MTP 44: Steven Hall, Part 1, NCSU – Integrating Faith into Academic Life with Boldness and Grace

In this episode of Meet The Prof, host Shane Hartley interviews Dr. Steven Hall, Professor and Director of the Marine Aquaculture Research Center at North Carolina State University. Dr. Hall shares his journey from a nominal Christian upbringing to a profound faith transformation during graduate school. He discusses the challenges and rewards of integrating faith into his academic career, the importance of saying "yes" to God's opportunities, and the impact of building meaningful relationships with students. Dr. Hall also provides insights into balancing professional responsibilities with personal faith and family life.

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Email: shall5@ncsu.edu

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Transcript

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I'm David Hidalgo. I'm a student here, accounting student here at UNCW. And a question I got for my Christian professors is do you guys feel a little nervous to bring up your spiritual beliefs, your Christianity to your classmates or to your students? Hey everybody and welcome to Meet the Prof. My name is Shane. I'm so glad you are with us now. This is a podcast where we are seeking to encourage Christ-centered conversations on the college campus. We take questions that we get from college students and we ask them to Christian professors in an interview format. the interview we have today is with Steve Hall and Steve is at the North Carolina State University. I think you're really gonna enjoy the progress you see God working in his life from early on through grad school and then as a professor, especially some of the steps of faith that he has been taking and trusting God for. And if you are a Christian faculty member or a staff member or a grad student, we want to invite you to a conference called A Common Call. It's happening February the 7th and 8th of 2025, and it's going to be in Raleigh, North Carolina. And you can find out more looking at the links we'll have here in the description of this podcast. There's a website you can look at and even register from there. And if it doesn't work for you this time, we actually have these conferences across the country. So you can go to facultycommons.com and see where there are other locations for A Common Call. And I really hope you can join us for that. So without any further ado, here is our interview with Steve Hall. So Steve, this is a treat to get to interview you now. I don't know if you remember the exact date of this, but the first time I ever remember meeting you was at a conference called A Common Call. It was at Clemson University, and it was a conference focused on encouraging and equipping Christian professors. to walk with Jesus on campus, have a ministry to students and other faculty. And I don't know if you remember this, but the first time I met you was in the hall right after that conference. We hadn't left the building yet and you were excited about bringing that conference back home to you in North Carolina where you are at NC State. And I know that you have done that. So I was wondering if, especially for faculty who are listening, if we could start off with. you just sharing some of why you do this conference and when it's coming up next, how they can find out more about thanks, Shane. Yeah, I remember that. And that was exciting. We had traveled down and several hours in the car to get to that conference and it was really encouraging. And it's just about all the, you know, faculty from several different schools trying to understand how we can join God and what he's doing on campus. And some of it was, you know, pretty spiritual. Some of it was real practical, good. I remember there was some legal advice about what you can say in the classroom, but I just really enjoyed that and was like, we got to do this. So we have done this since then. We're doing it again in Raleigh on February 7th and 8th, 2025. I'm going to be at a local church here. It is open to all faculty, so you don't have to be at a particular school. You can be at the community college, you can be at more of the teaching colleges, land grant, big research, private is fine. Everyone's welcome. And there's going to be some great speakers. We've got faculty from University of Georgia that's coming in. We've got a more theological person that's going to, I think, really probably share. And here's what happens. I always underestimate what God's going to do. and he always does more than I can ask or imagine. And, you know, so I think I don't know what's going to happen, but I have a feeling it's going to be good. So if you get a chance to come, it's open to all. It'll be a chance to meet some other faculty, maybe from your institution, but maybe from a neighboring institution. People will come from all over the state and probably all over the region. We'll have people from multiple locations that'll be here. And it'll just be a place where you can pick people's brains. What are you doing at your place? we're doing this thing. What worked? Well, we tried this, that didn't work so good, but now we're doing this and that's doing a little better. What is happening with your boss? know, how do I navigate this with the administration? So, and then what's God doing? Just a reminder that, you know, it's not me, it's not you. I mean, I'm thankful we joined him and I think he's pleased that we joined him, but he's doing things. and it is so exciting to join him. So I encourage people to come and look forward to seeing you there and look forward to seeing whoever the Lord sends. I will put the link to find out more about this in the show notes in the description of this