L’Abri Rochester

Two Human Longings, Lost and Found - Ben Keyes - 2022 Conference Highlights: Image and Identity

Two Human Longings, Lost and Found - Ben Keyes - 2022 Conference Highlights: Image and Identity
 
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Ben Keyes studied at Brown University, reading ethnomusicology. In 2002 he spent 6 months studying at the English L’Abri.
Ben studied Theology and the Arts at Regent College in Vancouver and directed a large gospel choir as part of his final thesis project. While at Regent, Ben and two of his classmates started a folk trio called Ordinary TIme which sings both original songs and arrangements of old hymns. Ordinary Time has recorded 5 albums to date.
In 2007 Ben and Nickaela began working at the Southborough L’Abri and have been there ever since. In 2016 Ben and Nickaela became co-directors of the Southborough branch. They have twin daughters and a son. Ben loves to cook, lead music at his church, give lectures, read to his children, carve wooden birds, play the banjo and tie flies.
 
The 2022 Rochester L'Abri Conference "Image and Identity in a Culture of Confusion" takes the general theme of 'Identity Formation'. Our current Cultural Confusion is manifested in many areas – the Sexual Revolution, Identity Politics, Social Media, etc – and in past conferences we have often looked at the moral issues involved. This year we want to look at their ideological roots and the challenge they pose to Identity Formation. In contrast to our culture’s obsession with Social Media Image and Political Identity, our formation should be grounded in the Image of God and oriented by our Identity in Christ.
 

Identity Found in God’s Likeness - Dick Keyes - 2022 Conference Highlights: Image and Identity

Identity Found in God's Likeness - Dick Keyes - 2022 Conference Highlights: Image and Identity
 
Dick Keyes is the director emeritus of L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts, where he has worked with his wife, Mardi, and family since 1979. He holds a B.A. in History from Harvard University and an M.Div. from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. Dick has worked for L’Abri Fellowship in Switzerland and in England, where he served also as a pastor in the International Presbyterian Church in London for eight years. He has been an adjunct professor at Gordon Conwell Seminary and Westminster Theological Seminary. 
He is the author of Beyond Identity, Heroism, Chameleon Christianity, Seeing Through Cynicism, and several chapters in anthologies such as No God But God, ed. Os Guinness, Finding God at Harvard, ed. Kelly Monroe, and New Dictionary of Christian Apologetics from Intervarsity Press. He has lectured widely in the U.S. and also in Europe and Korea. Dick and Mardi are minority members of an African American Church, which has enriched their lives and experience of worship enormously. Dick is a member of the Ministerial Team.
 
The 2022 Rochester L'Abri Conference "Image and Identity in a Culture of Confusion" takes the general theme of 'Identity Formation'. Our current Cultural Confusion is manifested in many areas – the Sexual Revolution, Identity Politics, Social Media, etc – and in past conferences we have often looked at the moral issues involved. This year we want to look at their ideological roots and the challenge they pose to Identity Formation. In contrast to our culture’s obsession with Social Media Image and Political Identity, our formation should be grounded in the Image of God and oriented by our Identity in Christ.

Classical Formation in Western Civilization - John Hodges - 2022 Conference Highlights: Image and Identity

Classical Formation in Western Civilization - John Hodges - 2022 Conference Highlights: Image and Identity
 
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John Hodges (currently the director of the Center for Western Studies) is a conductor and composer, holding degrees in Music from the University of Maryland, and Indiana University.  He served as Music Director for various symphony orchestras and church music programs in Memphis from 1983-2009.  He also held the position of Associate Professor of the Arts and Cultural Apologetics at Crichton College where he taught art and music history, philosophy of the Christian Faith, directed theater and founded and directed the Institute for the Arts and Cultural Apologetics.
 
The 2022 Rochester L'Abri Conference "Image and Identity in a Culture of Confusion" takes the general theme of 'Identity Formation'. Our current Cultural Confusion is manifested in many areas – the Sexual Revolution, Identity Politics, Social Media, etc – and in past conferences we have often looked at the moral issues involved. This year we want to look at their ideological roots and the challenge they pose to Identity Formation. In contrast to our culture’s obsession with Social Media Image and Political Identity, our formation should be grounded in the Image of God and oriented by our Identity in Christ.

