CCCU Advance Spring 2013 by Council for Christian Colleges & Universities

Spring2013

PRESIDENT, ADVOCATE, & LEADER New CCCU President Edward O. Blews, Jr., Eagerly Embraces the Opportunities and Challenges of Christian Higher Education

DYNAMIC LEADERSHIP FOR CHANGING TIMES

THE COUNCIL FOR CHRISTIAN COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES (CCCU) is an international association of intentionally Christ-centered colleges and universities. Founded in 1976 with 38 members, the Council has grown to 118 members in North America and 54 affiliate institutions in 20 countries. The CCCU is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in the Historic Capitol Hill district of Washington, D.C. THE MISSION OF THE CCCU is to advance the cause of Christ-centered higher education and to help our institutions transform the lives of students by faithfully relating scholarship and service to biblical truth. DISTRIBUTION CCCU Advance is published each year in the fall and spring and is mailed to members, affiliates, and friends of the CCCU. It is also available online at www.cccu.org/advance. Direct questions and letters to the editor to editor@cccu.org. ADVERTISING CCCU Advance accepts advertising from organizations that serve the students, faculty, or administration of our campuses. For more information and/or to receive a CCCU Media Kit, please email advertising@cccu.org. PEOPLE

INADVANCE TABLE OF CONTENTS

Stakes High for Teacher Preparatory Reform

35 43 49 63

By Chris Turner

What Difference Does Your Christian Faith Make in the Classroom? The CCCU Launches Faith & Learning Integration Channel By Heather M. Surls

Academic Advising: Critical for Students and for Institutional Mission By Chris Turner

Green Scholars Initiative Allows CCCU Students and Faculty to Put Their Hands on Antiquity By Chelsea Farnam

WEB EXTRAS

Edward O. Blews, Jr. President

Throughout Advance you will see the web extras icon. This indicates exclusive resources located online for our readers. Visit www.cccu.org/advance to access these extras.

Pamela K. Jones Vice President for Communications Kami L. Rice Editor Katryn Ferrance Kevin Zwirble Graphic Designers Jason Hohertz Web Manager Ashley Walters Copy Editor Kendra Langdon Juskus Proofreader

AROUND THE COUNCIL. . . . . . 24

ON THE SHELF . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

The news of the CCCU offices

What your peers are reading

FROM CAPITOL HILL . . . . . . . . 30

GOING GLOBAL. . . . . . . . . . . . 53

By Shapri D. LoMaglio

By Chelsea Farnam

R&D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

BESTSEMESTER: REFLECTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

By P. Jesse Rine

FOCUS ON SCHOLARSHIP & RESEARCH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Stay connected with the CCCU on twitter, facebook, LinkedIn, vimeo, & Issuu. Visit www.cccu.org/connect.

By Luke Reiter

By Bethany Allen

BESTSEMESTER: VOICES. . . . . 59 By Rose Creasman Welcome

EDITORâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S NOTE. . . . . . . . . . . . 69 By Kami L. Rice

Cover photo by Rob Blews CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

INADVANCE INAUGURATION OF THE CCCU’S SIXTH PRESIDENT

Photos by Victoria Ruan

“I believe that the CCCU will embrace the challenges of the future with faith, enthusiasm, joy, energy, and confidence that Christ who began a good work in the CCCU will carry it on to completion.” – Edward O. Blews, Jr., Inaugural Address

SPECIAL FEATURES O. Blews, Jr., 3 Edward Inaugurated as Sixth CCCU President

By Kami L. Rice

Celebrating and Carrying the Cause of Christian Higher Education By Edward O. Blews, Jr.

Presidential Inauguration and 2013 Presidents Conference in Pictures

Christians Should Not Be Marked by Pessimism By Os Guinness

PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION

Edward O. Blews, Jr., Inaugurated as Sixth CCCU President By Kami L. Rice

n an inspiring and compelling ceremony marked by an extended standing ovation, Edward O. Blews, Jr., was inaugurated on January 30, 2013, as the new president of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities. “Today I stand before you deeply humbled and highly honored by the profound privilege of leading the great and glorious cause of Christian higher education as the sixth president of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities,” Blews told distinguished guests and presidents of CCCU member institutions. “Today the adventure begins. Today we embrace the future. Today, together, we fast forward in faith, celebrating and carrying the cause of Christian higher education.”

The inauguration ceremony and inaugural luncheon were held on

He told the audience that the presidential search committee

the first day of the CCCU’s annual Presidents Conference. The

selected a “presidential partnership” when they appointed him,

selection of Blews was announced last July by the CCCU Board of

noting that his wife, Debra McKenna Blews, also has deep history

Directors. Blews served as president-elect for the remainder of 2012

and relationships with CCCU member universities and has been

and officially assumed the title of president on January 1, 2013.

named a CCCU senior fellow.

The enthusiastic and affable Blews said in his inauguration

In his address, Blews highlighted his six visions for the CCCU,

address that his appointment to this position ushers in the

calling them his “presidential pledges” and “associational

culmination of his 28-year career with a calling to “the great cause

aspirations” for member institutions. “The CCCU will be the

of Christian higher education.”

persuasive, powerful, enthusiastic, joyful, courageous, indefatigable,

Blews is no stranger to the CCCU. His long relationship with the

education wherever decisions are made affecting us, whether in the

Council began as student body president at CCCU member Seattle

halls of Congress, the corridors of the White House, the chambers

Pacific University in Seattle, Wash., and has continued throughout

of courts, or any other forum,” he said. “We will not be daunted by

his professional career. More recently, he served as a member of

any challenge [or] intimidated by any force. We will be the happy

the CCCU Board of Directors for three years.

warriors for a great and godly cause.”

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

unapologetic advocate for the great cause of Christ-centered

Photo by Victoria Ruan

Other initiatives Blews outlined were: • Making a compelling, comprehensive, and persuasive case for Christcentered higher education • Serving members and their students by intensely searching for ways to improve advocacy, professional development, communications, student programming, and cost-saving initiatives • Leading the global movement for Christ-centered higher education • Enabling member institutions opportunities to develop as global institutions by offering academically rigorous, biblically-based specialty study programs • Advocating for the rigorous integration

of faith with scholarship in all disciplines as the profound distinctive of Christian higher education

higher education across the country.” Molly Corbett Broad, president of the American Council on Education, also

Preceding Blews’ address, David Warren,

brought greetings during the ceremony.

president of the National Association of

She recalled meeting many years ago a

Independent Colleges and Universities,

“wunderkind” from Michigan named Ed

noted that Blews has served NAICU

Blews, “a joyful person, an upbeat person,

members extraordinarily well for decades,

an optimistic person.”

carrying the flag for independent higher

“[Ed] is a great master of both the strategy

education. Warren then acknowledged the challenging political and economic climate under which Blews assumes his new leadership role. “I want to congratulate the CCCU and Ed for mutually selecting one another, and I couldn’t hasten Ed’s arrival [in Washington] faster,” he said. “I am delighted to have a

and the details,” she affirmed as a longtime colleague of Blews in higher education advocacy. “It is such a personal and professional pleasure for me to welcome Ed Blews to Washington, and Debra, your great talents, to help in every way you will become involved in Washington and in international work.”

foxhole buddy here working on your behalf

In special video greetings by two U.S.

and working on behalf of independent

congressmen from Michigan—Rep. Dave

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION

LEFT TOP: Carl Zylstra. LEFT BOTTOM: Kim Phipps and David Warren. MIDDLE: Molly Corbett Broad. RIGHT: Charles “Chip” Pollard and Edward O. Blews, Jr. All photos by Victoria Ruan.

education,” she said. With his deep, heartfelt commitment to Christian colleges, he is Camp, chairman of the House Ways

us all as a coherent, high energy, and high

and Means Committee, and Rep. Tim

quality movement, providing truly coherent

Walberg, who serves as chair of the House

education throughout all our campuses and

Education and the Workforce Committee’s

all for the glory of the one in whom, as the

Subcommittee on Workforce Protections and

Scripture declares, truly all things cohere.”

is a member of the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training—Blews was lauded for his commitment to and advocacy of Christian higher education.

that the CCCU selected Blews, said Kim Phipps, CCCU board chair and president of Messiah College in Grantham, Pa.,

unique character of Christ-centered higher education in a manner that is both winsome and compelling.” The charge Phipps gave to Blews on behalf of the CCCU Board of Directors as he begins his tenure was an affirmation of his call to be a voice and champion for the global movement of Christian higher education and its people, and an exhortation to fulfill this

Chairman Camp applauded Blews for his

in her official introduction of Blews. “In

passion and wealth of knowledge and for his

these complicated times of simultaneous

“kind heart and desire to support the colleges

challenge and opportunity for Christian

and universities and students he represents.”

higher education, Dr. Ed Blews possesses

Congressman Walberg declared it a “huge

the vision, experience, and skill to effectively

gain for the impact of Christian colleges and

lead the Council for Christian Colleges &

universities, both here in the United States

Universities and its membership. The board

and North America but also internationally, to

of the CCCU is eager to work with Dr. Blews

have Ed Blews as a front and center advocate

to ensure a vibrant and robust future for

“Christian colleges and universities play

for the great work” of the CCCU.

Christian colleges in the United States and

a unique role in advancing the kingdom

throughout the world,” she said.

of God by ministering to the mind as well

Carl Zylstra, CCCU search committee

It was for addressing our era’s challenges

“well prepared to passionately articulate the

chair, recounted the committee’s search

Phipps declared that the CCCU Board

for a leader with a clear sense of confident

pursued and unanimously selected Blews

coherence. “Today we celebrate the

as the CCCU’s sixth president because

inauguration of Ed Blews,” he said, “a truly

of his wonderful accomplishments,

coherent man who, with God’s blessing, will

outstanding record of decades of successful

continue to shape the CCCU as a dynamic,

higher education association presidential

coherent organization [and] who will, with

leadership, and his national reputation

enthusiasm and with winsome conviction,

as an educational policy advocate. He

lead us and defend us as a vibrant and

is “recognized as a national leader in

coherent association and, thus, energize

the movement of independent higher

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

call through a life of prayer and deep faith in Christ. Setting the tone for a prayer-covered presidency, Charles “Chip” Pollard, vice chair of the CCCU Board of Directors and president of John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Ark., offered a prayer dedicating the new president to service.

as the heart, and by educating the heart as well as the mind, by integrating faith with learning,” Blews said in his address. “Historically, higher education in this nation began grounded in the conviction that God is the beginning and the source of wisdom ... and the CCCU’s Christ-centered colleges and universities truly and faithfully integrate academic excellence with biblical truth.” “I believe that the CCCU will embrace

PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION the challenges of the future with faith,

education leaders, and the U.S. Department

enthusiasm, joy, energy, and confidence that

of Education that is working to improve

Christ who began a good work in the CCCU

higher education data and policymaking.

will carry it on to completion.”

Blews has served as an alternate Michigan

Immediately preceding his appointment

commissioner to the Midwestern Higher

as president of the CCCU, Blews served

Education Commission and Compact,

for 28 years as the president of the

which consists primarily of legislative

Association of Independent Colleges

and gubernatorial leaders. He has also

and Universities of Michigan (AICUM).

chaired the boards of several prominent

In that role, he was the organization’s

Michigan organizations with some of the

chief executive officer and the advocate

state’s top leaders.

and voice of 49 Michigan independent colleges and universities, representing more than 122,000 students. A familiar face in the United States and Michigan capitols, Blews is recognized as a national leader in the movement of independent higher education with a reputation as a passionate and enthusiastic advocate. Over the past three decades, Blews has served in leadership roles with NAICU, including being elected to its board of directors, and the National Association of Independent College and University State Executives (NAICUSE), which he chaired at one time. He also recently chaired the National Postsecondary Education Cooperative, a congressionally authorized collaboration between public and private higher education leadership, state higher

Blews earned his juris doctor degree in 1989 from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Mich. with numerous honors, and he has been awarded honorary doctorates from eight institutions, including CCCU member Spring Arbor University in Spring Arbor, Mich. Edward and Debra Blews have four children: Dr. Edward Blews III, Christine Blews Lipske, Lauren Blews, and Rob Blews. They also have one granddaughter. All four of the Blews’ children are alumni of Christian colleges. Kami Rice, editor of Advance, is based in southern France. She has covered stories around the world, and her articles have appeared in more than 40 publications. She is a proud alumna of Asbury University and of CCCU’s BestSemester American Studies Program.

Debra McKenna Blews Named CCCU Senior Fellow By Kami L. Rice

THE BLEWS FAMILY Upper Level (L to R): Debra Blews, Edward O. Blews, Jr., Lauren Blews, Christine Blews Lipske, Brandon Lipske. Lower Level (L to R): Rob Blews, Ed Blews III, Amber Hall Blews, Elliot Blews.

she has had a long tenure as a visiting professor at Thomas M. Cooley Law School, teaching nonprofit law and legal research and writing. Additionally, McKenna Blews has deep CCCU ties. She is an alumna of Seattle Pacific University in Seattle, Wash., and serves on the

In recognition of her impressive credentials and

board of trustees of CCCU member Spring Arbor

unique contributions, Debra McKenna Blews has

University in Spring Arbor, Mich., and of CCCU

been appointed by the CCCU Board of Directors

theological institution affiliate Asbury Theological

as the CCCU’s newest senior fellow. Senior fellows

Seminary in Wilmore, Ky. At Spring Arbor, she

are volunteer leaders and experts who are tasked

chairs the board’s Academic Affairs Committee.

to assist the CCCU on special issues and projects. They work directly with the CCCU president.

McKenna Blews has been married for 36 years to new CCCU President Edward O. Blews, Jr., who

McKenna Blews holds a juris doctor degree

noted in his inauguration speech that the CCCU

from Thomas M. Cooley Law School and an

search committee “has selected a presidential

LL.M. degree in international law from DePaul

partnership and a CCCU couple.” He added,

University College of Law. An attorney with

“The CCCU is deeply ingrained in our DNA. The

practice expertise in tax-exempt organizations,

call to the CCCU thrills and excites both of us.”

Photo by Rob Blews

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

Photo by Victoria Ruan

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

INAUGURAL ADDRESS

Celebrating and Carrying the Cause of Christian Higher Education: Inaugural Address by the Sixth President of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities, Edward O. Blews, Jr. Delivered January 30, 2013, at the Capital Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C.

hairperson Phipps, Distinguished Guests, Christian college and university presidents,

CCCU colleagues and friends: Greetings in the matchless name of Christ and in the marvelous cause of Christian higher education. Today I stand before you deeply humbled and highly honored by the profound privilege of leading the great and glorious cause of Christian higher education as the sixth president of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities. Today the adventure begins. Today we embrace the future. Today, together, we fast forward in faith, celebrating and carrying the cause of Christian higher education. CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

INAUGURAL ADDRESS

hank you, Chairperson Phipps,

in the U.S. Congress: U.S. House Ways

Articulating our acronym can be a tongue-

for that gracious introduction, for

& Means Committee Chair Dave Camp

twister. We are exploring different ways

your wonderful leadership and

and Congressman Tim Walberg, a triple

of saying it. One option: “C3-U,” but that

friendship as our chair during our time of

CCCU-alumnus who will be with us live

sounds too much like a robotic character

transition, and for that powerful charge.

and in person tomorrow.

out of Star Wars. Or perhaps “Triple C-U,”

During 28 years of association presidency, I have become a pretty good judge of chairs. And you, Chairperson Phipps, are the gold standard. I pledge to you and to all assembled here that I will do my utmost

Rhetoricians tell us that one should begin a major speech with a bit of relevant humor to engage and warm up the audience. I recall a true story told

club. Or maybe “Three C’s and a U,” but that sounds like a concoction of vitamins and minerals. So we’ll stick with “CCCU.”

by former President Jimmy Carter at a

This inauguration begins the culmination of

the duties of president of the Council for

nonprofit conference I helped to host,

my career and calling in a great cause. And

Christian Colleges & Universities and to

a story which seems apropos to this

it feels a bit like a homecoming. For you see,

keep the charge which you have this day

audience. Shortly after leaving the White

the history of the CCCU and my associational

conveyed. Thank you, Vice Chair Pollard,

House, President Carter was invited to

leadership career have actually run on

for your moving prayer of dedication

deliver the commencement address at

parallel tracks from the very beginning for

and for your excellent leadership as our

a small Christian college in Japan. He

both of us. Sometimes our two tracks ran

incoming chair. Thank you, Dr. Zylstra, for

wanted to start with a joke but knew it

close together, sometimes they moved a bit

leading the CCCU presidential search and

needed to be a short joke because a

further apart though still always parallel, but

for sharing Scripture today.

translator would be translating it into

today they converge into a single high-speed

Japanese, hence making it twice as long.

rail into the future.

to my friends and long-time respected

The best he could come up with was

As the student newspaper editor and

colleagues NAICU President David

a joke that really wasn’t very funny.

Warren and ACE President Molly Corbett

However, as the translator translated it

Broad for your gracious greetings. Today

into Japanese, the audience laughed

I declare anew the CCCU’s commitment

uproariously. They chortled and cheered.

to partner with you and your vital

Some were literally rolling in the aisles

organizations in our common causes and

in mirth. At a reception following the

my joyful anticipation at working closely

speech, the puzzled President Carter

with both of you as highly respected

sought out the translator to find out what

higher education leaders. And I am

was in the translation that made the joke

so grateful for the special messages

so funny. The translator was reluctant

conveyed by two of my special friends

to respond but, after the president

to faithfully and prayerfully discharge

Let me express special appreciation

persisted, finally admitted that he had said this: “President Carter just told a joke. It really wasn’t very funny. I’ll not waste your time repeating it. But please

Special Chronicle of Higher Education Feature The CCCU presidential inauguration of Edward O. Blews, Jr., was featured in a special story in The Chronicle of Higher Education. To see that coverage, go to

http://go.cccu.org/chronicle-blews.

but that sounds too much like an auto

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

laugh very hard, so as not to hurt the president’s feelings.”

then the student body president at Seattle Pacific University many years ago, I participated in special journalism and student leadership workshops sponsored by the Christian College Consortium (the CCCU’s predecessor), which had just been founded. Throughout the ensuing decades of my independent college associational leadership in Washington state and Michigan, I have been privileged to serve and represent CCCU Christian colleges and universities among our members—great institutions like Calvin College, Cornerstone University, and Spring Arbor University. Through the years, I have enjoyed working with the CCCU, most recently as a member of its board. In my eyes and experience, the CCCU has always been a very special

So if I share any humor in this speech,

and excellent organization. As I read again

please laugh very hard so as not to hurt

James Patterson’s compelling history of the

the new CCCU president’s feelings.

CCCU, Shining Lights, it occurred to me that

Please also bear with me as I frequently

I have been a witness to that history.

refer to the CCCU and perhaps

It also occurs to me that I may be the only

inadvertently add or delete a “c.”

person in this audience who has actually

INAUGURAL ADDRESS

CCCU presidents. Today I stand in a special line of legacy of leaders of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities. Going forward, I stand on the shoulders of these remarkable leaders, pillars of the faith, and champions of the cause. Let us pay tribute today to the invaluable contributions of each of these former CCCU Presidents: first president Gordon Werkema; second

“

At one point I answered my phone to hear a commanding female voice that sounded suspiciously like Kim Phipps saying, “Ed. This is God. And she is calling you to the CCCU –EDWARD O. BLEWS, JR. presidency.”

president John Dellenback; third president

“

known personally each of the prior five

Myron Augsburger; fourth president Bob

had wonderful positions with terrific

perhaps we should skip church the next

Andringa, my good friend who sends

organizations and a dream house backing

morning to continue praying together in

special greetings from Arizona. And I am

onto a spring-fed lake with backyard

private. First, Debra agreed. Then a look

delighted that our fifth CCCU president

swimming in the summer and ice-skating

came over her face, and she said, “No. I

and my good friend Paul Corts, and Diane

in the winter. The future looked bright. We

suddenly have this sense that we must go

Corts, have joined us today. Thank you, Dr.

were not looking to leave Michigan. Then

to church. We will learn the answer there.

Corts, for your service and for your inspiring

God came calling.

Let’s stop talking and thinking about it and

clarion call to “keeping the main thing the main thing” during your presidency.

Actually, first Kim and Carl came calling. They declared that the CCCU search

get a good night’s sleep.” The Lord speaks to Debra through the quiet voice of the Spirit. He generally has to shout at me.

The CCCU search committee has

committee and board felt prayerfully

selected a presidential partnership and a

called to seek me out for the CCCU

CCCU couple. I am proud to acknowledge

presidency. Like you, Debra and I are

Walking into church, we were handed the

my not-so-silent partner, Debra McKenna

people who live under call, and after

bulletin, which we shall always keep and

Blews. As you have heard, she also holds

extensive conversations, we agreed to

treasure. The cover featured concentric

a law degree and recently completed

pray about it. We love the CCCU but had

circles with the word “Jerusalem” in

an LL.M. degree in international law at

long-term commitments to Michigan

DePaul University. We met as students

and our work there, to which we had felt

at Seattle Pacific University. She serves

called years ago. At one point I answered

on the board of two CCCU institutions:

my phone to hear a commanding female

Spring Arbor University and Asbury

voice that sounded suspiciously like Kim

Theological Seminary. Our marriage, like

Phipps saying, “Ed. This is God. And she

our lives, is a high adventure. We are

is calling you to the CCCU presidency.”

proud to say that all four of our kids have been educated in Christian colleges. Sappy as it may sound, Debra is the love and anchor of my life. The CCCU is deeply ingrained in our DNA. The call to the CCCU thrills and excites both of us.

After much pondering, Debra and I decided to totally devote an entire weekend to praying, discussing, and seeking God’s will and a vision about the CCCU presidency. We prayed. We searched the Scriptures. We talked with

We have been waiting for this special

our two sons and two daughters, whose

occasion to tell the full dramatic story of

wise counsel we value. We wrote out the

God calling us to the Council for Christian

reasons for staying and the reasons for

Colleges & Universities.

going. We talked and talked. And God

Debra and I were living an exciting, full, fulfilling, and good life in Michigan. We

seemed silent. Late that Saturday night, I suggested that

And the next morning he did just that.

the middle and, in the widening bands, “Judea,” “Samaria,” and “All the World.” We looked at each other. Michigan was our Jerusalem, the Washington, D.C., headquarters of the CCCU was our Judea, the nation was Samaria, and “All the World” was the reach of the CCCU. We settled into the pew in nervous and awesome anticipation. The call to worship included the line, “We seek God’s guidance, love, and direction that we might go where God calls us to go.” The hymn of preparation was “How Great Thou Art,” my favorite hymn and that of my grandfather, Dr. R.R. Blews, who was the president of two Christian colleges and the academic dean of another. The hymn of preparation was “Be Thou My Vision.” The offertory prayer included the plea: “Help us to live

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

INAUGURAL ADDRESS

“

I believe that the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities is poised to lead the collective cause of Christian higher education to new levels of stature, impact, and achievement, integrating academic excellence with faith and changing hearts, minds, and futures for people –EDWARD O. BLEWS, JR. the world over.

