The Theology Matters Conference

The workshop surveyed and highlighted important topics and themes of Presbyterian thought during the twentieth century, including the missionary movement, the ecumenical movement, Christian education, and biblical studies. President John A. Mackay (1889–1983) and Professor Bruce M. Metzger (1914–2007) were respected clergymen, scholars, and prolific authors who shaped the Presbyterian Church (USA) during that period. Beginning with reference to Reminiscences of an Octogenarian by Bruce Manning Metzger (1997), the workshop was structured around biographical sketches of each man, with bibliographical references and examination of certain published works. The witness and example of two major twentieth-century public intellectuals are very much worth recalling as Christians face the challenges of a new era.

John M. Metzger joined the board of Theology Matters in 2017 and serves as a director. He is the author of The Hand and the Road (Westminster John Knox, 2010) and editor of The Meaning of Life (Wipf and Stock, 2014). Earned his B.A. from Harvard, J.D. from NYU School of Law, with post-graduate study at the London School of Economics.

Standing behind and above the ordinary wedding in Cana of Galilee is the true Groom, Jesus Christ, who will be wed to God’s people at the end of John’s gospel. Like ordinary grooms whose responsibility it is to provide the wine, Jesus will provide the wine, but it will be the wine of His own blood shed on the cross. As the headwaiter remarks about saving the best wine for last, the best of Israel’s sacrifices comes at the end. The miracle is a sign pointing to the Messiah and to God’s devoted love for the church, showing that Jesus was focused on His heavenly wedding from the beginning of His ministry.

Tim Meredith is a minister at large in the Holston Presbytery, PC(USA), and a board member of Theology Matters. He earned a B.A. in Political Science from Virginia Tech and his M.Div. from Gordon Conwell Seminary. He has pastored congregations in North Carolina and Tennessee.

Presbyterians for the Kingdom is a Generation Z renewal movement, started by Richard Ackermann (a.k.a. “Redeemed Zoomer”), whose YouTube channel has 670,000 subscribers. The group hosted their first conference the day before the Theology Matters conference, and this workshop reflected on what the movement is, how it is going, and what is next.

James F. Cubie is a pastor on Long Island, New York and a director on the board of Theology Matters. He has an M.Div. from Union Seminary, New York, and a Th.M. from Princeton Theological Seminary in Systematic Theology. David Yancey is President of Presbyterians for the Kingdom, a recent King University graduate (A.B., history), and is in his first semester at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama.

In The Prophetic Imagination (1978), Walter Brueggemann wrote, “The task of prophetic ministry is to nurture, nourish, and evoke a consciousness and perception alternative to the consciousness and perceptions of the dominant culture around us.” Progressives within the PCUSA have long claimed to be prophetic in and to the dominant culture they describe as sexist, heteronormative, colonialist, white, and nationalist. This workshop explored speaking “truth to power” in and to the dominant progressive culture in the PCUSA, with a goal of establishing benchmarks for an alternative culture and agenda.

Stephen D. Crocco recently retired as Library Director at Yale Divinity School, having previously held similar positions at Princeton, Pittsburgh Theological Seminaries, and the U.S. Army War College. He holds an M.Div. from Pittsburgh, a Th.M. from Harvard, and a Ph.D. from Princeton University. He is currently writing a book on Jonathan Edwards and Harvard historian Perry Miller and is Associate Pastor of Oakmont Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh.

This interactive seminar explored the heritage of Reformed and Presbyterian engagement with the visual arts. Drawing on William Dyrness’s Visual Faith, Hans Rookmaaker’s Art Needs No Justification, and Working’s own Visual Theology, the workshop traced how Protestants developed a distinctive aesthetic that glorifies God through everyday beauty. Through case studies including Rembrandt’s biblical scenes and Dutch church architecture, participants considered art as a tool for theological witness, ideal for pastors, artists, and laypeople seeking to integrate faith and creativity.

Randy Working pastors two churches in the San Fernando Presbytery in Southern California and is President of Theology Matters. He earned his B.A. at Whitworth University, his Master of Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing at the University of Washington, and his M.Div., D.Min., and Ph.D. in Theology and Culture from Fuller Seminary. He is the author of From Rebellion to Redemption and The Visual Theology of the Huguenots.

They called him “the lion of Bavaria.” Pastor Karl Steinbauer and his wife, Eugenie, took a clear and courageous stand against the lies of the Nazis and confronted not only government officials but also their own church leadership for its compromising attitude toward National Socialism. He was arrested four times, then was sent on personal orders by Reinhard Heydrich and Heinrich Himmler to the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. The faithful witness of this young couple remains a great source of inspiration for Christ’s witnesses today.

Martha Burnett was born and raised in Germany. Her father was a Lutheran pastor near the North Sea. She studied English and Evangelische Theologie at the University of Saarbrücken. She has served as administrative assistant for Theology Matters since 2016 and for the Foundation for Reformed Theology since 2023. She is currently writing a book on women of the Confessing Church during National Socialism.