International Charismatic Consultation – formerly known as International Charismatic Consultation on World Evangelisation
A Brief History, 1984 – 2002
A FAMOUS CUP OF TEA
The Singapore Consultation and beyond
The first seeds of what became ICCOWE were sown in the hills of Limuru, Kenya. SOMA (Sharing of Ministries Abroad), an organisation which had been networking Anglicans since 1980, had organised a conference there for African leaders, at which two of the speakers were Revd Larry Christenson and Father Tom Forrest.
Larry was networking Lutherans from the US, and Tom Forrest was the Director of ICCRO (International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Office), in Rome. Michael Harper, director of SOMA, suggested that they meet for a cup of tea, to chat about how these three networks might share in the future.
The next step was the first meeting of what became known as the gang of nine, which met in May 1984 in Rome. They included Terry Fullam, Kevin Ranaghan, Bishop Arne Rudvin, Archbishop Bill Burnett, and the original three. At this meeting Tom Forrest first shared his vision for a Decade of Evangelism in the 90s. It was immediately accepted by this group, and has since formed the centrepiece of their meetings.
In England in 1985 the representation was widened to include leaders from the Pentecostal and Non-denominational movements. Invitations to a meeting in Singapore in February 1987 were sent by Larry Christenson to about 80 leaders from these streams of renewal, and most attended. This became known as the Singapore Consultation, which met again the following year, and began to receive a vision for a possible world conference to launch the Decade of Evangelism.
This and the on-going vision for the 90s were tested at a Prayer Vigil in Jerusalem. More than 100 leaders from all over the world met, and received clear confirmation that they were on the right track for the Decade of Evangelism, and a conference for 3000 world leaders in Brighton, England in the summer of 1991.
The Continuing Committee met in Jerusalem, and decided to change the name from Singapore Consultation to the International Charismatic Consultation on World Evangelisation. Quite a mouthful! But it describes what it is all about, and particularly the emphasis on world evangelisation, which has been top of the agenda for us from day one. We believe the Holy Spirit put it there.
BRIGHTON ‘91: THAT THE WORLD MAY BELIEVE
It was different!
“The plan that I will give you will be so different that it will sound impossible, but possible for the ones who trust My words and act on them.” That was a word of prophecy at Jerusalem in 1989 when the Lord told us to go ahead with the conference Brighton ‘91.
The conference drew together about 1500 Anglican/Protestant, 800 Roman Catholic, 730 Pentecostal/Non-denominational and 10 Orthodox participants. There was good representation from Africa (370), Asia (320), Latin America (50), North America (480) Oceania (180), with the remainder from Europe and UK: total 3100.
Throughout the Conference the themes Evangelise the world and Do it together came again and again. For many, a highlight was the talk of Father Raniero Cantalamessa when he spoke on charismatic unity and institutional unity and affirmed both. The Charismatic Renewal , he said, is a current of grace…a prophetic force…a sign of the times… the only existing ‘movement’ or reality that is genuinely inter-denominational.
Archbishop George Carey and Cardinal Basil Hume both addressed the conference. Some other important contributions came from Third World leaders like William Kumuyi, Gresford Chitemo, Joseph Wongsak, John Toguata, Miguel Escobar and Omar Cabrera. Large crowds gathered to hear them speak of the massive growth of their Churches, and the simple biblical principles upon which they are based.
Theologians make history!
A new initiative was the bringing together of Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox theologians. Never before has such a gathering of theologians been part of such a conference like this. Charismatics and Pentecostals have been accused of being mindless . At Brighton it was demonstrated that they do take theology seriously; the success of this part of the conference resulted in further meetings being arranged.
Dr Ioan Sauca, a distinguished Orthodox theologian from Romania, described Brighton ‘91 as ‘the best ecumenical conference I have ever attended.’ (Dr Sauca is now on the staff of the World Council of Churches.)
An assessment of Brighton ‘91
One participant said ‘I don’t imagine we shall know until eternity the effect of Brighton ‘91; it was an astonishing feast of riches…the sheer net-working will have years of knock-on impact, and I’m sure the Lord is rejoicing with us.’
THE LURAY CONSULTATION
Discerning the critical role of short-term missions.
In October 1992 ICCOWE held a small, but significant consultation on short-term cross-cultural missions. About 30 leaders involved in short-term mission met at ICCOWE’s invitation, in Virginia, USA. They came from Roman Catholic, Protestant and Pentecostal/Non-denominational traditions, and from 10 countries in 5 continents.
