Trusting Institutions: Rediscovering the Power of Christianity’s Surprise

Ready to watch? Press the play button.

L. Gregory Jones

presenter information »

L. Gregory Jones is the newly appointed president of Belmont University in Nashville. He previously served as dean of Duke Divinity School and has served in a variety of roles (including vice president and vice provost for global strategy and programs) at Duke University and as provost and executive vice president of Baylor University. Jones also served in strategic advisory roles with several foundations. He is the author or editor of 19 books and has written more than 200 essays and articles. He is known for books on forgiveness, Christian leadership, and social innovation. His most recent book is the co-authored Navigating the Future: Traditioned Innovation for Wilder Seas. Jones is known as a leader and strategist whose creative engagement has helped institutions across the world create transformational resource models. His global imagination has guided business, education, and religious leaders in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. He is passionate about reshaping cultures within and across organizations and coined the term 'traditioned innovation' to capture how he reframes complex challenges to seize significant opportunities. He is known for an entrepreneurial mindset as well as emphases on character and purpose in higher education. Jones serves on the boards of the John Templeton Foundation, the McDonald Agape Foundation, and the India Collective. He is an ordained United Methodist pastor.

Publication(s) for this event

Navigating the Future: Traditioned Innovation for Wilder Seas

Navigating the Future: Traditioned Innovation for Wilder Seas
by L. Gregory Jones
Abingdon Press (January 5, 2021)
Purchase this publication



Have a question for today’s speaker?

  • Questions may be sent between 12:30-1:30 p.m. EST.
  • Email them to askjseries@calvin.edu
  • Tweet them to us with #askjseries.

Thoughts on today's presentation?

Please also take a moment to fill out a short survey to let us know your thoughts.

We are grateful to Howard Miller Company and the de Vries Institute for Global Faculty Development for underwriting this presentation.

Make a donation to January Series.

About Us

Our Mission

The January Series cultivates deep thought and conversations about important issues of the day in order to inspire cultural renewal and make us better global citizens in God's world.

Background

For over 30 years, the January Series of Calvin University has been one of the leading lecture/cultural arts series in the country. The series has been a three-time recipient of the Silver Bowl Award as the “Best Campus Lecture Series in the U.S.A.” by the International Platform Society. The diversity of presenters and topics has changed as the world of ideas has changed.

The foundation for excellence both in the classroom at Calvin University and at the January Series is the philosophy that an outstanding liberal arts education teaches students how to think, not what to think. We want our students to look at current ideas critically in light of history and creatively with an eye to the future. We support freedom of speech and expression; we encourage faculty, students and the community to listen to viewpoints that differ from their own. Bringing excellent speakers on a wide variety of topics to campus is one very valuable factor of education at Calvin.

Calvin University is a Christian academic community dedicated to rigorous intellectual inquiry. Located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Calvin has an enrollment of 3,800 curious and inquisitive students. The dynamic liberal arts university has been named a “Best College” by U.S. News & World Report, Forbes, The Fisk Guide, The Princeton Review and Washington Monthly. A Calvin education, marked by scholarly engagement with enduring questions and emerging concerns, prepares students to answer God’s call to live and serve in God’s world as agents of renewal.