2011 C3 Conference Recap

We celebrate the completion of our inaugural C3 conference Feb. 24-26, 2011

Our inaugural C3 Conference in Nashville in February was remarkable. Participants represented 21 U.S. states (and England), and all walks of life: medical doctors, business executives, artists, musicians, community leaders, professors, publishers, youth pastors, and priests. Plenary speakers were Christian Smith, Makoto Fujimura, Don Miller, Andy Crouch, Paul Weston, and Frederica Mathewes-Green (Read more about our speakers). An array of workshops offered practical advice in helping Christians engage the wider culture.

Participants created a buzz about their experiences at our 2011 Conference, saying it was "powerful and encouraging," "inspirational," provided a "clearer understanding of cultural issues," and incorporated "fresh ideas outside of [the] usual religious topics."

Featured Speakers

Workshop Leaders

Corporate Sponsors

C3 photos courtesy of Gavin Richardson. www.gavoweb.com

2011 Featured Speakers

Donald Miller

Author of New York Times bestseller Blue Like Jazz,where he movingly tells his own story of faith. also wrote,A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. A sought-after speaker, Don has delivered lectures to a wide-range of audiences. In 2008, Don was asked to deliver the closing prayer on Monday night at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.

Andy Crouch

Listen now to Andy in an interview with Joe King from C3!

The author of Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling, winner of Christianity Today’s 2009 Book Award for Christianity and Culture and named one of the best books of 2008 by Publishers Weekly and Relevant. He is a dynamic speaker and teacher, and a classically trained musician.

Makoto Fujimura

Listen now to Makoto in an interview with Joe King from C3!

Artist, writer, and speaker. A Presidential appointee to the National Council on the Arts (2003-2009), Fujimura’s work is exhibited at galleries around the world. A popular speaker, he has lectured at numerous conferences and universities, Fujimura’s second book, Refractions: A Journey of Faith, Art and Culture, collects essays that further the conversation and meditation on culture, art, and humanity. Fujimura founded the International Arts Movement in 1992.

Christian Smith

Professor of sociology at the University of Notre Dame. Smith was a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for 12 years before his move to Notre Dame. Smith's research focuses in part on religion among adolescents. Most recently, he was awarded Christianity Today’s 2010 Distinguished Book Award for his 2009 book, co-authored with Patricia Snell, Souls in Transition: the Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults. He co-authored with Melinda Lundquist Denton Soul Searching: the Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers.

Frederica Mathewes-Green

Listen now to Frederica in an interview with Joe King from C3!

Author, whose work has appeared in such diverse publications as the Washington Post, Christianity Today,Smithsonian, the Los Angeles Times, and the Wall Street Journal. She writes regularly for the multi-faith web magazine Beliefnet.com. She has published nine books, including Facing East: A Pilgrim’s Journey into the Mysteries of and The Illumined Heart: The Ancient Christian Path of Transformation. In the past, her commentaries have been heard on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered and Morning Edition.

The Reverend Dr Paul Weston

Tutor in Mission and Homiletics at Ridley Hall, Cambridge University in England. He has a Ph.D. on the writings of Lesslie Newbigin. His latest book, Lesslie Newbigin: Missionary Theologian - A Reader is published by SPCK in the UK and Eerdmans in the States.

2011 Workshop Presentations

From Purchases to Practices

Andy Crouch

An interactive workshop on creativity, disciplines and the spiritual life. We will explore the challenges of achieving artistic, everyday excellence in a consumer culture.

The author of Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling, winner of Christianity Today’s 2009 Book Award for Christianity and Culture and named one of the best books of 2008 by Publishers Weekly and Relevant. He is a dynamic speaker and teacher, and a classically trained musician.

Preaching with an Eye to Pop Culture

Kevin Miller & Tim Jones

How can sermons more effectively reach folks in an age when Oprah has become a spiritual guide for many? We will look at creative communication that can help the preacher both show and tell. In particular the workshop will examine shifts in accent that can help in connecting: a shift from statement to story, for example, or from authority to authenticity. And we will explore the artful use of illustrative material from pop culture.

