Renowned missiologist, academic to give keynote at Synod 2016

Renowned missiologist, academic and speaker, Fr Stephen Bevans SVD will present at Synod 2016 as a keynote speaker.

The theme of his keynote is “Partnering with the Missionary God: A Vision of Mission for Today” with the presentation examining the four parts of mission for the Church: God is a Verb, God is Mission, The Mission Has a Church and Mission as Partnering with God.

Fr Stephen is the Louis J. Luzbetak SVD, Professor of Mission and Culture at Chicago’s Catholic Theological Union and a renowned teacher and author on mission. As an SVD missionary he worked for nine years (1972-1981) in The Philippines.

Fr Bevans is a Roman Catholic Priest in the missionary congregation of the Society of the Divine Word.

Ordained in 1971, he was a missionary in the Philippines from 1972 until 1981, when he returned to his native United States to pursue PhD studies at the University of Notre Dame.

In 1986 he began teaching at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, and is now Professor of Mission and Culture, Emeritus.

He is currently visiting professor of systematic theology at Yarra Theological Union in the University of Divinity in Melbourne.

He has authored or co-authored six books, among which are Models of Contextual Theology and, with Roger Schroeder, Constants in Context: A Theology of Mission for Today. He has edited or co-edited eleven books, among which are A Century of Catholic Mission and, with Cathy Ross, Mission on the Road to Emmaus. Steve is past president of the American Society of Missiology and one of three Catholics appointed to the World Council of Churches’ Commission on World Mission and Evangelism.

“We are not subordinate to God in mission. We are partners and God’s nature is to be a partner. God calls us to be partners, real sharers in the divine mission. Our task to have the openness, humility, and availability of Mary,” says Fr Bevans of his keynote.

Over 300 people are expected to attend Synod this year, the theme is “Come Holy Spirit, Renew our Hearts”.