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Frequently Asked Questions

1

Am I qualified for the Colson Fellows program?
Qualified Fellows candidates are mature Christian adults who are committed to growing in their faith and becoming further equipped to engage the culture with the heart and mind of Christ. They have a record of consistent Christ-centered living and are committed to investing the time and effort to fulfill the requirements of the Fellows program.

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2

How long is the program?
This year, the program will begin in August and conclude with the Fellows commissioning at the Wilberforce Weekend in May.

See Our Calendar

3

What is the difference between the national and regional programs?
The National program and the Regional Affiliate programs follow the same content and curriculum. The major difference is the Regional Affiliate programs generally meet on a regular basis; the National program provides three weekend residencies that allow you to meet and interact with well-known Christian thinkers and leaders. Each Regional Affiliate operates differently so let us know if you have questions about a regional program and we will connect you with the regional leader.

National Program

Regional Program

4

How much travel is involved?
We will have three residencies throughout the program in September, January and May for the Wilberforce Weekend. National students are required to attend at least two of the three residencies. Regional Affiliate students are not required to attend the residencies but will have their own meetings organized by the affiliate leader (usually monthly). Regional Affiliate students may attend the national residencies for a registration fee as space allows.

Calendar

5

What is the estimated weekly time commitment required by the program?
Most graduates of the program say that it takes about 10 – 20 hours per week, depending on speed of reading and organizational skills. Here is an overview:

Reading: average a little over one book plus per month
Daily: read and comment on the daily 4-minute Breakpoint received by radio, podcast or email. Read a portion of Conformed to His Image. Complete a devotional Bible study (5x per week)
Monthly: one, sometimes two one-hour teleconferences with authors and leaders

Most have found they re-purpose their current devotional time and a portion of their leisure time to accommodate the program. But don’t forget, this is not intended to be a hobby, but a re-engineering of thinking and focus on life, faith and culture. There are no short-cuts to anywhere worth going!

Curriculum

6

I work full-time. Can I still be involved?
Most of the Fellows candidates do work full-time. It is up to you to determine if you can fulfill the requirements. Graduates of the program are available to answer any questions you have. Just let us know and we will connect you.

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7

Can you share more info about what the teaching practicum and three-year plan entail?
The teaching practicum and three-year plan arise from Chuck Colson’s concern that the Fellows Program not merely be an “input” operation. The goal is to equip you to put into practice what you learn. The teaching practicum allows Colson Fellows to teach worldview and cultural concepts to others. The Fellows Program provides the content, such as For the Life of the World, video series; the worldview engagement series by Dr. Brown, re:View, and a number of other materials. You can lead these in a Sunday school setting, as a home study, or any other setting you arrange.

Curriculum

8

How much does the program cost?
The tuition for the program is only a fraction of the cost. The Colson Center works hard to provide the resources to make the Colson Fellows program available. The cost for each student is $1,750 for the year for the National program. Additional expenses include books and materials as well as costs for attending the three residencies.

Scholarships are available as well as a payment plan. Please e-mail Program Manager, Brooke Colon at bcolon@colsoncenter.org for more information.What denomination or theological persuasion does the Colson Center follow?

Program Breakdown

9

What denomination or theological persuasion does the Colson Center follow?
The Colson Center is not a church or school. The Colson Fellows program attracts students from across the spectrum of Christ-centered people. The statement of faith of the Center provides a solid foundation to draw followers of Christ together, not to divide. The goal is to equip believers to make a significant impact through their Christ-centered service.The Colson Center for Christian Worldview Statement of Faith

We believe in one God, Creator and Lord of the Universe, the co-eternal Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We believe that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, died a substitutionary atoning death on the cross, rose bodily from the dead and ascended to heaven where, as truly God and truly man, HE is the only mediator between God and man.

We believe that the Bible is God’s authoritative and inspired Word. It is without error in all its teachings, including creation, history, its own origins, and salvation. Christians must submit to its divine authority, both individually and corporately, in all matters of belief and conduct, which is demonstrated by true righteous living.

