Backed by leaders across multiple denominations, the River of Life Conference held last week in Melbourne was billed as a citywide “unity event”, glued together by a desire for revival in the city and the leader of the world’s biggest church.

Unity and revival are noble aims and ones which the organisers poured their time and prayers into in the lead up to the two-day conference. But it’s a tough ask for any city with a diversity of churches, let alone Melbourne.

Like most people, when I heard someone with a congregation of 800,000 people was coming to speak, I was curious. And when I heard the conference had the support of Anglicans and Pentecostals, Baptists, Presbyterians, Salvation Army, Korean ministries and Christian organisations, my interest was piqued even further. Could it possibly succeed?

If unity is the coming together of Christians from various backgrounds to sing praise, share ideas and learn from one another, then yes. With any hope, relationships have been formed which will outlast the conference and unity has begun to bud between individuals.  I doubt whether it achieved its ultimate goal of citywide unity, but it was a step in a positive direction. One of the hardest things for organisers is to find a keynote speaker that can unify a range of Christians. River of Life went for a high-profile speaker from the Pentecostal strand of Christianity.

77-year-old Dr David Yonggi Cho is the Senior Pastor and founder of the Yoido Full Gospel Church (Assemblies of God) in Seoul. Introduced by his colleague Dr Young Hoon Lee as “the great man of God”, his style is typical of a Pentecostal preacher. His rally on Friday night was full of personal anecdotes and a call to have faith in God–that he can bring healing and sweetness to your life. Dr Cho spoke about the misdirected anti-materialism of Christians, suggesting Christians can expect and pray for prosperity and health. Dr Cho told stories of healing in his own life before asking people in the audience to stand and be healed in the name of Jesus.

It was a night that would’ve inspired some to pray for a faith that can see healing in their life, while it would’ve left others uncomfortable at his handling of the Bible. Dr Cho certainly wasn’t the only speaker at River of Life, and no doubt, the great strength of River of Life was the workshops held during the day, which focused on how to reach Melbourne with the gospel through social justice, sport, the creative arts and community service.

River of Life reflects a desire for revival. Convenor Peter Kentley pointed to great times of Christian unity in early 20th century Melbourne under the leadership of R.A. Torrey and the Evangelisation Society of Victoria. If hearts were stirred to see Melbourne once again touched by the gospel, then River of Life was worth it, but a two-day conference with a controversial international speaker like Dr Cho can only be a beginning.

Photo credit: Paul Bovolos.