Western Fellowship of Professors and Scholars 2008

Western Fellowship of Professors and Scholars

In Manhattan KS, October 3-4, the third annual theology conference was held. Dr. Mark Alterman, back from his sabbatical in Europe, led the program, although others accomplished the groundwork for the program this year. Dr. Alterman saw a similar program in St. Louis several years ago and encouraged others to consider doing a similar project at Manhattan Christian College.

This year the program enjoyed the facilities of Kansas State University. Excellent meals were served by the KSU kitchen and a comfortable room provided the backdrop for the presentation of several different papers.

A young scholar, Derek Maris, for the second year in a row, set the stage by presenting new ideas from Ray Anderson. Derek acknowledged that what he was doing was a work in process, but he wanted to bounce his ideas off others. Feedback lasted for 20 minutes.

Following Derek came Russ Dudrey from York, Nebraska. Russ always presents outstanding scholarship and dealt with the issue of interpreting the use of the Old Testament in the New Testament.

An Anglican priest, Andrew Grosso presented a paper on the situation of the Anglican Church today. My personal observation about Andrew indicated that he is very close to the Christian church position on the Bible, baptism, and the Lord's Supper. He personally believed in adult baptism and high respect for the Lord's Supper. It will be interesting to see what this man will do in the future.

A missionary to India, Lowell Bliss, dealt with the issue of global warming and its impact on missions. He belongs to the school that believes the latest trends on global warming as held by Al Gore and the Hollywood crowd. I personally was turned off by his rhetoric in that regard. But his greater concern caught my interest. Rather than trying to find someone to blame for global warming, he instead suggested that the church needs to be a significant part in helping people in the world deal with the problem. For example vast areas of Bangladesh are less the five meters above sea level. That means that whenever a typhoon hits the entire area is flooded and again when the rivers flood, the entire area is flooded. These are annual events and refugees from the area are trying to find a place to live. Not easy, because India does not want the refugees. Bliss reminded me of the Church Growth principle that says, "Areas that will be open to the gospel are areas that are going through change, whatever the cause." Certainly flooding and relocation are causes for change.

The program will be again next year at about the same time. It is possible that we will be able to meet in the newly refurbished Joliffe Hall on the MCC campus. Anyone interested in presenting a paper should contact Dr. Mark Alterman at alterman@mccks.edu.