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THE S T U DY C E NT E R
PAG E 1 S T H E ST U DY C E N T E R N E W S L E T T E R S P R I N G 2017
THIS ISSUE: A FAMILIAR FACE AT THE STUDY CENTER: INTRODUCING RICK CAMPANELLI
by Lisa Rohrer, page 3
DIVIDED POLITICS AND UNITED CHRISTIANS
by Fitz Green, page 7
GROWING THE STUDY CENTER INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
by Shelly Pellish, page 8
LOOSENING MY GRIP: A FOURTH YEAR REFLECTION
by Hannah Zachman, page 10
STUDY CENTER STAFF BILL WILDER
Executive Director bill@studycenter.net
LARISA ALEKSANDROV
Engagement + Program Assistant larisa@studycenter.net
RICK CAMPANELLI
Director of Graduate Ministries rick@studycenter.net
LANE COWIN
On the cover: Second year students Colter Corish, Connor Porco, Olivia Sanusi, Emily Snow, and Kate Edson take a break from studying for their fall 2016 finals to eat Exam Snacks. (Photo by Brittany Fan.)
The Study Center newsletter is published for our friends and supporters. University Christian Ministries, Inc. (dba Center for Christian Study) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation EIN 51-0192618.
Director of Undergraduate Ministries for Women lane@studycenter.net
FITZ GREEN
Director of Educational Ministries fitz@studycenter.net
JAY MCCABE
Director of Undergraduate Ministries for Men jay@studycenter.net
JOSH OSWALD
Hospitality + Program Assistant josh@studycenter.net
WE WANT TO SHARE LIFE WITH YOU!
TRISH OWEN
Librarian trish@studycenter.net
SHELLY PELLISH
Update your contact information online at
STUDYCENTERUVA.WUFOO.COM/FORMS/JOIN-OUR-MAILING-LIST/
Director of Administration + Development shelly@studycenter.net
DEBBIE RODRIGUEZ Director of Finance debbie@studycenter.net
LISA ROHRER
Development + Administrative Assistant lisa@studycenter.net
CARLY VANNESS
Hospitality + Program Assistant carly@studycenter.net
AMY ZELL
Director of Counseling Resources amy@studycenter.net
WHO WE ARE We are a non-profit education and outreach ministry serving the University of Virginia and Charlottesville since 1976. We seek to serve Jesus Christ by fostering the serious consideration in the university environment of a biblical worldview, and by encouraging and facilitating wise discussion of the Truth in light of the challenges of contemporary culture.
CONTACT US Get the latest information about upcoming lectures, events, and ways to get involved as a parent, alumni, or community member. PAG E 2 S T H E ST U DY C E N T E R N E W S L E T T E R S P R I N G 2017
Phone: (434) 817-1050 Email: info@studycenter.net Website: www.studycenter.net Instagram: @studycenteruva Facebook: studycenteruva Twitter: @StudyCenterUVA
A FAMILIAR FACE AT THE STUDY CENTER: INTRODUCING RICK CAMPANELLI
Lisa Rohrer Development and Administrative Assistant lisa@studycenter.net
In September 2016, Rick Campanelli joined the Center for Christian Study as our part-time Director of Graduate Ministries. His career in law, business, and public policy affords many touch points for engaging with Darden Christian Fellowship (DCF) and Law Christian Fellowship (LCF) students, but his relationship with the Study Center began much earlier, when he himself was in UVA undergrads’ shoes—studying for Professor Elzinga’s economics exam. Lisa Rohrer: What do you remember about the Study Center from its early days in the 70s and 80s? Rick Campanelli: When I came to UVA in the early 70s, the Study Center didn’t exist, but the ingredients and the genetics were there: Daryl Richman was doing what he always did—bringing people together in his humble, other-centered, and prayerful way; Ken Elzinga was teaching economics (he taught me) and offering students a humble example of the love of Christ.
