Recordings from Patronage Symposium

We are excited to share the audio recordings of the Patronage Symposium (Beirut, October 3-5). They can be accessed and downloaded from here.

All the sessions were truly excellent, so this marks a key launching point for a conversation about patronage. Assuming you don’t have time to listen to all of them, I suggest picking the titles that best fit your interests and ministry contexts—you really can’t go wrong. Except for the 2 panel sessions, all presentations are 30-35 minutes long. These resources are available for the public, so feel free to share with others.

Below is a complete list of the presentations, along with my short summary of each one. Lynn Thigpen and Jackson Wu developed webinar-style presentations with their slideshows (see links below). 

GENERAL

Richard James—Patronage Symposium: Interdisciplinary, Intercultural, Interfaith Opportunities…introduces the nature and importance of patronage through three engaging stories. (Note: available as PDF-text only)

Panel—Closing Summary….has Richard James, Martin Accad, John Barclay, Jayson Georges, and Andy McCullough summarize the Patronage Symposium by sharing their thoughts on “the main takeaway of our time” and “next steps for patronage missiology.”

Panel—Lebanese Community Leadership…was an excellent 2-hour discussion with 5 prominent Lebanese leaders (a politician, Islamic mullah, pastor, psychologist, & NGO leader) about navigating the good and bad of patronage in Lebanese daily life.

BIBLICAL STUDIES

Randolph Richards—Paul the Broker…identifies the ways Paul functioned as a broker in his letters and ministry, both good and bad examples.

Jayson Georges—2 Principles of Biblical Patronage…presents a practical model for transforming patronage relationships to be God-centered and life-giving.

Gerry Breshears—Abrahamic Righteousness…exegetically examines Genesis 12-25 to consider the basis of God reckoning Abraham righteous.

Werner Mischke—Abraham’s Model of Patronage… studies the various instances when Abraham functioned as a patronage.

Julyan Lidstone—A NT Perspective on Patronage/Leadership…offers a practical study of leadership styles (both good and bad) in 1 Corinthians.

John Barclay—How the Christ-gift Alters Patronage: NT Reflections…examines how Christ (esp. in 2 Cor 8-9) redefines the exchange in reciprocal relationships.

David deSilva—Stewardship: Paul’s Transformation of Patronage Within the Ekklesia…identifies key motifs in of patronage relationships in Paul’s letters and ministry.

CULTURAL ANALYSIS/MINISTRY STUDIES

James Tino—Patronage and the Search for Blessing in Latin American Religiosity…gives a functional examination of patronage dynamics in Latin church relationships.

Ekkhardt Sonntag— Wasta, Mediation and Patronage in Arab Cultures…explains wasta is relational mediation among Arabs, with applications for Hebrews 2 and refugee ministry.

Cristian Dimitrescu— Patronage in Discipleship & Mission in Asian Cultures…explores cultural patronage dynamics for ministry in Philippines/Asian contexts.

Patrick Chan— Confucianism and Chinese Patronage Relationships…explains social patronage in Chinese society.

Lynn Thigpen—Moving from Spiritual Patronage to Supra-Patronage: A Cambodian Story…presents a biblical model for supra-patronage through a compelling conversion story. The webinar style PPT presentation is on YouTube.

Anonymous—Consequences Of Benefaction in Developing Communities: An Asian Case Study…shows how patronage dynamics affected an NGO development project.

Jim Harries—Side Stepping Patronage with Vulnerable Mission…cautions against the use of outside funds in favor of using only local resources.

Chris Flanders—Becoming Clients: Thai Conversions to Christianity…analyzes 20 conversation narratives to see how God’s patronal provision was central.

Robert Oh—Patronage in Korean-Cambodia CP Relationships….traces his personal narrative and the meaning of fatherhood in ministry contexts.

Cathy Hine—Patronage in Women’s Discipleship…analyzes the dynamics of social networks in conversion and identify formation.

Jackson Wu—Reciprocity, Collectivism, and the Chinese Church….analyzes forms and meanings of reciprocity, using Chinese culture as an example. The webinar style PPT presentation is on YouTube. The paper is available here as a PDF.