The Church on the World's Turf : An Evangelical Christian Group at a Secular University

216 Pages·2000·13.049 MB·English

by  Paul A. Bramadat

The Church on the World's Turf
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The Church on the World's Turf
An Evangelical Christian Group
at a Secular University
Paul A. Bramadat
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Copyright © 2000 by Paul A. Bramadat
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198 Madison Avcnne, New York, New York 10016
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bramadat, Paul A.
The church on the world's turf : an evangelical Christian group at
a secular university / Paul A. Bramadat.
p. cm. — (Religion in America series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-19-513499-0
1. Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship. 2. Christian college
students —Religious life — Ontario— Hamilton. 3. Christianity and
culture — Ontario — Hamilton. 4. McMaster University —Students —
Religions life. I. Title. 11. Series: Religion in America series
(Oxford University Press)
BV97o.I6B73 2000
3o6.6'676i'o97]352 — dc2i 99-16827
i 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United Status of America
on acid-free paper
For Karen
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Prefacee
As we enter this new century, it seems more and more likely that two of the most
significant changes we see in North America1 are intimately and perhaps dialecti-
cally related: the increasing levels of economic and cultural globalization and, in
response, the genesis of new forms of tribalism. In the religious sphere, or more
specifically, in the interaction between religion and culture, one witnesses a related
dialectical process. Over the past century (but especially in the past thirty-five years),
many of our main institutions have been re-created along either fully secular (largely
post-Christian) or at least religiously pluralistic lines. And in response to these pro-
cesses in North America, we have seen the rise of a form of conservative Protes-
tantism which seeks (creatively and effectively, as we shall see) to protect its heritage
and the putative Christian foundations of Western civilization, both of which are,
they tell us, under siege.
As far as many of these Protestants are concerned, they are foot soldiers in noth-
ing less than the battle for both the soul of North America and the souls of North
Americans. But there is a limit to the usefulness of this kind of generalization. True,
we may be witnessing a struggle between worldviews or ideologies. However, I am
more and more convinced that if we want to make any progress in our understand-
ing of the tension between what we might (vaguely, I admit) call modernism-
secularism-pluralism on the one hand and various kinds of religious exclusivism on
the other hand, we need to analyze specific sites of this struggle through a more
finely calibrated lens. Discussions of secularization, differentiation, and other gen-
eral explanations of current trends will remain strictly academic unless these debates
are embedded in the actual experience of individuals and groups.
As a means of exploring crucial issues in the relationship between contemporary
culture and traditional religion, I conducted extensive fieldwork with the Inter-
Varsity Christian Fellowship chapter at McMaster University in southern Ontario.
Throughout my fieldwork, I benefited from the grace and generosity of many pco-
viii Preface
pie. Buff Cox, the chapter's competent and indefatigable staff worker, was remark-
ably open to and supportive of my research. Her compassion, intelligence, and
respectful comprehension of my project were indispensable. On several occasions
when I has having a difficult time understanding an individual member or a group
process, she provided sage and timely insights which greatly facilitated my analysis.
Because I have agreed to protect the anonymity of the group's student members
as much as I can, I cannot thank the majority of other people whose cooperation
made this project possible and enjoyable. However, I trust that the group's president
and the members of the executive committee, the Lithuania team, the How to Give
Your Faith Away Small Group, the Large Group Worship Band, and many others
who shared their lives with me know that I am extremely grateful. These young
Christians — especially the president and the Lithuania team — "stretched" and "dis-
cipled" me more than they can know.
A few months after I left Ontario, one of the senior members of the group
conveyed her qualified approbation of an early draft of this book. She wrote that
she felt I had clone an excellent job of understanding the group, its language,
customs, symbolic substructure, members, and relationship with the non-Christian
world. However, she felt I had missed something important during my research
because, to use evangelical rhetoric, I had not been drawn closer to Christ. I know
that this criticism of my project (and, in truth, of me) was not hers alone. I am
unsure how to respond to these critics except by saying that I tried throughout this
project to remain both intellectually and emotionally open to their Lord, but in the
end I did not feel drawn into a relationship with Jesus. I do feel, however, that I
now have a much better and more sympathetic understanding of what such a re-
lationship means to them. For now—for me —that is enough.
During my research at McMaster University, I was very fortunate to receive
encouragement, friendship, and constructive criticism from several extremely ca-
pable scholars. Louis Greenspan and Richard Preston from McMaster and John
Simpson from the University of Toronto provided penetrating analyses and read
early drafts of this book. John Robertson from McMaster helped to focus some
of my reflections during many edifying bicycle excursions around the spectacular
rural regions of southern Ontario. Finally, I can hardly overstate the influence
of McMaster's Ellen Badone on both this book and my intellectual development.
I was especially fortunate that her superb and painstaking scholarly abilities are
complemented by her tireless and sensitive mentorship. Although I take full re-
sponsibility for this book and its weaknesses, my debt to these other scholars is
immense.
I would also like to thank executive editor Cynthia Read and production editor
MaryBeth Branigan at Oxford University Press. Their confidence in this project is
greatly appreciated. My wife, Karen Palmer, has been an inexhaustible source of
reassurance and perceptive critical feedback. In many ways, she has been the mid-
wife of this project.
University of Winnipeg P. B.
Winnipeg, Manitoba
12 March 1999
Contents
ONE Introduction 3
TWO Four Life Histories 26
THREE IVCF Rhetoric 53
FOUR Otherness 70
FIVE The Role of Women 90
SIX Satan and the Spiritual Realm 102
SEVEN Witnessing at McMaster and Abroad 119
EIGHT Conclusion 139
Notes 151
Bibliography 183
Index 201