Introduction
The Limuru Global Forum of November 2007 recommended that a representative consultation be convened to reflect on the future of the Global Christian Forum, on the basis of a thorough evaluation of the process up to and including the Limuru gathering. The evaluation was carried out in the course of 2008 and the consultation took place on 8 – 11 November 2008 in New Delhi. The consultation formulated the key objectives, the anticipated activities and the operational requirements of a 3 – year programme for the period 2009 – 2011.
The key objectives are:
- to uphold the distinctive nature of the Forum
- to pursue global, regional and national/local levels of activity
- to upgrade the communication and promotional capacity of the GCF
- to establish a Friends of the Forum network
- to further define and implement plans for the operational capacity of the GCF.
Anticipated activities:
- a global Forum meeting in 2011
- regional and sub-regional meetings, national meetings and team visits
- the gathering and sharing of case studies
- applying the faith-sharing approach of the Forum to specific issues
- an independent evaluation at the end of the 3 – year period.
Operational requirements:
- transition to a full time secretary with full time administrative support
- fundraising.
At its meeting on 23 – 25 February 2009 in Helsinki, Finland, the Committee on the Global Christian Forum approved a Three – Year Plan of meetings and team visits leading up to a global Forum event scheduled for late 2011, and a Budget. This plan and budget will serve as the frame and support for achieving the key objectives and implementing the activities. The committee is pursuing its actions to put in place the necessary operational requirements. The Three – Year Plan and Budget are presented in this document.
I. Summary
2009
February : GCF Committee meeting
May or June : Team visit to the Middle East
October : Europe leadership meeting
November : GCF Committee meeting
November : Africa Regional Meeting in Ghana preceded by a national forum in Ghana
2010
April : Latin America church leaders meeting
April
April
: GCF Committee meeting in conjunction with Latin America meeting
June or July :
Team visit to the USA
Second half : Thematic meeting
Second half : Asia Regional Meeting preceded by a national forum in Indonesia
Second half : GCF Committee meeting in conjunction with Asia Regional meeting
Second half : Europe sub-regional meeting – Central and Eastern Europe
Second half : Europe sub-regional meeting – Nordic region
;
2011
February : GCF Committee Meeting
First half : Pacific Consultation
First half : Caribbean Consultation
First half : GCF Committee meeting in conjunction with Caribbean Consultation
Second half : Europe sub-regional meeting – Southern Europe
Second half : Global Forum Event
II. Plans 2009
1. GCF Committee Meetings
| Date |
23 – 25 February |
Date |
9 - 10 November |
| Venue |
Helsinki, Finland |
Venue |
London, UK |
| Budget |
US $ 7'000 |
Budget |
US $ 10'000 |
2. Team Visit to the Middle East
Objective : To inform a broad range of Middle East church leaders of the purposes of the Global Christian Forum and to explore with them if and how the GCF could foster relationships and dialogue between Christian traditions in the Middle East that are currently not in conversation with each other.
Countries to be visited: Egypt, Lebanon and Syria (as recommended by the Middle East participants at the New Delhi consultation).
Composition of team: 2 representatives from the Middle East and 3 committee members (Catholic, Othodox, Protestant / Anglican, Evangelical, Pentecostal) plus the Secretary.
Duration of the visit: one week to ten days (maximum three days per country)
Timing : May or June
Budget : US $ 17’000
3. Europe Regional Leadership meeting
Objective: To foster multilateral relations and cooperation between the regional bodies representing the main Christian traditions in Europe, by enabling a meeting of elected leadership of the Conference of European Churches, the Council of Episcopal Conferences in Europe, the European Evangelical Alliance and the Pentecostal European Fellowship.
Number of participants: 20
Venue : to be decided
Timing : October
Budget : US $ 2’500
4. Africa Regional Meeting
Objective : To provide follow-up to the 2005 Lusaka Consultation and to broaden and deepen the GCF impact in Africa. About half of the participating churches and organisations should be new to the process. The meeting should aim at:
-
the organisation of national forums in Africa;
-
the establishment of a GCF network in Africa with active leadership;
-
enhancing relationships and cooperation at the regional level between bodies such as the All Africa Conference of Churches, the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences in Africa and Madagascar, the Organisation of African Instituted Churches, the Association of Evangelicals in Africa etc.
Number of participants: about 60
Venue : Ghana (proposed)
Timing : November (second half)
Budget : US$ 50'000
5. Ghana National Forum
Objective: To strengthen the already existing relationships and cooperation between the different church bodies at national level (Christian Council, Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Pentecostal Council, African Instituted, Evangelical etc) and to serve as a model for other countries in Africa.
