update; Affiliation of Christian Engineers

June 25, 2005

From: Joe Carson, P.E., President, Affiliation of Christian Engineers <
http://www.christianengineer.org>

To: Christian engineers, theologians, and others interested in a theology
of engineering

Subject: Update on the Affiliation of Christian Engineers (ACE)

I recently sent a letter (attached) to approximately 500 ministries,
companies, agencies, organizations, schools, individuals, and other groups
involved with the "faith at work" movement. About 400 are US based,
about 40 are in Canada, the remainder are all over the world.

I have been involved with the "faith at work" movement for the past five or
so years, I obtained their names and addresses from the 2003-2004 Faith &
Work Directory (which has about 1200 entries), compiled by several leading
"Faith at Work" organizations. The online version of this directory can
be found at < http://www.icwm.net/directory.asp>.

In the past three months I have: 1) taken out newspaper ads about ACE in
Knoxville, TN area; 2) contacted the regional offices of denominations
present in East Tennessee about ACE; 3) contacted the approximately 50
individuals who have contacted me via the ACE website in past 2 years; and
4) created an ACE blog. I have also engaged in a number of more targeted
outreach efforts.

I have spoken and/or communicated via email, at some length , with several
capable and committed Christian engineers and theologians (which has been
very uplifting for me!), but we are still somewhat short of dozen I hope to
enlist.

Please ask God to move in the hearts of those He has prepared to
participate in this work. John Wood and T.M. Moore, the Senior Pastor and
Director of Teaching Ministries, at my church, Cedar Springs Presbyterian
Church, < http://www.cspc.net> , are "on fire" to see a worldwide revival,
on a scale as never before, in their lifetimes. For most intents and
purposes, engineering as a profession is about 150 years old. In that
time it has grown to become mankind's largest and most global profession,
and there is no end in sight for its increasing importance to mankind's
individual and collective well-being, and stewardship of the natural
environment.

While I do not claim that a viable ACE will result in a worldwide revival,
given the importance of engineers and engineering to today's worldwide
civilization, I cannot see a worldwide revival that does not include the
engineering profession.

Your co-engineer in His creation,

Joe Carson, P.E.
President, Affiliation of Christian Engineers
<president@christianengineer.org>

*****************************************************
June 2005

Dear Co-worker in Christ,

I obtained the your name and address from the 2003-2004 International Fath
& Work Directory, a listing of individuals, companies, agencies,
organizations, groups, and networks dedicated to "Serving God in the
Workplace." This directory was compiled by the International Coalition of
Workplace Ministries, Scruples, the Avodah Institute, and Institute for
Marketplace Ministries.

I am Joe Carson, P.E. I am a deeply concerned Christian, called by God to
be an engineer, and planted in the nuclear industry. God so loved us that
in His created physical universe of 100 billion galaxies each with 100
billion stars, He made us his unique image bearers. He created us to join
Him in His creating work, to add to His glory. This purpose was marred,
but not eliminated, by the Fall - God's plan of salvation culminates with
our enjoying our created purpose of caring for and extending His creation
of a new earth, in direct fellowship with Him.

I believe we are called to both work and witness as disciples of Christ in
the present age and our work is more than verbal witness to others about
God's saving grace and practicing personal piety - we still have a creation
to tend and steward here on earth, marred and imperfect as it is, along
with its inhabitants and natural resources.

I am 51 and have been a member of the engineering profession for almost 30
years. I now have or have held numerous leadership positions in several
major engineering professional societies. As a result of responsibly
acting on my concerns as a nuclear safety engineer, to protect the health
and safety of others, I was nominated for the 2003 "Scientific Freedom and
Responsibility Award" of the American Association for the Advancement of
Sciences (AAAS). This is the most prestigious award of its kind in world,
AAAS has over 10 million members, if one includes the memberships of its
associated societies.

My concern and burden that I wish to share is that there is no collective
and intentional Christian influence on the engineering profession. There
never has been one, to my knowledge, even though engineering has, during
the past 150 years, become arguably mankind's largest and most global
profession, with 20 million degreed members around the world and vital
responsibilities for mankind's "built" environment as well as the natural
environment.

There is no Christian theology, of which I am aware, that directly
addresses the following contention: "Should Christians who are privileged
to have membership status in a recognized profession as engineering, as an
appropriate outworking of their faith, model and advocate, individually and
collectively, the trustworthy - ethical, competent, and accountable -
practice of their chosen profession?"

I co-founded and now head the Affiliation of Christian Engineers (ACE), the
only auxiliary engineering professional society for Christian engineers in
the world. However, absent a clear "yes" answer to the proposition
"Should Christian engineers collectively and intentionally influence their
profession to align it with God's purposes to advance His glory?" its
existence cannot be justified.

I am now trying to locate a small group (about a dozen) of Christian
engineers and theologians to diligently seek God's will for the engineering
profession and its Christian members. The product of the group's labors
will be a formal treatment, suitable for publication in a peer-reviewed
journal, concerning the existence and nature of a theology for engineers
and engineering.

I anticipate participants will spend about 80 hours of time and about $200
dollars during a 3-4 month period. Participants must be fluent in English,
have internet access, and an ability to place phone calls to USA.

If the group's treatment of the subject affirms the contention that God has
a plan for the engineering profession and desires the profession's
Christian members to collectively and intentionally influence it to advance
His will through it, then the Affiliation of Christian Engineers (ACE) can
be justified on a theological basis. If so, I anticipate it will have
500,000+ members by 2010 and a net revenue of 5-10 million dollars/year.

This revenue stream would be disbursed, via charitable giving, to
engineering related ministries, scholarships, development projects, around
the world, across denominational lines as well as to "faith@ work" related
ministries.

If ACE becomes viable, then the time/talents/money contributed by its
founding members can also be compensated, at an appropriate rate of
return. ACE is not a charity or ministry, it is a membership organization
comprised of dues-paying members, which hopes to become a major donor to
Christian charities and ministries with missions relevant to its.

Everyone knows at least a few engineers. My request is, if you think
appropriate, to pass information about this opportunity on to engineers or
theologians you know. Please feel free to call me with any questions or
observations you may have.

Thank you for your attention to this request.

Your co-engineer is His creation,

Joe Carson, P.E.
10953 Twin Harbour Drive
Knoxville, TN 37922
< www.christianengineer.org>
<president@christianengineer.org>
865-300-5831
Received on Tue Jun 28 18:32:50 2005