We are thrilled to report that our capital campaign has exceeded its goal, receiving $3,893,176 in commitments, with $3,128,926 fulfilled to date. Thank you for your generosity and specifically for your prayers over the past years. What a blessing to see the Lord at work in the life of the Study Center!
The campaign will close on Wednesday, March 31. If there are any friends, colleagues, or alums who would still enjoy learning about the campaign or desire to help us reach $4M, reach out to them or let us know — we'll gladly share the details and plans.
Any additional funds over our $3.5M goal will help us cover rising building costs due to the pandemic, additional landscaping to beautify the property, furnishings once the renovation is complete, as well as design, architectural, and administrative costs related to the project.
We entered into the campaign with Psalm 78:4 on our minds and hearts: We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, His power and the wonders He has done.
We are exceedingly grateful for His praiseworthy deeds and faithfulness through this entire campaign and always.
Capital Campaign: Renovations have started!
During our unpredictable and often tragic times, the Lord has seen fit to bless our mission of offering a home for scripture, community, and education in Chapel Hill. Thanks to community support, the dream of drastically upfitting 203 Battle Lane for that purpose is under way!
Watch the video above to hear from our builders and designers about what to expect, as well as their visions for the space and its place in the Chapel Hill community.
Explore the photo album, with additional behind-the-scenes videos, for a more in-depth look at the renovation progress so far.
We celebrate all this as the work of the Lord and as an outward display of his never-ending goodness. Our campaign ends on March 31, so if you have not yet given or made a commitment toward the campaign, you still have the chance to make this once-in-a-generation effort part of your legacy. We would deeply appreciate your participation in this project, and are still in need of funding for landscaping in particular.
David French on Christian Leadership: Problems, Possibilities and the Call of Christ
What is the current state of Christian leadership in America? What qualities should Christians insist on in their leaders? To what extent should Christians try to change the world?
The questions that confront the American church have never felt more pressing, while the examples of public leadership failures have never felt more plentiful.
So yesterday, in seeking to find our footing through this time, Madison Perry (Executive Director) had a conversation with David French, Senior Editor of The Dispatch.
Before the event, Madison offered this note:
David has attempted to think honestly and as a Christian about our current moment. His concerns run the gamut and he doesn't fall neatly into a partisan position. We'll be talking about questions like "How do healthy organizations foster a culture of accountability for people in the highest positions of leadership?", "How do you separate truth from ideology or conspiracy?", and "How should the church understand changes in culture and engage with them?"
We hope this is an opportunity for students and our extended community to think constructively together at a time when it is easier to shout than to reason. We expect that everyone who listens will find themselves at times agreeing and at times disagreeing with what is said. Above all, we hope that this conversation will help you to think clearly and live faithfully wherever you find yourself.
January Director's Letter
Dear Friends,
Below you will find good news about our capital campaign, the start of this semester, and information about exciting opportunities for students, alumni, and community members in coming weeks.
I'm excited to begin by announcing to you that we met the end-of-year match in 2020. Many of you made extraordinarily generous gifts and commitments, helping us receive a $200,000 match! Thanks to all the commitments and gifts received, we have now met our primary campaign goal of $3.5M. The campaign will remain open for additional gifts and commitments until March 31, 2021 to help us cover increased costs for building materials, landscaping, and to meet extended legal expenses from an unpredictable permitting process last year. Thankfully, we are now well-positioned to begin the renovation of the Study Center, with demolition scheduled to start during the week of Feb. 1, 2021. The construction process is expected to take approximately a year.
Since we began, I have often remembered Psalm 127:1 — "Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain." This has certainly been true in every aspect of our work, from seminars to speakers to relationships and community building, only the Lord can have the impact that we pray for. And the same will certainly be true of this construction process. We hope that the Study Center will be a home for community, education, and spiritual growth in Chapel Hill, and only the Lord can accomplish this.
