At our regular faculty fellowship meeting March 6, we’ll have a roundtable discussion with C.J. Goeller of JMU’s InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. Here’s an article from The Breeze that provides background on JMU’s campus ministries. On March 6 our meeting is set for 7:30 a.m. at Mr. J’s Bagels, E. Market St.
Our next regular meeting is set for Friday, Feburary 6 at 7:30 a.m. at Mr. J’s Bagels on East Market Street. The topic of discussion will be “Evangelicals and Catholics Together,” a movement headed by Charles Colson and noted Catholic scholar Richard John Neuhaus, who died January 8. Our discussion will be based on this article in Christianity Today. Here’s a summary:
Evangelicals and Catholics Together: Since its first publication in 1994, “The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium,” the group has issued other consensus statements on salvation, the relationship between Scripture and tradition, the communion of saints, and other issues. It is next set to issue a document on Mary, the Mother of Jesus. But can the movement continue without its chief Roman Catholic architect?
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.):
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:
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:
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.):
If you’d like to be on a list to get e-mail reminders during the year, send a note to reminders@faithatjmu.com.