Today, Christians from different traditions increasingly encounter and engage with one another. We meet across denominational, regional, national, ethnic and cultural boundaries. In many places members of different churches and inter-church organisations are coming together over shared concerns, such as social and ethical questions, secularisation, or the challenges of minority status or persecution.

And Yet...

Many churches and Christian communities continue to live in isolation from one another. Some have not found it necessary to come closer to traditions that differ from their own. Others have been unable to find opportunities for engaging with others, or have felt excluded and rejected. 

Therefore . . .

The Global Christian Forum seeks to offer new opportunities for broadening and deepening encounters.  It is especially intended to promote new relationships between and among Christian constituencies :

• which have not been in conversation with one another
• who are in conversation with only a select group of partners
• who have engaged in existing ecumenical relationships.

The Global Christian Forum is pursuing this goal through the creation of a 'space' where participants all meet on an equal basis, to foster mutual respect, and to explore and address together common concerns. 

Going beyond ...

The modern ecumenical movement has come a long way since its beginnings in the early part of the 20th century. Many churches have been enabled to move beyond their historical divisions into new relationships of trust, cooperation and communion.

Institutions which represent certain parts of the Christian family have emerged, such as the World Council of Churches and the World Evangelical Alliance.  Historic denominations have entered into conversations with other world communions and churches, such as those the Catholic Church has conducted, especially since the Second Vatican Council, with partners ranging from Pentecostal to the Orthodox families of churches.

There are also many organisations, like the Lausanne Committee, World Vision, the Young Women’s and Young Men’s Christian Associations, etc. in which Christians from a wide variety of backgrounds work together and engage the churches across ecclesial and confessional boundaries.

Yet there has been no place where representatives of all the main Christian churches and church families, and their international organizations can join together around one table.

The Global Christian Forum aims to create such a place, independent of existing structures.  The concept of a new, independent space was first proposed by Rev Dr Konrad Raiser, at that time General Secretary of the World Council of Churches.  It was entrusted to an autonomous Continuation Committee, which since 1998 has convened various meetings in order to refine and advance this vision.

First voices ...

Following smaller gatherings, an International Consultation was held at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, USA, in September 2000, and another in June 2002.  The latter brought together almost 60 participants from Catholic, Orthodox (Eastern and Oriental), Anglican, Protestant, Evangelical, Pentecostal, Holiness and African Instituted churches, and from a number of international Christian organisations, many representing Evangelical and Pentecostal constituencies.  People came from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and North America.  They developed a provisional Purpose Statement, describing the scope and objectives that the Forum might pursue (now called the Guiding Purpose Statement, see under Documents)

A journey ...

Based on the previous consultations, contacts and discussions between 1998 and 2002, the Continuation Committee developed a four-year plan. A series of Consultations in the major regions of the world over the period 2004 – 2007 brought an increasingly widening circle of people to the table. This process made it possible to call together a truly representative global gathering of Christian leaders in November 2007.

The regional consultations took place in Asia (Hong Kong, from 30 April to 4 May 2004),  Africa (Lusaka, Zambia from 9 to 13 August 2005), Europe (Warburg, Germany from 19 to 22 June 2006) and in Latin America (Santiago, Chile from 26 to 29 June 2007). Each one was placed under the theme of Our Journey with Jesus Christ and was attended by some 60 participants from all parts of the region and all parts of Christ’s body. For many of them it was their first-ever experience of encounter with some Christian traditions other than their own. In the words of a Pentecostal participant in the Africa meeting: "This has been a beautiful opportunity for churches that have been marginalized to be given the possibility to speak."

All four regional meetings produced a statement or message, and full reports of several are also available (see under Documents).

« History made at Global Forum », « Historic Breakthrough », New Day for Evangelicals in World Christianity » were among the titles of press releases reporting on the Global Forum event that took place on 6 – 9 November at Jumuia Conference and Country Home in Limuru, near Nairobi, Kenya. It was the culmination of the nine-year process that began in 1998. As planned, it brought together over 230 leaders of all the main Christian traditions from all parts of the world. They strongly affirmed the « compelling vision » of the Global Christian Forum, approved a set of Proposals for the Future of the Forum and issued a Message to all brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the world. The list of participating Churches, Church families and Organisations at the end of the Message reflects the unprecedented breadth of representation of the event. The full list of participants and the Message can be found under Nairobi 2007, where the proposals for the continuation of the Global Christian Forum and other documents are also made available.

Next steps ...

• There will now be an evaluation of the Global Christian Forum since its beginning and including the global gathering of November 2007, to get an assessment of its strengths and weaknesses;
• Taking into account the findings of the evaluation and the recommendations of the global gathering, a small consultation to be convened in the second half of 2008 will develop a new programme for the period 2009 – 2013.