As the publisher for Christian Scholar’s Review, I have the privilege of interacting with thought leaders serving in a variety of contexts including colleges and universities, foundations, associations, media outlets, and churches. Despite the challenging times we face in higher education, those conversations provide me with hope about the vocation we hold in trust and—sooner or later—will offer members of the next generation.
For about three years, my colleagues at CSR and I explored how to capture those conversations, the wisdom they offer, and the hope they yield. Thanks to the support CSR received in recent months from Indiana Wesleyan University and leaders such as President Jon Kulaga, University Professor Jerry Pattengale, Vice President for Academic Affairs Aly Williams, and Technological Advisor Extraordinaire Mike Jones (to name only four), I am pleased to announce, “Saturdays at Seven”—conversations with Christian thought leaders about the academic vocation and the relationship that vocation shares with the Church.
As the “Christ Animated Learning” posts arrive in your inboxes Monday through Friday at 7:00 AM, the “Saturdays at Seven” conversations will arrive in your inboxes on Saturday at 7:00 AM (and thus our highly creative name for the series). If you miss an episode, want to go back and rewatch a previous episode, or share an episode in class, you will be able to do so via our YouTube channel.
The link to the first episode will arrive in your inbox on Saturday, September 9, 2023. To begin this series, we will be welcoming the following guests during the month of September:
- Shirley V. Hoogstra (President of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, 9/9)
- Walter Kim (President of the National Association of Evangelicals, 9/16)
- Steven D. Mason (President of LeTourneau University, 9/23)
- George M. Marsden (Frances A. McAnaney Professor of History Emeritus, University of Notre Dame, 9/30)
In addition to providing you with the opportunity to draw hope from the voices of our guests, part of what we want to accomplish is to preserve the wisdom and insights they offer in a way we can share with that next generation.
If I have one regret, it is that we did not launch this effort sooner. What we have inherited in terms of the Christian academic vocation, for example, is hard to consider apart from the contributions of individuals on whose shoulders we stand such as Wheaton College’s Arthur F. Holmes. I only wish we recorded his insights in such a capacity before he passed. Fortunately, leaders at Wheaton posted lectures from Art’s “A History of Philosophy” for all of us to view.
As your schedules allow each weekend, I hope you will join me and my colleagues with Christian Scholar’s Review in drawing hope from the wisdom these guests offer.
