Mission Statement
The Chicago Theological Initiative exists to promote ecumenical scholarship and spiritual friendship among theologians within the broader Chicagoland area. CTI is committed to the creedal inheritance of catholic Christianity and equally committed to following the crucified and risen Christ in self-sacrificial moral life. It fosters inter-confessional and inter-institutional collaboration for the sake of advancing the theological disciplines and enabling mutual edification among Christian scholars. In obedience to the command of the incarnate Lord, CTI hopes for full visible and confessional unity among Christians, but pursues this goal through a ministry of friendship and of mutual encouragement along the path of witnessing through teaching and scholarship to the truth, love, and mercy of Jesus Christ. In this sense, CTI’s mission pertains fundamentally to the evangelization of the academy so that Christian scholarship will be able to perform its task of contemplating and handing on the mysteries of faith to the next generation.
Venues
CTI pursues its mission through three main venues, each of which is invitation-only but open to Chicago-area scholars who would like to participate.
The CTI Spring Colloquium (Wheaton College)
- An annual conference in March, which gathers leading Chicago-area scholars to discuss a topic of theological and spiritual resonance. The proceedings of each colloquium will be published. Faculty and graduate students in theology, biblical studies, and cognate disciplines are encouraged to attend
- Meets once in the Fall to discuss a patristic text of broad theological, spiritual, and pastoral import
The CTI Reading Group (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School)
The Logos Colloquium for the New Evangelization (Mundelein Seminary)
- Meets once in early May for a vibrant ecumenical discussion of a recently published theological or philosophical text of broad interest to Christian scholars
Co-Directors
George Kalantzis (Wheaton College), Matthew Levering (Mundelein Seminary), David Luy (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School)
Sponsors
CTI is sponsored by
- The Wheaton Center for Early Christian Studies at Wheaton College
- The Center for Scriptural Exegesis, Philosophy, and Doctrine at Mundelein Seminary
- The Carl F.H. Henry Center for Theological Understanding at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School