January 28, 2022, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm
In-person and Virtual Meeting: Registration opens November 1, 2021
Stavros Auditorium, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary of Lenoir-Rhyne University
4201 North Main Street, Columbia, South Carolina 29203
LTSS Campus map
LTSS Campus Map
Dan Bell Article
Dan Bell Article
Symposium Schedule
Symposium Schedule
Presentation PowerPoint
Presentation PowerPoint
The Gift of Stewardship as the Mission of the Church
We will consider stewardship as a gift that God gives the church because God desires for us more than we could ever ask or imagine. To make this point I will argue that stewardship is not about what we do with a little bit of our stuff but about what God gives us and what God wants us to do with what God gives us. Moreover, steward-ship is not simply something Christians do but is expressive of the very nature of what they are as Christian, as human. By extension, stewardship is not about giving to the church but the church giving itself away. Along the way, we will consider why Christians do not give more, the pathos of much contemporary stewardship, why we have what we have, our mission problem and edifice complex, and some of the chal-lenges associated with leading the church in giving itself away.
The Rev. Dr. Dan Bell, Keynote Speaker
The Rev. Dr. Daniel M. Bell, Jr. is an independent scholar and adjunct professor at Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, NC and Utah Valley University in Orem, UT. For seventeen years he served as Professor of Theology and Ethics at the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia South Carolina. An ordained Elder in The United Methodist Church, he is a graduate of Stetson University in Florida, and he earned the Master of Divinity degree from Duke Divinity School and a Ph.D. from Duke University.
Dr. Bell writes and speaks on war and peace, the moral life, leadership, stewardship, and mission of the church today. His article, Stewardship and the Divine Gift Economy, was published in the Criswell Theological Journal in the Spring of 2014. Among his various publications are several books, including Liberation Theology After the End of History (Routledge, 201), Just War as Chris-tian Discipleship (Brazos, 2009), The Economy of Desire: Christianity and Capitalism in a Postmod-ern World (Baker Academic, 2012), and Divinations: Theopolitics in an Age of Terror (Cascade, 2017). He is active in various works of mercy, has led study seminars to Mexico and cross cultural immersion trips to Honduras, Haiti, and Cuba. He has worked for years with active duty military chaplains in the Army’s advance civilian education program and served for four years as the Gen-eral Hugh Shelton Distinguished Chair of Ethics at the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College, Ft. Leavenworth, KS. Prior to his seminary teaching, Dr. Bell taught at Monmouth Col-lege, Truman State University, and Meredith College. He currently resides in Salt Lake City, Utah.
This stewardship opportunity is presented by the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary of Lenoir-Rhyne University and the LTSS/Region 9 Council for Stewardship Education. This event is funded by the LTSS/Region 9 Council for Stewardship Education, a matching grant from the Lilly Foundation, Thrivent Financial, and registration fees.
