The Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu is to welcome more than 40 Porvoo Church Leaders for their meeting at Bishopthorpe Palace on 18-19 September 2014.
Bishop Helga Haugland Byfuglien, Presiding Bishop of the Church of Norway, and Archbishop John Sentamu will be delivering Bible Studies on the theme Towards Greater Unity and Closer Fellowship. Archbishop Michael Jackson of the Church of Ireland and Bishop Peter Skov-Jakobsen, Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark - the Anglican and Lutheran Co-Chairs of the Porvoo Communion of Churches - will also be speaking on the theme.The Bishop of Whitby, the Rt Revd Paul Ferguson, is a member of the Porvoo Panel and will also be in attendance.
At the closing Eucharist service to be held at Bishopthorpe Chapel on Friday 19 September, the signing of the Porvoo Declaration will be completed by Archbishop Elmars Ernsts Rozitis of the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church Abroad, and Bishop Martin Lind of the Lutheran Church in Great Britain. Archbishop Sentamu will preside and Archbishop Antje Jackelén of the Church of Sweden will preach.
The Porvoo Communion is a Communion of Anglican and Lutheran churches, mostly in Northern and Western Europe that have signed an agreement to “share a common life in mission and service”. The Porvoo churches are committed to growing together as churches in mission and service, praying for and with one another. The name Porvoo comes from Porvoo Cathedral in Finland where the agreement was signed in 1998.
For more information about the Porvoo Communion, please visit www.porvoocommunion.org.