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About the Institute

The Paul B. Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics was created in 1997 to continue the work of integrating Christian faith and politics advanced by its namesake, educator and public servant Paul B. Henry.

The Institute is dedicated to providing resources for scholarship, encouraging citizen involvement and education, structuring opportunities to disseminate scholarly work, seeking avenues to communicate and promote information about Christianity and public life to the broader public, and motivating and training future scholars and leaders.

Who was Paul B. Henry?

The Paul B. Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics was created in 1997 to continue the work of integrating Christian faith and politics advanced by its namesake, educator and public servant Paul B. Henry.

Paul Henry was a leader of Christian vision and action. After earning his undergraduate degree at Wheaton College and his Ph.D. at Duke University, Henry taught political science at Calvin College from 1970 to 1978.

While at Calvin, Henry served as a member of the Michigan Board of Education. Leaving Calvin in 1978 to pursue public office full-time, Henry was elected to the Michigan State House and, later, to the State Senate. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November 1984, where he served until his untimely death in 1993, at the age of 51, of brain cancer.

Henry was known as a person of conviction, credibility and courage. His book, Politics for Evangelicals, provides a blueprint for his own involvement in public service. His academic and political careers were characterized by a constant search for justice, providing powerful evidence that politicians can be principled and effective.

Serving the Claims of Justice: the Thoughts of Paul B. Henry celebrates the life and work of Paul Henry in the words of people who knew him well. To obtain copies of the book, contact the Henry Institute at henry@calvin.edu.

Publications

 

More about the institute

The mission of the Henry Institute is to promote serious reflection on the interplay between Christianity and public life.

That means several things:

We have big horizons.  After all, the tremendous impacts of Christianity in public life extend from the local to the global.  At the Henry Institute, we are just as interested in why local churches mobilize citizens, how religious faith influences regional and national elections, and what it takes for believers to intervene in international affairs, among myriad other topics.  What’s more, we want to understand the role of faith in public life across time, from the earliest efforts of ancient peoples to organize their laws and institutions to present-day tensions between religion and the modern state.

We seek out the very best scholarship and public thinking.  To say that we promote serious reflection means we step back from a lot of day-to-day political chatter and bring excellent scholars and other public thinkers into public conversation.

We wish to engage citizens, scholars, and the church.  The Institute is uniquely positioned at a Christian liberal arts college with a supportive community that is both deep and increasingly wide.  We work within and for that community, but also alongside a host of other stakeholders, including a large network of fellow researchers all around the world.  We are particularly dedicated to shaping a new generation of scholars and public servants who understand their work as a Christian calling.

We are inspired in what we do by the life and legacy of Paul B. Henry, a teacher, public administrator, and elected legislator who was a model of humble, thoughtful, and faithful service.

We have a lot happening at the Henry Institute. Here's a taste:

Promoting scholarship

  • Development of key scholarly networks, especially through the international Henry Symposium, periodic workshops and seminars, and recruitment of Senior Research Fellows
  • Initiation of major research projects on religion and public life
  • Generating original data, including national surveys of religion and public life
  • Publication of numerous books, articles, and reviews

Fostering high-impact student learning

  • Facilitating high-impact undergraduate research experiences, including more than fifty grants since 1998 through the Henry Student Fellows and McGregor Fellows programs. Many students have used their research experience in graduate or professional study at elite institutions (e.g., Stanford, Harvard, Notre Dame)
  • Supporting the Henry Semester in Washington DC, which has included 250 students since 2000 in a high-impact opportunity for student professional development
  • Spearheading various workshops, reading groups, and panels, most notably the Visualizing Public Life workshop and competition, which exposed students to cutting edge tools for presenting and assessing complex information

Engaging the church and broader community

  • Sponsorship of public lectures, roundtables, or panel discussions – over a hundred since 2003 - including the highly regarded Henry Lecture and Pruis Rule of Law Lecture on an annual basis
  • Providing frameworks for understanding key political and policy issues from a Christian point of view
  • Presentations at churches and civic groups, writing op-eds, and making media appearances by the Institute Director and Senior Research Fellows

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