Bethel Parent: Fall 2013

Fall 2013 | www.bethel.edu

BETHEL PARENT A newsletter for parents of Bethel University students

We’re Here to Support You

Welcome Week 2013: A Bethel Tradition

During Welcome Week 2013, about 775 new students and their families were welcomed into the Bethel community.

True to tradition, President Jay Barnes and his wife, Barb, greeted each new student and their families as they drove onto campus. The welcome continued as a team of nearly 100 energetic returning students ushered the new students to their residence halls, unloaded their vehicles, and carried their belongings to their rooms. When asked about the highlight of their Welcome Week experience, one parent answered, “The move in experience was incredible! This was our fourth child we had to move into a college dorm. We never experienced the help and the excitement that we experienced moving our daughter into Bethel! Fantastic!” n

Family Weekend 2013

Join us October 25-27 for Family Weekend, a weekend for students and their families to experience campus life together. Share chapel, a football game, a concert, and meals in the popular Monson Dining Center. Choose a parent session from topics that help you support your student. Or, just relax and chat! We’ve planned a balanced mix of events and free time so you can spend quality time with your student. For more information, and to register, visit bethel.edu/parents/ events. n

2nd Annual Grandparents Day: April 11

On Friday, April 11, 2014, we will host our 2nd Annual Grandparents Day—a day just for Bethel students and their grandparents to connect on campus.

Grandparents will attend chapel with their grandchild and enjoy a luncheon with President Jay Barnes.

Parents: please help us gather grandparents’ addresses so we can mail them an invitation in January.

For more informaOne grandparent remarked that the tion and to provide highlight of the day was “Spending time grandparents’ with our grandson and seeing just how addresses, visit Bethel teaches and develops the love of bethel.edu/parents/ God in each student . . . .” events. n

Welcome to the start of a new academic year at Bethel University. The Office of Alumni and Parent Services is here to support parents and families and connect you with the resources you need to encourage your student and engage with Bethel’s mission.

All of us on the parent services team are Bethel grads, and several of us are Bethel parents. We understand that your student’s college years are a significant time for not only your student but the whole family. Our goal is to partner with you as you stay connected with your student and with Bethel.

Be sure to visit bethel.edu/parents for events, updates, and more resources for parents and families.

Feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns: 651.638.6462 (800.255.8706, ext. 6462) or parents@bethel. edu.

Ralph, Sheri, Chris, Erin, Pam Office of Alumni and Parent Services n

Q&A with Christian Collins Winn Professor/Department Chair, Biblical and Theological Studies What brought you to Bethel?

I really liked the possibility of working in a place where there is a common, shared sense of purpose, and where a basic faith in Jesus informs both the students and the faculty.

What classes do you teach?

I teach basic Christian Theology, Early Church to Reformation Theology and Post-Reformation to Christian Collins Winn Contemporary Theology, and I teach seminars in the theology of Barth and Bonhoeffer, and Trinitarian Theology. I have also taught in the Humanities program at Bethel and have taught a course on the Reformation for the history department.

What’s your approach to learning? To interacting with students?

My approach to learning is focused on getting students 1) to take seriously the knowledge and methods in the fields of study that they are trying to understand and engage; and 2) to take seriously the questions that are already driving them. I generally teach theology, and I find that theology, which is the human attempt to speak about and understand who God is with frail human concepts and voices, is best pursued when a student recognizes that they already have deep questions with which they have been wrestling before they ever entered the classroom, and which will often continue with them when they leave. God-questions are meaning questions, and every human being longs for and seeks meaning. Part of the educational process is to give students the tools by which to ask better questions about truth, about love, about justice and wisdom, about themselves and the world in which they live, and ultimately about the living God who has created them and this world, and who seeks their ultimate good. Learning, then, is an ongoing process, one that continues long after college, and my hope is that students are set in motion to move out into the world to be of use to the living Christ and their neighbors.

What’s one piece of advice or information that you’d want to pass on to parents?

The college journey, though eye-opening and often filled with true joy, is not necessarily an easy one. I would encourage parents to talk to and listen to their kids regarding their experience, to encourage them when they are struggling— whether it be with the workload or with the difficulty of the concepts—and to expect their sons and daughters to grow.

Growth, however, is not necessarily linear and often involves quite a bit of cognitive dissonance and upheaval. I hope that they will trust that we at Bethel—from the faculty, to the administration, to the support staff (which includes Student Life and Campus Ministries, among others)—in genuine faithfulness to Christ, only want the best for their sons and daughters. Please know that not only are we highly committed to our various academic disciplines, and not only do we want to pass on knowledge and wisdom, but that we are also praying with you for your kids.

What would you like parents to know about Bethel’s approach to teaching students about the truth and authority of Scripture?

Bethel’s approach to teaching students about the truth and authority of Scripture is comprehensive and developmental. Bethel’s Baptist-Pietist and evangelical heritage guides the convictions of professors that Scripture is a trustworthy witness to the works of God in history, and is the final authority in matters of faith and practice. In the general education curriculum, students are required to take three different courses that engage the Bible and biblical teaching.

The courses are designed to be taken from first to junior year: Introduction to the Bible is taken the first year, Christian Theology is taken sophomore year, and a “Biblical theme” course where students are introduced to hermeneutics and exegesis is taken in the junior year. In their final year students are also required to take a senior level capstone course that deals with a particular social or other issue, and in this course biblical reflection is also a key element.

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Spreading the courses over a student’s time at Bethel allows professors to introduce students to the thematic content of the Bible and to the methods of study and interpretation of the Bible in a developmentally responsible fashion. Professors seek to help students to understand the nature and necessity of responsible interpretation, to see the implications flowing from the biblical witness for faith and life, and to understand the internal coherence of Christian truth claims.

Professors are motivated to bring students into a more intimate and faithful knowledge of Scripture, and to challenge students to attend to the call that God is placing on their lives in and through the witness of the Bible. n

What’s FERPA?

FERPA is the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974. As amended, it’s a federal law establishing procedures for disclosing student records and protecting the privacy of these records. Student records are private information that is not shared without the student’s consent. At Bethel University, student records are protected as private information starting on the first day of class and ending at death. Bethel University abides by the law, and as such, we cannot release information to parents without written approval from the student. Visit bethel.edu/parents/resources/grades to learn more. n

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Dates to Remember Homecoming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . October 4-6

Final Exams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . December 16, 17, 19, 20

Fall Break . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . October 11

Study Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . December 18 (Please don’t schedule family vacations on these days)

Family Weekend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . October 25-27 (for parents and extended family of students)

Winter Commencement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . December 20*

Advising Day (no day classes) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . October 30

Interim Classes Begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . January 6, 2014

“The Skeptical Believer: Telling Stories to Your Inner Atheist,” featuring Bethel Professor Emeritus and author Dan Taylor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . November 7

*The Senior/Parent Commencement Luncheon is December 20 for winter graduates and their parents.

More details to come in commencement communications.

Thanksgiving Break . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . November 27-29 Festival of Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . December 5-7

For the complete online events calendar, please visit bethel.edu/events.