Position Paper

By Sandra R. Cline

As a member of the Board of Trustees for 7 years, I see the strong relationship of Lenoir-Rhyne to the church every time I am on campus. In rereading the mission statement and thinking about the daily activities at Lenoir-Rhyne, I see the Christian Faith lived out in many activities.

As a representative of Lenoir-Rhyne, I have attended many Presidential Inaugurations at different schools all over North Carolina. I attended Molly Broad’s inauguration as Chancellor of the University of North Carolina system, James Moeser’s at UNC-Chapel Hill, and James Mullen’s at UNC-Asheville. I have also attended inaugurations at Lees-McRae, Livingstone and Presbyterian Colleges. I am always struck by the differences in the ceremonies conducted at a college of the church and at a state school. I cherish our ceremonies of Baccalaureate and Commencement, Honors Convo and Opening Convo and their grounding in the Church. At every committee meeting I attend at L-R, a prayer is offered up before business begins. The Board of Trustees opens every meeting with devotions and prayer. As the Search Committee begins its duties, prayer is the first order of business. In every classroom I enter, a cross is prominently displayed. I have been on several Broyhill retreats with our best and brightest students and devotions are included in the retreats, which are held at other institutions of the Church.

I think back to my days as a student over 30 years ago, and I don’t see a lot of dilution in the impact of the church from then ‘til now. In fact, I’ve attended more chapel services as a member of the Board than I ever did as a student and I began L-R as a Christian Education major! Even though I’ve never been involved, I think that our Gen 110 classes and the service project during Freshman Orientation help to show every entering class a little of what we are about. I think that the fact that we offer scholarships that are exclusively for Lutheran students from congregations in North Carolina makes a statement of what we are about. Our by-laws state that the President of Lenoir-Rhyne must be Lutheran, a percentage of the Board must be Lutheran and a percentage must be Lutheran pastors. I think that all of this provides for a vision and a mission that are grounded in the Christian Faith in general and the Lutheran Faith in particular.