Sergey Koryakin
A series of meetings between Orthodox and Evangelical Christians is currently being held in Moscow. This is not the first attempt to bring Russian Christians of different traditions together; since the famous Volga 1992 joint evangelistic campaign, several meetings were held (mostly in the mid-1990s), gathering people of one mind and heart to discuss the issues that cause division between them and to explore ways of doing mission together. For some, the meetings became a starting point for lasting friendships.
Nearly 20 years later, another opportunity for interdenominational dialogue came about through the Lausanne-Orthodox Initiative (LOI); http://www. loimission.net. Established in 2010, LOI organized three consecutive international consultations, 2013- 15, two in Albania and one in Finland, to be followed up by participants continuing Orthodox-Evangelical dialogues in their home countries. Having been inspired by the LOI mission statement “to work towards better understanding and encourage reconciliation and healing where wounds exist,” some of the Russian Orthodox participants resolved to create a similar discussion platform in Russia.
A new series of meetings began in May 2015, hosted by Vstrecha [Meeting] Christian Center. Attendees have included clergy and laity from Sts. Kosma and Damian Orthodox Church, Evangelie [The Gospel] Baptist Church, Dom Otsa [The Father’s Home] Pentecostal Church, Tushino Evangelical Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Augsburg Confession, and others. Some of the old friends from the 1990s had a chance to reconnect and to reflect on the past experience as well as the challenges for mission generated by the society and culture of present-day Russia. All the participants shared a strong feeling that the time for such meetings had come, and that both sides in the dialogue had reached the point that they have no right to stay divided.
From the beginning, by general agreement, it was decided that only leaders of local church communities would participate. Since a considerable mutual tension exists between Russian Orthodox and Protestants, organizers and participants were not ready to deal with a sizeable and divided audience. It is expected that leaders, with the experience of earlier meetings, will be more successful in promoting understanding and tolerance in their parishes and congregations.
The topics of the six meetings to date have included Protestant and Orthodox understandings of repentance, Church tradition, and the nature of the Church. The March 2016 session dealt with the issue of Church identity and boundaries, that is, the factors that allow a community of believers to be called a part of the one and true Church. The main goal is not to eliminate all theological tensions, but to create a spiritual atmosphere of mutual trust, friendship, and support.
Sergei Koryakin is completing his Kandidat degree at the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences and teaches at Moscow Evangelical Christian Seminary, Moscow, Russia.