A Grander Story: An Invitation to Christian Professors

by Rick Hove Hove, Heather Holleman

An Invitation to Christian Professors A Grander Story both inspires and equips Christian faculty to think differently about their lives and work. Whether serving at institutions public or private, research or teaching, two-year or four-year—as tenure-line professors, adjuncts, lecturers, or visiting scholars—our hope is that God will use this book to encourage each professor in his or her calling and help usher in the day when movements of Christ-following professors on every campus will be used by God to bless those around them and the world. "This delightful book is a celebration of our high calling as Christ-followers on the university campus. The life stories of the professors featured here are convicting, yet tenderly so; inspirational, yet also quietly comforting." Charles M. C. Lee Moghadam Family Professor of Management Stanford Graduate School of Business "A Grander Story is an indispensable guide for Christians in the academy seeking to view their scholarship through the lens of God’s Kingdom. Theologically sound and full of practical insight, this text challenges current and future faculty to utilize their talents to exalt Christ in the mission field of the modern university." Cullen Buie Associate professor of Mechanical Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology

234 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 6, 2017

Reviews

[Bethany Witemeyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book struck a really good balance between the why and the how of professing our faith as Christian professors. There is a difference between being a Christian who is a professor and a professor who is a Christian. This book explains why we should strive to be the former. The testimonies given are powerful and span several different walks of life. No two professors are the same, and it was great to see examples from both men and women, STEM professors and humanities professors. And I appreciated that the reflection questions included were actual reflection questions that required thought, not just the kind where you flip back two pages and copy over the answer.

This book is a must-read for any Christian who is already in or plans to join the academy.

[Leandro Couto · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never thought I'd feel so challenged by this book. I regret taking 4+ years to read it since I bought it. It really made me feel inadequate about how I'm leading my 10 years long and counting academic career... but also kinda hyped to do better. I could be doing so much more as a Christian. And I never thought it was OK to connect to students on this level, something I always enjoy but used to feel it could be inappropriate. The book had an immediate effect: I decided to identify myself as Christian to every new class, and I'm looking for ways to serve my students as a follower of Christ. The meat and bones of the book are the excellent testimonies of Christian professors. These are book-ended by some general Christian advice by the authors and serve as a manifesto of the Faculty Commons mission and ideals.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This book is written for professors but as a student and a person I found it to be one of the most encouraging, exciting, and challenging books I've read in a long time. Should I become a professor, I would certainly want to reread it, ideally with a group of other Christian scholars.

[Ronica Stromberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This began as dry reading but picked up life with the stories of Dr. Siaw and Dr. Bradley. They more fully told a story, drawing the reader into the experience, rather than expressing platitudes or describing emotions (instead of evoking them). If you have limited time, skip to these stories and the common legal questions at the back.

I would like to see a book like this written for students (at a freshman reading level) about professorial experiences living life with Christ on campus. I think it could be a huge encouragement to students and parents to see professors who share their views. Perhaps Christian groups could give it as a gift to welcome students who express interest in religious organizations on campus. (I think most universities offer an incoming survey to help students identify groups they might be interested in.)

[Cole Pate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book is great for the audience it is trying to reach (college professors and people in academia in general). The beginning and ending chapters weren’t anything groundbreaking, but if it was your first time reading about how the Gospel applies to your profession, then it would be an eye opener. The middle chapters were very enjoyable to read because they were stories of how professors have shared their faith with their students and different practices they’ve employed to do so. I always love hearing about how God has worked in people’s lives and these stories were no different!

[Frank Peters · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was filled with excellent material and ideas for how to be a Christian professor in the secular university. Some sections ended up being discouraging, due to the assumption that there would be multiple like-minded people who could set up faculty groups. Some of us work in locations where this is not the case. Thankfully, these types of discouraging anecdotes and suggestions were not the norm, and the authors even talked about people who work in places more like mine.

[Kelly Atkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Christian faculty member, this book was very encouraging and challenging. I plan to keep it in my office and refer back to the many underlined and starred passages. May I keep my eyes on the Grander Story!

[Lindsay Tucker Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is written for Christian professors, but its insights can easily be translated to teachers as well. I took away a lot of practical steps I can take as a first year teacher who wants to "bear fruit that will last" (John chapter 15).

[Keren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great resource for any Christian on how to view their workplace, but specifically powerful for professors.
A book I hope to read every year or so.