Identity, Race and Gender: What Should a Christian Think? - Doug Groothuis - 2022 Conference Highlights: Image and Identity

Identity, Race and Gender: What Should a Christian Think? - Doug Groothuis - 2022 Conference Highlights: Image and Identity
 
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Dr. Doug Groothuis holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy (University of Oregon, 1993) and is Professor of Philosophy at Denver Seminary where he heads the Christian Apologetics Master’s degree program. He is the author of nineteen books, beginning with the best-selling Unmasking the New Age (InterVarsity Press, 1986) and including the popular and voluminous textbook, Christian Apologetics, 2nd ed. (IVP Academic, 2022), as well as a poignant memoir, Walking Through Twilight: A Wife’s Illness—a Philosopher’s Lament (InterVarsity, 2017), an introduction to philosophy, Philosophy in Seven Sentences (InterVarsity, 2016), and a bold critique of Critical Race Theory, Fire in the Streets (Salem Books, 2022). He co-authored the introductory textbook on apologetics, The Knowledge of God in the World and in the Word (Zondervan-Academic, 2022) with Andrew Shepardson. His most recent book is World Religions in Seven Sentences (InterVarsity, 2023).
 
The 2022 Rochester L'Abri Conference "Image and Identity in a Culture of Confusion" takes the general theme of 'Identity Formation'. Our current Cultural Confusion is manifested in many areas – the Sexual Revolution, Identity Politics, Social Media, etc – and in past conferences we have often looked at the moral issues involved. This year we want to look at their ideological roots and the challenge they pose to Identity Formation. In contrast to our culture’s obsession with Social Media Image and Political Identity, our formation should be grounded in the Image of God and oriented by our Identity in Christ.
 

The Center is Not Holding: The Modern Self and a Theology of Adoptive Identity - Mike Sugimoto - 2022 Conference Highlights: Image and Identity

The Center is Not Holding: The Modern Self and a Theology of Adoptive Identity - Mike Sugimoto - 2022 Conference Highlights: Image and Identity
 
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Mike Sugimoto is Professor of Asian Studies at Pepperdine University with a focus on cinema, sociology and philosophy.
 
The 2022 Rochester L'Abri Conference "Image and Identity in a Culture of Confusion" takes the general theme of 'Identity Formation'. Our current Cultural Confusion is manifested in many areas – the Sexual Revolution, Identity Politics, Social Media, etc – and in past conferences we have often looked at the moral issues involved. This year we want to look at their ideological roots and the challenge they pose to Identity Formation. In contrast to our culture’s obsession with Social Media Image and Political Identity, our formation should be grounded in the Image of God and oriented by our Identity in Christ.

The Rise of the Affective Field - Guilherme de Carvalho - 2022 Conference Highlights: Image and Identity

The Rise of the Affective Field - Guilherme de Carvalho - 2022 Conference Highlights: Image and Identity
 
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Guilherme de Carvalho is the Director of L'Abri Fellowship Brazil. He studied theology at Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie in São Paulo, Brazil (bachelor), Faculdade Teológica Batista de São Paulo (Th.M.), Universidade Metodista de São Paulo (MSc, Science of Religion).His research interests include Christian Philosophy, epistemology of religious belief, transdisciplinary connections between theology and culture (science, arts, politics).

Personal Identity and its Shrinking Foundation - Dick Keyes - 2022 Conference Highlights: Image and Identity

Personal Identity and its Shrinking Foundation - Dick Keyes - 2022 Conference Highlights: Image and Identity
 
Dick Keyes is the director emeritus of L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts, where he has worked with his wife, Mardi, and family since 1979. He holds a B.A. in History from Harvard University and an M.Div. from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. Dick has worked for L’Abri Fellowship in Switzerland and in England, where he served also as a pastor in the International Presbyterian Church in London for eight years. He has been an adjunct professor at Gordon Conwell Seminary and Westminster Theological Seminary. 
He is the author of Beyond Identity, Heroism, Chameleon Christianity, Seeing Through Cynicism, and several chapters in anthologies such as No God But God, ed. Os Guinness, Finding God at Harvard, ed. Kelly Monroe, and New Dictionary of Christian Apologetics from Intervarsity Press. He has lectured widely in the U.S. and also in Europe and Korea. Dick and Mardi are minority members of an African American Church, which has enriched their lives and experience of worship enormously. Dick is a member of the Ministerial Team.

