Who We Are

MISSION: To catalyze and empower thoughtful Christian presence and practice at colleges and universities around the world, in service of the common good.

What is a Study Center?

A Hub of Christian Community & Learning

Leadership

Karl E. Johnson

Executive Director

Prior to becoming Executive Director in 2021, Karl served as Founder of Chesterton House at Cornell University for twenty years. He received his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from Cornell and served for ten years as the inaugural Dan Tillemans Director of the Cornell Team and Leadership Center. In 2008, Karl became a founding board member of the Consortium—he served on the board for ten years and as board chair for five years. In 2020 he helped launch the Octet Collaborative (MIT) in the capacity of Chief Strategist.

Bio

Team

Kim Glass

Kim Glass

Communications & Development Manager

Kim Glass is the Communications & Development Manager. Prior to her role at the Consortium, Kim worked in communications, nonprofit fundraising and advertising. She holds a bachelor’s degree from UNC-Chapel Hill and a master’s degree from Duke University in religious studies with a focus on the New Testament. While pursuing graduate studies at Duke, Kim attended lectures and reading groups hosted by the Center for Christianity & Scholarship. When not working, Kim can be found running, riding her indoor bike or reading. She lives in Raleigh, NC with her husband Stephen and English Cocker Spaniel Frances.

Bio
Elaine Rollogas

Elaine Rollogas

Operations Manager

Elaine Rollogas is the Operations Manager of the Consortium of Christian Study Centers. Before coming to work with the Consortium, Elaine had several roles at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City since 1990, ending as the Managing Director of Operations and Volunteer Mobilization. She studied business in Nebraska and has training in grant writing, volunteer management and computer programming. She divides her time between an interest in Bible Study, photography, sports, and exploring new towns and communities around Charlottesville.

Bio
Marie Trotter

Marie Trotter

Bookkeeper

Marie Trotter is the part-time Bookkeeper and Administrative Assistant of the Consortium of Christian Study Centers. She is a graduate of the University of Tennessee with a degree in Secondary Education. Marie taught second graders for twenty-seven years at The Covenant School in Charlottesville and was honored by the school, naming the second-grade classroom after her when she retired. She is married to Drew and enjoys long walks, gardening, tending to the grandchildren when she gets the chance – and greatly mourns the completion of Downtown Abbey.

Bio
Charity Wahrenberger

Charity Wahrenberger

Internship Program Director

Charity Wahrenberger is the Internship Program Director. Charity has spent the last 25 years directing programs and developing leaders as an independent consultant, as the Director of the Center for Public Justice’s CIE initiative, the Assistant Dean of Nyack College’s Washington, DC campus, and as an Area Director for CCO. Charity is actively engaged in the Pittsburgh Community. She has served as a volunteer for Pittsburgh Mercy’s homeless outreach program, Operation Safety Net, and as a member of the Executive Service Corp with the Covestro Center for Community Engagement. She also serves on the Board of Directors for Pittsburgh Urban Christian School and The Association for Public Justice. In her down time, you will find Charity out in the woods with her husband Todd and her dog Scout.

Bio

Board of Directors

Mike Weaver

Mike Weaver

Chair

Mike Weaver is the Executive Director of the Bradley Study Center at Virginia Tech. Mike received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech, and he has earned master’s degrees from Johns Hopkins University, Wesley Theological Seminary, and Duke Divinity School. Currently, Mike is a doctoral candidate in theology at the University of Winchester in the UK. Prior to assuming his role at the Bradley Study Center, Mike served six years as a deputy commandant for the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets, where he provided guidance, mentoring and education for cadets in a campus-based residential leadership development program. He also serves on the board of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Alumni, Inc.

