Rick Ostrander
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First Person is produced in cooperation with the Far East Broadcasting Company, who rejoice in the stories of changed lives through the power of Jesus Christ. Learn more at febc.org. Our goal as a study center is for the University of Michigan to be a better version of itself. We're not out to simply criticize the university, but rather to be a thoughtful Christian presence and influence within that institution.

A Christian Study Center at a Secular University. It exists at several prominent universities, and we'll learn about one of them now on this edition of First Person. Welcome, I'm Wayne Shepherd. Our guest is the Executive Director of the Christian Study Center at the University of Michigan, Dr. Rick Ostrander. He'll explain the purpose of the center and his own calling to Christian scholarship.

Stay with us for that conversation. These weekly interviews introduce you to people making a kingdom difference in the world as they follow God in their life and vocation. We keep a complete archive of current and past interviews at FirstPersonInterview.com and in podcast form with all the major podcast providers, including Apple, Spotify, and even YouTube. Search for First Person Interview with Wayne Shepard. You

You'll also find us on social media, facebook.com slash firstpersoninterview. We appreciate your comments. Well, let's turn to our guest, Rick Ostrander, and learn about this ministry of encouraging Christian faith and community on the university campus. My title is Executive Director of what's called the Michigan Christian Study Center. So we are located just, we like to say we're on the front doorstep of the campus of the University of Michigan.

And we are a new organization, an independent nonprofit devoted to helping members of the U of M community connect Christian faith and academic life. All right. So I've been here for just over a year. It's been a wonderful experience.

to connect really a lot of things I've done over the course of my career, which we might touch on in a few minutes, with my love for my alma mater, University of Michigan. I had an interesting and memorable experience here as a student years ago and have, for the past few years, have wanted to go

thought about this idea of bringing a Christian influence to the University of Michigan. And so, I direct the Christian Study Center. We're just a couple of years old and we've been growing. We're raising funds to buy our building. And so, really the goal is to create a Christian learning community within the setting of this premier public university.

I've been very familiar with campus organizations like University, but until getting reacquainted with you these last few months, I didn't know about the Study Center. Is this a movement among universities, or are you unique at U of M? It's definitely a growing movement. There are about 35 study centers across the U.S. now. The first one was started in

at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville nearly 40 years ago now. In fact, they're celebrating their, I believe their 40th anniversary coming up in this coming year. And the movement has spread to a number of the premier universities across the US, typically state universities and Ivy League universities. So we are one of the newer examples of this growing movement. And I just attended our annual meeting

of the Consortium of Christian Study Centers last week, and it's exciting to see every year we meet to see more centers starting at some of these major universities here in the U.S. All right. Well, I want to learn more about the purpose of these study centers and the vision that you have, but I want to pause just for a few minutes and

And talk about your own story, because this is compelling, too, how God has led you to the point where you are. You've been involved in both Christian education and secular university education, and I think you have a unique perspective. So where did it all start for you, Rick? Well, it all started actually at Moody Bible Institute back in the late 1980s. My father worked at Moody Bible Institute, first in the alumni department and then several other leadership roles.

So I began my college career as a student at Moody Bible Institute. A week into my time there, I met a female student there by the name of Lonnie Earhart, who became my wife a few years later. That didn't take long, did it? It didn't. It was great to check that box off early in my college career. Then I could focus on basketball and other important things like that. But we've been married for nearly 40 years now. And so, yeah, I had a wonderful experience at Moody, which then was...

balanced in some interesting ways by transferring when I was done at Moody to the University of Michigan, which obviously was a very different type of educational experience than a Bible college. In those days, to complete your degree work after Moody, you'd have to go to another institution to actually be granted the degree. So that's what you did, like many others during that time, although it's changed now, right?

