Hello, friends! Graduate & Faculty Ministries website is moving to intervarsity.org. In preparation for this transition, many resources are now housed in InterVarsity's Ministry Library. Listed below is a list of past GFM resources; additional content will no longer be published to this website. Please visit intervarsity.org/fm/gfm for the new GFM website and library.intervarsity.org for the latest resources from Graduate & Professional Students, Faculty Ministry, Black Scholars & Professionals, Graduate Healthcare, Law Ministry, MBA Ministry, Women Scholars & Professionals and many more.

For those of you who are new graduate students, we offer this collection of articles gathered from The Well to help you thrive in this new endeavor. But no matter where you are in your program, we hope these articles will encourage you in your calling to teaching and scholarship.

"Are you feeling weary? Perhaps worn out from adversity or conflict? Jesus' justice-worn heart, dusy feet and tear-laden eyes remind us he carries our humanity into God's presence as the only true Son of God and our great mediator. Come and study the book of Hebrews where you will find an anchor for your weary soul."

Medical students across the US anticipate Match Day with both excitement and trepidation. On this spring day, fourth-year medical students find out where they will be starting their residency or fellowship training programs. We offer this prayer as a way to reflect and remember the ways God has been faithful in the past and the promise that he will continue to be faithful during this pivotal transition.

The ESN blog has partnered with Emerging Scholars as writers of content for and by graduate students and faculty. The material these writers have shared with the Emerging Scholars Network has been such an encouragement. Hannah Eagleson, an editor and writer for ESN collected some of the best resources for your reference as you plan events for your chapter, fellowship, small group, or prayer meetings. We are so grateful to the ESN Blog writers for these contributions.

Want to do more than survive graduate school? Whether you are new to grad school or returning this fall, the Emerging Scholars Network has encouraging advice in this offering of their most-read posts about surviving grad school as a Christian academic. Read more on the ESN blog's Graduate School Survival Kit.

Addressing Our Trauma and Proposing Solutions with Margaret Weaver, Ph. D, a licensed psychologist and founding partner of Keystone Counseling Center (now known as LifeStance Health), a Christian counseling center in metropolitan Atlanta. She has written Don’t Give Up, a devotional book designed to give hope, comfort, and encouragement.

We are happy to share BSAP’s online Meet the Author Event with: Ms. Skip McDonald, R.N.,BSN, Th.B., who wrote the Anxiety Bible Study Guide. Join us to hear Ms. Skip McDonald talk about anxiety, share key points from her bible study guide, and entertain questions from Black scholars in attendance. She worked extensively as a mental health nurse and she serves InterVarsity as a Regional Resource Specialist focusing on mental health and spiritual formation. We are so grateful to have this time with her. Peace be with you.

"Bridging the Divide: A Scientist's Search for Faith and Truth" is a delightful interview by NPR with Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health. He talks openly about his journey towards faith in Jesus and his experience being a Christian and a scientist/academic. We recommend it as a great interview to discuss with your students. 

Listen in as WAP associate Caroline Triscik interviews Alexis Grant, PhD student in the field of public health at University of Illinois at Chicago. In this podcast episode from the Well, Grant shares her passion for equity as she works toward change in policies to bring health care and resources to communities.

Square inch Seminars include short “TED” like talks that share about following Jesus on your "square inch". Our provided templates will help you host one of these unique 45 minute meetings.

Square inch Seminars include short “TED” like talks that share about following Jesus on your "square inch." This guide provides reflection questions and tips on how to write a 5-10 minute Square Inch Testimony as well as a template for how to hold a 45 minute Square Inch Seminar (that includes one Square Inch Testimony).

We’re all moving toward the unknown this fall. We don’t know what to expect, or even how to imagine what things will be like. It’s a critical moment when we can choose to follow Jesus on the journey, to walk by faith instead of sight. This collection of readings from the Emerging Scholars Network blog is designed to help you do that together. Built in are study questions, prayer ideas, and optional spiritual activities for groups meeting online or in socially distanced ways.

