You can learn a lot about the relation of American religion and sports from journalist Tom Krattenmaker. You can also learn a lot about Tom Krattenmaker from his personal story with American religion and sports.

So, who is Tom Krattenmaker? Tom serves as a member of USA TODAY’s editorial Board of Contributors and writes regularly for the paper’s “On Religion” commentary page. In addition to authoring the controversial book on American Evangelicalism and sports, Onward Christian Athletes: Turning Ballparks into Pulpits and Players into Preachers (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2010), his article, “The Evangelicals You Don’t Know” (USA Today, Opinion, June 2, 2008), received critical acclaim as one of the top three pieces of religion commentary in the American Academy of Religion’s 2009 Journalism Awards program.

Dr. Metzger asked Tom for an interview to discuss his journey into the realm of American religion and sports as well as his own faith journey. What makes Tom especially interesting is that he is a reporter who positions himself as a member of the religious and cultural left (attending a Unitarian Universalist Church and serving as Vice-President for Public Affairs and Communications at Lewis and Clark College), who engages American Evangelicalism fairly, openly, and insightfully. Here’s what Evangelical leader Kevin Palau, Executive Vice President of the Luis Palau Association, has to say about Tom and his work. “Tom Krattenmaker—in my opinion—is one of the most informed and relevant writers on the Evangelical movement today. His critique is fair and his knowledge is impressive.” No doubt, some of his insights and expertise in this area derive from Tom experiencing numerous courtships with Evangelicalism over the years, including flings with Young Life and Campus Crusade for Christ. None of these flings with Evangelical Christianity stuck, but his fascination with the movement has not diminished.

Check out this audio clip from the interview. Stay tuned for the whole interview, appearing in Cultural Encounters Volume 6, Number 1.

New Wine director, Paul Louis Metzger, articulated the vision and passion of New Wine.

New Wine Advisory Council member, Cooky Wall, and New Wine intern, Joe Enlet, spoke of New Wine’s role in their personal commitments to holistic cultural engagement.

Executive Vice President of the Luis Palau Association, Kevin Palau, spoke of how New Wine helped in providing the theological undergirding for the Luis Palau Association’s Season of Service.

John Morehead of the Western Institute for Intercultural Studies

Milan Homola of Compassion Connect and Alyssa Agee of Second Stories

Mike Abbaté, author of Gardening Eden and Rusty Pritchard of Flourish

Tony Kriz and Dan Merchant of Lord, Save Us From Your Followers

This jam-packed day of thoughtful enrichment included presentations, workshops, and panels by Paul Louis Metzger (New Wine, New Wineskins, Multnomah Biblical Seminary at Multnomah University), John Morehead (Western Institute for Intercultural Studies), Rusty Pritchard (Flourish), Mike Abbaté (Urban Design & Planning Director, Gresham), Clark Blakeman (Second Stories), Tony Kriz (New Wine, New Wineskins), Caleb Rosado (Warner Pacific College), Gary Tribbett (Compassion Connect), Brad Harper (New Wine, New Wineskins), Dan Merchant (Lord, Save Us From Your Followers), Cliff Chappell (New Wine, New Wineskins), Steve Baker (Southwest Washington Medical Center), Derek Chinn (New Wine, New Wineskins), Roger Trautmann (Multnomah Biblical Seminary at Multnomah University), Rachel O’Brien (New Wine, New Wineskins) and more!

Click here to see the complete conference schedule.

Click here to see a complete list of workshops offered at the conference.

Conference audio recordings are now available! Click below to download any of the plenary talks, panels, or workshops presented at the conference.

Plenary Session 1
Reframing Gospel Witness: Beyond Ned Flanders and the Fascists with Paul Louis Metzger
NEIGHBOR Subjective Life Spiritualities and Post-Christiandom Missions with John Morehead
NEIGHBORHOOD Neighboring, Community Development, and Sidewalks in the Kingdom with Rusty Pritchard
PUBLIC SQUARE Accountable to God While Answering to the People with Mike Abbaté
Panel with Paul Louis Metzger, Rusty Pritchard, and John Morehead

Workshops 1
NEIGHBOR From Cults to Cultures: Bridges, Grounded, and Transitions as a Case Study in a New Evangelical Paradigm on New Religions with John Morhead
NEIGHBORHOOD Together in Story; Holistic Proclamation with Clark Blakeman
PUBLIC SQUARE The Lost Art of Place-making: What We Build Shapes How We Love with Rusty Pritchard

