Ecclesiological Investigations brings together quality research and inspiring debates in ecclesiology worldwide from a network of international scholars, research centres and projects in the field.
The Network seeks to promote studies, research, dialogue and collaboration in ecclesiology across the broad spectrum of the Christian tradition. Therefore it exists to promote genuinely collaborative ecclesiology in national, international, intra-ecclesial and ecumenical contexts.
An abiding principle of the foundation of EI is that the church must be inclusive if it is to be of continuing relevance in the world in a positive sense. Therefore, a further task of EI is to foster and facilitate conversation and collaboration that is both open and pluralistic in character. So EI seeks to serve as a hub for such, drawing together individuals, other groups and networks, initiating research ventures and providing leadership, guidance and administrative support as well as acting as a funding facilitator to support conversations, research and education in this field.
Thanks to the support and encouragement of many willing persons, EI has achieved a great deal to date in terms of bringing together scholars and practitioners and students in the field, with active participation from a very wide variety of differing geographical, methodological and ecclesial backgrounds.
The Ecclesiological Investigations Program Unit Group of the American academy of Religion (AAR) came into being in 2005, the year in which it was first proposed to and subsequently accepted by the American Academy of Religion Committee. The initial proposal for the Group attracted the signatures of a very large number of professors working in universities across many different continents and in numerous disciplines.
The EI conversations carry on throughout the year being through the work of the international EI research network which has organised or helped to organise and support a large number of successful conferences, colloquia, symposia and study days in many different countries and on a diverse range of themes. Among the core activities of the Network include a number of sessions each Fall at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, and the EI Program Unit Group has also organised and supported a number of meetings and symposia on the fringe of the AAR Annual meetings, and it has also organised a number of additional meetings and receptions in order to bring together scholars in relevant fields and to further promote the ongoing work of the EI Group and wider network.