Integrity
Last month I was honored to receive the Personal Integrity Award from the Delaware County Committee for Integrity Enhancement for my work with Alcuin Study Center. While I, personally, am not a paragon of integrity (though I try), Alcuin Study Center is an institution founded upon it. Though we often think of integrity as referring to a high moral standard, that definition is derivative of the word’s full meaning. The literal meaning of Integrity is “soundness, wholeness, or completeness in all necessary parts.” The word disintegration, after all, does not simply mean a lack of morals; it means a lack of being. To have integrity is to be healthy and complete in mind, body, and soul and to be an integral part of society. St. Augustine coined the term ordo amoris which means “ordered loves.” It is the ordering of our parts—our intellect, heart, and desires; our mind, soul, and body—to work together the way God intended them.
As the school year came to a close, students spent more and more time lingering at the center after classes, discussing what it means for their faith to be integrated into all of life. Some of the most fruitful moments of spiritual and academic formation have happened during these impromptu gatherings.
What does it look like to live virtuous lives in an age devoid of virtue? What does it look like to love Jesus not only with my heart, but also with my mind and my body? With so many misconceptions of what it means to be a Christian, how might we be the hands and feet of Christ is all situations such that even the unbelievers will recognize the goodness of his gospel and grace?
These are the types of questions that fuel these discussions. And these discussions are the reason we open our doors.
Prayer for Planning
On June 13 and 14, the ASC board will be meeting for an extended time of strategic planning. From mission to vision to strategy to action, we hope to map out the next few years, understanding all the while that we can plan, but the Lord directs our steps. Our guide for this journey is Dr. David Wright, a weathered veteran of such things. David was president of Indiana Wesleyan University from 2013-2022. He is currently engaged in private consulting for educational institutions. He has become a friend and mentor to me, and I am grateful for it.
Our hope is that Alcuin Study Center will become an institution that outlives its founders. Please pray for the board, Dr. Wright, and me as we plan for the future of Alcuin Study Center.
The Raised Hand
If you haven’t yet subscribed to The Raised Hand, you should. It is the Substack for the Consortium of Christian Study Centers and it’s free.
Each season is centered on a single question. In its inaugural 2022-2023 academic year, the question addressed in each of the 8 essays was What is education?. For the 2023-2024 academic year, the question was What has the university to do with the good life?. Last year it was What does every university and college student need to learn?.
These questions are answered in essay form by scholars in various disciplines. Past authors have included George Marsden, Marilyn McEntyre, and Cheri Harder.
I have the wonderful privilege of serving on the editorial board of The Raised Hand for the next three years, beginning this August.
Summer Book Group
in-person & zoom options!
Priests of History: Stewarding the Past in an Ahistoric Age by Sarah Irving-Stonebreaker
Mondays, 8-9pm ET / 7-8pm CT
June 16-July14
In person:
Alcuin Study Center (1401 W Beechwood Ave 47303)
On zoom:
In an age underpinned by the idea that life is about self-invention and fulfilment, contemporary Western culture holds that the past has little to teach us. We live in what this book terms the “Ahistoric Age,” in which we are profoundly disconnected from history.
In the attempt to appear relevant, the church often embraces this ahistoric worldview by jettisoning the historic ideas and practices of Christian formation. But this has unintended consequences, leaving Christians unmoored from history and losing the ability to grapple with its ethical complexities.
…If Christians can learn how to be “priests of history,” tending and keeping our past, history can help us strengthen and revive our spiritual and intellectual formation and equip us to communicate the gospel in a confused and rootless world. (from Amazon description)
Closing Thought
For twelve years I taught at a classical and Christian high school. I taught my students a wide range of subjects from literature and composition to philosophy and ancient history. Each of these disciplines was a vehicle for building epistemic virtue. That is, above all, I attempted to teach them how to think.
A former student of mine recently went far out of his way to see me. Driving from Minnesota to Arizona, he decided to “stop by Muncie” for lunch. I was honored, to say the least. As we chatted at Muncie’s finest (only?) Indian restaurant, he described several ways that my instruction has impacted his adult life. He is not a Christian. He isn’t quite sure where he stands on the metaphysical landscape. He is on a journey, not only across country, but also across worldviews. He is trying to sift the wheat from the chaff in this confused and confusing age, and is doing so with tenacity, humility, and a fair amount of pain. But he is doing so with a set of tools that he was given at a very thoughtful Christian institution, and he understands the value of that education.
The college students that come through the doors of Alcuin Study Center are no different. Something is off in our culture, in our world, and they know it. The university is increasingly structured to prepare students for employment rather than teach the how to think—how to be human.
This is why I have given my life to this work. It is necessary. The work of the Consortium of Christian Study Centers—and the centers of which it is comprised—is some of the most important work of our age. A recent article in The Atlantic is one of many voices sounding the alarm: this generation is ill-equipped to navigate the very challenging landscape ahead. As Christians, this should concern us. The Church must be a thoughtful presence in the world, so we must teach our young people how to think—and how to think Christianly—not only for their good, but for the life of the world.
Please support the work of this movement. Thank you!
Dan Daugherty, Executive Director