tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59852550383622248682024-03-05T00:31:04.536-05:00Ecclesial TheologyDoing theology in, with, and for the church--in the midst of its divisions, and toward its visible unity in one eucharistic fellowship.Steven R. Harmonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09802367585251116641noreply@blogger.comBlogger522125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985255038362224868.post-16394393730774642452023-06-15T12:11:00.002-04:002023-06-15T12:11:53.113-04:00Thoughts following actions of the Southern Baptist Convention barring churches that employ women as pastors<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It will probably surprise many external observers of Southern Baptists--and probably many contemporary internal participants in Southern Baptist life as well--to learn that while there are no liberals in the SBC today (contrary to what the ultra-conservative faction of today's SBC alleges), once upon a time there was a genuinely progressive stream of Southern Baptist life before it was expunged in a two-decade-long effort than began in earnest in 1979 to wrest control of the SBC away from those whose Baptist respect for the freedom of congregations and consciences had made space for a variety of ways of being Baptist to coexist and cooperate in a common commitment to participating in the mission of God in the world. This genuinely progressive stream was never a majority, but it fully participated in the denominational life of the SBC. It embraced critical approaches to the interpretation of Scripture when others shunned them. It worked for racial justice when others defended segregation in both society and church. It ordained women to the ministry and called them to serve as pastors when others did not. This stream may have been diverted from the SBC, but it did not dry up. It continues to flow elsewhere--in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (my own Baptist communion), in the Alliance of Baptists, in the American Baptist Churches USA, and in denominational traditions beyond Baptist life that have received refugee Southern Baptist members and ministers as ecumenical gifts to their own church life. I am grateful that I have been able to serve as a theological educator in partner institutions of theological education associated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in which that stream continues to flow. And I am proud of the many women I have had the privilege of teaching in those institutions who are now serving as faithful ministers. May God continue to bless their ministries!</span></p>Steven R. Harmonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09802367585251116641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985255038362224868.post-56728112564973308492023-04-07T20:15:00.009-04:002023-04-07T20:30:33.605-04:00New book--Seeds of the Church: Towards an Ecumenical Baptist Ecclesiology<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoe4iWpLFgBiBpSbmnZI_sfUTI_bz6loFdZPG_V8bW7gLboFWRZh0pGIoNSqhT2Wh6iKTBFoMQSmQsfCXPSMGaD14nrE6H97RDIyfdpi_wa1USM7b9G6T5ccyNiX_9a7kaq8g7-e-AL8FDHwac7iZZbWFZVYtsN1UqmID0RKsj2cwFHPjA4WzKlohQ/s446/726E82A4-3885-4CE6-80D7-A077E6801C90_4_5005_c.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="446" data-original-width="297" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoe4iWpLFgBiBpSbmnZI_sfUTI_bz6loFdZPG_V8bW7gLboFWRZh0pGIoNSqhT2Wh6iKTBFoMQSmQsfCXPSMGaD14nrE6H97RDIyfdpi_wa1USM7b9G6T5ccyNiX_9a7kaq8g7-e-AL8FDHwac7iZZbWFZVYtsN1UqmID0RKsj2cwFHPjA4WzKlohQ/s320/726E82A4-3885-4CE6-80D7-A077E6801C90_4_5005_c.jpeg" width="213" /></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">My new co-edited book <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Seeds-Church-Ecumenical-Ecclesiology-Tradition/dp/1666718378/">Seeds of the Church: Towards an Ecumenical Baptist Ecclesiology</a></i>, co-edited with Teun van der Leer, Henk Bakker, and Elizabeth Newman, is available from Cascade Books. Here's a description of the book from the publisher's site:</span><div><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.5px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; letter-spacing: 0.5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The landmark World Council of Churches convergence text, <i>The Church: Towards a Common Vision</i> (2012), which has the potential to become this generation's Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry (1982), invites the churches to envision how their own distinctive visions of the church might have a place in the global church's imagination of the ecumenical future. <i>Seeds of the Church: Towards an Ecumenical Baptist Ecclesiology</i> is a collaborative effort by members of the Baptist World Alliance Commission on Baptist Doctrine and Christian Unity to respond to this invitation. This book contends that the distinctive Baptist ecclesial vision is best embodied in twelve core practices of Baptist churches and their interrelationship: covenanting, discerning, gathering, befriending, proclaiming, equipping, baptizing, discipling, caring, theologizing, scattering, and remembering. Seeds of the Church opens a window on what is possible when Baptists engage with people of other Christian traditions in the exploration of the common heritage of people belonging to the one household of faith. The global Baptist theological voices represented in this volume offer it as a reading of an ecumenical text in a Baptist key that paves the way for ecclesiological renewal--among Baptists and in the whole church to which they belong.</span></span><p><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; letter-spacing: 0.5px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here is the book's Table of Contents:</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Foreword<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Neville Callam<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Preface<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Teun van der Leer, Henk Bakker, Steven R. Harmon, and Elizabeth Newman<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Chapter<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">1 A Response to The Church: Towards a Common Vision<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Baptist World Alliance Commission on Baptist Doctrine and Christian Unity<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">2 The Baptistic Ecclesial Voice<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Teun van der Leer<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">3 Covenanting Churches<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Paul S. Fiddes<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">4 Discerning Churches<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Henk Bakker<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">5 Gathering Churches<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><i>Jan Martijn Abrahams</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">6 Befriending Churches<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><i>Lina Toth-Andronoviene</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">7 Proclaiming Churches<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Ruth Gouldbourne<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">8 Equipping Churches<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Uwe Swarat<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">9 Baptizing Churches<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Anthony R. Cross<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">10 Discipling Churches<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><i>Marion L. S. Carson</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">11 Caring Churches<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Frank Rees<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">12 Theologizing Churches<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><i>Amy L. Chilton<o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">13 Scattering Churches<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><i>Daniël Dros</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">14 Remembering Churches<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span>Elizabeth Newman</span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Endorsements for Seeds of the Church:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">“</span><em style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">Seeds of the Church</em><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; letter-spacing: 0.5px;"> provides ample evidence that Baptists understand themselves best as they engage in relationship and dialogue with others in the worldwide Christian church. But this is no theoretical exercise. The strength of this book lies in its critical reflection on various actual </span><em style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">practices </em><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">of Baptist ecclesiology and how these can contribute to, and be enriched by, a growing ecumenical consensus around the rich concept of the church as </span><em style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">koinonia. </em><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">I warmly commend it.”</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; letter-spacing: 0.5px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">—Anthony Peck, general secretary, European Baptist Federation</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; letter-spacing: 0.5px;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; letter-spacing: 0.5px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">“This fine collection of essays represents an intriguing Baptist contribution to ecumenical dialogue, namely, beginning with a recent ecumenical convergence text and following its emphases through the lens of traditional Baptist commitments. The beauty of this collection lies largely in its consistently receptive and generous tone and a posture geared toward giving and receiving as opposed to merely comparing and contrasting. Those of us from neighboring free-church traditions have much to learn from these thought provoking and inspiring essays.”</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; letter-spacing: 0.5px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">—Jeff Cary, Lubbock Christian University</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><i>Seeds of the Church</i> may be ordered from <a href="https://wipfandstock.com/9781666718379/seeds-of-the-church/">Wipf and Stock/Cascade Books</a> or via <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Seeds-Church-Ecumenical-Ecclesiology-Tradition/dp/1666718378/">Amazon</a>.</span></p></div>Steven R. Harmonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09802367585251116641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985255038362224868.post-54749816388431526592021-10-07T09:43:00.001-04:002021-10-07T09:46:42.559-04:00New book—Baptists, Catholics, and the Whole Church<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY0ktYwCD7f2ts3gFzf9b9cuQWnLusskOs4VI5hGIHRP0fPCDEz5Yp39xEU12t2HVaRSqt2UrIt27hJMCJ7UJ66Plkch41zkFseiKOFDMRE2zMh6l8n5Ypp7XPqIIlHVCItfZCfxCiziE/s1360/40EECD4F-C5E1-4853-B0CF-28FD86BC3FAA.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="880" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY0ktYwCD7f2ts3gFzf9b9cuQWnLusskOs4VI5hGIHRP0fPCDEz5Yp39xEU12t2HVaRSqt2UrIt27hJMCJ7UJ66Plkch41zkFseiKOFDMRE2zMh6l8n5Ypp7XPqIIlHVCItfZCfxCiziE/s320/40EECD4F-C5E1-4853-B0CF-28FD86BC3FAA.jpeg" width="207" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">My new book Baptists, Catholics, and the Whole Church: Partners in the Pilgrimage to Unity has been released by New City Press. Here's the book description from the publisher:</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Within the whole church, Baptists and Catholics might seem to be ecclesiological and liturgical polar opposites. The two traditions are arguably more dissimilar from one another than each is from almost any other Christian tradition. Yet as veteran Baptist ecumenist Steven R. Harmon demonstrates in this book, they share much in common that can enable them to travel together as fellow pilgrims on the journey toward a more visibly united church. </span></i><i><span style="color: #333333;">Baptists, Catholics, and the Whole Church: Reflections on the Pilgrimage to Unity<span style="background-color: white;"> challenges Baptists, Catholics, and other Christians to envision their own patterns of faith and practice as included in the convergences it presents and to dedicate themselves to deeper involvement in the quest for the unity Jesus prayed his followers would manifest.