Jesus Hasn't Given Up on Small, Exploited, and Overlooked Places--and Neither Should WeMany young people entering ministry and starting careers believe success requires them to leave their communities. After all, the fastest-growing congregations, the highest-profile ministries, and the best opportunities are in big cities or their wealthy suburbs, aren't they? But Jesus didn't ignore the small, the exploited, or the overlooked places, and neither should his followers. In this reflective yet eminently applicable book, pastor Charles E. Cotherman, executive director of the Center for Rural Ministry, challenges our assumptions through stories that showcase the power and beauty of a faithful presence in seemingly insignificant places. Drawing on his lifetime of experience in rural communities and churches, Cotherman demonstrates the outsized impact we can have when we have the courage to stay, root where we're planted, and serve God with joy. This book is for two kinds of readers:● Those weighing whether to stay--seminary students, young ministry candidates, and anyone wrestling with whether faithfulness requires leaving their small community for greater opportunity elsewhere● Those who have already stayed--pastors, church planters, and laypeople already serving in rural, small town, or post-industrial communities who need theological grounding and practical encouragement to root deeper and persevere longerWhether your community is rural or in the rust belt, whether you're surrounded by endless corn or abandoned mining operations, Jesus still sees you and has a plan for your life and ministry. Discover how you can make a difference right where you are--starting now.

2020 ECPA Top Shelf Book Cover Award

In the late 1960s and on into the next decade, the American pastor and bestselling author Francis Schaeffer regularly received requests from evangelicals across North America seeking his help to replicate his innovative learning community, L'Abri, within their own contexts. At the same time, an innovative school called Regent College had started up in Vancouver, British Columbia, led by James Houston and offering serious theological education for laypeople. Before long, numerous admirers and attendees of L'Abri and of Regent had launched Christian "study centers" of their own-often based on or near university campuses-from Berkeley to Maryland. For evangelical baby boomers coming of age in the midst of unprecedented educational opportunity and cultural upheaval, these multifaceted communities inspired a generation to study, pray, and engage culture more faithfully-in the words of James M. Houston, "to think Christianly."

In this compelling and comprehensive history, Charles Cotherman traces the stories of notable study centers and networks, as well as their influence on a generation that would reshape twentieth-century Christianity. Beginning with the innovations of L'Abri and Regent College, Cotherman elucidates the histories of

The C. S. Lewis Institute near Washington, DCR. C. Sproul's Ligonier Valley Study Center in Stahlstown, PennsylvaniaNew College BerkeleyThe Center for Christian Study at the University of VirginiaThe Consortium of Christian Study Centers, which now includes dozens of institutions

Each of these projects owed something to Schaeffer's and Houston's approaches, which combined intellectual and cultural awareness with compelling spirituality, open-handed hospitality, relational networks, and a deep commitment to the gospel's significance for all fields of study-and all of life. Cotherman argues that the centers' mission of lay theological education blazed a new path for evangelicals to fully engage the life of the mind and culture.

Built on a rich foundation of original interviews, archival documents, and contemporary sources, To Think Christianly sheds new light on this set of defining figures and places in evangelicalism's life of the mind.

Jesus Hasn't Given Up on Small, Exploited, and Overlooked Places--and Neither Should WeMany young people entering ministry and starting careers believe success requires them to leave their communities. After all, the fastest-growing congregations, the highest-profile ministries, and the best opportunities are in big cities or their wealthy suburbs, aren't they? But Jesus didn't ignore the small, the exploited, or the overlooked places, and neither should his followers. In this reflective yet eminently applicable book, pastor Charles E. Cotherman, executive director of the Center for Rural Ministry, challenges our assumptions through stories that showcase the power and beauty of a faithful presence in seemingly insignificant places. Drawing on his lifetime of experience in rural communities and churches, Cotherman demonstrates the outsized impact we can have when we have the courage to stay, root where we're planted, and serve God with joy. This book is for two kinds of readers:● Those weighing whether to stay--seminary students, young ministry candidates, and anyone wrestling with whether faithfulness requires leaving their small community for greater opportunity elsewhere● Those who have already stayed--pastors, church planters, and laypeople already serving in rural, small town, or post-industrial communities who need theological grounding and practical encouragement to root deeper and persevere longerWhether your community is rural or in the rust belt, whether you're surrounded by endless corn or abandoned mining operations, Jesus still sees you and has a plan for your life and ministry. Discover how you can make a difference right where you are--starting now.