podcast, whichever app Is the conference also going to be streamed? I don't know if there's a streaming option, so I think you can go to "A Common Call" and look up the Raleigh option, or you can go to CFSN, Christian Faculty Staff Network, CFSN-NCSU, and look up some of the details. There's a link at each of those places. Yeah. Sounds great. Well, I'd like to start with hearing more about your personal life and your personal spiritual journey. So what was it like for you growing up? Did you grow up in a Christian home or non-Christian home? And specifically, what was like a turning point, you'd say, for when you came to faith in Christ? Yeah, I grew up in a, I'll call it a nominal Christian home. I knew about Jesus, but I really didn't connect with Jesus. I did not have a real relationship with Jesus. And that led to me really wandering away from God in college. It wasn't until grad school in California, so God can work wherever he wants. I see this big sign E-N-G. Underneath it I gotta get closer. Engineers Need God. Call Pete for a Bible study. So I immediately went to the lab called Pete. Tell me about this Bible study. I'll pick you up Tuesday at 630. Pete was another grad student and he hosted a Bible study at his house. They obviously were really in love with Jesus. The people there would pray for things. He was married. They had, I think, two kids at the time; in grad school. He's making $10,000 a year. And somehow the Lord provided. And well, one week, we need to pray for a new couch. Okay, pray for a new couch because we don't have any money to buy one. And so the next week there was a new couch. Now it was a new used couch, but it was newer and it didn't collapse quite as much. Wow, what happened? Well, the guys upstairs were moving out and they were bringing this couch down the stairs. We said, hey, you taking that with you? No, no, we're going to throw it out. Do you want it? Yeah. And by the way, could you carry our old couch out to the trash? yeah, no problem. So the upstairs neighbors provided them. God provided them with this new couch. And then that led to me wanting to know more about Jesus and eventually living. I've given my life to Jesus and it's just changed my perspective and you know, Amen. Yeah, yeah, in the middle of grad school in California. yeah. California. I love California. There are many Christian faculty in California we've begun connecting with and we interviewed Laurie Kubicek, so we look forward to meeting some of her colleagues even and interviewing them too. Well, so what about as you have grown as a Christian, What was any turning points that were maybe a big step of faith God called you to or a time of real growth spiritually? How did he work in your life? Yeah, so I lived a single life for a long time and at some point, especially when I got going to church regularly and talking to other Christians, well, some of them were married and had kids and I'm old enough to do that, but the Lord didn't open that door and that was frustrating for a while. And finally I met some Christians who were single and they seemed really happy and got to know them and They looked at it, and mean, perhaps Paul in the New Testament would be an example of someone that does not seem to have been married, and yet he had the opportunity to travel, write letters, encourage people, bring people to the Lord. And so these people kind of had that attitude, and I was like, that's kind of cool. So I started, and that really changed my heart. I mean, that was, it's not that I didn't believe in Jesus, but Jesus can walk with you in whatever stage you're in, wherever you're at, whatever your situation is, Jesus can be with you and he can use you. So I started basically saying yes. So that led to a trip to South Africa and Lesotho where I got to see some very different living conditions. I had an opportunity to... Take a little time and teach a summer course at a Christian environmental study center and Okay. Yes, I'll do that. So I started saying yes to these crazy things. Well, I go off to this summer Institute and There were some students there and there were some staff and one of the staff is interesting So I I pulled in this place. It's in the woods. This is called the Osaba Institute still there And it's kind of a unique place, Christian studies of the environment. And I was teaching a thing called ecological agriculture. Can we do agriculture a little more in a way to care for God's creation and still provide food for people? as I pull in, I'm looking around and I'm like, where do I go? I mean, it's the woods. I'm looking for a building. And this long haired guy comes out of the woods and he says, are you a student? And then, This is my first kind of teaching gig and I'm like, ah, I'm thinking about it. I had my PhD, but I wasn't thinking to myself as a professor. And are you a professor? And I'm like, yes. And he said, oh, let me carry that for you. Where do you need to go? Earth hall, okay. So we start walking towards earth hall and we're walking through the woods and we see these two young women go by. And he said, you see those two women, that's Becky and that's Missy. If you need anything, they can help you out. know, they're staff and they know what they're doing here. All right, thanks. Well, he married Missy and I married Becky. So it's, that was quite the story there that the Lord provided. know, ironically, when I was, you know, a little more satisfied, you know, content in where the Lord has put me. And it probably changed my outlook, my appearance and at some point my students said, what is it with you and Becky? We think there's something there. I mean, it's funny. So these 19 year olds put me up to like basically asking to talk to her and, and it was a five week