The 2008 Midwest Faculty Conference
Reflections, pictures, and comments from the 2008 Midwest Faculty Conference.
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The next Midwest Faculty Conference will be held at Cedar Campus, June 20-26, 2009. We are pleased to announce that our featured speaker will be Dr. John Sommerville, professor emeritus of English history at the University of Florida, and author of The Decline of the Secular University (Oxford, 2006) and How the News Makes Us Dumb: The Death of Wisdom in an Information Age (InterVarsity Press, 1999).
Our third annual Midwest Faculty Conference took place June 21-27, 2008, at Cedar Campus (InterVarsity Christian Fellowship conference center on Lake Huron in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula). The highlight of our week together was a four part lecture series by Dallas Willard, Professor of Philosophy at University of Southern California, and well know author of several influential books for a general audience about Christian spirituality. Dallas tackled the issue of the relationship of faith to knowledge in the academy and wider culture in a way that was brimming with insight and wisdom for all of us. We will soon be posting audio recordings of these lectures and a brief video clip of one of the best moments from these lectures on the Faculty Ministry website.
Terry Morrison, veteran IVCF staff and Emeritus Director of Faculty Ministry, gave two very helpful lectures that related what he has learned over many years about the qualities of life required in faculty for them to flourish personally, spiritually, and vocationally. And Mary Poplin, Professor of Education at the Claremont Graduate School, helped us grasp the importance of teaching the truth, the whole truth indeed, to our students.
Our conference was not only stimulating intellectually and professionally for the faculty present. It was also a wonderful time of vacation and Sabbath for faculty and their families. The good folk from Cedar Campus put on a wonderful children’s program that gave the children among us a wonderful time, but also freed parents to participate in the conference program and enjoy some uninterrupted time together as couples. You can see from the photographs below something of the beauty of Cedar Campus as a place to enjoy and delight in our God’s good creation.
One final encouragement to us in the IVCF Faculty Ministry is that this faculty conference will begin to be offered as we go forward under the Lord’s good hand in other regions of the country. After a pilot conference this past summer at Campus by the Sea on Catalina Island in California we expect to offer a West-Coast Faculty Conference next summer. And God is helping us look for similar conferences at venues near(er) you. |
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The best endorsements we could ask for come from conference participants themselves. Here are some of the comments we received from evaluations of this year’s Midwest Faculty Conference, along with photos taken by people who were there. Scroll over the photos to read more about the photo and the photographer.
“One of my favorite memories of last summer’s faculty conference took place one weekday afternoon. A loosely organized group hiked out to Narnia, one of the lovely trails at Cedar Campus, on a beautiful summer day. The pace was easy-going and it was pleasant to talk to people along the way. When we reached our destination we took time to sit on the rocks and enjoy the blue skies, warm sunshine and quiet setting. Howard Van Cleave brought out a few paintbrushes, some tubes of water color paints, a plastic plate and a few smooth rocks. Howard handed out rocks and showed us how to create a lighthouse watercolor drawing. Howard broke the plate into small pieces so we each had our own paint palette and we used the holes in the rocks for our waterpots. When my rock didn’t look so good, Howard took time to encourage, suggest, add a little and teach me a little more. I am thankful that God, through his earthly family, provides new ways to slow down, be quiet and enjoy his beauty.”
 “After about seven years of experiencing angst due to not knowing how to be an agent of change for the Kingdom as a faculty member in a secular university (yet feeling drawn to that environment), I finally got a glimpse of a vision for my life as a Christian academic. At one point, the Holy Spirit was stirring inside of me so much that I could hardly sit still and concentrate. I have a renewed fire and passion in me, and I’m looking forward to the opportunities that the Lord will bring my way during the next 35+ years (God willing!) in the academy.”
“I found the Faculty Conference to be a great place to learn, to enjoy creation, to rest, to worship with kindred spirits, to network, and to pray.”
“In contrast to my academic conferences, from which I come back exhausted, I’m returning home refreshed.”
“Faculty camp afforded me the opportunity to engage fully my mind and my heart in the context of my academic calling. The teaching times stretched my mind and the setting provided me with the opportunity to reflect on the material and process the information in a spirit of contemplation and rest.”
“I knew I’d enjoy the week, but now, at week’s end, I see how very much I needed this week!”
“The Intervarsity Faculty Conference has been the perfect vacation for our family! For two years we have enjoyed respite from the rat-race of the academy and our family is better for it.”
“The topic, the speakers, the pace and the meals were all wonderful.”
“Outstanding, stimulating presentations. Wonderful set of kindred spirits. Great opportunity to explore relevant books.”
“A valuable time for reflection and preparation.”
“This is the best family vacation site we’ve ever attended. The counselors were fantastic with our children and the sense of community here genuinely enabled us to truly relax.”
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