David Swanson reports on opening events from the National Pastors Convention.
David Swanson agreed to leave frozen Chicagoland to labor in
sunny San Diego at this year’s National Pastors Convention. He’ll be
sending us updates throughout the week of the goings on there. This is
his first post.
I arrived at the National Pastors Convention in California a day
early to catch one of the pre-conference seminars: Emerging Critical
Issues Facing the Church. (For this Midwesterner, the sunny blue skies
of San Diego were another reason to come early.) The seminar featured
four panelists—Scot McKnight, Phyllis Tickle, Andy Crouch, and Tony
Jones—addressing four critical issues: the role of Scripture, the
church and politics, homosexuality, and religious pluralism.
These
issues are as controversial as they are critical. This was clear from
the spirited conversation between the panelists, the passionate
questions and comments from the audience, and our moderator’s repeated
requests for civil interaction. Allow me to summarize two of these
conversations.