Thursday, September 18, 2008

9 Marks Ministries Weekender

Right now I am in Washington D.C. I am attending a small pastoral conference put on by 9 marks ministries. 9 marks ministries is a ministry that promotes biblical ecclesiology. One of the important aspects of Baptist ecclesiology that they have helped to recover is the plurality of elders. Pastor Mark Dever is the pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church. He is probably the most influential ecclesiologist in Baptist life today. He has written extensively on the theology of the church, Baptist History, puritan history and practical theology. He hold a master of Divinity at Gordon-Conwell Theological seminary, a Master of Theology from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (the greatest seminary ever!!!) and a PhD in ecclesiastical history from Cambridge University. Academically he is in a league of his own. Yet, he is one of the most light hearted guys I have ever met. He is constantly making jokes. This weekend I am staying in his home. I have never been in a home with as many books as his home. Right now next to my bed are books from the 19th century on Baptist history!

Today I had a two hour break between lectures so I decided to walk a few blocks over to the Capitol building. Both the Church and our nations capitol are in D.C.'s historical district. All the buildings are from the 19th century and are kept up. There are little cafes on the side of the street. I had fun except I was not with Kym. Our nations capital is so much different than I thought it was from TV. The city is much more busy. The distance between the Supreme Court building, the Library of Congress, and the White House is much shorter than I expected.

Any how I am enjoying my stay here in DC.

written by Stephen Stanford

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I am green with envy. I would have loved to go there. I didn't realize that you are staying at Dever's home. Did Kym go with you? I hope so. Keep us updated.