</span></span></i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">And here's the table of contents:</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Acknowledgements</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Foreword (Fr. John Crossin, OSFS)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Introduction</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">1. From Anti-Catholicism to Fellow Pilgrims</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">2. What Do Baptists and Catholics Have in Common?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">3. How Baptists Receive Gifts of Catholic (and catholic) Christianity</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">4. Ecumenical Healing of Ecclesial Memories</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">5. The Cruciformity of Communion</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">6. Unity as Christ’s Victory and Our Task</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Appendices</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">1. Envisioning the Whole Church</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">2. Moral Discernment with the Whole Church</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Bibliography</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Index of Names and Subjects</span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">If you're interested in ordering the book, here are some sources:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">New City Press: <span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://www.newcitypress.com/baptists-catholics-and-the-whole-church.html">https://www.newcitypress.com/baptists-catholics-and-the-whole-church.html</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Amazon (USA): <span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Baptists-Catholics-Whole-Church-Pilgrimage/dp/1565484975/">https://www.amazon.com/Baptists-Catholics-Whole-Church-Pilgrimage/dp/1565484975/</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Amazon (Canada): <span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Baptists-Catholics-Whole-Church-Pilgrimage/dp/1565484975/">https://www.amazon.ca/Baptists-Catholics-Whole-Church-Pilgrimage/dp/1565484975/</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Parasource (Canada): <span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://www.parasource.com/baptists-catholics-and-the-whole-church-9781565484979">https://www.parasource.com/baptists-catholics-and-the-whole-church-9781565484979</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Amazon (UK): <span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Baptists-Catholics-Whole-Church-Pilgrimage/dp/1565484975/">https://www.amazon.co.uk/Baptists-Catholics-Whole-Church-Pilgrimage/dp/1565484975/</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The Book Depository (UK and much of Europe): <span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Baptists-Catholics-Whole-Church-Steven-Harmon/9781565484979">https://www.bookdepository.com/Baptists-Catholics-Whole-Church-Steven-Harmon/9781565484979</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Amazon (Australia): <span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Baptists-Catholics-Whole-Church-Pilgrimage/dp/1565484975/">https://www.amazon.com.au/Baptists-Catholics-Whole-Church-Pilgrimage/dp/1565484975/</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Booktopia (Australia): <span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://www.booktopia.com.au/baptists-catholics-and-the-whole-church-steven-harmon/book/9781565484979.html">https://www.booktopia.com.au/baptists-catholics-and-the-whole-church-steven-harmon/book/9781565484979.html</a></span></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="WordSection1" style="page: WordSection1;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 32px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"></span></p></div>Steven R. Harmonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09802367585251116641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985255038362224868.post-48568156660643477312021-01-20T13:52:00.001-05:002021-01-20T13:54:16.916-05:00Theological reflections on the U.S. presidential inauguration<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXqfoG_ffopRWC_cYTX17L-LBDFco5uF-Yf7ZOiGkG-gab2ZgHccYTG91eSgr26XN4I4saHP1hW7xSrv8WvleevZTaNjZ8rxJJnSPsX90exzdVW58qqfdnbisACxEIHScXdSEm_88FJWI/s529/7F740285-C590-4A99-8304-BA00B8A2F430_1_201_a.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="397" data-original-width="529" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXqfoG_ffopRWC_cYTX17L-LBDFco5uF-Yf7ZOiGkG-gab2ZgHccYTG91eSgr26XN4I4saHP1hW7xSrv8WvleevZTaNjZ8rxJJnSPsX90exzdVW58qqfdnbisACxEIHScXdSEm_88FJWI/s320/7F740285-C590-4A99-8304-BA00B8A2F430_1_201_a.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><span data-offset-key="2ntq5-0-0" face="system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">For those interested, here are the remarks I delivered for today's pre-inauguration panel discussion "Making Sense of Rhetoric and Reality on American Democracy's Big Day" at </span><span class="diy96o5h" data-offset-key="2ntq5-1-0" end="198" face="system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif" spellcheck="false" start="175" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gardner-Webb University</span><span data-offset-key="2ntq5-2-0" face="system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span data-offset-key="2ntq5-4-0" face="system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif" style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
I’ve been introduced as a theology professor. I define my discipline this way: theology is thinking with intentionality about God and that with which God is in relationship—which is everything in the universe. There’s nothing that doesn’t have some relationship to God and God’s intentions for the world, and that includes the political order. And since God created us in the image of God as social creatures, created for relationship in community, and politics has to do with the ordering of our relationships in community, politics merits special attention in the task of doing theology.
So, let’s do some theological reflection on this momentous occasion for the American expression of the political order. When Christian theologians think intentionally about God and God’s world, they do so in light of the Bible and the Christian tradition. I offer for our consideration a word from each of those authoritative sources for Christian theology.
From the Bible, the Hebrew prophet Jeremiah’s words to the people of God living in exile in Babylon. Jeremiah 29:7: “But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”
From the early Christian tradition, the <i>Epistle to Diognetus</i> written sometime in the 2nd century AD: “[Christians] live in their respective countries, but only as resident aliens; they participate in all things as citizens, and they endure all things as foreigners. Every foreign territory is a homeland for them, every homeland foreign territory.”
Both Jeremiah and the <i>Epistle to Diognetus</i> portray the people of God as a community in exile. This suggests to me a few things about my participation in the political order as a Christian. It means that I’m living in exile not only when I think the political order opposes Christian values, but also when I think the political order is more consistent with Christian values. I have opinions about expressions of the political order I believe are more consistent with the way of Jesus Christ. I’ve voted for candidates and donated to their campaigns; I’ve served as a precinct representative to the county convention of a particular political party. <i>But it is not my political home</i>. My political home is the kingdom of God, the community toward which God is transforming the world. If I’m always living in exile in the midst of a particular expression of the political order, it means that I should be a patriot in the sense of seeking the welfare of my country. But it also means that I cannot be a nationalist in the sense of not seeking just as intently the welfare of other countries, which are also places where the people of God are living in exile. “Every foreign territory is a homeland, every homeland foreign territory.”
Now some theological reflection on terms in our panel topic, starting with “rhetoric.” We often associate “rhetoric” with heated rhetoric. We’ve certainly had lots of that. But in its more positive sense, rhetoric is simply the means of persuasion. The present political moment is an opportunity for persuasion of a nation instead of power through populist authoritarianism. We’ve elected a politically centrist president with a long track record of working across the aisle. We have an evenly divided Senate and a closely divided House. This state of affairs can invite persuasion toward consensus and power-sharing, involving everyone in finding mutually agreeable solutions instead of a majority dominating and a minority losing out. What does this have to do with theology? The gospel is about persuasion rather than coercion; it persuades rather than coerces people to join God in what God is doing in the world, which is God’s work of persuading the world toward the realization of God’s creative purposes, and it seeks to involve everyone willingly in this work. If this new chapter in the American political order ushers in a politics dependent on persuasion, Christians can celebrate it as something analogous to the persuasion of the gospel.
“Reality.” While the intent behind the wording of the panel theme may have been to contrast reality with what is merely rhetorical, the term “reality” is theologically significant in more than one way. Christian faith believes in a reality that is more than meets the eye. There’s more than meets the eye about any expression of the political order. But while Christians believe that ultimate reality is disclosed by Jesus Christ—a belief that requires trust in what cannot be seen or proven with rational certainty—the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus at the center of Christian faith happened within “reality” in the sense of what does meet the eye. It happened within the created material order, and it happened in history. This means that Christians of all people should prize the science that helps us understand more fully the workings of the world God created. It means that Christians of all people should earnestly desire to learn from history in all its painful complexity. In the midst of a global pandemic, an ecological emergency, and a racial reckoning, Christians can have common cause with an administration that seems willing to be guided by rigorous science and to acknowledge both the shame and the successes of the American story.
“American Democracy.” I’m a Baptist theologian, and Gardner-Webb has Baptist roots. In these connections I note that there are aspects of democracy in the way Baptist churches ideally approach the task of discerning how to be a faithful community of followers of Jesus Christ in a particular time and place, with every member having a voice in this discernment. That may be among the reasons Baptists have tended to flourish under democracies earlier in their history. In the American experiment, Baptists like Roger Williams made significant contributions to shaping a democracy committed to maintaining freedom of religion through a religiously neutral civil order. American democracy has been threatened recently, but it has proven resilient. I hope the new administration will strengthen it.
