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Kerygma summit 2024

In late April, I attended the Kerygma Summit in Nashville, Tennessee. I arrived at my hotel at 1am, and at the conference at 8am, highly caffeinated but excited to soak in substantive Bible teaching. As stated on the website, “The Kerygma Summit is a carefully curated, 3-day accredited program taught by engaging professors, theological scholars and ministry leaders to better equip women in areas of sound biblical exegesis, hermeneutics, and practical theology.”  The Summit was developed by Lisa Harper and promoted on her podcast, which is how I learned of it.

My goal was to gather Bible-based materials and network with Christians involved in prison or reentry ministries for the purpose of developing a new course at VU. It’s no surprise that what I learned nourished my soul even more than it contributed to course development. The first session, taught by Dr. Eva Bleeker, was based on Psalm 107. Dr. Bleeker reminded us that God designed us tell our stories of lament and thanksgiving, and she explained His design in terms of neurocognitive research.  This will be useful in my Prisons and Jails class.

Another powerful session was, “We are doing it Wrong: How to Help the Next Generation Connect the Dots on Biblical Justice,” by Kaylee Harvey. Her talk reinforced wat I’ve learned at the VU Gen Z talks this year, though she incorporated a conversation on worldly justice versus Godly justice. She explained that they line up 90% of the time, but the world focuses on punishment and God focuses on redemption. Her talk supported a recent book called, “Reforming Criminal Justice: A Christian Proposal.” These resources will be used to design the capstone course for our CJ majors.

Lastly, a recently released former inmate from Angola prison was in attendance. Interestingly, several weeks later, I heard from four others that received degrees in theology while serving their sentences at Angola. My secular colleagues have taken an interest in research that reveals a reduction in prison violence that follows Christian conversion. In fact, I attended an author-meets-critic session at a Sociology conference based on the research at Angola Prison. The authors found sustained change following Christian conversion and identity formation. This led to the subsequent opening of an onsite seminary. Now that’s something to get excited about!