Transformative Ecumenism

This volume contains some specially commissioned essays and others drawn from papers at the Transformative Ecumenism stream of the DARE 2025 Event in Harare, Zimbabwe in January 2025. It documents an attempt to reimagine ecumenism in response to the unsustainability of current global dynamics and in eagerness to nurture new opportunities for a transformative Christian presence, informed by the resources of global Christianity. Insisting on the need for people-based, justice-oriented and change-seeking expressions of ecumenism, it presents Transformative Ecumenism as ‘a spirituality of life’, ‘a movement’ of partners for justice, and ‘a vocation’ that inspires actions for transformative change. The chapters are informed by the realities of the global, diverse, and complex 21st-century Christianity, amid a myriad of moral challenges in a multi-polar world, the ongoing struggles for justice and peace, and the emerging alternatives to dominant discourses and visions in many parts of the world. They present Transformative Ecumenism as an alternative pathway to the imperial, institutional and Western pursuits of ecumenism. Such an understanding of ecumenism seems necessary, as it insists on the need to be transformed and to effect transformation as a faithful expression of participation in God’s mission. Transformative Ecumenism is not about the church or its unity, but about a common future based on justice and dignity for all, and about how Christian presence can be part of the creative forces driving towards this goal. The chapters in this volume unpack Transformative Ecumenism as a theological challenge and an opportunity for creative ecumenical presence by engaging with complex moral and spiritual challenges that people of faith must face in today’s world. These also engage with the resources and experiences of people in different contexts, and identify the practical implications for those yearning for a new ecumenical future.