Table Of Content

General Editors: Matthew W. Charlton M. Kathryn Armistead Nashville, Tennessee THE PROPHETIC VOICE AND MAKING PEACE The General Board of Higher Education and Ministry leads and serves The United Methodist 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 transformation of the world. Its vision is that a new generation of Christian leaders will commit boldly to Jesus Christ and be characterized by intellectual excellence, moral integrity, spiritual courage, and holiness of heart and life. 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 lay- persons and ordained persons by providing access to higher education for all persons. Copyright 2016 by the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, The United Methodist Church. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form whatsoever, print or electronic, without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information regarding rights and permissions, contact the Publisher, General Board of Higher Ed- ucation and Ministry, P.O. Box 340007, Nashville, TN 37203-0007; phone 615-340-7393; fax 615-340-7048. Visit our Web site at www.gbhem.org. All Scripture quotations unless noted otherwise are taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture noted KJV is taken from the King James Version (public domain). ISBN 978-0-938162-68-1 All web addresses were correct and operational at the time of publication. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26—10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Manufactured in the United States of America iv C ontents Introduction Matthew W. Charlton, PhD, Assistant General Secretary, Collegiate Ministry, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, The United Methodist Church ..............................1 Ecology A United Methodist Reading of Francis’s Laudato Si’ ..............7 Matthew W. Charlton, PhD, Assistant General Secretary, Collegiate Ministry, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, The United Methodist Church Making Shalom: The Body of Christ within the Household of God ..................................................................31 Jane Ellen Nickell, PhD, College Chaplain, Allegheny College A Theological Response to the Ecological Crisis .....................51 Domenico Nigrelli, PhD, Assistant Professor of Religion and Philosophy, Martin Methodist College Pluralism Transformative Knowing: Scriptural Reasoning and Wesleyan Epistemology ...................................................83 Christopher Donald, College Chaplain and Director of Religious Life, Millsaps College All Faith Chapel or No Faith Chapel? Contours of Diversity and Pluriformity in Collegiate Ministry ..................109 Mark Forrester, University Chaplain and Director of Religious Life, Vanderbilt University Sunesis: Understanding via Interplay .....................................135 Timothy Moore, DMin, Director of Collegiate Ministry Resources and Training, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, The United Methodist Church A Particular Ministry in a Pluralistic Context .......................165 Stephen W. Rankin, PhD, University Chaplain, Southern Methodist University Practical Divinity: Pluralism in a Liberal Arts Community ....185 Ron Robinson, DMin, Perkins-Prothro Chaplain and Professor of Religion, Wofford College Erin Simmonds, student, Wofford College ’ v Racism Systemic Racism: Making Room for Emerging Narratives as the Spirit Gives Utterance ................................221 Sheila Bates, Director of Student Faith and Leadership, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, The United Methodist Church How Is It with Your Soul? Developing a Liberatory Consciousness through Dialogue in Campus Ministries ..........245 Kimberly Williams Brown, PhD student, department of Cultural Foundations of Education, Syracuse University T. L. Steinwert, Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life, Wellesley College Sexual Ethics Christian Sexual Ethics: Accountability and Compassion with LGBTQ College Students ...........................273 Brittany Burrows, Executive Director and Campus Minister, Wesley Foundation at the University of Texas at Dallas Vocation Clearness Committees Revisited: Gathering Young Adults for Contemplative Discernment ........................299 Dori Grinenko Baker, Research Fellow, The Forum for Theological Education L. Callid Keefe-Perry, Director, The Association for Theopoetics Research and Exploration Discovering Calling at the Center and the Edge .....................331 David E. MacDonald, DMin, University Chaplain, Ohio Northern University Wesley, Integrity, and Vocation: The Power and Possibility of Collegiate Intentional Christian Community .....355 Rimes McElveen, Executive Director, Mere Christianity Forum and Vista House, Furman University vi I ntroduCtIon Matthew W. Charlton The biblical account of John the Baptist portrays a rough- edged soul, who stalked the edges of civil society, proclaiming a new message of repentance and forgiveness. His home was the wilderness and his food the insects thereof. Yet, his appearance belied his deep wisdom and vision for God’s future for the creation. He possessed the prophet’s voice, using it to declare the coming of the kingdom into the world. In the Gospel of Matthew, he dies by execution, beheaded, the victim of the stratagems of power and the folly of youth. The cover of this volume depicts John, an image from a mosaic found in Hagia Sophia mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. At the center is the adored Son of God, Jesus. To his left is the God-bearer, Mary. On the right, is John, the prophet who proclaimed the presence and power of God in Jesus. Perhaps in John, we discern that we never truly see or hear what God is speaking to the people, if only because our common reaction to those who speak against abusive power, oppression, and “the way things are” is to find a way to silence these voices, settling for the