Something new is happening in the Christian world. From November 6-9 in Nairobi, Kenya, a new and inclusive instrument for unity among the followers of Jesus�the Global Christian Forum�brought together some 240 church leaders representing the broadest gathering ever.

Under the theme � Our Journey with Jesus Christ, the Reconciler,� the participants were invited to join in an intensive encounter with one another in Christ, to reflect together on God's will for the church and God's mission in the world today, and to advise on the future of the Global Christian Forum.

The creation of the Forum is a unique initiative. There simply is no other international entity in existence that provides a place at the table for the Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, historic Protestant, Evangelical, Pentecostal and Independent churches, inviting them to move beyond their historic divisions and to engage in common witness for the sake of God�s mission in the world.

The 20th century saw the birth of three movements that marked the life of the churches: the ecumenical movement, the pentecostal / charismatic movement and the evangelical movement. The latter began already in the middle of the 19th century and provided much of the breeding ground for the other two.

The ecumenical movement, for example, was born out of the World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1910. Those who were out evangelizing on behalf of the different churches found that their divisions were an obstacle to their missionary work.

But in spite of their common roots and their common goals of renewal, unity and proclamation of the gospel, the three movements-- all claiming to be the work of the Holy Spirit-- have largely developed without much interaction and at times in open opposition to one another.

In the 20th century, many churches have been able to move beyond their historical divisions into new relationships of trust, cooperation and communion. Institutions which each represent certain parts of the Christian family have emerged, such as the World Council of Churches, the World Evangelical Alliance and the Pentecostal World Fellowship.

The national and international dialogues initiated by the Catholic Church in the wake of Vatican II represented an establishment of relationship with other world Christian communions and churches, with partners ranging from the Orthodox to the Pentecostals.

There are also many organizations, like the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, World Vision, the Young Women's and Young Men's Christian Associations, in which Christians from a wide variety of backgrounds work together and engage the churches across ecclesial and confessional boundaries. All of them were given a voice in the Nairobi meeting.

How did this new Global Christian Forum get started? The concept of a new, broader instrument of unity was first proposed by Rev. Dr. Konrad Raiser, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches in the 1990s. The idea was entrusted to an autonomous Continuation Committee, which since 1998 has convened various meetings in order to refine and advance this vision. Chief among its aims was the creation of new opportunities for contact between Christians and discussion of common concerns.

The first International Consultation was held at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, USA, in September 2000 and another in June 2002. People came from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, the Caribbean, Latin America, the Middle East, Europe and North America. They developed a Provisional Purpose Statement describing the scope and objectives that the Forum might pursue.

Based on these consultations, contacts and discussions, the Continuation Committee developed a four-year plan for a series of consultations in the major regions of the world.

The first regional consultation, focusing on Asia, was held in Hong Kong in May 2004. The second consultation, bringing together church leaders from all over Africa, took place in Lusaka, Zambia in August 2005. The third one, for Europe, met in Warburg, Germany in June 2006. The last of the series, the Latin America Consultation, was held in Santiago, Chile in June 2007. This unfolding process made it possible to call together a truly representative global gathering of Christian leaders in Nairobi � to foster mutual respect, to explore and address together common challenges.�

The decision to hold the gathering in Africa is a recognition of the far-reaching changes at work in world Christianity today. The center of gravity is shifting to the global South. The churches in Africa, Asia, and Latin America are marked by vitality, growth, new forms of witness and service, fresh ways of reading the Bible, new expressions of being church.

At the same time, the continuity with the church of the ages is preserved by the historic Christian traditions that are rooted in the soil of the Middle East and Europe and have spread throughout the North and the South.

Both new and old had representation at the Global Christian Forum � Nairobi 2007. About half came from Evangelical and Pentecostal churches, including African instituted churches and para�church bodies. They were joined by representatives of the Anglican and Protestant church families (over sixty participants), the Orthodox churches (some twenty-five), regional Bishops' conferences of the Catholic Church (about twenty) and international Christian organizations.

The only other similar project underway on a national level is Christian Churches Together in the USA, which is based on similar principles and serves the same purposes as the Global Christian Forum. Officially organized in 2006, Christian Churches Together is composed of 36 churches and national organizations, representative of the diversity of US Christian confessions, who are committed to meeting together for fellowship and worship and to working together on issues crucial to Christian witness in the USA.

Behind both initiatives is a common perception : that churches and organizations of Christians from a wide range of traditions could benefit greatly from a Forum where they could speak with one another face to face, pray for one another directly, learn from one another, and together gain insights into challenges they commonly face.

Thomas Ryan, CSP