February 2020
The Abrahamic Traditions: A Story of Braided Histories
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam were born through one man—Abraham. Knowing these traditions’ linked histories will help us better understand our fraught world. In the book of Genesis, Abram discovers the one true God, with whom he enters into a covenant. God gives him a new name: Abraham, father of many nations. Abraham’s storied faith would become the foundation of three of the world's major religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Connected by their mutual—if often exclusive—veneration of the One God…
Find out more »Whole Leader Development
What does it mean to bring our whole selves to work? How can we more thoughtfully invest in the growth of the people around us? At the same time, how can we more intentionally and effectively pursue our own personal growth as leaders? Industrial-organizational psychologists, Dr. Rob McKenna and Dr. Daniel Hallak, mine more than four decades of research and centuries-old wisdom to present a fresh, countercultural paradigm of whole leader development. During this innovative workshop, McKenna and Hallak…
Find out more »Leading Under Pressure
Based on decades of research and content described in his book “Composed: The Heart & Science of Leading Under Pressure,” Dr. Rob McKenna highlights the power of composure under pressure and the specific strategies you can use to be a better version of yourself when it matters most. You'll also learn how to create an organizational culture marked by composure and emotional maturity instead of chronic anxiety and blame. This presentation is a roadmap for standing firm in who…
Find out more »A Theology of Barbecue & Soul Food
A culinary and spiritual exploration of foods like fried chicken and ribs and the integration of Church and plate. This mouth-watering, soul-tingling event brings culinary historian, popular author and theologian Adrian Miller to Upper House to share the evolution of barbecue and soul food as a church and cultural phenomenon. Winner of the James Beard Foundation Book Award and Executive Director of the Colorado Council of Churches, Miller will bring soul food to life and share how barbecue became central…
Find out more »Feeding America’s Presidents: African Americans Who Made Culinary History
Who cooked for every First Family from the Washingtons to the Obamas? Culinary historian and award-winning author Adrian Miller will share the fascinating story of the more than 150 African Americans who worked in the presidential food service as chefs, personal cooks, butlers, stewards, and servers to our nation’s leaders. Miller is an accomplished storyteller. His research conveys the labor of enslaved people during the antebellum period and the gradual opening of employment after Emancipation. In the process, African…
Find out more »Anointed with Oil: How Christianity and Crude Made Modern America
Join us as historian Darren Dochuk narrates the recent past through the stories of American Christianity and the oil industry. From the earliest discovery of oil in America during the Civil War, citizens saw the resource as the nation's special blessing and its peculiar burden, the source of its prophetic mission in the world. To the present day, the oil industry's leaders and workers together have fundamentally transformed American religion, business, and politics—boosting America's ascent as a preeminent global power,…
Find out more »March 2020
Just Business
Business leaders face a multitude of pressures from a wide variety of stakeholders–employees, suppliers, customers, board members, shareholders, and competitors. Moreover, they must face their own shadows and insecurities. Doing the “right thing” is not always easy to discern. And when decisions seem clear cut, they are not always simple to carry out. For leaders who must make challenging, real-time decisions with imperfect information, having a moral framework to draw on is essential. Christianity provides such moral scaffolding, but is…
Find out more »Living in Bonus Time: Surviving Cancer, Finding New Purpose
Why am I still here? Where is God in all this? Can anything good come out of my suffering? How should I live differently now? In his new book, Living in Bonus Time, two-time cancer survivor, Alec Hill, grapples with profound questions related to survivor’s guilt, the role and nature of God, and what kind of life emerges after a close call with death. A man of faith and former president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, Alec does not dodge the…
Find out more »April 2020
Chemistry and Creation: Augustine and Irenaeus at the Origin of Life
How do the basic rules of chemistry shed light on the order we see in creation? In Dr. Ben McFarland’s vision, they provide a direction for creation and curbs for evolution; they show how God’s order and purpose run through billions of years of natural history. Speaking to us as a chemist and a Christian, Dr. McFarland will offer his take on the interplay of scientific and religious explanations for life. He will explore two metaphors depicting how God works…
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