Laidlaw Lectures

I was honored to speak at the Mission of the Church in the 21st Century conference at Laidlaw College in Auckland (Henderson) New Zealand, and it was a thrilling, encouraging, and challenging experience. First a word of thanks to Rod and Rosie Thompson for the invitation and hospitality at Laidlaw, to Esther Sila’ila’i for her organizational skills, to Fiona Sherwin who kept near us in the event we needed anything (including flat whites!), to Mark and Ruth McConnell for an evening dinner and conversation (and questions) at their lovely home, to Travis Black whom I met at Regent College in Vancouver and who is now pastoring in Auckland, and to Jeremy Kendall — who had the chutzpah to wear a Yankees hat while leading worship!

Rod arranged the schedule perfectly — with a good but fairly easy day on Sunday (worship, and a spectacular afternoon on Mission Bay including some Red Snapper), a little more on Monday and then on Tuesday the events began, but only after Rosie took Kris and me to Piha Beach. The conference began with a memorable cross cultural experience — led by nothing less than a Maori greeting and welcome in the courtyard at Laidlaw, and this greeting included some dancing and singing and speech-making.

I gave three lectures — one on Kingdom and Church, one on Paul’s vision for the local church, and one on Paul’s view of grace and love — and alongside these lectures were lectures by New Zealanders that emphasized the cross-cultural nature of the church’s 21st Century mission. Paul’s vision for the church and Laidlaw’s vision for the conference were a perfect match.

Three special highlights: Kris and I knew very little about the Maoris before we went but the story of the European settlements in New Zealand and the Maoris potently took us to the early Americans’ relationship with the Native Americans. The New Zealand Christians and the entire country have done far better at respecting and integrating and participating in Maori culture than we have done with Native Americans. The conference had plenty of Maori presence.

Just before the first session I was near the coffee shop to get a flat white when I spotted the registration table where I saw two name tags that excited me: Murray and Jennifer Harris. True to our fondest hopes, Murray and Jennifer showed up! It was an emotional event for Kris and for me to see them — and it led us both to reflect on all they have meant to us over the years. Murray was the finest teacher I ever experienced; he was the Warden at Tyndale House when I studied there; and he became my “wisdom” colleague at Trinity when he joined the New Testament department. I never expected to see either Murray or Jennifer again and there they were!

Tuesday evening kicked off the conference with a worship event — led by Travis Black that incorporated local churches. It was a display of Christian diversity — Ethiopian choir (and preacher), Maoris and Pacific Islanders singing, dancing, performing, and there was a dance team that spectacularly dramatized the needs of young adults. We could hardly sleep (even with jet lag) after the event.

Friday I taught a class with Mark McConnell that tied missional theology, the lectures, some of the material I’ve written, with some conversion theory discussions — overall a very stimulating day with great interaction with the students. The class was a good event that tied together all we had experienced with the faculty and the students at Laidlaw.

Finally, on Friday evening Kris and I flew down to Palmerston North (Palmy, which sounded like Parmy to my ears) and on Saturday we had a day with leaders and church folks for the Emmaus Trust on the same themes as up in Auckland. Our thanks especially to Pauline Simonsen and Nigel Dixon for both creating the event and for their generous hospitality, including another flat white at Cafe Cuba in Palmy.