The Old Roman Road

As I write this editorial, I am sitting on a terrace outside of Barcelona enjoying the gentle Mediterranean breeze and warm Spanish sunshine. Nearby is La Via Augusta, or the Old Roman Road that runs through the center of town that once united Rome and Andalusia. The history of this region is deep and rich. The road that united regions centuries ago is still traveled today, but with new challenges and opportunities. The same is true of Christian higher education; the road travelled today has been travelled for centuries before us, yet the challenges and opportunities we face are ever new.

The Old Roman Road seems an apt metaphor as I read the five articles selected for inclusion in this issue of the Christian Higher Education journal. These articles cover a range of topics highlighting the status, challenges, and innovations in various areas of Christian higher education. Although some of these challenges may be new as the landscape of Christian higher education evolves, facing challenges is not a new task. However, the way in which we choose to perceive and respond to the challenges is critical. Will we see challenges as problems or opportunities? Will we choose to innovate or stagnate? Our reactions and responses will be key in telling the tale of our journey and legacy in living out the Great Commission.

In the first article, Reimagining Christian Higher Education in China Today, Peter Tze Ming Ng beautifully walks us through the history of Christian colleges and universities in China prior to the rise of Communist rule in 1949. Ng further tells the story of the resurgence of the study and celebration of the history of Christian colleges and highlights the impact and legacy left by noteworthy Christian missionary educators in China. This article tells the story of how Christian presence in higher education has evolved and reemerged in China over the decades. Notably, the article concludes by offering a profound sense of hope for the journey ahead in China.

In Women of Vision: Understanding the Ways Women Lead Change, Candy O’Connor shares the findings of her qualitative, grounded theory study in which she interviewed 12 female leaders at faith-based institutions who developed and implemented a vision resulting in institutional change. O’Connor describes the participants’ envisioning process, which always first involved an impetus triggering a needed change resulting in the casting of a future-oriented vision, the gathering of information, and collaboration to garner the support needed to enact the envisioned change. In this article, O’Connor also explores the participants’ internal drivers that propelled them forward through the challenges they faced along the change journey. Through the themes that emerged from this study, O’Connor offers insight into the strategies and personal agency employed by these women to enact change despite the challenges encountered.

In their article The Status of Student Affairs Divisions Within the CCCU, co-authors Jolyn Dahlvig and Stephen Beers offer a snapshot of the current state of student development divisions across the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU). They share the findings of a 2017 survey commissioned by the Association for Christians in Student Development (ACSD) and the CCCU. Through the findings of this study, the article examines the challenges facing institutional leaders, and the particular pressures and demands being felt within student affairs divisions. Grounding the findings in relevant research, Dahlvig and Beers provide a timely assessment of the terrain for those traversing the student affairs leadership journey in Christian higher education.

A key distinction of Christian higher education is the integration of faith and learning. The fourth article in this issue, Morgan Lewing’s Conceptualizing Service-Learning in Christian Higher Education, addresses a gap in the current literature. Lewing examines service-learning typology through the context of a faith-based higher education lens. Through the article, Lewing offers strategies and recommendations to support faculty and administrators who are attempting to implement sustainable service-learning programs at Christian higher education institutions.

Continuing along the integration of faith and learning theme, Charles Davis examines the Strategic Indicators of Mission Fulfillment at Assemblies of God Colleges in the final article of this issue. Davis conducted a Delphi study in which 26 academic leaders from five Assemblies of God colleges identified 28 relevant strategic indicators for use at their institutions. The participants then identified three strategic indicators for the integration of faith and learning and two for the spiritual formation of students. Notably, these leaders indicated that they may have been able to identify additional indicators had there been agreement among definitions, goals, and measures. Davis suggests that future research related to these concepts must begin with a clear definition of the terms. As with any journey, clear signposts surely make the path forward much easier.

However, clear signposts are only helpful when the passers-by pay attention. The passers-by I observed today along the centuries old path of La Via Augusta are distracted by the cacophony of buzzing cell phones and whizzing motorcycles, hardly cognizant of the world around them and likely not at all reflecting upon (and learning from) those who have walked the worn path before them. Time marches on and the past is soon forgotten.

May we as leaders in Christian higher education have the wisdom to reflect upon and learn from the lessons of the past, the knowledge and skill to astutely survey and surmount the challenges that await, and the courage to blaze new trails along the journeys before us. In the praying words of John Birch (2016):

Use these hands to carry the burden.

Use this voice to carry your word.

Use these feet to walk in your footsteps.

Use this heart to transform the world.