Northeast Region

2025 NORTHEAST REGIONAL CONFERENCE

University of Valley Forge
1401 Charlestown Road
Phoenixville, PA 19460

Saturday, March 29
9am to 3pm.

Registeration is now open!

Our plenary speaker is Dr. Ed Smither

John Stott’s Legacy for Ecclesiology and Global Mission

John Stott (1921-2011) is remembered as a preacher, author, and mission network leader, especially through his leadership in the Lausanne Movement and as a speaker at gatherings like Urbana. Few individuals influenced twentieth-century global evangelicalism more than Stott. A committed evangelical, Stott was also a priest in the Church of England—a church with bishops, creeds, canons, and liturgy. In this paper, I show how Stott navigated being what he called an “Anglican evangelical.” How did Stott serve in these ecclesial structures while also contributing to global evangelicalism? What was his guiding theology of mission about ecclesiology and mission and what can be recovered for mission today?

Dr. Ed Smither serves as Professor of Intercultural Studies and History of Global Christianity and Dean of the School of Missions and Intercultural Ministry at Columbia International University. Before entering the world of higher education, he served for 14 years in intercultural ministry in North Africa, France, and the USA. Since, 1999, he’s been married to his wife Shawn and they have three kids: Brennan, Emma, and Eve. He enjoy cycling the backroads of northwest Columbia, drinking bold coffee, and listening to modern rock and old hymns.

Ecclesiology and Mission

The church is the Body of Christ in the world. It is the embodiment of the gospel and commissioned to reproduce itself among all nations. Its expression is diverse and continually evolving as it interfaces with the changing world it is sent into. The church came into being as the community of Jesus’ witnesses who were commanded to go out to their neighbors, towns, cities, and the ends of the earth. It is dynamic, creative, reproducing, and courageous as its members seek to nurture life in locally reproducing ways, wherever they find themselves.

The church is a mission community dedicated to proclaiming and teaching God’s word. It cares for and extends God’s family. Demonstrating the power of the Holy Spirit, the church brings God’s light to dark places, being a relevant societal example of holy living. It pursues God’s concerns for the world it inhabits and the communities its members are a part of. The church honors God as it affirms and encourages the diversity of all he has created. However, churches also often become institutions which struggle to retain their life-giving mission orientation.

Papers are invited on any aspect of ecclesiology and mission. Topics include but are not limited to:
• Theological explorations of mission and the church
• The church’s specific role in mission
• Any aspect of church planting
• Models of church as they relate to mission
• How the church mobilizes for mission
• Church and parachurch roles in training for mission
• Issues relating to churches in mission contexts
• Diaspora churches
• Intergenerational church planting
• Church planting and evangelism in the context of violence
• The role of community in the church’s mission
• The role of the sacraments in mission
• The role of Bible translation in church planting

To encourage research on ecclesiology and mission, preliminary papers (2000 words) are invited for presentation at regional meetings. These preliminary papers will be reviewed by regional teams and, according to their quality, recommended for full paper (4500-7000 words) presentation at the annual conference.

Presentations
This year we will also consider PPT/video presentations on our subject without a paper. We will accept presentations with the understanding that if it is chosen for the national conference a paper will be required for the national presentation. Please submit a 500 word summary explaining the presentation.

Submitting a Proposal

Proposals for the Northeast Region must be submitted to the Northeast Vice President Dr. Alan Totire at northeast@emsweb.org, by Friday, January 24, 2025 and should include the following:

Title of proposal showing connection to annual theme
200-300 word abstract summarizing paper to be presented
Name, email, and institution/mission/group you represent

You will be notified about whether or not your proposal has been accepted by Feb 1, 2025.

Accepted proposals are to be developed into papers of 4500-7000 words in length and use Chicago Turabian author-date citation format. Some papers presented at the EMS regional meetings will be invited to be presented at the annual EMS meeting to be held in Dallas in the Fall of 2025, leading to the possibility of being published as a chapter in the EMS Annual Compendium for 2026.

Our regional meeting is planned to be held on the campus of the University of Valley Forge
on Saturday, March 29th.
We will also provide a Zoom link for those who present or attend virtually.

Regional Vice President

Rev. Alan Totire, PhD

University of Valley Forge
northeast@emsweb.org

atotire86@gmail.com

The Northeast Region covers the following states:

Connecticut
Delaware
Maine
Massachusetts
Maryland
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Vermont