Gathering in Bogotá
Janet Scott reports on a recent Global Christian Forum
In the final week of April the Global Christian Forum (GCF) met in Bogotá, the capital of Columbia. The Forum was founded twenty years ago at the instigation of the World Council of Churches (WCC) to bring together the churches traditionally involved in ecumenism with those previously not involved, primarily evangelical and Pentecostal churches. There were about 250 people present. Representing Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC), I was the only Quaker there.
Columbia is beginning to recover from civil strife. It was noticeable on the journey from the airport how many homes had severe security, not only grills and bars at windows on both ground and first floors but also outside metal barricades and gates. We heard how churches in the country are contributing to reconciliation and social welfare. It will be a hard task. I was told that out of a population of around forty-four million there are up to eight million displaced people.
The GCF’s primary method of encounter is through the telling of faith stories. We were placed in global groups of about fifteen people and each asked to tell something of our faith in our life. The remarkable thing about this method is that the similarities in the stories have little to do with church affiliation. Perhaps one of the bigger differences was between those who were still in the denomination in which they had been brought up, and those who had changed their church.
In plenary sessions we considered the topics that had been a concern of the Forum since the previous global meeting. The one which took most time was persecution, discrimination and martyrdom. We remembered the Syrian bishops, Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yazigi, who were abducted five years ago, and of whom nothing is known, and we heard of the situation in the Middle East and Egypt. We were warned against using the language of persecution too lightly; it should be reserved for state action. It will often be more accurate to talk of pressure, or of violent attacks from non-state groups.
The other plenary topic was proselytism. When we met in regional groups (my region was Europe) this was a concern particularly of the Eastern Orthodox churches. As Europeans we were more concerned about religious freedom. We also found that we had little experience of persecution, and that inward migration and the welcoming of migrant churches and other faiths was more of an issue for us.
The plenary also considered what topics should form the agenda for the Forum in the next phase. I spoke about Friends’ concern for living in a sustainable environment and received many appreciative comments afterwards, but it remains to be seen whether it will be taken up as a topic.
The days began with morning worship in a variety of styles, from Catholic Charismatic to Pentecostal, mostly accompanied by Columbian music and Taizé chants. I found myself admiring the Holy Spirit for its capacity to make itself heard through the noise! The evening prayer was mostly in small groups and quieter.
For me the best parts (in addition to meeting old and new friends, including some remarkable Canadian women bishops) were the Bible studies. The most memorable was hearing an evangelical addressing his co-religionists on the importance of taking experience into account when interpreting scripture, a real change for many evangelicals. This was an echo of the debate in London Yearly Meeting a century ago. We perhaps have swung too far the other way, preferring experience without sufficient reference to the Bible.
The next secretary of the GCF comes from Africa, a reflection of the shift of Christianity to the global south.
