Evangelical Christian university professors and researchers have set up a new group to strengthen fellowship, support each other, learn together and bear witness to the Christian faith.

The Academic Group, as it has been called, is a new initiative of the Graduate Bible Groups (GBG, the area for professionals of Spain’s IFES movement, GBU).

A first gathering will be held on 14 and 15 March in the premises of an evangelical church in Madrid.

Christian professors, postdocs, researchers

The project is aimed at university professors, researchers, postdocs and doctoral students from all scientific fields.

“We have located around 50 professors and researchers from all scientific fields in our country who are interested in the creation of this professional group”, Maricruz Lacalle, one of the organisers of the meeting, told Spanish news website Protestante Digital.

Christian principles in an often “lonely” career

The 24-hour meeting - from Friday afternoon to Saturday afternoon - is an opportunity to “create a mutual support network that can be beneficial for everyone and for future doctoral students”, explains Lacalle. But it is also a space to “learn together and train each other on various issues that particularly concern us as academics”.

The programme includes workshops and plenary sessions, which will address the topics of “how to be principled in our academic career” and “how to provide adequate scientific, personal and spiritual support to our doctoral students”, as well as examining “the mission of the university and the university as a mission”.

Challenges in higher education contexts

The group was formed in response to the concerns of several people in the academic world. “This is a super-demanding career with a lot of pressures, in which it is not always easy to maintain integrity”, says Lacalle. It can also become a “very lonely career, as there are very few evangelical academics in the whole country”.

The group aligns itself with the objectives of GBU, which are “communion, formation and mission”.

The aim is “to learn together and to train each other to have a perspective on the profession, and on our area of knowledge, from a Christian worldview”. In other words, participants will be encouraged to “use the place where the Lord has put you to bear witness to Jesus, to his Kingdom and to justice in the university world”.

Other evangelical groups in professional contexts

In Spain, GBG has helped create other groups to connect and encourage evangelical Christians in several labour areas. Among them, are the Economy Business and Gospel group, the Evangelical Medical Union, the Evangelical Nurses group, the Evangelical Legal Forum, the Evangelical Psychologists Group, and the Evangelical Teachers Group.