UNITED EVANGELICAL MISSION INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

“The Beam in our Eye: Discrimination in Church and Diakonia” This is the theme for the UEM Assembly, which will take place in Tanzania in September 2025. Called to grow together as a worshipping, learning and serving community, the UEM has in recent years implemented  several international and interfaith programs to build inclusive communities in church and society and to strengthen networking and action for peace, reconciliation and justice among its members. Our work is based on God's promise that all people shall enjoy life in fullness and in dignity in God’s creation. With this call for academic essays, especially addressed to young people in the UEM, we invite you to reflect on the phenomena of discrimination, racism and violence in Churches, Diakonia and society in your respective contexts.
Your reflections will help the UEM to identify the mission challenges of our time. It will open our eyes to specific power dynamics within Christian Communities and may also shed light on structural injustice and intersectionality. Your reflections will help us to identify issues where we need to strengthen our solidarity with each other and create space for learning in the coming years within UEM together with other partners in churches, faith-based groups and civil society. It will help us to be more inclusive and to build inclusive communities.

A committee of three international experts from Africa, Asia, and Europe will review the papers in an anonymised process and award those deemed most outstanding from a theological and ecumenical perspective. The three winning papers will be invited to Tanzania to address the UEM General Assembly in September 2025.