Marriage, Homosexuality and the Church

A scholarly conference

Scholarly Conference Will Address Marriage and Homosexuality

A scholarly conference for pastors, theologians, psychologists, counselors, lawyers, church administrators and other professionals, "Marriage, Homosexuality and the Church," will be held on the campus of Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Mich., October 15-17, 2009. This conference will look at questions raised about the Bible's teaching on homosexual practice and same-sex marriage while also exploring the religious liberty and social welfare implications. It will promote Biblically-sound, socially-sensitive ministerial and counseling practices in dealing with issues of gender orientation.

Nicholas Miller, director of the International Religious Liberty Institute and associate professor of church history at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, says, "This conference comes at a vital moment when our country is confronting basic questions about the fundamental building block of society: family identity. These questions have serious implications for religious liberty, the role of Adventist professionals in the fields of law, psychology and education, the functioning of our own institutions, and our social identity as a Bible-believing people," continues Miller. "No professional Adventist can afford to be uninformed, or ill-informed, on these issues. This conference will provide an opportunity for a multi-disciplinary, faith-based exploration of these questions."

Numerous presenters from the fields of theology, psychology, law and political science will offer presentations followed by a forum for open discussion. Presenters include Stanton Jones, provost and professor of psychology at Wheaton College; Robert Gagnon, associate professor of New Testament, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary; Richard Davidson and Roy Gane, professors of Old Testament, Andrews University; Mark Yarhouse, professor of psychology, Regent University; and Dwight K. Nelson, pastor of Pioneer Memorial Church at Andrews University. Scholarly papers from a variety of disciplines will be collected into a resource for the church-at-large to use when facing these difficult topics.

The conference is sponsored and supported by the International Institute for Religious Liberty at Andrews University, Southern Adventist University, the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, the General Conference Biblical Research Institute, the North American Division Ministerial Association, the North Pacific Union Conference, the Church State Council, the Northwest Religious Liberty Association, and Liberty magazine.

The conference's Friday evening and Sabbath morning presentations at Pioneer Memorial Church are free of charge and open to the public. The following fees apply for the other portions of the conference:

Thursday plus reception and Friday only: $50
Friday and Sabbath only: $45
Spouse: Will share conference papers with full-paying spouse, $35

For more information contact the International Institute of Religious Liberty at Andrews University at fran@andrews.edu or 269-471-3541.