Timing : In the week preceding the Africa Regional Meeting
Budget : US $ 2’500
III. 2010
1. GCF Committee meetings
| Date |
April |
Date |
October or November |
| Venue |
to be decided |
Venue |
see point 5 below |
| Budget |
US $ 10'000 |
Budget |
US $ 10'000 |
2. Latin America Church Leaders meeting
Objective: To provide follow-up to the 2007 Santiago Consultation and to assess the potential of the GCF in Latin America with leaders of the Anglican, Catholic, Evangelical, Orthodox, Pentecostal and Protestant churches and church-related organisations. At regional level should be involved the Episcopal Conference of Latin America (Catholic), the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI), the Latin American Theological Fraternity (FTLA), the Latin American Evangelical Fraternity (CONELA), the Ibero-American Forum for Evangelical Dialogue (FIDE), the Orthodox Archdioceses etc.
Number of participants: about 50
Venue : To be decided
Timing : April (second half)
Budget : US$ 40’000
3. Team Visit to North America
Objective: To inform the leadership of the large Pentecostal and Evangelical denominations and organisations in the USA and Canada of the purposes of the Global Christian Forum and engage in a process with them aiming at their participation in the 2011 global Forum event.
Composition of the team: 5 persons, including representatives of Pentecostal and Evangelical churches in the global South.
Duration of the vist: one week to ten days.
Timing: June or July
Budget: US$ 15'000
4. Thematic Consultation
Objective : To address an issue on which there are significantly diverging opinions between several of the Christian traditions participating in the Forum, using the Forum experience and methodology. The theme will be chosen by the GCF Committee in November 2009. The consultation will take into account already existing material on the theme. This consultation will serve to explore the possibilities of taking the Forum process beyond building new relationships to dealing with potentially dividing questions.
Participants : About 30 knowlegeable and experienced participants in the area of the theme, representing the various Christian traditions, regions of the world, gender etc.
Venue : To be decided.
Timing : September
Budget : US$ 25’000
5. Asia Regional Meeting
Objective : To consolidate the follow-up to the 2004 Hong Kong Consultation and to broaden and deepen the GCF impact in Asia. About half of the participating churches and organisations should be new to the process. The meeting should aim in particular at:
- Strengthening the movement for Christian unity in Asia (AMCU) involving the Christian Conference of Asia, the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences and the Asian Evangelical Alliance;
- Fostering Asian Pentecostal participation in the regional movement ;
- Fostering the organisation of national forums in Asia.
Number of particpants: about 60
Venue: To be decided (the Yoido Full Gospel Church, Seoul, Korea may be willing to host the meeting)
Timing: October or November
Budget: US$ 40’000.
6. Indonesia National Forum
Objective: To bring together the leadership of the Evangelical Fellowship, the Fellowship of Pentecostal Churches, the Communion of Churches (ecumenical) and the Bishops’ Conference of Indonesia. There is some overlap of membership between the first three of these bodies but very little cooperation and not at all with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference. It would be the first time that the four bodies meet.
Timing: In the week preceding the Asia Regional meeting.
Budget: US $ 5’000
7. Europe Sub-regional Meeting – Nordic region
Objective: To learn from the experience of the Christian Councils in Norway and Sweden which include already in their membership all the Christian traditions, and to foster similar developments in Finland and Denmark. To enhance the participation of Pentecostals from the Nordic region in the Forum process.
Number of participants: about 30
Timing: October or November
Venue: to be decided
Budget: US $ 5’000
8. Europe Sub-regional Meeting – Central and Eastern Europe
Objective: To promote a better understanding and facilitate new relationships between the historic churches in this part of Europe (Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant) and the Evangelical and Pentecostal / charismatic churches and groups that have entered the region more recently.
Number of participants: about 40
Timing: October of November
Venue: To be decided
Budget: US $ 20’000
IV. 2011
1. GCF Committee Meetings
| Date |
February |
Date |
May or June |
| Venue |
To be decided |
Venue |
see point 3 below |
| Budget |
US $ 10'000 |
Budget |
US $ 10'000 |
2. Pacific Consultation
Objective: To make the Forum better known in the Pacific region and to foster better understanding and relationships between the established Catholic and Anglican / Protestant churches (which constitute the Pacific Conference of Churches) and the newer Evangelical and Pentecostal churches and groupes. The PCC as well as the South Pacific Evangelical Fellowship and the Pacific Islands Evangelical Alliance should be involved. The consultation should build on the extensive research done by the Pacific Theological College.
Number of participants: about 60
Venue: To be decided
Timing: March or April
Budget: US $ 60’000
3. Caribbean Consultation
Objective: To make the Forum better known in the Caribbean region and to foster better understanding and relationships between the established Catholic and Anglican / Protestant churches (which constitute the Caribbean Conference of Churches) and the Evangelical and Pentecostal churches. The CCC as well as the Evangelical Association of the Caribbean should be involved.
