6 Reasons why the 2013 Darby-Beal Lectureship Series at BMATS was a Success

Yesterday concluded the 2013 BMATS DB Lectureship Series with Dr. Tom Nettles. We were blessed not only by being able to attend the lectures, but with multiple conversations and lunches with the speaker. Here are 6 reasons why the series this year was a success and for that matter, why I usually prefer this type of thing to conferences:

1. You have an established scholar who brings a series of lectures/messages out of a sustained focus in his preferred area of concentration
2. You gain access to an individual’s life’s work through rare personal encounter
3. You have the advantage of continuity of presentation through repeated, focused seminars on the selected subject
4. You are able to benefit from the best thinking produced by other academic institutions and their educational/research models
5. You gain access to material that is rarely available to the public, and typically not geared toward self/brand marketing; lecture material is not calculated to be mass marketed or quickly accessible; it is more likely to shape a movement than react to a market
6. Lectureship series generally challenge you to think multi-perspectivally; that is, you are usually exposed to a subject and a way of thinking about that subject that broadens your own perspectives and equips you with new intellectual tools

The series this year accomplished these outcomes for me and I’m grateful that Janet and I were able to take part.