MALAYSIA ‘94
Co-operation at a time of unparalleled opportunity
We met in March 1994 in Port Dickson, on the Malaysian coast near Kuala Lumpur. It was ICCOWE’s first major event since Brighton ‘91, and the spirit of Brighton was evidenced throughout the week. Over 160 delegates came from nearly 30 countries. Most were from Asia, with a sprinkling from Africa, Europe and North America. There was good participation from each of the streams of Roman Catholic, Pentecostal/Non-denominational, and Protestant.
Father Tom Forrest gave the opening address, and the next morning the first Bible lecture was given by Dr Tissa Weerasingha from Sri Lanka. Dr Joseph Wongsak (Thailand), Father Gino Henriques (Singapore), Father Kilian McDonnell (USA), Dr James Ukaegbu (Nigeria) and Canon James Wong (Singapore) were the other speakers
The experience of unity, the desire to engage effectively in evangelism, and the undergirding power of renewal all combined to make it a time to remember. A word of prophecy declared ‘This is harvest time… and I keep the best wine for the end… gird up your loins… you will be part of the flow from east to west and from north to south, and no single person will have the answer…’
We did find some answers when we were all gathered together, listening to God and to one another, these were put together in the report that was put together and is available from the ICCOWE office.
PRAGUE ‘97
Building Bridges, Breaking Barriers
A leading Roman Catholic theologian, Dr Kilian McDonnell, described Prague ‘97 as historic and a watershed. The consultation was held (September 10-13 1997) in Prague in the Czech Republic, and was attended by over 300 Christian leaders from Eastern and Western Europe, with another 30 joining them from other parts of the world. They came from many different Churches and Christian communities, and from most of the countries of Europe, including Albania, the Ukraine and the Baltic States. The meetings were co-sponsored by ICCOWE and ECC (European Charismatic Consultation).
Meetings took place in the Archbishop’s Seminary in Prague, and Cardinal Miloslav Vlk, who is President of the European Bishop’s Conference, greeted the assembly. Other guests included observers from the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations, and the Conference of European Churches. Plenary meetings took place during the day, and group discussions in the afternoons. Speakers at the plenary meetings included Fr Michael Harper, Bishop Bronis aw Dembowski, Giovanni Traettino and Kalevi Lehtinen.
Running parallel to the plenary meetings was a theological consultation attended by 70 theologians. This was organised jointly by ICCOWE and EPCRA, the European Pentecostal and Charismatic Research Association. Papers were given by Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, Prof Mel Robeck, Fr Kilian MacDonnell, Dr Martien Parmentier and others. There were also three plenary theological lectures in the afternoons, given by Prof Jan Mili… Lochman, Dr Walter Hollenweger and Dr Miroslav Volf.
The speaker on the opening evening was Father Daniel-Ange. The theme of the Conference was Building Bridges and Breaking Barriers – in the new European context of a largely post-communist situation. Many new relationships were formed between East and West, and sometimes reconciliation took place on the spot during meetings, as for instance between the Russians and the American delegates. People asked forgiveness for the bitterness and antagonism of the past. On one evening, led by Anders-Petter Sjödin, there was a special emphasis on building bridges between the generations. The final evening was led by a pioneer of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in the USA, Dr Kevin Ranaghan.
The worship was led by Prof Matteo Calisi, with his music group from Italy. He has for several years led the worship at the annual Rimini conferences, attended by over 40,000 people. There was a Bible study each morning; these were given by Peter Dippl, Ove Conrad Hanssen and Kim Kollins. The Roman Catholic had their Eucharist each morning, and on the Saturday morning there was an Orthodox service for the blessing of bread, wine and oil. All the members of the conference received blessed bread and were anointed with holy oil. The choir at this service came from the Lord’s Army, an Orthodox lay movement from Romania.
Comments on Prague ‘97
One of the Orthodox priests present spoke of it as the best conference I have ever attended. A Russian wrote, it was exciting, the Spirit of God dwelt among us. I came home so refreshed spiritually. A participant from the UK commented: The most European and the most ecumenical conference I’ve been to. Another pointed out that above all it was such a privilege to meet so many, individually, and hear about their lives – we felt we were walking on holy ground.
CELEBRATE JESUS 2000
Penang and Prague
PENANG: March 2000
The conference was based at the Bayview Beach Resort, Penang, and was attended by about 250 people from 25 countries, including about 40 who came from all over the world for meetings of the ICCOWE Advisory Council.
The Advisory Council members and some others gathered for a two-day prayer vigil. Interspersed with powerful sessions of prayer were presentations dealing with the major themes of ICCOWE: Renewal, Evangelisation and Unity. The speakers were Oswill Williams (Pentecostal), Rev Kalevi Lehtinen (Lutheran), Prof. Matteo Calisi (Roman Catholic), and the preacher at Sunday morning worship was Fr Tom Forrest.
