Centennial Institute Awarded Chairman’s Award from National Endowment for the Humanities for Speaker Series on Christianity and the American Founding

February 2, 2026  

LAKEWOOD, Colo. — The Centennial Institute at Colorado Christian University has been awarded a Chairman’s Award from the National Endowment for the Humanities to host the “Faith and Freedom Speaker Series: Christianity and the Spirit of 1776.”

In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, this speaker series will feature four high-profile lectures during the 2026 calendar year, exploring the religious roots of America’s founding and the profound influence of Christianity and the Bible on the nation’s move toward independence and self-government.

The “Faith and Freedom Speaker Series” will include presentations from Dr. Thomas Kidd (author and research professor of church history at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) on February 9; Dr. Vincent Phillip Muñoz (Tocqueville Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame) on April 20; Dr. Mark David Hall (author and professor at Regent University) on September 21; and Dr. Joseph Loconte (author and director of The Rivendell Center) on October 19.

“We are extraordinarily grateful to the National Endowment for the Humanities for awarding us a grant to make this speaker series possible,” said Greg Schaller, Director of the Centennial Institute. “Our Founding Fathers understood that a strong moral foundation is essential to the preservation of American freedom. By recovering the biblical and Christian roots of our nation’s founding, we not only honor the past—we provide guidance for the future.”

This is the first time that Centennial Institute and Colorado Christian University have received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

For more information about this upcoming speaker series, please visit: centennial.ccu.edu/events.

For more information about the National Endowment for the Humanities, please visit: neh.gov.

For press inquiries, contact Seth Grutz: seth.grutz@resonantstrategies.co.

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