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"Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ (Isa 65:17) for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ (Isa 25:8) or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!"

Revelations 21:1-5a

The theme of the conference is: ‘Radical Renewal? - Witnessing to a “New Heaven and a New Earth”’.

In times of major crisis and systemic injustices, the question arises, how “radical” the children of the “Radical Reformation” are – after 500 years – in terms of their participation in the promised renewal of all, as imagined in Revelations 21:

„Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ (Isa 65:17) for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ (Isa 25:8) or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” (Revelations 21:1-5a)

New societal, political, digital, and environmental developments are challenging the global human family altogether as well as our different societies in different ways and expressions – depending on the specific contextual situation. BC are present in these contexts and try to witness to the Good News as a counter reality to injustices, violence, and the vast destruction of creation they are part of. Newer theological and ethical reflections, biblical studies, and historical re-visits mirror this movement for renewal. From postcolonial hermeneutics to environmental ethics, from gender studies to new ways of being Church, contributions from the perspectives of the BC around the world re-visit their free-church-tradition in order to contribute to the wider ecumenical debate and to the societal discourses.

The 20th BCC invites these contributions to be discussed and tested among the participants. It is a space for encounter and common discernment, a place for prayer and celebration, a space for touching wounds and healing – North and South, East and West – in the presence of a promised and confessed “new heaven and a new earth”.