There was a wonderful, growing, swirling, joyful mix of people who found themselves discovering—as strange as it sounds when you first hear it—that the God who created the universe and all of us loves each of us individually and personally. We shared a desire to speak that good news with the entire University community. We wanted to engage both our faith and the world with integrity, and to think well about these things together. I think that desire to understand and share the depth of the good news with the greater University community coalesced into the founding of the Study Center a few years later, in the mid-70s. LR: What has changed over the years at the Study Center? RC: There is so much going on now in so many places and across so many disciplines. The Study Center itself is a great place for people to come for a meeting, a lecture, or a series on some aspect of living out the Christian faith with integrity. But more than that, I see more all the time how the meetings and relationships formed at the Study Center impact the wider University community. The Faith, Reason, and Science small group is just one example of this. On Friday afternoons, people of faith, atheists, and agnostics meet to engage together on the roles and PAG E 3 S T H E ST U DY C E N T E R N E W S L E T T E R S P R I N G 2017
relationship of faith and science. A few weeks ago I gave a presentation on recent developments in human genetic engineering that could be used to modify the human species. We talked about the critical, moral questions that must be addressed if we are going to come to agreement on the limits that should exist for this kind of research (including, what is special or sacred about being human?). Dozens of meetings like this—where we grapple with the implications of faith and culture, and the implications of a culture devoid of faith—occur on hundreds of topics at the Study Center. And they continue to resonate in conversations, dinners, and coffees during the week across the University. LR: Can you walk us through some of your professional work (both in public policy and private law)? Where did you see God at work in these fields? RC: I’ve had a varied career—some might say it is checkered—in law and public policy. After I got my B.A. at UVA I decided to take a year off before going to law school, and that stretched into six years, including two in Northern Virginia volunteering with Young Life, and four in Vermont where I ran a program for kids in trouble. I loved the work, but after four years and lots of prayer I sensed it really was time to go to law school. Unlike some of my friends though, I didn’t sense a calling to any particular type of law or career path. I used to say that all I knew was that I was called to be at law school for that day. But I loved it. I even met my wife Shannon and we got married in those years. And I was part of the vibrant Law Christian Fellowship, supported in many ways by friends at the Study Center. I still have the joy of close fellowship with many of those LCF friends who had, and still have, a huge impact on my life. After law school I went to the Department of Justice and litigated unconstitutional conditions in prisons and mental health institutions. Then I worked in support of our policy to end apartheid in South Africa at the State Department before going back to the Department of Justice where I worked for the Attorney General. At each step of the way, Shannon and I—supported by our friends—tried to commit our path to the Lord, and He was more than faithful to us. After my government service I went into private practice with Gammon and Grange in Northern Virginia, serving as legal counsel to national and international nonprofits, including many ministries. I got to help in the startup of organizations I really loved, like Justice Fellowship and the International Justice Mission, and I got to advocate and litigate on religious freedom and pro-life issues. As much as I loved that work and the people I was working with, I had the unmistakable sense that the Lord was calling PAG E 4 S T H E ST U DY C E N T E R N E W S L E T T E R S P R I N G 2017
me to be open to something new. It came into view when I was asked to go back into government at the US Department of Health and Human Services, first as Director of the Office for Civil Rights, and then as Counselor to the Secretary. In ways I never could have planned, I was able to put my varied experiences to use by taking responsibility for issues like protecting against discrimination on the basis of disability and genetics, implementing policy on human embryonic stem cells, medical privacy, and welfare, and helping craft regulations protecting people who, for religious reasons, could not agree to perform medical procedures that violated their consciences. In all of these positions it was obvious to me that I needed to rely on the Lord for wisdom on the issues themselves, and for grace to demonstrate humility and respect for people of all different beliefs and political leanings, even as we pursued policies we felt were right. It was a challenge and a joy. LR: What kinds of classes are you teaching at UVA now, and how has your work prepared you to teach those classes? RC: At UVA’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy I teach Integrating Ethics in Public Policy. It is a privilege to teach the class, and I am passionate about the topic that forces us to ask the question, “How, in a pluralistic society, do we come to agreement on ethical and values questions, and then integrate them into our laws and policies?” We’ve come to the place where our society frequently laments the absence of ethical behavior in public life, and is concerned about the moral and values implications of where society is going. That’s not really new. But in
