4th Annual
Florovsky-Newman Week
The Patristic View of Baptism
Public Proclamation or Salvific Sacrament?
June 2-5, Anno Domini 2021 - Wichita, KS
Florovsky-Newman Week 2021
June 2-5, 2021
The Patristic View of Baptism: Public Proclamation or Salvific Sacrament?
Co-sponsored by St George Orthodox Christian Cathedral and the Gerber Institute for Catholic Studies, the Florovsky-Newman Week promotes a “return to the sources for Christian unity.” Heeding Fr. Florovsky's advice, rather than simply overlooking differences, this conference seeks to overcome the different views of baptism. And we do so by returning to the common Tradition, by learning to read the Fathers as living masters, rather than as historical documents. Our hope is for you to deepen your understanding of baptism by examining it from our respective traditions as Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant Christians. Join us for this unique event as we dive into the Church Fathers in order to explore, challenge, and encourage one another to better love God and neighbor.
CLICK HERE to skip to the schedule or CLICK HERE to skip to the abstracts.
Matthew Levering
Mundelein Seminary
Matthew Levering (Ph.D., Boston College) is a member of the Academy of Catholic Theology and of Evangelicals and Catholics Together and is co-editor of Nova et Vetera and of the International Journal of Systematic Theology. He is the author or co-author of over thirty books including such works as Scripture and Metaphysics, Participatory Biblical Exegesis, Proofs of God. He is editor or co-editor of over twenty books including such works as The Oxford Handbook of Sacramental Theology. He is currently at work on a nine-volume dogmatics, whose first three volumes have appeared (most recently Engaging the Doctrine of Creation).
Marcus Plested
Marquette University
Marcus Plested is Professor of Greek Patristic and Byzantine Theology and Henri de Lubac Chair at Marquette University. He completed his doctoral studies at the University of Oxford (Merton College) under the supervision of Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, receiving his D.Phil in 1999. Dr. Plested is coeditor (with Matthew Levering) of The Oxford Handbook of the Reception of Aquinas (Oxford University Press 2021) and is also the author of The Macarian Legacy: The Place of Macarius-Symeon in the Eastern Christian Tradition (OUP 2004) and Orthodox Readings of Aquinas (OUP 2012). He also has a forthcoming book entitled Wisdom in Christian Tradition: The Patristic Roots of Modern Russian Sophiology.
Charles Raith II
John Brown University
Charles (Chad) Raith II is Adjunct Professor of Christian Theology for John Brown University and Chief Mission Integration Officer for Ascension Health. He is also the founder and former Director of the Paradosis Center for Ecumenical Theology. Among his publications are Aquinas and Calvin in Romans: God’s Justification and Our Participation (Oxford, 2008), Ecumenism: A Guide for the Perplexed (T&T Clark, 2017), and The Book of Acts: Catholic, Orthodox and Evangelical Readings (CUA Press, 2019).
Eighth Day Seminar
Baptism in the Bible, the Fathers, the Liturgy, & Literature
This four-session Seminar will be conducted in a Shared Inquiry format, the method of approaching texts used in the classrooms of St. John's College, Thomas Aquinas College, and other "great books" curriculum schools.
A good friend once said, "shared-inquiry is a way to read a book with more than one brain." This is an apt description, because one often discovers that a passage which proves difficult is illumined by someone else, and vice versa. Shared-inquiry facilitates a communal engagement with a given text so that we are informed and transformed together.
Seating is limited to first 12 registrants.
Notebook of readings will be delivered upon registration. See schedule below for details.
Iconography Workshop
The iconography workshop this year will be writing an icon of St. Augustine of Hippo, who was extremely important to both Newman and Florovsky.
This four-day workshop is open to anyone and will focus on learning the process and experiencing the prayerful aspect of the practice of iconography.
Materials and lunch provided.
Seating is limited to 8 participants so as to enable time for individual instruction.
"Since love grows within you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul." ~St Augustine of Hippo
Fr. Georges Florovsky
St. John Henry Newman
St. John Henry Newman—the 19th century educator, poet, pastor, and theologian—is considered by many to be the most important (and controversial) figure in the history of England. As a leader in the Oxford Movement, his immersion in the early Tradition of the Church, especially the Church Fathers, led to his conversion from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism. Cited frequently by Fr. Georges Florovsky, a case can be made that Newman's emphasis on the Fathers was key to the development of Florovsky's ecumenical proposal for a neopatristic synthesis.
