Meet the latest recipients of an award from The Bill Snelson Young Ecumenists Fund.
Alexander Hrabak
Alexander is a theology student and member of the Oecumenical Patriarchate. He is studying at Durham University but has also studied at the Roman Catholic University of Graz in Austria.
Alexander’s ecumenical experience will be a short retreat to the Monastery of Chevetogne in Belgium. This Benedictine monastery is a historical centre of ecumenical exchange and encounter between the Christian traditions of East and West, with services held in both the Latin and Byzantine rites.
He said: “This grant will enable me to experience first-hand how the two Christian traditions of East and West, despite their differences, can coexist and interact within the confines of one monastery. This will equip me with an invaluable practical experience of ecumenism which my academic studies in Theology are not able to provide.”
Rev Edward Day
Rev Edward Day is the Assistant Curate at Wells Cathedral.
Edward is a member of the Ecclesiastical Law Society and has an interest in juridical ecumenism. He is also a member of Christians Together in Wells where he regularly finds himself as the youngest person in the room.
Edward will be going to the Taizé Community in France on a pilgrimage led by Rt Rev Michael Beasley Bishop of Bath and Wells, a former Trustee of Churches Together in England. Edward has been to Taize before but is keen to once again experience its “enlightening, refreshing, and dynamic
ecumenical experience.”
Alexander and Edward received their Snelson Fund grants at the same time as Laura, Eleanor and Danny.
Applications can be made to the Snelson Fund twice a year. The closing date for spring applications is 31 March. The deadline for autumn applications in 31 October.
The Bill Snelson Young Ecumenists Fund was launched in October 2023 by Churches Together in England and the Snelson family. It is in memory of Bill Snelson, a dedicated ecumenist, who was General Secretary of Churches Together England from 1997 to 2008. Grants from the Fund allow young adults to experience ecumenism abroad. That experience can be study, pilgrimage, volunteering or any activity that promotes church unity.
Find a list of young Christians who benefitted from The Bill Snelson Young Ecumenists Fund.
Download a brief guide to The Bill Snelson Young Ecumenists Fund and how to apply.