Evangelical leaders celebrate the Reformation at ELF conference

Wisla (Poland) will host the 2017 European Leadership Forum conference from the 20^th to the 25^th of May.

About 800 evangelical Christians from across Europe and the rest of the world will participate in this annual gathering, which aims to equip ministry and church leaders for God’s mission.

Every day, participants will split into more than 15 learning communities, called “networks”. Each group will focus on an area of Christian reflection such as Apologetics, Biblical Preaching, Science, Politics, Media, Arts, Muslim outreach, etc.

Oxford Maths professor John Lennox will lead the morning Bible expositions on the book of Acts.

Dozens of workshops will be offered throughout the week-long conference, as well as other opportunities to interact, share and network with Christians in other contexts.

CELEBRATING THE REFORMATION

The main focus of the conference this year will be the 500^th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.

“The Forum is celebrating the Reformation Anniversary because the Reformers re-discovered the Bible and its powerful and joyful message that salvation comes to us by faith alone”, the organisation explained.

All evening plenary sessions will be “focused on the Reformation's biblical convictions that we also affirm as Evangelicals. As we understand anew the importance of these truths, we are rooted in God's Word and can thus rejoice in the biblical Gospel.”

The speakers of these sessions will be Lindsay Brown, former International Director of the Lausanne Movement; Leonardo De Chirico, pastor of Breccia di Roma Church; Hans Bayer, Professor of New Testament at Covenant Theological Seminary; and Michael Reeves, President of Union School of Theology.

They will speak on the topics: “Why was the Reformation important”, “The joyful exchange”, “The authority of Scripture” and “The legacy of the Reformation.”

“IS THE REFORMATION OVER?”

In October 2016, the steering committee of the European Leadership Forum signed the document “Is the Reformation over?”, alongside hundreds of other evangelical Christians.

This document said: “The Protestant Reformation was ultimately a call to recover the authority of the Bible over the church and appreciate afresh the fact that salvation comes to us through faith alone. These theological differences remain to this day”.

Responding to the criticism received by some Protestants which defend more unity with Roman Catholicism, the Reformanda Iniatiative issued a 28-page-long “clarification” document, which has been authored by ELF steering committee members Greg Pritchard and Leonardo De Chirico.

MORE INFO ABOUT ELF

Read an article summarising the 2016 ELF conference here.

Read an article summarising the 2015 ELF conference here.

Read an interview with Greg Pritchard about the vision and aims of the European Leadership Forum.