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Society for Pentecostal Studies: Conference Theme for 2015

The Society for Pentecostal Studies will hold its annual meeting at Southeastern University, Lakeland Florida March 12-14, 2015.

 Plenary speakers will include: Allan Anderson (University of Birmingham), Candy Gunther Brown (Indiana University), Ivan Satyavrata (Buntain Theological College) and a panel discussion on the future of Latino/a Pentecostalism with Gastón Espinosa, Néstor Medina, and Arlene Sánchez Walsh.

 The conference theme is "Global Spirit: Pentecostals and the World."

 Globalization is now one of the most widely used theories across all disciplines. As a process of social change, it captures a range of ideas including the worldwide spread of economic, political, and cultural patterns. And yet, while these patterns suggest sameness, there is also much difference throughout the world. Often this difference is expressed in social, cultural, and religious forms highlighting competing views of the world. In some cases, conflict characterizes the relationship between Christianity and other religions. In other cases the world is a place in which the Spirit is active and alive where missionaries cross cultural divides to communicate the good news of the Kingdom. The world is also a place where migrants are transplanted and employ their sense of spirituality to make sense of the world. This conference will explore the relationship between Pentecostalism and the world, the biblical texts used to interpret the world, the theological frameworks to explain the nature of the world, and the social, historical, and political impact of the transformation of world Christianity.


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