About *cino

*culture is not optional was founded by a group of friends from Dordt College who wanted to sustain, beyond the college years, the atmosphere of dynamic, communal Christian inquiry that they had enjoyed on campus. At a Pennsylvania campsite in August of 2000, several recently graduated students admitted that leaving college left them adrift and longing for more supportive relationships with other like-minded believers in those ongoing formative years. For Rob and Kirstin Vander Giessen-Reitsma and Grant Elgersma, this camping trip attested to the importance of having an environment, outside of academic institutions, where Christians striving to be faithful servants in God's Kingdom could connect with other such believers.

At the encouragement of founding board members Jerry Vreeman, Bill Boerman-Cornell, Jason VandeBrake, and Grant Elgersma, Rob and Kirstin decided to commit themselves full-time to starting *culture is not optional, a non-profit organization dedicated to connecting and equipping Christians for practical service in God's Kingdom. The name, taken from Calvin Seerveld's book, Rainbows for the Fallen World, suggests that humans are invited partners in culture making on this earth, and that Christians should seek to orient their culture making toward God's Kingdom in all things. Through publishing, workshops and conferences, *cino seeks to imagine and identify what that cultivation might look like in specific areas of life, from vocation to food, from parenting to neighborhood building, from church to school.

Over the past eight years, *cino founders and friends have watched and worked with grateful delight as readers, writers, artists, and seekers of all kinds have become connected and inspired. Both within and beyond our efforts, the organization's work has been opening up to meet the needs and questions of people who are eagerly seeking vibrant, lived witness of Christ's love in the world. In the model of incarnational embodiment that runs through the Christian narrative, from creation to resurrection to communities of faith, *cino's board is currently pursuing the cultivation of a space that would serve as a living example of Kingdom community rooted in a particular time and place. *cino's history continues to be written in prayerful attentiveness to the guidance of the Spirit.

Board of Directors

• Jeff Bouman, Director of Service Learning at Calvin College
• Grant Elgersma, Musician and Professor of Philosophy at Trinity Christian College
• Gail Heffner, Director of Community Engagement at Calvin College
• Sylvia Keesmaat, Biblical Scholar and Gardener at Russet House Farm
• Tim Raakman, Pastor at Three Rivers Christian Reformed Church
• Hank Suhr, Sociology Faculty at Geneva College
• Kirstin Vander Giessen-Reitsma, Publications Director with *culture is not optional
• Rob Vander Giessen-Reitsma, Executive Director with *culture is not optional