Plant your apple tree: An organic farmer on Christian homesteading and the case for getting your hands in the dirt - Daniel Miller - November 17th - Friday Night Lecture

"If I knew the world would end tomorrow, I would plant an apple tree today.” — Martin Luther
 
When his mother's cancer diagnosis brought Daniel Miller back from college to rural Minnesota, he had no intention of staying. But after his mom’s death, he developed a deep longing to reconnect with his ancestral farming roots in the area. After meeting his wife Hannah, the Millers bought 30 acres of farmland only five miles from where Daniel's great-great grandparents homesteaded in the mid-1800s. With lots of big ideas and pitifully limited experience, they quickly bought a milk cow, two work horses, and started having babies. Full of youthful energy and bucolic zeal, they embraced the hard work of trial-by-lots-of-error farming. Reflecting on 14 whirlwind-years of farm life, Daniel still sees Christian homesteading as a unique way to work together as a family and cultivate community. When rooted in Christ, taking care of some land can train one's eyes to see His redemptive action through nature, work, and family. With our main-stream culture very busy attempting to live digitally and detach from the natural world, Daniel sees a counter-cultural alternative in reconnecting with the ancient paths of family, land, and tight community. Come join us for a lively presentation and discussion.
 
Daniel Miller is an organic vegetable farmer and has a degree in political science from the University of Minnesota. His essays have appeared in the Minnesota Daily, Green Blade, and Critique. He and his wife Hannah live near Zumbro Falls, Minnesota, with their five children.

Mesopotamia and the Bible: A Comparison of Creation Accounts - Mark Chavalas - November 10th - Friday Night Lecture

Since the deciphering of the cuneiform scripts in the 1850’s, it has been apparent that the enormous output of texts from Mesopotamia provided an important but somewhat unclear context for understanding the Old Testament in its original environment. Texts like the Hammurabi Code and the Gilgamesh Epic caused varied reactions, ranging from a rejection of any connection to the Bible whatsoever, to the belief that all cultural traditions in the Bible were derived from Mesopotamia.
With this in mind, I will compare aspects of the so-called Babylonian Creation Epic (Enuma Elish) and other Mesopotamian creation narratives with the biblical account in Genesis, In particular, I will address the recent ideas of John Walton (The Lost World of Genesis One, 2009, and Genesis One as Ancient Cosmology, 2011), who has argued that creation in Genesis should be viewed in functional, rather than material terms. Further, he posits that the cosmos in Genesis should be viewed in temple terms (i.e., there is a close relationship between the material world and God's temple described in Genesis).
Mark W. Chavalas is Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, where he has taught for over thirty years. He and his wife Kimberlee are the parents of six adult children and three grandchildren. Among his publications are the co-edited, Mesopotamia and the Bible (with K.L. Younger Jr.) and the co-authored IVP Bible Background Commentary (with J. Walton and V. Matthews).

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - The Integration Of Faith And Learning - A Hard But Rewarding Task - AJ Poelarends

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - The Integration Of Faith And Learning - A Hard But Rewarding Task - AJ Poelarends
 
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Dr. Arend J. (AJ) Poelarends, native to the Netherlands, holds a PhD in Astrophysics from the University of Utrecht. His studies in astrophysics casued him to ponder questions of the cosmos and our place in it, leading him to earn an MDiv from Covenant Seminary. AJ now works with Anselm House in Minneapolis and previously as an Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Wheaton College.
 
The Rochester L'Abri Conference 2023.
G.K Chesterton once wrote “Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.” And passing the baton onto the next generation has always been part of the Biblical mandate. Evangelicals have long wrestled with good models for educating minors, but arguably the greater challenge today is in higher education, and, equally, if we are to ‘disciple the nations’, then the Church’s role in shaping the mind of believers more generally is a critical issue. At this year’s Conference, we want to look at all aspects of a Christian approach to Education - its motives, methods and models.
 

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - The Art And Craft Of Whole Person Christian Formation: Learning Through Creative Work - Sarah Chestnut

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - The Art And Craft Of Whole Person Christian Formation: Learning Through Creative Work - Sarah Chestnut
 
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Sarah Chestnut lives and works at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts with her husband and two children. Sarah’s poetry and creative non-fiction have appeared or are forthcoming in CRUX, Red Rock Literary Journal, LETTERS, The Rabbit Room, Three Things Newsletter, Bearings Online, Peacock Journal, and elsewhere. She hosts a local, monthly gathering, Poetry in the Round for conversation about and between poems. Sarah has a Master of Arts in Theological Studies from Regent College and was the 2009 recipient of the Luci Shaw Prize for Creative Writing.
 
The Rochester L'Abri Conference 2023
G.K Chesterton once wrote “Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.” And passing the baton onto the next generation has always been part of the Biblical mandate. Evangelicals have long wrestled with good models for educating minors, but arguably the greater challenge today is in higher education, and, equally, if we are to ‘disciple the nations’, then the Church’s role in shaping the mind of believers more generally is a critical issue. At this year’s Conference, we want to look at all aspects of a Christian approach to Education - its motives, methods and models.

