2023 Thematic Bible Conference

W4CAA will hold its annual Thematic Bible Conference this Labor Day long weekend, 2–4 September 2023, to the theme ‘Acts: Asia Minor and Europe’ (Acts 12.25–19.20). Participation is available at our northern and southern Californian sites in Los Altos and La Palma, California; at our other site in Oxford, England; or else through our Discord server. Please register below on our registration form (active now).

The 2023 Thematic Bible Conference continues a four-year (2021–24) study of the Acts of the Apostles. This study of Acts comes in turn after a three-year study of the Gospel of Luke in 2018, 2019, and 2020.

Before coming to the conference, please watch these two short lectures if you have not watched them already:

  1. Introduction to the Acts of the Apostles by Bishop N. T. Wright’ (2:55);
  2. Session One: Acts 1:1–8 with Bishop N. T. Wright’ (15:37).

During the conference, eight more short lectures will feature N. T. Wright, formerly Lord Bishop of Durham, on aspects of Acts 12.25–19.20.

On each day of the conference, there will be multiple lectures by Professor Craig Keener. Handouts covering his lectures on those chapters in Acts will be provided to conferees at the conference.

And for conferees fluent in Cantonese or Mandarin, additional exposition lectures (with consecutive interpretation) will feature Stephen Lee (李思敬) during the conference:

爭議與合一 (使徒行傳 13.1–3)
按手與充滿 (使徒行傳 18.24–19.7)

Conference Schedules and Locations

If you are taking part on site in northern California, the address is
St Paul’s Anglican Church,
101 N. El Monte Ave,
Los Altos, CA 94022.

In southern California, the address is
Joshua Medical Clinic,
7872 Walker Street,
La Palma, CA 90623.

In Oxford, England, the address is
St Michael at the North Gate,
Cornmarket St,
Oxford OX1 3EY.

Bible Study Leader Training

We are offering three tracks for Bible study leader training:

Track 1: How to Lead Inductive Bible Study: An Introduction

This is our basic training for a literate Christian believer to begin leading inductive Bible studies, whether at school, at work, or at home.

Track 2: Intermediate Bible Study Skills

For those who have already completed our basic training, we offer a second track to further develop Bible study skills.

2a. How to use Group Dynamics to Enhance Objectivity (Richard Yen).
2b. Word Study Techniques (Richard Yen).
2c. Evangelistic Bible Studies (Pak-Yan Liang).
Some trained inductive Bible study leaders wish to hone their skills specifically for evangelism, to help enquirers come through inductive Bible study to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. This track is for them.
2d. Introduction to Biblical Interpretation (Michael Yung).

Track 3: Advanced Bible Study Skills

3a. Hybrid Textual Outline (Michael Yung).
3b. Setting Questions from Outline (Michael Yung).

Speaker

Keynote Lectures

Our keynote lectures will be by Craig Keener, a professor of New Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary with an expertise in the book of Acts, who served as president of the Evangelical Theological Society in 2020.

Short Lectures

On each day of the conference, we’ll have multiple short lectures by the Right Reverend N. T. Wright, formerly Lord Bishop of Durham, on aspects of Acts 12.25–19.20.

Exposition Lectures

We’ll have two exposition lectures by Dr Stephen Lee (李思敬), formerly President of CGST (中國神學研究院), on aspects of Acts 1.1–12.24. See a glimpse of Dr Lee’s exposition: https://youtu.be/uQQccvn4Jgg.

Bible Study Leader Training

Besides the basic training to become an inductive Bible study leader, we also have intermediate and advanced training for Bible study leaders who are already trained and certified by W4CAA, by the following trainers:

Michael Yung. Founding member of UCLA Chinese Christian Fellowship in the 1970s, frequent speaker of the Winter Conference since the 1970s on topics related to inductive Bible study, biblical interpretations, and apologetics.

Richard Yen. Entrepreneur in biologics; founder of Fibroplate Inc.; founding member of the West Coast Chinese Christian Conference (W4C); founder of W4CAA; frequent conference and church speaker on topics in inductive Bible study, apologetics, and faith and science.

Eric (Pak) Liang. 1979 and 1980 chairman of the West Coast Chinese Christian Conference (W4C); W4C leadership trainer, 1980–1990; PhD in Aerospace Engineering from Stanford University; MBA from UCLA; pursuing an MS in Biblical Studies; information strategy consultant; guest lecturer on business administration at the Master’s University; current YouTuber for Living Water Media.

Registration

Registration for the 2022 conference is available now. Please register and pay as soon as you can! Mail cheques out by 20 August or pay online.

The registration fee will be waived for inductive Bible study trainees.

Conferees who attended WCCCC’s 2022 Kingdom Leadership Conference last December qualify for the student rate, and all conferees who will attend the 2023 Kingdom Leadership Conference in December may attend this summer’s Thematic Bible Conference free of charge.

  Regular admissionBible study leaders leading at least 3 Bible study sessions
Adults$50$0
Students and unemployed$25$0

Note: The Bible study leader fee rate is good only through 20 August. Bible study leaders will be trained before the conference. Approved overseas Bible study leaders may be invited to come to our Northern California site to moderate the inductive Bible study sessions. If you need a formal invitation letter for travel arrangements, please let us know as soon as possible.

The registration form is here.

When you have completed and submitted the form, you will receive a response email. Please check for this confirmation email, which may have gone to your spam box. Everyone attending the conference remotely will need high-speed Internet to connect to the conference. Please make sure you have this, so that you can watch our speakers, participate in our Bible studies, and interact in our question-and-answer sessions with the speakers.

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