Lausanne-Orthodox Dialogue

With the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, Western missionaries began flooding the former Soviet Union, Romania and other Eastern European bloc countries, often without consultation with existing Evangelical communities in those countries. Partly in response to this wave of Evangelical missions, a new paradigm of ecumenical relations emerged among professional theologians in America when the Society for the Study of Eastern Orthodoxy and Evangelicalism (SSEOE) was formed in 1990. Comparative theology, spirituality and missions formed the focus of the organization whose archives are now housed in Asbury Theological Seminary. In 1997, the World Council of Churches (WCC) began its first series of international dialogues between the Orthodox and Evangelical communities over concerns regarding Evangelical proselytism in Russia and Eastern Europe but also shared concerns regarding perceived theological trends within the WCC itself. Publications include Proclaiming Christ Today: Orthodox-Evangelical Consultation (1995); and Turn to God, Rejoice in Hope (1998). From 2000 to 2006, a second series of seminars resulted in the publication of Building Bridges: Between the Orthodox and Evangelical Traditions (2012). Theological and missiological subjects were explored, but financial constraints eventually ended these gatherings. In 2001, the Evangelical Alliance in the UK published Evangelicalism and the Orthodox Church. This was produced by a group of Evangelical and Orthodox theologians whose goal was to lay a foundation for mutual understanding by comparing and contrasting Orthodox and Evangelical beliefs and practices.

Since then, the main ongoing exchange between Orthodox and Evangelicals has been that initiated in 2010 by leaders within the Lausanne Movement and the Oriental and Eastern Orthodox churches, which resulted in the formation of the Lausanne-Orthodox Initiative. Unlike other dialogues, this focuses on exploring how the two traditions can co-operate in the mission of God. A selection of past presentations appears in The Mission of God: Studies in Orthodox and Evangelical Mission (2015). However, in spite of all the work that has been done, there remains scope for further scholarly investigation: for example, few regional studies have examined areas outside the Anglophone world, or the political and legal aspects of relationships between these traditions.

Source: Tim Grass  -  "Call for Papers: : Orthodoxy and Evangelicalism in Global Perspective" email sent out to the Yale-Edinburgh Group by Brad Nassif & Tim Grass of the Lausanne-Orthodox dialogue, 30 July 2020