Faculty Commons SLO

Please plan on joining joining us Thursday January 23, 2014 as we welcome Christian mathematician Dr. Satyan Devadoss dialoging with Cal Poly Physics professor Dr. Peter Schwartz on science, faith and altruism.

Welcome to Cal Poly – we’d like to buy you lunch.

We hope you’ll join us for a casual lunch with colleagues. This is open to all new faculty members and is a great chance to interact, as well as hear some insights and practical thoughts from experienced faculty who want to make your experience here at Cal Poly successful.

• Wednesday October 16, 2013
• 12pm-1pm
• Conference Room UU 220

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Can Christian beliefs be rational, reasonable, or justified in a way that counts toward knowledge? How and why could a loving, all-powerful, all-knowing God allow the horrible evils we know about to occur?

Dr. Todd R. Long, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Cal Poly, will be presenting a four part lecture series 6:30-8pm at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church 301 Trinity Avenue Arroyo Grande. Oct 15 and 29 on “The Rationally of Christian Belief” and Nov 12 and 26 on “The Problem of Evil.” The lectures, which are open to the public and free of charge, are designed to provide intellectual support to reflective Christians who wrestle with, or are puzzled about, philosophical questions concerning theology, faith, and practice. The lectures will not assume any prior familiarity with philosophical content. Direction can be found here.

We are looking forward to reconnecting and hope you can join us for our third annual Faculty Commons kick-off.  

We’ll be providing BBQ chicken and tri-tip, at the home of Russell and Rea Berg in SLO. We hope you’ll come and bring your favorite side dish or dessert to share. 

This is a family event, and – similar to last year – we’ll have some experienced childcare helpers on hand so you can bring kids and still enjoy adult interaction! If you’re coming with kids, please indicated the number and ages of children you are bringing by September 20, so we can be prepared.    

3:30-4 arrive and connect

4:00-4:45 BBQ and potluck

4:45-5:45 hearing from each other, vision for the year, prayer together in small groups.

Please rsvp to the evite, or contact us for more information.

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This short 3 minute video captures the experiences of 4 professors from different campuses who went on Cru | Faculty Commons Global Mission trips this summer.

We’re encouraged how God used these professors’ platform as American university faculty to advance the gospel, how these trips expanded their vision for the world, and how their participation impacted students from their campuses.

We hope you’ll prayerfully consider joining us in being part of a similar trip next summer.

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Please save the date and plan on joining us for the 2014 Veritas Forum as we hear from Dr. Satyan Devadoss  (Mathematics, Williams College, Mass.) speaking on “Discovering Humanity in Academia” Thursday January 23, 2014 at 7:30pm in Chumash Auditorium.

His dialogue with Cal Poly physics professor Dr. Peter Schwartz will be followed by Q&A from the audience.

Here’s a link to Dr. Devadoss at Veritas Forum Cal Tech. 

Founded at Harvard University in 1992, the Veritas Forum seeks to “engage students and faculty in discussions about life’s hardest questions and the relevance of Jesus Christ to all of life.”

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In loving memory of a friend, a scholar, a theologian, a fellow servant of Jesus Christ: Dallas Willard September 4, 1935 – May 8, 2013. 

He began his teaching career at Wisconsin before arriving at USC in 1965. He was chairman of USC’s philosophy department from 1982 to 1985 and retired in 2012. His works include “The Great Omission,” “Renovation of the Heart,” “The Divine Conspiracy.” 

At the outset of his career, Dallas considered becoming a pastor. Instead, he pursued a Ph.D. and became a professor, teaching at University of Southern California for over 40 years. He once remarked “if I had gone with the church, the university would have been closed to me. But pursuing a career in academia, both the university and the church have been open to me.” 

Here’s a five minute clip of of Dallas speaking at a Veritas Forum at UCLA in 2003 on “What Is Truth? A gifted speaker, thinker, and Christian leader. He left an incredible legacy. He will be very missed.

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The SLO Cru Fellowship Dinner is an opportunity to connect with other Christian faculty members – as well as parents, alumni, and members of the community – to hear about what God is doing on campus through the ministry of Cru. The dinner is complimentary, and an opportunity to financially invest in the ministry will be provided.

SLO Cru Fellowship Dinner

Saturday May 11, 2013

Mountainbrook Church, 1775 Calle Joaquin, SLO

Reception & Vision Walk begins @ 5:30 Dinner begins @ 6pm.

Because seating is limited, reservations are required. Adults only, please.

Please rsvp by May 3rd if you’re planning on attending to Elise Thelander (contact information above) including: 1) Guest name(s) 2) Email/phone 3) meal preference: New York Steak or Ravioli (vegetarian) and dessert preference: Chocolate or Berry

We hope you can join us!

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CURE SLO is the Cal Poly chapter of CURE International, who’s mission is “healing the sick and proclaiming the Kingdom of God.” CURE International is a Christian organization and the  largest provider of reconstructive surgery to disabled children in the emerging world.

CURE SLO will be hosting their first annual CURE Charity Banquet at Mountainbrook Community Church. This banquet is an opportunity for the campus and larger community to come together and be informed about the 100 million physically disabled children living in the developing world, and the work that CURE does to provide them with physical and spiritual healing. As part of this banquet we will be hosting a silent auction. All proceeds from this event will go directly towards sponsoring specific children’s surgical procedures as CURE hospitals around the world. We hope that this banquet will empower the community to realize that together we can make a difference in the lives of these Children.

What: CURE Charity Banquet & Silent Auction
Where: Mountainbrook Church
Time: 6:00pm
Cost: $15
Services: Child Care Provided (Contact: Amanda Maffris – amaffris@calpoly.edu)
Food: Italian Cuisine (Vegetarian & Chicken option)
RSVP: RSVP by April 22 – Link: http://goo.gl/tZc3Q
Questions: CURESLO@yahoo.com

What is CURE SLO? 
CURE SLO is the campus chapter of CURE International. Through their network of charitable hospitals and surgical programs, CURE delivers life-changing care and the good news of God’s love to children and families with treatable conditions. CURE operates in over 27 countries around the world, and since 1998, has seen over 1.9 million patients, performed over 138,000 surgeries, and trained over 6,100 medical professionals. As a CURE university program CURE SLO’s mission is to raise awareness and financial support for the millions of children living with treatable conditions and the work that CURE is doing to provide them with healing.

Questions or more information: CURESLO@yahoo.com

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Many thanks to the faculty members who supported the “Feed My Starving Children” event – either by announcing it in class, by participating at one of the ten packing sessions, or through a financial gift.

The cost to host the event was $45,000; if  you’d still like to contribute financially, you can do so here.

Above, volunteers during of ten different packing sessions.

Highlights include: 

• Over 200,000 meals were packaged over the two day event for children in the Third World.
• Students from 53 different campus clubs, organizations, fraternities, sororities, and sports teams participated in the event.
• For many students, this was their first exposure to any sort of Christian event on campus. Of the 1500 students who volunteered, 0ver 1000 are not connected to a local church or campus ministry.
• This year, faculty members from Food Science & Nutrition, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Communication Studies, and Philosphy volunteered during one of the packaging shifts.

Above left: Dr. Laura Hall with a group of her students. Right: Professor Michael Winn working alongside student Luke Bernardy.

As you remember, please pray for the relationships built during this event, and that “gospel conversations” will take place in dorm rooms, greek houses, classroom … and faculty offices.

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