“My whole way of viewing life has changed,” says one participant in the C. S. Lewis Institute, which is now taking registrants for its second year in Central PA.
With branches in Pittsburgh, Carlisle and Philadelphia — along with 11 other states and such countries as Ireland, Japan and Kenya — CSLI was named for the British writer whose radio talks and bestselling novels made him one of the 20th century’s most beloved Christian figures.
Partly inspired by such Lewis works as Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters and The Chronicles of Narnia, CSLI celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The institute seeks to bring Lewis’ unique blend of intellectual rigor and depth to Christian discipleship.
Under the leadership of retired local nurse Melissa Rising, the Central PA branch of CSLI kicked off in October 2025.
“It’s been a wonderful year,” says Rising. “We’ve all grown spiritually and intellectually in our fellowship with one another and Christ.”
Registration is now under way for the 2026-27 series. Just like the first, this new round begins in October, meeting regularly on the first Saturday of each month at New Life Presbyterian Church in Montoursville. Enrollment deadline is May 31.
Current participants include the full-time local home-maker who is quoted above. She describes the material as “so rich in content!” — adding that “I end each month with an even deeper love and appreciation for the Triune God and His Word.”
Another enrollee is Dr. Philip Byler, a retired medical missionary to Africa. “It has been a rich and spiritually invigorating curriculum for us to engage,” says Byler, who is taking the course along with his wife, Linda. “Sometimes it is so useful just to pause and reexamine the foundations of our faith from a perspective a bit outside of our everyday experiences.”
According to CSLI’s brochure, the material “challenges and guides participants to a strong understanding of discipleship, personal mission and conversational apologetics through Bible study, classic readings, lectures, group processing, spiritual mentoring and accountability — all in the context of a small group of like-minded believers.”
Both Byler and the home-maker noted that the course requires about 20 hours a month of reading, writing and study.
Along with this particular program, CSLI offers a variety of other options for study and growth:
A 10-week small-group discipleship program; a weekly email that includes short audio, video and social messages; the quarterly “Knowing & Doing,” available in print or digital format, offering articles on theology, apologetics and cultural analysis; and one-page letters — also through print or digital subscription — featuring reflections by Lewis himself. There’s also a free course in “Basic Apologetics,” plus regular conferences “designed to equip God’s people to live fully devoted to God.”
That information is from the CSLI’s official brochure, which — invoking Lewis’s most famous character, Aslan from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe — ends with this injunction:
“With the church facing significant headwinds in the future, we need a growing number of authentic disciples who can train more disciples. These are the people God will use to bring real change in our churches, our government, our culture, our business and our world.”
Byler adds that the course is ideal for “any believer who desires to probe aspects of their Christian experience that could use some challenging, some deepening, some refocusing toward maturity.”
Applications for the Fellows Program are available at cslewisinstitute.org/Central_Pennsylvania. Those interested can also contact Rising directly at mdrising@windstream.net or (570) 916-9331.
