ABCUSA Theologians Conference
“The Church’s Public Witness”
A Scholarly Conference
held in conjunction with the American Baptist Churches USA Biennial Mission Summit
Portland Convention Center, Portland, Oregon
June 29, 2017
A Scholarly Conference
held in conjunction with the American Baptist Churches USA Biennial Mission Summit
Portland Convention Center, Portland, Oregon
June 29, 2017
The Office of the General Secretary of ABCUSA and the Theologians Commission will host the fourth pre-biennial theology conference around the theme The Church’s Public Witness in an effort to foster ongoing, vigorous theological conversations among American Baptist theologians, pastor-theologians, and theological educators throughout the denomination. The Keynote Speaker for the event will be Rev. Dr. Valerie Miles-Tribble, Associate Professor of Ministerial Leadership & Practical Theology at American Baptist Seminary of the West (ABSW).
The Theologians Conference will take place in conjunction with the 2017 Biennial Mission Summit of American Baptist Churches, USA. Conferees will gather at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon, on Thursday, June 29, 2017, 8:00am – 5:30pm.
A Schedule is Included Below (subject to change):
8:30-9:00 Registration and Coffee
9:00-9:15 Gathering Prayer, Welcome and Announcements
9:15-10:15 Keynote Speaker (Rev. Dr. Valerie Miles-Tribble, Associate Professor of Ministerial Leadership & Practical Theology at American Baptist Seminary of the West )
10:30-12:00 Paper Session I
12:00-1:15 Lunch on your own
1:15-1:30 Reconvene and Description of Seminar Groups and Afternoon Sessions
1:30-2:30 Seminar Groups
2:30-4:00 Paper Sessions II
4:00-5:00 Closing Plenary (Commission Members)
5:00-5:30 Discussion on Future of the Conference
5:30-7:00 Dinner on your own
7:00-9:00 Social Time at Stanford's Restaurant and Bar (across the street from the hotel)
10:30-12:00 Paper Session I
Group 1:
Group 2:
2:30-4:00 Paper Session II
Group 3:
The Theologians Conference will take place in conjunction with the 2017 Biennial Mission Summit of American Baptist Churches, USA. Conferees will gather at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon, on Thursday, June 29, 2017, 8:00am – 5:30pm.
A Schedule is Included Below (subject to change):
8:30-9:00 Registration and Coffee
9:00-9:15 Gathering Prayer, Welcome and Announcements
9:15-10:15 Keynote Speaker (Rev. Dr. Valerie Miles-Tribble, Associate Professor of Ministerial Leadership & Practical Theology at American Baptist Seminary of the West )
10:30-12:00 Paper Session I
12:00-1:15 Lunch on your own
1:15-1:30 Reconvene and Description of Seminar Groups and Afternoon Sessions
1:30-2:30 Seminar Groups
2:30-4:00 Paper Sessions II
4:00-5:00 Closing Plenary (Commission Members)
5:00-5:30 Discussion on Future of the Conference
5:30-7:00 Dinner on your own
7:00-9:00 Social Time at Stanford's Restaurant and Bar (across the street from the hotel)
10:30-12:00 Paper Session I
Group 1:
- “Tolerance: The End of the Beginning…”
Douglas Aviles-Bernal, Pastor, Calvary Baptist Church of Norristown PA - “Promiscuous Witness: Why Qu(ery/eer)ing Baptism as a Practice of Purity Matters Now”
Kathryn House, Boston University School of Theology - “Immersion Baptism, Water Stress and the Phenomenon of Ecomigration”
David Augustine Dorapali, Chicago Theological Seminary - “At a Cornerstone Ceremony for a Church and the Underground”
Doris Elaine Black, American Baptist Historical Society
Group 2:
- “Baptists and the Sanctuary Movement: Touchstones and Fracture Points in Baptist Social Witness”
Michael Woolf, Harvard University - “Secular States, Pluralism and Exclusivistic Faith: A Case Study”
David Wheeler Theologian, Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church, Portland, OR - “Separation of Church and State: A Renewed Case for a Historic Baptist Witness”
John Carter, Boston College - “George Younger: A Tireless Civil Rights Leader of the ABCUSA”
George Hancock-Stefan, Palmer Theological Seminary
2:30-4:00 Paper Session II
Group 3:
- “Soul Baring in the Pulpit: Lessons in Storytelling from The Moth”
Robert Stephen Reid, Seattle University, University of Dubuque - “Digital Space as Sacred Space “
Mindi Welton-Mitchell, Paul Schneider, Pastors - “The Word in Our Mouths: Scripture Memory and Recitation as Renewal for Public Witness”
Stacey Simpson Duke, Co- Pastor