'WHO IS MY BROTHER?'
12th Annual International Teachers' Seminar ' November 16-19, Jurys Hotel, Washington, DC
Previous locations: London, Jerusalem, Paris, Berlin, Athens, Chicago, Rome
WHO IS MY BROTHER? This is the theme of the 12th annual ITS. It is also what tens of thousands of Christians worldwide are asking in one form or another. This year's conference directly addresses that very question. The 2006 ITS will be held in Washington DC. The location of the opening dinner and all sessions is Jurys Hotel, in the heart of downtown Washington.
THURSDAY: FELLOWSHIP DINNER. We begin with a Thursday evening fellowship dinner with professors and leaders from the Churches of Christ and the Christian Churches, as well as members of the ICOC. Representatives of each of these three groups will bring the others up to date with recent developments in their respective church families. This promises to be an historic landmark!
FRIDAY: WHO IS MY BROTHER? Friday's lessons will center around the Restoration Movement and the implications of a broader brotherhood. Seminar sessions (5-6) will be sorted by your level of teaching responsibility in your local church (from none to low to medium to heavy). Friday evening will include several challenging mini-sermons on topics of interest to mature Christians.
SATURDAY: UNDERSTANDING THE TIMES. The keynote speech will be delivered by guest lecturer F. LaGard Smith, a man whose writing and speaking have stimulated thousands to engage heart, soul, and mind in their faith. For more about him, visit this link. Human thinking and human movements have deeply affected us all, the church included. With this in mind, this day we will also study a number of these movements (1) the Civil Rights Movement, (2) the Women's Movement, (3) Big Business & Corporate America, (4) Sexual Liberation and the Gay Rights Movement, (5) the Culture of Sports & Entertainment, and (6) American Politics & Its Influence on church governance and policy. Each Friday and Saturday seminar will have a reading requirement; you will need to finish reading certain books/papers in order to be admitted to the seminar. (Choice of 1-2 per day.) Saturday's general session will continue the seminar theme.
Among the Friday and Saturday activities are a White House visit, Spy Museum, Washington Monument, Holocaust Museum, coach tour of Washington DC, and the Smithsonian. Note: for White House visit, only the first 40 registrants will be admitted, due to current extra security measures.
SUNDAY: WORSHIP IN WASHINGTON. ITS participants will join with four local churches (Virginia, Maryland, Baltimore, and the District of Columbia) in one common location to conclude the conference.
SPEAKERS, TEACHERS, AND DISCUSSION GROUP LEADERS include: F. LaGard Smith (Lynchburg), Scott Green (Seattle), Douglas Jacoby (Marietta), Malcolm Cox (London), Andy Blocker (Washington DC), Steve Staten (Chicago), Steve Kinnard (New York), Gordon Ferguson (Phoenix).
In order to attend the seminar, please read Smith's book, WHO IS MY BROTHER?: FACING A CRISIS OF IDENTITY AND FELLOWSHIP (Nashville: Cotswold Publishers, 1997), ISBN 0-9660060-0-3. 21st Century Christian has over 1300 copies available. Order at www.21stcc.com, or phone 800-251-2477. Smith discusses how we should relate to (1) fellow humans, (2) those who believe in Christ, (3) those who have been immersed, (4) those who have been immersed expressly for the forgiveness of sins, and (5) Restoration Movement members with whom we may not see eye to eye on various issues. A must-read!
