Intersections : Faith, Church, And the Academy.

2018·2.2 MB·English

by  Mark E. Hanshaw, Timothy S. Moore

INTERSECTIONS
Faith, Church, and the Academy
Mark E. Hanshaw and Timothy S. Moore
General Editors
Intersections: Faith, Church, and the Academy
The General Board of Higher Education and Ministry leads and serves The United Meth-
odist Church in the recruitment, preparation, nurture, education, and support of Christian
leaders—lay and clergy—for the work of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transfor-
mation of the world. The General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of The United
Methodist Church serves as an advocate for the intellectual life of the church. The Board’s
mission embodies the Wesleyan tradition of commitment to the education of laypersons
and ordained persons by providing access to higher education for all persons.
Intersections: Faith, Church, and the Academy
Copyright 2018 by the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, The United Meth-
odist Church. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form whatsoever, print or electronic, with-
out written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles
or reviews. For information regarding rights and permissions, contact the publisher, Gen-
eral Board of Higher Education and Ministry, PO Box 340007, Nashville, TN 37203-0007;
phone [phone]; fax [phone]. Visit our website at www.gbhem.org.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from the New Revised Stan-
dard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National
Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All
rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked dra are taken from the Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edi-
tion (dra).
All web addresses were correct and operational at the time of publication.
Cover art: Based on the image “For What Binds Us” © Jan Richardson, janrichardson.com.
Used by permission of Jan Richardson, The Wellspring Studio, LLC.
ISBN: 978-1-945935-20-6
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27—10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Manufactured in the United States of America
Contents
Preface
Mark E Hanshaw and Timothy S Moore                   v
Historical Intersections
1 The Interfaith Movement and Methodism
S Wesley Ariarajah                                        3
2 Annotations on Chapter 3: Intersection, Difference, and
Deference
Timothy S Moore                                        23
3 The Grand Rallying Point: Methodists, Congregationalists,
Baptists, Episcopalians, and Jews Forge a Lesson and Legacy
in Interfaith Cooperation
Eva Semien Baham                                       39
Transformative Intersections
4 Change in Heart and Mind: Refl ections on the Intersection
between a Nonbeliever and a United Methodist–Affi liated
Institution
Kent Andersen                                           63
5 How the Story of Job May Help Us All Get Along
Chad J Pevateaux                                        79
iii
Contents
6 Prioritizing Questions for Religious Literacy at United
Methodist–Affiliated Colleges
Nathan Eric Dickman                                     97
Campus Intersections
7 Interreligious Community Engagement and Service-
Learning in Higher Education: Pedagogical Considerations
Hans Gustafson                                         131
8 Common and Diverse Ground: An Interfaith Dialogue
Model for College Campuses
Diane R Wiener and Jikyo Bonnie Shoultz               155
9 Spiritual Diversity and Mindfulness: A Pathway to
Inclusion on a University Campus
Gladys Childs and Dennis Hall                           173
10 Striving for Mission Integration: Catholic Identity,
Social Justice, and Interfaith Inclusivity
Nicholas Rademacher                                    189
11 The Campus as a Clinical Setting: Reflections on
School Chaplaincy and an Argument for Higher
Standards
Aaron Twitchell                                         211
P rospective Intersections
12 From Priority to Practice: Interfaith Cooperation
and United Methodist Higher Education
Eboo Patel and Carolyn Roncolato                       235
13 Is Religion the Sinews of War? Or Is It Just a Myth
“Generally So Considered”?
John A Tures                                           257
14 The Business of Interfaith: Could Interreligious
Engagement Change the Workplace Environment?
Mark E Hanshaw                                       281
About the Contributors                                         297
iv
Preface
F
rom the early days of John Wesley’s work—tending the needs
of the most marginal residents of eighteenth-century London—
to the present day, the Methodist movement’s central concern
has been the question of what it means to be in relationship
with a diverse and divided world. Indeed, while his language may
appear somewhat archaic, we see Wesley striving to make sense of
the good works undertaken by members of other faiths. In contrast
to the failings of his own Christian community, he commented on
the character of other faith traditions in a sermon delivered late in
his career:
But with Heathens, Mahometans, and Jews we have at present
nothing to do; only we may wish that their lives did not shame
many of us that are called Christians. We have not much more
to do with the members of the Church of Rome. But we can-
not doubt, that many of them, like the excellent Archbishop
of Cambray, still retain (notwithstanding many mistakes) that
faith that worketh by love. And how many of the Protestants
enjoy this, whether members of the Church of England, or of
other congregations?1
The question of what it means for Methodists to be aware of
and engaged with individuals of differing cultural backgrounds and
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PrefaCe
religious beliefs has loomed ever larger in the days since John Wesley.
