of the National Council of Churches of Kenya. In his speech, the Anglican priest said churches are increasingly reluctant to make moral, ethical or spiritual demands on their members for fear of being labeled legalistic, fundamentalist or fanatical, according to ENI.
"The individuals are left to choose what being a Christian means for them and as long as they are happy, then everything goes," said Karanja. "There is something inauthentic about our faith, if it just remains in our heads or liturgy, but does not translate into changed lives and conduct."
Karanja called on Christians to look “beyond” the “peculiarities and distinctions, divisions and conflicts, mistrusts and all apprehensions which divide us and set us up against one another,” according to WCC.
In addition to the church denominations or “families” that have gathered for the Global Christian Forum, a number of Christian organizations are also represented, including: 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.
Comments
say this as tactfully, and as lovingly as I can to all who side with Rick Warren in this ecumenical drive to unite the worlds religeons. Be warned, for this is what the Bible says: God is gracious and merciful, and will forgive those who turn to Him thru Jesus Christ with a repentant heart, and choose to fllow Him. However, He is the Righteous God, and He will judge those who deliberately turned their backs on Him and His Son - Jesus Christ because of their obstinate rebellion and continual rejection of His Son. Read the Bible in context, and then comment on it. We cannot, and should not have felowship with those who claim to be Christians yet don't obey His Word, and HIs Salvation Message. The post modern liberal Emergent church, and it's seeker sensitive counterparts want people to believe that if we all save the environment, and save the whales, the events of the Book of Revelation will not happen, and we can actually prevent it from happening. This similar social gospel which claims that we should make the world a better place, and usher in peace prior to Jesus' second coming, as well as unite with all people of faiths has been adopted by Rick Warren, and has caused whole splits in the Southern Baptist Convention, because he has gone down the Purpose Driven P.E.A.C.E Plan agenda, which by the way is a false doctrine my friends. These movements which align themselves with Bono from U2 and the whole COEXIST crowd have more in common with humanism, one world religeon, and the new age than what the Bible says will transpire. The problem today is that we have so many "Bible teachers" who are more motivational speakers than true shepherd's of the flock of God. No wonder the Body of Christ is split. The Bible talks of a great falling away in the end times. Men will naturally gravitate towards what their "itching ears" want to hear. What more itching do you need than what you hear on TBN, and the like: "find success", "you are the controller of your own destiny" "God will prosper you if you just have faith [and send me your money]". They take Scripture out of context to suit their own desires, and fleece the flock of God for their own matierial gain. OPEN YOUR EYES and STUDY the WORD IN CONTEXT; for Christ will return soon.
Having lived long enough to have seen something of the world and to have come to at least a minimal understanding of the human condition (and human nature), I have concluded that ALL religion is both largely culturally derived and fundamentally flawed (in that it is self-serving).
Yes, I consider myself a Christian. But I am no longer willing to claim exclusive membership in one or another denomination. Christ did not establish the Catholic Church or the Presbyterian Church or any other establishment of religion; all were established later by mere, fallible mortals and all have been corrupted to some degree over time by adherents who used these institutions to advance their own material ambitions.
I believe the heart of the Gospel can be found in Jesus' admonition to love God with your whole being and to love your neighbor as yourself. Love of neighbor translates in contemporary terms to service to those neighbors in need. Or, to put it another way, my understanding is that we are commanded to show our love for God through service to people and good stewardship of the created world. We serve God by faithfully laboring in the vinyard of this world.
Why then, do we continue to place such importance on theological hair-splitting and the nuances of liturgical diversity? The important thing is Christian service; that is what we have in common. That is what we should be engaged in doing together, working shoulder to shoulder to build the New Jerusalem.
One world religion?
Nobody speaks for me. I speak for myself and I speak for nobody else. As far as I knew, we were already united in Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit. We do not need these so-called leaders to represent us or to decide for us what it means to be christian.
Amen...........
Peter 4
1 Therefore, since Christ suffered for us[a] in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. 3 For we have spent enough of our past lifetime[b] in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. 4 In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. 5 They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
Hey pburwell ,..not like the "Winston Churchills" and "Martin Luthers" are`nt brousing these web-pages too waddayathink? (not me,..but I`m just saying.....)
pburwell: THANK YOU...... I figure if it were`nt for inputs just like yours my education would be nothing more than a boring 2 dimensional concept........
The idea that idolatrous religions, like Roman Catholicism and Seventh Day Adventists, with the WCC, can be unified with Christianity in ANY way makes no sense other then to reduce the Gospel of Jesus to the doctrines of men. Tio OBEY is better than sacrifice!
Sorry I left this out......and come up with something that the next couple generations can work with leaving out as many "headaches" as possible no matter where they live or their backgrounds....
I just hope with this big meeting, they open some books of running trends, censuses on different levels and maybe see what is "new" compared to maybe 10-15, 30 years ago...I understand the populace and demagraphics in places has changed alot over that period of time, but is still constructively managable....