Previous Pro Ecclesia Conferences
2026: Nicaea Pro Ecclesia
The Status and Potential of Our Nicene Heritage in Christian Catechesis and Ecumenical Dialogue
Monday, January 12 – Wednesday, January 14
Beeson Divinity School, Birmingham, Alabama
The Nicene Creed was forged on a fourth-century anvil in the heat of controversy. Ever since that time, it has served as both an instrument for Christian catechesis and a resource for ecumenical dialogue. Its Trinitarian confession has become the most universal symbol of our common Christian faith in all the world—despite its revision in the late sixth century by Western church leaders, a revision that contributed to the church’s Great Schism in 1054.
To mark the 1700th anniversary of the first great ecumenical council, the Council of Nicaea (325), we will gather to discuss the transmission of classical Christianity in the twenty-first century. Most Christians today know little of Nicaea and its Trinitarian doctrine. Those who do know a little about the Nicene Creed are divided over which of its versions should be used. So we’ll gather to explore both the status and potential of our Nicene heritage for handing on the faith in communion with the saints across denominational lines.
We will ask about the degree to which the Nicene Creed can be used to help Orthodox, Catholics, and Protestants live into the oneness we profess in the Creed. We will also investigate what Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant instructors can learn from one another as they seek to use our Nicene legacy to grow us to maturity in Christ.
Just what is the status of our Nicene heritage around the world today? What promise does it hold for helping Christians grow in unity? Should a literal affirmation of the Nicene Creed (edition of 381) and the real presence of Christ in the eucharistic meal suffice for the sharing of communion across confessions? How are we to witness to and inculcate an orthodox, Nicene faith in a media-driven age?
Speakers
Marcus Plested, D.Phil., Professor, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI
“History, Time, and the Nicene Creed” (Facilitator: Father Justin Rose, St. George Melkite Catholic Church, Birmingham, AL. Respondents: Professors Matthew Levering, Mundelein Seminary and Kevin Vanhoozer, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School)
Matthew Levering, Ph.D, Professor, Mundelein Seminary, Mundelein, IL
“Nicaea and Ecumenism: A Response to Paul Gavrilyuk.” (Facilitator: Professor Michael Root, Catholic University of America. Respondents: Professors Marcus Plested and Kevin Vanhoozer)
Kevin Vanhoozer, Ph.D, Professor, Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL
“The Nicene Legacy in Protestant Theology: Evangelical Grammar, Hermeneutic, or Ontology?” (Facilitator: Professor Timothy George, Beeson Divinity School. Respondents: Professors Marcus Plested and Matthew Levering)
Panel Discussion
“Nicene Catechesis in the Parish Today” (Panelists: Father Gregory Edwards, Dean, Holy Trinity + Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Cathedral; Archbishop Joseph Marino, Apostolic Nuncio and President Emeritus of the Pontifical Ecclesial Academy; Bishop Glenda Curry, Episcopal Diocese of Alabama. Facilitator: Professor Joel Scandrett, Trinity Anglican Seminary)
Panel Discussion
“Transmitting Nicene Faith in a Media-Driven Age” (Panelists: Sarah Gronberg, Social Media and Website Coordinator, Holy Trinity + Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Cathedral; Dr. David Anders, Host, Called to Communion, EWTN; Collin Hansen, Vice President for Content and Editor in Chief, The Gospel Coalition. Facilitator: Dr. Joel Lawrence, President, The Center for Pastor Theologians)
Douglas Sweeney, Ph.D, Dean, Beeson Divinity School, Birmingham, AL
“Renewed Commitment to Visible Unity at the CCET: What We Are Doing and How You Can Help”
Panel Discussion
“The Latest Scholarship on Nicaea and Its Ecumenical Legacies” (Panelists: Professor Alex Pierce, North American Lutheran Seminary; Professor Brian Shelton, Asbury University; John Kegley, Ph.D. candidate, University of Notre Dame. Facilitator: Professor Stefana Laing, Beeson Divinity School)
2024: One, Holy, Catholic, & Apostolic?
