Rethinking the Ekklesia - with Richard Topping
I am pleased to be joined by Professor Richard Topping for this on-going series of conversations on the Ekklesia. He is President of the Vancouver School of Theology, a federated faculty bringing together students and professors from a variety of churches. He has worked to ground theological education in the gift of Christian scripture, its revelation and call to faithfulness. He sees, clearer than most, the challenges facing churches in the twenty-first century and what Christian understanding offers for the life of the world. Professor Topping is unusual, combining superb scholarly gifts, the heart of a pastor, a fine teacher and excellent administrator. It is a rare combination.
Richard has a deep knowledge of the reformer John Calvin and the twentieth century’s great theologian Karl Barth. I want to know what each of them and what Richard made of the church, how they thought about her gifts and what she means in our world. I turned to Richard and our conversation ranged from the 16th century, through the Nazi period that captured so much of the church in Germany, to our own day and the gifts and missteps that mark churches and the faithful in our fragile world.
Welcome to our conversation.