The Central and Eastern European Association for Mission Studies (CEEAMS) is pleased to

invite you to the conference

Green pastures? Human Mobility and Christian Communities

in Central and Eastern Europe
After the fall of the Communist system, migration experiences in Central and Eastern Europe
(CEE) intensified and diversified. During Communist times emigration existed in forms of
political asylum-seeking or through creative ways to reach the so-called West. Also exchange
studentships to befriended countries were some of the variations of migration. While the
opening of the political borders after the changes in 1989/1990 did generate migration
from CEE to mainly Western Europe and North America, migration to CEE through people
such as missionaries, international investors, tourists, small entrepreneurs, labor migration,
students, professionals had a significant impact on community formation. Typical to these
migrations was that it included people from all over the world, from west and north and east
and south. Since most of the post-communist countries did not have well-developed
migration policies, CEE became an intently diverse field where people of all sorts with a
variety of aspirations arrived and left. The Yugoslav Wars challenged some of the Balkan
countries to experiment with asylum-seeking and refugee services.
Another significant event regarding migration experiences in CEE was the enlargement of
the European Union with new, former communist member states. This resulted in
substantial labor migration from CEE to Western Europe, especially from Poland, Romania,
and Bulgaria, but now also from Hungary and other countries. The consequences of the
Arab Spring, especially the complex wars in Syria, intensified the refugee question. Next to
the cross-border migrations, domestic migration further complicates the processes of
transformations in CEE societies. Also the fragility of the internal political situation in a
number of CEE countries - with growing right wing tendencies targeting the foreigner (read
e.g. Roma people, Muslims, and Arab) in their rhetoric - add to these complexities.
Discussions about and responses with immediate action programs (like e.g. building fences
etc.) to certain phenomena generated by migration, became part of the daily life at all levels
of societies.
Christian communities, churches and other faith communities are part of the above
described societies and migration experiences. In their daily service they encounter
situations which demand grounded theological-missiological answers, because after all,
migration experiences are about human lives and changes in human lives and societies.
Missiologists, theologians, and reflective practitioners are challenged to theologicallymissiologically reflect on questions about human mobility in this region and their relation to
the larger worldwide processes, in order to adequately assist the work of churches,
ministers, pastors, and above all church members to find contextually relevant answers. In

order to address the issue of human mobility, one needs to dig deeper: it is not sufficient to
create Christian discourses about migration by collecting proof verses from the Bible which
talk about people on the move, and about the position of strangers. Digging deeper asks for
self-reflection: what is going on in Christian communities in terms of migration? What do
Christians in this part of the world believe about different aspects of migration and why do
they do so? What are the most striking aspects of migration which need theological
attention?

Call for papers:

While intently taking their point of departure in an open attitude of enquiry and invitation
for in-depth discussions, the organizers of the conference call for papers related to, but not
limited to, the following issues:
-

Case studies which contextually explore the relationship between mission praxis and
migration
Churches involvement in issues of human mobility
Missionary presence and migration
Missiological assessments of missionary work among people labeled as (illegal)
migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, economic migrants, labor migrants,
entrepreneurs, international students and professionals
Case studies of churches emerged in strong relationship with migration: e.g.
Romanian speaking churches in Western Europe or/and Vietnamese speaking
churches in CEE.
Missionaries as migrants
Communities left behind: case studies related to communities from which large
number of people left or temporarily work abroad.
The issue of diaspora
Exclusion, inclusion, racism, xenophobia, politics of the fear and image-formation
Human mobility and new communities/ community formation
Inter-faith dynamics influenced by migration
Exploring fresh ways of theologizing on migration
When more is less and less might become more: in search for a better life and the
issue of human relationships

For submitting a paper proposal, please send an abstract of no more than 300 words to
ceeams@gmail.com by 13th of March 2016. Abstracts should provide a brief description of
the work, clearly outlining the theoretical perspectives and methodology to be applied in the
paper.
Notifications of acceptance will be sent by 20th of March, 2016.
Selected papers may be published in ACTA MISSIOLOGIAE, the journal of the Central and
Eastern European Association for Mission Studies.

Conference papers should be restricted to 20 minutes of presentation time.

Date of the conference:

Arrivals 10 May 2016, conference starts in the afternoon.
Departure 13 May after lunch.

Conference Venue:
Evangelical Theological Seminary
Cvjetkova 32, PO Box 370, Osijek, Croatia, HR-31103
Tel: 385-31-494-200 // Fax: 385-31-494-201 // Email: info@evtos.hr

Language of the conference: English.

Registration fee: EUR 25
Registration deadline: 15 April 2016
Accommodation:
Accommodation in one-person bedroom, meals, and coffee break drinks and snack: EUR 155
Accommodation in shared (two persons) bedroom, meals, and coffee break drinks and
snack: EUR 115

Scholarships:
Participants, especially those whose abstract will be accepted, may apply for partial or full
coverage of the conference costs. Travel expenses cannot be reimbursed. Exceptions to the
rules will be considered.
Please register as soon as possible using the following link:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1mUPrOcyP6zH0NOphUbvKe9I6AIfwAI9Qv8IPyP0HUU/viewform?usp=send_form

Organizers:
Pavol Bargr
Scott Klingsmith
Anne-Marie Kool
Valentin Kozhuharov
Dorottya Nagy
Peter Penner
Ivan Rusyn
Vladimir Ubeivolc
Ruslan Zagidulin