Anxious. Stressed. Busy. “Connected.” Lonely.

Is there a relationship between technology and the high levels of anxiety that characterize our culture today? Andy Crouch is a noted thinker and writer whose work addresses this and related questions. He has written extensively about the effects of technology on human relationships and is gifted at considering how Christians can live well in the modern world. Come join us as Andy helps us consider whether there is a clear path to health and human flourishing, and whether it is available to us today.

Event Details

• Date: January 16th, 2025

• Time: 7:00 - 8:30 pm

• Location: Carolina Union Auditorium

• Format: Lecture followed by Q&A

Space is limited, so RSVP below!

Speaker Bio

Andy Crouch is partner for theology and culture at Praxis, a venture-building ecosystem advancing redemptive entrepreneurship. His writing explores faith, culture, and the image of God in the domains of technology, power, leadership, and the arts. He is the author of five books (plus another with his daughter, Amy Crouch): The Life We're Looking For: Reclaiming Relationship in a Technological World, The Tech-Wise Family: Everyday Steps for Putting Technology in Its Proper Place, Strong and Weak: Embracing a Life of Love, Risk and True Flourishing, Playing God: Redeeming the Gift of Power, and Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling.

Andy serves on the governing board of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. For more than ten years he was an editor and producer at Christianity Today, including serving as executive editor from 2012 to 2016. He served the John Templeton Foundation in 2017 as senior strategist for communication. His work and writing have been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time, and several editions of Best Christian Writing and Best Spiritual Writing—and, most importantly, received a shout-out in Lecrae's 2014 single "Non-Fiction."

From 1998 to 2003, Andy was the editor-in-chief of re:generation quarterly, a magazine for an emerging generation of culturally creative Christians. For ten years he was a campus minister with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at Harvard University. He studied classics at Cornell University and received an M.Div. summa cum laude from Boston University School of Theology. A classically trained musician who draws on pop, folk, rock, jazz, and gospel, he has led musical worship for congregations of 5 to 20,000. He and his wife, Catherine, raised two children and live in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.

Join us for our annual Study Center Christmas Party on Tuesday, December 10th from 4PM-6PM. Sign up here to bring a dish to share!

Join us on the lawn for a meet & greet with UNC graduate students!

Post the Dobbs Supreme Court decision, the subjects of sexuality, reproduction, and abortion have become especially fraught within American healthcare.

Join us as Dr. Ellery Sarosi, an ob/gyn resident, Dr. Sarah Ruff, a family physician with long experience in reproductive healthcare, and Dr. Farr Curlin (moderator) consider the challenges and opportunities Christians face in navigating these issues within health professions training.

Stop by the Study Center on Saturday morning of UNC’s family weekend for coffee, a light pancake brunch, house tours, and time to connect with other UNC parents and friends!

Join us for a conversation over lunch with Dr. Walter Kim, the President of the National Association of Evangelicals.

The word "evangelical" means different things to different people. Is it helpful to keep using this term, and if so, what exactly does it describe? Dr. Kim will offer his thoughts on these questions and lead us in a discussion on what it means to be an evangelical Christian today.

Event details

This event will take place at the North Carolina Study Center on Friday, Nov. 1st from 12:30 pm - 1:45 pm. Lunch will be included free of charge for participants. Please RSVP below for catering purposes. 

Rediscovering Sacred Rhythms in a Busy World

Join us for a one-time seminar exploring the theme of Sabbath rest. We’ll talk about the biblical foundations of Sabbath, its spiritual significance, and how we can practically implement it to live more peaceful, centered lives. This time of teaching and discussion will provide theoretical insights and practical guidance for how to restore balance, deepen faith, and nourish the soul. Reclaim the sacred rhythm of rest and refresh your spirit!

Please note: food will not be provided, but we invite you to bring your own lunch!

Join us for a panel discussion on the Christian view of the human. We'll explore how the Christian faith shapes and impacts thoughts on key life questions including; the beginning of life, pregnancy, and abortion as well as "death with dignity."

Speakers:
Dr. Susan Bane

Dr. Susan Bane has practiced obstetrics and gynecology for 25 years, including in private practice at Greenville Obstetrics and Gynecology and serving as a clinical professor at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. She recently completed the Theology, Medicine, and Culture Certification program at Duke Divinity School.

