Dr. Paul Fiddes and Bishop Malkhaz Songulashvili (Baptists from the UK and Georgia respectively) have recently published an interesting article on “A dialogue between the Orthodox Church of Georgia and the ‘Evangelical Christian-Baptists’ of Georgia (1979-1980) with its wider Baptist context” in the International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church. This dialogue was…
Sir John Tavener, the internationally acclaimed Orthodox composer, died today aged 69. Tavener was best known for his religious music, and joined the Russian Orthodox Church in 1977. His Orthodox faith and the rituals of the church exerted a huge influence on his work. He was however much appreciated by Christians from other traditions and his…
The Lebanese National News Agency is reporting that two Syrian bishops who were abducted in April this year have been location although it may take time to negotiate their release. Brigadier General Abbas Ibrahim, Lebanese General Security Chief, revealed that he received information concerning the location of the two kidnapped Syrian bishops, Archbishop Bolous Yazigi…
Regnum books have just published a compendium of articles on Orthodox Mission in their Edinburgh 2010 series. Orthodox Perspectives on Mission is both a humble tribute to some great Orthodox theologians, who in the past have provided substantial contribution to contemporary missiological and ecumenical discussions, and an Orthodox input to the recent 2013 Busan WCC General…
In a video message shown at the opening of the 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Busan, South Korea, His All Holiness Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, called on Christians to “pray for the peace of the whole world and for the unity of all”. More than 2,000 participants from…
As the next General Assembly of the World Council of Church (WCC) approaches some Orthodox missiologists have been reflecting on the WCC and particularly its understanding of mission. The General Assembly will be held in Busan, Korea, from 30 October – 8 November and one of the major documents to be considered will be their…
Stephen Hayes has just written an interesting short article on the differences between evangelism and proselytism – from his Orthodox perspective – on his blog. Click here to read it. If you have not come across Stephen before he is an Orthodox missiologist based in South Africa who hosts a missiology Yahoo group and writes…
We have just heard this encouraging news from Albania. Last week Orthodox and Evangelical leaders who work in prisons in Albania were able to meet together (perhaps for the first time?) to share common concerns and learn from each other. One Evangelical leader comments, “It was a very pleasant time together, studying several aspects on…
Anglican and Oriental Orthodox Church leaders meeting in the UK have shared their fears about the future of Christianity in the Middle East. This was the first Anglican-Oriental Orthodox International Commission in 12 years. The dialogue’s central topic was the Holy Spirit, but Christian persecution in countries across the Middle East was inevitably a key…
We have just received news from Ventislaz and Zlatina Karavaltcheva (Bulgarian Orthodox missionaries who have worked previously in Georgia and Ukraine) that the first stage of an imprtant reseource for Bulgarian schools has been released. This year nearly 2,000 first graders in Sofia and other parts of Bulgaria will have the opportunity to learn the basic…