Our Mission
Our mission is to help children grow as biblically and scientifically literate followers of Jesus so that they can know the joy and well-being of living faithfully and spiritually in a culture increasingly shaped by science.
Our Vision
We envision churches and homes where children are encouraged to:
- embrace scientific discovery as a revealing of God’s world;
- appreciate the Bible as the story of God’s relationship with us and a revealing of God’s Word and wisdom;
- know Jesus as the revealing of God’s love;
- engage the world around them with curiosity, humility, wisdom, compassion, grace, and love.
Our Challenge
Research shows that by the age of 11 many children worldwide already have an impression of conflict between science and religious faith. The eventual resolution to this cognitive dissonance can be the rejection of faith, or science, altogether. Therefore, our challenge is to debunk the misconception that modern science and biblical Christian faith are incompatible. To do so, we must present children with:
- an evolutionary understanding of God’s creation;
- the distinction that science tells us how, but the Bible tells us why;
- biblical knowledge that is grounded in sound theology and historical context;
- regular experiences with faith and science “side-by-side”;
- a well-informed faith that can stand the test of time and the advance of science and technology.
Our Strategy
We provide resources for use in the church and at home to explore the connections between God’s world and Word and to help children and families experience the harmony between science and biblical faith. All of our resources are developed on the following principles:
- telling the stories of Genesis in their ancient near East context to capture the timeless biblical truth as it was intended for its original audience;
- being grounded in sound theology so that what is learned won’t cause cognitive dissonance or require revision with each new advance in science or technology;
- incorporating hands-on, minds-on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) activities into each Bible lesson to facilitate a natural “side-by-side” experience of science and faith.
Statement of Faith
We trust in God, who is known in the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament of the Christian Bible and was revealed in the person of Jesus.
We see God continue to act in the world through prayer, compassion, forgiveness, transformation, and redemption.
We affirm the historical Christian faith as proclaimed by many centuries of Jesus-followers before us, as, for example, in the Nicene and Apostles’ Creeds.
We respect the Bible as a Holy, sacred text, God-breathed and human-written, providing reliable guidance for our lives.
We read both books given by God to humanity: the book of God’s Words (the Bible) and the book of God’s Works (the natural world).
We recognize that science is an important human endeavor and that its methods are reliable for describing God’s world. We find that an evolutionary understanding of God’s creation is deeply faithful and biblically consistent.
We respect persons of all faiths and no faith and honor the common journey of all humankind, especially the search for transcendence, meaning, and purpose. We see all persons as beloved children of God. We welcome all to this site.
Our Founder
Jennifer Secki Shields brings her passion for science, appreciation of the natural world, and love for God to bear on the launch and work of Discovery & Faith. Jennifer studied undergraduate biology at Case Western Reserve University before pursing doctoral study in ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Virginia. While at the University of Virginia, Jennifer was an award-winning graduate teaching assistant and a teaching consultant for the Teaching Resource Center. She conducted research on terrestrial salamanders and participated in a variety of science education outreach efforts. Already a Christian when she entered graduate school, she regularly found herself being asked “God-and-science” questions.
Sensing a call to professional church ministry, in 2000 Jennifer became the Director of Christian Education for a local United Methodist church. During nearly 16 years in that role, she helped shepherd the church from aging decline to vibrancy and new life, growing its children and youth ministries in the process. Jennifer has experienced firsthand the fruits of bringing the faith-and-science dialogue into Christian worship and discipleship for spiritual learners of all ages. She has facilitated faith-and-science discussions, classes, and training events for other local churches, district- and conference-wide events, and the Presbyterian Association on Science, Technology, & the Christian Faith and has participated in “Q&A” with visitors to the Hall of Human Origins at the National Museum of Natural History.
Discovery & Faith was conceived and born of her 16 years in church ministry. Learn more about Our Story.
Board of Directors
Discovery & Faith is an initiative of WesleyNexus, Inc., a 501(c)(3) promoting dialogue on science and religion within the Wesleyan tradition. You can learn more about them at http://www.wesnex.org
