July 25 - 29, 2011

Great Lakes Theological Academy

The Missional Church in the New Millenium

Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Traverse City, MI

This year’s program will look at what it means to be a missional church, understanding that "missional church" describes not so much what the church does as who God is. It frames an ecclesiology in which the church has "left the building" to be the heart, hands, feet and mind of Jesus in the world. The missional church recognizes that the privileged position the church held under Christendom has all but ended. It rejoices in the place it now occupies nearer the margins of society, from which it can faithfully participate in God’s mission to redeem the cosmos.

Presenters include Gary Dorrien, the Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary. An Episcopal priest and author of 14 books, he will challenge participants to think about the church’s rich ecumenical and theological tradition and how it applies to the current state of affairs in the church and in the world. He will be joined by Brad Binau, the newly appointed academic dean at Trinity Lutheran Seminar and professor of pastoral theology. Dr. Binau’s presentations will provide a pastoral grounding for leading the church into the new millennium.