Bio
Eugene Habecker

Eugene Habecker

Vice Chair

Eugene Habecker is the President Emeritus of Taylor University and previous Chairman of the Board for Christianity Today. He also served in presidencies at the American Bible Society (1991-2005) and Huntington University (1981-1991). Eugene received his bachelor’s degree from Taylor University, his master’s degree from Ball State University, and his doctorate from the University of Michigan. He is also a graduate of Temple University School of Law (JD) and is an inactive member of the Pennsylvania Bar. Eugene is the recipient of nine honorary degrees and has traveled in more than 90 countries.

Bio
Sarah Hamersma

Sarah Hamersma

Treasurer

Sarah Hamersma is an Associate Professor of Public Administration and International Affairs in the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, where she is also a Senior Research Associate with the Center for Policy Research. Sarah trains students interested in public service and policy analysis, and her research is focused on examining both intended and unintended consequences of anti-poverty programs. Prior to joining the faculty at Syracuse University, Sarah taught at the University of Florida. She received her doctorate in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Bio
Laura Lynch

Laura Lynch

Secretary

Laura Lynch serves as the Director of Development for the Christian Study Center of Gainesville at the University of Florida. Laura and her husband Jay had the privilege of launching the Christian Study Center of Gainesville in 2000. In the study center’s early days, Laura served as building manager, volunteer recruiter, prayer team leader, and publicity manager. Laura received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia where she was involved in many campus ministries, including the Center for Christian Study. Laura has experience serving on numerous boards, most recently with Gainesville Thrives, an educational non-profit.

Bio
Karl Johnson

Karl Johnson

Executive Director

Bio
Mia Chung-Yee

Mia Chung-Yee

Mia Chung-Yee is the Executive Director of the Octet Collaborative at MIT. Mia has enjoyed great success internationally as a solo recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician. In 1993, she won first prize at the Concert Artists Guild Competition, and in 1997 she received the Avery Fisher Career Grant, the highest recognition for young concert artists in the United States. Mia graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Harvard College, a master’s degree from Yale University, and a doctorate from The Juilliard School. She served as Professor of Music and Artist in Residence at Gordon College from 1991 to 2011 and joined the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music as Professor of Musical Studies in 2012. Mia’s introduction to the Christian study center movement occurred in 2018 when she was a guest lecturer at Cornell’s Chesterton House.

Bio
David Hobbet

David Hobbet

David Hobbet is an Associate Partner with McKinsey and Company where he helps mission-driven organizations and leader deliver significant and sustainable impact. Much of his work focuses on higher education, including strategy development, new program design and launch, enrollment management, organizational design, and transformational change. Prior to McKinsey, David served as the Executive Director of the Veritas Forum and he also has significant experience in global economic development and social sector leadership more broadly.

Bio
Mike Weaver

Mike Weaver

Chair

Mike Weaver is the Executive Director of the Bradley Study Center at Virginia Tech. Mike received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech, and he has earned master’s degrees from Johns Hopkins University, Wesley Theological Seminary, and Duke Divinity School. Currently, Mike is a doctoral candidate in theology at the University of Winchester in the UK. Prior to assuming his role at the Bradley Study Center, Mike served six years as a deputy commandant for the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets, where he provided guidance, mentoring and education for cadets in a campus-based residential leadership development program. He also serves on the board of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Alumni, Inc.

Bio
Eugene Habecker

Eugene Habecker

Vice Chair

Eugene Habecker is the President Emeritus of Taylor University and previous Chairman of the Board for Christianity Today. He also served in presidencies at the American Bible Society (1991-2005) and Huntington University (1981-1991). Eugene received his bachelor’s degree from Taylor University, his master’s degree from Ball State University, and his doctorate from the University of Michigan. He is also a graduate of Temple University School of Law (JD) and is an inactive member of the Pennsylvania Bar. Eugene is the recipient of nine honorary degrees and has traveled in more than 90 countries.