We now live in a global society, where people of highly varied back-
grounds and life experiences work, live, and function side by side.
For many of the present generation, the homogeneity of the English
countryside, once known by Wesley, must seem little more than a
historic relic.
Expanded cultural diversity can bring many benefits to a commu-
nity. At the same time, it may also serve as a source of social anxiety
and, potentially, conflict. Even as diverse friendships and partnerships
across the globe help break down the ethnic and religious barriers that
once separated communities and peoples, we are witness to ongoing
atrocities. Recent global events, ranging from the mass migrations of
peoples under siege to political battles that have divided nations and
regions over issues of religion and ethnicity, continually remind us that
the work of bridging cultural divisions is far from over.
These shifts in our global demographic landscape have given new
importance to the questions that Methodists have wrestled with from
the beginning. Frequently, individuals look to the church and its insti-
tutions for guidance on how to understand and respond to this so-
cial and cultural landscape. As renowned scholar John Hick observed
more than three decades ago:
Christians have always lived, consciously or unconsciously,
in a religiously plural world. In some places and periods they
have been acutely aware of other religious traditions living
and growing alongside their own. But in Western Christianity
this pluralistic consciousness has only fully emerged during the
lifetimes of people now living. Prior to that, religions such as
Hinduism and Buddhism, Judaism and Islam, were generally
seen as strange and dark residues of paganism, utterly inferior
to Christianity and proper targets of the churches’ missionary
zeal. Today, however, we have all become conscious, in vary-
ing degrees, that our Christian history is one of a number of
variant streams of religious life, each with its own distinctive
forms of experience, thought and spirituality. And accordingly
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we have come to accept the need to re-understand our own
faith, not as the one and only, but as one of several.2
It would seem that Hick’s words are only more relevant in the complex
world that has emerged in the decades since he put pen to paper.
Among the groups most desirous of direction and insight regarding
our place in a diverse world may be those who have just begun laying
the foundations for their own futures. Our youth—from school-aged
students still struggling to comprehend the size and complexity of our
global community to college students weighing a daunting array of
educational pathways within a rapidly changing social environment—
are left asking what sort of world they will inherit.
Within this global climate of uncertainty and disorientation, our
United Methodist–related colleges and universities can and must play
a central role in helping students better understand the parameters
of the social struggles unfolding before us. At the same time, our
colleges and universities have the opportunity to do more than facil-
itate understanding. These vital educational institutions can provide
the environment and opening necessary to turn inquisitive students
into active community leaders. And indeed, many United Methodist
colleges and universities have taken up this challenge.
In 1988, the General Conference of The United Methodist Church
adopted a widely cited resolution on interfaith relations. That resolu-
tion has been reaffirmed and amended by four subsequent General
Conference gatherings. Entitled “Called to Be Neighbors and Wit-
nesses: Guidelines for Interreligious Relationships,” the resolution calls
upon members of the church to promote “mutual understanding, co-
operation and transformation” through purposeful engagement with
individuals of differing faiths.3 During the period since the passage of
the original version of this resolution, innovative and inspired inter-
faith engagement arising from within the United Methodist commu-
nity has taken place on college campuses.
This volume seeks to provide a glimpse at some of that innovation
and inspired engagement. While crafted to serve the needs of a diverse
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array of individuals from clergy to academic administrators and from
lay parishioners to faculty, the most important audience for this vol-
ume may be students at our United Methodist–related schools. These
students will be best positioned to reshape our world in ways that
respond to the increased diversity within our individual communities.
Intersections: Faith, Church, and the Academy was conceived as
an interfaith resource. It has been designed to provide insight into
both the history of the involvement of Methodism in the interfaith
movement and the issues that may shape the future of this field of en-
gagement. More important, this volume seeks to underscore some of
the efforts taking place on college and university campuses and chap-
laincy ministries aimed at building bridges between diverse groups of
advantaged and disadvantaged populations. It is meant to provide a
platform from which we can learn the experiences and innovations of
our peers. It is further meant to inspire future opportunities for Meth-
odist institutions to play key roles in preparing individuals to be the
intercultural leaders of the present and future.
