TWC ARCHES Summer 2013

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