Bio
Sarah Hamersma

Sarah Hamersma

Treasurer

Sarah Hamersma is an Associate Professor of Public Administration and International Affairs in the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, where she is also a Senior Research Associate with the Center for Policy Research. Sarah trains students interested in public service and policy analysis, and her research is focused on examining both intended and unintended consequences of anti-poverty programs. Prior to joining the faculty at Syracuse University, Sarah taught at the University of Florida. She received her doctorate in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Bio
Laura Lynch

Laura Lynch

Secretary

Laura Lynch serves as the Director of Development for the Christian Study Center of Gainesville at the University of Florida. Laura and her husband Jay had the privilege of launching the Christian Study Center of Gainesville in 2000. In the study center’s early days, Laura served as building manager, volunteer recruiter, prayer team leader, and publicity manager. Laura received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia where she was involved in many campus ministries, including the Center for Christian Study. Laura has experience serving on numerous boards, most recently with Gainesville Thrives, an educational non-profit.

Bio
Karl Johnson

Karl Johnson

Executive Director

Bio
Mia Chung-Yee

Mia Chung-Yee

Mia Chung-Yee is the Executive Director of the Octet Collaborative at MIT. Mia has enjoyed great success internationally as a solo recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician. In 1993, she won first prize at the Concert Artists Guild Competition, and in 1997 she received the Avery Fisher Career Grant, the highest recognition for young concert artists in the United States. Mia graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Harvard College, a master’s degree from Yale University, and a doctorate from The Juilliard School. She served as Professor of Music and Artist in Residence at Gordon College from 1991 to 2011 and joined the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music as Professor of Musical Studies in 2012. Mia’s introduction to the Christian study center movement occurred in 2018 when she was a guest lecturer at Cornell’s Chesterton House.

Bio
David Hobbet

David Hobbet

David Hobbet is an Associate Partner with McKinsey and Company where he helps mission-driven organizations and leader deliver significant and sustainable impact. Much of his work focuses on higher education, including strategy development, new program design and launch, enrollment management, organizational design, and transformational change. Prior to McKinsey, David served as the Executive Director of the Veritas Forum and he also has significant experience in global economic development and social sector leadership more broadly.

Bio

History

Directors met in St. Paul, MN in 2008 to formally form CCSC. From left to right: Drew Trotter, David Mahan, Randy Bare, Karl Johnson, & Bob Osburne.

First Annual Meeting in 2011

2011 Symposium

2016 Vocation Project students with Drew Trotter

2019 Annual Meeting in Chicago

CCSC staff Fall 2022

1970s & 1980s

The Consortium of Christian Study Centers grows out of the grassroots Christian Study Center movement. University-based study centers, influenced by destination study centers such as L’Abri and the lay theological education movement led by Regent College (Vancouver, BC), first emerged in North America in the 1970s and 1980s. The earliest centers include the Center for Christian Study (UVA, Charlottesville, 1975), New College Berkeley (UC Berkeley, 1977) and the MacLaurin Institute (UMN, Twin Cities, 1982).
 

1990s

The 1990s was a fertile decade for Christian scholarship generally and the study center movement in particular. Taking to heart the message of manifestos for Christian learning such as Mark Noll’s Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (1994) and George Marsden’s Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship (1997), combined with the creative and catalytic periodical Books & Culture: A Christian Review, new centers began popping up, mostly at research universities. By the end of the decade, these included Rivendell Institute (Yale, 1995), the Christian Study Center of Gainesville (UF, 2000) and Chesterton House (Cornell, 2000). In 1998, when Drew Trotter was invited to give the Francis Schaeffer Memorial Lectures at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, a handful of center directors intentionally gathered to discuss their common vision for the first time.

2000s

Similar informal gatherings of center directors continued intermittently for about a decade. In July 2007, a dozen directors gathered at Chesterton House and resolved to formalize their collective endeavor. In July 2008, representatives of six centers met in St. Paul, MN, and officially formed the Consortium of Christian Study Centers. The founders were Randy Bare of Westminster House (UC, Berkeley), Rick Howe of the Dayspring Institute, (CU Boulder), Karl Johnson of Chesterton House, Dave Mahan of Rivendell Institute, Bob Osburn of the MacLaurin Institute (now Anselm House) and Drew Trotter of the Center for Christian Study. They crafted a mission statement, adopted by-laws and appointed Drew Trotter as full-time Executive Director, to begin Jan. 1, 2009.

