ICETE News – March 2006

International Council for Evangelical Theological Education

Sponsorship: ACTEA ( Africa ); ATA ( Asia ); CETA (the Caribbean ); EEAA ( Europe ); E-AAA

(Euro-Asia); AETAL ( Latin America ); AABC ( North America ); SPABC (South Pacific)

ICETE NEWS

an in-house circular for the ICETE community

March 2006

ICETE to Host Global Evangelical Leaders

The ICETE International Consultation 2006 will host two leading representatives of global evangelicalism. Participating in the programme will be Geoff Tunnicliffe, International Director of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), and Doug Birdsall, Executive Chair of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization (LCWE). Each will offer perspective in plenary session on the theme of the Consultation, global Christianity and the role of theological education, and will also be available for interaction with participants. ICETE functions under the auspices of the WEA, and has maintained long-term involvement with the Lausanne movement. Also addressing the Consultation in plenary session will be Chris Wright, Ministries Director of John Stott’s Langham Partnership International (LPI). Wright will lead delegates in consideration of critical north/south issues in global evangelical theological education. ICETE maintains a formal partnership with LPI. ICETE’s International Consultations are widely valued for offering theological educators from all parts of the world a unique opportunity to engage on an international basis with larger issues of common concern.

ICETE Colloquium III

Preceding the 2006 Consultation ICETE’s governing board will meet for an ICETE Leadership Colloquium III. The ICETE governing board is made up of representatives of ICETE’s eight member associations, which in combination now cover all parts of the world. At the Colloquium the leaders of these member associations will be considering how best to collaborate at practical levels to develop international and regional networking services for the benefit of ICETE constituencies around the world. ICETE Colloquium III is in follow-up to earlier similar events held in conjunction with ICETE’s Consultations at Sopley in 1996 and High Wycombe in 2003.

Sanders Appointment

ICETE takes pleasure in announcing the appointment of Paul Sanders as ICETE Deputy Administrator. Sanders presently serves in Beirut, , as Director of Institutional Development with the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary He is also chair since 2001 of EEAA, the ICETE member association for European evangelical theological schools. Previously Sanders was involved in church development and theological education in for 25 years. He holds a doctorate from the Sorbonne in Paris in modern western history. Sanders will be assisting with the administration of ICETE in collaboration with Dieumeme Noelliste, ICETE Director, and Paul Bowers, ICETE Administrator.

Opportunity for Academic Deans

Academic deans and other academic officers attending the ICETE Consultation 2006 are invited to participate in a professional workshop immediately following the Consultation. The workshop for academic deans is sponsored by ICETE, and will be held at the same venue as the Consultation, from Friday afternoon, 11 August, through Monday breakfast, 13 August. The composite charge, including lodging and meals, will be US$80. Facilitators will include Paul Sanders of Beirut and Fritz Deininger of Bangkok , and sessions will be highly interactive. This exceptional opportunity for professional development at an international level will be limited to 25 participants. Those interested must first register for the ICETE Consultation, and then should apply for participation in the workshop through the ICETE Consultation Directorate, at: [email protected]. For additional information, contact the workshop facilitators, at: [email protected], or [email protected]

The New Reality, … Tilted

The 2006 ICETE Consultation will be focusing on the emerging global character of Christianity, and the specific implications of this for theological education. The Christian community is now global. This is the new reality. And more and more this community displays a ‘southern’ tilt. The 2006 Consultation is designed to assist theological educators from around the world in reflecting together on the nature of this new framework, and in understanding ourselves freshly within this context of service. How we deal with the now global nature of the Christian community, and particularly with its increasingly non-western character, will prove vital to the future of evangelical theological education around the world.

The ICETE Consultation is intended for the ICETE constituency throughout the world. Available space will be prioritised for representatives from schools affiliated with one of the eight continental associations that make up the ICETE family, namely ACTEA, AETAL, ATA, ABHE, CETA, EEAA, E-AAA, and SPABC. The composite Consultation participation fee per individual will be US$450 (covering registration, accommodation, meals, etc.). Travel and related expenses are the responsibility of the individual or sponsoring institution. Any school that is formally linked to one of the ICETE member associations listed above will be eligible for a 50% discount on the Consultation fee, for up to two delegates per institution. Guests or observers will be accommodated on an invitation basis as space is available. The Consultation will take place 7-11 August 2006 in Chiang Mai, . Those interested should contact the ICETE Consultation Directorate at: [email protected]