slot. So it's pretty short period of time to have a heavy conversation. But finally I said, you know, hey, could we talk? Could we take a walk and talk some? Yeah, yeah, that's fine. So we took a walk and, and even that one, you know, the, the devil was kind of fighting with us. we said, well, we'll, we'll meet in the middle. They lived in a location about a quarter mile away and said, okay, we'll come early in the morning. Well, both of us went looking for the other person. And no, I didn't see her. She didn't see me. Well, okay. Guess that. Okay, God, maybe it's not supposed to happen. You know, and we went to breakfast and then I see her and I'm like, you know, I'm like, huh? And I really felt like I got to say hi to her, you know, and I'm like, where were you? And she's like, well, where were you? What? Well, I was looking for you. Well, I was looking for you. What? Wait, which way did you go? I went down by the beach. I went up on the road. Okay. Do you still want to, can we try tomorrow morning? So, okay, you know, all right. The next morning, okay, we're both going to go on the road. Okay. We'll meet on the road. Okay. Yeah, let's meet on the road. Then we talk. And really, I mean, it wasn't the point to say, will you marry me? But just can we, does it make sense to keep in touch? Is this potentially going somewhere serious? The answer was yes. And, you know, To make a long story very short, know, eventually, uh, the Lord brought us back together with after some very interesting long distance, um, Michigan to Montreal, Montreal to Iowa, Iowa to Louisiana, Louisiana to Costa Rica. This is each of us moving different places. And then finally she flew back in Houston. I picked her up on a Saturday and married her on a Sunday. Um, yeah. Crazy, I mean, you know, we had we had had counseling and we had been a year and a half yeah. Yeah but y'all traveled right up until the wedding date. And now how many kids do you have? Are y'all up to 50 now? Seven kids. you know, one just graduated from UNC Wilmington, praise the Lord. And two at NC State and then four more at home. we're going through what all parents go through, you know, some amazing blessings and some challenges. We pray a lot. Maybe we're little desperate in our prayers sometimes, but, and the Lord has provided. I mean, we're very thankful. I think our kids, some of them I really believe are walking with the Lord. Some of them I think are still on their journey and they have to eventually come to where they believe for themselves. But it's been good walk. think one observation of having kids that reminds us about ourselves, I mean before I had kids, and I lived a long time before I had kids, a lot of the stuff in the Bible didn't make much sense to me. stuff about our father. Yeah, that's nice. I guess he's our dad. And now that I am the father and how much a father or mother loves their children. And then the other thing is, you know, can I do it? You know, he's God, you know, but we sometimes think I need to do this or God can't do it. But at the same time, so one time I was unloading a load of two by fours. One of my small children, probably three or four at the time, came up and said, Daddy, do you need some help? Do you need, well does God need our help? Yeah, yeah, sure. Why don't you take that end of the board and I'll take this end. So I took the middle and they took the end and they helped me and they came along. But I was tickled. It was so wonderful. I think God sees us a little bit like that. He doesn't need us to do any particular thing. He can do what he needs. And even when we refuse to do what he clearly says, he can still do what he needs to do. But he is pleased. He is really pleased when we say, God, how can I join you in what you're doing? And he allows us that satisfaction. And I think, I mean, that child was very proud of him or herself. that I helped daddy. We came back in and told mom, I helped daddy unload the truck. that's nice. And she looks at me like, kind of help was that? But I think God sees us a lot like that. And there's been a lot of lessons like that. So, yeah. picture. Yeah. Have you seen this at all with maybe your grad students or younger faculty that hear them in the past not having much of an interest in God or spiritual things, and then they get married and they have kids, specifically they begin having kids and they think, What example do I want to leave for them? And it actually then opens them up more spiritually. Hey, maybe I want to investigate church now. Have you seen that at all? I've heard a couple say that to me this last year. Yes. And I think, you know, I will just say, we intersect with people at a certain point in their life and we have that opportunity to teach them and say, hopefully some encouraging or some wise things on occasion or just to walk with them maybe through something. And then we oftentimes re-encounter them at a later stage and they're they're at another place. yes, sometimes grad students in particular might be having kids while they're in college. And that's its own interesting adventure. And I have certainly had a chance to provide some counseling and encouragement there. But also people, three, four, five years later, may come back and say, hey, I got married, I got a kid, can we meet up?...catch some coffee? and yeah the observations that they have the questions that they have you know how do I you know and what do we want what's our deepest desire for our own children do I do I want them to make a million dollars I mean no I don't I mean if that if that's what happens okay but I want them to manage their life in a way that is satisfying and joyful And, you know, fundamental aspect of that is understanding what's most fundamental in life, you know, which in my