Global Christian Forum meets in Helsinki to continue preparations for the Fourth Global Gathering, Ghana 2024

The Global Christian Forum (GCF) met in Helsinki, Finland, from 27 June to 1 July, 2023, for a second in person meeting in preparation for the Fourth Global Gathering (GG) of the GCF, scheduled for 16-19 April, 2024, in Accra, Ghana with the theme “So that the World May Know” (John 17, 23b).

The meeting gathered about twenty participants divided into two task forces: 1) Programme and Content and 2) Invitation and Recruitment. On the first day, both groups gathered to hear brief presentations on the theme of the meeting from different confessional and regional perspectives, and to discuss the goal, format, expected outcome and number of participants. Over the next two days, each of the task forces worked on their specific assignments. The Programme and Content task force identified the building blocks of the programme and outlined the timetable. The Invitation and Recruitment task force drew up the initial list of participants, following the GCF guiding principle that half of the participants and speakers should belong to the mainline Churches (Orthodox, Catholic and post-Reformation Protestants), while the other half should be invited from the newer expressions of Christianity, such as Evangelical, Pentecostal, independent or mega-churches.

The meeting in Helsinki also provided an opportunity for the participants to meet with leaders of local churches, including Archbishop Tapio Luoma, the Primate of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, the largest Christian church in the country, and the Finnish Ecumenical Council (FEC).  The Catholic Church in Finland, with some 14,200 members, is a full member of the FEC and was present at the meeting.

Revd Andrzej Choromanski of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, who is on the Programme and Content task force, represented the Catholic Church at the GG-GCF preparatory meeting.

The initial planning meeting for the 4th GG took place during the GCF Facilitation Group Meeting in Rome in February 2022.