2010 Annual NALIP Conference

June 3 - 5, 2010

Conference site:
Sheraton Chalet Hotel
Saint Louis, Missouri, 191 Westport Plaza
St. Louis, Missouri
www.sheraton.com/westportchalet
800-822-3535

The National Association of Lutheran Interim Pastors (NALIP) 16th Annual Conference will begin at 1:00 p.m., Thursday, June 3 and conclude at Noon, Saturday, June 5, 2010 (immediately preceding the Interim Ministry Network, Inc. conference).

NALIP is made up of two associations: The Interim Ministry Association (IMA) of the ELCA; and the LCMS Interim Ministry Conference (IMC). The annual Conference brings together Lutherans who work with congregations in transition — pastors, laity, judicatory representatives and other interested persons.

Presenter:
The Rev. Foster R. McCurley, PhD

Retired Theologian, Interim Pastor, and Social Ministry Administrator; former Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia

On the topic of:
Prophets in Interim Ministry

Topic Summary:
In his introduction to his commentary on the prophets, Martin Luther reminds us that the prophets always addressed their sermons to the situations they discerned in their audiences. Our understanding of their sermons, therefore, requires our probing into the questions the people were asking, their attitudes they held, and the context of the world in which they lived. The preaching and pastoral care provided by interim pastors follows the same pattern the prophets used. Discerning the "interim" in terms of loss, uncertainty, and grief provides an important part of the setting to which we address God's Word. At the same time, discerning the loss, uncertainty, and grief of the "interim pastor" challenges us to seek the same Word from Scripture and from other people.