ICCTE Newsletter – Fall 2025

Dear friends at ICCTE,

Here in Canada, we have just had our Thanksgiving, while our friends in the USA still have theirs to look forward to in November! Looking forward to things brings joy, and “memory making” to revisit for years to come.

We at ICCTE, also have such an opportunity to look forward to in our 2026 conference at Point Loma University this coming May. I know Jenn Kritsch and her team are excited to host us! The conference focuses on Radical Hospitality, and I can assure you that Jenn and her team have fully met the theme!
Registration forms and information are now on our website, (https://www.iccte.org/event-details/iccte-conference) and having had a sneak pre-conference peek at all that is in store for you all, you will want not to miss it. I encourage you to register early, and to bring your wisdom to share with us all in May.

Recently, we have been blessed to be co-learners in a webinar provided by our colleague Michelle Hughes. If you have not been able to attend on the day, (like me!), you will be pleased to know it is now on our website. I encourage all of you to see this on the website, as it was such a blessing to have Michelle share her knowledge with us in this way. If any member has a passion for a subject as Michelle has, feel free to contact us for sharing. Who knows, we may be able to schedule frequent webinars on many topics in the future.

In anticipation of our next conference, I encourage you all to submit names from your institutions, along with pertinent CVS, for anyone you would consider to be a good applicant for the Harro Van Brummelen Scholarship at our next conference. Information for this award is on our website, and provides funds for this scholar to come to the conference.

I am looking forward to receiving your nominations by the end of this month, prior to our mid-November ICCTE meeting (date to be announced!)

Special Interest Groups become Special Project Groups

Going at least as far back as the ICCTE Conference at Azusa Pacific in 2012, the ICCTE Conference has featured Special Interest Groups. These groups have been a great opportunity to talk with ICCTE members who have the same research interests as you do (or as you think you might have). It is a good place to find a research partner or team or to connect with a future mentor or friend. Over the years, though, the groups have had mixed success. Some have produced books. Others have struggled to sustain interest during the off-years when we did not have a conference. One common lament is that the leaders of the groups often feel empowered to gather the group and to ask members if they are interested in working together on something, but not empowered to lead the group in a
particular direction.

In response to this, the ICCTE Board, after some discussion, has decided to put forth the idea of Special Project Groups for our upcoming conference at Point Loma. This means that if you have an idea for a project – whether that is an article, an edited volume, a co-written book, or something else, feel free to let the ICCTE Board know (feel free to contact bill.boerman-cornell@trnty.edu). We’ll work out a time for an informal gathering that will allow people to talk about the projects, and, if they are interested, join in the scholarship-building fun.

This also means that if you have an idea for a project, but are nervous about taking it on by yourself, you can find a co-author or co-leader and share the work. We look forward to seeing where this new development will go.

Please send responses to Bill (bill.boerman-cornell@trnty.edu) and to Christina (cbelcher@redeemer.ca).

In anticipation until we meet again, and with God’s blessing,
Christina Belcher, Emeritus Professor,
Redeemer University.
cbelcher@redeemer.ca
ICCTE President, 2024-2026