First, my article “Faith and Faculty” has just been published on the InterVarsity homepage. The article relates how I came to be involved with the Emerging Scholars Network and why I care about Christian faculty and students. Here’s a sneak peek:
At the University of Louisville, I became an English major for some pretty shallow reasons: I wanted to read and write as much poetry and fiction as I could.
When I came to faith in Christ during my junior year (with InterVarsity playing a central role), Christ gave me purpose: a purpose to my life; but more surprisingly, a purpose to my English major, too. God showed me that he was the creator of language; that language was the means he used to reveal himself; that through language, I could become, as J. R. R. Tolkien put it, a “sub-creator” within God’s good-yet-fallen creation.
Second, last week I received the first printed issue of the Englewood Review of Books, edited by Chris Smith and published by Englewood Christian Church in Indianapolis. Chris has been publishing ERB online for a few years, but now they’ve made the big step to paper. The first issue features several articles that ESN members will find interesting – an interview with Duke Divinity School’s Willie James Jennings about his new book The Christian Imagination, Brett Foster’s review of Seamus Heaney’s new book of poetry, Brad Fruhauff’s review of Postmodern Belief: American Literature and Religion Since 1960 by Amy Hungerford, and more.
However, I am even more excited about how the Englewood Review is published. It’s rooted within the local church – Englewood Christian Church, to be specific, which also runs a bookstore and publishing house. ECC is part of the same church movement I belong to, and it’s great to see a church take the integration of faith, life, and learning so seriously.
You can subscribe to the Englewood Review via its website. They also offer a free email subscription, but I recommend the print subscription to support their good work.
Finally, it’s not online yet, but this month’s Christianity Today features a back-page profile of Alissa Wilkinson, who teaches at The King’s College, helps edit ESN favorite Comment magazine, and founded The Curator. Check out my interview with Alissa about her life and work from earlier this year.
Happy reading!
The former Associate Director for the Emerging Scholars Network, Micheal lives in Cincinnati with his wife and three children and works as a web manager for a national storage and organization company. He writes about work, vocation, and finding meaning in what you do at No Small Actors.