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MILLIGAN COLLEGE, TN (Sept. 8, 2003) — Milligan College and Emmanuel School of Religion will partner next month to host the annual unity meeting known since 1984 as the “Restoration Forum.” Participants and featured speakers include ministers, faculty and church leaders from throughout the United States.
The Oct. 12-14 forum is open to all churches, organizations and individuals who share a common heritage in what is often called “The Restoration Movement.” This nineteenth-century unity and restoration effort by Barton W. Stone and Thomas and Alexander Campbell spawned several distinct religious groups: the Churches of Christ, the Christian Churches and the Disciples of Christ.
The theme for this year’s forum is “Christ is all…Christ in all.” The opening session will be held Sunday, Oct. 12, 6 P.M., at First Christian Church in Johnson City, with a welcome by senior minister Tim Wallingford. The forum will begin with a special communion service. Keynote speakers are James Collins of Peachtree Christian Church, Atlanta, Ga., and Paul Watson of Cole Mill Rd. Church of Christ, Durham, NC.
Sessions on Monday, Oct. 13, will be held at Emmanuel School of Religion in Johnson City. Speakers that day include Robert O. Fife, adjunct faculty at Emmanuel; Thomas A. Langford, retired dean of the graduate school at Texas Tech University; Vincent Dial, minister at Bethel Christian Church (DOC), Jonesborough, Tenn; Yuri Skopulatov, student at Emmanuel; Pino Neglia, minister of Chiesa di Cristo in Lecce, Italy; Doug Foster, director of the Center for Restoration Studies at Abilene Christian University; Newell Williams, president of Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, Texas; Paul Blowers, faculty at Emmanuel; Wade Wilson, minister at Westwood Christian Church in Madison, Wis.; Jesse Kearns, associate regional minister (DOC), Lynchburg, Va.; Joey Gafford, minister at Northeast Church of Christ, Kingsport, Tenn; Robert Hull, dean, Emmanuel School of Religion; and Mark Matson, dean, Milligan College.
Sessions on Tuesday, Oct. 14, will be held at Milligan College. A special women’s session will feature Rebecca Hale, associate regional minister of the Tennessee Disciples of Christ; Phyllis Fox, director of Youth in Ministry, a program of Emmanuel and Milligan College; Janell Lewis, Locust Street Church of Christ in Johnson City; Ruth Wilson of Portland Avenue Church of Christ, Louisville, Ky.; and Heather Holland, worship minister at Boones Creek Christian Church, Gray, Tenn.
Other speakers on Tuesday include Tom Jones, faculty at Emmanuel School of Religion; Stuart Love, professor of religion at Pepperdine University; Bill MacDonald, minister at Crestwood Christian Church (DOC), Lexington, Ky; and Gary Pearson, minister at Church of Christ, Westminster, Md.
The forum will conclude Tuesday morning, Oct. 14, with a joint convocation session with the Milligan College student body, featuring keynote speaker Steve Carpenter, minister at Countryside Christian Church in Midlothian, Va.
Other special features include the signing of a Prayer Covenant, inducting four new people into the forum’s Honor Roll of Unity, and the closing Agape Feast directed by Dennis Randall, minister of 43rd Street Church of Christ in Bradenton, Fla.
Registration is $25 per person, $35 per couple, or $12 per student. Checks should be made payable to Milligan College (note “Restoration Forum” on the check) and be sent to: Office of the President, Attn: Restoration Forum, P.O. Box 189, Milligan College, TN 37682.
For more information and a detailed schedule, visithttp://www.esr.edu/News/2003RestorationForum.pdf or contact Milligan College President Don Jeanes at DrJeanes@milligan.edu or Emmanuel School of Religion President Bob Wetzel atWetzel@esr.edu.