As a Baptist ecumenical theologian involved especially in ecumenical dialogue between Baptists and Catholics, I close by noting that we will have a Catholic President and a Baptist Vice President. President Biden is likely to be the most active churchgoer among presidents of recent decades, and Vice President Harris has a story that includes becoming a Baptist by choice. I hope and pray that their Christian faith will guide their administration.</span><p></p>Steven R. Harmonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09802367585251116641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985255038362224868.post-15226621755372713322020-04-21T11:55:00.003-04:002020-04-21T11:57:25.872-04:00Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology contents<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here's what's inside <i><a href="https://www.mupress.org/Sources-of-Light-Resources-for-Baptist-Churches-Practicing-Theology-P1052.aspx">Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology</a></i>, ed. Amy L. Chilton and Steven R. Harmon, which releases from Mercer University Press on May 1. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Read about and order the book at <a href="https://www.mupress.org/Sources-of-Light-Resources-for-Baptist-Churches-Practicing-Theology-P1052.aspx">https://www.mupress.org/Sources-of-Light-Resources-for-Baptist-Churches-Practicing-Theology-P1052.aspx</a>.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">1 Introduction: Imagining Radical Baptist Practices of Local Church Theology<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> <i>Steven R. Harmon and Amy L. Chilton<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Part I<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">LIGHT FROM OUR LIFE-IN-CONTEXT<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">2 Light from Liberative Theologies<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> <i>Amy L. Chilton</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">3 Light from Black Theologies<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> <i>Noel Leo Erskine</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">4 Light from Hispanic/Latin@ Theologies<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Nora O. Lozano</span></i><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">5 Light from Asian Theologies<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> <i>Atola Longkumer</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">6 Mistaking White for Light: Awakening to a Truthful Search for the Light<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Mikael N. Broadway</span></i><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">7 Light from Modern and Contemporary Women’s Religious Experiences<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Courtney Pace</span></i><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">8 Light from Feminist Theologies<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Susan M. Shaw</span></i><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">9 Light from Womanist Theologies<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Khalia J. Williams<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">10 Light from LGBTQ+ Lives<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Cody J. Sanders</span></i><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">11 Light from Refugee and Immigrant Perspectives<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 11pt;">May May Latt</span></i><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">12 Light from People with Disabilities<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Jason D. Whitt</span></i><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">13 Light from Interreligious Sources<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Raimundo C. Barreto, Jr.</span></i><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">14 Light from Ecological Theologies<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Rebecca Horner Shenton</span></i><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Part II<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">LIGHT FROM OUR LIFE-IN-COMMUNITY<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">15 Light from Ancient Confessions of Faith<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> <i>Curtis W. Freeman<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">16 Light from Pre-Reformation Women’s Theological Contributions<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Kate Hanch</span></i><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">17 Light from the Confessions of the European Reformations<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Rady Roldán-Figueroa</span></i><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">18 Light from Baptist Confessions of Faith<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> <i>Stephen R. Holmes</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">19 Light from Catholic Magisterial Sources<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Coleman Fannin</span></i><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">20 Light for Navigating Moral Disagreement<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Myles Werntz</span></i><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">21 Light from Saintly Sources<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Derek C. Hatch</span></i><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">22 Light from Traditional Liturgical Sources<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Philip E. Thompson</span></i><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">23 Light from Contemporary Liturgical Sources<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Jennifer W. Davidson</span></i><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">24 Light from/for Ecumenical Convergence<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> <i>Steven R. Harmon</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">25 Conclusion: Light from Converted Listening<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> <i>Amy L. Chilton and Steven R. Harmon</i></span></div>
Steven R. Harmonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09802367585251116641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985255038362224868.post-6691870049546865082020-04-21T11:24:00.003-04:002020-04-21T11:25:22.765-04:00Nancy Bedford endorses Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_HP7u24SyHnVfijdHnMkJs3m2q5G7_Tr_Qva0fTSHoCGPC2pk9stEtty5UANOkISCOdtTpkn11NllJEJeJuLSIyQkoN04oertbQDxsWLMXlF0QhmM1WVTO_oCy9jeNp6JC9j5CYEwR3U/s1600/Endorsement+5-Bedford.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_HP7u24SyHnVfijdHnMkJs3m2q5G7_Tr_Qva0fTSHoCGPC2pk9stEtty5UANOkISCOdtTpkn11NllJEJeJuLSIyQkoN04oertbQDxsWLMXlF0QhmM1WVTO_oCy9jeNp6JC9j5CYEwR3U/s400/Endorsement+5-Bedford.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Nancy E. Bedford, Georgia Harkness Professor of Theology at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">has off</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ered the following words of praise for </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.mupress.org/Sources-of-Light-Resources-for-Baptist-Churches-Practicing-Theology-P1052.aspx">Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology</a></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, ed. Amy L. Chilton and Steven R. Harmon (Mercer University Press, 2020):</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>“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.”</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">Order <i>Sources of Light</i> from the </span><a href="https://www.mupress.org/Sources-of-Light-Resources-for-Baptist-Churches-Practicing-Theology-P1052.aspx">Mercer University Press site</a><span id="goog_1057677765"></span><span id="goog_1057677766"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a> (or call </span><span style="background-color: white;">478-301-2880) </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">using</span><span style="background-color: white;"> coupon code MUPNEWS for a 20% discount and free shipping.</span></span>Steven R. Harmonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09802367585251116641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985255038362224868.post-15414033954977773762020-04-19T20:22:00.005-04:002020-04-19T20:22:54.630-04:00Bill Leonard endorses Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9l33ASyS7C1nLovk_OKag5GO_dKpzhVIORIccrivI_JpVlWb1NVNasSCEpdVxKH_iK1FO2dWyQvSVx3Y9TdGEk5AcjV1zegFiB1qV92totCYcM5wXnIXpB8AUO8IVcv3FOPGs0UYjMTw/s1600/Endorsement+4-Leonard.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9l33ASyS7C1nLovk_OKag5GO_dKpzhVIORIccrivI_JpVlWb1NVNasSCEpdVxKH_iK1FO2dWyQvSVx3Y9TdGEk5AcjV1zegFiB1qV92totCYcM5wXnIXpB8AUO8IVcv3FOPGs0UYjMTw/s400/Endorsement+4-Leonard.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bill J. Leonard, Founding Dean and Professor of Divinity Emeritus at Wake Forest University Divinity School, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">has off</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ered the following words of praise for </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.mupress.org/Sources-of-Light-Resources-for-Baptist-Churches-Practicing-Theology-P1052.aspx">Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology</a></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, ed. Amy L. Chilton and Steven R. Harmon (Mercer University Press, 2020):</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"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<sup>st</sup>-century church…a timely contribution to Christian communities."</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">Order <i>Sources of Light</i> from the </span><a href="https://www.mupress.org/Sources-of-Light-Resources-for-Baptist-Churches-Practicing-Theology-P1052.aspx">Mercer University Press site</a><span id="goog_1057677765"></span><span id="goog_1057677766"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a> (or call </span><span style="background-color: white;">478-301-2880) </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">using</span><span style="background-color: white;"> coupon code MUPNEWS for a 20% discount and free shipping.</span></span>Steven R. Harmonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09802367585251116641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985255038362224868.post-51662105188521368052020-04-18T14:02:00.003-04:002020-04-18T14:03:51.639-04:00Lina Toth endorses Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_qh1IuRzhqxn5L8Lsu5exSsugLiar9pkc25F4ZhDEYw0yilcZm7YGQ__USnYBsRLMjl9rBWf81xTNNWRgwciXPyojN08Ijz9J977Y4OW_uRyioG1-1Cp-XfasmE-m7tcywItmiX_3wNg/s1600/Endorsement+3%25E2%2580%2593Toth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_qh1IuRzhqxn5L8Lsu5exSsugLiar9pkc25F4ZhDEYw0yilcZm7YGQ__USnYBsRLMjl9rBWf81xTNNWRgwciXPyojN08Ijz9J977Y4OW_uRyioG1-1Cp-XfasmE-m7tcywItmiX_3wNg/s400/Endorsement+3%25E2%2580%2593Toth.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Lina Toth (Andronoviene), Assistant Principal and Lecturer in Practical Theology at Scottish Baptist College, University of the West of Scotland, Paisley, Scotland, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">has offered the following words of praise for </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.mupress.org/Sources-of-Light-Resources-for-Baptist-Churches-Practicing-Theology-P1052.aspx">Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology</a></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, ed. Amy L. Chilton and Steven R. Harmon (Mercer University Press, 2020):</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“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.” </span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">Order <i>Sources of Light</i> from the </span><a href="https://www.mupress.org/Sources-of-Light-Resources-for-Baptist-Churches-Practicing-Theology-P1052.aspx">Mercer University Press site</a><span id="goog_1057677765"></span><span id="goog_1057677766"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a> (or call </span><span style="background-color: white;">478-301-2880) </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">using</span><span style="background-color: white;"> coupon code MUPNEWS for a 20% discount and free shipping.</span></span>Steven R. Harmonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09802367585251116641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985255038362224868.post-36202998746584012502020-04-17T10:03:00.002-04:002020-04-17T10:03:11.687-04:00Paul Baxley endorses Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4VHTfyNXmH8v1W7TLjntihCkq7wATb26crShm_cwo6JQGaVAcTmj0hr_OHr5cOi8ny_83r9-oS_EiK3ad9BEoxE6N7tBzZ2O_6bZLHjX1SkT6qorXNs7TlJZ9vZW1H81E32bpH9oJh0Q/s1600/Endorsement+2%25E2%2580%2593Baxley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4VHTfyNXmH8v1W7TLjntihCkq7wATb26crShm_cwo6JQGaVAcTmj0hr_OHr5cOi8ny_83r9-oS_EiK3ad9BEoxE6N7tBzZ2O_6bZLHjX1SkT6qorXNs7TlJZ9vZW1H81E32bpH9oJh0Q/s400/Endorsement+2%25E2%2580%2593Baxley.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Paul Baxley, Executive Coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, has offered the following words of praise for <i><a href="https://www.mupress.org/Sources-of-Light-Resources-for-Baptist-Churches-Practicing-Theology-P1052.aspx">Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology</a></i>, ed. Amy L. Chilton and Steven R. Harmon (Mercer University Press, 2020):</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>“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, </i>Sources of Light <i>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.”</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">Order <i>Sources of Light</i> from the </span><a href="https://www.mupress.org/Sources-of-Light-Resources-for-Baptist-Churches-Practicing-Theology-P1052.aspx">Mercer University Press site</a><span id="goog_1057677765"></span><span id="goog_1057677766"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a> (or call </span><span style="background-color: white;">478-301-2880) </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">using</span><span style="background-color: white;"> coupon code MUPNEWS for a 20% discount and free shipping.</span></span>Steven R. Harmonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09802367585251116641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985255038362224868.post-23262886191824779782020-04-16T15:52:00.003-04:002020-04-16T15:53:33.542-04:00Jerusha Matsen Neal endorses Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6D00FpBdzskRULWPdObMESdj0pEf6VplnrrToqovBz8Hs3czB_6KfFYRNNNjeUnCSQGgnGmEWLIgeJ_3PULZV66sy4Jf6RRBuFQNs4o2Ri96H3bgaGmZ4SHTCDXqnakQZUxT-JOsgma0/s1600/Endorsement+1--Jerusha+Neal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1600" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6D00FpBdzskRULWPdObMESdj0pEf6VplnrrToqovBz8Hs3czB_6KfFYRNNNjeUnCSQGgnGmEWLIgeJ_3PULZV66sy4Jf6RRBuFQNs4o2Ri96H3bgaGmZ4SHTCDXqnakQZUxT-JOsgma0/s400/Endorsement+1--Jerusha+Neal.