“The Apostolic Ministry: History, Theology, Ecumenism,” was a conference co-organized by Matthew F. Reese (Yale and The Johns Hopkins Universities) and Christopher Adams (Fordham University) and hosted by Berkeley Divinity School at Yale. “The Apostolic Ministry” brought together eighteen presenters from across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Kenya. 

In this two-day event, October 26–27, 2023, we discussed the office of the bishop in all of its diverse manifestations, interpretations, and challenges across time. Papers ranged from biblical studies to patristics, church history, systematics, and modern ecumenism. Over the course of these presentations, we interrogated the role of the episcopacy in the ever-increasing religious pluralism of our current moment––all with an eye to the promotion of Christian unity.

Participants joined us at the Berkeley Center and Yale Divinity School’s beautiful Marquand Chapel for two days of scholarship, ecumenical dialogue, and prayer. The conference concluded with Berkeley’s Hart Lecture in Theology given by the Canon Prof. Mark D. Chapman of the University of Oxford and Ripon College Cuddesdon, as well as a roundtable discussion moderated by Matthew Reese.

Speakers

Johnathan E. Alvarado, The Alliance for Black Pentecostal Scholarship 

Sarah Byers, Boston College 

Mark D. Chapman, University of Oxford

Mark Obeten, Marquette University

Alex Exum, Duke Divinity School

E. Okelloh Ogera, Great Lakes University of Kisumu

Greta Gaffin, Independent Scholar

Michael Proietta, Marquette University

Thomas G. Hermans-Webster, Orbis Books

John Reilly, University of Notre Dame

Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, Fuller Theological Seminary and University of Helsinki

Sinu Rose, University of Kentucky

Matthew Kemp, Marquette University

Gregory Shokhikyan, University of Nottingham 

Caleb Adams Lindgren, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Julian J. Sieber, Loyola University Chicago

Mihailo Vlajkovic, Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary

Ed Watson, Yale University