Welcome to the Research Project

Lived Theology of Engaged Ecumenism

A Research Project from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz

funded by the German Research Fund

GeT#Ö

In the research project „Lived Theology of Engaged Ecumenism“ – abbreviated as GeT#Ö – the voices of the ecumenically active are being empirically captured for the first time with the aim of giving these voices more attention and recognition.

On these pages, you can learn more about this new approach in the field of Ecumenical Research. The site introduces you to the goals and methods of the project. It also presents the cooperation partners and the research team.

Feel free to contact us if you have any further questions.

Our Goal: the Research of Ecumenical Engagement

In public discourse, the church, and theology, there is frequent mention of the „ecumenical grassroots.“ This refers to people who engage in ecumenism in various ways, such as in groups, projects, or initiatives as professionals or volunteers. However, these grassroot voices have been scarcely represented in ecumenical theology until now.

The research project, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), aims to explore the perspectives of ecumenically engaged actors in a multidimensional way and to profile them as „lived theology.“ For ecumenical theology, this represents nothing less than a paradigm shift; it is no longer developed „from above“ with a view toward ecumenical practice, but from the grassroots level of lived ecumenism. The project is being carried out in close collaboration with practitioners in the ecumenical field in throughout Germany, with a regional focus on Berlin-Brandenburg, the Rhine-Main region, and Bavaria.

Our Strategy: a Research Process Encompassing Three Steps

A complex data collection and analysis design ensures that in the envisioned „bottom-up“ ecumenical theology, the perspectives of those involved are gathered, interpreted, and highlighted in all their diversity. This will be achieved in three interconnected steps:

In an online survey, people engaged in ecumenism are asked about their motives and experiences, views, and desires.
Building on this, group interviews with ecumenically engaged individuals will be conducted in ten selected contexts.
On this basis, facets of the lived theology of engaged ecumenism will be reconstructed and incorporated into contemporary ecumenical-theological debates.

In the graphics below, you find the underlying conception of a lived theology (fig. 1) guiding our research strategy as well as our research design (fig. 2).

Fig. 1: Theoretical Framework – Lived Theology in Engaged Ecumenism

Publications

Stay up to date with the projects publications:

Altmeyer, Stefan; Bleek, Sebastian; Heymann, Benedikt; Simojoki, Henrik: „Ökumene empirisch erforschen – ein Forschungsprojekt zur „gelebten Theologie“ der engagierten Ökumene“, in: Ökumenische Rundschau 74/1 (2025), S. 128-131.

Our Partners

Ecclesial Partners

As a project team, we are pleased to have competent and connected partners by our side in the regions of Berlin-Brandbenburg, Rhein-Main, and Bavaria consisting of ecumenical experts from the dioceses, regional churches, and the Working Group of Christian Churches (ACK). We are supported by:

ÖR Berlin-Brandenburg / Erzbistum Berlin / EKBO

Pastoralreferent Hans-Joachim Ditz
Ökumenereferent des Erzbistums Berlin und Geschäftsführer des Ökumenischen Rates Berlin-Brandenburg
Bischof Emmanuel von Christoupolis
Vikarbischof der Griechisch-Orthodoxen Metropolie von Deutschland, Vorsitzender des Ökumenischen Rates Berlin-Brandenburg
Pfarrer Dr. Christof Theilemann (bis Mai 2025)
ehem. Direktor des Berliner Missionswerks und Beauftragter für Mission, Weltmission und Ökumene der Evangelischen Kirche Berlin-Brandenburg-schlesische Oberlausitz
Pfarrerin Barbara Hustedt
Stellv. Direktorin Berliner Missionswerk und Pfarrerin für Ökumene und Weltmission
Andrea Meyerhoff
Geschäftsführerin von Gemeinsam für Berlin e.V.

ACK Hessen-Rheinhessen / Bistum Limburg / EKHN

Pfarrer Dr. Jörg Bickelhaupt
Referent für den interkonfessionellen Dialog im Zentrum Oekumene der Evangelischen Kirche von Hessen und Nassau und der Evangelischen Kirche von Kurhessen-Waldeck
Dipl.-Theol. Brigitte Görgen-Grether
Ökumenereferentin des Bistums Limburg, Vorsitzende des ACK Hessen-Rheinhessen e.V.
Pastor Lothar Peitz
Geschäftsführer der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Christlicher Kirchen Hessen-Rheinhessen

ACK in Bayern / Erzbistum München-Freising / ELKB

Pastoralreferent Dr. Florian Schuppe
Leiter des Fachbereichs Ökumene, Erzdiözese München und Freising
Kirchenrätin Dr. Maria Stettner
Ökumenereferentin des VELKD
Dipl.-Theol. Georgios Vlantis, M.Th. (bis Februar 2025)
Referent für Ökumene und Interreligiöse Fragen im Bistum Augsburg
Maj. Dr. Constanze Pfund
Leitung der Heilsarmee München und Mitglied des Hauptvorstandes der Evangelischen Allianz Deutschland