At the main conference, participants included regional leaders and members of Roman Catholic, Protestant, Pentecostal and non-denominational churches, mainly from India and South-East Asia. Main speakers came from Singapore (Rev Derek Hong), the Philippines (Fr Bart Pastor), USA (Bp Oswill Williams), Finland (Rev Johan Candelin), Italy (Rev Thomas Michel) Germany (Kim Kollins) and UK (Charles Whitehead). There was much emphasis on the suffering church, which is a reality on our world today.
Music was provided by a Roman Catholic group from the Community of God’s Little Children, Philippines. Evening rallies, organised by local Christians from various churches, were held on consecutive nights in Georgetown, Penang, with speakers Fr Tom Forrest (USA), Pastor Colton Wickramaratne (Sri Lanka) and Rev Alfredo Cooper (Chile). Many new contacts and friendships were made during this time, and local Christians were encouraged to meet fellow-Christians from all over the world.
Bishop Oswill Williams, of the Church of God of Prophecy, wrote:
“I am convinced that the prayer vigil set the tone for the rest of the conference. The start of the main conference on the first evening was a particularly poignant moment for me. As the opening speaker, I was struck by the unusual setting and the different peoples and Christian streams I would be addressing. It seemed that the Spirit specifically called for me to emphasise the unifying power of the cross of Christ. With the knowledge that Pentecost, as it pertains to the coming of the Holy Spirit, took place after the cross, it is clear that we are all children of the cross before we became children of Pentecost. Cross-carrying Christians, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, cannot and will not accommodate the traditional divisions that have plagued Christendom for hundreds of years”
Bishop Hamish Jamieson, of the Anglican Church in Australia, wrote: “It was a good conference with excellent addresses, a building of friendships, and a releasing of the work of the Holy Spirit. We are to be Cross-carrying Christians, and in that fact we will find unity.”
EAST MEETS WEST IN PRAGUE, August 2000
Prague was the chosen venue for an historic conference, which brought Christians together from eastern and western Europe, and from many different Christian churches and communities. It was the tenth anniversary of that memorable summer of 1990 in Prague, the first since the collapse of communism the previous year. There were about 260 participants; they came from 30 countries (mostly European, including 11 eastern European countries) but the largest delegations came from the United Kingdom and Romania. About twenty came from Moscow, and there were also delegates from other parts of Russia.
The conference was jointly sponsored by ICCOWE (International Charismatic Consultation on World Evangelization) and ECC (European Charismatic Consultation). The participants were invited to “Celebrate Jesus 2000″ and the main focus was on the Incarnation of Christ – His birth 2000 years ago, and the many ways in which He is now manifesting His life through Christian people.
The workshops were designed to express several different ways in which Christ is manifesting Himself in Europe. Roger Simpson from York introduced the world famous Alpha course, helped by David Payne. Carl-Erik Sahlberg from Stockholm, Sweden described his work in a parish in that city, where the ministry specialises in helping drug addicts, prostitutes and street people. Father Vasile Mihoc from Romania led a moving workshop on the Cross and how the experience of suffering under Communism has strengthened the Church. Pete Greig, assisted by Justin Blake, shared about planting churches in the youth culture.
Mike Bickle, Kim Kollins and Salvatore Martinez spoke about various models of prayer initiatives which have been developing throughout the world with great intensity in the last year or so.
The theme of reconciliation was movingly presented by Peter Kuzmic, Ralph del Colle (representing Kilian MacDonnell, who could not be present) and Giovanni Traettino. Peter spoke of the recent troubles in his native Croatia, while Ralph, a Roman Catholic layman from the United States, and Giovanni, a Pentecostal pastor from Italy, both asked forgiveness of each other, regarding the treatment of Pentecostals by Roman Catholics and Roman Catholics by Pentecostals.
On the opening evening Cardinal Miloslav Vlk, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Prague, had warmly welcomed the delegates. He was followed by Fr Tom Forrest who roused the conference with his talk focused on hope . One of the evenings was led by Scandinavians, the main address being given by Berit Simonsson, wife of a Swedish Lutheran pastor. The morning speakers, addressing various aspects of the Incarnation, were David Pawson, Bishop Kallistos and Mel Robeck.
At the same time as the main conference, theologians were meeting and focusing on The Incarnation in Trinitarian History . Papers were read by Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia (UK, Orthodox), Dr Edmund Rybarczyk (USA, Pentecostal), Dr Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen (Finland, Pentecostal), Dr Ralph del Colle (USA, Roman Catholic), and Father Hilarion Alfeyev (Russia, Orthodox).
The worship was led by Wellspring, a UK based music group, and a choir from the Lord’s Army, an Orthodox group from Romania.
