Theme: Living and Active: The Holy Spirit and the
Eternal Authority of Sacred Scripture
Date: Saturday, October 31st, 2026
"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:12–13, ESV)
The Word of God is not a mere relic of a distant past awaiting human retrieval, nor a malleable text subject to the ever-shifting currents of cultural preference. It is, as the writer to the Hebrews declares, living and active: a divine address that cuts through every pretense, penetrates every evasion, and lays bare the innermost recesses of the human heart before the holy gaze of the One to whom all creation must give account. To take Holy Scripture seriously is not an act of intellectual antiquarianism; it is an encounter with the Triune God who speaks, who acts, and who renews.
Yet we live in a moment of profound hermeneutical crisis. The authority of Holy Scripture, its inerrancy, its sufficiency, its inexhaustible depth, is contested not only outside the walls of the Church but increasingly within them. Interpretive frameworks shaped by ideological accommodation have quietly displaced the ancient conviction that Scripture, breathed out by the Holy Spirit, carries within it the very voice of God. The Church seeking renewal stands at a crossroads: it must either recover its confidence in the living Word or surrender its prophetic witness to the pressures of the age.
The theme of this year's https://www.regent.edu/school-of-divinity/renewal-theology/&source=gmail&ust=1778002101855000&usg=AOvVaw2t19wfV2dEn8CjnvxGmJ_ 2">Third Conference for Renewal Theology emphasizes the authority, sufficiency, and Spirit-breathed power of Holy Scripture for the life, worship, and witness of the renewal Church.
Dr. Corné Bekker, Dean of the Regent University School of Divinity, reflects: "The Holy Scriptures are the gift of the Triune God: breathed out by the Holy Spirit, testifying to the eternal Son, and originating in the eternal counsel of the Father who wills that all flesh shall hear His voice and live. Because the Holy Spirit who inspired every word is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father and bears witness to the Son, the sacred text is inerrant, holy, and inexhaustible; it is as faithful as the God whose eternal nature it reflects. To receive Scripture in the power of the Spirit is to be drawn into the very life of the Trinity; the Father speaking, the Son revealed, and the Spirit sealing the Word upon hearts that the Church of every age may know the God who renews.”
The conference will bring together evangelical and renewal scholars, pastors, and practitioners to explore the profound unity of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God under the guidance of two distinguished plenary speakers.
Dr. Hans Boersma holds the Saint Benedict Servants of Christ Endowed Chair in Ascetical Theology at Nashotah House Theological Seminary in Wisconsin. A Dutch-Canadian Anglican priest and internationally recognized patristics scholar, Dr. Boersma has devoted his scholarly career to retrieving the sacramental ontology of the Great Tradition, particularly as it bears on the spiritual interpretation of Holy Scripture. His widely read works, including Scripture as Real Presence: Sacramental Exegesis in the Early Church (Baker Academic, 2017) and Pierced by Love: Divine Reading with the Christian Tradition (Lexham Press, 2023), have opened new vistas for evangelicals and renewal Christians seeking to read the Bible with the depth and doxological attentiveness of the ancient Church.
Dr. Kevin L. Spawn is Associate Professor of Old Testament at the Regent University School of Divinity, where he has taught since 2006. Holding his doctorate from the University of Oxford, Dr. Spawn is a leading evangelical and renewal voice in the development of pneumatic hermeneutics, a Spirit-attentive methodology for reading Holy Scripture. He is co-editor of Spirit and Scripture: Exploring a Pneumatic Hermeneutic (T&T Clark, 2012). His scholarship stands at the vital intersection of Old Testament exegesis and renewal theological method.
Together, Drs. Boersma and Spawn will guide this gathering into a deeper, richer engagement with Holy Scripture as the Spirit-inspired, living voice of the Triune God, boundless in its depth, supreme in its authority, and transformative in its power for the renewal of the Church and the glory of Christ.
Call for Papers
The Conference for Renewal Theology is accepting proposals for presentations within the broad range of theological knowledge (Biblical studies, Biblical languages, Church history, systematic theology, pastoral theology and ministry, apologetics, ethics, and philosophy) related to Renewal Theology and the conference theme – Living and Active: The Holy Spirit and the Eternal Authority of Sacred Scripture. Authors with a terminal degree, or doctoral students, in a theological discipline may submit proposals. Submissions must include the following:
- Paper title and abstract of 500 words or less.
- Sent as an email, not as an attachment, to renewalconference@regent.edu.
- Adherence to the conference doctrinal statement.
Proposals are due by August 15, 2026. Presenters will be notified by August 30, 2026, if a proposal is accepted or denied. Papers are typically 20-25 minutes in a session, with 10-15 minutes for discussion. The details of a paper’s time allotment are up to the presenter.
https://www.regent.edu/school-of-divinity/renewal-theology/%23registration&source=gmail&ust=1778002101856000&usg=AOvVaw1T6LQrdgV_POgYvEeuRbq p">Click Here to Register.
Come, Holy Spirit, and renew Your Church!