CCSCF holds successful third conference

EDMONTON – The Canadian Centre for Scholarship and the Christian Faith (CCSCF) held its third annual conference the weekend of March 21-22 at Concordia University College of Alberta. Rev. Dr. Bill Anderson, Director of the CCSCF, reports that this year’s conference continued the trend of growing registration numbers.

The theme for this year’s conference was “The Fine Arts and the Christian Faith.” Events began March 21 with an opening worship service that incorporated elements of music, drama, and dance. Following that, the conference welcomed Dr. Gene Veith for the first part of his keynote lecture (which was open on Friday to the public). Dr. Veith spoke on “The Arts, the Imagination, and the Christian Life.”

Performance artists later set-up around the college and entertained conference participants with music, juggling, and more. Digital artist Ted Larson then gave a presentation explaining the process involved in creating his artwork. Conference participants ended the day by taking in an evening performance of Ordo Virtutem, a 12th century liturgical drama by Hildegard of Bingen.

Saturday saw four academic presentations on topics as diverse as 19th century art, music therapy, video games, and Bach. Dr. Veith also presented the second part of his keynote address, focusing on art and imagination as tools for apologetic outreach. The conference concluded with a banquet followed by a performance of the play Freud’s Last Session (an imagined meeting between C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud).

Saturday also saw the announcement of next year’s conference: “Religion and Pop Culture.” The conference will take place May 1-2, 2015 at Concordia University College of Alberta and will feature a keynote address by Kevin Sherwood, a sound designer and composer for Treyarch, best-known for his music in the Call of Duty video game series.

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