Exactly. So, it worked in my favor. I spent three years at Moody and two years at Michigan and ended up with a bachelor's degree from Moody in Bible theology and a bachelor's from Michigan in history. So, two degrees in five years rather than the normal

one degree in four years. So you were a committed believer who decided to attend Moody as a young man. What kind of student were you? I'll put it right on the line. Oh, these are good questions. Yeah. Actually, I was a good student. In fact, there's a classmate of mine was a guy named Brian O'Neill who worked at Moody for later for many years. And

Brian and I were both Bright students. He was from Indiana. We were in the same Old Testament survey class with Dr. Ben Ware. Dr. Ben Ware was a wonderful, very popular professor, but his multiple choice exams were...

a matter of fear and trembling for many students. But Brian and I were duking it out, and we remember things differently. In my memory, I had the top grade in Dr. Ben Ware's Old Testament survey class. Brian recalls that he had the top grade in the class. But whichever the case, yeah, I generally did well at Moody. Books and learning came easy to me. I had a

fairly solid, you know, work ethic and study ethic. I always had a little crossword puzzle stuck in my, my folder in classes. And this is before iPhones, of course. So you had to be a little more low tech if you were, you know, daydreaming during class. But generally I was, um, I was a solid student at Moody. Uh, I did well, um,

But I would say probably after meeting my future wife, Lonnie, the most important thing in my life, Moody was actually playing basketball, even though we were just a small college team. But I love the sport. I love being with the basketball team. Yeah.

But looking back, you see, I'm sure, how God used those years at Moody. But moving on then to the university setting from Bible school, were you apprehensive at all about that? You know, it's hard to remember that far back. Well, I don't think I was apprehensive necessarily academically.

In fact, there was a particular professor at Moody, a guy by the name of John Walton, who now teaches at Wheaton College. He's written, he's an amazing Old Testament scholar, has many important books. But he saw some potential in me and encouraged me to consider going into academics.

And that's actually was a factor in my decision to move on to Michigan. It's a, depending on who you ask, the top public university in the U.S. or maybe the top

two or three, along with a few others. So very high-powered academics. If there was any perhaps nervousness, I had been warned by some Christians and some in my church that you need to be careful there because they'll try to undermine your Christian faith, so be on your guard. So there was a little of that, I guess, just initial trepidation or not sure what to expect, but not a lot of fear there. Pete

I wanted to talk to you, Rick, because I know you feel called to Christian scholarship. This is what has defined your life. And I want to talk about that because we like to talk to people about their calling here in first person. And I don't know if we've ever talked to anybody about this particular calling. When did this begin to develop for you? Was it at the U of M or as you pursued other academic interests?

I think it developed gradually toward the end of my time at the U of M, which then propelled me to graduate school. And I guess I'm more confirming of that calling. So my senior year at Michigan, and just to back up a little bit, I did have a great academic experience. I didn't meet any...

I didn't know of any Christian professors at the time at Michigan. I'm sure they were there, but had no way to meet them. So it was a good academic experience, but really unrelated to my Christian faith and my spiritual journey at the time.

But my senior year, I took a course called American Religious History, and we were assigned a book by a historian by the name of George Marsden. I had never heard the name before, but George was a professor at Calvin College at the time, now Calvin University. And I found out he was actually one of the most important religious historians in the country.

but also was a very devout Christian and a believer. And I read a book by George Marsden my last semester there at Michigan called Fundamentalism in American Culture.

And it really helped me make sense, a lot of sense of my own community, my own faith. And I saw how scholarship, in this case history, can be a tool to help us understand our own faith better and grow in our faith. And so that, I think, was really the initial experience that led me to be interested in pursuing further study.

which led me to going to Notre Dame to graduate school, which ironically a couple years later George Marsden came there as a professor, so he ended up being a mentor of mine. So I really, those experiences and then spending several years with George Marsden at Notre Dame,

reinforced to me what it meant to actually be called into this thing called Christian scholarship. Fascinating. Well, as a Michigan football fan, I'll refrain from any comments about you going from Michigan to Notre Dame. We'll hold off for another conversation, huh? That was a difficult experience. I could never...

I could never make that conversion. I'm also just, I bleed maize and blue. So that was tough, you know, going to those football games. But other than that, I had a wonderful experience at Notre Dame and became part of a Christian scholarly community, ironically an evangelical Christian community there within this Catholic institution.

And then professionally, you've worked in Christian education. Just give me a quick synopsis of how God has led you through the years. I was a professor for several years at Grand Canyon University and then John Brown University in northwest Arkansas. Spent half a year in Germany as a Fulbright scholar teaching American history to German university students. That was a lot of fun. Very interesting experience.

