Call For Papers 2025: Relational Leadership
The annual HLT Conference on Leadership and Theology will take place on the 24th and 25th of April, 2025. The 2025 conference will focus on vital forms of relational leadership. Mainstream leadership theory emphasizes how leaders use relations-oriented behaviors to recognize, support, develop, and empower their co-workers. Theories of servant and values-based leadership have further highlighted the moral dimension of leadership. The Christian tradition offers an even richer account of the moral principles and relational virtues critical for building strong and desirable communities. However, research should also identify the potential shadow sides of relational leadership, including the dangers of power abuse, groupthink, and destructive conflicts.
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The conference will include a symposium on Free Church Ecclesiology and Relational Leadership.
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We will also facilitate a track on Biblical Metaphors of Relational Leadership.
Invited contributions
Within this horizon, we invite scholarly contributions from diverse academic fields, including theology, organizational psychology, and history, to explore and deepen our understanding of relational leadership by addressing questions such as:
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What leadership behaviors empower and develop others?
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What practices and moral virtues are essential for building organizational cultures that people want to belong to?
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How should leaders, followers, and organizations handle power abuse and manipulation?
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How can conflicts be transformed, and people (including leaders) be restored?
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How do theological traditions and ecclesiology provide unique perspectives on relational leadership and community building?
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What are key biblical metaphors of relational leadership, and how can they guide contemporary practice?
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What are historical examples of effective or problematic relational leadership?
Symposium on Free Church Ecclesiology and Relational Leadership
The conference will coincide with the 500-year anniversary of the radical (Anabaptist) Reformation, and we will offer a symposium on the themes of relational leadership and free-church ecclesiology. We welcome research proposals on topics including the historical development and features of baptistic ecclesiology, the current ecclesiological state of migrant churches, and the transformation of Lutheran low-church movements in the Norwegian context. The symposium aims to examine and rekindle awareness of the distinctive nature and significant contributions of free-church ecclesiology, emphasizing the active participation of all church members in the church’s mission.
Parallel Sessions on Biblical Metaphors of Relational Leadership
There will also be parallel sessions focusing on biblical metaphors of relational leadership and how they can be used to guide contemporary practice. We invite contributions that explore these metaphors, how they work, and how we can interpret and apply them in a modern context.
Submission Guidelines
If you would like to contribute to the conference, please send an abstract of 150-200 words to papers@hlt.no before the submission deadline of January 10, 2025. Abstracts can be submitted in English or Norwegian/Scandinavian.
