Associate Professor, Department of Bible, Missions and Ministry
Retired Bible Professor, ACU; Elder, Highland Church of Christ (Abilene, TX)
Jeff Childers currently serves as the Carmichael-Walling chair of New Testament and Early Christianity in the Graduate School of Theology at Abilene Christian University.
Part of Paul’s baptismal teaching was that there should be “neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female.” Studying the models of peacemaking in earliest Christianity might help us to form different perspectives and healthier practices in bridging racial, economic, and gender divides.
Read MoreRestorative justice provides a structure for healing severed relationships between people and those who have hurt them through misconduct or crime. This collaborative, peacemaking approach enables the victim to respond to the offender in a way that best meets their needs and ability to move forward.
Read MoreThe modern environmental movement has both attracted and repelled Christians. We argue that its core concept, the care and stewarding of the creation, should be an essential component of Christian belief. In this pathway, we discuss the theology of environmental stewardship.
Read MoreLas iglesias hispanas con sus líderes están buscando una manera para renovar la visión para sus ministerios, tanto para el crecimiento personal como el de la comunidad, para que la cultura globalizada actual pueda ver la paz en ellos. Al desarrollar esta perspectiva, podremos ser pacificadores en nuestros contextos.
Read MorePeace lies at the heart of both Muslim and Christian faiths, yet animosity and conflict often characterize the relationship between the two. This is due, in part, to misunderstandings and a lack of listening to the other, so dialogue across the religious divide is critical to making and sustaining peace.
Read MoreThese sessions trace the Bible’s ideas about peace and our capacity for building it. They then consider how the church can build capacity for peace within its own walls and in our communities. And they consider the ways in which peacemaking reflects God’s desire for a blessed state for all humankind.
Read MoreOur congregations exist in divided times. Often the chaos around us creates unhealthy conflict within us. Yet churches are called to be a unifying force in such times. Join us as we challenge and equip congregations and their leaders to become instruments of peace for the sake of the world.
Read MoreFor the past generation, Churches of Christ have existed in a period of transition. Some suggest the movement is dying; others suggest the movement has run its course and should blend into the larger Evangelical world. Listen to forgotten voices from our past as they remind us of a vibrant and healthy way forward.
Read MoreHispanic churches and leaders are looking for ways to recast a vision for their ministries, for both community and personal growth, to allow the current globalized culture to see peace in them. Developing this perspective will help us be peacemakers in our contexts.
Read MoreDivorce, healthcare crises, and family conflicts have wreaked havoc on our families, and often church leaders feel unable to lend meaningful, practical help. Mediation is a tool that many churches are now using to lend a healing hand in these difficult situations and to avoid litigation.
Read MoreIn recent years, the United States has experienced the resurgence of radical and racist ideologies known as neo-Nazism and white nationalism. In this pathway, we examine white supremacy, its threat to a peaceful society, and how Churches of Christ and related institutions should respond to it.
Read MoreWe are wired to protect ourselves in conflict, so cultivating a peacemaker mindset is an act of discipline and love. Based on organizational and interpersonal conflict research, this pathway offers evidenced-based strategies for leaders as they engage critical issues while maintaining healthy relationships and a positive environment.
Read MoreIn the parable of the sheep and goats, Jesus comes to us in the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the homeless, the sick, and the incarcerated. But we regularly fail to notice that we don’t bring Jesus to the poor and disadvantaged, we welcome Jesus in them. This perspective is foundational to peacemaking across socioeconomic boundaries.
Read MoreOur world summons us to hear anew one of our Lord’s prayers: “that they all may be one” (John 17:21). Jesus’s vision lands powerfully in the American situation. In both his prayer and his new commandment (John 13), Jesus declares the world will change if his disciples love one another.
Read MoreImmigration is a ubiquitous, politicized phenomenon, sometimes resulting in the migrant becoming invisible, lost in a tug-of-war between the political left and right. Christians from the Texas borderland and heartland offer insightful and current perspectives that lead to new thoughts about immigration and shalom.
Read MorePeople of faith don’t always connect justice and peace, yet throughout Scripture, we see that God intensely loves the people whom society puts on the margins, and is consumed with correcting injustices against them. A former refugee from Myanmar convinced Jessica the slogan is true: if we want peace, we must begin with justice.
Read MoreThe divides among people groups continue to oppose the tenets of Christianity, yet the current atmosphere is ripe for old dreams of unity to materialize in visionary ways. Christians can supply the agency that is necessary to turn old dreams into new visions of unity within the body of Christ and beyond.
Read MoreFor some of our neighbors, home is familiar and congenial, safe and loving. Yet for many, this is not the case. In this pathway, we consider how to participate in efforts bridging the gap between oppression and freedom, so that home is a safe, welcoming place. To assemble a just world, lovers of Jesus must come together and establish relationships in spite of, and through, the differences that make us beautiful.
Read MoreEquipping and serving church leaders and other Christ-followers for God’s mission in the world.
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