Championing the Marks of the Church in an Age of Polarization and Ecclesial Confusion
Monday, June 10 – Wednesday, June 12
Beeson Divinity School, Birmingham, Alabama
Many clergy and laity are struggling more than ever to balance unity and truth, holiness and inclusion, ecclesiastical catholicity and cultural ductility, apostolicity and modernity. We have witnessed this in some of the recent schisms of the church, debates over the papacy of Francis I, disappointments surrounding the recent Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church (Crete 2016), and the everyday struggle of many faithful priests/pastors to manage expectations regarding their ministries to those who transgress their churches’ teachings regarding sexual activity. How are God’s people meant to manage these tensions? How might their leaders work together to champion the ancient marks of the church—that is, all of them together--in an age when ethnocentrism, libertarian freedom, and culture wars have overwhelmed the sphere of public opinion? This conference addresses these questions in the spirit of evangelical catholicism.
Speakers
Paul Gavrilyuk, PhD, University of St. Thomas, Saint Paul, MN
“One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church of the Third Millennium: The Fruits and Frustrations of the Ecumenical Movement”
Angela Franks, PhD, Professor, St. John’s Seminary, Boston, MD
“The Marks of the Body”
David Luy, PhD, Associate Professor, North American Lutheran Seminary, Ambridge, PA
“Yet Saints Their Watch Are Keeping: The Marks of the Church and the Psalms of Lament”
Matt O’Reilly, PhD, Lead Pastor, Christ Church Birmingham; Director of Research, Wesley Biblical Seminary, Ridgeland, MI
“Is Separation Warranted? The Catholic Spirit and the Question of Sexuality”
Russell Levenson, PhD, Rector, St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, Houston, TX
“The High Price of Unity: The Path to Reconciliation in a Broken World”
Francesca Murphy, PhD, Professor, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN
“The Drama of the Church”
2023: Life Together
The Communion of the Saints in a Time of Division and Disease
Monday, June 5 – Wednesday, June 7
Loyola University, Baltimore, Maryland
Both locally and nationally, Christian fellowship has been severely tested by the impact of the pandemic and the heightened tensions of our political and cultural life. ‘Social distancing’ and virtual worship have eaten into the fellowship within congregations and parishes. Our polarized politics and the ‘culture wars’ that have accompanied it have severely tested our ability to pursue a common life, not only within our wider society, but within and among our churches. This conference discusses theologically and pastorally how we address these challenges. We have assembled a range of speakers from different backgrounds: medicine, ethics, New Testament studies, parish ministry, and theological studies.
Speakers
William Cavanaugh, PhD, Professor of Catholic Studies, DePaul University, Chicago, IL
The ‘Little Way:’ Practices of Faith and Solidarity in a Polarized World
What virtues and practices can Christians and churches bring to bear in the face of increased polarization, distancing, and despair? This presentation explores the "little way" of Therese of Lisieux and Dorothy Day's appropriation of it. The little way is a type of attentiveness to other people as Christ-bearers, which includes doing ordinary things with extraordinary love. The presentation examines in particular the spirituality and practices of solidarity, in which we share in both guilt and forgiveness, and ultimately in the love of God.
Rev. Chris Currie, PhD, Senior Pastor, St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church, New Orleans, LA
A Post-Pandemic Ecclesiology: Everything is Different, Everything is the Same
The presentation explores what it means to be the church in the context of what the pandemic and hyper-polarization have done to our life together. How might the particular marks of Christian community be re-articulated in a way that will serve the church well in such a time as this and provide theological substance and rationale for the necessity of Christian community in crisis and in post-pandemic America?
Lydia Dugdale, MD, MAR, Associate Professor of Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, New York, NY
The Lost Art of Dying: Reviving Forgotten Wisdom
With more than a million dead in the United States from COVID-19 and more than 6.5 million dead globally, the pandemic brought death to the fore in a way that Americans hadn’t experienced since World War II. Although Christians should be among the most equipped to face dying and death, we tend to choose more aggressive end-of-life treatments than do our non-religious counterparts. How might the Church lead the way in preparing the faithful for death? A fifteenth-century handbook on the “art of dying” offers invaluable instruction to all of us and poses a challenge for how we live our lives well today.
