This year the WCPPC Conference will be handing each attendee a Conference Program when you arrive for registration. The Program is intended to provide you with all the necessary information for a fruitful week as well as provide note pages for the main Speaker Sessions. We are providing here a first look at the Program in order for conference attendees to get a better feel for what is taking place for WCPPC 2012.
Again, there is NO NEED TO PRINT out what is provided here – you will receive it during registration on Monday. Though, for those who use tablets like the iPad – you can download the pdf file and open it in iBooks, or the Kindle App for reference throughout the week.
Eugene Peterson joins us for our 40th Anniversary Conference. WCPPC is happy to announce that Eugene Peterson will be returning as our morning Bible speaker for 2012.
Bio
Eugene was born in E. Stanwood, Washington, on November 6, 1932. He soon moved to Kalispell, Montana, where he grew up. He is married to Janice Stubbs, and has three adult children: Karen, Eric, and Leif. Eugene has written and contributed to more than thirty books, including The Contemplative Pastor and Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity.
After graduate study at Johns Hopkins University, Eugene returned to New York Theological Seminary where he taught biblical languages and English Bible. Concurrently, he was associate pastor at the Presbyterian Church in White Plains, New York. In 1962, Eugene came to Bel Air, Maryland, as the organizing pastor of a new church, which became Christ Our King Presbyterian Church. In 1991, after twenty-nine years pastoring at Christ Our King, he felt God was calling him to devote more time to writing and teaching. He spent one year at Pittsburgh Seminary as writer-in-residence, and in January of 1993, he became professor of spiritual theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. Currently Eugene is a full-time writer, poet, and professor emeritus of spiritual theology at Regent College.
Although Eugene is best known in theological pastoral circles, several of his books, such as A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, have extended his influence to a much broader audience. He has been a regular contributor to magazines read by pastors and scholars as well as popular religious publications. He is often in demand as a guest lecturer and speaker, but he is not an ivory-tower academic, nor does he write merely from the mind. Eugene Peterson’s heart is with people.
When Eugene began work on The Message New Testament, he had only the Greek text before him—no commentaries or English translations. Biblical scholars recognize his intimate knowledge and understanding of Greek and Hebrew languages. These scholars have observed an authenticity and freshness of insight in The Message that comes only when a translator is not biased by the influence of English translations. He approaches the biblical text with the kind of pastoral sensitivity the New Testament writers had for the people to whom they were writing.
In addition to The Message, Peterson is the author of several other books including the Christian Basics Bible Studies Series, Answering God, Reversed Thunder, Sayings of Jesus, Subversive Spirituality, and Where Your Treasure Is.
In addition to being ordained in the United Presbyterian Church, USA, in 1958, Eugene holds the following academic degrees:
B.A. in philosophy from Seattle Pacific University
S.T.B. from New York Theological Seminary
M.A. in Semitic languages from Johns Hopkins University
D.H.L. (honoris causa) from Seattle Pacific University
Julie Canlis was raised in Seattle, graduating from the University of Washington with a degree in the Comparative History of Ideas. After marrying her childhood sweetheart, Matt, they together studied at Regent College (Vancouver, BC) where her degree in Spiritual Theology led her to pursue a PhD at the University of St Andrews. This work was published as Calvin’s Ladder (2010) which grapples with Calvin’s vision for the way humanity ‘becomes itself’ by participating in Christ. It was the Christianity TodayAward of Merit for Theology in 2011.
After finishing her thesis in 2005, Julie stayed at home with their four children while Matt began ministry in the Church of Scotland. She studied in fits and starts, publishing along the way, and giving Templeton lectures in Greece, Hungary, England, Canada, and America, thanks to her winning the 2007 Templeton Prize for Theological Promise. She teaches Summer School at Regent College, but for the most part can be found teaching Sunday School in Methlick Parish Church, where Matt is minister. She enjoys junk sales, loves her chickens (and children – Madeleine, Chapman, Iona, Caitlin), and is committed to slow food and slow church.
Julie is the author of Calvin’s ladder published by Eerdmans. You can read the description below:
DESCRIPTION
This groundbreaking study offers a sweeping overview and reconsideration of John Calvin’s theology. In Calvin’s Ladder Julie Canlis recovers some of the common (and neglected) themes that Calvin shared with the patristic fathers. She shows that his works are shot through with a vibrant theology of “participation,” thus placing Calvin within the Christian mystical tradition.
A work of both theology and spiritual formation, Calvin’s Ladder suggests an entirely distinctive way of conceiving the relation between God and humanity, challenging not only old caricatures of Calvin but also our own self-portraits.
AWARDS and RECOGNITIONS
Templeton Foundation, John Templeton Award for Theological Promise (2007) Christianity Today, Award of Merit in Theology and Ethics (2011)
Mike Seawright returns to craft and lead our worship services. Mike led our worship services in 2010. Mike recently earned his MDiv from Fuller Seminary and is the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship staff leader for the University of San Diego. He is a life-long Presbyterian and has served on staff at the Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian and Mount Soledad Presbyterian churches. He and his wife Jenny have a son – Aiden.
WCPPC is excited to welcome Nathan George, founder of Trade As One, who will lead an afternoon seminar on Tuesday that will include his own testimony of faith as well as the mission of Trade As One. Nathan George and his family live just down the hill in Santa Cruz where Trade As One is based. Eugene Peterson will spend the first portion of his sessions discussing the important biblical topic of generosity. Nathan will help us see just how generosity can and is changing lives throughout the world – particularly the poor.
Nathan George – Trade As One
Tuesday Afternoon Seminar
4:30 – 5:30 pm
Auditorium
Biography of Nathan George
Nathan George is a business development specialist who was convicted of the urgency of practical action through the use of consumer spending on behalf of the global poor. In 2006, Nathan and Cath George founded Trade as One, an online fair-trade company based in Santa Cruz, California. The company sells products made by victims of trafficking, HIV/AIDS, and the poorest of the poor. Nathan frequently speaks at conferences and churches on the need to engage our consumer spending in the fight against human slavery. He is part of the leadership team for the annual Global Church Conference at First Presbyterian Church Berkeley. He also also spoken at major church initiatives such as Willow Creek and NorthPoint church in Atlanta. Nathan is married to Cath and they have three sons.