Kevin Miller is associate rector of Church of the Resurrection (www.churchrez.org). Formerly, he was executive vice president for Christianity Today International, where he helped launch PreachingToday.com, BuildingChurchLeaders.com, and other sites. He contributes regularly toLeadership Journal and is the author or co-author of three books. Timothy Jones is Senior Associate Rector at St. George’s Episcopal Church. He directs the St. George’s Institute of Church and Cultural Life and is the author of several books on spirituality.

Engaging with and Creating Culture through the International Arts Movement

Makoto Fujimura

Artist, writer, and speaker. A Presidential appointee to the National Council on the Arts (2003-2009), Fujimura’s work is exhibited at galleries around the world. A popular speaker, he has lectured at numerous conferences and universities, Fujimura’s second book, Refractions: A Journey of Faith, Art and Culture, collects essays that further the conversation and meditation on culture, art, and humanity. Fujimura founded the International Arts Movement in 1992.

Discerning Cultural Disorder: Lessons from C. S. Lewis

Ken Myers

While many Christians respect C. S. Lewis as a powerful apologist, his insight into modern culture is often overlooked. Yet his apologetics works (as well as his fiction and many of his essays) are all fueled by a deep awareness of how modern assumptions about life and meaning (mediated through our cultural experience) get in the way of faith and faithfulness. In this workshop, Ken Myers will examine some of the prominent cultural themes in Lewis's writings and argue that his work is often richer and wiser about cultural matters than many of today's mavens of relevance.

Ken Myers is the host and producer of the MARS HILL AUDIO Journal, a bimonthly audio magazine that examines issues in contemporary culture from a framework shaped by Christian conviction. His earlier career included eight years as a producer and editor for National Public Radio, covering subjects in the arts and humanities for Morning Edition and other NPR programs. He has also worked editing print periodicals on religion and culture, writes a regular column in Touchstone magazine called “Contours of Culture,” and is the author of All God’s Children and Blue Suede Shoes: Christians and Popular Culture (Crossway Books: 1989).

Drawing the Artistic Soul into Worship

Jim & Kim Thomas

What about the Christian Gospel speaks to the artistic soul? How can the biblical message of Creation-Fall-Redemption-Restoration inspire works of art that are good, true and beautiful? How can churches reach out to the creative community around them with the Gospel? Almost 10 years ago, Jim & Kim Thomas planted The Village Chapel in Nashville which has drawn a large number of musicians, writers, and artists of all kinds who share a pew with healthcare professionals, business people and construction workers. Come hear one of the stories of how God is working through a church that is learning how to speak into the artistic soul.

Jim & Kim Thomas planted The Village Chapel almost 10 years ago in the Hillsboro Village area of Nashville which has drawn a large number of musicians, writers, and artists of all kinds who share the pew with healthcare professionals, business people, and construction workers. The Village Chapel is a non-denominational church whose focus is on worshipping God and developing community.

Jazz, the Creeds, and the Life of Praise

Timothy Kimbrough

This workshop will explore the parameters for improvisation in light of the accuracy music theory encourages. These seemingly opposites in music are akin to living a life of praise while addressing the requirements of Christian discipleship.

The Very Rev. Timothy E. Kimbrough, Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Nashville, studied music composition with the following contemporary American composers: Robert Ward, David Hurd, and John Ruggero. His published psalm settings, hymns, and songs may be found in The United Methodist Hymnal, the Global Praise series of songbooks by GBGMusik, and most recently in Help Us to Help Each Other: Hymns for Life and Ministry with the Poor.

