InterVarsity Graduate Christian Fellowship at Stanford University |
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Large GroupsDuring the regular year, meetings are held on Friday evenings starting at 6:30pm. Our meetings rotate between two locations and feature several types of events. Every other week, we begin our meetings with a meal prepared by fellow members. Then we hear from a speaker and discuss or pray about the message. The talks are aimed at helping us see our work at Stanford in the context of being a disciple of Jesus. These meetings are held in the Graduate Community Centre in Escondido Village, near the traffic bollards on Escondido Road between EV and Rains. On the other weeks, we either have a meeting devoted to worship and prayer or to viewing and discussing a film. At the worship meetings we bring the specific thanksgivings and struggles of our time here at Stanford before the Lord. At the film discussions, we try to think theologically and critically about our culture from the standpoint of Christian conviction. These meetings are held in Building 300, Room 300 just to the left/rear of Memorial Church on the outer Quad. For further details about any of these meetings and for venue information and directions please contact Rachel Ahern (rahern). Spring 2005 Meetings and Speakers
Friday, April 1: Dinner and Speaker
Jesus and Greatness, Mark 10:32-45 David Jones, Reformed University Fellowship staff What is greatness? Success? Accomplishment? Power? Prestige? Is there a difference between greatness in the Kingdom and greatness as defined by our world? Jesus says to be careful of what the world calls great. Come and hear how greatness in the Kingdom is not like greatness in the world. David Jones serves with Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) at Stanford and is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). David grew up in Knoxville, TN and is fanatically committed to cheering for the Tennessee Vols football team. After becoming a Christian in high school, David went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the University of Tennessee and a Master of Divinity from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, PA. In between he worked in Family Ministry at a church in Dallas, TX, where he met his wife, Mindi. They enjoy music, mountain biking, surfing, skiing, reading, and eating (although they only claim to be good at eating)!
Kingship, Brutality, and Beauty: Shakespeare as you've never seen him before Kenneth Branagh's "Henry V" -- Rated PG-13 / 1989
(This film received Best Actor and Best Director Oscar nominations.) From amazon.com and imdb.com:
Rachel Ahern, 2nd year PhD candidate in Classics, will lead the discussion. Henry V has been her favorite movie since age 11.
Houses, Helping and Hope Over the recent spring break, several IVGrad members helped build safe, secure homes for poor families. Paul Fontes assisted Project Mexico down in Tijuana. Project Mexico is dedicated to helping the poor through providing homes for struggling families and an orphanage where boys can grow in Christ and become good citizens. Several IVGrad members also went to Fresno to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity in the IVGrad Spring Break Project. Habitat for Humanity is an international non-profit Christian organization that is dedicated to eliminating poverty housing and assisting families. Paul Fontes and three members of the Fresno trip, Taemie Kim, George Chang, and Sun Koo Kim, will be sharing some stories about their volunteer projects and the awesome things God is doing through these organizations.
Breakthrough in the Marketplace V. G. S. Ragesh, VGP Golden Beach Resort Mr. V. G. S. Ragesh of Chennai, India will talk about 'Breakthough in the Marketplace, discussing 2 Samuel 5:17-20 and Ezekiel 47 and emphasising that 'WITH God all things are possible' Mr V. G. S. Rajesh is Director of VGP Golden Beach Resort, and Managing Director of JR Compumax (P) Ltd. as well as Jeradin Tours & Travels (P) Ltd. Mr Rajesh is an active evangelist, teacher and counsellor. He is the founder and director of a Christian Ministry called 'Jeeva Ootru' targeting youth in India. He has been on several mission trips all over the world and, together with his wife Anitha, has organized a number of outreach programs for the youth in South India. They have a son and a daughter.
