- This event has passed.
For the Life of The World: Baptists and Orthodox Toward a Common Witness
BAPTIST-ORTHODOX COLLOQUIUM IV
Join prominent Orthodox and Baptist theologians to discuss topics related to Christian spirituality and social engagement, including family life and sexuality, economic justice and migration, as well as ecumenical relations.
This event is open to the public. It will be live-streamed and recorded.
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87035232736.
HOST: Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis; Professor of Theology, Executive Director, Huffington Ecumenical Institute at Hellenic College Holy Cross
FACILITATORS: Rev. Dr. Brandon Gallaher (UK) (Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, University of Exeter) and Dr. Elizabeth Newman (Adjunct Professor of Theology, Duke Divinity and Union Presbyterian Seminary)
SCHEDULE
Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024
7.00 pm Reception at the Maliotis Cultural Center of HCHC
7.30 pm Introduction: Fr. John Chryssavgis
Moderator: Dr. Dale Irvin
Joint Keynote Address: Christian Spirituality and Social Engagement | Dr. Brandon Gallaher and Dr. Elizabeth Newman
Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024 (Joint sessions)
9.00 am–10.30 am Session I: Family Life: Sexuality and the Role of Women | Moderator: Dr. Curtis Freeman
Speakers:
- Rosa Hunt (Baptist)
- Valérie Duval-Poujol (Baptist)
- Dr Teva Regule (Orthodox)
- Rev. Dr. Philip LeMasters (Orthodox)
10.30 am–11.00 am Break
11.00 am–12.15 pm Session II: Economic Justice and Migration | Moderator: Benjamin Malian
Speakers:
- Rady Roldan-Figuero (Baptist)
- Rev. Dr. Anthony (Vrame) of Synada (Orthodox)
12.30 pm–2.00 pm Lunch Break
2.00 pm–3.30 pm Session III: Ecumenical Relations | Moderator: Fr. John Chryssavgis
Speakers:
- Steven Harmon (Baptist)
- Dr. Philip Halikias (Orthodox)
3.30 pm–4.00 pm Concluding Remarks
For a shared background, speakers and participants are encouraged to read the relevant sections of the recent Orthodox statement, For the Life of the World: Toward a Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church (https://www.goarch.org/-/life-of-the-world-thurs). The conversation will also focus on various social statements of the Baptist Communion.
BAPTIST SPEAKERS
Dr. Curtis W. Freeman is Ruth D. Duncan Director of the Baptist House of Studies and Research Professor of Theology and Baptist Studies. His most recent book is Pilgrim Journey: Instruction in the Mystery of the Gospel (Fortress Press 2023). He is an ordained Baptist minister, editor of the American Baptist Quarterly, and a member of the Baptist World Alliance Commission on Doctrine and Christian Unity.
Dr. Valérie Duval-Poujol is a French Baptist theologian, Bible translator, and author of several books. She teaches at the Catholic Institute of Paris and is involved at different levels in the fight against domestic violence. She serves as Vice-Chair of the Commission on Baptist Doctrine and Christian Unity of the Baptist World Alliance and as a delegate for Phase III of the international ecumenical dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church.
Dr. Steven Harmon is a Professor of Historical Theology at Gardner-Webb University School of Divinity in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. He is the author or editor of seven books, including most recently Baptists, Catholics, and the Whole Church: Partners in the Pilgrimage to Unity (New City Press, 2021). He is Co-Secretary for Phase III of the Baptist-Catholic international dialogue and served as a member of the Baptist delegations to the Anglican Communion, and to pre-conversations with the Eastern Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate.
Dr. Rosa Hunt is a Senior Research Fellow at IBTS, Amsterdam. She is a minister of the Welsh-speaking Tabernacle Baptist Chapel in Cardiff, Wales, Co-Principal of Cardiff Baptist College, and an honorary lecturer at Cardiff University. She is originally from Malta. Her interests include patristic hermeneutics and language in all its manifestations. She enjoys communicating the relevance of faith to everyday life and does this in a number of ways including presenting a programme on BBC Radio Wales. She also has a particular interest in contemplative spirituality.
Dr. Dale T. Irvin is the chair of Ecclesiological Investigations International Research Network, an adjunct at Georgetown University in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, a founding editor of the Journal of World Christianity, and a founding faculty member of the New School of Biblical Theology. He previously served on the faculty of New York Theological Seminary for 31 years, the last 13 of those as President. He is the author of a number of publications, including History of the World Christian Movement with Scott W. Sunquist.
