North American Academy of Ecumenists
Académie des Oecuménistes de l'Amérique du Nord
The 2010 Student Essay Contest
New and Renewed Strategies
for the Ecumenical Mission
On the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the modern ecumenical movement at the Edinburgh Missionary Conference, students in professional or graduate programs in Theology and Religious Studies are invited to consider how best to promote Christian unity today. Each contestant's conclusions should be presented in a scholarly essay of moderate length (20-30 pages, double spaced). It is permissible for essays written for course credit to be submitted as contest entries.
June 15, 2010 DEADLINE
The author of the winning essay will receive an award of $250 and funding to attend the 2010 NAAE conference in Montreal, PQ, CANADA, September 24-26, where he or she will be invited to present a précis of the essay. The Journal of Ecumenical Studies publishes winning essays of sufficient scholarly merit.
Requirements: The essays will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria: (1) awareness of the significance of the topic for the ecumenical movement; (2) soundness of argument (both from a logical and from a theological perspective); (3) use of primary sources (church documents, agreed statements from the World Council of Churches and ecumenical dialogues at the national or international levels); (4) familiarity with the relevant secondary literature; (5) creativity of approach to the theme and (6) scholarly style. In awarding points, readers will take into account the level of studies at which the entrant is currently working.
Submission: Essays (in English or French) and a brief biographical sketch of the author should be submitted (electronically if possible, preferably in MS Word format) by June 15, 2010 to the Essay Co-ordinator, Dr. Susan Mader Brown, at
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or at the following address: King’s University College at the University of Western Ontario 266 Epworth Ave., London, Ontario, CANADA N6A 2M3
Selected Resources
1. Gros, Jeffrey, Eamon McManus, Ann Riggs. “The History of Ecumenism.” In Introduction to Ecumenism, 9-34. New York: Paulist, 1998
2. Kinnamon, Michael and Brian E. Cope, eds. The Ecumenical Movement: An Anthology of Basic Texts and Voices. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1997.
3. Rouse, Ruth, Stephen Neill, and Harold Fey, eds. A History of the Ecumenical Movement 1517-1968. 2 vols. 2nd ed. with rev. bibliography. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1967-1970.
4. Briggs, John, Mercy Amba Oduyoye and George Tsetsis, eds. A History of the Ecumenical Movement, 1968-2000. Geneva: World Council of Churches, 2004.
5. Tanner, Mary. “A View from the Past.” Address to the 2009 Plenary Meeting of Faith and Order, October 8, 2009. Orthodox Academy of Crete, Greece. http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/wcc-commissions/faith-and-order-commission/x-other-documents-from-conferences-and-meetings/plenary-commission-meeting-crete-2009/a-view-from-the-past.html
6. The “Themes” links from the “Edinburgh 2010” Website: http://www.edinburgh2010.org
7. Kinnamon, Michael. The Vision of the Ecumenical Movement and How It Has Been Impoverished by Its Friends. St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2003.
8. “Called to Be the One Church – An invitation to the churches to renew their commitment to the search for unity and to deepen their dialogue.” Statement of the World Council of Churches Assembly, Porto Alegre, Brazil, February 2006. http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/assembly/porto-alegre-2006/1-statements-documents-adopted/christian-unity-and-message-to-the-churches/called-to-be-the-one-church-as-adopted.html
9. Braatan, Carl, and Robert W. Jenson, eds. The Ecumenical Future. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2004.
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