“

out the missions you have given to us in

line/Move the faithful spirits at the

all the places and ways you call us.” Our

call divine.

pastor then preached from Acts 1:1-8,

education to new levels of stature, impact, and achievement, integrating academic excellence with faith and changing hearts, minds, and futures for people the world over. We will embrace the challenges of the future with faith, enthusiasm, joy, energy, and confidence that Christ “who has begun a good work” in the CCCU “will carry it on to completion.” My professional life has been devoted to associational leadership and to advocacy of causes in which I believe deeply. I relish the opportunity to lead and advocate this great cause into an exciting future. This thing we call the CCCU truly stands

As we sang those prophetic and powerful

out as a remarkable organization with a

words, as we thought about the faithful

dynamic membership of 172 outstanding

spirits through the ages in both our

Christian colleges and universities,

heritages, particularly my grandfather,

a critical advocacy mission, superb

Dr. R.R. Blews, and Debra’s father, Dr.

BestSemester study programs in the

David L. McKenna, great leaders in

United States and around the world,

Christian higher education, the call to the

invaluable conferences and services

CCCU presidency, the call to go “forward

for its members, and a compelling

through the ages at the call divine,” was

communication strategy. It is served by a

Each Other,” which seemed totally out of

confirmed beyond doubt.

visionary and engaged board of directors

context. Then the pastor announced that

So here we are by the grace of God. After

he felt led to change the closing hymn to

28 years of leading a very special state

“Forward Through the Ages.”

association in a cause and a state we

Let me share part of those lyrics

love, Debra and I now go global with a

declaring that God calls all to serve in our Jerusalems but some, perhaps even someone in the congregation today, to go out to the ends of the earth. Tears in our eyes, Debra and I were overwhelmed by the sense, the certainty, that God was calling us to the CCCU. But one thing puzzled me. The bulletin identified an odd closing hymn, “Help Us to Accept

because they will be the inspiration of

new love in one of the great organizations

my CCCU presidency:

of the world. What an awesome blessing

Forward through the ages, in unbroken line/Move the faithful spirits at the call divine/Gifts in differing measure, hearts of one accord/Manifold the service, one the sure reward. Wider grows the kingdom, reign of love and light/For it we must labor, till our faith is sight/Prophets have proclaimed it, martyrs testified/Poets sung its glory, heroes for it died. Forward through the ages, in unbroken

collective cause of Christian higher

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

it is to lead the collective cause of Christian higher education on the national and international scene. We are so tremendously enthused and energized by this amazing opportunity to help lead a wonderful movement.

of highly respected leaders and a deeply dedicated professional staff. Many of those professional staff are here today, and I am honored by the privilege of becoming their leader. The CCCU is more than simply an organization. It is a cause and a worldwide movement. Our colleges have a profoundly positive economic and educational impact, providing 400,000 students a year a high-quality education. They are academically excellent and rigorous institutions. They

Certainly, these are challenging times

produce alumni who are leaders and

in higher education and for Christian

contributors in all sectors of our society

colleges. But the challenges of the

and economy. They produce persons

future intrigue and inspire us. I believe

committed to serving their communities

that the Council for Christian Colleges

and our society. They are a great asset

& Universities is poised to lead the

for this nation and world.

INAUGURAL ADDRESS

Christian colleges and universities play

powerful, enthusiastic, joyful, courageous,

a unique role in advancing the kingdom

indefatigable, unapologetic, winsome

of God by ministering to the mind as

advocate for the great cause of Christ-

well as the heart, and by educating the

centered higher education wherever

heart as well as the mind, by integrating

decisions are made affecting us, whether

faith with learning. Historically, higher

in the halls of Congress, the corridors of

education in this nation began grounded

the White House, the chambers of the

in the conviction that God is the beginning

courts, or any other forum. We will not

and the source of wisdom. Harvard

be daunted by any challenge; we will not

University’s founding purpose was to

be intimidated by any force. We will be

“prevent an illiterate clergy when our

the happy warriors for a great and godly

present ministers shall lie in the dust.”

cause. We will defend the religious liberties

One of our nation’s seminal documents,

and protect the Christ-centered missions

the Northwest Ordinance, declares,

of our colleges. We will partner with

“Religion, morality and knowledge being

respected organizations like NAICU and

necessary to good government and the

ACE in support of student financial aid and

happiness of mankind, schools and the

on so many issues of common cause.

means of education shall forever be encouraged.” The CCCU’s Christ-centered colleges and universities truly and faithfully integrate academic excellence with biblical truth.

2) The CCCU will make the compelling and comprehensive and persuasive case for Christ-centered higher education, and we will communicate it articulately and powerfully and effectively to all who need to

My friend, Dr. Carl Zylstra, earlier read

hear it, to all who make decisions affecting

the CCCU’s theme scripture for this year,

us. We will be a great communicator.

Colossians 1:9-17. “He [that is, Christ] is before all things [he goes before us always], and in Him all things hold together.” He is the integrative power of faith and learning. He is the ultimate source of knowledge and wisdom. He is our beginning and our end. In Him, all things hold together. So shall we be centered in Christ. Proverbs declares that a people without vision will perish—so, too, will an organization.

3) The CCCU will strive to be, we will be, a great association, the very best we can possibly be, superbly serving our members in advocacy, in communications, in professional development and research, in student programming, in cost-saving initiatives. We will always be on the prowl for new and better and creative ways to serve our members. We will perpetually prove our worth. 4) The CCCU will enthusiastically lead centered higher education. We will match

CCCU, permit me to highlight six visions

and mingle our North American Christian

for this organization. These are my

colleges with our international Christian

presidential pledges to our members, our

colleges, with all becoming better

associational aspirations. This is not just

because of the connection to the others.

has been developed with enthusiasm in consultation with our board of directors. 1) The CCCU will be the persuasive,

6) The CCCU will celebrate, model, exemplify, research, protect, advance, and encourage the rigorous integration of faith with scholarship in all disciplines as the profound distinctive of Christian higher education. We will be an incubator, a lab, a spark plug, an advocate for the integration of faith and learning. And we will make not just the spiritual case but the educational case and the economic case for the integration of faith and learning. With that as our vision, today we embrace the future with joy, hope, and enthusiasm in the privilege of serving Christian higher education. We want to conclude this inauguration by proudly featuring our CCCU BestSemester Contemporary Music Center in Nashville. Warren Pettit, our Contemporary Music Center director, has graciously agreed to close this inauguration by leading us in the hymn by which God called me to the CCCU presidency, “Forward Through the Ages.” There’s nothing quite like a congregation singing a great hymn to commemorate a special occasion. Thank you. And may God graciously bless each one gathered at this event.

the great global movement of Christ-

As we inaugurate this new era for the

my vision; it is our vision, a vision that

opportunities in the United States through our CCCU BestSemester programs. These BestSemester programs offer our students a unique combination of academic excellence integrated with biblical faith in study abroad and domestic specialty study programs.

5) The CCCU will enable our member colleges themselves to be great global institutions offering their students great study abroad and specialty study

Watch

the

Video

To view the inauguration of Edward O. Blews, Jr., visit

http://www.cccu.org/inauguration.

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

Presidential Inauguration and

2013 Presidents Conference

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All photos by Victoria Ruan

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2013 PRESIDENTS CONFERENCE PLENARY ADDRESS

Christians Should Not Be Marked by Pessimism By Os Guinness During the 37th annual Presidents Conference, held January 30-February 1, 2013, the CCCU awarded Os Guinness with the distinguished Dellenback Global Leadership Award, named for John R. Dellenback, a businessman, naval veteran, four-term congressman, director of the Peace Corps, and the second president of the CCCU. Dellenback exemplified the highest standards of global Christian leadership. “I am pleased to present this award to Dr. Os Guinness,” said CCCU President Edward O. Blews, Jr. “Global leadership is not easily attained, but Os Guinness has consistently offered clear, calm, and insightful commentary that is consistent with his Christian faith and clearly exemplifies the qualities of the award’s namesake.” Born in China, raised in England, and now a resident of the United States, Guinness is a globally recognized scholar, social commentator, and prolific author, who has written or edited 38 books. His plenary address at the CCCU Presidents Conference, the text of which follows, was prompted by his latest book, A Free People’s Suicide: Sustainable Freedom and the American Future.

am deeply grateful and humbled. I remember John

after pessimism at all sorts of levels of this country, including the

[Dellenback] with great admiration and appreciation. I have

churches. It’s almost as if [the mentality is]: the election’s lost, the

had the privilege of going around many of your colleges, almost

culture wars are lost, [God’s] kingdom in America is lost.

always with great delight. Calvin in January? I should get my seasons better if I knew the country better. No, I have a great admiration for all you’re doing, and it’s a great privilege to be here again tonight. Talking of accents, a number of years ago I was speaking on the same platform as Tony Campolo. And Tony started his speech after I’d spoken by saying, “You know, this brother speaks for 20 minutes before you realize he’s not saying anything. I, with my Philadelphia accent, speak for 20 minutes before you realize I am saying something.”

Let me give you a little of my own response to where we are. In June 1940, the Battle of Britain was one of the turning points in World War II. Before the battle and after the battle, Winston Churchill gave two of his greatest speeches—the one afterward was about the airmen, the one before ended in the famous five words, “This was their finest hour.” In that speech he had two sentences that no one commented on at the time but which after the war set off a furious, fascinating debate among Christian thinkers in Europe. Churchill

It really is a great privilege to be with you. When Jenny and I came

said, “The Battle of Britain is about to begin. On the outcome of this

back from Oxford this summer, we were invited into the Congress

battle depends the future of Christian civilization.”

by one of the veterans there who had just read my book. He said to me, “I really like your book, but I have one strong disagreement. It’s far too optimistic. America doesn’t have five years before the decline is irreversible.” Since coming back this time, I’ve met pessimism after pessimism

Not so.

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After the war, people like Jacques Maritain, the philosopher; T.S. Eliot, the poet; Christopher Dawson, the historian; John Baillie; Emil Brunner; and many, many others debated such questions as: Did the victor really deserve the label “Christian”? What did it mean for any culture or civilization to call itself

LEFT: Kim Phipps, Os Guinness, and Edward O. Blews, Jr., after Guinness received the Dellenback Global Leadership Award. RIGHT: Sandra Gray (left) introduced Os Guinness before he gave his address at the 2013 Presidents Conference. All photos by Victoria Ruan.

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“

The second great task we’re facing is to

We need to explore the secret of the transforming power of the gospel in culture.

–OS GUINNESS

the West is anything special but because it is our Jerusalem. People look at the statistics today; anyone reading Barna and many of the others would think everything’s going downhill to disaster. But if you think for a minute, we are the

Christian? And above all, what were the

Let me set out a number of propositions

heirs of two—not one—earlier missions to

prospects of restoring Christian civilization in

tonight for you to think about, all of which

the West. The first was the conversion of

the West today?

could take much deeper thought, but at

Rome—three centuries and under the Holy

least to start you thinking in this way. First,

Spirit, the faith the Romans, considered the

hold in the back of your mind the grand

faith of provincial misfits, replaced the faith

tasks facing the church in the global era.

of mighty Rome itself. But of course, when

The Christian faith is the world’s first truly

the Western empire fell, so did much of the

global religion—the most numerous, the

Western church. And the Dark Ages were

most diverse. In many parts of the world,

truly dark.

When you read that debate 60 years on, it’s like a sunset debate. Just as the sun is most colorful and most glorious as it is setting, there are many topics which are very lively when they’re debated because the subject under discussion is about to

it’s the fastest growing. Our Scripture is

disappear. It would seem like that, because

the most translated and translatable book

today in Europe we’re further away than

in all history. There are many reasons why

they were then.

a global vision is at the very DNA of the

But that debate came back to mind two years ago. You remember a discussion that

Christian faith, the Great Commission, or even the promise to Abraham in Genesis.

The second mission to the West—winning Europe back again, parts of Europe for the first time—was the conversion of the Barbarian kingdoms, a story less known but equally profound. It was a time when it wasn’t a joke that the Irish saved civilization.

went around Christian college circles: Can

Yet we face three huge tasks. The first is

And of course, we’re living in the twilight of

we really change the world? One of your

to prepare “the global south.” We all know

that second mission.

colleges, I think, actually has the slogan,

the story of the explosion of the church in the

“Where world change begins.” As I see it,

global south, in Sub-Saharan Africa and in

for a generation now, preachers, speakers,

Asia. In particular, Asia—where I happened

and writers have used words like “changing

to be born—is the epicenter of the fastest

the world,” “transforming culture,” and so

growing movement of the church in 2000

on—as if saying it explained it, and all was

years, in Hunan province in China. But many

self-evident and as if we’re doing it.

people forget the sting in the tail of the story,

You remember the challenge created two years ago with those who were saying, “Change is not happening and probably will not happen if we go about it the way we’re doing it. To really do it well, you have to understand certain things such as...” and so on?

which is true and profoundly encouraging. They forget that most of the global south is pre-modern. What is done in the church in the West is largely a captivity to the

of sisters and brothers in the Dark Ages set out again to win back Europe, bringing the gospel and the Scriptures and literacy and all the fruits of the gospel, so do we dare to believe we can move out again—however dark the hour looks now—and win back Europe and win back the United States and Canada and so on and see the gospel prevail in the teeth of the challenges of modernity. The third great task is to contribute to the

[for those in the global south] is coming.

human future. I would just say very briefly

As many of the leaders of the church in

I’ve heard that debated in different parts of

fast outstripping discipleship, leaving a

the country. Often it leads people to either

church that’s truly—in the words of the

confusion or to a sense of pessimism.

Archbishop of Uganda—a mile wide and

Clearly, the gospel in the church has been

an inch deep. And we in the West have

the most powerful change agent in all of

to say with great humility, while we have

human history in the lives of individuals

greater resources than them still, part of our

and also in the lives of cultures. There is no

lesson to them is, “Don’t do what we did.

reason at all why that should not happen

Be aware of what modernity will do and be

again today if we live out the power of the

prepared to counter it with the integrity and

truth of the gospel with confidence.

effectiveness of a profound discipleship.”

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The question is today: just as those bands

advanced modern world. Thus, the challenge

the global south point out, evangelism is

win back the Western world—not because

here that the global era is leading to all sorts of convergent forces that are creating unprecedented challenges to humanity. We who are Christians—and certainly we who are evangelicals—have a great record in tackling evils, injustices, and oppression. But the challenge today is to look at these even greater challenges—some of which are more abstract—and to really ask, “Under Christ, can we bring solutions to them for the sake of mankind?” My second proposition tonight is that you

2013 PRESIDENTS CONFERENCE PLENARY ADDRESS

consider the unlikely relationship of the

says, “My kingdom is not of this world.”

people only think of Christian civilizations

gospel to civilization. The Christian faith

He renounces force, which any civilization

in terms of the evil blind spots like the

is, of course, not necessary to civilization—

needs in order to rise, let alone preserve

Crusades, the Inquisition, the slaughter

just as we know that people don’t have to

itself. And clearly when we look at his

of the Albigensians, or the pogroms

know God to be good, so there have been

teaching, he’s not interested in half the

against the Jews. They forget the many

many civilizations that have never known

things that are on the front pages of our

or acknowledged our Lord: the Greeks, the

papers or on our television screens. Yet,

Romans, the Chinese, the Mayans, and

there is no question that faith in Christ has

many others.

produced one of the greatest civilizations

More than that, you can say that the

the world has ever seen.

Christian faith is unlikely to produce a

Today we have been told by people like

no other teacher, no other way, except to

civilization. Our Lord says in John 8, “I am

the late Christopher Hitchens that religion

the way of Jesus. It’s an unlikely yet very

not of this world.” Ten chapters later, he

is toxic and poisons everything, and

profound and important relationship.

distinctives that are the fruits of the gospel: the rise of philanthropy the like of which no other civilization has seen, the rise of the modern universities, the rise of modern science, the rise of human rights, and various other things which go back to

Rep. Tim Walberg Awarded CCCU Mark O. Hatfield Leadership Award During its 37th annual Presidents Conference, the CCCU named Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., the 2013 recipient of the Sen. Mark O. Hatfield Leadership Award, the CCCU’s highest recognition extended to an individual who exemplifies Christian leadership and integrity in service to others. Walberg was warmly introduced by Charles Webb, president of Spring Arbor University, as a keynote speaker. “It is an honor to accept this award, as I remember reading about Sen. Mark O. Hatfield and how he glorified his Lord and Savior in the halls of Congress,” Walberg said upon receiving the award. “I praise God that there are points in my life where someone encouraged me to follow the admonition of the Apostle Paul in Acts 20:24 to ‘finish my course and the ministry I received in the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.’ [This award] is an encouragement to keep pressing on in that admonition.” The award’s namesake, Hatfield, committed his life to politics after

Charles Webb (far left) introduced Tim Walberg (middle) before Walberg received the Mark O. Hatfield Leadership award and delivered his address. Webb and Walberg are pictured with Webb’s wife, Philippa Webb, Debra Blews, and Edward O. Blews, Jr. (far right). Photo by Victoria Ruan.

serving in the Navy during World War II. He was Oregon’s governor

Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill.

and secretary of state and also served the state with distinction for

During his acceptance speech and following plenary address, the

30 years in the U.S. Senate.

third-term congressman repeatedly drew from lessons learned

Presenting the award to Walberg, CCCU President Edward Blews said that he “can think of no person who better exemplifies the kind of Christian character that we all desire to see among the graduates of our CCCU institutions.” Walberg, who serves as chair of the House Education and the Workforce Committee’s

at these institutions to provide examples of how he was prepared for every vocational opportunity in which he is now engaged. He cited a quote from a former professor that has been a convicting statement throughout his adult life: “Belief is not belief until it has affected your behavior, until it is translated into action.”

Subcommittee on Workforce Protections and is a member of the

“I stand here today to confirm the impact that you have on lives and

Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training, is

the future of students and alums like me,” he said, adding that he

a triple graduate of CCCU institutions, with degrees from Moody

is “delighted to see presidents of Christian colleges and universities

Bible Institute in Chicago; Taylor University in Upland, Ind.; and

leading forward in public policies as opposed to just accepting them.”

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Chinese Dissident, Now Christian, Shares Hope at CCCU Presidents Conference

Thirdly, go deeper. We need to explore the secret of the transforming power of the gospel in culture. There’s a movement around, including in this city, that says, “Jesus plus nothing,” but that’s actually too pious by half.

Twenty-four years after the last freedom-seeking student was driven from the streets by the brute force of the Chinese army, Chai Ling still remembers

other things in his time. What was it though? Again, people would say clearly it’s the power of God and that’s all we should say—no more, no less. Anything else would honor us too much and take the glory away from him.

Tiananmen Square. In 1989,

Yet I think if we look at the gospel as it changes

she organized thousands of

culture, yes, the ultimate and the supreme and

students there in an attempt

decisive power is the Lord’s. But what’s the secret

to force the government to

the church plays in its own humble servant way?

grant people liberty. The

C. S. Lewis explored it in terms of the way the

movement failed. This time,

Christian faith is unique in being both world-

she is bringing God.

affirming and world-denying at once. Some

“Growing up in China during the Cultural Revolution time, we were not allowed to know God,” she told those attending the CCCU’s 37th annual

Chai Ling at the 2013 Presidents Conference. Photo by Victoria Ruan.

Jesus himself talked about culture and many

faiths being world-affirming—Confucianism or naturalism—they only have this world. Other faiths like Buddhism are only world-denying; Buddhism is often described as the most gigantic “no” to human aspirations ever delivered.

Presidents Conference. “Even

But the Christian faith is both, not either/or.

to own a Bible could result in

Because of creation, we value so much in this

prison or a sentence to death.

world, and we love the gifts of God and the arts

All the things I wanted at Tiananmen Square—freedom and peace—I know now

and many other areas. But we have our fasts as

that God puts that in our heart, and we are searching for it.”

well as our festivals. We have sacrifice as well

Ling, the closing speaker for the conference, described the initiatives she has launched to bring freedom and healing to China through her organization All Girls Allowed. Her vision is for China to experience the freedom and healing found in Jesus Christ. “The mission we have in Jesus’ name is to restore life, value, and dignity to girls and mothers and to reveal the injustice of the one child policy,” Ling said. “We want to expose the tragedy, rescue those mothers and girls and heal their wounds, and see healing come to China.” Ling has been nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize. She believes a sweeping movement of the Holy Spirit across China has begun and will result not only in the salvation of millions of people but also an increased valuation of human life. “So what can we do together?” she asked the Presidents Conference audience.

as fulfillment and joy. And Lewis points out how distinctive and how decisive and how powerful this is in culture. I think there’s no question that the deepest exposition is St. Augustine’s “the City of God living in the city of man.” Ultimately, these are mutually exclusive but here and now are intermingled. Of course, St. Augustine is taking after our Lord’s words that we are, as he prayed to be, “in the world but not of the world.” Now as you know, that little phrase is picked up so often: “in, not of.” “Not conformed,” Paul says, “transformed by the renewing of our minds.” Or as the early church put it about the Exodus, they were told to plunder the Egyptian gold but not to

“First we can recognize that Jesus won the justice and peace 2,000 years ago on

set up a golden calf.

the cross and that we need to go in faith and take the land as Joshua did.”

We are against the world, for the world, as the

“You can also join us in prayer and in raising awareness on your campuses, as well

Harvard statement puts it more recently. And I’m

as reaching out to Chinese students on your campuses so that they can return to China as missionaries and share the hope and Good News of Jesus Christ.”

sure I have—and many of you have—probably used those words. They roll off so nicely. But actually, it’s when you explore when that’s actually lived out that you see the secret of the

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we’re in the world and of it, we’re so worldly we’re impotent. And that’s the state of much of the American church today. When we’re so not of the world that we’re not in it, we can play no part. But when we’re truly in but not of, there’s a creative tension with culture that is culture-shaping and culture-generating.

“

Before God speaks, things look terrible. Five minutes after he speaks, the whole landscape has changed. We should never, ever be people of pessimism.

Obviously, behind that is a nest of things:

“

church’s part in transforming culture. When

-OS GUINNESS

a commitment to engage with the world,

Scriptures and at history, I don’t discount

last first; the humble exalted, the exalted

a discernment of the world that knows it

those for a minute. You can see the Apostle

humbled. You want to be first? Be the

at its best and its worst and can choose

Paul, for example, always aiming for Rome,

servant of all. Our Lord turns everything

between them, and then a great refusal to

the center of everything in the Roman world.

upside down. And we too should pursue

go with the world at its worst. Do we have

our utmost for his highest, but always open

that engagement today? Yes, in many parts.

