GETI Program Papers

Introduction

In late 2013, the World Council of Churches (WCC) held its 10th assembly. With the theme of "God of Life, Lead Us to Justice and Peace," the assembly was held in Busan, South Korea.

The Global Ecumenical Theological Institute (GETI) is a WCC program to educate future Christian leaders in matters related to ecumenism. Through GETI, some 170 seminarians and young theologians from around the world were able to participate in the assembly. With funding from the Henry Luce Foundation, the National Council of Churches USA (NCC) along with 8 US seminaries, was able to facilitate the participation of 27 students and 8 faculty members from North America and 25 students from the Global South.

As part of the GETI experience, students were required to engage before, during, and after the assembly in academic work as part of their respective educational programs. They were also asked to write a final paper.

I am happy to present here a number of these papers, selected by various faculty members as illustrative of the quality of the work done by these students, and also as reflective of the extensive learning that took place during this intense program. As the ecumenical movement is primarily all about the search for Christian unity, as well as the witness to common convictions held by the churches, these papers are included here on the page of the NCC website specifically dedicated to intra-Christian theological dialogue.

The NCC is proud to have partnered with academic institutions within some of our member churches in order to provide this opportunity for future church and ecumenical leaders. And we are grateful to the Henry Luce Foundation, for seeing the promise in this project and enabling it to come to fruition.

- Tony Kireopoulos

Buhle Mpofu - Unwelcome Strangers: The Suffering of Migrants and Refugees as an Ecumenical Global Challenge for the 21st Century

Fundiswa Amanda Kobo - “If I only touch His clothes, I will be healed”: A Reading of Mark 5 v 21-34 by Women who Seek to Name and Reclaim their Place in Society and in the Ministry of Jesus.

Greta Montoya Ortega - Linking Poverty, Wealth and Ecology: the Oikotree Movement and the AGAPE Process

Jieun Kim Han - The Ecumenical Movement on Peace and Reunification of the Korean Peninsula

Joanna Hipp - Pilgrimage Towards Life: How the Ecumenical Movement and Change of Mission Bring Us Forward in the 21st Century

Lesmore Gibson Ezekiel - Interreligious Learning as an Indispensable Component of Ecumenical Theological Formation

Lilly Phiri - God of Life, Lead Us to Gender Justice and Peace

Melissa Carnall - Ecumenical Reception, the Roman Catholic Church, and Receptive Ecumenism

Nant Ai Shu - A Critical Reading of 2008 Myanmar Constitution on the Rights and Freedom of Minority Christians and other Religions

Nicholas Anton - Unity, Union, or Uniformity: A Quest for Precision

Olive Mahabir - The Church and Human Security