About 18 months ago, I stepped down from my position as Associate Director of the Emerging Scholars Network and handed the reins over to my faithful coworker Tom Grosh. I kept my toe in the world of campus ministry by continuing to write for InterVarsity and leading a seminar at Urbana, but at the end of this month, I'm going to be stepping down (again) from my role as a blog contributor to focus on my new full-time job as web manager for a Cincinnati-based manufacturing company. It's an unusual career move, but most of … [Read more...] about What Is Ministry?
regent college
Sorrow, Joy, and Academic Community on 9/11
I was ready to write my second post about T.M. Luhrmann's When God Talks Back when memories of this day intruded. September 11 is a complicated day for me. Here's what I wrote back in 2007: [On Sept. 11, 2001], I met Debbie Erickson on the way to our first Hebrew class of the year at Regent College. We were both biking down University Drive at about 7:30 am PST. “Have you heard?” Debbie asked me. By that time, both towers have come down. Because I had not turned on a TV or radio that morning, this is the first time … [Read more...] about Sorrow, Joy, and Academic Community on 9/11
A Hymn for Good Friday
What are your favorite worship traditions of Holy Week and Easter? For me, I love singing "Christ the Lord is Ris'n Today" on Easter morning, along with "Were You There?" anytime of year. Last Sunday —Palm Sunday —my family took part in an old tradition that was new to us: processing around the church sanctuary waving palm branches to celebrate Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. Though our small Lutheran church in suburban Kentucky has little in common with Jerusalem, it became Jerusalem symbolically for a few minutes on … [Read more...] about A Hymn for Good Friday
Reading Lists and Primary Literature
In my post last week about advice for undergraduates, Katie Weakland shared a comment that I thought was particularly apt: I suggest meeting your major professors early in your career - your first semester - and asking them to mentor you and/or let you do research with them. The early you can get your feet wet with research the better. I also suggest reading the primary literature in your field as soon as possible. Meeting your professors and starting research early are both very important (I have stories I could … [Read more...] about Reading Lists and Primary Literature