When: June 11, 2021, 9:00 am - Friday

Where: Swang 238

Session 6

Session Abstract

It is now almost cliché to say that the gravity of the Christian faith has shifted to the global South. And yet many churches in the West are working to catch up to the reality of God’s global movements. Western higher educational institutions associated with the church have much to offer and even more to gain from partnerships with academic theological communities in the Majority World. The presentations in this session will highlight encouraging efforts that are seeking to establish more equity of resources (2 Cor 8:12–15) among Christians engaged in higher education throughout the world.

 

Paper Abstracts

Samuel Twumasi-Ankrah, Heritage Christian College, Accra, Ghana, “Why (Much of) Africa Does Not Need Any More Preaching Training Schools but rather Institutions of Higher Education”

In many places within the Churches of Christ in Africa, the “pew” appears to have outgrown the “pulpit” in relationship to levels of education. The expanding academic profile of many church members, especially those of a younger, professional demographic, poses a challenge to ministers who have been equipped by Schools of Preaching (SoPs). Generally speaking, the duration, nature, and scope of courses taught in SoPs are inadequate to respond to the contexts and challenges facing the emerging generation of African Christians and churches. As a consequence, the SoP model introduced by Western missionaries now calls for an African recalibration.

 

Daniel Salinas, Theological Education Initiative, United World Mission, Charlotte, NC, “Recruiting, Deploying, Mentoring, and Developing Missional Scholars: The Theological Education Initiative”

Access to theological education in the majority world hasn’t grown at the same pace as the church in those lands. The need for partnerships between the global south and the global north in this area are still needed. This paper will explain this situation and propose the Theological Education Initiative as a solution.

 

Melinda Thompson, Abilene Christian University, “Online Theological Higher Education, Reflections on Past Practices for Future Endeavors”

The growing number of theological institutions offering online courses for global audiences raises concerns about potential problems related to culture. Various dimensions of culture are introduced, with specific attention drawn to differences in learning styles for Western and non-Western students. These differences must be taken into consideration when teaching online, where the potential for misunderstanding is higher.  The Community of Inquiry instructional design model is suggested as a tool for culturally-sensitive online course design.

Speakers

Nathan Bills, Heritage Christian College, Accra, Ghana, Convener

• Samuel Twumasi-Ankrah, Heritage Christian College, Accra, Ghana, “Why (Much of) Africa Does Not Need Any More Preaching Training Schools but rather Institutions of Higher Education”
• Daniel Salinas, Theological Education Initiative, United World Mission, Charlotte, NC, “Recruiting, Deploying, Mentoring, and Developing Missional Scholars: The Theological Education Initiative”
• Melinda Thompson, Abilene Christian University, “Online Theological Higher Education, Reflections on Past Practices for Future Endeavors”
• Leonard Allen, Lipscomb University, Respondent

Speakers

Nathan Bills, Heritage Christian College, Convener

Joshua Fleer, Lipscomb University, co-convener

• Samuel Twumasi-Ankrah, Heritage Christian College, “Why (Much of) Africa Does Not Need Any More Preaching Training Schools but rather Institutions of Higher Education”
• Daniel Salinas, Theological Education Initiative, United World Mission, “Recruiting, Deploying, Mentoring, and Developing Missional Scholars: The Theological Education Initiative”
• Melinda (Mindi) Thompson, Abilene Christian University, “Online Theological Higher Education: Reflections on Past Practices for Future Endeavors”
• C. Leonard Allen, Lipscomb University, Respondent