An International Colloquium “Decolonizing Ecumenical Hermeneutics” was hosted by the Wittenberg Center for Advanced Studies on June 25–26, 2026, bringing together scholars, church leaders, and researchers to reflect on the future of ecumenical theology in postcolonial contexts. The World Council of Churches (WCC), through its Faith and Order Commission and the Bossey Ecumenical Institute, partnered with the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg in Germany to follow up on reflections resulting from the WCC Sixth World Conference in 2025, which commemorated the 1700th anniversary of the first Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325 CE. This has yielded new projects emphasizing the need to consider colonial histories, Indigenous traditions, and other perspectives marginalized by Eurocentric theologies.
Colloquium (Photo: Martin Luther University/World Council of Churches)
The colloquium also highlighted themes that are important for Methodist education and for the International Association of Methodist Schools, Colleges, and Universities (IAMSCU). Among these themes, there is the commitment to international collaboration, educational access, and shared learning across Wesleyan and Methodist institutions and their contribution to ecumenical formation. The colloquium’s emphasis on plural perspectives, critical inquiry, and the formation of younger scholars resonates with IAMSCU’s approach to education, especially the connections among faith, scholarship, social responsibility, global engagement, and solidarity. IAMSCU shares the spirit of the event participants as they affirmed the importance of ecumenical theological education as an area of academic study that is preparing a new generation of leaders to serve in diverse communities.
One of the Methodist-related and ecumenical institution participating in the colloquium was The Queen’s Foundation, in Birmingham, UK. It was represented by The Rev. Canon Prof. Dr. Carlton Turner, and Anglican priest and Queen’s Tutor on Contextual Theology and Mission Studies. As the keynote speaker, Carlton Turner relied on Walter Mignolo, a Professor at Duke University (another Methodist-related institution) and highlighted the need for the ecumenical movement to uncover colonial legacies by practicing epistemic disobedience. Turner affirmed his own identity as a person coming from the Caribbean challenged colloquium participants: “I don’t want your doctrine; I want to see your heart.”
Carlton Turner lectures on Colonialism (Photo: Philipp Öhlmann, Martin Luther University)
For more information on the colloquium discussions, please visit the website of the Wittenberg Center for Advanced Studies at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany. For more information on Methodist and ecumenical education in England, visit The Queen’s Foundation, in England. To learn more about the ecumenical education offered by the World Council of Churches, visit the Ecumenical Institute of Bossey, which is connected to the University of Geneva, in Switzerland.