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Redeem the Time

cheerful hope in evil days

June 14-17, 2023 · Dallas, TX & Virtual

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Plenary Speakers

Justin Bailey

Author & Professor

Dordt University

David Bailey

Founder & CVO

Arrabon

Joseph Pearce

Best-Selling Author

Kelly Kapic

Author, Professor

Covenant College

Savannah Kimberlin

Associate Vice President

Barna Group

Pano Kanelos

President

University of Austin

Beck A. Taylor

President

Samford University

Sandra McCracken

Guest Musician

Nashville, Tennessee

REDEEM THE TIME

The current cultural moment presents a host of challenges and opportunities for classical Christian schools. While it is tempting to become cynical or fearful, as believers, we are called to be wise and “redeem the time.”

What does faithful cultural stewardship and engagement look like for classical Christian educators? For our schools? For our students?

Join us and a thoughtful group of scholars and educators as we explore Paul’s admonition to walk in wisdom and redeem the time. We will draw from the Great Tradition to explore ways we can be discerning about our cultural context, learn to see the good, and find ways our schools can speak into the troubling milieu with clarity, purpose and hope.

See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

– Ephesians 5:15-16

Pre-Conference Tracks

The SCL PreConference is June 14th. Focused on helping you navigate the important issues in our world and in our schools, this in-depth day of learning features all-day workshops that take a deep dive into a specific topic. With interactive discussion and teaching designed for teachers and administrators, you’ll leave equipped with the practical knowledge you need for day-to-day school life.

Pre-conference ticket sold separately.

Governance

Bill Mott, Ph.D.

School Culture

Davies Owens

Parenting

Keith McCurdy

Teaching By Imitation

Carrie Eben

Cross Cultural Access & Unity

Dan Olson

Executive Leadership

Dr. Michael Lindsay &

Colby Burke

Liberating Arts

Jeff Bilbro, Joe Clair, Lydia 

Dugdale, Erin Shaw &

Phillip Donnelly

CCE 101

Allison Buras, Jennifer

Bankhead, Andy Rasmussen, 

Ph.D, Alisha Barker

Redeem the Time

Schedule

Friday Night Concert

6pm – Crystal Ballroom • Tickets $10

affinity group reception included
TICKET OPTIONS

Early Bird Pricing ends May 19, 2023

Preconference

$ 160 PER TICKET
  • Wednesday, June 14th
  • Regular Price: $180
  • Additional 10% off for Members
    *Check your email for discount code
  • In-Person Only
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early bird

IN-Person

$ 460 PER TICKET
  • Regular Price: $510
  • Additional 10% off for Members
    *Check your email for discount code
  • -------
  • Early-Bird Group Pricing (10+): $415
  • Regular Group Pricing (10+): $460
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early bird

Virtual

$ 180 PER TICKET
  • Regular Price: $199
  • All sessions included
  • Additional 10% off for Members
    *Check your email for discount code
  • -------
  • Early-Bird Group Pricing (10+): $130
  • Regular Group Pricing (10+): $150
Register Now
early bird

Cancellation Policy: All cancellations are subject to a $100 administrative fee. No refunds will be given after May 19, 2023

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Thank you to our annual Platinum and Gold Sponsors

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FAQs

The hotel group discount rate at the Renaissance Dallas Addison Hotel is $159. Reservations can be made through the online reservation link or directly with the hotel at 888-236-2427.

In order to be eligible for the group discount rate, reservations must be made on or before June 3, 2022.

– 10% Early Bird discount which ends on Friday, May 19 @ 11:59 pm.
– Special rate for groups of 10 or more.
– SCL Members receive an additional 10% discount. Become a SCL member today to receive your discount; click here.

Whova returns! Back by popular demand is the Whova App. 

Whova is our all-in-one conference app where you can access the following: full schedule, speaker and breakout info, virtual sessions, exhibitor booths, sponsor info, job boards, community chat, and more!

