Carstensen Project

Dr. Carstensen was an early user of multimedia material in his ministry. We are collecting his video recordings, audio recordings and other materials as well as doing technical restorations on all of the materials. The first of these preservation efforts using one of his videos from the 1980s is shown in the community. Once preserved and re-mastered, we are making Adaptive Streaming sets and adding them to this free community for viewing. We are launching this new special-interest community with the first of our preservation efforts and will be adding additional material regularly as we finish new items.

The first restored item is a 28-minute video titled "Bible Basics: An Overview."  (click name to view video)

The lives of countless Disciples in hundreds of congregations were touched by Dr. Roger Carstensen through his Bible teaching, his “Feasts of the Scriptures”, his Biblical Storytelling. Roger’s passing in 1996, left behind not only his loving wife, Maretta, and family, but also the Mission for Biblical Literacy. It was Roger’s vision and vocation to “Stamp out Biblical Illiteracy.”

With a renewal of that vision, Christian College (where Roger served as President)  and Transforming The Church are collaborating with the Mission for Biblical Literacy in gathering documents and media to share with the Church. We will preserve any and all media which we can recover, and such materials will be restored to start afresh the vision Roger left for us.

Through this new platform and the Internet, we may be able to do what Roger could only dream of doing, as the Internet was never part of his plan. Many will recall that in his last five years, Roger traveled world-wide – not only to the Middle East but also to Russia, Siberia, and Armenia. He forged partnerships to carry his vision in new ways to new places. At a time when many Christians were rushing in to “Christianize” Roger was stepping forward for dialogue. He was a "Disciples Missionary" in the classic sense of the word. He did not overlook the rich Christian history of lands opened by Perestroika; neither did he ignore the other traditions of faith which empowered people and cultures. Roger found, through open doors, opportunities for mutual hospitality, reconciliation, and shared education and Biblical teaching. And those many pilgrims who went to the Middle East with Roger will recall on-site storytelling which brought to life the Scriptures, the places, the people, and the Gospel.

Individuals and congregations with stories about Roger or with materials to contribute to this project may contact
Dr. Bob Harris at 770-815-9078
or the MBL Office at 706-850-3995.