“IN ALL OF THESE POSITIONS IT WAS OBVIOUS TO ME THAT I NEEDED TO RELY ON THE LORD FOR WISDOM ON THE ISSUES THEMSELVES, AND FOR GRACE TO DEMONSTRATE HUMILITY AND RESPECT FOR PEOPLE OF ALL DIFFERENT BELIEFS AND POLITICAL LEANINGS, EVEN AS WE PURSUED POLICIES WE FELT WERE RIGHT. IT WAS A CHALLENGE AND A JOY.” the last few decades we have become increasingly reluctant to engage on these issues and address the moral values that underlie them. That’s a reluctance we need to overcome. My experience with disruptive new technologies at Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice convinced me that how we respond to rapid advances in technology— especially in biotechnology and in response to national security threats—will determine whether we use technology to serve humanity, or the other way around. LR: How does your work experience influence your work as our part-time Director of Graduate Ministries? RC: One advantage to having had a variety of jobs is that my
experiences often touch on the career interests of Darden and Law students. That’s great, and I enjoy when we can talk together about careers or fields in which they may be interested. And we’ve had lots of conversations about law, technology, the private and public sector experience, and work-life balance. But in all of these conversations I am mindful of the great gift I have been given by people who spent time with me and demonstrated the profound, familiar-but-strange idea that God loves us personally and that this love extends not only to how I pursued my career, but to living out what Scripture refers to as an abundant life. For me, work became a key proving ground where I saw how faithful and available God’s love is. That is something I’d love to share with friends at Darden and at the law school. LR: How do you see DCF and LCF having an impact at the University of Virginia and beyond? RC: Both DCF and LCF offer an important opportunity at a critical time for students to be able to think and work together to integrate their faith in all aspects of their lives. As demanding as business or law school may be, students know their professions will be even more demanding. Graduate school is a great time to consider and strengthen perspectives and disciplines that help keep life’s priorities in the right order—as Jesus said, to “seek first the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness.” The challenge of this commitment finds its way into routine conversations, at meals, in fellowship groups, and in weekly talks. Special opportunities also help: for instance, this spring DCF students will travel to New York for a conference on faith and work sponsored by Redeemer Presbyterian Church, while LCF students will retreat for a weekend focused on generosity. Most importantly though, I think the relationships formed in these individual fellowships are a great encouragement to each person seeking to think hard about how to integrate faith in life and live with integrity. A related gift provided by DCF and LCF can be seen as somewhat of a paradox in the performance-based grad school environment. UVA’s Law and Darden schools are filled with excellent, motivated, and high-performing students, including those who participate in DCF and LCF. But the relationships formed at DCF and LCF have consistently demonstrated one of the disruptive premises of the Christian faith: performance isn’t a prerequisite to accepting the free gift of God’s welcoming, loving, and forgiving embrace. In fact, focusing on performance kind of gets in the way of receiving this free and freeing gift. The welcoming relationships at DCF and LCF demonstrate this unconditional love in person; and given the many rich friendships among DCF and LCF alumni that continue to exist long after UVA graduation, that is a gift that will continue for many years to come.
SPRING 2017 BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS Biblical Authority After Babel Kevin Vanhoozer
Vanhoozer reflects on how Protestants can be united in our submission to Scripture even as we disagree on doctrinal points.
People to be Loved Preston Sprinkle
A go-to resource for understanding the Bible’s teaching on homosexuality.
Against Christianity Peter Leithart
Leithart contrasts “Christianity” as a set of doctrines to a robust vision of the church as “a way of living together before God. A new way of being human together.” This book is sure to lead to further discussion.
The Road Back to You
Ian Morgan Cron, Suzanne Stabile This book explores the Enneagram, a personality typing system, as a spiritual discernment tool to learn where our true self is clouded over by “false self” ways of living.
Living into Community: Cultivating Practices That Sustain Us Christine Pohl
Pohl describes the cultivation of four vital practices we need to sustain healthy communities and church fellowships.
Union with Christ Rankin Wilbourne
This illustrative text is a mustread for understanding what Jesus means when he says, “abide in me and I in you.”
These books and more can be found in our library catalog, CATALOG.STUDYCENTER.NET. Visit STUDYCENTER.NET/LIBRARY for more information about the Center for Christian Study library, including how to become a library patron. PAG E 5 S T H E ST U DY C E N T E R N E W S L E T T E R S P R I N G 2017
SPRING 2017 EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS
Visit STUDYCENTER.NET/STUDY for more information and audio recordings.
