ICETE News from ACTEA (May 2008)
Stephanie Black
The next ACTEA/COHETA eNews will be sent on 1 June. If you have announcements or notices to be considered for inclusion in the upcoming English or French editions of eNews, please send them to drstepha...@gmail.com by Monday 26 May. Thank you!
International Council for Evangelical Theological Education
Sponsorship: ACTEA (Africa); ATA (Asia); CETA (the Caribbean); EEAA (Europe); E-AAA
(Euro-Asia); AETAL (Latin America); ABHE (North America); SPABC (South Pacific)
ICETE News
an in-house circular for the ICETE community
May 2008
ICETE's 2009 International Consultation
ICETE is pleased to announce that the next ICETE International Consultation for Theological Educators will take place 5-9 October 2009 in Sopron, Hungary. The distinguished international evangelical scholars Bishop Hwa Yung of Malaysia, and Professor Henri Blocher of France, will be among principal speakers at the event. The Consultation's theme is: "Energising Community: Theological Education's Relational Mandate."
ICETE's triennial international consultations are widely popular for offering evangelical theological educators an unrivalled opportunity for peer professional interaction at global level. The events provide multiple occasions for collaborative networking, cross-pollination, and reflective engagement, thus furthering a shared commitment in preparing biblically-based church leadership for the global Christian community in the 21st Century. Participants in ICETE's 2006 Consultation in Thailand came from: Angola, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Congo, England, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Guatemala, Haiti, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Liberia, Malaysia, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Scotland, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Trinidad, Ukraine, USA, and Zambia.
The 2009 ICETE Consultation is intended for the ICETE constituency throughout the world. Available space will be limited, so priority will be given to representatives from schools affiliated with one of the eight continental associations that make up the ICETE family (namely ACTEA, AETAL, ATA, ABHE, CETA, EEAA, E-AAA, and SPABC). The composite Consultation participation fee per individual will be US$750 (covering registration, accommodation, meals, etc.). Any school that is formally linked to one of the ICETE member associations listed above will be eligible for a 50% discount on the Consultation fee. Travel and related expenses are the responsibility of the sponsoring institution or individual. Guests or observers will be accommodated on an invitation basis only, as space is available. Those interested in attending the Consultation should begin registration proceedings immediately, by contacting the ICETE Consultation Directorate at: Consulta...@icete-edu.org
International Scholars to Address ICETE Event
Two distinguished international scholars will address the forthcoming ICETE Consultation in Thailand. Bishop Hwa Yung of Malaysia will give the keynote address on the Consultation theme: "Energising Community: Theological Education's Relational Mandate". Professor Henri Blocher of France will then develop this theme in terms of "Theological Education's Relational Mandate: Warrants, Risks and Limitations".
Hwa Yung is Bishop of the Methodist Church of Malaysia. From 1986 to 2001 he was principal of Malaysia Theological Seminary, and thereafter on the faculty at Singapore's distinguished Trinity Theological College, where he was founding director of Trinity's Centre for the Study of Christianity in Asia. He is presently Chair of the Board of the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies (OCMS) in Oxford UK; a member of the Executive Committee of the World Methodist Council; and Chair of the Participant Selection Committee for Lausanne's 2010 International Congress in Cape Town. Hwa Yung holds a post-graduate degree in theology for the University of London and a doctorate from Asbury Theological Seminary. He is author of Mangoes or Bananas? The Quest for an Authentic Asian Christian Theology (1997), a critical survey of Asian theology. He has also published numerous academic papers, including contributions to The Blackwell Companion to Protestantism, (2006), edited by Alister McGrath, and to Christian Theology in Asia (2008), just published by Cambridge University Press.
Henri Blocher is Professor of Systematic Theology at the Faculté Libre de Théologie Evangélique, Vaux-sur-Seine, France; and President of the Fellowship of European Evangelical Theologians (FEET). Since 2003 he has also been serving as Professor of Systematic Theology in the Graduate School at Wheaton College, USA, and teaching in their doctoral programme. Henri Blocher is widely regarded as the evangelical francophone world's leading theologian. He has served in various roles with the Alliance Biblique Française, the United Bible Societies, the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelisation, and the Theological Commission of the World Evangelical Alliance. In the latter case, he was a member of the WEA's theological task force for dialogue with the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. Blocher did his studies at the Sorbonne, London School of Theology, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and the Faculté Libre de Théologie Protestante in Paris. His doctorate is from the latter institution. Among his scholarly publications, all published by IVP, are: In the Beginning (1984); Evil and the Cross (1994); and Original Sin: Illuminating the Riddle (2000).
ICETE Consultation 2009 Programme
The 2009 ICETE Consultation will seek to focus on relational theological education, how the biblical values of relationship and community might be usefully reenergised within our contemporary patterns of theological education. In what sense might community be considered a mandated priority for theological education? To what end, with what limitations? How might a theological college best embody biblical community in its institutional culture? How can students be more effectively equipped in relational competencies and community-formation skills? In what practical ways could theological schools demonstrate biblical community in their external life, in relation to other theological schools, the church, and their own local context? The 2009 Consultation programme will enable creative interaction among theological educators from around the world on the implications of these biblical values for our training programmes, and for understanding our own roles freshly within such a framing.
Among those to address the Consultation in plenary session, additional to Hwa Yung and Henri Blocher, will be: Daniel Bourdanné, from Chad, the new General Secretary of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES); David Baer, President and CEO of Overseas Council in the United States; Joseph Shao General Secretary of the Asia Theological Association (ATA), and President of the Biblical Seminary of the Philippines; and Manuel Reaño of Peru, Rector of the Seminario Biblico de Colombia, and a leader in the Association for Evangelical Theological Education in Latin America (AETAL). Also present and participating in the Consultation programme will be: Geoff Tunnicliffe, International Director of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), Doug Birdsall, Executive Chair of the Lausanne Movement (LCWE); and Chris Wright, International Director of Langham Partnership International (LPI); The Consultation format will also provides for a range of seminars, workshops, roundtable discussions, and much informal contact on other areas of interest additional to the Consultation theme, thereby enabling rich stimulation, interaction, reflection and fellowship for participants.
About ICETE
ICETE is a global community, sponsored by eight continental/regional associations of theological schools, to encourage excellence and renewal in evangelical theological education worldwide. ICETE was established in 1980, and functions under the auspices of the World Evangelical Alliance.
ICETE Officers—Chair: Dieumeme Noelliste (Jamaica); Director: Paul Sanders (Lebanon); Associate Director: Douglas Carew (Kenya)
ICETE Council of Reference—Dr Rolf Hille (Germany); Dr Emilio Nuñez (Guatemala); Dr Chris Wright (UK);
Dr Wilson Chow (Hong Kong); Dr Doug Birdsall (USA); Dr Peter Kuzmič (Croatia)
for further information about ICETE, go to:
ICETE's Mission:
strengthening evangelical theological education
through international cooperation