Written by Dr. Aaron Hollander, Associate Director of Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute
The 15th international conference of the Ecclesiological Investigations International Research Network (EIIRN) was held in June on the campus of Chicago Theological Seminary (Chicago, IL). The theme of the conference was “Embodying Ecclesial Diversity.”
The conference organizers explained the urgency of this year’s theme:
“Ecclesial diversity has existed since the church’s founding. Diverse nationalities, ethnicities, rituals, and praxes characterized churches from their first days. As the Christian movement spread into new regions, it continued to diversify, accommodating to new contexts and cultures. Its accommodations to dominant cultures partially accounted for the church’s rise to predominance, even as these same accommodations paradoxically both supplanted and supported existing systems of injustice. Moreover, churches too often came to replicate practices of exclusion, inequality, and oppression within their own collective lives, failing to fully affirm the full dignity of all bodies who were within them. … What is a church that honors ecclesial diversity? What are the marks and practices of such a reimagined church? This gathering [sought] to identify how the church does – and often does not – attend to its own evolving diversities, and to explore pathways that might heal, restore, embrace, and transfigure the body of Christ.”
For several years, Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute (GEII) has worked closely with the Ecclesiological Investigations Network to organize conferences, workshops, and dialogues that address timely ecumenical challenges at the intersection of the churches and the theological academy.
This past June, GEII sponsored its 2nd cohort of Graymoor Scholars (after piloting the program in 2022). A small group of promising graduate students focused on theology, ecclesiology, and ecumenical/interreligious studies were awarded scholarship enabling them to attend this year’s conference in Chicago. These four students; Dave de la Fuente (Fordham University), Noel Grisanti (Harvard Divinity School), Tom McLean (Catholic University of Leuven), and Sam Zhai (Boston College), presented their original research. The scholars also had the opportunity to join Dr. Aaron Hollander, GEII Associate Director for a special dinner at which Dr. Hollander guided them in interpreting the ecumenical conversations taking shape across their educational network. Joining this group were past Graymoor Scholars who continue to be involved with Ecclesiological Investigations.
Looking Ahead:
The 2024 Graymoor Scholars will publish revised versions of their contributions to the conference in an upcoming issue of Ecumenical Trends, and we hope that they — like our 2022 Scholars — will remain involved with Graymoor and with EIIRN as emerging ecumenical leaders.
At the conclusion of the “Embodying Ecclesial Diversity” conference, Dr. Hollander was given the honor and pleasure to announce the 2025 Ecclesiological Investigations International Conference, of which he is serving as the Organizing Committee Chair. The EIIRN will convene in Thessaloniki, Greece, next fall (mark your calendars for September 17-20, 2025). The theme and focus of the conference is “Dissent, Power, and Christian Identity after Nicaea” and information is already available online here.
GEII is committed to sponsoring a 3rd cohort of Graymoor Scholars next fall in Thessaloniki, Greece. We are proud to cultivate and amplify the voices of the next generation of ecumenical and interfaith leaders, as a key dimension of Graymoor’s witness to Christian unity and human solidarity.