The Making of Blue Like Jazz the Movie

Steve Taylor

FAITH and ART: A Necessary Collision

Marcus Hummon

Marcus Hummon has been called Nashville's Renaissance Man. He has enjoyed a successful career as a songwriter, recording artist, producer and studio musician, playwright and author. His country discography reads like a "who's who" list of country notables over the last 15 years--Rascal Flatts, Garth Brooks, The Dixie Chicks, Brooks and Dunn, Tim McGraw, Wynona, Sara Evans, and Patty Lovelace--to name a few. Six of his songs have charted #1 on Billboard, Radio and Records or Cashbox, and several of his songs have been nominated for Grammys, ACMs and CMAs. Turning to theatre, Hummon has written 5 musicals and 2 operas and in literature, his children's bookAnytime, Anywhere is published by Athenium Press, a division of Simon and Schuster. Marcus lives in Nashville with his wife Becca and their sons Levi, Caney, and Moses.

Fifteen Years of Books & Culture: the View from an Editor’s Desk

John Wilson

The many-sidedness of what’s going on at any moment, as sampled in the unceasing flow of books, books, and more books, should prompt us to be skeptical of sweeping claims about Christ, Church, and Culture today. Not skeptical as a badge of pride, not in denial of palpable realities, but open to counter-evidence, to surprise, confident that our ultimate trust is well placed.

John Wilson is the founding editor of Books & Culture, a bimonthly review. He edited five volumes in the Best Christian Writing series. His essays and reviews appear in theNew York Times Book Review, the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe, First Things, National Review, The Weekly Standard, Christianity Today, and other publications. He and his wife Wendy are the parents of four children.

Making Sense of Movies through the Lens of Faith

Jeff Frame

Movies and television (and now the Internet) are media that have become the most pervasive cultural storytellers in the world. As consumers of these media and as Christians, our movie-viewing habits and media diet have turned us—as Brian Godawa puts it—into cultural gluttons, cultural anorexics, or something in-between. However, movies also create for us, as a Church, opportunities and a responsibility to dialogue with culture about our faith and to promote the cause of Christ. This class explores briefly what it means to look at “the movies” redemptively, not as a cultural threat that we must shun or protest, but instead as a tool for spiritual reflection and growth and, perhaps, even as a means of grace.

Jeffrey Frame is associate professor of communication studies at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville and has taught film and theatre for more than 22 years. He is the 2002 recipient of Trevecca’s Faculty Member of the Year award. A veteran director and actor, Mr. Frame has frequently spoken on various topics in film, theatre, and literature at professional conferences and has been a member of the Film and History Conference, the Popular Culture Association of the South (PCAS), the American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE), the Association of Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE), the Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC), and the Tennessee Philological Association (TPA). He continues to be an long-time, active member of Trevecca Community Church of the Nazarene where he is regularly involved in worship ministries.

Communicating Across Cultures: A Christian Response to Muslims in America

Jill Zook-Jones

Several million of the 1.7 billion Muslims worldwide now live in America with more coming every day. Is their coming a threat or an opportunity for the American church? This workshop suggests that the model for a Christian response to the cultural reality of Muslims in America can be found in the risky, self-giving love of Christ.

The Reverend Jill Zook-Jones served for seven years as a member of the staff of the Bishop of Tennessee. She has pastored a small congregation in Mt. Juliet and has served as an interim priest at two other area churches. Currently she teaches classes on Islam at area churches. The Rev. Zook-Jones seeks through her teaching to motivate Christians to build authentic relationships with Muslims and to help them find ways to build bridges to Muslims from the Gospel. In her spare time she helps refugees with their English and serves on a committee at St. George’s Church that is developing a ministry to international students.

Loving the World Lavishly

Becca Stevens

In this workshop we will discuss how our faith can embolden us to love the whole world one person at a time. We will use the ideas of community development, social enterprises, and outreach as instruments to carry out our call to love one another with all our hearts, souls, and minds. Becca will share stories from the past couple of decades of her ministry in all kinds of unlikely places which have taught her that trying to love the world lavishly has been her saving grace.

Becca Stevens serves as chaplain of St. Augustine’s Chapel at Vanderbilt University for a congregation of 400 students, faculty and community members. Author of five books, Becca attended the University of the South, then Vanderbilt Divinity School, where she met and married Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Marcus Hummon. She is also the founder of Magdalene, a residential community for women who have survived lives of prostitution and drug abuse offering the chance for recovery on all levels and for grounding in day-to-day living skills.