We believe in the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death. We also uphold the holy institution of marriage between one man and one woman, rooted as it is in God’s creation of man and woman in His image and in the relationship between Christ and His Church.

We believe that all people are lost sinners and cannot see the Kingdom of God except through the new birth. Justification is by grace through faith in Christ alone.

We believe in one holy, universal, and apostolic Church. Its calling is to worship God and witness concerning its Head, Jesus Christ, preaching the Gospel among all nations and demonstrating its commitment by compassionate service to the needs of human beings and promoting righteousness and justice.

We believe in the necessity of the work of the Holy Spirit for the individual’s new birth and growth to maturity, and for the Church’s constant renewal in truth, wisdom, faith, holiness, love, power, and mission.

We believe that Jesus Christ will personally and visibly return in glory to raise the dead and bring salvation and judgment to completion. God will fully manifest His kingdom when He establishes a new heaven and new earth, in which He will be glorified forever, and exclude all evil, suffering, and death.

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Have a question you would like the What Would You Say team to answer? Submit it below!

Megan Almon

Speaker

Life Training Institute

Megan Almon, a former University of Georgia gymnast, was a part of UGA’s 2002 SEC Championship team. She worked as an award-winning journalist until 2008 when she decided to pursue a career speaking and teaching about Christian apologetics — especially in the area of bioethics. She joined Life Training Institute in 2009 and was awarded an M.A. in Christian apologetics from Biola University in 2011. Megan and her husband, Tripp — Director of Programs and Summit Semester for Summit Ministries — have been married since 2003 and have two children, Neely and Rogan. Megan enjoys spending time with her family at home in Manitou Springs, Colorado, and is still known to practice handstands in her kitchen. She has spoken to high school-and-college assemblies and classrooms, youth organizations, women’s groups, pregnancy resource centers, congregations, and legislators across the nation on multiple topics.

Scott Klusendorf

President

Life Training Institute

Scott Klusendorf is President of Life Training Institute where he equips pro-life advocates to make a persuasive case for life. He has taught pro-life apologetics at the graduate level at Biola University and Trinity Law School, and lectured at over 80 colleges and universities including Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA, USC, Johns Hopkins, MIT, and the U.S. Air Force Academy — to name a few. Scott’s debate opponents have included Nadine Strossen (former President of the ACLU), attorney Edward Tabash (of the Council for Secular Humanism), attorney Kathryn Kolbert (who argued for abortion rights at the Supreme Court), and Katherine Kneer (President of Planned Parenthood California). Nationally, he’s been featured on syndicated shows such as Focus on the Family, Truths that Transform, Issues Etc, and Faith Under Fire. He is the host of the television series, “Life is Best.” Scott is the author of The Case for Life: Equipping Christians to Engage the Culture (Crossway, 2009). Scott is a graduate of UCLA and holds a Master’s degree in Christian Apologetics from Biola University. At the practical level, Scott helps non-profit organizations raise money to assist women facing unplanned pregnancies. He and his wife Stephanie have been married since 1985 and have four children.

Paul Copan

Professor

Palm Beach Atlantic University

Paul Copan (Ph.D. Philosophy, Marquette University) is Professor and Pledger Family Chair of Philosophy and Ethics at Palm Beach Atlantic University, West Palm Beach, Florida. He has served as president of the Evangelical Philosophical Society and speaks on university campuses and conferences. He is author and editor of over thirty books. These include Did God Really Command Genocide?, True for You, But Not for Me, When God Goes to Starbucks, The Gospel in the Marketplace of Ideas, An Introduction to Biblical Ethics, A Little Book for New Philosophers, and The Zondervan Dictionary of Christianity and Science.

Paul and his wife, Jacqueline, have six children, and they reside in West Palm Beach, Florida. His website is www.paulcopan.com.

