Editor’s Note: In the October 31 issue of The Presbyterian Outlook, Nelle McCorkle Bordeaux, a member of the Presbyterian College Commission, wrote a guest viewpoint on her concerns about the commission final report The leadership team of the commission now responds to her concerns.
As the leaders of the team that guided the work of the Presbyterian College Commission to explore what it means to be a liberal arts college in covenant with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), we wish to respond to the recent “Guest viewpoint” of Rev. Nelle Bordeaux.
We are deeply disappointed that a member of the Commission has so significantly misrepresented the recommendations of the Commission and the intent of the college’s Board of Trustees in regard to the criteria for faculty membership at Presbyterian College. The Commission did not recommend that the faculty of Presbyterian College ‘no longer need to be Christian,’ but just the opposite. In the ‘Findings’ regarding ‘Faculty Membership’ we state, ‘We agree that the expectation should be that ‘faculty will be members of a Christian church…” We do then go on to say that, while we “support the initiative of the Board of Trustees to make a limited number of specific exceptions to the requirement of membership in a Christian church,’ we ‘encourage the Board to state more clearly and concisely its intention to have a faculty of committed Christian scholars with appropriate exceptions being made for outstanding scholars of other faith traditions who would enrich the life and mission of the college.’
One can certainly respectfully disagree with that position–that the mission of a church-related college or university can be enhanced, not diminished, by not limiting its faculty to those who claim membership in a Christian church. It is a worthy debate–one that the Commission encouraged through its sub-committee on Academic Programs and the hearings conducted by that sub-committee. As a result of our deliberations, we became convinced that merely requiring membership in a church may breed hypocrisy and a legalism in which membership on a church roll is equated with being a person of faith. There are better and more faithful ways to form a faculty that supports the distinctive mission of a church-related college than merely requiring that faculty members have their name on a church roll somewhere. The Commission report points to some ways that may be done.
We cannot say strongly enough that it was never the intent of the Commission, a dedicated group of clergy, faculty, elders, students, trustees, alumni, and presbytery representatives, to distance Presbyterian College from its historic and cherished ties to the Presbyterian Church. We do not believe our report can be understood that way without seriously misrepresenting its conclusions. Our position on faculty membership grows out of a deeply held conviction, dear to the Reformed tradition, that ‘all truth is God’s truth’ and that people of Christian faith have nothing to fear and a great deal to gain by being in respectful conversations with people of differing faiths.
It is important to note that Presbyterian College has already begun to implement some of the major recommendations of the Commission report. At a meeting of the faculty on October 27, 2005, the proposed revision of the general education curriculum to require two courses determined by the Religion Department was strongly approved and will be referred to the Board of Trustees at their November meeting. We view this as a very positive development as Presbyterian College continues to affirm and strengthen the liberal arts education it offers in covenant with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
During the year that the Commission studied the relationship between Presbyterian College and the PC(USA), we concluded that Presbyterian College offers in an exemplary way an environment in which the life of Christian faith can flourish, be appropriately challenged and nurtured, so as fulfill the college’s commitment to ‘develop within the framework of Christian faith, the mental, moral, and spiritual capacities of each student in preparation for a lifetime of personal and vocational fulfillment and responsible contributions to our democratic society and world community.’ (Preamble to the Bylaws of Presbyterian College.)
DR. ALLEN C. McSWEEN JR., Fourth Church, Greenville, S.C.
DR. TOM McDANIEL, Converse College, Spartanburg, S.C.
Dr. BUD WARNER, Presbyterian College, Clinton, S.C.
