wfn.org | Candler conference explores future of Wesleyan studies

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Jan. 6, 1999  Contact: Thomas S. McAnally*(615) 742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
10-31-71B{006}

By Mike Morgan*

ATLANTA (UMNS) -- More than 60 scholars and church leaders from across the
United States and Europe recently met for a conference on the future of
Wesleyan studies.

Sponsored by Emory University's Candler School of Theology, the Cannon
Conference on the Future of Wesleyan Studies in Theological Education
brought theologians, church historians, seminary presidents and bishops to
Atlanta Dec. 11-12 to discuss and practice some of the unique aspects of the
Wesleyan theological tradition.  

Candler officials expect the results of the conference to help determine not
only the course of the school's own Methodist studies program but also the
direction of Wesleyan studies  in general.

"The conclusions of this conference will directly influence the reshaping of
the program of Methodist studies at Candler School of Theology and will, we
hope, contribute to the larger discussion of Wesleyan and Methodist studies
in theological education," said the Rev. Charles R. Foster, Candler's
associate dean of faculty development and convener of the planning committee
for the Cannon Conference. 

The conference was funded through a bequest to Candler from the late Bishop
William R. Cannon. The event was organized as a first step toward fulfilling
the legacy of the former Candler dean, himself a widely respected Wesleyan
scholar and ecumenical church leader. Upon his death in 1997, Cannon left
the bulk of his estate to the school to endow a faculty chair and to create
scholarships for students preparing for ordained ministry. 

The Cannon Conference aimed to explore important questions captivating
Wesleyan scholars and, by drawing from the resulting conversations, better
enable Candler to fill the Cannon chair, said the Rev. Kevin LaGree,
Candler's dean.

"Bishop Cannon wisely left the details of filling the chair to the school,"
LaGree said. "We intend to use this new position to honor the bishop's
lifelong commitment to intellectual excellence, energetic faith and deep
piety."

While the Cannon chair will not be tied permanently to any particular field
of study, "the greatest need we have now is in the area of Wesleyan and
Methodist studies," LaGree added.

Participants in the Atlanta conference representing several denominations --
including United Methodist, Free Methodist, Nazarene, Wesleyan, African
Methodist Episcopal and Christian Methodist Episcopal -- sang hymns, prayed
together, gave personal testimonies of faith and engaged in small group
discussions.

The conference focused on several questions, including: What intellectual
and theological resources do Wesleyan traditions bring to contemporary
issues of Christian faith, social justice and human community? What is an
appropriate method for teaching Wesleyan studies in the future? How can
Wesleyan traditions contribute to the formation of church and seminary
leaders?

A highlight of the conference was the sharing of personal testimonies by
participants. In an evening session held in a room with lowered lights and
candle-lit tables, several conferees shared their own "camp-fire stories,"
describing their first significant encounter with the Wesleyan tradition,
their mentors in the faith and significant turning points in their own
spiritual journeys.

Those stories included the account of the Rev. Susie Stanley, a minister in
the Church of God (Anderson, Ind.) denomination and professor at Messiah
College in Grantham, Pa., who said she experienced sanctification as a
teen-ager; and the tale of the Rev. Manfred Marquardt, a native of East
Germany, whose first contact with the Wesleyan tradition came when a
Methodist lay preacher visited the refugee camp where he was living.
Marquardt said he was ordained a United Methodist minister in 1968, knowing
nothing about John Wesley. After that, "Wesley himself became my mentor," he
said.

Candler professor Luke Timothy Johnson, a former Benedictine monk who now
describes himself as a "Methodist-Catholic," observed that the common
elements found in most of the stories included an emphasis on direct
experience that often came in unexpected ways. 

"Before coming to Candler, I had never experienced a more Christian
community since I left the monastery," Johnson said.

During a banquet and closing celebration, LaGree and the Rev., Lovett H.
Weems Jr., president of Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Mo.,
summarized the themes that had emerged during the discussions.

"We at this conference see as our goal a life of grace in and for the
world," LaGree stated. He listed four strategies for achieving that goal: 

*	Engaging in the traditional practices of the Wesleyan heritage,
giving special attention to what John Wesley called "the means of grace."
*	Involvement with the poor and marginalized through works of mercy
and reflection on such experiences.
*	Participating in Christian conference with one another as a means of
discerning God's will and direction.
*	Sharing narrative and testimony of our own stories of faith.
	
Weems affirmed a call for a broad new look by United Methodists at how the
church forms future leaders. Current structures do not allow for the
necessary discussion, Weems said, citing the need for genuine dialogue among
the church's laity, bishops, schools and annual conferences.

Retired Bishop David Lawson of Franklin, Ind., who serves as liaison from
the United Methodist Council of Bishops to the church's 13 seminaries,
echoed the need for a more inclusive discussion. "This (conference) is a
very good thing, but it will not bear fruit until it leads to bringing
together" those constituencies, most notably the laity, he said.

"There's a general sense that we need to engage the Wesleyan ethos and
Wesleyan studies with a new intensity and new approach," Lawson said. "The
climate in which this takes shape must be one of conferencing and
collegiality."

An event such as the Cannon Conference would have been inconceivable 15 or
20 years ago, said the Rev. Henry H. "Hal" Knight III, a member of the North
Georgia Annual (regional) Conference who teaches  evangelism and Wesleyan
theology at Saint Paul School of Theology. He viewed the conference as a
sign of maturity in the field of Wesleyan studies. "Our appreciation of
Wesley is not just nostalgia or sentimentality anymore," Knight said. "We're
now looking to Wesley for theological guidance for the future."

The results of the Cannon Conference can make a difference in the churches
by focusing on a vision of growth in the Christian life, Knight said. "It
gives an orienting vision of grace and holiness that leads to certain
emphases such as class meetings, prayer, Eucharist and acts of mercy. It
goes right to the heart of God's plan for relationship to God and neighbor."

The final conclusions of the conference have not yet been reached, according
to Foster. "I'm sure the conversation will affect the personal research and
agendas for teaching of some of the participants. Some will be exploring
ways the insights gained from this event could serve as a catalyst for other
conferences like this."

Foster said the results of the conference will be explored further by
members of the Candler faculty during a Jan. 23 retreat.  
#  #  #
*Morgan is editor of the Wesleyan Christian Advocate, the newspaper of the
North and South Georgia annual conferences.

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