Free for All | Rediscovering the Bible in community

National Event

It's not easy to make the familiar odd, but Conder and Rhodes accomplish that feat by helping us recover what it means to read Scripture in communion.

Stanley Hauerwas
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  • April 15-16, 2010
  • Durham, NC
  • Cost: Free!

The Free for All National Event is a an imaginative, theological dialogue that explores how communities can liberate the Bible from theological objectification and personal entitlements to become a living and embodied text in our world.

Location Information

Venue

Duke Memorial United Methodist Church
504 West Chapel Hill Street
Durham, NC, 27701-3102

The host church is very conveniently located just off the Chapel Hill St. Exit of the Durham Freeway in downtown Durham, NC. Just a mile from the East and West campuses of Duke University, one block from the restaurants, pubs, cafes, and shops of Brightleaf Square, 14 miles from Raleigh-Durham Airport.

Directions from Raleigh-Durham Airport

  1. Exit the Airport on Airport Blvd following the signs to I40.
  2. Right on 140 West.
  3. After 4 miles, Exit 279B, on NC 147North (also called the Durham Freeway)
  4. 8 miles on the Durham Freeway to downtown Durham, Exit right on South Duke St.
  5. The church is 2 blocks ahead, at the corner of Duke and Chapel Hill St.
  6. Cross Chapel Hill St. and parking is in the rear.

Hotel

We have 2 hotel with blocks of reserved rooms for the event

Durham Marriott Convention Center
201 Foster Street
Durham, NC, 27701
919-768-6000

The Marriott is in downtown Durham, walking distance (0.4 miles) from Duke Memorial Church (the main conference venue) and downtown Durham's restaurants and pubs. They have availability primarily for Thursday, April 15. When making reservations, please mention that you are part of the JoPa, Free for All Event group.

AND

Comfort Inn Medical Park
1816 Hillandale Rd.
Durham, NC, 27705
919-471-6100

The Comfort Inn (formerly the Hampton Inn if you're familiar with Durham) is located off of the US 15-501 Bypass and near the Durham Freeway and is approximately 2 miles from the conference venue and downtown Durham. We have a block of rooms at the nightly rate of $69 for the evenings of April 14 and April 15. When making reservations, please mention that you are part of the JoPa, Free for All Event group.

Airport Transportation

Cab fare to downtown Durham is approximately $30 and the Super Shuttle will also take to the venue or either hotel for approximately $18.

Speakers

  • Dr. Douglas Campbell; author of The Search for Paul's Gospel and The Deliverance of God: An Apocalyptic Rereading of Justification in Paul; faculty at Duke Divinity School

    Conversation: Rethinking Paul

  • Dr. Mary McClintock-Fulkerson; author of Places of Redemption: Theology for a Worldly Church and Changing the Subject: Women's Discourses and Feminist Theology; faculty at Duke Divinity School

    Conversation: Gender & Sexuality in the Scriptures

  • Dr. Kate Bowler (Church History Duke Divinity School)

    Conversation: Examining Health/Wealth Readings of the Text

  • Dr. Mike Broadway (Theology; Shaw Divinity School)

    Conversation: Economic Justice in the Text

  • Dr. Gerardi Marti (Sociology; Davidson College)

    Panelist

Artists:

  • Wade Baynham (Emmaus Way, the Basics, 2nd Storey Studios)
  • Dale Baker (formerly of Sixpence None the Richer and Over the Rhine)
  • Carole Baker (visual artist; Duke Divinity School)
  • Mike Garrigan (Mike Garrigan Studios; formerly of Collapsis and Athenaeum)
  • Troy Bronsink

Conference Schedule

Thursday, April 15

  1. 1:00pm – 2:15pm

    Session #1: Word in Community, Culture, & Context

    A Dialogue with Pastors and Communities

    The state and dilemma of interpretation in contemporary community life — a crisis of authoritarianism, sentimentality, conflict, trivialization, and silencing.

