The Christian Study Center for MSU is an exciting and new form of campus ministry for the Michigan State University community. Following in the legacy of thinkers like C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Tim Keller, this study center serves as a bridge between the academy and the Christian faith. It exists to sow goodness, truth, and beauty on campus through the Christian intellectual tradition. This center provides a space for Christian thought to flourish amid the scholarly and academic life of Michigan State University.
The center serves students, faculty, and the broader public by cultivating the Christian intellectual tradition within the academic disciplines. Here are some of the highlights of the Christian Study Center for MSU:
- Program offerings include Christian Classics Reading Groups, Faculty Forums, monthly Lunch & Lecture series, and other learning opportunities.
- We embody a mutually-enriching relationship between the university and the Christian intellectual tradition.
- We equip students, faculty, staff, and the broader public to serve their neighbors through their vocations.
- We fill the gap between the academy and Christian congregations, complementing both of these vital institutions.
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod faculty at MSU are engaged in the effort to establish this Christian Study Center. Dr. Christian Parkinson, MSU faculty member and member at Ascension Lutheran Church in East Lansing describes the great need for this effort saying, "In our rapidly evolving cultural landscape, I sense that students of all walks are feeling increasingly unmoored from the stabilizing traditions and institutions that grounded generations before us.”
Parkinson sees the Christian Study Center for MSU as filling this void: “I view the Christian Studies Center for MSU as an antidote to this feeling. We hope to provide a haven for students to explore the rich Christian intellectual tradition, anchor themselves in Christ, and discover how they can fully integrate their Christian faith into their studies, vocations, and anything else that God calls them to."
The Christian Study Center for MSU presently has around one hundred people involved in this effort. There are also roughly a dozen Christian congregations and student ministries engaged in the center. Ranging from students, faculty, and area student ministry leaders, these stakeholders have attended an event, exploratory meeting, or are helping in some other way to establish this study center.
For the past nine months, we have had a chartering team of six individuals (two ministry leaders, two MSU faculty, and two business leaders) serving as core leadership. Our inaugural event last semester—a faculty panel discussion—resulted in a tremendous turnout of students and faculty. So far this semester, we have been overwhelmed by the response we have received from the campus community. For the fall 2026 academic semester, we have a full schedule of Lunch and Lecture events, Faculty Fellows reading groups, Christian Classics reading groups, and a public lecture co-sponsored by the Veritas Forum.
We are excitedly moving into a round of raising funds for expanded programming and hiring a program director. This fundraising will ensure that the great momentum behind this effort will continue on into the future. Learn more at our website: christianstudycenterformsu.org
Photos courtesy of Rev. Dr. Trevor Sutton