Jesus Hasn't Given Up on Small, Exploited, and Overlooked Places--and Neither Should WeMany young people entering ministry and starting careers believe success requires them to leave their communities. After all, the fastest-growing congregations, the highest-profile ministries, and the best opportunities are in big cities or their wealthy suburbs, aren't they? But Jesus didn't ignore the small, the exploited, or the overlooked places, and neither should his followers. In this reflective yet eminently applicable book, pastor Charles E. Cotherman, executive director of the Center for Rural Ministry, challenges our assumptions through stories that showcase the power and beauty of a faithful presence in seemingly insignificant places. Drawing on his lifetime of experience in rural communities and churches, Cotherman demonstrates the outsized impact we can have when we have the courage to stay, root where we're planted, and serve God with joy. This book is for two kinds of readers:● Those weighing whether to stay--seminary students, young ministry candidates, and anyone wrestling with whether faithfulness requires leaving their small community for greater opportunity elsewhere● Those who have already stayed--pastors, church planters, and laypeople already serving in rural, small town, or post-industrial communities who need theological grounding and practical encouragement to root deeper and persevere longerWhether your community is rural or in the rust belt, whether you're surrounded by endless corn or abandoned mining operations, Jesus still sees you and has a plan for your life and ministry. Discover how you can make a difference right where you are--starting now.

2020 ECPA Top Shelf Book Cover Award

In the late 1960s and on into the next decade, the American pastor and bestselling author Francis Schaeffer regularly received requests from evangelicals across North America seeking his help to replicate his innovative learning community, L'Abri, within their own contexts. At the same time, an innovative school called Regent College had started up in Vancouver, British Columbia, led by James Houston and offering serious theological education for laypeople. Before long, numerous admirers and attendees of L'Abri and of Regent had launched Christian "study centers" of their own-often based on or near university campuses-from Berkeley to Maryland. For evangelical baby boomers coming of age in the midst of unprecedented educational opportunity and cultural upheaval, these multifaceted communities inspired a generation to study, pray, and engage culture more faithfully-in the words of James M. Houston, "to think Christianly."

In this compelling and comprehensive history, Charles Cotherman traces the stories of notable study centers and networks, as well as their influence on a generation that would reshape twentieth-century Christianity. Beginning with the innovations of L'Abri and Regent College, Cotherman elucidates the histories of

The C. S. Lewis Institute near Washington, DCR. C. Sproul's Ligonier Valley Study Center in Stahlstown, PennsylvaniaNew College BerkeleyThe Center for Christian Study at the University of VirginiaThe Consortium of Christian Study Centers, which now includes dozens of institutions

Each of these projects owed something to Schaeffer's and Houston's approaches, which combined intellectual and cultural awareness with compelling spirituality, open-handed hospitality, relational networks, and a deep commitment to the gospel's significance for all fields of study-and all of life. Cotherman argues that the centers' mission of lay theological education blazed a new path for evangelicals to fully engage the life of the mind and culture.

Built on a rich foundation of original interviews, archival documents, and contemporary sources, To Think Christianly sheds new light on this set of defining figures and places in evangelicalism's life of the mind.

Jesus Hasn't Given Up on Small, Exploited, and Overlooked Places--and Neither Should WeMany young people entering ministry and starting careers believe success requires them to leave their communities. After all, the fastest-growing congregations, the highest-profile ministries, and the best opportunities are in big cities or their wealthy suburbs, aren't they? But Jesus didn't ignore the small, the exploited, or the overlooked places, and neither should his followers. In this reflective yet eminently applicable book, pastor Charles E. Cotherman, executive director of the Center for Rural Ministry, challenges our assumptions through stories that showcase the power and beauty of a faithful presence in seemingly insignificant places. Drawing on his lifetime of experience in rural communities and churches, Cotherman demonstrates the outsized impact we can have when we have the courage to stay, root where we're planted, and serve God with joy. This book is for two kinds of readers:● Those weighing whether to stay--seminary students, young ministry candidates, and anyone wrestling with whether faithfulness requires leaving their small community for greater opportunity elsewhere● Those who have already stayed--pastors, church planters, and laypeople already serving in rural, small town, or post-industrial communities who need theological grounding and practical encouragement to root deeper and persevere longerWhether your community is rural or in the rust belt, whether you're surrounded by endless corn or abandoned mining operations, Jesus still sees you and has a plan for your life and ministry. Discover how you can make a difference right where you are--starting now.