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Jerusha Matsen Neal, Assistant Professor of Homiletics at Duke University Divinity School, has offered the following words of praise for <i><a href="https://www.mupress.org/Sources-of-Light-Resources-for-Baptist-Churches-Practicing-Theology-P1052.aspx">Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology</a></i>, ed. Amy L. Chilton and Steven R. Harmon (Mercer University Press, 2020):</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>“</i>Sources of Light <i>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.”</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">Order <i>Sources of Light</i> from the </span><a href="https://www.mupress.org/Sources-of-Light-Resources-for-Baptist-Churches-Practicing-Theology-P1052.aspx">Mercer University Press site</a><span id="goog_1057677765"></span><span id="goog_1057677766"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a> (or call </span><span style="background-color: white;">478-301-2880) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">using</span><span style="background-color: white;"> coupon code MUPNEWS for a 20% discount and free shipping.</span></span>Steven R. Harmonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09802367585251116641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985255038362224868.post-71886463431124212242020-04-15T16:04:00.000-04:002020-04-15T16:07:14.357-04:00Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology releases May 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNdqBBKq90_CjXrZs2Q4WZssDHNU1HxGqRBkulpKLwtlFbCukPdHQiSaFO41oFeeLhg5xT_5rQNt3SeRrZ37uWHJAwkUcfI2I4IAlnRk0l8XZH9ACxffFFxPcQLGOM4No_MtRyGSdSMOc/s1600/Sources+of+Light+front+cover.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1055" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNdqBBKq90_CjXrZs2Q4WZssDHNU1HxGqRBkulpKLwtlFbCukPdHQiSaFO41oFeeLhg5xT_5rQNt3SeRrZ37uWHJAwkUcfI2I4IAlnRk0l8XZH9ACxffFFxPcQLGOM4No_MtRyGSdSMOc/s320/Sources+of+Light+front+cover.jpeg" width="211" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><i><a href="https://www.mupress.org/Sources-of-Light-Resources-for-Baptist-Churches-Practicing-Theology-P1052.aspx">Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology</a></i>, which I co-edited and co-authored with Amy L. Chilton, will be released by Mercer University Press on May 1.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here's the book description on the publisher's site:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"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."</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When ordering from the <a href="https://www.mupress.org/Sources-of-Light-Resources-for-Baptist-Churches-Practicing-Theology-P1052.aspx">Mercer University Press site</a>, 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).</span></span>Steven R. Harmonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09802367585251116641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985255038362224868.post-58716206714952362052020-03-10T16:28:00.002-04:002020-03-12T13:44:49.104-04:00Announcing Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">The National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion has announced the publication of <i><a href="https://nabpr.org/sources-light/">Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology</a></i>, 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 <a href="https://nabpr.org/sources-light/">NABPR web site</a> for details.</span></div>
Steven R. Harmonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09802367585251116641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985255038362224868.post-82198655927321168682019-05-24T16:25:00.003-04:002019-05-24T16:27:19.392-04:00Receptive Ecumenism and the Reconstruction of Christian Identity in Christian Higher Education<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNrLpVq7BBkqAHvVv1gSfLMcvvAR8Cy6wCZD31m0cH_Wg4lvqfNh5Ftfg7szRy8Aso_m8-H2wG9FeZQ9VVzyyOq5rxjZEHcCxsQ11Bg-0sdh0qvTNvYBeD8O-X4sBPVeUwnFAZSYAsh4k/s1600/IMG_1173.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1232" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNrLpVq7BBkqAHvVv1gSfLMcvvAR8Cy6wCZD31m0cH_Wg4lvqfNh5Ftfg7szRy8Aso_m8-H2wG9FeZQ9VVzyyOq5rxjZEHcCxsQ11Bg-0sdh0qvTNvYBeD8O-X4sBPVeUwnFAZSYAsh4k/s200/IMG_1173.JPG" width="153" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">My essay <a href="http://thecresset.org/2019/Easter/Harmon_E19.html">"Receptive Ecumenism and the Reconstruction of Christian Identity in Christian Higher Education”</a> has been published in the Easter </span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="color: #666666; display: inline;">2019 issue of <i><a href="http://thecresset.org/2019/Easter/Harmon_E19.html">The Cresset: A Review of Literature, the Arts, and Public Affairs</a></i>. 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 <a href="http://thecresset.org/#_">here</a>.</span></span></div>
Steven R. Harmonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09802367585251116641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985255038362224868.post-77430949999785133502019-05-08T13:11:00.001-04:002019-05-08T13:15:59.780-04:00Women in the Baptist/Free Church Tradition course<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGVi6oTXfqlhAMaoss8hBTTFkjq0QvHSLS0hm3HDjX1Pye9dO9ZMH1JNRd22Jdrw6iyAf1MnONRVnL50e1PPJBUR3_Zg2zO1QcyO-GOPVeZIhhYSCmk38B7H5Y7ZliSSaUwQiSyTgl0H0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-05-08+at+1.07.10+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="277" data-original-width="1049" height="105" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGVi6oTXfqlhAMaoss8hBTTFkjq0QvHSLS0hm3HDjX1Pye9dO9ZMH1JNRd22Jdrw6iyAf1MnONRVnL50e1PPJBUR3_Zg2zO1QcyO-GOPVeZIhhYSCmk38B7H5Y7ZliSSaUwQiSyTgl0H0/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-05-08+at+1.07.10+PM.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 15pt;">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:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 18pt;">Women in the Baptist/Free Church Tradition </span></b><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 18pt;">(3 credits)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 15pt;">Dr. Amy Chilton </span></i></b><i><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 15pt;">(Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion, Wingate University and Adjunct Professor of Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary) and <b>Dr. Steven Harmon </b>(Associate Professor of Historical Theology, Gardner-Webb University School of Divinity), professors</span></i><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 15pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 15pt;">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 <b>Charlotte Campus </b>on the following <b>three Saturdays, 9:00 AM-noon: June 8, June 29, and July 20</b>. 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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.bwanet.org/events/upcoming-events/baptist-international-conference-on-theological-education" style="color: #954f72;"><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 15pt;">https://www.bwanet.org/events/upcoming-events/baptist-international-conference-on-theological-education</span></a><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 15pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 15pt;">(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.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 15pt;">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 <b>Kheresa Harmon, Director of Admissions</b>: </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="mailto:kharmon@gardner-webb.edu" style="color: #954f72;"><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 15pt;">kharmon@gardner-webb.edu</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 15pt;">, 704-406-3205. <b><i>The registration deadline is May 20, 2019.</i></b></span></div>
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Steven R. Harmonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09802367585251116641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985255038362224868.post-65518929719606868012018-03-24T10:43:00.004-04:002018-03-24T10:55:15.458-04:00National Association of Baptist Professor of Religion 2018 annual meeting at Gardner-Webb University<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBQYgYnwa6C7hvsxdZXJZr9g6nnYQEE9Qxm9ufE_dQZN8bXDN-072ysCAs6yS4S_F5OVExfnc28VOhhwgjdKOKwIGRtN0_LAS2v3v8EmO8Onsg_bCzFYablZJk_kCOXPqAxd2mgpannMA/s1600/29160567_2003016856630052_1886590416564781056_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="282" data-original-width="540" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBQYgYnwa6C7hvsxdZXJZr9g6nnYQEE9Qxm9ufE_dQZN8bXDN-072ysCAs6yS4S_F5OVExfnc28VOhhwgjdKOKwIGRtN0_LAS2v3v8EmO8Onsg_bCzFYablZJk_kCOXPqAxd2mgpannMA/s320/29160567_2003016856630052_1886590416564781056_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
The 2018 annual meeting of the National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion will be hosted by Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, North Carolina, May 21-23, 2018. Below is the latest update to the program for the meeting, with registration and lodging information.<br />
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The National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion</h3>
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Gardner-Webb University, Boiling Springs, NC</h3>
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May 21-23, 2018</h3>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Greetings from the Executive Secretary-Treasurer</strong></h4>
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Welcome to the Annual May Meeting of NABPR.</div>
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Save the date for 2019: Campbell University School of Law has committed to host our meeting on May 20 – 22, 2019. The 2019 meeting will be a joint meeting with the Baptist History and Heritage Society.</div>
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The November meeting in Boston was successful. Mark your calendar for November 17. Dr. Nancy Ammerman did a wonderful job as our plenary speaker. We plan to keep the Saturday morning tradition alive in Denver.</div>
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Many thanks go to Doug Weaver, our President, and the Gardner-Webb University faculty and staff who have worked hard to bring about another successful meeting. The online registration and payment portal made the logistics much easier.</div>
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I look forward to seeing you in Boiling Springs.</div>
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Daniel Mynatt<br />
Executive Secretary-Treasurer </div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Greetings from Gardner-Webb University</strong></h4>
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Gardner-Webb University had the privilege of hosting the Annual May Meeting of the NABPR in 2011, and we are delighted to do so again this year. Welcome to Boiling Springs, North Carolina and the Gardner-Webb campus. We hope you enjoy the conference and your time in our town and the surrounding area in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.</div>
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Steven R. Harmon</div>
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Associate Professor of Historical Theology<br />
Gardner-Webb University School of Divinity<br />
NABPR Vice President</div>
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Information</h2>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://nabpr.org/meetings/registration/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0a5794; text-decoration: none;">Registration</a> is now open at: </strong><a href="https://nabpr.org/meetings/registration/">https://nabpr.org/meetings/registration/</a></div>
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<span class="fa fa-exclamation-circle fa-2x " style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: "fontawesome"; font-size: 2em; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1;"></span><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Conference Fee: Before May 1: $95. | After May 1: $125.</strong></div>
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All graduate student registration is compliments of <a href="https://nabpr.org/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0a5794; text-decoration: none;">NABPR</a>.</div>
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<a href="https://nabpr.org/meetings/housing/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0a5794; text-decoration: none;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Housing</strong></a></div>
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We regret that on-campus housing is not available for this meeting; There are multiple <a href="https://nabpr.org/meetings/housing/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0a5794; text-decoration: none;">hotel options.</a> The first hotel listed is located near the Gardner-Webb campus and has a block of rooms reserved for our conference at a discounted rate.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Meals</strong></div>
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The registration fee covers the conference meetings, the banquet on Monday, lunch on Tuesday, light breakfast on Tuesday and Wednesday, and coffee breaks.</div>
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If you wish to bring a guest to Monday’s banquet, the cost is $22.50 per unregistered guest. This option is available through the online registration.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Parking</strong><br />
All conference sessions will take place in the Tucker Student Center, located on Lake Hollifield between the Ernest W. Spangler Football Stadium and the Lutz-Yelton Convocation Center.</div>
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Plenty of unrestricted parking will be available adjacent to Tucker Student Center in the large parking lot in front of Lutz-Yelton Convocation Center as well as in other spaces designated for visitor parking in lots throughout the campus.</div>