worst instead of hoping for the best. The essays in this book are presented in an effort to speak with the prophet’s voice toward making peace among God’s people. Specifically, these essays seek to speak with a prophetic voice toward making peace in the context of higher education and collegiate ministry. In essence, this book proposes a formula that, in speaking in a prophetic way to the issues that impact the lives of college students, we aid in the possibilities of peace for God’s people. This is the ground of human flourishing after all, that we might live in peace with one another, a peace that gives shape to hope. ’ 1 The ProPheTic Voice and Making Peace Written by campus ministers and college and university chaplains, as well as by staff members of the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, these essays convey the belief that young people, and especially college students, are given gifts of life when they are presented with the opportunity to be heard, to make a difference, and to bring peace to their world. The essays cover five topics that are of importance today in campus life: ecology and environmental ethics; interreligious understanding and dialogue; systemic and interpersonal racism; sexual ethics; and Christian vocation. When the coordinating committee developed this list of topics, I was convinced that we would be overwhelmed with proposals on race and sexuality. The original call for papers was posted while we were living in the echoes of Ferguson and ongoing campus protests on race, as well as in anticipation of the 2016 United Methodist General Conference, where the church’s positions on human sexuality will again be an import- ant axis of discussion and protest. Yet, this did not happen. In fact, essays that dealt with these topics were difficult to come by, while proposals on the other topic areas were numerous. We experienced some considerable difficulty in generating interest from people of color and, to a lesser degree, from women. I remain concerned that the realities of race, gender, and sex have yet to be adequately addressed by our church. We must take up these concerns with serious, critical inquiry. There is just too much at stake in our world to continue demonizing difference at the expense of peace and human flourishing. The gospel of Jesus unerringly points us toward love of neighbor, yes, even the neighbor that all others would stone to death. As Sheila Bates argues in her chapter, it is incumbent on each of us to open up space for each other, despite and because of difference. As the general editor of this volume, I commend to you this col- lection of essays as a collective effort to speak prophetically in our 2 inTroducTion time. They were written with college students in mind, but each has relevance for the broader church. These may be used as resources for you as you prepare for your ministry, as readings for discussion, or as research for your own efforts at making peace in this troubled world. I would like to extend my gratitude to those who engaged in this project, chiefly to the contributors. Each of them engaged fully in this project, working through ideas with each other, arguing and struggling through concepts, and generally caring for the process and each other. If you know any of these contributors personally, I believe you already know the blessing of their friendship. Significant and heartfelt thanks go to the coordinating committee of Jane Ellen Nickell (Allegheny University), Ron Robin- son (Wofford College), and Tiffany Steinwert (Wellesley College). We consulted via phone call and many e-mails to create a conference that was amenable to collegial conversation around im- portant and difficult topics. The conference was held at Syracuse University in August of 2015, where we were fantastically hosted by Tiffany Steinwert, who was then the Dean of Hendrix Chapel at Syracuse, and her very helpful staff. The weather was nearly perfect and there was not a snowflake in sight! Sincere thanks goes to Kathy Armistead, who served as the project manager and content editor for this volume. Many of the contributors commented on the excellence of her engagement with their work and the value her expertise added. I am pleased now to call Kathy a valued colleague, as she has recently joined the staff of GBHEM as Publisher. I am also grateful for the work of Kristi Stephens Walker, who worked on the copyediting and proofing of the manuscript; to Donnie Reed for patiently preparing the cover design; and to Sarah Porter, who did the work of making sure all our participants were able to arrive, work, and depart safe and sound from our 3 The ProPheTic Voice and Making Peace conference at Syracuse. Sarah originally contributed an essay on human sexuality that was quite spectacular. However, she was not able to finish the essay due to her matriculation into the PhD program at Harvard. One day, though, I trust that we will benefit from her thoughtful and careful scholarship. I would like to extend gratitude to Rev. Dr. Kim Cape, the General Secretary of GBHEM, for her support of thinking dif- ferently and prophetically about collegiate ministry in the United Methodist context. Dr. Gerald Lord and Dr. Ken Yamada are also to be thanked for their support as the Associate General Secretary for the Division of Higher Education. On their shoulders rested the approval of this project and I am grateful that, through our collective work, GBHEM continues to see the value in this form of theological reflection. Finally, I am grateful for The United Methodist Church, a church that by doctrine and discipline is committed to nurturing the whole person. We have that commitment even as there remain sharp disagreements about who and how the nurturing of soul and mind should be part of our shared ministry. As a people who believe in sanctification, we know that we have not yet arrived at perfection. We continue always to strive for it, with God’s help. Matthew Charlton Palm Sunday 2016 4