Dr. Farr Curlin

Farr Curlin, MD, is Josiah Trent Professor of Medical Humanities in the Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities, & History of Medicine and Co-Director of the Theology, Medicine and Culture Initiative (TMC) at Duke University. Dr. Curlin has worked to bring attention to the intersection of medicine, ethics, and theology. In 2012 he helped to found both the University of Chicago’s Program on Medicine and Religion and the annual Conference on Medicine and Religion. Since 2015, through Duke Divinity School’s TMC Initiative, he and colleagues have brought graduate theological training to those with vocations to health care.

Dr. Kavin Rowe

Kavin Rowe is the Vice Dean of the Faculty and the George Washington Ivey Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Duke. The second of three volumes of his collected essays has recently been published as Method, Context, and Meaning in New Testament Studies (Eerdmans, 2024). The first volume is Leading Christian Communities (Eerdmans, 2023). Rowe is the author of four other books: Christianity's Surprise: A Sure and Certain Hope (Abingdon, 2020), One True Life: the Stoics and Early Christians as Rival Traditions (Yale University Press, 2016), World Upside Down: Reading Acts in the Graeco-Roman Age (Oxford University Press, 2009, paperback 2010), and Early Narrative Christology (de Gruyter, 2006, repr. Baker Academic, 2009). Dr. Rowe received his BA from Wake Forest University, his M.Div from Princeton Theological Seminary, and his Ph.D. from Duke.

It’s Gameday!

Drop by the Study Center before the homecoming football game against Pittsburgh on Oct. 5th to experience life on the lawn.

This event is open to all students and friends of the Study Center. Please RSVP so we can get a rough headcount!

Breakfast and Q&A with Gavin Ortlund

Join us for a free breakfast and Q&A with apolgist and author, Dr. Gavin Ortlund! Dr. Ortlund is happy to answer any follow-up questions from the speaking event on Oct. 3, or other questions related to apologetics. Please RSVP below for catering purposes.

Hungry for Truth, Dealing with Doubt: Truth-seeking in a Secular Age

How many of us really want to know the truth? If we were to honestly seek the truth, where would it lead? And how should we respond when what we learn calls into question what we used to be sure about?

Join us for a conversation with Dr. Gavin Ortlund and Dr. Molly Worthen as they discuss truth-seeking, confidence, and the place of doubt in the journey of faith. They’ll offer advice on how we can come alongside friends and family who are wrestling with doubt, and how we can process our own while continuing to seek the Truth, who is Christ.

Event Details

RSVP Here. This event will begin at 7 pm at the North Carolina Study Center. We’ll be seated outside under a large tent on the front lawn. We look forward to seeing you there!

Speaker Bios

Dr. Gavin Ortlund is a pastor, author, speaker, and apologist for the Christian faith. He serves as the president of Truth Unites and theologian-in-residence at Immanuel Nashville. He is the author of eight books, including Why God Makes Sense in a World That Doesn’t and What It Means to Be Protestant. He earned his doctorate from Fuller Theological Seminary.

Dr. Molly Worthen is an associate professor of history at UNC and a freelance journalist. She received her BA and PhD from Yale University. Her research focuses on North American religious and intellectual history, and her most recent book, Apostles of Reason, examines American evangelical intellectual life since 1945. She regularly contributes to the New York Times, writing about religion, politics, and higher education.

Join us at Franklin Motors for a meet & greet with UNC graduate students!

Faith, Theology, and Mental Wellness

Do not worry? Christian students and the challenge of anxiety

Warren Kinghorn, MD, ThD

Psychiatrist and theologian, Warren Kinghorn, will join us for a conversation about the challenge of anxiety that so many students experience. Dr. Kinghorn also will introduce a Christian approach to mental health care advanced in his recent book, Wayfaring (2024).

About the Healthcare Fellowship Forum

The North Carolina Study Center is partnering with Triangle Christian Medical and Dental Associations and the Theology, Medicine, and Culture Initiative at Duke Divinity School to host a series of informal gatherings for Christians in health-related fields at UNC. Through mini-lectures, panels, and table conversations, these gatherings provide opportunities to learn and think with colleagues about how to live out vocations to health care with clarity, wisdom, and courage.

What’s the Point of College? (Why the Liberal Arts Matter)

Event Details

People say that college is about more than making good grades and getting a job, but what exactly is it for? Come hear from Dr. Jed Atkins, the new Director and Dean of the School of Civic Life & Leadership, as he discusses what a student can gain from a university education, and how to take advantage of that opportunity during the coming year.

Free dinner with be provided! Here is the link to RSVP.

Speaker Bio

Jed Atkins is the director and dean of the school of Civic Life and Leadership at UNC. Prior to this role, he spent 15 years at Duke University, where he was on faculty in the classics department and also served as the director of the Civil Discourse Project. Jed completed his doctoral work at the prestigious University of Cambridge and his scholarly research has focused mainly on Greek and Roman political thought and ethics.