We're excited to launch a new series of prayers for academics in specific field areas at blog.emergingscholars.org. Our hope is that each prayer will encourage those in a particular subject area in the specificity of their daily work, while also giving those in other fields a glimpse into how their colleagues are glorifying God in different areas of inquiry.

Tags: Prayer

It may be hard to believe in moments like this, but that is what we are. Held in mercy. Held in powerful, everlasting love. Join us in choosing to be present in this moment and take a few minutes to read this message from Dr. Jean Neely, a professor at Azusa Pacific University. May we all take a deep breath of God's peace and presence.

How can you engage with faculty advisors on campus? How might a faculty advisor interact with InterVarsity students and staff? Art Wollum, faculty emeritus from North Carolina State University speaks on his suggestions after four decades of experience and a lifetime of love for students, faculty, InterVarsity and the university.

Whether you just started graduate school or are almost finished, our weekly fall readings are designed to help you journey forward with a strong sense of calling to God’s work in the university. Read and discuss with a small group, or reflect on your own. Click here to go to the readings on the Emerging Scholars Blog.

Faculty Ministry Associate Director Deb Clark shares an interview with a long-time friend and ministry partner, Dr. Tony Musumba. They met years ago at a missions conference held in Kenya when Tony was a student. It has been a joy to observe his journey in the academy and ministry over the years. Tony, his wife, Alice, and their family have attended several faculty conferences and I wanted to to share here some of Tony’s enthusiasm for ministry.

Through a challenging year, Professor Rachel Ferguson moves from an intellectual engagement with the Christian faith to a fuller understanding of discipleship, embracing new practices to truly dwell in Christ, leading to the spiritual transformation she needed, and that we all deeply desire.

The English poet, William Cowper (1731–1800), penned the familiar phrase, “God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform.” These lines distill several New Testament passages referring to th

Featured in Scholar's Compass, a project of the Emerging Scholars Network, Lauri Swann leads us in the footsteps of Abram as we examine together how we might better hear God's voice, move from listening to obedience, and continue on in faith. Strengthen your presence on campus as a Christian grad student or faculty member and read all three devotions on the Emerging Scholar's blog.

You Don’t Need to Know Everything. Perhaps you’ve seen the poster that proudly proclaims “All I really need to know I learned in kindergarten.” This is a clever list of light-hearted observations that can remind us to slow down and not take ourselves so seriously. And yet, here you are in graduate school...

Access video and audio recordings of the 2017 Midwest InterVarsity Interactive Symposium hosted at OSU and shared by satellite sites across the country to learn more about how common, everyday practices pave the way for a successful Christian academic life.

I had grand expectations of my life as a faculty spouse. I imagined lunch with Erik on campus, hosting students in our home, and—as a family—all enjoying his summers off. I expected to be closely connected to the university; attending events on campus and enjoying all that the university had to offer. Little did I know what was ahead. Continue reading...

As we enter Advent on December 3rd, we would like to invite faculty and students to enjoy a free visual devotional experience as you spend time alone with God this Christmas season. This weekly devotional experience, created by lnterVarsity staff minister, Bette Lynn Dickinson, features a beautifully hand-painted original series, Scriptures, prayers and questions to guide you through the days that lead to our Savior's birth.

May God speak to us and fill us with the hope that was born that first Christmas. Learn more and download the complete Advent series.

IVP has a vast collection of resources to help you build your Bible reference library—including commentaries, dictionaries, and more. Whether you are a pastor preparing for sermons, a professor putting together lectures, a student writing papers, or just a Bible nerd looking to deepen your study, we've got the reference resources you need. 

In this interview from the ESN Blog, 2016 Christian Scholars’ Foundation Grant Recipient Carrie Bredow describes the psychology research she’s carrying out with the grant and talks about how her faith and academic work interact. For more information about the CSF Grant, see this post.

