Upcoming consultation
The 23rd Academic Consultation of Societas Oecumenica will take place in Utrecht, the Netherlands, from August 21 to 25, 2026.
Date
August 21, 2026 - August 25, 2026Registration closed:Venue
Where:Utrecht (Netherlands)Adress:To be determined.Churches in the Midst of Polarisation
This ecumenical Academic Consultation will critically examine phenomena of polarisation in church and wider society and explore initiatives toward depolarisation. In recent times, political discourse has become increasingly divisive, resulting in palpable tensions and hostility within society. The consultation will address the role of churches and ecumenical organisations in the context of polarising dynamics. It will explore the approaches adopted by these institutions and the manner in which they utilise their positionality. Different types of polarisations, their motives, narratives, dynamics and impact will be examined. This will entail addressing the harm and injustice experienced, and analysing theological responses, and the potential for transformation.
Past consultations
One of the main activities of the Societas Oecumenica is the organisation of regular international Academic Consultations. Since 1980, when the first Academic Consultation took place, members and other interested scholars in the field of ecumenism have met every two years. In an atmosphere of friendship and in a spirit of working together, they address current challenges in the life of the churches, in society and in ecumenical theology.
Warsaw 2024
Receiving the First Council of Nicaea Today: Ecumenical Learning from Synodal Discernment in the Early Church
President:
Johannes Oeldemann
Secretary:
Heta Hurskainen
Standing Committee:
Viorel Coman, Piotr Kopiec, Peter-Ben Smit, Jennifer Wasmuth, Agnes Slunitschek (treasurer)
Rabat 2022
Living Tradition: Continuity and Change as Challenges to Churches and Theologies
President:
John Anthony Berry
Secretary:
Viorel Coman
Standing Committee:
Miriam Haar, Johannes Oeldemann, Heidi Zitting, Stefan Höschele (treasurer)
Ludwigshafen 2018
On Nations and the Churches: Ecumenical Responses to Nationalism and Migration
President:
Ulrike Link-Wieczorek
Secretary:
Jelle Creemers
Standing Committee:
Ștefan Barbu, John Anthony Berry, Minna Hietamäki, Stefan Höschele (treasurer)
Helsinki 2016
Just Do It?: Recognition and Reception in Ecumenical Relations
President:
Dagmar Heller
Secretary:
Minna Hietamäki
Budapest 2014
Catholicity under Pressure: The Ambiguous Relationship between Diversity and Unity
President:
Dagmar Heller
Secretary:
Péter Szentpétery
Belfast 2012
Dialogue Inside-Out: Ecumenism Encounters the Religions
President:
Andrew Pierce
Secretary:
Oliver Schuegraf
Belgrad 2010
Mission and Unity: Common Witness of Separated Churches?
President:
Peter de Mey
Secretary:
Oliver Schuegraf
Leuven 2008
Re-Imagining Religious Belonging: Ecumenical Responses to Changing Religiosity in Europe
President:
Ivana Noble
Secretary:
Peter de Mey
Prague 2006
Ecumenism of Life as a Challenge for Academic Theology
President:
Bernd Jochen Hilberath
Secretary:
Peter de Mey
Sibiu 2004
On the Way to Koinonia: Church Communion in Transition
President:
Martien Brinkmann
Secretary:
Ivana Noble
Salisbury 2002
Conversion as an Element of the Personal, Social and Ecclesial Identity
President:
Martien Brinkmann
Secretary:
Dagmar Heller
Hamburg 2000
Deus absconditus – ecclesia abscondita?: Kenotic Theology and its Ecclesiological Implications
President:
Johannes Brosseder
Secretary:
Kajsa Ahlstrand
Uppsala 1998
The Ambivalence of Modernity and Ecumenical Research
President:
Johannes Brosseder
Secretary:
Kajsa Ahlstrand
Strasbourg 1996
Ecumenical Theology and our Ethnic/Confessional Egoisms
President:
Martin Conway
Secretary:
Jörg Haustein
Utrecht 1994
Ecumenism and Hermeneutics
President:
Anton Houtepen
Secretary:
Jörg Haustein
Salamanca 1992
Europe beyond 1992: The Redefining of the Ecumenical Quest
President:
Anton Houtepen
Secretary:
Thomas Bremer
Bossey 1988
Universality and Contextuality: Studies for an Ecumenical Ecclesiology
President:
Alan Falconer
Secretary:
Thomas Bremer
Erfurt 1986
Ecclesiological Neutrality in the Ecumenical Movement?
President:
Jos Vercruysse
Secretary:
Christine Lienemann-Perrin
Rome 1984
Formation of Confession: Continuity and Renewal
President:
Jos Vercruysse
Secretary:
Erich Geldbach
Sandbjerg 1982
The Holy Spirit and the Unity of the Church
President:
Lars Thunberg
Secretary:
Heinz-Günther Stobbe
Münster 1980
Theological Consensus and its Reception by the Churches
President:
Alexander J. Bronkhorst
Secretary:
Heinz-Günther Stobbe