At the same time, we can see in the book

Do we have that discernment today? No,

of Acts and throughout the New Testament

in many parts. And do we have that grand

and down through the history of the church

refusal today? No, again, in many parts.

certain dynamics which are unique to the

Not surprisingly, the church in America is

How does the gospel get to Africa? The

The third thing that I see looking particularly

not at that point of culture-shaping power

Spirit speaks to Phillip. How does the gospel

at history, in this case, is that great culture

born of the creative tension of being in the

get to Europe after Africa? Paul wants to go

is almost always a byproduct of faithfulness,

world as the City of God but in the city of

to Bithynia, or Asia Minor. He’s checked,

not a goal. Wilberforce is a hero of many

blocked, frustrated. The Spirit opens the

of us. He was a friend of my great-great-

door and gives him the vision of the man

grandfather. But Wilberforce is very unusual.

from Macedonia. As one historian said,

As you know, slavery was abolished three

“When an unknown rabbi crosses from

days before he died. One man at his memorial

Troaz to Philippi, that put more of a stamp

said, “How extraordinary that the termination

on world history than the great sea Battle of

of his life and the termination of his labors

Actium, which settled the fate of the Roman

coincided.” That isn’t many of us. And that’s

you, that what was set out brilliantly and

Empire a few miles away.”

not Hebrews 11.

accurately was the secular understanding of

How did the gospel get to us gentiles? Peter

The Hebrews heroes were people who

didn’t want to come to us. But it was the

died living by faith and seeing something

Spirit who blew apart the prejudice of Peter

beyond the horizon of their lives. They didn’t

man today. We need to explore that and examine where our churches today are. Fourthly—and now I’m engaging directly with that discussion two years ago—we need to count on the dynamics of the advance of the kingdom. In that discussion two years ago, you’ll remember, many of

how ideas change society. Through scholars like Randall Collins, we know now, with an astuteness previous generations didn’t, how ideas shape culture. You remember

kingdom. First, it is the Spirit who leads.

and sent him down to the centurion in

to God’s surprising reversals, which will be completely different because his ways are far higher than our ways. His thoughts are far higher than our thoughts.

figure out their legacy as we are called to do

Caesarea. The Spirit was in the deed.

with so many stupid seminars today. They

rather than followers, through the center

Now let’s be frank. After the Enlightenment,

they died in faith. And God prepared a city

of a culture rather than the periphery, and

with all our McKinsey-style management

for them because of that forward looking.

through networks rather than through

and so on, much of the church could run

And by and large, great culture is not

individuals or institutions.

without the Holy Spirit today. And for us

because we’re aiming to do it as a goal, as

advanced modern people with our elite

an objective, but as men and women follow

education—and I’m not mocking it; I thank

their calling—their utmost for his highest.

God for it—we’ve got to relearn to be daily

They’re musicians, they’re novelists, they’re

and moment-by-moment in touch with the

scientists, and they’re politicians.

the three main ways: through leaders

Those are thoroughly accurate ways of saying it. But they are ways of saying it— put in the language of Ecclesiastes—only “under the sun.” In other words, they’re accurate as far as they go within a secular

Spirit of God. And I speak to myself.

trusted God and pursued their vision. And

What’s the result? What we call great

framework. But they are not the secrets

Secondly, the kingdom advances through

Christian culture—the music of Bach and

of the advance of the dynamics of the

surprising reversals. Yes, there are leaders,

novels of Dostoyevsky or whatever—is the

kingdom. Now you might have your own

but at the same time, as we know, not many

byproduct of people who pursued these

ways of putting it, but as I look at the

mighty, not many wise; the first last, the

secrets of the kingdom. And of course the

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“

We need to wrestle with where we are today, but wrestle by going back to our Lord, back to the Scriptures, and asking if we have all that our Lord wants to teach us and give us today.

“

-OS GUINNESS

kingdom—again, my son is at McKinsey; I

evils the church has ever perpetrated on the

don’t mock McKinsey, but they figure out

world: the Inquisition, the slaughter of the

everything, don’t they—vision, mission,

Albigensians, the pogroms, and so on. They

goals, timeline, budget, next steps, and of

lost the prophetic critique. You can see in a

course you have to end—and many of you

smaller way that when evangelicalism grew

do—with measurable outcomes. But the

too successful it lost its prophetic critique.

kingdom is not about organizations. It’s about organic things like seeds growing automatically. And that’s a thing we need to relearn in our time.

happen in 2070 and 2050 and so on and so on. But of course, that means that that moment when the future hits the present, you have to seize it now or you’re lost. Everything’s the urgency of the now. So of course it creeps into everything—relevance. The newest is the truest. The latest is the greatest. And a whole lot of nonsense comes out of it. Actually, if you think about it, two of the greatest movements in the West—which were both profoundly progressive—were movements of recovery and restoration, the Reformation and the Renaissance. Both went back—the Renaissance to the roots of classical learning, the Reformation to our Lord and to the Scriptures and so on. Both of them were powerful in going forward, but first by going back because the cultures of

The second great lesson may be more

their time had gone astray.

obvious, although often considered a

I remember when Billy Graham went to the

truism: the darkest hours truly are just before the dawn. That’s the story of

Soviet Union, and one of the World Council of Churches officials critiqued him savagely

One last point: We’re at a place where

every revival. Think of the late 1790s with

we can learn the lessons of Christian

Jefferson predicting Unitarianism would

engagement with culture. The overarching

sweep America, and evangelicalism, he

lesson, of course, is that there is no single

thought, would disappear. Then came

Christian culture. There is no golden age in

the Second Awakening. And Unitarianism

the past. Our golden age is ahead. But let

almost disappeared. The early 19th century

He’s exactly right. We need to go

me mention three of the most surprising and

was the Evangelical Century. Before God

forward today by going back. Can we?

rather paradoxical lessons of 2000 years of

speaks, things look terrible. Five minutes

Is it conceivable that we have the full

the church’s engagement with culture.

after he speaks, the whole landscape has

understanding of the gospel that we should

changed. We should never, ever be people

and yet we are so pathetically weak in

of pessimism.

culture? Something must be wrong. We

First, times of success carry the seeds of the worst disasters. Augustine talked of

for his simple preaching, finishing with the remark, “Dr. Graham has put us all back 50 years.” Billy heard this and made the remark, “I wish I’d put us back 2000 years.”

need to wrestle with where we are today, but

the City of God, the city of man. But when

The third little lesson runs again directly

wrestle by going back to our Lord, back to

Christendom arose, it was the first fully

counter to our modern mentality. The

the Scriptures, and asking if we have all that

consistent Christian culture. One historian,

church always goes forward best by going

our Lord wants to teach us and give us today.

who happened to be the uncle of the

back first. That’s dead against our modern

first Holy Roman Emperor, wrote, “I set

mentality. In the old days, people had the

about writing the story of two kingdoms,”

past, the present, and the future, but the

obviously thinking about St. Augustine, “but

one they knew about was the past. It had

now I know I’m only writing the story of one

happened. It was in the can. They didn’t

kingdom, Christendom.”

know much about the present around the

But you see what happened? When the church forgot that we’re the City of God within the city of man, they lost the prophetic critique. It’s no accident that out

century, and all sorts of things are going to

rest of the world and knew nothing about the future. Now, though, we have instant total information about the present. We know everything as it’s happening.

Let me draw this to a conclusion. At that fascinating debate 60 years ago, Christopher Dawson, the historian who has a magnificent view of things, raised the question in one of his contributions: “If the church has gone cold twice, is it conceivable that she can be warmed again?” And he answered like this, “Every Christian would say, ‘Yes, the church can be warmed again.’ But we shouldn’t answer too

of the heart of Christendom, the first fully

Now we also have our futurists. You can

quickly or too lightly because it could well

consistent Christian culture, came the worst

read books on the whole of the next

be that on the outcome of that question this

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

2013 PRESIDENTS CONFERENCE PLENARY ADDRESS

time depends the future not just of Christian civilization in the West but the future of

Warner Pacific College Recognized Green Scholars Initiative Leadership for Commitment to Racial Harmony

humanity itself.” I think he’s right. One of the world’s great questions for us

CCCU President Edward Blews

is: Can we at the heart of the advanced

named Warner Pacific College in

West—truly looking modernity in the white

Portland, Ore., the recipient of

of the eyes—discern what we’re up against,

the CCCU’s prestigious Robert

at its best and at its worst, and then under

and Susan Andringa Award for

the Lord have such a caliber of discipleship

Advancing Racial Harmony, citing

and outreach that we can prevail over the

the college’s commitment to be

greatest challenges that we see now and

a “community of diverse learners

that are coming? You great leaders in the

and a community of grace-

Christian colleges, that is your privilege—

centeredness that loves the city

preparing the next generation for that. A number of years ago I was at Stanford and a student asked me—I’d never been asked this before—“If you could be a member of any generation except the one you’re born in, which one would you choose?” I thought for a minute, and all sorts of fancy answers flashed through my mind. I’m a great admirer of the Athens of Pericles and the

and all those drawn to the city.” Andrea Cook at the 2013 Presidents Conference. Photo by Victoria Ruan.

Warner Pacific College President

Andrea Cook received the award from Blews during the final day of the CCCU’s 37th annual Presidents Conference. The CCCU Board of Directors established the award in recognition of the CCCU’s fourth president and his spouse. It is given annually to a member institution that exhibits a commitment to racial harmony and reconciliation and to enhancing racial and ethnic diversity within and beyond the campus. A monetary award, for use within the institution’s mission, accompanies the honor.

Rome of Hadrian, certainly of the America

In recognizing the institution, Blews shared several ways in which the college exhibits

of your founders, and the England of the

its commitment to racial harmony, reconciliation, and diversity.

18th century with William Pitt and William Wilberforce—it all flashed through my mind. But the answer I gave was, “I’d like to be a member of your generation.” The generation you are educating is described today as the Crunch Generation. As these global trends converge— economics, technology, environment—they are going to provide a crunch for humanity. If this next generation answers them well,

“Building off its mission statement, dedicating itself to providing an education to students from diverse backgrounds, the college’s board of trustees, under the leadership of Dr. Cook, has committed itself to being a community of diverse learners,” noted Blews. He said the institution was one of the first in the country, beginning in 2008, to significantly restructure tuition and financial aid to increase access for underserved students. As a result, Warner Pacific has seen a drastic increase in the enrollment and retention of minority students in traditional undergraduate, adult degree, and graduate education programs.

they’ll [welcome good] sailing for the world.

“I believe calling comes to and from a location,” Cook said in her comments

If they don’t answer them well or if they

while accepting the award on behalf of the college. “We are located in a beautiful,

just drift and don’t answer them at all, the

progressive, diverse city, yet we were operating in a mindset that was completely

world is in for extremely rough sailing. You

incoherent with where we were. We’ve undertaken a number of initiatives to address

are educating the Crunch Generation. By

our situation in a number of different ways.”

God’s grace we have to give them all they can have in Christ so that they may go out, however dark the times are, with hope and

Warner Pacific offers Oregon’s only full-tuition, full-need urban leadership scholarship program, the Act Six Leadership and Scholarship Initiative, and has

with confidence to play their part.

pursued a number of community partnerships with local high schools where college

Thank you and God be with you all.

community service projects are also helping the college build solidarity with people

students serve as tutors and mentors for students at risk. Ongoing learning and in the city.

To hear the audio of Os Guinness’ plenary address at the 2013 Presidents Conference, visit www.cccu.org/advance.

“This award means more than you can ever know for the Warner Pacific community,” Cook said. “This is an award that says, ‘Love your city, embrace your place, keep serving the Lord.’ The journey has been remarkable, but we feel we’ve only just begun.”

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

Faith, Learning and the Media oF hope an InternatIonal ConferenCe

november 5-7, 2013 lippo Village Karawaci (Jakarta) Indonesia

Come share your ideas about journalism, media, teacher preparation and instructional leadership with scholars who share your faith in Jesus Christ. Mix with people who are as passionate as you are about why they teach, what they are researching, and how they are equipping their students to make a difference in the world. Be part of the conversation. Change the world with us. Post conference trip is a 3-day, 2-night tour of Bali after the conference. the total cost is approximately $850 USD and includes meals, lodging and flight to Bali.

www.livingfor truth.org

AROUND THE COUNCIL

The News of the CCCU Offices

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & RESEARCH Mini-Grants for the Study and Teaching of Free Market Economics Awarded Through a $75,000 grant awarded to the

projects will provide new course material for

CCCU by an anonymous foundation in

CCCU business and economics faculty.

2012, the CCCU awarded 11 mini-grants to business and economics faculty at CCCU member institutions. The mini-grants will be used to enhance effectiveness in the teaching, scholarship, and practice of market economics.

are from the following CCCU institutions: Anderson University (IN), California Baptist University (CA), Cornerstone

118

MEMBERS

University (TX), George Fox University (OR), John Brown University (AR), Olivet Nazarene University (IL), Seattle Pacific

groups in Kenya’s informal settlements

University (WA), Wheaton College (IL),

and a manuscript intended for publication

and Whitworth University (WA).

Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations—and

University (MI), East Texas Baptist

include a study of entrepreneurial youth

free market capitalism—as espoused in

SPRING 2013

The faculty members receiving mini-grants

The projects funded by the 2012 grants

that examines the relationship between

CCCU MEMBERS & AFFILIATES

For more details about the grant recipients and

AFFILIATED COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES

their projects, visit www.cccu.org/minigrants

the distinctive emphases of Wesleyan

systematic theology. Other grant-funded

CANDIDATE AFFILIATES Pamela Giles Heads CCCU Center for Research in Adult Learning at Indiana Wesleyan University Pamela Giles has assumed the role of

four-year nursing degree program. In

executive director for the CCCU Center

addition to her role as the CRAL executive

for Research in Adult Learning at Indiana

director, Giles teaches in the IWU School

Wesleyan University (IN), as announced last

of Nursing.

semester by the CCCU in collaboration with IWU. The center serves Christian institutions by facilitating and encouraging research that will enhance the quality of Christ-centered adult programs.

Giles has studied at the University of Oklahoma in its adult and higher education program and has a Ph.D. in education from Walden University, with a focus in learning management. She has been a

Giles has worked in adult degree programs

frequent speaker on adult education issues

for 19 years as an administrator and

at regional and national conferences. Her

faculty member. She helped launch RN-

primary research focus is studying the impact

BSN completion programs at IWU and

adult degree completion programs have on

at Oklahoma Wesleyan University (OK).

the organizational behavior of faith-based

She also laid the foundation for OWU’s

colleges and universities.

INTERNATIONAL AFFILIATES

THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTIONS

172

TOTAL

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

AROUND THE COUNCIL

STUDENT PROGRAMS OF THE CCCU BestSemester Photo Contest Once again this year, BestSemester is hosting a photo contest. Winners of the 2013 contest, which was open to students who participated in BestSemester between fall 2010 and spring 2013, will be announced on the CCCU website in April. Hosted online, the photo contest allows the public to view entries almost immediately and vote for their favorite photos. Contestants were invited to submit photos reflecting their BestSemester experience and fitting into three categories: Adventure, Community, and Discovery. The 2012 BestSemester Photo Contest attracted 150 participants who submitted over 500 total photographs. The grand prize for “Best Overall” photo was awarded to fall 2008 Middle East Studies Program alumna BrittaLisa Gess, a

Youth, 2012 Best Overall Photo. By BrittaLisa Gess.

Seattle Pacific University (WA) graduate, for her photo “Youth,” depicting MESP students making

To view the winning 2013 photos,

friends with teenage soldiers outside a hostel in

visit www.bestsemester.com/photocontest.

East Jerusalem.

Classroom Expands for ASP and WJC Students in D.C. During Presidential Election Once every four years, Washington,

University] began streaming toward the

help but get caught up in the conversation

D.C., offers students at BestSemester’s

White House.” McClain compared the

of the city.”

American Studies Program and

atmosphere to a major sports team’s

Washington Journalism Center the chance

championship win that prompts its city

to experience the historic event that is

to go wild. “It didn’t seem to matter

a presidential election. On Election Day

your political view. Everyone was in a

last fall, some students skipped ASP’s

celebratory mood!”

quintessential election night pizza party in the student lounge to head into the action. ASP student Connor McClain, a junior from Hope International University (CA), was among the ASPers and WJCers who trekked over to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue that Tuesday night.

The Master’s College (CA), went to Maryland polling places to interview voters for her internship with The Washington Times. “This city is always the center of

Sydney Bickers, a WJC student, was also

national attention to some extent, but to

thrilled to be part of the crowd. Earlier

see it in its prime, firing on all cylinders, a

in the day, as part of her internship with

vibrant place where people know and care

the Georgetown version of the local

about current events and have opinions as

news site Patch.com, the student from

to the direction of our country—that was

Milligan College (TN) spent the day at

pretty exciting. I couldn’t have asked for a

polling stations interacting with voters for

better time to see this incredible city.”

“We were constantly checking the news on

an article on local charter amendments.

our phones on the trip over. Just about the

When her editor learned Bickers was at the

time we arrived, NBC began projecting that

White House that night, she asked Bickers

Barack Obama had won re-election. Cars

to tweet her experience to Patch’s twitter

were honking, people were yelling, and

feed. Reflecting on the day and her entire

students from [nearby George Washington

D.C. experience, Bickers said, “You can’t

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

Another WJC student, Keely Brazil, from

AROUND THE COUNCIL

India Studies Program Wraps Up Third Semester with Travel Across Northern India Students in BestSemester’s India Studies Program spend most of their semester living, working, and studying in Coimbatore, the second largest city in the state of Tamil Nadu in South India. Though there is plenty to explore in Coimbatore and the rest of Tamil Nadu, ISP Director Kirk McClelland insists An Aboriginal dancer performs during a traditional ceremony.

that to understand India, you must also travel

ASC Students Are Treated Like Family During New Trip to Booderee National Park

to the North. In December 2012, McClelland, program assistant Karmen Tam, and two faculty

For last fall’s BestSemester Australia Studies

who is Wiradjuri, another indigenous group

members from ISP’s partner institution,

Centre students, who spent three days living

of Australia. “Other indigenous cultures

Bishop Appasamy College of Arts &

with the aboriginal tribe that has called the

are eager to say, ‘let us tell you about

Science, led the fall semester ISP students

land of Booderee National Park “home”

our culture.’ Aboriginal culture is very

on a whirlwind, 15-day trip across Northern

for centuries, the park’s lush beaches and

different—they don’t give away their culture,”

India. The trip began in Hyderabad, the

rainforests were the backdrop for a cultural

Spragg said. “You have to earn the right to

capital of Andhra Pradesh, which boasts a

immersion experience unlike any other.

experience it. They are very private; they

wealth of Islamic history. Stays in Calcutta,

trust us because of our connection with

Varanasi, Agra, and Dehradun followed, and

Jennifer.”

the trip concluded in Delhi, the capital of

“A lot of foreign cultures, like Australia, make some sense to Western eyes,” said ASC

India.

Director Kimberly Spragg. “But aboriginal

“I absolutely loved our trip to Booderee

culture is totally different.”

because it gave us a chance to get out of

Johanna Copan, a Palm Beach Atlantic

the classroom and learn about the aboriginal

University (FL) senior, described the

people of Australia by spending time with

end-of-semester trip as “the icing on the

them,” said Bethany Sangl, an Eastern

cake” of an incredible semester. “All that

University (PA) senior. “The members of the

we learned about in our history and culture

Yuin tribe that we spent time with welcomed

classes made sense in a whole new way as

us as family and were very open with us

we traveled by train from South to North,”

about their lives.”

she said. “My view of India was expanded,

A joint agreement in 1995 between the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community and Environment Australia handed the park’s management rights back to the descendants of the Yuin Nation that had inhabited the area before the British arrived in Australia. Organized by ASC lecturer Jennifer

and I better understood the relationship

Newman as part of her Indigenous Cultures

Being able to experience firsthand the

course, the students’ visit to the Wreck Bay

values, lifestyle, and traditions of aboriginal

Aboriginal Community allowed them the

people is an invaluable complement to

rare opportunity to participate in traditional

the cultural emphasis portion of ASC’s

Ashley Ober, a junior at Messiah College

ceremonies and guided bush walks.

curriculum, said Spragg. Feeling respected

(PA), reveled in seeing the Taj Mahal for

by this vastly different culture helps

the first time, but she especially treasured

students learn to respect other cultures,

stops in lesser-known locations such as

she added.

Dehradun, a city nestled in the foothills of the

Students were particularly struck by the Yuin community’s willingness to include them in intimate cultural activities, said Spragg—a trust made possible through Newman,

and cultural differences between North and South India.”

Himalayas.

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

AROUND THE COUNCIL

“I loved being able to see some of the bigger tourist attractions, but some of the most meaningful pieces of the trip were not spent in the glamorous areas,” she said. “One of the things we did in each city was walk through the streets—not just the developed areas where Westerners might go, but through the neighborhoods and into their temples, where the majority live. The trip forced me to encounter pieces of India that I wish did not exist—the poor areas, the slums, the places where people are not properly provided for.” Through the trip’s challenges, triumphs, and memories, the faculty stressed the connection to experiences back in the students’ Western cities and on their Western campuses. “There are problems and challenges here,” McClelland tells his students every semester. “Where is that in your own country? How can you work for justice and peace?”

Fall 2012 ISP students and faculty at the Taj Mahal in Agra—a dream come true for many students.

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CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

see anew

AROUND THE COUNCIL

2012-2013 Fulbright Awardees

AZUSA PACIFIC UNIVERSITY (CA)

CALVIN COLLEGE (MI), CONTINUED

Matthew Gonzales

Lauren Manck

2010 graduate in political science, to teach in Spain

2012 graduate in chemistry, to study seagrasses at the

Margarita Ramirez

University of Cadiz in Spain

2012 graduate in political science, to research

Emily Pope

culture in the Azores island chain

2012 graduate in philosophy and interdisciplinary studies, to

Michael Smith

teach English in Turkey and to learn the Turkish language

Professor of theater, film, and television, to teach cinematic arts in Jordan

COVENANT COLLEGE (GA)

Mary Wong

Jonathan Wilson

Professor of global studies, sociology, and TESOL,

2006 pre-med graduate in community development,

to research English teachers in Hong Kong

Fulbright-Fogarty Fellowship in public health to research HIV-AIDS in Durban, South Africa

BETHEL UNIVERSITY (MN) Chris Goldsby

EASTERN MENNONITE UNIVERSITY (VA)

2012 graduate in business and Spanish, to use a

Sameh Albhaisi

study grant at a university in Mexico

Fulbright Student from Palestine, pursuing a Master of Arts

Bernie Missal

in education at EMU

Professor of nursing, to assist with a master’s

Cynthia Nassif

program at a university in Oman

Fulbright Student from Lebanon, pursuing a Master of Arts

Marge Schaffer

in conflict transformation from EMU’s Center for Justice

Professor of nursing, to assist with a public health and primary healthcare nursing postgraduate program in New Zealand

and Peacebuilding

Damjan Zdravev Fulbright Student from Macedonia, pursuing a Master of Arts

BIOLA UNIVERSITY (CA) Kartika Primasanti Fulbright Student from Indonesia, beginning a

in conflict transformation from EMU’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding

Master of Arts in education program at Biola

FRANCISCAN UNIVERSITY OF STEUBENVILLE (OH)

CALVIN COLLEGE (MI)

Elijah Ferbrache

Johnathan Bascom Professor of geography, to develop an electronic textbook with Ethiopian geographers in Ethiopia for university-level courses

Ryan DeVries 2012 graduate in international relations and Chinese, to teach

2012 Master of Science in education graduate, English Teaching Assistantship and research in Romania

GREENVILLE COLLEGE (IL)

English in an ESL classroom in Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Joshua Cranston

Young Kim

environmental sustainability at the University of

Assistant professor of history and classics, to study Epiphanius, a church father born in Palestine who was

2012 graduate in philosophy and history, to research Oslo in Norway

an expert in heresies, in Cyprus

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

AROUND THE COUNCIL

2012-2013 Fulbright Awardees (continued)

GREENVILLE COLLEGE (IL), CONTINUED

REGENT UNIVERSITY (VA)

Shannon Nakai

Mary Manjikian

2012 graduate in English with a TESOL certificate,

Assistant professor of government, to pursue her ongoing study

English Teaching Assistantship and researching English

at Durham University in the United Kingdom of the politics of

literature in Turkey

threat and how states organize against it

MALONE UNIVERSITY (OH)

SPRING ARBOR UNIVERSITY (MI)

Jack Ballard, Jr.

