Intellectually Overwhelmed

The Ancient Wisdom - Anglican Futures Conference concluded today at Trinity School for Ministry. As someone said, the amount of information and theological input was like trying to "fill a cup of tea with Niagara Falls." This was some good stuff and made me appreciate even more that the Lord has called me to serve in the Anglican church. We have such a rich heritage, yet are positioned to reach out to folks with the Gospel of Jesus empowered by the Holy Spirit.

I heard the following theological papers....

Jason Clark on the Emerging Church
Pastor of the Vineyard Church, Sutton England

Holly Zaher on the Emerging Church in the United States
Director of Student Discipleship, St. George's, Nashville

David Neff on "Robert Webber's Ancient-Future Faith"
Editor in Chief and Vice President, Christianity Today

Dr. D. H. Williams on "The Labor of Defining and Preserving the Christian Tradition"
Professor of Religion in Patristics and Historical Theology, Baylor University

Dr. Tony Clark on "Authentic Participation in the Great Tradition"
Associate Professor of Ethics, Friends University

Dr. Edith Humphrey on "Presumption, Preparation, Parresia, Perichoresis and Worship"
Professor of New Testament, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary



Dr. Simon Chan on "The Future of the Liturgy: An Evangelical-Pentecostal Contribution"
Professor of Systematic Theology, Trinity Theological College, Singapore



Dr. Stephen Long on "The End of Community"
Professor of Systematic Theology, Marquette University

Dr. George Sumner on "Apostolic Ministry Revisited"
Principal and Helliwell Professor of World Mission, Wycliffe College, Toronto



Dr. Dominic Erdozain on the "Emerging Church: A Victorian Prequel"
Lecturer in the History of Christianity, King's College, London



Dr. Samuel Wells on "Three Kinds of Evangelism"
Dean of the Chapel and Research Professor of Christian Ethic, Duke Divinity School

Lots of GOOD STUFF to digest. As a pastor of a congregation committed to being a church which reaches out to those who don't know the Lord, who are unchurched, and those who are forgotten, my mind is swirling. A lot of my presuppositions have been challenged, and yet I have also felt so affirmed that what we have been doing is exactly what we need to be doing to be effective in evangelizing and discipling folks into the kingdom. The depth of our liturgical worship, whether in a classical or contemporary setting, takes people beyond themselves and helps them enter into the worship of God.