Christ & Culture Lectures

Trinity Church hosts these lectures annually. There is no charge to attend although donations are accepted. No childcare is offered for these evening lectures. Location Information.

 

2023 Speaker: Karen Swallow Prior

Karen Swallow Prior, Ph. D., is Research Professor of English and Christianity and Culture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. She is an author of numerous books, a Senior Fellow at many distinguished organizations, and her writing has been featured in countless news publications.
Friday: The Virtues of Reading Well: How Good Stories Develop Our Character and Soul
Saturday: The Evangelical Christian Imagination: Can Good Ideas Gone Bad Be Redeemed?

 

2022 Speaker: Jeremy Begbie

Christ & Culture Lecture featuring Jeremy Begbie was Fri and Sat, Nov 11-12, 2022. Jeremy is a Thomas A. Langford Distinguished Research Professor of Theology at Duke University and a Lecturer at Cambridge University.  He is ordained in the Church of England and is a professionally trained musician. Jeremy is the author of numerous books and articles on music and theology. The lectures are free, open to the public, and seats are first come first serve.

 

2021 Speaker: Mako Fujimura - Cancelled

Mako Fujimura, artist, speaker, writer - 2021 Christ & Culture Lectures speaker

Makoto Fujimura (b. 1960, Boston) is a leading contemporary artist whose process driven, refractive “slow art” has been described by David Brooks of New York Times as “a small rebellion against the quickening of time”. Fujimura is also an arts advocate, writer, and speaker who is recognized worldwide as a cultural influencer. His books “Refractions” (NavPress) and “Culture Care” (IVPress) reflects many of his thesis on arts advocacy. His books have won numerous awards including the Aldersgate Prize for "Silence and Beauty" (IVPress). A popular speaker, he has lectured at numerous conferences, universities, and museums.His Commencement addresses has received notable attention, being selected by NPR as one of the "Best Commencement Addresses Ever".

2020 Speaker: Cancelled due to COVID-19

2019 Speaker: Malcolm Guite

Fri, April 5, 2019, 7 PM  "An Unexpected Music: How poetry can surprise us and deepen our faith"
In this lecture Malcolm Guite will open up a beautiful and accessible poems by Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney, and show how it might help us to hear ‘a music we never would have known to listen for’ and bring a renewal to our faith. No registration needed. Held at Petra Academy in the Performance Hall.

Sat, April 6, 10 AM "Songs and Sonnets" Malcolm Guite will be leading a poetry reading and discussion at the home of Laef & Anne Olson. Due to the smaller, more intimate venue, you MUST register to reserve a seat if you plan to attend. There are only 60 seats available. Please register one person per form entry. Thank you! Those who register will receive an email with location directions.

Sat, April 6, 2019, 7 PM  "The Word Made Flesh: Poetry and Incarnation"
In this lecture Malcolm will show how the poetic imagination can shed new light on a central tenet of our Faith, That God became Man for us in Christ. Drawing on the Gospel of John and on writers from Shakespeare to CS Lewis he will show how the poetic imagination bears witness to what God is doing for us in Christ. No registration needed. Held at Petra Academy in the Performance Hall.

Malcolm Guite is an English poet and singer-songwriter, Anglican priest, and academic.

2018 Speaker: Wesley Hill

Fri, March 23, 2018, 7 PM “Between Presumption and Despair: Christian Sexuality in the Overlap of the Ages.”

Video | Audio

Sat, March 24, 2018, 7 PM  “A Better Way for Churches at Odds?: Engaging the ‘Sexuality Debates’ More Christianly.”

Video | Audio

Wesley Hill (PhD, University of Durham) is assistant professor of biblical studies at Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, and author of the much-discussed book “Washed and Waiting: Reflections on Christian Faithfulness and Homosexuality”. He is on the editorial board and is a columnist for “Christianity Today”. He also contributes to “Books & Culture” and “First Things”.


2017 Speaker: Ken Myers

Fri, March 24, 2017, 7 PM “Beyond Moralism: The Gospel’s Take on What Things Are (and Not Just How to Behave)”

Video

Sat, March 25, 2017, 7 PM “Counter-cultural Is Not Enough: Resident Aliens and the Promise of the Resurrection”

Audio | Video

Ken Myers is the host and producer of  Mars Hill Audio. He has interviewed hundred of leading scholars and public intellectuals on their areas of cultural expertise. He writes a regular column for Touchstone magazine and is the author of All God’s Children and Blue Suede Shoes: Christians and Popular Culture (2nd ed., Crossway, 2012). He also writes frequently for various publications, many of which are available online. Ken Myers lives in the rolling countryside of central Virginia north of Charlottesville with his wife, Kate, and daughter, Susannah. His son, Jonathan, lives with his family in Washington State.


2016 Speaker: Rod Dreher

Fri, April 8, 2016, 7PM “Into A Dark Wood: How Western Civilization Lost Christianity”
Audio | Video

Sat, April 9, 2016, 7PM “The Benedict Option: Resistance, Resilience, and Resurrection in the New Dark Age”
Audio | Video

Rod Dreher is a writer and journalist whose writing primarily focuses on religion and culture. He is a senior editor of The American Conservative, and author of several books, including Crunchy ConsThe Little Way of Ruthie Leming, and How Dante Can Save Your Life. Dreher has written for the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, USA Today, the BBC, and many other publications. He is an Orthodox Christian who lives with his wife and three children in St. Francisville, LA.


2015 Speaker: James K. A. Smith

Fri, April 10, 2015, 7PM “Spiritual But Not Religious? Longing for Transcendence in a Secular Age”
Audio | Video

Sat, April 11, 2015, 7PM “You Are What You Love: Worship as the Heart of Discipleship”
Audio

James K.A. Smith is professor of philosophy at Calvin College where he also teaches in the department of congregational & ministry studies and serves as a research fellow of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship.  His numerous publications include Who’s Afraid of Postmodernism?, Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation, Letters to a Young Calvinist, andThinking in Tongues: Pentecostal Contributions to Christian Philosophy. Jamie and his wife, Deanna, have 4 children and are committed urban dwellers who make their home in the East Hills neighborhood of Grand Rapids, MI.

 

Questions about the Christ & Culture Lecture Series? Talk with Gregg Valeriano (406-570-9740).