Being an interdenominational school has its opportunities and challenges, but they are the good kinds of challenges. There are schools who have a particular denominational identity–and that’s great! While we have a particular historical situatedness in the evangelical tradition, Gordon has long chosen to be a space to connect students across a broad range of Christian traditions.
The makeup of the student body is constantly changing, so that means how we serve our learners shifts along with that. The best and most impactful way to do that is to focus on the on-the-ground student experience. Gordon has been working hard at this for a while. I can see change in my past 11 years here. It’s always a work in progress from what that looks like for first-year students to seniors, commuters and on-campus students, different Christian and cultural traditions, etc., but it’s good work! We talked about Spiritual Pursuit Fridays as an example where students take an active role in leading others into spaces of connection with God. Clubs are another.
When I first came to Gordon 11 years ago, we did not have as many Catholic students as we do now. (I don’t know the exact numbers). What a blessing to have so many now! I immediately said yes to being the faculty advisor to the Catholic Student Fellowship (CFS) because I care deeply about dialogue and generosity across traditions. Also, because, as a historical theologian of early Christianity, I can be a resource for all students (not just Catholic students) about Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions and connect Gordon students with colleagues (and resources) in those spaces.
But more than those things, I chose to be the CSF advisor because it’s important to me that Catholic students have space to grow in their tradition at Gordon and to connect with other Christians who also love and want to serve Jesus. It’s one of my great joys to see Catholic students grow in their faith on campus and to have mutual and beneficial connection with students from other traditions.
The curriculum of the college is a living and growing organism. We are always adjusting, tweaking, adding, subtracting, etc. in order to be up to date with current research, student interest, and best practices of teaching and learning. This is normative at colleges and universities, but at Gordon we have the additional piece of curriculum also being a space of engaging with the Christian faith. The questions and the applications will look different across disciplines but guiding learners into spaces to engage faith in a Christ-centered way is central to who we are.
Christian Theology is a particular space in this regard. This course went through a revision a few years ago. Theology is encountering who God is and what God does (in the Bible, in tradition, in the life of the church, in speech, in prayer, in action, in relationship, etc.). Theology is also about how all of creation encounters who God is and what God does. We revised this class to offer space for learners to encounter God (individually and collectively) and in dialogue with one another wherever they are in their journey of faith. As such, our work together in the course frames theology as an embodied and community event inviting us to reflect on what we think, feel, say, and do with others.
In short, we know students come from a variety of spaces and backgrounds and experiences, so we orient the course to assist everyone in their learning given those differences. As every Christian Theo student knows (or should know!), there are a few pages at the front of the workbook that answer questions that are often asked. One of them is this: Is this course taught from a particular theological perspective? Here’s what it says:
“In short, no. One of the reasons this course is taught by two professors and facilitated by many others is to note that theology is inherently dialogical. While Gordon is historically situated in the Protestant tradition, we are an interdenominational school. This course considers the many traditions represented in the student body and aims to present material that highlights commonality but also highlights difference.”
That means that a Catholic student should hear much that is familiar to them just as a Pentecostal student or a Baptist student.
But also, there are spaces to highlight differences in the course material and in the in-class activities. We revised the course so that the learning experience would be consistent across all sections of the course. This approach to a theology course (standard at most Christian institutions) is rare. And while some students might prefer a space to learn about their specific tradition (that’s great!), Gordon offers a space where we can learn together and learn about one another.
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