Making Connections: Discovering the Riches of the Past/Part 2

http://www.twocities.org/    www.mooreengaging.com

Join us for dinner and the second of two presentations by Dave Moore. Dave started Two Cities Ministries in 1998, a ministry that seeks to equip Christians to better understand and articulate their faith. To that end he seeks to accomplish four things in his work: Addressing sacred cows, creating attractive media for seeing in fresh ways, maintaining hope in a cynical age and lastly engaging issues with civility and courage.

The title of this mini series carries a double meaning.  I first invite fellow Christians to “connect” to our rich history.  There is much to learn.  A continual study (and our study of the past should be lifelong!) makes one less vulnerable to whatever fads are in vogue at the time.  Studying history offers wisdom for every imaginable situation we encounter under the sun.  Studying the past puts us in contact with people whose handling of their own challenges supplies needed perspective for our own.  So the first sense of “connect” is growing in our awareness of the past.
The other sense of “connect” I have in mind is the “aha moment” which occurs when we begin to “connect the dots” between various events. 

Dave Moore/Making Connections: Discovering the Riches of the Past/Part 1
http://www.twocities.org/ www.mooreengaging.com

Join us for dinner and the first of two presentations by Dave Moore. Dave started Two Cities Ministries in 1998, a ministry that seeks to equip Christians to better understand and articulate their faith. To that end he seeks to accomplish four things in his work: Addressing sacred cows, creating attractive media for seeing in fresh ways, maintaining hope in a cynical age and lastly engaging issues with civility and courage.

The title of this mini series carries a double meaning.  I first invite fellow Christians to “connect” to our rich history.  There is much to learn.  A continual study (and our study of the past should be lifelong!) makes one less vulnerable to whatever fads are in vogue at the time.  Studying history offers wisdom for every imaginable situation we encounter under the sun.  Studying the past puts us in contact with people whose handling of their own challenges supplies needed perspective for our own.  So the first sense of “connect” is growing in our awareness of the past.
The other sense of “connect” I have in mind is the “aha moment” which occurs when we begin to “connect the dots” between various events. 

There will be a wine and cheese reception at 7 followed by a concert by Jake.  Do join us!

http://stickshiftrecords.com/

Jake Armerding is an American folk musician and multi-instrumentalist from Boston, Massachusetts. He plays mostly acoustic string instruments like the mandolin, acoustic guitar, and fiddle. In 1990, Jake began playing with Northern Lights occasionally. He joined the band full-time in 1992 and was a member until 1999 when he left the band to pursue a solo career. Jake attended Wheaton College where he received a degree in English literature. In 2001, Armerding won the Best New Artist Award from Boston's folk-radio station, WUMB.

Join us at Hill House for dinner and a presentation by Jake Armerding, Singer songwriter and violinist, on his practice of this vocation to the glory of God.

Jake Armerding is an American folk musician and multi-instrumentalist from Boston, Massachusetts. He plays mostly acoustic string instruments like the mandolin, acoustic guitar, and fiddle. In 1990, Jake began playing with Northern Lights occasionally. He joined the band full-time in 1992 and was a member until 1999 when he left the band to pursue a solo career. Jake attended Wheaton College where he received a degree in English literature. In 2001, Armerding won the Best New Artist Award from Boston's folk-radio station, WUMB.

In addition to his solo efforts, Jake makes up half of a duo, The Fretful Porcupine, along with saxophonist Kevin Gosa. Armerding is also a member of Barnstar!, a "bluegrass [band] for people who hate bluegrass." He is on the faculty of the Traditional Music Project housed at the Real School of Music in Burlington, Massachusetts.

Join us Friday evening, July 6th, for dinner at 6, the movie at 7, and discussion afterwards.

Nominated for 5 Academy Awards(R) including Best Picture, Best Actress (Juliette Binoche -- THE ENGLISH PATIENT), and Best Supporting Actress (Judi Dench -- SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE), CHOCOLAT is the beautiful and captivating comedy from the acclaimed director of THE CIDER HOUSE RULES! Nobody could have imagined the impact that the striking Vianne (Binoche) would make when she arrived in a tranquil, old-fashioned French town. In her very unusual chocolate shop, Vianne begins to create mouth-watering confections that almost magically inspire the straitlaced villagers to abandon themselves to temptation and happiness! But it is not until another stranger, the handsome Roux (Johnny Depp -- SLEEPY HOLLOW), arrives in town that Vianne is finally able to recognize her own desires!

Join us at Hill House for a July 4th cookout and a presentation by Greg and Mary Jane, campus ministers, on their practice of this vocation to the glory of God. This will be followed by a viewing of the fireworks at Congress St. Bridge.

