Missing Conversations (Shelley Milligan)
Advertising the 2019 Carver Conversation
These days, we all find ourselves marking—and missing—dates that held significance for us: vacations canceled, family reunions delayed (my parents canceled a 50th anniversary celebration), Easter worship reimagined. Today, Friday, April 3, marks a significant date for The Carver Project: we had long ago scheduled our signature public event, The Carver Conversation for tonight. As in past years, we anticipated 500-600 guests to join us at Third Baptist Church for an evening of conversation and reflection.
We canceled The 2020 Carver Conversation almost a month ago as the scope of the public health crisis was surfacing. Just as I am marking and missing events in my personal life, I am pausing now to mark this year’s missed Carver Conversation.
My high school English teacher drilled into us a common writing mantra: “Show, don’t tell.” The Carver Project is guided by three core values: uncommon community, creative dialogue, and focused engagement. The Carver Conversation showed those values, and I am disappointed to miss the opportunity to highlight our mission through this event.
Our Carver Conversations assemble an uncommon community. Keeping our events free and open to the public draws students, faculty, university community members, local churches, business leaders, ministry workers, and even those who don’t know anything about what we do. Attendees came from different political views, different denominations, different social networks, and different cultural backgrounds. How often do we gather for meaningful dialogue with people who hold significantly different beliefs from us, knowing that respect and difference can coexist?
Our Carver Conversations highlight different vocational gifts in creative dialogue with one another. They illustrate the significance of Christian faith to work and witness across a wide range of experiences. Our guests quickly developed a camaraderie and ease of rapport, speaking authentically, joking together, and sharing honestly. Audience members texted questions for the panel and many debriefed in small groups after the events. Dialogue is a two-way street, and participating creatively in conversation is a wonderful way to get to know another person, whether they are family, friend, or someone we “know” from afar.
Our Carver Conversations provide focused engagement for our audiences. Our 2018 dialogue examined the divisiveness in our culture and in our churches with Tim Keller, Lecrae, and Carver Project Faculty Fellow John Inazu, moderated by Kirsten Powers. Last year, we explored the role of art in a divided church with Sho Baraka, Sara Groves, and Mako Fujimura, moderated by Carver Project Faculty Fellow John Hendrix. This year’s conversation would have brought Rachael Denhollander and Dominique Gilliard together with Carver Project Faculty Fellow Penina Laker for a dialogue about forgiveness, repentance, and reconciliation at the level of institutions (we often tend to think of these as personal, but they are also institutional). The panel would have been moderated by Carver Project Faculty Fellow Heidi Kolk.
So today I am marking and missing the 2020 Carver Conversation. We hope to resume next April and The Carver Project will again gather to live out our core values of uncommon community, creative dialogue, and focused engagement. Until then, we look for other ways to show our mission (including these Carver Connections). And if you’re looking for something to watch, you can watch our earlier Carver Conversations below.
Shelley Milligan is the Managing Director of The Carver Project.
Return to The Carver Connections main page.
The 2018 Carver Conversation with Tim Keller, Lecrae, and John Inazu. Moderated by Kirsten Powers.
The 2019 Carver Conversation with Mako Fujimura, Sara Groves, and Sho Baraka. Moderated by John Hendr...