After the opening by the organising team and welcoming remarks by PD Dr. Katharina Opalka and Prof. Dr. Matthias Braun (University of Bonn), thematic presentations followed, including a panel discussion with Prof. Dr. Florian Höhne (FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg) and Prof. Dr. Matthias Braun. Issues of science communication, media literacy and the translatability of theological content were discussed.
The second day was devoted to practical workshops on topics such as theology as a public resource, church leadership responsibility, media logic in theological publishing, and communication at the interface between church and politics. Speakers included PD Dr. Katharina Opalka, PD Dr. Martin Fritz, PD Dr. Christina Costanza, Dr. Anne Gidion, and Philipp Greifenstein.
The last day provided an opportunity for in-depth networking through project presentations by the participants, who were able to present their research work in dogmatics, ethics and philosophy of religion. The conference ended with a joint reflection on the topic of communication.
The conference was characterised by an open, collegial atmosphere in which it became clear that systematic theology is not a solitary discipline – we think together.
We would like to thank the EKD and VELKD for their financial support. Building on this successful collaboration, we look forward to further networking conferences. The results of the conference will be published in the second volume of the Yearbook of Systematic Theological Research, which is expected to appear in August 2026.
Organising team:
Dr Megan Arndt, Georg Breitfeld, Tillmann Clement, Lorenz Garbe, Philipp Kurowski, Miriam Lederle, Dr Nils Schütz, Liv Steinebach, Denise Wallat