ICETE Expands

ICETE is pleased to announce the admission to full ICETE Associate status of Resource Leadership International (RLI). Based in British Columbia , , RLI devotes itself to partnerships that will foster excellence in theological education in the developing world. RLI’s president, Gordon Smith, was previously dean of Regent College in Vancouver . RLI is part of the Overseas Council network, and was formerly known as Overseas Council Canada. ICETE associate status is available to entities that have the enhancement of evangelical theological education among their principal objectives. Other ICETE Associates presently include the Institute of Theological Studies (ITS), Overseas Council International (USA), and the overseas theological education components of the Church of the Nazarene, the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, and the Church of God (Cleveland). Further information about RLI is available at: www.resourceleadership.com

Biblical Higher Education in North America

ICETE’s North American member, the Association for Biblical Higher Education (ABHE), held its 59th Annual Meeting in Orlando, , 16-18 February 2006. Principal speakers included Peter Kuzmic of , Wadi Haddad of Lebanon, and Robertson McQuilkin. Kuzmic and Haddad both spoke at ICETE’s 2003 Consultation; McQuilkin is former president of Columbia International University , an ICETE affiliate institution. The theme of the conference was the implications of global Christianity for biblical higher education in North America . Other sessions were devoted to such topics as: “Student Learning Outcomes”; “Online Education”; “Serving a Multi-cultural Campus Community”; and “The President’s Role in Building a Strong Board.” About 500 participants attended the event. ABHE was founded in 1947, and represents a constituency of about 193 institutions in the and . Further information is available at: www.abhe.gospelcom.net

Frumentius Lectureship in

The Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology (EGST) has announced its Frumentius Lectures for 2005-06, to be given by Chris Wright of Langham Partnership International. The title of this year’s lectures is “Salvation Belongs to Our God: Salvation in Biblical Perspective.” Wright holds a doctorate from Cambridge University , previously taught Old Testament in , served as principal of All Nations Christian College in the , and is on the ICETE Council of Reference. EGST was founded in 1999 and is affiliated with ACTEA, ICETE’s member association for Africa . The previous Frumentius Lectures were delivered by Richard Bauckham, and were published under the title: Bible and Mission: Christian Witness in a Postmodern World (Grand Rapids/Carlisle, 2003). The lectureship is named for the early Christian who, commissioned by Athanasius of Alexandria, helped spread Christianity in in the 4th Century. For further information, contact: [email protected]

New Chancellor Appointed

The Church of God (Cleveland) has installed Lamar Vest as the new chancellor for its Division of Education, which includes oversight of some 90 Church of God theological institutions worldwide. Vest was previously presiding bishop of the Church of God , president of the National Association of Evangelicals, and is presently chair of the American Bible Society. The Division of Education maintains an ICETE Associate status. Under the leadership of Donald Aultman, the Division’s School of Ministry serves some 10,000 students in non-traditional educational programmes, and recently launched an accredited internet-based baccalaureate degree completion programme in pastoral ministry. Further information is available at: www.ministerialtraining.org

About ICETE

ICETE is a global community, sponsored by eight continental/regional networks of theological schools, to encourage excellence and renewal in evan­gelical theological education world­wide. ICETE was established in 1980, and functions under the auspices of the World Evangelical Alliance. ICETE now represents the point of cooperative intersection among a formal constituency of more than seven hundred evangelical theological colleges and seminaries in 100+ countries, predominantly in the majority world (with an estimated combined student community in excess of 60,000). Many of these are the principal evangelical institutions in their parts of the world.

The continental/regional associations sponsoring ICETE are:

· Africa Accrediting Council for Theological Educa­tion in Africa (ACTEA)

· Asia Asia Theological Association (ATA)

· the Caribbean Caribbean Evangelical Theological Asso­ciation (CETA)

· Europe European Evangelical Accrediting Associa­tion (EEAA)

· Euro-Asia Euro-Asian Accrediting Association (E-AAA)

· Latin America Association for Evangelical Theological Edu­cation in Latin America (AETAL)

· North America Association for Biblical Higher Education [ North America ] (ABHE)

· South Pacific South Pacific Association of Bible Colleges (SPABC)

ICETE Officers—Chair: Vera Brock, (); Director: Dieumeme Noelliste ();

Administrator: Paul Bowers (USA/South Africa )

ICETE Council of Reference—Dr Rolf Hille (Germany); Dr Emilio Nuñez (Guatemala); Dr Chris Wright (UK);

Dr Wilson Chow (Hong Kong); Dr David Kasali (Kenya); Dr Peter Kuzmič (Croatia)

for further information, or to contact ICETE, go to:

http://www.icete-edu.org

ICETE’s Mission :

Strengthening evangelical theological education

through international cooperation