Theology On Mission

What is so controversial about saying Scripture interpretation is shaped by your social location? Fitch & Moore take up a debate about the place of social location in doing faithful and contextual biblical study. Here are the articles mentioned: https://www.9marks.org/article/editors-note-defending-sound-doctrine-against-the-deconstruction-of-american-evangelicalism/ https://michaelfbird.substack.com/p/some-parts-of-evangelicalism-do-not Come explore Northern's Master's in Theology & Mission, or Doctorate in Contextual Theology alongside Fitch, Nijay Gupta, Beth Jones, Lynn Cohick and visiting professors like Greg Boyd, Drew Hart, Michael Gorman and more.

This coming June 9-10, 2022, we are welcoming Dr. Rev. Willie Jennings to deliver our annual lectures. Follow this link to register in person or Livestream: https://www.seminary.edu/jennings/

It is the leader who submits. The word submission has been used and misused by leaders to underwrite abuse and coercion in the church. In this episode Fitch and Moore propose that it is the leader who submits! They explore biblical texts like Mark 10:42-45, Romans 12:3-8, Ephesians 5:21, and Hebrews 13 to explore how the act of submission by leaders is the way the Spirit leads a church into discernment. Come explore Northern's Master's in Theology & Mission, or Doctorate in Contextual Theology alongside Fitch, Nijay Gupta, Beth Jones, Lynn Cohick and visiting professors like Greg Boyd, Drew Hart, Michael Gorman and more.

Fitch and Moore explore three ways that Jesus gets de-centered from the work of justice. There is a temptation to make justice separate from the church, so how do we recover the centrality of Jesus for the work of justice? Come explore Northern's Master's in Theology & Mission, or Doctorate in Contextual Theology alongside Fitch, Nijay Gupta, Beth Jones, Lynn Cohick and visiting professors like Greg Boyd, Drew Hart, Michael Gorman and more. www.seminary.edu

Fitch & Moore discuss how social spaces are an integral component of ecclesiology. In these social spaces there are places for conversation, this is where discipleship and mission occurs. Specifically they focus on the gathering in the house and the movements of conversation that occur in that social space. Here is the outline for the practice of conversation in the church, drawing from 1 Cor. 14 1) Invocation 2) Listening 3) Discerning 4) Prayer Come explore Northern's Master's in Theology & Mission, or Doctorate in Contextual Theology alongside Fitch, Nijay Gupta, Beth Jones, Lynn Cohick and visiting professors like Greg Boyd, Drew Hart, Michael Gorman and more.

This is the second lecture from the Brady Theology & Mission Lecture with Dr. Michael Gorman. If you would like a copy of the presentation that follows this presentation email Mike at mdmoore@seminary.edu Come explore Northern's Master's in Theology & Mission, or Doctorate in Contextual Theology alongside Fitch, Nijay Gupta, Beth Jones, Lynn Cohick and visiting professors like Greg Boyd, Drew Hart, Michael Gorman and more.

Welcome to season 7! This episode is the first lecture from the Brady Theology & Mission Lecture with Dr. Michael Gorman. If you would like a copy of the presentation that follows this presentation email Mike at mdmoore@seminary.edu Come explore Northern's Master's in Theology & Mission, or Doctorate in Contextual Theology alongside Fitch, Nijay Gupta, Beth Jones, and visiting professors like Greg Boyd, Drew Hart, Michael Gorman and more.

Beth Felker Jones joins us again to discuss a recent article from Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon on pastoral care. What is the role of pastoral care in the life of ministry and how do we attend to suffering in the church? Here is the article by Hauerwas and Willimon: https://tinyurl.com/u45rfc2w Come explore Northern's Master's in Theology & Mission, or Doctorate in Contextual Theology alongside Fitch, Nijay Gupta, Beth Felker Jones, Greg Boyd, Drew Hart, Michael Gorman and more. www.seminary.edu/TMapply

Fitch & Moore sit down with Beth Felker Jones, Professor of Theology at Northern Seminary. They discuss the shifts in contemporary theology and the state of theology in the American church. Apply to Northern today! www.seminary.edu/TMapply Come explore Northern's Master's in Theology & Mission, or Doctorate in Contextual Theology alongside Fitch, Nijay Gupta, Beth Jones, Greg Boyd, Drew Hart, Michael Gorman and more.

www.seminary.edu/TMapply Michael Gorman will be delivering IN PERSON the Theology & Mission Lectures at Northern Seminary on September 23 & 24th. Register here: https://www.seminary.edu/michael_gorman/ There is a livestream option. In this episode Dave and Mike sit down with Michael Gorman to talk about mission, the book of John and his new book, "Abide & Go: Missional Theosis in the Gospel of John." Michael Gorman is the Raymond E. Brown Professor of Biblical Studies and Theology at St. Mary's Seminary and University.

