Annual Conference

2026 CONFERENCE THEME

Theological Anthropology for Missional Engagement

October 9-10 2026
 In-person and virtual
Dallas Theological Seminary
3909 Swiss Ave, Dallas, TX 75204
Click here to Register

This year’s theme “Theological Anthropology for Missional Engagement” is central to missiological reflection and practice, since acts of gospel witness, service, and cultural engagement all rest on assumptions about human identity, dignity, and destiny. In a rapidly changing world—marked by shifting views of spirituality, ethnicity, gender, technology, and ecology—the church must embrace a biblically faithful and missionally engaged understanding of the imago Dei.

At the heart of this year’s theme is the exploration of Imago Dei in missional engagement—how human dignity, human rights, and gospel witness flow from being created in God’s image. This perspective grounds reflection on the meaning of being human and how the imago Dei shapes evangelism, discipleship, community, and global mission

Plenary Speakers

Rev. Dr. David Tarus (PhD in Christian Theology, McMaster Divinity College) currently serves as Executive Director of the Association for Christian Theological Education in Africa (ACTEA), a project of the Association of Evangelicals in Africa. He is the author of A Different Way of Being: Toward a Reformed Theology of Ethnopolitical Cohesion for the Kenyan Context (Langham), the co-editor of Christian Responses to Terrorism: The Kenyan Experience (Wipf & Stock), the author of many academic articles, and an ordained minister of the Africa Inland Church, Kenya. His research interests include theological anthropology, ecclesiology, and the intersection of faith and social issues.
Dr. John Dyer is Vice President for Enrollment and Educational Technology at Dallas Theological Seminary, where he also serves as assistant professor of theological studies. He enjoys writing, teaching, and creating at the intersection of technology and faith, in books like From the Garden to the City and People of the Screen, open source tools for Apple and WordPress, and faith-theme sites like yallversioncom, bestcommentaries.com, and worship.ai.  You can find out more about him at https://j.hn/. 
Dr. Robert J. Priest is an anthropologist and former seminary professor. He is retired from full-time teaching but continues to write, consult, speak, and teach part-time. A former president of the EMS, his research and writing have included a focus on the anthropology of religion, race and ethnicity, sexuality and marriage, short-term missions, religious conversion, contextualization, missiology as a field, witchcraft accusations, and the visual image of Jesus in global Christianity
Dr. Mark Yarhouse is the Dr. Arthur P. and Mrs. Jean May Rech Professor of Psychology at Wheaton College, where he also directs the Sexual & Gender Identity Institute. Mark is author or co-author of several books, including Understanding Gender Dysphoria: Navigating Transgender Issues in a Changing Culture (2nd ed.) and Emerging Sexual Identities: Navigating the Landscape with Today’s Youth.  

Past Conferences