IRVING, Texas (October 16, 2020) — B.H. Carroll Theological Institute’s Frank and Pauline Patterson Fall Colloquy, the calling together of its students and faculty for theological discussion and PhD presentations, will have a northern flair this year.
All of the sessions Nov. 9-10 will be conducted via the Zoom video conferencing app, with Dr. Gordon T. Smith, president of Ambrose University and Seminary in Calgary, Canada, as the keynote speaker. The adjustment in format was prompted by the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing guidelines.
Smith is the author of 16 books on the Holy Spirit, ministerial leadership, and Christian spirituality in a secular age. His most recent project is Come Holy Spirit Come: The Spirit in Creation, the Church and the Christian (forthcoming with IVP). He is also the author of Institutional Intelligence: Building an Effective Organization and Courage & Calling (both also from IVP).
The theme of the fall colloquy is, “The Times, They are a’ Changin’.” In the first session, Smith will address the secular age and the problems and opportunities presented to Christians. The second session will feature a presentation on sustaining the scholarly vocation in changing times, and the third will speak to the Christian’s necessary hopefulness in a time of change.
The fall colloquy will also feature Dr. Margie Clayton’s presentation of her doctoral dissertation. Clayton is the Institute’s most recent PhD graduate.
Last spring’s colloquy was the first “virtual colloquy” B.H. Carroll has held, due to the COVID-19 lockdown. It drew 70 participants from multiple states and countries. B.H. Carroll President Dr. Gene Wilkes said the “gift of technology” in the Zoom video conferencing app has proven effective many times and will be utilized this fall as a “cyber-meeting space.”
“We look forward to hearing what Dr. Gordon Smith has to say. He is well respected—worldwide in the academic community—and has a heart for developing church leaders through a robust vision for the spiritual disciplines. Achieving spiritual maturity through prayer and attentiveness to the leading and teaching of the Holy Spirit is his goal,” Wilkes said.
There is no cost for attending the fall colloquy.