www.seminary.edu/TMapply There is a mass exodus of Christians under the age of 40 out of evangelicalism. What will become of those who stay? What kind of leader will emerge after processing and deconstructing the beliefs and practices of evangelicalism? In this podcast Fitch and Moore propose what qualities and virtues are needed in this new kind of leadership. *Figure 7 of this report finds that 7% of 18-29 identify as White Evangelical Protestant. According to this report White Evangelical Protestant has the oldest median age (56), suggesting a widening gap in generational practices. https://www.prri.org/research/2020-census-of-american-religion/ **Check out our Brady Lectures with Michael Gorman: https://www.seminary.edu/brady_gorman/ Come explore Northern's Master's in Theology & Mission, or Doctorate in Contextual Theology alongside Fitch, Nijay Gupta, Beth Jones, Greg Boyd, Drew Hart, Michael Gorman and more.

www.seminary.edu/TMapply Fitch and Moore sit down to talk about the new book, "What is the Church and Why Does it Exist?" This podcast is brought to you in partnership with Seminary Now, a new streaming video platform with short courses from leading professors and authors like David Fitch, Scot McKnight, Brenda Salter McNeil, Greg Boyd, Tish Harrison Warren, Esau McCaulley, and many more. Subscribe to access all the courses for only $20/month–or get Seminary Now for your whole church. Theology on Mission podcast listeners can get 30% off an individual subscription with discount code TM30. Check it out today. Check out Fitch's book here: https://www.amazon.com/What-Church-Does-Exist-Jesus/dp/1513805703

Fitch & Moore unpack the 5 top issues for church leaders to navigate as we come out of COVID. 1) People's broken relationship-spaces for relational connection 2) People's deconstructing their faith--spaces for deconstruction 3) People's anger/rage at various coercions/abuse--spaces for lament 4) People's fatigue from drudgery--spaces for celebration of God's power and hope for a future 5) People's grief over losses of friends, family, security--spaces for grieving and comfort As opposed to ramping up services...focus on developing social spaces! Come explore Northern's Master's in Theology & Mission alongside Fitch, Nijay Gupta, Beth Jones, Greg Boyd, and next years visiting professor Drew Hart and Brady Lecturer Willie Jennings. Apply here: https://www.seminary.edu/apply/

Fitch and Moore sit down with Andrew Draper to discuss his superb work "A Theology of Race and Place: Liberation and Reconciliation in the Works of Jennings and Carter." Dr. Andrew Draper is a pastor in Muncie, Indiana and has written extensively on black theology, ethics, and the church. In this episode Andrew shares his expert insight into the work of Jennings and Carter and the implications it has for the church. Below are a few links that introduce you to the work of Willie Jennings, J. Kameron Carter, and our new friend, Andrew Draper. Andrew's book: https://www.amazon.com/Theology-Race-Place-Liberation-Reconciliation/dp/149828082X Andrew's recent lecture at Fuller: https://fullerstudio.fuller.edu/the-end-of-mission-christian-witness-and-the-decentering-of-whiteness-andrew-t-draper/ An important article to understanding the work of Wille Jennings (Fitch references this) https://divinity.duke.edu/sites/divinity.duke.edu/files/DukeDivinityMag_Spring15.WEB_.compressed.pdf Audio with J. Kameron Cart

Here is the audio from our recent webinar. We hope to be back in the studio soon! Check out our Master's in Theology & Mission with classes taught by Dave Fitch, Greg Boyd, Nijay Gupta, Beth Jones. Past visiting professors and lecturers have included Stanley Hauerwas, Michael Gorman, Fleming Rutledge, Reggie Williams, Soong Chan Rah, and Kyuboem Lee. https://www.seminary.edu/programs/theologyandmission/

Fitch & Mike sit down with Dr. Drew Hart, professor at Messiah University to discuss his new book, "Who Will Be My Witness?"

How does a local church discern through disagreements? How do we decided what "issues" are essential? Here are the steps proposed in this episode, following the apostles work in Acts 15 1) The apostles and elders (leaders) met to consider the question (v6) 2) They observed what the Holy Spirit was doing (v8-9, 12) 3) A whole community listened and discerned (v12) They wokred with the leaders (v22). There was mutality of listening, consensus, etc. 4) Scripture was carefully considered...drawing its past meaning into the present (v15-19) 5) They wrote down their discernment in a letter "it seems good to the Holy Spirit and to us...." (v26) Lastly, check out our Church Planting Webinar in a few weeks with Hugh Halter: https://www.seminary.edu/churchplantingwebinar_mission/

What would it look like for us to focus our ministry on increasing density, rather than increasing numbers? Listen to find out!

This bonus episode is the audio from our webinar with Hugh Halter on church planting. Our conversation kicks off the introduction of the Church Planting Institute at Northern Seminary. Check us out at churchpi.com

How do we respond to a post-Trump presidency? Fitch suggests a few different approaches drawing on authors who write about post-Nazi Germany and Ta Nehisi Coates. To be clear, we aren't accusing those who voted for Trump of being Nazi’s! We are offering perspectives (some from post Nazi Germany) for those of us who can’t relate or find it difficult to engage the 74 million who did vote for Trump.