A Report from the Pilgrim Theology Conference
For several years now, I have personally benefited from the work of the Greystone Theological Institute. As a pastor who desires to have some form of continuing education for the benefit of my own Christian formation and ministry, I found that being a Greystone Member allowed me to do this effectively while also being in full-time pastoral ministry. I have, as one does, ‘podcasted’ many of the courses that are available on the Greystone Connect platform to great profit. In addition, I have also had the opportunity to join live online Greystone Reading Rooms and micro-courses led by pastors and scholars who are at the cutting edge of research and reflection in their respective fields. It was in one such micro-course that I had the idea of inviting Dr. Mark Garcia to speak at the annual theological conference that our church holds in Manila.
Around two years ago, Dr. Garcia invited me to apply to be the director of a new Greystone Learning Community in Manila, a role that I am seeking with God’s help to be faithful in. In turn, I took the opportunity to invite him to be our2024 Pilgrim Theological Conference speaker. Dr. Garcia very graciously and bravely accepted my invitation to fly halfway across the globe to speak to people he had never known or met.
After months of planning and praying, we had the honor of holding this year’s two-day conference at Word Community Church in Ayala Malls Circuit in Makati City last July 12-13. The conference theme, one of perennial relevance to all, and likewise a subject of no little confusion for many, was ‘Made After God’s Image: Theological Anthropology for the Rest of Us.’ Over the course of six hour-long sessions, Dr. Garcia patiently guided and instructed us from the Scriptures to consider the following together: God and what it means to be male and female human beings made after his image. Each session was followed by a mini-Q&A session with participants asking questions directly to Dr. Garcia. Additionally, at the end of each conference day, we had a seventy-five minute time of extended Q&A with Dr. Garcia covering everything that had been discussed so far. Most of the questions reflected how the participants were not only tracking with what they have heard but also thinking hard about the implications of the same for personal life, for parenting, and for ministry in general. In all of these, Dr. Garcia very patiently and wisely responded to the questions not only as a theologian but as a humble minister of Christ.
A total of two-hundred and forty-six people came to this year’s conference. This is a source of great encouragement for myself and to our conference committee. Looking around the room, I was very glad to see brothers and sisters not only from my own congregation but also from different churches and across denominational lines. From my vantage point, which was at the front row of the left side of the hall, I could see that most if not all of the participants were thoughtfully engaged during the sessions, many of them even taking notes on their laptops and on physical notebooks! During the breaks, many pockets of participants could be overheard talking about the previous session over coffee and processing the new things that they were discovering from the Word of God. It was evident in my own discussions with some of the participants that the renewed biblical vision of our being male and female humans made in the image of God—not only as a status—but as a calling and a vocation towards doxology in Christ was something that made better sense of what it meant to be male and female believers being formed by the Lord’s own Word and Spirit into greater conformity to Christ.
The confessional and Reformed community in the Philippines is growing and there is truly much to be thankful for. Many congregations and their pastors are, thanks in small part to our annual conferences, learning about the beauty and depth of the Reformed and Presbyterian traditions. The Holy Spirit has been and continues to bring about renewal and reformation through the gospel in many places in our land and for this we must be grateful and encouraged. However, one thing that continues to be a desiderata for us is in the area of theological education. I am thankful that I and some of our church leaders have had the opportunity to share with Dr. Garcia and another Greystone Board Member, Mr. Rick Quinn (who came all the way from Australia to join us for the conference!), our yearning for a more reliable pathway for training that is at once Scripturally sound, confessionally robust, and faithful to minister Christin the Church and in the world. Sadly, we do not have such an institution or option for us in the Philippines at present. I would ask readers to pray for us and for Greystone as we pray and explore together what is possible and prudent along these lines. We are hoping, our Lord helping us, to bring this dream to fruition for the benefit of Reformed, Presbyterian, and Gospel-centered churches in the Philippines as well as the wider Asian region.
In addition to the blessing of learning from Dr. Garcia at the conference, I also had the distinct privilege of introducing him to my fellow elders and to the wonderful congregation of Pilgrim Community Church, where I serve as minister. It was a blessing to be able to have Dr. Garcia as our preacher in our morning and evening services on the Lord’s Day that he was with us. And as if that were not enough, Dr. Garcia also very kindly indulged us with another unplanned informal Q&A session with him after our lunch together. We are very grateful for the ministry and life of the Rev. Dr. Mark Garcia, we are hopeful for all the the Lord has in store for us at Pilgrim and in partnership with Greystone, and we are asking that you would join us in being excited about these things. And please, remember to pray for us. Pray for the Philippines and for the advance of the gospel in these islands—for Christ, his Church, and his Cause!