Karam Forum is coming up this Janurary 3-4. We’ll be looking at the big picture of what God is doing, and how God’s people can be part of it through the way we live and work. Rooms are now available at the gorgeous Warwick Melrose Hotel in Dallas. Our special room rate for the conference is $129, so reserve your room today before the supply runs out. And, of course, don’t forget to register for the event!
At Karam Forum each year, we gather theological educators to think together about the deep patterns we see in God’s word, and the deep patterns we see in God’s world. Drawing these great “two books of revelation” together is at the heart of theological education, so we can help people live in God’s world in a way that is formed by God’s word. And the key intersection that brings these things together is our vocation – our divine calling to “make something of the world,” as Andy Crouch puts it.
This year, David Miller will open our time together with a report from the field on what’s going on in the faith and work movement. We’re looking forward to thought-provoking reflections on what people need from theological education to meet the developing challenges and opportunities that this movement is uncovering. Fernando Tamara will reflect on how the faith and work connection is emerging in local churches – God’s Plan A for equipping his people – and Helen Kim will reflect on faith and work for the rising generation, whose experiences are so different from those that formed most of us in theological education.
Miroslav Volf will round out our first day together by considering how Christians can find a constructive role in a pluralistic world. How do we carry out our daily callings in spaces we share with those of other beliefs, without compromising the truth we know we have received? And how do we help resist the tendency of pluralistic societies to sink to the “lowest common denominator” of individualistic comfort and complacency, without losing a genuine concern for the unique value and rights of every individual? Volf is, of course, well known for never saying anything at all provocative or controversial, so we’ve asked Vincent Bacote, Darrell Bock and Gerry Breshears to offer their reflections and hopefully stir up some more lively discussion.
Movement leader Mark Greene will close our second day together, sharing his experiences of seeing the whole-life discipleship insight bursting out in churches around the world. Greene continues to be one of the global movement’s most sought-after voices. At last month’s Faith at Work Summit in Chicago, Greene brought encouraging reports of great things God is doing in many places. At the triennial meeting of the International Council of Evangelical Theological Education in Panama City, he held up the special and indispensable calling of scholars and educators as part of this new thing God is doing in our midst. At Karam Forum in Dallas, we look forward to hearing a new word from him on how the movement and the seminaries can collaborate to serve God’s people and world.
In between, of course, we’ll have the catalytic TED-style talks you know and love, plus a very exciting interdisciplinary panel of pastors, theological educators and economists on how key theological commitments can inform economic systems.
Register today to join us for Karam Forum 2019!
