Item: Conspectus Volume 30
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Date
2020-10
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Publisher
South African Theological Seminary
Abstract
Description
The year 2020 will go down as one of the most volatile years in living memory. From a virus that brought the world to a standstill to global reactions to racial injustices, we have all been thrown into the realm of the unknown due to forces much greater than us. Despite such upheaval, the mission of God continues, and the church remains the locus and agent of God’s redemptive acts in our world. Cognizant of God’s sovereignty, we the editors of Conspectus would like to sketch the contours of how the journal has developed amidst great disruption and how, by God’s grace, we are positioning it for growth in seasons to come.
In March 2020, the leadership of the journal was handed over to a team of editors led by Batanayi Manyika. On the team is Cornelia van Deventer(Associate Editor), Dan Lioy (Content and Book Review Editor), George Coon (Copy and Book Review Editor), and Izaak Connoway (Proofreader and Administrator). Tasked with establishing new systems and procedures, aimed at optimizing Conspectus’s editorial processes, the Editorial Team is glad to report that Conspectus 29 and 30 herald a new status quo in the journal’s operations. Key to this development is the new Editorial Policy—the journal’s regulating document—capturing the values, scope, and aims of Conspectus.1 Launching from SATS’s threefold distinctives of “Bible- based, Christ-centered, and Spirit-led,” the journal values interdisciplinary theological discourse, confessional emphases, representational input, and a foregrounding of the Majority World.
In addition to the Editorial Policy, new Author Guidelines were drawn up based on the SBL Handbook of Style (2014).2 In November 2020, Conspectus’s Editorial Board convened for the first time. The board consists of scholars from across the globe, tasked with the oversight and professional outlook of the journal.
While Conspectus was founded to showcase SATS’s research outputs, it has since grown to serve contributors and readers beyond the seminary. For this reason, the Editorial Team has identified formal accreditation of the journal as a mid-term priority. As we labor towards this goal, diversifying our offerings is at the forefront of our agenda. Regulated by the paramenters of a Bible-based theological conviction, the church remains central to Conspectus’s objectives. Our goal is to serve Christian practitioners, academics, and students with rigorous scholarship that is broadly evangelical.
2020 has indeed been an unpredictable year and while there is no guarantee that the turbulence will subside, our trust remains anchored in God. Our prayer is that Conspectus will continue to grow, serving the church and influencing the guild through God-honoring scholarship.
In Christ,
Batanayi I. Manyika (Editor)
Cornelia Van Deventer (Associate Editor)