This week, it is our executive director, Rick Ostrander’s turn to be in the interview chair. Rick sits down with the center's Julie Magro, director of operations and advancement, for a summer conversation.

Julie questions Rick about the nature of a Christian study center, how the Michigan Christian Study Center came to be, and what life is like as the director of a relatively new startup organization.

This week, we feature an engaging conversation with Stephanie Goetz, a lecturer in Spanish at the U of M. Stephanie shares her fascinating story of how traveling to Spain as a college student led to her own spiritual reawakening. She also explains how she views teaching Spanish as a way to minister to students spiritually and to extend the love of Christ to others.

Michael Buist, clinical assistant professor of anesthesiology at Michigan Medicine, is intimately familiar with human suffering. In our conversation, Michael shared how his Christian faith motivated his interest in alleviating human pain and how it enables him to minister to patients in some of their most vulnerable times in life.

This Good Friday, we had a conversation with Sean White, a UM alum who serves as the Director of Strategy and Partnerships at Michigan Central. Sean shared about his time as a student at Michigan, how God called him back to himself, and his eventual move to Detroit and work at Michigan Central.

This week, we welcomed political science professor Brian Min, who spoke about how his experiences growing up and working on his PhD led to his current work studying the relationship between energy access and poverty.

This week, we speak with Becky Schrotenboer, an interior designer and head of a charitable foundation in West Michigan. She provided students with a vivid example of how Christians can serve God in various professions. Also, having experienced a number of unexpected tragedies and hardships, she affirmed to students that "living faithfully" means trusting God in life's valleys as well as life's triumphs.

This week we were joined by Gabe Kasper, lead pastor at University Lutheran Chapel in Ann Arbor. As a young person, Gabe's dream was a star in a punk rock band, but God steered him to pastoral ministry instead. In his typical, lively style, Gabe discusses with us the joys and challenges of pastoral ministry and the importance of maintaining an active intellectual life as a Christian.

Our Friday lunch guest was Dave Brzezinski, teaching professor in the U of M School of Medicine. Our main topic was faith and science: We discussed Dave’s own spiritual journey as a believer and a scientist, issues of potential tension between faith and science, and how students at Michigan can deal with subjects (or professors) that may challenge their faith.

This week we spoke with Dr. Bethany Hughes, a professor of American Culture at Michigan who also serves as director of the Native American Studies Program at the U of M. Like many Christian scholars, Bethany straddles the world of academia--in which Christians are sometimes viewed with suspicion--and the church, where studying subjects such as racial and cultural identity can sometimes raise eyebrows. She shared with students how her Christian faith enables her to perceive the humanity in others and "translate" across cultural and spiritual divides.

This week, Karl Hoesch, a current Associate at the organization “Partners for Public Good”, shared his story of an academic journey that began at Hope College and ended at U-M with a PhD in Resource Policy & Behavior. Karl spoke about how he felt God guiding his journey and how shared Christian values can motivate discussions and actions toward environmental policies and postures that benefit all of humanity.

This week, Ayanna McConnell, the president of the University of Michigan Alumni Association, joined us for Friday lunch. Ayanna shared her U-M journey with students, beginning as a student committed to meeting new people and experiencing the varied opportunities of a large university, to transitioning into her current role as a faithful leader interacting with alums across the world. She enjoyed engaging with students and encouraged them to be ready to apply their faith wherever the Lord leads.

Our guest this week was Isaac Wingfield, instructor of photography and the head of Visual Arts at the U-M Residential College. In our conversation, Isaac discusses how his passion for the visual arts originated and how he understands beauty from a Christian framework. He also talks about the prison Creative Arts program that he leads, which uses photography to restore a sense of identity and dignity to individuals in prison.

Associate Professor of Educational Studies, Jamaal Sharif Matthews, reflected on how Dr. Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” still speaks to the church today and how righteousness and justice form the axis of our relationship with God and other people.

Two MCSC students, senior Brady Nichols and junior Natalie Mouw, shared their reflections on how their Christian faith has impacted their lives as students at Michigan, the ways their faith has been challenged and grown, and the significance of the Michigan Christian Study Center to their U of M experience.

Kristin Wong, the MCSC Director of Spiritual and Community Life, shared her experience as a cello major at the U of M, her journey to becoming a Christian counselor, the importance of the spiritual disciplines, and how to cultivate Christ’s spirit of peace amid the stress of final exams.

Professor Thad Polk joined us for lunch on Friday. Students heard how Professor Polk became a Christian, landed at the University of Michigan, and has flourished as a professor here.

We were delighted to host Melodie Marske for our lunch conversation. Melodie is the Regional Director of Graduate and Faculty Ministries for Intervarsity Christian Fellowship. She shared how her time at Michigan transitioned into a calling to full-time ministry, and how people, prayer, and her church have sustained her through the years.

Our Friday lunch featured a fascinating conversation with Atlantic staff writer Tim Alberta, who shared how he ended up as a political journalist and his reflections on how we can navigate our current situation faithfully.

Our Friday lunch speaker this week was Joseph Ho, a historian at the University of Michigan who specializes in the history of Christianity in Asia. Joseph studies history using old photographs and films, and he brought with him to the Center a vintage camera from the mid-twentieth century—the same type that was used to take the famous photograph of U.S. marines raising the American flag at Iwo Jima in 1945. Students enjoyed hearing Joseph’s journey into academia.

This week we spoke to Paul Clyde, professor of business economics and public policy at the UM Ross School of Business. 

David Blaauw, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, for his Friday lunch conversation with students this week. Dr. Blaauw shared how he became a Christian and how engineering the world’s smallest computer stems from a sense of Christian calling and his desire to make a positive difference in the world through his work.

We were grateful to Kristin Collier for joining us this week. With grace and candor, Kristin shared her journey of faith and the changes that came with her conversion to Christianity, keeping students engaged long after lunch had ended.

Pete Dahlem joined us for Friday lunch. Pete came to Michigan as an atheist with the goal of graduating and becoming wealthy. But during his freshman year, his unbelief began to crumble, eventually leading to his conversion to Christianity with a new set of desires and goals. Pete also shared the beauties, benefits, and challenges of worshiping in a multicultural church.