The student-led Integration of Faith and Culture Programs Board (IFC) is one of Taylor Student Organization's cabinets. What we do is bring in concerts, show films, organize seminars and publish a bi-monthly journal about faith and the arts. But what we do is less important than what we're about - the "why" behind what we do.
IFC exists to provide opportunities and venues for dialogue about the intersection between faith and culture. We organize events in order to create a place for students to work toward a better understanding - aesthetically, culturally and spiritually - of how they interact when they listen to music, watch movies, attend concerts and read books. We want students to be encouraged and challenged by varying perspectives, and to be able to experience creative expression themselves.
Here at IFC we believe music, words, and images contain meaning that can tell us something about ourselves, our culture and our God. We embrace the good and unchanging character of God, and we realize that He has left indelible marks of Himself all over creation. We recognize beauty, truth and goodness, wherever it happens to be found - in a sanctuary, at a concert, in a homeless shelter, in salvation testimonies, at a poetry reading - as some of these marks. To that end, IFC hopes to contribute to the development of students who acknowledge the grace of a loving God who calls us, as bearers of His image, to create and to celebrate creation wholeheartedly.
IFC Concerts and Coffeehouses
Approximately five times each semester we book an artist or a band to perform for the student body.
Past performers include:
- Waterdeep
- Damien Jurado
- Rosie Thomas
- Pedro the Lion
- Denison Witmer
- Josh Garrels
IFC Film Series
About once a month we screen a film and invite an individual from inside or outside of our community to offer insight and perspective on that movie.
Past films shown include:
- Amelie
- Moulin Rouge
- Rebel Without A Cause
- About A Boy
- On The Waterfront
IFC Lecture Series
Around three times a semester we invite an author, artist, theologian or scholar to address a variety of topics under the faith and arts genre.
Past speakers include:
- Bill Romanowski, Calvin College communications professor and author of Eyes Wide Open
- Elizabeth Cox, fiction writer
- Robert K. Johnston, Fuller Seminary professor of theology and author of Reel Spirituality
- Scott Cairns, poet
- David Dobson, photographer