LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
The Unseen Becoming Seen
DEAR FRIENDS,
We’re pleased to offer you another newsletter glimpse into the life and ministry of the Study Center: a look at two important hospitality events and two of our larger conversations (on baptism and artificial intelligence). By the time you read this, the Study Center will have also hosted a talk on the theology of Harry Potter, a presentation on student anxiety, and a Veritas Forum on “What Makes My Life Worth It?”
What must remain unseen, of course, is all the thoughtful reflection encouraged by this community and, most especially, the ongoing transformation of hearts and minds enabled by the Spirit. Paul says in 2 Cor 4:18 that “we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.” Ultimately Paul has in view “the eternal weight of glory” in the new creation (v. 17), but he also means the day-by-day—and equally unseen—renewing of our inner self (v. 16).
In Rom 12:2, Paul expresses the purpose of this inner renewal when he encourages believers to “be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Our inner renewal is meant to lead to wise discernment, which we apply to all of life in the light of our present and future transformation into the image of Christ.
According to the Study Center mission statement, the goal of the ministry here is to see “men and women transformed by the Truth...in their thoughts and actions, both in their private lives...and their public lives.” In this way the unseen becomes visible in the lives of all who belong to Christ, even before the great day of resurrection. May the unseen continue to be seen in just that way in this ministry!
One more thing: we’re also praying that the “unseen will become seen” when our dear friends and partners in ministry show up for the Grand Celebration on April 4-5!
YOURS IN OUR LORD,
Bill Wilder Executive Director
STAFF
BILL WILDER Executive Director
FITZ GREEN Senior Director for Education and Programming
KATIE BLACK Director of Undergraduate Ministries
RICK CAMPANELLI Director of Graduate Ministries
CHLOE CARTER Ministry Intern
HANNAH FRITZEEN Director of Hospitality
STUART HORNSBY Director of Development and Parent & Alumni Relations
DREW MASTERSON Director of Undergraduate Ministries
LYDIA MARLIN Communications and Project Manager
JAN MATHEWS Administrative Assistant
TRISH OWEN Librarian
DEBBIE RODRIGUEZ Director of Finance
DANIELLE WILCOX Advisor for Strategy and Advancement
(434) 817-1050
Warmth and Welcome
Extending hospitality during sorority recruitment
BY LYDIA MARLIN
One of the things we love about our location at 128 Chancellor Street is the opportunity to offer neighborly hospitality to sororities and fraternities, many of which sit only yards from our doorstep.
For over 20 years, we have served UVA sororities as a “warming house” (both officially and unofficially) during sorority recruitment. Beginning the first day of recruitment, over 1,000 women come and go through our doors to find a warm place to rest in between their visits to sorority houses. Since sorority recruitment is held in early January, that warmth is a key part of our ministry.
With the help of our female staff, interns, and wonderful community volunteers, we serve snacks (often homemade), brew countless cups of coffee and hot chocolate, and provide a clean and cozy environment throughout the six-day recruitment process. Everyone offers hugs, smiles, and encouragement—essential comfort in a process that can be fraught with rejection.
Many of the women who come through our doors have never been to the Study Center before; in fact, this may be the only overtly “Christian” space they will experience at UVA. So hospitality becomes our gift to them—offering the love of Christ through warmth, great food, and conversation. And we hope to welcome many of them into our weekly rhythms and study spaces throughout the year.
We asked... What habits have formed you from your time at the Study Center?
What We’re Reading
KATIE’S PICK
NEARING A FAR GOD: PRAYING THE PSALMS WITH OUR WHOLE SELVES by Leslie Leyland
Fields
Have you ever felt far from God? You are not alone. The psalms give voice to our frustrations. Read this book to discover how the psalms invite us to dialogue with God with all of our emotions.
RICK’S PICK
HUMILITY: THE JOURNEY TOWARD HOLINESS by Andrew Murray
Be transformed by the short yet rich text. Read this book to understand the majesty of God and our place in God’s heart and creation.
CHLOE’S PICK
THE GREAT DIVORCE by C.S. Lewis
Enter into Lewis’ imaginative storytelling about heaven and hell. In this book, Lewis utilizes various characters on a bus ride to heaven to provide deep insight into good, evil, grace, and judgment.
“The Study Center has provided me with the framework to invite my non-Christian friends into discussion, pray aloud over others, and seek wisdom from the staff and grow through continual exposure and learning.”
–LAUREN JAMEISON, STUDY CENTER INTERN
Sorority recruits at the Study Center LYDIA MARLIN
More Than a ‘ Snack’
Nourishment for the body, soul, mind, and spirit
BY LYDIA MARLIN
from our community and from far away. We partner with 13 local restaurants to cater each meal and often add on homemade desserts and sides from our volunteers.
IN DECEMBER we hosted one of our largest Exam Snacks ever—offering two meals a day and feeding more than 2,200 students during finals week. But don’t let the word snacks mislead you. Exam Snacks are much more than a snack. Every day of finals week we host a full breakfast and dinner: entree, sides, sauces—the whole nine yards!
Serving 200-300 students per meal would not be possible without help from over 50 volunteers who join us
Before each meal, we pray over the students present, asking God to bless them and thanking him for the meal—a prayer that might be given by a UVA professor or a local pastor, or even, this year, by Charlottesville mayor Juandiego Wade. Our hope is for students to receive this blessing as they line up outside the house before breakfast or dinner, and to remind them that while their school work does matter, their identity is found in Christ’s finished work on the cross.
Not only do we offer meals during finals week, but our doors remain open 24/7 (with a door code) for students to study and rest. From dawn until
dusk and all the time in between, every corner of 128 Chancellor Street is packed full of students. You can find them studying hard in the library, taking a quick nap between exams in the Nook, or enjoying study breaks to build puzzles and play Catan in the living room. We love watching students engage in deep conversations and form lasting friendships during this busy time.
