Interview
Gehlin is a member of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on Ecumenical Education and Formation.
“The ecumenical year 2025 will be a very special year—especially in Sweden,” she says, describing some of the activities that the churches in Sweden, through the Christian Council of Sweden, will be doing.
In August 2025, the WCC will gather with partners in Sweden and representatives of churches worldwide to commemorate the Stockholm ecumenical conference of 1925 as a “Time for God’s Peace” in a world disfigured by war and injustice.
The 1925 conference created a forum for peace engagement among the churches in the troubled inter-war period. It is considered an important landmark for a global Christian movement which gains news energy and significance in the current global context.
“For us, it means reflecting on this theme in relation to what happened 100 years ago in our capital Stockholm, where we had a big international gathering in 1925,” Gehlin explains. “For us today, this year would be a special occasion to reflect on this theme in relation to what happened—and what is happening now.”
She goes on to explain how related activities will occur in Sweden over the course of 2025, including the Ecumenical Summer Academy with online and in-person components offered through the University College Stockholm.
The course will culminate in August 2025 for a week in Stockholm for an anniversary celebration of the 1925 conference.
“There will be different kinds of events and there will also be festival at the end of the week, and as a student coming to the Ecumenical Summer Academy, one is invited to participate in the ecumenical programme alongside seminars at the campus.”
Gehlin also reflects on why she places a high value on the WCC Commission on Ecumenical Education and Formation. “I think that it provides a network of people who are engaged in working with ecumenical education in different ways,” she says. “We are not that many in the world so it is important that we come together.”
