Ecumenical Events

Yearly events: | National Work shop on Christian Unity | Week of Prayer for Christian Unity |

Special celebrations: | 2009: the 500th anniversary of Calvin's birth |

| 2010: Centenary of the birth of the ecumenical movement |

March 16-19, 2010: NAEIS Retreat

"Faith Communities Committed to End Poverty" will be the general theme for the 2010 NAEIS annual gathering to be held at the Holy Trinity Spiritual Center in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 16-19. The Gathering is open to all persons working in ecumenical and/or interreligious fields across the nation. Among the presenters will be David Beckman of Bread for the World, Joan Rosenhauer of Catholic Relief Services, Michael Kinnamon of the National Council of Churches, and Shannon Daley-Harris who has written Our Day to End Poverty. Carlos Malavé of the PC(USA) is a member of the retreat's planning committee. See the brochure with a schedule and registration form. An application form for NAEIS membership application and renewal is online; dues will apply over a calendar year.

The Ecumenical Networks Standing Committee, a group based in the National Council of Churches (NCC) with representation from various manifestations of local and regional ecumenism, will meet with NAEIS members on Friday, March 19. The invitation reads, "As you register for the NAEIS Gathering in March, please consider staying on through lunch on Friday, March 19 to meet with the NCC Ecumenical Networks Standing Committee. We will be discussing the current landscape of local and regional ecumenism and begin to envision the future as we prepare together for the local and regional ecumenism consultation on November 12. Lunch is provided by the Ecumenical Networks Committee."

March 19-22, 2010: Ecumenical Advocacy Days

"A Place to Call Home: Immigrants, Refugees, and Displaced Persons" will be the theme of the 2010 Ecumenical Advocacy Days conference on March 19-22. Workshops will be organized in several tracks that follow specific areas of concern. Among those coming to tell the story of displaced persons will be PC(USA) missionaries Mamie Broadhurst and Richard Williams, who serve in Colombia. The lobby day in Washington D.C. will be on March 22. A "March for America" on March 21 at 2:00 p.m. will tell President Obama and the Congress that it is time to fix the broken American immigration system now. Register early until February 13. A Presbyterian dinner on March 20, at 6:30-8:30 p.m., will be addressed by the associate director of the White House office on public engagement. Discounted rates at the Doubletree Hotel in Crystal City, Virginia, just outside Washington D.C., are available only until February 25. Online registration is available. Contact the Presbyterian Washington Office with any specific questions. Catherine Gordon of the PC(USA) Washington office is a member of the executive committee for planning.

March 21, 2010: March for America: Change Takes Courage and Faith

A sizable interfaith coalition of organizations has come together to bring tens of thousands to Washington D.C. on March 21, during Ecumenical Advocacy Days but including a much broader base of participants. Following the launch earlier in February of "Together, Not Torn: Families Can't Wait for Immigration Reform" that delivered postcards to members of Congress and organized events across the country, religious groups are now chartering buses and organizing housing. See information about logistics. The PC(USA) immigration office is one of the sponsors and the day is an important event for Church World Service plans related to immigration reform advocacy.

March 21-22, 2010: The Truth Commission on Conscience in War

The Truth Commission on Conscience in War, a national gathering of community and religious leaders, advocacy groups, and artists, will convene at Riverside Church in New York City on March 21-22, co-sponsored by the World Student Christian Federation-North America. There will be personal testimonies from veterans and expert briefings intended to launch conversations about just war, international law, and greater freedom of conscience for U.S. service members.

March 28-April 4, 2010: Holy Week in the Desert

An opportunity for a Holy Week experience anchored at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico takes place in 2010 on March 28-April 4. Jay Rock, the PC(USA) coordinator for interfaith relations will co-lead the week together with Peg Chemberlin, the current president of the National Council of Churches. There will be time for a pilgrimage experience, for reflection, and for retreat/rest. The invitation reads, "Get insights from other religions and time for deep inner reflection." See the Ghost Ranch description of the event and register online.

April 5-12, 2010: Unity & Reformed Heritage Seminar

The 2010 Unity & Reformed Heritage Seminar will be held at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, with accommodations provided at the John Knox International Centre. This educational trip will include a one-day visit to the Chateau de Bossey, scene of year-round ecumenical education, and another day tour of Gruyeres and Lausanne. Participants will have opportunities to interact with ecumenical leaders and to visit the Museum of the Reformation. The registration form is available online. The deadline for applying for the limited number of spaces available is February 5, 2010.

April 7-10, 2010: Religion Communication Congress

"Embracing Change: Communicating Faith in Today's World" will be the theme of the 2010 Religion Communication Congress, a once-in-a-decade multifaith forum of all levels of communicators of religion.

The event will be in Chicago on April 7-10. See its web site for information. Deborah Bruce of the PC(USA) research office will teach research evaluation, and the PC(USA)'s Barry Creech is on the planning committee.

June 2-6, 2010: Edinburgh 2010: Witnessing to Christ Today

See information on this celebration of the centenary of the Edinburgh 1910 conference elsewhere on this web site. The year 2010 in many ways marks a hundred years since the birth of the modern ecumenical movement.

June 4-26, 2010: Global Institute of Theology

The Global Institute of Theology will provide academically accredited training in ecumenical leadership to an international array of theological students through a 2010 program in two U.S. venues -- Chicago on June 4-17, with McCormick Seminary as the academic partner, then Grand Rapids, Michigan, where Calvin Seminary will be the partner institution. Participants will witness the merger of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Reformed Ecumenical Council. See details in the brochure. Registration deadline was December 1.n

June 10-13, 2010: "Let There Be Life" WSCF-NA student conference

Eco-justice is the World Student Christian Movement theme for 2010. In keeping with this, the North America student conference will be titled "Let There Be Life?: Christian Activism, Social Justice, and the Future of the Earth." It will be on June 10-13 at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. Applications are due

by May 15 and lower registration fees apply through April 30.

