On March 19-21, the Christian Worldview Week at North Greenville University will be exploring “God, Caesar and the Areopagus: Right Rendering in the Marketplace.”
Tony Perkins
Oran Smith
Tom Minnery
Joe MackThe three-day conference draws from Jesus’ words to “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” National and statewide leaders in the area of Christian worldview will seek to explain how Christians can follow the words of Christ and the example of Paul preaching to the Greeks on Mars Hill at the Areopagus in Athens.
The conference starts Monday at 10 a.m. with Tom Minnery, president of Focus on the Family Action, speaking about Christian involvement at the grass-roots level. In his role at Focus on the Family, Minnery oversees several magazines, websites and radio broadcasts including “Citizen” and “Family News in Focus.” He is the former senior editor of Christianity Today and manager for the Washington, D.C., bureau of Gannett Newspapers. Minnery will also be at a lunch for local church leaders at 11 a.m.
Monday night at 7 p.m., Oran Smith, president of Palmetto Family Council, will speak on the Christian response at the state level. He is a graduate of both Clemson and USC with degrees in political science. He has written numerous journal articles and book chapters on politics, government and the role of Christians. He is also a former member of Gov. Carroll Campbell’s economic development staff.
Tuesday evening at 7 p.m., Joe Mack, director of the office of public policy at the South Carolina Baptist Convention, will discuss how Southern Baptists can make a difference in public policy. He has worked more than 30 years in both the public and private sectors. In his current position, Mack builds relationships with members of the South Carolina State House and Senate, as well as with the Governor and Lt. Governor to promote Christian principles on current moral and social issues.
The last speaker of the conference will be Tony Perkins, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Family Research Council. He will speak at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. on the Christian response at the national level. He is a former member of the Louisiana legislature, where he served for eight years and was recognized as a legislative pioneer in Christian worldview. He hosts a weekly national radio program, “Washington Watch Weekly,” and regularly appears on national broadcast and cable news programs. Perkins is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and a former police officer and television news reporter.
At each service, guest vocalist Luke Garrett will perform. He has written or co-written numerous songs, including “Magnify,” “All Praise Rising” and “It’s Still the Cross.” He has ministered in every state, as well as parts of Asia, South America, the Middle East and Europe. He has sung for Presidents Reagan, Bush and Clinton. The worship team from First Baptist Church, North Augusta, will lead worship during each service. North Greenville’s drama team, ACT II, will perform Monday and Wednesday night.
Tony Beam, director of the Christian Worldview Center at NGU, believes this is a timely and important conference. “Today, there are many voices being raised against Christians who take their faith out of the relative safety of the pews and into the fiery arena of public debate,” said Beam. He hopes this conference will teach Christians how to “render rightly to both God and Caesar in the marketplace.”
For more information, contact Beam at 1-800-468-6642, 864-977-7280 or tbeam@ngu.edu.