At the invitation of His Eminence Archbishop Leo and Metropolitan Ambrosius, we will be meeting in the wonderful setting of Sofia Cultural Centre at Lähdeniemi Källviksudden. This is on a small sea peninsular north east of Helsinki and only a short distance from the airport. Sophia is also the residence of Metropolitan Ambrosius as metropolitan bishop of Helsinki. Participants will be…
LOI Steering Committee member, Dr. Tim Grass, offers us this review of A Future and a Hope: Mission, Theological Education, and the Transformation of Post-Soviet Society, by Joshua Searle and Mykhailo T. Cherenkov (Published by Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2014. ISBN 978-1-4982-0252-7). If relationships between Orthodox and Evangelicals are to move forward, especially in…
Lapidomedia have today published an article on the future of the church in Syria by David Knowles based on an interview with a young Syrian Christian refugee now living in Canada. Although not all commentators on this region would agree with his analysis, Knowles article is worth reading as we pray for the future of the…
The Cambridge, UK, based Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies have announced in their current newsletter the launch of a new doctoral programme for those wishing to follow a research programme on an Orthodox topic. The programme can be undertaken by people anywhere in the world and does not require full-time residence in Cambridge. The spring…
His Grace Bishop Angaelos, General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom, and Co-Chair of LOI has issued the following statement following the murder of Ethiopian Christians in Libya The confirmation of the murder of Ethiopian Christians by Daesh (IS) in Libya has been received with deep sadness. These executions that unnecessarily…
We have received an invitation and call for papers for an International Conference at Bose, Italy from 21-24 October 2015. St. Andrew’s Biblical Theological Institute of Moscow, Russia announces an international conference co-organized with Monastery of Bose in Magnano, Italy on October 21-24, 2015. The theme of the conference is “History and Theology: Historical Conciousness as…
In his Easter address to the wider Christian community the Archbishop of Canterbury draws on the repeated phrase from the opening of the Byzantine liturgy, “Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep” to offer hope where Christians are persecuted today. Archbishop Justin Welby speaks specifically about…
The death has just been announced of an eminent Orthodox scholar who is widely read by evangelical as well as Orthodox students of mission. Rev. Dr. Thomas Hopko served as Dean of St. Vladimir’s seminary in New York after many years on the staff there but is probably best known to a wider audience through…
Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, head of the Department of External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, recently delivered a lecture on “Christian Ecumenism: Does it have a future?” in Winchester and Cambridge, UK. In the introductory passages of his lecture Metropolitan Hilarion deals with the early mission of the church and specifically the role of…
The Coptic Church community in the UK today launched an appeal for support to assist the families of the 21 Coptic Christians from Egypt recently executed by the so called Islamic State in Libya. These men were all bread winners for poor rural families and the church now wishes to support the families in their…