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Roundtable
V - Imagination & the Gospel
Harnessing the Imagination to Engage Contemporary
Culture to Communicate the Life Changing Gospel
Introduction
"I now find the Roundtables to be the most intellectually
stimulating fellowship that I am involved with. You meet, all
in the same meeting, many of the leading thinkers and strategists
in evangelical Christian Community. You are struck, simultaneously,
with appreciation for the power, range and depth of evangelical
protestant Christianity and also by the occasional limitations
of its assumptions, paradigms and frames of reference."
-George Hunter
Dear Evangelism Scholar/Leader,
The goal of the Roundtables is to bring together a select group
of scholars and practitioners for dialogue and debate on crucial
and controversial issues in world evangelism so that the gospel
might advance. For this 2008 Roundtable we are convening a
select group of 100 leaders and scholars such as you to discuss
"Imagination and the Gospel - Harnessing the Imagination
to Engage Contemporary Culture and Communicate the Life Changing
Gospel." Rightly understood, the imagination holds enormous
potential for the work of the church.
We will address questions like "how does the gospel address
the deeply felt need in our culture for reenchanting the world?
How did C.S.Lewis and the inklings integrate reason and imagination
in their gospel communication? How do we harness the imagination
in our own gospel communication?
We would like for you to prayerfully consider coming as a delegate
from your denomination, church, school or organization to contribute
your thoughts in open, moderated dialogue as part of the session
presentations. If you are unable to attend, you may want to send
a representative.
This gathering will be held at the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton
College April 23-26.
We hope you can come!
Sincerely,
Drs. Lon Allison, Rick Richardson and Chris Mitchell for
The Evangelism Roundtable Planning Committee
The 2008 Evangelism Roundtable V is sponsored by the Billy
Graham Center and Marion E. Wade Center
Download
PDF of the Evangelism Roundtable V Brochure
News & Updates
Early bird registration ($150) ends March 15,
2008!
Check back for future updates.
Speakers
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Lon
Allison
Director of the Billy Graham Center and Associate Professor,
Wheaton College
Lon
Allison serves fulltime as Director of the Billy Graham
Center and Institute of Strategic Evangelism. He is a Christian
communicator, evangelist, professor, pastor and performing
artist, who has published two books: Going Public with the
Gospel and That the World May Believe, a brief biography
of John R. Mott.
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Craig
Detweiler
Filmmaker and author, Professor, Fuller Theological Seminary
Craig Detweiler is a filmmaker, author and cultural commentator
who has been featured in the New York Times, CNN and NPR,
Current Director of Reel Spirituality Institute for the
Brehm Center at Fuller Seminary. His first book A Matrix
of Meanings: Finding God in Pop Culture was a finalist for
the Gold Medallion in Theology and Doctrine.
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Trevor
Hart
Professor of Divinity, St. Mary's College in St.Andrews,
U.K.
Trevor Hart teaches and publishes in Christian doctrine
and systematic theology. He is interested in the contemporary
reformulation of the Christian tradition and the engagement
of Christian theology with other disciplines, notably philosophy
and literature.
Career: B.A. Durham; Ph.D. Aberdeen. Professor of Divinity
and formerly Dean of the Faculty of Divinity, St Andrews.
Teaching areas: systematic and historical theology; philosophical
theology; theology and imagination; theology and art/literature;
theology of Karl Barth; modern christology; God in Biblical
and Christian theology.
Visit Trevor Hart's webpage
at St. Mary's College.
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Charissa
Holland
Creative Arts Director, Community Christian Church
Charissa Holland has been a part of Community Christian
Church since 2004, and on staff since 2005. She has a BA
in English from the University of Illinois and currently
on a graduate program at DePaul University, working on an
MA in English. Excellence in the arts and developing artists
is one of her biggest passions, and she can't imagine not
being a part of the mission of Community Christian's vision:
helping people find their way back to God. Check out Community
Christian's website www.communitychristian.org
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George
Hunter
Professor of Evangelism and Church Growth, Asbury Theological
Seminary
Distinguished Professor of Evangelism and Church Growth
in Asbury Theological Seminary, has authored a number of
books including How To Reach Secular People, Church for
the Unchurched, The Celtic Way of Evangelism and Leading
and Managing a Growing Church.
Visit George
Hunter's webpage at Asbury Theological seminary.
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John
Marks
Former producer, CBS 60 Minutes, Author, Pulitzer and Tony
Award winner
John Marks was born and raised in Texas. He is a graduate
of Davidson College and has an MA in Creative Writing from
the University of Iowa. He then moved to Berlin, where he
covered Germany, Eastern Europe and the Balkans for US News
and World Report. Those years also resulted in the Pulitzer
and Tony winning play, "I am My Own Wife," written
by Marks's best friend, and Marks is a featured character
in the play. In 1955, he returned to the US to cover pop
culture, politics and social issues. After a decade at US
News, he became a producer for Morley Safer at CBS News
"60 Minutes." He has published three novels, The
Walll, War Torn, and most recently, Fangland. REASONS TO
BELIEVE is his first work of non-fiction. Marks lives in
Northampton, Massachusetts with his wife and son. Marks
and Detweiler cohosts Purple State of Mind, an evening of
film at the Roundtable. Visit Purple
State of Mind's webpage
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Chris
Mitchell
Director, Marion
E Wade Center
Dr
Chris Mitchell serves as Director of Marion E Wade Center
at Wheaton College, Wade Center Professor of Christian Thought
and Associate Professor of Theological Studies. Prior to
coming to Wheaton College he had served as a missionary
in Haiti and India. Chris is also an ordained Pastor. Chris
received his M.A. from Wheaton College, and a Ph.D. from
the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. He lives in Wheaton
with his wife Julie. Together they have four children and
two grandchildren.