Throughout the Gospels, we see that much of Jesus’ ministry happened around a table. And we take great pleasure in seeking to continue this tradition. We are grateful for the opportunity to welcome so many students to the table—watching our ministry expand alongside our building expansion. It is our great joy to feed these students— body, soul, mind, and spirit.
VIRGINIA
Two Views on Baptism
A thoughtful dialogue across differences
BY DREW MASTERSON
WE REALLY DIDN’T KNOW how this would go. It had been a couple of years since we hosted a “Two Views” conversation, and baptism isn’t exactly a hot-button issue. As we got closer and closer to the event start time, however, we realized we were going to need more chairs. Eventually, over 80 students and community members packed into the Great Room to listen to a Reformed Baptist pastor and a Lutheran priest discuss the ins and outs of their traditions’ views and practices of baptism.
Keith Goad, preaching pastor at Jefferson Park Baptist Church, began with a quick but thorough overview of key biblical passages that connect baptism with belief, making his case that the public act of baptism is meant to follow one’s profession of belief. He then offered a step-by-step critique of the primary biblical passages cited to justify infant baptism. He emphasized in particular the problems with generalizing the “household” baptisms (those mentioned in Acts 16 and 1 Cor 1) into official church practice. Keith’s
methodical and clear presentation, with its scholarly bent, seemed to appeal to the gathered students.
Benjamin Maton, pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church, took a different approach. He began not with the bible but with his own story. He shared how his infant baptism had “worked” for and in him as he grew up in a faith community. Ben did eventually turn to the biblical, theological, and traditional arguments for baptizing children, but if Keith had been lecturing, Ben was preaching. Perhaps his most central emphasis was that in the process
of “regeneration”—when someone (of any age) receives new life in Christ and crosses the threshold into God’s family— God is the primary actor, not the baptized child nor the believing adult. That point resonated throughout the rest of the conversation.
We witnessed with delight how students came with earnest and incisive questions. After the event, these questions overflowed into informal conversations lasting for hours. In those conversations, we learned a few things: 1) students were expecting a debate and didn’t know how to process the two different ways the speakers had chosen to make their points; and 2) they were hungry for more. We loved these responses. We intentionally design “Two Views” to offer almost “anti-debate” spaces, where the speakers don’t resolve all the tensions between them. We pray that any cognitive dissonance motivates students to seek deeper clarity for themselves—in Scripture, with their friends, and in their churches.
If you are interested in hearing more, you can scan the QR code at the top of the page to watch the full recording of this event.
Students respond to the dialogue about baptism with thoughtful questions and insights
the Institute for Family Studies, Michael introduced findings from a survey examining AI’s influence on romance and its potential connection to pornography usage and time spent online. Among 2,000 Gen Z and Millennial participants, 1% reported having an AI friend or partner, 10% expressed openness to the idea, and 25% agreed that AI romance could eventually replace human relationships.
Michael also reflected on how large language models, a cornerstone of generative AI, aim at something fundamentally human: the formation of words. He noted that this function touches on the essence of humanity and even divinity, as both humans and God are creators of words. Michael
highlighted the ancient understanding that naming things rightly is a source of wisdom and an integral aspect of what it means to be human and a co-creator with God. He posed a poignant question: What happens when words are no longer ours? Such considerations underscore the profound cultural and existential stakes involved in the rise of AI.
The discussion concluded with a brief but engaging Q&A session with attendees—students and community members alike. The event encouraged thoughtful reflection on the role of AI in our lives and its implications for our shared humanity.
If you enjoyed this preview, you can scan the QR code on page six to listen to the full conversation on our podcast.
Graduate Christian Fellowship Highlight
This year’s Graduate Christian Fellowship is a vibrant mix of students from disciplines ranging from Syriac Christianity to biomedical engineering. Many are regulars in our building during the day; they’ve taken to hanging out in the front room with Chloe, our ministry intern! The group meets for dinner and fellowship on Friday nights. On some Fridays a professor speaks with them; on others they explore scripture study; and on still other Fridays they discuss Christian faithfulness in the academic setting. Last fall we read essays from C.S. Lewis’ Collection The Weight of Glory, such as “Learning in Wartime” and “The Inner Ring.” One of my favorite moments from the fall was our weekend retreat in September. Some students were intently focused on ping-pong, and others were enmeshed in an intense theological conversation, bibles out, citing chapter and verse. That’s GCF for you! This semester we’re studying the book of Daniel, asking what it means to be set apart in a secular space while at the same time pursuing a common good.
ALEX SHENG (3)
Michael Toscano (left) and Rick Campanelli (right) discuss the influence of AI on humanity
Center for Christian Study
128 Chancellor Street
Charlottesville, VA 22903
www.studycenter.net
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Mark Your Calendar
GRAND CELEBRATION
April 4-5
EXAM SNACKS
May 1-3, 5-8
GRADUATION BRUNCH
May 17
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WE WILL BE GATHERING with generations of Study Center community to celebrate God’s faithfulness to this ministry over the last fifty years from Friday evening, April 4th, to Saturday evening, April 5th.
Whether you've been part of the community for decades or are newer to our family, this event is for you! We will reunite to celebrate the stories, relationships, and moments that have shaped the Study Center for the past five decades and look forward to what God might do in the decades to come.
Space is limited, and we don’t want you to miss this milestone event! Be sure to sign up today and invite a friend to join us for a memorable weekend of reflection and fellowship.
For more details, visit WWW.STUDYCENTER.NET/ GRAND-CELEBRATION-EVENT