HoneyRock—Outdoor Center for Leadership Development of Wheaton college
Director: Rob Ribbe ’87, M.A. ’90, assistant professor of Christian formation and ministry
HoneyRock, Wheaton’s Outdoor Center for Leadership Development, sent faculty and graduate students to the Christian Camp and Conference Association (CCCA) National Conference this fall in Nashville, Tennessee, where Dr. Rob Ribbe ’87, M.A. ’90, Dr. Muhia Karianjahi M.A. ’03, Ms. Rachael Cyrus M.A. ’15, Dr. Barrett McRay ’83, M.A. ’86, M.A. ’95, Psy.D. ’98, and Dr. Rich Butman ’73 presented seminars on their research project on “The Impact of Summer Employment on Camp Staff.”
Twenty-one full-time graduate students are enrolled in the Outdoor and Adventure Leadership graduate program, and HoneyRock launched the second year of the Vanguard Gap Year in fall 2016. During 2016, nearly 1,000 Wheaton students participated in Passage, graduate school programs, Summer Leadership School (SLS), and retreats. During fall 2016, HoneyRock launched a Fellows program, a post-college gap year program to assist graduates with discerning their vocational future as it relates to camp and outdoor ministry.
Learn more on HoneyRock's website.
The Marion E. Wade Center
Interim Director: Marjorie Lamp Mead ’74, M.A. ’06, executive editor of VII: Journal of the Marion E. Wade Center
The Marion E. Wade Center released Volume 32 of VII: Journal of the Marion E. Wade Center in July 2016, featuring two previously unpublished pieces by C. S. Lewis. Also in 2016, an ornate wooden chest that belonged to Charles Williams was donated to the Wade Center and is now part of the museum along with the Lewis Family Wardrobe and the writing desks of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. In December, Dr. Timothy Larsen ’89, M.A. ’90 delivered the first of three lectures as part of the 2016-17 Ken and Jean Hansen Lectureship titled “The Rose Fire: George MacDonald in the Age of Miracles.” The second and third talks will occur in the Bakke Auditorium on February 2 and March 23.
This winter, two volumes of writings by Dr. Clyde Kilby, founder of the Wade Center, will be published by Paraclete Press. The first book will release in December and feature Kilby’s insights on the seven Wade Center authors, and a second volume on Christian art, literature and aesthetics will be published in January 2017.
Learn more on the Wade Center's website.
Center for Urban Engagement (CUE)
Director: Dr. Noah Toly ’99, M.A. ’12, professor of urban studies and politics & international relations; director of Urban Studies program
The Center for Urban Engagement's (CUE) Urban Leadership Fellows shared international summer experiences, staffed Passage’s Urban Track, and led vocational discernment groups this semester in Chicago. On campus, CUE hosted Blair Kamin, architecture critic for the Chicago Tribune and author of Gates of Harvard Yard (Princeton Architectural Press, 2016), and Kristen Johnson, co-author of The Justice Calling: Where Passion Meets Perseverance (Brazos Press, 2016), on campus during fall 2016. Kristen also met with Wheaton in Chicago students for community dinner and to discuss her book. Also this fall, Wheaton in Chicago students and faculty attended the Christian Community Development Association’s conference in Los Angeles, California, and CUE served as an official co-sponsor of a side event at Habitat III (the Third United Nations Conference on Housing & Sustainable Urban Development) in Quito, Ecuador. This January, Efrem Smith, president of World Impact, will lecture and address chapel on the call of the impoverished and enslaved, and February will bring Katie Day ’73, author of Faith on the Avenue: Religion on a City Street (Oxford University Press, 2014). CUE added four Community Engagement Council members this year: Freddy Flores, Rebekah King ’12, Randy Heinig ’93, and Charlie Moffett ’68.
Learn more on CUE's website.
Center for Applied Christian Ethics (CACE)
Director: Dr. Vincent Bacote, associate professor of theology
Wheaton's Center for Applied Christian Ethics (CACE) hosted
numerous speakers and events this semester. James K. A. Smith spoke on “A Postmodern Saint?: Augustine in France,” and Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption (Random House, 2014) and founder of Equal Justice Initiative, addressed over 700 participants. CACE and the Artist Series co-hosted a concert featuring music and dance by Max ZT and Andrew Nemr, and Dr. Vincent Bacote was a respondent to “How (Not) To Have A Foot in Both Kingdoms: Protestant Models for Christian Citizenship.”
CACE and the Dean of the Humanities Department also welcomed Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger and Palestinian activist Ali Abu Awwad to address “Painful Hope: Unlikely Partners for Peace,” ethicist Myles Werntz spoke on “Immigration, God’s People and Christian Moral Vision” at the Christian Moral Formation Lectureship, and CNN Political Reporter Eugene Scott lectured on “The Role of Faith in the 2016 Presidential Election.”
Learn more on CACE's website.
BILLY GRAHAM CENTER FOR EVANGELISM (BGCE)
Executive Director: Dr. Ed Stetzer, Billy Graham Distinguished Chair of Church, Missions, and Evangelism
The Billy Graham Center for Evangelism (BGCE) welcomed John Richards as managing director in September. Focused on leading the conversation on evangelism, the BGCE has launched two initiatives: the Billy Graham Center Fellows, which will bring together academics to collaborate and create resources on best practices in evangelism; and the Evangelism Leaders Coalition, intended to bring denominational and network evangelism leaders together to network and learn from each other. Both groups met for the first time in December. The Center also partnered with NewChurches.com and Lifeway Research to provide oversight to the Church Planting Leadership Fellowship. The Evangelism Initiative continues to expand to Christian colleges and universities, with over two dozen having adopted some form of the Initiative, which seeks to create an ethos of evangelism through all levels of campus life. The Center also continues to build out its offerings of evangelism training resources through the Gospel Life blog and the Gospel Life YouTube channel.
Learn more on the BGCE's website.
Opus: The Art of Work
Director: Dr. Chris Armstrong; Assistant Director: Ben Norquist
Opus sent eleven students last summer to Praxis Academy, an intensive workshop for young Christians preparing to be future entrepreneurs. Last October, Opus co-sponsored Vocation Week, a multi-part event including three chapels and a panel on discovering calling by serving others. Opus also launched a brand new seminar in fall 2016 designed to help staff and faculty form common ground, learn from each other as Wheaton employees engaged in diverse jobs, and work together on their approach to mentoring students for clearer vocational direction. The Theology of Vocation Project continues into its second year as selected faculty research aspects of vocation and human flourishing within their disciplines—their papers will be made available to the Wheaton community. As a continued priority to help faculty mentor students toward vocational wisdom, Opus brought faculty to the Faith & Work Summit in Dallas and to Tim Keller’s Faith and Work Conference in Manhattan.
Learn more on Opus' website.
Wheaton Center for Faith, Politics & Economics (FPE)
Director: Captain David Iglesias ’80, Judge Advocate General’s Corps, United States Navy (Ret.)
The Wheaton Center for Faith, Politics & Economics hosted Justin B. Dyer and Micah J. Watson in October. They spoke on their new book, C. S. Lewis on Politics and the Natural Law (Cambridge University Press, 2016). A panel on “The State of Religious Liberties in America” on December 6 examined the question, “What is the state of religious liberties in America?” and discussed trends in light of two recent Supreme Court cases. Speakers included Kassi Dulin, Rich Baker, Al Gombis, and Jennifer Marshall. The 2017 Iron Sharpens Iron immersion program will explore the interaction between public policy and the economy in a post-communist era. The destination for this eight-week course is Eastern Europe / Baltic States.
Learn more on FPE's website.