Resurrecting Church
Re-imagine • Re-ignite • Re-engage
The theme for our 2011 Alliance of Baptist Convocation is drawn from the final verse of one of my favorite hymns, IN THE MIDST OF NEW DIMENSIONS, by Julian Rush, sings “Should the threats of dire predictions cause us to withdraw in pain, may your blazing phoenix spirit resurrect the church again.”
When we gather in Louisville, we will do so with our cups overflowing in Easter joy. I can’t think of a better time than the hopeful and life-full season of Resurrection to reflect and dream new dreams about our work in the church. So often we who serve and strive to be the Body of Christ in the world feel under threat, timid and just plain old tired from, struggling from decreasing funds, lack of human capacities, or a sense of diminished meaning and relevancy. Our 2011 Convocation will seek to inspire a renewed sense of hope and promise and possibility for a RESURRECTED CHURCH.
Through outstanding plenary worship leaders and experiences, informative workshops, and budding Community gatherings we will trace together the lines by which God’s blazing phoenix spirit may RESURRECT our churches and nudge us, who love and care for the Church, to life again. We will focus with great intensity on three important markings of a vital, progressive Christianity: Re-imaging compelling Christian theology that grounds our work and witness; Re-igniting meaningful Christian practices that lead us into a deepened experience of God; and Re-engaging courageous Christian love for the world through ministries of justice and witness. In short, we are being called as Alliance of Baptists to be a generous, life-giving people who know how to PRACTICE RESURRECTION amidst so much despair, dis-ease, death and discrimination.