Spiritual Writing as Faithful Witness and Building Blocks for Spiritual Community

Enuma Okoro

This course will explore how spiritual writing (memoir and creative nonfiction) for the up-building of God’s kingdom requires honesty, holy fear, and the willingness to know and be known by others. We will read / discuss examples and begin to write our own pieces.

Enuma Okoro was born in the USA but reared in England, West Africa and North America. She is a freelance writer, speaker, and workshop leader. Enuma received her MDIV degree from Duke University Divinity School. She is the former director of the Center for Theological Writing at Duke Divinity School. Her spiritual memoir, Reluctant Pilgrim: A Moody, Somewhat Self-Indulgent, Introvert's Search for Spiritual Community was released in October 2010. Her 2nd book in collaboration with Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals was released in Dec 2010. Visit www.enumaokoro.com

Interview: Christian Smith on Youth and Young Adult Culture

Christian Smith

Professor of sociology at the University of Notre Dame. Smith was a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for 12 years before his move to Notre Dame. Smith's research focuses in part on religion among adolescents. Most recently, he was awarded Christianity Today’s 2010 Distinguished Book Award for his 2009 book, co-authored with Patricia Snell, Souls in Transition: the Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults. He co-authored with Melinda Lundquist Denton Soul Searching: the Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers.

A Surprising Change in Public Feeling on a Controversial Issue

Frederica Mathewes-Green

A remarkable change is taking place surrounding one of the most controversial issues in the wider culture. Young people are redefining "young and hip" to include opposition to abortion. How do we account for it? How do we thoughtfully and gracefully "ride the wave" of such cultural shifts in climate? Included in the discussion will be examples of spontaneous culture change from mid-century movies and other broad-scope shifts in public mood and conviction.

Author, whose work has appeared in such diverse publications as the Washington Post, Christianity Today,Smithsonian, the Los Angeles Times, and the Wall Street Journal. She writes regularly for the multi-faith web magazine Beliefnet.com. She has published nine books, including Facing East: A Pilgrim’s Journey into the Mysteries of and The Illumined Heart: The Ancient Christian Path of Transformation. In the past, her commentaries have been heard on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered and Morning Edition.

Christ, Church & Culture: Some Insight from Lesslie Newbigin

Paul Weston

Lesslie Newbigin's reflections on the missionary challenge facing churches in the West have stimulated and invigorated missional thinking in contemporary church on both sides of the Atlantic. This workshop will explore some of his key ideas and how they relate to the ongoing work of mission.

Tutor in Mission and Homiletics at Ridley Hall, Cambridge University in England. He has a Ph.D. on the writings of Lesslie Newbigin. His latest book, Lesslie Newbigin: Missionary Theologian - A Readeris published by SPCK in the UK and Eerdmans in the States.

Bringing Beauty to Light in the Real World

John Farkas & Sharon Perry

What does it mean to truly engage culture? How can our faith inform and inspire our art in ways that make it genuinely compelling to the world around us? This workshop will explore these questions and more. Hosted by Sharon Perry, Creative Director of StillPoint Dance Theatre and John Farkas, Executive Director of CREATEnashville, this workshop will examine what it means to care for our community through the creation of extraordinary, life-affirming work.

John Farkas founded CREATEnashville in 2009 to inspire and empower artists, creative catalysts and patrons to join in the process of creating extraordinary art that brings life to our community and our world. Prior to the advent of CREATEnashville John worked for over 15 years as the Director of Creative Arts for Fellowship Bible Church in Nashville, TN and Little Rock, AR.

Sharon Perry founded StillPoint Dance Theatre in 2005. Based in Nashville, StillPoint's mission is to call people into the "eye of the storm," and to inspire the imagination for creative peace-making and cultural interaction and awarness. Her impressive and divers professional credentials have afforded her amazing opportunities to create throughout Europe and the United States. In addition to leading StillPoint, Sharon is currently on staff with the Vanderbilt Dance Program as a choreographer and modern dance teacher.

2011 Corporate Sponsors