EFCA Theology Conference 2027 Will Explore Isaiah for the People of God

The 2027 Evangelical Free Church of America Theology Conference will meet February 3–5 at Valley Church, 4343 Fuller Road, West Des Moines, Iowa. The EFCA says the annual conference exists to encourage and equip pastors and leaders in their personal lives and local-church ministries through biblical and theological education for the sake of the gospel. This year’s central theme, “Gospel Prophet: The Theology of Isaiah for the People of God,” treats Isaiah as a book that brings together the holiness and grace of God, the seriousness of sin, the hope of the Messiah, and the shape of God’s kingdom. The published schedule begins Wednesday morning with a preconference titled “Divine Wisdom for Artificial Intelligence,” addressing the rapid spread of AI in churches, seminaries, and ministries and the need for more than quickly outdated policies. The main conference then moves through Isaiah in historical, canonical, doctrinal, and pastoral perspective. Announced sessions include Isaiah in its original and present contexts, the book’s place in church history, what Isaiah teaches about God and theology, Israel and the Messiah, sin and holiness, Isaiah’s use in the New Testament, and eschatological hope in the kingdom of God. Speakers listed by the EFCA include John Oswalt, Mark Gignilliat, Brandon Smith, Darrell Bock, David Pao, Andrew Abernethy, John Dyer, and Charlie Catlett. The program combines plenary teaching, breakout sessions, worship, fellowship, and time for ministry colleagues to learn together. The intended audience is pastors, other church and denominational leaders, missionaries, and ministry staff, and the official registration page was live and accepting registrations when verified on November 7, 2026.

Attendees can prepare for the conference by reading Isaiah as a whole rather than approaching it only through familiar Christmas texts, servant passages, or isolated prophecies. Leaders may want to mark the book’s movements between judgment and hope, the recurring language of the Holy One of Israel, the exposure of idolatry, the relationship between Zion and the nations, and the promises that the New Testament applies to Jesus and his people. Bringing those observations into the plenaries will make the sessions more useful and help participants distinguish what comes from the biblical text from what comes from a favored theological system. A church staff attending together should also divide its questions: one person can focus on preaching and teaching, another on discipleship and worship, another on mission, and another on the AI preconference. The practical goal is to return with a shared biblical vocabulary and a modest action plan rather than a collection of disconnected notes. Because the AI session sits beside a conference devoted to Isaiah, participants have an opportunity to ask a deeper question than whether a particular tool is efficient: What kind of wisdom, holiness, truthfulness, human responsibility, and hope should govern Christian use of technology? Registration closes January 10, and the official page lists early and later rates, one-day options, scholarship applications, and hotel deadlines, so travel planning should begin well before the conference. John N. Oswalt’s Isaiah in the NIV Application Commentary series is an especially fitting preparation because Oswalt is a featured speaker and the book is designed to move from the prophet’s original meaning through the biblical bridge to contemporary significance. Used alongside the biblical text, it can help pastors connect careful exegesis with faithful preaching, discipleship, and public witness.