Workshops at the Arkansas conference

September 12, 2024

Thanks to our hard-working workshop coordinator Laura Willenburg, we have an exciting line-up of workshops for the October 2024 conference! Here are their titles and descriptions:

  • Appreciating the One True God Through Science and Creation – Tony Taylor
    • Have you ever wanted to know more about how to connect science and the beauty of God’s creation? If so, you won’t want to miss this presentation! In this workshop, you will: learn about the wonders of the created universe, witness visually stunning experiments and demos, examine the benefits of scientific curiosity and thinking critically, and learn how science is useful for testing and authenticating major aspects of biblical history. Whether you are a kid, teenager, or an adult, there will be something to learn and appreciate for all ages!
  • Becoming Trauma-Informed – Laura Willenburg
    • Most everyone will experience trauma at some point in their life and will find themselves in situations where they need resources to help them understand trauma and/or get help for themselves or their loved ones. In this workshop, Laura Willenburg provides a framework for understanding trauma and how it affects people, and provides resources for finding hope, help, and healing for those experiencing the effects of current or past trauma. This workshop is designed for people from all walks of life, but will be especially helpful to pastors, lay ministers, people in helping professions, trauma survivors and their loved ones.
  • Church Planting – Will Barlow and Sean Finnegan
    • In this workshop, Will Barlow and Sean Finnegan talk about their experience planting the newly established Compass Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky with the help of the seasoned organization Living Hope International Ministries. Together, they share how they turned a vision of a healthy thriving unitarian church into a reality. Topics covered include: pastoral and core leadership selection, finances, vision and mission, location, policies and procedures, and church culture. If you have an interest in being part of a unitarian church plant, you won’t want to miss this one.
  • Community Building – John Truitt and Timypaul Lupe
    • John Truitt and Timypaul Lupe share practical ways churches and other Christian groups can grow through various community-building activities. They will share real-life experiences of connecting with those around them through both spiritual and recreational activities that help produce vibrant healthy groups and mature disciples of Jesus.
  • Evangelism – Nate Swanson
    • Many Unitarians are looking for practical ways to share their beliefs about the One True God and his son. In this workshop, Nate Swanson shares wisdom from his experience with evangelism. His practical advice will help believers share their beliefs in a way that is winsome to others without compromising the truth. Come ready to be inspired and energized to share your faith!
  • Hearing God’s Voice – Michele Norton
    • From the beginning, God desired a family that he can commune with. At some point, you became a part of his family and heard his call on your life. Now is the time to sharpen your “ears” to hear the Creator speak to you in ways that you may not experience currently. It is within the family of God that his voice is most heard. In this workshop, we will explore the tangible and intangible aspects of being sensitive to him. Whether you are a novice or a seasoned believer, all are welcome.

Presentations at the (almost full) Arkansas conference in October

September 10, 2024

As I write this there are fewer that 20 places left. If you’re quick enough you can register now here.

We’ve got a great line-up of presentations:

  • Will Barlow, “The Throne Room Problem: Responding to Trinitarian Claims about John 12:41”
  • Kegan Chandler, “Cult-Rhetoric and Unitarian Christology: The Evangelical Creation of a Christological Other”
  • Sean Finnegan, “Isaiah 9:6 Explained: A Theophoric Approach”
  • Susanne Lakin, “Biblical Anthropomorphism: Evidence of a Unipersonal God”
  • Bill Schlegel, “A Non-Genesis Creation Interpretation of John 1:3-4”
  • Dustin Smith, “New Testament Portrayals of Wisdom Christology: Meaning, Function, and Purpose”
  • Dale Tuggy, “Mainstream Christian Theologies in the year 240 and Early Trinitarian ‘Fool’s Gold’ “

These presentations will be filmed and posted on the UCA’s YouTube channel. By the way we’re currently posting the presentations from our amazing UK International Conference in Windsor, England from July.

If the practical workshops are more your thing (and these are not recorded) stay tuned: I’ll post again soon with our exciting workshop line-up.

2024 UCA Conference in New Zealand

July 4, 2024

The UCA is delighted to announce our first ever international conference in New Zealand. Thanks to the efforts of Zach Mayo and his New Zealand conference committee, this has been organized for November 22 – 24, 2024 at the Don Rowlands Centre in Cambridge, New Zealand.

You can register here. Thanks to the generosity of the local hosts, registration is free!

