The Forum is a Journey

The story of God as revealed in Scripture is a journey of creation, fall, promise, exodus, land, exile, incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, church, eschaton. Reconciliation is also a journey – not a theory, achievement, technique, or event. Reconciliation takes time. Strangers and enemies becoming companions takes time. The Forum itself reflects all this in being designed not for one or two or three days, but six days, with five themes forming the theological journey and framework of the Forum.

The “Word Made Flesh” Methodology

The Forum’s methodology is undergirded by content and design which seeks to be centered in God’s gift of new creation in the reconciling ministry of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:13-6:2). We refer to this methodology as “Word Made Flesh” (John 1:14). 

The journey of reconciliation from Genesis to Revelation reaches toward the hope of God’s new creation. The methodology of the Christian Forum for Reconciliation in Northeast Asia is designed to explore the heart of the ministry and movement of reconciliation and peace in three critical dimensions:  theological (“the Word”), contextual (“became flesh”), and practical (“and dwelt among us”). 

• Theological – The methodology of the Forum is rooted in a deep and vibrant engagement with the Christian story and biblical texts as a way of igniting our collective scriptural imagination.

• Contextual – We believe that wisdom for ministry is not abstract, but is rooted in the stories and histories of particular contexts and in the lives of those who have sought to be faithful to God’s calling in particular locations and communities.  Our methodology brings stories and ministry practitioners from particular contexts and lives into conversation with theologians and other Christian scholars.

• Practical – The Forum intentionally bridges the historic divide between the study of theology and the practice of ministry by bringing the practice of ministry into conversation with theology.  Teaching includes wisdom drawn from hopeful lives, models of vibrant ministry, and life-giving stories that help shape and sustain communities of God’s resurrection.