Liberia: LBTS Prez Hold International Theological Education Conference

The Liberia Baptist Theological Seminary (LBTS) president, Rev. Dr. Momolu Massaquoi, has begun a two day International Theological Education Conference (ITEC) in Monrovia.

The conference, which began on Tuesday, October 31, 2023, is held at the LBTS campus in Paynesville City, under the theme: “The Significance of Theology in Politics to Nation Building.” 

It is intended to bring theological scholars together to find a solution to national development in regards to what they want to see happening as it relates to the Bible.

The conference was attended by Rev. Dr. Momolu A. Massaquoi, president, LBTS; Dr. Samuel B. Reeves, Senior Pastor, Providence Baptist Church and president of LBMEC; Rev. Alexander Brooks, Sr. Rev. Varney Johnson, Mr. Moses M. Kesselly, and others.

Speaking at the opening program, Moses M. Kesselly, who delivered the opening address on behalf of Prof. Edward Lama Wonkeryor, Director General, National Commission for Higher Education (NCHE), said the contributions of the Liberia Baptist Missionary and Educational Convention (LBMEC), which has been in Liberia since 1880, are overwhelmingly exceptional.

He also said that the LBMEC has made notable efforts in the education sector of Liberia which produced noble institutions, to include; Ricks Institute in Virginia, and the Liberia Baptist Theological Seminary.

He added that the importance of religion and its associated theological education cannot be ignored because religion as a social institution is very vital in the development of every society of which Liberia is an integral part and it is a change agent.

“Theological Education,” he said, “therefore performs the following fundamental social functions: it provides moral and ethical standards and forms healthy communities. And religion is an agent of social control and thus strengthens social order.

“It teaches people moral behavior and also helps them learn how to be good members of society. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, for example, the Ten Commandments are perhaps the most famous set of rules for moral behavior. It teaches that believers directly affect the shape, size, and texture of their own world.

According to him, believers, by their lives, can improve the quality of the surrounding society. This, he said, implies that Liberians should depend on religion as an institution, because its teachings help to fight corruption in Liberia.

He further said it unites individuals with the ultimate ground of being, and strengthens social stability in at least two ways. First, he said, it gives people a common set of beliefs and is an important agent of socialization. Second, the communal practices their communication and other social interactions, and therefore strengthens their social bonds.

In addition, he said, theological education promotes welfare of people, and inculcates a desire to help the needy.

“A theological education teaches us that, because God became man and took on human flesh, national development requires attention to the human spirit, religion and education as much as it requires attention to material products,” he said.

He continued by saying that a theological education encourages a concern and respect for Government and others, a desire to give them, enhances honesty and integrity, and helps them find the joy and peace of a Christian Commitment.

Wesselly mentioned that theological education remains relevant to the Liberian contexts and communities.

Today, churches remain institutions that enjoy social esteem and have a great capacity to influence the life of communities,” he added 

Dr. Samuel B. Reeves, Senior pastor of the Providence Baptist Church, and President of the Liberia Baptist Missionary and Educational Convention, in his remark described the LBTS as one of the most prestigious theological institutions and the oldest institution in Liberia, and one of the oldest institutions in West Africa.

He said that theology is a way of thinking about God and his relations to the world because it exists to correct and improve the church's confession of its faith.

According to him, theology has a moral equitas that is to promote the life, love, goodness and justices of God and the world which he loves.

He further said a Christian theology or politics is an exercise in trying to think through the implication of Christian faith for corporate life together in this world. And for the role of the communities and governments and other institutions through which their life is maintained.

“We are, of course going through a period of graphics, social and political challenges,” he said, “Over the last six years in this country, one of the most significant shape and political thinking has been the diminishment in the state clean to competence and therefore responsibility for ensure social and economic welfare and the growth and state of what is called the civil society in which autonomy is granted on the one hand and to the market with minimum regulation and on the other to the communion of the institutions such as; the family, the church and volunteers associations with the minimum support.

In addition, he said it is their role as a church to bring theology and politics together in contemporary African Christian theology, like western theology.