ABHE

Plenary session video: “The Church Near and Far…Present & Future.”

Plenary session video: “The Church Near and Far…Present & Future.” – Ramesh Richard

According to the Constitution of the Association for Biblical Higher Education, the following statement of faith is to be subscribed to annually by each member institution through the signature of the president. 1. We believe that there is one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 2. We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.

This article represents a departure from the normal pattern of a journal in that it purports to offer limited research findings, statistical reports, citation documentation, or academic analysis. Rather, it reflects the views of a veteran higher education administrator who has spent more than 37 years of his life in Christ-centered higher education. The article examines the significant changes that are taking place in the church and in education and the implications for institutions of biblical higher education and their leaders. The paper is divided into three sections: (1) past commitments, (2) present realities, and (3) future considerations.

by Jay Barnett Introduction Throughout the history of education in the United States there has been and continues to be a desire to reform and improve educational practice. The message of reform and hope is documented through conferences, journals, newsletters, projects and numerous educational avenues (El-Khawas, 2002). One such reform has been experiential education with…

Making the case for Christian higher education is more important today than it has ever been before. Christian colleges and universities have a mission and a calling to educate students, but could benefit from clear recommendations, impactful strategies, and ongoing support to bolster institutional enrollment, increase net revenue, and prepare an increasing number of students for a lifetime of ministry and service.

A new prevailing narrative is circulating concerning North American higher education. It appears in articles from both the political and ideological left and right such as Ann Kirschner’s “Innovation in Higher Education? HAH!” (The Chronicle Review, April 13, 2012) and Vance Fried’s “College 2020” (Heritage Foundation, Center for Policy Innovation, Discussion Paper No. 10, March 26, 2013); books such as Higher Education? How Our Colleges are Wasting Our Money and Failing Our Kids—And What We Can Do About It (Wildavsky, Kelly and Carey, eds., Harvard Education Press, 2011) and The Innovation University: Changing the DNA of Higher Education from the Inside Out (Christenson and Eyring, Jossey-Bass, 2011); and nearviral internet media such as EPIC 2020 and 2012 The Tipping Point.

We came together to contemplate the reality, meaning and implications of evangelical Christianity’s global nature and the role of theological education in light of these phenomena. We have witnessed and experienced the increasingly global deployment and development of evangelical theological education, including its maturing expressions through the eight member agencies and numerous associates and affiliates comprising ICETE.

Biblical higher education has a differentiation problem. Despite our efforts to establish a distinctive identity for Bible colleges or, as some prefer, institutions of biblical higher education, the research makes it clear that the presence and particularity of our sector is largely invisible and, in any case, indistinguishable from other sectors of Christian higher education. In my judgment, our way forward is to concentrate less on distinguishing ourselves from other sectors of Christian higher education and instead seek to distinguish ourselves among the variety of players that comprise North America’s Christian higher education landscape. Simply put, we have work to do on branding. What is our essential promise to students and parents?