Faculty and guest speakers gathered Tuesday to ease people’s minds and answer any lingering questions about Baker’s mission statement.
Susan Emel, professor of mass media and communication, who is also an ordained Methodist Minister, led the university forum. Emel said the idea was born in the fall of 2006 when the faculty met and discussed, among other things, the university’s mission statement. She said she could feel eyes questioning her about what it meant to value Baker’s Methodist heritage and she took it upon herself to answer.
“The purpose is to inform the Baker community what it means to be affiliated with the United Methodist Church,” Emel said.
The forum titled “Ask Dr. Methodist” included a panel of knowledgeable people connected to the Methodist Church. It consisted of University Minister Ira DeSpain, Ron Holland, a retired minister and member of the Baker Board of Trustees and Nanette Roberts, the pastor of the second largest church in the Kansas East Conference of the United Methodist Church.
During the forum, Emel hit on some of the benefits instilled in Baker by its Methodist founders. Those benefits are a broad curriculum, connection to service in the world, opportunity to explore faith and values and a caring community.
Emel said one of the key ideas people need to understand is that being affiliated with the Methodist Church does not mean that religious beliefs will interfere with the education process.
“Students can openly explore their faith and values without being pigeonhole by religious perspectives,” she said.
DeSpain said being Methodist is something that you can think about, as well as something you can feel.
“The origins of Methodism started on a college campus,” he said. “It has always been a religion that holds higher education in high regards and endorses the liberal arts.”
Over the summer, Emel sent out e-mails asking if any one had a question about Baker’s affiliation with the Methodist Church. The questions varied from the differences between Baker and other United Methodist affiliated colleges and universities to the church’s view on homosexuality.
Grant Program Director Terry Manies said that even though she is not of the Methodist faith, she felt very welcome at Baker.
“I never got the feeling that being Jewish was an impediment to belonging to the Baker community,” she said. “There are plenty of places that say if you don’t believe that Jesus was the Son of God then you can’t work here. I never got that feeling at Baker.”
