Last November, many of us from the LGBTI+ Christian communities of Eastern Europe and Central Asia met in Tartu, Estonia for three days that felt like a long-awaited exhale: prayer, learning, honest conversations, celebrating moments of courage, woven together in one shared space.

For a lot of us, it was the first time seeing each other in person since the Venlo Forum in 2023. For others, joining online was simply the safest or only possible option right now. Because of that, we shaped the whole gathering as hybrid and bilingual (English–Russian), trying to maximize our resources to make room for people whose daily reality includes war, visa restrictions, tight finances, difficult health, or security concerns. In the end, more than 50 people from over a dozen countries joined us, including participants of the Mentoring Programme whose final meeting took place as part of the Forum.

Prayer created the heartbeat of these days, a simple rhythm that held everything else together. Our workshops touched on many things close to our hearts: queer theology, embodied spirituality, nonviolent communication, pastoral care, aging and imagination for the future, gratitude in hard times, and faith under pressure.

One of the most powerful moments was the plenary panel, “Walking along - Facing the questions of our times together”. People from Estonia, Romania, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Russia shared what it means to be queer and Christian right now - in the shadow of the vile and exhausting war, political tightening, conservative pushback, and deep social divides. We listened, we cried, and we recognised ourselves in one another’s stories. None of us walks alone, even when the road feels frightening or lonely. We may feel lost at times, but we are walking together with God among us.

We are deeply grateful to everyone who made this gathering possible: organizers, facilitators, speakers, volunteers, interpreters, hosts, and every single participant, in Tartu and online. In a time when so many things around us feel unstable or heavy, this bilingual, hybrid Forum reminded us of something essential: community is not a luxury. It’s something we rely on to keep going.