In a shock statement today the World Evangelical Alliance has announced the cancellation of its planned global Assembly in October this year. The global community of Evangelicals have been planning for several years to meet in Seoul, South Korea, bringing together up to 7,000 particpants under the theme “Following Jesus Christ into the World”. Today’s statement…
Metropolitan Geevarghese (George) Coorilos who was a participant in the last LOI consultation, and hopes to join us again this year, has just published his reflections on the latest WCC statement on mission. This follows the WCC Assembly in Korea late last year. Metropolitan Coorilos, who is also the moderator of the Commission on World Mission…
An Orthodox parish priest from North Carolina, USA, has just published a very interesting book on mission. Fr. Edward Rommen is the priest of Holy Tranfiguration Orthodox Church (within the Orthodox Church in America) in Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina as well as serving as adjunct professor at the Divinity School of Duke University. Having trained in…
Plans are now well in hand for the Second LOI consultation which will again be held in Albania at the invitation of His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios. This year we expect around 55 Orthodox and Evangelical leaders to gather for a week in September. Invitations went out last month and already a good number of people…
One of the participants at the 2013 LOI Consultation has returned to Albania to discuss the rights of Christians with the President of the country. The Ambassador for Human Rights of the World Evangelical Alliance and Director of the International Institute for Religious Freedom, Dr. Thomas Schirrmacher, presented the concerns of Christians in a one-hour meeting…
One of the key note speakers from the 2013 Lausanne-Orthodox Initiative Consultation, Dr. Brad Nassif, has an interesting article in the current edition of Christianity Today. He writes about the theological convoversy concerning the Filioque, which has divided the Church for over 1,500 years. Reflecting on his grandmother’s recipe for hummus he suggests that this issue…
The Ecumenical Patriarch said today he hoped for a continuing exchange of Orthodox and Anglican students to aid the two Churches’ relationship. His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was speaking today during his welcome of the Anglican Communion’s spiritual head Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. He said, “In the past, the rapprochement between our two Churches…
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, will visit His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in Istanbul today (13 January 2014). Archbishop Justin is from an Evangelical background (having worshipped for several years at Holy Trinity, Brompton, home of the Alpha Course). Responding warmly to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew’s invitation to visit he noted the important contributions His…
The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki have announced a very interesting three week summer school for 2014 under the title “Learning about Orthodox Theology, past and present”. It will take place from 23 June to 12 July 2014 and will be taught in English. Full details can be seen here Summer School
Recently we heard from Pam Dandre in Ukraine who tells us her own story about Evangelicals and Orthodox working together in mission. She writes about a recent conversation with a friend who is Protestant-turned-Orthodox and will soon be a missionary in Mongolia. Pam writes, “We have been dialoguing about some of the doctrines and traditions within…