Dr. Elizabeth Newman is an Adjunct Professor of Theology at Duke University Divinity School and teaches in The Baptist House of Studies, Union Presbyterian Seminary, Richmond, VA. Her most recent book is Living the Liturgy, Enlarging the Baptist Vision (Baylor, 2024). She is Chair of the Baptist World Alliance Commission on Baptist Doctrine and Christian Unity and Co-Chair of the Baptist delegation of Phase III of the international ecumenical dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church.
Dr. Rady Roldán-Figueroa a Professor of the History of Christianity at the Boston University School of Theology, is a Puerto Rican scholar whose research engages a diversity of themes and topics in the history of Christianity from the 15th to the 20th century. He specializes in early modern global Christianity, Christianity in colonial Latin America, the intersectionality of Catholicism, race, and colonialism as well as the history of Christian spirituality. His most recent book is The Martyrs of Japan: Publication History and Catholic Missions in the Spanish World (Spain, New Spain, and the Philippines, 1597–1700) (Brill, 2021).
ORTHODOX SPEAKERS
Rev. Dr. Brandon Gallaher is an Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at the University of Exeter (Devon, UK). He is a priest of the Ecumenical Patriarchate serving in the Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain. His publications include Freedom and Necessity in Modern Trinitarian Theology (OUP, 2016), [with John Chryssavgis] The Living Christ: The Theological Legacy of Georges Florovsky (Bloomsbury, 2021) and Kallistos Ware of Oxford (1934-2022): A Life in Pilgrimage (The Wheel, 2024). He is currently co-editing Eastern Orthodoxy and World Religions: The Theology and Practice of Inter-Religious Encounter in the Contemporary Christian East (Forthcoming Brill, 2025).
Rev. Dr. Philip Halikias is the Chief Equity and Compliance Officer and Adjunct Professor of Orthodox-Catholic Relations and Ecumenism at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology. He focuses on Ecumenical and Interfaith work through the National Council of Churches’ Faith and Order Commission and Muslim-Christian Dialogue. He is an active participant and contributor to the North American Orthodox-Catholic Consultation and is currently representing the Orthodox church on the editing team for the World Council of Churches Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Fr. Philip serves the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church of Manchester, New Hampshire, and lives in Massachusetts with his family.
V. Rev. Dr. Philip LeMasters is Professor of Religion and Director of the Honors Program at McMurry University (Abilene, TX). An Archpriest of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, he is a member of the Board of Trustees at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, where he has also taught as an adjunct Professor of Christian Ethics. His most recent book is Sex and Salvation (SVS Press, forthcoming 2025). A Senior Fellow in the Orthodoxy and Human Rights Project of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center of Fordham University, his research focuses on applied issues in Orthodox social ethics.
Benjamin Malian is a graduate student of theology at Holy Cross School of Theology, where his work-study is at the Huffington Ecumenical Institute. Originally from Michigan, he completed undergraduate studies at Michigan State University. His academic training is in the field of international relations, with a concentration in sustainable community design and development. He is interested in exploring Orthodox visions of communal belonging and sacramental ecology.
Dr. Teva Regule is an Adjunct Professor at Boston College. She received her M. Div. from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology and her Ph. D. in Systematic Theology from Boston College. Her doctoral work focused on liturgical theology and history. Throughout her life, she has been an active member of the Orthodox Church. Dr. Regule is the immediate past president of the Orthodox Theological Society in America (OTSA). At present, she serves on the board of the St. Phoebe Center for the Deaconess, an initiative that aims to educate the faithful about the historical female diaconate and advocate for its revival to meet the ministerial needs of the church and society for today.
Rt. Rev. Dr. Anthony (Vrame) of Synada is the Director of Holy Cross Orthodox Press, Adjunct Associate Professor, and Acting Dean of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology. He is an auxiliary bishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Ecumenical Patriarchate. He was a member of the Faith and Order Commission from 2004-2019 and Chair of the Commission from 2005-2013 for the National Council of Churches in Christ, USA. Currently, he is a member of the Convening Table on Christian Education and Faith Formation of the NCC and serves on the Board of Directors of Friendship Press. He was President of the Orthodox Theological Society in America from 2007-2009. He is the author of The Educating Icon: Teaching Wisdom and Holiness in the Orthodox Way (Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 1999) and many articles on Orthodox Christian religious education and the history of the Greek Orthodox Church in the United States.