Large Group Meetings
During the fall, winter and spring quarters, meetings are held on Friday evenings starting at 6:30pm. Our meetings rotate between several types of events.
Approximately 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.
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 night discussions, we try to think about our culture from the standpoint of Christian conviction.
For further details about any of these meetings and for venue information and directions please contact Nola (nola (at) stanford.edu).
Schedule for Spring Quarter, 2007
Location: Building 320, Rm 109
Location: Building 320, Rm 105
Speaker: Nathan George, Director of TradeAsOne
About the speaker:
Nathan George is a business development expert driven by his faith. He believes that most of life's big questions are answered with theology, and he loves "The Matrix." He also believes that ethical, sustainable business models are essential to breaking the cycles of poverty and dependence in developing countries. Nathan is the founder and director of TradeAsOne, a business that helps poor people by bringing the goods they make to the US market. Nathan grew up all over India and the Middle East as a missionary kid. After college, he worked in for 13 years in the telecom and software industry. About 4 years ago, God called him to reevaluate how he was "balancing" his life - as a father, a husband, a supposed follower of this radical person Jesus Christ. The result was the founding of TradeAsOne.
His wife Catherine worked for over a decade in the healthcare industry, which she left high and dry to become an agent for a fair trade supplier in the U.K. Some weeks she runs marathons. Some weeks she conducts Fair Trade delegations in Africa. They have three sons, whom Nathan is teaching to mountain bike.
Location: Building 320, Rm 105
Speaker: William Hurlbut, Stanford School of Medicine - Consulting Professor Neurology
Professor Hurlbut will explore the ethical issues raised by bioscience that will affect every man, woman, and child:
- What is the potential, mandate, or limit on re-designing the human person?
- What does "human" really mean for a Christian?
- What claims does Christ lay on the scientist who wants to follow Him faithfully?
- What does it look like to follow Christ when both personal and public policy decisions bring us into conflict with others?
Bill Hurlbut is a highly engaging teacher and committed Christian, with an international reputation in the field of bioethics. This quarter, he is collaborating with Prof. Bill Newsome (Chair, Department of Neurology and also IV Grad Faculty Advisor) in a course on bioethics.
Bill served on President's Council on Bioethics and has two recent publications:
- Hurlbut WB, George RP, Grompe M "Seeking consensus: a clarification and defense of altered nuclear transfer." Hastings Cent Rep 2006 Sep-Oct; 36: 5: 42-50
- Hurlbut WB, "Framing the future: embryonic stem cells, ethics and the emerging era of developmental biology." Pediatr Res 2006; 59: 4 Pt 2: 4R-12R
Location: Building 320, Rm 105
Speaker: Pete Sommer
Pete will lead an interactive exploration of the text of Genesis and other ancient Creation stories to highlight:
- How Genesis 1 is critical to your politics and irrelevant to the evolution-creation debate
- How the Jews understood Genesis 1 and why you've never heard it preached on that way
- How the radical message of Genesis 1 is key to Public Discipleship -- how it sets us up to show and tell Good News to our culture
Location: Building 320, Rm 105
Come out for a night of worship and hear from David and talk about his experiences with engineering as missions.
Location: Building 320, Rm 105
Speaker: Paula Fuller
About the speaker:
Paula Fuller is Director of Multi-Ethnic Ministries for IVCF-USA, former Executive Director Abundant Life Christian Fellowship, and holds an MBA from Stanford.
Location: Building 320, Rm 105
Speaker: Scott Scruggs
Scott will put the story of the young ruler in Luke 18:18-30 in the context of the Kingdom of God, as part of the series on Public Discipleship.
About the speaker:
Scott Scruggs, (MDiv. Regent College, BA Stanford) is Director of Cornerstone Ministries / Sanctuary, Menlo Park Presbyterian Church.
Schedule for Winter Quarter, 2007
Location: Building 320, Rm 105
Mark Peterson is the senior pastor at Vineyard Christian Fellowship of the Peninsula.
Location: Building 320, Rm 105
David is a staff worker at Stanford with RUF.
Location: Camp Hammer
Contact Pete Sommer for details.
Location: Building 320, Rm 105
Ron has prepared some helpful notes on the Kingdom of God:
A Survey of the Theology of the Kingdom of God.
A shorter outline version is also available.
