IACE Unveils New Programs at Fourth Annual Conference
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FORT WORTH - Attendees at the 2023 IACE Annual Conference heard insightful presentations and learned of new initiatives during their meeting February 8-10 at the Riley Conference Center on the campus of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Nearly 200 attendees -- both in-person and online -- heard presentations focused on religious liberty and freedom of speech, crisis management, legal updates, and thoughts about the future of Christian education.
“All three previous annual conferences have been special,” IACE president David S. Dockery said, “but this year's conference, considered as a whole, was certainly the best yet.”
Membership in IACE now includes 73 educational institutions as well as 26 other organizations and partners around the world.
Dockery told the assembled crowd that current membership numbers have nearly doubled since the initial conference in Orlando in 2020. He also announced plans for a third annual Faculty Development Conference May 24-26 at the Riley Center, urging schools to send multiple representatives.
“Academic officers, deans, department chairs, and newer faculty are all aware of this special opportunity, which has become the highlight of the work of IACE,” Dockery said.
“One provost who was present at this week's conference asked if he could bring 10 faculty members with him in May,” Dockery said. “We certainly want to encourage multiple faculty from institutions to attend.”
Registration will open for the Faculty Development Conference later this month.
Also announced at the conference: an Evangelism, Discipleship, and Apologetics Conference for September 20-23, 2023, designed for campus ministers as well as leaders in student life and among faculty and students.
Attendees heard about a new online journal from IACE, two new book projects, and plans for quarterly legal webinars. IACE was once again this year was granted an Excellence in Giving badge for transparency in all financial matters.
Speakers represented the academy, the church, para-church organizations, researchers and legal experts. Joe Crider, dean of the School of Church Music and Worship at Southwestern, led a time of worship Wednesday evening (February 8), followed by the opening sermon from Juan Sanchez, pastor of High Pointe Baptist Church in Austin, Texas.
“Our instruction cannot be neutral or merely descriptive,” Sanchez said of work in a Christian classroom. “We must teach them to think critically, biblically, and Christianly. There is a crisis of critical thinking.”
Sanchez added that Christian education involves not just construction, but also demolition. In many cases, he said secular false teachings must be replaced with God’s truth.
“We are leading students to a knowledge of God that flows through Christ,” Sanchez said. “By the word of his power, God sustains all things.”
On Thursday (February 9), Tom Nelson, lead senior pastor of Christ Community Church in Kansas City, Missouri and president of the Made to Flourish ministry, described a moment when he stood before his congregation and confessed pastoral malpractice.
He admitted that he had been too focused on his own preaching and the numbers of people attending on Sunday morning, and had not thought about equipping his congregation for Monday morning in their workplaces.
“What mattered most to me was my work,” Nelson said. He cited what he called his success scorecard: bodies, buildings, bucks and brand.
Through Made to Flourish, Nelson has encouraged churches and schools to think in terms of equipping for individual mission fields, with a priority on the workplace.
Nelson observed that during the early church, when there was much persecution of Christians, non-believers observed how much Christians cared in times of trouble and provided aid without any ulterior motives.
“Are we equipping our students to share their faith winsomely with the world? Nelson asked. “Our mission field is where we spend the bulk of our time.”
R. Albert Mohler, an IACE senior fellow and president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, observed in his discussion of the future of Christian higher education that some institutions might not survive the next few years.
“We face challenges we did not make but cannot avoid,” Mohler said.
He said the true test of Christian higher education is not in enrollment numbers, but rather a commitment to shaping communities of higher learning around biblical truth for the sake of the Gospel.
“The future of Christian education is most important for the Christian part, and the Christian part is to continue in the apostle’s teaching,” Mohler said.
John D. Woodbridge, research professor of Church History and the History of Christian Thought at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, addressed the importance of biblical authority within Christian higher education. He cited examples from the lives of key historical figures like Martin Luther, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, and Billy Graham, each of whom made strong statements about the importance of studying scripture.
“Luther said the reason contained in the Bible makes every other book appear as foolishness,” Woodbridge said. “Jonathan Edwards said every word of scripture touched his heart and he saw light in every sentence.”
Billy Graham, Woodbridge continued, when asked about the crowds who packed stadiums to hear his preaching, attributed that success to letting the word of God do most of his talking for him.
