A couple times in the past twelve months I’ve praised From Bubble to Bridge: Educating Christians for a Multifaith World, by my Bethel University colleagues Marion Larson and Sara Shady. Before it came out in January, I called it “the first must-read Christian book of 2017,” and quoted the foreword by interfaith activist Eboo Patel:
From Bubble to Bridge has arrived at the perfect time. The authors shed light rather than heat on the question of how evangelical Christian colleges ought to engage religious diversity. They manage to take evangelical theology, Christian education, and other religions seriously—no mean feat! They are honest about the fact that evangelical colleges are designed to insulate and, while maintaining that there is value in faith-alike spaces, they fully recognize that such institutions can no longer pretend that their bubbles continue to be hermetically sealed. Diversity creeps in through friendships, news stories, civic encounters, social movements, and the like. Larson and Shady show, in a manner that is both intellectually compelling and practically useful, that evangelical colleges can be leaders in interfaith bridge-building.
So let me encourage readers who work in higher education to check out a free webinar being presented by Sara and Marion — and sponsored by Patel’s organization, Interfaith Youth Core. Entitled “Including Evangelical Students in Interfaith Work,” the webinar will have two sessions: this Thursday’s (Oct. 26th) will be aimed primarily at those who work in Christian higher ed; a week later (Thursday, Nov. 2nd), a Marion and Sara will speak to those who work at other kinds of colleges and universities.
The webinars are free, but registration/RSVP is required.
The Pietist Schoolman 