IBTS Centre is a member of the Euro-Asian Accrediting Association, an organisation that was founded to help (theological) educational institutions in Eurasia reach international standards and to provide them with accreditation that is in accordance with their academic and spiritual level. For over 20 years they’ve been doing an excellent job, and there is much more to come! In March, they organised a library conference in the Ukraine for all the librarians of the participating schools. I was privileged to be present at this conference as a representative from both IBTS Centre and BETH. The two day conference took place at Kremenchuk Evangelical Seminary, located in the city of Kremenchuk,…
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Vienna and Vienna again…
In the past two weeks I have been in Vienna twice to participate in two EBF conferences. The first of these was the EBF Younger Leaders’ Programme TRANSFORM held from 15-18 March. Present were six men and five women who had been identified by their Baptist Unions or Conventions as having gifts and potential to exercise leadership in a wider setting with an international dimension. The focus of this gathering was on discipleship and I contributed around themes of: less conventional biblical images of discipleship as leadership, the communal nature of discipleship, and the practices of discipleship. Perhaps a key theme which emerged through all of this was how we deal with…
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‘Prophetic’ theological education
In a previous post I raised the question of what is the ‘theological’ in theological education? In so doing I was pointing to the CEBTS conference in 2018. Here is one example from ‘The Institute of Middle East Studies ‘of such theological work on the nature of theological education that others could learn and reflect on…Theological Education as Formation for Prophetic Ministry
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What is the ‘theological’ in theological education?
In 2018 IBTSC Amsterdam will again take the lead in arranging a meeting of the Consortium of European Baptist Theological Schools. The final dates and venue have yet to be confirmed but it is likely to happen at the end of June 2018. The theme of this conference gathering will be ‘What is the “theological” in theological education?’ This will be an invitation to think theologically about the practice. It could be argued that at times it appears that the only thing that makes theological education ‘theological’ is the content, an emphasis which may or may not be accompanied by a focus on education. The main question invites the potential…
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CEBTS Elstal
Between Wednesday 29th June and Saturday 2nd of July the bi-annual meeting of the Confederation of European Baptist Schools took place in Elstal Germany hosted by the Theologische Hochschule Elstal. The theme of this particular conference was: In which way is our Baptist Movement linked to or in tension with the Reformation in Europe in the 16th century? A number of shorter and longer papers were presented which allowed insight into the ways in which the events of the Reformation impacted various countries and contexts such as Spain and Italy and also the way in which various theological themes have been and can be interpreted. Some of these will be published…
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Thanks to Richard and Jo-Anne
Over the years IBTS in its various incarnations has benefited from the support of volunteers who in a variety of ways have contributed significantly to the institution and its students in many different ways. This year we were pleased to welcome the contribution of Richard and Jo-Ann Matiachuk from Canada. After a visit earlier in the year we were delighted when at their own expense they came back for two weeks in October/November. During this period they brought their expertise in specific areas such as the library and in editing material for a future Journal. In both areas work began that will have longer importance. In addition, however, they were quite…
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Nordenhaug at Herdenkingskerk
As mentioned in other posts, on Monday 2nd November 2015 the Nordenhaug lectures will take place. Josef Nordenhaug was between 1950 and 1960 the inspirational President of the first incarnation of this institution then located in Rüschlikon, Switzerland. These lectures are delivered in his memory. Last year we were delighted to receive this Photographic Biography of Josef Nordenhaug from his daughter Karin Nordenhaug Ciholas. For those interested in the history of European Baptist Church life and indeed the Rüschlikon Seminary this is a fascinating and informative book. Yesterday a former volunteer at Rüschlikon visiting the IBTS Centre looked through the book with great interest. This year the lectures to be delivered by Dr David…
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Update
Attached are the full details of the forthcoming Nordenhaug lectures. Please note times and change of venue. Monday 2nd November 2015 in Herdenkingskerk op de Postjesweg 150 (hoek Jan Tooropstraat), 1061 AX Amsterdam. (A one minute walk from Postjesweg Metro Station) Lectures: 10.00 am ‘Sacredness and Christian Scripture’ 11.30 am ‘Sacredness and Christian tradition’ 2.00pm ‘Sacredness and contemporary application’ (Attendance is free and each lecture will be followed by an opportunity for questions and discussion) If you plan to attend while not necessary it would be helpful if you have not already done so to contact blythe@ibts.eu in order to help with providing tea/coffee. IBTSC is is a collaborative centre within…