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - Aren’t They All Just Dead White Males? Why Read The Classics? - Peter Merz

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - Aren't They All Just Dead White Males? Why Read The Classics? - Peter Merz
 
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Peter Merz was born in Melbourne and raised in New South Wales, Australia. He studied Classics at the University of Sydney and Education at the University of Western Sydney.  Prior to university, he was educated at home for 7 years, and attended school for 6 years. He has spent a lifetime loving "old things" and sharing that passion with others.  Peter has lived with his wife Dawn and their (now) six children at the English L'Abri for the past ten years.  He enjoys languages (ancient and modern), literature, history, reading aloud, hiking, music, stand-up comedy and sport.
 
The Rochester L'Abri Conference 2023
G.K Chesterton once wrote “Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.” And passing the baton onto the next generation has always been part of the Biblical mandate. Evangelicals have long wrestled with good models for educating minors, but arguably the greater challenge today is in higher education, and, equally, if we are to ‘disciple the nations’, then the Church’s role in shaping the mind of believers more generally is a critical issue. At this year’s Conference, we want to look at all aspects of a Christian approach to Education - its motives, methods and models.

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - For The Welfare Of The University: Finding Ways To Fill Gaps In Higher Education - Dan Daugherty

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - For The Welfare Of The University: Finding Ways To Fill Gaps In Higher Education - Dan Daugherty
 
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Dan Daugherty currently executively directs Alcuin Study Centre. Previously, he taught literature, composition, and philosophy at a private high school in Minnesota for 12 years. He currently serves as the Director of Education for Muncie Fellows. He holds a BS in Journalism from BSU and an MA in Christian Thought from Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando. He’s also quite keen on good books, good music, good beer, and good friends.
 
The Rochester L'Abri Conference 2023
G.K Chesterton once wrote “Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.” And passing the baton onto the next generation has always been part of the Biblical mandate. Evangelicals have long wrestled with good models for educating minors, but arguably the greater challenge today is in higher education, and, equally, if we are to ‘disciple the nations’, then the Church’s role in shaping the mind of believers more generally is a critical issue. At this year’s Conference, we want to look at all aspects of a Christian approach to Education - its motives, methods and models.

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - From Canon To Wikipedia And Back Again: A Call For A Coherent Education - Clarke Scheibe

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - From Canon To Wikipedia And Back Again: A Call For A Coherent Education - Clarke Scheibe
 
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Clarke Scheibe grew up in Memphis, TN. He graduated in 1998 with a Bachelors of Liberal Arts (University of Mississippi), with a Creative Writing emphasis. He moved to Canada in 2000 and graduated with a MDiv (Regent College) in 2004. His interests are in theology, philosophy, social critique, pop culture, literature, short fiction, sports, and music.
 
The Rochester L'Abri Conference 2023
G.K Chesterton once wrote “Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.” And passing the baton onto the next generation has always been part of the Biblical mandate. Evangelicals have long wrestled with good models for educating minors, but arguably the greater challenge today is in higher education, and, equally, if we are to ‘disciple the nations’, then the Church’s role in shaping the mind of believers more generally is a critical issue. At this year’s Conference, we want to look at all aspects of a Christian approach to Education - its motives, methods and models.

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - The (Naked) Woke Public University: Is This The Future Of Higher Education? - Bob Osburn

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - The (Naked) Woke Public University: Is This The Future Of Higher Education? - Bob Osburn
 
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Dr Bob Osburn has a PhD in international education from the University of Minnesota (2005), where he also was an adjunct lecturer for seven years in the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development. In 1978 he earned his ThM in Christian education at Dallas Theological Seminary, after earning a BA from the University of Michigan (1973). He has spent over 35 years serving in international student and academic ministry at the University of Minnesota.
 
The Rochester L'Abri Conference 2023
G.K Chesterton once wrote “Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.” And passing the baton onto the next generation has always been part of the Biblical mandate. Evangelicals have long wrestled with good models for educating minors, but arguably the greater challenge today is in higher education, and, equally, if we are to ‘disciple the nations’, then the Church’s role in shaping the mind of believers more generally is a critical issue. At this year’s Conference, we want to look at all aspects of a Christian approach to Education - its motives, methods and models.

