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High-profile church representatives, theological educators and social activists from around the world will meet from 19-23 November in São Leopoldo, Brazil, to reflect on how Reformation traditions in the world have contributed through education to transform societies.
Bread for the World, the Association of Protestant Churches and Missions in Germany (EMW), Faculdades EST, the Francke Foundations and the University of Halle in cooperation with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and other international ecumenical partners are promoting an international consultation on the theme of “Reformation, Education, Transformation” within the context of the celebrations of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017.
The first part of the international twin consultation will take place in São Leopoldo, Brazil, in November 2015 and the second gathering is planned for May 2016 in Halle, Germany.
The initiative aims to bring to light contributions of all partners involved in different fields of transformative education, to deepen the dialogue on the theme of Reformation and One World from a global perspective, to accompany the WCC’s Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace and to link up with reflections of the Council on the relevance of Reformation traditions in an ecumenical perspective.
Important elements of the first consultation in São Leopoldo will include keynote lectures and insights of around 100 participants from Africa, Asia, North and Latin America and Europe shared through conversations in workshops and an exchange of perspectives on what it means for churches in the reformatory tradition to express a social witness today.
The consultation is intentionally designed as a space of intercultural and ecumenical exchange, involving participants from different church traditions.
“This twin consultation project illustrates how the World Council of Churches and its programme on Ecumenical Theological Education are committed to broad ecumenical collaboration and networking”, said Prof. Amélé Ekue, WCC’s programme executive for Ecumenical Theological Education.
Prof. Dr Wilhelm Wachholz, rector of Faculdades EST, expressed excitement about the upcoming event.
“We are most honored to host the first part of the twin consultation and look forward to welcoming participants and staff from all over the world to our campus. May it be a fruitful sharing, reflection and inspiration for concrete, transformative action”, said Wachholz.
Organisers hope that in this way the discussions will contribute to a constructive-critical reflection process that engages with different approaches to the transformative role of education. The four-day programme invites participants to discuss issues such as the role of churches and education in democratisation processes, how reformatory traditions relate to religious pluralism, and which concepts of public theology have emerged from within a reformatory ecclesial understanding.
WCC Ecumenical Theological Education programme
More information about the consultation:
