Category: events

Posted on

Changing the Narrative

creationcareFunny. Our Facebook advertisement for the ‘Creation Care, Climate Change, and the Gospel’ was initially rejected (until we finish a verification process) because it was a political issue. Kudos to Facebook for trying to reign in the wild west of social media advertising. And, of course, they are right – climate change is a political issue now. What isn’t? Education? That’s political. The arts? Political. Family? Political. So it’s not surprising that it’s deemed political. But, don’t forget it’s also theological and spiritual!

Part of the narrative as it relates to evangelicals is that they have a very narrow band of issues they are concerned about, usually centered around issues related to family, marriage, the unborn, or religious liberties. This list, according to the popular narrative, almost never includes issues like the environment, clean energy, climate change, or the anything of the sort.

Younger evangelicals are helping to change that narrative. Not only are they calling the church to a godly concern for creation, but to action. Part of this call is to realize that we are to seek the ‘good of the city’ while we reside in it. Part of it is to know and understand that as part of the People of God, we ought to love and care for what God loves and cares for. This undoubtedly includes his Creation!

Come hear more from Rev. Kyle Meyaard-Schaap (bio), National Spokesperson for Young Evangelicals for Climate Action (YECA), on April 3rd, 7:30pm. There will be a time of Q&A after the lecture and light refreshments before and after.

Posted on

Creation Care, Climate Change, and The Gospel, Kyle Meyaard-Schaap

We are very excited to be hosting Rev. Kyle Meyaard-Schaap for a Trinity Fellowship Lecture, Wednesday, April 3rd, 7:30pm at Evangelical Community Church. Kyle is a graduate of Calvin College and Western Theological Seminary and serves as the Kyle_Profile_1National Organizer and Spokesperson for Y.E.C.A. – Young Evangelicals for Climate Action. and has been a steering committee member since 2013. Before going on staff at Y.E.C.A., Kyle served for four years as the Creation Care Coordinator at the Office of Social Justice for the Christian Reformed Church in North America, where he worked to educate and equip individuals and congregations to learn and act at the intersection of creation care and Christian faith.

The lecture will explore how the Christian faith leads us to a deeper concern for God’s earth and love for neighbor both at home and around the world, integration theology, science, and action. There will be a time of Q&A following the lecture.

Kyle has received numerous awards for his work, including being named in 2015 to Midwest Energy Group’s inaugural 40 Under 40 cohort for his work on climate change education and advocacy. He has been featured in national and international news outlets such as PBS, NPR, NBC News, Reuters, and U.S. News and World Report. He is married to Allison and resides in Grand Rapids, MI with their son Simon. In his free time, Kyle enjoys cooking, reading, and spending time outside in God’s beautiful creation.

Posted on

Conversation on the NT: Canonicity and Reliability, Part 3

Wednesday, October 24th, 7:30pm, ECC Room 18.

Dr. Steven Lulich will lead part three of our conversation on the New Testament and the formation of the canon. This week Dr. Lulich will guide an exploration of early church figures such as Origen, Irenaus and Tertullian (follow links for readings) and how the understood and contribute to the formation of the canon.

Audio from past lectures can be found on the Past Lectures page. Also past reading can be found on the blog posts for each lecture.

Posted on

Audio From Part 2 of Conversation on NT Canonicity and Reliability

NT CONVERSATIONSDr. Steven Lulich led an excellent exploration of the canon as it was developing in the early church. The audio is available to stream or download. To get the most out of this lecture, you may want to open the following documents, as Dr. Lulich works through each one in turn: Timeline, Eusebius Ecclesiastical History (III.24/25), Muratorian Fragment, and Early Canon Lists.

Part Three of the Conversation is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct 24th, 7:30pm.

Posted on

Part Two of Our Conversation on NT Canonicity and Reliability

Wednesday Night, 7:30pm, ECC Room 18.

This Wednesday, we pick up the conversation on New Testament Canonicity and Reliability. Dr. Steven Lulich will be the conversation leader this Wednesday, leading an exploration of the earliest explicit canon lists, including that of the great Early Church historian Eusebius of Caesaraea. Eusebius gives us a wonderful view not only of the books in the canon, but also of the logic behind the Church’s recognition of their canonicity in the decades before the Council of Nicaea and the conversion of Emperor Constantine. If you can, take a few minutes and read through these five pages from Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History.

The audio for part one is available for stream or download.

Posted on

Chapter’s on NT for discussion.

NT CONVERSATIONSThis coming Wednesday, Bob Whitaker and Steven Lulich will kick off the discussion on the New Testament, wrestling with questions related to canonicity and reliability. Week one, the discussion will revolve around F.F. Bruce’s book, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable. Chapter one and two are available here.

This Wednesday is the first part of a 4-part exploration of these questions and others related to the New Testament.  These conversations will be held on four Wednesday nights (September 26th, October 10 & 24, and November 7) at 7:30 pm, Room 18 at ECC.

Posted on

Thinking About Faith Discussion Group

Thinking About Faith is a discussion group that is sponsored by TFIU. This term it will meet every other Wednesday 7-8:30pm, starting tomorrow night, Sept. 5th. We discuss short readings at the intersection of Christian faith and culture that are accessible to everyone but that have something thoughtful and provocative to say. Theology, philosophy, history, science, fiction, poetry, art, and cultural reflections are all fair game.
Who’s welcome to join in? Anyone. We have many IU faculty, staff, and grad students with a few non-IU folks and undergrads occasionally sprinkled in. We welcome both people who feel firmly rooted in their faith and their understanding of Christian teaching and those who have doubts and questions to varying degrees. We also welcome people who have distanced themselves from their childhood faith but want to take another look in the company of others who will respect and welcome them as they are. Our hope is to create an environment where people can be honest and open with each other and come to meetings expecting to be challenged in constructive, faith-maturing ways. And, finally, yes, it’s ok to be an irregular attender, and you wouldn’t be the only one!
If you are interested, please contact the host, IU philosophy professor Tim O’Connor (toconnor@indiana.edu), for location and other info.