Prince George’s Conference on Reformed Theology Hosts “The Necessity of Creeds in the Life of the Church” September 23-24 at DC Area Church

[Grant Van Leuven]

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New Prince George’s Conference on Reformed Theology to Host “The Necessity of Creeds in the Life of the Church” with the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals at DC Area Greenbelt Baptist Church September 23 to 24​

Greenbelt, Md. – August 31, 2022 – In partnership with the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, the newly formed Prince George’s Conference on Reformed Theology will host its first event Sept. 23 to 24 entitled, “The Necessity of Creeds in the Life of the Church,” at Greenbelt Baptist Church at 101 Greenhill Rd. in Greenbelt, Md. Drs. Craig Carter and J.V. Fesko, both authors, ordained ministers, and seminary theologians, will be the featured speakers. Local pastor Rev. Chris Spano also will give an address. Cost is $45 per attendee ($35 for pastors, senior citizens, and groups of five or more). To register, visit reformedevents.org.

“A popular cliché parroted among many evangelical Christians today is that they have no creed but the Bible, an explicit claim that there is no need for creeds or confessions in the life of the Church or as part of a Christian’s spiritual walk,” said Rev. Stephen Unthank, pastor of Greenbelt Baptist Church and a contributor for the Alliance’s blog, placefortruth.org. “Yet creeds have been an inescapable part of the life of Christ’s Church since the time of the Apostles.”

The conference will devote five sessions to the need for and importance of creeds in local churches, with a specific focus on the Creed of Nicea (325 A.D.), the Nicene Creed (381 A.D.), and the Definition of Chalcedon (or the Chalcedonian Creed, 451 A.D.).

“Sadly, the Church today has lost sight of why creeds matter,” said Unthank. “She has lost sight of her need for creeds. And this is to her detriment.”

About the Speakers:

Craig Carter is a retired teaching professor and was appointed as research professor of theology at Tyndale University in Toronto, Ontario, at the end of 2020. He continues as theologian in residence at Westney Heights Baptist Church in Ajax, Ontario. Carter is the author of several books, including “Interpreting Scripture with the Great Tradition: Recovering the Genius of Premodern Exegesis,” and “Contemplating God with the Great Tradition: Recovering Trinitarian Classical Theism.” An ordained minister in the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches of Canada, he also is in the process of writing a multi-volume, theological commentary on Isaiah for the International Theological Commentary series published by T. & T. Clark.

J

.V. Fesko is professor of systematic and historical theology at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Miss. Previously, he was academic dean and professor of systematic and historical theology at Westminster Seminary California. An ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, he also has served as a church planter and pastor. Fesko has written or edited more than twenty books and written fifty essays for various publications. Some of his authored works are, “The Need for Creeds Today: Confessional Faith in a Faithless Age,” “Reforming Apologetics,” “The Spirit of the Age,” “Death in Adam, Life in Christ,” “The Trinity and the Covenant of Redemption,” “Songs of a Suffering King,” and “Beyond Calvin: Union with Christ and Justification in Early Modern Reformed Theology.” He earned his Ph.D. from King’s College, University of Aberdeen, in Scotland.


About the Alliance: Headquartered in Lancaster, Pa., the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is a coalition of Christian believers who hold to the historic creeds and confessions of the Reformed faith and who proclaim biblical doctrine in order to foster a Reformed awakening in today's Church. It primarily does so through broadcasting, printed and online publishing, and special events. It began in 1949 as Evangelical Ministries, which broadcast The Bible Study Hour radio program and published Eternity magazine. It also played a strategic role in the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy, the Cambridge Declaration, and the establishment of the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology. For more information, visit alliancenet.org.

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