Skip to main content
Ministry HighlightsNetwork

CoRE Conference Addresses ‘Gender, Sexuality, and the Church’

By February 22, 2019No Comments

GREENVILLE, S.C.—This year’s CoRE Conference at Bob Jones University Seminary addressed the important contemporary issue of “Gender, Sexuality, and the Church.” The CoRE Conference, meaning Connect, Renew, Equip, is an annual event at the school.

Tim Geiger, president of Harvest USA and one of the featured speakers, spoke powerfully through his own testimony, encouraging the church to talk about sex, sexuality, and gender and equipping the church to do so effectively by, among other things, building relationships that are a canvas on which the Spirit will communicate the gospel.

The conference included three workshop tracks led by Jim Newcomer (a pastor and Biblical counseling teacher), Ellen Dykas (women’s ministry coordinator for Harvest USA), and Tim Geiger—one for men, one for women, and one specifically on homosexuality. The workshops allowed attendees the opportunity to dive deeper into complex issues. Many people attending the workshops say that the sessions brought clarity, hope, and confidence in dealing with sexual sins and navigating gender identity.

Rosaria Butterfield (author of The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert) and Stuart Scott (graduate professor at The Master’s University) ministered to those at the conference through video—Stuart through helpful instruction from the Word of God and Rosaria through the powerful testimony of God’s Word in her life.

During the CoRE conference, BJU Seminary launched its new website and social media platforms—Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. These platforms are a means to provide resources and thought leadership on matters of theology and issues facing the church. Video interviews from the CoRE Conference between Jim Berg and Jim Newcomer as well as between Sam Horn and Tim Geiger will be released through these platforms and the seminary’s newsletter. Berg and Horn are both faculty members of Bob Jones University.

With almost 1,000 people registered for this year’s conference, including via webcast, there is already much excitement as BJU Seminary plans to hosts next year’s CoRE Conference on the topic “Faith, Justice, and the World.”