Ryan Anderson

Senior Research Fellow

The Heritage Foundation

Ryan T. Anderson, Ph.D., is the William E. Simon senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, and the founder and editor of Public Discourse, the online journal of the Witherspoon Institute of Princeton, New Jersey. He received his bachelor of arts degree from Princeton University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude, and he received his doctoral degree in political philosophy from the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment and Truth Overruled: The Future of Marriage and Religious Freedom, and he is the co-author of What Is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense and Debating Religious Liberty and Discrimination. Anderson has made appearances on ABC, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, and Fox News. His work has been published by the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, the Harvard Health Policy Review, the Georgetown Journal of Law and Public Policy, the Weekly Standard, and National Review. He is the John Paul II Teaching Fellow in Social Thought at the University of Dallas, an adjunct professor of philosophy and political science at Christendom College, a member of the James Madison Society at Princeton University, a Fellow of the Institute for Human Ecology at the Catholic University of America, and a Visiting Fellow at the Veritas Center at Franciscan University.

Follow him on Twitter at @RyanTAnd and for his latest essays and videos you can follow his public Facebook page.

Brett Kunkle

Founder

Maven

Brett Kunkle is the founder and president of MAVEN (www.maventruth.com), a movement to equip the next generation to know truth, pursue goodness and create beauty for the cause of Christ. He has more than 25 years of experience working with youth and parents. Brett has developed a groundbreaking approach to mission trips, creating a one-of-a-kind experience that immerses participants in real-life engagement in apologetics and evangelism in Berkeley, California, and Salt Lake City, Utah. Brett was an associate editor for the Apologetics Study Bible for Students and co-authored A Practical Guide to Culture: Helping the Next Generation Navigate Today’s World and A Student’s Guide to Culture. He received his Master’s degree in Philosophy of Religion and Ethics from Talbot School of Theology. Brett lives with his wife and five kids in Southern California.

Sean Mcdowell

Assistant Professor

Biola University

Dr. Sean McDowell is a gifted communicator with a passion for equipping the church, and in particular young people, to make the case for the Christian faith. Sean is an Assistant Professor in the Christian Apologetics program at Biola University. He has a double Master’s degree in Theology and Philosophy from Talbot Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in Apologetics and Worldview Studies from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Traveling throughout the United States and abroad, Sean speaks at camps, churches, schools, universities, and conferences. He has spoken for organizations including Focus on the Family, the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, Cru, Youth Specialties, Hume Lake Christian Camps, Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Association of Christian Schools International.

Sean is the author, co-author, or editor of over seventeen books including Same-Sex Marriage: A Thoughtful Approach to God’s Design for Marriage, with John Stonestreet, Is God Just a Human Invention? with Jonathan Morrow, and Understanding Intelligent Design along with William A. Dembski. Sean has also written multiple books with his father, Josh McDowell, including The Beauty of Intolerance, The Unshakable Truth, and More Than A Carpenter. Sean is the General Editor for Apologetics for a New Generation and The Apologetics Study Bible for Students. He has also written for YouthWorker Journal, Decision Magazine, and the Christian Research Journal. Follow the dialogue with Sean as he blogs regularly at seanmcdowell.org.

Glenn Sunshine

Professor of History

Central Connecticut State University

Glenn Sunshine is Professor of History at Central Connecticut State University and a Senior Faculty Member of the Colson Fellows. An award-winning author, Glenn has published books, articles and book chapters on history, theology, and culture, online and on both sides of the Atlantic. His book Why You Think the Way You Do: The Story of Western Worldviews from Rome to Home (Zondervan, 2009) received the 2006 Acton Institute Book Grant.

Jay W. Richards

Assistant Research Professor

Catholic University of America

Jay W. Richards, Ph.D., is an Assistant Research Professor in the School of Business and Economics at The Catholic University of America, Executive Editor of The Stream and a Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute.

Richards is author of many books including the New York Times bestsellers Infiltrated (2013) and Indivisible (2012). He is also the author of Money, Greed, and God, winner of a 2010 Templeton Enterprise Award; and co-author of The Privileged Planet with astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez. His most recent book, co-authored with Jonathan Witt, is The Hobbit Party: The Vision of Freedom that J.R.R. Tolkien Got and the West Forgot.

