The 22 participants from 12 countries look back on the conference in Vienna with much praise and fresh momentum. The date for a follow-up conference has already been set for 19-22 April 2023 in Sibiu, Transylvania, Romania. with the theme of participation and Protestantism. Further activities are planned until then.
“All those who were present in Vienna are also very welcome in Sibiu to continue working on the topics of nationalism and cosmopolitanism,” says Volkmar Ortmann from the Evangelical Federation of Hesse. Of course, new participants are also welcome. A large number of the evaluation forms from the Vienna conference have already arrived and show “how much impetus the participants bring new ideas back to their churches and countries”.
In addition to the idea of founding a network, a song on the topic is already in the works. Teaching material is almost ready and there is already a list of Bible passages that are suitable for sermons on nationalism and cosmopolitanism. Before the Sibiu conference, they want to meet in a webinar. The Protestant Federation has made a cloud available to the participants where they can collect and process their results.
The next conference will also be organised by Evangelischer Bund Hesse together with the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE) and the centre for Protestant Theology in eastern Europe in Sibiu (ZETO in Transylvania).
The Austrian Broadcasting Corporation visited the conference and will report on 18 May. Information on the Young Theology project can be found on the website www.young-theology.eu.