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Over 30 seasoned theological educators, emerging theologians and researchers, church ministers and practitioners engaged in grassroots adult education gathered at the Ecumenical Institute Bossey, near Geneva, Switzerland, 12-15 May, to reflect on eco-theology and theological education.

Rev. Prof. Dr Rudolf von Sinner, professor of Systematic Theology, Ecumenism and Interreligious Dialogue as well as moderator of World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Education and Formation Commission, offered a public lecture on 13 April at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva as part of the WCC’s ongoing observance of its 70th anniversary this year.

Eighteen representatives from theological institutions in Asia met in Bangkok, Thailand, from 17-20 April at a consultation on “Ecumenical Theological Education and Contextual Theologies in Asia” convened by the Ecumenical Theological Education department of the WCC with the support of the Foundation for Theological Education in South East Asia, and in collaboration with theological associations and institutions in Asia.

A seminar at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, Switzerland gathered diverse reflections on eco-theology, care for the creation and climate change, and how to build a sustainable world. The contributors included Christian theologians and activists as well as youth.

Some 22 representatives of the major Asian associations of theological schools came together recently in Indonesia to discuss challenges for training of ministers and lay people in Asian churches and to set goals for a new forum on theological education.

“Before God and our communities, we are responsible to Jews for the historical and ongoing realities of anti-Semitism, to Palestinians since the Nakba, to Muslim neighbours in the light of Islamophobia, to persons who are vulnerable, and to victims of colonial conquest, among others," said participants of a World Council of Churches (WCC) sponsored conference.

A communiqué has been issued following a June meeting of the Asian Forum on Theological Education (AFTE), in which 15 representatives of diverse regional and national Christian associations call for solidarity in theological education in Asian churches “transcending stereotyped views of each other as ‘ecumenicals’, ‘evangelicals’ or ‘charismatics’”. Theological educators throughout Asia are requested to engage in closer dialogue, networking, the sharing of resources and cooperation in training of church leaders.

The future of theological education in Asia was addressed during a meeting of the Foundation for Theological Education in South East Asia (FTESEA) in the US city of Philadelphia, 4-5 October 2010. The FTESEA is preparing to celebrate its 75 th anniversary in 2012 and is looking back to years of creative partnership with both the World Council of Churches (WCC) programme on Ecumenical Theological Education (ETE) and the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, Switzerland.