Gaede Holds 2nd Conference on Vocation

The Westmont Gaede Institute for the Liberal Arts hosts the second annual Conversation on Youth and Vocation on Monday, Feb. 26, from 9-10:15 a.m. with speaker Steven Argue of the Fuller Youth Institute at Fuller Seminary. Drop-ins to the plenary address are welcome; to participate in all of this free, half-day conference, including meals, please inquire with Addie Smith at libarts@westmont.edu or (805) 565-6230.

This year’s conference takes up the faith experience of college students, especially as those students are growing into intellectual and social adulthood. “What opportunities might they encounter for putting their academic interests and social concerns in conversation with their faith?” asks Christian Hoeckley, director of the Gaede Institute. “What questions might come up as they encounter new ideas and life purposes? We invite pastors and youth ministry workers to learn more about the young people they’re working with and to be in conversation with one another and with Westmont faculty and staff about how best to equip young people for the spiritual challenges and changes that are coming with college.”

Argue earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Master of Divinity from Trinity International University and doctorate from Michigan State University. Argue joined the Fuller Theological Seminary faculty in June 2015 as assistant professor of youth, family and culture and as applied research strategist with the Fuller Youth Institute. He studies youth ministry, emerging adults and congregations with his most current research focused on how undergraduate students who attend public universities perceive and work through spiritual struggle.