Thanksgiving is a good time to reflect on the first year of the Jesus Worldview Initiative as part of the Rev. Charlie Curb Center for Faith Leadership at Belmont University.
Thanks to the welcoming and supportive administration of Belmont University. In particular, faith leadership director Jon Roebuck and his colleague Nick Baird-Chrisohon have become trusted, collaborative colleagues.
Early interest and generosity have revealed that many people believe the mission “to articulate and advance the following of Jesus as the defining priority of the Christian faith” is timely and greatly needed.
The initiative is taking shape with the guidance of many friends and supporters. It’s been a great year of engaging around this topic in retreats, conferences, worship services and other settings.
So we’re off to a very good start — with much potential ahead.
Belmont provides excellent in-kind and collaborative services. Yet all operational and programming funds must come from designated, charitable giving.
Therefore, my mantra for that aspect of the Jesus Worldview Initiative is “Support determines scale.”
In other words, we can do as much as those who believe in the mission are willing to invest.
With Belmont’s institutional support along with part-time leadership, the initiative’s overhead is very low — allowing for gifts to fund the development of various programming and resources.
Several friends have stepped to make gifts to allow for carrying out this mission during this first year — with some making multi-year pledges and/or designating endowment gifts for a healthy future.
As a result of such gifts and pledges, for example, we are planning a national Jesus Worldview Conference in Nashville for next year. Other regional events — like retreats and workshops — are likely.
Invitations to bring the Jesus Worldview into your community, organization or church are welcomed.
Also in 2025, we will launch the Maralene and Miles Wesner Resource Library. This web-based library — with continual updating — will provide resources for preaching, teaching and learning about a Jesus Worldview.
This coming resource is made possible by ongoing annual gifts from the Wesners of Idabel, Okla., who’ve been writing and speaking about the priority of following Jesus for many decades.
The mission of the Jesus Worldview Initiative is clear — to articulate and advance the defining priority of follow Jesus. What remains is discovering all the effective ways to carry out that mission.
The possibilities are plentiful. And they will be determined by available funding.
When contemplating year-end giving possibilities, I invite you to consider the Jesus Worldview Initiative. Such gifts result directly in timely, applicable resources.
Please check out the possibilities at jesusworldview.org/give.
And we’ll all see together where this will lead in the new year and beyond. Thanks.
John D. Pierce is director of the Jesus Worldview Initiative (jesusworldview.org), part of Belmont University’s Rev. Charlie Curb Center for Faith Leadership.