With the 2017 Biologos conference coming up, I have debated about inviting our local pastor to attend. As our church is diverse in opinion with a pretty sizable vocal YEC contingent, I can see that it could be problematic for him or other staff to attend, however. Our pastor is pretty mainstream Baptist, but does quote writers like Scot McKnight who are openly supportive of EC/TE. He plays it pretty close to the vest however, regarding those issues. I certainly do not want to cause him problems. I would like to give our ministerial staff the opportunity to hear some of the great voices that will be there, yet can see that it could be difficult for them.
Do any of you have similar issues/concerns? How do you handle it?
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Great question! I’m managing our conference planning here at BioLogos, and here’s a bit more info regarding your concern:
We actually had a situation with very similar dynamics to this at our first-ever public conference in 2015 here in Grand Rapids. Two attendees were graciously and honestly interested in gaining a better understanding of BioLogos’ position, though they were YEC themselves and from a staunchly conservative (even fundamentalist) YEC institution. Though they weren’t “hiding” their attendance or affiliation, they couldn’t broadcast their attendance either lest it send mixed messages through their own institution and constituents. So we were happy to work with them and their concerns, keep them out of any publicly-shared photos, etc. If your pastoral staff has any other similar concerns, we’d be happy to work with them in the same way (they can contact me at david.buller@biologos.org with any questions). The two attendees from 2015 I’ve referenced said they benefited from the event, and we benefited from following up and hearing their perspectives as well (when we say we’re committed to “gracious dialogue,” we really mean it!).
We’re particularly eager to connect with pastors and other ministry leaders, and are offering them (as well as students and K12 teachers) an $80 registration discount – on top of the $70 early-bird discount that’s still in effect. And if 3 or more from the same institution register together, they get a $30/each discount on top of that for a full $180/each discount all told.
Incidentally, since you mentioned Scot McKnight, you might be interested in knowing and sharing that we’ve just added him as one of our plenary speakers at the conference, alongside Dennis Venema – be on the lookout for more information in an email tomorrow (Friday).
Feel free to pass this along to your pastoral staff, and I’m happy to answer any questions over email.
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Thanks so much. That is great information.
Very excited that Scot and I can do a session at the conference together. Looking forward to it.
You’ve got me listed as from “Trinity Wesleyan University” though - as much as I would love for TWU to become officially anabaptist, we’re Trinity Western University. 
Edit - thanks for the correction!
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