The Whova App is a must for both in-person and virtual attendees.

Download here.

For questions related to group ticket purchases, contact Marissa Yanaga at marissa@societyforclassicallearning.org.

Whova Registration

Group Ticket Registration

If you need to purchase your tickets by check or PO, click here.

Once you’re registered, you’ll be able to view the event on June 15 via the Whova App. 

You can learn more here and prepare by reviewing the Whova Event Guide.

Buy a ticket for each member of your team: faculty, administration, staff, and board.

Then, gather together at your school and enjoy the virtual conference in community! Need further advice on how best to watch as a group? Feel free to contact our hospitality coordinator, Sarah Spencer (Sarah@societyforclassicallearning.org).

All tickets (including in-person) have access to the virtual sessions and the session recordings for 90 days following the conference.

SCL institutional members will receive an email with a code to receive a 10% discount off of their registration to be used at checkout.

– Main Conference Cancellation Policy: All cancellations are subject to a $100 administrative fee. No refunds will be given after May 19, 2022.
– Pre-Conference Cancellation Policy: All cancellations are subject to a $50 administrative fee. No refunds will be given after May 19, 2022.

Click Here to become a member school and apply your 10% membership discount to your conference purchase.

Have more questions?

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© 2023 The Society for Classical Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Justin Bailey

Author & Professor - Dordt University

Session: Sowing in Hope: Generative and Generational Education

Session Abstract

The temptation in a world gone mad is to stand on the sidelines and point out the problems with everyone and everything. But there is an alternative to this: to criticize by creating, cultivating beautiful and generative spaces that do the work of generational faithfulness. Whatever we cultivate will always be imperfect, but it can imperfectly point to the kingdom of God, to “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

“Theology must grow and be sown into the soils of culture, be fed by the spring rains of love to be cultivated in multiple generations.” (Makoto Fujimura)

Biography

Justin Ariel Bailey is associate professor of theology at Dordt University. He is the host of the In All Things podcast, and his written work has appeared in publications such as Christianity Today, Christian Scholars Review and the International Journal of Public Theology. He is the author of Reimagining Apologetics (IVP Academic, 2020) and Interpreting Your World (Baker Academic, 2022). He is an ordained minister in the Christian Reformed Church and has served as a pastor in Filipino-American, Korean-American, and Dutch-American settings. He is married to Melissa and they are blessed with two pre-teen children.

David Bailey

Founder & Chief Vision Officer - Arrabon

Session: The 5 Challenges to Being a Reconciling Community

Session Abstract

People form communities and communities form people. Christian communities ought to be reconciling communities, but unfortunately, too many Christian communities mirror the same practices as secular communities around conflict and division. In this breakout session, we’ll introduce the five practices leaders need to build a reconciling community within their organization.

Biography

David M. Bailey is a public theologian, culture maker, and catalyst focused on building reconciling communities. David is the founder and Chief Vision Officer of Arrabon, a spiritual formation ministry that equips the American Church to actively and creatively pursue racial healing in their communities. He is the co-author of the study series, A People, A Place, and A Just Society, and the executive producer of the documentary 11 am: Hope for America’s Most Segregated Hour and the Urban Doxology Project. David is rooted at East End Covenant Fellowship, serving on the preaching team, and his greatest honor is to be married to his wonderful wife, Joy.

Joseph Pearce

Best-Selling Author

Session: Wit, Wisdom, and Wonder: Life Lessons from G.K. Chesteron

Session Abstract

COMING SOON!

Biography

A native of England, Joseph Pearce is the internationally acclaimed author of many books, which include bestsellers such as The Quest for Shakespeare, Tolkien: Man and Myth, The Unmasking of Oscar Wilde, C. S. Lewis and The Catholic Church, Literary Converts, Wisdom and Innocence: A Life of G.K. Chesterton, Solzhenitsyn: A Soul in Exile and Old Thunder: A Life of Hilaire Belloc. His books have been published and translated into Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch, Italian, Korean, Mandarin, Croatian and Polish.
 
