Column Title: Leadership Life Stories: Communicating and Leading through Your Story Column Entry: “Listening Before the Miracle: Leadership, Communication, and Naaman” By Chris Hamstra, PhD, Davenport University Description: There is a power when people come together to share stories. As people of faith, the practice and process of storytelling helps us understand ourselves, our communities, and our organizations. When combined with leadership, stories …
Recent Entries
Column Entry, Exile and the Ache for Home, by Brandon Knight
Column Title: Exile and the Ache for Home June 2026 Entry: “Places, Spaces, and Refugees” By Brandon Knight, PhD, William Carey University Column Description: Have you ever felt disconnected? What if such moments of disconnect point to a greater reality? A lost memory of unity with creation only hinted through nostalgia. Often even as we experience nature and beauty, or a …
Thursday, June 25 Workshop, Teaching Intercultural Communication, Still Time to Register
Lead Presenters/Facilitators: L. Ripley Smith (Bethel University, St. Paul); Lily A. Arasaratnam-Smith (Alphacrucis University College, Australia) Date/Time: Thursday, June 25, 2026| 3:00 pm – 6:30 pm EDT REGISTER HERE Description: Teaching intercultural communication at Christian universities has become both necessary and complicated by increasingly plural and polarized societies and student bodies. When faced with interacting with people from different cultural …
A Prayer for Speech Seasoned by Grace, by Thomas Becon, 16th Century
“Give unto me, O Lord, a watchful heart and a bridled tongue, that I neither speak foolishly, nor unadvisedly offend any of thy little ones. Let my words be seasoned with grace, framed in truth, and guided by thy Holy Spirit, that I may edify the hearers, comfort the weak, and glorify thy holy name. Keep me from idle talk, …
Quote of the Week, What Our Words Disclose, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, 19th Century
“A man’s words are a fair index of his soul.” —Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834 – 1892) Source: Charles Haddon Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, vol. 27 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1881), 613. Reflection: How do my daily words reveal the true condition of my heart, and what might they be teaching others about the God I serve?
Teaching Intercultural Communication, Workshop, June 25, Still Time to Register
Lead Presenters/Facilitators: L. Ripley Smith (Bethel University, St. Paul); Lily A. Arasaratnam-Smith (Alphacrucis University College, Australia) Date/Time: Thursday, June 25, 2026| 3:00 pm – 6:30 pm EDT REGISTER HERE Description: Teaching intercultural communication at Christian universities has become both necessary and complicated by increasingly plural and polarized societies and student bodies. When faced with interacting with people from different cultural …
June 18 Workshop, Faith-learning Integration for Christian Administrators, Still Time to Register
Lead Facilitators: Donna Elkins, Campbellsville University; Robert Woods, CCSN Executive Director Additional Presenters/Roundtable Discussants: Tom Carmody (Vanguard University); Shane Garrison (Campbellsville University); Jeff Groeling (Taylor University); Kate Mead (East Texas Baptist University); Perry Glanzer (Baylor University) Date/Time: Thursday, June 18, 2026 | 11:30 am – 3:00 pm EDT REGISTER HERE Description: Administrators shape the conditions under which Christian teaching, scholarship, …
Monthly Raven Society Meeting, June 19th, 12-1 pm EDT
Join us for coffee and conversation about research and teaching with faculty, students, administrators, and others interested in the intersections between Christianity and Communication Studies. Our desire is to continue the kinds of rich conversations we have during our face-to-face pre-conferences each year at the National Communication Association. We hope to strengthen and extend our relational bonds and sense of …
A Prayer for Speech Shaped by Charity, Saint Bonaventure, 13th Century
“Guide my tongue, O Lord, and set a watch upon my lips, that my speech may neither wound nor deceive. Purify my heart, that my words may proceed in charity and truth. Grant that I may speak wisely, restraining every impulse that leads to idle or harmful talk. Let my mouth be an instrument of Your praise, my counsel a …
Quote of the Week, Speaking What Is True, by Thomas Aquinas, 13th Century
“To speak the truth is a good act, for it is a declaration of that which is in one’s mind.” —Thomas Aquinas, (1225 – 1274) Source: Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, II–II, q.109, a.3. Reflection: Where might my speech today need to more faithfully reflect what is true both in my mind and before God?
June 25th Workshop, Teaching Intercultural Communication, Still Time to Register
Lead Presenters/Facilitators: L. Ripley Smith (Bethel University, St. Paul); Lily A. Arasaratnam-Smith (Alphacrucis University College, Australia) Date/Time: Thursday, June 25, 2026| 3:00 pm – 6:30 pm EDT REGISTER HERE Description: Teaching intercultural communication at Christian universities has become both necessary and complicated by increasingly plural and polarized societies and student bodies. When faced with interacting with people from different cultural …
June 18, Workshop, Faith-learning Integration for Christian Administrators, Registration Open
Lead Facilitators: Donna Elkins, Campbellsville University; Robert Woods, CCSN Executive Director Additional Presenters/Roundtable Discussants: Tom Carmody (Vanguard University); Shane Garrison (Campbellsville University); Jeff Groeling (Taylor University); Kate Mead (East Texas Baptist University); Perry Glanzer (Baylor University) Date/Time: Thursday, June 18, 2026 | 11:30 am – 3:00 pm EDT REGISTER HERE Description: Administrators shape the conditions under which Christian teaching, scholarship, …
June 11th Workshop, Still Time to Register, Stewarding Studentship: Navigating Faith and Learning in the Graduate Experience
Lead Facilitators: David Enns, GateWay Church; Elaine V. Fung, Regent University; Robert Woods (CCSN) Date/Time: Thursday, June 11, 2026 | 11:30 am – 3:00 pm EDT REGISTER HERE Description: This workshop begins with communication graduate students sharing stories about how they integrate Christian faith into their student life. Next, a roundtable discussion will invite participants to exchange ideas and best …
A Prayer for Guarded and Faithful Speech, Thomas à Kempis, 15th Century
“Lord, give me prudence in dealing with my neighbor; keep me from unguarded speech. Let me not be moved by every word spoken, but grant that I may know how to hold my peace and speak only what is profitable. Make me faithful and sincere in all my words, and let my tongue be free from deceit. Strengthen me …
Quote of the Week, The Freedom of Truthful Speech, Girolamo Savonarola, 15th Century
“He who speaks truth is free, and he who lies is a slave.” —Girolamo Savonarola (1452–1498) Source: Girolamo Savonarola, Prediche sopra Amos e Zaccaria (Florence, 1496), 112. Reflection: Where does untruth subtly bind my speech, and what would freedom look like in those places?