Moved into academic administration, so I was academic dean and then later provost at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and then moved from there to an organization called the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. So it's the umbrella organization, if you will, for about 140 Christian colleges and universities across the U.S.,

After the CCCU, I've done academic consulting independently, but also worked at Westmont College as an assistant to the president for academic innovation for a few years before we ended up somehow, strangely enough, back in Ann Arbor, Michigan, directing the study center. There's more about the Michigan Christian Study Center and Rick Ostrander's own calling of Christian scholarship just ahead.

Here's Ed Cannon on the vision for FEBC's weekly podcast. The primary purpose of Until All Have Heard, of course, is to share the experience that FEBC has because we have staff on the ground in so many oppressive places. But in addition to that, we're trying to speak to you in a way that only the kind of testimonies you'll hear from around the globe can do. Discover how the gospel is making a difference around the world.

Search for Until All Have Heard on your favorite podcast platform or hear it online at febc.org. My guest is Rick Ostrander, Executive Director at the University of Michigan's Christian Study Center, which we'll learn more about in just a moment. But Rick, I want to go back to the concept of Christian scholarship because I get the impression that

you know, it's kind of played down in the evangelical world in many ways, isn't it? You see it differently. Yeah, I definitely would. Depending on what, you know, part of the evangelical world you come from, you may have come from a tradition in which I did, in which piety was more important than scholarship and in the life of the mind. And I think

Too often, Christians separate those two and see one's spiritual life as separate from one's intellectual life. And so, I had some wonderful models. I mentioned George Marsden and others. And what I developed, I guess, over the years, both through my college study and then later on in academia, is

is a greater appreciation, one, for the fact that when we are called by God, called to love God with all of our heart and soul and mind and strength, and that we need to develop our minds and think rigorously as Christians. More specifically, for those of us who go into an academic life,

If we really believe that God is, Christ is the ruler of all creation, and as Abraham Kuyper once said, "There's not one square inch of creation in which Jesus Christ has not said, 'This is mine.'" Well, that includes every subject of study too, whether that's sociology or biology or my own field, history or economics.

Christian worldview, Christian faith bears on how we approach these disciplines. And I've seen many examples having worked in Christian colleges and universities of rigorous Christian scholars who are in their disciplines and seeking to work out the connections between this idea that God is the creator of all the universe and there's an order to the universe. The universe has fallen, but also

in process of redemption and what does that mean for their particular life as a scholar. And so it's, you know, it's been become an important part of my life and I would

I would love to see in the future that in the Christian churches that there's a greater appreciation for and room for Christians who are in the scholarly world to bring their insights and their perspectives to the lives of everyday believers as well. Yeah, that's so very important. Thank you. And I was remiss a moment ago in not introducing you as Dr. Rick Ostrander because that's an important part of this conversation.

Really, it's an important part of this conversation that God has led you to study the way that you've studied and to give you the credentials that you have in this area of academia. And you've applied that in Christian education, and now you're on the secular campus again, university with a study center there.

You mentioned a few moments ago that there were some warnings when you went off to the U of M as an undergrad. You know, be careful, your faith might be damaged there. Talk more about that and how you view that today, having worked both sides of the equation. Yeah, I think that's an important question and issue to tackle when we think about Christianity and public life and public universities specifically.

I think there is, well, let me say, first of all, I did not really, my experience at Michigan did not include any real significant hostility to Christian perspectives. There were a few remarks in some classes, I can recall, where it was clear that, you know, there were, a Christian perspective might have been dismissed out of hand, or what about those evangelicals? But generally, I found, you know, even the non-Christian professors who I had at Michigan to be quite

fair in their approach to subjects and fair to a variety of perspectives. So I didn't feel, and I took some philosophy courses as well as history courses and didn't, you know, there was no professors out there to get Christians. And I know that that exists sometimes and I've heard others have different experiences. My experience overall was quite positive.

I would say, however, now that, you know, in running the Christian Studies Center and interacting with students here at Michigan on a daily basis, that there is the...

