ICT SPRING EVENT
"Modernity and the Magician's Bargain:
Why Lewis Believed Science Must Repent"
with
Ken Myers
Executive Producer at Mars Hill Audio
March 7, 2008
Friday evening, 7-9 pm
Taylor University, Upland, Indiana
Hosted by: The C. S. Lewis Society

...to register

Ken Myers did his first radio interview when he was working in college radio. He was 19 at the time, and his first guest was Johnny Cash. Although he sometimes wonders if he peaked early, he claims that sociologists, historians, and even psychologists can actually be more interesting than country music singers, even if they seem to struggle a bit more to sustain a practically insightful point-of-view.

After completing his B.A. in communications, with an emphasis in film theory, Ken Myers went to work for National Public Radio, where he edited material for the arts and performance programming which, at the time (in the mid-1970s) formed a much larger proportion of NPR’s creative work. After three years at NPR, he decided to go to seminary in order to pursue a teaching ministry. He realized how ill-prepared he was theologically to contend with the non-Christian worldviews increasingly prevalent in culturally formative institutions, and believed that thousands of other lay people were similarly ill-equipped. He thought he might be called to a vocation of teaching about culture and theology.

But having finished a Master of Arts in Religion degree at Westminster Theological Seminary in 1979, and finding no institutions committed to the sort of cultural apologetics he thought needed by the Church, he accepted an offer to return to NPR to serve as arts and humanities editor for the then-new program, Morning Edition. A budgetary crisis in 1983 cost Myers his job, and he eventually accepted the position of executive editor at Eternity magazine, a well-established evangelical monthly. In that position, he sought to develop a form of Christian journalism that was more rigorously engaged with the specific cultural phenomena and larger cultural trends of our time. The pursuit of that vision has resulted in his establishing MARS HILL AUDIO in 1992, after having worked on editorial projects with Richard John Neuhaus and Charles Colson. The mission statement of MARS HILL AUDIO commits the organization “to produce creative audio resources that encourage Christians to grow in obedient wisdom concerning the cultural consequences of our duty to love God and neighbor.”

Ken Myers lives and works on a large wooded lot in the rolling countryside of central Virginia, just north of Charlottesville. When he is not preparing for interviews or writing and editing an issue of the Journal, he fills the time by singing in his church choir, watching old movies, hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and keeping his bird-feeders filled (a locally resident black bear makes that job more interesting). His wife Kate, who holds a masters degree in musicology, homeschooled their two children through high school, and is now doing part-time work for MARS HILL AUDIO in between gardening, landscaping, and sewing projects. His daughter Susannah attends the College of William & Mary and his son Jonathan is at the University of Virginia.

BRITISH CHRISTIANITY
&
THE AMERICAN ORDER

with
ALAN R. CRIPPEN II
president of the
THE JOHN JAY INSTITUTE FOR FAITH, SOCIETY & LAW

                                  October 13, 2007, 8:30-2:30 at Zionsville Fellowship Church

Like the "YOU ARE HERE" star on the road-side map, it is impossible to know where to go when you don't know where you are starting from.  Mr. Crippen will remind us of some of the crucial foundational principles upon which the American order has been erected; "the starting point" of the freedoms Americans like you enjoy today.  Come explore how the contribution of Christianity and especially its British expression has shaped American ideals and institutions.  We will explore this theme through three different lectures and discussion:  “Stephen Langton and the Magna Carta”,  “The Puritan Revolution and Oliver Cromwell’s Christian Commonwealth” and “William Penn’s Holy Experiment and the Birth of America”.  You don't have to be a lawyer or historian to benefit from this event!  If you want to better understand the country in which you live, you will want to be in attendance on Saturday, October 13, 2007 to hear Mr. Crippen in person. Go to www.johnjayinstitute.org to read more about Alan Crippen and this remarkable organization.  Cost of the event is $35 per person, $20 for students.  Lunch is provided.  We look forward to having you join us! 

For more information, call Becky Inman at 733-3728

Named for the American founder John Jay, the mission of the John Jay Institute is to prepare Christians for leadership in public life. It is our vision to raise up men and women of high principles who are characterized by the virtues of wisdom and justice, truth and mercy, prudence and courage. Clearly there is a pressing need for leadership today. In response, the Institute offers residential fellowships for college graduates aspiring to public vocations as well as various educational resources for anyone interested in exploring the nexus of religion and public life.

Alan R. Crippen II is founder and president of the John Jay Institute for Faith, Society and Law. Previously Mr. Crippen served for nine years as founding rector of the Witherspoon Fellowship, a leading civic and cultural leadership development program for college-age students based in Washington, D.C. He has two decades of experience in non-profit executive management and college level teaching including vice-president for policy and academic affairs at Family Research Council, senior fellow at the Institute for Family Studies in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and director of development at International Students, Inc. in Colorado Springs. His military service includes platoon and battery command as well as various battalion staff operations and planning positions in the U.S. Army Field Artillery. Mr. Crippen's vocational passion is for the formation of young leaders who aspire to public life. He is particularly inspired to prepare them with the contours of a worldview, knowledge, and piety requisite for faithful Christian service in the public square. Mr. Crippen holds degrees from Westminster Theological Seminary (M.A.R.) and Philadelphia College of Bible (B.S.). He, his wife, Michelle, and their five children make their home in Colorado Springs and worship at Grace Church and St. Stephen's Parish (Anglican/Episcopal).

