First Things is pleased to present its annual Chicago Conversation, featuring editor R. R. Reno and writer Aaron Renn discussing the topic of “Can Christians Be Leaders?” Their discussion will extrapolate from Renn’s December essay in First Things on evangelical elite formation and leadership outside the church.
Aaron Renn is a writer and consultant in Indianapolis, and author of the book “Life in the Negative World: Confronting Challenges in an Anti-Christian Culture.” His writing appears in a number of leading global publications, including First Things, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic and others.
Called “a kind of Malcolm Gladwell of conservative Christianity” by the New York Times, Renn is an opinion leading, market moving thinker and writer on American culture. His “three worlds” framework describing the decline of Christianity in America has become the “dominant framework” (NYT) many people use to understand this moment. It was called “among the most thought-provoking ideas pertaining to American evangelicalism this century,” by Christianity Today.
He’s a Senior Fellow at American Reformer, a former Senior Fellow in urban policy at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, and a former Managing Director at Accenture.