He has hosted two 13-part television series about Shakespeare on EWTN, and has also written and presented documentaries on EWTN on the Catholicism of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. His verse drama, Death Comes for the War Poets, was performed off-Broadway to critical acclaim. He has participated and lectured at a wide variety of international and literary
events at major colleges and universities in the U.S., Canada, Britain, Europe, Africa and South America.
 
He is editor of the St. Austin Review (https://staustinreview.org/), series editor of the Ignatius Critical Editions (www.ignatiuscriticaleditions.com), senior instructor with Homeschool Connections (www.homeschoolconnectionsonline.com), and senior contributor at the Imaginative Conservative and Crisis Magazine. In 2022, he was awarded the St. John Henry
Newman Visiting Chair of Catholic Studies at Thomas More College (Merrimack, NH). His personal website is http://www.jpearce.co.

Kelly Kapic

Author & Professor - Covenant College

Session: Learning to Value Process: God Likes to Take His Time

Session Abstract

We know that God is perfect and complete, but we are not. In our time together we will consider how God loves process. While we often judge only according to finished products, God has always been comfortable with process, and learning to appreciate this truth about God can free us to more fully embrace the process of growth and learning. The implications of this for Christian education are enormous, as we see our work not merely in terms of a ‘final product,’ but in terms of the value of formation and growth.
 

Biography

Kelly M. Kapic (PhD, King’s College, University of London) is a professor of theological studies at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, where he has taught for twenty years. He is an award-winning author or editor of more than fifteen books, including You’re Only Human and Embodied Hope, which each won a Christianity Today Book Award. Kapic, a popular speaker, has been featured in Christianity Today and The Gospel Coalition, has worked on research teams funded by the John Templeton Foundation, and contributes to the Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care and various other journals.
 

Savannah Kimberlin

Associate VP of Church Engagement - Barna Group

Session: Faith & Culture

Session Abstract

Barna Group has researched faith trends in the United States and around the world for more than 40 years, specializing in the study of generations and the intersection of faith and culture. Together, let’s explore a handful of key cultural shifts and their impact on and implications for our organizations.

Biography

Savannah serves as the Associate Vice President of Church Engagement at Barna. Savannah loves facilitating Barna’s mission to provide the Church with knowledge to navigate a changing world through consulting services, CoLab learning cohorts and research efforts. She is passionate about taking Barna’s research and synthesizing it into helpful, actionable insights for Christian leaders.
 
As a certified data miner and predictive modeler, Savannah specializes in advanced analytics. Prior to her time at Barna, she worked in the big data and software development spaces.
 
She earned her B.S. in Mathematics from Samford University and her M.S. in Decision Analytics from the University of Alabama. Savannah currently lives in Atlanta, GA with her husband Josh and her daughter Zoe.

Pano Kanelos

President - University of Austin

Session: Coming Soon

Session Abstract

COMING SOON!

Biography

Panayiotis (Pano) Kanelos is the founding president of the University of Austin.
 
From 2017 to 2021, Dr. Kanelos served as the 24th President of St. John’s College, Annapolis. After earning degrees from Northwestern University (B.A.), Boston University (M.A.), and the University of Chicago (Ph.D.), he taught at Stanford University, the University of San Diego, and Loyola University Chicago.
 

He served most recently as dean of Christ College, the Honors College of Valparaiso University. An outspoken advocate for liberal education, he oversaw the Lilly Fellows Program in Humanities and the Arts, comprising a network of more than 100 colleges and universities. Among the earliest participants in the Teach for America program, President Kanelos is as passionate about teaching as he is about writing and scholarship. He founded the Cropper Center for Creative Writing at the University of San Diego and is a noted Shakespeare scholar, having served as the resident Shakespearean in the Old Globe MFA Program and the founding director of the Interdisciplinary Shakespeare Studies Program at Loyola University Chicago.

