• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Emerging Scholars Blog

InterVarsity's Emerging Scholars Network

DONATE
  • Home
  • About Us
    • About Our Bloggers
    • Commenting Policy
  • Reading Lists
  • Scholar’s Compass
    • Scholar’s Compass Booklet
    • View Recent Posts
  • Connect
    • Membership
    • Events
    • Donate
    • Contact Us
You are here: Home / Christ / Christ and the Academy / Science Corner: The Bottom-up Route to your Community (Pt 1)

Science Corner: The Bottom-up Route to your Community (Pt 1)

November 11, 2015 by Andy Walsh No Comments

Photo of church and garden
What’s happening at your local church? (Photo by emdot )

HL asks:

What I am seeing is that the understandably busy lives of even highly motivated Christian professionals often lead them to become more and more isolated from those parts of society most in need of outreach, friendship, and fellowship from Christians. So…how can those in the hectic years of research, working on getting those final papers done for the PhD, etc., not lose touch with the problems within their own local community?


Continuing on from last week’s post, let’s approach this question from another direction. While not directly an answer, I am reminded of the recent survey results indicating churchgoers are more likely to see religion and science as compatible. Many science professionals were encouraged by this observation. While I think there are multiple ways to interpret the finding, it is consistent with the idea that local congregations are a good place for different people to interact.

Many academics and other highly specialized professionals may paradoxically have relatively few peers with the same focus and yet still spend most of their time with those people. Such specialized work involves a lot of context, which creates an incentive to work primarily with people who share that context. By contrast, a place like a church tends to group people geographically rather than by field of specialization, making them a good place to meet people with different contexts and, presumably, different problems.

By way of example, last year I started volunteering with the high school youth group at my church. Once a week, I help lead a small group of junior and senior young men. In that time, they have shared a number of very personal and pressing concerns, allowing me the privilege of helping them talk through problems they want to solve and work out what kind of men they want to become. Now, granted we still have many things in common, but their high school experience is very different from mine. And by virtue of working with these kids, I sometimes also have the opportunity to address others’ concerns as the kids seek to help and support their friends.

As with last week, this is a partial solution that may work out better for some than others. Serving within the church will have its limits, but many local churches also provide opportunities to serve the community outside the church. So I think many folks will find their local church a good place to start connecting to their community.

How has your local church helped you connect to the problems of your local community?

About the author:

Andy Walsh
Posts

Andy has worn many hats in his life. He knows this is a dreadfully clichéd notion, but since it is also literally true he uses it anyway. Among his current metaphorical hats: husband of one wife, father of two teenagers, reader of science fiction and science fact, enthusiast of contemporary symphonic music, and chief science officer. Previous metaphorical hats include: comp bio postdoc, molecular biology grad student, InterVarsity chapter president (that one came with a literal hat), music store clerk, house painter, and mosquito trapper. Among his more unique literal hats: British bobby, captain's hats (of varying levels of authenticity) of several specific vessels, a deerstalker from 221B Baker St, and a railroad engineer's cap. His monthly Science in Review is drawn from his weekly Science Corner posts -- Wednesdays, 8am (Eastern) on the Emerging Scholars Network Blog. His book Faith across the Multiverse is available from Hendrickson.

  • Andy Walsh
    https://blog.emergingscholars.org/author/andy/
    I Found a Postdoc in the Sciences: Now What? (Pt 1)
  • Andy Walsh
    https://blog.emergingscholars.org/author/andy/
    I Found a Postdoc in the Sciences: Now What? (Pt 2)
  • Andy Walsh
    https://blog.emergingscholars.org/author/andy/
    Science Corner: Cat Chat
  • Andy Walsh
    https://blog.emergingscholars.org/author/andy/
    Science Corner: A Season of Rest

Share this:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • More
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest

Filed Under: Christ and the Academy, Science and Faith Tagged With: community, local church, local community, neighbor, neighborhood, science, science corner, science reader question

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

Become a Member

Membership is Free. Sign up and receive our monthly newsletter and access ESN member benefits.

Join ESN Today

Scholar’s Compass Booklet

Scholar's Compass Booklet

Click here to get your copy

Top Posts

  • 5 Practical Ways to Avoid Cultural Domination and Neo-Colonialism in Western Missions
  • The Message of Genesis 1
  • Faith and Reason, Part 2: Augustine
  • Faith and Reason, Part 3: Aquinas
  • Christian Views of Creation

Facebook Posts

Facebook Posts

Footer

About Us

The Emerging Scholars Network (ESN) is a national network within InterVarsity’s Graduate & Faculty Ministries which supports those on the academic pathway as they work out how their academic vocation serves God and others. We encourage and equip undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs, and early career faculty as they navigate each stage of their academic vocation and transition to the next step in or beyond the academy.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Recent Posts

  • Confession
  • Temptation: The Little Lie
  • Science Corner: Finding the Proteins of Theseus

Article Categories

Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Contact Us
Member of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students
Copyright © 2023 - InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA ®. All rights reserved.

InterVarsity, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, and the InterVarsity logo are trademarks of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA and its affiliated companies.