Elon

 Eighteenth Monday after Pentecost

First, let me offer my congratulations to Fred Boulais. Yesterday he celebrated his 95th birthday. Fred is the oldest reader of this blog. He was (or should I say "is") a member of the Omega Project at UUMC (the project is on hold during the Pandemic). He was a class member of a number of my Disciple Bible Study classes.

Second, thanks again to April for her perceptive comments. I would like to hearing more from the rest of you. 

Monday is Faith Journey Narrative on the blog. When I began teaching at Elon College in 1986, the team name was "Fighting Christians." Within my first few years it became the Elon University "Phoenix." The University has grown dramatically both in size and quality over the last few decades. It has more undergraduate students than Wake Forest and is now rated in the top 100 in the major research universities category of the US News and World Report rankings.

I have nothing for respect for Elon and all it does. I was proud to have taught there for eighteen years. My career there followed the standard academic path. I came as Assistant Professor in 1986. In 1990 I was promoted to Associate Professor and granted tenure. In 1996 I was promoted to full professor. I was granted semester sabbatical leaves in 1994 and 2001.  I received the Elon Outstanding Scholar Award in 2002. I was chair of the Religious Studies Department from 1998-2003.  

The odd thing about it all is that I never really felt at home there. It's hard to explain, but some things are fairly clear. Elon was not a United Methodist School. It has a very loose affiliation with the United Church of Christ, but that affiliation is not mentioned in any of the University's literature. The vast majority of Elon Students do not know of its U.C.C. affiliation.  The U.C.C. provides no funding for Elon and has no representation on its Board of Trustees. 

 

This was quite a contrast to the two United Methodist Colleges where I had taught previously. At both of those colleges I had been the Chaplain, which was an important leadership position. I sat on the stage at all the major college events, delivered the invocations for convocations and commencements, led a weekly chapel service, was present at Trustees meetings, knew all the Trustees, Administrators, and Faculty. I was a member of most of the important committees. All the students, if they didn't know me, at least knew who I was. I have always loved public speaking and loved leadership. But at Elon I was just another faculty member. 

When I left Greensboro College and went to Elon, we did not move. We stayed in Greensboro. Marianne taught in High Point and I taught at Elon. Greensboro was half way in between. I had to get used to a 40 minute commute to Elon every day. I never got used to it. At GC and TWC , when there were activities at night, I could go home after work have dinner, and go back. At Elon I had to stay there through dinner and get back late in the evening, after the activity was over. 

Our living in Greensboro meant that we were never a part of the social life of the Elon faculty. I was friends with everybody but not close friends except with one or two other faculty. I should note that close to half of Elon faculty lived away, many in Chapel Hill, Durham, and even Raleigh. 

All of this sounds like whining. In what has always been a tough job market, I had managed to get three different full time teaching jobs and had tenure at an up and coming university. I was thankful. I kept thinking as the years passed that I would feel more and more at home at Elon. It just didn't happen. It's hard to explain. One specific event sort of summed it up for me. On the day when I received the Outstanding Scholar Award, that evening I found myself walking across campus to an event at the Performing Arts Center. As I came out of my office I ran into the President, the Provost, and my Dean, all walking there too. I walked with them. They said hello. They were in a conversation. I was ignored. It was my big day, but what was a big day for me was not so much for them. It was a small thing. I don't think I could even call it a slight. But I think it made me see and accept that things for me there would be as they always had been. 

Meanwhile, a number of things weren't going well in my department. The department had always been dysfunctional. Some of the new hires didn't help. I could tell some horror stories of department meetings. The four years that I was chair were particularly difficult. By this point it had become increasingly clear to me that I didn't want to stay there the rest of my career. I took an early retirement in 2004 and decided to go back to parish ministry. 

 

With some really wonderful help from Frank Stith, my District Superintendent in Greensboro, George Thompson, previous pastor of Christ Greensboro, who had become District Superintendent of the Charlotte District, and Bishop Lawrence McClesky, a perfect church was found for me, First UMC, North Wilkesboro. I began there in January, 2005. What followed was the six best years of my life. I thank God for my years at Elon, a great place, even though not a great fit for me. Next Monday the blog goes to North Wilkesboro. 

Faithfully,

Christian