The Truman Show 'The Truman Show' directed by Peter Weir, starring Jim Carrey, Laura Linnet, Noah Emmerich and Holland Taylor. Rated PG/1998 and runs 103 minutes. The whole world is watching--literally--every time Truman Burbank makes the slightest move. Unbeknownst to him, in this hauntingly funny film by Peter Weir, his entire life has been an unending soap opera for consumption by the rest of the world. And everyone he knows--including his mother, his wife, and his best friend--is really an actor, paid to be part of his life. In this intriguing and surprisingly touching 1998 film, writer Andrew Niccol imagines an ultimate kind of celebrity, then sees it brought to life with comic intensity and emotional honesty by Jim Carrey in what may be the performance of his career. Carrey has exceptional support from Laura Linney and Ed Harris, but it's his show, in a portrayal that demonstrates just what kind of range Carrey is capable of. The discussion, led by Taemie Kim (2nd year in EE), will focus on the interaction of Truman and the producer as compared to the interactions between man and God.
Panel discussion of Mere Christianity Throughout the school year, in addition their regular readings and discussions, our small groups have been looking at C. S. Lewis's 'Mere Christianity'. We are now almost at the end of this 'unified study'. This Friday a panel composed of a few members of the fellowship from different small groups will be offering their thoughts on the book and discussing some controversial points made by Lewis. There will be thereafter be a chance for questions from the audience. Note: If you have a copy of the book, please bring it with you.
Panellists
Withdrawal of Life Support: Medical Decisions at the End of Physical Life Frederick Mihm, Professor of Anaesthesia at the Stanford Medical School Dr. Mihm will address medicine's view on life, ethics of medical practice and review some of the most controversial aspects of end of life issues. Seven patient case histories and end of life decisions are outlined in the attachment. Please consider them and email Dr. Mihm on what you consider the most controversial or challenging situation. Frederick Mihm is Professor of Anesthesia at the Stanford Medical
School. His major area of interest is Critical Care Medicine, and the care
of complex medical patients requiring high risk anesthetics and surgery.
Dr. Mihm was an undergraduate at Evangel University and received his MD
from Saint Louis University. He trained in internal medicine at USC and UC
Irvine before changing tracks to Anaesthesiology at Stanford and Harvard.
He has been on the anaesthesia faculty at Stanford since 1979. 5:30pm-6:30pm, Tressider Student Union, Oak Room Banquet and commissioning of new leaders to follow at 6:30pm. In conjunction with our end of the year banquet this year, we are excited to announce InterVarsity Grad Fellowship's FIRST EVER RESEARCH FAIRE (a.k.a. 'Show and Tell')! :-) What is this? We invite you to "show and tell" your work! Many folks already have posters or powerpoint presentations for conferences or other venues. These would be great to use. Others have recently published articles that might be made available in reprints or abstracts. Some might even set up video displays of research results or graphics. (Even a few test-tubes, oscilloscopes, or other equipment would be enough to impress some of us!) We want this to be a fun and interesting way to end the year as a community! RSVP: Please email rick[dot]hernandez[at]stanford[dot]edu if you would like to participate. Specs about space allotment, set-up time, etc. will then be sent to you. Why are we doing this?
Winter 2005 Meetings and Speakers
Friday, January 7: Worship
The Invitational Nature of the Gospel Jonathan Kuo Paris, IVCF staff for Stanford undergrad chapter. Jon Paris will be leading us in some discussion of inviting people to follow Jesus. He will be drawing from the Gospel of John, chapters 1 and 4 and will be using contemporary examples as well. Jon is a dynamic speaker who will encourage and challenge us to grow in our ability to be faithful witnesses. Please remember to bring your Bibles to this meeting. Jon Kuo Paris is the staff team leader for InterVarsity's ministry to undergraduate students at Stanford. Jon began his first year on staff with InterVarsity at Stanford last year and is in his 10th year working for InterVarsity. He graduated in 1995 from UC Berkeley with a BA in Physical Science and has been on staff at UC Berkeley and the University of San Francisco. In 1999 He married Jane Kuo where he picked up his cool middle name. When he isn't serving students or teaching from the Bible Jon loves to play strategy games, read theology, and listen to National Public Radio.
