Vol. 8 (2020): Acta Missiologiae 2020

While there is remarkable research on youth in general in Central and Eastern Europe, little attention has been given to the so-called Generation Z, which are people born from the mid-nineties. Yet this is the generation targeted by ideologies of different governmental and non-governmental organizations. It is also the generation most exposed to the consequences of changes in education and world politics and the generation most affected by globalization and the cosmopolitan condition. Generation Z plays an important role when it comes to Christian missionary activities, missionary self-awareness, mission organizations and programs as well as theological education in Central and Eastern Europe. Generation Z is both agent and target of missionary enterprises. Nevertheless, the knowledge about who Generation Z is and what their role, vision, way of thinking and feeling, and way of practicing Christianity is, remain undiscovered areas of missiological-theological research and reflection.
The present volume seeks to deepen the theological-missiological conversations on the issues sketched above. It does so by first offering four blind peer reviewed articles on different aspects of youth research in the region. The academic articles then are complemented by two articles written from a more reflective practitioners’ point of view.
In his contribution as one of the key-note speakers of the conference, František Štĕch creates a broad framework for conversations on youth and mission in Central and Eastern Europe. He does so by identifying different levels of the conversation where youth are not only research objects and “missionary targets” but active agents who engage and shape understandings and practices of Christian mission in the region. Árpád Fosztó’s article calls attention to the importance of cultivating “youth” through the means of character formation. Fosztó relates youth ministry and the Christian education of the youth to the broader and historical cultural heritage of character formation and invites the reader to draw lessons from a parallel reading of Stoic philosophers and Christian theology in order to cultivate virtuous lives. Fosztó’s article is a call to go beyond egocentrism and the need to educate youth for loving and serving the neighbor and thus achieve a “happy life.”