The Church needs a stake among scholars. Christians must actively engage in the work of nurturing professors, authors, administrators and students to contend for and apply biblical truth in the marketplace of culture-shaping ideas—today’s equivalent of the Athens Areopagus (Acts 17:19-34). In the words of the Lausanne Cape Town Commitment, because of the rise of
‘postmodern, relativist pluralism [which] allows for no absolute or universal truth, . . . we need to identify, equip and pray for those who can engage at the highest intellectual and public level in arguing for and defending biblical truth,’ and we must ‘equip all believers with the courage and the tools to relate the truth . . . to everyday public conversation, and so to engage every aspect of the culture we live in.’ The Cape Town Commitment II-A
Christian academics are called to promote the good, true, and beautiful through their research and teaching. This in turn helps those in the university and beyond understand the gospel is plausible and truly good news, accelerating the proclamation of the gospel to every person. Christian professors also shape Christian students who will in turn have great influence in their professions and nations. In this way they play a vital role in helping provide Christlike leaders for every church and sector of society, leading to disciple-making churches for every people and place and kingdom impact in every sphere of society. Therefore, we dare not neglect the Academy as we are engaged in God’s Missio Dei.
However, only a small handful of universities have ministries geared toward equipping Christian faculty, administrators, graduate students, or postdocs to share and defend biblical truth in such a milieu, or to engage in culture-making in God-honoring ways. Often staff in these academic ministries have little contact with peers who share their calling to ministry among scholars. Furthermore, Christian scholars often feel isolated as well, especially if not connected with an academic ministry.
To respond to these needs, a network of those ministering to scholars is imperative, as well as a network to connect scholars with one another and with academic ministries. In forming this network, we seek to advance the vision of the Cape Town Commitment: ‘Bearing witness to the truth of Christ in a pluralistic, globalized world’ within the academic sphere.
To this end, the aims of the Academic Ministry & Educators Network are to:
1. Connect academic ministry staff and pastors ministering among scholars in order to collaborate on joint projects that are mutually beneficial, and share ideas, materials, and strategies to help one another be more effective in academic ministry.
2. Connect those called to higher education as scholars (including graduate students, postdocs, instructors, scholars, and administrators) with one another and helpful academic ministries.
Network Catalysts
Subscribe to the Network
Get the latest content from Lausanne delivered straight to your inbox