Evangelicals have gathered within the South Korean capital of Seoul this week to strategize for world evangelization ahead of 2033 – the 12 months when the worldwide church will take part celebrating 2,000 years because the Lord’s coming.
The six-yearly WGA of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) opened on Monday morning and can bring evangelicals from world wide together for five days of vision-setting and discussions around probably the most pressing issues facing evangelicals today.
Incoming Secretary General of the WEA, Rev Botrus Mansour, cited John 17:21 as he called on delegates to live out the commandment of Jesus to “be one”.
“We are diverse in a number of things – different languages, difficult cultures, different mentalities – but … the barrier wall has been demolished and we’re one in Christ so let’s have a good time that at this conference … working together in an effort to fulfil the commission the Lord has given us,” he said.
The WEA has members across 165 countries and nine continents. Thousands of them are meeting this week at SaRang Church in Seoul, South Korea, under the theme of “the Gospel for everybody by 2033”.
Rev Dr Goodwill Shana, Chair of the WEA’s International Council, said it was a “very significant” gathering and a time to “re-imagine the WEA” because it gets ready for 2033.
He remarked on the expansion of evangelicals world wide because the last WGA in 2019, from 140 million at the moment to around 161 million now.
“I feel we’d like to have a good time that,” he said, adding that he hoped the gathering would “launch us to the subsequent dimension of the WEA”.
Godfrey Yogarajah, Chairman of the Asian Evangelical Alliance, said the WGA was “a landmark moment for the worldwide evangelical community” to “strengthen the church, deepen fellowship and extend Christlike love worldwide”.
“This gathering offers us a novel opportunity to learn, to hope for strategic partnerships, and renew our commitment to mission empowered by the Holy Spirit,” he said.
Earlier within the opening ceremony, Dr Seble Daniel, head of the WEA’s Women’s Commission, issued an appeal for greater inclusion and recognition of ladies, saying that in some places the Church was “excluding” them and “denying them the space to function God equipped them”.
“He has torn down the wall; we must not rebuild it,” she said, adding that the Church should work to “break barriers of tribe, class, denomination and gender”.
“The Gospel must not only be preached but seen – seen in how we treat each other, seen in how we serve, forgive and love,” she said.
“Let us live the Gospel, not by standing above each other but standing together in love, humility and repair.”
Rev Dr Jyung-Hun Oh, Senior Pastor of SaRang Church, warmly welcomed the WEA to his church, saying he was hopeful “we’re going to see a turning point and a recent chapter” for world evangelicalism.
Over the course of the week, delegates will hear about challenges and opportunities, including the impact of AI and other emerging technologies, the rapid growth of evangelicals in Africa, progress on a recent evangelical Christian centre in Qatar, and reaching non-believers in urban contexts.
Guest speakers include Purpose Driven Life writer Rick Warren and evangelist Rev Dr Stephen Tong.
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