Uncategorized – Page 9

In addition to the Festival of Homiletics happening right now, there are lot of things happening in the Minneapolis / St. Paul, Minnesota area this summer.

Note the June 12th Redeeming Work event put on by Leadership Journal with Andy Crouch, Skye Jethani, Tom Nelson, and Kara Powell, and Bethel Seminary grads Michael Binder and Joel Johnson at Sara and Troy Groves's Art House North.

All five of the following gatherings are intentionally held together so that people can attend more than just the single gathering. This year they are being held in the Twin Cities at University of Northwestern (which is only a mile from Bethel University).

Missio Alliance event with Craig Van Gelder and David Fitch. (June 19 afternoon).
Association of Professors of Mission (June 19 evening and June 20 morning).
Academy for Evangelism in Theological Education (June 19 evening and 20 morning).
I think also the Foundation for Evangelism United Methodist Professors of Evangelism also meet often before AETE.
American Society of Missiology (June 20 afternoon through 22)

Note also the Inner City Ministry of Cru "Creating Options Together Conference" with John Perkins and others July 22-25, 2014 conference at Bethel University.

My favorite magazine, Books & Culture, is facing extinction if it does not raise $90,000 by Monday. It is the magazine by Christian professors for Christian professors.

Pledge to save it: http://www.booksandculture.com/donate/

Every Christian professor and graduate student of any discipline should be appalled that Books & Culture may fold. This is the magazine of Philip Jenkins, Alan Jacobs, Lauren Winner, Christian Smith, Mark Noll, Andy Crouch, John Stackhouse, C. Stephen Evans, and Richard Mouw. It covers art, books, literature, psychology, history, theology, sociology, economics, and science. In this way, readers are exposed to sharp, open, Christian commentary on the cutting edge of what is happening in the academic disciplines. Sure, you might, *might*, be able to find all of this somewhere somehow on the web but here it is curated, beautifully presented, and consistently excellent. Books & Culture is an open square where scholars can say what they really think and get a wide hearing from other academic people. Furthermore, writers draw broadly from the Christian tradition as opposed to many other publications where writers make no effort to engage with anyone beyond their politically conservative, or Reformed perspective, etc. In Books & Culture, you find pieces by Miroslav Volf, David Bebbington, James K. A. Smith, Scot McKnight, Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen, George Marsden, Jeremy Begbie, Nicholas Wolterstorff, Roger Olson, Ron Sider, Brad Gregory, and Roger Lundin. Furthermore, John Wilson has warmly welcomed the next generation including Winner, Crouch, David Taylor, Matthew Milliner, Elesha Coffman, Alissa Wilkinson, and Jason Byassee. Eventually you might notice that a number of the contributors have connections to Wheaton College, Calvin College, Baylor University, Duke University, or Notre Dame–what these schools have in common is their fine academic Christian scholarship but have differing evangelical, Reformed, Baptist, Methodist, and Roman Catholic roots respectively. If it does fold, some of this emphasis will surely be picked up by Christianity Today with Andy Crouch now as executive editor, but it will be difficult to combine the unique thoughtful openness of Books & Culture with the shorter attention span and lower tolerance for nuance of the average Christianity Today reader. Books & Culture helps scholarly Christians stay Christian and stay scholarly. Let's keep Books & Culture around for awhile. We still need it.

Update: September 9, 2013

http://www.booksandculture.com/donate/pledge.html

Donate to B&C

Dear Friends,

Never in my 30 years at Christianity Today have I witnessed such an outpouring of generosity and support as I have experienced over these past five days! Your passion and commitment to the ministry of Books & Culture have translated to pledges which, when added to those secured during the "quiet" phase of our campaign, have brought the total amount of 2014 pledges to just over $250K—the amount needed to secure Books & Culture's financial viability in the year ahead.

In addition, annual amounts of $110K have also been committed by colleges, universities, seminaries, and other individuals for each of the four years following 2014, thus providing our publication with a firmer fiscal foundation for the longer-term.

Needless to say, it has all been quite overwhelming. And we praise God for his hand of blessing!

Having met our pledge objectives for 2014, we now focus on the remaining months of 2013. If you missed your opportunity to be a part of this historic push, please know that your tax-deductible gifts this year will further strengthen Books & Culture's bottom line going into 2014.

In closing, and on behalf of publisher Terumi Echols, editor John Wilson, and myself, I want to extend our sincerest thanks to all of you for achieving this milestone. And would our very surprising God continue to declare his "Yes" over this needed ministry for years to come!

Harold Smith
President and CEO
CHRISTIANITY TODAY