By Kelsi Peace, Managing Editor
College of Biblical Studies dean Dr. Jack Reese will temporarily set aside his role as dean this semester and begin examining the role of the university in light of the 21st Century Vision.
“We need to think, just in a variety of ways, what a Christian university looks like in this world that we’re living in,” Reese said. “I think primarily culture is changing . we are a far more globalized society than we were 20 years ago. We have got to see ourselves differently in relation to the rest of the world.”
Through conversation, faculty retreats and heritage research, Reese said he will begin considering the direction the university should move toward and could compile a recommendation by the end of the semester. Dr. David Wray, College of Biblical Studies associate dean, and Dr. Jeff Childers, associate professor of Bible, missions and ministry, will share Reese’s administrative responsibilities this spring.
Reese accepted the move a few weeks ago, and said he has not decided which universities he will examine or the specifics of the study.
One thing he does know: Reese said he will begin the old fashioned way Monday morning, with a blank sheet of paper and a brainstorming session to list the types of questions he thinks the university should be asking.
“We’re having to learn what it mans to live at the margins,” Reese said. “For me, that means not just training ministers . but it means helping create a university culture in which all of our students have to engage that issue.”
Reese will work alongside the Vision Leadership Team to suggest a direction for the university to move toward as it implements the 21st Century Vision.
“This is a bold vision, and we have no one who has been focused on how to implement that vision in dynamic ways for the future,” Reese said. “It’s going to take time to think through how we might get there.”
Through his discussions with faculty and administrators, Reese says he is facilitating a process Christian universities will have to undertake eventually as cultural shifts have moved Christian institutions to the margins of society.
“At one point or another, every Christian university is going to have to deal with it,” he said. “We would rather deal with it now, when we have the opportunity to shape things so that this university will still be a vibrant, spirited-filled place . we don’t want to wait too late to engage that.”
Reese said as looks at the heritage of ACU and Churches of Christ, he also plans to examine other universities as the university seeks a plan for its future. And the open conversations and loose structure to the position are intentional.
“There’s no particular outcome that’s being sought,” Reese said. “We’re open to thinking through this so that we are as faithful to the purposes of this university and as faithful to God as we can be.”
