A working group meeting on discipleship took place at the Ecumenical Institute of Bossey, Switzerland on 5-7 April 2019. Those gathered were continuing to follow up the World Council of Churches (WCC) Conference on World Mission and Evangelism held in Arusha, Tanzania in March 2018. They met at the Ecumenical Institute of Bossey to reflect on the Arusha Call, a document compiling ideas from more than 1,000 people gathered in Tanzania. The theme of the Conference on World Mission and Evangelism was “Moving in the Spirit: Called to Transforming Discipleship.” A tradition of the International Mission Council and the WCC Commission on World Mission and Evangelism, mission conferences are held roughly every decade.

The working group worked to point out fresh, innovative elements that the Arusha Call to discipleship is lifting up. The group also discussed the Arusha Call with an eye toward the WCC 11th Assembly in 2021. Participating in the meeting from the Ecumenical Patriarchate was the Very Reverend Second Patriarchal Deacon Nephon Tsimalis.