2018 Research Institute Meeting: Baptist Identity and Public Witness
Each year, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission hosts an annual meeting of its Research Institute.
In years past, we’ve had a range of topics and presenters. From Ken Myers to Rod Dreher, to the 2017 meeting where the Nashville Statement meeting was convened and ratified, the Research Institute’s purpose is to bring together Southern Baptist thinkers from across a wide array of disciplines to think critically about issues facing Southern Baptists and evangelicals more broadly.
As the Director of the Research Institute, it is my responsibility to organize programming for the annual gathering.
This week, on October 10-11, almost three dozen scholars from Southern Baptist life will meet in Dallas, Texas (just prior to the ERLC’s National Conference) for a two-day symposium on the intersection of Baptist identity and public witness.
I’m really excited about this year’s topic and format. We will have nine plenary speakers addressing a range of topics, followed by a respondent for each paper, and then moderated discussion. Here’s what we have in store for this year’s programming.
Matt Emerson: “Is There a Baptist Contribution to Political Theology?”
Respondent: Jason Duesing
Hunter Baker: “Baptists Confronting Secularism”
Respondent: Andrew Walker
Karen Swallow Prior: “The Moral Imagination and the Future of Baptist Political Witness”
Respondent: Dan DeWitt
Matt Arbo: “Christian Ethics, Baptist Distinctives, and Political Witness”
Respondent: Evan Lenow
Luke Stamps: “A Theological Anthropology for Baptist Political Witness”
Respondent: Rhyne Putman
Katie McCoy: “Gender, Sexuality, and Family in the Context of Baptist Witness in Society”
Respondent: C. Ben Mitchell
Steven Harris: “The Black Church, Race, and Religious Freedom: A Historical Account”
Respondent: Casey Hough
Paul Miller: “On Augustinian Liberalism and Baptist Political Witness”
Respondent: John Mark Yeats
Our keynote plenary will be given by Thomas Kidd on the subject of early Baptists and their political witness in Colonial America.
I’m really grateful for each and every scholar coming to this year’s meeting, and especially to those who took time out of already-busy schedules to produce academic papers to discuss with their colleagues.
One last final note for those who may be interested in the content produced at this year’s Research Institute: My intention is to collect all of the essays and responses and put them in an edited volume to be published next year by the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. Stay tuned for more details.