  2. 2:30pm – 3:45pm

    Session #2: Word in Community, Culture, and Context

    A Dialogue with Scholars

    The crisis of interpretation from historical, philosophical, and theological lenses.

  3. 4:00pm – 5:30pm

    Seminars

    Confirmed, more being added...

    1. Rethinking Paul

      Dr. Douglas Campbell; author of The Search for Paul's Gospel and The Deliverance of God: An Apocalyptic Rereading of Justification in Paul; faculty at Duke Divinity School.

    2. The Word in Controversy

      Dr. Mary McClintock-Fulkerson; author of Places of Redemption: Theology for a Worldly Church and Changing the Subject: Women's Discourses and Feminist Theology; faculty at Duke Divinity School.

  4. 5:30pm – 8:00pm

    Dinner

    The pubs and restaurants of Brightleaf Square and Five Points Durham are all within two blocks walking distance.

  5. 8:00pm – 9:30pm

    Session #3: Word in Dialogue, Liturgy, Art, Imagination, & Table

    The Emmaus Way community, 916 Lamond Ave (3 blocks from Duke Memorial).

    Confirmed artists: Wade Baynham (Emmaus Way, the Basics, 2nd Storey Studios), Dale Baker (formerly of Sixpence None the Richer and Over the Rhine), Carole Baker (visual artist; Duke Divinity School).

Friday, April 16

  1. 9:00am – 10:15am

    Session #4: The Word and Its Neglected Interpreters

    A Dialogue with and for the Marginalized

    The role and possibilities of diverse communities and often silenced voices in the interpretative task.

  2. 10:30am – 12:00pm

    Session #5: Shaping and Encouraging a Dialogical Community

    The passions, leadership skills, & commitments integral to forming dialogical and interpreting communities.

Contact Information

Contact Tim Conder at timconder at gmail dot com, or at the voicemail for Emmaus Way, 919-283-9290.

The Authors

Tim Conder

Tim Conder

Tim is the founding Pastor of Emmaus Way, a missional community and church in Durham, NC. He was also one of the founding leaders of EmergentVillage. Tim is the author of Free for All: Rediscovering the Bible in Community (Baker Books 2009) and The Church in Transition: The Journey of Existing Churches into the Emerging Culture (Zondervan 2006). He was also a contributor to The Emergent Manifesto of Hope (Baker 2007) and soon to be released Baptist Stories of Emergence.

He serves on the Board of Directors at Mars Hill Graduate School in Seattle, WA. Locally, he serves on the Clergy Caucus for Durham CAN, a grass roots political organizing group working for justice in Durham, and Durham's Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Steering Committee. He has a MDiv from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He is married to Meredith and has two kids, Keenan and Kendall.

Dan Rhodes

In addition to being a co-author of Free for All, Dan is a ThD candidate at the Duke Divinity School and a Pastor at Emmaus Way where his responsibilities include theological dialogue and missional/political engagement.

Dan also has a MDiv from Duke and has directed the writing center there for several years. He is married to Elizabeth.

The Books

Free For All - cover

Free For All

In this provocative book, Tim Conder and Daniel Rhodes explore the critical need to encounter Scripture collectively, and then they invite us to listen in as a group from their church delves into four Bible passages--the obscure, the emotive, the familiar, and the controversial.

Free for All makes a compelling case for communities as a valid authority for biblical interpretation. The authors show that communities are capable of breaking open the texts in fresh and surprising ways, unleashing them anew into our lives.

From Baker Books Buy now
The Church in Transition - cover

The Church in Transition

Through transparent personal stories and incisive insight, author and pastor Tim Conder encourages church leaders to embrace the changes necessary to transition their congregations toward effectiveness and authenticity in the emerging culture.

The Journey of Existing Churches into the Emerging Culture In our fast-growing post-Christian, postmodern culture, the church often finds itself marginalized and ineffective in mission. The new emerging church is both hopeful and frightening compared to more traditional forms of Christianity. However, these “two churches” need each other. The Church in Transition presents honest stories of the failures and successes of a variety of transitioning fellowships.

From Zondervan/Youth Specialties Buy now