The Movies and America: What the Academy Awards for Best Picture Tell Us About Ourselves Drew Trotter February 24
New City, New Garden: Exile and Exodus in the Book of Revelation Peter Leithart March 30
This popular lecture, delivered annually for 15 years in a variety of churches, schools, and other public settings, seeks to understand the power of film as a significant shaper of American society. Dr. Trotter makes a case for the Academy Award nominees for best picture as both a barometer of, and an influence on, current American moral and intellectual standards. He looks at common themes expressed in these and other films from the year and relates those ideas to societal norms and questions present in America today.
Many Christians today avoid the book of Revelation because they find it too confusing. How does it fit into the overall story of Scripture or matter for our lives? One way to see Revelation’s significance is to note its imagery of exile—of plagues and pilgrimage. At its heart, Revelation presents visions of a journey: the martyr exodus into heaven and the exodus from the old city to the new. Peter Leithart will walk us through this vision to help us understand the Bible better and grasp God’s plan for his pilgrim people today.
McCabe House Study: Living and Working in a Secular World
This group considers how Christians ought to live and work in an increasingly secular world. Each week, the group considers this question by studying passages from 1 John, discussing what constitutes faithfulness in our secular age, and hearing from people working out their faith in various “real world” vocational pursuits.
Wretched Saints: A Christian’s Experience of Sin and Sanctification
This group explores what it means for Christians to experience sin while expecting sanctification. We consider the role of the Holy Spirit versus our own and what it means to “walk according to the Spirit.” The group uses the Enneagram as a tool to determine false self masks and redeemed, true self identity.
Jay and Holly McCabe Spring 2017
Lane Cowin Spring 2017
ADDITIONAL EVENTS: Class Dinners, Exam Snacks (5/4–5/11), Graduation Day Lunches (5/20–5/21), and Alumni Reunions (6/10). CONTINUING SMALL GROUPS FROM FALL 2016: Faith, Reason, and Science with Fitz Green, Theology of the Body with Fitz Green and Nate Smith, and Men’s Breakfast with Jay McCabe and Jeff Dillenbeck.
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DIVIDED POLITICS AND UNITED CHRISTIANS Fitz Green Director of Educational Ministries, fitz@studycenter.net Whenever I introduce someone to the Study Center, one of the things I always mention is the Grounds ministry meetings that happen here every three weeks. It’s a simple thing. We meet together with fellow ministry leaders. We have bagels. We share about our ministries. We pray. Yet this simple routine points to a reality that is more deeply true than we can imagine. “You are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28). What we see, feel, and experience, of course, does not seem to match up with this deep truth. It’s easy, for example, to see another Grounds ministry as competing with your own ministry for students’ attention and commitment. This is the atmosphere on many campuses I’ve been on, but the Christian community at UVA is different. That’s why it really struck me this year when I noticed how much the election and the divisiveness of the subsequent political climate hung in the air when our Grounds ministry leaders met. I’ve felt the same thing at church, and even in conversations with students informally gathered in the Study Center kitchen. This led us to begin to ask questions as a staff: What does it look like to care for students in this political climate? How should we counsel students who are fearful, or those who are excited? We found that, as we spoke with other Grounds ministers, they were asking these questions too. That’s when it dawned on us: wait a minute, this is what we do. Let’s have a small group! Jubilation at the initial idea soon gave way to trepidation at taking on such a hot topic, but we got to work making plans and soon convened a “Politics and Faith” small group with leaders from other Grounds ministries. What have those conversations looked like? We’ve had input from four different ministries, plus Study Center staff. Those who have attended voted for at least as many different candidates this last November. Our discussions, however, have focused on the theological foundations we have in common by asking the question, “What is true of Christ that is therefore true for all of us as Christians?” We’ve spent a good deal of time talking about the doctrine of the ascension. As Christians we confess that Jesus suffered, died, and rose again from the dead, and further that
he ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father in reign. On the one hand, we await his coming again to renew all things. On the other hand, there is a very real sense in which Jesus reigns now, in the present. He is our King. One day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he is Lord, and that day is yet to come (Phil 2). And one day the last enemies, sin and death, will be defeated (1 Cor 15). Yet Jesus’ reign now is no less real because we still wait for that final day. This has implications for daily life. Knowing that Jesus is in control guards us as Christians from the twin temptations of triumphalism and despair. We eschew triumphalism because knowing that Jesus is in charge, we’re free not to be. The burden of changing and transforming the world doesn’t rest on our shoulders. Jesus reigns. We also eschew despair. As we are confronted with the brokenness of the world, including broken political systems, factionalism, and injustice, the gospel offers us freedom from fear and panic. Jesus reigns. To be sure, the ascension doesn’t answer all of our questions, and the conversations in our small group have moved on to asking how we live in witness to the reality of the gospel truth that Christ reigns. This is not an excuse for passivity in politics; Christians can and do disagree on how we submit ourselves to earthly rulers, knowing that their rule is secondary to Christ’s and will pass away. However, we’ve found that the pressing pastoral questions arising from our discussions have been not just about how Christians should engage politically or socially, but also about identity. What does it look like to witness to the reign of Christ by acknowledging that we are Christians first before we are Americans or Democrats or Republicans? How, when we feel separated from Christians who voted differently from us, do we acknowledge the deeper truth that we are one in Christ? And how, as campus ministers, do we shepherd students into this sort of Christian identity? In all this I’ve learned from Peter Leithart, who notes that these questions, though difficult to answer, find footing in the promise that what Jesus asked, the Father will not deny him: “That they may be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you” (John 17:21).
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GROWING THE STUDY CENTER INTERNSHIP PROGRAM Shelly Pellish Director of Administration and Development, shelly@studycenter.net
The primary aspects of the internship program are weekly team dinners with all the interns, staff mentorship, and hospitality work to make sure the Study Center keeps running day to day. The most impactful part of the program for me is the weekly team dinner. It is consistently one of the highlights of my week. Shelly creates a space where we dig into Scripture, have serious and relevant conversations, and occasionally just act goofy. She is sensitive to the needs of the team each week, and how she can provide a caring and enjoyable environment for us to be filled and prepared for service. I walk away from these meetings full of great food, encouraged by community, and with a greater sense of God’s love and provision. -John Barry, CLAS ‘18
Last week I traveled to Northern Virginia to visit with alumni and parents. During the trip I met with one of the Study Center’s former interns who graduated last May. As we stepped to the counter to order our lunch, I pulled out my Study Center credit card (staff always pay for students). She stopped me mid-draw and said, “No, your lunch is on me. I have a job now and I want to do this for you.” I looked back at her with a mixture of bewilderment and pride. I replied, “Well, okay then! Thank you!” She stepped to the counter and excitedly ordered our food. In that moment, and in our subsequent conversation, she warmly and thoughtfully extended the hospitality and love of Christ to me. And I was blessed so much by it. I can’t wait to see how she continues to illuminate Christ to a broken and needy world. Times like this are what make me pause when asked if I have children. I don’t technically. But in working at the Study Center for nearly 15 years, those of you who are parents have allowed me to walk alongside your children for just a little while. So I guess I may have hundreds of children, who mysteriously appeared here somewhere around the age of 18. One of the ways I get to spend time with undergraduate students is by leading our undergraduate internship program. This mentoring and leadership venture began during the 2005–2006 academic year when three students approached us with a desire to be mentored as they prepared for a spring break service trip to Nicaragua. (These students have since gone on to help shape and redeem the world in the fields of non-profit law, counseling, humanitarian work, photography, and building a community-focused business.) Since then, the intern program has grown in breadth and depth. This year we have a mixture of second, third, fourth, and one fifthyear Curry student serving with us for a total of 12 interns. They represent different pockets and fellowships of the Christian community and the University. In exchange for a 10-month stipend, they work four to five hours per week at the Study Center, offering hospitality to the hundreds of students who walk through our front door each day. They open and close the building, grind and brew coffee, prepare meals, spruce up the bathrooms, restock supplies, help staff with our outreach and educational events, co-host small groups, run errands,
