2025 by the Numbers
The Great Chase is Over
[spoiler: the whale wins]
This was truly an epic semester, studying the theological implications of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick with BSU Associate Professor Laura Romano. From “Call me Ishmael” to Rachel weeping for her sons, every chapter ignited animated conversation and provided new perspectives on what this human life is all about. Every person who attended this 14-week class left with a love for a book that they’d always been afraid to tackle. When the chase was over, we celebrated our semester with a Moby Dick themed party.
Why read Moby Dick?
We live in an increasingly illiterate age. Many, if not most, college students have never read a complete book cover to cover. Reading a novel like Moby Dick—delighting in the prose, thinking through the allusions and metaphors, retaining new vocabulary—is a rare experience for many. As a result, our culture grows brutish and ignorant, unable to think or write clearly, replacing art with propaganda and reducing stories to memes. So why do we, a Christian study center, spend so much time with good literature? It cultivates the good, true, and beautiful. It helps us to think. It delights and teaches. It provides new perspectives, getting us out of our echo chambers. It invites us into deep conversation about what it means to be human. It celebrates the imago Dei —that God-given desire to imitate our Creator by our own creative efforts, given to humanity prior to the Fall—in ways that little else does. And it is being severely neglected by our educational systems. If you haven’t read a book in a while. Start small—maybe Orwell’s Animal Farm or Lewis’s The Great Divorce—and then give Melville a try. You will be richly rewarded.
2025 Financial Report
Giving Tuesday & Our Year End Goal
Giving Tuesday was a roaring success! Including the $3000 matching grant, we received a total of $8,500. THANK YOU!
Our end-goal for 2025 is $120,000. As of December 18, we have raised $97,171. We are SO close! So many of you have given so much to get us this far. Please pray with me that we cross the finish line! If you would like to help with this final push, click on the button below and send us over the edge!
National Responsibilities
I’ve picked up a few responsibilities nationally with the Consortium of Christian Study Centers. Earlier this year I was asked to chair the planning committee for the Consortium’s Annual Meeting. The Annual Meeting, happening in July, is our largest event of the year. Every study center is invited to participate in what is part family gathering, part best-practices conference, and part inspiration, vision, and encouragement to keep on keeping on.
This year the Annual Meeting will be hosted by our sister center, UpperHouse, at University of Wisconsin, Madison. Please pray for our planning committee as we hammer out workshops, plan meals and housing, and frame the time in liturgy and worship. Ultimately, please pray that we, the staff at the various study centers within the consortium, grow in wisdom and understanding as to how to best impact the lives of university students and faculty for the glory of God and the life of the world.
I also have a unique opportunity to represent the Consortium at the Windrider Summit, a short film forum at the Sundance Film Festival in January. Windrider is a partner organization with the Consortium of Christian Study Centers. They produce, curate, and distribute short films that raise questions about the human experience. They look at these films through a lens that is theological yet invites people of all stripes into the conversation. We have worked with Windrider in various capacities in the past, including using some of their films and discussion guides for events at Alcuin Study Center. I am joining them this January at Sundance to explore what further collaboration the Consortium of Christian Study Centers might have with them in the future.
Lastly, I am honored to be a part of the editorial team for The Raised Hand, a publication produced by the Consortium of Christian Study Centers. You can read about the mission of The Raised Hand here, and read the latest essay here. Ball State professor Paul Gestwicki will be contributing an essay this Spring, so keep a lookout for that!
“What I appreciate about Alcuin Study Center is…”
“I love the Alcuin Center because it’s a place to talk about real things. Not that modern romance novels or instagram political opinions aren’t real, but they’re not nourishing in the same way that a Twinkie isn’t “real food.” The Alcuin Center is a place where we can discuss the human condition through Moby Dick, or examine political authority through the lens of Plato. Those books aren’t easily consumed, but there is so much richness there that I dearly love.”
– Lily Ellis, Freshman
“There are so many things I appreciate about Alcuin Study Center, but most of all, I really love the free biblical literacy classes that are offered, as well as the library! I learn so much from the classes held by Alcuin and I enjoy having access to just about any book I’d be interested in reading. I also just love the community at Alcuin and how close, friendly, and welcoming everyone is!”
– Arianna Bell, sophomore
“I appreciate the opportunities to learn from educated teachers and peers about the Bible and integrating faith into our modern world!”
– Paulie Mullin, visiting junior from Northeastern University in Boston (Paulie came to Muncie specifically to be involved at Alcuin for a semester!)
“I appreciate the curiosity and opportunity to explore Christianity, knowledge, and truth. I also appreciate the open-door mentality that invites all people into the mission and space. I also appreciate the desire to partner and support campus ministries and local churches.”
– Ashton Bernth, senior (second from left)
This Christmas break, take a few minutes to explore what The Christian Study Center movement has been up to and where it’s going. One great way to do that is by subscribing to Periscope, the newsletter of the Consortium of Christian Study Centers.
I think you’ll find yourself encouraged and inspired by this fresh approach to engaging the University for Christ.
As always, thank you for praying for and investing in the work of Alcuin Study Center.
In Christ, in whom all things hold together,
Amazing to see what God through your workings has brought about.