This talk was given at the 2019 Urban Education Leaders Retreat in Austin, TX convened by the Society for Classical Learning (societyforclassicallearning.org) and Spreading Hope Network (spreadinghopenetwork.org), and sponsored by the Association of Christian Schools International (acsi.org) and EdChoice (edchoice.org). To learn about future retreats, subscribe to the e-mail lists of spreadinghopenetwork.org or societyforclassicallearning.org.

Dr. Walter Strickland II serves as Assistant Professor of Systematic and Contextual Theology and Associate Vice President for Diversity at Southeastern Baptist Seminary. Born in Chicago and raised in Southern California, Walter’s passion is to equip people to flourish in their context from a deep commitment to God’s design. Dr. Strickland’s interests include contextual and systematic theology, African American religious history, multicultural studies, education theory, and theology of work. Along with being a diversity consultant, frequent conference speaker, and itinerant preacher, Walter contributes to Canon & Culture as an associate Research Fellow of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), Gospel Project, and the Biblica Recorder (the North Carolina Baptist state newspaper). Walter’s work has also appeared in Christianity Today, Baptist Press, World Magazine. His first book Every Waking Hour: An Introduction to Work and Vocation for Christians was released in March of 2016. Walter and his lovely wife Stephanie live in Wake Forest, NC. They have one daughter named Hope who is waiting to meet them in glory, and three children in the home: Kendra, Kaiya, and Walter III.