The possibility, and there are occasional experiences where students who come to a place like Michigan as Christians may feel isolated and may feel like, especially perhaps even more so in today's environment than it was when I was at Michigan 30 years ago. There's really, the emotional temperature at the campus is higher now. And the stakes of...

disagreement and voicing a perspective on a particular issue that might not be popular has become very difficult to do. And that's not just a Christian, you know, you can read Jonathan Haidt and many others who have described this trend. So,

I think there is, in talking with students who come to the center, I know they appreciate having a place where they can have a sense of belonging and a Christian community because there can be a sense of isolation and a reluctance to

to communicate their Christian perspectives depending on the class that they might be in. It's interesting that the university seems to be in a bit of a, not Michigan per se, but universities in general, seem to be in a state of identity crisis, don't they, in many ways, because of all the dissent

and everything that's going on. What part does a study center play? What are your goals and purpose for the study center in the midst of all that? You mentioned, you know, InterVarsity earlier, and there's obviously, there have been wonderful campus ministries at universities for years now. So, you know, what's different about a Christian study center? One of the

The distinctive features of a Christian study center is what I would like to call, I guess, an institutional mindset. Really, much of the social crisis that we're seeing in the U.S. today involves a breakdown in trusted institutions, and that includes universities, secular universities. There's a Gallup study.

A poll was done recently which documented a significant decline among Americans in general in confidence in universities. It was something like 57% a decade ago, and that number is down to 36% in the general public today.

And, you know, part of that is, I think, well-founded. There is, as you said, a sense of an identity crisis among universities today. There's a lot of factors that we can't get into behind that.

But Christian study centers really seek to bring a positive and thoughtful Christian presence to these universities and to cultivate a positive relationship with the leadership of these universities. We've been able to do that here at Michigan. This might be a surprise to many of our listeners, but the current president of the University of Michigan is a Christian himself, President Santa Ono.

And so we have a positive relationship with the leadership of the university. And so our goal as a study center is for the University of Michigan to be a better version of itself because of our work there. We're not out to simply criticize the university or to try to reconquer

you know, these universities for Christians, but rather to be a thoughtful Christian presence and influence within that institution. Yeah. I'm very glad to hear about this. We have just a couple of minutes left, but I do, I have so many other questions, Rick, but

Does the Study Center serve both faculty and students? We do. Our primary audience would be students, but one of the things I'm most excited about is how we've been able to develop a core of community of Christian professors at the University of Michigan as well. So we've had...

faculty lunches inviting Christian professors from across the various schools of Michigan. We've had book discussions with groups of professors. I have a list of about 90 Christian professors at Michigan who are available for me to introduce students to in their major. So one of the things we ask students right away when they come to the center is,

What's your major, and would you be interested in meeting a Christian professor in your business department? And, you know, they love these introductions, and it's been really exciting to be able to cultivate relationships between professors and students here at the U of M. Rick, before I let you go, you have a book that I think might be of interest to some of our listeners. Tell me about it. I'd love to. It's called Academically Speaking, Lessons from a Life in Christian Higher Education. It's published by Erdmann's.

publishing. And I guess the easiest way to think of it is kind of a travelogue, personal travelogue through the landscape of Christian higher education. So it traces my academic journey beginning at Moody Bible Institute and, you know, taking, sitting in Dr. Walton's class, taking van rides with the basketball team across the Midwest. But then it traces these various, you

places that I'd been involved in academia and really the changes in my life and my spiritual journey in connection to my professional life. But the overall purpose of it isn't just to tell my story because it's not the most interesting story in the world, but really to have a window into this world of Christian higher education through one person's

life experience. So I think from what I've heard from other people, it's an interesting read. It's the sort of thing you can pick up in an airplane and actually enjoy reading, and you might learn something in the process. I'm grateful to learn about what God is doing through this Christian Study Center at the U of M, as well as other university campuses. Our guest has been Dr. Rick Ostrander, Executive Director of the Michigan Christian Study Center.

Rick is also the author of Academically Speaking, Lessons from a Life in Christian Higher Education, and you'll find links at FirstPersonInterview.com.

These interviews are made possible by the Far East Broadcasting Company as we learn about God at work in people's lives, bringing attention to the gospel message. Please take the time to learn about FEBC's broadcast and even social media impact in the world by visiting febc.org and say thank you for the faithful witness until all have heard. Go to febc.org. Now, with thanks to my friend and producer, Joe Carlson, I'm Wayne Shepherd. Thank you for listening to First Person News.

Thank you.