Thinking about a graduate school search in the social sciences, or advising students who are? In this two-part series, Kateri Collins shares advice, steps, and checklists to help plan a search process. Read more and find links to Kateri’s own graduate school search story, her suggestions on finding mentors, or her reflections on inhabiting transitional time well on the Emerging Scholars blog.

The Well interviews faculty, professionals, authors, and researchers about their work, faith, families, and more.

With a record-high population of international students and scholars in the U.S. (over 1 million, actually!), and nearly half of them being graduate students and post docs, you’re likely to run into them. Many are from nations where the Gospel is inaccessible, even illegal. We have an amazing opportunity! But, you say, "I know there are a lot of international students here, but…"

”Friends, keep showing up, keep praying, keep experimenting, and keep watching for signs of God’s kingdom on your campus. It’s about faithfulness, not numbers, and about a special work that God will unfold in your unique university context. The fruitfulness will come.”

Connecting students and faculty in this way opens many fruitful doors. Christian students now know of Christian faculty or, more precisely, faculty who engage in an academically rigorous life and yet still believe in God.

Tags: Mentoring

An urban mission trip may be just what you need to hear God's call on your life to start considering right where you are the perfect mission field. Graduate students on mission, world changers in progress.

This discussion guide is the main resource for study of the text of I Peter. Often there are more questions than could be well addressed in a single small group gathering, so you will need to make some choices about what to include for your meeting. You could spend more than one meeting on a given section of I Peter as well.

Tom Trevethan shares a prayer service dedicating the academic year and seeking God's provision for your campus fellowship. We pray that your meetings with faculty may bring unity and encouragement.

Tags: Prayer | Leaders

Black Scholars and Professionals (BSAP), a national ministry within InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, hosted its fifth annual conference in Cambridge, MA. Dr. Claudette Ligons spoke on persevering and growing in the academic life. Dr. Ligons also has the distinction of a 100% graduation rate among the Ed.D. students she has supported through the dissertation process at Texas Southern University. Originially published on the Emerging Scholars Network blog, we are delighted to share wisdom on continuing in the journey of higher education from Dr. Ligons in this four part series, Strength for the Journey.

"Let me get this out. I feel like I’m swimming. I don’t know anything. I don’t know what to do next. On my knees." Read more.

The first in a three part series by Tamarie Macon, this devotion published by the Emerging Scholars Network blog was featured in Scholar's Compass, a devotion for and by scholars.

"The notion that God is a God of justice, as well as grace and love, allows oppressed people to have hope. When wrong is acknowledged and hope springs forth, it is possible to receive justice even when the system may let you down."

Read more from Dr. Alice Brown-Collins, Associate Regional Director of Graduate and Faculty Ministries (GFM), Northeast and the Area Director for Black Scholars and Professionals (BSAP), originally published on the Emerging Scholars blog.

Emerging Scholars Network, Women in the Academy, and InterVarsity Graduate and Faculty Ministries wish you a wonderful new year. As you flip your calendars, we pray that you are renewed and ready to finish the academic year well. Whether you are or not, these articles offer quick, practical advice that might encourage you in your academic and personal pursuits.

What good is it if we gain academic prestige, yet forfeit our souls? Robert Kaita, Principal Research Physicist of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, offers his perspective and a Scriptural basis for aiming to serve Christ and achieve academic success simultaneously.

A prayer for the new year; and a prayer by Samuel Johnson before beginning a new study.

Tags: Prayer | Leaders

Ever feel like you are all alone, venturing into unchartered territories? As Christian graduate students, faculty, university staff/administrators, and campus ministers, university life is challenging. Lauri Swann offers scripture, prayer, and testimony of God's provision for us in this three-part series from Scholar's Compass, a devotional series from the Emerging Scholars Network:

Unchartered Territories: Hearing God's Voice Unchartered Territories: Obedience Unchartered Territories: Faith

​ May God use Lauri's words to encourage and bolster your faith to hear his voice and obey.

