SEAD (Scholarly Engagement with Anglican Doctrine) held its 11th Annual Conference at the Cathedral of St Luke and St John in Charleston, South Carolina in early January. About 80 people, clergy and laity, attended from 12 states. Six talks were given on the theme of "Christian Hope 2000: Beyond Secularism, Suspicion and Spirituality."

The Revd Christopher Seitz, SEAD's president, said the purpose of the conference was to "bring together Anglo-Catholic, evangelical and reformed thinkers to see if we could talk with each other and articulate a theology of Christian hope."

Six speakers were given equal billing and touched on subjects such as secularism, interpreting the Bible, church planting and evangelism, and what "Christian Hope" means.

"We're trying to provide a setting for committed, articulate theological discourse," said Christopher Seitz. " We try to listen and talk to one another so that we will be able to talk to the world about the gospel of Jesus of Christ."

SEAD's mission statements says it aims to witness to orthodox Christian theology and provide a forum for a younger generation of theologians. It is planning a major ecumenical event for January 2001 with speakers invited from the Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Reformed and Weslyan traditions representing "Nicene Christianity".

"The Anglican Communion is in a robust, gospel-centred missionary mode, especially in Africa," SEAD's president declared.

Item from: The Living Church