For Immediate Release

(Madison, WI) — Across the country millions of students are back in school following summer vacation, ready to learn more about the fascinatingly complex world that God has created and God’s creation has populated. But how will they use the information they accumulate to change and improve the world in which they live?

With the theme of Human Flourishing, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship’s Following Christ 2008 conference is focused on helping Christians to be God’s redeeming influence in the world. The conference is sponsored by InterVarsity’s Graduate & Faculty Ministries and InterVarsity Press, and will be held in Chicago from December 27-31, 2008. Following Christ 2008 is open not only to graduate students and faculty members but also to career-focused undergrads and working professionals who are interested in learning more about what it means to follow Jesus as a working professional or academic.

Christians who work in business, the courts, government, the arts, communications, medicine, engineering, the sciences, theology, and academia will gather in track-specific seminars to hear from leaders in their fields who are committed followers of Jesus Christ. Plenary speakers at Following Christ 2008 include Francis Collins, the director of the Human Genome Project; Jeff Van Duzer, Dean of the School of Business and Economics at Seattle Pacific University; Carmen Acevedo Butcher, a professor of English and Scholar-in-Residence at Shorter College in Rome, Georgia; and N. T. Wright, the Anglican bishop of Durham and a leading New Testament scholar.

In addition, as part of Following Christ 2008, the Bosscher-Hammond Prizes will be awarded. The Bosscher-Hammond prizes are a juried competition aimed at encouraging the integration of faith, learning, and practice. Three winning submissions, projects demonstrating creative integration of faith, learning, and practice, will receive $2,000 cash prizes during the conference.

The prizes are named after Peter Bosscher and Pete Hammond. Peter Bosscher was a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who passed away on November 18, 2007. He had a passion for helping people and in 2002 he initiated a chapter of Engineers Without Borders at the UW-Madison. Pete Hammond is a retired senior staff member and vice president-at-large with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. He led InterVarsity’s Ministry in Daily Life Resource Group, formerly known as Marketplace.

Following Christ 2008 will be held at the Marriott Magnificent Mile in downtown Chicago. A list of the specific tracks that are being offered, registration details and additional information is available online at www.followingchrist.org.

For more information:
Gordon Govier
608-443-3688

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