INPERSON + INPRINT
THE CHURCH IN EXILE 2021 ANNUAL CONFERENCE RECAP
ONE THEOLOGIAN DESCRIBED CHRISTIANS AS ALWAYS PLAYING ‘AN AWAY GAME.’ As God’s people, we recognize that we are not yet home, we are awaiting our Homecoming at the King’s return. Yet we are neither aimlessly biding time nor left alone in our waiting. There is much to do, be, and learn as we journey between the time of Christ’s first coming and the time of his return.
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very winter, hundreds of alumni and friends of Westminster Seminary California gather on the WSC campus from numerous states and countries to enjoy biblical teaching, fellowship, and the sunny Southern California climate. Due to state regulations related to COVID-19, however, an in-person conference this winter was impossible. Though disappointing, the WSC faculty was committed to continuing the tradition of serving Christ’s church through this teaching opportunity. On Friday, January 15, the WSC 2021 Annual Conference commenced virtually through a series of pre-recorded lectures on the theme “The Church in Exile.” The slate of speakers included President Joel E. Kim and Drs. Dennis E. Johnson, Michael S. Horton, David VanDrunen, A. Craig Troxel, and Bradley J. Bitner. The sessions
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explored the Church’s identity, relationships, and responsibilities during this present, though passing, evil age. Please visit our conference page to view each conference session. The seminary was blessed to have Dr. Dennis E. Johnson, Professor Emeritus of Practical Theology, open the conference from Tennessee with his session, “The Church as Exiles.” Jesus’s death and resurrection redefine our identity and our destiny – who we are and where we are going. Dr. Johnson acknowledged that our calling to be exiles is uncomfortable in that often it results in us being marginalized, mocked, and persecuted. To be an exile is to be neither isolated from nor absorbed into our environment. Yet our hope lies in that Christ came before us as an exile in order to bring us home. Dr. Johnson explained, “By His wounds we are healed, and we straying sheep are retrieved
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