Matthew Kutz

Professor of music, chair of the department of music, and

Adjunct professor of management, to teach in the physiotherapy

coordinator of music production, to teach courses in music

department at Kigali Health Institute in Kigali, Rwanda

production and composition in Kenya and to work in music production in Nairobi

TAYLOR UNIVERSITY (IN)

NORTH PARK UNIVERSITY (IL)

Ron Benbow

Karen Kelly

year window during which he will be matched with a short-term

2012 graduate in global studies and French, English

overseas teaching opportunity

Teaching Assistantship in Andorra

John Moore

Nnenna Okore

Professor of biology, to teach in Cuenca, Ecuador

Professor of mathematics, Fulbright Specialist award, a five-

Associate professor and art department chair, to teach and work on environmental art projects with artists, galleries, and art organizations in Lagos, Nigeria, and to teach environmental art at the University of Lagos

Sandra Joireman

Michelle Wells

Kosovo and to research the role of political authority in the

2012 graduate in global studies with concentrations in Latin American and African studies, English Teaching

Professor of politics and international relations, to lecture in restoration of property after violent conflict

Assistantship in Colombia

Juliana Wilhoit

NORTHWESTERN COLLEGE (IA)

English Teaching Assistantship in Bulgaria

Justin Pannkuk 2009 graduate in religion, to conduct research in Germany on selected Aramaic Dead Sea Scrolls and the Book of Jubilees

Charissa Doebler 2012 graduate in ESL education, English Teaching Assistantship in Taiwan

WHEATON COLLEGE (IL)

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

2011 graduate in interdisciplinary studies and political science,

FROM CAPITOL HILL

Nonprofits as New Sources of Revenue?

“The CCCU will be the persuasive, powerful, enthusiastic, joyful, courageous, indefatigable, unapologetic, winsome advocate for the great cause of Christ-centered higher education

By Shapri D. LoMaglio, J.D.

wherever decisions are made affecting us, whether in the halls of Congress, the corridors of the White House, the chambers of the courts, or any other forum. We will not be

hough Congress has largely disagreed about how to solve the country’s financial problems, one idea that has drawn bi-partisan support from some members in both chambers to fill depleted government coffers is to reduce the tax deduction for charitable giving. Various forms for such a proposal have been set forth: from setting a ceiling on the amount of giving that can be deducted, to capping the rate for deductions lower than the highest tax rates, to setting a flat rate for all deductions, to allowing all giving up to a certain amount be deducted regardless of whether the taxpayer itemizes, to some combination or variation of these ideas. While one approach has not been settled on, this general idea was included in the BowlesSimpson National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform’s much-lauded proposal for debt reduction, was favored by both presidential candidates, and was proposed in many of the late attempts to stave off the “fiscal cliff.” The Bowles-Simpson plan would replace the current charitable deduction with a 12 percent non-refundable tax credit available to all taxpayers for contributions that exceed 2 percent of the taxpayer’s adjusted gross income. Gov. Romney favored an approach centered on capping all deductions at a flat

revenue by limiting the charitable deduction. Encouragingly, on February 14, the full House Ways and Means Committee held an extensive hearing on tax reform and charitable contributions that enabled six panels of representatives from various sectors of the nonprofit community to make the case for the charitable deduction. Witnesses pointed out that the charitable deduction is the only deduction that does not benefit the taxpayer, and it is not the taxpayer that would be harmed were this deduction diminished. Rather, the deduction benefits the wide variety of nonprofits throughout the United States, and

daunted by any challenge; we will not be intimidated by any force. We will be the happy warriors for a great and godly cause.” –CCCU President Edward O. Blews, Jr.

even a slight change in giving could have an impact on the scope of nonprofit organizations’ reach. In 2010, the $170 billion in charitable giving reported to the IRS is estimated to have reduced tax revenue by only $40 billion. Yet, experts estimate that for every dollar given to a nonprofit, society receives three dollars worth of benefit. Such effort is reflective of a larger interest by some government officials in attempting to widen the government’s stream of potential revenue sources to include nonprofits and nonprofit giving. The federal government has also considered taxing endowments, narrowing eligibility for 501(c)(3) status, and disaggregating the activities of tax-exempt organizations in order to restrict advantaged tax treatment to only some of a nonprofit’s activities. Some state and local governments are also viewing nonprofits as a potential source of revenue and have pursued efforts such as charging fees for public services, revoking nonprofit organizations’ tax-exempt

amount such as $50,000, while President

they, and the populations they serve, would

Obama has favored an approach that caps the

bear the burden of a change to the treatment of

rate of deduction at around 28 percent.

charitable giving in the tax code.

additional, previously untapped revenue.

Since the election, and now into the new

A change to charitable deductions is no small

Recent global moves could be seen as

Congress, these ideas are not off the table.

thing for taxpayers and nonprofit organizations.

foreshadowing future attempts to extend such

A reduction to the charitable giving deduction

In 2009, the U.S. nonprofit sector generated

revenue-generating techniques to religious

was already included in the legislation passed

$750 billion in economic activity (5.5 percent

nonprofits. For instance, Spain and Italy have

on January 1 to avoid the “fiscal cliff” by

of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product) and

recently attempted to tax churches by first

reinstating the Pease limitation—which

employed 13.5 million people (about one in 10

expanding definitions of property considered

decreases by 3 percent itemized deductions

American workers). Approximately 13 percent

commercial, and, thus, taxable, to include

for joint filers with income of over $300,000

of nonprofit revenue comes from donations.

schools, ecclesiastical structures, hospitals

and single taxpayers with income of over

Thus, every dollar donated creates almost

and clinics, parks, and more. They are even

$250,000—and some hope this is just the

another seven dollars worth of service to

considering taxing the value of property that is

beginning of the effort to generate more tax

society and stimulation to the economy, and

clearly used for non-commercial purposes and

status, and charging property taxes to generate

(continued on page 68) CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

R&D

Clarifying the Current State of Christian College Denominationalism by P. Jesse Rine, Ph.D

s detailed in an article that appeared in the fall 2011 issue of the CCCU Advance, church attendance among both mainline and evangelical denominations has declined over the past decade, and denominational loyalty among those who continue to attend church regularly has waned as well. After exploring how the relationship between churches and the colleges they sponsor has evolved over time, the article concludes by noting that the trends “point to a significant principle: the health of CCCU institutions is intimately tied to the health of the church.”

the presidential, trustee, and faculty level is noteworthy considering the recent decline of denominational financial support. Study findings regarding students, however, tell a somewhat different story. On the whole, students are not being encouraged to learn denominational perspectives through required coursework, nor is

Motivated in large part by this fundamental

phase sought to understand the beliefs,

denominational life receiving exclusive

truth, the CCCU assembled a team of

behaviors, and classroom practices of

support in the co-curriculum. Perhaps most

higher education scholars to explore the

faculty at participating institutions. The study

striking of all, denominational institutions

state of denominational affiliation among

concluded with a survey designed to uncover

are increasingly attracting a much smaller

CCCU institutions, the faculty they employ,

the perspectives of students attending

number of students from their sponsoring

and the students they serve. The CCCU

participating institutions.

denomination. The pace of change has been

Denominational Study was designed to build an empirical basis from which discussions about the role of denominational identity in Christian higher education can proceed.

CCCU Denominational Study shed light on the current state of denominationalism within the CCCU membership. Employment policies

quite rapid, with the number of enrolled students who identify with their institution’s sponsoring denomination decreasing in some cases by as much as 20 percentage points over the past decade. Though

This three-phase study has been led

at most church-related institutions serve to

by Perry Glanzer, associate professor of

maintain and support their denominational

educational foundations and resident

identities. For example, many of these

scholar at the Baylor Institute for Studies

colleges require that their leaders, such

of Religion, in consultation with a steering

as presidents and members of the board

committee that includes representatives

of trustees, belong to the institution’s

from a number of CCCU institutions:

sponsoring denomination. Moreover, most

In the coming months, Glanzer and his

Nathan Alleman, Baylor University;

of the participating institutions indicated that

research team will turn their attention from

David Guthrie, Geneva College; Timothy

they require at least a certain percentage

data collection to data analysis, at which

Herrmann, Taylor University; Jeff

of their faculty to hold membership in the

point the study’s three-part design will be

Hittenberger, Vanguard University; Jason

sponsoring denomination.

leveraged to understand denominational

Morris, Abilene Christian University; Todd

admittedly only one data point, this trend projects an ominous future for tuitiondependent institutions that rely heavily upon congregations within their denomination to supply students from year to year.

identity across institutional, faculty, and Institutional survey results also clearly

student dimensions. Complete study

indicate that Protestant denominations

findings will be reported at the 2014 CCCU

financially support their affiliated colleges,

International Forum on Christian Higher

as the majority of institutions participating

Education in Los Angeles. Our hope is that

The first phase of the study involved

in the study reported that they receive

the results of the CCCU Denominational

gathering institutional data from CCCU

annual appropriations from their sponsoring

Study will empower CCCU member

member schools regarding factors such

denominations. Equally clear, however,

institutions to better understand and

as denominational financial support for

was an overall trend demonstrating that

more successfully adapt to recent shifts in

operating budgets, student and faculty

denominations are providing less financial

denominational contexts.

denominational identification, and

support—both in terms of percentage of

requirements for membership on a school’s

institutional operating budget and with

board of trustees. Seventy-nine institutions

regards to total amount—than they were

agreed to complete the online survey of

a decade ago. Indeed, that these colleges

institutional factors for a response rate

and universities have continued their

of over 70 percent. The study’s second

commitment to denominational identity at

Ream, Indiana Wesleyan University; Laine Scales, Baylor University; and Laurie Schreiner, Azusa Pacific University.

Preliminary findings from phase one of the

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

P. Jesse Rine, Ph.D., is the CCCU’s director of research & grants initiatives. A graduate of Grove City College, Jesse also holds a master’s degree in teaching in Latin from Washington University in St. Louis and a doctorate in higher education from the University of Virginia.

FOCUS ON SCHOLARSHIP & RESEARCH

CCCU Scholars Study the World Through Fulbright Grant-Funded Research By Luke Reiter

geography survey. In February, he participated in a summit with as many as 70 geographers from institutions across Ethiopia. Bascom believes his return to Calvin is allowing time for organic development to take hold in the Ethiopian academic community. For his work to be truly successful, he says it has to be selfsustainable. “To write a book together, to be instigating a shared mission among academicians in Ethiopia is, I think, something much bigger than me, it’s much bigger than my research,” Bascom says. SHOWING THE ROPES OF Johnathan Bascom during his research trip to Ethiopia. Image courtesy of Johnathan Bascom, Calvin College.

DEMOCRACY TO YOUNG ROMANIANS

here is a reason a Fulbright grant comes

Bascom’s extensive travel in Ethiopia had made

How does a society haunted by memories of

with prestige. To be among the 1,200

him aware of the proliferation of universities

a ruthless regime reshape itself into one of

scholars from the United States awarded

in the country. Its schools now have more

collaboration and civic engagement? Start with

annually requires a rigorous application process

geography departments than any other African

summer camp, according to Jennifer Feenstra.

and a project proposal strong enough to endure

country. He also knew geographers there were

two rounds of cuts.

dealing with rampant mistrust and data sets that

Those who make it through, however, can tell

had not been updated since 1972.

The psychology professor from Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa, used her Fulbright grant to study the issue in Romania

you their participation in the global scholarly

“My mantra is addressing data poverty,”

last year. It had been on her mind since she

community resulted in some of the most

Bascom explains. “Data is often sequestered in

led a group of students there in 2005 to

memorable experiences of their careers. In

developing countries because of its power.”

work with the New Horizons Foundation, an

2011-2012, at least 14 professors from CCCU institutions took part in the international exchange, teaching and researching across four continents and three islands. Here are a few of

Partnering with Bahir Dar University in northwestern Ethiopia, Bascom began a digitally-published, comprehensive geography

organization that uses experiential education to teach Romanian teens to take responsibility for their communities.

of the country that includes updated data sets.

Communist rule in Romania left a generation of

An added benefit of the project’s reliance on

Romanians without any concept of citizenship

FINDING COMMON GROUND WITH

collaboration is that it provides an exercise in

skills, Feenstra explains. Instead, it taught

ETHIOPIAN GEOGRAPHERS

academic teamwork.

people to live in constant fear of a secret police

Receiving a Fulbright award is always exciting,

“As an academician from the United States,

but for Johnathan Bascom it is not exactly

and also from a Christian college, part of my

new. Bascom, a geography professor at Calvin

goal and hope was to model and encourage

“Under communism, no one trusted anyone else

College in Grand Rapids, Mich., received three

collegiality,” Bascom says. “My happiest

because you couldn’t,” Feenstra says. “You can’t

awards prior to last year. The first was for a

moments were when I saw it in action among

do democracy well if you don’t have trust.”

project in Sudan as a graduate student.

Ethiopian colleagues.”

This time, Bascom decided he wanted to take a

Trust takes time to build, and Bascom has found

networks, partnered with Babes-Bolyai

different approach from his previous research:

it tough convincing academics to share their

University in the city of Cluj to research the

rather than see what he could accomplish

data. But fortunately for Bascom, time is on his

effectiveness of New Horizons’ approach,

with a grant, he wanted to see what a national

side: he received a continuation on his grant that

which includes a week-long summer camp

assembly of Ethiopian geographers could do.

took him back to Ethiopia to resume the digital

that uses ropes courses and hiking to teach

their stories.

force that had eyes everywhere and no regard for civil rights.

Feenstra, who specializes in social support

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

FOCUS ON SCHOLARSHIP & RESEARCH

self empowerment and build trust. New

TRACKING THE LEGACY

Horizons also offers after-school programs

OF SAINTS IN CYPRUS

where teens learn to identify problems and perform community service projects. Despite a formidable language barrier, Feenstra produced conclusive evidence that New Horizons is effective in building citizenship skills. She is now working to publish her findings, and she hopes to build on her study long-term by tracking New Horizons alumni into adulthood.

While writing a book on the apostle Paul, Michael Cosby, a New Testament professor at Messiah College in Grantham, Penn., was struck by how little scholarly attention had been paid to Joseph Barnabas, whom Cosby identifies as likely one of the five most significant leaders of the early church and someone who mentored Paul. After writing Apostle on the Edge: An Inductive Approach to Paul, Cosby hatched a plan to use a Fulbright

In the more immediate future, the data

award to travel to Barnabas’s homeland of

Feenstra gathered showing New Horizons’

Cyprus in order to gain a more developed

Jennifer Feenstra at the New Horizons ropes course. Viata is the summer experiential education program. Image courtesy of Jennifer Feenstra, Northwestern College--Iowa.

impact could help the organization obtain

portrait of this first-century Christian.

Cosby traversed the island, interviewing

additional funding and support. Feenstra also thinks her findings should encourage the staff to keep up the good work.

In Cyprus, Cosby found Barnabas far from forgotten. He learned that Barnabas’s legacy, while revered, is often co-opted by Cypriots

Eastern Orthodox clergy, examining icons at churches and monasteries, visiting archeological sites, and poring over ancient texts in libraries. He also performed the

“I do hope it helps New Horizons

embittered by the nearly 40-year Turkish

first translation of the “Laudatio Barnabae

understand that yes, they are making a

occupation of the northern part of their island.

apostoli,” a panegyric, written in the sixth

difference,” Feenstra says. “Which I think

“Cypriot Christians primarily view Barnabas as

century A.D. by a Cypriot monk named

they knew, but it’s nice to see with real hard

a kind of warrior saint, someone to whom they

Alexander, that details Barnabas’s life and

numbers that it is working. It is doing what

pray and ask for him to rid the island of the

good works. Through all of this, Cosby found a

we were hoping it would do.”

Turks,” Cosby says.

portrait of Barnabas as anything but a warrior.

The Universal Language of Story: LAFSC Faculty Members Coach Fledgling Filmmakers Around the World By Kami L. Rice and Jeremy Casper

The mission of the Global Short Film Network—a collective of artists affiliated with Cru, formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ—includes coaching filmmakers, particularly outside North America, on crafting stories that speak to their culture. Through GSFN, BestSemester L.A. Film Studies Center faculty members Jeremy Casper and John Bucher have taught filmmaking seminars around the world to locals desiring to learn how to use film in ministry. “There’s not much advice I can give Christians in the Muslim world of Egypt. But I can teach them a language that tends to be understood across cultures, and that is the language of cinema,” says Casper. During a 2012 GSFN trip to Ukraine, Casper worked with artists who are reaching out to younger Ukrainians through online short films and media. Many of them already knew how to run cameras and interface with editing software, he notes, but they did not

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

know how to tell stories effectively. Filmmakers must understand “how the medium of film works and why the human psyche responds to story the way it does,” Casper explains. During the first week of each seminar, he teaches the basics of film. In the second half of the seminar, students select a track of study, such as the directing track taught by Casper, in which they learn how to effectively translate their scripted stories into fully fleshed-out films. Students spend the final seminar week shooting their freshly written short films. “Every time I teach abroad, I discover new cultural perspectives on how humans engage story,” says Casper. “So much of what I now teach at the LAFSC has come from the bits and pieces I’ve gathered from my teachings abroad. The basics of story have been in place for millennia and are understood universally around the world. What better way to learn story and prepare myself as an instructor than to teach it around the world.”

FOCUS ON SCHOLARSHIP & RESEARCH

LEFT: Patti Powell (far left) at the going-away party she threw for the graduating special education students. Image courtesy of Patti Powell, Trinity Christian College. RIGHT: Johnathan Bascom with students and professors in Ethiopia. Image courtesy of Johnathan Bascom, Calvin College.

“The little information about Barnabas in the

Each January for more than a decade Powell

New Testament indicates that he was good

has traveled with undergraduates to the

at forging compromise solutions to complex

Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf in

conflict situations regarding ethnic strife in the

Montego Bay, Jamaica. But when she birthed

church,” Cosby says. “He and Paul developed

the idea to apply for a Fulbright grant, instead

a theological position that addressed the

of focusing on music or sign language for the

difficult issue of Jews and Gentiles attending

project, she focused on another unspoken

the same churches and worshiping together.”

lexicon: actions.

Many of Cosby’s findings served to distinguish

Powell partnered with Sam Sharpe Teacher’s

from that I never ever expected would be

the historical facts about Barnabas from

College in Montego Bay for a study on the

a part of the experience,” Powell says. “So

legends that sprouted more than a millennium

impact of service learning techniques for

you win a few, you lose a few, but it was an

after his death. The results, Cosby says, may

student teachers at the school. “When I talked

experience that I wouldn’t trade for anything.”

prove unsettling for Cypriots with firm beliefs

about that with them, they got really excited

about Barnabas.

because Jamaica is a culture of giving back to your community and helping your neighbor,”

Now home, Cosby is working to spread his

Powell says.

scholarship through a number of journal

relationships grew with her colleagues and students, Powell says she learned to expect results on Jamaican time. “I had higher hopes than what actually happened in terms of the number of students who took me up on [service learning], but at the same time I think there were other things that happened and that I learned and I grew

As the first professor from Trinity to receive a Fulbright award, Powell returned to campus a strong advocate for the program, encouraging both faculty and students to explore their

The college was transitioning from a

opportunities. Although Powell took her

diploma-granting program to a four-year

undergraduates to Cuba this past January

degree program, and Powell, who holds

term, she intends to resume her service

through the years.

a Ph.D. in curriculum design, was also

learning project when she returns to Jamaica

perfectly positioned to help the school

in January 2014.

While the Cypriots’ conflict with the Turks is

redesign its coursework.

articles on the Cypriot-Turk conflict. His next work will be a lengthier exploration of how beliefs about Barnabas have developed

far from over, Cosby’s work helps clear the shroud of cobwebs and polemics from one of the most influential members of the early church, restoring a message of peace to the Patriarch of Cyprus. LEARNING BY SERVING IN JAMAICA Patti Powell specializes in communicating in situations where ordinary speech is not enough. She started her career teaching

“It takes more than a one or two time shot,”

While Powell made great strides working with

Powell says. “And I think my expectations

faculty on the curriculum, she encountered

were, ‘Oh yeah, we’ll get this, we’re going

challenges with her research, most significantly

to get 20 service learning projects off the

the simple fact that life moves more slowly in

ground, and then I can gather research

Jamaica. “It was just a very different way of doing things, and I had to get used to that,” Powell says. “I could write a schedule all I wanted but it wasn’t going to happen, and I would just have to go with the flow.”

music to students with disabilities before

At first Powell was surprised by events starting

joining the education department at Trinity

45 minutes late and classes that rolled on

Christian College in Palos Heights, Ill.

three hours later than scheduled. But as her

on how effective they were’––that just didn’t happen. That’s just how it is. That’s Jamaica.” Luke Reiter, a graduate of Bethel University (MN) and an alumnus of the CCCU’s BestSemester Washington Journalism Center, is an editor at a community newspaper covering the suburbs of St. Paul, Minn. He is also an adjunct instructor of journalism at Bethel.

