Aug. 3, 2009
For Immediate Release
Campbellsville University Announces Fall Schedule for Kentucky Heartland Institute on Public Policy
By Ashley Zsedenyi, staff writer
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – Campbellsville University’s Kentucky Heartland Institute on Public Policy (KHIPP) will host numerous events during the coming semester covering various topics of interest.
All of the events are free and open to the public.
“The fall 2009 KHIPP schedule is one of the very strongest groups of speakers we’ve had since KHIPP’s founding in 2001,” John Chowning, vice president of church and external relations and executive assistant to the president, who is founder of KHIPP, said.
“We will be covering several important and emerging topics including the changing face of evangelical political engagement, creation care and earth stewardship concerns in the Christian community and the growing spread of genocide around the world. Our faculty, staff, students and the larger community will be challenged by the quality and variety of guest lecturers.”
The first event will be Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 5 p.m. in the Banquet Hall on the main campus of CU with Dr. Ron Sider, professor of theology, holistic ministry and public policy and director of the Sider Center on Ministry and Public Policy at Palmer Theological Seminary in Wynnewood, Pa., leading “Roundtable on Christian Public Policy Perspectives – The Changing Face of Evangelical Christians in Politics and Public Policy Debate.”
Sider will also be guest speaker at Campbellsville University’s chapel service Wednesday, Sept. 16, at 10 a.m. in Ransdell Chapel discussing “Caring for the ‘Least of These.’”
Sider is also president of Evangelicals for Social Action. He is a widely known speaker and writer who has spoken on six continents, published twenty-seven books and scores of articles. Sider is the publisher of PRISM magazine and contributing editor of Christianity Today and Sojourners.
The next KHIPP event will be Monday, Sept. 28, at 5 p.m. with Dr. Paul Prather, pastor of Bethesda Church in Mt. Sterling, Ky., discussing “Evangelical Christians – The Intersection of Faith and Public Policy” in the Banquet Hall on the main campus of CU.
Prather is also a contributing columnist for the Lexington Herald-Leader, and the author of three books: Life’s a Dance: The John Michael Montgomery Story; Modern Day Miracles; and Back Porch Faith. He also writes fiction, and has won several significant prizes for his short stories.
Dr. Gregory H. Stanton, the James Farmer professor in Human Rights at the University of Mary Washington, department of history and American studies in Fredericksburg, Va., will discuss “Genocide in the World Today – Countries Most at Risk” on Tuesday, Oct. 6, at 5 p.m. in the Banquet Hall on the main campus of CU.
Stanton will also lead a chapel service Wednesday, Oct. 7, in Ransdell Chapel at 10 a.m. discussing “Why People of Faith Should Be Concerned About Genocide.”
Stanton is the founder and president of Genocide Watch, the founder and director of the Cambodian Genocide Project, the founder and chair of the International Campaign to End Genocide and is vice president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars.
Stanton comes from the lineage of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, women’s suffrage activist, and the anti-slavery leader Henry Brewster Stanton.
On Tuesday, Nov. 3, Dr. Matthew Sleeth, author of Serve God, Save the Planet: A Christian Call to Action by Chelsea Green Publishing, will discuss “Serving God – Saving the Planet” at 5 p.m. in the Banquet Hall on the main campus of CU.
Sleeth is a former emergency room physician who resigned from his position as chief of the medical staff and director of the ER to lecture, write and preach about creation care and the environment. To address larger audiences and respond to the hundreds of speaking requests, the Sleeth family formed Blessed Earth . The mission of Blessed Earth is an educational nonprofit organization that inspires and equips faith communities to become better stewards of the earth. Through outreach to churches, campuses and media, they build bridges that promote measurable environmental change and meaningful spiritual growth.
Sleeth is a graduate of George Washington University School of Medicine and has two post doctoral fellowships. He has been a member of the American Academy of Family Practice, the College of Emergency Physicians and the College of Executive Physicians. Sleeth, his wife Nancy, and their family live in Kentucky.
Chowning said KHIPP focuses its attention on “facilitating public policy study and issues debate, while encouraging the involvement of Christian leaders in the public and civic arenas.”
Chowning said KHIPP is committed to preparing Christian civic and political leaders for the 21st century.
“KHIPP invites you, the concerned citizen and student of the American political process, to attend one or more events to be presented this spring on the campus of Campbellsville University,” he said.
Campbellsville University is a private, comprehensive institution located in South Central Kentucky. Founded in 1906, Campbellsville University is affiliated with the Kentucky Baptist Convention and has an enrollment of 2,601 students who represent 93 Kentucky counties, 27 states and 31 foreign nations. Listed in U.S.News & World Report’s 2009 “America’s Best Colleges,” CU is ranked 22nd in “Best Baccalaureate Colleges” in the South for the second consecutive year. CU has been ranked 16 consecutive years with U.S.News & World Report. The university has also been named to America’s Best Christian Colleges®. Campbellsville University is located 82 miles southwest of Lexington, Ky., and 80 miles southeast of Louisville, Ky. Dr. Michael V. Carter is in his tenth year as president.
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