Beck A. Taylor

President - Samford University

Session: Coming Soon

Session Abstract

COMING SOON!

Biography

Beck A. Taylor comes to Samford University after serving as the 18th president of Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington, since 2010. Prior to this appointment, Taylor served as dean and professor of economics for Samford’s Brock School of Business (2005-2010), and associate dean for research and faculty development for Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business (1997-2005).

Taylor’s tenure at Whitworth was highlighted by a renewed emphasis on community involvement; efforts to enhance academic programs and quality; the building of new campus infrastructure to facilitate the university’s academic, athletic, and student life programs; the creation of newly endowed faculty positions and centers; leading Whitworth’s largest-ever comprehensive fundraising campaign; and an emphasis on overall institutional effectiveness.

After earning his undergraduate degree from Baylor with majors in economics and finance, Taylor was employed as an analyst for Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) in Houston, Texas. He went on to earn his M.S. and Ph.D. in economics from Purdue University. After returning to the Baylor faculty, Taylor was named the first holder of the W.H. Smith Professorship in Economics. In 2002, he was appointed as a visiting scholar by Harvard University where he spent one year in residence at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

As dean of Samford’s Brock School of Business, Taylor led the rapid transformation of the business school, including its renaming to honor Harry B. Brock, Jr., founder of Compass Bank. Taylor led the Brock School of Business to establish eight new academic programs, as well as the school’s new honors program. The school’s entrepreneurship program was recognized in 2010 as the nation’s top emerging program by the U.S. Association for Small Business & Entrepreneurship. In an effort to build bridges between students and the Birmingham business community, Taylor established the Samford Business Network, as well as a 45-member advisory board of the region’s top business leaders.

As a scholar, Taylor has published dozens of studies in economics journals such as Review of Economics and Statistics, Journal of Labor Economics, Journal of Human Resources and Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking. Illustrating his diverse research interests and his connections to the social sciences, Taylor has also published groundbreaking research in public health and child developmental psychology. His research has been cited in testimony given before the U.S. Congress, the Federal Trade Commission, and the California State Assembly, and also has been referenced in publications such as The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and The Christian Science Monitor.

Taylor is a member of numerous professional and academic organizations, and he has served as a strategic business consultant for dozens of organizations. Taylor and his wife of 28 years, Julie, have three children: Zachary, 25, a Nashville-based music recording artist, Lauren, 22, a recent Whitworth graduate, and Chloe, 14.

SANDRA McCRACKEN

GUEST MUSICIAN

Performances

Sandra McCracken will be leading worship from the main stage in the morning and afternoon of Friday, June 16, followed by her highly-anticipated concert at 6:00pm. See the conference schedule for further information!

Biography

Sandra McCracken is a singer-songwriter and hymn writer from Nashville, Tennessee. A prolific recording artist, McCracken has produced 14 solo albums over two decades. Her best selling release, Psalms (2015) received critical acclaim, followed by God’s Highway (2017) which made the top 50 on Billboard Heatseekers chart without a major label. She has had songs featured in TV, including ‘Ten Thousand Angels’ on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy and has over 15 million streams. Blending the old and new, Sandra has also shown a unique ability to recast sacred scripture texts into theologically rich yet accessible songs. Her thoughtful lyrics and gospel melodies in songs like “We Will Feast In The House Of Zion,” “Steadfast” and “Thy Mercy My God” have become staple anthems in churches across the U.S. As a published writer, she contributes a regular column in Christianity Today and released her first book “Send Out Your Light” in September 2021.

davies Owens

Executive Director - Society for classical learning

Session: School Culture

Session Abstract

COMING SOON!

Biography

Davies Owens first discovered classical Christian education as an 18-year-old observing winsome, articulate, and joyful children playing at L’Abri Fellowship in Switzerland. He felt that they modeled a different way to that parents could raise the next generation. Fast forward to today and Davies has spent some three decades working with young people and helping schools and parents to raise thoughtful, classically trained, and joyful children.

