Abbreviation CCSC Executive Director Andrew Trotter Headquarters Charlottesville | Formation 2008 (2008) Website studycentersonline.org Founded 2008 | |
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Mission The Consortium of Christian Study Centers exists to advance the growth and effectiveness of Christian Study Centers at colleges and universities around the world. Type of business Non-profit 501(c)(3) organization Similar Chesterton House, Veritas Forum, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary | ||
The Consortium of Christian Study Centers (abbreviated CCSC) is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization in Charlottesville, VA that incorporated in 2008 with the goal of promoting, encouraging, and providing resources for Christian Study Centers. These Centers, located adjacent to college and university campuses, work with the students, staff, faculty, and administrators of universities. They aim to foster Christian learning in all academic disciplines and to engage the culture of the university and the broader society. The CCSC currently has twenty members and twenty-two partner organizations.
History & Structure
Christian study centers began appearing on U.S. university campus in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Their founders and staff encouraged students, faculty, and local residents to integrate the life of the university—scholarship, science, and art—with the Christian faith, rather than to see faith and learning as competing or mutually exclusive. The 1994 publication of The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, by evangelical historian Mark Noll, spurred much reflection among evangelical Christians about the anti-intellectualism of many strands of their culture. The study center movement gained momentum in the ensuing years, with centers multiplying across the United States. As historian Molly Worthen has written in the New York Times, "The centers position themselves as forums where students can hash out the tensions between their faith and the assumptions of secular academia—the same assumptions that has assailed more traditional ministries.
Prior to 2008, multiple heads of Christian study centers mer regularly to discuss the present state and future of the Study Center movement. On July 25–27, 2008, six representatives of these Study Centers formed the CCSC, wrote a mission statement and by-laws, and elected Dr. Andrew Trotter as the Executive Director. Beginning in April 2009, CCSC began functioning as a freestanding, non-profit organization and received 501(c)(3) status in July of that year.
The Consortium has two categories of affiliated organizations: Members and Partners. Members are Study Centers. The majority of the Members are Protestant, evangelical, and Reformed, but any Christian Study Center that affirms the Apostles’ Creed can join. There are currently over twenty Members. In 2013, four members of the Consortium—the Christian Study Center of Gainesville at the University of Florida, Chesterton House at Cornell University, the Center for Christian Study at the University of Virginia, and Hill House Ministries at the University of Texas—received grants from the Lilly Endowment to further their work as campus ministry organizations.
Partner Organizations of the Consortium can be organizations or businesses of any kind that support the work of the Consortium. Both Members and Partners pay annual dues. The 2010 Supreme Court case Christian Legal Society v. Martinez led many colleges and universities to require campus organizations to sign non-discrimination policies allowing any student to lead or become a part of a campus ministry organization. Following Martinez, some Study Centers were established in order to allow Christian organizations to move off campus and maintain their leadership and membership requirements.
The Consortium's staff includes the Executive Director, an Operations Manager, and an Administrative Assistant. It is overseen by a Board of Directors.