This week, I would like to comment on the importance of institutional as a challenge for Christian administrators.
As a general rule, Barr, (2000); and Martin, (1982) posit that a mission statement reveals where the institution came from, where it is heading, and how it plans to get there. This statement invited me to pause a moment to reflect the three purposes of a statement and especially on the last two. Of course, one can see in this definition, the importance of institutional mission. However, a Christian college’s mission differs from a secular college’s because the emphasis is put on redemption as seen in the Education Administration’s mission “to educate is to redeem.” Ellen G. White was a great supporter of this concept which she profoundly elaborated on in her book Education. She made clear that the purpose of education is redemption. She asserted that “The work of education and the work of redemption is one.”
What does that tell us as Christian administrators? How can we reconcile White’s broader scope of education in a secular institution with the other elements such as, goals of the institutions, its intentions, span of activities and academic offerings etc…? The law is clear regarding religious activities in a secular setting. It not permitted. This is a challenge that SDA administrators working in secular settings are dealing with. We know that education is about evangelization. We must do our best to represent Jesus in our speeches, actions and decision-makings. As SDA administrators, we are limited in these activities. However, in my humble opinion there are at least two sure ways in which we could evangelize in a secular setting by 1) through our actions and 2) based on our decisions- depending on which values they are based on.
I am inviting my classmates to add to this list if they would.
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Renaude,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your posting and I must be honest that the is wisdom in everything you said. I also agree that evangelism is lacking in the pursuit of education in the SDA arena.
My addition to your advise that evangelical work takes many forms: on the field as colporteurs, in your office through daily interaction with clients, in classrooms as an instructor and how you relate to others in the community.People learn from you and take spiritual decisions through these ways even better than preaching in the centuary.
Renaude,
ReplyDeleteI enjoy your posting. It is difficult to evangelize in a secular institution. Depending on the mission of the institution, it can also be as difficult at a religiously-affiliated institution. Seventh Day Adventist institutions are the only ones that I am aware of where evangelism is a clearly defined goal. The environment makes it is comfortable for administrators to engage students in conversation about God and religion.
I have worked at two Catholic institutions and one secular institution. It has been made clear to me at all institutions that our goal is not to help students find God. We are to be good example of Christian teaching and challenge students to high moral values. I often feel that the way we go about doing this by walking on egg shelf.
Personally, I enjoy engaging students in conversation about values and responsibilities. This is the angle that I usually take as my job is not to help people find God. I do try to be the face of Christ to each person that I meet.
That's right Renaude and Slandie, people are waiting until they get the pulpit to make a difference, but wherever God places us that is our field and we are called to be his private eyes, His insiders and just let our lives preach the Word. I meet people everyday and I love interacting with them but because I am on a mission for my God my main reason for reaching out and talking to people is that I can allow them to see Jesus in me. Let's be a mission-minded people everyone!
ReplyDeleteRenaude,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this week's reading as well as your input on it. Mission statement is on my mind these days because I am in the process of helping my church write a mission statement. I started pastoring the church this month. Without a mission statement one has no purpose. Additionally, I like what you wrote about the ways to evangelize as administrators working for non SDA sectors. I would add also that we can evangelize by the way we treat others. The Bible tells us that "they will know that we are Christians by our love." People will want to know about our Jesus if we treat others well. Thanks again for sharing. Blessings!
Renaude, it was very difficult for me to encapsulate the history of Christian university in a single page posting, but your posting did not squander that reading. Your writing epitomizes Christian administrator. We often have interest on things that pertain to secular institutions. I am pleased to see that our fears about secular institutions proved totally unfounded. We are not called for competition but evangelization. We are not here to educate for this world but also for the world to come. Now, I agree with you that our mission needs to support the history of the church. Our stratagem to deal with verdant policies cannot be quietness; our Christian root gives us the power of veto over all destructive ways of non- Christian education
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