June 11-13, 2010: Revive!

A group in New Jersey group with Presbyterian leadership is calling upon persons in the Northeast who are concerned about ecumenical approaches to justice to gather on June 11-13 in Trenton, New Jersey, for a conference entitled Revive! A key speaker and leader will be Peter Heltzel, a professor at New York Theological Seminary and author of Jesus and Justice: Evangelicals, Race, and American Politics. Also announced are Cornel West, Gabriel Salguero of Princeton Seminary's Hispanic program, Bart Campolo, and Brenda Salter Mcneil. See the flyer (a large file you should download only if you have fast internet service). A registration procedure is available at the Revive! web site. More information is due to follow.

June 15-17, 2010: Reformed Mission in an Age of World Christianity

In conjunction with the Uniting General Council for the new World Communion of Reformed Churches, Calvin College (the site of the uniting meeting) is hosting a pre-assembly conference on June 15-17, the two days before the council meeting formally begins. The plenary speaker for "Reformed Mission in an Age of World Christianity" will be PC(USA) minister Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary.

June 18-28, 2010: World Communion of Reformed Churches Uniting

In an historic event, on June 18-28 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the World Communion of Reformed Churches will convene in a Uniting General Council. See information elsewhere on this web site.

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June 14-26, 2010: Irish Summer Institute

The 2010 Irish Summer Institute, sponsored jointly by the Presbyterian Committee for Northern Ireland and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, will take place on June 14-26, 2010. Participants will visit both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. They will meet leaders in "cross communities" where reconciliation efforts are changing Irish society. They will worship in both Presbyterian and Catholic churches. A brochure, itinerary, and application are available online.

July 9-11, 2010: American Association of Interchurch Families conference

The next biennial conference of the American Association of Interchurch Families will be on July 9-11 at the Holy Wisdom Monastery of Benedictine Women of Madison, Wisconsin. The conference is open to families who bring their children.

October 8-11, 2010: Student Christian Movement USA launch conference

The official launch of a resurrected Student Christian Movement in the U.S. (SCM-USA) will be a conference on "Overcoming Violence in the Context of Neo-Colonialism" Planned around the Columbus Day weekend, it is expected to address violence in the context of globalization, racism, and neo-colonialism and how students can oppose systemic violence. Venue to be determined.

November 6-8, 2010: New Fire Young Adult Pre-Assembly, NCC

Fostered by the broader ecumenical movement, New Fire is a forming cadre of organizations that work with young adult leadership in the Church or in Church-associated endeavors in order to identify and support currently involved and potential young adult leaders. As it has in the past, it will meet in conjunction with the National Council of Churches' general assembly.

November 8-11, 2010: NCC 100 years of modern ecumenism celebration

One hundred years after the 1910 Edinburgh meeting that is said to have launched the modern ecumenical movement, the National Council of Churches will convene an expansion of its yearly assembly that will celebrate the centenary. A consultation on local and regional ecumenism will be paired with the celebration. See more information elsewhere on this web site.

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The Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, Switzerland, has become the central focus of the WCC's program on education and ecumenical formation. It has long educated and formed ecumenical leaders -- clergy and lay -- for service in parishes, classrooms, and ecumenical centers around the world. Its ongoing formal programming now includes: a yearly one-semester Graduate School of Ecumenical Studies, a master of theology in ecumenical studies two-year academic program, a one-year academic program for a masters in advanced ecumenical studies, a Ph.D. in ecumenical studies requiring up to five academic years, and a summer three-month intensive course in English as a tool for ecumenical formation. Additionally, short-term seminars on cutting edge issues bring together small groups from around the world. U.S. participation in the Graduate School has been increased recently by the creation of the Bishop Vinton R. Anderson Ecumenical Leadership Scholarship Fund to support students from the African Methodist Episcopal Church. See general information on the Bossey web site and the student guidelines/ application form.

The Irish School of Ecumenics, established in 1970, became fully integrated with Trinity College Dublin as a postgraduate institute in 2001. Its diverse programs particularly focus on the intersect of politics, theology, and religion. It has sixteen members on its academic staff and a substantial library. In addition to its Ecumenical Studies, International Peace Studies, and Conflict and Dispute Resolution Studies programs based in Dublin, it offers a Reconciliation Studies program taught in Belfast.

The culmination of the WCC Decade to Overcome Violence will be an International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) on May 4-11, 2011 in Kingston, Jamaica. Work on an Ecumenical Declaration on Just Peace will culminate in its adoption there. The declaration will not attempt to be a consensus document. It will affirm what can be said together as a public affirmation of witness that is theological and spiritual in character. It will also identify topics for further discussion, recommend examples, and initiate practical services for committed groups. As such, it will harvest the work of the past ten years and plant seeds for the future.

The convocation, expected to have some 2,000 participants, will include representatives of other faiths. Planners will search with these representatives for ministries that struggle against the current trend to turn political conflict into religious confrontation.

Themes for the conference have been identified as: peace at heart, peace at home, peace in the virtual world, peace on earth is peace with the earth, peace in the market place, and make peace not war. A timeline of preparatory processes has been outlined,

suggestions for participation have been posted, a call for workshop proposals (due March 31, 2010) has been issued, and related events will be listed as information is available.

Suggestions have been offered for making the occasion of the IEPC meaningful through local engagement. Geiko Muller-Fahrenholz is working on convocation preparations for the WCC.

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Ecumenical & Interfaith News Network - PCUSA

Ecumenical & Interfaith
News Network - PCUSA