Scientists and the Church
A set of events in partnership between
CSCA Vancouver, FNAS at TWU, and The Scriptorium at UBC
featuring the CSCA Past Presidents’ Lecture Tour and the ASA Winter Symposium
Saturday 28 January 2023
Full-Day Schedule
- 8-9:30 am Breakfast with local pastors, ministry leaders, TWU and
seminary faculty (optional) - 10-11:30 am ASA Winter Symposium (online), “watch party”: Scientists and
the Church - 12-1 pm Luncheon, including students (optional)
- 1-2:30 pm Robert Mann “To Infinity and Beyond: 50 years of exploring
Science and Faith” - 5:30-7 pm Dinner (optional)
- 7:30-9 pm Robert Mann “Time and Eternity”
8 AM: Pre-Event Meal at TWU
Breakfast with local pastors, ministry leaders, TWU and seminary faculty
Meals will include excellent opportunities to converse with local scientists, our guest speaker, and fellow attendees, with discussion questions at each table.
Register here ($10 | $5 for students | breakfast ticket sales end Jan 24 at 11:30 PM).
Registration is required for meals only, not for attending the public events
10 AM: Watch Party at TWU
Trinity Western University’s Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences and CSCA’s Vancouver chapter present a watch party of ASA’s 2023 Winter Symposium, featuring Walter Kim (President, National Association of Evangelicals) and Jessica Moerman (Vice President of Science and Policy, Evangelical Environmental Network).
Scientists and the Church
Genetic Engineering. Climate Change. Artificial Intelligence. Vaccines. Any one of these contemporary topics involves science and scientists. Many of these scientists are faithful members of our congregations. How do these church members experience discussions within their faith communities when nonscientists attempt to understand these issues from their faith perspective? And how can churches better engage Christians who are scientists in serving the church?
Walter Kim became the president of the National Association of Evangelicals in January 2020, after serving as a pastor for 15 years at Boston’s historic Park Street Church and four years at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, Virginia. He has spent nearly three decades preaching, writing, and engaging in collaborative leadership to connect the Bible to the significant intellectual, cultural, and social issues of the day. He serves on the boards of Christianity Today and World Relief. Kim received his PhD from Harvard University in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, his MDiv from Regent College in Vancouver, and his BA from Northwestern University, and he is a licensed minister in the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference.
Jessica Moerman is a climate and environmental scientist, pastor, educator, and advocate. She serves as Vice President of Science and Policy at the Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN). Jessica is also cofounding pastor of Grace Capital City church, which she planted in 2016 with her husband Chris in Washington, DC. Prior to joining EEN, Jessica was a AAAS Science and Technology Fellow at the U.S. Department of Energy. She received her PhD in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences from Georgia Institute of Technology and has held research positions at Johns Hopkins University, the University of Michigan, and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, where she researched how climate has changed throughout Earth’s history. She regularly speaks on issues related to climate change, pollution, children’s health, the clean energy transition, environmental stewardship, and the intersection of science and faith. She has appeared on national media outlets, including the NBC TODAY Show, Good Morning America, and the Christian Broadcasting Network.
12 PM: Pre-Event Meal at TWU
Luncheon, including students
Meals will include excellent opportunities to converse with local scientists, our guest speaker, and fellow attendees, with discussion questions at each table.
Register here ($10 | $5 for students | luncheon ticket sales end Jan 24 at 11:30 PM).
Registration is required for meals only, not for attending the public events
1 PM: CSCA National Lecture Tour at TWU
Trinity Western University’s Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences and CSCA’s Vancouver chapter present a lecture with Robert Mann (University of Waterloo and Perimeter Institute), former president of both CSCA and the Canadian Association of Physicists. This event is funded by a Supporting Structures grant from Scholarship & Christianity In Oxford) and CSCA.
To Infinity and Beyond: 50 years of exploring Science and Faith
My career in physics began with the origination of what is now called the Standard Model. 50 years later, we have reached a point in history where our established theories of physics have been fully confirmed by experiment, with no outstanding contradictions. Yet there are a number of paradoxical features connected with our present-day theory that have no apparent resolution. How did we arrive at this juncture in fundamental physics? What does it mean to push beyond it? And by peering beyond, can we obtain glimpses of a transcendent reality — one perhaps visible with the eyes of faith?
Robert B. Mann has a B.Sc. in physics from McMaster University and an M.Sc. and Ph.D from the University of Toronto, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University.