'Chariots of Fire' -- 1981/PG "Chariots of Fire" is one of Clint Martin's all-time favorite movies and one of the best-loved movies of runners everywhere. Released in 1981, it is a true story about Britain's 1924 summer Olympics track team. The movie focuses on two members of the team, Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams, who have very different goals and motivations and closely examines the repercussions of their beliefs. After watching the film, we will discuss such topics as the connection between faith/belief and action, and pleasing God with vocation and avocation. Clint Martin, alumnus (MSE and EE M.S. 2003) of the group, will lead this discussion.
Movies: What Are They Good (or Not Good) For? Rick Hernandez, IVGrad staff and alumnus Rick will lead us in a consideration of how we as Christians might view and understand films. In this, he aims to help us make better use of our fellowship's monthly film and discussion series. A few of his most basic questions will be: "How can movies help or hinder our spiritual lives?"; "Is there really such a thing as 'pure entertainment?' and, if so, is this something we might value?"; and "Is there a positive or negative relationship between the Gospel and an 'artform' like cinema?" Rick grew up on a farm in Northeast Colorado. He was involved with InterVarsity at and graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Recently he completed his Ph.D in Russian History here at Stanford. He enjoys good discussions on just about any topic, listening to early music, playing racquetball, and hanging out at monasteries. He is married to Angela Ovalle, and they have a three-year-old son, Richard and a six-month-old, John-Paul.
Registration forms can be given to Rick Hernandez.
The Tsunami, Concentration Camps, and God: The Biblical Theology of Evil and Suffering Curtis Chang. Curtis Chang will address the age-old problem of reconciling an all-powerful, loving God with the great evil and horrible tragedies we see in the world. Curtis Chang is Expansion Ministries Pastor at the River church in San Jose. Prior to coming to the River, he served and led undergraduates for nine years through the ministries of Intervarsity at Harvard, MIT, and Tufts University. In July 2001, Curtis joined the staff at the River. He currently serves as the Teaching Pastor and leader of the Senior Leadership Team, overseeing and occasionally teaching in Explorations, a course for seekers, and Foundations, a course for new believers. He holds an undergraduate degree from Harvard University and has studied at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary. Curtis has also written, produced, and acted in various dramatic productions that have sought to communicate the good news of Christ in creative ways. He and his wife Jody, who is currently on staff with InterVarsity's undergraduate ministry in the south Bay, are the parents of two young daughters.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind -- 2003/R Warning: Rated R for language, some drug and sexual content. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2003), directed by Michel Gondry, starring Jim Carrey, Kirsten Dunst, Kate Winslet, Elijah Wood and Mark Ruffalo. Runs 108 min. Joel Barish (Jim Carrey) and Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet) meet in a vacation spot, fall in love, fall out of love, break up and decide to forget each other. Clementine gets Joel out of her life by employing the services of Lacuna Inc., a company that promises to erase memories of any relationship the client desires to forget. Joel finds out about this and decides to do the same, but regrets the decision in the middle of the night-long process and attempts to fight the erasure. Eternal Sunshine highlights the importance of memories and history in shaping our identities and relationships. What does the film have to teach us about our relationship with God and our identity as God's people? A related issue we will explore concerns the nature of love relationships in real life. Connie Lau, 5th year Ph.D. candidate in Musicology, will lead the discussion. In the grad-events announcement for this event, it was stated that there will be pizza. This is not true. We apologise for the mistake.
Introduction to the Reformation Jonathan Gray, 2nd year Ph.D. student in History. The sixteenth-century Reformation is one of the most significant events in the history of Christianity. It shattered the unity of Western Christendom, led to the growth of religious pluralism (and eventually secularization), and engendered debates that still reverberate in the Church today. Jonathan will focus his talk on two themes: why is it important for Christians to know something about the Reformation, and what were the main theological disputes of the Reformation. Jonathan Gray is a second year PhD student in the department of history. His interests include going to bed at a decent hour and playing the Mexican name game. He absolutely detests skiing.
