The friendship between Rosa Hunt and Jamie Washam started when they shared quarters in Prague while doing PhD research at IBTS. The connection endured, and this month led to them co-writing a special transatlantic service for Remembrance Sunday for Radio 4 on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. The service is available online here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0011k1f where it will remain for one month.    

Congratulations to Lina Toth on the launch of her new book, Singleness and Marriage after Christendom Momentous change is taking place in Western societies and churches. Singleness is on the rise, along with growing interest in different pathways to human happiness. However, we still largely consider coupledom as the norm and a symbol of the good life. This is especially true in the Christian context, where the decline of “traditional” marriage and family patterns is often presented as an erosion of the Christian way of living. Yet when the church was very young, the world was also very concerned with the demise of traditional family ways–but the culprits accused of…

It is with sadness that we record the death of Anthony Cross.  In 2016 Anthony joined our adjunct faculty as PhD supervisor for a number of IBTS students. A well known Baptist historian, Anthony published a wide range of books, book chapters and articles, and he lectured in Britain, Western and Eastern Europe, North America and Asia. A list of some of his extensive publications and biographical information is available here on our website. His contribution in the field of Baptist studies and the success of the students he supervised and supported over many years stand as testament to his dedication to his calling and his remarkable work ethic. Andy…

IBTS is delighted to be able to congratulate Elie Haddad on the successful defence of his PhD thesis at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Elie is well known throughout the European Baptist Federation (EBF) and serves as the President of the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary (ABTS) in Lebanon. Elie’s thesis was entitled ‘Developing a Missional Ecclesiology for the Local Baptist Church in Lebanon’ and provided an assessment of how the Lebanese crises of the last ten years, as well as theological education, have helped shape the Lebanese Baptist Church. Elie said, “My ultimate passion is to witness a Lebanese Baptist Church with an effective missional witness among its neighbors. Consequently, the…

Every tradition is involved in an interpretative process, a continuing learning-and-teaching event. The latest issue of the Journal of European Baptist Studies (no. 1, 2021) demonstrates this from different angles. This recent publication includes Ryan Newson’s article, titled ‘Inhabiting the City: Envisioning Baptist Ways of Doing Theology amidst Pluralism’. The article is inspired by James Wm McClendon, and argues for Christologically oriented vision ‘that can help guide people, Christian and otherwise, into an uncertain future’. Newson is convinced that Baptist theology is best done in the city, ‘emerging out of the social world’. This issue brings under its ‘topical umbrella’ theological, educational and historical themes, ranging from teaching preaching to…

European school seeks to bolster Baptist scholarship and mission While serving as a Baptist pastor in Kentucky, Erica Whitaker is working toward a Ph.D. at a prestigious European university. Her academic pursuit, however, is more than a distance learning endeavor with a public research university in the Netherlands. Her studies are wed to a respected European Baptist institution and a well-regarded Baptist professor from the United States. The report can be read in full at: European school seeks to bolster Baptist scholarship and mission – Baptist News Global It features Erica, Mike Pears, David Gushee and Matt Norman and the work of IBTS.

The IBTS conference ‘Dimensions of Baptist Identity’ took place on 23-24 April 2021 on Zoom. Even if a new experience for some, the electronic environment offered a space for enriching discussions and gave a glimpse of the broad spectrum of the issue that the conference explored. No doubt, being in the same room physically is preferable for exchanging ideas and building academic relationships; nevertheless, the electronic conference offers its own benefits, making it easier to ‘travel’ geographically and timewise. This conference brought together people from different continents and countries and ‘accommodated’ about fifty participants and guests for the first session. There were thirteen presentations altogether in four main sessions and…

Cristina Arcidiacono is a Baptist theologian and pastor in Milan, Italy, and a member of the Board of IBTS Amsterdam. At a recent IBTS Board Meeting she shared this profound spiritual reflection on a year of the pandemic: Dear Sisters and Brothers, What I share with you today is a version of a reflection, which I recently offered to the weekly magazine of evangelical churches in Italy, by the title Riforma. Reflecting on the predicament of churches in the current pandemic, it occurred to me that our being together in this particular time is a new way of embodying church, and in a broader sense, an opportunity of deepening our vocation to…