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Fall 2006 Opening Convocation Address
Dr. Jerry D. Campbell, President
September 6, 2006 | Claremont School of Theology
"Looking Over Jordan"
[This address was given by Dr. Jerry D. Campbell to students,
faculty, staff and guests on the occasion of the School's Opening Convocation
on Thursday, September 6, 2006.]
The title of this convocation address draws on an incident from the Hebrew
Bible. The scene actually occurs a couple of times, and I have taken it
as a metaphor for those soul-searching moments when we peer into the future
and contemplate where we will go. There are times in everyone's life when
circumstances give us occasion to pause, reflect, and engage in values
clarification. Such circumstances have many causes, from the death of
a loved one to the prospect of major surgery for ourselves. They create
moments when we reflect on who we have been, who we are, and more importantly,
who we have the potential to be. By their intensity, these moments invite
us to purify, refine, and refocus our purpose in life.
Institutions have such moments as well, when they may contemplate their
course for the future. The change in leadership in the president's office
here at Claremont School of Theology might be enough to pose a moment
of contemplation, but we have the added challenge of our accreditation
struggle which stems from financial issues. Thus, this convocation is occurring at a time when a spotlight
is focused on the future of this school. It is true, of course, that fiscal
problems can be the cause for a school to fail, but conversely, solving
its financial problems are not the key for a school to thrive.
Indeed, given its long history of skirting the financial brink while
prospering academically, it could be argued that Claremont School of Theology
needs a financial challenge to thrive. I will not take that thought too
far, however. Let us make a commitment at the outset of this academic
year that we will deal with the financial issues as quickly as possible,
do what is necessary to balance the budget, and then live within our means.
With that commitment in place this morning, we can get on with more interesting
things. As it turns out, there are more profound reasons for us to reflect
on the future of Claremont School of Theology.
THE TASK BEFORE US
To start with, since this is a school of theology, let us consider the
circumstance of our host denomination, The United Methodist Church. The
headline of a June 21, 2006 United Methodist News Service Report says
it all: "U.S.
United Methodist membership drops below 8 million." The article's
author, Linda Bloom, reports as follows:
For the first time since the 1930s, the U.S. membership of the United
Methodist Church has dropped to just under 8 million…Membership decreased
1.05 percent in 2005. Earlier this spring, a General Council on Finance
and Administration report released in April, "The State of Our Connection,"
noted that U.S. membership had decreased by 0.81 percent, to about 8.07
million in 2004. Membership had declined annually since the formation
of the denomination in 1968. Church attendance in 2005 was 3.34 million,
the lowest level in reported history, according to General Council on
Finance and Administration. Attendance had decreased by 1.63 percent
from 2004 to 2005.
While these numbers relate to the United Methodist Church, membership
decline is a general phenomenon that has characterized so-called mainline
Protestantism during this period, leading to the circumstance that established
denominations have become disestablished.
This sobering decline in church membership has had an evolving impact
on this (and other) seminaries. One aspect of this impact has been a reduction
in the number of young people in the church, hence fewer young adults
who are familiar with biblical texts, fluent in theological vocabulary,
or explore church-related vocations. At the same time, some have observed
an increase in interest in religion courses in college and graduate school.
Outside the context of a church, such interest may be the logical alternative
for exploring one's own curiosity about things religious. Though it deserves
more sophisticated analysis, the circumstance suggests that the M.Div.
may be retreating in favor of the M.A. as the avenue by which students
arrive at graduate theological education.
A WORLD IN NEED
There is another reason this may be a fitting time to focus on the future
of CST. This reason is hard to characterize in simple terms. Let's just
say that the world is in a mess and in need of help "straightening up."
We don't have enough time to itemize the full variety of "messiness,"
so allow me to highlight three broad and inter-related areas.
- First, there is the absence of peace. Large segments of the world's
population are struggling against war, genocide, and violence in many
forms. Because of the daily witness of the news media, this requires
little commentary. It is a fact that indicts civilization and its religions
here in the dawn of the 21st century.
