A church in the northeast is up to good stuff lately. I accidentally came across Highrock Covenant Church last year when either Beth Allison Barr (The Making of Biblical Womanhood) or Kristin Du Mez (Jesus and John Wayne) posted on Twitter about speaking for a series on American Evangelicalism. I had been pondering my faith heritage within evangelicalism for several years, and certainly since 2016, trying to make sense of it. So, I eagerly signed up to watch the series live and participate in Zoom discussion groups. Theology Lab is one of the church’s initiatives run by resident theologian Scott Rice.
Highrock is not a flashy megachurch. Nor has it used these stellar theology labs as a means to draw attention to itself. Highrock started these discussions for its own congregational community within the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC). For example, when I attended the series on evangelicalism, I was one of the few who was not a Highrock member, despite the line-up of big names. Highrock was simply trying to create resources for its people to help shape their theological imagination and promote spiritual formation.
When I first signed up to learn from these Theology Lab series, I had no idea that I would end up in a speaker line-up! But Scott read my books and invited me to be a presenter for the 2023-2024 series on Scripture and Tradition to discuss my latest work, The Word of a Humble God: The Origins, Inspiration, and Interpretation of Scripture. My co-presenters in the series included excellent scholars like Dennis Edwards (Vice President/Dean; North Park University), Janette Ok (New Testament; Fuller Seminary), Tim Mackie (The Bible Project), and Peter Enns (Old Testament; Eastern University).
Theology Lab has completed several series that are available on YouTube, as well as via podcast. So far, Highrock done series on:
- American Evangelicalism
- God and Money
- Scripture and Tradition (2023-2024; this appears to be an annual series)
- Black Theology
- Critical Conversations
You can keep up on Theology Lab happenings through Highrock’s website or Theology Lab Facebook page. You can also find Theology Lab on Highrock’s YouTube channel.