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and welcome prospective and current families. In doing these tasks for years now, our interns have built a culture of service and hospitality among the students here. By working with our staff in servant-leadership roles, they learn how a non-profit ministry works and life skills like time and project management, event planning, hospitality, volunteer recruitment, and more. These skills will carry them throughout life, regardless of whether they do for-profit, non-profit, volunteer work, or raise a family. I can’t tell you how many messages I receive from intern alumni updating me about a time they stepped up to organize something in their careers or communities because of skills they acquired here, keeping the Study Center mother ship from capsizing. This year we have restructured the internship program to include a weekly meeting where we gather as a team to share a meal, lovingly spearheaded by two intern alumni turned full-time staff members, Carly Vanness (’15) and Josh Oswald (’16). The purpose of this time is for interns to have an hour together where their obligations as students cease so they can enjoy a home-cooked meal and each other’s company. We worship together, pray together, share the crazy stories of the week, laugh a lot, and then we close with prayer and a word from Scripture. To my surprise, they say this is the highlight of their week. It is mine as well. These interns pour into our offices on a regular basis, introducing us to their friends, taking a breather after a class, asking us questions about faith and life, or stepping in to
help with a task. Regardless of the reason, we love these moments and are honored by the chance to minister to students on a personal level. Discipleship has also grown as part of the internship program. As the program leader, I mentor four of our students while the remaining interns are each matched with a Study Center staffer who meets with his or her intern on a regular basis. This time with our interns is a sacred privilege. We get to walk with them as they grow in understanding who God is, how much he loves them, and his good purposes for them as they make their way in their callings, both as students now and in their various vocations to come. At the end of this semester, seven of our interns will walk the Lawn. They will venture into new communities across the nation (and perhaps across the globe) and share the good news of Jesus Christ with their neighbors over a freshly-brewed cup of coffee, their co-workers while setting up for a work event, or their own kids while they restock the toilet paper. They may even remind me of it when I come to visit them years from now and they decide to buy me lunch. We are grateful for the ways this ministry continues to grow!
We would love your prayers as we begin the recruitment of next year’s team. Do you know of a student who may be interested in the internship program? Feel free to contact me at SHELLY@STUDYCENTER.NET and direct them to our internship program application, available online soon at STUDYCENTER.NET/INTERNSHIPS.
Left: During the Study Center’s Thinking Greek panel, undergraduate ministries intern Rachel Gaffin shares her college experience outside of Greek life with first-year women. Middle top: Hospitality interns Nonye Onokalah, Nick Asby, Lauren Horton, and Claire Simons join their fellow interns in the Richman Room after preparing food for a Monday night team dinner. Middle bottom: As a hospitality intern during Exam Snacks, M.E. Caldwell organizes an order of bagels while 200 students line up outside. Right: Undergraduate ministries intern Jeff Dillenbeck welcomes an incoming student at 2016 Move-In Day Lunches. (Photos by Brittany Fan.)
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LOOSENING MY GRIP: A FOURTH YEAR REFLECTION Hannah Zachman NURS ‘17 While I am ashamed to admit it in the midst of basketball season, I was almost a Tarheel. I came to Days on the Lawn four years ago with every intention of gaining closure in my relationship with UVA and committing to attend UNC first thing the next morning. I thought I had my whole life figured out. I knew what church I would attend in Chapel Hill, what fellowship I would join, and what ministries I would take part in. But on a snowy day in late March, I fell in love with UVA. As I began planning for life in the Blue Ridge Mountains, only one thing was missing from my plan: Christian community. That evening I started a massive Google search for college ministries in Charlottesville and stumbled upon the Study Center. Even from the website, I could tell that this place was much more than a building: it was a home where growth, ministry, and community happened in and through the rhythms of university life. The Elzinga Residential Scholars Program (ERSP) was especially intriguing to me. In fact, I like to say I committed to living in the Yellow House before I committed to UVA! While the Study Center was no doubt an answer to my prayers and my plan for life, that plan did not last long. In fact, a major theme of my time at college has been the Lord gently (and sometimes vigorously) loosening my own grip on life and teaching me to trust Him. There have been many
