GOCN Forum History

GOCN Forum on Missional Hermeneutics – History of Sessions

2002 Breakfast meeting keynote

James V. Brownson, Western Theological Seminary

“An Adequate Missional Hermeneutic” (keynote; breakfast meeting)

 

2003    Breakfast meeting keynote

Michael Barram, Saint Mary’s College of California

“Toward a Missiological Hermeneutic: The Bible and Mission in Current and Future Discussion”

 

2004    Breakfast meeting keynote

Grant LeMarquand, Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry

“From Creation to New Creation: The Mission of God in the Biblical Story”

 

2005    Paper session (3 papers; 3 respondents)

Christopher J. H. Wright, Langham Partnership International

“Making Missional Sense of the Old Testament: Does it Work?” (invited)

Respondent: James V. Brownson, Western Theological Seminary

Colin Yuckman, United Presbyterian Church of New Kensington (PA)

“An Ulterior Gospel: The Mission of Critical Hermeneutics and the Critical Hermeneutics of Mission” (selected paper)

Respondent: Michael Barram, Saint Mary’s College of California

James Miller, Asbury Theological Seminary

“Missional Hermeneutics: An Experiment in Implementation and Reflection”

(selected paper)

Respondent: Grant LeMarquand, Trinity School of Ministry

 

2006    Paper session (invited)

Presiding: George Hunsberger, Western Theological Seminary

Michael Goheen, Trinity Western University

“Notes Toward a Framework for a Missional Hermeneutic” (invited)

Michael Barram, Saint Mary’s College of California

“‘Located Questions’ for a Missional Hermeneutic” (invited)

 

2007    Theme – Missional Hermeneutics in the Classroom: Philippians

Paper presentation (invited)

Darrell Guder, Princeton Theological Seminary

Ross Wagner, Princeton Theological Seminary

Joint presentation on teaching a missional reading of Philippians at Princeton Seminary (invited)

 

2008    Theme – Mapping the Missional Hermeneutics Conversation

Paper presentation (given twice, first at the AAR meetings, and then, in a slightly revised version, at the SBL meetings; invited)

George R. Hunsberger, Western Theological Seminary

“Proposals for a Missional Hermeneutic: Mapping a Conversation” (invited)

Respondent (at AAR): Michael Barram, Saint Mary’s College of California

Respondent (at SBL): James V. Brownson, Western Theological Seminary

 

2009    Theme: “Missional Readings of Paul’s Letter to the Philippians”

Paper session (call for papers)

Presiding: George R. Hunsberger, Western Theological Seminary

Michael Barram, Saint Mary’s College of California

“Reflections on the Practice of Missional Hermeneutics: ‘Streaming’ Philippians 1:20-30”

James C. Miller, Asbury Theological Seminary

“Missionally Mapping Phillipians”

Michael J. Gorman, Saint Mary’s Seminary and University

“The Apologetic and Missional Impulse of Philippians 2:6-11 in the Context of the Letter”

Respondent: Stephen E. Fowl, Loyola College in Maryland

 

2010    Theme: “Exile, Identity, and Mission: Interpreting Biblical Texts”

Paper session (call for papers)

Presiding: Michael Barram, Saint Mary’s College of California

Bo Lim, Seattle Pacific University

“From Servant to Servants: Continuing the Legacy of the Exile in the Post Exilic Era”

Andy Rowell, Duke Divinity School

“John Howard Yoder’s Missional Exiles and Jeremiah 29: A Case Study for Missional Hermeneutics”

Aaron Kuecker, Trinity Christian College

“As He Who Called You is Holy: Missional Holiness and the People of God in 1 Peter”

Respondent: George R. Hunsberger, Western Theological Seminary

Respondent: Suzanne Watts Henderson, Queen’s University of Charlotte

 

2011    Session 1 – Theme: “Reading the Parables of Jesus Missionally”

Paper session (call for papers)

Presiding: George R. Hunsberger, Western Theological Seminary

Jason S. Sexton, University of St. Andrews

“Reading the Parables Theologically to Read them Missionally: A Missional Reading of the Early Galilean Parables in Luke’s Gospel”