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For those traveling by air, the Gardner-Webb University campus is located 47 miles from Charlotte Douglas International Airport (estimated 55 min. drive) and 47 miles from Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (estimated 59 min. drive).</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Questions</strong><br />
If you have questions or concerns, email Danny Mynatt at <span id="eeb-205002" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a class="mailto-link" href="mailto:dmynatt@umhb.edu" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0a5794; text-decoration: none;">dmynatt@umhb.edu</a></span>. Danny will forward your question to the appropriate person.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Monday, May 21</strong></h3>
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3:00-6:00 <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">— Registration/Check-in (Faith Hall Foyer, Tucker Student Center)</strong></h4>
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3:30-5:00 <b style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222;">— Executive </b><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222;">Committee</span><b style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222;"> Meeting (Room 353, Tucker Student Center)</b></h4>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><h4 style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: "Roboto Condensed", sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px;">
<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">6:00 — Dinner: Stewart Hall (Tucker Student Center)</strong></h4>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Program:</strong><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 36px; padding: 0px;">
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;">Joseph S. Moore, Assistant Professor of History, Chair of the Department of Social Sciences, and Special Assistant to the Provost for Academic Enhancement at Gardner-Webb University and author of <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Founding Sins: How a Group of Antislavery Radicals Fought to Put Christ into the Constitution</span> (Oxford University Press, 2015).</li>
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<span class="fa fa-flag fa-2x " style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: "fontawesome"; font-size: 2em; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1;"></span></div>
<pre style="background-color: #f1f1f1; border-top-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: monospace, serif; font-size: 16px; padding: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">The Break Area for the conference will be located in the Foyer outside Stewart Hall in Tucker Student Center.</pre>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Tuesday morning, May 22</strong></h3>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">8:00-8:30am </strong><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">— </strong><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Continental Breakfast — </strong><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Stewart Hall foyer, Tucker Student Center</strong></h4>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">8:30–10:15 — Tuesday, May 22 –Session I</strong></h4>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><h5 style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: "Roboto Condensed", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.333; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px;">
<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Old Testament I — Chapel (Room 228, Tucker Student Center) — Presiding: Gerald Keown</strong></h5>
<ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 36px; padding: 0px;">
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">The Theology of Joel in Aimee Semple McPherson’s Sermons and Writings</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Lacy K. Crocker Papadakis<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Baylor University, Doctoral Student</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Hawkman, Wonder Woman, and Manasseh: the Contextualization of a Figure</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />P. Scott Henson<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Gardner-Webb University</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">The Ascension of Enoch and Muhammad: A Comparative Analysis of 2 Enoch and the Bukhari</span> <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Hadith</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Zachary J. Dey<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Gardner-Webb University, Master of Divinity/ Master of Arts Student<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></span></li>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">New Testament I — Hope Hall (Tucker Student Center) — Presiding: Jim McConnell</strong></h5>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Echoes of Exodus in the Epistle to the Hebrews</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />David M. Moffitt<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />University of St Andrews</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Mercy as “Clemency”: Paul’s “Mercy” Language against a Roman Imperial Backdrop</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Gregory M. Barnhill<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Baylor University, Doctoral Student</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">A Shift in Eschatological Thought from The Similitudes to Mark 13</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Jeremiah Hamby<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Gardner-Webb University, Master of Divinity/ Master of Arts in Religion Student</li>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Church History I — Room 139 (TSC) — Presiding: Glenn Jonas</strong></h5>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Reclaiming the Bible: Martin Luther and LGBTQ+ Inclusion</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Adam Peeler<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />MacAfee School of Theology, Master of Divinity Student</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Baptist Theological Education and the Politics of Space</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Andrew Gardner<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Florida State University, Doctoral Student</li>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><h5 style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: "Roboto Condensed", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.333; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px;">
<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Theology I — Room 141 — Presiding: Kent Blevins</strong></h5>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Watery Vulnerability and Impious Resistance: Perpetua’s Martyrdom, Our Baptism</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Mark S. Medley<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Baptist Seminary of Kentucky</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Relational Theopsychology: Trinitarian Theology and Matrixial Anthropology for Psychosocial Transformation.</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Matthew Beal<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Boston University School of Theology, Doctoral Student<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;"> </span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Sharing in Salvation: The Ritualizing Martyrdom and Eucharist in Early Christianity</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Kenneth A. Vandergriff<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Florida State University, Doctoral Student</li>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Pedagogy I — </strong><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Room 353 — Presiding: Tim Crawford</strong></h5>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Privilege and “Standard” English: Reframing Expectations of Student Writing</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Dalen C. Jackson<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Baptist Seminary of Kentucky</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Which Way has the Pendulum Swung? Exploring Biblical Ignorance vs. a Fundamentalist Shift in Students in Baptist Higher Education</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Amy Stumpf<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />California Baptist University</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">The Telos of Theological Education: Knowledge or Formation?</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Seth Heringer<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Toccoa Falls College</li>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">10:30-1:15 — Tuesday, May 22 — Plenary Session I</strong></h4>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Annual Business Session</strong></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Lunch</strong></li>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">10:30-11:45</strong><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"> — </strong><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Plenary Session I</strong><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"> — </strong><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Room: Stewart Hall </strong><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">(Tucker Student Center) </strong></h4>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">A Multi-Disciplinary Response to Ryan Andrew Newson's </strong><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Inhabiting the World: Identity, Politics, and Theology in Radical Baptist Perspective</span> (Perspectives on Baptist Identities series; Mercer University Press, 2018)</strong><br />
<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Presiding: </strong>Alicia Myers, Campbell University<br />
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Panelists:</strong><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 36px; padding: 0px;">
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;">Steven R. Harmon, Gardner-Webb University (Historical Theology)</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;">Diane Lipsett, Salem College (New Testament)</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;">Kristopher Norris, Wesley Theological Seminary (Ethics and Public Theology)</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;">Amy L. Chilton, Azusa Pacific University (Systematic Theology)</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;">Ryan Andrew Newson, Campbell University (Theology and Ethics)</li>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">11:50-12:15 — Business Session</strong></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">12:15-1:15 — Lunch — Location: Faith Hall </strong><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222;">(Tucker Student Center)</strong></li>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">1:30-3:15 — Tuesday, May 22 — Session II</strong></h4>
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Old Testament II<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"> — </strong> Chapel (Room 228, Tucker Student Center)<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"> — </strong>Presiding: W. H. Bellinger, Jr.</h5>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Enemies and Evildoers in Book V of the Psalter </span>W. H. Bellinger, Jr.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Baylor University</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Violence and Lament in the Digital Age: A Year of Teaching Psalm 137 Online </span>Kim Bodenhamer<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />University of Mary Hardin-Baylor</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Sing It Again, Psalm: The Rhetorical Dynamics of Story and Refrain in Psalm 136 </span>Rebecca W. Poe Hays<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Baylor University, Doctoral Student</li>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">New Testament II — Chapel </strong><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Room 228 </strong><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">(Tucker Student Center) </strong><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">— Presiding: Mitchell Reddish</strong></h5>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Jesus the Anti-Prophet (?) </span>Cody Carpenter<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />McAfee School of Theology, Master of Divinity Student</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Subjecting and Confining: The Language of Conflict and the Structure of Romans 1–11 </span>Scott C. Ryan<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Baylor University</li>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Church History II — </strong>Spectrum Theater, Room 139 <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">(Tucker Student Center)</strong><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">— Presiding</strong>: James Byrd</h5>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">The Gospel in Flames: Lynching and Orthodoxy </span>Glenn Jonas<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Campbell University</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">David Gordon Lyon (1852-1935): Forgotten Baptist Scholar, Adopted Harvard Son, Faithful Friend and Colleague </span>Mikeal Parsons<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Baylor University</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Harry Marsh Warren and the Baptist Roots of Modern Suicide Prevention </span>John Inscore Essick<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Baptist Seminary of Kentucky</li>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Theology II — </strong><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Room 141 </strong><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">(Tucker Student Center) </strong><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">— Presiding: Mark Medley</strong></h5>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Humans as Animal Loquens; or Recovering James McClendon’s Lost Strand </span>Brandon Morgan<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Baylor University, Doctoral Student</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Recovering the Spirit of Ubuntu: Toward an African Political Theology </span>Jackson Adamah<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Duke Divinity School, Master of Theology Student</li>
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</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: "Roboto Condensed", sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.273; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px;">
