Denver Seminary

4 FALL 2020 4 FALL 2020 THE GOSPEL INITIATIVE The Gospel Initiative Moves Forward with New Staff in Place and Bold Plans By Andrea Weyand When Denver Seminary and the Board of Trustees began conceptualizing The Gospel Initiative (TGI), no one could have predicted its launch coming at such an unprecedented time, a year seized by a relentless pandemic, racial tension, and polarizing political divisions. The Seminary is more ready than ever to meet the needs that TGI seeks to address, having hired an executive director and a program coordinator, further defining the goals and vision, and developing an initiative plan. Through The Gospel Initiative, Denver Seminary will work to empower pastors and ministry leaders, churches, and faith-based organizations to address difficult social issues, create opportunities for churches to improve capacity through education and innovation, and produce and disseminate information around promising models to support church mission and evangelicalism. "The Gospel Initiative provides an opportunity for us to research how we as evangelicals are engaging in society and how that affects the way people hear, understand, and respond to the gospel. We will use this information to work with ministry leaders to empower change," says Dr. Mark Harden, executive director of The Gospel Initiative. Harden, who started with the Seminary part- time in April, joined the staff full-time in June and relocated from Newark, NJ, to the Littleton campus in July. "Dr. Harden's practical application of his academic pursuits will enable him to lead this broad initiative with excellence," says Denver Seminary President Mark Young. "Few people have Dr. Harden's breadth and depth of both knowledge and skills to take the lead on a program with such reach and such imperative implications." Among the issues The Gospel Initiative intends to focus on are racism and reconciliation, poverty relief and economic equity, restorative justice and reform, human and civil rights, human sexuality and gender, and climate change and environmental justice. "The Gospel Initiative will provide a platform for us to center our attention on our behaviors as Christians, how we should approach others, and how we deal with the difficult issues that we face today," says Harden. "The Church should not be on the periphery of the important challenges, simply looking in," he adds. "Our individual and collective voices in these discussions are relevant and need to be included." Cultural realities are compelling Christians to address and engage in difficult social issues, notes Harden. Being identified as an evangelical Christian can be counterproductive and serve as a divisive label that denotes political partisanship, wisconsinpictures

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