Finding Truth

“We’re not in Kansas any more,” Dorothy opined in the movie The Wizard of Oz. She didn’t know she had landed in a new world, but she was quite certain about one thing: she wasn’t at home anymore. A lot of young people experience a similar feeling when leaving for college. One day they’re eating their mom’s home cooking and the next they are living on a diet of Ramen noodles.

Not only does their diet change, but so do their plausibility structures. That’s a term that is used to describe the predominant worldview of any given culture. Whatever the majority of people around you believe will in some ways seem more possible or persuasive.

When students leave a Christian home to study on a secular campus they often experience culture shock as they are immersed in a vastly different plausibility structure. There has been a steady stream of research in recent years tracking the effects of this on the faith of young people on everything from the decrease in church attendance to the increase in the category of “nones,” those who no longer affiliate with any particular church. How can parents and ministry leaders respond?

This is the focus of the upcoming conference hosted by Cedarville University’s Center for Biblical Apologetics and Public Christianity on February 16, 2017. This event is sponsored by Crossings Ministries, The North American Mission Board, and Cedarville University. The conference is designed for college students, upperclassmen high school students, and those who care about and minister to them.

The plenary sessions will feature best-selling author and popular conference speaker, Nancy Pearcey, and the director of Cedarville’s new apologetics center, and author of Christ or Chaos, Dan DeWitt. The conference will include a ministry leader luncheon, a panel discussion and Q&A on “Flourishing Faith in a Secular Environment,” and numerous breakout sessions on a variety of topics.

Whether you are a student, a parent, a grandparent, or a ministry leader, we hope you will join us for full day of events focused on understanding, defending, and sharing the faith once for all delivered to the saints.

To find out more, visit our Finding Truth page.