Greg Grooms came to Hill House in August of 1994 from Huemoz, Switzerland, after working with L'Abri Fellowship for 15 years. While studying biochemistry at Tulane University in New Orleans, he discovered his faith needed to grow if it were to survive the questions and pressures of living in the modern world. This led him to Francis and Edith Schaeffer’s study center in the Swiss Alps where the historic Christian faith of his childhood was reaffirmed and expanded to apply to all of life and culture.

Greg met and married his Canadian-born wife Mary Jane in Switzerland. They have five children, all of whom are now post college.

Mary Jane brings over three decades of experience in teaching, counseling and hospitality to her role as Co-Director of Hill House.

Greg and Mary Jane's conviction in leading Hill House is that the Bible is true and that all of life is spiritual and meant to be lived to the glory of God. It is a conviction that is reflected in Greg’s teaching. He begins with the Bible and moves to everything else, from academics to pop culture.

Join us at Hill House for dinner and a presentation by Laura Dunn, documentary filmmaker, on her practice of this vocation to the glory of God.

Laura Dunn started making documentaries in response to her undergraduate experience at Yale University. Through a chronicle of labor strikes on campus, THE SUBTEXT OF A YALE EDUCATION examines the corporatization of higher education. She then returned to her birthplace to make GREEN, a sobering look at environmental racism along the Mississippi River petrochemical corridor, a.k.a. “Cancer Alley”. Other work includes experimental films BABY, a personal take on population issues, and BECOME THE SKY, an ecological map of power in Texas.  Her first feature documentary, THE UNFORESEEN, executive produced by Robert Redford and Terrence Malick, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, was released theatrically and broadcast on the Sundance Channel.  Her new film, LOOK & SEE, also executive produced by Robert Redford and Terrence Malick, and funded in part by the Sundance Documentary Film Fund, is a cinematic portrait of writer and farmer Wendell Berry.  Honors include a Rockefeller Media Arts Fellowship, Student Academy Award, Yale’s Trumbull Fine Arts Prize, International Documentary Association Pare Lorenz Grant and an  Independent Spirit Truer Than Fiction Award. She lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and six young boys.

Bond West graduated from the University Scholar Program at Baylor University where he studied Classics with an emphasis on early European civilization and culture.

Bond became interested in language study, particularly Old Norse, while studying abroad at St. Andrew's.  Upon graduating. he received a Fulbright scholarship to attend the University of Iceland where he earned his first masters degree in Medieval Icelandic Studies.  

He later attended Selwyn College at the University of Cambridge. where he received an MPhil in Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic.  Most recently, he has been teaching Latin and Greek at Regent Preparatory in Tulsa, OK.  Bond intends to start a PhD this coming fall.

Join us Friday evening, June 15th, for a film by documentary filmmaker Laura Dunn who will be our guest speaker on Wednesday, June 27th.

Dinner at 6, the movie at 7, and discussion afterwards.

Look & See: A Portrait of Wendell Berry celebrates the life of the acclaimed Kentucky poet, teacher, farmer, and activist, Wendell Berry.

Laura Dunn directed, produced, and edited the film while Jeff Sewell serves as co-director, producer , and visual designer.  Filmmakers Robert Redford and Terrence Malick executive produce.  Owsley Brown III, Gill Holland, Brenda Mitchell, Elaine Mussellman, and Nick Offerman co-produced the film.

Join us Friday evening, June 8th, for dinner at 6, the movie at 7, and discussion afterwards.

Oskar (Thomas Horn), who lost his father (Tom Hanks) in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center, is convinced that his dad left a final message for him somewhere in the city. Upon finding a mysterious key in his father's closet, Oskar sets out in search of the lock it fits. Feeling disconnected from his grieving mother (Sandra Bullock) and driven by a tirelessly active mind, Oskar has a journey of discovery that takes him beyond his loss and leads to a greater understanding of the world.

Vocation quite literally means calling. 

Join us at Hill House for dinner and a presentation on the vocation of Law with Rebecca Ricketts.

Becky Perry Ricketts is a native of Sugar Land, Texas, and the oldest of five kids.  In 2006, Becky graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, where she majored in Plan II, government, and philosophy.  While at UT-Austin, Becky was selected as a Truman Scholar.  After a brief stint as a freelance journalist at WORLD magazine, she attended Yale Law School, where she graduated in 2010. 

 After law school, Becky worked as a law clerk for Judge Richard Sullivan on the Southern District of New York, for Judge Jose Cabranes on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and for Justice Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court.  

Becky now lives in Dallas with her husband, Rodman Ricketts, who is an architect at GFF.  They are current members at New St. Peter’s Presbyterian Church, longtime fans of the Hill House, and graduates of the Gotham Fellowship, a one-year fellowship through the Center for Faith and Work at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City.

Since 2014, Becky has worked as an appellate lawyer at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.  In her free time, she enjoys reading on her back porch, occasionally working out, and eating Rodman’s Cajun cooking.