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - Schaeffer At The U: Christian Study Centers As A Vanguard And A Shelter - AJ Poelarends

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - Schaeffer At The U: Christian Study Centers As A Vanguard And A Shelter - AJ Poelarends
 
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Dr. Arend J. (AJ) Poelarends, native to the Netherlands, holds a PhD in Astrophysics from the University of Utrecht. His studies in astrophysics led him to ponder questions of the cosmos and our place in it, leading him to earn an MDiv from Covenant Seminary. AJ now works with Anselm House in Minneapolis and previously as an Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Wheaton College.
 
The Rochester L'Abri Conference 2023.
G.K Chesterton once wrote “Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.” And passing the baton onto the next generation has always been part of the Biblical mandate. Evangelicals have long wrestled with good models for educating minors, but arguably the greater challenge today is in higher education, and, equally, if we are to ‘disciple the nations’, then the Church’s role in shaping the mind of believers more generally is a critical issue. At this year’s Conference, we want to look at all aspects of a Christian approach to Education - its motives, methods and models.

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - Can America Be Reformed When The University Is The Source Of Darkness? - Vishal Mangalwadi

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - Can America Be Reformed When The University Is The Source Of Darkness? - Vishal Mangalwadi 
 
Vishal Mangalwadi is an Indian philosopher and social reformer who has written several popular books on the Bible’s seismic influence. Vishal has lectured in over 40 countries, published seventeen books (including The Book That Made Your World), and contributed to many more.
 
The Rochester L'Abri Conference 2023.
G.K Chesterton once wrote “Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.” And passing the baton onto the next generation has always been part of the Biblical mandate. Evangelicals have long wrestled with good models for educating minors, but arguably the greater challenge today is in higher education, and, equally, if we are to ‘disciple the nations’, then the Church’s role in shaping the mind of believers more generally is a critical issue. At this year’s Conference, we want to look at all aspects of a Christian approach to Education - its motives, methods and models.

Beyond Genesis; Understanding the Nephilim Narrative from Mesopotamian Sources - Mark Chavalas - September 1st 2023 - Friday Night Lecture

The first verses in Genesis 6 appear to be a brief and truncated prelude to the Flood narrative. Because of its brevity, there have been varying interpretations of the nature of the 'sons of god and the daughters of men' mentioned in this perplexing narrative. Interestingly, the passage is expanded upon in the New Testament (2 Peter and Jude), and especially in the extra-biblical book of I Enoch, which is quoted by Jude. However, we now have numerous documents from Mesopotamia that provide an interesting context to better understand this difficult narrative and to help us understand how it is a significant introduction to the Flood narrative.
Mark W. Chavalas is Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, where he has taught for over thirty years. He and his wife Kimberlee are the parents of six adult children and three grandchildren. Among his publications are the co-edited, Mesopotamia and the Bible (with K.L. Younger Jr.) and the co-authored IVP Bible Background Commentary (with J. Walton and V. Matthews).

Fantastic Wines and Whether to Drink Them: The Relevance of Alcohol in the Bible for Today - John Dunne - September 1st 2023 - Friday Night Lecture

The role of alcohol in the Bible is a contentious topic, with even greater debates attending the question of how we might apply the biblical material to our lives. Dr. John Anthony Dunne will be addressing this topic with readings from the final chapter of his forthcoming book, Mountains Shall Drip Sweet Wine: A Biblical Theology of Alcohol, which will be published by Zondervan next year.
John Anthony Dunne (PhD, University of St Andrews) is Associate Professor of New Testament and the Director of the Doctor of Ministry program at Bethel Seminary.

The Collision between Faith and Knowledge: A Post-Crash Analysis - Greg Jesson - August 25th 2023 - Friday Night Lecture

