Faith and Institutional Purpose:

May 9, 2002

Where do we go from here? A few specific proposals.

By

Richard F. Von Dohlen

1. A Monthly/BI-monthly Forum

What I envision here is:

(a) A formal presentation prepared by one of our colleagues on the particular area they are involved in. For example: Sally Jackson on the relationship of Faith and Occupational Therapy, Anita Johnson Gwin on Faith and Student Services or Dale King on Faith and Business.

(b) Each formal presentation would be followed by a commentator either from the area of the presentation or from someone outside the area.

(c) The presentation and the comments would be followed by discussion from all present.

(d) The best meeting time would need to be figured out. A number of years ago we had a series entitled “The Meaning of the Disciplines” which ran for a couple of years. This met on Wed nights for dinner (provided by college funds) form 5:30-7:30 including dinnertime. Attendance averaged about 30 each time with a total of 2/3 of the faculty attending at least one of the sessions. Our present format for these discussions-Wed or Friday at 3:00 would be a possibility. Assume 1hr and ½ under this format.

(e) Who would participate? Unlike the program mentioned above this program would include all areas of the College. All the academic disciplines would be included but also student services, athletics, admissions, and various areas in administration.

(f) What would the program cost? That depends. A meal would be more than hors d’oeuvres. If presenters were given some kind of stipend 9nice but I think not absolutely necessary) this would add to the cost.

(g) When could we get started? This fall. One of more of the papers that are being prepared in response to David Ratke’s grant proposal could provide a start.

(h) Who would be invited? Faculty, Staff, Trustees and selected students (honors students and those in the disciplines or areas represented).

2. A modification of the above program might be developed for a Trustee and/or Development Board retreat.

3. Convocation Schedule and Faith and Purpose: We could become intentional about attempting to schedule at least one of the yearly (or semester) convo’s around the theme of some aspect of faith and purpose.

4. Faculty Development Leaves: These are now given for a variety of scholarly purposes. This, of course, should continue. We could, however, encourage applications for development leaves that focus on the relationship of faith and the particular discipline of the applicant. Such applications should not receive special consideration but it should be clear that College policy treats these on equal footing with more specialized projects.

5. Continue to encourage faculty to apply for things like The Lutheran Academy of Scholars (we have had three faculty accepted for this program) and to attend the Vocation Conferences held in August.

6. Encourage summer study projects to explore faith and learning. Some of these could be funded by College funds. AAL and Lutheran Brotherhood money may be available for this purpose.

7. The invitation to participate in joint conference with Newberry, Lenoir-Rhyne and Roanoke came late and without a clear program. The idea, however, is a good one and if done on one of our campuses with a specific program and enough lead-time could be done well with a minimum of cost.

8. We have done some things in the Theology Colloquium that promote this discussion. This has the advantage of including participants who are not directly part of the campus community. We should explore possibilities further and encourage them.

9. Some Curricula Considerations: Religion 400 Christian Perspectives has focused on Faith and Culture. Different instructors have in their format emphasized different aspects of culture. It is possible without altering the format to become intentional and to advertise sections as focusing on various aspects of culture. For example, we could have Religion 400 Christian Perspectives: (01) Faith and Art; Religion 400 (02) Faith and Business; Faith and Medicine, Faith and Human Sexuality, Faith and Politics, etc.

There are various places in the curriculum where there are natural opportunities to integrate faith and learning. How about a unit on theology of ecology in Science 300? Faith and Business in Business Ethics? Etc.

10. Other? The above are intended as just a start.

Worship

1. Chapel attendance. My first idea is simple. Let each of us make a commitment to put chapel attendance as a priority and encourage others to do so as well.

2. Chapel messages could explore faith and institutional purpose as a theme and could from time to time feature some of our own faculty and staff addressing these topics. It could be important to recruit people outside religion and philosophy areas and/or who are not necessarily ordained.

3. Small group devotional times for faculty and staff. I am thinking here of a brief period (20-25 minutes) reading of scripture, sharing of prayer requests and prayer. This could be by area or building but it would be good if this included a mix of people from faculty and staff. A groups of 5-10 including Student Services, Administration, Faculty and Athletics would promote spiritual growth and a sense of campus community. These groups could be held at a various places on campus and at times that best suit the participants. Morning? Lunch?