The following event has been postponed until the Fall! Please email misty@ncstudycenter.org with any questions.

Hosted By National Christian Foundation Carolinas

Generous Giving hosts free events that help explore generosity without asking for anything in return. At the Journey of Generosity (JOG) retreat, we will watch video stories, engage in personal Bible study, have focused solitude time before the Lord, and participate in authentic conversations with our friends. Most conversations about giving end with an ask for money. This one doesn’t. We hope you can make it!

Please RSVP by 5/10/24. Contact Kathryn Williams with any questions at kwilliams@ncfgiving.com (919.438.0350).

Attention incoming Tar Heels and parents from the Ashe, Watauga, and Avery counties!

The North Carolina Study Center invites you to join us for this special evening hosted by the Gatewood’s to connect with other incoming freshmen students and parents, to learn from current students about the UNC student experience, and to hear from Study Center supporters about opportunities to get plugged into Christian life at UNC.

Graduating students! We would love to celebrate and see you & your families on May 11th before the graduation ceremony on Saturday night. We invite you to join us at the Study Center for an open house and light refreshments.

Please RSVP to let us know your headcount.

Reach out to joy@ncstudycenter.org with any questions.

Interested in meeting some other Christian graduate students at UNC? Come hang out at Gizmo Brew Works at 5 PM on Monday, April 29th.

This is an informal gathering—no need to RSVP—& feel free to invite your friends. We hope to see you there!

Address: 157 E Franklin St #100, Chapel Hill, NC 27514

Questions? Contact Connor Porco (new NC Study Center staff) at connor@ncstudycenter.org or 434-987-2271

Incoming Tar Heels and parents from the Triad area (Winston-Salem, Greensboro, High Point): Welcome to UNC!

The North Carolina Study Center invites you to join us for this special evening to connect with other incoming freshmen students and parents, to learn from current students about the UNC student experience, and to hear from Study Center staff members about opportunities to get plugged into Christian life at UNC.

This event will be hosted at Hope Presbyterian Church (2050 Peace Haven Road, Winston-Salem, NC 27106). We will meet at the Hope Pavilion behind the church. It is open to all incoming Tar Heels and their families: Please feel free to pass along the invitation! Be sure to RSVP below & we will email you more information once the event gets closer. Light refreshments will be served.

Attention incoming Tar Heels and parents from the Charlotte area!

The North Carolina Study Center invites you to join us for this special evening to connect with other incoming freshmen students and parents, to learn from current students about the UNC student experience, and to hear from Study Center staff members about opportunities to get plugged into Christian life at UNC.

Attention incoming Tar Heels and parents from the Raleigh area!

The North Carolina Study Center invites you to join us for this special evening to connect with other incoming freshmen students and parents, to learn from current students about the UNC student experience, and to hear from Study Center staff members about opportunities to get plugged into Christian life at UNC.

Join us over lunch for a live commentary on the book of Philemon with Dr. Ben Witherington III, a world-renowned New Testament scholar & UNC alum!

Philemon is a short book but an important one for understanding the mission and context of the early church. Dr. Witherington will walk us through this important letter, capturing its core ideas while drawing out features that might be confusing or easily misunderstood by modern readers. His knowledge of the greco-roman world and the context of the early church will help illumine the crucial message of Philemon in its own day and it’s relevance for our lives today.

Event Details

This event will take place at the North Carolina Study Center on Friday, April 19th from 12:30 pm - 1:45 pm. Lunch will be included free of charge for participants. Please RSVP below for catering purposes.

Speaker Bio

Dr. Ben Witherington III is a New Testament scholar, a professor of New Testament Interpretation at Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky, and is also an ordained pastor in the Methodist Church. Ben is from High Point, NC, and graduated from UNC with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1974. He then went on to pursue an MDIV from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from Durham University in England. He has taught at several different seminaries and universities including Ashland Theological Seminary, Vanderbilt University, St. Andrews University in Scotland, and Asbury Theological Seminary. He has written over sixty books and received numerous awards for his scholarship.

Healthcare Fellowship Forum

Is there a Way of Medicine for Christians?

Please join us for a conversation with Dr. Farr Curlin, physician-ethicist, co-director of the Theology, Medicine, & Culture Initiative at Duke Divinity School, and “twice-baptized” Tarheel alum! What does it look like to practice medicine Christianly? The answer is not always obvious, but it may look quite different than what many Christians imagine. In this session, we’ll dig deep to consider what Hippocrates, science, compassion, and justice have to do with Christian practices of hospitality toward those who are sick and injured. We’ll look for a way of medicine that reflects the Christian story and the hope we share.

