All is set for the 2024 European Leadership Forum conference, which will bring together evangelical leaders from across the continent in the southern Polish city of Wisla from 25-30 May.

“This year we have the largest Forum ever with about 830 leaders from 51 countries”, Kevin Saylor, Director of Participant Engagement, told Evangelical Focus. Among them will be “hand-picked leaders from Africa and Asia who are visiting to see if there are elements of what the Forum is doing that can be implemented in their own contexts”. 

René Breuel, an evangelical pastor in Rome (Italy), will preach during the morning plenaries on the book or Revelation, which is relevant for Europe today as it “paints the Gospel in bright colours for turbulent times”.

Other plenary speakers in the evening will be John Dickson (Australia), Roland Werner (Germany), Sharon Dirckx (UK) and Dave Patty (Czechia).

Dozens of speakers

Commenting on this year’s schedule, Kevin Saylor said: “This year we have a leader from Latin America who is teaching Scripture each morning. We have an academic speaking about how the Gospel can be shared in the public square. We have a theologian who will act out the story of Martin Luther and the freedom that comes to us in Christ. We have a scientist explaining how we can confidently communicate the truth of Christianity in a scientific world. On the final evening, the speaker will challenge participants to grow to maturity in Christ”. 

The over twenty thematic networks available (inlcuding three new ones this year) are interest groups which meet twice every day to focus on training and personal connections around themes including: youth ministry, science, politics, arts, professional counselling, media communication or fundraising.

Seminars led by dozens of speakers in the afternoons will address important issues in European culture and how they relate to the life and mission of churches.

Christian organisations working in Europe will have the chance to share their vision with others during the ‘Expo’ exhibition.

Two decades since the first edition in Hungary

This will be the 22^nd edition of a conference first celebrated in 2003 in the Hungarian city of Sopron. Around 200 people from 25 countries attended that first edition.

The dream of director Greg Pritchard and evangelical leaders from different European nations was to become “a coalition partnership of hundreds of gifted Gospel leaders who invested their time, talent and treasure to unite, equip and resource Evangelical leaders to renew the European church and spread the Gospel”.

Initially created to serve evangelical Christians in Central and Eastern Europe, two decades later the ELF is open to any European evangelical leader, although Central and Eastern Europeans still represent half of the participants.  

“A bridge between local leaders and God’s global resources”

Although mainly known by the continental conference in May, 90% of the ELF’s work happens throughout the year in local contexts.

“Nine national Forums operate in specific countries in their national languages and there are more than 800 spin-off strategies that leaders sponsor and initiate in their own countries", says Kevin Saylor.

"We have around 400 leaders at the Forum who will be mentored one-on-one or in small groups throughout the year. God is using the Forum to help evangelical leaders do the one another’s of Scripture: loving one another, encouraging one another, and praying for one another”. 

“We are excited to be a part of what God is doing. The Forum is a bridge between local leaders and God’s global resources, it is a greenhouse of spiritual growth where people are nourished and grow to maturity. We are praying for the Lord to do what he did in the New Testament, for God to use Christians to turn the world upside down. Please pray for us”. 

Learn more about the European Leadership Forum and the Forum of Christian Leaders.