News from the Summit
Thursday, May 1, 2003
 | Members of the national and regional committees met at 7:00 a.m. for a final planning session then moved to the venue to join with a team of volunteers to haul in beverages and food, to set chairs and tables, to place signage, and to start the registration process. Here are some photos of that process. |
| Through the day the attendees flowed into Christ Presbyterian Church. Attendees came from 32 states, 36 denominations, and 26 ethnic and cultural groups. Two hundred thirty students came to participate in the Academic Track. |
|
 The
first meeting of the Summit started punctually at 7:00 p.m. as Dr. Nick
Venditti, Chairman of the event, welcomed the participants. |
| Ryan Daniel and the City Worship Band let the participants in worship. |
| Pastor Robert Bartlett announced the evening offering would go toward the development of a new Ethnic America Network national ethnic database that will allow churches to find the specific ethnic peoples in their areas. As the offering was collected, Maria Soto sang Come, Holy Spirit in Spanish. |
| Dr. Aida Besancon Spencer, professor of New Testament from
Gordon-Conwell
Theological Seminary, presented the opening plenary address: "Communicating
Cross-Culturally: Jesus' Example. She spoke from John, chapter 4, expounding
on Jesus interaction with the woman at the well. |
| Eppic Ministries used mime to present the transforming
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. |
| The meeting was closed in prayer led by Napoleon Meynard. |
Highlights:
Dr. Spencer presented five principles for cross-cultural
interaction drawn from Jesus' encounter with the woman at the well:
- Jesus first approached the woman from a shared need--water.
- Jesus allowed the woman to challenge him rather than using that challenge as a basis for rejecting her.
- Jesus' did not let the woman's challenge distract him from communicating with her.
- Jesus asked for a concrete response.
- Jesus educated the disciples about what he was doing because they saw the encounter only from a very cultural point of view. This relates to our need to educate the church on the limitations in its vision and understanding caused by cultural assumptions.