Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology contents

Here's what's inside Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology, ed. Amy L. Chilton and Steven R. Harmon, which releases from Mercer University Press on May 1. 

Read about and order the book at https://www.mupress.org/Sources-of-Light-Resources-for-Baptist-Churches-Practicing-Theology-P1052.aspx.

1          Introduction: Imagining Radical Baptist Practices of Local Church Theology

            Steven R. Harmon and Amy L. Chilton

Part I

LIGHT FROM OUR LIFE-IN-CONTEXT

2          Light from Liberative Theologies

            Amy L. Chilton

3          Light from Black Theologies

            Noel Leo Erskine

4          Light from Hispanic/Latin@ Theologies

Nora O. Lozano

5          Light from Asian Theologies

            Atola Longkumer

6          Mistaking White for Light: Awakening to a Truthful Search for the Light

Mikael N. Broadway

7          Light from Modern and Contemporary Women’s Religious Experiences

Courtney Pace

8          Light from Feminist Theologies

Susan M. Shaw

9          Light from Womanist Theologies

Khalia J. Williams

10         Light from LGBTQ+ Lives

Cody J. Sanders

11         Light from Refugee and Immigrant Perspectives

May May Latt

12         Light from People with Disabilities

Jason D. Whitt

13         Light from Interreligious Sources

Raimundo C. Barreto, Jr.

14         Light from Ecological Theologies

Rebecca Horner Shenton

Part II

LIGHT FROM OUR LIFE-IN-COMMUNITY

15         Light from Ancient Confessions of Faith

            Curtis W. Freeman

16         Light from Pre-Reformation Women’s Theological Contributions

Kate Hanch

17         Light from the Confessions of the European Reformations

Rady Roldán-Figueroa

18         Light from Baptist Confessions of Faith

            Stephen R. Holmes

19         Light from Catholic Magisterial Sources

Coleman Fannin

20         Light for Navigating Moral Disagreement

Myles Werntz

21         Light from Saintly Sources

Derek C. Hatch

22         Light from Traditional Liturgical Sources

Philip E. Thompson

23         Light from Contemporary Liturgical Sources

Jennifer W. Davidson

24         Light from/for Ecumenical Convergence

            Steven R. Harmon

25         Conclusion: Light from Converted Listening

            Amy L. Chilton and Steven R. Harmon

Nancy Bedford endorses Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology

Nancy E. Bedford, Georgia Harkness Professor of Theology at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, has offered the following words of praise for Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology, ed. Amy L. Chilton and Steven R. Harmon (Mercer University Press, 2020):

“The diverse voices in this book come together wonderfully to illuminate the value of taking specific communities of faith seriously as subjects of theology, even while challenging them to look beyond themselves to communities—both past and present—who both shed light and cast shadows on what it means to practice theology. The book is a splendid gift of love from Baptists to all those who care about the church, regardless of confessional leanings.”

Order Sources of Light from the Mercer University Press site (or call 478-301-2880) using coupon code MUPNEWS for a 20% discount and free shipping.

Bill Leonard endorses Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology

Bill J. Leonard, Founding Dean and Professor of Divinity Emeritus at Wake Forest University Divinity School, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, has offered the following words of praise for Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology, ed. Amy L. Chilton and Steven R. Harmon (Mercer University Press, 2020):

"This well-organized, well-focused study brings together a diverse group of scholars who address Christian and Baptist identity as a guide for congregations and individuals. These insightful essays cover a wide range of topics and issues confronting the 21^st-century church…a timely contribution to Christian communities."

Order Sources of Light from the Mercer University Press site (or call 478-301-2880) using coupon code MUPNEWS for a 20% discount and free shipping.

Lina Toth endorses Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology

Lina Toth (Andronoviene), Assistant Principal and Lecturer in Practical Theology at Scottish Baptist College, University of the West of Scotland, Paisley, Scotland, has offered the following words of praise for Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology, ed. Amy L. Chilton and Steven R. Harmon (Mercer University Press, 2020):

“This book provides a stimulating introduction to a whole range of theological lenses, offering multiple starting points for an in-depth exploration as well as providing an overall ‘map’ of the diversity within Christ’s body. It offers models of healthy theological engagement from a Baptist perspective and will be of help to anyone engaged in guiding theological practice. Every reader (and community of readers) is bound to be surprised and challenged by some unexpected source of light presented here.” 

Order Sources of Light from the Mercer University Press site (or call 478-301-2880) using coupon code MUPNEWS for a 20% discount and free shipping.

Paul Baxley endorses Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology

Paul Baxley, Executive Coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, has offered the following words of praise for Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology, ed. Amy L. Chilton and Steven R. Harmon (Mercer University Press, 2020):

“For those of us who believe that local congregations are uniquely equipped by the Holy Spirit and empowered by the Risen Jesus to offer a compelling witness to God’s love in this broken world, and who also know that individual congregations deeply need community with the global church in order to flourish through participation in the life of the Triune God, Sources of Light provides both a powerful challenge and significant resources. By inviting congregations and their leaders to a much more substantial theological practice through listening to voices and testimonies from all across Christ’s church, Amy Chilton and Steve Harmon have offered us a way to see difference not as an occasion for fear, but instead an opportunity for discernment, love, and greater faithfulness.”

Order Sources of Light from the Mercer University Press site (or call 478-301-2880) using coupon code MUPNEWS for a 20% discount and free shipping.