Rev. Wesley Hill, PhD, Associate Professor of New Testament, Western Theological Seminary, Holland, MI
The Last Severity, the Last Hope: Ecclesial Crises in Christological Perspective
The presentation features an exposition of 1 Corinthians, paying special attention to the way in which Paul addresses the crises of the church in Corinth by flanking them with discussion of Jesus' crucifixion (see especially 1:10-31) and resurrection (15:1-58). Paul's Christological approach is offered as a model for our imitation, as we today navigate similar issues of division and dissension in the church and in the wider culture.
Myles Werntz, PhD, Associate Professor of Theology, Abilene Christian University, Abilene, TX
Reconnecting in a Dismembered Age: Church Community, Digital Culture, and The Mending of the World
In an era of multiple fractures within society and the church, the temptation is to focus on strategies of fixing particular problems. But this approach frequently exacerbates the problem of fragmentation unintentionally. One prominent example is the use of digital technologies to connect scattered congregants, whether through increased use of livestreaming and other technologies to provide people with the experience of church attendance. Digital culture, however, operates from a presumption of the individual, networked together through common interests. Accordingly, increased use of digital technologies to bring people together leaves untouched the basic problem of church division: the fragmentation of persons along fault lines of interest groups.
To address the manifold fractures of congregational life, we must stop focusing on the particular fractures, and recapture a more basic vision of our church gathering, allowing that in turn to determine the mode of our gathering and the way in which we address the material sources of division. Focus must be placed upon relearning the practice of gathering as the body of Christ—a body which is gathered not through networks of common interest, but by differentiated persons gathered up by Christ’s sacrifice; only this will give us the focal practice necessary to engage the material forms of division without unwittingly validating the logic of fragmentation in them.
Sondra Wheeler, PhD, Professor Emerita of Christian Ethics, Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC
In Absentia: the Risks and Lessons of ‘Virtual Community’
Some temptations and deformities always present in church life were exacerbated and also obscured from sight by the physical distancing of church life during the pandemic. The very convenience of online worship, fellowship, and (in some cases) even sacraments, blunts the formative power of community. In addition, many of the moral dangers of ministry were increased by the added isolation, while the opportunities to develop its requisite virtues were sharply curtailed. What have we learned from this forced experiment, and how do we apply those lessons?
2021: The Sermon on the Mount
Monday, June 7 – Wednesday, June 9
Loyola University, Baltimore, Maryland
Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount marks a radical departure—on this, all can agree. It is high poetry, opening with the eight “beatitudes” that run from “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” through sorrow, meekness, the longing for righteousness, mercy, purity, peace-making, to the concluding pronouncement that circles back to the first: “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Our Lord’s teaching includes metaphor that calls for appropriate action: We are salt and light and should live accordingly. He claims not to be departing from his Hebrew heritage, but to be taking it down to its very core. You have heard it said, for instance, “Thou shalt not kill,” but he says, you shall not be angry. And so on, through a number of the ten commandments, all pointing to a summons to be like “your Father which is in heaven.”
From poetry to high calling, Jesus aims repeatedly at our inmost parts, our heart. Pray in secret, for instance. Put your treasure in heaven—for then, your heart will be in heaven also. He aims to disabuse us of worldly anxiety, to attend to the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, all of which God takes care of.
But he also teaches about judgment, about being honest about ourselves (recognizing that log in our own eye). At the verbal center of the sermon we find the inexhaustible treasure of the Lord’s Prayer. And at the end, the memorable image of building a house. If we hear Jesus’ words and do them, our house will be built on a rock. “And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not.” But if we fail to do Jesus’ words, our house is built on sand, and it will fall.
All this is beautiful and arresting. It is memorable, at least in its various parts. Yet it is also manifestly deep. Each verse of it is profound in itself. And study of how its parts relate to each other also leads to profundities. No Christian who has ever existed has felt he or she completely understood the Sermon on the Mount. Every Christian who reads it again finds a new depth, a new insight, a new summons.
A depth, an insight, a summons—to what? That is the question. Is this about ethics, or about doctrine, or about perfection of life for a few people, or about everyday life for any Christian, or about spirituality, or about economics, or about poetry, or about mission? Yes to all these—and to many more.
