Christ-animated graduate education in America: Can we redeem a Protestant failure?

Unlike the liberal arts college, American graduate education started as and continues to be a secular affair. The last four decades, however, have produced growth in both the number and quality of Christian graduate programs. The question we asked is: do American Christian institutions engage in graduate education Christianly? To answer this question for Protestants, we undertook a theologically-guided discourse analysis of the 638 graduate programs at the 41 top ranked Protestant Christian universities in the United States. In particular, we looked at the marketing, objectives, and curriculum. We found only one-third of the graduate programs demonstrated even one piece of evidence demonstrating Christian distinctiveness.

Graduate Education of Christian Universities in Modern China: A Case Study of Nanking University

From the late 19th century to the early 20th century, traditional Chinese society experienced a significant period of gradual development toward modernization. Along with the transformation of social institutions, people’s thoughts were also changing. Christian missionaries in China began to continue their mission by establishing Christian universities in the midst of the drastic changes in modern Chinese society. These Christian universities brought Western scientific and cultural knowledge to China, and gradually bridged the gap between the Chinese intellectual community and the outside world. From the acquisition of the right to award degrees to the approval of the Chinese government and, subsequently, to the development of graduate education localized in modern China, Christian universities have made new attempts on the ancient Chinese land. The existing literature, however, often ignores the cultural value and ideological enlightenment contributions made by these Christian universities. This paper attempts to describe the arduous exploration process of Christian universities, employing historical examples to analyze the motivations of Christian universities to develop degree education. The key argument of this article is that Christian universities in modern China are not only “imported” but also a product of “sinicization”, which represents the exchange and collision between Chinese and Western cultures during a special period of time.

Exploratory Study of Cultural Impact on Management Practices and Organizational Behaviour in Christian-based Universities on Java Island

Universities, especially in the United States, have developed from an organization that aims to educate someone with a higher knowledge and spiritual awareness of God which is at the same time related to the interests and goodness of society (Murphy, 2005) into an organization that considers profit as a measure of success (Bridgman, 2007). Therefore, the application of a business management system to manage a university to produce high performance is important and this is known as a university enterprise or entrepreneurial university (Sandgren, 2012). Culture is central to management because it influences various things in the organization such as leadership, organizational management, adaptability, performance, and others that will influence in the long run (Paksoy, Genc, and Kilic, 2015). In the context of a Christian-based university in Indonesia, the understanding of cultural meanings and the process of cultural formation is an interesting topic to study. Even though it has a fundamental similarity, namely Cristianity, it appears that there are different management practices and behaviours in 'A' rank accreditation Christian university on Java island. The process of cultural formation in Christian universities and its elaboration in management practices and patterns of organizational behaviour are things that are rarely studied. The purpose of this study is to explain the process of organizational culture forming in Christian-based universities on Java island. The description of this process is expected to inspire how to build an organizational culture in a university. Keywords: Culture, Organizational Culture, Organizational Behaviour, Universities, Christianity

Where the Research Interests of Graduate Students in China’s Christian Universities Lie

Focusing on the research landscape for graduate students of China’s Christian universities is of great significance for making sense of the path along which the theological and practical studies are conducted by contemporary China’s Christian universities and for promoting the dialogue and understanding between Chinese and foreign seminaries. In this research, thesis topics selected by graduate students majoring in theology are classified into four categories: universal theoretical research, universal practical research, theoretical research of Chinese Christianity, and practical research of Chinese Christianity. Results of coded categorical data analysis and case study show that graduate students mainly focus on universal theories without giving adequate attention to the topic of the “Sinification” of Christianity. In their universal theoretical research, graduate students examine classic Christian works and theological thoughts of important figures in a detailed and in-depth way. Universal practical studies are skewed to practices of religious reforms and teaching improvements from a multidisciplinary perspective. In the theoretical research of Sinified Christianity, researchers build upon the commensurability between traditional Chinese culture and Christian theology, including the theological thoughts of important Christian figures in China, to explore the fulfillment of cultural, national, and social identities. In the practical research of Christianity in China, empirical methodologies are widely applied, centering on the “localization” process and forms of practices taking place in churches of China. The coincidentia oppositorum between universality and particularity dictates that much tension exists with respect to the development of Christianity in China. Focusing on the accommodative process between universality and particularity is important to produce further implications for research to be conducted by China’s Christian universities.

Reimagining character formation in the Christian university in challenging times

Changes in the demographic profile of students attending Christian universities combine with shifts in the culture at large to present new challenges to Christian higher educators who have the character formation of students as an aim. The pandemic will bring other challenges. In uncertain times, Christian universities aiming at character formation must, first, clarify and focus on their mission and must, second, work intentionally to create a campus climate supportive of character development. A Christian university wanting a climate that fosters character makes these seven efforts (among others): to build relationships and community, to build trust, to welcome dialogue on difficult issues, to consider the built environment, to go slow, to recognize the diversity of learners, to attend to its language. Uncertain times and their concomitant challenges present new opportunities for Christian universities to reimagine character formation.

DEVELOPMENT OF COLLECTIVE LEADERSHIP IN THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION IN POST-SOVIET PROTESTANTISM

The emergence of Baptist seminaries in Ukraine was influenced by Western churches or missions and in some cases by the Ukrainian diaspora, which had lived outside Ukraine for a long time. The decisive influence was exerted by representatives of churches, educational institutions and Christian universities in the United States. Seminaries went through a number of stages of their own development, during which the forms of collective leadership changed. The first stage is the emergence of seminaries and the harmonization of seminars to unified standards. In the first stage, immediately after the seminary was established, they had very friendly relations with local churches, the programs were very flexible and responded to the needs of the churches. Church leaders saw these initiatives as part of church ministry. The second stage is the extensive development of seminaries, by which the author means the involvement of additional resources in the work of seminaries and the growth of seminaries, associated with the number of students, and for some seminaries - the opening of branches or field programs. This type of growth was also due to the fact that seminaries began to become more independent of national churches, and partnerships with Western organizations became more formalized, which was most often seen in the participation of Western partners in the board of trustees. The third period is a reassessment of the work of seminaries. The beginning of this period is largely related to the global economic crisis of 2007-2008, and its result was the resumption of dialogue between seminaries and churches. The fourth period - institutional changes - is associated with the reaction of the Ukrainian state to the Bologna process and the adoption of the new Law of Ukraine "On Higher Education". The process of preparation for state accreditation and formation of a culture of openness in the national educational environment has begun.

Creating the Internal Enemy: Opportunities and Threats in Pro and Anti-LGBT Activism within South Korean Protestantism

In recent years, South Korea has experienced significant mobilization against LGBT rights, mainly emanating from conservative Protestant forces. This anti-LGBT mobilization has been attributed to the need to create an “external enemy” as a means for covering up internal scandals. This study examines how the Protestant anti-LGBT movement creates an “internal enemy”, too, by fighting against pro-LGBT activism and attitudes within its faith. Applying the contentious politics and movement-countermovement frameworks to the study of religious conflict, the article uncovers the mechanisms at work in the complex interactions among anti-LGBT, moderate, and LGBT-affirmative actors. The analysis of five cases – heresy trials against a pro-LGBT pastor, conflicts at Christian universities, vilifications of a progressive Christian online newspaper and a church association, and the controversy around a moderate junior pastor – shows that perceived and deliberately created threats play a productive, opportunity-like role in religious contention over LGBT issues. Longstanding religiopolitical cleavages come to the fore, too, involving conflictual relations with state actors external to Korean Protestantism.