L’Abri Rochester

Two Human Longings, Lost and Found - Ben Keyes - 2022 Conference Highlights: Image and Identity   Click for Slides   Ben Keyes studied at Brown University, reading ethnomusicology. In 2002 he spent 6 months studying at the English L’Abri. Ben studied Theology and the Arts at Regent College in Vancouver and directed a large gospel choir as part of his final thesis project. While at Regent, Ben and...

Identity Found in God's Likeness - Dick Keyes - 2022 Conference Highlights: Image and Identity   Dick Keyes is the director emeritus of L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts, where he has worked with his wife, Mardi, and family since 1979. He holds a B.A. in History from Harvard University and an M.Div. from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. Dick has worked for L’Abri Fe...

Classical Formation in Western Civilization - John Hodges - 2022 Conference Highlights: Image and Identity   Click for Slides   John Hodges (currently the director of the Center for Western Studies) is a conductor and composer, holding degrees in Music from the University of Maryland, and Indiana University.  He served as Music Director for various symphony orchestras and church music programs in...

Identity, Race and Gender: What Should a Christian Think? - Doug Groothuis - 2022 Conference Highlights: Image and Identity   Click for Slides   Dr. Doug Groothuis holds a Ph. D. in Philosophy (University of Oregon, 1993) and is Professor of Philosophy at Denver Seminary where he heads the Christian Apologetics Master’s degree program. He is the author of nineteen books, beginning with the best-se...

The Center is Not Holding: The Modern Self and a Theology of Adoptive Identity - Mike Sugimoto - 2022 Conference Highlights: Image and Identity   Click for Slides   Mike Sugimoto is Professor of Asian Studies at Pepperdine University with a focus on cinema, sociology and philosophy.   The 2022 Rochester L'Abri Conference "Image and Identity in a Culture of Confusion" takes the general theme of 'Id...

The Rise of the Affective Field - Guilherme de Carvalho - 2022 Conference Highlights: Image and Identity   Click for Slides   Guilherme de Carvalho is the Director of L'Abri Fellowship Brazil. He studied theology at Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie in São Paulo, Brazil (bachelor), Faculdade Teológica Batista de São Paulo (Th. M.), Universidade Metodista de São Paulo (MSc, Science of Religion)....

Personal Identity and its Shrinking Foundation - Dick Keyes - 2022 Conference Highlights: Image and Identity   Dick Keyes is the director emeritus of L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts, where he has worked with his wife, Mardi, and family since 1979. He holds a B.A. in History from Harvard University and an M.Div. from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. Dick has worked...

"If I knew the world would end tomorrow, I would plant an apple tree today.” — Martin Luther   When his mother's cancer diagnosis brought Daniel Miller back from college to rural Minnesota, he had no intention of staying. But after his mom’s death, he developed a deep longing to reconnect with his ancestral farming roots in the area. After meeting his wife Hannah, the Millers bought 30 acres of fa...

Since the deciphering of the cuneiform scripts in the 1850’s, it has been apparent that the enormous output of texts from Mesopotamia provided an important but somewhat unclear context for understanding the Old Testament in its original environment. Texts like the Hammurabi Code and the Gilgamesh Epic caused varied reactions, ranging from a rejection of any connection to the Bible whatsoever, to t...

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - The Integration Of Faith And Learning - A Hard But Rewarding Task - AJ Poelarends   Click for Slides   Dr. Arend J. (AJ) Poelarends, native to the Netherlands, holds a PhD in Astrophysics from the University of Utrecht. His studies in astrophysics casued him to ponder questions of the cosmos and our place in it, leading him to earn an MDiv from Covenant Sem...

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - The Art And Craft Of Whole Person Christian Formation: Learning Through Creative Work - Sarah Chestnut   Click for Slides   Sarah Chestnut lives and works at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts with her husband and two children. Sarah’s poetry and creative non-fiction have appeared or are forthcoming in CRUX, Red Rock Literary Journal, LETTERS,...

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - Aren't They All Just Dead White Males? Why Read The Classics? - Peter Merz   Click for slides.   Peter Merz was born in Melbourne and raised in New South Wales, Australia. He studied Classics at the University of Sydney and Education at the University of Western Sydney.  Prior to university, he was educated at home for 7 years, and attended school for 6 yea...