Lois Barrett, Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary

“Reading Matthew 13 Missionally: Training for the Reign of God”

Colin H. Yuckman, United Presbyterian Church of New Kensington

“A Shadow of a Magnitude: Reading Luke’s ‘Parables of the Lost’ Missionally”

Respondent: Klyne Snodgrass, North Park University

 

Session 2 – Theme: “Panel Discussion of Michael J. Gorman’s Reading Revelation Responsibly: Uncivil Worship and Witness: Following the Lamb into the New Creation (Cascade Books, 2011)”

Presiding:     Michael Barram, Saint Mary’s College of California

Panelists:      Darrell Guder, Princeton Theological Seminary

John R. Franke, First Presbyterian Church, Allentown, PA

James V. Brownson, Western Theological Seminary

Sylvia Keesmaat, Trinity College in the University of Toronto

Respondent: Michael J. Gorman, Saint Mary’s Seminary and University

 

2012 Session 1 – Theme: “Review Panel Discussion of C. Kavin Rowe’s World Upside Down: Reading Acts in the Graeco-Roman Age” (Oxford University Press, 2009)

Presiding:     George R. Hunberger, Western Theological Seminary

Panelists:      C. Kavin Rowe, Duke University

Dennis Edwards, Saint Mary’s Seminary and University

Christina Busman, Bethel University

James C. Miller, Asbury Theological Seminary

Colin Yuckman, United Presbyterian Church of New Kensington (PA)

Respondent:   C. Kavin Rowe, Duke University

 

Session 2 – Theme: “Reading Genesis 1–11 Missionally”

Paper session (call for papers)

Presiding: Lois Barrett, Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary

Luke Ben Tallon, Pepperdine University

“Is There Any There There?: Genesis 1–3 as a Prophetic Call for Truly Local Churches”

Michael Barram, Saint Mary’s College of California

“‘Occupying’ Genesis 1–3: Missionally Located Reflections on Biblical Economic Values and Justice”

James K. Mead, Northwestern College (Iowa)

“Cast the Ark Upon the Waters: A Missional Reading of the Flood Story”

Respondent: Christopher C. H. Wright, Langham Partnership International

 

2013 Session 1 – Theme: “The Corinthian Correspondence and Missional Praxis”

Paper session (call for papers)

Presiding: Eunice McGarrahan, First Presbyterian Church, Colorado Springs

Michael Barram, Saint Mary’s College of California

“‘Fools for the Sake of Christ’: Missional Hermeneutics and Praxis in the Corinthian Correspondence”

Andy Rowell, Duke Divinity School

“The Missional Ecclesiology of First Corinthians 14”

Dustin Ellington, Justo Mwale Theological University College, Lusaka, Zambia

“Corinthian Transformation for Mission: Re-Interpreting 2 Corinthians 4”

Matthew Forrest Lowe, Lectio House, Ontario

“‘Although We Live in the World . . .’: The Mission of God and the Mission of Empire in 2 Corinthians 10”

Respondent: Richard B. Hays, Duke Divinity School

 

Session 2 – Theme: “Assessing and Advancing Missional Hermeneutics”

Presiding: Christina Busman, Bethel University

George R. Hunsberger, Western Theological Seminary

“Convictions Formed and Futures Waiting: A Traveler’s Response to the Journey thus Far” (invited)

John R. Franke, Yellowstone Theological Institute

“Treasures Old and New: Considerations on the Future of Missional Hermeneutics” (invited)

Respondents: TBA

 

2014 Session 1 – Theme: “Thinking Missionally about God, Scripture, and Missional Vocation”

Jeff Greenman, Regent College, presiding

Derek Taylor, Duke University

“Is Israel a Missionary Failure?: Isaiah’s Servant of Yahweh and a New Telling of the Missio Dei”

James C. Miller, Asbury Theological Seminary

“Suffering as a Component of the Mission of God”