<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">3:30 – 5:00 — Tuesday, May 22 — Plenary II</strong></h3>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; padding-left: 30px;">
<ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 14px 36px; padding: 0px;">
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Plenary Session II — Room: Stewart Hall, Tucker Student Center</strong></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><h4 style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: "Roboto Condensed", sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px;">
<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Race, Memory, and Violence in the Future of Baptist Studies: Latino/a, Black, and White Perspectives</strong></h4>
<ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 36px; padding: 0px;">
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Presiding: </strong>Doug Weaver, Baylor University</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Panelists:</strong><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 36px; padding: 0px;">
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;">João Chaves, Baptist University of the Américas</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;">Malcolm Foley, Baylor University, Doctoral Student</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;">Christopher Moore, Catawba Valley Community College</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Response:</strong> Doug Weaver, Baylor University</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<ul style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 14px 36px; padding: 0px;">
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: "Roboto Condensed", sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.273; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px;">
5:15<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"> — </strong>Tuesday Evening, May 22<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"> — </strong>Free Time and Dinner on your own</h3>
</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: "Roboto Condensed", sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.273; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px;">
<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">8:00-8:30AM — Wednesday Morning, May 23 </strong></h3>
<ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 36px; padding: 0px;">
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><h4 style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: "Roboto Condensed", sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px;">
<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">8:00-8:30AM — Continental Breakfast — </strong><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Stewart Hall foyer, Tucker Student Center</strong></h4>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: "Roboto Condensed", sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.273; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px;">
8:30-10:15 <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"> — </strong>Wednesday, May 23<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"> — </strong> Session III</h3>
<ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 36px; padding: 0px;">
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><h4 style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: "Roboto Condensed", sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px;">
<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Practical Studies I — </strong><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Room 141 </strong><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">(Tucker Student Center)</strong><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">— Presiding:</strong> Eric Holleyman</h4>
<ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 36px; padding: 0px;">
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;"> Preaching by Immersion: Homiletics for the Age of Virtual Reality </span>Jennifer Garcia Bashaw<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Campbell University</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Feeling the Weight: Re-Conceiving a Baptist Theology of Ordination After #MeToo </span>Kathryn H. House<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Boston University School of Theology, Doctoral Fellow</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Blessing or Blessed? Toward an Ethic of Hospitable Service</span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></span>Tom LeGrand<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Gardner-Webb University</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><h4 style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: "Roboto Condensed", sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px;">
<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Old Testament III — </strong><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Room Hope Hall (Tucker Student Center) — Presiding: Kim Bodenhamer</strong></h4>
<ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 36px; padding: 0px;">
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">The Makings of a Despondent Queen: An Analysis of Esther 2:12-18 </span>Mariah Q. Richardson<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Gardner-Webb University, Master of Divinity/Master of Arts in Religion Student</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Comparing Rhetoric in Art and Text: Considering the Rhetorical Function of Images </span>Richard Purcell<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Emory University, Doctoral Student</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><h4 style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: "Roboto Condensed", sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px;">
Theology III<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"> — </strong>Room: Room 228 (Tucker Student Center)<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"> — </strong> Presiding: Ryan Andrew Newson</h4>
<ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 36px; padding: 0px;">
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Baptists Hearing Voices and Seeing Things: Imagining Radical Practices of Local Church Theology </span>Amy L. Chilton, Fuller Theological Seminary/Azusa Pacific University and Steven R. Harmon, Gardner-Webb University School of Divinity</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Aquinas on Grace and Altruism </span>Daniel W. Houck<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Research Fellow at the Henry Center</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><h4 style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: "Roboto Condensed", sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px;">
<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Church History III — </strong><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Room 139 (Tucker Student Center) — Presiding: Loyd Allen</strong></h4>
<ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 36px; padding: 0px;">
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">According to Luther: The Nature, Role, and Purpose of Women </span>Joe Early<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Campbellsville University</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Martin Luther’s Influence on the Religious Education of Children: The Centrality of the Gospel and Laity Involvement in Faith Development</span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></span>Emily Buck<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Fuller Theological Seminary, Doctoral Student</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: "Roboto Condensed", sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.273; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px;">
<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">10:30-12:00 — Wednesday morning, May 23 – Plenary Session III</strong></h3>
<ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 36px; padding: 0px;">
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><h4 style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: "Roboto Condensed", sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 0px;">
Plenary Session III <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"> — Stewart Hall, (Tucker Student Center) — Presiding: W.H. Bellinger, Jr.</strong></h4>
<ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 36px; padding: 0px;">
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Panel:</strong> Discussion of Heidi J. Hornik and Mikeal C. Parsons,<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;"> Acts of the Apostles Through the Centuries </span>(Wiley, 2016)</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Panelists:</span></strong><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 36px; padding: 0px;">
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;">John Essick, Baptist Seminary at Kentucky</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;">Alicia Myers, Campbell University</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;">Scott Shauf, Gardner Webb University</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Response: </strong>Mikeal Parsons, Baylor University</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
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<span class="fa fa-flag fa-3x " style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: "fontawesome"; font-size: 3em; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1;"></span></div>
<pre style="background-color: #f1f1f1; border-top-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: monospace, serif; font-size: 16px; padding: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">Save the Date!
2019 Annual Meeting
May 20 - 22, 2019
Campbell University
School of Law
Raleigh, NC</pre>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 15px;">
<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"> — </strong></div>
Steven R. Harmonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09802367585251116641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985255038362224868.post-14897200198427875182017-06-05T19:52:00.000-04:002017-06-05T20:14:50.649-04:00Feeding Christ's Lambs, Teaching Theology, and Carrying the Cross<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip6fGQi6gel9Zu-Re6b3b9mgraDn8muv7tIRyL2oJnbVCSRa-HxTthfcLBmRcl0Np5YY4DONmTm38_iE8hFa4uDJA4VQOFJEhuiP1cgBGq_2mCiIucgwCIoH2eaU5bafNncmGr7rSVjMI/s1600/CTS+Joint+Prayer+order.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="632" data-original-width="411" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip6fGQi6gel9Zu-Re6b3b9mgraDn8muv7tIRyL2oJnbVCSRa-HxTthfcLBmRcl0Np5YY4DONmTm38_iE8hFa4uDJA4VQOFJEhuiP1cgBGq_2mCiIucgwCIoH2eaU5bafNncmGr7rSVjMI/s320/CTS+Joint+Prayer+order.jpg" width="208" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Saints Marcellinus and Peter, Martyrs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Yesterday I returned home from Rhode Island, where at Salve Regina University in Newport I participated in a <a href="http://www.collegetheology.org/resources/Pictures/CTS%202017%20Salve%20Regina%20FINAL%205.30.17.pdf">joint meeting of the College Theology Society (an organization of predominantly Catholic professors of theology) and the National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion Region-at Large</a> (program viewable via preceding hyperlink). On Saturday evening of this conference each year those in attendance participate together in the Catholic Mass, at which the Baptist scholars are not able to receive the Eucharist but instead receive a blessing from the priest. On Friday evening each year there is a joint evening prayer service planned by the Baptists but with scholars from both organizations leading various acts of worship. I was asked to share a meditation for this service based on the Scripture readings specified in the daily lectionary in the missal for June 2, which was also the feast commemorating Saints Marcellinus and Peter, early fourth-century martyrs. Below is the prepared text for the meditation I shared:<br />
<br />
<b>Feeding Christ's Lambs, Teaching Theology, and Carrying the Cross</b> <b><i>(John 21:15-19)</i></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit, Amen.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Our lesson from John’s gospel is significant—significant in
more ways than one. But its significance isn’t necessarily in the exegetical
details. Some interpreters find significance in the different Greek verbs for
loving in the dialogue between Jesus and Peter, and in the varied language for
feeding and tending and lambs and sheep, but that’s not what seems most
significant here. I’m convinced by the commentators who contend that these words
function synonymously, and their message is this: the one who loves Jesus will
take good care of the people who belong to Jesus.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s significant in light of the nature of our gathering
that Peter in particular is the one who’s told this, that Peter in particular
must express his love for Jesus by taking good care of the people who belong to
Jesus. We are Catholic theologians and Baptist theologians, and it goes without
saying that we have differing perspectives on the question of Petrine primacy
(and some of those differences may be with each other </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">within</span></i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> our respective communions!). But it’s not a uniquely
Catholic position that here and elsewhere in the New Testament Jesus is
commissioning Peter to a distinctive role of leadership in the church. Many
Protestants, Baptists among them, have been glad to take up Pope John Paul II’s
invitation to engage in a “patient and fraternal dialogue” about how the
Petrine office might serve the whole church. But the patristic interpreters of
this text didn’t relate Jesus’ charge to Peter to feed and tend sheep and lambs
to the question of primacy. For them, this text was about the bishop’s
responsibility to serve the church through pastoral care, which included not
only the ministerial practices of presence and comfort and counsel, but also
catechesis—teaching. Not all of us are clergy, but as Catholic and Baptist
theologians we do have a certain function as </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">doctores ecclesiae</span></i><span style="font-family: inherit;">, teachers of the church, in our varied
institutional contexts.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In that connection, in relation to our shared work as
teachers of theology, doing our own work of feeding Christ’s sheep, there’s
