Selling Place, Selling Faith: What Christian University Tour Guides Reveal About a Theology of Place

Abstract

Drawing from their personal experiences and professional trainings, campus tour guides are uniquely positioned to introduce a theology of place to prospective students. From a qualitative paradigm, this project investigated the lives, work, and meaning-making of ten tour guides at a Christian university. Guides felt connected to their campus community and experienced God’s presence everywhere, privileged realities they – through symbols, objects, and interactions – strategically shared and subtly normalized for tour-goers. This study illuminates the challenges of mission-based practice, highlighting how students navigated these tensions, and encourages practitioners to think theologically about the campus places they work to promote.

Keywords:

• campus tours
• theology of place
• Christian higher education

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Madison N. Woodford

Madison N. Woodford, Director of Women’s Ministry and Community Missions, Anderson University, Anderson, South Carolina, USA. [email protected]

Sarah E. Madsen

Sarah E. Madsen, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Educational Leadership, School of Education, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, USA. [email protected]

Nathan F. Alleman

Nathan F. Alleman, Associate Professor, Department of Educational Leadership, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, USA. [email protected]