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

PREPARATORY GUIDELINES

Stakes High for Teacher Preparatory Reform By Chris Turner

he U.S. Department of Education is poised to mandate guidelines for teacher preparation programs that could have broad-sweeping

ramifications across the higher education landscape, diminishing the role of state guidelines, affecting student grant eligibility, and potentially tarnishing university reputations in the process. CCCU campuses could be heavily impacted should the guidelines be implemented. CCCU President Edward O. Blews, Jr., pledges the Councilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s forceful advocacy on behalf of Christian colleges and universities in response to these challenges.Â 35

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

“The [Department of Education’s] proposal would create an intrusive

“revolutionary change,” rather than simple “evolutionary tinkering,”

federal role in higher education and add numerous reporting

in American university-based teacher training programs. In a 2009

requirements to state reports,” explains Janine Allen, dean of

speech at Columbia University, Duncan stated, “By almost any

education and counseling at Corban University, a CCCU member

standard, many if not most of the nation’s 1,450 schools, colleges,

located in Salem, Ore. Allen is also chair of the Oregon chapter of

and departments of education are doing a mediocre job of preparing

the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. In that

teachers for the realities of the 21st century classroom.”

role, she participated in a Capitol Hill advocacy day for this issue in Washington, D.C., last year. “This will ignore the autonomy of state

AGREEMENT THAT THERE IS A PROBLEM TO BE ADDRESSED

statutes to determine program quality. Such proposed regulations

Duncan’s statements were not new. In fact, most university

can marginalize the autonomy of the CCCU institution for mission-

officials had heard the statistical support for his speech when

centric work.”

first presented by Arthur Levine, president of the Woodrow Wilson

Discussions regarding teacher preparatory programs began in earnest in January 2012 between the Education Department and representatives from various sectors of higher education as well as teachers’ unions. The groups came to the table to address the growing need for colleges and universities to address what Education Secretary Arne Duncan sees as the need for

National Fellowship and former dean of Teachers College at Columbia University. Levine published his study “Educating School Teachers” in 2006. In it, he claimed that 62 percent of teaching alumni surveyed said their respective schools of education “[did] not prepare them to cope with the realities of today’s classrooms.” In subsequent meetings throughout 2012, the department and

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

PREPARATORY GUIDELINES

New CCCU President Edward O. Blews, Jr., pledges the Council’s forceful advocacy on behalf of Christian colleges and universities in response to these challenges.

be endowed with a task outside its purview.

recent statistics from the University of

Such value-added tests taken by students

Central Florida showed that out of 1,102

were never designed to determine the quality

education program graduates, only 132

of the preparation the teachers administering

(12 percent) were actually in teaching

them received while in college.

positions for which the data could be used to determine the Education Department’s new

ALL ASSESSMENTS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL OR FOR THE SAME PURPOSE If the eventual regulations mirror the changes outlined during negotiated rulemaking, data from these value-added tests would be used by the Department of Education to implement their proposed system of ranking teaching programs on a 1 to 4 ranking scale, with 4 as the highest and most desirable ranking. Colleges and universities would be assigned a ranking based in part on data gathered from the value-added tests, thus linking student test scores to an education graduate’s collegiate program. The scores determining each university’s annual ranking

proposed rankings. Similar statistics are found at CCCU campuses. For example, out of approximately 30 education graduates each year from Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Ga., only one or two go on to teach in Georgia public schools, where data from valueadded tests can be collected. That means Covenant’s entire teaching program would be evaluated on the performance of only 6 percent of its graduates. THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION IS OVERSTEPPING ITS BOUNDS

would be collected from teachers for three

In addition to seeing these fatal flaws in the

years following college graduation.

methodological and philosophical framework of the Department of Education’s approach,

“We are hearing from deans in our educator groups continued to agree on the various problems and shortcomings of teacher preparation programs, yet the two sides have remained at an impasse over developing a solution. “We absolutely need to improve quality and accountability for educators,” says June Hetzel, dean of the school of education at Biola University in La Mirada, Calif. “I think the most essential reform being proposed [addresses] the accountability-related issues of evidence of student learning, including formative, summative, and objective-based assessments. This accountability is core.” However, Hetzel says those dealing with the issue must recognize the limits of

organization that they do find value-added tests useful in the classroom,” notes Stephanie Giesecke, director of budgets and appropriation for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. “But the tests were not developed to evaluate teacher preparation programs.” “The proposed regulations would use the value-added scores of program completers K-12 to determine quality,” Allen explains. “The variables of learning success are many,

deans and others responsible for teacher preparation programs are concerned with the department’s sidestepping of congressional oversight and with its blanket mandates that ignore the legally established autonomy of state statutes to determine program quality. “No one is saying reform shouldn’t take place,” says Giesecke. “But these are topics of discussions that should take place through the legislative process and not through administrative fiat.”

and using one or two as measures of quality

Administrative fiat is exactly the path the

is flawed.”

Department of Education is following

In addition to co-opting value-added test data for a use completely different from the purpose for which these tests were developed, another concern with the

with this proposal. Because the higher education community and the Department of Education were unable to reach consensus by the deadline during the negotiated rulemaking process in the spring of 2012,

assessments. And therein lies a primary

methodology the department is considering

concern with the Education Department’s

for determining rankings is that the value-

proposals. The department’s requirements

added tests only test students in public

are set to use value-added tests—i.e. No

schools in a handful of subjects. Thus, if

Child Left Behind testing—as a primary

these tests scores are used to determine

criteria for evaluating teaching preparatory

teacher preparatory program rankings,

Title II of the Act empowers the education

programs. This approach, many believe,

the rankings will be based on data for a

secretary—in this case Duncan—to

forces a test developed to measure student

statistically small number of each program’s

“prescribe regulations to ensure the

understanding in certain subject areas to

total graduates in education. For example,

reliability, validity, integrity and accuracy”

the department now has the prerogative to impose whatever regulations it wishes—in this case a broad-sweeping interpretation of Title II of the Higher Education Act.

PREPARATORY GUIDELINES

of the data states are required to file with the Education Department. This data enables states and institutions to receive federal money for funding various teacher development or continuing educationtype programs. However, department representatives have argued that Title II also enables the department to recommend minimum standards, or other criteria, that the states would be required to use in order to receive funds.

In subsequent meetings throughout 2012, the department and educator groups continued to agree on the various problems and shortcomings of teacher preparation programs, yet the two sides have remained at an impasse over developing a solution.

The proposed ranking system, which detractors say is based on bad methodology, would be used as a basis for the remaining pieces of the Education Department’s proposed regulations, including the distribution of grant money. If the department’s plan goes into effect, college students would be allowed to use certain grants—such as TEACH Grants—only at programs with a 4 ranking. TEACH Grants provide up to $4,000 a year to students who are completing or plan to complete the coursework necessary for a career in

“This is a concern for me as I consider

whether a program is eligible for Title

the number of teacher education students

IV funding. Clearly, if these proposed

in CCCU institutions on TEACH grants

regulations go into effect, teaching

due to their dedication to serve others

programs will not be the last academic

in needy areas and our CCCU students’

programs the government regulates. Such

financial need.”

actions would limit the availability of aid to students and would interfere with each

THE PROBLEM WITH LINKING TITLE II

institution’s ability to design the curriculum

TO TITLE IV

of its academic programs.”

teaching and who are planning to teach in

However, TEACH Grants are only the first

a high-need field or in a school that serves

manifestation of a much larger issue,

students from low-income families.

which is the linking of Title II to Title IV

This potentially affects students on many CCCU campuses, some of which rank near the top of the national list for receiving TEACH Grant funds. For example, three CCCU members are among the top 40 institutions in the country for total amount of TEACH grant funds received. Combined, these three institutions receive $1,962,159 annually in TEACH Grant funds to assist 652

by the Department of Education. Title IV of the Higher Education Act governs federal student aid programs. Under the department’s proposed regulations, for the first time, a college student’s ability to receive federal financial aid—in this instance TEACH Grants—would be directly dependent on how their college’s teaching preparation program ranks.

As 2012 progressed, the Department of Education tabled its proposal until after the U.S. presidential election. Now months into President Obama’s second term, the department is expected to roll out these regulations soon. The action of putting forth the regulations is called a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. When this happens, college and university officials and others with a keen interest in teacher preparation programs will have 45 days to submit public comments in favor of or opposition to the proposal. The

students—313 students at Louisiana College

“Basing eligibility for TEACH Grants on

department will consider the comments and

in Pineville, La; 176 at Olivet Nazarene

government rankings instead of student

either revise the proposed regulations or

University in Bourbonnais, Ill.; and 163 at

need would be a fundamental undermining

simply move forward with its proposal.

Union University in Jackson, Tenn. Though

of the Title IV aid program,” says Shapri

not all CCCU institutions have students

D. LoMaglio, CCCU director of government

BETTER MODELS OF REFORM

relations and executive programs. “Federal

ARE NEEDED

financial aid under Title IV is supposed

Other teacher preparatory reform initiatives

to be based on student need alone,

have been introduced to Congress. One

and institutional eligibility is supposed

of the more notable is the Educator

to be determined by peer-reviewed

Preparation Reform Act. Co-sponsored

“TEACH Grant allocation by states using

accreditation. The department’s proposed

by Sen. Jack Reed and Rep. Mike Honda,

ranking systems may impact teacher

regulations would effectively circumvent the

the bill was introduced in September

preparation schools of lower enrollment when

accreditation process by instead placing

2012 and is expected to be reintroduced

compared to public institutions,” notes Allen.

the department in the role of determining

early in the current Congress. A primary

using TEACH Grants, those that do draw on this stream of funding for college students preparing to teach in high-need settings could lose students who are dependent on this form of financial aid.

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

PREPARATORY GUIDELINES

component of that proposal is the strengthening of states’ oversight of teacher preparatory

In Summary: A Cause for Concern

programs. A number of educational and teacher organizations, including the CCCU, have endorsed this plan.

The Department of Education’s proposed rankings are heavily informed by

Additionally, a Higher Education Task Force on

No Child Left Behind testing, a battery of tests never designed to evaluate

Teacher Preparation was formed in Washington.

the quality of teacher preparatory programs.

Among other actions, it has established contact with Secretary Duncan to advocate for better reforms.

The 1 to 4 ranking assigned by the department could be based on a statistically insignificant number of total education graduates. Data compiled by the University of Central Florida showed that out of its 1,102 education program graduates only 138 (12 percent) ended up teaching “testable subjects,” those subjects upon which the No Child Left Behind criteria would be based.

The CCCU is an active member of this task force. Concerned parties are watching uneasily to learn how the Education Department will proceed now that the election has passed. Meanwhile, educators wait to see if the department’s proposed regulations will bring sweeping changes to their universities’

TEACH grants would only go to colleges or teacher training programs that receive a ranking of 4. However, teachers in many inner-city school systems face educational challenges beyond their control that affect their students’ scores in testable subjects. Lower scores by those students would directly impact colleges and universities whose graduates serve these populations and could prevent the teacher education programs from achieving a ranking of 4.

teacher preparation programs. For CCCU campuses, the stakes are potentially even greater. “The mission of CCCU institutions necessarily entails impact on mind and character through biblically-centered education, scholarship, and service,” Hetzel says. “We have to recognize that assessments do not change

The reduction in the number of teacher preparatory programs able to extend

lives; people do. It’s all about who we hire in

TEACH Grants could negatively impact the ability of thousands of students to

teacher education that will make a difference

attend college. Many recipients of TEACH Grants come from high-need, low-

in shaping the lives of young children and

income schools and are first-generation higher-education students. Many teacher preparatory programs—like those at a significant number of CCCU institutions—encourage graduates to seek out missional opportunities in high-need, low-income schools. This proposal could have the greatest negative impact on these institutions.

adolescents in our community.”

Chris Turner is founder of D. Chris Turner Communications, a public relations firm specializing in social media strategies, writing, and crisis communications. A former overseas correspondent with the International Mission Board, Chris has lived in England and Panama and covered stories in 28 countries.

CCCUCAREER CENTER The online source for Christian Higher Education jobs More than just a job-finding service, the CCCU Career Center links passionate people with meaningful careers in Christ-centered higher education.

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

To get started, visit cccu.org/careers

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Christian Leadership to Change the World

CCCU Members File Suit Against HHS Over the ‘Contraceptive Mandate’ “The Council for Christian Colleges & Universities proactively and

Because the law still required all religious groups other than churches

emphatically defends the religious liberties of Christian colleges

to comply with the mandate by August 1, 2012, many religious

and universities in fulfilling their vital missions of integrating

groups, including 10 CCCU institutions, filed lawsuits challenging it on

faith with learning. We will forcefully advocate for these religious

constitutional grounds.

liberties wherever challenged, in the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government. The CCCU stands strong and stalwart in its support of its member colleges and universities that have filed lawsuits against the HHS mandate that violates their religious convictions. Critical constitutional freedoms are at stake.” —Edward O. Blews, Jr., President, CCCU The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed by Congress in March 2010 contained a general mandate that all group health care plans must cover preventative services. Then the Department

groups created by the president’s accommodation: one tier for groups religious enough to be “exempt” and a second tier for groups considered less religious and, thus, only “accommodated.” Many concerned religious organizations, including the CCCU, believe the exemption/accommodation structure requires the government to parse through a religious organization’s religious practices to determine the sincerity of their religious belief, in violation of the Constitution’s Establishment Clause.

of Health & Human Services regulatorily decreed that “all FDA-

So far more than 150 litigants have filed 52 cases against HHS,

approved contraceptives” would be among the preventative services

asserting that this mandate violates their constitutional rights. Though

required to be covered. That definition includes two drugs, Plan

some of the cases filed by CCCU institutions have been dismissed on

B (“the morning after pill”) and ella (“the week after pill”), that are

purely procedural grounds, the lawsuits have been an integral part

widely considered abortion drugs by people who believe life begins

of the strategy to put pressure on the administration and Congress

at conception. These two drugs are called “abortifacients.” Many

to rectify these regulations. In fact, the Wheaton College suit pushed

religious groups, arguing that providing some or all of these drugs

the government to promise that it will not enforce the mandate against

violates their religious convictions, asked for exemptions either from

religious groups until the details of the accommodation are final; to

the overall contraceptive mandate or from the abortifacient portion of

expand the scope of which religious groups are safe from the mandate

the mandate.

until the accommodation is final; and to publish the accommodation

After considering these requests, HHS announced that churches, but no other religious institutions, would be exempt from the requirement. Religious groups again contacted HHS to inform them that such a narrow exemption was not adequate because it left unprotected the religious beliefs of all other religious organizations (schools, hospitals,

as soon as possible. On February 1, 2013, HHS finally published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the accommodation that made some modifications. Comments on this proposal were due on April 8, 2013, and the CCCU as well as many CCCU institutions filed comments regarding the threat to their religious liberty.

charities, etc.). After further consideration, on February 10, 2012,

The administration has no deadline by which it must finalize these

President Obama announced that religious nonprofits other than

regulations and make the accommodation part of settled law. Until the

churches still would not be exempted from the requirement but would

law is settled, CCCU institutions are waiting to see if their constitutional

receive an “accommodation.” He stated that the accommodation

rights will be respected or whether they must continue their legal actions.

would remove the Act’s requirement that these organizations directly provide the contraceptive services to which they have religious objections. Instead, the accommodation would require the insurance

There are grave constitutional problems with the two tiers of religious

The following statements from the presidents of CCCU institutions that have filed lawsuits explain each campus’s decision to file:

companies contracted by these religious nonprofits to provide such

Biola University, President Barry H. Corey, as quoted in a Biola

coverage cost free.

News article:

Many religious groups were skeptical that having the insurance

“The Obama administration’s mandate forces us to act against our

company which provides health care to their employees also provide

own doctrinal statement, which upholds the sanctity of human

the services that violate their religious beliefs sufficiently addressed

life. It unjustly intrudes on our religious liberty as protected under

their issues of conscience. They were also skeptical of the assertion

the U.S. Constitution and makes a mockery of our attempts to

that they would not be indirectly paying for these supposedly cost-free

live our lives according to our faith convictions, time-honored and

services. Further, the accommodation remained only in a speech.

long protected.”

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

CONTRACEPTIVE MANDATE

College of the Ozarks, President Jerry C.

Franciscan University of Steubenville,

Davis, as quoted in a College of the Ozarks

President Father Terence Henry, as quoted

press release:

in a Franciscan University press release:

“This is not a partisan issue. It is a constitutional

“Throughout our 65-year history, Franciscan

issue, and the College wants its rights respected

University has educated people because we

and enforced, instead of being trampled upon.

are Catholic, not because they are. And, again,

The Constitution still matters ... Such legislation

because we are Catholic, Franciscan cannot

flies in the face of religious liberty that the

provide coverage of drugs and procedures that

founders of our country sought to protect and

violate Church teachings on the sanctity of life

many have died to defend. Religious liberty is at

... Under no circumstances can Catholics be

the heart of this issue.”

both in compliance with this new law and at

Colorado Christian University, President Bill Armstrong, as quoted in a Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty press release: “Abortion is a highly controversial issue in American life. Some of our fellow citizens

the same time live the faith that we believe. Franciscan University will continue to stand with the Church in its opposition to this mandate.” Geneva College, President Kenneth Smith, as quoted in a Geneva College press release:

Barry H. Corey, Joe Aguillard, and Kenneth Smith (L-R) speak at the 2013 CCCU Presidents Conference. Photo by Victoria Ruan.

and we plead with our government to respect the liberties given by God and enunciated in the Bill

believe abortion is a fundamental right while

“At Geneva College, we only have one Lord,

others are equally sincere in the conviction

and he does not live in Washington, D.C. The

that abortion is morally wrong in all, or

First Amendment protects Americans from

almost all, circumstances. But that is not

mandates that require us to act against our

quoted in a National Review Online article:

the issue raised by the HHS regulations.

own convictions. We find the mandate to

“Our choice to exclude abortion pills from our

The question is—may a government agency

provide our faculty, staff, and students with

coverage doesn’t prevent anyone from making

compel support of abortions by those whose

insurance that provides pills to abort babies

the choice to use those drugs. Arguing that a

religious convictions forbid them from

totally abhorrent and unacceptable. The

refusal to pay for abortion drugs is the same

doing so. The law does not permit such

government shouldn’t be able to force anyone

as blocking access to them is like saying that I

compulsion, in our opinion, nor will the

to buy or sell insurance that subsidizes morally

stopped you from going to the movies because

conscience of our fellow citizens, whether

objectionable treatments.”

I didn’t buy you a ticket. It’s absurd. However,

abortion proponents or opponents.”

Grace College & Seminary, President Ronald

East Texas Baptist University, President

E. Manahan, as quoted in an Alliance

Samuel W. “Dub” Oliver, as quoted in a

Defending Freedom press release:

Marshall News Messenger newspaper article:

“Government officials do not have the right to

of Rights.” Louisiana College, President Joe Aguillard, as

forcing a Christian college to pay for or facilitate life-ending drugs is a gross violation of freedoms protected by the First Amendment.” Wheaton College, President Philip Ryken, as quoted in a Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty

“(Obamacare) basically says, you have

require religious organizations to act in a way

to be a church, a house of worship, or

contrary to deeply held religious beliefs, nor do

media information sheet:

a denomination, and if you do anything

they have the right to define what constitutes

“Wheaton College and other distinctively

outside of your walls that’s separate from

the free exercise of religion. To determine that

Christian institutions are faced with a clear and

inculcation of religious beliefs, you’re not

Grace College and Seminary is not ‘religious

present threat to our religious liberty. Our first

religious enough ... So, because we’re an

enough’ to qualify for an exemption from this

president, the abolitionist Jonathan Blanchard,

educational institution and because we

mandate is an affront to the religious freedom

believed it was imperative to act in defense of

accept students of all faiths and students

and free conscience of dedicated Christian

freedom. In bringing this suit, we act in defense

of no faiths, the government says we’re

organizations across America.”

of freedom again ... Americans who value liberty

not religious enough to be exempt from this...If they say you’ve got to provide these

Houston Baptist University, President Robert

abortifacient drugs, these emergency

Sloan, as quoted in a Baptist Press article:

contraceptives this year, what’s going to

“While we are always reluctant to enter into

prevent them the next year saying you’re

lawsuits, the government has given us no

going to have to provide abortions and the

choice. Either we violate our conscience or

next year adding to that? It’s a slippery

give in to the administration’s heavy-handed

slope, and so we’ve said, ‘No, we’re going to

attack upon our religious freedom. We will not

take a stand.’”

comply with this unconstitutional mandate,

should hope a remedy is found. The freedom of religion is one of our first freedoms—a freedom that comes before all others. It should be protected, not infringed upon.” For links to the full articles referenced here and links to videos and other materials regarding this issue, visit www.cccu.org/advance.

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

What Difference Does Your Christian Faith Make in the Classroom? The CCCU Launches Faith & Learning Integration Channel

By Heather M. Surls

The CCCU will celebrate, model, exemplify, research, protect, advance, and encourage the rigorous integration of faith with scholarship in all disciplines as the profound distinctive of Christian higher education. We will be an incubator, a lab, a spark plug, an advocate for the integration of faith and learning.

cross CCCU campuses, faculty

at Christian institutions, will find valuable

members are on a quest to integrate

examples of faith-learning integration.

their Christian faith and academic

disciplines. They are reading books on the topic. They are giving lectures and writing papers. They are attending faculty development workshops and talking with their colleagues. And at some point, they are stepping into their classrooms and actually practicing what Margaret Diddams calls the

Brad Shaw, interim vice president of academic affairs and professor of English at Greenville College in Greenville, Ill., and Deloy Cole, director of the digital media department at Greenville, brought the vision for FLIC to life. Last spring, they filmed pilot videos of faculty at nine CCCU campuses,

Faith-learning integration is a challenge, Smith says, because higher education faculty often have not had extensive pedagogical training and are more comfortable with scholarly discussion than discussion about how to teach and portray Christian values to students.

resulting in about 50 videos, approximately

When first asked to participate in FLIC, Smith

half of which made it through the rigors of

hesitated. “The model videos that I was

Diddams, director of the Center for

peer review to be included in the initial library

shown were essentially talking-heads videos.

Scholarship and Faculty Development at

of videos available for FLIC’s launch.

… So they implied a model of teaching

“art” of faith-learning integration.

Seattle Pacific University in Seattle, Wash., understands what a challenge this can be. While CCCU institutions have wonderful faculty, she says, they do not always know

Shaw was motivated to co-lead the project by the need for a resource like FLIC at Greenville and the lack of real-life, non-print

how to best bring faith into the classroom.

media examples for faculty across the CCCU.

The CCCU’s new Faith & Learning Integration

academic exercise in scholarship,” he says.

Channel, an online library of videos showing

“It’s about how we help students bring those

faculty doing just this in the classroom, is a

two things together in the classroom.”

“Faith-learning integration isn’t just about the

resource for those desiring to improve the

where you stand and say things to people,” he says. Smith did not agree to film his video, “Teaching Languages and Honoring Strangers,” until he was able to simulate a classroom experience, complete with student volunteers and back-and-forth dialogue. Both elements are essential to his conviction that faith-learning integration is more than what is said in the syllabus.

faith-learning integration in their teaching.

BEYOND THE DISCUSSION AND

As a member of the four-person peer review

Mark Peters, professor of music at Trinity

INTO THE CLASSROOM

Christian College in Palos Heights, Ill.,

The professors featured in the initial videos

agrees. Faith-learning integration is more

do just that. Speaking from a variety of

than praying at the beginning of class

disciplines—from biology to performing

or tacking a Bible verse on the end of a

“The modeling is going to be very powerful,”

arts to sociology—these professors model

lecture, he says. Peters even hesitates at

Diddams says.

concrete examples of applying faith

the catchphrase “faith-learning integration”

principles to academic subjects.

because it treats faith and learning “like two

panel for FLIC, Diddams believes the videos will help make the esoteric practical for these professors.

FLIC officially launched last November as a

things you have to force together.”

response to the CCCU’s recognition of the

David Smith, director of the Kuyers Institute

need for training in this area. Conversations

for Christian Teaching and Learning at

“I believe the question is less, ‘How do you

with faculty on CCCU campuses revealed

Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich.,

integrate faith and learning?’ and more,

their desire for more support in the area of

thinks that when it comes to faith-learning

‘What difference does my Christian faith

faith integration.

integration, what faculty do is as important

make in my study of music, or of biology, or

as what they say.

of sociology, or of fill-in-the-blank?’” he says.

resource for schools with small faculty

“I try to think about it as holistically as possible

As evidenced in his FLIC video,

development programs while supplementing

from as many angles as possible,” he says. In

“Encountering an Artwork,” Peters has

the resources of more advanced programs.

addition to teaching ideas that are consistent

spent time thinking through how his faith

In both cases, new and adjunct faculty,

with a Christian worldview, he believes how he

informs his teaching. Three principles guide

who perhaps have not previously taught

acts in the classroom is critical.

him in these thoughts: the belief that the

The CCCU hopes FLIC will be an excellent

–CCCU President Edward O. Blews, Jr.

