by TrudyU » Mon Jul 01, 2013 9:32 am
Ed: Lamar, I am sorry, I missed the Hesters but with the layout of the conference center in Greensboro it was easy to miss some one who you know only by name, I do know Aaron Weaver, but if he was there I missed him also.
One of the delights of he event was the Boxes and boxes and more of Krispy Kream Donuts available in the Gathering Place
We had missed Joe and Carolyn Crumple, and then Friday morning at the business Meeting, It was announced that at that very hour Carolyn who is often known as "Mrs. CBF" was undergoing triple bypass surgery. And Prayer was offered. Later in the Trudy spoke with our mutual friend from Cincinnati Jane Tooten who said the surgery has turned out to be a quadruple bypass but had gone well and Joe reported that Carolyn was resting comfortably.
Blake should have been in Bill Leonard's Breakout session, titled "Take Me to the Water". The program description says "Revisit the history of Baptist approaches to believer's baptism and its implications for baptismal policies in contemporary churches. Explore questions of baptismal requirements for children and adults and the issue of immersion of persons from other Christian traditions." Not surprisingly the conversation drifted into the area of Communion also.
Dr. Leonard's primary focus was on the word "believer's" as a requirement for both baptism and for church membership.
The only surprise for me was when one of the audience explained how in their church, often parents act as the officiant in the baptism of their own children and Dr. L said while he appreciates the sentiment, he is not comfortable with that practice. He went onto say that his discomfort comes from at least two directions first that he feel this practice can confuse roles when the "parent" suddenly becomes brother or sister rather than mother or father. And that he believes it conflicts with the opportunity for the baptismal experience to reinforce the authoritative role of the gathered community. (Note my lack of quotation marks,
I have presented what I understood him to be saying)
The other session I attended on Friday was by Bill's friend Dr. Frank Tupper. His topic was "Learning to read read the gospels ...again " this program Description reads " The story of Jesus in the Gospels is central to Christian Faith, but a literal reading is often problematic. Learning to read with the second naivete' provides a non literal but faithful approach to the different presentations of the Jesus story in the Gospels. The Gospels will come alive as you discover tips for reading and re-reading the holiness of the Bible."
I had previously read Tupper and had heard a number of discussions about his teaching, so I thought it was time to hear him. I was less than impressed. I have had a number of professors who have done more to bring the Gospels to life, for me.