2010s

With the mission of service to member centers, in 2011 the Consortium held its first Annual Meeting—an opportunity for center staff to engage one another in workshops and seminars related to all aspects of center management and programming, as well as to hear keynote addresses from invited scholars. Twenty-two representatives attended. Karl Johnson, David Mahan and Drew Trotter led a panel discussion, sharing insights on what they had learned in a combined fifty years of study center experience. Attendees included several recent center founders, including Missy DeRegibus of Cogito (Hampden-Sydney College, 2010), Rimes McElveen of Mere Christianity Forum (Furman, 2001), Ben Sanders of Arizona Center for Christian Studies (ASU, 2011) as well as Edward Dixon, who would soon start the Center for Christianity and Scholarship (Duke, 2012).

 

Also in 2011, the Consortium held its first Symposium—an opportunity for center staff and board members to meet for discussion with an author of a recent book over a 24-hour retreat. Eighteen center staff and board members representing nine centers met with James Davison Hunter to discuss To Change the World (2010). Hunter’s notion of faithful presence soon became an influential complement to the movement’s earlier emphasis on Christian scholarship.

 

In 2016, the Consortium rolled out The Vocation Project, which allows center-affiliated students to attend two weeks of summer school at Regent College in Vancouver, BC, and engage in discussions of vocation and Christian life and study with Drew Trotter and various visiting scholars.

 

By the end of the decade, the Consortium had 29 member centers and 32 partner organizations. The Consortium office in Charlottesville had 2.5 staff members including Elaine Rollogas, who joined the Consortium as its first full-time Operations Manager in 2014, and Marie Trotter, who became Administrative Assistant in 2016. The 2019 Annual Meeting in Chicago drew over 80 participants. At the meeting, a letter from Karl Johnson, Board Chair, was read indicating that Drew Trotter would step down as Executive Director in December 2020.
 

2020 & Beyond

Despite the challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the movement continued to grow and thrive. Five new centers joined the Consortium in 2020 and 2021, and several existing centers embarked on multi-million-dollar capital campaigns related to the purchase and remodeling of physical facilities. At the end of 2021, a survey of centers found that two-thirds of centers own their own facility, the largest of these being Upper House (UW Madison, 2015).

In January 2021, Karl Johnson succeeded Drew Trotter as Executive Director, while Trotter assumed the new role of Senior Scholar. The 2021 Annual Meeting, held virtually over five days spread throughout the month of July, included over 40 workshops and was attended by over 100 staff and board members. In the fall of that year, the Consortium held its first webinar, featuring New Testament scholar N.T. Wright.
 

During the winter of 2021-2022, the Consortium added two new positions. Kim Glass joined the staff team as Communications and Development Manager, and Charity Wahrenberger became the ministry’s Internship Program Director. Kim promptly redesigned the webpage and also the e-newsletter, now called Periscope. The new Internship Program was made possible by grants from three foundations totaling more than $500,000. In the summer of 2022, we finally resumed normal in-person programs. The Vocation Project at Regent College was led by Dr. Fred Barber, and the 2022 Annual Meeting was hosted by Upper House, the study center at UW Madison. At the end of 2022 the Consortium had 37 member centers.

In 2023, the Annual Meeting was held at the brand new Anselm House facility in Minneapolis, MN with 120 attendees—a new record. Executive Directors enjoyed a pre-conference with Oliver O’Donovan as our speaker, and on the last evening the full meeting we honored Drew Trotter, on the occasion of his retirement, for his many years of service to the Consortium and the movement. In other news, the Consortium received a two-year continuation grant for the internship program, which currently serves a cohort of six interns placed at three centers.

