About This Issue:

We have a special treat for our West Coast members and friends. We invite you to participate in American Baptist Seminary of the West Pastoral Leadership Conference 2005 at the San Damiano Retreat Center in Danville, California and then to stay for a Roger Williams Luncheon at the close of the retreat. The luncheon will provide an opportunity to discuss the state of the American Baptist Churches in the West and how to maintain a tradition of Baptist soul freedom in the midst of societal and religious change. This is an excellent opportunity to increase your skills and knowledge of ministry and to engage in meaningful dialogue with colleagues.

The retreat will begin Monday, January 10th with lunch at noon (registration at 10:30 am) and will conclude at noon on Wednesday, January 12th with the RWF lunch following closing. The cost of the conference is $275.00 for a single room and $244.00 for a double room if you register by December 1st, 2004. Please add $10.00 for the RWF Luncheon and indicate to the registrar that you will be staying for the RWF Lunch. If you decide to only come for the luncheon the Retreat Center charges an additional $20.00 for day use. Please tell Dr. Nancy Hall, ABSW Director of Continuing Education (nhall@absw.edu) that you will be attending the RWF Luncheon.  The conference information and registration may be found at www.plc2005.net.

The theme of the retreat is “earthen vessels – living water: Rediscovering Pastoral Care in Changing Contexts.” The conference leadership will be provided by Dr. Archie Smith, Professor of Pastoral Psychology and Counseling at Pacific School of Religion (Berkeley) and Dr. Judy Yates, Assistant Professor of New Testament at American Baptist Seminary of the West.

The lead article in this issue is David Bartlett’s reflections on the legacy of Roger Williams. We were pleased to hear Dr. Bartlett’s address at the Biennial in Providence at the Roger William Fellowship’s dinner and now if you attended you can relive the experience in print; and, if you did not attend, you can experience the event in print.  David Bartlett is Lantz Professor of Preaching and Communication and Dean of Academic Affairs at Yale Divinity School.

Yes, we do publish unsolicited manuscripts though the final decision as to publication lies with the editor. The best way to submit manuscripts is to send them in either rich text (.rtf) or MSWord (.doc) as an attachment to my email address: whugh.tucker@gmail.com (please note that there is a dot between whugh and tucker.)

I do hope that you find this issue interesting, educational and provacative. I also hope that, if you are in the western part of the United States, that you can join us at the luncheon following the ABSW continuing educational event.

W. Hugh Tucker, Editor