From 30 August to 2 September of this year, the association „European Society of Women in Theological Research” organized an international (Central and Eastern European) conference at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Latvia under the title „The Interaction of Tradition and Innovation in the Postmodern Context”.
The conference in Riga was organized by the University of Latvia in cooperation with Daugavpils University and was supported by Gustav-Adolf-Werk e.V. (Diasporawerk der Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland), Renovabis (Osteuropa-Hilfswerk der Katholischen Kirche) and the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church Abroad.
The conference was attended by women theologians from Poland, Germany, Romania, Croatia, Bulgaria, Norway, Latvia, Estonia, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. The theologians represented the Lutheran, Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Reformed denominations.
Among the women theologian participants were professors of systematic theology, doctors of philosophy, pastors, chaplains, lecturers in Biblical theology and exegesis, catechism teachers, linguists, and researchers in the fields of anthropology, pastoral care and mysticism.
The participants’ connection with theology and the church spanned a broad spectrum – religious sisters of various congregations, university professors, lecturers, theology students, and women whose daily work is not connected with theology.
At the opening of the conference, the introductory lecture ‘”I am because you are”: Cosmopolitan Challenges for a Postmodern World’ was given by the professor of systematic theology at Radboud University, the Netherlands, Maaike de Haardt (photo – on the left).
The professor of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Oslo, Lutheran pastor Marianne Bjelland Kartzow gave the paper “Intersectional Hermeneutics as Dialogue between Tradition and Innovation: Constructing Meaning with (not of) Gal 3-4” (photo – on the right)
The conference programme included lectures by both guest and local professors, as well as parallel sessions in which participants gave short presentations in their field of research, and also workshops.
There was no shortage of informal events either: a guided excursion through Old Riga, dinner in the premises of the Faculty of Theology with a film screening, as well as enjoying a performance by a folklore song and dance ensemble and learning Latvian traditional dances and games.
The conference was also actively attended by members of the Latvian Lutheran Women Theologians’ Association – the dean of the UL Faculty of Theology Dace Balode, who organized the conference, LLSTA president Rudīte Losāne, and evangelists Kristīne Vanaga and Agnese Kapče.
During the conference, Kristīne Vanaga and Agnese Kapče led the morning prayer.
Rudīte Losāne gave the presentation “Resocialisation Program Miriam – a Different Place in Latvian Women’s Prison” (The resocialization programme ‘Miriam’ – a different place in the Latvian women’s prison).
Aļesja Lavrinoviča gave the presentation “Conjectural Emendation is Back. The Development of the Textual Criticism and the Case of 1 Cor 14:33b-35” (Conjectural emendation is back. The development of textual criticism and the case of 1 Cor 14:33b-35).
On the closing day of the conference, the UL Faculty of Theology dean, associate professor, Ph. D. Dace Balode, the associate professor of Daugavpils University, Ph. D. Dzintra Iliško and the UL Faculty of Theology leading researcher Ph.D. Ilze Jansone led a plenary session on the question of the ordination of women in Latvia “Ordination of Women in Latvia: Realities and Future Prospectus”.
Photo: Ilze Stikāne
Aļesja Lavrinoviča