Yale, Fuller professors among presenters
Clergy in the most remote corners of the world will have access to several of the current leaders in preaching and theology, thanks to a live broadcast and Web-streaming initiative of the Seventh-day Adventist world church, organizers said.
This year's annual Ministry professional growth seminar, an enrichment program for pastors, organized by the Ministerial Association of the Adventist Church, features prominent Christian thinkers from around the world, said Anthony Kent, director of professional growth seminars for the department.
The presenters are Miroslav Volf, Yale Divinity professor and author of "Free of Change: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace;" Marguerite Shuster, professor of preaching and theology at Fuller Theological Seminary; Roy Adams, associate editor for the Adventist Review and Adventist World magazines; and Lawrence Geraty, former president of Adventist-owned La Sierra University.
The growth seminar will be held April 20 in Pasadena, California, near the campus of the Fuller Theological Seminary.
While people are invited to attend the seminar in person, the majority of clergy watch the seminar via Internet streaming, on the Adventist Church's Hope Channel or on DVD, Kent said. He estimates that about 25,000 people watch each seminar.
"Pastors in their offices [with] a reasonable Internet connection ... can pick it up," Kent said. "The intent of it is that we can present these seminars for clergy of all denominations."
This year the seminar will include a tribute to former Ministerial Secretary James A. Cress, who died late last year. Cress was involved in all the previous seminars, Kent said, and this year will be the first without him present.
Some previous locations for the Ministry Professional Growth Seminars included the campuses of Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, Tennessee, Walla Walla University, in College Place, Washington and the city of Cambridge, England.
For more information, visit preach.ministerialassociation.com.
