FAithfully PResent

If Charlotte Mason (1842-1923) was right, then education is indeed a life as Jack Beckman has spent over 50 years under the regulus and patterns of teaching and learning - initially as an Early Childhood educator in the classroom, then as an educational leader, and finally as Professor of Elementary Education at Covenant College on both the graduate and undergraduate levels. Each of these contexts has allowed him the privilege of working with students, teachers, and parents on a variety of levels involving instructional pedagogy, curriculum development, and teacher professional learning. 

And in all these experiences, the life and work of Charlotte Mason has been a mainstay of his life and vocation. Her ideas and practices have challenged his thinking and formed the core of several schools he has started, consulting work with schools and likeminded groups, speaking in numerous venues in North America and internationally, as well as teaching his favorite course at Covenant College: The Life and Thought of Charlotte Mason, a credit-level undergraduate study. 

As he contemplates his retirement as Emeritus Professor from Covenant College, he is seeing that there are several intriguing possibilities coming his way. The Charlotte Mason Institute's Graduate Level Studies in Charlotte Mason Pedagogy and Practice teacher and educational leader training model is up and running, and he will help lead that initiative as Designer and Director. He will be collaborating with the University of Cumbria in creating a Master of Arts in Charlotte Mason Studies with the Graduate Level Studies program as a key component where he will serve as Senior Visiting Research Fellow. Moreover, his work in writing and research will unfold in several projects he will now have time and space to explore and develop. He also will be doing storytelling in his church, local library, and schools, and keeping up with his longstanding goal – reading a book a day.

And his wife, Barbara, tells him they will be traveling and hanging out with grandchildren...

Julie Lowe is an author, speaker and counselor. She holds an MA in counseling from Biblical Theological Seminary, is a licensed professional counselor with over twenty-five years of counseling experience, and is a registered play therapist supervisor. Julie served as a faculty member at the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (CCEF) for over 20 years and has lectured and taught at Missio Seminary and Westminster Theological Seminary.

Julie has extensive experience teaching, speaking, and consulting with churches, schools, and other organizations around the country. She regularly teaches on topics such as marriage, women’s issues, sexual abuse, body image issues, parenting, adoption, and child maltreatment issues. She is trained in leading mandated reporter trainings and provides numerous trainings on child sexual abuse. Julie has a registered therapy dog that she works with both professionally and on a volunteer basis

Julie has authored several books: Childproof: Parenting By Faith Not Formula, Safeguards: Shielding Our Homes and Equipping Our Kids, Building Bridges: Biblical Counseling Activities for Children and Teens, Helping Your Anxious Child: What to Do When Your Worries are Big, Teens and Suicide: Recognizing the Signs and Sharing the Hope, Helping Your Child With a Bully: Learning to Respond Wisely and A Student Guide to Body Image, and Safety for Kids, Equipping Children to Discern Danger. 

Her work and resources have been widely promoted by organizations like Focus on the Family, The Evangelical Counsel for Abuse Prevention and Paul Tripp’s Connecting Podcast.

Julie and her husband, Greg, live in the Philadelphia, PA area and have five children. They have served over 20 years as foster and adoptive parents.

Min Hwang is an educator, writer, and founder of Life-giving Motherhood™, a Biblical motherhood school that equips moms to establish Christ-centered homes with strategy, skill, and spiritual discernment. Lovingly called a “Pastor to Mothers”, she has a passion to hold space for the Holy Spirit’s transformative work in the family, through the mother, by providing practical habit training and systematized strategies toward spiritual disciplines to forever alter their faith legacy. Min’s “superpower” is translating and reverse engineering lofty concepts into tangible actions and attainable goals.

With her varied background in higher education, law, medicine, and missions, Min serves as an experienced educator for local church ministries, nonprofits, and homeschool groups, weaving together the worlds of Charlotte Mason philosophy, biblical theology, science, and practical leadership. Through this integrated vision, families are invited to live CORAM DEO—before the face of God––and for this purpose, she created the Coram Deo Planner™, a powerful planning tool and prayer-reflection journal designed to help form habits with eternity-minded intentionality.

Min is also the host of the Life-giving Motherhood™ podcast, cohost of the “Charlotte Mason for All” podcast, and serves on the Charlotte Mason Institute Board. Most of all, Min LOVES being wife to her pastor-husband, Young, and homeschool mom to her four children, ranging in age from adult to tween. You’ll find her savoring late-night, soul-to-soul conversations, singing God’s praises at the top of her lungs while chauffeuring, and laughing ‘til her face hurts.

Kelly M. Kapic holds the Honorary Chair of Theology and Culture at Covenant College where he has taught since 2001. With a PhD in Systematic and Historical Theology from King’s College University of London, Kapic has written or edited over fifteen books. His newest book You Were Never Meant to Do it All: A 40-Day Devotional on the Goodness of Being Human (Brazos 2025) was built on his earlier work You’re Only Human: How Your Limits Reflect God’s Design and Why that’s Good News, which was published in 2022 and won a number of awards, including Christianity Today’s Book of the Year award in the category of Theology (Popular) and The Southwestern Journal of Theology’s award in Applied Theology/Ethics. His earlier work includes Embodied Hope: A Theological Meditation on Pain and Suffering, which also won the Christianity Today book of the year award in the area of Theology and Ethics and World Magazine’s Short List award for Accessible Theology Book of the year. A few years ago he completed two volumes with the economist Brian Fikkert called Becoming Whole: Why the Opposite of Poverty isn’t the American Dream and A Field Guide to Becoming Whole: Principles for Poverty Alleviation Ministries.  In 2014 Kapic received a Templeton Grant to be part of The Center for Christian Thought studying the topic of Psychology and Spiritual Formation. He has also served as part of the Core Research Teams for the Templeton-funded studies, including “Project Amazing Grace” and “Christian Meaning-Making, Suffering, and the Flourishing Life.”

David Wiggins, PhD, LPC, is a licensed professional counselor based in Roanoke VA, with 48 years of experience working with diverse populations. His work with neurodiverse individuals and their families is informed by a wide range of professional experiences, counseling practices, and long-standing scholarly interests. Forming the base for his career’s theoretical framework, he earned an M.ED. from James Madison University and Ed.S. from the University of Virginia, and a Ph.D. from Virginia Tech.

Among his vast work experiences, his initial work with diverse populations began at Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center. In addition to his coursework and clinical work, Dr. Wiggins has held teaching and administrative positions at several institutions of higher education, including Jefferson College of Health Sciences and, more recently, at Ferrum College, where he served as Dean of Academic Success. He is currently serving clients through his private practice.

Throughout his career, he has maintained a particular interest in Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder and, over the past decade, has expanded his focus to include serving a broad range of neurodiverse individuals. He is committed to sound ethical standards and practical, compassionate, evidence-informed, practices.

Dr. Wiggins has had the pleasure of sharing with the Charlotte Mason community on previous occasions and is delighted to reconnect and continue the conversation.