Harbor, Pepperdine Bible Lectures

Permission Already Granted: Rethinking Perceptions of Spiritual Authority

Teacher: Bryn Valencia

There is a gap between believing women are fully welcomed to lead in the Church, and seeing that liberty realized in our local churches – how do women and men live healthy, vibrant lives of faith and leadership in this in-between season? Rooted in the fundamental belief of the Imago Dei residing within every person, this class will help us unlock creative solutions for reclaiming hope, empowered soul care, and active engagement while in a season of waiting.

Loving Sundays: How Sundays Can Be Your Best Day of the Week

Teacher: Jovan Barrington

You're invited to attend this class that focuses on how to make Sundays meaningful, fulfilling, and enjoyable. We will discuss topics such as the importance of gathering with your church, participating in spiritual practices, and alleviating anxiety and disappointments while cultivating celebration and joy. This class is open for ministry leaders and anyone who wants to make Sunday a great day and create a deeper connection with God. Join us and discover how Sundays can be your best day of the week.

Husband of One Wife: ”Nothing Else Needs to be Said” (Part 2)

Teacher: John Mark Hicks

As congregations process pastoral leadership and the inclusion of women, one of the most frequent barriers is three Greek words traditionally translated “husband of one wife.” These two classes explore the interpretation and practice of this “qualification” in the history of the church (with emphasis on the Restoration Movement) and offer an understanding of this Greek idiom that does not exclude women in the context of 1 Timothy 3.

Becoming Wounded Healers: Responding to Religious Trauma

Teacher: Charles Kiser

Many people leave churches and faith because they have experienced spiritual abuse and trauma due to toxic religious narratives. In this session we explore the concepts of spiritual abuse and religious trauma, and present pastoral leadership practices and postures that foster congregations that are healing for the spiritually traumatized.

Overcoming Struggles in Sharing Your Faith

Teacher: Mark Mayo

Learn how to share your faith with gentleness and respect. In a world that is dark and divided, we will discover new ways to bridge the gap
and bring the one true answer to hope and peace-Jesus Christ.

OASIS: An Invitation to Real Rest

Teacher: Carlos Isaziga

What do you do when you can’t shake the feeling of being tired? Maybe it’s a simple all too common physical depletion of energy, or are you dealing with a weariness much deeper than that?

Society is feeling the effects of fatigue on many different levels, Jesus makes an invitation to a life of rest and refreshment.

Ministry That’s Digital and Relational

Teachers: Dudley Chancey, Josh Griffin, Mike Shepherd, Jeff Walling

In a world of ever-increasing and -invasive technology, which way should youth ministers turn? How can we reach teens who live in a digital world yet desperately seek authentic relationships? Sharing truth in imaginative ways has never been more important. Come hear some recent research and fresh ideas on how to leverage technology to give you more time to lean into relational ministry from experts and creative voices in the field of student ministry.

The Path of Most Resistance: Tested Strategies for a New Church Growth Model

Teacher: Pat Bills

We are living in a time where churches are struggling with their attendance and morale is low; things just aren’t “what they used to be.” But what if churches actually embraced a strategy that measured success in different ways than before? Join me as we explore specific strategies that have “grown” our church into becoming a smaller more faithful and focused community of disciples.

In the Midst of Good News: A Workshop on the Gospel of Mark

Teacher: Nick Zola

The Gospel of Mark is likely the earliest surviving written story of Jesus. It’s fast paced and action packed, revealing some rough language yet real literary artistry, with an abrupt start and a surprising twist at the end. In this workshop we will explore the good news Mark conveys to his listeners and how to relate that good news ourselves, if we dare.

Jesus Goes to College: Ministry in the Secular Context

Teacher: K. Rex Butts

This class will explore the participation of the local church in the mission of God among college contexts. The operatives of transforming and planting will shape this discussion.

Breaking the Fourth Wall in Preaching

Teacher: Cheryl Russell

Dialogical preaching and the opportunities and advantages it provides for churches in the new missional era.

Navigating Romantic Relationships in a Broken World

Teacher: Dori Lansbach

Romantic relationships are in the forefront of every person’s mind at some point in their life. So much of our lives including our identity, our past, and our future are impacted by the partners that we choose to become involved with romantically, but how do we navigate these relationships in a broken world? How do we prepare our individual emotional and spiritual health to be ready to be in a relationship? How do we date in a way that brings glory to God? How do we navigate the dynamics of marriage to reflect God’s vision for a holy partnership? How do we
discern the unhealthy dynamics of relationships? Whether you’re single and preparing yourself to date, actively dating, or are married, this session will help you consider different aspects of relationships that are so often overlooked or misconstrued in today’s world.

Love, Truth, and Forever

Teacher: Jeanette Duval

A straightforward look at these three vital aspects of God and how our understanding of them impacts every level of our spiritual health. Especially relevant for our younger adults, teens, and children!