Victor Lee Austin, program director
2019: What’s the Good of Humanity?
Explorations and Articulations of Christian Wisdom
June 3-5
Loyola University, Baltimore, Maryland
From a Christian perspective it could well be said that humanity, a good gift of God, is being undermined by the technology and thought-patterns and practices of contemporary Western culture. In response to what is seen as an attack, many books have been written (and conferences held) on the harm of these technologically-driven practices. These articles and books focus on what is wrong (with euthanasia, with surrogate motherhood, with the denial of the male-female difference, and so forth).
Yet to make a compelling cultural witness, it is more important for Christians to know what is right, and essential that they be able to articulate the positive. Why do babies matter? What is the goodness embedded in being made male and female? How can one approach death in a godly manner? We need, in other words, to be able to give an account of God’s “Yes” (2 Cor. 1:20), the hope that is within us (1 Pet. 3:15).
Speakers
Patrick Lee, The Soul in Scripture and Christian Tradition
Nancey Murphy, What is the relationship of the brain, consciousness, and Christian faith?
Edith Mary Humphrey, Male and Female, the Image of God, and the Significance of Children
Phillip Cary, Chastity and the Wealth of Life: On Being Male and Female
Gilbert Meilaender, On Dying
Donna Freitas, Practicing Christianity in the Age of Facebook & Smartphones
Panel Discussion
Banquet Address by Paul Hinlicky
2018: Hope Today
June 4 – 6
Loyola University, Baltimore, Maryland
In a world of heightened anxieties and dangers, this conference proposes to return to the basics of Christian hope. What is Christian hope? What are its grounds? How is it a virtue for human living? And in the midst of our many divisions, what does hope mean, not only in the world, but in the Church? How does Christian hope impact the lives we live today?
The 2018 CCET conference “Hope Today” will begin Monday evening, June 4, and continue to Wednesday noon, June 6. It is especially designed for clergy and lay people who are theologically interested but not necessarily theological experts. Registration includes admission to all sessions plus the conference banquet on Tuesday evening. Reasonably priced (and convenient to the conference) dorm accommodations are available.
Speakers
Carolyn Chau, Western University
The ways of perishing and the practice of hope
Elizabeth Agnew Cochran, Duquesne University
Hope as a Political Virtue: Reconsidering Jonathan Edwards for American Christians
David Elliot, Catholic University of America
Hope as a virtue
Wesley Hill, Trinity School for Ministry
The role of hope in Christian friendship
Willie James Jennings, Yale Divinity School
Race, ecumenism, and the hope for church unity
Peter Leithart, Theopolis Institute
Eucharistic hope
David Yeago, Trinity School for Ministry
Banquet speaker
2017: Repentance and Forgiveness
June 5 – 7
Loyola University, Baltimore, Maryland
Reconciliation is the heart of Christianity. It is the point of the Incarnation, the cross, and the exaltation of Christ: that all people be drawn to God, and that it be possible for all people to be drawn to God. The good news of reconciliation is at the same time a call to repent and to be forgiven, and then, concomitantly, to forgive.
It is time to reexamine these fundamental Christian claims. The 2017 annual conference of the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology will return to the biblical sources to help us understand reconciliation afresh. It will raise questions about repentance and forgiveness from various perspectives: Jewish, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant. It will also consider our present-day context, what has been called the “technoculture,” as well as the practice of repentance and forgiveness.
The conference will offer opportunity for question, discussion, and reflection on these fundamental matters in the context of common Christian prayer.
Speakers
Peter Bouteneff, St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary
How to Be a Sinner: Negotiating the Church’s Language of Self-Condemnation
John Burgess, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
Is Reconciliation Still Relevant? Reflections on a Theological Theme in an Era of Diversity and Inclusivity
Ellen Charry Moore, Princeton Theological Seminary
Repentance and Forgiveness Between Christianity and Judaism
Dominic Langevin OP, Dominican House of Studies
The Virtue of the Sacrament of Penance: Individual and Hierarchical
Brent Waters, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
Confession and Repentance in the Emerging Technoculture
Stephen Westerholm, McMaster University
Biblical Foundations
Banquet address: Carl Braaten, Co-founder, CCE