Schedule
Monday, May 31
9:00 am - Iconography Workshop - 9 am - 4 pm
5:30 pm - Seminar on Baptism at The Ladder - The Bible: Jonah
7:00 pm - Dinner break
8:00 pm - Seminar on Baptism at The Ladder - The Liturgy: Ancient Baptismal Service
Tuesday, June 1
9:00 am - Iconography Workshop - 9 am - 4 pm
5:30 pm - Seminar on Baptism at The Ladder - The Fathers: Pacian of Barcelona and Gregory of Nyssa
7:00 pm - Dinner break
8:00 pm - Seminar on Baptism at The Ladder - Literature: The Golden Key by George MacDonald
Wednesday, June 2
9:00am - Iconography Workshop - 9 am - 4 pm
6:00pm - Festal Banquet Dinner at St George Orthodox Christian Cathedral Fellowship Hall with Newman Toast to St. John Henry Newman by Joshua Papsdorf and annual Florovsky Lecture by Erin Doom. Dinner served at 6:30.
Thursday, June 3
8:30am - Morning Prayer at St George
9:00am - ACADEMIC PAPERS at St George
9:00am - "Saved through Water: The Great Flood as Type of Holy Baptism" by Fr. Mark Lovett
9:30am - "Newman's 'Religious Opinions' and 'Infant Baptism'" by Stephanie Mann
10:00am - "Prebaptismal Rites in Cyril of Jerusalem's Mystagogical Catecheses: Symbolic Language and Mimetic Participation" by Christopher O'Brien
10:30am - Break
11:00am - "Healing Waters: Gregory of Nazianzus on Baptism as Cure and Remedy" by J. Caleb Little
11:30am - "'Spiritual' Baptism in the Quakers (William L. Pearson of Friends University, 1849-1935) and the Baptism of Christ in the Theology of T. F. Torrance" by Dr. Christian D. Kettler
12:00pm - "The Revolution Devours Its Young: The Sacramental Radicalization of a Radical Sect" by Derek Brown
12:30am - Break for Lunch & Dinner (not provided)
7:00pm - Convocation, Contemplation & Plenary Dialogue at St George: A Catholic Perspective on Baptism
- “Christ the New Joshua: Patristic Reflections on Baptism" by Matthew Levering
- Catholic & Orthodox Responses immediately following lecture by Marcus Plested and Charles Raith II
Friday, June 4
8:30am - Morning Prayer at St George
9:00am - ACADEMIC PAPERS at St George
9:00am - "The Early Baptist Understanding of Baptism as Espoused by John Smyth and Thomas Helwys" by Lyndon Perry
9:30am - "St Thomas Aquinas's Pre-Emptive Rebuttal to the Polemics of 'Believers' Baptism" by Dr. Matthew Umbarger
10:00am - "Protestant Missionaries in a Catholic Country: Baptism for Protestant Converts in the 19th Century Evangelical Missions to Brazil" by Morgan Crago
10:30am - Break
11:00am - "Grounded in Love and Free from
Fear: What Augustine's Approach to the Donatist Controversy Teaches Us about Doing Ecumenism Today" by Marie Schrampfer
11:30am - "Sacramental Theology in The Lord of the Rings" by José Morales
12:00pm - "C. H. Spurgeon and Pentecostal Theology: The Challenges of Theological Taxonomy" by Mandi Becker
12:30am - Break for Lunch & Dinner (not provided)
7:00pm - Convocation, Contemplation & Plenary Dialogue at St George: An Orthodox Perspective on Baptism
- “Baptism as Mystery & Pledge" by Marcus Plested
- Catholic & Protestant Responses immediately following lecture by Matthew Levering and Charles Raith II
Saturday, June 5
9:00am - Third Hour Prayer at St George
9:30am - Convocation, Contemplation & Plenary Dialogue at St George: A Protestant Perspective
- “Baptismal Polemics and Forging a Third Way: Calvin Against the 'Papists' and Anabaptists" by Charles Raith II
- Catholic & Orthodox Responses immediately following lecture by Matthew Levering and Marcus Plested
11:30pm - Plenary Reflections & Q-&-A: What Now?
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Event Begins In
All Access
$100
Festal Banquet with annual Florovsky and Newman Lectures
All Academic Papers
All Plenary Dialogues
One Day Pass
$35
Academic Papers
Plenary Dialogue
One Day Pass
$35
Festal Banquet
Florovsky Lecture
Newman Lecture
Dinner
Cash Bar
Dressy Casual Attire
4-Day Iconography Workshop
$350
This is a 4-day intensive course under the direction of iconographer Anne Emmons.
Mon-Thur, May 31-June 3 from 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
All materials provided and lunch included
4-Session Seminar
$100
This is a 4-session shared-inquiry seminar facilitated by Joshua Sturgill on Mon-Tue, May 31-June 1 from 5:30 pm - 9:30 pm.
Notebook of readings included; dinner not included.
Baptism is to be preceded by repentance and faith. A personal relation between an aspirant and his Lord must be first established by the hearing and the receiving of the Word, of the message of salvation.
~Fr. Georges Florovsky
Abstracts
Venues
Newman University
Wichita, KS 67213
The Ladder
St. George Cathedral
Wichita, KS 67206
Accommodations
Hotel at Old Town
Spiritual Life Center
