The Twenty-First-Century Postsecular University

Many observers agree that twenty-first-century universities have lost their way with respect to the task of providing moral leadership for their students and for the nation. This chapter surveys leading commentators, including Harry Lewis, Anthony Kronman, Andrew Delanco, William Egginton, Jonathan Haidt, and Greg Lukiankoff, on these themes, especially in the decline of the humanities. Many blame the business and economic interests and related careerism that shape most of university education. Still, as John Schmalzbauer and Kathleen A. Mahoney show, religious interests can still be found in many aspects of university life, including study of religion, campus ministries, and personal religious beliefs of many professors and students. Nonetheless, emphases on diversity do not always include religious diversity.

Liberal Protestantism without Protestantism

After World War II universities often added religious programs. But these seldom touched the heart of the enterprise. Mainstream American Protestants typically saw religion as an add-on, in contrast to John Henry Newman’s Catholic Idea of a University with theology and philosophy at the center. Nathan Pusey’s efforts to strengthen religion at Harvard illustrate the problem. Will Herberg and John Courtney Murray each pointed out the limits of generalized American religion. Religion departments acted as a palliative. But especially in the 1960s legitimate concerns for pluralism and diversity undermined specifically Protestant teachings in favor of a generalized ethic, as illustrated by Harvey Cox in The Secular City. Mainline Protestant campus ministries declined rapidly in the later 1960s. By the 1970s and 1980s ideals of inclusiveness displaced any specifically Protestant heritage. Some see a “cultural triumph of liberal Protestantism,” but the laudable inclusive ideals by themselves also bring cultural fragmentation.

The Roles of Campus Ministry Leaders: Guiding Students through the Transition to Adulthood

Despite historic existence of campus ministries at universities, little is known about the roles of campus ministry leaders. This research explored campus ministry leaders’ engagement with students through interviews (n = 19). Analysis indicated interviewees’ work includes building relationships with students, navigating the secular context of a public university, and tensions with others in campus ministry. Interviewees reported emotional strain resulting from extensive caring labor. Focused support for campus ministers would benefit both leaders and students.

Campus Ministry

This chapter discusses the life and work of Catholic and Protestant campus ministers, paying special attention to their backgrounds and demographics, training and formation, goals and priorities, core job activities, and career satisfaction. Drawing on the National Study of Campus Ministries, as well as previous studies, it compares Christian campus ministers to their predecessors in the 1950s and 1960s. Conducted between 2002 and 2008, the NSCM is the most comprehensive study of campus ministry in four decades. Surveying campus ministers in six denominations, two parachurch organizations, and eighty-eight private colleges, it provides a portrait of a changing profession. Like many American congregations, campus ministry has experienced the processes of feminization, diversification, and laicization. Emphasizing spiritual formation and personal mentoring, it remains a student-centered occupation.

Servant-Leadership: A Model for Youth Ministry

This article addresses the importance of servant-leadership and to be utilized as one model of leadership for integration and implementation within a Christian youth ministry. Essentially the essay is divided two sections: The first part of the paper provides a brief background on servant-leadership, addresses the theology of servant-leadership, and examines 10 theological characteristics for integration into Christian youth ministry. The second section of the paper provides 6 pedagogical and pastoral implementation strategies for youth ministers to apply in their programs. The ideas in this essay are also applicable to campus ministries and young adult ministries.