2007: What I’m Looking Forward To
Living Conversations on God, Christianity, World Religions, Scripture, Life, Relationships, Philosophy, etc., that I’ll be hosting starting January. It’ll be a monthly gathering on a Friday evening at my place in Loma Linda. This will be unapologetically modeled after Bill Moyers’s “Genesis: A Living Conversation.” The first one will be on January 26, at 7:30 p.m. If you’re interested in coming, email me at jjnam@llu.edu.
National Pastors Convention in San Diego on February 5-10. A joint venture between Zondervan, InterVarsity, and Leadership magazine. I haven’t been to NPC since their 1st one in 2001, but now that I’m back in southern California I’m looking forward to attending. Two “Critical Concerns” courses (basically intensives) interest me very much: “The Church in Transition: The Church Meets Emerging Culture” and “Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches.” If you’re attending, email me! We can meet up for lunch!
West Coast Religion Teachers’ Conference at Walla Walla College on April 6-8. Religion professors at the five West Coast Adventist colleges and universities (Canadian University College, La Sierra University, Loma Linda University, Pacific Union College, and Walla Walla College) gather annually for this meeting. I consider this gathering to be one of few examples of Adventist scholars from different streams of thought coming together in genuine fellowship.
The 2007 Emergent Theological Conversation at Eastern University in Philadelphia on April 16-18. This is a gathering that I can NOT attend, much to my chagrin. The theme for this conversation is: “What Would Jesus Deconstruct? A Conversation about Justice.†Among Adventists, I know that Samir Selmanovic and Ryan Bell have been very much involved with Emergent over the past few years. Thought I can’t go, I’m looking forward to listening in on the conversation via podcasts.
Association of Seventh-day Adventist Historians Triennial Meeting at Oakwood College on April 19-22. Yes, this conference meets only once in three years, so I can’t miss it! My only attendance at this meeting was three years ago at Pacific Union College. The gathering is both for Adventists who study different types of history as well as Adventist history. Whether you’re a historian, student of history, or a serious history buff, this conference is for you! Contact Ciro Sepulveda or Nigel Barham at Oakwood College History Department!
Empower Ministry National Leadership Conference on Labor Day weekend at a location to be finalized. This will be Empower’s 5th gathering of Asian-American Adventist youth and young adult leaders. I serve as one of the directors of Empower, and empowering lay leaders through training and networking continues to be a passion of mine.
Questions on Doctrine 50th Anniversary Commemorative Conference at Andrews University on October 24-27. This is the other extracurricular project, besides this blog, that consumes my time and energy. It is a direct outgrowth of my 2005 Andrews University dissertation, “Reactions to Seventh-day Adventist Evangelical Conferences and Questions on Doctrine, 1955-1971.” Hosted by the Seminary at Andrews, this conference will feature Adventist thought leaders from diverse quarters who have reacted in very different ways to the book and its aftermath. The purpose of the conference is not to establish orthodoxy or tear down heresy in the book or any of the participants, but to listen and share with one another in a scholarly, dispassionate manner where we are as a church on the issues raised by the book. Once the plans for the conference are finalized, I’ll make a detailed announcement here.
Adventist Society for Religious Studies/Adventist Theological Society/American Academy of Religion/Society for Biblical Literature Annual Meetings in San Diego on November 15-20. A yearly meeting of religion scholars that attracts more than 10,000. It is a veritable feast of religious inquiry and fellowship like no other. When the ASRS gathers two days before the big meeting, it will focus on “Adventism and Community.” I’m looking forward to the wonderful potluck of ideas and inquiries at ASRS.
Turn my dissertation into a book for a wider audience. I hope to do that in time for the QOD Conference in October.
Start the process for a documentary (or possibly a series?) on Adventist thought and life with Paul Kim and others. Basically, this series will survey the landscape of Adventist theology and values in a descriptive manner that hopefully will encourage conversation and show possibilities and alternatives within Adventism.
Finish my Gilmore Girls & Adventism project and get it published somewhere (more official than my blog). I’m hoping also to make a short documentary on this as well. The documentary will definitely be a go if the producers of the show let me on the set to do some filming and interviewing.
Find a socially-conscious, community-building project/ministry/outreach/organization that I can be part of in the Inland Empire.
Nurture loving, in-depth conversations with individuals who believe very differently than I do, particularly those Adventists who are suspicious of “progressive” Adventists—not in a patronizing way or for a debate, but for a genuine, authentic dialogue that shares hearts. There are several in my life already with whom I have such conversations, but I need more. I need to do this regularly not as a project, but to build relationships and together strengthen the family of Adventism. I confess that I need to do this so that I can be drawn back to the center and to Christ. I recognize that “progressivism” can be an idol and a big ego-trip.
Learn to cook. My boys deserve it.
Monday January 01st 2007, 7:07 pm
Filed under: Main
Filed under: Main
These are the things I’m looking forward to doing and being part of this year.
In addition to participating in these events, I hope to do the following this year.
Hey,
I’m a filmmaker currently living somewhat nomadically. Your idea to work with Paul Kim intrigues me, first because I love documentary filmmaking, and also because I’ve gotten the chance to get to know Paul at several SONscreen film festivals and love his work.
Because of my job, which starts in April (Hope TV Europe), I’m not sure if i could offer a huge amount of assistance, but I would love to help in any way I could if you were interested.
You can see some of my and my fillmmaking partner Adam Buck’s films at http://www.myspace.com/travelingmuse
sincerely,
Leslie Foster
PS. A friend of mine, Nathan Huber, a fellow graduate of Southern’s film program, used to, and might still work on Gilmore Girls. I could see about getting his contact info if you would like more information.
Comment by Leslie Foster 01.11.07 @ 4:59 pmLeslie,
I’ve become an instant fan of your work. Beautiful, touching and, umm, atoning. The ball’s on my court as far as the documentary project goes. I’ve got a certain construct in my head for the project, but I need to get it on paper. Your location post-April in Europe will actually be a wonderful thing—should you be able to collaborate—since I really want to paint a picture of global Adventist theology in motion. Ambitious, yes, but I think there’s a way to do it. Email me at jjnam@llu.edu and we can talk more. And yes, it’d be great if you can get me Nathan’s contact info.
As for GG, I do have a good contact within the show, Helen Pai, a producer of the show and the inspiration for the Lane character. She’s agreed, through her nephew (a former student of mine), to do it, and I just emailed her yesterday actually to set up a time for the interview. But I think it’d be great to get Nathan’s perspective on all this. In fact, if Helen and other produces are agreeable to this, I’m wanting to create a 20-min. documentary on GG that has interviews with Helen Pai, some actors, academics, and SDA fans of the show on how the world perceives Adventism. Anyhow…would love to talk further.
Comment by Julius 01.12.07 @ 12:23 amLeave a comment
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