Ecumenism and Interfaith in an Age of Global Crisis: Challenge and Hope

The Cambridge Theological Federation's academic conference “Ecumenism and Interfaith in an Age of Global Crisis: Challenge and Hope".
About this Event

The Cambridge Theological Federation is convening a three-day academic conference from Tuesday 22nd to Thursday 24th September, under the title of: “Ecumenism and Interfaith in an Age of Global Crisis: Challenge and Hope.”

The conference is hosted by the Woolf Institute on the Westminster College Site and will bring together twelve member institutions for three days of activities to explore the immense challenges that ecumenical and interfaith work are facing in today’s world, and also to showcase, and find hope in, the invaluable ecumenical and interfaith work already being undertaken within the CTF and beyond.

The conference will involve presentations, panel discussions and keynote talks, as well as including a formal dinner on Tuesday 22nd and a formal reception on Wednesday 23rd. We welcome guests to attend either individual days or the entire conference.

CONFERENCE DINNER

For those wishing to attend the conference dinner on the evening of Tuesday 22nd September, please contact the conference coordinator directly at [email protected]. Dinner tickets are free for CTF members.

ECUMENISM AND INTERFAITH IN AN AGE OF GLOBAL CRISIS: CHALLENGE AND HOPE

The last decade has seen unprecedented levels of both state-based and non-state conflict with religious identities often playing a central role and with forms of religious nationalism becoming powerful forces in international relations. At the same time, the climate crisis and its devastating effects have continued to destroy and dislocate communities across the globe while rapid globalisation has been accompanied by an increasing push to renegotiate national and religious identities and relationships. Ecumenical and interfaith relationships are certainly facing the challenges brought about by these changes. This conference asks what these challenges really mean for ecumenical and interfaith work and what hope still exists for these endeavours.

The CTF is an inherently ecumenical body, bringing together Anglican, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, URC, Methodist and Orthodox institutions alongside research institutes which promote the study of interfaith relations, the global nature of Christianity, and the relationships between religion, science and policy. The CTF therefore represents a space in which barriers are broken down in the common pursuits of personal and professional development, shared worship and encounter, and research.

Where the seeds of ecumenical and interfaith work have grown naturally in the spaces between our Member Houses, this conference serves to centralise this work within the ethos of the CTF as a whole. The conference is also an opportunity for attendees to consider more deeply what the challenges facing ecumenical and interfaith work are and to find hope in the many cases of positive interaction that are continuing to take place even against these challenges.