The program is still be developed, and there will be a call for presentations; watch this blog. So far the following have been confirmed as presenters:

To learn more about this conference and its organizer Zach Mayo check out this interview for the Restitutio podcast. He is what I call a “whistleblower,” an evangelical Christian who believes that doctrine should be based on Scripture even if it conflicts with later catholic traditions. Like so many, Zach and his wife carefully re-examined the Bible and found that there the one God is the Father only, and that Jesus is his unique human Son and Messiah. Now they have joined our worldwide reforming movement.

We’re hoping to meet unitarian Christians from all over New Zealand, Australia, the rest of Oceania, southeast Asia, and beyond. It will be a place to fellowship, learn, be encouraged, and make new connections with like-minded believers. You can register now here.

Call for UCA Conference Papers: deadline of August 1, 2024

June 25, 2024

The Board of the Unitarian Christian Alliance is pleased to announce a general call for papers to be presented at the fourth annual UCA conference in Little Rock, Arkansas October 17-20, 2024.

  • The submission deadline is the end of the day (U.S. Eastern Standard / New York time) of August 1, 2024.
  • Please do not submit multiple papers.
  • Submissions will be blind-reviewed by a committee of three.
  • We are looking for scholarly (or at least: informed, insightful, and well-argued) papers which are also accessible to an educated lay audience on topics which can advance the cause of unitarian Christianity.
    • Topics may include but are not limited to: biblical theology, systematic theology, biblical studies, textual criticism, history of theology, history of unitarian Christianity, apologetics, Christian philosophy, analytic theology.
    • The committee will favor papers focusing on claims common to UCA members, rather than on “in house” disagreements.
  • Authors may submit even if they are neither a member of the UCA nor a unitarian Christian.
  • Paper submissions must conform to the Chicago Manual of Style (Notes and Bibliography style, with footnotes and bibliography).
  • The main text should be no longer than 6,000 words, so that the presentation is no longer than 45 minutes.
    • Submitted papers longer than 6,000 (in the main text – so not including footnotes) will be automatically rejected. 
    • Authors should plan on about 10 minutes of audience Q&A after their talk. 
  • Papers may be read, although authors are encouraged to present the material in an engaging way.
    • Conference presentations will be video-recorded and may be posted on the UCA YouTube channel, and our social media committee may also snip out interesting “sound bites” for short videos. By submitting a paper, you agree that your presentation may be filmed and used in these ways by the UCA.
  • Still, a fully written paper must be submitted; an outline or proposal is not enough. 
  • Authors of accepted papers must supply a PowerPoint or Keynote or Google Slides (etc.) presentation to accompany their talk by the end of Friday, September 1, 2024. (This should be emailed to the address below.)
  • After removing any self-identifying features (e.g. your name, references to your other publications or other work), please email your submission to conference@unitarianchristianalliance.org.
    • Our conference coordinator will ensure that the papers are suitable for blind review and then pass them on to the committee.

The committee’s decisions will be emailed to authors by the end of Thursday, August 15, 2024.

A new book on Wisdom Christology

June 3, 2024

UCA member (and frequent presenter) Dr. Dustin Smith has just published Wisdom Christology in the Gospel of John with Wipf & Stock. This scholarly monograph surveys and makes accessible an impressive array of recent biblical scholarship on the theme of wisdom Christology, in his words,

where the biblical authors apply various attributes, traits, characteristics, and roles that were originally associated with the personified wisdom of Israel’s God to the figure of Jesus Christ.

(p. 1)

This character Lady Wisdom will be familiar to all readers of Proverbs 1-9. But as Smith shows, this is just the tip of the iceberg as far as personifying wisdom. In his second chapter Dr. Smith surveys, as it were, the “pilgrimage” of this character through ancient Jewish literature, including biblical, deuterocanonical, and other books. Many of these books would have been familiar to the authors of the New Testament and their audiences. Thus, they may be relevant to understanding what those New Testament books really meant. Despite the creative imaginations of trinitarian interpreters, it is what comes before a writing, not what comes long after it, which helps to orient us into the author’s mindset.

His first chapter nicely introduces the idea of Wisdom Christology and surveys how this can be found in the New Testament in the letters of Paul, the letter to the Hebrews, and the first three gospels.

