TWC ARCHES Summer 2013

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6 TWC celebrates 1953 & 1963 Golden Anniversary Reunion As a part of the college’s 156th Commencement celebrati ons, Tennessee Wesleyan College held a Golden Anniversary Reunion Dinner for the classes of 1953 and 1963. Just under 30 alumni and their guests gathered in Sherman Hall’s Glenn Lowe Dining Room for an evening of food, fellowship, and fun. The alumni reminisced about their ti me at Tennessee Wesleyan and were honored with a commemorati ve diploma and gift . A TWC students, faculty, staff honored at Honors Convocation on 6 ARCHES | Spring 2013 ARCHES | Summer 2013 Tennessee Wesleyan College students, faculty, and staff recently gathered in Townsend Memorial Hall to celebrate academic achievement, hard work, and dedicati on from the 2012-2013 academic year. President Harley Knowles and TWC faculty and staff members presented more than 100 awards recognizing individuals on campus who have exceeded expectati ons and excelled in their work at the college. A
The Faculty Perspective Rev. Dr. Chris Dover In the late 19th century there were some 13,000 companies in America involved with the horse-drawn carriage (buggy) industry. When challenged by the emergence of the internal combustion engine, they were forced to answer the question, “What is my business?” While nearly every one of them answered, “We’re in the buggy business,” Henry Ford answered, “We’re in the transportation business,” and founded the Detroit Automobile Company in 1899. This question is still true for us today – “What is our business here at TWC?” Phyllis Tickle, in her book The Great Emergence, suggests that about every five hundred years the existing structures of institutional Christianity become stale, and a new, more vital type of Christianity emerges, and that the Church is overdue for another significant change, marking the beginning of the Postmodern Age. Evidence for this can be found in the increasing numbers of young Americans who are ‘spiritual, but not religious.’ Having grown up in a multi-cultural, multi-religious, ‘wired’ world, in which they have been exposed to myriad cultures and religions, many of this generation have simply shrugged off God, religion, heaven, and the search for meaning, and don’t identify themselves as being on any type of ‘spiritual path.’ They are much less likely to focus on whether a religion is ‘true’ or not, but rather on whether a certain spiritual practice makes them better people – more loving, less angry. They are best exhibited, perhaps, by the rise of the ‘Nones.’ In 1990, 8 percent identified themselves as having ‘no religious identity’, but by 2008 this number had risen to 15 percent. Among young people, this number easily reaches the 25 percent mark. Though not every current student at TWC is from this age group or has this mindset, all of the current and future students will spend their adult lives in the context of this emerging society and worldview. As Brian McLaren has stated, “If you have a new world, you need a new church. . . You have a new world.” Perhaps we need to imitate Henry Ford and begin reading the ‘book’ of the emerging culture, in order to prepare servant-leaders that are best equipped to serve this new world. To do so, I would suggest that the following ‘best practices’ are vital for our work at TWC: • We need to remember that our God, who is constantly seeking the least, the last, and the lost, is neither ‘waging war’ against, nor ‘washing his hands’ of this emerging generation. Rather, He is already actively engaging them, designing a Church which is appropriate to their unique context and circumstances, and is inviting us to join him in ministry to and with them. • Joining God in ministry to and with the emerging generation demands that we think and act as 21st-century missionaries. Rather than simply ‘circling the wagons’ in order to protect what is being threatened by this ongoing cultural change, we need to think like the early church, and to do (in new and fresh ways) what they did - proactively engaging their larger culture with the timeless message of Jesus Christ. “Gimme’ that old time religion” may be an appropriate phrase for this needed return to ‘vintage Christianity,’ as our present culture is strikingly similar to the larger pagan culture of the early church! • This call of God to reach the new generation also demands that we break through the ‘Christian bubble’ that surrounds many of us. While Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:22 that he has “become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some,” most of us have few, if any, significant relationships with persons outside of our ‘bubble’ of Christian friends and associates. God often will bring the ‘mission field’ to us, if we will learn to recognize our opportunities. A Congratulations Dr. Chris Dover Exemplary Teacher Award Recipient Dr. Chris Dover was selected as an Exemplary Teacher Award recipient for 2013 by the United Methodist Church General Board of Higher Education and Ministry. He was selected based on his exemplary teaching, service to students beyond the classroom, and commitment to values-centered education. He is among approximately 10 honorees chosen from the more than 100 United Methodist colleges www.twcnet.edu or universities. 7 7
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Page 5: - 1 - Townsend Awards Michael Hicks
Page 9 and 10: Students travel to Costa Rica for s
Page 11 and 12: Gifts at Work T Generous donations
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Page 23 and 24: IN LOVING MEMORY Friend of Wesleyan
Page 25 and 26: Rev. Robert Irwin Mrs. Nancy Carson
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