something significant about where Jesus says the task of feeding his sheep will
take Peter. And that brings us to the literally significant language in our
text. Jesus says to Peter, “‘When you were younger, you used to dress yourself
and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your
hands,</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do
not want to go.’ He said this </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">signifying</span></i><span style="font-family: inherit;">
by what kind of death he would glorify God.” In this Gospel full of signs, surely
this is the oldest reference in Christian literature to that which symbolizes
the cross—in this case, hands outstretched in cruciform posture signifying a
death like Christ’s death. There’s no sign more symbolic of the essence of the
Christian life than the sign of the cross. I began this meditation with the
ancient practice of the sign of the cross, first attested by Tertullian but no
doubt practiced long before. Many of the earliest symbols in Christian art
signified the cross—Christ as the Good Shepherd who gives his life for the sheep,
carrying a sheep across the shoulders as if the beam of a cross; the anchor; the
chi-rho symbol. Perhaps the earliest was the orant. The orant was originally a
figure of a pagan priest with arms outstretched in prayer, but Christians repurposed
it as a figure whose very posture in prayer is cruciform, imagining the life of
prayer as one of the ways we take up our cross and follow Jesus.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The New Testament offers us two overarching paradigms of the
Christian life—the cross and the resurrection. We’re almost through our seventh
week of celebrating resurrection. But at the end of the final week of
Eastertide it’s appropriate that we be reminded that the dominant paradigm for
the Christian life, this side of our own resurrection, is the cross. Today the
sanctoral reminds us of that. June 2 is a feast day
commemorating two early fourth-century martyrs, Saint Marcellinus, a priest,
and Saint Peter the Exorcist. We know little about them, besides their
beheading in Rome during the persecution under Diocletian and the traditional
location of their tomb in the Roman catacombs that bear their name. But they’re
familiar to many because they’re named among the martyrs invoked in Eucharistic
Prayer I in the Missal, just before Felicity and Perpetua.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">What might it mean for our vocations as theologians to be
cruciform? How might the martyrdoms of St. Peter the Apostle and Saints Marcellinus
and Peter the Exorcist serve as examples for the way we take good care of the
people who belong to Jesus? How might we deny ourselves and take up our cross
and follow Jesus in our teaching, in our research and writing, in our various
forms of service to both academy and church? Are we willing for our theological
vocation to lead us where we do not want to go, stretching out our arms in
following our crucified Lord for the sake of the other, in a world that seems
more and more averse to welcoming the other? </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">With very specific application: what might it mean for us to
take up our cross and follow Jesus, to be led where we may not want to go, in
taking on the brokenness that Jesus continues to suffer over the brokenness of
his body—the brokenness that </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">we</span></i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> have
inflicted on Jesus through the divisions that we’ve inflicted on one another,
the body of Christ? Tomorrow we’ll experience that brokenness at the
Eucharistic table that we will not share. And so will Jesus. As my Baptist
theologian friend Curtis Freeman who’s here with us said to me earlier this
week, if anything’s going to change about that, it will have to be the church’s
theologians who insist on raising the question and challenging our failures in
working toward one Eucharistic fellowship. Might that be one way we can take up
our cross and follow Jesus in our teaching vocations, so that Jesus’ lambs
might be fed?</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If
we are reconciled to God in one body through the cross, as the writer of
Ephesians suggests, taking up the cross ourselves is how we participate in the
reconciling, one-body-making work of God. The cruciformity of the Christian
life is an ecumenically shared conviction, and it’s an ecumenically shared set
of practices. If we love Jesus, we will take good care of the people who belong
to Jesus by teaching these things and practicing these things, that together we
might join God in God’s reconciling, one-body-making work in the world. May it
be so, O God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in
the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.</span></span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></div>
Steven R. Harmonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09802367585251116641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985255038362224868.post-7922019590045436492017-03-01T23:18:00.000-05:002017-03-01T23:18:39.443-05:00Baptist Identity and the Ecumenical Future's release anniversary<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span data-offset-key="8l943-0-0"><span data-text="true"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My book Baptist Identity and the Ecumenical Future: Story, Tradition, and the Recovery of Community was officially released by Baylor University Press a year ago today. Since then I've enjoyed opportunities to speak about the book and participate in conversations engendered by it (and continue to be available for such opportunities). I've also appreciated the reviews that have begun to appear. Some are available online: An issue of the Pacific Journal of Baptist Research published extended <a href="http://www.baptistresearch.org.nz/uploads/6/2/0/4/6204774/pjbr_-_november_2016__2_.pdf">responses to the book by </a></span></span></span><span class="_247o" data-offset-key="8l943-1-0" spellcheck="false"><span data-offset-key="8l943-1-0"><span data-text="true"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.baptistresearch.org.nz/uploads/6/2/0/4/6204774/pjbr_-_november_2016__2_.pdf">David Wilhite</a></span></span></span></span><span data-offset-key="8l943-2-0"><span data-text="true"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.baptistresearch.org.nz/uploads/6/2/0/4/6204774/pjbr_-_november_2016__2_.pdf">, </a></span></span></span><span class="_247o" data-offset-key="8l943-3-0" spellcheck="false"><span data-offset-key="8l943-3-0"><span data-text="true"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.baptistresearch.org.nz/uploads/6/2/0/4/6204774/pjbr_-_november_2016__2_.pdf">Amy L. Chilton Thompson</a></span></span></span></span><span data-offset-key="8l943-4-0"><span data-text="true"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.baptistresearch.org.nz/uploads/6/2/0/4/6204774/pjbr_-_november_2016__2_.pdf">, </a></span></span></span><span class="_247o" data-offset-key="8l943-5-0" spellcheck="false"><span data-offset-key="8l943-5-0"><span data-text="true"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.baptistresearch.org.nz/uploads/6/2/0/4/6204774/pjbr_-_november_2016__2_.pdf">Courtney Pace</a></span></span></span></span><span data-offset-key="8l943-6-0"><span data-text="true"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.baptistresearch.org.nz/uploads/6/2/0/4/6204774/pjbr_-_november_2016__2_.pdf">, and </a></span></span></span><span class="_247o" data-offset-key="8l943-7-0" spellcheck="false"><span data-offset-key="8l943-7-0"><span data-text="true"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.baptistresearch.org.nz/uploads/6/2/0/4/6204774/pjbr_-_november_2016__2_.pdf">Andrew Christopher Smith</a></span></span></span></span><span data-offset-key="8l943-8-0"><span data-text="true"><span style="font-family: inherit;">, and the American Academy of Religion's review site Reading Religion recently published a <a href="http://readingreligion.org/books/baptist-identity-and-ecumenical-future">review by </a></span></span></span><span class="_247o" data-offset-key="8l943-9-0" spellcheck="false"><span data-offset-key="8l943-9-0"><span data-text="true"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://readingreligion.org/books/baptist-identity-and-ecumenical-future">Spencer Boersma</a></span></span></span></span><span data-offset-key="8l943-10-0"><span data-text="true"><span style="font-family: inherit;">. Other reviews are in press in print journals. Excerpts from some reviews are gathered on the <a href="http://www.baylorpress.com/Book/23/470/Baptist_Identity_and_the_Ecumenical_Future.html">book's page on the Baylor University Press site</a>, from which the book may be ordered; it's also available <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Baptist-Identity-Ecumenical-Future-Tradition/dp/1602585709">via Amazon</a>.</span></span></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />Steven R. Harmonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09802367585251116641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985255038362224868.post-56484249484194851572017-02-27T15:21:00.000-05:002017-02-27T15:21:45.373-05:00AAR's Reading Religion reviews Baptist Identity and the Ecumenical Future<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The American Academy of Religion's online review site Reading Religion has published a <a href="http://readingreligion.org/books/baptist-identity-and-ecumenical-future">review of my book Baptist Identity and the Ecumenical Future: Story, Tradition, and the Recovery of Community (Baylor University Press)</a> by Spencer Boersma. Excerpts from the review appear below:<br />
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<i>Steven R. Harmon’s Baptist Identity and the Ecumenical Future: Story, Tradition, and the Recovery of Community is perhaps the most constructive proposal of ecumenical reflection for Baptists to date.</i><br />
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<i>Anyone acquainted with Harmon’s work will know that this is not a recent interest. In particular, his work, Towards Baptist Catholicity (Pasternoster, 2006), can be regarded as this book’s prequel. In Toward Baptist Catholicity, Harmon proposed a recovery of the authority of tradition and its content (i.e., the use of creeds, church fathers, sacramental theology, liturgy, etc.) in wider theological discussion and shows how Baptists are already indebted to this. Thus, a more conscious retrieval of tradition in Baptist theology will be beneficial. Now ten years later, Harmon presents a more refined proposal....</i><br />
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<i>....Harmon’s book offers the research and wisdom of a Baptist thinker at the forefront of ecumenical work. His methodical analysis of Baptist history and ecumenical documents, coupled with practical constructive proposals for congregations to change, has made this book original, essential, and necessary to the future of Baptist life.</i> (<a href="http://readingreligion.org/books/baptist-identity-and-ecumenical-future">read the full review at Reading Religion</a>)<br />
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<br />Steven R. Harmonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09802367585251116641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985255038362224868.post-39769976153825054982017-02-03T16:47:00.000-05:002017-02-03T16:47:36.580-05:00Baptist World Alliance news: statement on refugees; dialogue with World Methodist Council<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Baptist World Alliance, the Christian world communion to which I belong, has issued two press releases this week of interest to readers of Ecclesial Theology.<br />
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Today (February 3) the BWA issued a <a href="http://bwanet.org/news/news-releases/608-a-baptist-world-alliance-statement-on-refugees">statement on refugees</a> that "decries recent actions by the United States Government to issue a blanket travel ban on seven countries that specifically targets refugees and that seems to especially affect Muslims" (click on hyperlink for full statement).<br />
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Earlier this week delegations from the<a href="http://bwanet.org/news/news-releases/607-world-baptists-and-methodists-dialogue-in-jamaica"> BWA and the World Methodist Council convened in Jamaica</a> for the fourth annual session of a five-year bilateral ecumenical dialogue between the two communions, February 1-8 (click on hyperlink for press release).Steven R. Harmonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09802367585251116641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985255038362224868.post-56594482838987480882017-01-21T23:15:00.000-05:002017-01-21T23:15:24.850-05:00Why I marched in the Women's March<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span data-offset-key="35ahi-0-0"><span data-text="true">I've never before participated in a public demonstration, but today I marched with my wife and son in the Women's March on Charlotte, North Carolina. I did so because I'm trying to follow Jesus in a culture in which patriarchy is still a thing--a thing that has manifested itself in truly nasty ways recently. I marched to show solidarity with my wife and all women who have been demeaned by this nastiness. I marched because I want my son to grow up to regard women as equals and treat them with respect. It was a small symbolic act, but signs can be effective. (Here I'm echoing language some theologians have employed with reference to the sacraments as "effective signs"--symbols that have an effect upon the lives of those who participate in these symbolic acts of worship.) I hope and pray that these symbolic acts of solidarity that took place in over 60 countries around the world today (<a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2017/01/21/womens-march-on-washington-antarctica/96882184/">even on Antarctica!</a>) will have a transformative effect on our world.</span></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Steven R. Harmonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09802367585251116641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985255038362224868.post-58730392281894490372017-01-20T14:11:00.000-05:002017-01-20T14:30:42.816-05:00A vision incompatible with Christian faith and faithfulnessEarlier this afternoon America and the world heard and read President Trump announce in his <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/20/politics/trump-inaugural-address/index.html">inaugural address</a> that "from this day forward a new vision will govern our land." If the new vision is that "from this day forward it's going to be only 'America first! America first!'," American Christians must reject and resist it from the outset. For followers of Christ, our vision in relation to the polis is summarized in the Epistle to Diognetus in the 2nd century AD: "[Christians] live in their respective countries, but only as resident aliens; they participate in all things as citizens, and they endure all things as foreigners. Every foreign territory is a homeland for them, every homeland foreign territory."<br />
