CCCU sign

More Details (and Some Lingering Questions) about the CCCU Announcement

September 22, 2015

Already I’ve read a couple of commentaries on yesterday’s announcement that Eastern Mennonite and Goshen had left the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) rather than continue on as affiliate members, a step that was opposed by 25% of CCCU member presidents. I’ll withhold my own reflections until I’ve had a chance to post my interview … More More Details (and Some Lingering Questions) about the CCCU Announcement

Goshen College gate

Goshen and Eastern Mennonite Leave the CCCU

September 21, 2015

In a statement just posted on the website of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU), it was announced that while 75% of CCCU presidents agreed with the board’s recommendation that Goshen College and Eastern Mennonite University be moved to affiliate status within the consortium, the two Mennonite schools decided to leave the CCCU voluntarily: While EMU and Goshen … More Goshen and Eastern Mennonite Leave the CCCU

Bernie Sanders campaigning in Phoenix, AZ

That Was The Week That Was

September 19, 2015

Here… • Devin Manzullo-Thomas returned with a second CCCU-inspired post on the relationship between Anabaptists and Evangelicals, this one featuring former Eastern Mennonite and CCCU president Myron Augsburger. (Thanks to both Real Clear Religion and Mennonite World Review for reposting this one!) • Thanks in part to some Anabaptist studies of my own, I felt led to wrestle aloud … More That Was The Week That Was

Bethel football in 1964

Football at Christian Colleges and Universities

September 18, 2015

It’s relatively unusual for a religious private college to have a football team. While George Fox, Missouri Baptist, and Southeastern are among the most recent of the 270 NCAA football programs to have started in the last thirty-five years, it appears that about three in five schools in the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities do not have football teams, … More Football at Christian Colleges and Universities

Steven Plocker (DE)

Christianity, Comedy, and Joy

September 16, 2015

There are other things I’d love to see my university get recognized for, but if hilarious pictures of our nationally-ranked football team are going to get Bethel publicity, so be it. Apparently, this all started a few years back when now-assistant coach Jesse Phenow (also a Pietist Schoolman guest-blogger, I should point out) took this picture. When roster photo-taking time rolled … More Christianity, Comedy, and Joy

Esther and Myron Augsburger

A Prophetic Impulse: Myron Augsburger and the Mennonite History of the CCCU (Devin Manzullo-Thomas)

September 14, 2015

One of the blessings of getting caught up in the ongoing debate over the future of Christian higher education is that I’ve been prompted to learn more about Myron Augsburger, the former president of both Eastern Mennonite University and the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU). With the latter a week away from deciding whether the … More A Prophetic Impulse: Myron Augsburger and the Mennonite History of the CCCU (Devin Manzullo-Thomas)

Goshen soccer practice, undated

Anabaptist Visions of Sport

September 11, 2015

Sharp-eyed followers of this blog might have noted a recent addition to my speaking schedule. This November I’ll be one of many scholars giving a paper at The Spirit of Sports, the 2015 Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. I’ll be part of a session organized by Baylor grad student/blogger Paul Putz, speaking on “Anabaptist … More Anabaptist Visions of Sport

First day of kindergarten for our kids

For My Children, On Their First Day of Kindergarten

September 9, 2015

At the risk of saying what people like my former colleague Kyle Roberts have already said quite well, I’m going to share a rather personal blog post today — the first day of kindergarten for our twins. Dear Lena and Isaiah, Today I’ll try to find ways to say these things to you, but I know that … More For My Children, On Their First Day of Kindergarten

Marilynne Robinson

“Not a Christian Habit of Mind”: Marilynne Robinson on Fear

September 8, 2015

In my “Body of Christ” address last week, I spent a fair amount of time trying to argue that anyone who follows the Resurrected Christ need not live in fear. For example: Do you live as a member of the body of a resurrected Christ? Or are you like the disciples? At the end of John’s account … More “Not a Christian Habit of Mind”: Marilynne Robinson on Fear