North American Academy of Ecumenists

The 2012 Student Essay Contest

THE ECUMENICAL LEGACY OF THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL

On the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, students in professional or graduate programs in theology and religious studies are invited to consider how best to promote Christian unity today.

Called to be the One Church, Porto Alegre, 2006, calls churches to acknowledge their mutual responsibility to one another.

Yet churches continue to act  independently and to seek renewal by accenting distinctive identities.

The call to mutual responsibility is challenged in substantial ways:

• pressures for organizational survival,
• growing cultural disenchantment with religion,  and
• wide diversity in decision-making procedures that can address current questions of faith and life in contravening ways.

The 2011 NAAE Conference will study possibilities for mutual accountability,  analyze specific forms of ecclesial identity and query the habit of hospitality toward one another as a means for realizing how “The Church's oneness is an image of the unity of the Triune God in the communion of the divine Persons.” [II.3]

Called Together: Identity, Accountability, Hospitality

September 23-25, 2011

The Academy is grateful to the Lehigh County Conference of Churches for hosting the conference.

Online brochure: front side — back side. Download PDF brochure.

The conference will consider ways in which ecclesial identity, mutual accountability, and hospitality find shape and give sustenance to efforts for unity among the separate churches.

Memberships and renewals are now due in order to receive the full subscription of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies in 2011, which will include papers from the 2010 Annual Conference in Montreal.

All sessions and the banquet will be held at St. James the Apostle (Anglican). Please see map below.

Conference Schedule

Travel to and from the airport

Starting last spring, Montreal public transit (http://www.stm.info) began to offer a local bus from the airport (international arrivals level) to downtown. It is called 747 Express.

1. Take the bus from airport to the first Metro stop (Lionel Groulx, approx 20 minutes on the freeway)
2. Switch to the Metro (subway) and travel to the Atwater station.

See the following info: http://www.stm.info/English/info/a-747.htm and http://www.stm.info/English/bus/planibus/747.pdf.

The basic fare for this service is $7 each way exact change only, however, it is also possible to buy a 3-day Metro pass at the airport (international arrivals level, at the currency exchange booth) for only $14. This will allow full use of the Metro between the hotel and the conference location as well as any other travel in the city, and the trips from airport to hotel and back.

Weather permitting, some people might want to get around Montreal using the BIXI bicycle rental service. There are stations near the hotel as well as near the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism. Many streets now have reserved bicycle lanes (with barriers to protect the cyclists from traffic). The bikes can be rented for short commutes and dropped anywhere. See http://www.bixi.com/.

Additional travel information to and from the airport:

Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport to The Residence Inn by Marriott.

1- Taxi at a flat rate of $38.00 (each direction). This flat rate applies to trips to and from Montreal downtown area. The ride is approximately 25 minutes with reasonable traffic; if you are traveling during rush hour, please expect 45-60 minutes.

2- The L’Aerobus Shuttle bus runs between the Trudeau Airport and downtown Montreal. The bus stops downtown at the Central Bus Station (505 de Maisonneuve Blvd. E at the Berri-UQAM metro station). From here, you may take a taxi to the hotel (10 minutes) or use the metro (subway) using the green line and getting off at Atwater metro station. L’Aerobus Shuttle bus tickets are available at the arrivals level at the airport or at the Central Bus Station for approximately $15.00 one way or $25.00 return for the 45-minute trip (adult fares). Please call 514.842.2281 for more info. 

3- Other options to access downtown from the airport, please see : http://www.admtl.com/Passengers/AccessAndParking/Home.aspx

Click for Google map from airport to hotel.