This event is open to all UNC students and practitioners in health-related fields. It is co-sponsored by the Theology, Medicine, & Cultural Initiative at Duke Divinity School (TMC) and the Triangle Christian Medical and Dental Association (CMDA).

About the Healthcare Fellowship Forum

The North Carolina Study Center is partnering with Triangle Christian Medical and Dental Associations and the Theology, Medicine, and Culture Initiative at Duke Divinity School to host a series of informal gatherings for Christians in health-related fields at UNC. Through mini-lectures, panels, and table conversations, these gatherings provide opportunities to learn and think with colleagues about how to live out vocations to health care with clarity, wisdom, and courage.

We all worship something.

If it’s not God, then it’s money, prestige, entertainment, or any number of created things. It is commonly assumed that the world today is “secular” and less religious than it used to be. In his recent book, The Uses of Idolatry (2024), Dr. Cavanaugh suggests that this is not the case; idolatry is alive and well today. Our worship may not be explicit, he says, but we all worship something, even if it is worshiping ourselves through purchasing consumer goods.

Even in the church, we may claim to worship God alone, but struggle with finding ourselves drawn to wealth, a political party, or success at work. These aren’t bad things, but for them to not become idols we need to reflect on the nature of our worship and what an appropriate relationship to the material world looks like.

Join us for an evening lecture followed by Q&A with Dr. William Cavanaugh, a renowned author, professor, and theologian from DePaul University.

Event Details

This event will take place at the North Carolina Study Center (203 Battle Lane). Parking is available in the gravel lot behind our building after 5 pm. Additional nearby parking options can be found on UNC’s transportation website.

This event is co-sponsored by InterVarsity Grad & Faculty Ministries and the Newman Catholic Student Center at UNC.

Speaker Bio: Dr. William Cavanaugh is a professor of Catholic Studies at the University of DePaul. He is the author of numerous books, including The Myth of Religious Violence (2009), Migrations of the Holy: Theologies of State and Church (2011), and Field Hospital: The Church’s Engagement with a Wounded World (2016). He has published over 130 journal articles and book chapters in 17 languages and has lectured on six continents. His work explores the intersection of economics, politics, and the Church.

The Gospel and Golf

February 22, 2024

Come hear from three friends - professional golfers Webb Simpson and Ben Crane along with William Kane of College Golf Fellowship - as they talk about how finding your identity in a relationship with God leads to new ways of competing, growing, and playing. William, Webb, and Ben have hosted a podcast together for the last year called the Bible Caddie, and on 2/22 they will be drawing from past conversations as they share with our community. Several members of the UNC golf team (David Ford, Maxwell Ford, Peter Fountain) will provide reflections as well.

Event Details

This event will be held at the The North Carolina Study Center (203 Battle Lane, Chapel Hill, NC 27514).

This event is sponsored by the North Carolina Study Center in partnership with Durham-Chapel Hill Young Life, the UNC chapter of Athletes in Action, and the College Golf Fellowship.

Healthcare Fellowship Forum

“You Have Made Your People See Hard Things:” Beauty, Faith, and Mental Health

Please join us for a conversation with Dr. Brewer Eberly, family physician and McDonald Agape Fellow for the Theology, Medicine, & Cultural Initiative at Duke Divinity School. Dr. Eberly will be discussing the surprising connections between beauty, Christian faith, and mental health. This will not be another talk on art therapy or the medical humanities. Rather, we hope to raise deeper questions: what does beauty offer the clinician in an unprecedented season of anxiety, depression, and restlessness for many patients and healers? What difference might a Christian account of the beautiful make for the practice of medicine and the work of God’s people who “have seen and heard things?” (Psalm 60:3).

This event is open to all UNC students and practitioners in health-related fields. It is co-sponsored by the Theology, Medicine, & Cultural Initiative at Duke Divinity School (TMC) and the Triangle Christian Medical and Dental Association (CMDA).

About the Healthcare Fellowship Forum

The North Carolina Study Center is partnering with Triangle Christian Medical and Dental Associations and the Theology, Medicine, and Culture Initiative at Duke Divinity School to host a series of informal gatherings for Christians in health-related fields at UNC. Through mini-lectures, panels, and table conversations, these gatherings provide opportunities to learn and think with colleagues about how to live out vocations to health care with clarity, wisdom, and courage.