An Odisha Christian leadership conference was inaugurated on Tuesday at the Rabindra Mandap here by Dr Phil Roberts, former President of Mid Western Seminary in USA. The conference, which will continue till Thursday, is attended by about 1,000 Christian leaders drawn from all the 30 districts of the State.
The conference seeks to build social tolerance, communal harmony and community brotherhood among all communities by sensitising the Christian leaders to the need for mainstreaming in the nation building process and becoming builders of society with the virtues of love, peace, affection and joy as enshrined in the life of lord Jesus Christ.
The conference is jointly organised by the Utkal Christian Church Central Council, Odisha Baptist Evangelistic Crusade, All Odisha Baptist Churches Federation, Odisha Minority Forum and YMCA, Bhubaneswar.
The inaugural ceremony was chaired by Odisha Minority Forum president Dr Swarupananda Patra and the keynote address was provided by Darren Wickham from the Texas Baptist Church. Utkal Christian Church Central Council president Dr Satyananda Patra was present.
Dr Roberts said the Christianity being a faith of forgiveness and hope should also serve as a reminder to all Christians in Odisha to love, respect and forgive others.
On Wednesday, a grand plenary session will be inaugurated by Governor of Assam JB Patnaik. The conference would end with a resolve to build a more secular, tolerant and compassionate society using the values of Christianity as a benchmark, said Dr Swarupananda Patra.