Nazarene Theological Seminary

The conference brought together Pauline scholars and emerging church leaders for a robust theological conversation on Paul and the Church. Nine theological educators (including several Pauline Scholars) and six missional pastors/ministry leaders made presentations, facilitated dialogues and/or led workshops and breakout sessions.  

The reason for the conference? Discussions and conversations in the emerging church tend to have an immediate affinity with the gospel narratives. There has not necessarily been a similar affinity for Paul’s writings. Many associated with emerging churches have had great difficulty in coming to terms with an extremely forensic and individually focused view of Paul—a view based mostly on particular interpretations of Romans and Galatians. In academic circles, many Pauline scholars are also reacting to this particular view of Paul based on careful historical, exegetical, and theological arguments. The resulting portrait of Paul, while still rough around the edges, is reasonably clear and easier to relate to the Jesus of the gospels. The underlying purpose of this conference was to provide resources for appropriating Paul to leaders of local churches, and at the same time provide several leading Pauline scholars with an exposure to leaders of local communities where some of their proposals about Paul are already being instinctively embodied.

Dr. Keith Schwanz, NTS Assistant Dean and Director of the NTS Center for Lifelong Learning, was pleased with the turnout as well as with the overwhelmingly positive feedback from participants.  “Several pastors at the Reclaiming Paul conference thanked NTS for providing continuing education events such as this,” shared Schwanz. “They told me that they need opportunities to participate in robust theological conversation about effective ministry in today’s changing cultural context. We’re going to keep doing this. NTS will continue to create space for conversations that spark pastoral imagination.”

Here is a sampling of some of the responses from conference participants:

David Capes, Professor, Houston Baptist University: 
"Thanks for an excellent conference. I tell my students that a good seminar is one in which the professor learns something. By that standard I would call this a good seminar. I'm hopeful we can keep this conversation going."

Tim Gaines, Assistant Director of Admissions, Nazarene Theological Seminary: 
"It was thrilling to see Nazarene Theological Seminary take a lead role in the contemporary conversation on Paul and the New Testament. The conference was a thorough example of the work being done at NTS to bring pastoral ministry into crucial conversation with theology and biblical studies."

Mark Hayse, Professor, MidAmerica Nazarene University
"I was very proud of NTS’ partnership with Emergent Village in sponsoring this time of thoughtful conversation. Both Wesleyans and the emerging church place high value on hospitable dialogue as a primary means of Christian discernment. I came away from our time together with a deeper appreciation, a broader vision, and a clearer hope for God’s movement among us."

David Young, Pastor, Clinton (IL) Church of the Nazarene
"The Reclaiming Paul conference has pushed me to once again consider the vastly diverse possibilities for Christ's Church today - a diversity which Paul's letters themselves encourage us to explore. Paul, guided by the Spirit of the risen Lord, wrestled with the story of Scripture as he tried to make sense of what God had done in Jesus Christ and what that meant for the life of the churches he pastored. We are called to do the same today."

Audio feeds of all plenary and workshop sessions will soon be available at www.reclaimingpaul.org. To learn more about upcoming continuing education events and lectures at Nazarene Theological Seminary, please visit www.nts.edu/center-for-lifelong-learning.