Yes, Jesus Loves Me and So Should I: Cultivating Well-being Through Self-care and Self-compassion

Teacher: La Shonda Coleman

At times it can be challenging to love and show compassion for self in the many ways that we so readily do for others. We may have bought into the myth that self care is selfish. Yes, I named it a myth and if this is something you have bought into, extend yourself grace--while leaning into an opportunity to believe differently. An opportunity to experience love starting with Jesus and YOU. In the scriptures, Jesus models for us the practice of self-care and compassion. The truth is, Jesus loves you and gives us permission to love ourselves as well (Leviticus 19:17-18). This love can be expressed through self-care practices and through the practice of self-compassion. The question now is, how does it look to love and show compassion for ourselves? This class will prepare participants to create a self-care plan and to experience a variety of sensations that flow from self compassion. Through education, embodied practices, guided reflections, prayer, meditation and dialogue, participants in this class can expect to have a wholehearted experience!

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?

Teacher: Karl Ihfe

The table is significant. It’s where Christians have broken bread, found fellowship, and extended compassion for centuries. It’s the place we still gather weekly to be reminded of our shared life in Christ. It’s also been the source of much controversy and contention, springing from the question, "Who gets a seat at the table?"
That question almost split the church at the very beginning, and in a culture as fractured and divided as ours, threatens to split the church again. It’s time to look again at the example of Jesus, who shared a table with all kinds of people, and it got him into all kinds of trouble. Let’s consider how God might be challenging us to stretch and grow beyond our comfort zone as he asks us once again that famous question: Guess who’s coming to dinner?

Planning with the Spirit: His Impact on Our Lives and the Church

Teacher: Danny Quintero

Unlimited knowledge, unlimited power, unlimited love. Billions of followers, billions of lives impacted. People talk about Him, but do they walk with Him? If you are interested in knowing the importance of planning with the Spirit and the change that you can experience in your life and even in your church, I invite you to join us in this class.

The House that Built Me: The Women of Faith That Have Shaped My Life

Teacher: Sara Young Jackson

I have always loved the song sung by Miranda Lambert, “The House That Built Me,” because it so poignantly reminds me of the people in my life who have influenced who I have become today. In this class, I will reflect on the women, both in Scripture and in my personal history, whose lives of faith have “shaped” me.

The Low Lying Fruit of Proactive Congregational Care: Reclaiming the Power of Kindness and Goodness in Our Church Communities and Beyond

Teacher: Kent Jobe

This class will look at the underlying spirit that defined the early church and how intentional congregational care can transform the local church from the inside out.

Lamenting Date-Onomics*

Teacher: Kelly Haer

60:40. Why are there so often more women than men on college campuses and in your young adult ministry? How does this "man deficit" impact both men and women? What does faithful living look like amidst the current economics of dating? Demographics, statistics, game theory, and ambiguous loss will be used to make sense of--and provide a guide to navigate--the dating climate at school and life after college!

*Date-Onomics coined by Jon Birger

Trueish: Church Leadership Principles That Sound Right, but Aren’t Anymore. Mostly.

Teacher: Tim Spivey

Even prior to the pandemic, the church was changing in dramatic ways. This class discusses, humorously, the expiration of several popular leadership principles, and offers a look at the prevailing church of the rest of the 21st century.

Late Night Comedy Club

Teachers: Jacob Parnell, Bryan Schackmann

Q: What do you get when you cross a Church of Christ preacher and a stand-up comic? A: Better punchlines than this one! Give your brain a break and come enjoy some all ages stand-up comedy. You'll learn absolutely nothing but you will laugh! (Notice: Laughs not guaranteed.)

What Kind of Interfaith Work Would Jesus Do?

Teacher: John Barton

John will discuss his new book, Better Religion, and explore the following questions: How should Christians interact with followers of other religions? How would Jesus have us do interfaith work? Where are the lines between faithfulness and compromise?

Religious Trauma

Teacher: Chais DeMaggio

A look into the research on religious trauma, and pathways to creating healthy and safe religious communities. After demystifying the subject of religious trauma this class proposes a transparent and inclusive approach to building religious community.

Truthy or Truthful? The Authority of Scripture in a Cross-Pressured Time (Part 1)

Teachers: Leonard Allen, Lauren White

The Authority of Scripture in a Different Key: Incarnation and Sanctification
The doctrine of Scripture’s authority and inspiration has tended to be distorted in two directions, the fundamentalist and the modernist. We propose an older view that is
neither: that the Holy Spirit has sanctified or made holy the processes of Scripture’s incarnational production and preservation, setting these texts apart for the Trinity’s
service.

Truthy or Truthful? The Authority of Scripture in a Cross-Pressured Time (Part 2)

Teachers: Leonard Allen, Lauren White

Signs of the Times: Modernist and Postmodernist Readings of the Bible 
Modern critical studies of the Bible tended to fragment its unity and question its historical
accuracy. Postmodern approaches tend to deny the text any stable meaning and depend
on the reader to create it—so now we commonly hear of “queering the Bible.”