Renew and Reconnect at Acton University

This year’s Acton University (AU) conference on theology, economics, and the good society promises to be the biggest and best yet. The conference, to be held June 18-21, will feature new speakers, fresh opportunities to develop the ON mission, and more Kern Fellows than ever before representing evangelical seminaries from across the nation.

The Kern Fellows program pays all expenses to attend the conference, and provides additional benefits for faculty and administrators at evangelical seminaries. You can learn more or sign up to attend the conference here.

There’s good news for both new and returning Kern Fellows this year. Newcomers can maximize their selection of on-site classes by viewing ahead of time the four “foundation” lectures (the required first step at AU) online. Returning attendees will be glad to hear that the Kern Fellows program no longer includes an extra half-day at the end of the conference; those activities have been integrated into the conference schedule.

As in previous years, the Oikonomia Network will gather during the conference to make the most valuable use of our time. We will facilitate special workshops for faculty at seminaries with ON grants to help you strengthen your programs. And our national faculty leaders will meet to continue stewarding the mission of the network as a whole, working on issues like goals and assessment.

Several nationally renowned speakers will be teaching at AU for the first time this year, including:

  • J. Budziszewski, author of “What We Can’t Not Know” and “The Line through the Heart”
  • Brian Fikkert, coauthor of “When Helping Hurts”
  • P.J. Hill, author of “The Not So Wild, Wild West”

That’s on top of returning favorites, including:

  • Anthony Bradley, author of “Liberating Black Theology”
  • Peter Greer, author of “The Poor Will Be Glad”
  • Brad Wilcox, National Marriage Project

What’s more, the Kern Fellows program continues to add speakers and attendees to AU. This year, Kern Fellows Vincent Bacote (Wheaton College), Chad Brand (Southern Baptist Seminary), and Joe Wooddell (Criswell College) step into teaching roles at AU. They’ll be joined by returning Kern Fellow teachers David Baker, Victor Claar, Greg Forster, Scott Rae, Dan Scott, Charlie Self, Amy Sherman, and Kent Wilson.

A total of 150 Kern Fellows will attend the conference this year, up from 100 last year. This diverse mix of evangelical theological educators will grow the program’s networking opportunities (always a popular aspect of Acton University). Also enhancing your networking opportunities is the growth of the overall conference, with an anticipated 850 attendees.

For more information about AU, click here.