One of the dismissive phrases that has powerfully gripped our culture lately is “We rely on the science.” This is often uttered by people who have no idea what it even means; nevertheless, there is a great confusion between basing things on knowledge and basing things on faith. These are often seen as conflicting: knowledge comes from science whereas religious belief comes from faith. This just means that knowledge is about evidence, but faith comes from blind belief. Consequently, religion is frequently dismissed as nothing more than personal, blind belief, which has no connection to knowledge and no real authority for everyone.
This common account is a complete confusion. In fact, life separated from knowledge quickly becomes untenable—we are now witnessing this in every part of our collapsing culture. This lecture will explore what faith and knowledge actually are, and how faith in the Bible cannot be separated from the context of truth and knowledge. Finally, we will look at Christianity’s unique stand on knowledge and how knowledge of the truth is the most practical thing in the world.
Greg Jesson’s long journey took him from UCLA and USC (where he studied under Dallas Willard) in Los Angeles, where he earned a BA and Masters degrees, to L’Abri in Switzerland where he studied under Francis Schaeffer, and finally to the University of Iowa, where he competed his PhD in philosophy, writing on what the structure of the mind must be in order for knowledge to be possible. He has published articles on the nature of thought and knowledge, philosophy of mathematics, Francis Schaeffer, Dallas Willard, apologetics, the truth and relevance of Christianity, and the portrayal of ultimate issues in movies. Over the decades he has taught at eight colleges and one seminary, and lectured extensively in America including Stanford, the University of California at Santa Cruz, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, the Pentagon, and the National Cathedral. He has also lectured widely in Europe in the last few years. He was most recently a professor of philosophy and director of the Center for Ethics and Public Life at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. He now spends his time writing, lecturing, restoring an old Porsche and an older house, while trying to keep up with his energetic puppy, Dr. Watson.

The Art of Christian Faithfulness - Denis Haack - August 11th 2023 - Friday Night Lecture

In her lovely book, L’Abri (1969), Edith Schaeffer writes that she and Francis determined the purpose of L’Abri would be “To show forth by demonstration, in our life and work, the existence of God.” It sometimes appears that being a disciple of Jesus can be summarized in a series of classes or booklets, so that we become effective in such habits as prayer, Bible reading, witnessing, and living a sanctified life. As important as those things are, in this lecture I want to ask the question, “How can ordinary Christians demonstrate the existence of God in the ordinary routine of our lives?" And I will suggest that living moment by moment at the interface between the visible and invisible realms of created realty provides some practical and attractive answers.
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Denis and Margie Haack co-directed Ransom Fellowship from 1983-2020. They continue a ministry of conversation and listening, as well as writing, no longer in print (Critique & Letters from the House Between), but on their website (https://www.critique-letters.com/). They are enjoying being grandparents while Margie collects eggs laid by her four hens, Pecorino, Brie, Fontina, and Velveeta. They live in Savage, MN and are members of Church of the Cross (Hopkins, MN).

Spider Webs of the Soul: Beauty and Savage Mercy in Flannery O’Connor’s ’Parker’s Back’ - Amanda Daxon - August 4th 2023 - Friday Night Lecture

Dostoevsky said that beauty would save the world. But how? What does this mean? We can begin to apprehend what Dostoevsky so profoundly said only when we understand what it means to have a Christian poetic and once we have grappled with the nature of true Beauty. However, lest we relegate Beauty to a dry lecture, we will read through Flannery O'Connor's short story, 'Parker's Back', which displays the danger and redemptive power of Beauty by using vivid images, broken people, and fantastic humor. O'Connor's writing is beautiful in its form, but more than that, it communicates in a visceral way the desperate state of our souls and the power that beauty has to save us.
 
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Originally from Oklahoma, Amanda Daxon graduated valedictorian from Oklahoma Baptist University and subsequently worked for several years as a pediatric ICU nurse before realizing that her true passion was historical study. She graduated in 2011 from The Catholic University of America with a Master of Arts in Medieval History. She subsequently worked as the Program Coordinator for the Byzantine Studies Department at Dumbarton Oaks, a Harvard University research institute located in Washington, D.C. In addition, she volunteered at the Folger Shakespeare Library, performing bibliographical analysis on 16th-18th century Flemish imprints before relocating to Germany for three years, where her husband was stationed with the US Army. There, she honed the art of having children and finding obscure medieval structures to explore. She has resided in Rochester for six years with her husband, Ben, and three children, Macallan, Gwyneth, and Sullivan. She currently teaches literature and rhetoric at Schaeffer Academy.
Flannery O'Connor Reads "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" (1959) Click here.

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - Responding to the Inevitable Unravelling of Higher Education - Greg Jesson

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - Responding to the Inevitable Unravelling of Higher Education - Greg Jesson
The forth and final of our interim 'conference highlights' series, Professor Greg Jesson asks how we should define and respond to the great shifts in higher education.
Greg recently retired from teaching philosophy at Luther College and the University of Iowa. He was also the Director of the Center for Ethics and Public Life at Luther College.
Greg’s long journey from Los Angeles to Iowa took him to Switzerland where he studied philosophy at L’Abri with Francis Schaeffer, to UCLA where he finished his undergraduate degree in philosophy, to USC where he completed an MA in philosophy under Dallas Willard, and finally to the University of Iowa where he received a PhD in philosophy.
 
