The Future of Ecumenism
The International Steering Group of Transformative Ecumenism (TEM) convened its second meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 21–23 August 2025. The gathering reviewed the movement’s progress and challenges while reaffirming its central commitment: to be anchored in justice and to accompany young people as they reimagine the future of ecumenism.
Rev. Dr. Jooseop Keum offered a critical analysis of global realities, drawing on the biblical mandate of peace (John 20:19–22) and affirming the power of life over the powers of death. He highlighted pressing global challenges, including: cultures of greed revealed in global trade wars, the persistence of wars and violence, the deepening climate crisis and risk of future pandemics, technological dominance reducing human agency, fragile democracies and the rise of authoritarian politics, and cultures of hatred and division.
In response, the Steering Group emphasized the urgent need to “speak truth to power,” resist imperial domination in all its forms, and pursue liberation as a vital dimension of Christian mission. The meeting called for morally sensitive leadership and lamented the growing tolerance of injustice, the erosion of moral responsibility, and the tendency of many churches to remain confined to ritual rather than living witness.
The group also sharpened its vision of TEM’s “niche markers” as:
a movement of movements,
a people-based initiative rooted in the margins,
a justice-seeking fellowship, and
one informed by the theological and experiential wisdom of global Christianity.
Following the Steering Group’s meeting, a Youth Workshop was jointly organised by the Council for World Mission (CWM) and the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME). Sixty young people from diverse contexts reflected on the themes Doing Mission and Being Ecumenical. They affirmed Transformative Ecumenism as a vital way to engage in mission today and committed to carry this vision forward.
