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Transforming Ecumenism? The Global Christian Forum

History was made at a conference held outside Nairobi, Kenya Nov 6-9, 2007, according to people who were in the know. The 250 church leaders were present from more than 70 countries and dozens of churches and organisations ranging from African Instituted Churches and Pentecostals all the way through Protestant and Anglican to Roman Catholic and various groups of Orthodox. They represented some of the newest Christians in the world, some of the most remote and those stretching all the way back to near biblical lands who still use the language of Jesus Christ. Around 40 % were from Evangelical and Pentecostal groups, many from the global south. Organisers claimed it was the most diverse group of church leaders ever assembled.

Only two plenary papers were given at the Kenya GCF—both by Pentecostals, both emphasising the new face of Christianity with its strength and vitality in the global south and east. The main achievement of the conference was drawing together such a wide range of Christians, considered to be of historic proportions. The main business was the future of the movement.

GCF had its genesis in the 1990s when it was realised by the ecumenical movement that something should be done to reach out beyond their existing constituency—the mainline Protestant churches and the Orthodox churches (comprising about 400 million) with the Roman Catholic church (about one billion), not a member but in a close working partnership. They realised that outside this stood the large and rapidly growing Evangelical and Pentecostal groups in particular, some denominations and many other independent churches who together were numbered in excess of 700 million. Although very fragmented and fissiparous, many of those outside the ecumenical mainstream had a keen sense of spiritual unity, as expressed in movements like the Evangelical Alliance, Lausanne and mission bodies, student ministries, evangelistic organisations and other parachurch groups. This conviction about spiritual rather than organisational unity had meant that many of them had had no previous part in the ecumenical movement—indeed some were suspicious or even hostile towards it. ‘Evangelical’ and had been opposed to ‘ecumenical’ as polar opposites.

In a bold move, preliminary steps were taken to explore ways of creating a new ‘open space’ where these groups could meet with others of their kind and with those already ecumenically involved. So began a series of ‘forums’ based on the principle that this was a new movement, separate from existing ecumenical bodies. It would have participants only (not members) and with the smallest possible organisation and infrastructure. Sharing participants’ journey with Jesus was embedded in the process as the basis for all further relationships, discussions, prayer and Bible study. From 2004, forums were held in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America.

At first it was hoped that the forum could be truly ‘global’ from an early point, but it took time for this to occur—in fact, 9 years! But when it did, at Limuru Kenya in Nov 2007, it was judged to be an overwhelming success, achieving the kind of ‘open space’ where all could feel welcome and accepted and where genuine fellowship could occur. By then, much had been achieved in the regions where earlier forums had been held, and those who had been at arm’s length to the ecumenical movement had begun to see the possibilities of this new approach. Evangelicals and Pentecostals had come into the planning, recognising that this was indeed a ‘new table’ where they were regarded as equal partners with others, and so they made a major contribution to the shape of the Forum. It represented a new approach from the ecumenical side, but also many changes had been taking place on the evangelical and Pentecostal side where sharing with others had become more acceptable and the old suspicious of social responsibility had been turned around into bold new initiatives in ‘transformational mission’ such as the Micah Challenge.

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