13.10.2022
Communion, unity and vulnerability – Themes of Porvoo 25th anniversary conference
Archbishop Michael Jackson reports from the second day of the conference which is taking place in Tampere, Finland
Having been joined by The Primates of The Porvoo Communion for the service of Holy Communion in Tampere Cathedral on the evening of October 11th, the second day of the conference was devoted to exploring the theme of unity and vulnerability in the churches of The Porvoo Communion. The opening session set the scene by hearing from a number of the architects of the original Porvoo Common Statement. It mapped out the understanding of communion as expressed in a common life, communion not as a confessional expression of Christianity but as the common voice of local churches each with their own expressions of internal life and ecumenical relations, each recognizing and respecting one another’s witness and sharing a mission in contemporary Europe. It also discussed possibilities of a more structured shape for communion during the next twenty–five years of Porvoo. Perspectives were received from Bishop Christopher Hill together with Dame Mary Tanner (Church of England) and from The Reverend Dt Tiit Padam (Church of Estonia).
The second session discussed both the quest for unity, as an expression of the life of Christ Jesus in the world, and the urgency of unity in the expression of Christian witness and contribution to the life of contemporary Europe. This centred on aspects of the war in Ukraine, mindful as we were of meeting in a country that neighbours directly on Russia, that is Finland. The continuing and the declining role of national churches and an established church was also considered. The tension between the two models of producer–and–consumer and the response to God’s call to serve people in the life of national churches in Europe was highlighted. So also was the sense that, in the life of today’s secular societies, there is a new desire on the part of both state and of citizens to have churches take the lead in so many ways on behalf of the societies while at the same time numbers attending Sunday church services are generally in decline. Papers were presented by Archbishop Stephen Cottrell (Church of England) and Presiding Bishop Olav Fykse Tveit (Church of Norway), formerly Secretary General of WCC.
The third session addressed vulnerability and what churches learned through continuing to be the church for both members and for society during the Covid–19 pandemic. Not only did this offer statistical analysis of the move to on–line worship, it also gave voice to new types of hope that were able to be expressed through the conviction on the part of the churches that God remained with God’s people in the dark days where bereavement, loneliness and separation became a norm in human life. Further, it spoke of life in the Holy Spirit in the time of the coronavirus. Papers were presented by Archbishop Antje Jackelen (Church of Sweden) and Bishop Jorge Pina Cabral (Church of Lusitania).
The areas of unity of the churches, the united contribution of the church to the life of community and society along with what we have learned from living through Covid–19 are of significant relevant to Dublin and Glendalough and to the Church of Ireland.