Number of participants: about 60
Venue: To be decided
Timing: May or June
Budget: US $ 50'000
4. Europe Sub-regional meeting – Southern Europe
Objective: To contribute to better understanding and relationships between the majority churches in this part of Europe (Catholic and Orthodox), the historic minority churches (Anglican, Protestant, Evangelical) and the new minority churches and groups (Pentecostal, Charismatic, migrant churches).
Number of participants: about 40
Timing: September
Venue: To be decided
Budget: US$ 20’000
5. Global Forum Event
Objective: To strengthen the vision of the GCF and provide visibility. In addition to the personal faith itineraries the event should aim at sharing the stories of the churches and faith communities. A possible theme might be What is the Spirit saying to the Churches or The Holy Spirit and the Church. The GCF Committee will continue the reflection on the theme, content, shape and composition of the 2011 global Forum event.
Number of participants: 250
Timing: November
Venue: To be decided (the preference of the GCF Committee is to hold meeting in Asia).
Budget: US$ 200'000
Note: One of the aims of the Global Forum Event should be to facilitate a multilateral meeting at the highest possible level of leaders of the main Christian churches, church families, movements and global organisations {the Anglican Communion, the Catholic Church, the Evangelical movement including the World Evangelical Alliance, the Holiness movement, the Orthodox churches (Eastern and Oriental), the Pentecostal movement including the Pentecostal World Fellowship, the Protestant church famlies (Baptist, Lutheran, Mennonite, Methodist, Moravian, Reformed), Salvation Army, Seventh-day Adventists and other}.
APPENDIX
“Our Journey with Jesus Christ the Reconciler – The Journey Continues”
Global Christian Forum Consultation on 3 Year Programme
New Delhi, 8-11 November 2008
The Global Christian Forum in Limuru, in November 2007, affirmed that ‘We have been invited into a common journey of faith with confidence in the guidance of Christ’s life-giving Spirit…’
In order to take forward this journey, some 50 Christian leaders, men and women, coming from over 30 nations and six continents, met in New Delhi from 8 to 11 November 2008. In sharing our faith journeys, worship, discussion, and throughout our time together, we experienced the joy of recognizing one another in Christ, and being called in Christ into new and closer relationships. We celebrated the sense of growing trust and fellowship among us, called together from a wide range of Churches and Christian Organisations, as we sought to be faithful stewards into the future of this gift entrusted to us. Working with the Limuru ‘Message’ and ‘Proposals for the Future’, and the three thorough external evaluations that have since been made of the Forum process, we reviewed the vision and purpose of the Forum, considered our long-term objectives, and in the light of these, outlined strategic goals for the next three years, and what would be required to achieve these. In particular, we felt that a Global Meeting should be held in 2011, rather than at a later point. We also reviewed the evolution of the Forum from the perspectives of our different regions. We offer this report to aid the Global Christian Forum Committee in its work.
We affirmed the unique calling of the Forum to bring together Christians of differing traditions: the Forum process continues to be a renewal movement based explicitly in relationship, seeking to discover the guidance of the Spirit for the sake of the whole Christian community, and for the world. Its distinctive practice of focusing on the sharing of faith stories of living relation with Jesus has proved a powerful way to build relationships of mutual trust and respect among the widest possible range of Christian groups. This distinctive focus allows the Global Christian Forum to be a catalyst external to existing structures, one able to continue to call such wide meetings together.
Recognising the need persists to continue broadening and deepening these relationships of trust and mutual respect, we affirmed that the Forum must continue its efforts. These should remain centred on this core vocation, and we should not be afraid to face more deeply the issues that impede our relationships, while remaining aware that increased mutual confidence may open up new possibilities for us. Though we should not become a problem-solving body ourselves, we rejoice at the gift that the Forum process can be for addressing difficult questions, and catalyzing relationships elsewhere within the body of Christ, and we pray that the inspiration we have experienced through encounters based on faith-sharing may become widely shared. We also warmly invite those who have not yet been part of our journey to join us, as brothers and sisters in Christ, around this open table of meeting.
We upheld the values that have been central to the life of the Forum over the past ten years, including mutual acceptance, respectful listening, and equal ownership of the process among all participants. This is expressed in the interdependence we share, even as the Forum maintains its autonomy within the wider search for Christian unity. We affirmed the continued centrality of these values, as reflected in the call of Scripture: ‘If there is any consolation in Christ, any comfort in love, any fellowship of the Spirit, any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition, or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than yourself. Let each of you look out not only for your own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.’ (Phil 2:1-5)
At the strategic level, we identified five key objectives:
-
We will uphold the distinctive nature of the Forum, ensuring that we retain focus on its unique vision and vocation. This includes its autonomy and invitational capacity, all supported by a light and flexible structure.
