OC’s Kerygma preaching conference to focus on “Isaiah: Justice and Hope Beyond the Pandemic”

This year’s conference runs Sept. 27-Oct. 1, 2021 at the Memorial Road Church of Christ.

Oklahoma Christian University’s Bible Division is hosting “Kerygma,” a preaching conference on Sept. 27-Oct 1. This three-day event will be hosted by the Memorial Road Church of Christ in the Summit building, and the theme is “Isaiah: Justice and Hope Beyond the Pandemic.”

Grady King, Kerygma’s organizer and OC’s director of church resources, discussed the origins of the conference five years ago. 

“The conference grew out of a need for preachers to be together and share the unique calling of preaching,” he said. “Preachers need encouragement, support and a safe place to share. The vocation (calling) to preach is a high calling to share the Good News of Jesus.”

The conference’s name is rooted in 1 Corinthians 2:2-5. There, the Greek word kerygma is used as the core message of God's salvation being fulfilled in Jesus.

OC’s Dean of the College of Humanities and Bible, Charles Rix, will speak twice, once on Isaiah: “When God Calls out Injustice” and once on “Beethoven, Isaiah & The Prophetic Voice.” Bobby Kern, associate professor of Family Science, will also speak, discussing the topic of “Resilience in Times of Trauma for Self and Others.”

“Isaiah: Justice & Hope Beyond the Pandemic” is a topic covered by five different speakers. Besides Rix, also speaking on this topic are Dwayne Case, Kent Brown, Lamont Ross and Jeremie Beller.

King reflected on the theme’s meaning for this year’s Kerygma conference. 

“Dr. Rix and myself chose this theme because of its relevance in being God's people in a challenging time,” King said. “It is a call for God's people to live out Isaiah 1.17-18--"learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow. Come now, let us argue it out, says the Lord; though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be white as snow..."

OC professor of Youth and Family Ministry Dudley Chancey will be joined by Ron Bruner to discuss a research project about “Passing on the Faith.”

Additional speakers include Greg Anderson, David Duncan, Jake Perkins, Warren Baldwin, James Waugh, David Heflin and Randy Roper.

Leah Redling, Yesenia Gomez and Becky Burroughs will also speak on ministry topics as women in the church of Christ. 

Additionally, on Thursday and Friday there will be a Children's Ministry Seminar, which will also include a Summer Youth Internship Fair from 1-4 p.m. on Wednesday. Register for Kerygma here and see the full schedule here. Students can register for the internship fair here.