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Rick Richardson
Associate Professor, Director of the MA
in Evangelism and Leadership, Wheaton College
Associate Professor and Director of the Masters in Evangelism
and Leadership Degree at Wheaton College; Rick is also an
Associate Evangelist with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.
Rick's books include Evangelism Outside the Box, Reimagining
Evangelism, Experiencing Healing Prayer and The Heart
of Racial Justice. Visit Rick's webpage
for the MA in Evangelism and Leadership Program at Wheaton
College.
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Robert Smith
Professor of Preaching at Beeson
Divinity School, Samford University
Robert Smith serves as professor of Christian preaching
at Beeson Divinity School. Previously he served as the Carl
E. Bates Associate Professor of Christian Preaching at The
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.
A popular teacher and preacher, he received Southerns
1996 Findley B. Edge Award for Teaching Excellence. An ordained
Baptist minister, he served as pastor of the New Mission
Missionary Baptist Church for twenty years before returning
to complete his Ph.D. He is a contributing editor of a study
of Christian ministry in the African American church, Preparing
for Christian Ministry, and co-editor of A Mighty Long Journey.
His research interests include the place of passion in preaching,
the literary history of African American preaching, Christological
preaching, and theologies of preaching. At Beeson, Smith
teaches Christian Preaching and other electives in homiletics.
He received Beeson Divinity Schools "Teacher
of the Year Award" in 2005. He and his wife, Wanda,
are the parents of four adult children.
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Read Schuchardt
Assistant Professor of Communication, Wheaton College
Read Mercer Schuchardt is Assistant Professor of Communication
at Wheaton College. He is the founder and publisher of Metaphilm,
a film interpretation website at www.metaphilm.com. He earned
his Ph.D. at New York University's Media Ecology program
under the advisement of the late Neil Postman with a dissertation
on the
Medieval Catholic Symbol System and Contemporary Corporate
Iconography. He and his wife Rachel homeschool their six
children.
Visit Read
Schuchardt's webpage at Wheaton College Communications
Department.
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Kevin Vanhoozer
Research Professor of Systematic Theology, Trinity
Evangelical Divinity School
Research Professor of Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical
Divinity School. Some of the books he authored include Biblical
Narrative in the Philosophy of Paul Ricoeur, Is There a
Meaning in This Text? and The Drama of Doctrine: A Canonical-Linguistic
Approach to Christian Theology. Go to Kevin Vanhoozer's
webpage at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.
Visit Kevin
Vanhoozer's webpage at Trinity Evangelical Divinity
School.
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Ralph
Wood
Professor of Theology and Literature, Baylor University
University Professor of Theology and Literature at Baylor
University; his major book, first published in 1988 and
still in print from the University of Notre Dame Press,
is entitled The Comedy of Redemption: Christian Faith and
Comic Vision in Four American Novelists (Flannery O'Connor,
Walker Percy, John Updike, and Peter De Vries).
Visit Ralph
Wood's webpage at Baylor University.
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Registration
Attendance at the Roundtable is
restricted to 100 delegates so please respond promptly.
You may register in three ways:
1. Download the printer
friendly copy of Registration Form and send by mail or fax
(details on the form).
2. Register by email: Download the printer
friendly copy and send the form by attachment; email address
to send:ise@wheaton.edu
Registration fee: $150.00
if postmarked by March 15, $200 after that.
Note: The registration fee covers only the cost of opening dinner
and all refreshment breaks, plus cost of miscellaneous conference
materials. Lunches and dinners afterwards will be on your own.
See information on "Meals" for places to eat around
campus and downtown Wheaton. Wheaton College has a great dining
hall within walking distance (Anderson
Commons) as well as miscellaneous area restaurants.
See link to Wheaton
College and Area
maps
Directions & Information on Meals and Lodging
Directions
For transportation to and from the airport, please call:
American Charter Coach / 800.851.0200
West Suburban Limousine / 630.668.9600
Nearest airports to the campus are Chicago O'hare (ORD) and Midway
(MDW). The airports are approx. 30 miles away. Please avoid hailing
taxi from the curb to avoid expensive taxi fares.
For campus maps and directions, please visit www.wheaton.edu/maps.html
Click on this link
for driving directions.
Meals
Wheaton College has a great dining
hall within walking distance (Anderson
Commons) as well as miscellaneous area restaurants. Visit
this link for downtown
Wheaton restaurants.
Official
Hotel of the Conference
Fairfield
Inn and Suites
$79/night + 11% tax for Standard Room (1 king or 2 queens)
$99/night + 11% tax for Executive King
Hotel is located at 645 W. North Avenue, Lombard, IL 60148
Phone number: 630.629.1500
Mention "Evangelism Roundtable" when making your reservation.
Participants are to call and make reservations directly at the
Fairfield Inn & Suites. The hotel is six miles from campus.
Shuttle service will be provided twice from hotel to the Billy
Graham Center/Wheaton College.
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