SUMMER THEOLOGY INSTITUTES PLANNED – The University of Findlay has received a $400,000 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to finance free, annual week-long summer institutes, beginning in 2016, for rising 10-12th grade students who are interested in learning more about their faith, and how it intersects with and informs other aspects of their lives, including career choice.

UF is calling its program “The Well,” a Biblical reference, to emphasize how faith and future flow together.

The institutes will have a non-denominational, Christian-focused context, but students from all faith traditions are welcome to participate. Activities involving on-campus education and trips throughout the region will incorporate numerous opportunities to learn about other religions, including Islam and Judaism. The effort is meant to serve as a faith-strengthening endeavor, not a proselytizing opportunity.

The funding is part of Lilly Endowment Inc.’s High School Youth Theology Institutes initiative, which seeks to encourage young people to explore theological traditions, ask questions about the moral dimensions of contemporary issues and examine how their faith calls them to lives of service.

The first of four annual summer institutes will be held Sunday through Friday, July 10-15, 2016. Fifty participants will be accepted. Overnight accommodations, food and all activities will be fully funded for participants. This event, and subsequent institutes, will be conducted by faculty in UF’s religion and philosophy department, Campus Ministry, faculty and staff from the University’s other five colleges, and by college student leaders.

ASHLAND PROFESSOR HAS NEW BOOK ON FAITH, NONVIOLENCE – Dr. Craig Hovey, associate professor of religion and executive director of the Ashland Center for Nonviolence, has published his ninth book, titled “The Cambridge Companion to Christian Political Theology.” He is co-editor of the volume that includes 14 essays, including his own contribution on “Liberalism and Democracy.”

Published by Cambridge University Press, the book addresses the recent surge in political theology in recent years. The volume provides a focused overview of the field.

“Political theology is a really hot topic these days,” Hovey said. “Today, a lot of people are asking serious questions about religious faith in secular societies, the origin and function of democratic politics, worldwide economic challenges, the shift of Christianity’s center of gravity to the global south, and anxieties related to bold and sometimes violent assertions of theologically determined political ideas,” Hovey said.

Staff report