January update
“The patio is temporarily out of service”
Dear friends,
Like much of the country, Michigan has been in the grip of winter’s chill for the past month. Amid sub-zero temperatures and fresh layers of snow, the Center has provided students with a warm and hospitable community fueled by lively conversation, hot coffee, and warm chocolate chip cookies. In addition to Christian community, a number of activities have been ramping up in these first few weeks of the semester as the Center lives out its calling as a vibrant Christian learning community at the University of Michigan. The images below will provide you with a taste of the new semester at the Center.
Fostering Christian thinking in the academy
Last night, a full crowd at the Center heard historian John Fea, Distinguished Professor of History at Messiah University, speak at our first public event of the semester. John’s topic, “Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?” is especially relevant in this, the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. A recording of the event is available here.
Our first three “Thinking Christianly, Living Faithfully” Friday lunches have featured professors in Education and the Visual Arts and an interview with two university upperclassmen on how their Christian faith has shaped their university experiences. You can listen to these conversations on the Friday lunch weekly podcast.
Dr. Jamaal Sharif Matthews
Friday lunch soup and salad bar
MCSC Program in Christian Studies
Each Wednesday morning, students meet with instructor Dave Paladino for "Christian Life and Calling," the capstone course of the Center’s two-year sequence of classes in Bible, Theology, Christian history, and Christian living that provide a Christian foundation for students’ U of M degrees.
Cultivating faculty community
Earlier this month, the Center hosted a book launch event for one of our key faculty members, Isaac Wingfield, who has just published Together: Why We Need the Local Church. Next week we host our first faculty gathering of the semester, a discussion of a text on faith/learning integration.
Small group Christian formation
In between the “micro” of Christian hospitality and the “macro” of public events and classes, the Center also draws on the uniquely formative power of small groups. Next week, Director of Spiritual Care Kristin Wong is launching “Life Lab,” a weekly gathering to explore simple practices that can aid spiritual growth based on Justin Earley’s book, The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction. Also underway are Winter Term book discussion groups on Miroslav Wolf’s new book, The Cost of Ambition and C.S. Lewis’s classic text, The Great Divorce.
Finally, on behalf of all of us at the Center, I want to express my sincere gratitude for a successful 2025 year-end giving campaign. Your generous support enables us to explore how we can continue to grow prudently—a question that will comprise a key topic of discussion at next month’s MCSC Board of Directors meeting. The Center has become a thriving Christian community, with hundreds of students coming through our doors every week. We have barely scratched the surface, however, of potential influence at this premier research university of more than 50,000 students. With God’s continued blessing and your ongoing partnership, we look forward to an increasing Christian presence at the University of Michigan.
Blessings,
Rick
Dr. Rick Ostrander
Executive Director
Michigan Christian Study Center
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
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