Yale Professor Dr. Miroslav Volf to Deliver 2020 William L. Self Preaching Lectures at McAfee School of Theology

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ATLANTA – Yale University professor Dr. Miroslav Volf will deliver the 2020 William L. Self Preaching Lectures Feb. 3-4 at Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology.

Dr. Volf, who serves as Henry B. Wright Professor of Systematic Theology and founding director of the Center for Faith and Culture at Yale, will present a series of three lectures on the theme “The Home of God and the Task of Ministry.” They will be delivered Monday, Feb. 3, at 4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Tuesday, Feb. 4, at 11 a.m., in the Cecil B. Day Hall auditorium on the University’s Atlanta campus.

“We are honored to host Dr. Miroslav Volf, an internationally recognized scholar who cares deeply about theological education and congregational life. For Professor Volf, theology matters because it helps us articulate a flourishing life in light of Jesus Christ. His work is important to academics, clergy and all others interested in such a flourishing life,” said Dr. Greg DeLoach, interim dean of McAfee School of Theology.

A member of the Episcopal Church in the U.S.A. and the Evangelical Church in Croatia, Dr. Volf has been involved in international ecumenical dialogues including the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and interfaith dialogues such as the executive board of C-1 World Dialogue. He is an active participant in the Global Agenda Council on Values of the World Economic Forum.

A native of Croatia, he regularly teaches and lectures in Central and Eastern Europe, Asia and across North America.

His books include Allah: A Christian Response (2011); Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace (2006), which was the Archbishop of Canterbury Lenten book for 2006; Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation (1996), a winner of the 2002 Grawemeyer Award; and After Our Likeness: The Church as the Image of the Trinity (1998), winner of the Christianity Today book award.

Dr. Volf is a fellow of Berkeley College. He earned doctoral and postdoctoral degrees at the University of Tubingen in Germany, a master’s degree at Fuller Theological Seminary and a bachelor’s degrees from the Evangelical-Theological Faculty in Osijek, Croatia.

The William L. Self Lectureship was established in order to promote the practice of faithful and effective preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The lectures seek to instill in students and pastors a passion for better preaching by providing worthy models and by offering seasoned instruction and encouragement.

The lecture series is named in honor of the late Dr. William L. Self, a former Mercer trustee who distinguished himself with a national reputation as a gifted preacher, pastor, author, lecturer, motivational speaker and innovator in church growth.

Dr. Self achieved considerable acclaim by leading Wieuca Road Baptist Church in Atlanta to a place of prominence in Georgia and the nation. Then, as pastor of Johns Creek Baptist Church in Alpharetta, his leadership and influence brought that church to the vanguard of fast-growing churches.

The lectures are free to all seminary students in Atlanta, but online registration is required to attend. There is a $60 fee for non-seminary students to attend the lectures. A dinner will take place in the Trustees Dining Room between the first two lectures, and dinner reservations are required at an additional cost of $20 per person.

For more information, contact Diane Frazier at (678) 547-6470 or frazier_d@mercer.edu.

About the School of Theology

The Mercer University School of Theology, named for James and Carolyn McAfee, who provided the founding gift for the School, forms Christian leaders whose practice and scholarship, empowered by their passion for God and neighbor, change lives and transform communities. The School accomplishes this mission by: 1) integrating spirituality with service through: practicing spiritual disciplines that nurture us for Christian service; embracing ethnic, gender and theological diversity to enhance our spiritual growth and moral formation; creating opportunities to learn in community, experience transformation and risk action; 2) integrating theological inquiry with prophetic vision through interpreting the story of the Christian faith through sacred scriptures and traditions; connecting faith to global contexts in ways that engage personal, communal and political realities; critiquing the structures of our society from an informed prophetic voice; 3) integrating worship with witness through celebrating God’s presence in worship as the source of the Church’s call to community and global transformation; reading cultural contexts to create holistic strategies for ministry; proclaiming the love of God in Jesus Christ through dialogue and in partnership with others. For more information, visit theology.mercer.edu.