-
Global, regional and national/local levels of activity should be pursued, and there should be a synergy between these. At the same time, we recognize that the global level has a special claim on the attention of this body, since there is no comparable actor at the global level.
-
Upgrading our communication and promotional capacity is a high priority, including at the global level. This has a significant bearing on our ability to be sustainable, and to pursue the activities to which we believe we are called.
-
We suggest establishing a ‘Friends of the Forum’ network among participants at Forum meetings, who can act in support of the secretary and committee, sharing the vision, values and methodology in visits and meetings, especially at regional and lower (sub-regional and national) levels, and assist in fund-raising.
-
We invite the Committee further to define and implement plans for our operational base, encompassing the secretariat and budget. We recognized the need to move to a slightly more formal support mechanism, though still light, through a strengthened secretariat, if we are to go forward sustainably. We affirmed the proposal for a full time secretary with full time administrative support – but noted that where this might be situated would depend on various factors, including the candidate, and that organizational details require further work.
We outlined these anticipated programmes:
-
We plan to hold a Global Meeting in 2011.
-
We expect to hold other meetings, encounters, consultations, conversations, etc, dependent on the particular circumstances of each place, to include -
- Africa Regional Meeting 2009
- Asia Regional Meeting (with AMCU) 2010
- Latin America Meeting for leaders
- European sub-regional meetings
- Possible Pacific Meeting
- Possible Caribbean Meeting
- Possible Middle East team visits
- National meetings
In these, we remind ourselves of the need to ensure inclusion of immigrant churches, and of young people and the leaders of the future.
-
The gathering and sharing of case studies (for example, regions and countries which have been able to introduce the Forum, best practices, what has worked), is an important means of mutual encouragement and spreading the Forum process. To this end, we should help the secretariat maintain up to date information on what is happening in various places, in order for this to be shared. This might also include various models of dialoguing, and ecumenical advances in other bodies, as well as material from the many other conversations and dialogues that take place between Christian traditions.
-
It would be helpful to consider further how to apply the faith-sharing approach to more specific questions, not least so that we can help spread the Forum process to other bodies and structures – noting that we do not want ourselves to become focused on problem-solving or addressing themes that are not central to our vision. Guidelines that reflect our process and values might be useful.
-
We recommend that at the end of this three year period there should be further independent evaluation.
The operational requirements for delivering these include:
- Overseeing a smooth transition to a full time secretary with full time administrative support.
- Fund raising, assisted by the production of a detailed budget, including specific projections for the next three years, which should address:
- Secretariat.
- Meetings (some, such as Africa, Asia and Global Meeting, requiring greater levels of support than others, in terms of secretariat and financing), visits, and other activities.
- Resources for fund raising.
The participants in the New Delhi Consultation expressed their appreciation for the generous hospitality offered by the Evangelical Fellowship of India and the Church of North India, together with the National Council of Churches of India and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, which enabled us to share the richness of the gift of fellowship, which is increasingly shared among them, and which the Forum is called to foster. We continue to pray for our brothers and sisters, particularly all those affected by violence in recent weeks in Orissa and elsewhere, and wish peace and prosperity to all the people of India.
As we leave this place, we look forward to continuing this journey of faith, in the ‘hope that does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom he has given us.’ (Rom 5:5)
Churches, Church Families and Organizations participating in the Consultation:
Anglican Communion
Apostolic Faith Mission South Africa (Pentecostal)
Asian Evangelical Alliance
Assemblies of God (Malawi, Netherlands, Philippines)
Baptist World Alliance
Catholic Church - Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity
Catholic Church – Archdiocese of New Delhi and Archdiocese of Jamaica
Catholic Church - Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences
Christian Aid UK / Ireland
Christian Conference of Asia
Church of God (Cleveland) (Zambia)
Church of North India
Church of Sweden
Coptic Orthodox Church
Ecumenical Patriarchate / Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa
Evangelical Association of the Caribbean
Evangelical Church of India
Evangelical Fellowship of Egypt
Evangelical Fellowship of India
FIET Theological Institute (Pentecostal, Argentina)
Forum for Ibero-American Evangelical Dialogue
Foursquare France Churches (Pentecostal)
Indonesian Evangelical Fellowship
International Council of Old-Catholic Bishops
International Pentecostal Holiness Church / Pentecostal World Fellowship
Ghana Pentecostal Council
Kerkinactie (Protestant Church in The Netherlands)
Latin American Council of Churches
Lutheran World Federation
National Council of Churches in India
Organization of African Instituted Churches
Pentecostal Fellowship of India
Reformed Church in America
Russian Orthodox Church
Seventh-day Adventists Church
Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch and All the East
United Methodist Church
Yoido Full Gospel Church (South Korea)
World Young Women’s Christian Association
World Council of Churches
World Evangelical Alliance
World Methodist Council
World Vision International
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