mind is, you know, belief in God as a higher power. I'm not in charge of everything, you know. I still have my place to walk and my work to do and that's fine. But it is definitely a pleasure intersecting with people at different stages. I also asked myself early on in my career, do I want to invest in students? Because I think it can be emotionally taxing to invest in students because you're going to lose them. I mean, they're going to go away. So if you've met with them and talked with them and gotten to know them, or they become a little bit of a friend and future colleague, and now they go away. sometimes there are some tears. But the alternative is to say, I'll just be this distant professor who just kind of stands up in the front and doesn't connect. And so I choose to connect, you know, and sometimes that's sad at some point, but some of it's also really joyful. And I think I just have felt called to do that. You know, I think, and you think about Jesus came for us, you know, his sacrifice far more than anything I can ever do. But just to walk with. people is a real blessing. Thanks. Thanks for sharing that. You know, one of the things that we're praying for to be a result of this podcast is that there will be more Christ-centered conversations between professors and students as a result. it actually seems sort of rare for there to be any really significant conversation between professors and students of deeper things, personal, emotional kind of issues. So one thing, Spence and I've been doing, we've been asking students, what would you like to present, what question would you like to ask a Christian professor? And so this next question that we received is from a student named David. So take a listen to this question. I'm David Hidalgo. I'm a student here, accounting student here at UNCW. And a question I got for my Christian professors is do you guys feel a little nervous to bring up your spiritual beliefs, your Christianity to your classmates or to your students? First of all, thank you for David for asking the question. Thank you, Shane, for getting out there and seeing what the students are interested in. I would say, first of all, yes. And I recall the first time I was challenged by a colleague who said, do you share Christ in your class? And I'm like, no, not really. And he said, I always put it first day of class and last day of class and then when I can fit it in in between and He described a little bit how he did that and so I thought about that and He prodded me, know, and so finally I said, all right I'm gonna put a slide in and I'm gonna see how it goes and I was terrified. I mean you think that professors are above but professors are people too And I think you know, I would just say pray for your professors That they would be bold especially your Christian professors there. They would be bold and share what they believe What I do is I put you know the title slide welcome to class. This is BAT 411 This is the title of class. This is where we're gonna be if this is your class We're so glad you're here if this is not your class you may want to go check on which class you should be in You know, so a little little laughter there and then I say I'm gonna I'm gonna say something about myself and I switched to another slide and now I have maybe two slides that are personal slides a little bit about where I did my training you know why should I be teaching this class what's my specialty and then a little bit about me personally here's my family I got a bunch of kids and you know here's where I've lived here's some things about me but the most important thing is I believe in Jesus I love him and I think he loves me and he has made all the difference And if you want to talk more about that, I'm happy to talk more about that outside of class, but I want you, you need to know that. I hope that that makes me a better teacher. I hope you know that I care about you. I think each one of you is made in the image of God and I'm going to try to teach you that. I'm going to try to basically treat you well in class and treat you very positively and if you have any problem, you let me know and I'm gonna do my best to address that. So, and then they go on with the class. Okay, now we gotta do the syllabus and you know, off we go. you know, and I just kind of leave that door open. the first time I was terrified. I really thought like somebody's gonna call the dean, I'm gonna get fired, I'm never gonna get tenure. And to the best of my knowledge, no one has ever called the dean. On the other hand, Over the years, many, many students have come to me in different ways, talking about their faith journey, talking about where they're at, or sometimes in the really tough times, have showed up at my door, Dr. Hall, I got this thing, can I talk with you about it? And I mean, I'm like, why do I get this honor? I'm an engineer, but I have talked to students. Now, I often will try to, you know, be with them, sometimes pray with them, but I will also direct them to appropriate counseling services. But the point is that that door gets opened and people say, this person's for real and he seems to think some positive things and I want to hear more, share more. Well, I hope you enjoyed that. I'm so encouraged by Steve and we cut it halfway through. So please stay tuned for next week for part two of our interview. I just especially appreciate that Steve's heart for following God. that's sort of contagious to me. remember, if you're a Christian faculty, staff, or grad student, you're invited to the conference, A Common Call, and you can find out more information in the description here of the podcast. And so until next time, I hope this encourages you to have a Christ-centered conversation on your college campus.