Speakers

Many exciting and renowned personalities from theology and the church have confirmed their participation in the study days. You can find a list of all contributors here.

Keynote Speakers

PROF. DR HEINRICH BEDFORD-STROHM is Chairman of the World Council of Churches. He was previously Chairman of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany and Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bayern.

PROF. DR PETER BOUTENEFF is Professor of Systematic Theology and Sacred Art at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in New York, USA. He has been active in theological dialog for many years, initially in the World Council of Churches. He is the founding director of the Institute of Sacred Arts.

TOM HOLLAND is a British writer and historian. He is the author of several bestsellers, including his book "Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind", which examines the Christian heritage of the Western world. He has published several documentaries (e.g. "Islam: The Untold Story") and radio programs with the BBC. He also runs "The Rest Is History", probably the most successful history podcast in the world.

PROF. DR. RALPH KUNZ is Professor of Practical Theology with a focus on church services and pastoral care at the Faculty of Theology at the University of Zurich. He was previously a pastor in Seuzach and a staff of the Evangelical Reformed Church of the Canton of Zurich. He also heads the Center for Practical Theological Spirituality Research (CASCS).

ESTHER MARIA MAGNIS is a religious scholar and writer. Her autobiographical critique of society, the church and religion, "Gott braucht dich nicht" (God doesn't need you), made her widely known in German-speaking countries. "Not since Nietzsche have I known anyone who has shown so harrowingly what a catastrophe it is not to believe in God." (Robert Spaemann, our own translation)

PROF. DR. GUDRUN NASSAUER is Professor of Exegesis and Theology of the New Testament at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Fribourg. Her research interests include the religious experience of Paul and his addressees.

PROF. DR. BENJAMIN SCHLIESSER is Professor of Literature and Theology of the New Testament at the Faculty of Theology at the University of Bern. Together with Prof. Dr Jan Rüggemeier, he heads the "Ecclesiae" project, which deals with the fascinating survival and spread of Christianity in antiquity.

PD DR. CHRISTINE SCHLIESSER is a private lecturer in Systematic Theology at the University of Zurich and Director of Studies at the Center for Faith & Society at the University of Fribourg. She is also a Research Fellow in "Historical Trauma and Transformation" at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa.

PROF. Dr. des. CORINNA SCHUBERT is Professor of Systematic Theology and Aesthetic Practice at the Protestant University of Applied Sciences Ludwigsburg and pastor of the Evangelical Church of Württemberg. She has lectured on the subject of "Faith and Emotion" and is involved in the subject of "Milieu-sensitive Communication of the Gospel". She has also set up her own business in the field of "Visual Facilitation". She shares insights into her sketchnotes, graphic recordings and explanatory videos on her blog under the motto "Sag's mit Bild" (www.corinna-schubert.de).

THE RT REVD DR. GRAHAM TOMLIN is Founding Director of the Centre for Cultural Witness at Lambeth Palace in London and President of St Mellitus College in London. He previously taught Reformation and Contemporary Mission and Culture in the Faculty of Theology at the University of Oxford and was Bishop of Kensington.

MICHAEL TRIEGEL is one of the most successful German painters of our time. The complex examination of the ancient-mythological and Christian-historical heritage is perceived as characteristic of his art. Among his many award-winning works is the portrait "Pope Benedict XVI".

Further Speakers