North American Academy of Ecumenists 

2025 Annual Conference

In Necessities, Unity

The North American Academy of Ecumenists announces a conference to be held at the Hellenic College of the Holy Cross outside of Boston, from November 20-21, 2025.

In 2025, the Christian Churches remember the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, along with the 100th anniversary of the World Conference on Life and Work. The last fifty years have seen major ecumenical gains, along with the development of new patterns of Christian division, that as often as not follow political, rather than purely ecclesial boundaries. The churches have long debated what was necessary for unity, while often citing the maxim of “In necessities, unity; in what is doubtful, liberty; in all things, charity.” We seek papers that relate to this theme.

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SCHEDULE

Thursday, November 20

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Noon prayer and Optional Lunch

1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Panel on local ecumenical initiatives

2:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Papers • One in Plurality: Diversity and Unity (1A)

1. Kirsten Guidero: Many Women Were also There: Pro-Nicene Language for God & Ecumenical Failures on Gender

2. David Latimore: Sanitized Tables and Silenced Voices: The False Peace of Ecumenical Minimalism

3. Brooke Lawrence: Love for the Entire Body

4. Ben Varghese: Body as Salvation and Kingdom: A Critique of Caste as Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy in Indian Christianity

Papers • One Witness: Practice, Local and Universal (1B)

1. Kimberly Belcher: Unity Mediated by Ritual Diversity: A Trinitarian Approach

2. Soren Hessler, Thornton Muncher, Tess G Welch: UMEIT at 10 Years: Examining the Current United Methodist Paradigm for Ecumenical Engagement and Interreligious Leadership Development

3. Abraham Ndungu: Spiritual Formation or Socio-Political Activism? The Dilemma of Kenyan Churches

4. Matthew Ryan Robinson: Popular Ecumenism? Engaging with Raimundo Barreto’s Base Ecumenism

5:00 pm - 5:45 pm
Vespers

6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Presidential Address and Reception

7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Banquet

Friday, November 21

8:30 am - 9:00 am
Breakfast

9:00 am - 11:00 am
Papers • One Body: Anthropology, Church, and Society (2A)

1. Claudia Marcela Alvarez: Unity in the Spirit: Brazilian Pentecostal Churches and the Search for Ecumenical Solidarity

2. Thomas Drobena: Corpus Permixtum: Augustine’s Ecclesiology Towards a Vision of Unity

3. William Henn: The Place of Catholic Teaching on Primacy within the Hierarchy of Truths. A preliminary Investigation

4. Eugene Schlesinger: Unity: To What End and at What Cost?

Papers • Becoming One: Practical Approaches (2B)

1. Nkechi Abraham: Fostering Unity: Engaging Youth in Liminal Spaces

2. Jean Hawxhurst: Conversion, Humility and Relationships: Towards a Definition of Unity for the Current Time

3. Samaila Ayuba: From Creed to Crayons: Reimagining Unity through Theological Imagination Children

4. Sam Scheidt: Can the Ecumenical Movement Overcome Political Polarization?

11:00 am - 11:30 am
Coffee Break

11:30 am - 1:00 pm
Papers • One World: Transnational Structures and Unity (3A)

1. Joey Baker: The Changing Practices of Regionalization in the F&O Movement

2. Charles Bell: Defining Orthodoxy: Dissent, Development, Delineation, and Disobedience in Twenty-first Century Communion

3. Ken Miyagi: We See in UNICEF A Christ-like Concern for the Material Needs of People

Papers • One Home: Environment in Ecumenical Thought and Practice (3B)

1. Ibrahim Sambo Lawan: One Body, One Earth: A Reflection on Ecumenism and Eco-Justice

2. James Puglisi: “A New Liturgical Feast? The Feast of the Mystery of the Creation in Christ

3. Alisa Tigchelaar: Marcela de San Felix Through a Laudato si’ Lens: Another Precursing Monastic Voice for Environmentalism

1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Lunch

2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Presentation and Discussion with visiting ecumenists

3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Business meeting and closing prayer

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CONFERENCE REGISTRATION

Sale

IN NECCESSITIES, UNITY - ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2025

from $0.00

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HOTEL

AC Hotel Boston Cleveland Circle for 219.00 USD per night
Last Day to Book : Monday, October 20, 2025

Book your group rate for The North American Academy of Ecumenists

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We are pleased to offer two awards that are granted at the time of conference paper acceptance:

·  The Br. Jeffrey Gros, FSC Award supports student participation in the annual conference.

·  The Sr. Lorelei Fuchs, SA Award supports the participation of members of religious orders, contingent faculty, and others experiencing financial hardship.

If you belong to one of these groups and would like to be considered for an award, please indicate your interest along with your paper abstract.