Seminary to Host Symposium on Race and Racism

North Park Theological Seminary has been hosting the Symposium since 1990, collecting the papers presented each year into a scholarly journal, Ex Auditu. Dean David Kersten (pictured above) says this year’s topic is critical. “It’s come to a point that we cannot softly pursue reconciliation. We have to take very strong anti-racism stances as a Seminary and as a church. This is an opportunity to make that critical distincition.”

September 24–26; lectures available to stream live online

CHICAGO (September 16, 2015) — Next week, North Park Theological Seminary will welcome a host of scholars and church leaders to campus for its annual Symposium on the Theological Interpretation of Scripture. The multi-day forum, held at North Park for over 25 years, includes a series of discussions led by notable experts from around the world. This year’s topic, Race and Racism, seeks to engage an issue at the forefront of many people’s minds, fostering conversations directed at creating meaningful change in the church today.

Also in attendance will be North Park Theological Seminary students, including Cheryl Lynn Cain, who says the theme of this year’s event was a big factor in her decision to attend seminary at North Park.

“I was on the search for an academic community that was intentionally fostering conversations on race and the effects of racism inside and outside our church walls,” Cain says. “As a staff member in a multicultural church, I hope to understand more fully the theological and ecumenical call, the different voices and lenses, and a way forward personally and for our congregation.”

Cain, a first-year master of arts in theological studies student, serves as the reach ministries director at the Sanctuary Church in Romeoville, Ill., located just outside the city limits southwest of Chicago. She will attend the Symposium as part of a for-credit class offered by the Seminary, taught by Dr. Jim Bruckner, where students participate in readings and discussions before and after the event.

“I know combating racism in our churches and the world is a process,” Cain adds, “but creating margin for these conversations feels like a considerable step.”

Cain is also currently enrolled in the Seminary’s Sankofa course, which focuses on racial reconciliation and this year will include a travel component to Ferguson, Missouri. These courses, along with other co-curricular opportunities, point to the importance the Seminary places on intercultural education.

The Symposium is the largest of North Park Theological Seminary’s annual lectures, where over the course of three days, eight scholars will deliver papers, with responses given by various church leaders. The event will come on the heels of another Seminary event, the annual Nils W. Lund lectures, where two scholars lead discussions on current developments in biblical studies and the task of preaching.

This year, those scholars are Dr. Bo Lim from Seattle Pacific University and Dr. Emerson Powery from Messiah College, who will each present two-part lectures on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. They will also each present papers during the Symposium later in the week.

Every autumn, North Park Theological Seminary welcomes scholars for the Nils W. Lund Memorial Lectureship to focus on current developments in biblical studies and the task of preaching. This year’s event, held September 23–24 ahead of the Symposium, features Dr. Bo Lim from Seattle Pacific University and Dr. Emerson Powery from Messiah College.

“As an ecumenical evangelical Seminary, we are able to gather a wide array of scholars around critical issues,” says Dr. David Kersten, dean of North Park Theological Seminary. “The issue of race is complex, and unless we bring as many voices as possible together, we cannot begin to address the issue.”

The annual lectures are an important part of the experience at North Park Theological Seminary. The University’s provost Dr. Michael Emerson says that the ideas that originate in conversations like this are a necessary first step in creating change.

“Most major changes in the world—new ways of seeing, doing, and being—have originated first from seemingly obtuse ideas of academics,” Emerson says. “Those ideas eventually get translated into more applicable realms, and spread out, again through translators, to more and more people. So academics must gather to discuss the important issues of the day. It is their profession, it is their calling, and it is what society asks them to do. Done well, such lectures and gatherings can lead to real changes.”

Emerson will be an active participant in this year’s Symposium, providing a response to Powery’s paper on Friday morning of the Symposium. Emerson has done extensive research in topics of faith and race, including the publishing of Divided by Faith, a diagnosis into the prevalence of racism in today’s churches.

“Theology is fundamental to understanding ourselves as humans and how our creator conceives of the world,” Emerson says. “So to understand how we are to relate to the concept called race, we must start with theological understanding. Did God or humans create race? What does God have to say on such a topic? Are we to be color-blind, color-conscious or something else? If we fail to explore such questions theologically, we will fail to adequately answer those questions.”

This year’s Symposium begins at 7:00 pm on Thursday, September 24, concluding at 5:00 pm on Saturday, September 26. Tune in to www.covchurch.tv to view a livestream of the event. View the full event schedule here.

The Nils. W. Lund Memorial Lectureship on September 23–24 will also be available to watch live online.

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