I interviewed a former Pro Bowler, considered what’s being lost with the decline of mainline Protestantism, and explained why this blog is going to be relatively (but not completely) quiet for most of 2020. Elsewhere: • A local newspaper here in St. Paul reported that a local Methodist church was banning older people. Not surprisingly, … More That Was The Week That Was
If you’ve been reading this blog in recent months, you probably are familiar with the debate within evangelical higher education over the decision of Goshen College and Eastern Mennonite to hire LGBT faculty — and then those schools’ late September decision to withdraw from the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) rather than cause more of … More “Crisis Averted”: Christianity Today on the CCCU Debate over Sexuality
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
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
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
As one Baptist member abruptly withdraws from Christian higher ed’s leading organization and a Wesleyan school threatens to do so if Goshen and Eastern Mennonite are not expelled from the CCCU by August 31st, I hope many in the Christian college world will join Spring Arbor professor John Hawthorne in supporting the people of those two Anabaptist institutions: I don’t think … More Why I Hope Goshen and Eastern Mennonite Stay in the CCCU
When I asked Devin Manzullo-Thomas to write a post providing some historical context for two Mennonite schools becoming the first members of the largely evangelical Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) to allow for the hiring of employees in same-sex marriages, I pointed him towards a World magazine story featuring this ominous paragraph: Dub Oliver, president of Union University … More Quick Thoughts on Union University Withdrawing from the CCCU
It’s often been said that the greatest compliment a teacher can receive is for a student to disagree well with him. Take, for example, this 1947 paper written for a Church History course at Goshen College. Wait – did I mention that the student was a nineteen year old John Howard Yoder? Or that his … More A Young J.H. Yoder on German Pietism
The Pietist Schoolman 