As construction is beginning soon, we are in the process of considering alternative sites for casual and responsible hospitality for the coming semester. Please pray that the Lord will help us provide for students this semester the way we were able to last semester.
Finally, our undergraduate and graduate student groups started meeting last week, and our seminars have mostly begun. Any student with questions should email andrew@ncstudycenter.org — it's not too late to join!
For all members of the community, we had a wonderful evening with Dr. Kavin Rowe on the lessons the early church has to teach us in our current moment (Jan. 13). We have two additional events coming up, one with The Common Rule's Justin Whitmel Earley (Feb. 1), and the other with political commentator David French on Christian leadership (Feb. 18).
May the Lord guide us all into the joyful work ahead this year,
Madison Perry
Executive Director
Welcoming Administrative Coordinator: Joy Purvis
We are so excited to share that we have a new member on our team!
Joy Purvis grew up in southern Italy in a missionary family, which probably explains her love of food, travel, and people. She received a bachelor’s degree from Lancaster Bible College, where she focused on early elementary education. She then served for eight years as the Assistant Director for Saints Bible Institute, a Christian study abroad program in San Lorenzo, Italy.
She lives in Chapel Hill with her husband, Jeremy, who is a faculty member at UNC, and their three rambunctious children: Jackson, Luke, and Caroline. She enjoys life’s simple pleasures: good food, the great outdoors, and spending time with friends.
Prior to her role as the Administrative Coordinator, which started Jan. 4, Joy served as a volunteer for the Study Center, helping to lead student move-in lunches; prepare for the Wilberforce conference; and mentor Study Center Fellows.
Email Joy: joy@ncstudycenter.org
Reflections on François Fénelon
One French educator and minister on the power of prayer and piety
By Bill Boyd
François Fénelon (specifically François de Salignac de la Motte-Fénelon) was born on August 6, 1651, at Fénelon Castle in Périgord. Fénelon studied at the seminary Saint-Sulpice in Paris, where he was ordained as a priest. Fénelon published his pedagogical work Traité de l'éducation des filles (Treatise on the Education of Girls) in 1681, which brought him much attention, not only in France, but abroad as well. At this time, he met Jacques Bénigne Bossuet, Bishop of Meaux, who soon became his patron and through whose influence Fénelon was contracted by Louis XIV to carry out the re-conversion of the Hugenots in the provinces of Saintonge and Poitou in 1686 and was appointed in 1689 as educator of his grandson and potential successor, the Duc de Bourgogne. Because of this position, he gained much influence at the court.
Living a Tech-Wise Life with Andy and Amy Crouch
We are in the second full week of UNC's winter break, and our staff has been talking a lot about technology, screen time, and exploring questions together like the ones below...
Is your weekly screen time at a reasonable number? Or is it higher than you’d like it to be?
Is social media playing a healthy role in your life — keeping you connected to friends? Or is it playing an unhealthy role in your life — serving as a constant distraction, eating up valuable segments of your day, and leading you down the spiral of comparison and envy?
Are you ‘in control’ of your devices? Or are your devices 'controlling’ your life, in a sense?
Does the Bible, written ~2,000 years before the iPhone was invented, have substantive wisdom to help us navigate our tech-saturated world?
On Thursday, Dec. 10 our team was able to have a rich, honest conversation about technology, discernment, and living the good life with best-selling author Andy Crouch (author of The Tech-Wise Family) and his daughter Amy Crouch (current college student and author of My Tech-Wise Life: Growing Up and Making Choices in a World of Devices).
We can barely imagine our lives without technology. Tech gives us tools to connect with our friends, listen to our music, document our lives, share our opinions, and keep up with what's going on in the world. Yet it also tempts us to procrastinate, avoid deeper conversations, compare ourselves with others, and filter reality. Sometimes, it feels like our devices have a lot more control over us than we have over them. But it doesn't have to be that way.
Joined by student and young alumni co-moderators Kristina Chapple (‘22) and Peter Andringa (‘20), staff member Matt Hoehn guided discussion.