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - For The Welfare Of The University: Finding Ways To Fill Gaps In Higher Education - Dan Daugherty   Click for slides.   Dan Daugherty currently executively directs Alcuin Study Centre. Previously, he taught literature, composition, and philosophy at a private high school in Minnesota for 12 years. He currently serves as the Director of Education for Muncie F...

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - From Canon To Wikipedia And Back Again: A Call For A Coherent Education - Clarke Scheibe   Click for slides.   Clarke Scheibe grew up in Memphis, TN. He graduated in 1998 with a Bachelors of Liberal Arts (University of Mississippi), with a Creative Writing emphasis. He moved to Canada in 2000 and graduated with a MDiv (Regent College) in 2004. His interests...

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - The (Naked) Woke Public University: Is This The Future Of Higher Education? - Bob Osburn   Click for slides.   Dr Bob Osburn has a PhD in international education from the University of Minnesota (2005), where he also was an adjunct lecturer for seven years in the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development. In 1978 he earned his ThM in...

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - Schaeffer At The U: Christian Study Centers As A Vanguard And A Shelter - AJ Poelarends   Click for slides.   Dr. Arend J. (AJ) Poelarends, native to the Netherlands, holds a PhD in Astrophysics from the University of Utrecht. His studies in astrophysics led him to ponder questions of the cosmos and our place in it, leading him to earn an MDiv from Covenant...

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - Can America Be Reformed When The University Is The Source Of Darkness? - Vishal Mangalwadi    Vishal Mangalwadi is an Indian philosopher and social reformer who has written several popular books on the Bible’s seismic influence. Vishal has lectured in over 40 countries, published seventeen books (including The Book That Made Your World), and contributed to...

The first verses in Genesis 6 appear to be a brief and truncated prelude to the Flood narrative. Because of its brevity, there have been varying interpretations of the nature of the 'sons of god and the daughters of men' mentioned in this perplexing narrative. Interestingly, the passage is expanded upon in the New Testament (2 Peter and Jude), and especially in the extra-biblical book of I Enoch,...

The role of alcohol in the Bible is a contentious topic, with even greater debates attending the question of how we might apply the biblical material to our lives. Dr. John Anthony Dunne will be addressing this topic with readings from the final chapter of his forthcoming book, Mountains Shall Drip Sweet Wine: A Biblical Theology of Alcohol, which will be published by Zondervan next year. John Ant...

One of the dismissive phrases that has powerfully gripped our culture lately is “We rely on the science.” This is often uttered by people who have no idea what it even means; nevertheless, there is a great confusion between basing things on knowledge and basing things on faith. These are often seen as conflicting: knowledge comes from science whereas religious belief comes from faith. This just me...

In her lovely book, L’Abri (1969), Edith Schaeffer writes that she and Francis determined the purpose of L’Abri would be “To show forth by demonstration, in our life and work, the existence of God.” It sometimes appears that being a disciple of Jesus can be summarized in a series of classes or booklets, so that we become effective in such habits as prayer, Bible reading, witnessing, and living a s...

Dostoevsky said that beauty would save the world. But how? What does this mean? We can begin to apprehend what Dostoevsky so profoundly said only when we understand what it means to have a Christian poetic and once we have grappled with the nature of true Beauty. However, lest we relegate Beauty to a dry lecture, we will read through Flannery O'Connor's short story, 'Parker's Back', which displays...

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - Responding to the Inevitable Unravelling of Higher Education - Greg Jesson The forth and final of our interim 'conference highlights' series, Professor Greg Jesson asks how we should define and respond to the great shifts in higher education. Greg recently retired from teaching philosophy at Luther College and the University of Iowa. He was also the Directo...

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - The University Next Door - Christian Education in the Modern World of Identity Politics - Mike Sugimoto The third in our interim 'conference highlights' series, Professor Mike Sugimoto discusses the growing and tumultuous presence of identity politics within universities and its relationship to Christian education. Insightful, witty and well-paced, this lec...

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - The Foundations of Liberal Education: On the Birth and Purpose of the Medieval University - John Hodges - Rochester L'Abri Conference The second in our interim 'conference highlights' series, this lecture looks again to the past in order to fully understand our present. A fascinating insight into the origins of Liberal Education during the Medieval period....