Whether local, virtual, or both, our experienced conference team can guide you through the process of gathering Christian colleagues together for encouragement, networking, and fresh ideas for ministry.
Phil Bishop, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus, Kinesiology, University of Alabama
This regional event is for Christian faculty and graduate students who desire to live out their faith in academia. For many, this conference has been a life-changing event in perspective and vision. You’ll meet faculty, staff and graduate students who will encourage and challenge you. You’ll hear about resources and strategies that can help you be more effective in your life and service. You’ll be refreshed to be with other faculty, and graduate students who share “A Common Call.” We also welcome spouses to attend.
Micah Green is a Professor of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University and is a frequent speaker on science, faith, and Christianity in Academia. He is married to Heather (who will be joining us at A Common Call) and has four children. Micah’s interests include apologetics and the interactions between science and faith, and he is passionate about helping Christians to be salt and light in the university.
A panel of professors will discuss legal issues, how they have navigated being salt and light on campus, created opportunities to minister, and dealt with the challenges of academic life as a believer. Questions will be welcomed! Round table discussions fostering interaction with colleagues from around Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Indiana and beyond.
Dr. Heather Holleman is an associate teaching professor with over 25 years of experience in the college classroom. Her students have called her a “walking exclamation point, and she’s best known for her community building skills and her love of vivid verbs and semicolons. She is a national public speaker, podcaster, and award-winning author of 10 books, including a bestseller in the Christian inspirational market and a winner of Christianity Today’s Book of the Year 2024 for her young adult novel.
Cost: $25
Dr. David Mustard – Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor of Economics, University of Georgia
Dr. Phil Bishop – Professor Emeritus of Kinesiology, University of Alabama
Dr. Adegbola Adesogan – Professor of Animal Nutrition, University of Florida
Cost: $45 for faculty; $30 for grad students
Jennifer Walker earned her PhD in Microbiology from the University of Georgia in 2002. After time as a post doc and starting to raise a family of four daughters, she returned to UGA as an instructional faculty member in the Microbiology Department. Currently, she is a Senior Lecturer and Undergraduate Coordinator.
He has traveled throughout the US and much of the world, speaking in churches, evangelistic outreaches, conferences, colleges and seminaries. He has been the featured speaker at Super Bowls, NCAA Final Four Chapel and the Pentagon. He has been a church planter, served for 27 years on the staff of Cru and served for 15 years as Sr. Pastor of Fellowship Bible Church, Roswell, Georgia. He and his wife, Karen, have been featured speakers at FamilyLife marriage conferences. Crawford is the author of 9 books including Your Marriage Today… and Tomorrow, co-authored with Karen. He is the host of two national radio programs, the weekend program Living a Legacy and the daily program Legacy Moments.
Crawford has served on several boards including Passion, Cru, FamilyLife and Chick-fil-A. He has received five honorary Doctorates (Biola Univ., Cairn Univ., Moody Bible Institute, Trinity International Univ. and Columbia International Univ.).
Crawford is President and Founder of Beyond Our Generation, encouraging and helping to shape the next generation of Christian leaders.
Main Presenters
Dr. Ray Cross is the President Emeritus of the University of Wisconsin System. Ray was raised on a small dairy farm in Michigan, went to a one room school through the eighth grade, served in Vietnam, completed his PhD at Michigan State, served as a engineering faculty member, a consultant to numerous automotive corporations, and worked as a college or university president/chancellor in Minnesota, New York and here in Wisconsin. He has been married to his wife Miriam (an accomplished pianist) for almost 55 years. They are proud parents of four children and eight grandchildren. Both Ray and Miriam have been Christians since their youth while continuously striving to be more like Christ (failing too often!), contending for the faith, and, in retirement, seeking more ways to serve their neighbors and their communities. Ray currently serves as an advisor or consultant to a number of organizations including the University of Wisconsin Missing in Action Recovery and Identification Project.
His talks will be: “What is the Role of Christian Faculty on the University Campus” and “Archaeology – A Powerful Witness to the Historicity and Reliability of the Bible”
Dr. Doug Matthews is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. He studies alcohol use and misuse, mostly in animal models. He has published over 80 papers (thank you reviewers!) and his lab has received over 2.8 million dollars in grant funds (thank you Lord!). Previous ministry stints involve volunteering with E3Partners, serving with Global Scholars where he lived in Singapore for 5 years with his family and President of Global Banjara Baptist Ministries. He has been married to Melissa for 31 years (God bless her) and has three daughters Taylor (28 years), Drew (26 years) and Sadie (22 years). He also has one granddaughter, Evelynn Belle who is almost 2! He loves the Kansas City Chiefs who win often and make him struggle with pride and the Kansas City Royals who lose often and help him be humble. He is an awful cook, excellent at eating and promises he is slightly better than his ratemyprofessor.com scores.
His talk will be: “The Practical Faith of a Christian Academic”
Dr. John Pfotenhauer is a Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering at UW-Madison. He completed his BA in Physics at St. Olaf College and his MS and PhD in Physics at the Univ. of Oregon. His research at UW-Madison has been focused on low-temperature refrigeration, cryogenics, and applied superconductivity. He enjoys teaching thermodynamics and has also taught many times over the years at Universities in China. John has been married for over 45 years to Nadine, has four adult children and four grandchildren.
His talk will be: “Faculty Extending the Kingdom of God on University Campuses”
Other presentations will include: “The Secret – The Work of the Holy Spirit” – Dave Johnson, FC Staff Leading Small Groups, Legal Issues, Outreach Ideas, Basic Discipleship
Cost: $75 for faculty; $35 for grad students
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