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President’s Letter

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Dear Fellows, Associates, and Friends of IBR:

Greetings in the name of Jesus.

By now many of you will have made your room and plane reservations for our annual meetings, this year to be held in Washington, DC. I am looking forward to this meeting, not only for the delight we find in each others’ company, but also for the encouragement and stimulation we find in hearing our colleagues on subjects that are important for us all. You will not want to miss the presentations by Klyne Snodgrass, Gary Knoppers, and Robert Stein, or the responses to their papers by Craig Blomberg, Bill Arnold, and Craig Evans, respectively. Then on Sunday morning we will gather for worship, to be inspired and encouraged in our walk of faith through the leadership of Wayne Johnson and the meditation by Bruce Waltke. Attached to this letter you will find a copy of the program for these sessions and the room assignments at the convention center. We are grateful to Jack Kragt and the kind folks at Zondervan for hosting us all with food and drinks at the reception after the Friday evening lecture.

This has been a very quiet year. Most of our legal and structural issues are now resolved and we can look forward to concentrating on fulfilling the mission for which the IBR was created in the first place. By the time we meet we expect to have received notification from the IRS that our 1023 application for tax-exempt status has been approved. As in the past four years or so we are grateful for the fine service provided for us by Douglas A. Bozell, of the Frost Brown Todd Law Firm, in Louisville, KY. Please be on hand for a very important annual business meeting on Saturday morning, November 18. The agenda for the meeting includes not only the election of several new Directors for the Board of the Institute, as we do each year, but also electing a successor to my office, and for the office of Program chair, which has been so capably filled the past three years by John Walton. There is no doubt that the growth of interest in IBR in the past three years has been due largely to the fine work that John has done in lining up the annual lectures. And this year will be no exception. We are grateful to Joel Green and Peter Enns, who have served as our Nomination Committee this year. The nominees they present to you for the vacant positions are as follows:

President: Dr. Lee M. McDonald (President and Professor of New Testament Studies, Acadia Divinity College; Dean of Faculty of Theology, Acadia University)

Program Chair: Dr. L. Daniel Hawk (Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew, Ashland Theological Seminary)

Board:

  • Dr. Bill T. Arnold (Vice President, Provost, and Professor of Old Testament and Semitic Languages, Asbury Theological Seminary) (Term 1)
  • Dr. Lynn H. Cohick (Associate Professor of New Testament, Wheaton College) (Term 2)
  • Dr. Andy Johnson (Professor of New Testament, Nazarene Theological Seminary) (Term 1)
  • Dr. Elaine A. Phillips (Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies, Gordon College) (Term 1)

As always, nominations from the floor will be welcome for each of these positions. But please be sure you have spoken with the person you would like to nominate first.

Some have been inquiring concerning whom prospective members should contact. The answer is found on the website of Eisenbrauns, who graciously keep our membership lists and handle BBR subscriptions for us. Questions regarding application for membership in IBR should be addressed to our Secretary, Michael Holmes; questions regarding dues or membership status should be directed to our Treasurer, Jeffrey Weima. Their e-mail and surface mail addresses are given above.

As you have occasion please encourage the Officers and Directors of this great organization with your presence at the meetings and with your counsel and new ideas for the future work of the Institute. The election of a new President and Program Chair offers us an opportunity for creative and fresh thinking. I am deeply grateful for the Officers and Directors who have served with me the past five years. It has been a distinct honor to have served as your President. I know a lot of work has been left undone, but with your support and prayers we have made good progress especially in our organizational structures and in our legal status. Please continue to pray for the Board as they seek to conduct your business in accordance with your interests and for the long-range well being of IBR. And please be sure you provide Jeannine Brown with all the information she needs to produce the annual Newsletter.

Until we meet in Washington, may God be with you all.

Cordially,

Daniel I. Block, President.

P.S. A hard copy of this letter is being sent to all members for whom we do not have e-mail addresses or whose e-mail addresses in our files are out of date and/or non-functioning. Will you please send your correct e-mail address to Michael Holmes at the address above. It will save us a considerable amount of money now spent on postage.