Biography
Byron Borger, along with his wife, Beth, own and operate Hearts & Minds, an independent Christian bookstore in Dallastown, PA (near York, PA) which they have run for 34 years. Before opening their bookstore, they worked in campus ministry for the CCO (Coalition for Christian Outreach) in Pittsburgh, PA and served as an associate director of the Thomas Merton Center in Pittsburgh. Byron graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with an MA in speech pathology in 1976 and later earned a Masters in Higher Education at Geneva College. He was recently awarded an honorary doctorate from Geneva College.
Their ecumenical bookstore serves a wide variety of church groups, and others, and emphasizes resources which illustrate the integration of faith and learning, serving a robust vision of vocation, calling, and serving God in the workaday world and encouraging social action for cultural renewal. He speaks widely about the transforming consequences of the gospel for all of life and has lead workshops on reading, applied theology, cultural engagement, and social justice at national events such as Redeemer Presbyterian Church’s Center for Faith & Work in New York, Mako Fujimura’s IAM arts gatherings, Bread for the World anti-hunger conferences, the Q ideas event, and CCO’s college student conference, Jubilee. He has spoken at many Christian colleges, including Gordon, Eastern, Messiah, Montreat, Houghton, and others. They offer off-site book displays at many denominational gatherings, clergy retreats, and church revitalization conferences. Byron has written for various publications, including, Q Ideas, Comment, and the Center for Public Justice’s Capitol Commentary. Even though committed to the old-school printed page, he enjoys using social media and blogs regularly about books in their weekly newsletter, BookNotes, www.heartsandmindsbooks.com/booknotes He is the editor of a book for college graduates called Serious Dreams: Bold Ideas for the Rest of Your Life.
Byron and Beth have three grown children, and are active at First Presbyterian Church, York, Pennsylvania.