The first formal meeting of the Central and Eastern European Association for Mission Studies (CEEAMS) was held at the Reformed Church Center, Budapest, Hungary, 12-15 May 2004. Representatives of diverse Christian traditions gathered in this missions studies conference to discuss the common task of mission education.
CEEAMS stands "in relationship to and in the tradition" of the International Association for Mission Studies (IAMS). It developed out of a World Council of Churches International Consultation on "Believing Without Belonging" held at Breklum, Germany, 26 June-2 July 2002. Conversation at this consulation among Dr. Vladimir Federov, Professor Dr. Anne-Marie Kool, and Dr. Peter F. Penner led a year later to CEEAMS's founding. Dr. Anne-Marie Kool provided vision and practical assistance by preparing a draft constitution and offering a site in Budapest for the first meeting. Conference sessions addressed the theme, "Mission Education in Central and Eastern Europe." Contributors included Dr. Sergei Shirokov and Dr. Vladimir Fedorov from an Orthodox perspective, Dr. Jan Gorski from a Roman Catholic perspective, Professor Dr. Anne-Marie Kool and Dr. László Gonda from a Reformed perspective, and myself from an Evangelical perspective. Most other participants were Protestant-Evangelical in background, such as Dr Scott Klingsmith from Vienna, Austria, who offered a workshop on the case study approach in missiological education.
All missiologists living and working in Central and Eastern Europe are invited to join CEEAMS and in this way become actively involved with other colleagues in developing missiological studies in this part of the world. The next meeting of CEEAMS is scheduled for Slovakia the first weekend of June 2005. The conference theme will be Roma (Gypsies) in Central and Eastern Europe. For further information, contact the chair of the association, Professor Dr. Anne- Marie Kool, Protestant Institute of Mission Studies, Budapest, Hungary, amkool@axelero.hu.
Peter Penner is a professor of missions at the International Baptist Theological Seminary, Prague, Czech Republic.