It’s become a tradition for our “LCM Family” to gather for a good conversation around a topic that is interesting, hopeful, and good to talk about with other people. Current and former students and board members, donors and community supporters, faculty and staff, pastors, youth workers, you name it – you are invited!

This year, we’ll be talking about the book “Together” by Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy. It is clear that we are in the midst of a crisis of belonging. Loneliness can have devastating impacts on individual lives, and I’m increasingly convinced that its tendrils are contributing to the deep division and polarization in our communities, nation, and world.

Cultivating communities of belonging, to God and to one another, is (and always has been) at the heartbeat of our collective work as a church. It is my great honor to get to do this on campus, learning from students what it means, and what it takes, to build communities where people don’t just fit in, but can really belong. We trust that what we’re learning is transferable outside of our church walls, and outside of the narrow demographic we serve on campus. We also know that we have a lot to learn from you!

Please get this on your calendar and RSVP here and we will be in touch around a location a week ahead of time.

PS – The author has recently been in the news after issuing a Surgeon General’s Advisory on Loneliness and Isolation, below there are a couple of shorter podcasts and articles that you could also take in if you can’t get to the book in time for the gathering. What I like most about the Surgeon General’s work is that alongside naming the problems, he proposes simple, pragmatic steps that we can take alone, and together, to address what has become an epidemic.

Resources and Links:
Book: Together by Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy

Podcast: On Being Episode: To Be a Healer, Krista Tippet interviews Dr. Vivek Murthy

Article: NY Times — We Have Become a Lonely Nation. It’s Time to Fix That. 

Article: NY Times — How to Feel Less Lonely