The 2023 Pastor Theologians Conference

This conference took place in a time of disunity, anxiety, and uncertainty in American culture. The past few years had exposed deepening fissures in our civic life; we were approaching an election that pundits have declared to have existential consequences for the country.

The church is not immune to the upheavals shaking our culture. Social media is inundated with vitriolic attacks between those who claim the name of Jesus. Anger and bitterness have divided too many congregations. Political figures are divinized or demonized, depending on one’s party affiliation.

We came together to think deeply about the political issues of our time, but also to root ourselves firmly in the eternal reality of Christ’s rule.

Plenary Sessions

Plenary Session One

Collin Hansen
From Ideology to Identity: Tim Keller and the Post-Christian Right

Plenary Session Two

Gerald Hiestand
Baptism and Politics

Plenary Session Three

Miroslav Volf
The Church as God’s Home

Plenary Session Four

Kaitlyn Schiess
A Strange New World: The Bible and Political Life

Plenary Session Five

Christina Edmondson
Welcomed Deception and Likable Lies: Why Christians Must bBe Political Truthtellers

Plenary Session Six

Preston Sprinkle
Exile in Babylon: A Christian Political Identity

Plenary Session Seven

Malcolm Foley
A Political Economy of Love: How to Fight Racial Capitalism

Plenary Session Eight

Carmen Joy Imes
Bearing God’s Name in the Public Square

Plenary Panels

Panel
Pastoring in a Polarized Nation

Malcolm Foley | Gerald Hiestand | Kaitlyn Schiess | Obbie Tyler Todd | Zachary Wagner (Moderator)

Presentation and Panel – Russell Moore
Exit Polls from the Apocalypse: Politics and Religion at the Judgment Seat of Christ

Russell Moore (Presenter) | Mika Edmondson | Karen Swallow Prior | Michael Wear | Joel Lawrence (Moderator)