The European Leadership Forum will hold its 2027 annual meeting in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, after renovation plans at its longtime venue in Poland forced organizers to look for a new site.
Greg Pritchard, director of the evangelical training network, told supporters in a Nov. 5 letter that the Forum has signed a contract with two hotels in the city, Hotel Hills and Hotel Hollywood. Registration for the gathering, which had been suspended, is open again.
The announcement ends a search that began in late summer. Christian Daily International reported in September that organizers had learned the hotel in Wisła, in southern Poland, which had hosted the meeting since 2013, would close for major renovations in May 2027.
At that time, the Forum paused registration and asked its community to suggest alternative venues. Supporters sent more than 100 recommendations, Pritchard wrote.
Many of the suggested sites could not meet the Forum's needs, according to the letter. The gathering requires meals and lodging for 1,000 people, a large plenary hall and 30 breakout rooms. Some venues proved too expensive, Pritchard said, while several strong options were already booked for the week the Forum had reserved for 2027.
The letter indicates the meeting will keep its planned week. The event had been scheduled for May 22-27, CDI previously reported.
Pritchard pointed to one practical change for participants. The Sarajevo hotels are about eight minutes from the city's airport, he wrote, compared with a shuttle journey of roughly 2 1/2 hours to the Polish venue. Those arriving by air will save about 100 euros on Forum shuttle costs, he said.
Early registration closes Nov. 20 for participants from Western Europe and Dec. 4 for those from Southern, Central and Eastern Europe, according to the letter.
Sarajevo will be the fourth host city in the Forum's 25-year history, Pritchard said. The first annual meeting took place in Sopron, Hungary, in 2003, before moving to Eger, Hungary, in 2006 and to Wisła in 2013. Both earlier moves came after the meeting outgrew its facilities, the organization has said.
"Every time, we are surprised and encouraged to see how God uses the new ELF location," Pritchard wrote.
When the venue problem first emerged, Pritchard had cited the account in Acts 16 of Paul being kept from preaching in Asia before a vision directed him to Macedonia. He described the Forum at the time as standing before "a closed door," CDI reported.
The annual meeting draws about 800 participants from more than 60 countries, according to the Forum's website. Attendees are organized into some 25 networks covering fields that include theology, apologetics, media, politics and science.
