Orthodox and Evangelical Journeys

Christian faith is a journey which sometimes takes us across traditions, an experience that lies at the heart of the Lausanne-Orthodox Initiative (LOI). LOI has organised this Zoom gathering to stimulate conversations about spiritually enriching journeys, especially encounters between the Evangelical and Orthodox Christian traditions.

The event will open with a conversation between Jim Stamoolis (USA) and Nathan Hoppe (Albania), both of whom have moved from one tradition to another while maintaining good relations across traditions.

There will be a short, recorded presentation by the Rev Prof Ioan Sauca, acting general secretary of the World Council of Churches, who has a long history of deep engagement across the traditions especially through the WCC Ecumenical Institute at Bossey. Other participants include:

• Dr Alison-Ruth Kolosova, originally from the UK but now working in an Orthodox parish in Chuvashia in the Volga region of Russia.
• Anton Ponomarev, from the Russian Orthodox Church, who has spent years promoting discipleship and mission in cooperation with Evangelical Christians.
• Rev Canon Mark Oxbrow, who has had leading rolls in Evangelical missionary organisations, and was the founding facilitator of LOI.

The event will be recorded, and made available through the LOI website.

These journeys bring joys, challenges, pitfalls, and faith discoveries. We invite you to listen to these stories, raise questions, and consider sharing your own experiences. There will be time for questions in this gathering, and we are planning further meetings like this. LOI hopes to build these into a resource that encourages others to follow these paths. Spaces at this event will be limited, but this event marks the beginning of our plans to share these stories with a wider audience in print and online, and we intend that further events will follow.

This gathering is part of the work of the Lausanne Orthodox Initiative, and if you would like to find out more about our work please visit this link https://www.loimission.net/