This year’s theme, Collide, centers around handling conflict in daily interactions with people. Nearly 80 years now from the very first Torrey Memorial Bible Conference, we find ourselves in a world of dizzying differences. At its best, we experience it as a rich kaleidoscope of perspectives, practices, politics and people-no two exactly alike.<\p>

At its worst, life among us and around the world seems like nothing but a series of collisions, and it is mostly these, of course, that grab the headlines. This is so often the case that, as one scholar put it, the western world is experiencing a crisis of relational hope. Many now wonder, can relationships (among friends, spouses, churches, countries) really work in the long run? Can conflict be redeemed?<\p>

The Scriptures give a resounding "Yes!" to that question, and Jesus himself called those who believe it "Blessed": indeed, they are children of God (Mt. 5:9). This year's 79th annual Torrey Memorial Bible Conference, with the help of Peacemaker ministries, will offer practical wisdom to help each one of us understand-"in so far as it depends on us"-how we might live "peaceably with all" (Rom. 12:18).<\p>