The Rochester L'Abri Conference 2023.
G.K Chesterton once wrote “Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.” And passing the baton onto the next generation has always been part of the Biblical mandate. Evangelicals have long wrestled with good models for educating minors, but arguably the greater challenge today is in higher education, and, equally, if we are to ‘disciple the nations’, then the Church’s role in shaping the mind of believers more generally is a critical issue. At this year’s Conference, we want to look at all aspects of a Christian approach to Education - its motives, methods and models.

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - The University Next Door - Christian Education in the Modern World of Identity Politics - Mike Sugimoto

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - The University Next Door - Christian Education in the Modern World of Identity Politics - Mike Sugimoto
The third in our interim 'conference highlights' series, Professor Mike Sugimoto discusses the growing and tumultuous presence of identity politics within universities and its relationship to Christian education. Insightful, witty and well-paced, this lecture summarises recent approaches to education which place identity at the fore. Professor Sugimoto then goes on to offer a reasoned Christian alternative. 
Mike Sugimoto is Professor of Asian Studies at Pepperdine University with a focus on cinema, sociology and philosophy.
Click for slides.
 
The Rochester L'Abri Conference 2023.
G.K Chesterton once wrote “Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.” And passing the baton onto the next generation has always been part of the Biblical mandate. Evangelicals have long wrestled with good models for educating minors, but arguably the greater challenge today is in higher education, and, equally, if we are to ‘disciple the nations’, then the Church’s role in shaping the mind of believers more generally is a critical issue. At this year’s Conference, we want to look at all aspects of a Christian approach to Education - its motives, methods and models.

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - The Foundations of Liberal Education: On the Birth and Purpose of the Medieval University - John hodges - Rochester L’Abri Conference

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - The Foundations of Liberal Education: On the Birth and Purpose of the Medieval University - John Hodges - Rochester L'Abri Conference
The second in our interim 'conference highlights' series, this lecture looks again to the past in order to fully understand our present. A fascinating insight into the origins of Liberal Education during the Medieval period.
John Hodges (currently the director of the Center for Western Studies) is a conductor and composer, holding degrees in Music from the University of Maryland, and Indiana University.  He served as Music Director for various symphony orchestras and church music programs in Memphis from 1983-2009.  He also held the position of Associate Professor of the Arts and Cultural Apologetics at Crichton College where he taught art and music history, philosophy of the Christian Faith, directed theater and founded and directed the Institute for the Arts and Cultural Apologetics.
Click for Slides
 
The Rochester L'Abri Conference 2023.
G.K Chesterton once wrote “Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.” And passing the baton onto the next generation has always been part of the Biblical mandate. Evangelicals have long wrestled with good models for educating minors, but arguably the greater challenge today is in higher education, and, equally, if we are to ‘disciple the nations’, then the Church’s role in shaping the mind of believers more generally is a critical issue. At this year’s Conference, we want to look at all aspects of a Christian approach to Education - its motives, methods and models.

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - Western Education and its Telos Through Time - Peter Merz - Rochester L’Abri Conference

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - Western Education and its Telos (Purpose) Through Time - Peter Merz - Rochester L'Abri Conference
The First in our interim 'conference highlights' series, this lecture deals with the changes in western education's purpose through time. Peter Merz of English L'Abri takes us from the ancient Greeks right up to our present moment, illuminating many ubiquitous but confusing cultural trends.
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The Rochester L'Abri Conference 2023
G.K Chesterton once wrote “Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.” And passing the baton onto the next generation has always been part of the Biblical mandate. Evangelicals have long wrestled with good models for educating minors, but arguably the greater challenge today is in higher education, and, equally, if we are to ‘disciple the nations’, then the Church’s role in shaping the mind of believers more generally is a critical issue. At this year’s Conference, we want to look at all aspects of a Christian approach to Education - its motives, methods and models.

The Syriac Bible: Text, Translation, and Interpretation in the Other Early Church - Ian Mills - June 30th 2023 - Friday Night Lecture

Church historians sometimes speak of the Greek East and the Latin West, as if Christian history were neatly divided between the two. This tidy division omits a third branch of the early church: Syriac Christianity. This lecture will introduce the Syriac tradition with special emphasis on the value of Syriac literature for Biblical studies, including textual criticism, translation, and the history of interpretation.
The Hill Museum and Manuscript Library (HMML) at St. John's University in Collegeville, MN is a premier center for the preservation and study of Syriac and other oriental Christian literature. In 2022, Grigory Kessel announced the discovery in HMML's physical collections of a hitherto unknown witness to the Old Syriac gospels — one of the earliest and most important translations of the Christian scriptures. Dr. Mills' lecture will highlight the work of monks and scholars at HMML to make these Christian traditions available to the rest of the world.
 
