The Missionary Church in the Acts of the Apostles

Call for papers for Conference on “The Missionary Church in the Acts of the Apostles”
Paper proposals are invited for a conference planned for 18-20 May 2009 at the Faculty of Theology, Stellenbosch, on the theme “The Missionary Church in the Acts of the Apostles”. The conference aims to bring together a variety of different emphases on the theme, and wants to stimulate open, frank and informed academic and theological discussion, in particular also between academic scholars and ministers of religion, between the academy and the church, between biblical and theological studies and communities of faith. The conference will consist of plenary sessions, parallel slots and will also allow ample time for discussion. Two keynote speakers, Prof Beverley Gaventa (Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton NJ) and Prof Scot McKnight (North Park University, Chicago IL), have already confirmed their participation in the conference.

Being a deliberately broad conference theme, it is part of a project intended to run over a number of years. Working groups engaging with specific themes will provide continuity over the longer term. As an additional invitation to the call for papers, anyone interested in these particular themes is therefore encouraged to join and participate in the appropriate group’s activities at any time. The themes, with an initial few indications of possible topics related to each theme, are as follows:
•“Congregation” in Acts (with topics like “pictures” of the communities; redactional remarks found in Acts; speeches; events; turning points; guidance of the Holy Spirit; organising and organisation; healthy congregations; etc)
•Church unity and –diversity in Acts (inclusivity and multiculturality; diversity; etc)
•Missionary plan and strategy in Acts (with emphasis on the notion of “sending”; Paul’s strategy, plan and intention; Acts as “founding document” for the “mission”; “challenge and change”; etc)
•Leadership in Acts (with forms such as e.g. apostolate; discipleship)
•Salvation and conversion, and identity in Acts (focusing on identity; conversion; transformation; baptism; ethics; etc)
•Empire and economic justice in Acts (including issues such as contextualisation; empire and ideology; socio-cultural conventions; relationship to culture broadly; faith in post-/contra-cultural setup; etc)
•Acts of the Living God in Acts (with reference to topics such as Missio Dei; gospel, etc in Acts)

Paper proposals for the conference that interact with any of the above seven themes are particularly encouraged – especially since some of the discussion time at the conference will be set aside for these groups to work on their specific themes. If you are interested to cooperate within a group as well, please indicate your preference in this regard.

The organising committee anticipates that the presentations of this and future conferences will be submitted as publications, serving two goals: disseminating the results of the project in the academic sphere, as well as in a more modular format for use in communities of faith or churches.

The conference is part of a larger project initiated as a joint venture between Stellenbosch University’s Faculty of Theology, BUVTON (Bureau for Continuing Theological Education), and Communitas (a ministerial network of the DRC and the URC) – but none of the events are denominationally determined and are therefore open to all interested parties.

If you are interested in presenting a paper at the conference, kindly submit a title and abstract to the Jeremy Punt (jpunt@sun.ac.za) by 27 February 2009 – applicants will be informed by eMail by 13 March 2009 whether their proposals were accepted.
Enquiries can be directed to, and further information is available Jeremy Punt.

Organising committee:
Coenie W Burger
Johann du Plessis
Eddie Orsmond
Jeremy Punt