Strategic Pillars
Community Centered on Wisdom
The Octet Collaborative champions an awareness of who we are as individuals created in God’s image, fully integrated in mind, hand, heart, and soul. Thus, we strive to place the intellect within an integrated understanding of self and the self in the context of a thriving community that champions this.
How do we do this? In two major ways: a) interdisciplinary exploration: we connect scientific conversations to theological ones, explore the importance of beauty and artistry in connection with their impact on our minds, bodies, and souls, and treat emotions not as inconvenient distractions, but as a hub of intellectual, spiritual, and moral insight; and b) community: we amplify the experience of co-laboring by creating an environment where individuals are not merely working side by side, cohabiting and coexisting in a shared space, but are united to collaborate and even commune as scholars working on these topics in ways that are mutually upbuilding and supportive.
Whole-Life Formation
Octet partners with alumni, faculty, staff, and students to journey together, believing that whole-life formation powerfully shapes a person’s view of vocation and future possibility. While there are numerous strong and faithful fellowships already at MIT, many Christian alumni have reported struggling to find similar communities where they can continue to grow after graduating. In response to this need, Octet is developing a robust peer mentoring fellowship that can connect recent graduates to communities of alumni in their respective fields and support them in their discipleship journeys. Future whole-life formation plans include bringing alumni together with students and faculty and staff with students.
Engaging the Institute
MIT as an institution is increasingly wrestling with the many social and ethical consequences that technological advancement inevitably produces. On a campus lacking a divinity school or any explicitly theological voice, the Octet Collaborative engages the university and its many initiatives by offering a Christian perspective on these important conversations.
We support Christian faculty and administrators who are leading these task forces, by helping them to think and pray through what it means to serve the institute where God has sent them. And we gather the Christian community to provide feedback to the Institute on strategic initiatives.