Overcoming the Sacred-Secular Divide Through Theological Education
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by
ICETE
Dr. MARK GREENE
Director, London Institute for Contemporary Christianity
Dr. IAN SHAW
Provost, Union School of Theology and Postdoctoral Projects Director Langham Partnership
Presentation: Click Here, Click Here
OVERCOMING THE SACRED-SECULAR DIVIDE THROUGH THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION
Plenary session 1: naming the issue in our churches and contexts (with contributions from seminary leaders from around the world)
Wherever they are in the world, Christians struggle with a sacred-secular divide which compartmentalises their faith into formal acts of devotion and piety, usually on a Sunday but leaves much of their everyday life and behaviour untransformed. Very high levels of Christian profession in parts of the world have not prevented terrible war, or even genocide. Similarly, high levels of church attendance often stand alongside endemic corruption. Many Christians only view those involved in paid Christian work as in full-time Christian service. Participants from the global church will help bring perspectives on this issue. The seminar further poses the question – how committed is your church to While-Life Missionary Discipleship?
Plenary 2 – naming the issue in our seminaries (with contributions from seminary leaders from around the world)
What happens in the seminary impacts what happens in the churches, so how whole-life is your seminary? How can theological educators envision and empower future church leaders to fulfil the Biblical imperative to make whole-life missionary discipleship central in their congregations. The problem cannot be addressed by changing the teaching in just one subject, such as missiology. It is a systemic problem and affects all fields, and must be specifically addressed in the teaching of core subjects like Bible, hermeneutics, and doctrine. Change does not come easily. But just a one degree shift in direction over time will have a big impact. This presentation explores some of the findings of from consultations with seminary leaders in the Langham-London Institute for Contemporary Christianity Project on Overcoming the Sacred-Secular Divide through Theological Education
