Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 15/10/2026This is going to be amazing! I was fortunate to read an early copy of prof Vosloo's new book. It shaped my understanding of identity in such important ways. I think this will be one of the most important books in this field. A must read! See the details for the book launch in the attached image. 011
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 14/10/2026‘To be kind in a violent world is very dangerous, but fortunately you will discover you were destined to be kind... Our gentle God created our kind to be kind by making it impossible for us to exist without caring for those both like and unlike us.’ - Stanley Hauerwas 000
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 12/10/2026In exactly one week’s time we kick off the Global Network for Public Theology conference at @vuamsterdam hosted by @vu_srt We can’t wait to welcome the 120 or so participants! Read more here: www.gnpublictheology.net/amsterdam-2026 #PublicTheology #GNPTAmsterdam2026 000
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 07/10/2026In less than 2 weeks about 120 friends and colleagues from around the world arrive at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam for the the Global Network for Public Theology! I collected the ‘Stroopwafels’ for their conference bags! See the updated program here: www.gnpublictheology.net/amsterdam-2026 020
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 22/09/2026My latest article, “Sawubona: The witness of the Church in a time of misrecognition,” is out in Kerk en Theologie. On migration, dignity & the Church’s calling to truly “see” the stranger. research.vu.nl/en/publicati... #PublicTheology #Sawubona #Recognition #Migration #Theology 000
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 12/09/2026Please see www.dionforster.com/sawubona ‘Sawubona: (Mis)Recognition and the Task of Public Theology’ The lecture is scheduled to take place on: 🕰️ Friday, 23 October 2026, at 15.45 CET 📍 The Aula of the University’s Main Building 🤝 The lecture will be followed by a reception 000
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 11/09/2026The program for the next meeting of the Global Public Theology Network is now available online. Check it out: www.gnpublictheology.net/amsterdam-2026 I am so looking forward to sharing this time with friends and colleagues from around the world! @vuamsterdam.bsky.social 010
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 28/08/2026Today is the feast day of St Augustine of Hippo. Let us leave a little room for reflection and silence. 030
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 24/08/2026Today this legend, Liam, starts his first day of University! Bachelor of Economic and Management Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam! We are so grateful! Many blessings and much success Liam! Mom, Courtney and I are rooting for you! We are very proud of you! 000
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 24/08/2026I am back at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam today! Megie, Liam, and I had an amazing ‘stay-cation’ in Amsterdam! DIY, family visits, touring the Netherlands. I am very grateful for the new academic year! Welcome back to colleagues and students! We have wonderful people and amazing work to do! 000
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 23/08/2026Here is the cover of our new book! Prof Rudolf von Sinner and I edited this collection of essays on Public Theologies in South Africa and Brazil many of our dear friends contributed! We will share the news when it is available. It is is fruit of more than a decade of collaboration and friendship. 020
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 21/08/2026We are on our way to Zandvoort for the Dutch Grandprix F1 qualifiers! 001
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 20/08/2026This remains one of the most important texts I have written. Prof. Tracy wrote a very thoughtful response to each chapter - I am so grateful! My chapter is entitled, ‘Theology in the Public Realm? David Tracy and Contemporary African Religiosity‘. See: amzn.to/3E1Q1n8 010
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 17/08/20268 years ago I gave the Fernley Hartley Trust Lecture at the Oxford Institute for Methodist Studies. It is one of the highlights of my academic career to date. I dedicated the lecture to my dear senior colleague, Prof Anthony Reddie. See: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... Very grateful! 000
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 08/08/2026Liam, Megie and I are leaving the knowledge economy to earn REAL MONEY 💴 in NL 😂🤣 It only took a few hours to remove and replace our old garden gate 🚪 010
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 03/08/2026My darling, Megan, and I came to Naarden Vesting (the fortress) by Vespa. The perfect spot for a sundowner! Loving the LONG European summer evenings! 000
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 24/07/2026We folded our bicycles, jumped on the train, and visited beautiful Nijmegen, Radboud University, my Alma Mater, and enjoyed the last day of the #Vierdaagse A beautiful family, summer, day! 010
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 18/07/202616 years ago we went to the Fan Walk in Cape Town to share in the vibe and excitement of the FIFA World Cup. Our beautiful children have grown up since then, and so have we 🤣👋❤️ Such a wonderful memory! I am very grateful. 010
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 17/07/2026It is going to be an amazing sporting weekend!!! 000
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 13/07/2026Today I had a meeting at the Theologische Universiteit Utrecht, in beautiful Utrecht! I rode my little Vespa! It was stunningly beautiful! 020
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 12/07/2026#oldmanrunning with the young man! Liam is training for the Amsterdam marathon. He let me tag along for a few KM’s! 000
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 12/07/2026“We have lived our lives by the assumption that what was good for us would be good for the world. We must change our lives so that it will be possible to live by the contrary assumption, that what is good for the world will be good for us.” - Wendell Berry, The Long-Legged House 020
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 12/07/2026‘God of Mighty Truth, make us people of true speech, obedient speech… give us the courage to trust you, knowing you would never call a people to you who would prefer lies to truth. Amen.’ - Stanley Hauerwas, The Truth That Reveals Lies (from Prayers Plainly Spoken). 010
