North American Academy of Ecumenists
2022 Annual Meeting
October 7–9, 2022 - New York City, New York
In-Person and Online
We are delighted to announce the new dates and host venue for the 2022 Annual Meeting of the North American Academy of Ecumenists, to be held October 7-9, 2022, at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. The conference will be conducted in a hybrid mode, with an in-person gathering combined with an option for remote attendance via Zoom.
Registration is now open through September, via the NAAE website- recommendations for meals and accommodation to follow (although participants are encouraged to secure their own accommodations as they see fit).
The theme for this year's conference is "Ecumenism and Asceticism":
It has not always been appreciated over the past decades of rapprochement between formerly antagonistic ecclesial communities that lasting peace cannot simply begin with dialogue or strategizing for the future of a relationship: it must begin with spiritual work and transformation within the communities that would take steps to reconcile. Peace and conflict research has made clear that identities and relationships alike accrue damage from histories of antagonism and the traumas of past violence, which cannot simply be set aside through formal accords as though they did not continue to constrain the available mentalities, emotional conditions, and very self-understanding of communities in the present. Painstaking ecumenical formation (which includes the uprooting of corrupt attitudes toward otherness and the weeds of rancor sown by history) therefore has to precede productive ecumenical engagement – even as guided and strategic encounter is doubtless crucial to ecumenical formation.
The 2022 annual meeting of the North American Academy of Ecumenists, therefore, will engage questions about the role of asceticism, broadly construed, in ecumenical affairs, for instance: formation for ecumenical engagement, ecumenical spirituality and liturgy, prayer practice as fuel for ecumenical compassion and attunement, virtue ethics and the theological anthropology of ecumenical engagement, the ways that closed or captive epistemologies foreclose on the possibility of authentic ecumenical understanding, the sins/passions/demons that exacerbate or incentivize corroded relationships and the ascetic traditions that confront such forces, monastic settings as venues for ecumenism or as training grounds for ecumenical virtue and praxis, and historical voices from the ascetic tradition that offer insights for contemporary ecumenical challenges.
PROGRAM SCHEDULE
Friday, October 7, 2022
2:00 pm - On-site registration opens
3:00 pm - Informal tour of the Cathedral
4:00 pm - Opening worship & welcome from NAAE and Cathedral leadership
5:00 pm - NAAE Presidential Address & annual membership meeting
6:00 pm - Wine & cheese reception
Saturday, October 8, 2022
9:00 am - Morning prayer in the Cathedral
9:30 am - Continental breakfast & coffee
10:00 am - Session 1: Asceticism in Contemporary Ecumenism
11:30 am - Break for lunch in Morningside Heights
2:00 pm - Session 2: Liturgy, Spirituality, and Formation
3:30 pm - Coffee break
4:00 pm - Session 3: Asceticism and Ecumenism: Voices from the Tradition
6:00 pm - Evening prayer in the Cathedral
6:30 pm - Banquet dinner for participants at V&T Pizzeria
Sunday, October 9, 2022
9:00 am - Panel & conversation featuring local ecumenical initiatives
10:30 am - Holy Eucharist at the Cathedral - all are welcome
12:00 pm - Final reflections & closing of conference