2007 Summer Institute
More Information about the Institute
The 2007 Evoke Summer Institute brought faculty and staff together from across the university to address the important topics surrounding the "call to parent." Dr. Marcia Bunge, the 2007 speaker, brought both her expertise as a theologian and parent to bear as she explored with us the "sacred callings" of parenting and childhood. In addition to addressing the importance of broadening our understandings of vocation to embrace callings that go beyond what we get paid to do for a living, Marcia:
- explored the many challenges parents face today as they attempt to live our their various callings to work and family;
- explained what she and others have described as the "sacred callings" of parenting and childhood; and
- discussed a variety of concrete practices that parents and children can engage in together to further the spiritual and ethical dimensions of family life.
In the afternoon, a panel of Loyolans shared with Institute participants their own vocational experiences as parents and children, offering stories that reflect the joys, challenges, and gifts they have received in responding to these sacred callings in their own lives.
ABOUT MARCIA BUNGE, PhD
Marcia J. Bunge is Professor of Humanities and Theology at Christ College, the Honors College of Valparaiso University, and Director of the Child in Religion and Ethics Project. Her life’s work has focused on the sacred callings each of us experiences as both parent and child. She is one of the nation’s best-known theologians on this topic, and her work and insights have been praised by scholars, clergy, and parents alike.
Marcia is the editor of The Child in Christian Thought (Eerdmans, 2001) and the forthcoming Children and Childhood: Biblical Perspectives (Eerdmans, 2008) and Children and Childhood in World Religions (Rutgers, 2008). She is currently writing a book on The Vocation of Children and Parents:Sacred Vision and Practical Guidelines.
Marcia is a consultant for the "Center for the Theology of Childhood"; a theological advisor to the Search Institute's Center for Spiritual Development (Minneapolis, MN); the co-director of the international "Child Theology Movement"; and the co-chair of the "Childhood Studies and Religion Consultation" of the American Academy of Religion. She is married and is the proud parent of two children, Anja and Isaac.