When Pastors Push Back
There's a glimmer of hope on the horizon!
Sorry that I’ve been away from here for awhile. I was prepping for a school board meeting and an accreditation review I was chairing. Thursday the 17th I headed to Pittsburgh for this year’s Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (SSSR) meetings. From there I went to my accreditation visit in Minneapolis. I was on campus all day Monday and half of Tuesday. Then we worked on finalizing our report, calling it quits at noon on Wednesday. I got to have lunch with Chris Gehrz (first time to meet face to face!) and got home Wednesday night. It was all great but a little too much to squeeze into seven days. I’m still recovering.
I enjoyed the SSSR meetings as I always do. It was great to see old friends, hear some great presentations, and participate in the annual Purdue sociology alumni dinner. This year I was also practicing shameless self-promotion of my book. I asked questions that referenced the book and handed out flyers to anyone who would take one. Pleased to say that there was some positive response.
If you’ve been following this SubStack for awhile, you are aware of my thesis. For those who aren’t, it is that Christian University administrators and trustees default to a position of fear. They are worried about being called “woke” by influential pastors or denominational leaders. They prefer control over the community instead of engaging in the key questions of our day that students want/need to process. This plays out in a top-down administrative style and, too often, purging of dissidents. The insitution adopts more conservative doctrinal and social policy positions to keep people in line and/or drive out the dissenters. I argue that these stances prevent the institutions from pursuing their self-proclaimed mission of preparing today’s students to be the leaders of tomorrow.
On Sunday, as Lyft was driving me to the airport for my flight to Minneapolis, I saw a post on social media from John Fea about Cornerstone University. Having followed activities at Cornerstone for years (I’ve had friends who are alums, faculty, or administrators), I naturally read the story.
The story reported on an open letter that a group of alumni pastors and friends had written to the Cornerstone administrators and trustees. Authored by Pastor Randy Powell and a group of others, it calls out Cornerstone and its president for dismantling the humanities department, for changing the character of the institution, and for the president’s style in attacking those who disagree with his positions.
I immediately found Randy Powell’s email address and wrote to ask if we could talk when I got home from my travels. We talked yesterday for over half an hour. He also told me of a video blog where he not only read the letter but provided explanatory gloss which I watched (it’s just over 40 minutes long).
What’s remarkable about this letter is its ability to address key academic values that should be part of any university but combines it with the elements that make Christian Higher Education unique. If, that is, the institution is leaning into its identity.
I won’t quote the whole letter, but it’s worth reading. I don’t know how many people have signed at this point.1 But there is a place to add your name even if you aren’t a Cornerstone alum — I just added mine. They plan to deliver the letter to the administration and trustees next month.
Our experience at Cornerstone (and/or GRTS/CTS) involved much more than gaining knowledge and marketable skills that would enable us to have a successful career. We learned these things, certainly, but they were not the heart of our experience. We were not taught what to think from a singular viewpoint, but how to think critically and biblically in ways that would fortify us for the challenges of ministry. We treasured as mentors and friends the professors and staff that were a part of our faith journey. These God-honoring men and women were one of the primary reasons why Cornerstone was a valuable partner to the Church in furthering the gospel.
Our love for this institution and what it has meant to our lives and ministry has led us to react with sorrow and concern to the numerous credible reports of fundamental changes to the university and seminary, and the conduct of its leadership in effecting these changes. These changes, and how they were made, do not reflect well upon the institution of higher Christian education that we once knew, or upon the reputation of the gospel. (all emphasis mine)
When a Christian University sees itself as a kind of cocoon that protects students from challenging content while setting them up for a transactional approach to initial employment, it has missed its niche. The former doesn’t meet the needs of this generation of students. And you can do the latter at Michigan State for less money (no offense, Spartans!).
The letter then explores four specific areas of concern. I’ll focus on the first two of those (they are bullet-pointed in the letter, but I had to turn that off). The other two areas involve the university’s desire to rely on online programming taught by adjuncts and the alignment of the institution to Republican politics.
Toxic leadership that has manifested itself in repeated examples of the treatment of professors and staff in ways that are unworthy of an organization acting in the name of Jesus Christ. This includes, but is not limited to, demands for unquestioning loyalty, intimidation of staff and faculty as well as ignoring their concerns, the purging of voices attempting to respectfully express differing viewpoints, and most recently, the abrupt revoking of the signed contracts of eight faithful faculty members, including nearly the entire Humanities Department and the seminary Dean.
A lack of honesty and transparency when communicating with Cornerstone’s employees, students, and alumni. This includes, but is not limited to, the financial status of the university, the way in which professors and staff were terminated, projects and initiatives that were abandoned, and policies that were changed without input from those affected by them.
Another theme in my book is the need for an improved sense of partnership between administrators and trustees on the hand and faculty, staff, and students on the other. This ought to allow a shared understanding of mission and how it is being pursued. It ought to involve openness and trust while maintaining the dignity of all members of the community rather than forcing them into a mold or forcing them out.
The letter closes like this:
It is our hope that this letter will speak to the hearts and minds of board members, administrators, and Dr. Gerson Moreno-Riaño, and lead to meaningful conversations with concerned students, staff, and alumni in the hopes that the future of Cornerstone University will remain firmly connected to the Christ-honoring qualities that have been its hallmark for generations.
Respectfully submitted in our effort to serve and support the Church and the gospel,
I don’t know what will happen as a result of this letter. It’s probably likely that the administration and trustees don’t feel like they need to care about the opinions of a few pastors either side of 40 (again, I don’t actually know who signed). After four decades in Christian Universities, I imagine that most likely response will be, “If folks like this are unhappy, then we’re on the right track.”
There will be consequences to ignoring this letter, of course. Younger pastors and other alumni will be that much less likely to encourage their young people to attend their alma mater and likely no Christian University. Demographics will catch up with the universities, not just in the coming demographic cliff, but because life’s natural processes will see these younger pastors in more significant positions of leadership as their older peers retire or die. So institutions like Cornerstone will ignore this letter at their own long-term peril.
There were times late in my career where I was very disressed about the future of Christian Higher Education. Being retired gave me a little bit of an improved perspective. Writing the book was therapeutic, even if all I’m providing is a quixotic shouting at windmills, “It doesn’t have to be this way!”
I lay out a plan forward, but I admit it’s a huge lift. But it’s possible, given the right circumstances. In my lunch with Chris Gehrz, we were commiserating about the lack of academic voice among trustees at Christian Universities (the school I visited will have three retired presidents on their board!).
This pastoral letter has filled me with hope. It’s a small thing but knowing that there are people out there who have a positive vision for Christian Higher Education make me feel less alone.
Now that I’m practicing shameless self-promotion, let me end with this. If you know someone who is a Christian University trustee, encourage them to read my book. Even if they don’t agree with all of it, it will help. And if you know of a Christian University trying to fill a spot on the board of trustees, I know a retired sociology professor and former administrator who would love to talk to them!
Randy wrote me Saturday to say the current count is 38 pastors and 89 non-pastors.