History, background and aims of the ICP
The ministry of International Christian Professors (ICP) is an initiative of the Brazilian lawyer Gilberto Ribeiro, President of the Institute of Institute of Christian Jurists of Brazil (IJCB), who has dedicated decades to expanding relationships, fostering networking and engaging relevant Christian leaders in projects of general interest to society.
Two decades ago, while participating in an Advocates International Africa’s conference in Cape Town – South Africa, he met one of the speakers, Dr Darrell Furgason, founder of the Worldview Studies Center in Canada. From that first contact with Dr. Furgason, a lasting friendship emerged, along with the desire to make a visit to Brazil possible to conduct leadership training.
Given the difficulty of resources, logistics, and sufficient means to put the project into practice, in 2023 he decided to invite him to conduct an online seminar aimed at Christian professionals in the legal field. Upon learning about the subject, Dr Furgason immediately embraced the idea and suggested that Ribeiro also invite Dr William Wagner, law professor and founder of the Wagner Center for Faith and Freedom at Spring Arbor University.
There was only a small audience for the online event, however, so Ribeiro suggested to professors Furgason and Wagner that an in-person seminar be held instead. It would be aimed at judges, lawyers and other Christians practicing law. To make the project more interesting and to motivate Brazilian leaders, Ribeiro suggested that the seminar be held abroad, and Professor Wagner immediately suggested the facilities of Spring Arbor University would be available.
Spring Arbor University
The event was scheduled for the first week of November 2024, allowing for a good number of participants to attend. However, once again there were not enough registrations and the project was temporarily delayed. Undeterred, Ribeiro continued working on finding other formats and decided to organize the International Christian Professors (ICP) group on WhatsApp. He began inviting professors from his network to participate.
Subsequently, in addition to Professors Furgason and Wagner, he selected others and invited them to present lectures on topics related to their respective specializations, with the Biblical worldview as a backdrop. Throughout 2025, highly qualified men and women from different nations around the globe presented a wide variety of topics, and participants were able to comment and debate freely. It was a highly successful and edifying experience, attesting to the relevance and importance of the initiative.
Invitation to the first ICP Forum …. June 2-5, 2026
Considering the commitment and importance of these professors to the education of this – and future – generations, Ribeiro, Furgason, and Wagner intend now to challenge them to become founding members of a permanent forum of Christian thinkers, which will aim to promote debate, share experiences among professors, promote research, and produce scientific articles and quality academic literature, based on the non-negotiable values and perspective of the Biblical worldview.
T0 begin the work towards the establishment of a permanent forum, the ICP has invited some of these professors to present a lecture at our inaugural global forum for Christian professors entitled “Toward a Comprehensive Biblical Worldview” which will take place June 2-5, 2026 at Spring Arbor University, the gracious host of this forum. Our goal is to invite up to 10 speakers for the 4-day forum.
We requested that they each present a lecture on a topic in their area of interest and/or specialization, based on a Biblical perspective. We encouraged them to invite their colleagues to attend also. The thematic categories we intend to explore include: Education, Family, Economics, Politics and Government, Philosophy, Justice and Law, Sociology, History, Psychology, and Theology.
As this will be our first forum, we do not yet have the financial resources to cover any of the costs of the participants or speakers. Each one will be responsible for covering their own expenses (airfare, accommodation, and meals etc.). In order to help cover some local logistical, administrative, and transportation costs, however, we are asking each participant to contribute a fee. The proposed fee will be… $150US (or $195CAN)
(Payment of the fee can be made on the “make a donation/payment” page. Click the link on the menu bar.
In closing, we are certain that this forum represents an extraordinary opportunity for learning, networking, mentoring each other, and above all, developing a more comprehensive Biblical worldview of global events and developments. Please, make every effort to join us June 2-5, 2026!
Sincerely,
Organizing Committee
Ms. Gilberto Ribeiro
Dr Darrell Furgason
Dr Willian Wagner
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