Record Attendance Marks Third Annual IACE Conference
FORT WORTH - The International Alliance for Christian Education concluded its third annual conference February 9-11 with a record attendance and 10 major presentations for members of the educational community.
IACE president David S. Dockery said 170 attendees were registered, including 20 for online streaming of the event, which ran from February 9-11 at the Riley Conference Center on the campus of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. About 50 presidents or chancellors joined in the sessions. Last year’s conference registered about 140 participants, including 40 online.
In the course of the three-day conference, Dockery announced a second annual Faculty Development Conference May 24-27, a second IACE student program that will take participants from member schools on a study trip to Washington, DC, and development of IACE’s first-ever online course, scheduled to debut in April.
Membership in IACE now includes 69 educational institutions and 20 other organizations and partners around the world.
Speakers represented the academy, the church, para-church organizations, researchers and legal experts. Following a time of worship featuring A Cappella, a choir composed of graduate students from SWBTS, H.B. Charles, Jr. delivered the opening sermon from 2 Timothy 3.
Charles is senior pastor of Shiloh Church in Jacksonville, Florida. He called attention to a passage in which Paul advised Timothy that he would encounter teachers and others who would stray from the Scripture and profess false teachings. Paul advises Timothy in verse 16 that “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”
“Faithful ministry requires steadfast confidence in the Word of God,” Charles said. “Watch over words, not just souls.
“It’s about content, not charisma!” he said.
Dockery told the group that speakers and presentations this year focused on the theme of cultivating cultural engagement on the campuses of IACE-member institutions. Cultural engagement has proved to be a challenge, given that the culture is changing at an unprecedented and rapid pace.
Robert P. George, McCormick professor of jurisprudence at Princeton University, spoke of a “clash of orthodoxies” and the implications of that collision on Christian education. George made his presentation on video when a scheduling conflict prevented him from traveling to Fort Worth.
He said secular progressives assert that they are the winners of the culture war and Christians have been defeated. “How should we respond to this hard line?” George asked. “We have no choice but to be faithful. It will be hard. There will be casualties. Lots of them.”
George continued: “Can we muster the courage to be faithful? To boldly bear witness to teachings that are unpopular? Are we able to pay the heavy costs of discipleship?
No one who is prepared to take up his cross and follow Christ will find the burden too heavy to bear,” he said.
Jim Denison, co-founder of the Denison Group, presented “The Coming Tsunami: Christian Hope and Christian Education.”
Denison noted that underwater earthquakes create tsunamis, and he named four “cultural earthquakes” capable of creating tsunamis of upheaval for Christians: a rejection of biblical truth, the idea that all truth is relative, critical race theory, and the rise of radical secular ideology that takes the place of belief in God.
“It is a moment of unprecedented change,” Denison said, “and I am honored to be here to speak with you about it.”
But he warned that Christians often wrongly assume all the current changes are bad. He noted that people in Muslim communities are coming to faith in Christ in unprecedented numbers, and the same is true of Christian conversions within China, Cuba, and sub-Saharan Africa.
“God is on His throne,” Denison said. “The Kingdom is on the march. You need to join it.”
Timothy George, founding dean and distinguished professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School, presented an address titled “The Great Tradition and Christian Education.”
The Great Tradition, George said, was evident to the founders of Harvard, who simply sought to convey current knowledge to the next generation. George, a Harvard alumnus, said the institution’s Christian commitment disappeared in subsequent years, and its mission changed dramatically in the years that followed. A key milestone he discussed was the 1969 takeover of the administration building by student protesters.
Amid that change, people who were faithful to the original intent of conveying knowledge stepped forward to provide a framework for the institution. He also cited the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century as a time when great changes took place, but those rooted in their faith and purpose for living actually made great intellectual contributions amid the turmoil.
He cited three theologians through history as examples, including Venerable Bede, who preserved key ancient manuscripts amid the plagues and invasions of the early middle ages. Those contributions benefit Christian scholars to this day.
“The inheritance we have received,” George observed, “has been preserved by people we don’t know.”
