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Webinar ID: 849 7174 9555

Modern telescopes and space probes are revealing an awe-inspiring universe of beauty, activity, mystery, and inspiration. This presentation will show how current and upcoming telescopes and probes are gearing up for a decade of incredible new discovery that can expand our sense of wonder, praise, and gratitude.

Dr. Jennifer Wiseman is an astrophysicist and speaker who studies star and planet formation in our galaxy using radio, infrared, and optical telescopes.  She also directs the Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion (DoSER) program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.  

Please use this link to join us: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84971749555

Webinar ID: 849 7174 9555

This PDF is designed to accompany the presentation, and is explained therein.

2020 will be known as the year of the coronavirus. But for Dr. Mark Denison, coronaviruses have been his focus for more than 30 years. Dr. Denison was the first to discover the virus’ ability to “proofread” itself for mutations, a groundbreaking revelation for the field and his driving force to research antiviral treatments that could defeat it. His presentation will provide some essential background on the nature of coronaviruses as a basis for understanding how they develop and evolve, the origin of COVID-19, and an explanation on how mRNA vaccines—such as those by Pfizer and Moderna—work. There will be ample time for questions from those attending.  ​

Dr. Mark Denison is a world-renowned researcher of coronaviruses at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The Denison Lab at Vanderbilt also conducted trials on the drug Remdesivir. He is a professor of pediatrics, and director of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease, as well as a Presbyterian elder and member of Second Presbyterian Church, Nashville, TN.

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Webinar ID: 849 7174 9555

The Decadent Society: How We Became the Victims of Our Own Success

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Western world was in crisis. The frenzy of social media frenzy and reality television politics is only the surface. There is a deeper reality: one of drift, repetition, and dead ends. In his recent book, The Decadent Society Douthat explains what happens when a rich and powerful society ceases advancing—how the combination of wealth and technological proficiency with economic stagnation, political stalemates, cultural exhaustion, and demographic decline creates a strange kind of “sustainable decadence,” a civilizational languor that could endure for longer than we think.

Ross Douthat is a columnist for the New York Times op-ed page. He is the author of To Change the Church, Bad Religion, and Privilege, and coauthor of Grand New Party. Before joining the New York Times, he was a senior editor for the Atlantic. He is the film critic for National Review, and he cohosts the New York Times’s weekly op-ed podcast, The Argument. He lives in New Haven with his wife and three children.

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Webinar ID: 849 7174 9555

Rev. Dr. Margaret Kibben is the new Chaplain to the House of Representatives. She is a dynamic spiritual leader and strategic-level consultant with more than thirty years of experience in enhancing the resiliency and well-being of the organizations she serves. Prior to this new position, Margaret served as Lecturer in the School of Engineering at The Catholic University of America.

As Chief of Chaplains for the U.S. Navy, she served as a trusted advisor to senior military officers on leadership development, providing a unique, pragmatic perspective in how personal and professional value systems translate both within their command and throughout the world. She holds a deep belief that the integrity of each leader affects the health, welfare, and capability an organization and guides executives on instilling a culture in their organizations that supports enterprise goals.

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Webinar ID: 849 7174 9555

While the Middle East is often on the world’s mind, the Middle Eastern Church is not. Yet there has been a faithful community that has had an uninterrupted presence in Egypt since Pentecost.

Anne Emile Zaki is Assistant Professor of Practical Theology at the Evangelical Theological Seminary, Cairo Egypt. She is a graduate of Calvin College (BA, Psychology and Sociology), Calvin Theological Seminary (M.Div.), and the American University in Cairo (MA, Sociology and Anthropology). She is currently a Ph.D. student in practical theology at Fuller Theological Seminary.