CA M PUS N E WS
CULTIVATING WHAT IS
D ECE M B ER 2020
Essential Photo from 2019 by David Norris
BY CHAPLAIN DON MOLDSTAD • DIRECTOR OF CAMPUS SPIRITUAL LIFE
Chaplain Don Moldstad helped create a new class to introduce essentials of Christianity to students with little or no knowledge of the Christian faith.
Dr. Gene Veith, an author of over twenty books on topics involving Christianity and culture, Lutheranism, literature, and the arts, identified today’s group of college students as the first “post-Christian generation.” For the first time in our nation’s history, the majority of young people have grown up with little or no knowledge of the teachings of the Christian faith. An increasing number of new students at Bethany have not had the privilege of Christian education. In addition, Bethany has been blessed with a large group of international students of late. Recently, a Bethany religion class of twenty-five students had nine nations represented. In another class, there were no less than thirteen different languages spoken by the students in that one room. It is exciting to teach to such a diverse group and learn more
10
about their backgrounds and home countries. Through the years, these wonderful opportunities have also presented an interesting challenge to the College’s religion faculty. While Bethany continues to be blessed with new students who have already experienced many years of formal Christian education, there is a growing and significant number who are from backgrounds with little or no knowledge of the faith. In an attempt to address these differences, we have developed two separate paths for their firstyear religion requirements. Nearly twenty years ago, three Bethany religion
