Dr. Carl Park returns to IWS to teach the January 8-9, 2018 seminar that will take place during our winter on-campus intensive: Contextualized Worship and the Mission of God in the Local Church. This event is open to the public, but requires registration.
Carl Park was educated at Yale University, Princeton Theological Seminary and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Ph.D. in Biblical Studies). He has taught courses on worship and the Bible at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, North Park University, and the Robert Webber Institute for Worship Studies, as well as in emerging church movements in Eastern Europe and South America. His primary work has been pastoring congregations in New York City, Chicago, and currently Washington D.C. where he serves as associate pastor at Great Commission Community Church.
Dr. Park, like many IWS students and faculty, is a product of diverse Christian traditions, including non-denominational, Presbyterian, Vineyard, and Christian and Missionary Alliance churches, along with parachurch groups like Teen Challenge, Cru, and Youth With a Mission. His interests include the writings of Luke (Luke and Acts), the use of the Old Testament in the New, worship in the early church, cultural exegesis, and issues in translation and contextualization.
Register now online or by mail.
Seminar Description
Contextualized Worship and the Mission of God in the Local Church
In a globalized world, the challenges of translation and contextualization easily surface, and this is no less true for “doing God’s story” in worship. How does awareness of culture impact the local church’s worship, which proclaims and performs the gospel? How does the particularity of the story of Jesus relate to the ongoing need for translation of that story? How is our performance of that story transcultural, counter-cultural, and cross-cultural? This seminar will address these questions and offer participants a space in which to consider, together, their own particular contexts and the worship of their own local churches.
Seminar Schedule
| Monday, January 8 | Tuesday, January 9 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 7:30 am | Breakfast | 7:30 am | Breakfast |
| 8:30 am | Chapel | 8:30 am | Chapel |
| 9:15 am | Seminar Session 1 Beyond Notions of an Acultural Church, Gospel, and Worship |
9:15 am | Seminar Session 5 Worshiping as a Local and Universal Community |
| 10:30 am | Break | 10:30 am | Break |
| 10:45 am | Seminar Session 2 The Particular Story of Jesus, the Church and the World |
10:45 am | Seminar Session 6 The Counter-Cultural Gospel and Worship of the Early Church, Pt. 1 |
| 12:00 pm | Lunch (provided) | 12:00 pm | Lunch (provided) |
| 1:00 pm | Seminar Session 3 Contextualizing the Gospel |
1:00 pm | Seminar Session 7 The Counter-Cultural Gospel and Worship of the Early Church, Pt. 2 |
| 2:15 pm | Break | 2:15 pm | Break |
| 2:30 pm | Seminar Session 4 Worship as Accommodation and Translation |
2:30 pm | Seminar Session 8 Worshiping as a Cross-Cultural Community |
| 3:45 pm | Free | 3:45 pm | Free |
| 5:30 pm | Dinner | 5:30 pm | Dinner |
| 6:30 pm | Practicum Presentations | 6:30 pm | Healing/Communion Service |
Session Descriptions
DAY ONE
Session 1—
Beyond Notions of an Acultural Church, Gospel, and Worship
In this session, we will explore why it is unhelpful to think of our churches, our worship, and our gospel as acultural (independent from culture). We will also consider how our awareness of cultural situated-ness helps us do God’s story faithfully and coherently.
Session 2—
The Particular Story of Jesus, the Particular Person of Jesus, and the Particular Story of the Church and the World
How does the particularity of Jesus impact the way we view ourselves and our doing of God’s story?
Session 3—
Contextualizing the Gospel in Proclamation and Performance
In this session, we will consider worship style as an engine, not just a container, of theology, and how the gospel is contextualized every time we proclaim and perform it.
Session 4—
The Gospel and Worship as Accommodation and Translation
How are accommodation and translation very Christian characteristics of doing God’s story?
DAY TWO
Session 5—
Worshiping as a Local and Universal Community
We will consider the dangers of too much and not enough particularity in our performance of the gospel.
Session 6—
The Counter-Cultural Gospel and Worship of the Early Church, Part 1
Beginning from the earliest generation of Christians, how are our story, vision of prosperity, and worship practices counter-cultural?
Session 7—
The Counter-Cultural Gospel and Worship of the Early Church, Part 2
Beginning from the earliest generation of Christians, how are our story, vision of prosperity, and worship practices counter-cultural?
Session 8—
Worshiping as a Cross-Cultural Community
This final session will consider why being a Christian really means being a part of a Christian community, and how worship is impacted by cultural fusion and change in a globalized and dynamic world.
Make it a Spiritual Retreat
You are welcome to craft your own schedule to incorporate additional time on campus to take in chapel sessions, visit classes, read and research in the library, or spend time alone with God. You may plan to come early and stay longer if you’d like. Contact the IWS office. Let us know how we can help.
Registration
Full Seminar Cost: $175
One Day Cost: $90
Lunch included in registration