Richards’ articles and essays have been published in The Harvard Business Review, Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, Washington Post, Forbes, Fox News, National Review Online, Investor’s Business Daily, Washington Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Huffington Post, The Federalist, The American Spectator, The Daily Caller, The Imaginative Conservative, and many other publications. His topics range from culture, economics, and public policy to natural science, technology, and the environment.

Christopher Yuan

Teacher

Moody Bible Institute

Dr. Christopher Yuan has taught the Bible at Moody Bible Institute for over ten years and his speaking ministry on faith and sexuality has reached five continents. He speaks at conferences, on college campuses, and in churches. He has co-authored with his mother their memoir, Out of a Far Country: A Gay Son’s Journey to God, A Broken Mother’s Search for Hope (100,000 copies sold and now in seven languages). He is also the author of Giving a Voice to the Voiceless. Christopher graduated from Moody Bible Institute in 2005, Wheaton College Graduate School in 2007 with a Master of Arts in Biblical Exegesis and received his doctorate of ministry in 2014 from Bethel Seminary. Dr. Yuan’s newest book is Holy Sexuality and the Gospel: Sex, Desire, and Relationships Shaped by God’s Grand Story.

Katy Faust

Founder

Them Before Us

Katy Faust is the Founder of Them Before Us, the only organization solely devoted to defending children’s rights in family structure. She did her undergraduate degree in Political Science and Asian Studies at St. Olaf College and then received a Fulbright scholarship to Taiwan. Her fluency in Mandarin assisted her when she worked with the largest Chinese adoption agency in the world. In 2012 Katy began blogging about why marriage is a matter of social justice for kids. Her articles have appeared in USA Today, Public Discourse, LifeSite News, and The Federalist and The Daily Signal. She has filed three amicus briefs supporting children’s rights and advocated for the rights of children with lawmakers in the US and abroad as well as at the United Nations. She currently appears in a video series called Dear Katy which offers advice on how to live sexual integrity in the midst of morally permissive cultures. She is married and the mother of four children, the youngest of whom is adopted from China.

ThemBeforeUs.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katyfaustblogger/
Twitter: @Advo_Katy

JOSEPH BACKHOLM

THE COLSON CENTER

Joseph Backholm is legal counsel and Director of What Would You Say? at the Colson Center for Christian Worldview where he helps Christians understand and navigate the intersection of faith and culture. He joined the Colson Center after a decade as the President and General Counsel of the Family Policy Institute of Washington in Washington State where he managed educational, legislative, and electoral operations on behalf of life, marriage, religious freedom, and parental rights. He led three ballot initiatives in Washington State on issues related to marriage and gender privacy. He is passionate about helping Christians be less afraid by helping them see that what God has said about the world is both true and good. He is a Washington native and Texas resident who loves travel, sports, and whatever his kids are into. Joseph received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington and his law degree from Seattle University. He and his wife Brook, live with their four children in Bedford, TX.

STEPHANIE GRAY

Founder

Love Unleashes Life

Stephanie Gray is an international speaker and Founder of Love Unleashes Life. She has given over 900 pro-life presentations across North America as well as in Scotland, England, Ireland, Austria, Latvia, Guatemala, and Costa Rica. In 2017, Stephanie was a presenter for the series “Talks at Google,” speaking on abortion at Google headquarters in Mountain View, California.

Stephanie has debated abortion advocates such as physicians who do abortions, which includes debating late-term abortionist Dr. Fraser Fellows in front of medical students at the University of Western Ontario’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. She has also debated Ron Fitzsimmons, executive director of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers, Dr. Jan Narveson, Philosophy professor and recipient of the Order of Canada, Elizabeth Cavendish, legal director for NARAL Pro-Choice America, and Dr. Malcolm Potts, the first medical director for International Planned Parenthood Federation.

Stephanie is author of Love Unleashes Life: Abortion & the Art of Communicating Truth as well as A Physician’s Guide to Discussing Abortion. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from UBC in Vancouver, and a Certification, with Distinction, in Health Care Ethics, from the NCBC in Philadelphia. She resides in Vancouver, Canada.

LoveUnleashesLife.com
YouTube.com/StephanieGrayLoveUnleashesLife