Track Leadership

Stephen A. Hayner, Chair

Steve Hayner is the Peachtree Associate Professor of Church Growth at Columbia Theological Seminary and Scholar-in-Residence at Peachtree Presbyterian Church. He is working with two new church planting teams in Atlanta and currently serves on a number of national and international boards, including World Vision, International Justice Mission, Christian International Scholarship Foundation, and Presbyterian Global Fellowship. Steve has been an ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church (USA) for over 35 years and has served three churches in Seattle and Madison, Wisconsin. In addition to working for local churches, Steve served as President of InterVarsity for thirteen years and as Vice President for Student Life at Seattle Pacific University. He received a degree in English Literature from Whitman College, an M.T.S. in Semitic languages and literature from Harvard University, a Th.M. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in Old Testament from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. Steve is married to Sharol, and they have three children and one granddaughter.

Program Summary

Is there room at Following Christ for people who aren’t sure they believe in Christ in the first place? Absolutely. This event is for anyone intrigued by the challenge of Jesus and its implications for academic and professional work — whether that interest takes the form of faith or not. The “Doubting Jesus” track, in particular, is an excellent place for people whose relationship to God includes a dimension of unbelief, large or small. We’ll foster a hospitable place for honest conversation (both hearing and being heard) as well as a place to take a good look at Jesus himself. What can we learn about belief and unbelief from the man who himself exclaimed, “My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?”

Track Presenters

Andy Crouch (M.Div., Boston University School of Theology) is editorial director of the Christian Vision Project at Christianity Today International. He served as executive producer for the documentary films Where Faith and Culture Meet and Round Trip. He also sits on the editorial board for Books & Culture and has been a columnist for Christianity Today. His writing has appeared in several editions of The Best Christian Writing and The Best Spiritual Writing. He was editor-in-chief of re:generation quarterly and for ten years served as a campus minister with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at Harvard University. A classically trained musician who draws on pop, folk, rock, jazz, and gospel, Crouch has also led musical worship for congregations of 5 to 20,000.

Ben DeVan is Instructor in Religion at Peace College, a women’s college in Raleigh, NC. He also taught humanities, philosophy, and African-American literature for six years at North Carolina Central University, a historically black college in Durham, NC. Ben has written for Books & Culture, Christian Apologetics Journal, and The Asbury Theological Journal, and contributed a chapter on Martin Luther King Jr. to How to Get a Life: Empowering Wisdom for the Heart and Soul (Humanics Press, 2003). He is currently working on a book about prayer and the holy desire for flourishing relationships with God and other people. Ben received his M.A. in Counseling from Asbury Theological Seminary and his M.Div. from Duke University.