One of the long-term interests of Mere Orthodoxy has been trying to revitalize Christian discourse online in ways that move beyond the categories commonly used in conversations about world-view. Though the world-view critics are not always presenting the movement as fairly as they perhaps could, the criticisms raised by Alissa Wilkinson in this review of Saving Leonardo are still essentially correct.
Toward that end, I’m excited to announce to Mere O readers the launch of a new project I’ve been blessed to be part of—Davenant House. Davenant House is a new Christian study center operated by the Davenant Trust located in the foothills of the Blue Mountains in upstate South Carolina. (Disclosure: I am a board member and serve as the secretary for the Davenant Trust.)
The goal of Davenant House is to be a place that looks more like L’Abri and less like a summer world-view training program. Rather than simply giving our students a world-view consisting of pre-defined categories and talking points, we want to help our students cultivate Christian wisdom through a deeper interaction with the riches of historic Christian thinking and the experience of hospitality and conversation in a shared place. (That the place happens to be located in a beautiful part of the country certainly doesn’t hurt, of course.)
As we put it on the website, “(Wisdom) makes free men and women capable of prudence and virtuous practice who can lead as servant heroes. Christian wisdom is a gathering of truth in love of God, so as to embody and radiate it to the world.”
We will have two student terms this summer that are open to interested students and young adults. The first is a 10 day intensive term from May 19 to May 31. The second is a five-week term running from July 4 to August 6. You can learn more about the summer programs as well as the other offerings at Davenant House from this page on the Davenant website. (We also have a few book titles listed on that page if you’re curious about what we’ll be reading.)
If you have questions about the work, feel free to ask them in the comments below or you can reach out to me via Twitter @jake_meador.
Jake Meador
Jake Meador is the editor-in-chief of Mere Orthodoxy. He is a 2010 graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he studied English and History. He lives in Lincoln, NE with his wife Joie, their daughter Davy Joy, and sons Wendell, Austin, and Ambrose. Jake's writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Commonweal, Christianity Today, Fare Forward, the University Bookman, Books & Culture, First Things, National Review, Front Porch Republic, and The Run of Play and he has written or contributed to several books, including "In Search of the Common Good," "What Are Christians For?" (both with InterVarsity Press), "A Protestant Christendom?" (with Davenant Press), and "Telling the Stories Right" (with the Front Porch Republic Press).