Davies is a graduate of Furman University where he majored in sociology. He later earned an M.Div. at Duke Divinity School and a doctorate at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary focusing on leadership development and using technology to support Biblical community. After serving as a pastor in suburban Durham North Carolina and urban Orlando, Florida, he moved to Silicon Valley to work with Christianity.com. In the early 2000s, Davies moved back to his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, where he established Blue Sky Ministries, an innovation lab for churches and nonprofits with a friend and former Walt Disney Imagineer. The ministry partnered with churches and parachurch ministries around the world using innovative strategy and technology. In 2004, he presented at the Lausanne Forum in Thailand on media and technology. Along the way, and thanks to his three school-aged children, he rediscovered that schools are ground zero for cultural impact for the next generation. After serving as a board member and then Head of School at Heritage Preparatory in Atlanta, GA, for almost a decade, he made the move West and joined the staff of the Ambrose School in Meridian, Idaho. He served as Head of Vision and Advancement for eight years before he joined the Society for Classical Learning full-time as the Executive Director.

He brings to the SCL years of experience in parent and teacher education and training, school culture shaping, and marketing and admissions best practices and strategies. He also serves as an adjunct professor at Gordon College teaching a class on Institutional Advancement as a part of their Master of Arts in Leadership track for classical leaders.

Davies loves to talk and meet other thinkers in the classical school movement! For five years he has served as host of the BaseCamp Live Podcast. His winsome presentation on “Ancient Future Education” at Q, a Ted talk environment, continues to be used by schools to explain “what is classical Christian education” and is one of many keynote talks he has given at various classical Christian schools and conferences around the world. When he is not behind the microphone or consulting, he enjoys traveling to Rwanda to support international classical Christian schools through his work with Africa Bright Future Schools, or serving with the non-profit group Rebuilding Generations, dedicated to reviving the servile arts by training teenagers in character and hands-on skills around restoring vintage automobiles. He recently led a team in the restoration of a unique hand-built Italian car that was shown at SEMA -the premier automotive trade show event in Las Vegas.

He and his wife, Holly, a Health and Wellness Coach, have been married for three plus decades. They have three amazing children who have all benefitted from a K-12 classical Christian education and who are now in college and beyond, thriving and flourishing.

Dan Olson

Executive Director - Spreading Hope Network

Session: Cross Cultural Access & Unity

Session Abstract

COMING SOON!

Biography

Dan Olson (M.A., Christian Studies, Regent College (Canada)) serves as Managing Director of Anselm House, a center for Christian studies at the University of Minnesota, and is co-founder and director of the Spreading Hope Network. Dan began his career as a high school teacher, and has more than 20 years of non-profit governance and leadership experience, including serving the local church, The Gospel Coalition, Baker Publishing Group, and Hope Academy (Minneapolis), where he serves as a member of the Board of Directors. He enjoys galvanizing Christian educational entrepreneurship in cross-cultural contexts through writing, speaking, and consulting on advancement and leadership strategies and structures. He has lived in Honduras and Canada, but he and his wife Lucy and their four children call Minneapolis home. He writes occasionally for Mere Orthodoxy, The Gospel Coalition, and other Christian journals, and is the author of Oh, the Treasures You’ll Know (10 Publishing, 2022) and the forthcoming The Runaway Sheep (10 Publishing, 2024).

Hotel Info

The Renaissance Hotel in Addison
15201 Dallas Pkwy, Addison, TX 75001
Group Rate: $162 per night

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Parking Info

3 Different Parking Options:
Valet, Surface Parking or Garage Parking.
On-site parking, $15 daily
Valet parking, $28 daily

Airport Info

Two Options:
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
Dallas Love Field (DAL)
*The hotel does not provide shuttle service.

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