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271
ICCOWE:
What It Is and How It Started
Michael
What
ultimately
became Charismatic Consultation
leaders’ conference
of Ministries
Aboard). Director of
SOMA) Forrest
(then
Director of Charismatic Renewal Office
meeting, the numbers
Harper
(International
developed
over a
was a tea
party 1983 at an ecumenical
the International Catholic and the Reverend
Larry Lutheran Renewal office in
After the
known as ICCOWE
on World
Evangelization)
period
of six
years
in the 1980s. The
starting point
which took
place
at Limuru in Kenya in October
organized by
the
Anglican body,
SOMA
(Sharing
Canon Michael
Harper (the
International
invited two men to meet him for
tea,
Father Tom
ICCRO,
in
Rome),
Christenson
(Director
of the International
Minneapolis).
The reason for such a
meeting
was
obvious;
all three men were heading up
international Charismatic networks. To follow
up
this first
a further one was
arranged
for Rome in May 1984. This time
were
enlarged
to nine
(to
become known as “the
gang
of nine”).
These included the former
Anglican Archbishop
of South Afiica (Dr.
Bill
Burnett),
the Lutheran
Bishop
of Karachi
(Dr.
Ame
Rudvin), and the American Catholic
leader,
Dr. Kevin
Ranaghan.
meeting
the
“gang
of nine” flew to Geneva where
they
were entertained to lunch
by
Dr.
Philip
Potter at the World Council of Churches; later a
the WCC took
place
at Bossey.
the end of the Rome
meeting,
Father Tom
Forrest,
who
shared his vision for the Decade Evangelization.
He was one of the
first, perhaps
the first Christian
to have such a vision. He said that he
hoped
soon to visit
Pope
him
(which
he was able to do
shortly
It was later to be the
pivotal
vision of
which Tom Forrest set
up
as a Catholic expression
of this
insight.
Almost at once ICCOWE
adopted
the same
had started with a
deep
commitment to Renewal and
as a
special
consultation with
Towards
was
shortly
to leave
ICCRO,
leader
John Paul II to share this with after our
meeting).
“Evangelization 2000,”
vision. We Christian
unity. Evangelization.
To
these,
1984)
and
Matlock,
of
intention,
was added
for about
This
and Non-denominationals.
in
Singapore, meeting
took
place
Two further
meetings
were held in Tampa,
Florida,
USA
(December
UK
(September 1985),
and a
major
decision was taken to
bring
into our network as a separate “stream” the Pentecostals
Gradually,
a
plan
was conceived to hold a major
Consultation
was held from the 9th
February
1987. It was
symbolic
that it
in the week that David du Plessis
died,
the man who had
seventy
people.
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272
Gradually,
on behalf of the
larger body.
worked so hard to
bring
the streams
together.
Now it was
happening on an international scale.
The
Singapore gathering
was followed
by
another in February 1988. A simple structure
developed-with
a consultative council
acting
as the main
body. They
then elected an executive of six people, two from each of the three
streams, Catholic,
Protestant and Pentecostal/Charismatic. The executive
organized
the Consultation
the
proposal
was
forming
for an international conference at the start of the Decade of
Evangelization
in 1991. But before this could take
place,
it was
thought important
to have a Prayer
Vigil,
and this was held at the Notre Dame Centre in Jerusalem in
May
1989. It was there that the decision was taken to hold a conference in Brighton, UK in the summer of
1991,
as a
launching pad
for the Decade of
Evangelization.
place.
so on Pentecost
We met in Jerusalem at the season of
Pentecost;
Sunday
a
special prayer gathering
took
place
close to the walls of the old
temple
in
Jerusalem,
near where the first Pentecost
probably
took
There we were led to
pray
and dedicate ourselves to the task of evangelizing
the world in the
1990s,
so that
by
the end of the decade over 50% of the world would be Christian.
Canterbury,
Hume, many
by
the Gulf
War,
which made it
conferences. But from
July
8th
The
year
of 1991 was dominated
harder for
people
to
get
to international
to the 14th 1991 over 3000
delegates
from over 100 nations
gathered in the
Brighton
Centre. The
newly
consecrated
Archbishop
of
Dr.
George Carey, spoke
on the
opening evening;
other senior Church leaders who attended and
spoke included,
Cardinal
Cardinal
Arinze,
William
Kumuyi,
Tokunboh
Adeyemo
and
others. An
important part
of the
program
was a
theological conference which drew
together theologians
from all over the world to speak
and share about
important
Charismatic
insights. Many
considered this
theological
1
stream one of the most
significant aspects
of the whole conference.’
the decision was taken to seek to include
from the Orthodox Church. Since
Brighton
’91 there have been two further consultations: one in
Luray, Virginia,
USA
on the theme of short-term trans-cultural
missions,
and
After the
conference, representatives
(October 1992)
the other in Port
Dickson, followed
West
Malaysia (March 1994),
which
renewal and
up
the themes of
Brighton-evangelization,
Christian
unity.
The next
major
event is planned for Eastern
Europe
in 1997. There are also
plans
for
regional meetings,
and other initiatives which are
compatible
with the vision and
goals
of ICCOWE.
‘ A selection of the theological papers from
Brighton is published in Harold D. Hunter and Peter D.
Hocken, eds., All
in One Place
Sheffield Academic This Together
(Sheffield, England:
Press, 1993). book is reviewed by Russell P. Spittler in PNEUMA: The Journal
of the Society for
Pentecostal Studies 16
321-323.
(Fall 1994):
2
273
The distinctive element of ICCOWE is its ecumenical
probably
unique
in the Christian
ecumenical basis. This
action unusual in the Christian world.
particularly Evangelical, working
There is also a breadth in the area of
these two strands of renewal and
evangelization together
combination makes ICCOWE’s vision and
breadth, world. There are
many groups, in the field of
joint evangelization.
renewal. But ICCOWE
brings
on an
down the ecumenical ICCOWE
produces
an
ICCOWE has
produced
a document
describing
its vision and
goals. Also, together
with other similar bodies like NARSC in North
America, and ECC in
Europe,
it has its “Pattern for
Co-operation,”
principles
occasional newsletter called Link.
upon
which
lays which its work is based. 2
2 The office address is: PO Box 2000, Haywards Heath, West Sussex Rh 16 4YP, UK (Tel: 0444-413321, fax: 0444-417871).
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