With our limited time, energy, finances, blog attention spans, why focus on Mary Poplin‘s Finding Calcutta: What Mother Teresa Taught Me About Meaningful Work and Service (IVP. 2008)?
My struggle to write this book, to tell the truth about Mother Teresa, and my struggles in the university are a testimony both to a lost public conversation and to a worldview that is very difficult for many in Western culture to comprehend fully, even some of us who profess Christ.”” — Mary Poplin. Finding Calcutta. Accessed 8/15/2011, 2:44 pm.
The power, encouragement, and challenge of the testimony of a professor coming to follow Christ through the transformation of head, heart & hands rings throughout Finding Calcutta. As such, the Emerging Scholars Network (ESN) blog frequently highlights Poplin’s story and insights, click here. To whet your appetite, take four minutes to take in the below Veritas Forum clip AND pass along to others whom you think would have interest.
If you don’t have a local/campus book discussion which you’re a part of this fall, I encourage you to gather some friends, start one up, and share your group’s thoughts with us on-line [series starts next Thursday (9/15)]. As an individual and/or group, please feel free to respond to/wrestle with one, some, or all the questions raised. You’re also more than welcome to ask your own 🙂 More on Mary Poplin and the genesis of the series below.
Note: Series starts with Finding Calcutta: Where am I now? Is this my calling?
Update: 11/2/2011. 10:52 AM.
Mary Poplin (Ph.D., University of Texas) is a professor of education at Claremont Graduate University in California, where she has served as director of the teacher education program and dean of the School of Educational Studies.
Poplin conducts research inside urban classrooms and schools that promote both justice and accountability. She teaches courses on pedagogy, history and philosophy of education, as well as Christian principles related to these areas. She is also a frequent speaker at Veritas Forums and for both Protestant and Catholic retreats across the country. — http://www.ivpress.com/cgi-ivpress/author.pl/author_id=6291. Accessed 8/15/2011, 2:44 pm.
Genesis of the series: In various posts, you’ll notice the influence of Head, Heart & Hands, Os Guiness’ “The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life,” and “Why Christian Apologetics?”* As with the Head, Heart & Hands series, the material is largely drawn from an adult elective at Elizabethtown Brethren in Christ Church (EBIC) facilitated by Kevin Milligan in coordination with the author speaking for the Christian Scholar Series (an EBIC-ESN partnership). Note: In Spring 2011, Poplin spoke in Pittsburgh, South Central PA, and Baltimore as part of an ESN partnership with Undergraduate Ministry, Graduate & Faculty Ministry, and the Veritas Forum (in Pittsburgh). To God be the glory!
*Visit To skim or not to skim: A ‘case’ study of “Christian Apologetics” and Why Christian Apologetics – Hell for material on the newly released 752 page casebound Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for the Biblical Faith (IVP. 2011).
Tom enjoys daily conversations regarding living out the Biblical Story with his wife Theresa and their four girls, around the block, at Elizabethtown Brethren in Christ Church (where he teaches adult electives and co-leads a small group), among healthcare professionals as the Northeast Regional Director for the Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA), and in higher ed as a volunteer with the Emerging Scholars Network (ESN). For a number of years, the Christian Medical Society / CMDA at Penn State College of Medicine was the hub of his ministry with CMDA. Note: Tom served with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship / USA for 20+ years, including 6+ years as the Associate Director of ESN. He has written for the ESN blog from its launch in August 2008. He has studied Biology (B.S.), Higher Education (M.A.), Spiritual Direction (Certificate), Spiritual Formation (M.A.R.), Ministry to Emerging Generations (D.Min.). To God be the glory!