Christian Witness in Worlds of Despair - Rev. Dr. Jared Stacy
This is a workshop addressing issues around us that confuse and polarize Christians, particularly from the world of politics and media. The workshop brings a biblical lens to focus on the following topics:
Conspiracy Theories
Artificial Intelligence
Surveillance & Algorithms
Preaching
Pastoral Theology
Christian hope
About Rev. Dr. Jared Stacy
Jared Stacy is a theologian and ethicist who served for nearly a decade as a pastor to evangelical congregations in New Orleans and the Washington DC area.
He received his PhD in moral and practical theology from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. His research focuses on pressing issues like conspiracy theory, political violence, and bioethics as they intersect with American evangelical contexts and Protestant theology.
His writing and work has been featured on platforms like Christianity Today, TIME Magazine, the Centre for Cultural Witness, and Scotland’s The National.
He lives in the greater Washington DC area with his wife and their three kids. He is active on Instagram and Threads, @jaredmstacy.
Spiritual Formation and Political Involvement - Michael Wear
About Michael Wear
Michael Wear is the Founder, President and CEO of the Center for Christianity and Public Life, a nonpartisan, nonprofit institution based in the nation's capital with the mission to contend for the credibility of Christian resources in public life, for the public good. For well over a decade, he has served as a trusted resource and advisor for a range of civic leaders on matters of faith and public life, including as a White House and presidential campaign staffer. Michael is a leading voice on building a healthy civic pluralism in twenty-first century America. He has argued that the spiritual health and civic character of individuals is deeply tied to the state of our politics and public affairs.
Michael is the author of The Spirit of Our Politics: Spiritual Formation and the Renovation of Public Life, a paradigm-shifting book that advances a vision for spiritual formation in the context of political life. Michael’s first book, Reclaiming Hope: Lessons Learned in the Obama White House About the Future of Faith in America, offers reflections, analysis and ideas about the role of faith in the Obama years and what it means for today. He has co-authored, or contributed to, several other books, including Compassion and Conviction: The AND Campaign's Guide to Faithful Civic Engagement, with Justin Giboney and Chris Butler. He also writes for The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Catapult Magazine, Christianity Today and other publications on faith, politics and culture.
The Seamless Life - Dr. Steven Garber
We were excited to welcome Dr. Steven Garber to speak on calling and vocation, followed by a Q&A session. The title of his talk was:
The Seamless Life: On the integral relation between faith, vocation, and culture
Q&A
About Dr. Garber
Steven Garber is the Senior Fellow for Vocation and the Common Good for the M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust. A teacher of many people in many places, he has recently served as Professor of Marketplace Theology and Director of the Masters in Leadership, Theology and Society at Regent College, Vancouver, BC. The author of several books, including Visions of Vocation: Common Grace for the Common Good, his most recent is The Seamless Life: A Tapestry of Love and Learning, Worship and Work. One of the founders of the Wedgwood Circle, for many years, he was the Principal of the Washington Institute for Faith, Vocation and Culture, and he continues to serve as a consultant to colleges and corporations, facilitating both individual and institutional vocation. A husband, a father and a grandfather, a he has long lived in Washington DC, living a life among family, friends, and flowers.
Book Club 1: Visions of Vocation
We are excited to announce the launch of the MFB Book Club in the summer of 2023. Our first book will be Visions of Vocation by Steven Garber, the MFB speaker of the forum on June 17th, 2023.
We would be honored and delighted if you would join us in this exciting new venture. You can participate by purchasing the book in print, electronic, or audio format, and reading or listening to it. We will schedule a date in late summer (TBD) to meet and discuss the book.
Purchase Links
Thank you for participating in Micah Forum Baltimore, and please consider joining the MFB Book Club.
Wishing you a blessed summer of 2023!
The MFB Leadership
Saints in the Public Square - Dr. Christopher Wright
Audio
About the event
Renowned Old Testament scholar and missiologist Dr. Christopher Wright joined us virtually from the UK to do a Q&A session after we watched a video lecture by Dr. Wright titled "Saints in the Public Square" - our calling to work in the marketplace.
About Dr. Christopher Wright
Christopher J. H. Wright (PhD, Cambridge) is international ministries director of the Langham Partnership, providing literature, scholarships, and preaching training for pastors in Majority World churches and seminaries. He has written many books including commentaries on Deuteronomy, Jeremiah, Lamentations, and Ezekiel, The Mission of God, Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit, Old Testament Ethics for the People of God, and Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament. An ordained priest in the Church of England, Chris spent five years teaching the Old Testament at Union Biblical Seminary in India, and thirteen years as academic dean and then principal of All Nations Christian College, an international training center for cross-cultural mission in England. He was chair of the Lausanne Theology Working Group from 2005-2011 and the chief architect of The Cape Town Commitment from the Third Lausanne Congress, 2010.
The Beatitudes - Dr. Rebekah Eklund
Audio
About the event
We were excited to welcome Dr. Rebekah Eklund to speak on the Beatitudes - the topic of her book The Beatitudes through the Ages.
