Reflections: The Church - College Relationship
Reflection by Bill Weiss
In 1981 I accepted an invitation to be the technical services librarian at the College of Wooster library. Having worked at a state university library and a private, non-sectarian library, I wondered what it would be like to work at a “church affiliated” college. In 1986 the Weiss family was accepted into membership at Westminster. I offer this reflection as someone who is grateful to both church and college for its influence on my spiritual, emotional, and intellectual development
Without question the church sprung from the desire of students and faculty to have a church on campus.
The one great fact which I care to have you all get and keep is, that this church sprang up out of the college and for the college. … It was on the 10th day of May, 1874, in the Chapel of the old University building that went up in flames on that fateful morning of the 11th of December 1901, that a committee composed of three ministers and one elder met at four o'clock of a Sabbath afternoon, and under direction of Presbytery proceeded to organize a second Presbyterian Church in Wooster. 50th Anniversary Publication.
Issues of concern regarding the roles of church and college inevitably arose early the church’s life.
…in this close affiliation and identification with the College there developed in course of time difficulties in the administration of its affairs which had not been foreseen at the beginning. It often became difficult to decide which was the ruling body, the session of the Church or the College authorities. What was to be the distribution of the powers of these two bodies? To settle this important point a committee was appointed a number of years ago which made a thorough study of the subject and brought in an able report. It found a modus vivendi, the details of which cannot be given here, but which has worked with great satisfaction ever since. 50th Anniversary Publication.
Unfortunately, that modus vivendi has been lost to us. Nevertheless, the relationship between church and college has been revisited and revised through several memoranda of agreements
In the sixties Westminster and the College agreed that the construction of the Church House was necessary and beneficial to both. In the final agreement the church spoke to the essential role played by the college in its existence.
Whereas, the Church has conducted worship services ministering not only to its own members, but also to the College community, and conceives its mission, its very raison d’etre as a ministry to the College … Memorandum of Agreement 1963
in the sixties, and in many protestant denominations, the relationships of “church related colleges” and their founding religious bodies was under serious review. In 1968 the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA adopted measures to permit the Synod of Ohio to relinquish its legal and fiscal authority over the college.
As early as 1961 college students were asking for changes in chapel attendance requirements and for changes in college rules. Specifically, students asked that
it shall be the declared policy of the College to employ as regular members of the faculty only men and women who are active members in good standing of some evangelical Christian church. An Adventure in Education / Jerrold K. Footlick
The college and church continue to evolve, yet we remain comfortable saying that Westminster is the “church in residence at the College of Wooster.” Nevertheless, the church has come to accept that the college is no longer its “reason for being.”
Recent memoranda of agreements between Westminster and the College testify that what binds us together and sets us apart is not easily described.
The relationship between the Westminster Presbyterian Church and the College of Wooster is many faceted and hard to define. Also, there is a threat that something will be lost as between friends if it is measured too carefully and defined to the last pencil. … it seems “decent and order” to reaffirm the nature of our relationship and to celebrate on paper the life which we give and will continue to give to each other. Memorandum of Agreement 1976
Our most recent memorandum of agreement (2013) and renewable every five years confirms our current understanding and appreciation for one another.
Each institution recognizes that education is the primary purpose of the College and that the mission of the Presbyterian Church (USA) is the primary purpose of the Church. Each is an independent institution, capable of continued existence without the other and autonomous is operation. Memorandum of Agreement 2013
Although independent and autonomous from each other, church and college intersect on many levels: Outreach to students, allocation of resources, building maintenance, scheduling of events, fiscal obligations, etc.
Both institutions are evolving: The church for many centuries; the college for many decades. The paradigms, to use the phrase of the day, are in flux. Both church and college face daily challenges. Perhaps the final instruction to church and college is from a source often attributed to Plato.
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle”
And what about my wondering about working in a “church affiliated” college library? Turns out the College of Wooster Library is the same as any other. They all catalog the same important quotations, including this one, which was quoted in Westminster’s Centennial publication. Today as then, it expresses Westminster’s imperative for the future.
New occasions teach new duties; Time makes ancient good uncouth; They must upward still, and onward, who would keep abreast of Truth; Lo, before us gleam her camp-fires! James Russell Lowell
The college’s motto remains Scientia el Religio ex Uno Fonte. Science and Religion from One Source. At Westminster we ask God’s blessing on the college and the church. Together, church and college, we move upward still and onward.
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