Polin-dag 28.11.2024 till Prof. Steve Bevans ära

Polin-dag Prophetic Dialogue – On the Values of the Reign of God in Contemporary Societies

Höstens Polin-dag ordnas den 28.11.2024 kl. 10.00-17.45 till Prof. Steve Bevans ära. Temat är Prophetic Dialogue – On the Values of the Reign of God in Contemporary Societies. Möjlighet att delta via Zoom, https://aboakademi.zoom.us/j/63044291228 (Meeting ID: 630 4429 1228).

Kl. 18 är det middag på Café Pegasus, Aboa Vetus. OBS! Kräver anmälning!

Program

10:00                 Welcoming words – Mari Auvinen & Mika Vähäkangas

10:15                 Steve Bevans: Prophetic Dialogue and Synodality: Discerning Where the Spirit Is Working and Joining In

11:00                 Heikki Hiilamo: Response to Prof. Bevans

11:30                 Group discussions

12:30                 Lunch at Grädda

14:00                 Geevarghese Coorilos: Prophetic Dialogue in a Pluralistic Society – The Fate of the Marginalized

14:45                 Chongpongmeren Jamir: Response to Dr. Coorilos

15:15                 Coffee

15:45                 Clementine Nishimwe: Theology as a Liberative Dialogue

16:30                 Laura Hellsten: Response to Dr. Nishimwe

17:00                 Mari Auvinen: Concluding remarks and the concluding discussion

18:00                 Dinner

Polin-institutet bjuder både på lunch och middag. Polin-middagen äger rum på Café Pegasus, Aboa Vetus, Östra Strandgatan 4–6, kl. 18.00. Middagen består av en festbuffé bestående av sallader, förrätter, varm huvudrätt, efterrätt och kaffe/te i vilka eventuella allergier och matrestriktioner beaktas. Middagen är öppen för alla men kräver en förhandsanmälan senast 20.11 via denna länk. Meddela i samband med anmälningen om eventuella matrestriktioner. Meddela även om du önskar delta i lunchen på Grädda med tanke på allergier och bordsreservation.

Prof Steve Bevans, SVD, is a globally leading missiologist and theorist of contextuality in theology. One of the foci in his deeply ecumenical theology has been prophetic dialogue. It deals with the Christian responsibility to relate dialogically to the world to further the values of the reign of God. What are the values which direct or should direct the Christian responses to the societal phenomena? How do the societies challenge the churches to transformation?

Steve Bevans’ widely read books include Community of Missionary Disciples (Orbis, 2024), Constants in Context (with Robert Schroeder, Orbis, 2004), and Models of Contextual Theology (Orbis, 1992).

Heikki Hiilamo is a Doctor of Social Sciences (D.Soc.Sc.) and Philosophy who works as a Research Professor at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) and as a Professor of Social Policy at the University of Helsinki. Previously, he has worked as a research professor at the Social Insurance Institution (Kela) and as director of diaconal and social work at the Church Council. In the field of social policy, Hiilamo’s research areas have included family policy and poverty, on which he has written numerous articles. He is known to the public for his critical social blogs.

Mor Coorilos Geevarghese is Metropolitan emeritus of Niranam Diocese of Malankara Jacobite Syriac Orthodox Church. He has also served as the moderator of the World Council of Churches’ Commission for World Mission and Evangelism as well as several national ecumenical positions. He holds a PhD in ecotheology from the University of Kent and is a prominent voice in theology of liberation in India.

Chongpongmeren Jamir is a postdoctoral researcher in church history at the Polin Institute. His research interest revolves around the cultural history of Christianity, particularly in modern India.

Clementine Nishimwe is a postdoctoral researcher in the study of religions at the Polin Institute. Her research focuses on the intersection of Christianity and social issues, including the lived experiences of individuals through gender and migration lenses.

Laura Hellsten is a postdoctoral researcher in systematic theology at the Polin Institute. She leads the project The Praxis of Social Imaginaries which functions as a plattform for collaborations between artists, researchers and activists, a community that trains and experiments with transdisciplinary research skills, as well as investigates how the western histories of colonial conquest formed racial imaginaries and extractive practices in relation to non-human others.

Mari-Anna Auvinen is docent of Ecumenics and Missiology at the University of Eastern Finland.  She has published books and articles on African theology, African cultural and philosophical approaches, feminist theology and ecumenical missiology. She has worked as director for Missiological Studies in FELM and general secretary of the Finnish Ecumenical Council. Currently she works as vicar in Helsinki Cathedral Congregation.

Mika Vähäkangas is director of Polin Institute, and extraordinary professor at the University of the Western Cape as well as Stellenbosch University. He is a former professor of mission studies and ecumenics at Lund University and has lectured systematic theology at Makumira University College, Tanzania.