Presenting religion to what has been called a "post-modern society" is an issue that Seventh-day Adventist theologians and educators are facing in their college and university level classes.
Educators with the goal of passing on Adventist values and beliefs effectively to those who have been in the Adventist faith for many years, as well as those who come from other faiths, or no faith, met for the Conference on Religious and Theological Education at the Adventist Church’s world headquarters in Silver Spring, Md., July 7 to 10. The conference brought together some 70 participants from Adventist institutions of higher learning all over the world.
“We have students coming onto our campuses who are cultural Adventists,” says Gerry Karst, a vice president of the world church. “They’ve grown up in Adventist homes, they’ve learned the Adventist lifestyle. But it’s an effort to try to connect them with the living God, who has given to this last-day church a message that nobody else has.”
He adds, “I think there’s been an erosion of values and there’s been an assumption on the part of many of us that because they’ve grown up in the Adventist culture, they know and understand the Adventist message. I think it’s important for them to reconnect with the word of God [and the] basic foundation of what our church believes and who we are.”
Today’s “Generation Y” presents challenges typical of their world and age, educators say. “Generation Y” is a term used to describe the typical age of college students—- late teens to early twenties. They explain that Generation Y is very similar to Generation X, or “Gen X,” those born between 1961 and 1981.
“These are generations that have grown up often in split homes, under the influence of TV, which brings in [the idea of] ‘let’s do our impulses,’” says Dr. Keith Mattingly, professor at Andrews University. “They have a heavy commercial focus. A grade is something you pay for. If I paid enough money, therefore I get a grade whether I study or not.
“I find that students are not prepared to be students,” he continues. “They don’t focus. And so the challenge is to find ways to help students focus and improve in their study habits and to improve in their thinking and to make religion very much a thinking part of their lifestyle.”
“‘Gen X’ and ‘Gen Y’ [are] open to listen to an authentic faith that is practiced convincingly and with conviction,” says Dr. Frank Hasel, professor at Seminar Schloss Bogenhofen, an Adventist institution in Austria. “Adventist faith has much to offer to the so-called post-modern generation of today that seeks reliable orientation, openness, honesty and authenticity. This is true also for those who come from other faiths or no faith at all. Even our health message and the Sabbath has great potential for reaching this generation.”
A concern is that some Adventist young people are stepping away from their faith. “In North America and in other parts of the world, it is a problem. We have to take it seriously,” says Dr. Angel Rodriguez, director of the church’s Biblical Research Institute. “We have to, as theologians, look at this phenomenon and develop ways to address them in an attempt to keep them with us. I would call it a serious problem.”
Mattingly adds, “I’ve seen a very avid interest in what composes the Bible class, what should be in the class, how that’s changed from much more of a propositional truth. There’s a heavy emphasis on experiential religion now.”
“Spiritual life does not automatically grow in a religious environment. It needs to be fostered,” says Hasel. “I am planning to implement a number of helpful suggestions in the classes I will teach in the future, helping students to grow spiritually.”
Educators at the conference also discussed how best to approach the growing number of students coming to Adventist schools from other denominations or no faith background.
“We do take into consideration the worldview that the students bring to the class and what the worldview has to say,” says Dr. Humberto Rasi, recently retired church education director. “Be respectful, but be enthusiastic promoters of the Christian biblical worldview. Make it attractive, because it is.”
“I hope to go back to my own institution with some ideas that will enhance our ability to relate to our students and draw them into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ on our campus,” says Dr. Greg King, professor at Pacific Union College.
The conference allowed educators and theologians to explore ways to work together and maintain common theological understanding in classrooms on Adventist campuses around the world.
“One of the best items [of the conference] was that we had representatives from all over—Korea, the Philippines, Romania, Latin America and Africa,” says Garland Dulan, director of education for the world church. “The opportunity to dialogue with people who normally have a localized perspective, and to talk with people who have different local perspectives, and to be able to pool the resources of these theologians and Bible teachers—that is something everyone appreciated.”
Dulan says there was a concern about the positive effects of the conference “wearing off” over time. “That is why, as part of the recommendations, [it was stated] that we need to regularize these conferences, within the Adventist system.”
“To exchange successful ideas and methods and to discuss the curricula of Bible, theology, [and] religion programs at Adventist colleges, seminaries and universities around the world will help to strengthen the quality of our religious education programs and mission. I hope that similar conferences will take place on a regular basis in the future,” Hasel says.
A list of 28 formal recommendations came out of the meetings, which will be shared with participants for review. Some of them include: encouraging an increased focus on teaching professional pastoral ethics and general Christian ethics; urging all ministerial training schools to include a class in experiential spiritual formation in their curricula; and fostering within the worldwide church the values considered key to Adventist corporate culture, theology and identity, and encouraging the adoption of value statements by each administrative and institutional unit that reflect their unique mission statements.
Other recommendations are that the various levels of ministerial education be in formal communication with each other on an annual basis in regard to curriculum and outcomes; that the world headquarters, in coordination with the world education departments, seek ways of sharing resources across geographical regions to support library and textbook needs in countries where costs of accessing materials are prohibitive; and the world church Office of Strategic Planning continue to seek creative means of fostering and promoting theological unity and unity within and between denominational organizations.
There are 75,000 students enrolled in some 100 Seventh-day Adventist colleges and universities around the world.
