The second global gathering of the Global Christian Forum will be held on 4 – 7 October 2011 in Manado, Indonesia, under the theme Life Together in Jesus Christ, Empowered by the Holy Spirit.

It will assemble about three hundred leaders and representatives of churches and organisations of all the main Christian traditions from all parts of the world.

The first global gathering of the Global Christian Forum took place in November 2007 in Limuru, Kenya.

Since then, an evaluation of the GCF has been done and the book Revisioning Christian Unity – The Global Christian Forum has been published.

A strategic planning meeting was held in November 2008 to implement the recommendations of the Limuru gathering, taking into account the results of the evaluation.

A three-year program for the period 2009 – 2011 was drawn up.

Although not all parts of the program could be realised, regional meetings have been organised in Africa, Europe (Nordic and Baltic sub-region), Asia and Latin America, as well as a Team Visit and follow-up in the Middle East.

The GCF Committee has been expanded to become fully representative of the various traditions: Anglican, Catholic, Ecumenical, Evangelical, Orthodox, Pentecostal, Protestant , through their global and regional organisations.

Through these activities as well as on-going networking and communication, the GCF has in the past four years endeavoured to pursue its purpose as affirmed by the Limuru gathering (above):

To create an open space wherein representatives from a broad range of Christian churches and inter-church organizations, which confess the triune God and Jesus Christ as perfect in his divinity and humanity, can gather to foster mutual respect, to explore and address together common challenges.

The three-year program 2009 – 2011 is coming to conclusion with the second global gathering of the GCF. In this paper the purpose of the gathering, its composition, the program and the budget are presented, as well as some information on the venue and a brief reflection on the future of the GCF beyond the event.

Purpose of second global gathering

The main question facing the first global gathering in 2007 was whether the participating churches and organisations wanted the Global Christian Forum to exist and the process initiated in 1998 to go on. The answer was a whole-hearted 'yes'. Now, the question that will be at the heart of the second global gathering is how the Global Christian Forum should continue and what its focus should be.


In order to address that question the GCF Committee is suggesting that it is necessary to direct our attention to the changes at work in world Christianity today, and to try to discern what God is doing in the churches and in the world.

The two movements that have profoundly marked the life of the churches in the past century: the ecumenical movement on the one hand and the evangelical / pentecostal / charismatic movement on the other hand, must be looked at in the context of the transformations that are already taking place and will shape the church of the 21st century.

The centre of gravity of the church is shifting away from the old heartland of Europe to the global South. Pentecostalism continues to grow and is affecting many of the churches belonging to the historic traditions, especially in the South. Charismatic spiritual experience is replacing doctrine, teaching and confession.

New, non-denominational forms of being church are emerging. God is at work through the old and the new, in the heartland and on the frontier, inside and outside the church.

The GCF Committee believes that exploring together these changes, and listening to one another and to the Spirit, will enable us all to see with more clarity the way forward to strengthen the unity and common witness of the world’s Christian community The committee has therefore stated the purpose of the second gathering as follows :

• to discern and understand the changes and trends that are at work in world Christianity in our time and to consider what these mean for the unity and common witness of the churches;

• to listen together to what the Spirit is saying to the churches today;

• to give guidance for future direction and activities of the Global Christian Forum.

Beyond these stated purposes, it is hoped that the meeting will foster initiatives that have been emerging in the regions, building on the regional gatherings that have taken place in 2009 and 2010. Further, it is also expected that the meeting will open the question as to whether the GCF can begin to address challenges to our common witness around specific issues.

Who goes to the GCF gathering?

The model of invitations for the second global gathering is basically regional and takes into account the composition of the regional meetings held in the past period. The other criteria have been representation per tradition, continuity, and enlarging the circle of participation.

The GCF Committee has established that about 30% of the participants should be persons who have been to an earlier meeting of the Forum.

The regional model encompasses Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, North America and the Pacific / Australia & New Zealand. From each region the continental (or regional) ecumenical, evangelical, pentecostal (where these exist) and catholic conferences, councils and alliances or associations have been invited. Within the regions, countries have been selected for invitations to national councils, conferences, alliances and churches.

The traditions will be represented through their world bodies (e.g. Christian World Communions, Patriarchates, global ecumenical, evangelical and pentecostal / charismatic organisations, etc.) and through regional and national participation.

Other categories of participants include mega churches and migrant churches from different parts of the world, a limited number of individuals, and the committee members.

The Indonesian churches will have a fairly large representation of forty participants.

Two Christian student organisations will each send ten to twelve young people. All the invited churches and organisations have been asked to consider the nomination of women or young people in their leadership.

As in all Forum meetings, around half of the participants will be from evangelical, pentecostal / charismatic and independent churches. The regional pattern of invitation is significantly different from the one used for the first global gathering in 2007, which was based on representation of the traditions.

The program for the second gathering

The program of the four-day meeting reflects the stated objectives of the gathering. DAY ONE: will be used for a presentation on the GCF, the sharing of the individual faith itineraries (in groups) and a plenary on the local context of Indonesia.

DAY TWO: The discussion will focus on the changes currently occurring in world Christianity. Presentations in a plenary session will be followed by discussions in groups of various settings (per tradition, mixed and regional).

DAY THREE: The topic of this day will be the theme of the gathering, Life Together in Jesus Christ, Empowered by the Holy Spirit, with an emphasis on listening to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. This will be done through two plenary presentations and "community stories" highlighting signs of God's work in some traditions and regions, and also examples of suffering and pain.

DAY FOUR: The main intention of the fourth and last day will be to provide direction and guidance for the future.

Over all, the sharing by the participants of their faith stories at the beginning of the meeting is one of the hallmarks of the Forum.

It is hoped that listening to the experiences of faith communities will add a communal dimension to the sharing. The daily moments of prayer and devotion will offer opportunities for the sharing of spiritual gifts of the different traditions. The Bible studies, in small groups, will focus on the metaphor of heartland and frontier, linked to the emerging trends in world Christianity.

The balance and flow between plenary sessions (six) and group sessions (twelve) is meant to allow for an intensive involvement of the participants in the program. Care will be taken to ensure a diversity of speakers and presenters in plenary.

All through the program there will be an effort to harvest the results of the regional meetings, and to capture the outcome of the plenary and group discussions in the form of a final document to be received at the conclusion of the gathering.

Looking ahead: the future of the GCF

The GCF Committee has affirmed on several occasions the provisional nature of the Global Christian Forum.

It is a process that addresses the issue of Christian unity and common witness by bringing together parts of the church in the world that have not been in conversation with one another or not sufficiently.

It is for the moment the only instrument that provides space where all the main Christian traditions can assemble in mutual trust for this purpose.

While the GCF needs a certain operational capacity to implement its activities it is not meant to evolve into any organized institutional structure. The provisional character of the process implies that long term planning is not appropriate.

The process moves from one step to the next and its horizon does not go beyond a few years. It is in this spirit that the GCF Committee is looking forward to the guidance expected from this second global gathering.

The venue for the second global gathering

The meeting will take place at Arya Duta Hotel in Manado, Indonesia. Participants will be accommodated at Arya Duta and in hotels in the surroundings. Manado is an important urban centre and harbour situated at the north-eastern tip of the island of Sulawesi.

The four national church bodies in Indonesia: the Communion of Churches – the Pentecostal Churches Fellowship – the Fellowship of Evangelical Churches and Institutions – and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, have warmly welcomed the Global Christian Forum to hold its second gathering in their country and have constituted a joint organizing committee. The churches in the Manado area have set up a local working team for the event.

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