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

FAITH AND LEARNING INTEGRATION CHANNEL

A Sampling of Titles Available on the Faith & Learning Integration Channel:

entire world belongs to God; the conviction

and exceptionally well done. She says the

that he should do everything excellently to

video allowed faculty to dig deeper into the

God’s glory; and the desire to pursue justice,

topic and led to fruitful discussion.

reconciliation, hospitality, and love in his relationships with students and colleagues. These principles sometimes manifest

“I think it has a lot of potential,” Cook says of FLIC.

themselves in subtle ways, he says, so he

FLIC plans to continually add new videos and

must make it clear to his students that faith

is now open to video submissions from CCCU

informs all of life.

faculty. These will be evaluated by the peer review panel—composed of Shaw, Cole,

Biochemistry: “Science and Faith in Stereo,” Benjamin J. McFarland, Seattle Pacific University Chemistry: “Rational and Ordered, Why Should This Be So?” H. Darrell Iler, Greenville College Education: “Liberal Education and Reading for Edification,” Kevin H. Gary, Goshen College

A TOOL FOR FACULTY COMMUNITIES

Diddams, and Daryl Cox, former chair of the

Fine & Performing Arts:

Before FLIC’s launch, both Smith and Peters

chemistry department at Southern Nazarene

“Art: Epistemology and Prophecy,”

were unsure how successful the project

University in Bethany, Okla.—using such

Jeffery Carl, Judson University

would be. Peters expressed hesitation

questions as: Will a faculty member learn or

based on the lack of interaction in watching

discover a faith and learning strategy in this

videos—sitting in front of the computer

video? Does the video present a balanced

without the ability to ask questions or

dialogue between content and faith? Does it

discuss strategies may or may not be helpful.

have theological depth and academic rigor?

History of Science: “Newton and Absolute

Both emphasized that their professional

Is the video of good quality, effective as a

Space,” Rod Stiling, Seattle Pacific

development in the area of faith-learning

communication tool?

University

Diddams emphasizes that FLIC does not need

Language & Literature: “Implications of

videos that try to prove Christianity. Instead,

Poststructuralist Theory: A Discussion,”

it seeks people who can create comfortable

Christine Bieber Lake, Wheaton College

integration occurred within community: discussing ideas with colleagues, reflecting on classroom experiences, and hearing feedback from students.

conversation between their academic

“I don’t see any initiative like this as a magic

discipline and their faith. “We’re not looking

bullet,” Smith says. However, he believes

for proof texts,” she says. “We’re really looking

FLIC has the potential to enrich local campus

for that integrative dialogue.”

conversations and help faculty take small steps forward.

Find the Faith and Learning Integration Channel at www.cccu.org/flic.

Vickie Cook, former dean of Greenville’s

saw this happen on her campus last summer. In a training session for adjunct faculty, Shaw illustrated faith-learning integration with a FLIC video, which Cook considered engaging

Christian Love,” Teresa Blue Holden, Greenville College

Peace, Justice, & Conflict Studies: “Self-Care as Sustenance for Long-Term Peacemaking,” Regina Shands Stoltzfus, Goshen College Philosophy: “Philosophy of Religion: A Critique of ‘New Atheism,’” Jim Spiegel, Taylor University

School of Education and current associate vice president of innovation and technology,

History: “Non-violent Resistance and

Heather M. Surls is a freelance editor for Tyndale House Publishers and enjoys writing creative nonfiction. She lives in an international community near Chicago and is an alumna of The Master’s College and the CCCU’s BestSemester Washington Journalism Center.

Theology: “Learning from Africans About Religion and Society,” David Hoekema, Calvin College

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

ON THE SHELF

What Your Peers Are Reading

Thriving in Leadership: Strategies for Making a Difference in Christian Higher Education Edited by Karen A. Longman (Abilene Christian University Press, 2012) Review by Jo Kadlecek, Senior Writer and Journalist in Residence, Gordon College

Development Institutes (LDI) and grew to fruition at the Women in Leadership Development Institutes (WLDI) during a few summer weeks on retreat in Washington state. A long-time scholar on leadership trends and the co-founder of the LDI programs, Longman laments in the introduction that much of higher education has not been good about effective leadership development. The book, therefore, attempts to fill the gap by providing sage coaching grounded in actual—and personal— frameworks. Such leadership stories for Christian higher education

For more than a decade, bookstore

are crucial if, as Longman writes, “the complex challenges facing

shelves and academic libraries have

today’s colleges and universities are to be effectively addressed.”

been crowded with titles on leadership. Whatever your discipline or vocation, you can learn 21 indispensable qualities, seven steps to becoming highly effective, or five essentials for leaders who last. Scour a bit more and you’ll uncover secrets, principles, and tips for being extraordinary, great, and powerful. With so much expertise at our fingertips, it’s a marvel we haven’t yet cured cancer, balanced the budget, or ended poverty.

issues—hard, common, and sometimes territorial ones—always with an eye on the goal of “thriving,” that is, living and reflecting the abundant life of which Christ invites his followers to partake. Whether examining the interior life of thriving leaders (Part I), the social intelligence of thriving leaders (Part II), or discerning how leaders can shape a thriving organizational culture (Part III), these

But alas, mere scholarship on the art of leadership does not a

authors combine professional mentorship and scholarship with

leader make, any more than rigorous study of every playbook on,

personal narrative, offering healthy doses of realism, honesty, and

say, soccer makes one a player.

insight along the way.

So it is refreshing to find a book that actually reveals the nuanced

Some key topics include resilience and relationships; honoring

struggles and joys of real leaders in real institutions talking about

giftedness; storytelling as a visionary tool; building trust; and

real experiences. Thriving in Leadership: Strategies for Making

embracing failure, balance, and hospitality for creating academic

a Difference in Christian Higher Education, another recent gem

cultures of Christ-centered community. Regardless of what stage

from Abilene Christian University Press, takes a different and

a leader and his/her institution might be in, this book addresses it

smart approach to the other industry yawns and gives readers

in one of its many interesting and astute essays. William Robinson,

authentic stories. Lots of them, written, in fact, by 16 different

president emeritus of Whitworth University, nicely summarizes the

leaders from across the CCCU who care not so much about

book’s highlights around Christ’s leadership characteristics.

becoming extraordinary leaders but about providing extraordinary

The best part of Thriving in Leadership, though? The brave and

opportunities for their respective campuses. Edited by Karen Longman, professor and program director for Azusa Pacific University’s department of doctoral higher education, the book feels like a conversation with some of the CCCU’s most respected senior leadership, i.e., provosts, vice presidents, and presidents (or emeriti). That might be because the project was born during conversations at the CCCU’s Leadership

Divided into three parts, the book’s authors explore a variety of

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

vulnerable first-person narratives from these leaders who are—like many of us—working at becoming better leaders, not experts. They seem to know that leading is not easily discovered in formulas or principles but in life-long journeys of service, humility, and grace.

ON THE SHELF

No Longer Invisible: Religion in University Education

While not a book about Christian colleges and universities, No Longer Invisible does pose an implicit challenge to those of us serving on such campuses. With other institutions joining us in the

By Douglas Jacobsen and Rhonda Hustedt Jacobsen (Oxford University Press, 2012)

ranks of campuses attending to the spiritual lives of their students,

Review by Todd C. Ream, Senior Scholar for Faith and Scholarship and Associate Professor of Humanities for John Wesley Honors College, Indiana Wesleyan University

and universities can no longer afford to simply take our current

albeit in different ways, those of us who serve at evangelical colleges market share for granted. Unless we are able to communicate and deliver in compelling ways upon the convictions detailed in our mission statements, students may be able to find campuses once deemed secular to be suitable places for fully educating them.

For decades, Christian colleges and universities lived with the perception that they may be amongst only a handful of institutions of higher learning interested in weaving spiritual matters into their educational initiatives. The label of “secular” came to be the normative descriptor for many leading research universities and liberal arts colleges, reflecting their belief that knowledge at its best is obtained via objective means and is thus value neutral. While several sociologists went so far during the latter half of the 20th century as to argue religion would become extinct, some of those same sociologists and many of their successors are now beginning to argue the reverse. Religion is making a comeback, even on secular college and university campuses.

Short-Term Mission: An Ethnography of Christian Travel Narrative and Experience By Brian Howell (IVP Academic, 2012) Review by Jenell Paris, Professor of Anthropology, Messiah College

Short-Term Mission: An Ethnography of Christian Travel Narrative and Experience will be a vital resource for intercultural, social science, and ministry

In No Longer Invisible, Douglas Jacobsen and Rhonda Hustedt

courses, as well as for college ministry and other university offices that

Jacobsen grapple with religion’s resurgence on college and

facilitate short-term mission trips with students. Brian Howell, associate

university campuses. The authors are quick to note that this recent

professor of anthropology at Wheaton College, is an expert guide for

rise of religion differs in many ways from our parents’ religion, or

short-term mission, offering wisdom from his Christian perspective

perhaps more accurately, our great-grandparents’ religion. Driven

and knowledge from his experience as a missionary and as an

in part by the rapidly diversifying nature of college and university

anthropologist. For this book, he accompanied a short-term mission

campuses, religion’s resurgence is not simply reflective of a growing

team and writes about the trip as both participant and observer.

interest in historically orthodox Christianity but also of a wide array of individuals bringing their religious traditions with them to campus. The Jacobsens, a husband-and-wife team of scholars from CCCU member institution Messiah College, thus argue that religion is making a comeback, albeit in a pluriform structure. As a result, “Paying attention to religion ... has the potential to enhance student learning and to improve higher education as a whole” (p. vii).

As Howell encourages Christians in their efforts to live the Great Commission, he breaks down any simple notions of helping, rescuing, befriending, and even evangelizing. For example, shortterm mission discourse often emphasizes how we “are all one in the Lord” and that people in developing nations seem “so happy, even though they have so little.” Such discourse emphasizes human connection and Christian unity but also minimizes vast cultural,

Part of the Jacobsens’ Religion in the Academy Project, No Longer

linguistic, and economic differences. Mining the resources of

Invisible joins two other volumes edited by the Jacobsens: The

anthropology, he offers insights as well as practical strategies for

American University in a Post-Secular Age (Oxford University

being as educated as possible about both the society into which a

Press, 2008) and Scholarship and Christian Faith: Enlarging

mission is going and the home culture of the missionaries.

the Conversation (Oxford University Press, 2004). This most recent volume is the product of countless interviews conducted on campuses across the country with a variety of officials who know the religious fabric of their institutions. Funded by the Lilly Endowment, No Longer Invisible weaves together an engaging blend of normative arguments and first-hand accounts from campuses as geographically removed from one another as the University of

The book is organized in four parts, strung together with the narrative of Howell’s short-term mission trip experience. Part One defines short-term mission and shows how Christian narratives of travel and mission are central to their self-understanding. Part Two offers a helpful and accessible history of short-term mission, funneling down to the church with which Howell participated.

Southern California and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

In Part Three, the reader accompanies Howell on his short-term

and as organizationally different from one another as Vassar College

mission with Central Wheaton Church, from trip preparation to travel

and The Pennsylvania State University.

to return. Here, Howell’s training as an anthropologist shines; he CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

ON THE SHELF

shifts between participant and observer, describing his experience

The findings in this new book will assist higher education

as an insider at the same time as he offers outsider analysis of the

practitioners as they seek to better understand how specific

missionaries’ ways of acting and talking.

aspects of the college student experience, such as pro-social

In Part Four, Howell offers his suggestions for a future of shortterm mission. He shows and tells the pressures of short-term mission, both in time and money, but still he encourages churches to include more education—about global poverty, the destination culture, and globalization—in short-term mission preparations and reflection. This section will be helpful for colleges, seminaries, and

involvement, race and ethnicity, and substance use, contribute to college students’ spiritual development. Some studies utilize the entire dataset and indicate in their results how the type of institution attended—public, private, Catholic, evangelical, etc.— correlates to the findings. Other researchers chose to utilize only the responses of students at CCCU institutions.

churches preparing students for ministry, helping them synthesize

Studies include “Race and Pro-Social Involvement” by Sean J.

an understanding of short-term mission’s history as they prepare to

Gehrke, whose research suggests that spiritual development

lead toward a stronger future.

varies by race or ethnicity. Also included is Rine’s hypothesis on how Christian institutions can maintain their core beliefs and embrace cultural diversity, which may allow them to be relevant

Spirituality in College Students’ Lives: Translating Research into Practice

in a postmodern world while also being true to their Christian

Edited by Alyssa Bryant Rockenbach and Matthew J. Mayhew (Routledge, 2012)

pedagogical approach for Christian institutions to embody so that

Review by Jennifer L. Carter, Assistant Director of Articulation & Transfer Evaluation, California University of Pennsylvania, and Doctoral Student in Higher Education, Azusa Pacific University

In recent years, higher education scholars and practitioners have identified the need of studying college student spirituality. UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute initiated the Spirituality in Higher Education project in 2002, and its research established a longitudinal national dataset with responses from over 14,000 students from a diverse group of 136 institutions. Several major

core principles. His research indicates that there is a positive relationship between a personal faith in Christ and pluralistic orientation. He suggests such a fallibilist perspective may be the their graduates are able to navigate the postmodern culture. The studies presented in the book are organized into three sections according to Astin’s Input-Environment-Output Model of student development. At the end of each section, practitioners and scholars reflect on the research presented and make recommendations for implementation of the findings. The discussant style approach of the reflections at the end of each section is similar to what one may encounter at a scholarly conference. The difference in this book is that each writer allows for professional and personal vulnerability on this important topic, which readers may find professionally and personally challenging as well.

findings of the UCLA project are reported in Cultivating the Spirit: How College Can Enhance Students’ Inner Lives by Alexander W.

Light: C.S. Lewis’s First and Final Short Story

Astin, Helen S. Astin, and Jennifer A. Lindholm (Jossey-Bass, 2011). Realizing that there was more in their longitudinal dataset than could be covered in one book, Astin, Astin, and Lindholm

By Charlie W. Starr (Winged Lion Press, 2012)

initiated a national competition in 2008 for researchers interested

Review by Devin Brown, Professor of English, Asbury University

in conducting original research utilizing the project’s database. The original research studies presented in Spirituality in College Students Lives: Translating Research into Practice, edited by Alyssa

Last year, CCCU member Taylor University

Bryant Rochenbach and Matthew J. Mayhew, are the results of that competition. CCCU contributors to this new book include P. Jesse Rine, the CCCU’s director of research and grants initiatives; Peter C. Hill, professor of psychology at Biola University; Keith J. Edwards, also professor of psychology at Biola; and Jonathan P. Hill, assistant professor of sociology at Calvin College.

hosted the first-ever joint conference of The Frances White Ewbank Colloquium on C. S. Lewis and Friends and the C. S. Lewis and the Inklings Society. One of the plenary sessions served as the world premier and official launch for a new Lewisrelated work. Light: C. S. Lewis’s First and Final Short Story, by Charlie W. Starr, an English professor at CCCU member institution Kentucky

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

ON THE SHELF

Christian University, is now available through Winged Lion and

teachers and church planters in urban Central Mexico. Concurrently,

online booksellers. In addition to writing regularly on Lewis, Starr

Johnson worked to ignite a mission vision among believers and

has a monthly arts and media column in The Lookout magazine.

church leaders. As a Great Commission vision grew, Johnson

He has also published works on film and pop culture, two books on

worked with key leaders to launch a mission agency among the

spirituality, and a novel.

Bible churches of Central Mexico.

The back cover of Light accurately declares: “Starr shines a new

Today, Johnson is passionate about effectively mobilizing young adults

and illuminating light on one of Lewis’s most intriguing stories.” The

to go and make disciples and to plant churches among all peoples.

story of how the manuscript appeared out of nowhere two decades after Lewis’s death is as intriguing as Lewis’s fictional tale. Starr persuasively reveals that what Lewis scholars had previously believed about the story is largely inaccurate. Without revealing the entire mystery, here are the basics: In the mid-1980s, Edwin W. Brown, who is responsible for much of Taylor University’s Lewis collection, purchased Lewis’s “Light” manuscript from a book dealer in London. An earlier, somewhat different version

In his new book, Johnson demonstrates that the core of Christ’s mission is the making of mature disciples who are transformed into Christ’s likeness and who reproduce other holistic disciples, forming disciple-making movements. Creating Disciple-Making Movements offers CCCU students and professors four benefits. The fourth benefit includes some controversial surprises.

of the story, called “The Man Born Blind,” had been published in

First, his book provides thorough biblical analysis. “As obedient

1977 in an anthology edited by Walter Hooper and titled The Dark

followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is vital to understand how Jesus

Tower and Other Stories. The relationship between these two works

Christ defined his mission for his followers in the world,” Johnson writes.

at first seemed an unsolvable mystery with conflicting evidence. Starr’s research raises the question of whether “Light” might be the final version of the earlier story, thus for the first time offering readers Lewis’s intended polished text. Is “Light” the preferred version of the story, the one that should have been published all along had it not been lost? This question turns out to be much trickier than one might expect, and the investigative trail that Starr takes us on is full of obstacles. For Lewis fans, this is an amazing mystery not to be missed. Starr does a masterful job of not only guiding us step-by-step through the twists and turns of how this lost manuscript came to be found and dated, but he also does a wonderful job of untangling its possible meanings. For those not already Lewis fans, the fascinating story of textual verification is in itself reason to read this book.

Second, he presents four examples from church history “of groups or individuals who pursued the fulfillment of the mission of Christ through the making of holistic disciples and, to some degree, disciplemaking movements.” Third, he provides insight into effective methods for creating disciplemaking movements within the church today. Fourth, Johnson’s book presents the results of three questions answered by 20 scholars who have significantly influenced the dialogue and development of the “missional church” in Western evangelical thought. These scholars include Michael Frost, Darrell Guder, Alan Hirsch, Ron Kincaid, Aubrey Malphurs, Dennis McCallum, Craig Ott, Ed Stetzer, Craig Van Gelder, Dallas Willard, and others. What were Johnson’s three questions? The first explores how the

Creating Disciple-Making Movements: How the Making of Holistic Disciples Is Central to the Mission of Christ

respondents define the mission of Jesus Christ. The second seeks to determine what priority the respondents place on the disciple-making mandate from their understanding of the mission of Christ. The third probes the concept of missional movements to discover if the scholars promote a disciple-making focus as a reproducing movement.

By Paul E. Johnson (CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2012)

While Johnson’s questions seem safe enough, the spectrum of

Review by David Sanford, Director of Institutional Marketing and Special Representative of the President, Corban University

surprising finding? The missional church has divided into two distinct

Prior to serving the Lord within a CCCU

answers proves provocative and controversial. Johnson’s most camps. Read his book to learn more.

context, Paul E. Johnson, assistant professor of missions at Corban University, and his wife, Jenny, labored for a decade as Bible

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

A Union student receives course advising from professor David Ward. Image courtesy of Morris Abernathy, Union University.

By Chris Turner

avid Ward really does enjoy protracted conversations about electricity and magnetism and astrophysics. And donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get him started on physics for non-majors; one is liable to

become a physics convert on the spot. This enthusiasm drives his lectures as professor of physics at Union University in Jackson, Tenn. He is even more fascinated today by the physical world than he was when he first walked into a classroom more than 25 years ago. 49

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

ACADEMIC ADVISING

Academic Advising: Critical for Students and for Institutional Mission

five magic bullets every advisor needs,

Schreiner that was presented at the

expressed in appropriate academic lingo!’

CCCU’s 2003 Comprehensive Assessment

But really, emulating the Master is indeed

Project conference, at least as far back

the best advice.”

as 2003, CCCU schools recognized that

Ward, like many advisors at CCCU campuses, recognizes there is much more to academic advising than simply making sure every student is registered for classes next semester. Advisors often find themselves wearing a closet full of other hats too: mentor, counselor, psychologist, psychiatrist, drill sergeant, pastor, confidant, However, in the academic realm, Ward’s love of physics might actually be matched by his

friend, and many more.

among their academic and institutional differentiators were the promises that students will receive an excellent academic education and grow intellectually; that they will grow spiritually and be able to develop a Christian worldview; that they will develop leadership abilities; and that they will have the opportunity to serve. “The academic advisor is a key touchpoint in the life of a student,” says Kimberly

love of advising students.

HELPING FULFILL THE COLLEGE’S MISSION

“I once went to a meeting with an

Effective academic advisors also recognize

market personal attention, and the advising

administrator and someone from off-

that they are a key link in helping fulfill

process is one way we deliver on these

campus, and part of the meeting was to

the promises made by their respective

promises. Proverbs 27:23 charges us

discuss advising,” he says. “[When asked]

institutions to students and parents.As

to, ‘Know your sheep by name; carefully

I said that we need to be, as much as we

reported in “Making the Case for Academic

attend to your flocks.’ I see an advisor’s

can, Jesus for our advisees and students.

Excellence in Christian Colleges,” a report

role being that of knowing his or her sheep

Later I felt like, ‘Hey, I didn’t give them the

by Azusa Pacific University’s Laurie

by name and caring for them.”

Thornbury, Union’s senior vice president for student services. “Most of our schools

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

ACADEMIC ADVISING

Courtesy of Union University. Baptist University.

Courtesy of California

NOT ALL ADVISORS ARE FACULTY MEMBERS A growing number of schools, such as California Baptist University in Riverside, Calif., take the academic advising role out of the hands of faculty and instead use academic advising centers staffed with “enrollment advisors,” as they are called at CBU. CBU also uses online software to

especially those new to advising, may find themselves asking, “Are there some basics

help students map their degree path.

“Academic advisors are a key player in

“Enrollment advisors deal directly with

they can give us an early alert about an at-

students and are part of our Enrollment

Our list offers some practical tips for

risk student and play a vital role in getting

and Student Services Division,” explains

a student to stay. Students will continue

academic advisors, particularly for those

CBU Provost Jonathan Parker. “This

to pay the cost of our colleges because of

enables specially trained advisors to help

their belief that their advisor and faculty

students with their academic progress. We

are going to help them prepare well for life

encourage our faculty, then, to invest in

beyond college.”

1. Have a servant spirit

A PRIMER ON BEST PRACTICES IN ACADEMIC ADVISING

Emulating Christ’s service to others

the lives of our students and look for those opportunities to help them develop and have a larger worldview. We believe this approach creates more faculty and staff

retention,” Thornbury notes. “Oftentimes

Embracing the role of an advisor/shepherd

to keep in mind?”

serving in the unique higher education context inhabited by CCCU institutions.

is critical. A top and recurring reason students choose CCCU campuses is

who knows his or her “flock” is far from

because of the schools’ focus on faith.

easy and requires a real investment in

The characteristics and quality of the

Regardless of the approach, there is

order to meet the challenge of advising

academic advisor-student relationship

agreement that advisors play a significant

well. With so much responsibility

can reflect how well the campus

role in student retention, and advisors would

converging on academic advisors, some,

community exhibits the qualities of Christ.

contact with our students.”

be remiss to underestimate their importance.

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

ACADEMIC ADVISING

“The academic advisor is a key touchpoint in the life of a student. ... I see an advisor’s role being that of knowing his or her sheep by name and caring for them.” Kimberly Thornbury Senior Vice President for Student Services Union University

2. Get trained

a student’s academic profile and how it

Institutional administration needs

matches with their program needs. Then

to provide training that is accurate,

develop a strategy with them to reach the

interesting, and helpful. Academic advisors

goal of graduation.

should also be provided with technical

7. See the bigger picture

tools to help them advise correctly. Then,

Advising truly is more than completing

faculty need to engage in this training,

5. Be a good listener

class schedules. Great advisors recognize

or continuing training, to make sure they

Many students simply need a trusted adult,

the importance of helping students

are keeping up with advising technical

closer in proximity than their parents, with

successfully transition from teenagers to

competencies.

whom they can share their concerns. They

adults with careers. They see potential

may not have an academic problem at the 3. Be accessible Accessibility sends the message to students that they are important, reduces their stress, encourages them forward, and improves retention. This may be in the

moment, but if one of the better qualities of CCCU campuses is their ability to equip students for life, then the opportunity to

connecting through social media platforms as appropriate.

individual as measured by how well they help students navigate the college years and position themselves for the future.

shape the student’s future begins with trust.

