Together for the Gospel (T4G) cofounders Mark Dever and Ligon Duncan announced last week that the April 2022 event will be the conference’s final gathering. In 2018, T4G had over 12,500 attend the conference in Lexington, Kentucky. In 2020, the conference was forced to go virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The conference started in 2006, after friends C.J. Mahaney, Albert Mohler, Ligon Duncan, and Mark Dever decided to host an event to encourage fellow pastors.
C.J Mahaney Controversy
In 2018, Mahaney stepped away from T4G amid accusations that Sovereign Grace Ministries, which he co-founded and oversaw, had covered up sexual abuse. Rachael Denhollander called it “one of the worst, if not the worst, instances of evangelical cover-up of sexual abuse.”
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Al Mohler, close friend of Mahaney, told the Houston Chronicle in 2019 that he had “erred in being part of a statement supportive of (Mahaney) and rather dismissive of the charges. And I regret that action, which I think was taken without due regard to the claims made by the victims and survivors at the time, and frankly without an adequate knowledge on my part, for which I’m responsible.”
Mohler said he should have denounced Mahaney and insisted on a credible independent third-party investigation into the alleged abuse.
Al Mohler’s Absence Explained
Duncan and Dever also announced that this would be the first time that Mohler would not being speaking at T4G, due to other stewardships to which he is committed. As the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Mohler is concentrating on the needs of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), as the denomination is currently facing multiple issues, including being sued for covering up sexual abuse.
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How T4G is Different From Other Conferences
Explaining the purpose behind T4G, Duncan said, “Our goal was to encourage pastors and praise the Lord. We did not want to become a ministry. We did not to become and organization.”
T4G purposely aimed its vision “very narrowly,” as Dever put it, in order to encourage just pastors. To their surprise, they had over 2000 people attend the first conference in Louisville, Kentucky.
One of the reasons the conference only took place every two years was to not interfere with pastors’ busy schedules, and to not intrude on other pastor conferences that take place every year. “We weren’t out to compete, nor replace other conferences,” Duncan shared.
What set T4G apart from other conferences was that it seemed to bring people together who otherwise wouldn’t be at other conferences together, they both explained.
“In evangelicalism in the 20th century, there had been the view that the only way we can get everybody together is to minimize the theology, dumb the theology down [and] really focus on mission,” Duncan said. “We set out to prove that wrong by ramping up the theology and celebrate our common affirmation of a robust theological presentation of the gospel.”
Dever said that doctrine shouldn’t divide, but should rather bring protestants us together. “If your doctrine is dividing, something’s wrong—we’re together for the gospel.”
Secondary issues, such as differing theological beliefs regarding baptism, weren’t ignored at T4G. “We’ve wanted to say in order to be together with the gospel, it does not mean that you need to treat those things as if they’re unimportant,” Duncan said. “I love the fellowship that we’ve had, because we all care about those issues — while we disagree on those, we can still gather together on things that we commonly confess and help one another.”
“In some ways, I am more excited about this one than the first one,” Dever said. “I am too,” Duncan agreed. “I’m really excited about the last T4G.”
David Platt and John Piper Will Speak
David Platt, lead pastor of McLean Bible Church in Washington, D.C, is returning for the sixth time, and he will speak on a biblical view of missions. As the former president of the SBC’s International Mission Board, Platt spoke on the topic in 2012, his first year at T4G.
Platt angered many in 2018 after preaching a message from Amos 5:18-27 entitled “Let Justice Roll Down Like Waters: Racism and Our Need for Repentance.” In that message, Platt asked, “Why is this conference so white?” Since then, some critics have labeled him as woke, even some at his own church.
John Piper, who has likewise been criticized for his outspoken opposition to former President Donald Trump during the 2020 election and his pro-vaccine stance, is also scheduled to speak at the final T4G.
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In addition to Platt and Piper, the final T4G will feature plenary speakers Sinclair Ferguson, Alistair Begg, H.B. Charles, Kevin DeYoung, Bobby Scott, Christian Lwanda, Juan Sanchez, Afshin Ziafat, Greg Gilbert, Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, and Christian hip-hip recording artist Shai Linne.
Information about the final T4G can be found here.