- Second, in this war-torn environment, the various faith communities
have failed to stand up, demand, and bring about peace. Religion has
even played a role in frustrating peace, often itself being a basis
for conflict. Indeed, to look inwardly, the history of Christianity
from time to time may be characterized as tragic irony when it comes
to the subjects of war and peace.
- And third, the need for social justice looms larger each day. Examples
of this are ubiquitous and overwhelming. Perhaps the problem is best
reflected in the United States by the increasing disparity between the
rich and the poor: ten years ago, the top one percent of Americans received
more income than the bottom 40 percent. By the year 2002, the
wealth of the top one percent exceeded that of the combined bottom 95
percent. Thousands of people (many of whom are referred to as illegal
aliens) are desperately in search of the basics of life-food, shelter,
livelihood. One can easily think of other examples.
The foregoing does not paint a rosy scenario: a church on the wane and
a world in conflict. Neither Claremont nor any of our sister seminaries
has been able to find a way to reverse mainline protestant decline. Similarly,
neither Claremont nor any of our educational institutions have been able
to make a dent in cleaning up the mess that grips our world. It could
be, in fact, that our educational systems are designed to sustain the
status quo and in doing so actually exacerbate such problems. They do
so by maintaining standards that favor the "haves" of the world.
Given its 38-year downward membership trend and an inability to have
a significant impact on worldwide problems, maybe United Methodism should
be thinking about closing one or more of its seminaries-you know, just
begin packing it up in anticipation of a slow, inglorious end. The United
Methodist Church could just let the Claremont School of Theology quietly
shut down.
And I will be the first to agree on this course of action, unless this
School is willing to pledge itself, pledge its financial resources and
its deep intellectual and spiritual resources, to make a difference for
the church and the world. Only by making a difference will this school
deserve to keep its doors open.
After all, making a difference is consonant with the Claremont School
of Theology's history. From the beginning of its incarnation in the city
of Claremont, this place charged with creating an educated clergy was
also given a mandate to make waves, rock the boat. The Methodist Church
and the School's founding president, Ernest Cadman "Pomp" Caldwell, imbued
this school of theology with an ecumenical spirit, an intellectual rigor,
and the zeal to address tough social issues. Because of the productivity
of its faculty and graduates, Claremont School of Theology made major
contributions not only to basic academic research but also to the application
of theology throughout church and society to diverse cultural concerns,
from women's issues to the environment. In my view, it has been this ability
to combine basic and applied research that has so distinguished the School
and those who have studied here.
But today with our metaphorical feet mired in this intractable mess with
church and world, do we have it in us to continue what some among us have
called the "Claremont spirit?" More importantly, if we have it in us,
how do we go about it?
LESSONS TO LEARN FROM WESLEY
Let me suggest that one way we may go about it is to adopt the approach
taken by the founder of our host denomination, John Wesley. You're probably
asking yourself, "Has he lost his mind? The approach taken by Wesley?
That tired Methodist stuff!" Wesley, you know, was an Anglican. From birth
to death, he remained with the Anglican Church. In his time, however,
the Anglican Church had grown stiff, formal, and largely unconcerned about
those who might be called the social casualties of the Industrial Revolution.
Sound familiar? It is not really clear to me why Wesley cared about neglected
people. They could, of course, take themselves to the Anglican Church
anytime they wished, though it did not fit their style or speak to their
concerns. The Anglican religion in 18th century England was "somewhere
out there," everywhere really, just waiting for them.
Apparently, Wesley gave up trying to drum Anglican-style theology into
the heads of the teeming lower class. Instead, he read voraciously, stole
what he found useful, and began to craft a theology for the unchurched.
A little Luther here, a little Calvin there, some Moravians thrown in
for leven-all stirred up in an Anglican kettle-and pretty soon he had
Methodist homebrew to peddle on street corners.
