Photo by Diane Degnan, United Methodist Communications
IAMSCU 2014
This year the International Association of Methodist Schools, Colleges and Universities focus on the theme of world peace. Church-related schools can do a better job of attracting young believers who seek education in faith as well and scholarship, writes the Rev. Stephen W. Rankin.
In response to my previous post about UM leaders not giving up on church related colleges and universities, a friend challenged me with some probing questions. He couldn’t see, for example, how my claim that we can develop a robustly Christian approach without establishing certain controls like compulsory chapel would actually work. It’s time for me to get practical.
Some good news: the place of religious faith and of religious ideas has found renewed sympathetic reception in higher education. The book (I think I’ve mentioned this one previously) by Douglas and Rhonda Hustedt Jacobsen, No Longer Invisible: Religion in University Education, (Oxford University Press, 2012), describes this new-found interest and openness. It is increasingly common to find buildings and programs set aside for interfaith dialogue or the exploration of faith in some measure.
That said, the dominant assumption in higher education is still a secularist one. The fresh dialogue about the positive role of religion mostly still takes place separate from discussions of core academic mission. This is especially true of research universities whose mission is to contribute to fields of knowledge. The assumption remains that “faith” has nothing to do with knowledge. Thus, though religion is making something of a comeback on campus, Warren Nord’s, Does God Make a Difference? Taking Religion Seriously in Our Schools and Universities (Oxford University Press, 2010) shows how far we have to go. One of the strengths of this book is that it pays attention to how students are already shaped in public schools before arriving at college. That formation (pedagogy) is unwaveringly secular:
“Currently, public schools and universities [emphasis added] unrelentingly encourage students to think about the world and the subjects of curriculum in exclusively secular ways, even though many of them are deeply controversial.” (p. 166)
This point presents an ethical dilemma to religiously affiliated schools. If the gold standard is still essentially secular, how does the religious identity of a church related college or university engage the school’s academic mission? How does the church’s mission enter into dialogue with the school’s mission? I’d like to try to answer this question with some practical suggestions.
1. The school’s mission statement should be based on a clear expression of the belief that all humans are created in the imago Dei. Every student (not just the bright ones adorning our marketing brochures or the troubled ones filling our counseling and conduct offices) needs and should expect the kind of serious, loving commitment to their development and flourishing that our mission statements say we give.
2. We should also take seriously the problem of human sinfulness, including how a school’s very ethos contributes to the distortion of the image of God. One practical way this could be implemented is by reviewing residence hall policies, especially those regarding how students resolve disagreements. All schools have procedural rules, but it is surprising how often students feel frustrated by the lack of resolution in these conflict resolution practices. I believe one of the reasons for the ineffectiveness has to do with a naive and inconsistent view of human nature. On one hand, we treat students as if they were fully formed adults able to handle the matters. On the other hand, we treat them like children and overprotect.
3. The school’s mission statement should reflect awareness of and affinity with Christian eschatology – that the goal of human life is wrapped in a vision of God’s eternal reign/Kingdom. The vision for social justice often surfaces on college campuses. A church related school should intentionally provide means for students to explore justice from a Christian perspective, especially since we know they will encounter ideas about justice from other particular points of view.
A couple of qualifications. First, humans have agency and desire freedom. We don’t push people around in order to get them to think the way that we do. We don’t hide competing claims in order to make sure they get the truth. We can have a robust theological vision as an institutional anchor point and accord freedom to every participant in the school community (e.g. academic freedom to professors). But we also don’t pretend that the future is limitlessly open for humans to fashion as they see fit. God has something to say about the matter and, in fact, God has spoken.
Remember, some vision of human nature and the telos (aim, purpose) of a good college education will predominate. If that vision is not rooted in a Christian understanding, then why is the college/university related to the church?
4. Consonant with the value of academic freedom and what a truly liberative education requires, this vision does not requires that faculty, students or staff adhere to the Christian faith. However, it does establish the expectation that all members of the community (including and especially trustees) understand and accept the school’s church relationship and its various attempts to contribute to the church’s mission. No one associated with the school should be surprised or offended when a church related school does some things that look “churchy.”
I have heard a number of times of faculty at UM-related schools actually protesting that someone offered a prayer before a school function. This attitude reveals either (a) that we have done a poor job helping people understand the church related identity, which, I believe, is often the case, or (b) that protesters illegitimately ignore the fact that they work at a church related school.
This post represents a start on some practical ways a church related college or university could distinguish itself with specifically Christian theological references points without establishing those traditional mechanisms associated with confessional Christian schools. I’ll share some more practical ideas soon.
The Rev. Stephen W. Rankin is university chaplain for Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX. He blogs at The Rankin File.