From Thursday, July 30 to Saturday, August 1, 2009, on the campus of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL, the Center will host a conference on short-term missions entitled Being There: Short Term-Missions and Human Need led by TEDS scholar Bob Priest.  The keynote speaker is Robert Wuthnow of Princeton.  Additional speakers include Oscar Muriu of Kenya, Miriam Adeney of Seattle Pacific University, Robert Guerrero, Kara Powell, Kurt Ver Beek, and Priest. For a full list, click here.

The conference will cover a broad range of issues related to short-term missions, a field drawing increasing attention from the scholarly community.  See, for example, the recent volume on the subject edited by Dr. Priest, Effective Engagement in Short-Term Missions (William Carey, 2008).  The conference will not appeal only to professors and students, but will address the questions and needs of a wide variety of practitioners and specialists, including pastors, youth workers, lay leaders, and more.

The conference is drawing attendees from all over the country and world.  Be sure to register today.  For questions related to the travel, lodging, and scheduling, please visit the pages set up for these purposes.

The Director of the Henry Center, Doug Sweeney, has authored an important text entitled Jonathan Edwards and the Ministry of the Word (InterVarsity, July 2009). The book covers the life and Word-centered ministry of the colonial pastor-theologian, a subject area in which Sweeney has already produced numerous important works, including Volume Twenty-Three of the prestigious Yale Works of Edwards series.

The text’s 200 pages stretch over seven chapters that each address an aspect of Edwards’s biblically based ministry.  The writing style is characteristically Sweeney: clear, thick, vivid, and doxological.  Readers of all kinds–pastors, laypeople, Edwards devotees, and even the uninitiated–will benefit greatly from Sweeney’s comprehensive grasp of the Edwardsean corpus and his ability to distill that knowledge for readers.

This is historical theology for the church.  The book succeeds in repositioning Edwards as, first and foremost, a minister of the Word.  Sweeney shows that Edwards was nothing if not a pastor, a shepherd who gave the full force of his mind and heart to strengthen the faith of his people.  Sweeney does not call pastors to be just like Edwards, but he does call them to be Edwardsean–that is, to embody a rich pulpit ministry centered on the Bible that will fill ordinary Christian living with the glory and grandeur of the gospel.

This is an important book, one that promises to transform modern conceptions of the pastorate.  The text will also permanently affect one’s understanding of both Jonathan Edwards and the Christian life.  Readers can purchase Jonathan Edwards and the Ministry of the Word from InterVarsity Press or Amazon.  Blogger Justin Taylor recently posted about the text.  In addition, a diverse and distinguished group of commentators has praised the text.  Selections below:

A “masterful analysis”–Harry Stout, Yale

“Admirable” and “authoritative”–George Marsden, Notre Dame

“Nourishing and tasty”–Gerald McDermott, Roanoke College

A “blessing to pastors, preachers, and spiritual leaders”–Kenneth Minkema, Yale

A “vibrant portrayal”–Sam Storms, Brideway Church

“Accessible and accurate”–Mark Dever, Capitol Hill Baptist Church