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The following instructors from Faith Builders are available to speak in churches or schools. Please contact them for more information or to discuss availability.

Stephen Russel stephenrussell@fbep.org

A GATHERING OF KINGDOM WORKERS

March 24-25, 2022

Academics tend to be a gloomy lot, perhaps confirming what the author of Ecclesiastes observed: "He who increases knowledge increases sorrow" (1:18). But a sampling of recent headlines might help explain why despair permeates the halls of the Ivory Tower.

"Here's How Higher Education Dies" (Adam Harris, The Atlantic, June 5, 2018)
"The End of the University" (Astra Taylor, The New Republic, September 8, 2020)
"The Economic Model of Higher Education Was Already Broken. Here's Why the Pandemic May Destroy It for Good." (Zachary Karabell, TIME, 27 August 2020)

Does it seem to you that public conversations these days are increasingly loud and shrill? Josh Nisley, the coordinator of the Institute writing program, describes how Christians can think charitably about reading and writing.

Many forms of Christian post-secondary education operate within the assumptions of liberal democracy, with its separate spheres for public and private life. What would it mean, in an increasingly post-Christian and fragmented society, for Christian educators to support Christian community?

Teachers are problem solvers, learners, and community contributors. We seek in TAP, the Teacher Apprenticing Program, to address all dimensions of what it means to be a teacher through study, discipleship, and practice.

So often there's a gap between what we profess to believe and how we actually live, think, and love. Steven Brubaker, the administrator of Faith Builders, offers an invitation to develop passionate belief - and to be healed.

"O come, O come, and be our God-with-us
O long-sought With-ness for a world without,
O secret seed, O hidden spring of light. ..."

The Faith Builders Choir is happy to offer their program, "Emmanuel, God with Us," during this season of hope and remembrance.

It’s worthwhile from time to time for educators to sit back and evaluate the limits of their work. Much attention is given to what education can do - and it can do a lot. Just as much attention, however, should be given to the places where education (particularly post-secondary education) is less competent. Postsecondary education is unable to:

This spring would have marked the twentieth year that the Faith Builders Chorale planned a singing tour.

Instead, we found ourselves dismissing all on-site classes and rehearsals in March, hoping we would be able to return before the end of semester. May has arrived, however, and we find ourselves still largely sequestered in our homes and local communities, recalling nostalgically—in what now feels like distant memory—that we once sat together in relatively crowded spaces, without protective face masks, and without fear of serious illness.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many of our lives. These are challenging times!

embodied education

In a lecture some years ago, Sir Ken Robinson suggested that educators are people who live in their heads, and slightly to one side. The only reason they have bodies, he deadpanned, is to carry around these lopsided heads. An educator himself, Robinson was poking fun at the tendency in academic settings to develop intellectual capacities to the neglect of other capacities, resulting in a significant disconnect from real life.

A choir of 44 members enjoyed a rich, educational, and worshipful tour in the summer of 2019.

They visited  Ireland, England, and Scotland. Upon their return to the US, they made a recording and shared one program in Lancaster.

The recording, "Abide with Me: Songs of Refuge and Hope" is available for purchase here at Christian Learning Resources.

The educator Tim Elmore observes in his article “What’s the Deal with Arrogance?” that our culture values and rewards arrogance. Arrogance leads in business to more customers, in politics to more votes, and in sports to higher scores. I think that, if we are honest, we often think about successful people as those who can push themselves out in front of the pack.

Believers are certainly not immune from the value that broader culture places on arrogance. At least, I know that I’ve been bitten by the arrogance bug from time to time! God keep us from this malady!

Our five-week Winter Term offers courses and schedules to serve a wide variety of students! Students can attend for two, three, or five weeks. Winter Term includes courses to challenge and deepen your faith, whatever your phase or direction in life. Regular Faith Builders instructors are joined by church and mission leaders with teaching experience.

Click here to learn more about Winter Term or to Apply.

LITTLE CHOICES MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Would you consider giving $20 to FB every month?

Faith Builders depends financially on the faithful donations of our partners. We are a 501(c)(3) organization. All donations are tax-deductible.

Christian education is more than just education.

Martin Luther once stated, "I am afraid that the schools will prove the very gates of hell, unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures and engraving them in the heart of the youth." The men and women of yesteryear displayed this passion when they first lit the flame of vision for Conservative Anabaptist schools. These heroes of Christian education understood the value of educating our children and youth in the ways of God.

Read our Fall 2017 Newsletter here.

Volunteers Sought
Terms begin in June or August
Are you (or someone you know) interested in volunteering for a year? We seek volunteers who are interested in fulfilling work at a place where personal growth is a requirement!
 

Kitchen
Two volunteers needed
Three to five ladies work in the kitchen with meal preparation and food serving. Prior experience in commercial or institutional food service is preferable, but not required. Good teamwork skills are important for this job.