As 45 participants, from Orthodox and Evangelical communitiaries around the would, gathered for the Opening Banquet of the Lausanne-Orthodox Consultation tonight we were reminded of the ‘Inextinguishable flame of Christ’. Welcoming us to St. Vlash monastery and to Albania, His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana and All Albania reminded us of the suffering of the church here under communism and the remarkable resurrection of faith in the 1990s. He encouraged us to “stand together” as witness to Christ the inextinguishable Light of the world.
Pastor Ali Kurti, welcoming us on behalf of the Evangelical Community in Albania, spoke of the power of the gospel to transform lives and the seriousness with which Christians should not just read, but also live, the Scriptures.
The joint chairs of our Initiative (pictured) are His Grace Bishop Anglaelos of the Coptic Orthodox Church and Mrs. Grace Mathews, Vice-Chair of the Lausanne Movement.