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seasons when prayers seemed to go unanswered and my plans seemed to shatter. During these times, the Study Center was a refuge and launching pad into union with Christ. My first year, it was a place to form everlasting friendships where I learned to be real and vulnerable about my longtime struggles with body image. The Speaker Series for Women that spring semester was incredibly timely and a big part of my journey of surrendering this area of my life to God. As a second year in the Elzinga Residential Scholars Program, I learned that the Study Center was not a place for easy, comfortable answers, but rather a place where I could come and engage with other believers and ask hard questions. While cooking dinner or washing dishes together, we discussed everything from different interpretations of Genesis to how to engage with politics as a Christian, in addition to the ubiquitous questions of vocation. This residential community was also a place to pray and mourn with my brothers and sisters in Christ when tragedy seemed to strike our community again and again during my second year. During the climactic third year of nursing school, I spent many hours studying in the Richman Room after long days of caring for patients in the hospital. Even if I was studying inflammatory cytokines and microorganisms, I was encouraged knowing that the students studying around me were also asking questions about vocation and hoping to use their studies to bring about flourishing and justice in the
world. When I had serious doubts about my commitment to serve as a nurse in the Navy, I knew that I could find a thoughtful friend or staff member to pray and talk with at the Study Center. Now, four years after I let go of my carefully orchestrated college path, I hold onto my plans and dreams with much more open hands, excited to see what God will do with my small surrender. Over and over again, the Study Center has been a reminder of God’s faithfulness to be present with us in hard and confusing times and to transform our hearts, our friends, our neighborhoods, our universities, and our world to reflect his glory. I think I could write an entire book recounting the indescribable faithfulness of the Lord I have experienced in the last four years alone. Maybe I will someday! This I know for certain: that God is able to do immeasurably more than anything we can ask or imagine (Eph
3:21). He has certainly blown my plans out of the water and it has been an adventure of many joys, tears, and challenges. In July, I will move to San Diego to serve as a nurse in the Navy. I am incredibly honored and humbled to become a nurse and to enter into the stories of others at some of their most vulnerable moments. I am excited to serve my country as a leader who fears and loves God. I will certainly miss having the Study Center as a home, community, and endless source of great books, but I am excited to put what I have learned into action by loving my neighbors and continuing to look for opportunities to share the gospel through the rhythms of everyday life together. Opposite page left: Hannah and her former ERSP housemate, Kirsten Smith, discuss Henry Ossawa Tanner’s painting The Banjo Lesson (1893) during Andy Crouch’s “Redeeming the Gift of Power” lecture. Middle: Women from the 2014–2015 ERSP gather for a house photo. Right: As Move-In Day Lunch 2015 greeters, Hannah and her former ERSP roommate Alice Xie congregate on the Study Center’s front porch before the Class of 2019 arrives. (Photos by Brittany Fan.)
Check out STUDYCENTER.NET/STORIES to read more Fourth Year Reflections from these students now through May 2017.
Kevin Cao
Jeff Dillenbeck
Rachel Gaffin
Lauren Horton
Sam Kraus
Rebekah Leary Heather McGowan
Wesley Owens
Mary Shields
IS YOUR FOURTH YEAR GRADUATING THIS SPRING? Join us for Graduation Day Lunches at the Study Center May 20 and May 21, 2017 The Study Center will serve as a gathering place for graduating students and their families as they celebrate in their caps and gowns! Lunch will be served for $8 per person. We look forward to celebrating with you! Register for Graduation Lunches at STUDYCENTERUVA.WUFOO.COM/FORMS/GRADUATION-DAY-LUNCHES/ PAG E 11 S T H E ST U DY C E N T E R N E W S L E T T E R S P R I N G 2017
Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Charlottesville, Virginia Permit No. 144
Center for Christian Study 128 C H A N C E L LO R ST R E E T, C H A R LOT T E S V I L L E , VA 22903 (434) 817 - 10 5 0 W W W. ST U DYC E N T E R . N E T A D D R E SS S E R V I C E R E Q U E ST E D
Spring 2017 Exam Snacks MAY 4-6 + 8-11 Join us for studying and snacking at the Center for Christian Study throughout 2017 Finals Week. We anticipate hosting 175–350 students per snack, 2–3 times per day! If you are interested in serving at Exam Snacks, please contact Shelly Pellish, shelly@studycenter.net. PAG E 12 S T H E ST U DY C E N T E R N E W S L E T T E R S P R I N G 2017