Plenary Session 2
NEIGHBOR Practicing Faith Together with Tony Kriz
NEIGHBORHOOD From Duality to Oneness: A Fresh Perspective on Neighborhoods with Caleb Rosado
PUBLIC SQUARE Lord, Save Us From Your Followers with Dan Merchant
Panel with Paul Louis Metzger, Roger Trautmann, Tony Kriz, Caleb Rosado, and Dan Merchant

Workshops 2
NEIGHBOR The Life of a Friend: the Dynamics of Verbal and Non-Verbal Evangelism with Tony Kriz
NEIGHBORHOOD Which Way to the Future? with Caleb Rosado
PUBLIC SQUARE I Am Dobson: Converting Societal Structures with Paul Louis Metzger

Workshops 3
NEIGHBOR Won’t You Be My Neighbor? with Ben Malick & Rachel O’Brien, New Wine Interns
NEIGHBORHOOD Uniting to Serve: Churches Working Together to Demonstrate the Love of Christ through Unity and Service with Gary Tribbett
PUBLIC SQUARE Church-Based Medicine for the Underserved, Evangelism, and Engaging the Structures of Healthcare with Steve Baker

Plenary Session 3
Panel with Paul Louis Metzger, Roger Trautmann, Rusty Pritchard, John Morehead, Clark Blakeman, Tony Kriz, Caleb Rosado, Ben Malick, Rachel O’Brien, Ronaldo Sison, Gary Tribbett, Steve Baker, and Brad Harper

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Milan and I explore aspects of the New Wine, New Wineskins paradigm and how Compassion Connect is uniting local churches to serve their neighborhood at a most crucial time.

Listen to Podcast

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Dr. Paul Louis Metzger and Dr. Brad Harper spoke about how the church is to minister in culture as the triune God’s kingdom community. Their talks were based on their forthcoming book with Brazos: Exploring Ecclesiology: An Evangelical and Ecumenical Introduction (2009).  Metzger and Harper addressed such questions as “What is the gospel?”  “What should the church’s relation to culture be?” and “What difference does it make for the church in its ministry in the broader culture that it is the triune God’s kingdom community?” 

Tony Kriz will served as the MC for the workshop.  He led an ample Q&A session during the proceedings. 

As Christ-followers committed to Christ’s church’s missional outreach, it is important that we exegete rightly the Bible as well as the culture into which we seek to communicate the gospel. 

Conference audio recording are now available! Click below to download the talks and join us as we continue to wrestle with these important issues. 

The Church as a Being-Driven Community, part 1 with Dr. Paul Louis Metzger
The Church as a Being-Driven Community, part 2 with Dr. Paul Louis Metzger
Discussion Session 1 and The Church as a Kingdom-Building Community with Dr. Brad Harper
Discussion Session 2, part 1
Discussion Session 2, part 2
Discussion Session 2, part 3
Discussion Session 2, part 4 and closing with Crystal Santos

New Wine, New Wineskins is an official program of Multnomah Biblical Seminary and is committed to assisting the entire Multnomah University community in its efforts to bear witness to Christ in contemporary culture.

Dr. John Perkins of the John M. Perkins Foundation

Rick McKinley of Imago Dei Community

Nancy Haught of The Oregonian and John Fortmeyer of Christian News Northwest

Richard Twiss of Wiconi International

…and Georgene Rice herself!

New Wine director, Paul Louis Metzger, articulated the history and passion of New Wine.

New Wine Advisory Council member, Lindsey Smith, and New Wine intern, Ross Halbach, spoke of how New Wine has provided a theological basis for their personal commitments to multicultural engagement.

President of Wiconi International, Richard Twiss, spoke of his and New Wines’s shared value of engaging culture faithfully, not fearfully.

New Wine director, Paul Louis Metzger, articulated the vision and missional passion of New Wine.

New Wine interns, Andreas Lundén and Crystal Santos, spoke of New Wine’s role in their personal efforts to engage culture.

Environmentalist and director of Restoring Eden, Peter Illyn, gave a talk entitled “Belly Button Christianity – Encountering Jesus in Tribal Culture,” giving a tangible example of how cultural engagement refines our understanding of Christ.

New Wine director, Paul Louis Metzger, articulated the history and passion of New Wine.

New Wine friends, Letha McCloud, and graphic designer, Steve Mitchell, spoke of New Wine’s role in their personal commitments to holistic cultural engagement.

Don Miller (author of Blue Like Jazz) spoke of the necessity to build a bridge back to culture, crystallizing New Wine’s commitment to bearing witness to Christ in contemporary culture.