Pastors Week 2012

Pastors Week is an annual event devoted to providing resources in ministry, biblical studies and/or theology for pastors and other church leaders. It's a week rich with worship, inspiring presentations, networking and renewal for those who devote their time to serving their congregations.

Understanding Revelation for Today

January 23–26, 2012

See information about January 23 Leadership Clinics

Download the 2012 Pastors Week brochure

See Pastors Week detailed schedule

The biblical book of Revelation has a reputation for inspiring fear and fanaticism more often than anticipation and adoration. In the midst of end-times predictions and their accompanying hype it is easy to miss the ways in which this final book of the Bible reveals Christ, provides keys to ethical discernment, challenges the prevailing powers of empire in our time, affirms our hope for the future. What exactly ought we to learn from John’s vision on the Isle of Patmos? How ought this mysterious message to shape our preaching, teaching and daily life nearly two millennia later?

Pastors Week 2012 will feature Dr. Loren L. Johns, AMBS professor of New Testament, teaching on the book of Revelation. He will look at reading Revelation in comparison and contrast to popular notions of eschatology and explore the ethical implications of Lamb Christology in Revelation, particularly from an Anabaptist perspective. Dr. J. Nelson Kraybill, AMBS president emeritus, also will lead one session, examining the nature of worship and allegiance in Revelation. Workshops will include topics such as eschatology and Anabaptism, the Left Behind series, biblical storytelling from Revelation, and various leadership themes.

Featured presenters

Loren L. Johns, professor of New Testament at AMBS, holds a Ph. D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in Biblical Studies, New Testament, with a concentration in the Apocalypse of John. He wrote his dissertation on “The Origins and Rhetorical Force of the Lamb Christology of the Apocalypse of John,” and has published numerous articles and edited several books. His primary areas of research include the Johannine literature, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the development of the biblical canon, eschatology, New Testament Greek and the letters of Paul. Prior to coming to AMBS in 2000, he served as a pastor, overseer, theology book editor and college Bible professor.

One session will be presented by Dr. J. Nelson Kraybill, president emeritus of AMBS and lead pastor at Prairie Street Mennonite Church in Elkhart, Ind. He holds a Ph.D. in New Testament from Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. His dissertation was entitled, Imperial Cult and Commerce in John’s Apocalypse (Sheffield Academic, 1996). He is author of numerous articles and several books, including his most recent Apocalypse and Allegiance: Worship, Politics, and Devotion in the Book of Revelation (Brazos Press, 2010). Prior to coming to AMBS in 1997, he served as a missionary in London, England, and a pastor in Vermont.

Worship

AMBS Campus Pastor Janeen Bertsche Johnson, M.Div., will lead daily worship sessions. Preachers include Iris de-Leon-Hartshorn, M.A., director for transformative peacemaking for Mennonite Church USA; Safwat Marzouk, Ph. D.(ABD), AMBS assistant professor of Old Testament; and Willard Metzger, D. Min., general secretary of Mennonite Church Canada.

Registration

Information about registration fees, meals, lodging and other details can be found on the Registration Info page.

Registration for 2012 is closed.

Continuing Education Credit

Attending all Pastors Week plenary and workshop sessions earns 1.4 Continuing Education Units (CEUs). Indicate if you would like to receive CEU credit on the Pastors Week registration form and plan to pick up your CEU certificate when leaving the final session Thursday afternoon.

Questions?

Contact the Church Leadership Center
(574) 296-6269
ChurchLeadership@ambs.edu