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Note:
The following welcome address made by Dr. Darby Ray of the Religious
Studies Department, to a group of United Methodist youth on campus
last summer, expresses the College's emphasis on Wesleyan values.
Good
morning. On behalf of the President, faculty, staff, students, and
alumni of Millsaps College, I bring you warm and enthusiastic greetings.
We are so thrilled to have you on our campus on this drop-dead beautiful
day, and we wish you a fruitful and spirit-filled time here.
I've
learned over the years that some people don't know that Millsaps
College is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. But here
at the College, we certainly know it, and we are proud of it.
Now,
as you probably know, you don't have to be Methodist to work here
or go to school here. We welcome people of all faiths and no faith
into our community. That openness is one of the things which, in
my opinion, makes this such a wonderful place to be. Millsaps College
doesn't want to hide from the world, be angry with the world, or
assume we're better than the world. Rather, we want to engage the
world around us in a spirit of adventure, respect, and service.
We want to open ourselves to the wonder and wisdom of the universe
through the ages. And so in our classrooms and study abroad programs
we venture forth boldly, seeking ever greater understanding and
appreciation of the wondrous complexity and never-ending variety
of God's wondrous creation. In fact, the reason I am here today
instead of our President, Frances Lucas, is because she is returning
from a trip to the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, where Millsaps has
a second campus aimed at extending our students' learning of those
who are different from them in experience, economic status, and
religious tradition.
But
just because we extend a hand of welcome to non-Methodists and venture
forth into unfamiliar worlds of art, literature, philosophy, and
religion doesn't mean we reject our Wesleyan roots. Quite the opposite.
Several years ago our Millsaps faculty participated in a year-long
seminar to learn about the United Methodist Church and to reflect
on how we could be in faithful relationship to it. Participants
in the workshop were Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian,
Hindu, Jewish, and Muslim. We even had one atheist in the mix just
for fun. Together, we read the hymns, sermons, and essays of John
Wesley, the founder of Methodism. And despite our diversity of backgrounds,
every single one of us came away with a deep, deep appreciation
for the Church to which Millsaps College is committed.
Three
things from that seminar linger in my mind even after several years.
These are three commitments of Wesleyan theology that I believe
define the current character and commitments of Millsaps College
and make it possible for us as a College to embrace with sincerity
and passion our relationship to the Church.
First
and foremost for us as an institution of higher learning is the
commitment to intellectual growth and academic freedom. John Wesley
was resolute and explicit in his recognition of the importance of
the life of the mind. Never did he suggest that we ought to shut
our minds down or turn off our questions in order to be people of
faith. On the contrary, he saw the intellect as a fabulous gift
from God and a crucial means for knowing and drawing close to the
Divine. At Millsaps College, our main mission in life is to equip
our students to develop the life of the mind-to become careful,
well-informed, imaginative, and responsible thinkers. And our academic
program achieves this mission superbly!
A
second Wesleyan commitment that we value highly at Millsaps is the
commitment to connecting the life of the mind with the habits of
the heart. All the smarts in the world don't matter a stitch if
they aren't guided by a merciful and contrite heart. The brain may
be able to develop nano- technologies, a worldwide network of financial
markets, and a slew of sophisticated medicines, but without guidance
from a heart enlivened by grace and on fire for justice, a heart
cultivated by experiences of vital piety, then the life of the mind
is aimless and often destructive. At Millsaps College we work hard
to connect the life of the mind with life-giving habits of the heart.
Finally,
we at Millsaps embrace the Wesleyan commitment to serve the least,
the lost, and the last. We guide our students not toward some kind
of neutral mastery of ideas or facts but toward lives of long-term
meaning and service. The life of the mind, if cultivated in tandem
with life-giving habits of the heart, will issue in concrete practices
of compassion and justice-seeking, and at Millsaps we are wholeheartedly
committed to this kind of cultivation.
With
these three commitments -- commitments to nurturing academic excellence,
life-giving habits of the heart, and lives of long-term meaning
and service to others -- we at Millsaps join hands with the United
Methodist Church and look forward to many, many more years of friendship.
Welcome
to our community. Have a wonderful time.
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