"Proclaim the Message with Intensity" is the theme of the 15th annual Beeson Pastors School hosted by Samford University's Beeson Divinity School July 22-26.

During the four-day conference, pastors and their families will be immersed in Bible study, seminars and fellowship opportunities. Thirty workshops include such topics as the major theological differences between Christianity and Islam, the stem cell controversy, how to help men overcome pornography and sexual addictions, and church growth in the non-Western world.

About 350 participants from 27 states and two foreign nations have registered for the conference. According to Jim Pounds, Pastors School director, registrants include a group from Kenya who are sponsored by local Kenyan congregations, and a pastor from India who learned about the Pastors School via the Internet.

Donald A. Carson, research professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Ill., will lead daily Bible studies. A former pastor and itinerant minister in Canada and the United Kingdom, Carson has written or edited more than 40 books and written for radio and television.

Evening worship service leaders are Joseph M. Stowell, president, Moody Bible Institute, Chicago (Monday); Robbie Castleman, John Brown University professor of Biblical Studies and Theology and InterVarsity National Coordinator (Tuesday); Darius Salter, professor of Christian Preaching and Pastoral Theology, Nazarene Theological Seminary, Kansas City (Wednesday); and Crawford W. Loritts, Jr., associate director, U.S. Ministries, Campus Crusade for Christ and founder of Legacy, a ministry dedicated to rebuilding and restoring urban families (Thursday). The services will be at 7 p.m. in Beeson Divinity Chapel.

A special track of study for women, "Exploring God's Word with Passion," will be held during the week.

A pre-conference workshop, Effective Christian Leadership: From Family to the Flock," will be held on Monday, July 22, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.