On October 22-23, the Commission for Theological Integrity held its annual Theological Symposium on the campus of Randall University in Moore, Oklahoma. Over the course of nine presentations, approximately 350 students, pastors, professors, layman, and others reflected on subjects as diverse as the Great Commission, marriage, Christian hymnody, the wisdom literature, the Lord’s Supper, and more.
Four Forum members attended, and three presented papers. In this post we will briefly review this year’s event, with each of us offering our own perspective on what we heard.
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J. Watts: As Program Chair for this event, I am anything but unbiased. It’s not only important to me as a Commission member that we execute this event with excellence and order, but as a pastor-theologian I also increasingly see how desperately we need our church’s layman and leaders to think deeply about the broad range of issues that theological inquiry touches. Indeed, I fear that one reason so many pastors feel ill-equipped to navigate conflict in their churches is that they aren’t taking advantage of the resources available to help them do just that. While some theological scholarship is more academically oriented, I believe that our Symposium programs show that the church’s mission and ministry is always in view for our presenters.
In addition to many returning attendees, I was especially gratified to see twenty-three first-time guests at this year’s event, not counting a number of students from Randall University who attended some of the sessions. This also doesn’t count the hundreds who tuned in to view the livestream on www.fwbtheology.com.
The papers our presenters shared were the fruit of many scholarly pursuits. For some it was a chapter from a thesis or dissertation. For others, their papers were the overflow of their research into a specific area of interest. I think that was especially the case for my Helwys Society Forum colleagues. Regardless of the topic, our program provided listeners with much food for thought, and, I hope, practice too! The full program is listed below:
- Jeff Blair – “Cultivating a Culture of Wisdom in the Local Church”
- Christopher Talbot – “Practicing Theology in Youth Ministry”
- Cory Thompson – “The Lord’s Supper as Meaningful and Open”
- Thomas Marberry –“The Lucan Concept of Perseverance”
- Matthew Steven Bracey – “The Institutional Good of Marriage and the Family”
- Phillip Morgan – “Thomism to Augustinianism: Free Will Baptist Bible College and the Hybrid Christian Education Model”
- Derek Cominskie – “Was This What Watts Would Have Wanted? An Analysis of Isaac Watts’s Rationale and Method for Reforming English Metrical Psalmody with Application for Contemporary Trends”
- Matthew McAffee – “Creation and the Role of Wisdom in Proverbs 8: What Can We Learn?”
- Ronald Callaway – “Post Tenebras Lux”
Readers may purchase digital or print digests here: https://www.fwbtheology.com/shop/.
M. Bracey: I gave a presentation on the institutional good of marriage and the family. This purpose of marriage, also referred to as the public good, concerns the public witness that righteous marriages bear before society. It exists to encourage sexual order and wholeness and to discourage sexual disorder and brokenness. The current culture of divorce, extramarital sexual expression, and so-called same-sex marriage challenges the institutional good of marriage in a serious way, and Christians who go along with the mainstream culture unwittingly cut against the grain of this important marital purpose.
My favorite presentations were given by Phillip Morgan, “Thomism to Augustinianism: Free Will Baptist Bible College and the Hybrid Christian Education Model” and Derek Cominskie, “Was This What Watts Would Have Wanted? An Analysis of Isaac Watt’s Rationale and Method for Reforming English Metrical Psalmody with Application for Contemporary Trends.” Phillip Morgan gives an overview of Cominskie’s presentation below.
Morgan gave a fascinating presentation on the educational philosophy of Welch College as evidenced through the school’s early leaders and documents. Some debate persists on what the founders of the school intended. Did Welch’s earliest leaders intend to train students simply for vocational ministry, or did they aim to broaden the degree programs over time? While some debate arose early concerning what vision the college would follow, Morgan persuasively argues that Welch College has defied easy characterization as either a Bible college or liberal arts college. Instead, he points to luminaries such as L. C. Johnson, Charles Thigpen, Leroy Forlines, and Robert Picirilli as aiming to achieve what Morgan calls the “hybrid Christian education model.” This hybrid model takes seriously both the Bible and theology as well as the historic curriculum of liberal arts learning, including in subjects such as history, literature, philosophy, the sciences, and more, all from the perspective of a holistic Christian worldview.
Finally, I want to commend the excellent food accommodations provided by the folks at Randall University.
C. Talbot: Personally, I thought this year’s theological symposium demonstrated a high level of excellence. Through and through, the presentations were thoughtful, well-researched, and provocative. One might even say that they providentially fit together—calling us to think about missions, “the wisdom way,” worship, and so much more. In doing so they also called us back to the truth of the Scriptures
My own presentation was on the use of practical theology methodology by youth ministers and youth ministry educators. For some time now, I have been both curious and worried that a theological shift has occurred among practical theologians in youth ministry (and the broader ministry spectrum). For that reason, I surveyed those doing practical theology in youth ministry and their explicit methodologies. My concern was confirmed in seeing that virtually all began their theological reflection in context or experience. In my paper, I sought to explain the difficulties and dangers that are associated with this process, along with some specific implications and applications for those in youth ministry.
The other presenters did a wonderful job on their own papers. I am hard-pressed to pick a single one that I thought was most exceptional. I found Jeff Blair’s “Cultivating a Culture of Wisdom in the Local Church” to be equal parts challenging and practical. He pushed back against our current cultural narrative, instead proposing a counter-cultural posture for local church ministry. Phillip Morgan’s paper on the history of the hybrid model of education utilized by Welch College was fascinating. Morgan’s capacity for finding nuggets of truth and trivia was well displayed. Furthermore, Derek Cominskie’s paper on Watts was also insightful and helpful. Again, I’m very appreciative for all those who participated and thought that this year’s symposium was well done.
P. Morgan: I thoroughly enjoyed each of the papers presented this year, but two were especially fascinating to me. Jeff Blair’s “Cultivating a Culture of Wisdom in the Local Church” provided a thoughtful and well-researched analysis of Paul’s engagement with the wisdom literature of the Old Testament, specifically from the book of Proverbs. Particularly significant to my mind was Paul’s emphasis on the order of creation that God has fashioned as a master craftsmen. Blair also did an excellent job applying his research to local church ministry.
I also enjoyed greatly Derek Cominskie’s presentation. Cominskie gave an excellent overview of Watts’s philosophy/theology of hymn writing. In order to save the singing of the Psalter for his generation, Watts not only modified the melodies to make them more singable, but he also applied theological reflection to the hymns, expanding their content and applying them directly to average Englishman. Cominskie compared Watts’s ability to put Psalm 100 into verse with two of Watts’s contemporaries. This was an excellent way to illustrate the effectiveness of Watts’s approach. Cominskie then compared Matt Redman’s “10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord),” which is also based on Psalm 100, to Watts’s hymn. The comparison was very revealing. I strongly encourage you to watch this presentation, even if you have also read the paper.
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The 2019 Symposium will be held on October 28-29 at Welch College in Gallatin, Tennessee. The theme is “The Doctrine of the Church.” Inquiries and potential paper ideas may be submitted to fwbtheology@gmail.com.
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