After Timothy George’s insights from church history, Ed Stetzer offered a look at the current cultural landscape. He presented “Our Cultural Convulsion.” Stetzer is dean of the School of Mission, Ministry and Leadership at Wheaton College. He argued the current time is characterized by “the highest levels of distrust in institutions” since at least the 1960s.
Stetzer referred to something he called “The Great Sort,” which he said is an attempt for people to sort and refine their identities on ideological rather than theological terms. He said people are now much more likely to simply walk away from institutions based on conflicts about politics, race, gender identity, same-sex marriage, and other hot-button items of our time.
He observed that a lot of schools are reacting and sometimes over-reacting.
“I would encourage you to double down on your Christian commitment,” Stetzer said, “and recognize that not everyone is going to sort things the way you do.
Phil Alsup and John Basie of the Impact 360 Institute presented findings from an extensive survey of the so-called Generation Z, made up of those born between 1999-2015.
Unlike previous generations, Alsup said Generation Z students need to be convinced that college isn’t a waste of time in their preparation for life. He said this especially is true of male students, who soon might make up only one of every three college students.
He also predicted that smaller percentages of Gen Z students will be interested in historically Christian colleges. Those forced into these schools by circumstance or by their parents “will be less engaged or even antagonistic toward historic Christian messages,” he said.
One positive for Christian colleges, Alsup said, is that this new separation makes it easier to identify students who have a true interest in education from a Christian worldview.
Basie said attaining a degree is no longer the primary reason for Gen Z applications to college. He said they are looking for a “deep education” focused on finding purpose for their lives.
Len Munsil, president of Arizona Christian University, presented extensive findings from a study at the school’s Cultural Research Center. Munsil said although 69% of Americans claim to be Christian and 51% claim a Christian worldview, closer examination of their actual beliefs puts the true number of Americans with a Christian worldview at about 6%.
He said the study found 88% of Americans cobble together a syncretistic worldview, borrowing beliefs from a wide variety of influencers. It also showed that although worldviews are tweaked and refined throughout life, they rarely change significantly after the age of 13.
Munsil said the monumental challenge facing Christian educators is the finding that 24 of 25 Millennials lack a biblical worldview, and their children will be entering high school and college in the next few years.
“We’re failing to disciple young people in the ways of God,” Munsil said.
Michael Ortiz, executive director for the International Council for Evangelical Theological Education, gave the opening devotion on Thursday morning. Barbara McMillin, president of Blue Mountain College, did so on Friday morning.
Shelette Stewart, founder and president of Stewart Consulting in Columbus, Ohio, started her presentation on principles for Creating a God-honoring Culture, saying that “where there is no vision, the people perish.“
Stewart says the vision of an institution can be used to create a great organizational culture where people come first, people find and pursue their passions, space is created where people can be themselves and empowered in their work.
“Your culture will be established by design or by default,” Stewart said. “The choice is yours.”
Greg Baylor, senior counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom and an IACE board member, presented an update on legal issues related to education. Baylor also joined three other panelists in a discussion of legal and cultural issues related to college athletic programs.
Pat McLaughlin, president and founder of The Timothy Group, spoke about the importance of fundraising amid the changing educational landscape.
Video recordings of key presentations will be made available at the IACE website within the next few weeks. Look for a link in this space to the web page hosting those videos.
Dockery said the event would not have been possible without the support of 21 sponsors who exhibited at the event and spoke briefly about their work during thesessions.
The platinum sponsor was Impact 360 Institute. Gold sponsors were Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Thomas Nelson, and Christian Education Group.
Silver sponsors included GuideStone Financial Resources, Forefront Books, Bill and Judy Bradish, and Jack Carmichael.
Bronze sponsors were ABACC, B&H Publishing, Campus.edu, City on a Hill, Crossway, Eventide Funds, Fuller Higher Ed Solutions, Lexham Press, Next Page, and Remodel Health.
Associate sponsors were Inspire, NCCAA, Religious Freedom Institute and The Timothy Group.
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Prepared by Mark Kahler, IACE Director of Communication