As an InterVarsity Christian Fellowship staff, I have had a number of opportunities to interact with Andy Crouch over the course of the past two decades. In some ways he welcomed me to InterVarsity as he served on the worship team at my first two Urbana Student Missions Conferences
- 1993 as a sophomore just becoming involved at Grove City College
- 1996 as a staff intern embracing the call to serve at Carnegie Mellon U!
In 2009 I launched a Christian Scholars Series in partnership with Elizabethtown Brethren in Chrst Church (the local congregation of which I am a member) after having a great conversation at Following Christ 2008. Andy Crouch shared the vision for the Christian Scholars Series through the lens of Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2008). Playing God: Redeeming the Gift of Power (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2013) sent me to New York City for a 1-day Q Conference. My first response to the Advance Reader Copy of Strong and Weak: Embracing a Life of Love, Risk and True Flourishing (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, March 2016) was “Amazing!” What a joy to share that it’s now available by e-book 🙂 Andy Crouch begins Strong and Weak by offering the two questions that “haunt every human life, and every human community. . . .
What are we meant to be? . . . Why are we so far from what we’re meant to be?”
A few pages later he offers the “simple” purpose of his book, to offer “how to embrace the life for which we were made—life that embraces the paradox of flourishing, that pursues greater authority and greater vulnerability at the same time.” Stay tuned for more on the new release. In the mean time enjoy Andy providing a glimpse of his model for leadership that leads to true flourishing: Authority with vulnerability.
Amen! To God be the glory!
About the author:
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!
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