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Ian Mills holds a Ph.D. in Religion from Duke University with a research focus on the New Testament and early Christianity. He is completing a short research fellowship on Syriac translations of the gospels at the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library in Collegeville, Minnesota. Dr. Mills is the Visiting Assistant Professor of Classics and Religious Studies at Hamilton College in Clinton, NY.

The Mindless Machinery of Modernity - Jock McGregor - June 23rd 2023 - Friday Night Lecture

Nothings is more emblematic of Modernity than the ‘Machine’. Their power and efficiency have long entranced the Modern Mind. But, as the power of technique was applied not just to the Natural World but to Human Society itself, proper concerns arose. Were machines serving Man or was Man getting reduced to a cog in the machine. And today, with the rise of self-driving cars and Artificial Intelligence, the promise and peril of the machine is once more in the news.
 
In the context of these concerns, many thinkers, Christians among them, looked to the Humanities. If the Sciences were creating this powerful Machinery of the Modern world, then at least the Humanities could direct this power to the Common Good and offset their inherent reductionism – provide a Mind for the Machine, if you will. In fact, the PostModern turn, arising within the Humanities, very consciously promised to deliver us from the totalizing hegemony of Modernity. But as things have played out over the past 50 years, questions must be asked. Have the Humanities delivered? Or are they not as much a part of the problem as the solution? Come and join the discussion.
 
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Jock McGregor, along with his wife Alison, has worked in L'Abri for over 30 years. With a B.Sc. and an M.Div. from Regent College, his interests are largely in the relationship of Christianity and Culture. He spent 10 years working at the English L'Abri before joining the Rochester team in 2000.

Narnia and the Atonement - Charles Taliaferro - June 16th 2023 - Friday Night Lecture

This 40 minute lecture (followed by discussion) will introduce the vision of atonement (reconciliation and redemption) in C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, the popular seven volume fairytale of magical beasts and the beloved lion, Aslan, a Christ figure. The atonement involves what is known as the Ransom Theory which can be found in some interpretations of the Bible and in early Christian theology by Gregory of Nyssa, Origen, and Maximus the Confessor. While controversial, Taliaferro argues that the portrait of Christ's being a ransom is illuminating and important for Christians and non-Christians today. The lecture will not presuppose everyone has read the Narnian chronicles, but he hopes you will read or re-read them again after this event.
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Charles Taliaferro (Ph.D. Brown) taught philosophy at St. Olaf College for 36 years, previously teaching at the University of Massachusetts and Notre Dame. He has authored, co-authored or edited 40 books, including 6 volumes on the history of evil; 5 of his books are published by Cambridge University Press; 3 are audio books. His most recent book is A Narnian Vision of the Atonement. He has given lectures widely, most recently at the C.S. Lewis Society in Oxford, England, last March. He loves working on philosophy and popular culture, and has published on the Hobbit, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Sherlock Holmes, Alice in Wonderland, and a chapter in Indiana Jones and Philosophy (due out in time for the film's release on June 30th). He embraced the Christian faith as a young adult at the English L'Abri in 1972.

Science and Faith for the Rest of Us - AJ Poelarends - June 9th 2023 at Rochester L’Abri

Science and Faith -- for many Christians (and non-Christians) this can be a difficult combination. Major flashpoints are often around theories of origins (cosmology, evolution) and neuroscience, and are seen as the cause of doubt and the road to unbelief. And discussions about science, whether among Christians or with people who are not Christian, often devolve into rather technical discussions, scaring many people away.
AJ will make the case that it doesn't have to be this way. First of all, science opens up opportunities for wonder, not just for scientists, but for everyone. Besides that, the interface of science and faith also provides opportunities for questions that are relevant for everyone, and touch on the very essence of our existence. And these kinds of questions, for instance, about who we are, how we should live, and how we make decisions, can make discussions about science & faith inspiring, helpful and constructive for everyone.
Arend J. Poelarends is the director of the Center for Faith and Learning at Anselm House, a Christian study center serving the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities). He received a Ph.D. in Astrophysics from Utrecht University in the Netherlands and an MDiv from Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis (MO). Prior to moving to Minnesota, he taught Physics and Astronomy for 11 years at Wheaton College (IL), where he thought deeply about questions at the intersection of Science (cosmology) and the Christian faith.