Dialogue and Unity: The Lausanne Orthodox Initiative
How would the global church change if Christians learned each other’s traditions through friendship rather than the internet?
In this episode of God on the Move, Anton Ponomarev and Calum Samuelson share how the Lausanne Orthodox Initiative (LOI) brings evangelicals and Orthodox Christians together to listen, build trust, and collaborate in God’s mission without trying to convert each other. They recount LOI’s origins around 2010, early consultations that surfaced stereotypes, and practical partnerships such as trauma-healing support for Coptic communities in Egypt and relationship-building among leaders in North Macedonia. They discuss challenges like disembodied online information, consumer-driven faith, vocal new converts, and fragmentation within Orthodoxy, emphasizing rootedness in one’s tradition, prayer together, shared commitments from the Nicene Creed, and a vision of unity shaped by John 17 and love in John 13.
📚 Links from the Interview
- Lausanne-Orthodox Initiative
- Faith2Share
- Calum’s Work with OCMS
- Podcast 89: From Ethiopia to the World: Student Ministry’s Role in Growing Global Missions
🔗 Join the God on the Move Community on the Lausanne Action Hub and be part of the conversation, see exclusive content and share your own testimony.
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Guests in This Episode
Anton Ponomarev
Born and raised in Russia, Anton Ponomarev has been working in the UK and globally since 2003 in a variety of mission roles. Currently, Anton is serving with the Faith2Share network with particular focus on network membership engagement, leadership development and research and support of emerging mission movements. His passion for ecumenical and mission work also brought him to being on the board of Lausanne-Orthodox Initiative, bringing together evangelical and Orthodox leaders in the areas of mutual understanding, dialogue and mission. Critical skill: loves growing tomatoes!
Calum Samuelson
Calum A. Samuelson is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Sankt Ignatios College (Stockholm School of Eastern Christian Studies) and a Research Associate at the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies (OCMS). He earned his PhD in Orthodox Studies for research on theosis in the Ethiopian and Eritrean Täwaḥǝdo tradition from the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies (IOCS) in Cambridge, UK. In addition to his ongoing focus on various aspects of Täwaḥǝdo Christianity, he has broad interests in biblical, historical, and practical theology—all of which he has taught at universities on three different continents. As an ordained minister in the Methodist tradition and a board member of the Lausanne-Orthodox Initiative (LOI), he makes regular efforts to communicate his research for the benefit of the global Church.
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