Schedule for “Power in Perspective(s)”
Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre Graduate Student Conference
THURSDAY, JUNE 2
6:30 – 7:00 Arrival and Registration
7:00 – 7:10 Welcome
7:10 – 9:10 Paper Presentations in Plenary
Max Kennel
The Critique of Power: Epistemological Foundations in Modernity
Susanne Guenther Loewen
Love is “Shared Power”: Redefining Power from a Feminist Mennonite Peace Perspective
Melanie Kampen
Radical Discipleship or the Subjugation of Others? On the Violence of Mennonite Political Theology
8:30 – 9:00 Snack
FRIDAY, JUNE 3
8:30 – 9:30 am Breakfast (Cafeteria)
Concurrent Sessions – Stream One
10:00 – 10:40 Layton Friesen
Wielding Pacifism: The Clout of Gospel Convictions in a Secular Age
10:45 – 11:25 Andrea Baker Dean
God’s Power and Human Power: A Conversation between Context and Conviction
Concurrent Sessions – Stream Two
10:00 – 10:40 Benjamin Bixler
Lot (be)gets what he deserves: Identity Creation in Genesis 19:30 – 38
10:45 – 11:25 Zac Klassen
Doctrine as a Discourse of Power: Supersessionism and the Politics of the Ascension
11:45 – 12:45 Lunch (Cafeteria)
Concurrent Sessions – Stream One
1:00 – 1:40 Cate Michelle Desjardin
Facing Powerlessness in Pediatric End of Life
1:45 – 2:25 Jason F. R. Greig
Living Under the Authority of Jesus: A Comparison of Jean Vanier and John Howard Yoder on (the) Power(s)
Concurrent Sessions – Stream Two
1:00 – 1:40 Andrew Suderman
“Who’ll be a witness for my Lord?”: Power to be Witnesses
1:45 – 2:25 Anicka Fast
From Critics to Collaborators: Protestant Missions Move Away from a Free Church Position in Belgian Congo 1929 – 1946
2:25 – 3:00 Coffee Break
3:00 – 4:45 Paper Presentations in Plenary
Gerald Ens
Reconsidering Binding and Loosing: John Howard Yoder’s Theories of Power and Reconciliation in Dialogue
Hilary Jerome Scarsella
Sexual Abuse, LGBTQI Injustice, and Performance: A Bourgeoning Crisis of Power in MCUSA’s Response to Sexualized Violence
Jason Frey
Queering Purity: Rethinking Sin Power and Violence within Mennonite Ecclesiology
5:00 – 6:00 Supper (Cafeteria)
7:00 – 8:00 Keynote Address by Malinda Berry, Assistant Professor of Theology and Ethics, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary
“By What Authority?”: An NVC Practicing Biracial Feminist Mennonite Mother’s Perspective on Power
Abstract: The main title of my keynote, “By What Authority,” is a double entendre of sorts. The words can form a statement or pose a question like they do in the synoptic gospels. A group of onlookers press Jesus to defend his teaching in the Temple. They ask, “By what authority are you doing these things?” His eventual reply: “I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things” (see Matt. 21:23ff, Mark 11:27ff, Luke 20:1ff). Like those who confront Jesus, we Mennonites have been wringing our collective hands about authority. We are legitimately concerned about where it comes from, how to use it, who to give it to (and how much to give them), et cetera. My presentation will bring these concerns into biblical, theological, and ethical focus by advocating for a twenty-first century Anabaptist view of “the priesthood of all believers.”
8:30 - late Scholars’ Night Out
SATURDAY, JUNE 4
8:30 – 9:30 Breakfast
10:00 – 11:20 Paper Presentations in Plenary
Allison Murray
Controlling the Student Body: Power as Discipleship Tool in Student Codes of Conduct
Sarah Ann Bixler
Leading a Fractured Community: Power Dynamics in Lancaster Mennonite Conference
11:45 – 12:45 Lunch (Cafeteria)