The John Jay Institute for Faith, Society, and Law is a para-academic center that is committed to advancing the knowledge and piety of the Christian faith as it pertains to the ordering of society, politics, and law. This educational task involves the re-discovery, recollection, and understanding of our religious, cultural, social, economic, and political heritage with relevant application to the pressing moral, social, and economic concerns facing America today.

The Institute is named for American founder John Jay (1745-1829) who was arguably the most religious, social, and political conservative of the principal founders of America. His eminence in public life included service in various governmental capacities as a member and president of the Continental Congress, Chief Justice of New York State, diplomatic envoy, Peace Commissioner, and Foreign Secretary of the United States, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, and Governor of New York. Jay was also active in domestic and civil society as a dutiful son, faithful husband, and loving father. He was a vestryman in his local parish church, lay leader in the re-formation of a Protestant denomination, president of the American Bible Society, and a founder and patron of the New York Manumission Society for the emancipation of African slaves. Jay's prominence as a statesman, churchman, citizen and social reformer is a legacy to preserve and perpetuate. His dedication to the ideals of love and mercy, truth and justice guided his public labors in serving his country. In honor of his life and principled leadership, the John Jay Institute for Faith, Society and Law is dedicated to raising up and calling forth leaders like him for the future.

It is not easy to know how to think about the very important relationship between our faith and the life-work that we spend most of our waking moments pursuing.  Steve is adept at helping Christians think deeply about this issue in ways both reflective and practical.  It is a pleasure for ICT to able to bring him to Indiana.  Please plan on joining us for this event.

THE WASHINGTON INSTITUTE...read about it

Known as a "public teacher", Steven Garber has a classroom among many people in may places.  At the heart of this calling is the longing that people understand the integral character of faith, vocation, and culture.  He directs The Washington Institute, which has as its core conviction that the church and society are renewed as a richer, truer vision of calling is taught and practiced.  The author of The Fabric of Faithfulness: Weaving Together Belief and Behavior, a Senior Fellow for the C.S. Lewis Institute and the Fellows Initiative, he was a contributor to the volumes, Faith Goes to Work: Reflections From the Marketplace and Get Up Off Your Knees: Preaching the U2 Catalogue, as well as to the Mars Hill Audio journal, Tacit Knowing, Truthful Knowledge: The Life and Work of Michael Polanyi.  For 15 years he was a member of the faculty of the American Studies Program on Capitol Hill, and served for several years as the Scholar-in-Residence for the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. He spent two years as Fellow and Lilly Faculty Scholar at Calvin College, traveling back and forth between Washington and Grand Rapids regularly.  Steven writes and speaks widely on the relation of popular culture to political culture, of the moral imagination to cultural responsibility.  A native of the great valleys of Colorado and California, he lives in Virginia with his wife Meg, their five children (only two still at home), and a number of chickens. They are glad members of The Falls Church, an almost 300-year old Anglican congregation, where for many years he has taught a class, Visions of Christian Spirituality.

Ideas should never be thought of apart from their embodiment in human relationship.  Shared ideas bring people together for common action. ICT has enjoyed participating in the relational network behind the ideas we work with.  A good example is the fact that we learned of Steve Garber through his work with the Falls Church Fellows program, the proto-type for the Heartland Fellows program we are launching here in Indiana.  Steve has enjoyed a relationship with Charlie and Andi Ashworth (Peacock), who taught our Fall 2006 conference.  Through this set of relationships Steven had gotten involved with an organization called Blood:Water Mission.  We thought you might want to check out what they are doing to relieve suffering in Africa.  You'll have a chance to talk with Steve about this project and the many other things he is involved in while he is with us on March 10th. Just click on the following link.

.FAITH.  ART.  CULTURE.

For Christians, human creativity is primarily embedded in God's initial and continual acts of creation.  But, how is the Christian to understand this relationship between Creator and the created? Is art just something produced and consumed, or is there such a thing as an artful life?  In what way are our everyday choices esthetic decisions?  Does the shape of contemporary life obscure or enlighten the links between faith, art, and culture?  These questions and many more will be explored with our guide for the day, Charlie Peacock.  Charlie has given much of his life to this exploration, and we are pleased to have the privilege to spend a day interacting with him on this topic, so vitally important to the faith.  Please plan on attending the event.  For those of  you wanting to do a bit of background reading, you might want to read Charlie's books as well as follow some of the bibliographic trails that originate in these books.

- watch slide show -