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Salvation Army participates in Global Christian Forum
Continuing to work for broader ecumenical involvement, The Salvation Army sent three representatives to the recent Global Christian Forum, held in Limuru, Kenya, near Nairobi. About 250 leaders from 72 countries attended, representing the main Christian traditions and global organizations. One writer described the event as including “the broadest range of Christian traditions ever represented at a global meeting.” Salvation Army participants were Commissioner Linda Bond (International Headquarters, former Western territorial commander), Lt. Colonel Kenneth Hodder and Major Tiras Mbaja (both Kenya Territory); Hodder is a Western Territory officer.
The forum’s theme was “Our Journey with Jesus Christ, the Reconciler,” and its ongoing purpose is to encourage the sharing of ideas among a broad range of churches and interchurch organizations with a desire to meet common challenges. Participants, many of whom did not belong to any other ecumenical forum, had the opportunity to discuss how best to promote dialogue and cooperation in a desire to be a witness in the world today. Delegates shared their personal faith journeys and that of their particular church. The global event also included Bible studies, plenaries and group discussions.
The Christian traditions represented at the forum meeting were: African Instituted, Anglican, Baptist, Evangelical, (Roman) Catholic, Disciples (Churches of Christ), Friends, Holiness, Lutheran, Mennonite, Methodist, Moravian, Old Catholic, Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, Pentecostal, Reformed, The Salvation Army, Seventh-Day Adventist, United and Uniting Churches. A number of Christian international organizations were also represented.
More details about the Global Christian Forum can be found at www.globalchristianforum.net.
From a report by Commissioner Linda Bond, Secretary for International Ecumenical Relations