June 17 - 18 saw over 70 church leaders and theological college students from all over Ireland gathered in the parish of St. George and St. Thomas in Dublin for ‘Essential: The Trinity and Pastoral Ministry’.
The speaker was the Rev. Dr. Mike Ovey (Principal of Oak Hill Theological College).
During the conference, Dr. Ovey gave an assessment of our current Western post-enlightenment, postmodern culture with its tendencies towards autonomy and ‘disordered self-love’ before going on to look at the Trinity and how God sets the pattern of ‘other-person-centred love’ relationships. This was all carefully framed within the context of pastoral ministry, as well as one’s devotional life. Dr. Ovey was keen to emphasise that ‘theology should always move us through to doxology [praise]’, and there were several opportunities to express that during the two days.