Christian Colleges and Restoration Movement Roots
This article introduces a new statistic in Christian Standardโs Christian college summary: the percentage of each schoolโs student body with roots in Stone-Campbell congregations. Mark A. Taylor invites readers to consider what those numbers may reveal about institutional mission, donor expectations, and the wider influence of Restoration Movement churches.
- The new โ% Restoration Movementโ column is intended to start discussion, not assign praise or blame.
- The wide range of percentages raises questions about school mission, support bases, and student diversity.
- Readers interested in Christian higher education are encouraged to talk with schools about their goals, progress, and challenges.
By Mark A. Taylor
A New Restoration Movement Statistic
Please notice one new bit of information in this yearโs Christian college summaryโand tell us what you think about it!
Weโre speaking of the column headed โ% Restoration Movement.โ We asked the schools who contribute to this report, โWhat percentage of your student body has roots in Stone-Campbell congregations typically referred to as the Restoration Movement?โ All of them except two, who donโt track this information, gave us a figure.
What are we to conclude from the wide range of percentages reported?
Interpreting the Percentages
- The percentage of Restoration Movement students enrolling in these schools is not, in itself, either good or bad. In many cases it is only natural that a high-quality college or university would attract students from outside the Christian churches and churches of Christ surrounding it. This is a compliment to the quality of the institution and an opportunity for the school to serve its community.
But we might wonder how the schoolโs support base feels about this. Does a school depend on Restoration Movement members for most of its income? Do those donors understand what the school is accomplishing with students (sometimes many students) from a diversity of religious backgrounds?
- Christian churches are increasingly open to influence from and association with believers in other groups. The percentages on our chart reflect whatโs already happening in the churches.
This can be seen as bad (โthe Restoration Movement is losing its identityโ) or good (โthe Restoration Movement is extending its influenceโ). The percentage alone doesnโt tell us which is more accurate.
- It would be interesting to see how many students from Restoration churches are presently enrolled in general evangelical Christian liberal arts schools. What would we conclude if, say, Biola or Taylor University had a percentage of such students as high as the lowest figure (7.5 percent) reported among โourโ schools?
- Most of this boils down to a question of mission. Do we believe all this yearโs 3,000 or so new graduates from these schools will become workers in Christian churches or churches of Christ? These percentages make such a conclusion doubtful if not impossible. But is producing workers for Restoration churches the only mission that would justify the existence of these schools?
Starting a Conversation About Mission
The purpose of including this statistic is the same as that for reporting any of the others: to start a discussion. Every CHRISTIAN STANDARD reader interested in Christian higher education should care about the schools reporting in this issueโand demonstrate that concern by talking with the schools about their goals and progress and challenges. We hope this issue can lend substance to the conversation.
Author: Mark A. Taylor
Mark A. Taylor, who served as Christian Standard editor from 2003 to 2017, retired in June 2017 after almost 41 years with Standard Publishing (Christian Standard Media).