Kelly Liebengood, LeTourneau University

“Participating in the Life of the Triune God: Reconsidering the Trinitarian Foundation of 1 Peter’s Missional Identity”

Darrell L. Guder, Princeton Theological Seminary, respondent

George Hunsberger, Western Theological Seminary, respondent

 

Session 2 – Theme: “Reflecting on Paul and Missional Hermeneutics: A Conversation with N. T. Wright”

In Paul and the Faithfulness of God, N. T. Wright identifies three major motifs that characterize the heart of Paul’s theology, focusing on the one God of Israel, the people of God, and God’s future for the world. This dynamic interaction between theology, ecclesiology, and eschatology has been a major and recurring interest in the work of the GOCN Forum on Missional Hermeneutics as well. In this session, Wright will draw together themes from his treatment of Paul that focus upon and illumine specifically the sense of the mission in which the people of God are called to participate. How does this mission originate in the Bible’s portrayal of who God is and what God is up to? How does this mission reshape the way we think about what it means to be the people of God? And how does this mission shape the hope to which we are called? Please join us for what promises to be a fascinating panel discussion (featuring biblical scholars N. T. Wright, Sylvia Keesmaat, Michael J. Gorman, and James V. Brownson) and open conversation about the missiological dimensions of Paul’s theology in Wright’s work.

 

John Franke, Yellowstone Theological Institute, presiding

N.T. Wright, University of St. Andrews, panelist

Sylvia Keesmaat, Toronto School of Theology, panelist

Michael J. Gorman, Saint Mary’s Seminary and University, panelist

James V. Brownson, Western Theological Seminary, panelist

N. T. Wright, University of St. Andrews, panelist

 

Session 3 – Theme: “Thinking Missionally about God, Scripture, and Missional Vocation”

Lois Barrett, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, presiding

Andy Johnson, Nazarene Theological Seminary

“Ecclesiology, Election, and Holiness: A Missional Reading of the Thessalonian Correspondence”

Colin H. Yuckman, Duke Divinity School

“‘That the Works of God Should Be Made Manifest’: Vision and Vocation in John 9”

Eunice McGarrahan, First Presbyterian Church, Colorado Springs, respondent

Michael Barram, Saint Mary’s College of California , respondent

 

2015 Session 1 – Theme: “Biblical Formation of the Congregation for Missional Witness”

James C. Miller, Asbury Theological Seminary, presiding

Mark Glanville, Trinity College – University of Bristol

“Radical Gratitude and the Mission of God: Nourishing Celebration and Inclusivism in Local Congregations in Light of the Festival Calendar, Deuteronomy 16:1-17”

Boaz Johnson, North Park University

“Missional Theology and Congregation Formation in the Torah”

Michael Barram, Saint Mary’s College of California

“To Serve God and Not Mammon: Reading Matthew 6 as Missionally Located Formation for Economic Discipleship”

Mark Labberton, Fuller Theological Seminary, respondent

 

Session 2 – Theme: “Review panel discussion of Michael J. Gorman’s

Becoming the Gospel: Paul, Participation, and Mission

(Eerdmans, 2015)

As a leading voice among Pauline scholars, Michael J. Gorman has written a number of significant books and articles on Paul’s theology in recent years, including Cruciformity: Paul’s Narrative Theology of the Cross (2001) and Inhabiting the Cruciform God (2009). His most recent contribution, Becoming the Gospel: Paul, Participation, and Mission

(Eerdmans, 2015), extends and develops some of the themes highlighted initially in earlier works, and places particular emphasis on mission as an interpretive rubric for the Pauline epistles—an outgrowth, in part, of his work with the GOCN Forum on Missional Hermeneutics. In the introduction to Becoming the Gospel, Gorman calls his “affiliation with the Forum” “one of the most important professional developments for me in recent years,” noting that “learning to read Paul missionally—not merely as the quintessential ‘missionary’ but as a formator of missional communities—has been an exhilarating experience” (p. 10). Specifically, Gorman argues that “theosis—Spirit-enabled transformative participation in the life and character of God revealed in the crucified and resurrected Messiah Jesus—is the starting point of mission and is, in fact, its proper theological framework” (p. 4). Please join us for what promises to be a fascinating panel discussion—including responses by a fellow Pauline scholar, a congregational pastor, a missiologist, and a theologian—followed by an open-ended conversation about the missiological dimensions of Paul’s theology as illuminated in Gorman’s work.