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 08/07/2026Please join me in congratulating Dr Ahmed El Assal who successfully defended his PhD at the International Institute of Social Studies yesterday. It was a beautiful afternoon. You can read about it here: www.iss.nl/en/events/ph... Dr El Assal, well done! Many blessings for the road ahead! 010
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 07/07/2026Multimodal!! I have to speak at an event in Utrecht and then one of my PhD students is defending his doctorate in The Hague, so I have my professor’s gown on my Brompton, heading to the station! Ha ha! Ik ben echt ingeburgerd! 130
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 07/07/2026Yesterday I had the privilege of speaking at the IRTI Summer School - a wonderful group of scholars from around the world reflecting on opportunities and challenges for Reformed Faith in various publics. Amazing people! They even welcomed this Methodist! 000
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 04/07/2026Happy Interdependence Day. In a world obsessed with illusions of isolation, fueled by hatred and greed, let us remember: no one is free until we all are free. My humanity is bound up with yours. May we find life not in separation, but in the sacred work of solidarity. Happy interdependence day! 032
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 02/07/2026Such a stunning day with dear colleagues at the #EUARE2026 a rich series of papers and discussions. I am very grateful! Then my friend Javier and I walked to St Peter’s Basilica. Stunning! 020
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 01/07/2026Rome, you beauty! It is HOT! I am waiting for my bus to LUISS University of Rome for our panel from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam on Discerning God: In difference. #EUARE2026 010
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 30/06/2026This weekend we said farewell to Archbishop Thabo Makgoba and Lungi. It has been an immeasurable joy and blessing to have them with us for the last three months. We have learned about hope, justice, and beautify, for all of creation (both human and non-human). Safe travels! 010
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 24/06/2026Today I had the privilege of attending the GROW PhD conference where our colleague Nycholas Oliveira from VU Amsterdam (together with the cohort of African PhD candidates, working on research in Development Studies) presented workshops on their work. Inspiring and informative! 000
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 20/06/2026Megie and I rode to Amsterdamsebos for an impromptu picnic! It was amazing! So beautiful, and so lovely to spend time with my darling! 010
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 15/06/2026Hup Holland! ⚽️🇳🇱🧡 I am loving my #pilsjamas 🤣😝👆Dreaming of a South African or Dutch World Cup win! 🏆 020
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 10/06/2026Congratulations, to my dear friend Dr Khegan Delport for the publication of his book ‘Philosophical Theologies in South Africa: Genealogies, Traditions, and Speculations’, (Open Access!)! It was so great to see you, thanks for the book! ujonlinepress.uj.ac.za/index.php/uj... 010
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 06/06/2026##oldmanrunning hills, hills, and hills edition 🤣⛰️🏔 010
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 05/06/2026AI is not only a technical question, it is a deeply human one. In this new Substack post, I offer a first theological engagement with Pope Leo XIV’s Magnifica Humanitas and ask what it means to remain human in an age of AI. open.substack.com/pub/digitald... 021
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 01/06/2026I am working remotely this week while visiting the Faculty of Theology, Stellenbosch University, I have some human and non-human co-workers this morning! ❤️🐶 My doggies would love to visit the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam when I am back! #RemoteWork #Coworkers 000
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 31/05/2026Cape Town you beauty! Ah, such a blessing to be with our friends and family in Somerset West! 000
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 26/05/2026It is a beautiful day on the campus of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam! My Systematic Theology and Contemporary Theology students are writing their first exams today! I arrived early to prepare the room for them. Please say a little prayer for them, and their examiner! 010
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 24/05/2026A blessed Pentecost, and Aldersgate Sunday! In Wesleyan and Methodist circles the 24th of May is remembered as Aldersgate Day. It was a significant turning point in 1738, in the life and spiritual journey of John Wesley. Attached is an extract from his journal on this day. 010
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 19/05/2026Please join me in wishing the love of my life, my darling Megan a blessed and happy birthday! 🎉🎁🎂🎈🎊 We love you so, so much Megie! Thank you for who you are! You are a gift!!! We love you! Happy Birthday our legend! 020
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 15/05/2026Today is Liam’s very last day of High School! He writes his final Mathematics paper this morning, and then he is done! Wow! Primary school, through Covid, a great High School, the move to the Netherlands, and International Baccalaureate at International School Laren! 🙏 020
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 14/05/2026A blessed Ascension Day to my Christian friends - we are tasked, trusted, and empowered to work and serve for blessing, justice, wholeness, and love for all! For more about this Cameroonian painting, see diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelin... 040
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 10/05/2026And so the conference on Testimony, Confession, Truth comes to an end! It was amazing to listen, to learn, to ‘turn to one another’. Thanks Frederike van Oorschot and Hannar Reichel for an amazing event with remarkable people! Now, the train(s) back to Amsterdam and my darlings! 110
Dion Forster @digitaldion.bsky.social · 07/05/2026A beautiful morning! I am on my way to Zurich by train to participate in a conference on Testimony - Confession - Truth. I was asked to speak on ‘Confessing as theo-political act? Learnings from the anti-apartheid movement.’ I am very grateful and looking forward to learning. 040