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.
SCHEDULE
Thursday, November 20
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
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)
Kirsten Guidero: Many Women Were also There: Pro-Nicene Language for God & Ecumenical Failures on Gender
David Latimore: Sanitized Tables and Silenced Voices: The False Peace of Ecumenical Minimalism
Brooke Lawrence: Love for the Entire Body
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)
Kimberly Belcher: Unity Mediated by Ritual Diversity: A Trinitarian Approach
Soren Hessler, Thornton Muncher, Tess G Welch: UMEIT at 10 Years: Examining the Current United Methodist Paradigm for Ecumenical Engagement and Interreligious Leadership Development
Abraham Ndungu: Spiritual Formation or Socio-Political Activism? The Dilemma of Kenyan Churches
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)
Claudia Marcela Alvarez: Unity in the Spirit: Brazilian Pentecostal Churches and the Search for Ecumenical Solidarity
Thomas Drobena: Corpus Permixtum: Augustine’s Ecclesiology Towards a Vision of Unity
William Henn: The Place of Catholic Teaching on Primacy within the Hierarchy of Truths. A preliminary Investigation
Eugene Schlesinger: Unity: To What End and at What Cost?
Papers • Becoming One: Practical Approaches (2B)
Nkechi Abraham: Fostering Unity: Engaging Youth in Liminal Spaces
Jean Hawxhurst: Conversion, Humility and Relationships: Towards a Definition of Unity for the Current Time
Samaila Ayuba: From Creed to Crayons: Reimagining Unity through Theological Imagination Children
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)
Joey Baker: The Changing Practices of Regionalization in the F&O Movement
Charles Bell: Defining Orthodoxy: Dissent, Development, Delineation, and Disobedience in Twenty-first Century Communion
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)
Ibrahim Sambo Lawan: One Body, One Earth: A Reflection on Ecumenism and Eco-Justice
James Puglisi: “A New Liturgical Feast? The Feast of the Mystery of the Creation in Christ
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
CONFERENCE REGISTRATION
North American Academy of Ecumenists
2025 Annual Meeting
November 20–21, 2025
Brookline, Massachusetts
In-Person and Online
Note: After you have finished selecting your items, click the Cart in the upper right corner of your screen to check out and complete your transaction.
2026 Membership includes Virtual Annual Conference Registration
The cost to join NAAE and receive your subscription to the Journal of Ecumenical Studies is $110.00 ($55.00 for students).
NAAE membership provides a subscription to the Journal of Ecumenical Studies in which conference presentations are published. Membership also helps support the expenses of the essay contest and providing the conference at the end of September. The membership period and Journal of Ecumenical Studies subscription is a calendar year beginning in January. Each annual volume includes four separate issues, one per season, with NAAE papers appearing in either the Summer or Fall issue; roughly a year after presentation.
Postage is included for U.S. residents. Residents of Canada and Mexico pay $12.50 for shipping and residents of other countries pay $15.00. Please select the option which applies to you.
Note: After you have finished selecting your items, click the Cart in the upper right corner of your screen to check out and complete your transaction.
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
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.