2018 National Conference

Twenty-Eighth Annual National Conference

Robust and Receptive Ecumenism

Hope College, Holland, Michigan

October 12-14, 2018


The 28th National Conference, Robust and Receptive Ecumenism, will take place on the campus of Hope College in Holland, Michigan, October 12-14, 2018. 

The faculty, staff, and students at institutions in church-related higher education are increasingly more ecumenically diverse than the historical or present-day denominational affiliations of colleges and universities might suggest. The intent of robust and receptive ecumenism is to encourage people to speak willingly and openly from their particular Christian perspectives, ask for clarification when others’ ways of speaking need translation, and work at genuine understanding, which might include informed disagreement. Indeed, robust and receptive ecumenism does not assume that everyone must adopt a lowest common denominator stance with respect to differences. Rather, it proposes that, in order for authentic conversation to take place, people must honestly express deeply held views they hold as true.

Speakers include:

  • Lisa DeBoer, Professor of Art, Westmont College, Santa Barbara, California
  • Steven Harmon, Associate Professor of Historical Theology, Gardner-Webb University, Boiling Springs, North Carolina
  • Daniel Keating, Professor of Theology, Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit, Michigan
You can still visit Hope College's conference website Here.

Noteworthy News

May LFP Update

The Current LFP Update for May 2023 is now available. Click here.


Registration is now open for the 2023 National Conference

Registration is now open for the 2023 National Conference, "Contemplating Integral Ecology for the Common Good," on October 20-22 at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI. Click here for more information and to register. 


Registration is now open for the 2023 Administrators Workshop

Registration is now open for the 2023 Workshop for Senior Administrators on the topic, "Fostering Hope in a Polarized Age," October 19-20, at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI. Click here for more information and to register.


Announcing the winner of the 2022 Arlin G. Meyer Prize

We are pleased to announce Gordon Johnston, Professor of Creative Writing at Mercer University, as the winner of the 2022 Arlin G. Meyer Prize in Imaginative Writing for his book of poetry, Scaring the Bears. For more information and to see the finalist for this prize, click here.


Lilly Network of Church- Related Colleges and Universities

If you are interested in learning more about membership in the Lilly Network of Church-Related Colleges and Universities, please contact us here.


New edition of Leading Lives that Matter released

In their second edition of Leading Lives That Matter, editors Mark Schwehn and Dorothy Bass compile a wide range of texts—from ancient and contemporary literature, social commentary, and philosophy—related to questions of vital interest for those who are trying to decide what to do with their lives and what kind of human beings they hope to become. Leading Lives that Matter has been an important text in many of our fellowship and grant programs, and it contains excellent resources. Click here for more information and an excerpt.