Behind the scenes the board began a rigorous strategic planning process. We are planning—and praying—about the possible futures for these hubs of Christian community, hospitality and learning, strategically located at secular universities.

Statement of Faith

Christian Study Centers seek to inhabit and serve the academic campuses and communities of which we are a part – and to do so as Christians. While welcoming persons of all faiths to events and programming, the Consortium and its members affirm the historic, orthodox beliefs of the Christian faith as summarized in the Apostles’ Creed.

Christian Study Centers seek to inhabit and serve the academic campuses and communities of which we are a part, and to do so as Christians. While welcoming persons of all faiths to events and programming, the Consortium and its members affirm the historic, orthodox beliefs of the Christian faith as summarized in the Apostles’ Creed.

Impact

35

Christian Study Centers located in the US & Canada

136,263

square feet of space dedicated to serving students at Study Centers

20%

increase in Annual Meeting attendance from 2022 to 2023

Our Member Centers

Since our inception in 2008, the Consortium has grown from four to more than 30 member centers.

South Carolina Study Center

1711 Pendleton St, Columbia, SC 29201

Nicaea Study Center

5317 Pinon Valley Road Colorado Springs, CO

Michigan Christian Study Center

611 E. William Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104

East Carolina Study Center

500 Elizabeth Street, Greenville, NC 27834

Lewis House

507 Columbia Avenue, Lexington, KY 40503

Beatrice Institute

PO Box 7126 Pittsburgh, PA

Oxford Lodge

PO Box 973 Oxford, MS 38655

The Via Institute

4209 Big Bethel Rd., Yorktown, VA 23693

Upper House

365 E. Campus Mall, Ste. 200 Madison, WI 53715

Theological Horizons

1841 University Cir., Charlottesville, VA 22903

Scholé House

P.O. Box 7235, Richmond, VA 23221

Rivendell Institute

291 Edwards St., New Haven, CT 06511

Octet Collaborative

37 Avon St., Somerville, MA 02143

North Carolina Study Center

203 Battle Ln., Chapel Hill, NC 27514

Mere Christianity Forum

751 Old Buncombe Rd., Traveler’s Rest, SC 29690

The Joseph & Alice McKeen Study Center

65 Harpswell Rd., Brunswick, ME 04011

Humanitas Forum on Christianity & Culture

P.O. Box 2282 Cookeville, TN 38502

Hill House

2104 Nueces St., Austin, TX 78705

Geneva

500 N. Clinton, Iowa City, IA 52245

The Wheelock Society

4 West Wheelock St., Hanover NH, 03755

C.S. Lewis Study Center

P.O. Box 12 Northfield, MA 01360

The Comenius Institute

11150 Plum Hollow Cir., Fishers, IN 46037

Cogito

P.O. Box 1908 Hampden-Sydney, VA 23943

Christian Study Center of Gainesville

112 NW 16th St., Gainesville, FL 32603

Pascal Study Center

314 E. Daniel St., Champaign, IL 61820

Chesterton House

P.O. Box 4405 Ithaca, NY 14852

Center for Christianity & Scholarship

608 N. Buchanan Blvd., Durham, NC 27701

Center for Christian Study

128 Chancellor Ave., Charlottesville, VA 22903

Cambridge House Christian Study Center

930 Jamestown Rd., Williamsburg, VA 23185

Bradley Study Center

P.O. Box 11601 Blacksburg, VA 24062

Biblical Studies Center

1025 Belmont St., Boise, ID 83706

Alcuin Study Center

3110 W. Riverside Ave., Muncie, IN 47304

Anselm House

P.O. Box 141007 Minneapolis, MN 55414

Arizona Center for Christian Studies

1034 South Mill Ave. Tempe, AZ 85281

The Augustine Fellowship

2725 39th St. NW #310, Washington, DC 20007