Wisdom for Wesleyans (from the Oxford Institute – those unable to attend in person)

>It only comes around once every five years, so if you enjoy Wesleyan studies, reflection, and conferencing, I recommend that you browse through this year’s group papers. Here you will find some great reflections from veteran Wesley scholars, Phd. students in Wesleyan studies, and up and coming Wesleyan theologians.

• For the “who’s who” of current Methodist Scholars, here is the list of the 2007 attendants.

• For the uninitiated, there were 10 working groups that included
1. Biblical Studies
2. Wesley Studies and Early Methodism
3. History and Development of Methodism (post Wesley)
4. Systematic Theology
5. Mission and Evangelism
6. Ethics, Economics, and Globalization
7. Christian Formation
8. Science, Technology, and Public Policy
9. Worship and Spirituality
10. Ecumenism and other Faiths

There were a lot of Durhamites present, including several RUMC representatives (Ed Phillips and Edgardo Colon-Emeric). I, for one, plan to do a more thorough scan of the papers this fall, but already have a few reading recommendations for Christian Conversation readers:

(Please note this intellectual property agreement before clicking links to actual papers):

• I may be a little biased, but I found Edgardo’s paper “A Church without Saints forgets how to Serve” to be excellent. The close examination of Gregory Lopez’s life and the Thomistic distinction between the first and second perfection were especially illuminating.

• Also worthy of note (scanned over, but not yet read in detail):

• Ed Phillip’s “From Collection to Offering: the ritualization of money in American Methodism” (sorry – this one is no longer available online – it is likely a smaller part of a work in progress that will be public soon enough)
• Steven Manskar’s “To Serve the Present Age: Making Disciples of Jesus Christ“
• Robert G. Tuttle’s “Isalm and the Church: Any Hope for the Future?“
• Theodore Jennings’ “John Wesley (and Empire)“
• Randy Madox’s “Anticipating the New Creation: Foundaitonal Convictions and Historical Limitations of John Wesley’s Ecotheology“
• William Abraham “The Political Theology of President George W. Bush”