Advising may come with the territory,

Being a good listener rapidly develops trust.

but with today’s competitiveness among higher education institutions and the rising

form of an open-door policy, consistently and quickly responding to e-mail, or

long-term influence in the life of each

costs of tuition, advising can be a critical 6. Don’t be territorial

customer-value proposition that sets your

Think about the student more than their

university apart from the rest. The good

and your academic discipline. If a student’s

news is that it is a no-cost intangible that

skills, abilities, and passions turn out to be

makes a huge difference.

4. Be competent and kind

more suited for another discipline, direct

Students can’t have one without the other,

that student to a new major. Students will

or advising doesn’t work. Advisors can

leave an institution rather than continue in

be “sweet as can be,” but it isn’t helpful

a direction they are obviously not suited for.

if students have to take an extra term of

An advisor’s main goal should be to keep a

classes because they somehow missed

student at the institution, regardless of what

two core classes. Put in the time to know

major he or she decides to choose.

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

GOING GLOBAL

Studying Abroad Isn’t Just for Students: Serving as a Visiting Professor at a CCCU International Affiliate Institution May Be Just Your Ticket By Chelsea Farnam

erry Holsopple, professor of visual and communication arts at Eastern Mennonite University, led his first group of EMU students from Harrisonburg, Va., to Lithuania in the summer of 2004, only months after Lithuania became part of the European Union. They joined students at LCC International University—the CCCU international affiliate located in Klaipeda and established in 1991, the year Lithuania declared independence from the Soviet Union—for six weeks of photography courses and cultural studies, which Holsopple taught in English. After leading three such summer sessions in Lithuania, Holsopple wanted to spend a longer period of time in the country. As an experienced photographer and documentarian, he was drawn to teaching in a region experiencing such powerful cultural change. So he applied for and received a Fulbright grant, enabling him to teach full-time at LCC for a year while, as a research project, learning the art

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

of icon painting from a Russian Orthodox priest. “Lithuanians are learning about their own cultural heritage because so much of [it] was hidden for 50 years,” says Holsopple. “A lot of the students at LCC grew up under the Soviet [oppression] where you don’t talk about Soviets in a negative way. So [during the course] we look at what it means to have a balanced approach to history.” Highlighting the changes Lithuania has seen, Holsopple tells of one Lithuanian student whose photo essay centered on photographs her mother had taken as a teenager. The student revisited the places where the photographs were taken and rephotographed the same scenes 40 years later. The project revealed stark changes in the economic and social climate as well as the infrastructure of the country. “Entering a tradition that is so far from mine…[i]t’s just very different and so enriching. I really have fallen in love with Lithuania,” Holsopple says. “It’s been a very rich experience.”

GOING GLOBAL COMMUNITY HEALTH PROGRAMS IN BOLIVIA Meanwhile, in a warmer climate, a health and wellness professor from Houghton College in Houghton, N.Y., spent his spring 2012 sabbatical at CCCU international affiliate Universidad Evangelica Boliviana in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, teaching intensive courses to faculty on designing, promoting, and creating community health programs. He also worked with UEB’s Department of Health Sciences to design a master’s degree program in public/community health. For Thomas Kettelkamp, chair of the department of recreation and leisure studies at Houghton, the decision to travel during his sabbatical—and to travel to a Latin American country, in particular—was an easy one. Kettelkamp was already traveling to Central America twice a year and had previously worked in the Peace Corps and for the CCCU’s BestSemester Latin American Studies Program in Costa Rica. “It just takes you out of the box and opens up new worlds of research, new worlds of exchange,” Kettelkamp says of teaching internationally. In addition to the cultural and interpersonal discoveries afforded by international teaching, Kettelkamp also discovered new angles for his research on non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease and obesity. “We lead the world in obesity and heart disease in the U.S., and the numbers in Bolivia and Honduras are very different. So it gives me cause to say, ‘Why?’ Why are we leading the world in high blood pressure and heart attacks?” Kettelkamp explains. “And now I can make statements about comparisons in Latin America: the kind of food they eat, comparing their norms with norms in the U.S., and more importantly, say why.” LCC International University’s annual beginning-of-school barbecue. Image courtesy of Jerry Holsopple, Eastern Mennonite University.

In addition to informing his research, Kettelkamp says his work in Bolivia will also expand his curriculum at Houghton. “As I was designing this course in Spanish in another culture, I came up with all sorts of new ideas on how to do my own course in the States. I’ve internationalized my syllabi,” Kettelkamp says. “I’m just exploding with ideas now of how to follow up.” A RETIREMENT GIG IN SOUTH KOREA For Arie Leegwater, retirement was a chance to speed up rather than slow down. In 2007, Leegwater retired as professor of chemistry emeritus at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich. By the spring of 2008, he was at Handong University in Pohang, South Korea. Calvin has a close relationship with the CCCU international affiliate university, a Christian liberal arts college founded in 1995. “I’ve taken sabbaticals overseas but usually to Europe,” says Leegwater. “This was the first time I had an extended exposure to Asian culture.” The experience proved to be eye opening.

“Korean academic culture is quite different,” he says. “It is very much top-down, so how in a Christian context do you incorporate the gifts and traditions of everyone in the faculty?” That same hierarchy also makes for a different classroom environment. “It’s a very difficult process for students to challenge the scholar,” explains Leegwater. “There’s great respect for authority, and that can be part of the confusion. The young listen to the old. The students listen to the teacher. There isn’t the sort of challenging that we’re accustomed to.” Perhaps for those same reasons, Handong is not a typical liberal arts college. Traditional core liberal arts elements of history, theology, and philosophy are still developing, while the school already boasts a strong engineering department, law school, and business program. “Koreans have a very strong sense of mission,” Leegwater notes. “They see training in the technical disciplines and business as a way for their students to enter other countries where their Christian witness would otherwise make it difficult.” Despite the formality of the classroom environment, Leegwater was able to interact with the hard-working students on a more personal level and see their unique personalities come to life in worship and chapel services. “I certainly would recommend it,” he says of international teaching. “It’s the opportunity to learn another culture, to see Christians trying to implement what the Christian faith means for academic work, and to be able to contribute to that discussion. I learned far more than I was able to contribute.” FALLING IN LOVE WITH LCC INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Deborah McCollister says that if she could be in two places at once, her two places would definitely be Dallas Baptist University in Dallas and LCC International University in Lithuania. The professor of English is Texan through and through, but she found a kindred institution in LCC. “Their mission is so similar to DBU, but it’s obviously such a different place,” McCollister says. She spent her fall 2010 sabbatical teaching at LCC and liked it so much she, like EMU’s Holsopple, applied for and received a Fulbright grant that allowed her to stay for the spring semester. Her husband, Mackie, had recently retired from the ministry and was able to join McCollister and work in the chaplain’s office at LCC. “We were very busy, and we loved it,” she says with feeling. “We love the people there deeply.” After returning to DBU, McCollister crafted an upper-level course on the modern literature of Lithuania and its neighbors. Through the compelling stories studied in the course,

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

GOING GLOBAL

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Thomas Kettelkamp in Bolivia with the organizing committee for the First International Congress on Public Health where he was the keynote speaker and major presenter. Image courtesy of Thomas Kettelkamp, Houghton College. Deborah McCollister (middle) with students from LCC International University. Image courtesy of Deborah McCollister, Dallas Baptist University. Deborah McCollister with Vilnius Fiesta Children. Image courtesy of Deborah McCollister, Dallas Baptist University. In the Field of Crosses in Lithuania. Image courtesy of Deborah McCollister, Dallas Baptist University.

McCollister was able to pass on to her students her experience of the people and the history of Lithuania. “Most of my students were not very familiar with the literature that obviously had to be underground during the Soviet era. The students kept saying, ‘I never knew,’” she says. “They didn’t know about the extent of the exportations to Siberia or how the Jewish population in that area suffered not only under Hitler but with Stalin also. It’s very eye opening for my students in the States—not only the politics and oppression, but also the strength of the human spirit under oppression.” During her nine months in Lithuania, McCollister was particularly struck by stories of the country’s newfound religious freedom.

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

“For so many years it was illegal to talk about God. It’s such an opportunity to go somewhere like that and say ‘OK, finally the people here have the freedom to go to church and read their Bibles and discuss their faith,’” she explains. McCollister sees a ripe opportunity for North American CCCU faculty to help young Christian colleges like LCC get started around the world, where they can share the gospel with their students, many of whom are new to the faith. “It’s a financial strain on universities to let somebody go and be gone for a while, but it’s really important to acknowledge that there really is a need,” she says.

GOING GLOBAL

Uganda Christian University Enters Centennial Year By Kami L. Rice

Edward O. Blews, Jr., and Marlene Wall at Wall’s September inauguration at LCC International University in Lithuania.

THE OPPORTUNITY CCCU RELATIONSHIPS PROVIDE The relationship between the CCCU and its 22 international affiliates affords a powerful opportunity for faculty at North American CCCU institutions to visit their sibling campuses abroad, where they can learn from a different culture, share resources across continents, and gain new experiences that contribute to a diversity of academic ideas. Last September, McCollister returned to LCC to attend the inauguration of the university’s new president, Marlene Wall. Edward O. Blews, Jr., the incoming CCCU president, and his spouse, Debra, also attended Wall’s inauguration in Lithuania. Blews delivered formal remarks of greetings and congratulations on behalf of the CCCU and Christian higher education globally. Kettelkamp and Holsopple also have plans to return to UEB and LCC, respectively, and Leegwater says he and his wife hope to return to Handong if work is available for both of them in Pohang. “Cost always becomes a problem,” Kettelkamp acknowledges. “But there are creative ways that we can make this happen.”

Edward O. Blews, Jr., with John Senyonyi and other UCU administrators as well as CCCU staff and Student Academic Programs Commission members.

This year Uganda Christian University, the CCCU international affiliate in Mukono, Uganda, and the host institution for BestSemester’s Uganda Studies Program, marks the 100th anniversary of its founding. Centenary celebrations kicked off in October 2012 at the university’s graduation and will continue throughout 2013. The institution began in 1913 as Bishop Tucker Theological College, founded on land granted to the Church of Uganda by the local chief, Hamu Mukasa. In 1997 the historic theological college, which trained clergy and educators, was promoted to university status. The university was granted a charter—the highest level of national accreditation—by the Government of Uganda in 2004, becoming the first private university in Uganda to receive such a charter. Now, more than 11,000 students from 13 countries study at five campuses nationwide, including over 8000 students at the main campus in Mukono.

As McCollister says, “It gets into your blood. They need the help, they’re appreciative, and they’re easy to love. What could be better?”

UCU provides “a complete education for a complete person,” integrating physical, social, emotional, and spiritual growth with traditional academics. Few universities in the region emphasize a holistic education.

Chelsea Farnam resides in New York, N.Y., where she is a social business manager for IBM. She is a graduate of Milligan College, an alumna of the CCCU’s BestSemester Scholars’ Semester in Oxford, and a former reporter for the Johnson City Press in Tennessee.

“One of the peculiar contributions [of UCU] is to send out students who have been touched by the gospel,” says Vice Chancellor John Senyonyi, the chief executive officer of UCU. “They bring a different perspective to the

workplace. Employers have noticed that.” Approximately 60 programs leading to diplomas, bachelors, masters, and doctorates are offered by UCU. Business studies attracts the largest number of students followed by social sciences. Law is the university’s strongest program. UCU is the only university in Uganda—and among one or two in all of East Africa—to offer a master’s level nursing program. The university is also offering more and more courses related to Uganda’s growing oil and gas industry, such as law, social sciences, environmental sciences, and petroleum accounting. UCU boasts nationally ranked sports teams and leading campus life programs, with all first-year students required to stay in supervised housing. The chaplaincy provides the campus community with regular worship and fellowship opportunities and week-long conferences each semester. CCCU President Edward O. Blews, Jr., recently visited UCU as part of the CCCU Student Academic Programs Commission’s review of the CCCU’s BestSemester Uganda Studies Program. In an address at the UCU community worship service, Blews heartily congratulated Uganda Christian University and its leader, Senyonyi, on the university’s centenary. “Truly Uganda is the pearl of Africa, and Uganda Christian University is the diamond of Uganda,” Blews declared.

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

BESTSEMESTER: REFLECTION

When a Whim Leads You to a Lifetime Engagement with China By Bethany Allen

The CCCU will enable our member colleges themselves to be great global institutions offering their students great study abroad and specialty study opportunities in the United States through our CCCU BestSemester programs. These BestSemester programs offer our students a unique combination of academic excellence integrated with biblical faith in study abroad and domestic specialty study programs. –CCCU President Edward O. Blews, Jr.

ooking back on my life, I can see there have been certain

spent four of the past eight years in China, immersed in its culture and

moments when I made a choice, perhaps even on a whim,

language. My studies, my interests, my experience, my future career,

on a matter of no apparent significance whatsoever. However,

now, in hindsight, I can trace from those featherweight moments the

The Last Samurai, the day I chose to attend BestSemester’s China

precise point at which the course of my life diverged wildly from its

Studies Program. What a moment, and I didn’t even know it at the time.

previous trajectory.

But in between that moment and where I am now is the China

On a chilly evening in late October when I was a freshman in college,

Studies Program itself. And that was the real catalyst. The China

on one of those whims, a friend and I decided to go see The Last

Studies Program is not your average study abroad experience—as

Samurai. (You know—Tom Cruise, Ken Watanabe, heroic samurai

I have learned in my interaction over the years with hundreds of

warriors fighting against all odds for what they believe in? Great stuff!)

students who have come to China under different circumstances or

At that time, I happened to be in the process of deciding where I

with different programs. Sure, like the others, CSP has all the great

would study abroad the following year. After the movie was over and

“China stuff” too: Climbing the Great Wall? Check! Eating crazy

the credits were rolling, I left the theatre inspired and intrigued by

and delicious and insanely spicy new food? Check! Learning how to

“East Asian culture,” and before we got to the parking lot, I had made

bargain in Chinese so you can get your hands on all those awesome

the decision—I would study abroad in East Asia. Since no “Japan

souvenirs at the outdoor market? Check, check!

studies program” was available to me, it was: “China, here I come!”

and dare I say my entire life were all changed the day I chose to see

What really sets CSP apart from most other study abroad programs is

Eight years later, I write these words from the campus of Yale University,

its emphasis on deep engagement with local culture. We were strongly

where I am earning my master’s degree in East Asian Studies. I have

encouraged to go out and make Chinese friends, rather than simply

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

BESTSEMESTER: REFLECTION

OPPOSITE PAGE: Summer 2012 on a mountain in Sichuan. CLOCKWISE FROM TOP RIGHT: CSP Spring 2011 girls in the Forbidden City. Performing taiji on the Xian City wall during CSP Fall 2010. Middlebury Japanese teachers and Bethany, summer 2010. All images courtesy of Bethany Allen.

walling ourselves off inside the expat community. CSP’s Intercultural

and monolithic immutability. As a CSP student, I not only witnessed

Communication class provided us with the tools we needed for

firsthand China’s vast complexity, I even found myself woven into the

observing, analyzing, and learning to accommodate the culture we saw

fabric of China’s most compelling questions: What does it mean to be

in dynamic motion around us every day. By using these tools, I was able

Chinese—and what does it mean to be “foreign”? What is the future

to form deep and lasting friendships with Chinese people, friendships we

of the international system, shaped by Western powers but now facing

have maintained for the past eight years. That is where all the culture is,

pressure to accommodate the behemoth of East Asia? If I choose to

after all—in what Chinese people think, in how they interact with others

learn Chinese and to study China, what kind of role can I play in the

around them, and in how they see the world. I would never have known

future of America, China, and the world?

China if I did not come to know Chinese people.

These questions have drawn me to continue my study of Chinese

CSP students come out of the program filled with a deep respect and

language, culture, history, and society at Peking University in

regard for Chinese culture, a respect that can only come from genuine

Beijing, at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center in Nanjing, and now at Yale

humility. And I believe that this humility flows from CSP’s foundation

University in Connecticut. After I finish my master’s degree, I plan

in Christ. Jesus calls us as Christians to serve and love those around

to return to China and work in study abroad. I hope, in this way,

us, not to exploit others for personal gain. The dominant expat culture

I can give to others who may be chasing their own Last Samurai

in China is one of self-glorification, moneymaking, and disdain for any

whims that which was so freely given to me—the chance to really

part of Chinese culture that interferes with either of those two goals. A

know China.

foreigner in China who chooses instead to display humility, compassion, and selflessness is like a shining light that cannot be hidden. An ancient civilization redefined as a modernizing nation-state, China is a country of both contradiction and continuity, of both rapid change

Bethany Allen participated in the CCCU’s BestSemester China Studies Program during her undergraduate studies at Abilene Christian University and later worked as program assistant for the China Studies Program in 2010-2011. She is currently studying early modern Chinese history at Yale University.

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

BESTSEMESTER: VOICES

BestSemester Experiences Benefit Entire Campuses, Not Just Student Participants By Rose Creasman Welcome

ABOVE LEFT AND RIGHT: Photos are of USP Spring 2012 alumni gathering together in the United States. Images courtesy of Andrea Haskins.

he BestSemester programs of the Council for Christian

behind her increased activism on and beyond campus. “USP made

Colleges & Universities are known for building intense

me realize the importance of actively engaging in community,” says

community. For an entire academic semester, they host

Haskins, a senior at Messiah College in Grantham, Pa. She now

CCCU students from different Christian faith traditions and different

leads other Messiah students on service outreach teams to the local

regions of the country who come together to engage with and learn

Harrisburg community where they focus on community building, justice

about one specific culture, whether that culture is rural East Africa

work, homeless ministry, and after-school programs for children.

or vibrant India or the halls of power in Washington.

“I’ve also joined clubs that focus on social activism and social justice

What happens when that indelible semester is over and

issues such as racism, education inequality, and poverty,” she

its temporary community disbands? When newly minted

notes. “I doubt I would have gotten involved with so many campus

BestSemester alumni return to their respective college

clubs and ministries had I not done the program [in Uganda].”

campuses, many wrestle with the reverse culture shock that often accompanies an abrupt return to normalcy following a complete immersion in a different way of life.

According to USP director Mark Bartels, USP places a heavy emphasis on engaging faithfully with one’s home culture. “We hope that USP alumni can apply the lessons and questions they take from

But the BestSemester story doesn’t end when the semester concludes.

Uganda in small ways when they return to campus,” he says. “The

Instead, alumni regularly apply their broadened cultural worldviews and

best recommendation they can give USP is to actively and creatively

keenly honed industry skills in heightened campus roles.

engage their campuses and other communities in ways that are informed by their experiences and relationships from Uganda.”

CAMPUS AND COMMUNITY OUTREACH Spring 2012 Uganda Studies Program alumna Andrea Haskins cites the program’s emphasis on living in community as the driving force

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

FILM INDUSTRY CONNECTIONS Though they never leave the country, alumni of BestSemester’s

BESTSEMESTER: VOICES

LEFT TO RIGHT: Fall 2011 WJC alum Gracie Ferrell outside the Capitol. Fall 2011 WJC alum Gracie Ferrell at the offices of The Daily Caller, where she interned. Images courtesy of Gracie Ferrell.

domestic programs experience a different brand of culture shock

to infuse her Union University classmates in Jackson, Tenn., with

after returning to campus. San Diego-based writer-director Destin

her heightened passion for journalism.

Cretton, a 2000 Los Angeles Film Studies Center alumnus, recalls returning to his home campus at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego and immediately putting his skills back to work.

She was promoted from assistant news editor to news editor for the campus newspaper immediately upon returning to Union, and she attributes the multiple roles in campus media she now holds

“After spending a semester at LAFSC, living and working in the

at California Baptist University in Riverside, Calif., to her WJC

middle of Hollywood, I definitely needed to readjust to life at PLNU,”

experience. As a senior at CBU, she currently works as news editor

says Cretton. “But more than anything, I came back really inspired

for The Banner, assistant yearbook editor, and managing editor for

to make another movie. So I teamed up with a classmate, and we

the campus magazine, in addition to helping fellow students as a

decided to make a short film for my senior project.”

writing mentor.

Cretton later directed Sundance Film Festival’s 2009 Best Short

“People assumed I would write all the political stories at first, but

Film, Short Term 12 and in 2010 he won one of Hollywood’s most

I’ve been able to help localize national news for our campus,” Ferrell

coveted screenwriting awards for talented new screenwriters—the

notes, adding that she has been able to show her fellow students

Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting—for his feature-

that the news section of the paper is not something to steer clear of.

length screenplay of the same film. Most recently, this March, Short

“Now, they’re not as afraid to take on stories in my section.”

Term 12 won the grand jury prize for best narrative feature at SXSW 2013, the annual music/independent film/emerging technologies festival in Austin, Texas. Cretton remains well connected to his alma mater, working with film students and maintaining relationships with influential former professors who he says are “always so much more than teachers at a podium.”

CBU journalism professor Michael Chute says WJC alumni work hard back on campus to improve their campus’s publications and pass along what they have learned during a semester immersed in the nation’s most competitive media market. “WJC alums almost always move into high-level positions on the campus newspaper staff,” says Chute, who also saw Ferrell’s work in his former faculty role at Union. “Many become writing coaches for

“I still work with a lot of alumni from PLNU. We actually hired a

other students and take on more of a mentoring role. I’m incredibly

couple of interns from PLNU to work on my last movie set,” Cretton

thankful for WJC.”

explains. “They were fantastic.” LEADERSHIP IN CAMPUS JOURNALISM Similarly, fall 2011 Washington Journalism Center alumnus Gracie Ferrell returned from her semester in Washington, D.C., determined

An alumna of the CCCU’s BestSemester Washington Journalism Center and of Point Loma Nazarene University, Rose Creasman Welcome has worked as a copy editor and managing editor for several print and online newsrooms. She presently serves as program coordinator and assistant instructor for BestSemester’s Washington Journalism Center.

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

BESTSEMESTER: VOICES

American Studies Program: The Next Generation By Rose Creasman Welcome

ounded in 1976 in Washington, D.C., the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities’ American Studies Program— BestSemester’s oldest student program—has produced more than 2,000 politically, socially, and spiritually engaged alumni who have gone on to leadership roles all over the world. The program’s influence is so far-reaching, in fact, that it is beginning to see new fruit: an influx of second-generation alumni, students whose parents attended ASP decades earlier. “Despite the changes in leadership ASP has gone through in recent years, it says a lot that based on the experiences of their parents, children of alumni are now attending the program,” says internship director and program faculty Elizabeth Pitts. “ASP is still transforming lives, one generation later.”

LEFT: Clyde Glass interned with Congressman John Anderson during his ASP semester in 1978. Image courtesy of Clyde Glass. RIGHT: Alexandra Glass during her ASP semester in 2011. Image courtesy of Alexandra Glass.

told me it would be challenging spiritually and academically but that I needed to do it, even if I never ended up going into politics.” Like his father, John Mervine II, who attended ASP in the fall of 1977, Mervine returned to the D.C. area after graduation and is pursuing vocational goals—specifically, hopes of owning his own business— that he discerned during his time in the program. For other recent ASP alumni, the family connection was more subtle. Alexandra Glass, who attended the program during the fall semester of 2011, had always known her dad studied in D.C. for a semester during his time at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill. She did not make the full connection to ASP, though, until she arrived at the Dellenback Center and one day spotted his decades-old photo on the wall.