To be clear, it is not his resulting patchwork theology that could be
of use to us. Indeed, it is his approach. To oversimplify:
- Wesley pursued his studies relentlessly.
- He never hesitated to refashion denominational theology in the interests
of making it relevant.
- He never let his professed church stand in the way of responding
to the needs of his audience.
- He published widely and worked indefatigably to reach a vast unchurched
population.
Years ago, theologian and Wesley scholar Albert
C. Outler eloquently described the resulting theology as a "quadrilateral":
a combination of scripture, tradition, experience, and reason. As eloquent
as it may be, I think Outler missed something exceptionally important
for us to keep in mind: there is a fifth element at work.
This fifth element, I believe, is what pulled Wesley and what pulls us out
of our comfort zones. It made Wesley-and us-restless. The fifth element
will not leave us alone, continually reminding us that God is not satisfied,
not satisfied with our churches as they are, not satisfied by persistent
forms of intolerance (even those reinforced by the United Methodist Discipline),
not satisfied with our feeble justifications of violence, not satisfied
with our excuses for injustice in its myriad forms. The fifth element resides
at the intersection of comfort and conscience. That is where Wesley stood;
it accounts for much of his impact; and, that is where Claremont School
of Theology must situate itself.
THE PATH BEFORE US
To do so, we must be bold to deal with the intractable challenges of
church and world. First, we must forge a community fluent in matters of
diversity and faith differences. Forging such a community is in urgent
need both for our own learning and as an example for the wider world,
a world awash in problems fueled by faith and other differences within
the human family. Here in this small community with multiple manners of
diversity-already more than 40 Christian denominations, plus Jewish, Muslim,
Buddhist and other traditions (and non-traditions)-we have the opportunity
to better understand, articulate, and model how multi-natured communities
can not only co-inhere but turn diversity into strength.
Second, we must paint outside the theological lines. To survive and
serve successive generations, our theological traditions must continually
be reinterpreted. Were Wesley alive today, I believe he would eschew the
United Methodist Discipline as the ultimate arbiter of our behavior and
theology. Driven by that fifth element, he would turn to scripture, tradition,
experience, and reason, borrow workable ideas where he found them, and
then begin to craft a new message. All around us, this work is waiting
to be done.
Next, we must pursue new definitions of academic rigor where the old
ones exclude the disenfranchised. To the degree our well-respected and
long-standing academic standards create barriers for the socially, economically,
and academically underserved to attend this school, we must seek alternatives.
I do not know what those alternatives may be, but I have confidence that
they can be found and that this is the faculty to do it.
We must also align our degree programs with the needs of the unchurched.
Based on the trends of the last half-century, fewer young people have
grown up in a faith context. This means that fewer have acquired the language
of church, mosque, synagogue, or other religious traditions. This has
inevitably changed the environment within which Claremont functions, and
there are already signs that the avenue to ministry as a vocation is shifting.
We must be alert to the implications of such shifts for the nature of
our basic degree programs and nimble in our response.
Finally, we must call our host denomination and other traditions out
of their comfort zones. I believe that God has not finished with us and
is lovingly but inexorably pulling us forward to be a more perfect creation.
Perhaps we need to exhort one another with an old Methodist question:
Are you going on to perfect holiness? It is a good question that can rarely
be answered from a place of comfort. It is not a question about church
buildings, worship styles, or liturgical preferences. It is a question
that gets down where we live and exposes the dark areas in our lives.
It is a question that this School must ask.
As I mentioned before, the fifth element resides at the intersection
of comfort and conscience. That is where this school must situate itself
and that is where taking on these challenges will place it. Positioning
Claremont School of Theology in this situation will not be easy or comfortable
when it comes to academics or faith. It will test our intellects and our
spirits. It will require persistence, patience, and prayer. But if we
succeed, Claremont School of Theology can be United Methodism's gift not
only to itself but also to the world.
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