The Beatitudes are among the most influential teachings in human history. For two millennia, they have appeared in poetry and politics, and in the thought of mystics and activists, as Christians and others have reflected on their meaning and shaped their lives according to the Beatitudes’ wisdom.
But what does it mean to be hungry, or meek, or pure in heart? Is poverty a material condition or a spiritual one? And what does being blessed entail?
In her book, which was a finalist for Christianity Today's book awards in the category of biblical studies, Rebekah Eklund explores how the Beatitudes have affected readers across differing eras and contexts. From Matthew and Luke in the first century, to Martin Luther King Jr. and Billy Graham in the twentieth, Eklund considers how men and women have understood and applied the Beatitudes to their own lives through the ages. Reading in the company of past readers helps us see how rich and multifaceted the Beatitudes truly are, illuminating what they might mean for us today.
About Dr. Eklund
Dr. Rebekah Eklund is associate professor of theology at Loyola University Maryland, where she teaches Scripture, theology, and ethics. She is the author of Jesus Wept: The Significance of Jesus' Laments in the New Testament and coauthor, with Samuel Wells and Ben Quash, of the second edition of Introducing Christian Ethics.
Creation Care: What the Scripture says about the environment and why it matters
We were excited to welcome Dr Sandra Richter to speak on creation care - the topic of her book Stewards of Eden: What Scripture Says About the Environment and Why It Matters.
Sandra Richter, Ph.D. is the Robert H. Gundry Chair of Biblical Studies at Westmont College, Santa Barbara, CA. Internationally known for her work on Deuteronomy and Deuteronomistic History, Dr. Richter brings the Old Testament to life by exploring the real people and real places from which it comes.
This was a hybrid event, held at the Forum at St. Mary's Ecumenical Institute, as well as online. This event was co-hosted by Micah Forum Baltimore and The Ecumenical Institute of St. Mary's Seminary and University.
Living and Learning: Public Health & Social Justice
We were thrilled to welcome Rev. Dante Upshaw and Dr. Micah Hughes to share about Living and Learning - Baltimore Urban Studies program.
The Baltimore Urban Studies (BUS) is a “study away,” experiential learning program designed to teach, mentor, and train students in Biblical Justice, Public Health, and Racial Reconciliation.
Audio
Stronger Together: The Gospel and Unity
We were excited to welcome Maria Garriott to speak on the gospel and unity - the topic of her new book Stronger Together.
In a world fractured by racial, ethnic, class and political division, God's people need to hang onto their unity in Christ. Jesus not only reconciles us to God but unites us in a new family. In His final prayer, Jesus asked that his followers “may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us.” (Jn. 17)
Stronger Together by Maria Garriott explores how the gospel provides the spiritual tools for racial and ethnic unity. Each chapter includes a personal essay, biblical analysis, and historical context. A Bible study offers readers an opportunity to reflect and discuss each chapter. As we experience more of the fullness of being God’s reconciled people, we know more of the fullness of God.
Audio
How Churches Can Support Re-entry
We were glad to welcome Dr. Cleveland Bell III, President and CEO of Riverside House, to speak on how churches and other faith-based organizations can support reentry programming.
For more than three decades, Dr. Cleveland Bell III has served as Executive Director for Riverside House, a non-profit faith-based organization. Once jailed himself, the story of Cleve’s turnaround is an inspiration to many. He is an admired figure known for his community activism and advocacy. Cleve is nationally recognized as a leader and expert on offenders community reentry programs.
Audio
Multiethnic Reconciliation - A Biblical Framework
M. Sydney Park joined the Beeson Divinity School faculty in 2006, and teaches Biblical Interpretation, New Testament Theology, and Greek.
Park is the author of Submission within the Godhead and the Church in the Epistle to the Philippians: An Exegetical and Theological Examination of the Concept of Submission in Philippians 2 and 3, coauthor of The Post-Racial Church, and coeditor of Honoring the Generations: Learning with Asian North American Congregations. Her research interests include racial reconciliation and the Gospel of Mark.
Audio
Biblical Righteousness: Private and Public
We were excited to invite Dr. Carl Ellis, Jr. on January 16th, 2021, via Zoom at 9 AM to speak on the topic of Biblical Righteousness: Private and Public.
Dr. Ellis is the Provost’s Professor of Theology and Culture at the Reformed Theological Seminary. Carl studied under Francis Schaeffer at LÁbri in Hermoz sur Olon’, Switzerland, completed his MAR (Theology) at Westminster Theological Seminary, and holds a D.Phil. from Oxford Graduate School.
Doubt, Tears, and Christian Hope
We are excited to share the first Micah Forum. On November 21st, 2020, we were blessed by speaker Dr. Vinoth Ramachandra from Sri Lanka speaking on topics of doubt, tears, and Christian hope during the pandemic.
Dr. Ramachandra serves on the IFES Senior Leadership Team as Secretary for Dialogue & Social Engagement. His multi-faceted, international ministry includes promoting among students and professors a holistic, dialogical engagement with the world of the university; and helping Christian graduates act with Christian integrity in the face of the social, cultural and political challenges they face in their national contexts throughout the world.
Vinoth shared thoughts from his recent book Sarah’s Laughter.