Global Forum Hailed as 'Unprecedented' Step Toward Christian Unity

NAIROBI, Kenya – Christians from across a broad range of denominations and traditions met in Nairobi, Kenya, this week to discuss the challenges and opportunities for Christian unity.

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(Photo: Christian Today)

Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe, International Director of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), addresses the Global Christian Forum in Nairobi, Kenya.

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The Global Christian Forum (GCF), which concluded Friday, was heralded by the more than 200 delegates as an “unprecedented” meeting of Christians, bringing together a number of denominations and traditions, including Anglicans, Baptists, Catholics, Lutherans, Pentecostals and their Evangelical members.

A number of discussions and addresses took place throughout the Nov. 6-9 forum around the theme of “Our Journey with Jesus Christ, the Reconciler.”

Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe, International Director of the World Evangelical Alliance, welcomed the Global Christian Forum as a new opportunity for the various Christian traditions to overcome their differences.

“As I look at the global landscape and we look at the way the Christian family connects, it seems to me that we have some wonderful constructs but we need some new bridges,” he told delegates at the forum. “The richness and the growth of the church in the Global South make for a new day and we need some new bridges.”

Tunnicliffe also welcomed the forum as an opportunity to break down stereotypes and to promote greater religious liberty around the world,” particularly in countries where Christianity is a minority religion.

The Rev. Peter Sleebos of the Assemblies of God in the Netherlands welcomed the participation of Pentecostals at the GCF, saying, “We can learn a lot from each other.”

He acknowledged, however, the tensions that remain between Pentecostals and the ecumenical movement. “Almost all of our constituencies are very allergic to that word ecumenism,” he said.

Sleebos also called for further dialogue on a number issues, particularly the need to more clearly define certain Christian terms, such as “church” and ”disciple.”

He concluded with a positive outlook on the role of the GCF in fostering greater unity. “We discover in you brothers and sisters that you are as special as we are for God and the things of God. We can learn from your passion for the unity of the Church of Jesus Christ,” he said.

Hubert Van Beek, Continuation Committee Secretary of the Global Christian Forum, told U.K.-based Christian Today that the presence of Pentecostals and Evangelicals was one of the achievements of the forum.

“Evangelicals and Pentecostals, while they are contemporary in terms of the time line of the church, have in the last century taken different directions and moved in isolation from one another. The forum is an attempt to bridge that gap,” he said.

“There is a need to build new bridges because the rivers have changed their flow and the pattern of Christianity has changed in the last century and we have to deal with a new reality that wasn’t there when the ecumenical movement began at the beginning of the 20th century.”

The Very Rev. Leonid Kishkovsky of the Orthodox Church in America and President of Christian Churches Together, meanwhile, spoke honestly of the remaining obstacles to Christian unity.

“Our Christian task is to participate with Christ in reconciling the world to God. The fact is that we also have much to do in finding reconciliation among ourselves. We have a challenge towards reconciliation at least to the extent of seeing one another as Christians,” he said.

Kishkovsky echoed the desire of Evangelicals and Pentecostals for further dialogue to more clearly define the meaning of certain Christian terms among the various denominations and traditions.

“Evangelism, mission, witness – we have heard much about these words. We need to do much to discover what each of our traditions means by them,” he told delegates. “There are certainly sources of conflict and friction around those concepts and those realities. The realities of evangelism, mission and witness eventually will need to be discussed in an open but honest way.”