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Therefore we must reject and resist also this expression of the new vision: "At the bedrock of our politics will be a total allegiance to the United States of America, and through our loyalty to our country, we will rediscover our loyalty to each other. When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice. The Bible tells us, 'How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity.'" NO! Our total allegiance is to Christ alone, and then comes our obligation to the global community--God's world in which God's reconciling work is to make the community for which God created the world--of which our national community is a part, and only then our national community in relation to those larger loyalties. There must be no giving it a chance and seeing how it goes--the vision has been clearly articulated, and it is one incompatible with Christian faith and faithfulness.Steven R. Harmonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09802367585251116641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985255038362224868.post-82170068221289942132017-01-14T21:56:00.001-05:002017-01-15T12:29:08.372-05:00"Souls on the tree of pain": an Ellacuría echo in U2's "Bullet the Blue Sky"?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Now and then my theological vocation and U2-fandom avocation intersect. Some of those intersections have fueled my writing, from one-off theological reflections on album releases (<a href="https://baptistnews.com/article/songs-for-pilgrims-on-the-way/#.WHrPttIrJ0w">most recently on <i>Songs of Innocence</i></a>) to a book offering a popular introduction to the ecumenical movement and ecumenical theology, drawing on U2's music for illustrative material (<i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ecumenism-Means-You-Too-Christians/dp/1606088653">Ecumenism Means You, Too: Ordinary Christians and the Quest for Christian Unity</a></i>).<br />
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This week I experienced another of those theology-and-U2 intersections in connection with the band's announcement of <a href="http://www.u2.com/news/title/the-joshua-tree-tour-2017">The Joshua Tree Tour 2017</a>, revisiting their classic fifth studio album 30 years later. The news had me listening to the album again this week, and this time I heard something I'd not noticed before.<br />
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While preparing to preach on the Lukan account of Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan during the last lectionary year, I read Salvadoran theologian Jon Sobrino's essay on "The Samaritan Church and the Principle of Mercy." After the sermon I continued reading Sobrino's book in which it served as the lead chapter, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Principle-Mercy-Taking-Crucified-People/dp/0883449862">The Principle of Mercy: Taking the Crucified People from the Cross</a></i> (Orbis Books, 1994). Soon I read the chapter "The Crucified Peoples: Yahweh's Suffering Servant Today," which drew heavily on the thought of his fellow Salvadoran theologian <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignacio_Ellacur%C3%ADa">Ignacio Ellacuría</a> (1930-1989), to whom that chapter was dedicated <i>in memoriam</i>. I discovered that Ellacuría had been writing about the historical incarnation of Christ in the "crucified peoples" of the world since 1978, in particular the Salvadoran people oppressed by successive military regimes, in whom the body of Christ was being crucified afresh. Ellacuría himself joined this crucified people as one of the six Jesuit <a href="http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Martyrs/UCA/index.html">Martyrs of the University of Central America</a> on November 16, 1989. I revisited these ideas during the past academic semester when one of my students wrote a paper on the relation between personal sin and historic sin in Sobrino's thought.<br />
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All this came back to mind when I listened to the song "Bullet the Blue Sky" on <i>The Joshua Tree</i> during the past week. It begins with these lines:<br />
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<i>In the howling wind</i><br />
<i>Comes a stinging rain</i><br />
<i>See them driving nails</i><br />
<i>Into the souls on the tree of pain</i><br />
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The inspiration of the song was a trip U2's lead singer Bono took to El Salvador in 1986 at the invitation of the Sanctuary movement. The working title for the album that became <i>The Joshua Tree</i> was "The Two Americas," and Bono wanted to experience one of those Americas, the one represented in this case by American military assistance to the oppressive regime in El Salvador. (The final album title is a double entendre, referring both to the desert tree in the southwest American landscapes that supplied aesthetic inspiration for the album and to the tree on which Jesus--Joshua in Hebrew--was crucified.) While in El Salvador Bono learned about and became attracted to the liberation theology that emphasized God's solidarity with the oppressed Salvadoran people and the responsibility of the church to join God in this solidarity with the oppressed, working for the liberation God desires for them. He also witnessed an air strike against a village of campesinos.<br />
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When Bono returned home to Dublin, Ireland, he shared those experiences with guitarist The Edge and asked him, "Could you put that through your amplifier?" The result was the closest a U2 song has come to heavy metal blues generically. The live performance of "Bullet the Blue Sky" at a December 1987 concert in Tempe, Arizona preserved in the film <i>Rattle and Hum</i> made connections between El Salvador, Ronald Reagan, and the kind of Christianity represented by Jerry Falwell that made some expressions of the American church complicit in the American proxy war in El Salvador (see video at the end of this post, or <a href="https://youtu.be/x6ifY1UV3CM">click here</a>). The final song of the album, "Mothers of the Disappeared," is also about the conflict in El Salvador.</div>
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I'd never made the connection before in three decades of listening to the song while also being well acquainted with liberation theology, but I'm now convinced that the line "see them driving nails into the souls on the tree of pain" is a reference to the theological concept of the "crucified people" advocated by Ignacio Ellacuría. Since Ellacuría began writing about it in 1978, the concept had gained currency in discussions of liberation theology in El Salvador, so that by the time of Bono's visit in 1986 it surely must have been featured in his conversations with Christian contacts of the Sanctuary movement there. Even if Ellacuría was not mentioned by name in these discussions, he is the source of this way of framing things theologically, so that when Bono sings "see them driving nails into the souls on the tree of pain," he's conceptually echoing Ellacuría in theologizing lyrically about the air strike. Bono may not be aware of the connection with Ellacuría--but then again, we're talking about the same man who read Walter Bruggemann on the Psalter in preparation for a recent <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l40S5e90KY">documentary of a conversation between Bono and Eugene Peterson on the Psalms</a>, so it's not beyond the realm of possibility.</div>
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Steven R. Harmonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09802367585251116641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985255038362224868.post-75669320519726216562017-01-05T09:46:00.000-05:002017-01-05T09:46:32.404-05:00What's that on the cover of Baptist Identity and the Ecumenical Future?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span data-offset-key="3snc4-0-0"><span data-text="true">What's the image on the cover of my new book <i>Baptist Identity and the Ecumenical Future: Story, Tradition, and the Recover of Community</i> (Baylor University Press), and what in the world does it mean? I answer those questions in my response to four reviewers of the book in the linked issue of the <i><a href="http://www.baptistresearch.org.nz/uploads/6/2/0/4/6204774/pjbr_-_november_2016__2_.pdf">Pacific Journal of Baptist Research</a></i><a href="http://www.baptistresearch.org.nz/uploads/6/2/0/4/6204774/pjbr_-_november_2016__2_.pdf"> (vol. 11, no 2; November 2016)</a> [click on hyperlink].</span></span><br />
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<span data-offset-key="3snc4-0-0"><span data-text="true">Interested in <i>Baptist Identity and the Ecumenical Future</i>? Order the book from <a href="http://www.baylorpress.com/Book/470/Baptist_Identity_and_the_Ecumenical_Future.html">Baylor University Press</a> or via <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Baptist-Identity-Ecumenical-Future-Tradition/dp/1602585709">Amazon</a>.</span></span></div>
Steven R. Harmonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09802367585251116641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985255038362224868.post-44483062850348848482017-01-03T10:27:00.000-05:002017-01-03T10:27:43.161-05:00New publication--Preaching Conversations with Scholars<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I contributed the lead "scholar's response" to the initial sermon by Rodney Wallace Kennedy, recently retired as pastor of First Baptist Church in Dayton, Ohio, in Kennedy's new edited book <i><a href="http://wipfandstock.com/preaching-conversations-with-scholars.html">Preaching Conversations with Scholars: The Preacher as Scholar</a></i><a href="http://wipfandstock.com/preaching-conversations-with-scholars.html"> (Eugene, Ore.: Wipf and Stock, 2016)</a>. My full response, along with the sermon to which it responds, is currently available online via the "Look Inside" feature on <a href="http://wipfandstock.com/preaching-conversations-with-scholars.html">the book's page</a> on the publisher's web site. Here's a teaser excerpt from my response:</div>
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<i>As I read this sermon, preached originally in May 2015, I kept thinking about all the ways our contemporary culture, in the United States and more broadly in the Western world, has quickly become even more concerned with boundary-keeping than it was in May 2015—and it was certainly marking our culture then. It made me think of our treatment of immigrants, of refugees, of the racial 'other,' of those whose sexual identities are 'other.' It made me connect all this with the boundary-transcending God whose story is told by the story of Jesus, and it reminded me that the boundary-transcending story of Jesus should become more and more my own story. I pray that it does, and I’m grateful to Rodney for writing and preaching a sermon that made this my prayer. The Gospel is relevant, indeed.</i> (<a href="http://wipfandstock.com/preaching-conversations-with-scholars.html">read the full response and other sample portions of </a><i><a href="http://wipfandstock.com/preaching-conversations-with-scholars.html">Preaching Conversations with Scholars</a></i>)<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></div>
Steven R. Harmonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09802367585251116641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985255038362224868.post-67443304649427745902016-12-31T23:27:00.003-05:002016-12-31T23:27:23.708-05:00A final Compline prayer for 2016<div data-contents="true">
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<span data-offset-key="35aqf-0-0"><span data-text="true">Remembering the past year and anticipating the one to come may be difficult for many this particular New Year's Eve. Here's something I wrote as my prayer for Compline on this night in which 2016 ends and 2017 begins (with a couple of echoes of the<i> Book of Common Prayer</i> and the <i>New Zealand Prayer Book</i>):</span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="eunp5-0-0"><span data-text="true">O God, it is night at the end of a long year. 2016 has brought us varied experiences. We have experienced you as God-with-us in "sacraments of the present moment" by which we receive the grace of your life-giving presence in various expressions of your creation--loved ones, strangers, creation itself, opportunities to participate in your work in the world for its salvation. For these graces we give you thanks.</span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="9qins-0-0"><span data-text="true">We have also experienced or observed what has sometimes felt like your absence from this world--alienation instead of love, discord instead of harmony, exclusion instead of welcome, violence instead of peace, poverty instead of provision, hunger instead of nourishment, despair instead of hope. These things we lament, knowing that you lament them, too.</span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="70nd0-0-0"><span data-text="true">We have recognized, though often not as fully as we should, our own complicity in these things, our failures to lament them as we ought, and our refusals to participate in what you are doing to transform these aspects of our world in the direction of your good intentions for it during the past year. These things we confess as sin, and we ask for your forgiveness.</span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="bq0ba-0-0"><span data-text="true">But this night ushers in a new day and a new year. For 2017 we ask the help of your Spirit, that in this new year we might delight in your will and walk in your ways that you have made known to us in Jesus Christ, for the glory of your name and for the good of your world. </span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="62dt5-0-0"><span data-text="true">Now guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping, that awake we may watch with Christ and asleep we may rest in peace. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.</span></span></div>
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Steven R. Harmonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09802367585251116641noreply@blogger.com0