Theology and Practice of Hospitality: Challenges of Wartime
| This is one of three inspiring courses offered in ETF’s Summer Colloquium, scheduled August 18–23, 2025. This international study week includes lectures, various workshops and times for meeting and reflection.
Registration is open until 1 June 2025. |
This course introduces students to the theology and practice of Christian hospitality in the context of war or civil conflict and its aftermath. The course examines hospitality in three modules: biblical foundations, historical-philosophical perspectives, and contemporary challenges of war.
Beginning with a biblical theology of hospitality, students explore the paradigms of hospitality in the Old and New Testaments and the practice of philoxenia in the early church. The course then examines historical Christian hospitality practices alongside contemporary theological voices, including Henri Nouwen, Dorothy Day, Christine Poll and Miroslav Volf. It also examines philosophical approaches, incorporating perspectives from Immanuel Kant to Jacques Derrida and Richard Kearny. The final module considers both the missional role of hospitality in the church’s transformational presence in the world and the challenges of practicing hospitality in conflict zones. Particular attention is paid to the theological tensions between love of enemy and protective boundaries, security concerns, and resource management in crisis situations.
The course integrates theological, philosophical and ethical perspectives on hospitality and examines specific challenges that churches face in serving refugees and victims of war. Through theological reflection and case analysis, students will develop a framework for implementing hospitality practices in the contexts of their communities and conflict zones while upholding Christian ethical principles.
By DR. ROMAN SOLOVIY (Eastern European Institute of Theology, Lviv, Ukraine)
| ETF’s Summer Colloquium in August 2025 features three inspiring courses which intersect theology, church and society. The two other courses are:
● “Stories that Victimize Women, Interpreting Challenging Old Testament Narratives” door Dr. Michelle Knight (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, USA) ● “Disability and Neurodiversity: Theology and the Practices of Faith Communities” door Dr. Léon van Ommen (King’s College, University of Aberdeen, UK) This international study week includes lectures, various workshops and times for meeting and reflection. Our Summer Colloquium is compulsory for ETF Open University students open to interested people with academic qualifications and can serve as additional in-service training for pastors, teachers, and other ministry professionals. |
