Mouw to Kick Off Inspire 2017

Richard Mouw, president emeritus of Fuller Theological Seminary and author of a newly published book on Christian civility, will be the opening speaker for Inspire 2017, a binational gathering of Christian Reformed Church volunteers and leaders.

Mouw, who has worked for many years in various settings to help people understand one another better, is scheduled to speak on the evening of Aug. 3, 2017, at the event, which runs through Sat., Aug. 5.

Inspire organizers say Mouw has a history of empowering, inspiring, and encouraging people with his talks. He has a way of bringing people together around shared ideas and values—and this is why he has been asked to help begin the event.

Set in Detroit because of its location on the border between Canada and the United States, Inspire 2017 is a conference to connect people from across the CRC’s 1,000-plus churches for three days of practical workshops, speakers, worship, and conversation.

The goal is for volunteers involved in ministry at any level in their churches to gather at the river in Detroit to refresh, refocus, and reimagine how their shared calling finds expression in their local communities and beyond.

Inspire 2017 will give participants a chance to share stories and ideas. Joining together in one place for three days, they will have the time to worship, pray, learn, experience, engage, celebrate, and grow.

Along the way, they will also hear from and be inspired by such ministry leaders as Mouw, who currently serves on the Fuller faculty as a professor of faith and life.

The author of more than 20 books and the recipient of several awards, Mouw taught in the philosophy department at Calvin College before teaching at Fuller. Mouw has also served as visiting professor at several institutions, including the Free University in Amsterdam.

In his new book, Adventures in Evangelical Civility: A Lifelong Quest for Common Ground, he talks about his own journey in learning about and addressing the beliefs and ideas that people hold in common.

“As I look back over my academic career—I write this now at age seventy-five—I see commonness as a theme that has been informing the main intellectual endeavors that have engaged me from the start of my academic career,” Mouw writes.

“More often than not, the theme has been an explicit topic that I have wanted to address. At other times, I can now discern, it was there just below the surface of what I was wrestling with. But it has been a consistent theme for me.”

A graduate of Houghton College, Mouw studied at Western Theological Seminary and earned a master’s degree in philosophy at the University of Alberta. His Ph.D. in philosophy is from the University of Chicago.

Mouw has served on many editorial boards, including currently Books and Culture. His books include The God Who Commands, The Smell of Sawdust, Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport, Uncommon Decency: Christian Civility in an Uncivil World, and, more recently, Called to the Life of the Mind.

His awards include Princeton Theological Seminary’s 2007 Kuyper Prize for Excellence in Reformed Theology and Public Life, and the Shalom Award for Interfaith Cooperation from the American Jewish Committee. He recently served as president of the Association of Theological Schools, and he cochaired for six years the official United States Roman Catholic-Reformed Dialogue.

Also giving a keynote speech during Inspire 2017 is Ann Voskamp, a best-selling author and blogger whose new book, The Broken Way: A Daring Path into the Abundant Life,” was just published.

To receive updates about Inspire 2017 and to be notified when registration opens, visit crcna.org/Inspire2017 or join the Facebook event page.