Lancaster Bible College | Capital Seminary & Graduate School will co-host an Apologetics Conference on Aug. 4-5 alongside the Every Believer Confident ministry.
Set on the campus of Lancaster Bible College at 901 Eden Road, the two-day event will feature relevant training for Christians who want to become more confident and effective in their witness to the gospel, from beginners to advanced. Students ages 12 and up are also welcome to attend.
“As we have seen the West transition from a positive to a negative view of Christianity over the past 30 years, gospel engagement with non-Christians has changed significantly,” said LBC | Capital Professor and conference leader Dr. Mark Farnham. “Rather than contending with indifference or reasoned arguments, a Christian will often encounter hostility when sharing the gospel. Apologetics is the study of ways to defend the truth of Christianity in a way that also invites the unbeliever into a conversation to consider the truth of the gospel. Christians need to know how to effectively and winsomely engage the most antagonistic opponents of Christianity and their arguments.”
Workshops held in Lancaster Bible College’s state-of-the-art classrooms will focus on “The Reliability of the New Testament,” ”Science and Faith,” “The Problem of Evil and Suffering” and more.
Featured speakers include the following:
Dr. Mark Farnham, professor and director of the Master of Arts in Christian Apologetics program at LBC | Capital, has been engaging unbelievers with the gospel using apologetics for almost 20 years. He is the founder and director of Apologetics for the Church, a local church training ministry equipping Christians to share and defend their faith effectively.
With degrees from Westminster, Gordon-Conwell and Calvary Baptist Theological Seminaries as well as Maranatha Baptist Bible College, Farnham is the author of “Every Believer Confident: Apologetics for the Ordinary Christian” and co-author of “Talking About Ethics: A Conversational Approach to Moral Dilemmas.” A kidney transplant recipient and cancer survivor, he is especially interested in medical ethics.
Dr. Matthew Lee is the director of the Master of Divinity program and assistant professor at LBC | Capital. With degrees from Fuller Theological Seminary, Biola University, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and the University of Southern California, he served in various pastoral roles for more than 20 years, notably at SaRang Church in Seoul, Korea, as the lead pastor for the young adult singles ministry.
Lee has released multiple worship music recordings in addition to publishing a number of writings, including his book, “Cultural Contextualization of Apologetics.” A pastor-teacher, passionate disciple-maker and fervent minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, he believes in the power of the gospel to change everything.
Dr. Welton Bonner (’14, ’17 & ’22) is a three-time LBC | Capital graduate, with a bachelor’s in Pastoral Ministry, a Master of Divinity and a PhD in Biblical Studies. Today a church planter and teaching pastor of Greater Love Church in Washington, D.C., Bonner grew up a pastor’s kid in Prince George’s County, Md., but did not come to true repentance until the age of 18.
Throughout his teenage years, he pursued pleasures that landed him in jail four times. During his final stay, Bonner entrusted his life to the Way, the Truth and the Life and has been passionately pursuing Christ ever since. He is currently an intern at Capitol Hill Baptist Church preparing to plant Eastside Community Church.
In-person registration for the apologetics conference opens at 11:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 4, and the introduction and first plenary session begins at 1 p.m. Sessions and breaks continue throughout the day, with a concluding Q&A panel at 6:30 p.m. On Saturday, a plenary session begins at 9 a.m. with the final session of the day starting at 4 p.m.
Early registration through July 1 is $69; after July 1, $89. A meal plan for dinner Friday as well as breakfast and lunch Saturday through LBC’s food service is $35. Register at EveryBelieverConfident.com. Those interested in volunteering at the event will receive free conference admission; email info@apologeticsforthechurch.org for details.