fbpx
News Articles

SBC DIGEST: LifeWay Stores offer Bible study workshops; SBTS’ Trentham to lead Christian education profs


LifeWay Stores offer nationwide Bible study workshops

NASHVILLE (BP) — For people intent on reading the Bible more consistently in 2018, LifeWay Christian Stores will host workshops nationwide Jan. 16 for staying engaged in regular Bible study.

“All our research indicates the single best thing a Christian can do to grow in faith is to regularly read the Bible. Of course, the Bible itself helps us see the same thing,” said Michael Kelly, director of groups ministry for LifeWay Christian Resources.

“We want to do anything we can do, including a workshop like this, that helps people integrate the discipline of daily Bible reading and study into the regular rhythm of their lives,” Kelley said.

LifeWay will host free Bible study workshops — led by local presenters — at all of its stores on Tuesday, Jan. 16, with no registration required. At most stores the workshops will be offered from 10-11 a.m. and 6-7 p.m. but hours may vary; check with your local store.

At the events, attendees will:

— Learn how to do a devotional Bible study.

— Better understand Scripture, its teachings and how it applies to life.

— Learn how to rally around Scripture with others in the community.

— Receive a 2018 Bible-reading plan.

LifeWay’s groups ministry team developed content for the event, including a free workbook for the first 75 customers at each store. Refreshments will be provided during the events.

Learn more at LifeWay.com/storeevents.

**********

SBTS’ Trentham to lead Christian education profs society

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP) — Southern Baptist Theological Seminary professor John David Trentham is the new president of the Society of Professors in Christian Education, an organization for evangelical academicians in the educational disciplines, which include Christian formation, leadership and discipleship.

Trentham is assistant professor of leadership and discipleship at Southern, chair of the department of leadership and discipleship within the seminary’s Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Ministry and editor of the Journal of Discipleship and Family Ministry.

“It is truly humbling to be the youngest to serve in this role,” said Trentham, 35, who will serve a two-year term, according to an SPCE news release Dec. 23.

The SPCE, online at spceonline.org, was established and has been led for generations “by giants in the field of Christian education,” Trentham said. “I am primarily a recipient of wisdom in this field, both from my predecessors and my peers. As such, I view my ascendancy as having been lifted up and supported on the shoulders of others rather than as having accomplished a singular recognition or status on the basis of personal achievement.”

“Alongside the organization’s board members, my primary responsibility and overarching goal as president is to harness the resources and energy of academicians in the field of Christian education in a redemptive way, so that its members are enriched and better equipped to lead with excellence and virtue and mission,” Trentham said.

The field of Christian education, he noted, entails “the organized effort of the church in creating opportunities for people to engage and flourish in an authentic relationship with the God of the Bible.” Within the broad field of Christian education, the society helps connect evangelical scholars with evangelical leaders who are training and discipling in the local church and other Christian organizations. The society encompasses people professionally committed to training those involved in age group ministry, parachurch ministry, administration and higher education.

Trentham added that he hopes to oversee growth in racial, ethnic and cultural diversity in Christian education, with the goal of better serving the global Christian church. He also hopes to inspire a new generation of evangelical scholarship, further expanding evangelicalism’s influence in both the church and the academic world.

Trentham holds master of arts and doctor of philosophy degrees from Southern Seminary and an undergraduate degree from the University of Tennessee.

“John David Trentham is one of the rising leaders in the field of Christian education and discipleship, and his election as president of the Society of Professors of Christian Education is a great honor and worthy recognition,” said Adam W. Greenway, dean of the Billy Graham School. “His important work this year with SPCE will be a natural complement to his teaching and writing ministry as a professor in the Billy Graham School, and Southern Seminary is blessed to have someone like Dr. Trentham working to equip future pastors and disciple-makers for more faithful service.”

Trentham and his wife Brittany, have two children. He is an elder with Christ Fellowship Church in Louisville, Ky.

    About the Author

  • LifeWay, SBTS & BP Staff

    Compiled by Baptist Press senior editor Art Toalston from reporting by Aaron Wilson of LifeWay Christian Resources and Andrew J.W. Smith of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

    Read All by LifeWay, SBTS & BP Staff ›