Cohort Report: Missional University Leaders
By MaLesa Breeding

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I'd really enjoy continuing a conversation with others from our cohort. From my perspective, we still have layers of conversations going. That's both a challenge and an opportunity. Our churches and our institutions are organized informally through with the notions of insider/outsider "ness." As we think through the idea of being, thinking and doing missional work - and especially at a Missional Think Tank - I think it's incredibly important to note that until we recognize that inside all of our organizations humans have a need to understand their connection to one another and "where" they are in relationship to that connection.

That's fine, until we reckon with the thought that those relationships, those connections generally flow toward the middle, or perhaps, toward the top. But being missional means valuing the margins, doesn't it?? How do we value those in the margins with these ways of connecting we've created for ourselves and for our organizations? How do we welcome newcomers to the conversation? How do we welcome non-academics? How do we welcome academics outside the seminary? How do we welcome new academic partners to an ongoing conversation that begins in the middle?

I thought it was refreshing to hear other voices, to think about these things from someplace other than inside ourselves (ACU). I'd love to think that we could, in some way, continue the conversation.

Missional Universities must understand the difference between doing and being and stand between the tension of those notions. We are "outcomes" and "assessment" driven, but often the assessment of our outcomes and even the establishment of the outcomes we measure are created in a vacuum. In order to be missional, we must, at the very least, ask the epistemological question "how do I know?" and we must do so publicly. We invite others to join in the conversation with us, to ask questions of our outcomes and our assessments of those outcomes.

In some ways, it seems as if we've done in our churches what we have done in our schools: focus on the outcomes. In churches, we measure the number of members present on Sunday, the number of baptisms, etc. In schools, we measure the number of students who pass the exam and at what rate. In both cases, we've focused so much on the outcome that we've left people and important matters behind. What remains are students who don't know how to solve problems and church members that don't know how to be concerned with a dying faith.

As Lois in her video interview remarked, one can only do so much in relationship to social justice without faith. That by coming to faith, one can actually engage in matters of social justice. One of our participants remarked that the first commandments are mentioned together. And that while one is the greatest commandment, that loving thy neighbor is mentioned at the same time as loving God.

For these reasons, we talked about how it is important that we do not overlook the essential dialogue between theologians and other academicians. For many, the disconnect is overwhelming and even the most willing and competent conversation partners outside the seminary experience a struggle.

Related to this conversation was the notion of appropriate balance between theory and praxis. We likened praxis without theory as a call to action without a call to thinking. Conversely, theory without practice leaves one paralyzed in one's own thoughts. Equally important to the conversation is how one combines theory and praxis. Conversations about how we give students practice early in the academic experience are important. In this way, the student is given the narrative of the stranger and can bring that narrative to those of us who can use theory to shape the students learning from the narrative in which they are engaged.

Practically speaking, we talked about how the Concordia (system) might engage with ACU, Lipscomb, and other universities and might begin to engage in a deeper, richer conversation about missional university, i.e., core curriculum, curriculum development across disciplines.

MaLesa Breeding is Dean of the College of Education and Human Services at Abilene Christian University.