Missions Conference Coming to Calvin

Calvin College will bring together Christian leaders from around the world to attend a global conference, "The Reformed Mission in an Age of World Christianity," on June 15-17, 2010, on Calvin's campus.

The conference, co-sponsored by Calvin College and the International Association for the Promotion of Christian Higher Education, is designed to strengthen the intersection between Reformed Christian faith expressions and global movements in world Christianity. Calvin College is located in Grand Rapids, Mich.

The goal is to learn how Reformed Christian faith and work can effectively support the hopes and address the challenges encountered across a variety of contemporary cultures. The conference has already attracted registrants from 42 countries.

Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary, will deliver the conference keynote address at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 15, 2010, in the Prince Conference Center. The conference will also include a number of breakout sectionals.

Sectional leaders will include educational, ministry and public leaders from around the world. For example, one of the sectional leaders, Augusto de la Torre, is a former head of the Central Bank of Ecuador and now chief economist for World Bank in Latin America and the Caribbean.

"This is a golden opportunity to explore the treasures of Reformed heritage in relation to shifting world-wide faith dynamics," said Shirley Roels, conference organizer and director of Calvin's Van Lunen Center for Executive Management in Christian Schools. "We want participants to rediscover old jewels as they polish new gems of faith and action."

The event is a pre-conference to the Uniting General Conference (UGC), a nine-day assembly being held Friday, June 18, 2010, to Sunday, June 27, 2010, at Calvin College. At the UGC, two networks of Reformed denominations, representing 80 million reformed Christians all over the world, will merge.

"Reformed Mission in an Age of World Christianity" is open to all Christian leaders and particularly welcomes those from Reformed denominations such as the Christian Reformed Church, Reformed Church of North America, Presbyterian Church (USA) and the United Church of Christ, all of which are supporting the merger assembly.

The conference will be translated into French, Spanish, Korean and Bahasa, to accommodate the many languages of those attending. Registration for the conference extends through the first week of June. To register, visit www.calvin.edu/go/rcc. For more info on the conference, contact the Calvin College Seminars Office at 616-526-8558.