Autumn 2004 Meetings and Speakers
Friday, October 1: Welcome Dinner
Come and meet other grad students and find out what our fellowship is about. There will be free food, games and singing. Also, Bill Newsome, Professor in Neuroscience will talk about how a smart guy like him can believe all that stuff. (Christianity, not neuroscience. ;-) ) Here are two articles written by Prof. Newsome on the subject. Both are in .pdf format. Article 1. Article 2
Graduate Studies - Why am I Doing this Anyway and Is God Really All That Interested (and Why)? Dave Evans, co-founder of Electronic Arts. Recording of talk. Dave Evans who obtained his BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford in 1976, so of course he's spent his career marketing computers. Dave has spent 28 years in Silicon Valley as an executive and management consultant. He co-founded Electronic Arts and has worked with Apple, Oracle, Intel, and numerous start-ups. Since college, Dave has been avidly pursuing not only his own vocational calling in life, but an understanding of what calling is and how to help people find theirs. Dave teaches "Is Your Calling Calling" as a 2 unit seminar at Cal-Berkeley and often speaks for the Stanford IVGrad Fellowship and the GSB Fellowship. In addition to doing lots of business stuff, Dave completed graduate studies in Christian spirituality at SF Theological Seminary and hangs out with monks as well as venture capitalists.
Recording of dicussion. This panel discussion will explore three related issues: First, how do we go about choosing a church, and what kinds of experiences have our members had in various area churches? Secondly, how do we get involved in our church once we've found one (an often difficult task for busy grad students)? Finally, what does it mean that IVGrad is a 'para-church organization,' and how do we address the sometimes conflicting committments to a local church and a campus fellowship? There will be sharing and discussion from four panel members, and a chance for questions from the audience. Panellists
The Need for Significance, Transcendence and the Truth: Carl Sagan's "Contact" -- Rated PG / 1997 "Contact" (1997) directed by Robert Zemeckis, starring Jodie Foster, Matthew McConaughey, James Wood, and others. Rated PG (for some intense action, mild language and mild sensuality) and runs 150 minutes. Contact, based on the novel of the same name by Carl Sagan, is the story of a "free thinking" radio astronomer, who discovers an intelligent signal broadcast from deep space. She and her fellow scientists are able to decipher the Message and discover detailed instructions for building a mysterious Machine. Will the Machine spell the end of our world, or the end of our "superstitions?" Not only is Contact a good window of insight into our culture, it is a film about worldview, the nature of faith, the need for significance and transcendence, the possibility of truth, the existence of God, the wonder of the physical universe, and the meaning of death. Come one, come all! Every year our fellowship ushers in the new term with a brief Retreat. This is an excellent opportunity to get away from campus, kick back a little, and get to know some other folks at Stanford better. For this reason we especially want to invite newcomers to Stanford and to our fellowship to join us! Start: Saturday, November 6th, 10:30am (leaving campus by
9:00am) Tear yourself away from studies, from roommates, from (fill in the blank)! RETREAT! To register, e-mail Diane Schouten at schouten at earthlink dot net. The registration deadline is Friday, 29 October 2004. Joint event with Stanford CEF
The Church in Malaysia Ngeh Hoong Eng, NECF Executive Secretary for the Chinese Commission Ngeh Hoong Eng will introduce the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship (NECF) of Malaysia, an organisation which seeks to unite the churches in Malaysia, to enable them to share resources, and to transform the nation through the local church. Hoong Eng will focus on the circumstances that led to NECF's formation and developments since. Ngeh Hoong Eng is the Executive Secretary of the Chinese Commission at NECF. Hoong Eng was born and grew up in Ayer Tawar, Perak. After receiving her Chinese Studies BA and Linguistics MA (Modern Languages concentration) from Universiti Malaya, she lectured at Universiti Pertanian Malaysia in the Foreign Languages department. Before joining NECF, she spent a year with the Korea-based Hannah Mission and later worked among the orang asli, the original inhabitants of peninsular Malaysia. Please note that this talk will be given in Chinese (Mandarin) with translation into English.
Join us for some food, fun, fellowship, some singing, and a wacky gift-exchange game! Please bring: Previous Large Groups2002-2003 Large Groups2003-2004 Large Groups |
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Last Modified: Monday, 23-May-2005 12:17:20 PDT |