In light of these examples, Woodbridge questioned the prevailing dogma of our time that insists all academic knowledge must be secular.
George Yancey, a research professor of sociology at Baylor University, spoke about academic bias against Christianity.
“Science wants to replace religion with secular ideologies,” Yancey said. “For example, people in sociology see sociology as their religion. It conflicts with Christian notions of human depravity and looking beyond the natural.”
He urged Christian educators to aspire to excellence in their fields, find social support, decline from defending everything other Christians do, and avoid claims of discrimination until absolutely necessary
Bias against Christians isn’t just a random claim, Yancey said. We now have solid evidence to show it occurs.
The conference hosted two panel discussions. The first dealt with forming strategy to compete in the academic marketplace. Members of the TG Three group encouraged schools to cut things they don’t do exceptionally well and focus on strengths.
The second panel discussion focused on religious liberty within Christian education. It followed an address from IACE senior fellow Mark Tooley of the Institute on Religion and Democracy. Tooley traced recent public policy changes and observed that there is strong sentiment to secularize all discussions and silence biblically based arguments.
Tooley then joined a panel with Board of Reference member Shannon Royce, president of Christian Employers Alliance, David Trimble from the Center for Religious Freedom Education, and Greg Baylor from the Alliance Defending Freedom.
Trimble observed there is a “big shift” taking place. Christian educators are winning in some legal arenas, but overall he said they are losing ground.
Royce called on Christians to avoid being bombastic but commit to “gentle pressure, relentlessly applied” as a strategy for fighting policies that conflict with biblical beliefs.
The following morning, Baylor, an IACE board member, brought a comprehensive review of recent court cases and upcoming challenges in the legal arena, both at the federal and state levels.
Anna Hutsell is a crisis communication strategist with Guardian. Her advice to schools who find trouble: “Even if you can shift blame, don’t. Take charge and be clear about how things will proceed. People see through slick rhetoric and hold it against you.”
Kelvin Cochran is a senior vice president for the Alliance Defending Freedom, the firm that helped him win a lawsuit over the city of Atlanta. Cochran served as that city’s fire chief until he was terminated for writing a book for a Christian men’s Bible study.
It took four years to win the case, and Cochran confided that he was sometimes tempted to despair. But he urged attendees to take courage in God’s strength.
“Jesus obtained strength from his temptations and sufferings,” Cochran said. “Are you more empowered by the words God is speaking than imperiled by what enemies say?
Cochran cited atrocities around the world where Christians chose death rather than turn their backs on their faith, but lamented that in America, where the stakes are much lower, people bend to pressure as they fear losing elections or business.
“It’s impossible for us to come here and not leave here more bold and courageous for these last days,” Cochran said.
Devotionals and prayers were led throughout the week by IACE board member Felix Theonugraha, president of Western Theological Seminary; Ashley Hill, International Association of Baptist Colleges and Universities; Andy Pettigrew, International Mission Board; IACE senior fellow Carla Sanderson, provost emeritus, Union University; and Phil Alsup, executive director, Impact 360.
IACE board chair Ralph Enlow provided a welcome to the conference, Southwestern faculty member Amy Crider read scripture, and board vice chair Carl Zylstra led attendees in an affirmation of their faith by confessing the Nicene Creed.
Video recordings of several presentations will be made available at the IACE website within the next few weeks.
Dockery said the event would not have been possible without the support of 24 sponsors who exhibited at the event and spoke briefly about their work during the week.
The Platinum Sponsor was Impact 360 Institute.
The Gold sponsors were Bill and Judy Bradish, and Witness to Win.
Silver sponsors included B&H Publishing, Crossway Books, GuideStone Financial Services, and Thomas Nelson Bibles.
Bronze sponsors were City on a Hill, Christian Employers Alliance, Fuller Higher Ed Solutions, International Mission Board, Guardian, Jack Carmichael, Lexham Books, NXTPG, Remodel Health, TG Three, The Timothy Group, and Wai-Kwong Seck.
Associate sponsors were BibleMesh, Inspire Experiences, North American Coalition for Christian Admissions Professionals (NACCAP), Religious Freedom Institute, and The Denison Forum.
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Prepared by Mark D. Kahler, IACE Director of Communication