At the 2017 ERA annual meeting, President Steve Brown of BICS presented the idea that the major barrier to unity within the Advent Christians is “theological fragmentation.” The major proposed solution, assuming one accepts the premise, was a call for a hermeneutical reformation (a la Kaiser as exemplar) to reinvigorate and reestablish basic, core, essential principles of interpretation in hopes of gaining unity of mind together.
Read MoreIn the article, “Where Are Tomorrow’s Leaders?” published recently on the Advent Christian Voices website, and reprinted from the Advent Christian Witness, veteran Advent Christian pastor Steven Brown poses an important question. He argues that the traditional model of theological education in a seminary or divinity school no longer serves the needs of the Advent Christian Church.
Read MoreFor about one hundred years Advent Christians relied principally on two colleges to prepare church leaders.
While formal theological education was not universally valued in the churches, the schooling model was believed by many to be the primary incubator for people called to ministry. Training leaders in theological colleges (and seminaries) was entirely consistent with accepted practice in the wider North American church, reflecting an educational paradigm highly regarded in the last half of the 19th century into the present era.
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