Spring 2012 Pastors' Forums

The Predictability and Surprises of Ministry

Pastors' Forums provide pastors with an opportunity to be enriched, encouraged, and challenged on a wide variety of topics relevant to ministry by various speakers.  These one-day seminars occur throughout the spring and fall semesters at Gordon-Conwell and are open not only to pastors, but to anyone interested in the topics being presented. 

The Spring 2012 series have been completed, but stay tuned for updates on our Fall 2012 Pastors' Forum series!

David Gill  |  John Yates  |  Cornelius Plantinga

Schedule  |   Seminar Details   |   Registration   |   Audio Recordings  |   Video

February 8, 2012 "The Surprising Workings of God" with John Yates

God is at work whether we understand what He is doing or not.  His intention is to keep teaching us fresh lessons, as he surprises us with deeper insights in things we thought we already understood, but then realize how little we actually do know.  We can be so wrong or partially wrong, yet God continues to work. Knowing this and being able to trust God regardless of how things seem is essential if we are to maintain peace and confidence in the ministry. In this seminar, John Yates and his wife, Susan, will lead us to look at varied, practical examples of how this works.

Sessions Include:

• The Surprising Ways God Works
• Surprised in Prayer
• Surprised at Home
• Surprised about the Purpose of Ministry

John Yates has been the Rector of The Falls Church in Falls Church, Virginia, since 1979. He has been an instrumental figure in the Anglican renewal movement in the USA over the last several decades. Dr. Yates attended UNC Chapel Hill, studied at Princeton Theological Seminary (M.Div.) and Fuller Theological Seminary (D.Min.). His work over the years with Christian young people and families has especially equipped him as a spokesman on family life. He and his wife are deeply involved in the Little Rock, Arkansas-based ministry, Family Life, and speak regularly at Weekend to Remember conferences around the country.

The Falls Church was established by English settlers as an Anglican church, and its leaders were instrumental in the development of the Protestant Episcopal Church (USA) in the late 1700s. In 2006, church members voted to leave the Episcopal Church and have been deeply involved in the establishment of the Anglican Church of North America. The church of 3,500 active members is well known for training young pastors, planting churches, biblical preaching, a strong focus on family life, vibrant worship and outstanding youth ministry.

Dr. Yates is married to Susan Alexander Yates. They have five adult children and 21 grandchildren. Susan is well known for her many books on family life and as a speaker and teacher. John has written a number of books as well.

For more on The Falls Church and Dr. Yates, please click here.

March 7, 2012 "Reading for Preaching" with Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.

Reading deepens the preacher's knowledge of human cries from the heart.  In fact, the preacher's reading deepens preaching because it deepens the preacher.  The preacher who presumes to speak for God, or even for the church, has to struggle everyday to understand the human situation, the grace of God and the surprises that gather at their intersection.  To do so faithfully, most preachers will need the kind of vicarious experience that arises from immersion in well-chosen literature.  This seminar will explore some of the sources, methods and homiletical impact of imaginative reading for creative preaching.

Sessions Include:

• Reading for Preaching: The Preacher in Conversation with Storytellers, Biographers, Poets and Journalists
• Sermon Illustrations from Attentive Reading
• Whatever You Get, Get Wisdom
• Getting Wisdom on Sin and Grace

Cornelius Plantinga, Jr. studied at Calvin College (A.B.), Yale University, Calvin Theological Seminary (B.D.), and Princeton Theological Seminary (Ph.D.).   He was ordained in the Christian Reformed Church in North America in 1971 and pastored at Webster (NY) Christian Reformed Church. Dr. Plantinga was Professor of Systematic Theology at Calvin Theological Seminary, served as the first Dean of the Chapel at Calvin College, and later the sixth President of Calvin Seminary.

Dr. Plantinga now devotes his time to speaking, preaching and writing. He has authored a number of books and published more than 230 articles and essays in numerous publications. His book on sin, Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be, won the 1996 Christianity Today Book of the Year award.  Engaging God’s World: A Christian View of Faith, Learning, and Living won the same award in the category of Christian Living in 2003. He is a former editor of the Calvin Theological Journal, and is now a member of the Board of Editors of Books & Culture and of the Editorial and Advisory Council of First Things.

Dr. Plantinga and his wife, Kathleen, have two sons,  Nathan, a Grand Rapids attorney, and Adam, a San Francisco police officer.