Many such students, like spring 2011 alumnus John Mervine III, grew up listening to their parents’ stories about living and interning in the nation’s capital for a semester. For Mervine, that legacy made his own decision to attend ASP easy.

“I was walking down the hallway at ASP and saw him in a group picture—he was making bunny ears on another student,” she recalls, laughing. “I thought, ‘Who is this guy?’”

“I did ASP because my dad said it was such a great opportunity for him,” says Mervine, who graduated from Biola University in La Mirada, Calif., in 2012 but originally hails from Annapolis, Md. “He

Her father, 1978 ASP alumnus Clyde Glass, remembers encouraging his daughter to look into a semester in D.C. “I was totally aware that Alex was attending the same program,” he says. “I really wanted

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

BESTSEMESTER: VOICES

FAR LEFT: Alli Smith and friends during ASP. MIDDLE LEFT: Alli Smith, Spring 2006 alumna, at the office of Congressman Ortiz, where she interned. MIDDLE RIGHT: Alli Smith and her family with Congressman Ortiz. FAR RIGHT: Alli Smith and Congressman Ortiz. Images courtesy of Alli Smith.

her to look into it—ASP was clearly my best semester of college. I remembered walking past the Supreme Court every morning and tried to picture [Alex] doing the same.” That realization paved the way for an even more enriching semester, says Alexandra, who graduated last spring from Ambrose University in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. “It was so cool to know we’d been in the same city and walked the same streets, 20-some years apart.” Though they studied in different decades and under different faculty—Clyde with former, long-time ASP director Jerry Herbert and Alexandra with current director Peter Baker—both father and daughter agreed on the aspect of the program that left the greatest impact. “The concepts of vocation and calling really stayed with me,” notes Alexandra, who continues to work with ASP as a global development enterprise fellow. “The program shaped me the most vocationally and spiritually.” Her father, once a political science student heading toward law school and now the senior pastor of Southview Alliance Church in Calgary, says the program played a major role in shaping his vocation. “I began asking myself, ‘How can I have the greatest impact on people’s spiritual formation?’ It was clear: The body of Christ,” explains Clyde. “There is a direct connection from ASP to who I am and what I do today.” Sam Smith, another ASP alumnus from the program’s early days, echoed Clyde Glass’s sentiments—with one exception. For Smith,

the program’s emphasis on professional experience and vocational discernment deepened his desire to work in law. “I pretty much followed the path of the lawyers I interned with at ASP,” says Smith, who attended ASP in the spring of 1978 and currently practices law in Northern Virginia. “It made me want to do what they were doing.” When his daughter, Alli Smith, expressed interest in the program as a sophomore at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Ill., Sam encouraged her to take advantage of the professional experience the program would provide. For both Smiths, ASP impressed on them the idea of openmindedness. “I feel like I learned a lot about perspectives and points of view, about being able to absorb information from people who think differently than me. I’ve become a better learner,” says Alli, who graduated from Olivet in 2009. Her father remembers his conversations with his daughter during her spring 2006 ASP semester and his visits with her at her internship in former U.S. Congressman Solomon Ortiz’s office. “Alli was learning and doing similar stuff to what I had done in the program. … Her stories made me wish I’d interned on the Hill,” he says. “It was an exciting time for both of us.” An alumna of CCCU’s BestSemester Washington Journalism Center and of Point Loma Nazarene University, Rose Creasman Welcome has worked as a copy editor and managing editor for several print and online newsrooms. She presently serves as program coordinator and assistant instructor for BestSemester’s Washington Journalism Center.

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

GREEN SCHOLARS INITIATIVE

Green Scholars Initiative Allows CCCU Students and Faculty to Put Their Hands on Antiquity By Chelsea Farnam

very generation has its own story of how the Bible has impacted its culture. For generations, people have taken oaths by it, prayed from it, memorized its passages by heart, taught it to their children, and had portions of it engraved on their tombstones, often with careful attention to each individual word.

When new details of this ancient holy book’s origins are discovered

period, to have all these new quantities of materials discovered is

in the present day, who are the privileged few with the honor of

simply remarkable,” says Stan Rosenberg, director of the CCCU’s

examining the timeworn scrolls and manuscripts? Who are the

BestSemester Scholars’ Semester in Oxford and Oxford Summer

scholars tasked with the responsibility of educating the world

Programme.

about new insights?

named to the Green Scholars Initiative advisory board in 2011. He is

CCCU faculty and students are now among that elite group.

working on ways to bring samples from the collection to Oxford both

The initiative’s aim is to offer burgeoning and established scholars access to The Green Collection—the world’s newest and largest private collection of biblical texts and artifacts, boasting more than 40,000 biblical antiquities. Among The Green Collection’s acquisitions are the second largest private collection of Dead Sea Scrolls, biblical and classical papyri pre-dating the Library of Alexandria, a large portion of the Gutenberg Bible, and the Codex Climaci Rescriptus, one of the world’s earliest surviving Bibles. Many of the items are unstudied.

Along with several other CCCU-affiliated scholars, Rosenberg was

With the advent of a new program called the Green Scholars Initiative,

for CCCU programs and for the University of Oxford as a whole. The Green Collection was started by and named after the Green family—the founders of the national craft store chain Hobby Lobby and recipients of the 2012 CCCU Philanthropy Award. As Christians and Bible history enthusiasts who desire to make the history, scholarship, and impact of the Bible more accessible to the world, the family plans to open a yet-to-be-named Bible museum in Washington, D.C., to house their collection. Slated to open several years from now, the non-sectarian, scholarly-focused, national museum will illustrate

“If you’re a historian of the 1940s, there are just masses of

how the Bible came to be, its impact on the world throughout the

archives. But for someone dealing with the ancient and medieval

ages, and the story told in its pages.

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

The Green Collection is named for the Green family, founders and leaders of Hobby Lobby, one of the world’s largest privately owned arts and crafts retailers. The massive collection was assembled at an aggressive pace beginning in November 2009. The speed was enabled by the work of Collection Director and Ancient/Medieval Manuscript Specialist Scott Carroll and the Green family’s desire to make the story of the Bible accessible to all people. From left to right: Scott Carroll and Steve Green, president of Hobby Lobby A 14,000-square-foot, interactive, non-sectarian traveling exhibition, Passages tells the dramatic story of the capturing, preservation, translation, and new discoveries of the Bible. From left to right: Director of The Green Collection Scott Carroll, Director of the Green Scholars Initiative Jerry Pattengale, and Hobby Lobby President Steve Green (holding manuscript) join Peter Williams, Peter Head, and Dirk Jongkind from the Tyndale House at the University of Cambridge to commemorate the return of the famed Codex Climaci Rescriptus text to Cambridge for further study. The manuscript—containing what are likely the earliest-known biblical writings in Jesus’ household language—will undergo high-tech research by young and established scholars participating in the Green Scholars Initiative. Codex Climaci Rescriptus: Using a new technology developed by The Green Collection in collaboration with Oxford University, scholars have uncovered the earliest surviving New Testament written in Palestinian Aramaic—the language used in Jesus’ household—found on recycled parchment under a layer in this rare manuscript. All photos courtesy of The Green Collection.

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

GREEN SCHOLARS INITIATIVE

Highlights of The Green Collection

LEFT: A 1631 metrical translation of the Book of Psalms that is believed to have been done by King James with the assistance of his clerical advisors. Photo by Judy G. Rolfe. MIDDLE: A 13th-century Ethiopic New Testament commissioned by a woman and given to her daughter, written in Ge’ez. RIGHT: An Esther or Megillah Scroll, indicating its use in the synagogue for the Feast of Purim and surviving the Nazi Holocaust. Photos courtesy of The Green Collection.

The capstone of The Green Collection

• The world’s largest private

• An undocumented copy of

is Codex Climaci Rescriptus, one of

collection of Jewish scrolls,

Wycliffe’s New Testament in

the world’s earliest surviving Bibles.

spanning more than 700 years

Middle English

Using a new technology developed by

of history, including Torahs that

The Green Collection in collaboration

survived the Spanish Inquisition,

with Oxford University, scholars have

scrolls confiscated by the Nazis

uncovered the earliest surviving New

and recovered in concentration

Testament written in Palestinian

camps, and others from places

Aramaic—the language used in Jesus’

across the globe, including from

household—hidden under layers of text

China

in this rare manuscript.

• One of the world’s largest

Other highlights of The Green Collection

holdings of unpublished biblical

include:

and classical papyri, including

• One of the largest collections of cuneiform tablets in the Western Hemisphere • The second-largest private collection of Dead Sea Scrolls,

of the Gutenberg Bible and the world’s only complete Block Bible in private hands • Early tracts and Bibles of Martin Luther, including a little-known letter written the night before Luther’s excommunication • A large, undocumented fragment

the now-lost Library of Alexandria

of the Tyndale New Testament,

• Rare illuminated manuscripts and unknown biblical texts and commentaries

all of which are unpublished and

• The earliest-known, near-

expected to substantially contribute

complete translation of the Psalms

to an understanding of the earliest

to Middle English, including

surviving texts of the Bible

the Canticles and commentary 40 years

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

texts, including a large portion

surviving texts dating to the time of

predating Wycliffe’s translation by

• A number of the earliest printed

apparently published while Tyndale awaited execution • Numerous items illustrating the contribution of Jews and Catholics to the King James translation of the Bible

GREEN SCHOLARS INITIATIVE

However, with the Green Scholars Initiative, the family is already advancing its goal of empowering a new generation of biblical scholars to populate the academic field with fresh and enduring insights. The initiative sends artifacts from The Green Collection to colleges and universities, including several CCCU institutions, for talented undergraduates to examine under the guidance of select scholar-mentors from their university. These scholar-mentors work under the guidance of a handful of senior scholars, located all over the world.

A fragment of one of the earliest surviving texts of the Bible from the Book of Genesis, from the Dead Sea Scrolls. Photo courtesy of The Green Collection.

Additionally, last summer 31 Green Scholars Initiative students and their faculty mentors participated in the Green Scholars Initiative’s week-long LOGOS program. Held at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, LOGOS welcomed successful applicants to campus, where they were joined by leading scholars in textual studies, biblical studies, classics, Christian philosophy, and apologetics. All expenses

at Southern Nazarene University in Bethany,

that’s even more rare. It’s fun to do a topic that

Okla., is studying ancient Hebrew scrolls.

nobody else is doing.”

David Riggs, director of the John Wesley Honors College at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Ind., is leading a group of students in examining a signed letter from Martin Luther written the night before he was condemned.

While Duke acknowledges that the opportunities afforded by such an experience are helpful for his own scholarly endeavors, his ultimate goal is quite different. “Being able to work this way with students is really what gets

were covered for participants, and each

“For students, it’s exciting that they’d be able

me excited,” he says. “This has been some of

student also received a stipend of $1,000. The

to work on and research material some of their

my most fun teaching in my six years at APU.

LOGOS program aims to further prepare Green

potential graduate school professors don’t

It breaks down the barrier between professor

Scholars Initiative student scholars for top

even know exists yet,” says Robert Duke, a

and student. It’s a much more collaborative

graduate programs by giving them hands-on

scholar-mentor at Azusa Pacific University in

experience.”

training in the study of early Christian texts. It

Azusa, Calif.

also seeks to develop a community of young scholars who have scholarship and technical expertise and are prepared for living out their Christian vocation within an academic context.

Duke and his two students are researching a

to have students inform your research. The

silver amulet about the size of a playing card

benefits work both ways.”

that features Aramaic and Hebrew engravings, including the text of the Shema, the Jewish

“The especially great thing about this is the

prayer from Deuteronomy 6:4. They are

Greens’ vision,” says Rosenberg. “They don’t

translating the engravings letter by letter.

want to provide new texts just to a small handful of scholars who are regulative, but they want to push it out there to really inspire a new generation. They are sending the originals, not a photocopy or a digitized version. As far

Harper agrees. “It’s always a positive thing

When Duke traveled to a Green Collection exhibit in Atlanta, he arrived with both student researchers, insisting they present their own findings. “This comes down to reshaping what

“We’re still working on paleographical analysis

scholarship looks like,” Duke says of the Green

to be able to identify the era of its origin,” says

Scholars Initiative. “It’s not about me; it’s about

Duke. “But it’s somewhere in the first few

us and our ability to go forward.”

centuries A.D.”

And with tens of thousands of artifacts left

as I know, there’s no other vision like this out

At Gordon College in Wenham, Mass.,

to examine, the scholarship certainly will go

there.”

professor of history Jennifer Hevelone-

forward.

Of the 30 universities active in the Green Scholars Initiative, about 20 are CCCU institutions, including several CCCU-affiliated seminaries. Michael Holmes, professor of biblical studies and early Christianity at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minn., for example, is

Harper prepared a class of students to research a segment of the Codex Climaci Rescriptus written in Syriac. While she waited for the artifact to arrive, Harper taught her students the language of Syriac and taught a class on Mount Sinai in late antiquity.

joining students in researching a passage

“To have a Syriac class at a small liberal arts

from 1 Corinthians written on papyrus. Marty

college is just very rare,” says Harper. “But

Michelson, professor of theology and ministry

then to have a Sinai class in late antiquity,

See page 67 for a list of the Green Scholars Initiative Leadership. Chelsea Farnam resides in New York, N.Y., where she is a social business manager for IBM. She is a graduate of Milligan College, an alumna of the CCCU’s BestSemester Scholars’ Semester in Oxford, and a former reporter for the Johnson City Press in Tennessee.

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

Green Scholars Initiative Leadership

JERRY PATTENGALE Director of the Green Scholars Initiative; Assistant Provost for Scholarship and Public Engagement and Professor of History, Indiana Wesleyan University SENIOR SCHOLARS MARIAM AYAD University of Memphis: Lead Mentor-Scholar for the Papyri

MICHELLE BROWN University of London: Distinguished Scholar of Illuminated Manuscripts ROBERT DUKE Azusa Pacific University: Distinguished Scholar of Hebrew Texts JEFFREY FISH Baylor University:

Project and Egyptian and Coptic Texts

Distinguished Scholar of Greek Texts

GORDON CAMPBELL

CURT NICCUM

University of Leicester:

Abilene Christian University:

Co-Senior Scholar for the

Distinguished Scholar of Ethiopic Texts

King James Version Project

STEPHEN PFANN

CHRISTOPHER DE HAMEL

University of the Holy Land, Jerusalem:

SHIRLEY A. MULLEN President, Houghton College; Former Provost, Westmont College MARK ROOSA Dean of Libraries, Pepperdine Universities; Former Director for Preservation, Library of Congress STAN ROSENBERG Director of the CCCU’s BestSemester Scholars’ Semester and the Oxford Summer Programme, Oxford, England; Associate Tutor, Wycliffe Hall, Oxford University MARK RUTLAND President, Oral Roberts University; Former President, Southeastern University (FL) BRIAN SIMMONS

Corpus Christi College,

Research Scholar for Middle East Artifacts

Cambridge University: Senior

DAVID RIGGS

Scholar for Medieval Texts

Indiana Wesleyan University:

RALPH HANNA

Distinguished Scholar of Latin Texts

Keble College, Oxford University:

BENNO VAN DEN TOREN

Senior Scholar for the Richard

Wycliffe Hall, Oxford University:

Rolle Project

Distinguished Scholar of Dutch Texts

DAVID LYLE JEFFREY

PETER WILLIAMS

Dean, Pepperdine University School of Law

Baylor University: Senior Scholar for

Tyndale House, Cambridge University:

Christian Tradition and Spirituality

Distinguished Scholar of Aramaic Texts

MARK WILLIAMS

ALISTER MCGRATH

President, Association for Christian Schools International KENNETH WINSTON STARR President, Baylor University; Former U.S. Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia; Solicitor General and Independent Council under President George H. W. Bush; Former

Academic Dean of Arts, Languages, and Education and Professor of Classics,

King’s College London:

ADVISORY BOARD

Senior Scholar for the KJV

LEONARD ALLEN

Critical Text Project

Founder & President, Leafwood Publishers;

DIRK OBBINK

Director, Abilene Christian University Press

Christ Church, Oxford University:

MARK GALLI

Azusa Pacific University

Senior Scholar for the Papyri Project and

Editor, Christianity Today

EDWIN YAMAUCHI

JAY F. HEIN

Professor Emeritus of History, Miami

THOMAS ODEN

President, Sagamore Institute; Former

University; Author; Former President and

Drew University:

Deputy Assistant to President George W. Bush

Board Member of many organizations

Senior Scholar for African Texts

and director of the White House Office of Faith-

MARCEL SIGRIST

Based and Community Initiatives

École Biblique et Archéologique

DON W. KING

Française de Jérusalem: Senior Scholar

Senior Editor, Christian Scholar’s Review;

for Cuneiform

Professor of English, Montreat College; Author

EMANUEL TOV

KERRY V. MAGRUDER

Hebrew University, Jerusalem: Senior

Curator, History of Science Collections,

Scholar for Early Jewish Texts

University of Oklahoma Libraries

the Codex Climaci Rescriptus Project

DISTINGUISHED SCHOLARS

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

Calvin College; Author DAVID WRIGHT Provost, Indiana Wesleyan University; Former Dean, Haggard School of Theology,

FROM CAPITOL HILL

(continued from page 30)

restricting the tax exemption only to property

Department of Health and Human Services’

CCCU will strongly advocate for the cause of

used for religious purposes. Other countries

contraceptive mandate. Is religion that which

Christ-centered higher education as it relates

have severely restricted the definition of

takes place only within the walls of a church?

to charitable giving, the HHS abortion drug

churches eligible for tax exemption.

No. James 1:27 teaches that “religion that is

mandate, and whatever other challenges come

pure and undefiled before God, the Father,

our way. Already, President Blews has sent a

is this: to visit orphans and widows in their

letter to the leaders of the House Ways and

affliction, and to keep oneself unstained

Means Committee, urging them to maintain

from the world.” We Christians must continue

the charitable deduction in its current form,

making a case for and defending the full

and the CCCU will remain an active advocate

scope of our faith in the public square as we

on this issue.

In the United States, such attempts would have obvious constitutional implications. Taxing religious nonprofits would give the government great financial leverage over the positions and teachings of the church through taxation, a violation of Establishment Clause. In addition, any attempt to tax some of a church’s property

strive to keep and protect the appropriate

or activities would put the government in the

distance between governmental rules and

perilous position of determining which activity

regulations and church teachings and

is religious enough to be tax-exempt and

religious practices.

which activity is not.

This is one of the reasons why I excitedly

If this has a vaguely familiar ring to it, it is

welcome our incoming President Edward

because this theme recently emerged in

Blews. President Blews brings over 30 years

the Hosanna-Tabor Supreme Court case

of experience in effective and respected

and now in court cases filed because of the

advocacy, and with his leadership, the

Shapri D. LoMaglio is the government relations and executive programs director at the CCCU. A native of Tuscon, Ariz., Shapri is a graduate of Gordon College and of the University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law.

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

EDITOR’S NOTE

The Story We Cannot Imagine by Kami L. Rice

have been editing this issue of Advance

altar during a chapel service and told God I

from my cozy, little studio apartment in

wanted to let him have control of my life. Total

the south of France. After six months

control. My life was really his now. To do with

here, this sentence still seems surreal rolling off my fingers in a work of nonfiction. One year ago this month, the possibility of moving to France to study French in preparation for doing more reporting work internationally had only just claimed residence as one little line in a long list of possibilities I was praying over. By June, I thought I was coming to France for one solitary semester of language study. By August, two weeks before my September departure for Europe, an unexpected financial gift meant I had

On the other side of that prayer, I wondered why I had entered it with fear. Of course, God would be a better pilot for my life than I would be. He, who can see eternity; he, who is holy; he, who has written the forever story in which his side wins; he, who is love and

recounted in his inaugural address the way

truth in intimate concert; he, who created me

God led him and Debra to accept this new

and loves me more than I can comprehend;

position, I celebrated with their account of

he, who chooses to use a body of faltering

God at work taking them to a place they

believers to advance his kingdom.

had not planned to go. This is always the

the funds to study for an entire academic

Working with the CCCU these past several

year. Early this year, with the vision for how

years has kept me close to a scene that is

God wants to use me in this place gaining

seared into my memory as a signpost, a

clarity, my advisory board and I decided that

marker affording a measure of the distance

I should stay for at least another year.

between then and now. Regularly, during my

And that is how, in God’s economy, one semester turns into two years. Thus, I have been editing this spring magazine against a backdrop of awe at what God does when we stand before him with our hands open and our feet willing to go where he leads. My time here has been marked strongly by a sense of shalom, a term that entered my vocabulary and my heart during my final semester of college as I studied in BestSemester’s American Studies Program. It’s not just peace or some simple lack of

semester at ASP 15 years ago, I would steal up to the Dellenback Center’s rooftop deck despite the eventual December chill that

Hughes Auditorium during college. Filled with trepidation at what this prayer would require of me on the other side of it, yet still feeling compelled to pray it, I slipped down to the

CCCU ADVANCE | SPRING 2013

story better written when we hand over the pen to the one who can see eternity. With such a beginning, I am excited to learn what story God writes during President Blews’ CCCU tenure.

editing for the CCCU—in order to pursue new

There I prayed for guidance and for God’s

storytelling opportunities—I hope the CCCU’s

will. With the end of the known part of my

new stories will be stories of shalom, of things

life—the part where you know you’re going

as God intends them to be. I hope that despite

to school next semester—bearing down on

the many challenges we can all see in our

me, I had no answers for those well-intended

present cultural milieu, this new season under

people who asked: “What is your 10-year

President Blews’ leadership will be one of awe

plan for your life? Where do you want to be 15

over what God has done, a season marked by

years from now?”

a body of believers who stood together with

that God’s path for my next 15 years would

I prayed at the altar in Asbury University’s

acknowledge that we do not control, a

As I end this good season of writing and

an infinitely deeper place of accord.

life God has given me all hangs on a prayer

and orchestration—life inside a story we

of the brightly lit Capitol at night was striking.

Standing on that deck, I never, ever imagined

better-than-I-could-ever-concoct-on-my-own

best place to be, a place of God’s ordaining

greeted me there. From that vantage, the view

conflict; it is things as God intends them to be,

I am confident that the twisting, turning,

as he pleased.

fill my passport with stamps, my heart with stories, and my life with community and would see me marking 15 post-college years by taking up residence along the ancient cobblestone streets of Aix-en-Provence. It’s a story infinitely better than any my imagination then had the capacity to dream of. When new CCCU President Edward Blews

their hands open and their feet ready to go wherever God leads them. I look forward to celebrating such a story. Now based in southern France, Kami Rice (kami@kamirice.com) has been serving the CCCU as a consultant since 2008, editing Advance and writing for the CCCU Office of Communications. As a freelance writer, she has covered stories around the world, and her articles have appeared in more than 40 publications. She is a proud alumna of Asbury University and of the CCCU’s BestSemester American Studies Program.

2013-2014 ADVERTISING The mission of the CCCU is to advance the cause of Christ-centered higher education and to help our institutions transform lives by faithfully relating scholarship and service to biblical truth.

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Spring2013

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