Location: Building 320, Rm 105
Global AIDS and the Kingdom of God
In the last 25 years AIDS has become the worst health problem the
world has ever known. Every day nearly five times the number of people
killed on 9/11/01 become infected with HIV. Half of them are 25 and
younger. Parents who die have already left behind 15 million orphans,
a number that could double in the next seven years.
To fight global AIDS, many complex problems must be addressed:
- Prevention, care, treatment
- Orphan care & stigma reduction
- Political advocacy and policy-making
- Leadership development
- Economic issues (international patents, trade agreements, debt)
- Justice issues (human trafficking, sexual violence)
Schedule for Fall Quarter, 2006
Location: Oak Room West, Tressider (2nd Floor)
(Note to IVGrad veterans: Notice that the Welcome Dinner is on THURSDAY and not FRIDAY this year!)
The welcome dinner is an opportunity to find out what Stanford InterVarsity Graduate Christian Fellowship is about, meet people in the fellowship, and find out how to get involved. Members of the fellowship will present the activities IV Grad sponsors, Small Group (Bible study) leaders will introduce the theme of their small groups, and the worship team will provide an opportunity to worship in song.Location: Cypress Room, Tressider (2nd Floor)
Come for dinner and to hear Mark Labberton speak on the question "What am I doing in grad school?".
About the speaker:
Mark Labberton (B.A., Whitman College; M. Div., Fuller Theological Seminary; Ph.D., University of Cambridge) was college pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley. Earlier, in London, he had been an assistant to John R. W. Stott; he returned to England in 1987 to complete his Ph.D in New Testament Studies at Cambridge. Since 1991 he has served as senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church Berkeley.
Mark has extensive involvement in world missions. In 2005 Mark took his sabbatical in Uganda under Bishop Zac Niringye of the Anglican Church.
He and his wife, Janet, have two sons, Peter and Sam.
Location: Building 320, Rm 105
An evening of praise and worship in song and prayer. Let's thank God for who He is what He has done!
Location: Building 320, Rm 105
Veteran student panelists will share their insights, advice, and hard-earned lessons from grad school. We'll hear how they see their work at Stanford in the context of being a disciple of Jesus.
Recording:
high quality (15 MB)
If you are a new to the fellowship, this is an event you don't want to miss!
See the 2006 Fall Retreat page for details about the event and how to sign up!Location: Graduate Community Center (Havana Room)
Dr. John Chambers will discuss the uniqueness of Christ with us. What makes Jesus different? What questions arise for people of other religious and cultural backgrounds when they think about Jesus? Prepare to be blessed as Dr. Chambers shares his insights on these issues.
Recording:
high quality (11 MB)
Location: Building 320, Rm 105
Four Christian faculty members will address the questions:
- Why should a Christian student consider pursuing a faculty or research role in a secular university?
- What are the challenges of work in your academic setting? What are the joys?
- Man-Wah Tan , Assistant Professor of Genetics; Director of laboratory in the Department of Genetics and Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Hometown: Kuantan, Malaysia.
- Jamie Cutler , Assistant Prof Astro-Aero, PhD EE; OPAL Project Manager & Space Systems Development Laboratory (SSDL); research scientist at Quakefinder; Cancelled his midterm last fall!
- Kevin Ross , Assistant Professor and Graduate Program Director Technology and Information Management (TIM), University of California, Santa Cruz; formerly crew boss of IV Grad Steering Committee.
- Jia-Lang Seng , Professor, Information Systems, Graduate School of Accountancy, National Chengchi University, and Adjunct Professor, National Taiwan University; Fulbright Research Scholar Stanford 2006-7.
Recording:
high quality (13 MB)
Location: Building 320, Rm 105
Come for pizza and stay for a good film. We'll have a chance to discuss the themes of the movie afterwards.
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" (2005) / 109 min / PGMere seconds before the Earth is to be demolished by an alien construction crew, journeyman Arthur Dent is swept off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher penning a new edition of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." (imdb.com summary)
Location: Building 320, Rm 105
- Why does it matter that God took on a body?
- When Jesus walked down a street, people didn't say "There goes God"
- So how does the Bible teach the Incarnation?
- What difference does the Incarnation make for our future?
Location: Building 320, Rm 105
Christmas food and carols, the Christmas story, and the white-elephant gift exchange.