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March 22, 2012 "What Happens Between Sundays?" with David Gill

Jesus is the Lord of life. This means that he is the Lord not only over church life, family life, spiritual life and after life, but of the work life . This seminar will provide six specific strategies to support, encourage, motivate, challenge, guide, involve and learn from the members of your congregation who enter into the business world and other places of work Monday through Saturday.

Sessions Include:

• Life from Sunday to Sunday
• Church in Service of Life
• Knowing Those You Serve
• Making a Covenant with the People of Your Church

David Gill is the Mockler-Phillips Professor of Workplace Theology and Business Ethics and the Director of the Mockler Center for Faith and Ethics in the Workplace at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Dr. Gill studied at University of California, Berkeley (B.A.), San Francisco State University (M.A.) and University of Southern California (Ph.D.). He has taught ethics at St. Mary’s College, Seattle Pacific University, North Park University, Regent College and Fuller Seminary. He was ordained at Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland CA.

In 1977, Dr. Gill founded New College Berkeley, an innovative graduate school of theology and ethics for laypeople, where he served for14 years in various roles. He also co-founded and co-directed the Institute for Business, Technology and Ethics in Seattle, WA. Dr. Gill is Principal of EthixBiz.com, an organizational ethics consulting business. He is the Founding President of the International Jacques Ellul Society and has spent significant time doing research in Bordeaux, France. He is the author of seven books and more than 200 articles, reviews and interviews.

Dr. Gill’s vocational mission has two foci: “understanding and promoting the values and ethics of Jesus Christ in the life and work of the Christian community” and “building ethically healthy organizations in a complex, diverse, global marketplace.”

He and his wife, Lucia, have two children and six grandchildren. Dr. Gill enjoys going to the gym, listening to jazz, cycling, dancing and traveling with his wife.

For more on Dr. Gill, please click here.

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Schedule

Each seminar typically adheres to the following schedule:

Please note that this is a general schedule and may change for each particular event for various reasons.  To confirm schedule details, please call the Ockenga Institute at 800.294.2774.

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Seminar Details

Cost:
The cost per individual seminar is $45 (spouses may attend for an additional $25). This cost includes seminar registration, handouts and lunch. Special rates are available for groups of four or more participants. The group rate is $35 per person per seminar. The deadline for group registrations is one week prior to each seminar. A registration form must be completed for each person and submitted together to receive the group rate.

Time and Location:
The seminars typically run from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with registration opening at 9:00 a.m. Registration is held in the Kaiser Chapel Lobby. The seminars are held in the Academic Center and Kaiser Chapel of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, MA.

Confirmation and Cancellations:
You may consider your cancelled check or credit card statement to be confirmation of your registration. Event tickets will not be mailed. Online registrations will receive an email confirmation. Cancellations must be received 5 business days prior to the event to receive a full refund. Cancellations made within five business days of the seminar will be refunded, less a $20 processing fee. Day-of cancellations will not be refunded.

Directions
Take Rte. 128 North (toward Gloucester) to Exit 17 (Grapevine Road). Turn left off of the exit ramp and continue past Gordon College. Take your first right onto Rte. 22 (Rubbly Road). Turn left at the first stop sign (Essex Street). The entrance to Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary will be 200 yards ahead on the right. Follow the “Ockenga Institute” signs.

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Registration

There are a variety of ways to register. 

1. Register online by clicking here
2. Register by phone by calling 800.294.2774
3. Register by faxing in a registration form to 978.646.4565
4. Register by mailing in a registration form with payment included (checks made out to "GCTS") to:

The Ockenga Institute, GCTS
130 Essex Street
S. Hamilton, MA 01982

Audio Recordings

All Pastors' Forums are recorded as a Builders Series.  These may be purchased at our online store or by calling us at 800.294.2774. 

Video Recordings

The following videos were taken at a Pastors' Forum with Michael Horton held at the Hamilton campus of Gordon-Conwell.  In this forum, Dr. Horton challenges, equips and encourages pastors in their God-given and God-ordained mission and methods.  He does this by examining four coordinates: where ministers are, what they have received, how they are to deliver that message and how they should rest while conducting their important ministry.

Session I - Called to Inhabit: The Minister's Location

Session II: Called to Receive: The Minister's Message

Session III: Called to Deliver: The Minister's Media

Session IV: Called to Rest: The Minister's Strength

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