In his third chapter Smith argues, I think convincingly, that the Logos (Word) of John 1:1-18 is to be understood as a personification of God’s Word/Wisdom rather than a literal person. (More on that in this interview.) Dr. Smith provides us with a list of 20 (!) parallels between the language of John’s prologue and earlier wisdom literature (77-79).

The rest of the book (chapters 4-9) argues that the rest of this gospel continues this theme of Jesus as the embodiment of God’s wisdom. Many UCA members will be particularly interested in the treatment of texts in John which are often taken to imply Jesus’ pre-human existence (82-85, 217-18) or his descent from and ascent to heaven (105-7).

I was not as convinced by this portion of the book; he is arguing for causal influence from earlier wisdom literature to the fourth gospel (214-15), but it’s not clear to me that all the similarities support that thesis, e.g. “the hiddenness of Jesus as he escapes his enemies” (174) and “the inaccessibility of the wisdom of God” in Job 28:12-28. But Dr. Smith is taking a maximalist approach, gathering together all the alleged influences in John from wisdom literature that have been urged by recent interpreters. These will of course vary in plausibility, and one can accept the general thesis while rejecting some of the alleged examples of influence.

In sum, Dr. Smith succeeds at his goals of making a lot of recent biblical scholarship accessible to the non-scholar, and showing that earlier wisdom literature is an important interpretive key to understanding the original meaning of the Gospel According to John.

You can get the book at Amazon, or for Logos Bible software.

To hear Dr. Smith discussing these ideas check out his presentations below on Wisdom incarnate in Jewish sources at the 2023 UCA Conference and his 2024 conversation about this book on Sam Tideman’s Transfigured podcast.

Registration Open: Join us in Little Rock, Windsor and/or New Zealand!

March 27, 2024

On behalf of the UCA Board and the UK International Conference committee, I’m delighted to announce the opening of registration for two 2024 UCA conferences:

Each conference will feature that special UCA conference blend of thought-provoking presentations, practical workshops, and plenty of time for fellowship, food, and getting to know this year’s Conference Partners. Mutual encouragement is the order of the day, and interesting cross-pollinations and collaborations have resulted from past conferences. We are united by our convictions that the God of the Bible is the Father and that Jesus is his human Messiah. Come and make new connections with like-minded believers. You can register now at the above links; don’t delay, as space is limited.

The programs for each conference are still being built:

Call for UCA UK International Conference Papers

March 15, 2024

The Unitarian Christian Alliance UK International Conference organisers are pleased to announce a general call for papers to be presented at our first annual conference in Windsor, UK, July 25-27, 2024. (Watch this blog for the opening of registration)

The submission deadline is the end of the day (UK time) of Friday May 24, 2024.

Please do not submit multiple papers.

Submissions will be blind-reviewed by a committee of three.

We are looking for scholarly (or at least: informed, insightful, and well-argued) papers which are also accessible to an educated lay audience on topics which can advance the cause of unitarian Christianity. Previous conference presentations can be seen on YouTube and some Model Papers are referenced here.

Topics may include but are not limited to: biblical theology, systematic theology, biblical studies, textual criticism, history of theology, history of unitarian Christianity, apologetics, Christian philosophy, analytic theology.

Authors may submit even if they are neither a member of the UCA nor a unitarian Christian.

Paper submissions must conform to the Chicago Manual of Style (Notes and Bibliography style, with footnotes and bibliography). A fully written paper must be submitted; an outline or proposal is not enough.

The main text should be no longer than 6,000 words, so that the presentation is no longer than 45 minutes. Submitted papers longer than 6,000 (in the main text – so not including footnotes) will be automatically rejected.

Authors should plan on about 10 minutes of audience Q&A after their talk. Papers may be read, although authors are encouraged to present the material in an engaging way.

Conference presentations will be video-recorded and may be posted on the UCA YouTube channel, and our social media committee may also snip out interesting “sound bites” for short videos. By submitting a paper, you agree that your presentation may be filmed and used in these ways by the UCA.

Authors of accepted papers must supply a PowerPoint or Keynote or Google Slides (etc.) presentation to accompany their talk by the end of Monday, July 1, 2024. (This should be emailed to the address below.)

After removing any self-identifying features (e.g. your name, references to your other publications or other work), please email your submission to ukconference@unitarianchristianalliance.org.

Our conference coordinator will ensure that the papers are suitable for blind review and then pass them on to the committee.

The committee’s decisions will be emailed to authors by the end of Monday, June 3, 2024.

