The SVS Journey Begins again....

image from SVS on Twitter.

I'm a very blessed person - this time next week I hope to be ensconced in a Vineyard Church in the USA, talking theology with friends old and new. At a conference of the Society of Vineyard Scholars (because, you know, as a mark of what I call 'Charismatic Clarity', there is a whole gathering and organisation of people who think with the Vineyard. #JustSaying).

Obviously, I'll be blogging about it more next week (like last year, and the year before) but until then, a crafty taster of what I'll be presenting. Something about 'Being Human'... You can follow the conversation next week on Twitter at #SVS2015

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“You are Not Yet What We Will Be” -  The Relational-Eschatological Turn and its contribution for a Vineyard Theological Anthropology

The proposed panel takes seriously the role of eschatology in shaping Vineyard understandings of what it means to be human. This paper argues that in order to do that, recognition must be given to the eschatological dimension of the ‘relational’ interpretation of what it is to be made in the Image of God. Echoing the important work of (among others) Barth, Kelsey, and Roberts, this paper takes seriously the relational nature of what it means to be human - and attempts to understand that with in an eschatological framework.

Building on previous contributions to SVS regarding anthropology, formation, and pedagogy, this paper will offer a contribution to a Vineyard theological anthropology that echoes the mainstream of relational interpretation, even as it takes seriously the eschatological contribution of Kingdom Theology. 

The recent UK contribution of Rick Williams (in Uncomfortable Growth) furthers the extant impetus for the articulation of a Vineyard theological anthropology, identifying key missional issues as requiring a fresh call to Vineyard DNA for the sake of healthy churches and the advance of the Kingdom. This paper will consider the hints for theological anthropology revealed in Williams’ work, and sketch how the relational-eschatological turn may assist the theological exploration of this.

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I'll likely share some more about this paper next week, and will obviously upload a draft to my academia.edu profile soon. In the meantime, I'd love to connect via Facebook, Twitter, or a comment