For many years, my Junes have been enriched by the Christian Scholars’ Conference. This year’s conference, hosted at Lanier Theological Library (Houston, TX), was stacked. The lineup of keynote speakers included neuroscientist Sharon Dirckx, theologian Willie James Jennings, philosopher James K. A. Smith, and New Testament scholar N. T. Wright.
As usual, Lee Camp’s No Small Endeavor variety show was a highlight.
Mission and World Christianity
I co-lead the Mission and World Christianity section of the conference, which hosted again this year a diverse array of presentations:
Session: Evangelism and History in World Christianity
- Jeremy Hegi, Lubbock Christian University, Convener
- Nadia Andrilenas, Baylor University, “Elite Vietnamese Women and European Jesuits: Indispensable Allies for the Survival of Christianity in 17th century Vietnam”
- David Chrisna, Baylor University, “Journey to the East: A Search for a Historiography of Asian Christianity in the World Christianity Discourse”
- Monty L. Lynn and Derran Reese, Abilene Christian University, “‘Oh, Will You Not Tell It Today?’ What Twentieth-Century Churches of Christ Sang about Missions”
- Sam Twumasi-Ankrah, Heritage Christian College (Accra, Ghana), “Leadership Effectiveness in Christian Academic Institutions in Africa: A Reflection on Heritage Christian College in Accra, Ghana”
Session: Contemporary Missiology
- Greg McKinzie, Lipscomb University, Convener
- Misael Cornelio-Arias, Fuller Theological Seminary, “Mission, Purpose, and Community Participation in the Proclamation of a Liberating Gospel in the Power of the Spirit: A Latinex Perspective”
- David Baer, Theological Education Initiative, “Fullness and Deficit as Eschatological and Missional Values: The View from the Book Called Isaiah”
- Travis Myers, Saint Louis University, “Comparative Theology and Why It Matters”
- Glen Bowman, Grand Canyon University, “The Influence of Faith Sharing through Social Media on Young Adults who do not Identify Themselves as Christians”
[Sadly, my convening duties distracted me from photographing the panel.]
All of these were welcome contributions, and some of them were outstanding. Indeed, I think some of our most interesting and substantial papers to date were read this year. Look for some of them in a future issue of Missio Dei journal.
The Gailyn Van Rheenen Endowed Session
Our section also includes the GVR lecture, which is in its second year. I’ve had the privilege of convening these sessions.
Gailyn Van Rheenen is a renowned missiologist whose scholarship is matched by his lifelong commitment to participation in God’s mission. He served fourteen years as a missionary in East Africa, eighteen years as a professor of missions at Harding University and Abilene Christian University, and thirteen years as the founder and director of Mission Alive, an organization that trains and partners for missional renewal in American congregations and for new church plants in our context. As a successful missionary and trainer of missionaries, Gailyn has always brought the best critical, contemporary missiology to bear on his work. He exemplifies a wonderful combination of informed practice and missiological excellence.
Accordingly, the Missio Dei Foundation founded this session of the Christian Scholars’ Conference to extend Gailyn’s legacy by creating a forum for cutting-edge missiological reflection among Churches of Christ and the wider Stone-Campbell Movement.
Fittingly, this year’s lecturer was Charles Kiser, a protege of Gailyn and one of his colleagues for many years at Mission Alive. Charles is one of the planters and pastors of Storyline Christian Community in Dallas, Texas. He is the coauthor with Elaine Heath of Trauma-Informed Evangelism: Cultivating Communities of Wounded Healers. Dr. Kiser holds a Doctorate of Ministry in Contextual Theology from Northern Seminary and serves as a faculty member of Neighborhood Seminary. And, personally, Charles is a friend whose life of missional faithfulness I deeply admire.
Charles’s lecture, “Trauma-Informed Evangelism” (based on his doctoral research and subsequent book), was an absolute feast. I knew when we invited him that his presentation would be good, but he left my expectations in the dust. It was, in a word, exceptional. You’ll have to buy the book if you want to know more.
Amy McLaughlin-Sheasby, assistant professor of Bible, missions, and ministry at Abilene Christian University was the lecture respondent. She added a vital perspective based on her work on the impact of suffering and trauma on theological imagination and discourse. After she and Charles interacted for a while, the conversation was opened to attendees, and a delightful exchange ensued.
In order to extend the conversation, we organized an additional panel discussion session titled “The Future of Evangelism.” Michael L. Sweeney, professor of world mission and New Testament and director of the master of arts in Christian ministries program at Emmanuel Christian Seminary at Milligan University, joined Charles and Amy. Sadly, a fourth panelist was unable to attend due to illness. Nonetheless, the ensuing hour and a half of dialogue was highly profitable.
I’m grateful for the Christian Scholars’ Conference and especially for the opportunity to hold space for scholars whose work serves the church’s participation in God’s mission. To be frank, gathering leaders capable of this sort of reflection on mission and world Christianity continues to be a challenge, not least because many such thinkers devote their summers to mission work. In one sense, this is a good problem because it represents a persistent commitment to practice, from which none of us wants scholarly missiological discourse to be disconnected. At the same time, the difficulty represents an unhealthy dichotomy between theory and practice that continues to haunt too much of Christian mission in our tradition. I remain hopeful that bridging this gap is possible, and I believe CSC is the best place for us to do so. Special thanks to all who participated as presenters and attendees of these important sessions!
Scripture & Mission 