Bird-watching is more than a hobby for me. It is a spiritual discipline, a facet of a life of prayer, an extension of my seeking, seeing, and hearing from the Spirit of Jesus. Not only do the disciplines of bird-watching and contemplative prayer appear strikingly similar, but I also see parallels in the tools as well.

Selected resources on science and religion from InterVarsity Faculty Ministry and ESN, featuring Elaine Ecklund, Francis Collins, Jennifer Wiseman, Robert Kaita, Jeff Hardin, Cal DeWitt, and many others.

A personal liturgy based on Psalm 90, written by Bobby Gross, national director for Graduate and Faculty Ministries. Use this liturgy to help you meditate on Psalm 90 and begin your day with prayer.

A brief list of journals and magazines offering a Christian perspective on issues facing students and faculty in Academics today.

Marc Baer, professor and department chair of history at Hope College, addresses foundational and practical aspects of faculty mentoring. Originally presented this talk at the ESN National Gathering at Following Christ 2008. (Part 1 of 2)

Is there a theological basis for academic mentoring? Tom Trevethan and Nan Thomas explore the question in a paper originally presented at the Maclaurin Institute’s faculty mentoring conference.

Tags: Mentoring

Conversations with C. S. Lewis, by author, philosopher, and Emerging Scholars Network member Robert Velarde. This Q&A with the author was originally published at IVPress.com.

Brief, hard-hitting and often brilliant, this treatise by C. John Sommerville (Professor Emeritus at the University of Florida and member of the Faculty Ministry Advisory Council) builds the controversial argument that secular universities in America have neglected religion at their peril. (Publishers Weekly) C. John Sommerville's study of the secular university is an excellent choice for reading with fellow Christian faculty.

At the Spring 2007 Vanderbilt Faculty Dinner, this “scavenger hunt” was used to break the ice between Christian faculty meeting for the first time.

Faculty Ministry calls for Christian faculty to be redeeming influences within higher education, but to some, this sounds like too great a claim for the role of Jesus's disciples. Thomas Trevethan, InterVarsity Faculty Ministry staff, argues for a stronger understanding of what it means to be a redeeming influence and suggests a set of identifying marks of this redeeming influence.

This article is part of the Faculty Ministry Foundations section of the Faculty Ministry Catalyst Portfolio.

If you've never attended a Faculty Conference at Cedar Campus, we want to help you understand what you're missing! Here several participants from past conferences share their reflections on what a week at Cedar Campus with other Christian faculty meant to them.

A Resource for InterVarsity Staff

InterVarsity staff and Christian faculty have been working in partnership on campuses across the country since InterVarsity’s founding.

Download InterVarsity Staff & Christian Faculty: Partners in the Gospel on Campus

In this essay, contributed in 2004, William J. Stuntz, professor at Harvard Law School, shares with us the lessons that his personal experiences with pain have taught him about hope, powerfully capturing the tension (and pain) Christians face as we look forward to Christ's second advent.

The Emerging Scholars Network is a long-haul endeavor that depends on God. In other words, it’s the perfect subject of serious prayer. We hope this cycle of prayers and readings will help you join others before God in thanks and supplication.

Tags: Prayer | Leaders

Looking for stories of faculty around the country who have found interesting and effective ways to be "salt and light" on their campuses? Each of these stories comes from the Faculty Newsletter, now called the Lamp Post, which InterVarsity began publishing in 1990.

Charles Troutman (a pioneer of IVCF in the 1930s) wrote, "There is no place like the university for the sharpening and expansion of Christian faith." Here is a prayer he wrote in 1960 which brings that grand vision down to each individual's desk.

Tags: Prayer | Leaders

When our lives become more hectic and intense with the pressure of papers and exams the need for prayer seems more obvious even if it is harder to come by. I commend this one to you. It has survived the test of time. You may wish to offer this prayer each time you sit to study. -Jeff Barneson

Tags: Prayer