THE MALTA CONSULTATION
January 20th to 23rd 2004
132 people from 30 countries responded to our invitation to attend a 4-day ICC Consultation on “The Suffering Church”, held at the Coastline Hotel, Salina Bay in Malta. Those present came from the mainline protestant Churches, from the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches, and from Pentecostal and Non-Denominational Churches all over the world. There were bishops, pastors and priests, theologians, and politicians, human rights workers, businessmen and women, and local church members from a variety of backgrounds. Most of the ICC Executive and many of the Advisory Council were among those who travelled to Malta.
The vision behind the Consultation was to continue the calling of ICC to work for Renewal in the Spirit, Unity in the body of Christ, and Evangelisation, by bringing together Christians from different traditions to share experiences, learn about what is really happening, and increase understanding of how we can help persecuted Christians around the world. To help us reach our goals we were fortunate to have a number of experts as main speakers, supported by the testimonies of some who had experienced persecution, and the practical contributions of a number of agencies working to bring relief and hep to the suffering church. A special theological track formed an important part of the Consultation, where over 30 theologians presented and discussed a number of papers of a variety of subjects linked to the theme of the Consultation.
The main speakers were Lord David Alton, a politician who works tirelessly for the human rights of persecuted Christians all over the world; Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo, an expert on Islam who directs the Barnabas Fund; Abuna Elias Chacour, a Palestinian Melkite priest who has built a school for Moslem, Christian, Jewish and Druize pupils, and works for reconciliation in Palestine; Rev. Sam Yeghnazar, an Iranian pastor resident in England, who founded Elam Ministries to train pastors for Iran and to support Christians in that region; Fr. Prof. Vasile Mihoc, an Orthodox priest from Romania who is a leader in The Lord’s Army movement, persecuted during the communist era; Bishop Dr. Hilarion Alfeyev, who is the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church to the European Union; Rev. Don Brewin who heads up SOMA, ministering to Anglican churches all over the world; and Henry and Mario Cappello, who are working with churches in China.
The morning Bible studies were led by Professor Mel Robeck, Dr. Harold Hunter, and Rev. Johannes Fichtenbauer, and among those giving testimonies were Bishop James Leggett, James Mawdsley, Rev. David Haokip, Dr Chin K. Khai, and Rev. Rosemarie Claussen. The theological stream was co-ordinated by Dr. Harold Hunter and Professor Mel Robeck, and featured a number of eminent theologians. It is hoped to publish their papers very shortly. Our morning times of prayer and worship were led by Mark Nimo from Ghana, and in the evenings we were fortunate to have a number of Maltese worship groups ministering to us. Throughout the Consultation a groups of intercessors were at prayer in a small room specially put aside for the purpose, joining with our regular intercessors who were holding the whole event in prayer through the four days.
The general consensus was that this was an excellent and fruitful Consultation, which fulfilled its aim of raising awareness and increasing commitment to our brothers and sisters who live under persecution, and even martyrdom. There was a tremendous sense of joy and hope among the delegates present, particularly among those who are suffering or who have suffered for their faith. We recognised that while the suffering church needs our voices and our help, we have a tremendous amount to learn from them.
Charles Whitehead
ICC Chairman
AFTER MALTA
In 2004 it was decided to merge the European Charismatic Consultation with ICC, and two members of its previous Executive Committee joined the ICC Executive with special responsibility for work in Europe.
The first event was a meeting for young leaders in the charismatic renewal from 8 different countries in Europe. They met in England in November 2004, for fellowship and planning for future meetings.
ICC AND THE AZUSA STRET CENTENNIAL
In April 2006 ICC was represented at the Azusa Street Centennial in Los Angeles, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit which gave birth to the worldwide Pentecostal movement, and where ICC was included in the main conference programme. It was a splendid and successful week attended by an estimated 45,000 people, with about 20,000 present at the final rally entitled “Together Again”. This rally celebrated the restored sense of unity between the many strands of Pentecostalism, and there was a strong recognition of its relationship with the worldwide Charismatic Renewal in the traditional churches and other movements.
(See the official Centennial website www.azusastreet.com for reports of the main event.)
ICC held an open meeting attended by about 100 people, including members of the ICC Advisory Council, people who had attended ICC events in the past, and some who were interested newcomers. There were Pentecostal, Non-denominational, Roman Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox Christians from 18 nations. Charles Whitehead introduced the session and Mark Nimo led the worship. Rev Larry Christenson (Lutheran), one of the three who had the original vision for ICC, described what happened in the early days, with the 2 initial consultations in Singapore and the Jerusalem prayer vigil in 1989, and then the world conference in Brighton, England, in 1991. Other speakers, on the theme Relating Together in the Body of Christ were Dr Kevin Ranaghan (Roman Catholic) and Dr Vinson Synan (Pentecostal, both members of the ICC Executive Committee.