Williamsburg Christadelphian Foundation

October 17, 2023

The UCA is delighted to again have the Williamsburg Christadelphian Foundation as a Conference Partner. They state that their mission is to help “individuals and families grow their faith in God and His Son. . . We help nurture trust in God and Jesus that endures through all the ups and downs of life. WCF sponsors programs and special initiatives around the world that:

  • Root faith in the word of God, learning from the faith lessons of faithful people in the Bible
  • Nurture faith by supplying tools that spur a whole faith to develop – one of head, heart and hands.
  • Inspire stronger growth by connecting people of faith, fostering a spirit that edifies all.
  • Show faith to others by enabling generous service for Christ.”

You’ll want to explore their podcasts and videos. Music is another aspect of their work, from original recordings of hymns to Spotify playlists. Their Newcomers Program gives vital aid to immigrants, and their White Fields mission initiative has placed “over 180 volunteers in 20 countries on 5 continents.”

Be sure to stop by the WCF table at the conference to find out more about how this amazing organization is serving as salt and light in this broken world.

Spirit & Truth

October 13, 2023

The UCA is delighted to again have Spirit & Truth as a Conference Partner.

Spirit & Truth provides Virtual Fellowships on Zoom multiple days each week. If you’re not part of a local congregation, consider attending one of their online fellowships, where you will meet fellow believers who want to pray, hear the Bible taught, and follow Christ together.

Spirit & Truth also produces invaluable resources for Bible study, Christian education, and spiritual growth. They have hundreds of teaching videos on the Biblical Unitarian YouTube Channel and Spirit & Truth YouTube Channel, as well as audio teachings on the Spirit & Truth Podcast and the Words of Wisdom Podcast.

One of their best resources is the Revised English Version (REV) Bible, a whole Bible translation that has been an ongoing project for over 20 years now. In addition to the translations, this project has produced an incredible amount of insightful commentary that particularly addresses difficult passages and traditionally misunderstood ones. The REV translation promotes important theological truths, such as belief in the Father as the one God, Jesus as God’s human Son and Messiah, the sleep of the dead, and the kingdom of God. Both the REV translation and the associated commentary can be viewed online or in the app. Check it out and try using the REV alongside other versions to further support your Bible study and enjoyment of the Scriptures.

I first encountered Spirit & Truth via their content-rich, long-running website biblicalunitarian.com. I returned to this site often as I wrestled with disentangling my understanding of Scripture from the distortions of later church traditions. They popularized the helpful term “biblical unitarian” to convey the understanding that God is the Father alone, and that his unique Son Jesus is a man who did not literally pre-exist as a spirit or a “divine Person” before being miraculous conceived and born.

They have recently launched Spirit & Truth Kids, whose goal is to provide children’s books, curricula for parents to teach the Bible to their kids, and Christian resources for children, including coloring books, recommended TV shows, and much more. The first volumes of two different book series have been released, with a third series to be released in early 2024. Each series will see new volumes regularly released over the next couple of years. The two available now are Faith Lessons for Little Ones: Volume 1 and Oliver’s Tales: Seeking Wisdom. Click on a link to check them out. If you know anyone who has kids and would enjoy reading a children’s book from a trusted source where they won’t have to avoid certain sections or re-word sentences that contain errors from church tradition, send them the link and let them know about the Spirit & Truth Kids initiative.

Be sure to stop by the Spirit & Truth table to get to know them and to find out more about what they’re doing.

Compass Christian Church

October 12, 2023

We are thrilled to again have Compass Christian Church from Louisville, Kentucky, as a UCA Conference Partner. You may remember Pastor Will Barlow from his interview with Mark Cain on the UCA podcast (50. Church Plant) where he described how God had directed the formation of this new church. He described the process of faithful planning which took many months, coming to fruition in the Fall of 2022.

To connect with their group of husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, engineers, a nurse, soccer coaches, writers, programmers, Bible nerds (just to list a few), follow them on Facebook where they stream their services. And if you’re in the Louisville area, be sure to check out the Sunday morning service or another event at this dynamic, young church. I have been to a few services there, and I love Will’s preaching, the genuine worship, the welcoming believers, and the whole vision of the church.

We are overjoyed to have a local body of believers represented this year as a Conference Partner. May we return the blessing to them through our prayers and support. Be sure to stop by the table at the conference to meet them and find out how this church plant is going.