And Jesus said, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.” —John 14:6
Delivered August 23, 2023
RE: ENC Heritage Reclamation
Dear Dr. Derr,
Greeting and Welcome
It is with excitement and great hope that we welcome you as the 15th president of Eastern Nazarene College. The words of our ENC Board Chair, Dr. Melody Eckardt, were heartening: “Dr. Derr is the right person at the right time.” Her affirmation of your “character, deep and wide skills, spiritual maturity, and academic excellence” were encouraging. We look forward to your leadership seasoned with “grace, truth, clarity, and kindness.”
A New Opportunity
We believe that your presidency signals a profound opportunity to celebrate the historic Biblical Evangelical and Holiness faith of the Church of the Nazarene in the Boston area, and to see that faith infuse life and spirit into every aspect of our school. As a denominational school, Eastern Nazarene College has the privilege and responsibility to support and affirm the beliefs, values, and way of life of the Church of the Nazarene as expressed by the will of the General Assembly and recorded in the Manual of the Church of the Nazarene.
We fully support and affirm that faithful theological vision for our school.
A Reaffirmation of Historic Nazarene Faith
This year the Church of the Nazarene gathered for its 30th General Assembly, a global meeting of the family called “Nazarenes.” At that Assembly the historic and faithful Biblical beliefs, practices, and way of life of our Denomination were once again reaffirmed and made known to the world. We celebrate that reaffirmation! The Church of the Nazarene has a life-giving message, endowed by the Holy Spirit, that calls us to faith in Christ, the hope of the resurrection, and a life of faithful and loving obedience until Christ returns.
A Reaffirmation of the Mission of ENC as a Denominational School
The mission of Eastern Nazarene College, as an extension of our denominational Christian identity, is to provide a transformational education that equips diverse students to lead and to serve our world as agents of Christ’s love and truth. An education that is both loving and truthful is so very critical – indeed these qualities are inseparable. Truth without love is harshness; love without truth is mere sentiment, and often collapses into mere license. At the heart of that education is a spiritual truth: each and every person is called to a life-changing conversion to God through Christ and service in the Kingdom. We believe that justice can only come through obedience to Christ. We believe that transformation can only come through faith in the living Christ.
Challenges Facing Christian Higher Education
As a leader in higher education, you know the challenges facing a Christian institution of higher learning. The challenges of supporting and maintaining an institution with an explicitly Evangelical and Holiness identity are many. We assure you that we are not oblivious to the significant question of how to create and sustain a vibrant and faithful Christian identity. The pressures to ameliorate our identity, to compromise with the world, or to minimize an explicitly Christian faith are enormous! While there have been ongoing attempts to present ENC as a viable option for graduating high school seniors, it has not been widely successful in drawing students to ENC. Previous attempts to increase student enrollment have intentionally not presented ENC specifically as an Evangelical Holiness school. We believe this identity is our future. We hope to see an integration and synthesis between our Denominational identity and our Institutional identity.
In the Midst of a Changing Culture
We face in our society, and possibly at ENC, an anti-institutional and anti-denominational spirit that rejects any church (or even Biblical) authority over an individual’s life. This radical individualism and self-centeredness erode faith and cultivate a life-denying skepticism. We also face an increasing secularization of American society and increasing secular attacks on religion and faith. Yet, we believe that God will give us the courage and the means to provide a Christian education to any student who wishes to enroll at our school. Our great concern is faithfulness. With you we ask the question, what does faithfulness look like in today’s world? What witness must the Church provide to the world in our generation? ENC has an answer to those questions because the Church of the Nazarene has answers to those questions!
Specific Challenges Facing ENC
There are specific challenges facing ENC. The past 20 years have brought about a significant mission drift which we believe is evidenced by loss of enrollment, estrangement from our constituents, and a general sense that ENC is liberalizing and embracing beliefs contradictory to our historic Biblical faith. We suggest the following:
First, that we make the revelation of God in Christ-witnessed to in the Scriptures and now made known to us through the Spirit- a priority. The Scriptures lie at the heart of our Christian faith and educational concerns. Whatever sows skepticism, doubt, or distrust of the Scriptures should be challenged.
