Our January 16 discussion (7:30 a.m., Mr. J’s Bagels, E. Market St.) will be on the topic “Supporting Responsible Decisions.” We’ll have a roundtable discussion of how we can support students seeking to make moral choices in a culture that is decidedly unfriendly to such choices. Background reading for the discussion is this article from the Chronicle of Higher Education, which gave JMU unwelcome national attention last fall by pointing out the effect of gender imbalance and other factors in promoting a hook-up culture.

Here is our spring schedule of meetings for discussion and study (all meetings at Mr. J’s Bagel’s, E. Market St.):

• January 16, 7:30 a.m.
• February 6, 7:30 a.m.
• March 6, 7:30 a.m.
• April 3, 7: 30 a.m.

If you’d like to be on a list to get e-mail reminders, send a note to reminders@faithatjmu.com.

Our regular first-Friday meeting for December is set for 7:30 a.m. December 5 at Mr. J’s Bagels on East Market Street. The topic: around-the-table sharing about “Keeping Christmas” in a culture that sometimes tends to cheapen and commercialize the holidays. Helpful reading: Ten Tips for a Simpler, More Meaningful Christmas.

For our meeting Nov. 7 at 7:30 a.m. at Mr. J’s Bagels, we will be discussing Nigel Paterson’s “Do We Need a Christian University?” This essay examines the relationship between secular society and the idea of the university.

Here’s a summary of the paper:

The concept of a university was substantially a Christian innovation, yet most modern universities are secular institutions. This paper surveys briefly the historical background which shows how this came about and the institutional landscape of higher education today. Next, biblical perspectives applicable to all Christians involved in higher education are explored. At the heart of the paper, there lies a discussion of the arguments for and against a Christian university, and the characteristics of such a new Christian university, as envisaged, are presented. The paper is intended to provoke readers across the world to thought, discussion and a more informed response to the many possibilities for Christian service within higher education.

View the paper here in Word format.

Coming up are two new opportunities to get together with other Christian faculty for reflection and discussion:

• Lunch at the Festival 12:30-1:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 21. Please let Taz Daughtrey know if you’ll be able to attend, so that Taz can have a count to arrange quiet seating.
• Coffee at the East Campus Library Java City 2:30-3:15 p.m. on Wednesday, October 29.

The topic for both these gatherings is: “How being a Christian changes the way I teach.”

(Please let Taz know about October 21 or 29.

The James Madison Christian Faculty Fellowship will meet at 7:30 a.m. Friday, October 3, at Mr. J’s Bagels on East Market Street. The topic of the discussion will be voting decisions by Christians. With Election Day just a month away, we will carefully consider the relationship between our faith and our voting decisions. As an essay in Christianity Today puts it:

. . . evangelicalism doesn’t function like an AFL-CIO, granting endorsements and delivering votes on election day. There isn’t an evangelical vote. We are not some pious voting bloc up for grabs. Regardless of how pollsters might pigeonhole us, evangelicals come from across a broad spectrum of society—pragmatic, purist, and in-between.

You may find the entire essay online here, and a related article here. We’ll spend some time on these articles and on anything else related to the election you’d care to discuss.

For our first meeting on September 5 at 7:30 a.m. at Mr. J’s Bagels on East Market St., the topic will be “Federalist 10: What does it tell us about the Christian’s place in the Academy?” Frank Doherty will lead discussion. Here’s Frank’s take on the topic:

Since about half of the undergraduates have read the Federalist 10, it might be useful to discuss that document, especially as it talks about how “factions” are to be considered in the “public square” and in government. The focus of the discussion might be on how Christians can be an influential part of the the Academy on a secular campus and work toward a “Civil Public Square” (saying from Os Guiness).

Resources for this discussion:

• Federalist 10
• Interview with Os Guiness on the “civil public square”
• JMU’s First Year Reading details

We hope you can join us!

Here is our fall schedule of meetings for discussion and study (all meeting at Mr. J’s Bagel’s, E. Market St.):

• September 5, 7:30 a.m.
• October 3, 7:30 a.m.
• November 7, 7:30 a.m.
• December 5, 7: 30 a.m.

If you’d like to be on a list to get e-mail reminders during the year, send a note to reminders@faithatjmu.com.

Our group will be running a “welcome back” ad in an early issue of The Breeze. Please notify Taz Daughtrey if you would like for your name and contact information to be included. The text of the ad, originally from Christian Leadership Ministries, is:

You’re on your own now. You finally have your independence. Now you face a lot of tough choices: what should I major in; how should I spend my free time; who should I socialize with; what classes should I take; what should I believe? Many of the choices you make now will determine the course of the rest of your life.

But you don’t have to face those decisions alone. We are faculty on campus who believe Jesus Christ provides the most intellectually and spiritually satisfying answers to life’s most important choices.

Ask us about our faith and how it has shaped our lives. Save this ad; we are available to talk to you about any matter that concerns you. We want your time here to be one of the best experiences of your life.

You may be far from home, but you’re never far from God.

And then we would include the name and website of our group:

James Madison Christian Faculty Fellowship

www.faithatjmu.org

(Note: This site began as www.faithatjmu.com, back during the dot-com boom.)

As part of our regular series of meetings, Drew Trotter from the Christian Study Center in Charlottesville (http://www.studycenter.net) addressed the James Madison Christian Faculty Fellowship about the need to understand our culture through its films. Drew challenged the group to watch contemporary films seriously, with a view toward motivating discussion of life’s great questions with students and others around us.

Drew has considerable experience in hosting “Movie Nights.” On each of these nights, Christian students and other guests watch a contemporary film, then engage in discussion of the film’s themes and meaning. Drew left some resources that can be used for anyone seeking to motivate discussion of contemporary films. Here they are, for nonprofit use with proper credit to Drew Trotter, Ph.D., President of the Center for Christian Study in Charlottesville:

• Tips for Viewing Films
• Visual Manipulation
• Seven Questions for Use in Discussing Films