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The Triune God invites the whole creation to the Feast of Life, through Jesus Christ who came “that they may have life, and may have it in all its fullness” (John 10:10, REB), through the Holy Spirit who affirms the vision of the reign of God, “Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth!” (Isaiah 65:17, KJV). We commit ourselves together in humility and hope to the mission of God, who recreates all and reconciles all. And we pray, “God of Life, lead us into justice and peace!” Historic Meeting in Albania between Orthodox and Evangelicals to Discuss Mission James J. Stamoolis and Bradley Nassif n September 2–6, 2013, the Lausanne-Orthodox Initiative varying degrees of intensity and purity as the Orthodox moved OConsultation met at the monastery of St. Vlash, Albania, east and eventually into Russian Alaska and Japan. to consider the theme “The Mission of God.” What made this gathering different from previous consultations was that it was Significance of the Consultation hosted by His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios of Albania, the foremost practitioner of Orthodox mission in the world.1 It was For many, this is just history. To be able to witness the resurrec- also different in that it was held in a country where the Orthodox tion of the Albania Church, however, was not merely a moment Church has made a remarkable recovery from years of systematic in mission history but, for these participants at least, a time of destruction by the Albanian Communist leadership.2 great spiritual blessing. The setting of the conference contributed In the 1950s and 1960s Archbishop Anastasios restarted Greek as much as the content of the papers that were presented to this missionary work after centuries of the Greek Church being unable historic gathering. The planning committee wisely included to participate in mission. As students of Orthodox mission his- opportunities both for local evangelicals to participate in the ses- tory will know, the Muslim conquest of the Byzantines brought sions and for attendees to meet with Albanian evangelicals. One the once-flourishing Greek Orthodox missionary enterprise to a such meeting involved transporting the delegates to downtown halt. The torch, which passed to the Slavic peoples, burned with Tirana to worship together with evangelicals and to hear testi- James J. Stamoolis consults with educational and Bradley Nassif, a theologian of the Antiochian Ortho- missionary agencies. After serving as a missionary in dox Archdiocese of North America and the Patriarch- South Africa (1972–80), he was theological secretary of ate of Antioch, Syria, is Professor of Biblical and the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students Theological Studies, North Park University, Chicago, (1981–89). He is the author of Eastern Orthodox Illinois. He coedited The Philokalia: A Classic Text Mission Theology Today (Orbis Books, 1986) as of Orthodox Spirituality (Oxford Univ. Press, 2012) well as journal and encyclopedia articles. and wrote Bringing Jesus to the Desert (Zondervan, —[email protected] 2012). —[email protected] 70 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 38, No. 2 monies of their conversions from atheism. Another opportunity better understanding, and encourage reconciliation and healing for interaction was at a dinner hosted by the archbishop during where wounds exist.” Two years in preparation by a working which both Albanian evangelicals and expatriate missionaries committee representing both Eastern Orthodox and Oriental could interact with members of the consultation. As one result Orthodox as well as evangelicals, the Lausanne-Orthodox Initia- of the consultation, evangelicals and Orthodox working in tive Consultation explored common themes in mission, as well prison ministry gathered for a joint workshop on how better to as looking frankly at hard and divisive issues. minister to the inmates. The workshop provided an example of The consultation itself was held at the Monastery of St. Vlash, ecumenism, not only as meetings, but also of ministry together. near the ancient city of Durrës, affording opportunities to see the While there have been numerous consultations and symposia rebirth of the church in a country officially atheist for a quarter to discuss theological agreements and points of contention, these century. Beginning in 1967, when all religions were banned and have generally taken place between denominational families and all places of worship were desecrated, churches were either representatives of the Orthodox Church.3 Usually discussions destroyed, turned into warehouses, or used for other secular on mission between Eastern Orthodox and evangelicals, if they purposes. At times we needed to remind ourselves that with the occur at all, take place in the context of rival missionary activity. exception of a couple of historic monastery churches, none of the Therefore, the September consultation in Albania was historic church buildings we saw, and particularly the spectacular Cathe- for breaking new ground in ecumenical discussions. It arose dral of the Resurrection, existed before 1992. Many of the churches out of the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization, the delegates visited were even more recently constructed. The held in October 2010 in Cape Town, South Africa, and had as same is true of various industries that the Orthodox Church its goal “to reflect constructively on the history of relationships has developed to support its ministry, such as a candle-making between Orthodox and Evangelicals in order to work towards operation, a factory where all the church furniture is constructed, As regular readers of the International Bulletin of Mis- sionary Research are aware, the Overseas Ministries Study Center (OMSC), New Haven, Connecticut, serves as home base for the IBMR. Editing and activities related to the IBMR are part of the milieu into which international residents enter when they come to OMSC. The residents themselves come to OMSC for a year of rest, renewal, reflection, and continuing education focused on the Christian world mission. Together they represent a diverse array of the peoples of the world, as well as a wide spectrum of Christian traditions. Despite their diversity and wide distribution, however, most participants in OMSC’s study program arrive in New Haven having had lit- tle, if any, direct contact with the Orthodox Christian tradition. When the program committee of OMSC’s board of trust- ees recently recommended strongly that the community travel offsite for a retreat, an opportunity arose for just such contact. Through the efforts of program committee member Father Luke Veronis, a Greek Orthodox priest, professor, and missionary to Albania, a number of staff and most of the residents of OMSC traveled in mid-October 2013 to the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, Massachusetts, and to the St. Methodius Faith and Heritage Center in Contoocook, New Hampshire. Through liturgical sessions, classroom discussions, and personal interaction with Orthodox seminary students, Father Luke introduced the OMSC community to Orthodox life and spirituality. The visitors from OMSC also heard clear and passionate presen- tations by Father Iakovos Bakos, a native Bostonian who had recently returned to New England after twenty-three years of monastic life on revered Mount Athos, in Greece. For the majority of this year’s residents, practically all of whom are Protestant or Independent, this retreat experience constituted their first exposure to Orthodoxy. Their reflec- tions signaled their appreciation, apprehension, insights, and boundary-stretching experiences. Many wrote of their admi- ration for what they had seen and experienced, recording, for example, “The practice of utter devotion to Christ by the Greek Orthodox monks and priests is admirable and to be a April 2014 71 and an icon restoration facility where icons, damaged by years Readers acquainted with the problems of territorial exclusive- of neglect and abuse, are lovingly restored. We also toured a six- ness claimed by churches in traditionally Orthodox lands will floor medical clinic that houses the most up-to-date diagnostic anxiously await publication of the conference papers dealing equipment available. with this subject. Our anticipation is heightened as we witness Forty-seven Christian leaders gathered to discuss issues of the expansion of the Eastern Orthodox Church in the West and missionary activity and potential areas of cooperation, as well as the conversion of many Protestants, especially evangelicals, to to look honestly at misunderstandings and obstacles that separate Orthodoxy. The plenary session that focused on proselytism and them. Archbishop Anastasios of Albania and seven other hierarchs canonical territory featured presentations from Leonid Kish- of the Orthodox, Coptic, and Syrian Orthodox churches were kovsky, of the Orthodox Church in America, and Kosta Milkov, present. The gathering was unprecedented in having so many an evangelical from Macedonia. Discussion of these difficult Orthodox leaders present, along with key evangelicals from questions took place in an atmosphere of listening so as to find Africa, Asia, Australia, and North America, as well as Eastern mutual understanding. and Western Europe. The papers treating doctrinal issues pertaining to Scripture During the five days of the consultation, the participants and tradition, which focused particularly on the concept of shared in Bible studies and discussion groups, and they heard salvation

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