Sylvia Keesmaat, Trinity College, University of Toronto, presiding

Michael J. Gorman, Saint Mary’s Seminary and University, panelist

Ross Wagner, Duke Divinity School, panelist

Eunice McGarrahan, First Presbyterian Church, Colorado Springs

George R. Hunsberger, Western Theological Seminary

John R. Franke, Evangelische Theologische Faculteit, Leuven, panelist

Michael J. Gorman, Saint Mary’s Seminary and University, panelist

 

Session 3 – Theme: “Biblical Formation of the Congregation for Missional Witness”

Darrell L. Guder, Princeton Theological Seminary, presiding

Laura R. Levens, Baptist Seminary of Kentucky

“Many Voices, Many Contexts, One Faith: Engaging the Breadth of Scripture to Form Discerning, Missional Congregations”

Luke Ben Tallon and Aaron Kuecker, LeTourneau University

“A Liturgy of Ascent and a Life of Ascent: Conforming Congregations to Christian Scripture”

Derek W. Taylor, Duke University

“Forming Faithful Readers: Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Missional Hermeneutic”

Benjamin T. Conner, Western Theological Seminary

 

[2016] Session 1 – Theme: “Migration, Marginalization, and the Mission of God: Missional Hermeneutics in the Context of Human Displacement and Relocation”

George Hunsberger, Western Theological Seminary, presiding

Mark Glanville, Trinity College, Bristol

“Family for the Displaced: A Missional Reading of Deuteronomy 10:17-19”

Helen Taylor Boursier, University of Saint Mary, Leavenworth, KS

“Faithful Doxology: Deuteronomy 16:18-20 and the Church’s Missional Participation with Immigrants Seeking Asylum”

Michael Barram, Saint Mary’s College of California, respondent

 

Session 2 – A Discussion of the Argument and Impact—After Nearly Twenty Years—of Speaking the Truth in Love: New Testament Resources for a Missional Hermeneutic (Trinity Press International, 1998), by James V. Brownson

Almost twenty years ago, Jim Brownson’s book “Speaking the Truth in Love: New Testament Resources for a Missional Hermeneutic” (Trinity Press Int’l, 1998) raised core issues surrounding the intersection between hermeneutics and the church’s mission, and helped to launch the GOCN forum on missional hermeneutics. As we approach the 20th anniversary of this seminal publication, the GOCN Forum on Missional Hermeneutics is devoting a session to exploring some of the central arguments of the book in relation to issues of intercultural hermeneutics, diversity, and LGBT inclusion questions. The session will assess the central proposals of the book and apply them to contemporary concerns in hermeneutics and theology in relation to intercultural hermeneutics; Asian-American theologies; African-American theologies and racism in the church; and LGBT inclusion.

John Franke, Second Presbyterian Church, Indianapolis, presiding

James Brownson, Western Theological Seminary, panelist

Megan DeFranza, Boston University, panelist

Daniel Lee, Fuller Theological Seminary, panelist

Drew Hart, Messiah College, panelist

David Congdon, InterVarsity Press, panelist

James Brownson, Western Theological Seminary, panelist

 

Session 3 – Theme: “Migration, Marginalization, and the Mission of God: Missional Hermeneutics in the Context of Human Displacement and Relocation”

Eunice McGarrahan, First Presbyterian Church, Colorado Springs, presiding

Bo H. Lim, Seattle Pacific University

“Towards a Theological Interpretation of Exile and Migration”

Gregory Perry, Covenant Theological Seminary

“Luke’s Survey of Holy Places Outside ‘the Land’ in Stephen’s Speech: Hermeneutical Guidelines for Describing the Mobile Dwelling Place and the People of God”

Colin Yuckman, Duke University, respondent