ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Porvoo Communion

Imagine you have two groups of friends. One of those groups sometimes does things a little differently than the other. They have different traditions and ways of doing things, but they still want to be friends and work together. That's sort of what the Porvoo Communion is like.

In the past, there were two main groups of Christians in Europe: the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant Churches. They had very different beliefs and ways of doing things, and they didn't always get along. Over time, though, the Protestant Churches split into a bunch of different groups with their own traditions and beliefs.

In the 20th century, some of the Protestant Churches in Europe started realizing that they had a lot in common with each other. They wanted to work together and be friends, even though they still had some differences. They started meeting together and talking about their beliefs and how they could work together.

In 1992, a group of representatives from these Protestant Churches met in the city of Porvoo, Finland. They agreed to something called the Porvoo Declaration, which said that they would work together and treat each other as equals, even though they had different traditions and ways of doing things. This group of churches became known as the Porvoo Communion.

The Porvoo Communion includes Protestant Churches from all over Europe, including the Anglican Church (which is the Church of England), the Lutheran Church (which is the Church in much of northern Europe), and some other Churches too. They work together on things like worship, theology, and missions, even though they still have some differences. It's sort of like when you and your friends have a party together, even though some of you like pizza and some of you like hamburgers. You can still have fun together even if you don't all like the same things.