Second, that we affirm that no ideology or philosophy supersedes the Gospel. To place above the Gospel any ideology or philosophy, no matter how benign, is idolatry. The Gospel, revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures, can never be dysfunctional. It is our only faithful rule of life and conduct. Therefore, any world view not in concert with historic Christian faith should be challenged.
Third, that we recognize that secular humanism pervades our culture, and is growing. We believe students should be taught about these cultural developments and the Christian critique of them. We also believe that faculty, staff, and our leadership should all together present Christian Biblical faith as the only viable alternative to those cultural shifts.
Fourth, that we acknowledge the practical wisdom of Christian faith among everyday believers as valuable. Academic pretentions, intellectual elitism, and vacuous rationalism have no place at ENC. The role of educators at ENC is to serve the church, not to undermine it. Faculty are not “laws unto themselves,” but
rather, are to be humble servants of the Church willing to submit their lives to the Spirit-enabled Assembly.
Fifth, we ask that ENC, an extension of the Church of the Nazarene, be wary of agreements, contracts, or partnerships with secular government. While expressions of care and support may be shared with other government initiatives, ENC should recognize that our vision, motivation, and expression of concern are radically different. We encourage a healthy caution when entering into such alliances. The Matthew 25 Initiative is one example of such a concern.
Reclaiming Our Historic Constituents
Historically, our constituents have been the many local Nazarene and Evangelical churches in the Northeast. Over the past decade or so, we have lost connection with those constituents to our detriment. Our concern is how to reconnect with those faithful churches, pastors, and district superintendents, the constituents to whom we are responsible as a denominational school. It is apparent to us that only a significant transformation of the present culture at ENC will be able to mend those relationships.
Your Personal Experience of the Nazarene Family
As our president, you have attended our Assemblies, read our Manual, listened to our preaching, experienced our body life, and made the momentous decision to join us as an ordained elder. We believe that you already have a sense of the heart of Nazarenes. We make this plea to you: please help us embody Nazarene faith at ENC.
A Continuing Vision for Christian Higher Education
We invite the executive leadership, staff, students and others coming onto the campus to consider the two bronze plaques found attached to the brick pilasters at the main entrance gate on Elm Ave. They are a clear historical testament to this college’s vision and mission. These inscriptions provide both the foundational intent and a generational vision for the Institution to follow. In the early days of ENC, plaques like these were a wonderful gift of remembrance, testimony, and rededication given by the Class of 1938. The lamp with a flame placed in the forefront of the plaque speaks to the richness of our Pentecostal Holiness tradition. The flame supplied by the anointing oil of the Holy Spirit provides light. This illumination shines forth a vision of a sanctified pathway for all of life. The lamp resting on the Bible, the Eternal Truth of God’s Word, offers knowledge, and to knowledge, understanding. Both the lamp and the Eternal Word are at the forefront of what appears to be the globe. This captures the missional aspect of our college: an Institution set apart to provide life to a dying world; life which is found in the truth of Holy Scripture, revealed and illuminated by the Spirit of Holiness. These symbols of the biblical truth declare that Jesus is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” We believe that only on this basis can ENC succeed in its vision to provide “transformational education”.
Exhortation to Faithfulness to the Exclusivity of Christ
We wish to heed the ancient warning in Proverbs 22:28, “Do not remove the ancient landmark which your ancestors have set”. Via, Veritas, Vita is our motto! We affirm that Jesus is the ONLY way to peace and well-being in the world. ENC’s mission is to bear witness to that exclusive Truth.
Promise of Support, Conversation, and Prayer
We hope that this letter is a great encouragement to you. Alongside you have come a host of persons who support you in your endeavor to lead this school into God’s great Kingdom future. Whatever turns our future takes, whatever challenges we might face, we will be praying for you, ENC, our staff and faculty, and our students. As a community we want to be in continued conversation and support in a substantial way as together we embody the promises of God in all we do.
God Bless You and Keep You!
Sincerely,
A Growing Community of Alumni and Constituents