VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 7/1/10)—The Office of the General Secretary is pleased to announce that it will be sponsoring a gathering of American Baptist Theologians/Theological educators in conjunction with the 2011 Biennial gathering in Puerto Rico.
“It has been a long-held dream of mine as general secretary,” says Roy Medley, “to strengthen the ties of our American Baptist theologians and theological educators with denominational life. Not since the Conference on Life and Theology ceased in the '70s have we had a forum to formally engage our American Baptist theologians and theological educators in reflection upon the life and mission of the Church today.”
This effort is the result of the dreams and hopes of a group of emerging theologians in ABC life. For the past year they have been in regular consultation with the general secretary to address the issue of the development of younger American Baptist theologians who consciously work out of their American Baptist heritage to both speak to that heritage with fresh voices and to speak from that heritage to the larger Church.
The group is composed of Dr. Kent Berghuis, senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of Lansdale, PA and adjunct faculty for Palmer Seminary; Dr. Adam Bond of the Proctor School of Theology, Virginia Union University; Professor Jennifer Davidson of the American Baptist Seminary of the West; and Dr. Rady Roldan-Figueroa of Baylor University.
“Theology is about loving God, about integrating our thoughts about God and the world into everything we do as the church,” explained Dr. Berghuis. “Without robust theology, we will never have deeply meaningful churches. I am glad to be a part of ABCUSA, where theological discussions are welcomed and viewed as basic to who we are as churches.”
The event will be held at the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico, an ABC-related Seminary, on Thursday, June 23 and Friday, June 24. It is made possible by a grant from the Mission Initiative Fund of the denomination.
American Baptist Churches is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with 5,500 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.