The Sources of Tolkien's Inspiration in his Sub-Creation of Middle Earth - Jerram Barrs - 2018 Conference Highlights: For Glory and for Beauty - Creativity and the Christian

Jerram Barrs retired in 2022 after 34 years of service to the Seminary. A student of the late Francis A. Schaeffer, Jerram joined the Covenant faculty in 1989 after 18 years with L’Abri Fellowship in England, where he also served as a pastor in the International Presbyterian Church he helped plant there. Jerram is a graduate of Covenant and while a student at the Seminary he and his wife, Vicki, were involved in the planting of Grace and Peace Fellowship, a Reformed Presbyterian (now PCA) church in St. Louis city.

His publications include Being Human, Shepherds and Sheep, Who Are the Peacemakers?, The Great Rescue, The Heart of Evangelism, Through His Eyes, Learning Evangelism from Jesus, The Heart of Prayer, Echoes of Eden, Delighting in the Law of the Lord, as well as the video series Building Up Bridges, Breaking Down Walls. He is at present working on a sermon commentary on the Book of Revelation, tentatively entitled Jesus, Lord of History: The Message of Revelation. He is also working on books on The Heart of a Pastor, The Heart of Worship, C. S. Lewis: God’s Hand in His History, and Mythmaking and the Gospel in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.

Apollo, Dionysus and Jesus: A Brief history of Western Aesthetics - John Hodges - 2018 Conference Highlights: For Glory and for Beauty - Creativity and the Christian

John Hodges has worked for over 15 years as an orchestral conductor and taught arts and cultural apologetics for over 10 years at Crichton College. He founded and directs the Center for Western Studies, a tutorial program that teaches college-aged students a Christian worldview and the history of Western ideas.  Hodges lectures on music, aesthetics, and education, and lives in Memphis with his wife Day.

Created and Creating: A Mandate for Creativity and the Arts - Bill Edgar - 2018 Conference Highlights: For Glory and for Beauty - Creativity and the Christian

William Edgar (BA, Harvard University, MDiv, Westminster Theological Seminary, DTh, Université de Genève) is proffesor of Apologetics at Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia. He directs the gospel-jazz band Renewal, which features the legendary singer Ruth Naomi Floyd. He is also currently professeur associé at the Faculté Jean Calvin, Aix-en-Provence (France). He has published more than 20 books and numerous articles in French and in English. His most recent book is A Supreme Love: The Music of Jazz and the Gospel (IVP Academic, 2022). He and his wife, Barbara, have two children and three grandchildren.

Given that even 'spiritual giants' can burn out, this talk will look at the example of Elijah in 1 Kings 19:3-31 to discern the Three Basic Principles of Rest.

InKyung Sung is the coordinator of L’Abri Fellowship Korea. He and his wife KyungOk founded the branch in 1990. They have three children. InKyung has written 'Turning my Worldview Upside Down' and 6 other books, while KyungOk wrote 'Mother to Mothers'. They co-wrote 'Love Song for Young Adults'.

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We will be doing something a little different this series. We will still meet in-person with discussion and refreshments on offer - but our speakers will be zooming in and speaking to us from afar. This will allow our local supporters to meet some of our colleagues from other L'Abri branches and hear a little of their work in other parts of the world. This Friday we visit South Korea!

The God we encounter in the Bible is a God who asks questions. The questions God asks tend to play significant roles in moving the redemptive story forward. This lecture will explore this idea, focusing particularly on two of those questions and what they might mean for you and I today.

Karl Pacholke, with his wife Jenny, is a few years into the vulnerable process of starting a new L'Abri work in Brisbane, Australia. His working backgrounds are a short stint in engineering, followed by a longer stint in pastoral ministry. His days are enriched by a little brood of children.

We will be doing something a little different this series. We will still meet in person with discussion and refreshments on offer - but our speakers will be zooming in and speaking to us from afar. This will allow our local supporters to meet some of our colleagues from other L'Abri branches and hear a little of their work in other parts of the world. This Friday we visit Brisbane, Australia!

Western Society is, to all intents and purposes, atheist. Our

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Dr Frank Stootman is a physicist and committed Christian. He

What is Stewardship? - Dick Keyes - 2019 Conference Highlights: Common Grace for the Common Good - Living Life Vocationally

Dick Keyes is the director-emeritus of L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts, where he has been working with his wife and family since 1979. They now continue to be engaged in the work but on more of a part-time basis. He holds a B.A. in History from Harvard University, and an M. Div. from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He has worked for L’Abri Fellowship in Switzerland and in England, where he served also as a pastor in the International Presbyterian Church in London. He has been an adjunct professor at Gordon Conwell Seminary and Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He is the author of Beyond Identity, True Heroism, Chameleon Christianity and Seeing Through Cynicism, as well as chapters in several anthologies such as No God But God, ed. Os Guinness and Finding God at Harvard, ed. Kelly Monroe, and The New Dictionary of Christian Apologetics.

Finding Sabbath Rest in a World That Never Stops - Mary Frances Giles - 2019 Conference Highlights: Common Grace for the Common Good - Living Life Vocationally

Mary Frances Giles holds an MA in Theology from Regent College and a MS in Speech and Language Pathology form Boston University. Mary works with L'Abri Fellowship Southborough.

The Changing Relationship of Young People to Work - Mardi Keyes - 2019 Conference Highlights: Common Grace for the Common Good - Living Life Vocationally

Mardi graduated from Wellesley College with a degree in Biblical History in 1968. Shortly after graduation, she married Dick Keyes, and in 1970, they moved to Europe to work with L’Abri. They spent six months in Switzerland, and eight and a half years in England (London and Greatham). 

Mardi has lectured on a variety of topics, including hospitality, the problem of evil, the family, children, adolescence, youth culture, the Christian mind, feminism, and other gender issues. Mardi has published a number of articles, and a booklet entitled Feminism & the Bible. She also contributed a chapter in response to Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, in the book, Women and the Future of the Family. In her lectures and writing, Mardi relates Biblical teaching to social history and contemporary culture.

The Spirit at Work: God and Vocation - Clarke Scheibe - 2019 Conference Highlights: Common Grace for the Common Good - Living Life Vocationally

Clarke Scheibe is the director of L'Abri Fellowship in Victoria, B.C. His wife Julia and he have been a part of L'Abri in Canada for 15 years and they are grateful to have two young children. He received a BLA from the University of Mississippi and a MDiv from Regent College in Vancouver.