For a recap from this year's Wilberforce Conference, please read this recounting of the day: ncstudycenter.org/wilberforce.
The Final 4D Dinner of the Semester with Dr. Wesley Burks
This semester, I have discovered that estimating in advance the number of attendees for our 4D Dinners is an inexact science, to say the least. Factors such as the weather, students’ exam schedules, and an unforeseen wave of late-breaking enthusiasm can dramatically impact student turnout. Some weeks, we prepare dinner for 30 and only 20 students are able to come; other weeks, the tables are set for 20 and then 30 students attend.
Our last 4D Dinner of the semester on November 21st was one of those unpredictable Mondays. It was a cold evening on a short week of class, the day before many students were set to depart Chapel Hill for Thanksgiving break. Taking these things into account, we estimated 25 students would attend and we cooked and arranged the place settings accordingly. At 5:55 pm, I noticed a burgeoning crowd of new faces congregating by the front door. I went out to welcome these visitors and discovered that two different student small groups from Chapel Hill Bible Church had decided to attend the 4D Dinner as their group’s fellowship time for that week. I then met several Medical students who had heard about the dinner from a classmate and who had made the trek to the Study Center for the first time because they had a particular interest in that evening’s speaker, Dr. Wesley Burks (Executive Dean of the UNC School of Medicine). After 15 minutes of meeting and greeting these guests, we finally circled up to bless the food, and then everyone transitioned into the dining room.
I was reminded of Jesus’ miracle of five loaves and two fishes that evening as somehow our meal prepared for 25 was able to comfortably feed the 40-or-so attendees. Paul’s exhortation from Romans 12:10 to “prefer one another” came to mind as several Study Center regulars willingly gave up their seats to first-time visitors, and instead sat on couches and even the floor. The dining room was hectic, but also alive with conversation and with new acquaintances being made. It was a beautiful sight to behold and a fitting end to a semester of wonderful Monday night meals.
At 6:35, I introduced Dr. Burks and handed him the floor. He proceeded to give an excellent address which included a brief overview of his life story along with a more detailed account of the discernment process that led him to the realization that God was calling him to the vocation of medicine. He shared about his experiences practicing Pediatrics and also in university administration with UNC hospitals. He brought along a copy of Every Good Endeavor, a book co-written by Tim Keller and Katherine Alsdorf, and he recommended it as a particularly helpful resource for students with questions about how their faith relates to their vocation. One of the practical pieces of advice that Dr. Burks shared that evening was that he strongly encourages pre-Med students (and other students planning to go to graduate school) to take at least one year away from school after undergrad to get some work/life experience before continuing on in their field.
After he concluded speaking, there was 10 minutes of question and answer time and then we prayed for Dr. Burks to draw the evening to a close. Several students stayed beyond 7:15 to continue getting to know one another or to ask Dr. Burks a personal question. The evening was an excellent reminder to me to trust in the Lord’s provision in every circumstance (especially when we seriously underestimate our number of dinner guests!). We’d like to thank Dr. Burks for closing out this semester’s lineup of 4D guest speaker dinners; we are already looking forward to the return of these dinners and to new speakers next semester!
Computer Science and Life Wisdom: A 4D Dinner with Dr. Fred Brooks
Faith and Business with Chris Boone and Davis Kuykendall
UNC Alum Jason Brown on the Journey from Football to Farming
What leads a professional football player in the prime of his career with a multi-year, multi-million dollar contract offer on the table to give up football entirely, and to instead start a farm that doesn’t turn a profit? This was the question on the minds of 50+ attendees as they overflowed the Study Center dining room on Monday, October 3rd to enjoy a family-style dinner and to hear from UNC alum and former NFL Center, Jason Brown.
The meal that evening will go down in Study Center lore. Friends of the Study Center (and accomplished chefs) Judy Hill, Sue Ellen Thompson and Dee McIntyre pulled out all the stops: honey glazed ham, baked sweet potatoes that had been gleaned from Jason Brown’s farm, green beans, sister Schubert rolls, and desert platters. Multiple students remarked, “this was just like having Thanksgiving Dinner here at UNC!”
After 40 minutes of dining and informal conversation, Jason Brown was introduced and proceeded to respond to the question that we’d all been eager to hear him answer. Jason spoke about how even though he was a Christian during his 7-year NFL career, the trappings and temptations of fantastic wealth, materialism, fame, and constant travel had an impact on him. He began to realize the effect these things were having on his walk with the Lord and on his marriage. As Jason prayed for discernment, he sensed God calling him to let go of his NFL career and to pursue a new, bold venture: starting a farm in Louisburg, NC, near his hometown of Henderson. Faithful to the call, Jason turned down several lucrative NFL contract offers and he, his wife Tay, and their growing family all moved back to NC to create what is today known as First Fruits Farm.
Jason’s story resonated tremendously with the students that evening. Although Jason, Tay and their children had to head out immediately after his talk, the night did not end with their departure. Several students stayed late into the evening discussing Jason's incredible story, what it means to obey God’s call, and what it might look like for their faith to shape their own respective vocations in a profound way.
Study Centers in the NY Times
What is it like to talk about things that matter at UNC? Is it always a fight? Do people listen, even when doing so is uncomfortable?
I'm happy to say that Christian study centers have been lauded as one of the few places where big questions are openly raised and answers are hazarded and even taught.
A UNC professor, Dr. Molly Worthen, penned an op-ed for the NY Times in early 2016 titled “Hallelujah College.”
“[Some] evangelicals have poured their energies into a different sort of Christian organization, one that has been proliferating quietly for decades at universities around the country: Christian study centers. These are not ministries, exactly, and what they do is not old-fashioned evangelism. Typically they occupy private buildings off campus and exist independently from the university, beyond the reach of nondiscrimination policies. The first study centers appeared in the 1960s and ’70s, but their numbers have mushroomed since 2000. The Consortium of Christian Study Centers counts 20 members — a small but significant number considering that many are embedded in the most prestigious universities around the country.
The centers position themselves as forums where students can hash out the tensions between their faith and the assumptions of secular academia — the same assumptions that have assailed more traditional ministries. They are, in a sense, spiritual “safe spaces” that offer cozy libraries, reading groups and public lectures...
Today many evangelical leaders are fond of proclaiming American Christians’ new status as a moral minority, but these students and campus ministers are the ones who are actually living that reality. It has prodded them to seek serious conversation about humans’ profound disagreements over morality and the nature of truth — questions that campus liberals, despite their professed concern for dialogue and critical thinking, often avoid in the name of tolerance and inclusion.
“We think it’s more constructive to talk about differences,” said [a junior at Columbia University]. Minority status sometimes has a funny way of turning people into more thoughtful critics of the culture around them.”