Melchizedek is not usually a figure from the Bible that immediately springs to mind when thinking about the Old Testament. But in the deft hands of D.A. Carson, suddenly the shadowy king-priest of Genesis 14 took on new importance when placed in the light of Hebrews 7.

So ended the Gospel Coalition Conference in Chicago last week, three days of talks, worship and workshops, bringing together reformed evangelicals from around the US and elsewhere.

For Alli Street and myself (both representing Anglican Deaconess Ministries Limited), it was an opportunity to understand the American dynamics of a movement with strong Sydney links and parallels, examine fresh ministry ideas, meet some new women speakers and network with men and women in ministry from all over the US.

We have similar conferences in Sydney of varying sizes and so there are many similarities. However, the American scene is much more fragmented denominationally. Despite the ethnic melting pot that is modern America, reformed evangelicalism is still dominated by middle-class Anglo-American culture. Moreover, their view of men and women in ministry has a tendency to be bound by a great deal of conservative cultural baggage.

The main addresses focused on showing how Christ is proclaimed in the Old Testament, and emphasized the need for this to be reclaimed in preaching and Bible study. However, a major subtext was the need to continue faithfully preaching the gospel, and the importance of godliness of life shaped by grace (especially for leaders - there was much emphasis from the front on the importance of faithfulness in marriage).

Aside from the lessons learned from first-rate Bible teaching, for me there were three take-outs of the Conference. Firstly, exposure to the biblical counseling movement, which is still in incipient stages in the US; secondly Tim Keller's social anthropology of city mission in the context of linking broader social and urban change to ministry strategies, and thirdly, the continued importance of actively working out what men and women in ministry together looks like in practice.

Plenty to think and pray about!

PS - an only-in-America-moment: on an internal US flight, actor Sean Astin, who played Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, sat in the empty seat beside me ... poor man, I am a total LOTR tragic!

Thumbnail photo: Gospel Coalition blog