Report from Meritt Sawyer, International Program Director for Scholars
Summer 2006
Langham Colleagues for the Scholar Program,
Greetings from Narita airport where I am marooned for eight hours. I have just left Chris Wright (International Minis This “spare time” allows me to kick off a quarterly newsletter to you. This summer yielded two significant events in the life of the Langham Scholar Program (LSP). First was the scholar consultation in June. Another “first” tied to this was our first global staff meeting for the LSP. The second event was the recent ICETE conference. I hope the following report will be of service to you. It is my hope and prayer that I provide you information and dialogue which will keep you connected to the scholar program and as it enables Christian leaders throughout the world. Together we can continue to stay current and s Thank you for all you do for the Kingdom through your support of the JSM-Langham Scholars Program. Blessings! Meritt Meritt Lohr Sawyer Howard Peskett I have enjoyed getting to know Howard, and I look forward to working with him. He has already bought me one lunch, so this is looking good! Welcome aboard, Howard! Langham Global Staff Meeting for Langham Scholars Program Langham staff and Scholarship Committee Chairs from Langham member movements met for a day in London to discuss the scholarship program. Topics included areas of cooperation and standardization, who we are as a global entity, issues of concern, building capacity for Majority World (MW) seminaries, and considerations for our unified and internal communication needs. The very good meeting was attended by: Howard Peskett (LPUKI), Stephen Travis (LPUKI), Tim Stafford (JSM), Herrick Liu (LP-East Asia), Yasi Philippos (LPI), and Meritt Sawyer (LPI). Langham Scholar Consultation, London, UK Significant changes have taken place in the world and in theological education since JSM-Langham was birthed 35 years ago. With this in mind, sixteen MW academicians and six Langham scholar staff were invited to London to reflect on this history, the scholars program, and current global Trends and strategy. In preparation, scholar committee members from the UK, US, and East Asia submitted questions for consideration. By consultation end, we produced a document to be submitted to the Langham member movements. The document consists of a series of affirmations and recommendations for the program. The Majority World participants were: The consultation was significant, positive and possibly prophetic. The Langham Scholars Program (LSP) was affirmed in many ways including the life of John Stott, the history of LSP and the preparation of MW scholars through doctoral education These advisors also affirmed JSM-Langham’s emphasis on scholarship and on contextualization to equip and foster the maturity and growth of the church. “From our perspective, there is no doubt that John Stotts’ vision and Langham Partnershp (LP) have succeeded remarkably. The missionary movements and growth of the church has contributed a lot indirectly to the recovery of Scripture and the academic repspectability of evangelcial positions. Ivan Satyavrata says, “LP has connected with the historic Christian impulses” The consulation participants also took this opportunity to challenge Langham: This fall the LPUKI and JSM Scholar Committees (and the JSM board) will receive full oral reports. A written report will be distributed to the broader LPI body. ICETE Conference, Chiang Mai, Thailand Approximately 200 Majority World seminary presidents, Bible college presidents and academic deans descended on Chiang Mai for this highly respected and worthwhile conference. We were fed by the likes of Andrew Walls, Lamin Sanneh, and Doug Birdsall. But the highlight was the plenary session given by our very own Chris Wright. Seriously. He spoke to north-south kingdom partnerships. Many called his presentation brilliant.. We were very proud of Chris that day and hope we can find a way for you to hear or read the content of this presentation. Otherwise my week was packed with meetings with a wonderful cadre of seminary professionals. I met with the following personnel for updates on their institutions. All of the following warrant our support for their faculty development needs. Many are launching Ph.D. programs, and many have several JSM-Langham Scholars already on staff. Jamaica Theological Seminary: Dameon Black, President Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology: 2 Langham Scholars; Steve Bryan, Academic Dean Asia Theological Seminary (ATS): 3 Langham Scholars; David Cheung, Principal; Larry Caldwell, Academic Dean; Ph.D. to launch in 2008 Nairobi Graduate School of Theology (NEGST): 7 Langham Scholars; Douglas Carew, Vice-Chancellor; Jim Miller, Head of Ph.D. program China Graduate School of Theology (CGST): 5 students including 2 from Mainland China; Wilson Chow, Principal; Carver Yu, Academic Dean; Ph.D. launched 2005 South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies (SAIACS): 2 Langham scholars; Ashish Chrispal, Principal; Ph.D. running for 7 years Middle East Association for Theological Education (MEATE): Dick Hart, Director. Has organized Ph.D. consortium utilizing 7 Middle East schools Jos Evangelical Theological Seminary (JETS): 2 Langham Scholars; Sam Kunhiyop, Principal; Ph.D. in theology launched 2005 Asia Graduate School of Theology (AGST) Philippines: Theresa Lua, Dean; Ph.D. consortium of 9 Manila schools; FATEB/BEST: 3 Langham Scholars; Abel Ndjerareou, Principal; launched Ph.D. 2005. Split program with Vaux-sur-Seine (Paris) Israel College of the Bible: William Raccah, President; Jerusalem; partners with Bethlehem Bible College Arab Baptist Theological Seminary (ABTS): 2 Langham Scholars; Paul Sanders, faculty Singapore Bible College (SBC): 3 Langham Scholars; Al Ting, NEW Principal
International Program Director, Scholars
First and foremost I want to officially welcome Howard Peskett to the team. Howard will be serving as Scholars Director for Langham Partnership UK and Ireland (LPUKI), but he is certainly not new to us. He has been on the LPUKI Scholar Committee since he was born, I believe. He has also produced the Fellowship of Langham Scholars (FLS) newsletter for LPUKI. Before this he served over twenty years with the Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF) in Singapore and China.
June 2006
June 29 – July 1, 2006
Isabel Phiri
South Africa
Univ of Natal
Kwame Bediako
Ghana
Akrofi-Christaller
Douglas Carew
Kenya
NEGST
Abel Njerareou
Congo
FATEB
Zac Niringiye
Uganda
Anglican Church
Timoteo Gener
Philippines
ATS
Michael Poon
Singapore
Trinity
Ashish Chrispal
India
SAIACS
Ivan Satyavrata
India
SABC
Pavel Cerny
Czech Rep
ETC
Milton Acosta
Columbia
CTS
Rene Padilla
Argentina
Kairos
Atef Gendy
Egypt
ETSC
Martin Accad
Lebanon
Arab Baptist Sem.
Riad Kassis
Lebanon
OCI
Herrick Liu
Hong Kong
Alliance Baptist Sem
August 2006