In this volume, readers will find an array of chapters written by
scholars, chaplains, university administrators, and clergy. The chapters
seek to shed light on projects, programs, research, and experiences
that are shaping lives and perspectives.
The opening chapter includes the voice of one who has greatly
influenced interfaith efforts around the globe. S. Wesley Ariarajah, the
former deputy general secretary of the World Council of Churches and
broadly published scholar, opens this volume with a rich reflection on
Methodists’ efforts to contribute to the global interfaith movement.
His chapter reaches back to the origins of the interfaith movement
and traces the history forward into the modern era. He lays a useful
and intriguing foundation for understanding other contributions to
this volume.
In the second chapter, Timothy S. Moore, director of donor de-
velopment at Union Presbyterian Seminary and coeditor of this vol-
ume, wrestles with a patient and persistent commitment embedded in
the foundations of United Methodist–related higher education. That
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PrefaCe
commitment is to hold in positive tension both learning and piety. The
joint presence of learning and faith in these academic institutions gen-
erates the possibility that this tension will impact the culture, climate,
and curricula at these schools, making distinct the kind of education
received at church-related institutions. Less theoretical than practical,
Moore’s essay examines a constructive benefit that such a tension
may offer when taken seriously by outlining an education program
implemented at one United Methodist–related school.
In chapter 3, Eva Semien Baham, assistant professor of history at
Dillard University, addresses a core question. She seeks to consider
how faith may become active without being dominated by religious
particularism. Baham answers this question by outlining the histori-
cal and cultural backgrounds of New Orleans. From this context, she
traces the blurring of religious boundaries by religious groups to work
together on behalf of African Americans. New Orleans’s religious and
social diversity illustrates an intricately delicate dance of good inten-
tions in a highly charged environment. In her chapter, Baham asserts
that effective aid necessitated interfaith cooperation to benefit the
city’s African American population. Concentrating on her own insti-
tution’s founding, Baham examines that institution’s establishment as
a collective advantage emergent from both interracial and interfaith
cooperation.
In chapter 4, Kent Andersen, director of the Hess Center for Lead-
ership and Service at Birmingham-Southern College, offers a personal
reflection on the perspective-changing impact of his own participa-
tion in service-learning projects initiated through the chaplain’s office
in the college he serves. As an individual embracing no defined faith
perspective, Andersen reflects on the impact of service-learning ex-
periences organized in connection with San Francisco’s Glide Memo-
rial United Methodist Church, a “radically inclusive” community. As
he observes, the experiences proved powerfully thought-provoking,
prompting him to rethink his own faith perspective. Further, the chap-
ter focuses attention on the important place of service-learning on the
college campus.
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In chapter 5, Chad Pevateaux, assistant professor at Texas Wes-
leyan University, draws upon the biblical story of Job as a metaphor
to discuss methods that he employs in specific courses to encourage
students to objectively consider the relationships that bind varying
religious systems. Pevateaux draws parallels between the suffering of
Job and the many tragedies that have become the backdrop of life
for modern students. Further, he reminds us of the fact that so many
of these tragedies have some religious dimension. In light of these
tragedies, he argues that helping students to develop an interfaith
perspective can be critical to providing the resources necessary to
overcome the uncertainty and fear that naturally arise when one con-
fronts such tragedy. Further, he argues that students can find security
in understanding.
In chapter 6, Nathan Eric Dickman, associate professor at Young
Harris College, offers a call, rooted in his own teaching experience,
for the employment of a methodology of teaching courses in religion
that is rooted in radically open inquiry and the cultivation of interre-
ligious literacy. Dickman observes that religious affiliation in modern
America has come to be approached frequently through the lens of
a consumerist perspective, even though religious literacy appears to
be in decline. He makes the persuasive argument that United Meth-
odist colleges and universities should broadly embrace the strategy
of encouraging open questioning in religious studies courses. Such
open questioning, while sometimes uncomfortable, is a central ingre-
dient in promoting expanded religious and interreligious literacy, he
concludes.
In chapter 7, Hans Gustafson, associate director of the Jay Phillips
Center for Interfaith Learning at University of St. Thomas, explores an
intentional effort by his university to encourage faculty to add interre-
ligious community engagement (i.e., service-learning) to their course
pedagogy. In his chapter, he describes the essentials for course design
and implementation; shares key readings, student learning outcomes,
and types of community partners; and offers strategies for student
assessment. Vitally, Gustafson provides the background context to
x