North American Institute for Indigenous Theological Studies: Call For Papers

Call for Papers

NAIITS

North American Institute for Indigenous Theological Studies

Symposium 2009

Indigenous Church: Expressions of Community

Location: Trinity Western University, Langley, BC, Canada

Dates: June 4 – 6, 2009


Scope of Topics:

In anticipation of this symposium NAIITS invites proposals for papers and panels on the topic Indigenous Church: Expressions of Community. Papers that utilize any of a broad range of research methodologies will be considered. Submissions should address one or more of the following topics. Submissions on topics that relate clearly to the overall theme also will be considered.

• Traditional Native North American ideas and practices of community and their relationship to the Church in both positive and negative ways
• Indigenous Leadership: movements toward autonomy
• Communal healing from historical trauma interjected by the church
• Examples of positive wider community involvement in contemporary contexts
• Spiritual and Theological understandings of the church and its roles in Native life
• Decolonizing ecclesiology – making the church truly indigenous

Papers should strive to show how traditional practices within the Native North American contexts and cultural perspectives might be strengthened and implemented, or how new ideas, understandings and practices of church might further the goals of Native mission and the advance of Native people in life, service, and ministry following Jesus. Papers should address themselves to traditional missional ideas of Native Christian faith, as well as contemporary Native Christian thought related to contextualization.

About NAIITS & the Symposium

NAIITS

1. is a non-sectarian Christian organization dedicated to encouraging the Native North American evangelical community to develop and to articulate Native North American perspectives on Christian theology and mission practice;
2. encourages the development and implementation of Native North American learning styles and worldviews through encouraging the development of a body of written work that addresses scriptural, theological, ethical and missiological issues from Native North American perspectives in concert with those of other ethnicities who would speak into this context;
3. seeks to facilitate the creation of a written theological foundation for a) the visioning of new mission paradigms to reach Native North Americans and other Indigenous peoples with the Gospel; and, b) the contextualization of the Gospel in Native communities;
4. seeks to develop theological partnerships with other cultural communities of Christian faith which will ensure the voice of Christ is heard in all ways and will ensure biblical orthodoxy in all things;
5. is committed to genuine dialogue with the historical traditions of Christianity and values the written and living resources encompassed in these traditions.

Symposium

The purpose of the symposium is to facilitate open dialogue about various aspects of the Indigenous Church – past, present and emerging. The symposium will focus on the unique experiences, understandings and contributions to community of Native North American history and experience of church. Symposium planners hope that participants will bring together academic and practical approaches to the issues being addressed in the symposium.

Submission Guidelines

Submissions must include a brief personal bio and both an abstract of not more than 150 words and a proposal for the type of presentation intended of not more than 1000 words. The proposal must include a clear statement of your argument and enough context to show that you are aware of the basic issues and literature of the topic. The proposal is the document on which submissions will be evaluated and selected. Abstracts and bios provided for submissions selected will be used in advertisements and symposium materials. Selected papers will be allotted 40 minutes for presentation. There may be respondents for the papers. Selected panels will be allotted 90 minutes.

Submission of Papers

Papers should be theoretically solid as well as practically applicable. Submissions will be evaluated in light of their potential to contribute to the Symposium and the development of Native North American theology, biblical studies and/or mission. To encourage dialogue we solicit and welcome submissions from various perspectives, Native as well as supportive non-Native presenters from other ethnic perspectives.

Send a 150-word abstract (only) of your proposal to Terry LeBlanc by e-mail by February 15, 2009. (Please note we request MS Word or RTF formats). Presenters must then provide a three-page summary of their paper by April 1, 2009 by email. Summaries will be posted on the NAIITS website. Presenters must provide final copies of their papers (once again in electronic format) with full documentation of resources in Times Roman 12 pint font by May 1, 2005. The papers will be posted on the NAIITS website.

Submission of Panels

Submissions of panels (please be sure this is a panel!) are welcome and should include the same materials as those for individual papers (brief bio of the chairperson, abstract and proposal; both of which deal with the focus of the proposed panel). Also included must be a participant list with bios and abstracts for each.

Submission Deadline and Requirements

The deadline for submissions of proposals for papers and panels is February 15, 2009.

Please submit your proposal to:

Terry LeBlanc, Chair
North American Institute for Indigenous Theological Studies
P.O. Box 295 Evansburg, AB T0E 0T0
Fax: (204) 261-9164
Email: tlmikmaq@gmail.com

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