Jerusha Matsen Neal endorses Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology

Jerusha Matsen Neal, Assistant Professor of Homiletics at Duke University Divinity School, has offered the following words of praise for Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology, ed. Amy L. Chilton and Steven R. Harmon (Mercer University Press, 2020):

“Sources of Light does more than celebrate the breadth and particularity of the Spirit's work in local congregations. It provides a tool box for robust practices of congregational discernment. The book is an invaluable resource for preachers who want to invite congregations past insular theological cul-de-sacs and into the broad expanse of God's faithful witness. Listening and responding to that witness is the challenge and joy of our Baptist inheritance.”

Order Sources of Light from the Mercer University Press site (or call 478-301-2880) using coupon code MUPNEWS for a 20% discount and free shipping.

Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology releases May 1

Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology, which I co-edited and co-authored with Amy L. Chilton, will be released by Mercer University Press on May 1.

Here's the book description on the publisher's site:

"Baptist theologians Amy L. Chilton and Steven R. Harmon maintain that the congregational freedom cherished by Baptists makes it possible for their local churches to engage in a practice of theology informed by a full range of voices speaking from the whole church beyond the local church, past and present. In their coedited book SOURCES OF LIGHT, a diverse group of twenty-three Baptist theologians engage in a collaborative attempt to imagine how Baptist communities might draw on the resources of the whole church more intentionally in their congregational practice of theology. These resources include theologies that attend to the social locations of followers of Jesus Christ--not only in terms of ethnic and gender identity, sexual orientation, citizenship status, and physical ability, but also in relation to the wider interreligious and ecological contexts of the contemporary church. They also include the church's efforts to bring its life together under the rule of Christ in its practices of confessing and teaching the faith, navigating moral disagreement, identifying saintly examples for living the Christian life, ordering its life as a worshiping community, and seeking more visible forms of Christian unity across the divisions of the church. This book commends listening deeply to these voices as an ecclesial practice through which the Spirit of God enlightens the church of Christ, whose rule draws the church into deeper participation in the life of the Triune God, forming the church for practices that offer the gift of Trinitarian communion to a fractured world. Contributors include: Amy L. Chilton, Noel Leo Erskine, Nora O. Lozano, Atola Longkumer, Mikeal N. Broadway, Courtney Pace, Susan M. Shaw, Khalia J. Williams, Cody J. Sanders, May May Latt, Jason D. Whitt, Raimundo C. Barretto, Jr., Rebecca Horner Shenton, Curtis W. Freeman, Kate Hanch, Rady Roldán-Figueroa, Stephen R. Holmes, Coleman Fannin, Myles Werntz, Derek C. Hatch, Philip E. Thompson, Jennifer W. Davidson, and Steven R. Harmon."

When ordering from the Mercer University Press site, use coupon code MUPNEWS for a 20% discount and free shipping (U.S. continental addresses only), or call toll-free at 866-895-1472 or direct at 478-301-2880 to place your order by phone (Visa or MasterCard only).

Announcing Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology

The National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion​ has announced the publication of Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology, which Amy L. Chilton and I co-edited and co-authored along with 21 other contributors. The book is the third volume in the Perspectives on Baptist Identities series sponsored by the NABPR and will be released by Mercer University Press​ this May. As the release date nears, Ecclesial Theology will share more information about the book; in the meantime, see the NABPR web site for details.

Receptive Ecumenism and the Reconstruction of Christian Identity in Christian Higher Education

My essay "Receptive Ecumenism and the Reconstruction of Christian Identity in Christian Higher Education” has been published in the Easter 2019 issue of The Cresset: A Review of Literature, the Arts, and Public Affairs. It's adapted from my plenary address for the National Conference of the Lilly Fellows Program in Humanities and the Arts at Hope College, Holland, MI, October 13, 2018. The contents of the whole issue are linked here.

Women in the Baptist/Free Church Tradition course

The School of Divinity at Gardner-Webb University is offering a new “hybrid format” Master of Divinity course (online delivery plus 3 face-to-face class meetings) in the Summer 2019 term:

Women in the Baptist/Free Church Tradition (3 credits)

Dr. Amy Chilton (Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion, Wingate University and Adjunct Professor of Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary) and Dr. Steven Harmon (Associate Professor of Historical Theology, Gardner-Webb University School of Divinity), professors

This course will explore the role of women in the life of the church in the Baptist and broader Free Church tradition, including but not limited to the role of women in ordained ministry. The three face-to-face meetings will be held on Gardner-Webb’s Charlotte Campus on the following three Saturdays, 9:00 AM-noon: June 8, June 29, and July 20. Assignments will include readings, online and face-to-face discussion, written papers, and oral presentations (no exams). The course content will include interaction with the Baptist International Conference on Theological Education (BICTE) on the theme “TogetHER: Re-Imagining, Re-Reading HERstory in the Church” sponsored by the Baptist World Alliance in Nassau, Bahamas, July 5-7, 2019. Co-professor Dr. Amy Chilton is one of the BICTE program personalities.

https://www.bwanet.org/events/upcoming-events/baptist-international-conference-on-theological-education

(Plenary sessions of BICTE will be available via online video; travel to the BICTE meeting is encouraged, but not required—students will have access to presentations online, and no institutional travel funding is available for the course.)

This course satisfies general elective requirements for all M.Div. concentrations and designated elective requirements in historical and theological studies in some concentrations. There are no prerequisites, and it may be taken for credit by “special students” who meet admission requirements but are not yet seeking admission to the M.Div. degree program. Prospective students interested in admission to this course as special students should contact Kheresa Harmon, Director of Admissions: kharmon@gardner-webb.edu, 704-406-3205. The registration deadline is May 20, 2019.