Currently a Professor of Physics at the University of Waterloo, he has been a visiting professor at Harvard University, Cambridge University, the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, MacQuarie University, the Universite de Francois Robillard at Tours, the University of Queensland, Adolfo Ibanez University, and Pontifica Universidad Catholica de Valparaiso.
Author of over 450 papers with more than 20,000 citations (Google Scholar) thus far in his career, he has received several awards, including a Fulbright Fellowship, two Teaching Excellence awards from the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance and from the University of Waterloo, a Graduate Supervision Excellence Award, and Outstanding Referee Awards from the American Physical Society and the European Physical Society (twice). He was to be the recipient of the 2019 Medal of Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching from the Canadian Association of Physicists, and last year was awarded the University of Waterloo’s highest honour, the “University Professor” distinction.
He has given over 100 invited conference presentations, over 150 invited seminars and colloquia, and over 40 invited community talks in his career.
He was chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Waterloo from 2001-2008 and is an Affiliate Member of the Perimeter Institute and the Institute for Quantum Computing. He is a past-President of the Canadian Association of Physicists and of the Canadian Scientific & Christian Affiliation (1996-2005), a former chair of the Board of Directors of the CAP Foundation, and has served on over thirty university committees and has as well been a member on three Canadian (chairing one) and two American grant selection committees. His research interests are in black holes, cosmology, particle physics, quantum foundations, and quantum information. He is married to a retired Mennonite pastor, and they have one married daughter and son-in-law. He likes movies, travel, cycling, hiking, music, photography, and acting, and has been active in churches his entire life, primarily in volunteer Christian education.
5:30 PM: Pre-Event Meal at UBC
Dinner
Meals will include excellent opportunities to converse with local scientists, our guest speaker, and fellow attendees, with discussion questions at each table.
Register here ($10 | $5 for students | dinner ticket sales end Jan 27 at noon).
Registration is required for meals only, not for attending the public events
7:30 PM: CSCA National Lecture Tour at UBC
The Scriptorium and CSCA’s Vancouver present chapter a lecture with Robert Mann (University of Waterloo and Perimeter Institute), former president of both CSCA and the Canadian Association of Physicists.
Time and Eternity
God has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. (Ecclesiastes 3:11, NIV)
The concept of time is foundational in both science and faith. We use it to measure change and to reflect upon our own existence. But what is time? And what is eternity? I will present our modern understanding of time — its origin, direction, measurement, perspectives and destiny — from a scientific viewpoint, raising several questions for theological reflection and scientific inquiry. Topics in cosmology, quantum physics, and relativity will be explored to highlight both the advancements and limitations in our knowledge of time.
Robert B. Mann has a B.Sc. in physics from McMaster University and an M.Sc. and Ph.D from the University of Toronto, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University.
Currently a Professor of Physics at the University of Waterloo, he has been a visiting professor at Harvard University, Cambridge University, the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, MacQuarie University, the Universite de Francois Robillard at Tours, the University of Queensland, Adolfo Ibanez University, and Pontifica Universidad Catholica de Valparaiso.
Author of over 450 papers with more than 20,000 citations (Google Scholar) thus far in his career, he has received several awards, including a Fulbright Fellowship, two Teaching Excellence awards from the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance and from the University of Waterloo, a Graduate Supervision Excellence Award, and Outstanding Referee Awards from the American Physical Society and the European Physical Society (twice). He was to be the recipient of the 2019 Medal of Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching from the Canadian Association of Physicists, and last year was awarded the University of Waterloo’s highest honour, the “University Professor” distinction.
He has given over 100 invited conference presentations, over 150 invited seminars and colloquia, and over 40 invited community talks in his career.
He was chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Waterloo from 2001-2008 and is an Affiliate Member of the Perimeter Institute and the Institute for Quantum Computing. He is a past-President of the Canadian Association of Physicists and of the Canadian Scientific & Christian Affiliation (1996-2005), a former chair of the Board of Directors of the CAP Foundation, and has served on over thirty university committees and has as well been a member on three Canadian (chairing one) and two American grant selection committees. His research interests are in black holes, cosmology, particle physics, quantum foundations, and quantum information. He is married to a retired Mennonite pastor, and they have one married daughter and son-in-law. He likes movies, travel, cycling, hiking, music, photography, and acting, and has been active in churches his entire life, primarily in volunteer Christian education.