A Space for Difficult Conversations: Insights From my First Year as Dean
The cherry trees have blossomed, spring semester classes have come to a close, and graduating students have sent out invitations to friends and family. As we come to the close of our 2018-19 academic year, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on my first year as dean at Wesley Seminary.
We live in challenging times. We live in a nation and a world with polarizing forces. We can see this in our society and in our churches. While it was once believed that the world wide web would flatten the playing field and give us access to the world’s diversity, just the opposite has occurred. The internet has allowed us to receive the information that fits our narrow worldview and confirm previously held beliefs. Rather than exposing us to divergent positions and facts that would challenge our assumptions, it feeds us filtered data curated to reinforce our views. This allows us, as a nation and a world, to become siloed and isolated from those who believe and act differently than us.
It is precisely for times like this that our nation and our world needs Wesley. In an increasingly polarized church and society, the seminary provides an open space where people from diverse backgrounds can assemble to study, worship, and fellowship together. Wesley brings men and women together from many different ethnicities, theological positions and faith traditions to wrestle the meaning of sacred texts and scholarly interpretations for today’s problems—all with a unified mission “to prepare persons for Christian ministry, to foster theological scholarship, and to provide leadership on issues facing the church and the world.”
It isn’t easy to live into our core values of diversity and enter into conversation with someone who comes from a different background or holds a different view than our own. One’s initial instinct is to withdraw or go to a place where we can be around like-minded people. We can identify with Jonah who tried to escape God’s call by sailing away from Nineveh. However, that option avoids the issues and ultimately makes matters worse. Just as God is everywhere and confronted Jonah, God calls us to embrace difficult conversations through study, prayer and dialogue with those who are different from ourselves. Whether we are in tension over how to respond faithfully to questions around human sexuality, or other tense hot button issues, we cannot run away because it will only make matters worse. Ultimately, God is inviting all of us toward a vision of the Reign of God. Wesley is a place that keeps inviting us to not avoid difficult topics and to go deeper and grow in our faith. Our studies give us a vocabulary and skill set to lead others to do the same.
We live in challenging times. We live in a nation and a world with polarizing forces. We can see this in our society and in our churches. While it was once believed that the world wide web would flatten the playing field and give us access to the world’s diversity, just the opposite has occurred. The internet has allowed us to receive the information that fits our narrow worldview and confirm previously held beliefs. Rather than exposing us to divergent positions and facts that would challenge our assumptions, it feeds us filtered data curated to reinforce our views. This allows us, as a nation and a world, to become siloed and isolated from those who believe and act differently than us.
It is precisely for times like this that our nation and our world needs Wesley. In an increasingly polarized church and society, the seminary provides an open space where people from diverse backgrounds can assemble to study, worship, and fellowship together. Wesley brings men and women together from many different ethnicities, theological positions and faith traditions to wrestle the meaning of sacred texts and scholarly interpretations for today’s problems—all with a unified mission “to prepare persons for Christian ministry, to foster theological scholarship, and to provide leadership on issues facing the church and the world.”
It isn’t easy to live into our core values of diversity and enter into conversation with someone who comes from a different background or holds a different view than our own. One’s initial instinct is to withdraw or go to a place where we can be around like-minded people. We can identify with Jonah who tried to escape God’s call by sailing away from Nineveh. However, that option avoids the issues and ultimately makes matters worse. Just as God is everywhere and confronted Jonah, God calls us to embrace difficult conversations through study, prayer and dialogue with those who are different from ourselves. Whether we are in tension over how to respond faithfully to questions around human sexuality, or other tense hot button issues, we cannot run away because it will only make matters worse. Ultimately, God is inviting all of us toward a vision of the Reign of God. Wesley is a place that keeps inviting us to not avoid difficult topics and to go deeper and grow in our faith. Our studies give us a vocabulary and skill set to lead others to do the same.
As dean of a very gifted and diverse seminary community, I can say that we don’t always agree on matters of biblical interpretation, theology, or social issues, yet we appreciate the gifts and contributions that every person brings to the community. So as we take a welcome break from coursework, feel the warmth of summer, and celebrate the accomplishments of graduating students, we hope that you can appreciate the gifts of the Wesley community and share them wherever you go.
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| Dr. Philip Wingeier-Rayo is the Dean of Wesley Theological Seminary. |
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