Guests submitted questions for Dr. Sunquist during Equip. See below for a summary of questions and answers that were not covered during the event.
Q: Will we look back in five years and conclude the need to respond to COVID-19 made the seminary stronger?
A: Yes, but it could have gone either way. We were already moving to teach more online using Gordon-Conwell’s innovative Digital Live format initiated by our Charlotte campus. Faculty were being trained and this simply moved us forward faster. Had we not been on this route, we would have ended up much more confused and ill-prepared. In addition, this led us to get the same technology for our Boston campus (CUME), so we can now offer contextual urban theological education to other major cities. Finally, COVID-19 compelled us to stay connected through Zoom meetings. As a result, we have had regular all-campus meetings which have helped us to live into “One Gordon-Conwell.”
Q: Can you recommend ways to bring a vision for the Christian life—such as the one you shared tonight—to Sunday school students?
A: Yes! First it involves a shared commitment of the church leadership, and therefore the vision (hope, joy, etc.) of the future must become part of the discourse of the community. Secondly, after the leadership casts the vision, it is at a grassroots level that such a vision takes place. This means small group discipleship. At a personal level, with small group accountability, we embrace commitments to changes in daily and weekly patterns of life. For example, if we are going to live into Revelation 7:17 (“…and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes”) then we begin to ask about suffering and oppression in our community, in our city, and in our world. We make commitments to help alleviate such suffering where we are called to do so. The same goes for reaching unreached people and cultures as described in Revelation 7:9 (“…people from every tongue and tribe and people and nation…”).
Q: You spoke of a long-term vision for Gordon-Conwell, but what should we expect to see in the next 5 years and next 20 years?
A: I believe you will see the beginning of a Ph.D. program starting on the Hamilton campus. You will see more Spanish-speaking students, not just in our Latino and Global Ministries (LGM) program, but out of Charlotte with a new partnership with Camino Ministries. You will see more people trained in counseling as our counseling program grows. You will see more materials produced for urban contextual ministry as we endow a chair to honor Michael E. Haynes. You will also see more West Africans trained “in context” beginning in Ghana. We are already getting started on each of these initiatives! On the more distant horizon you will see greater financial stability as we seek to endow 10 chairs in basic academic areas and increase our annual giving and endowment for student scholarships. Finally, every year you will hear about newer programs in specific cities of the US and the world as we expand our “embedded and gathered” model of leadership training.
Q: What have changes in the broader culture over the past year meant for the seminary?
A: Two major changes have come to the fore, and we must pay attention to them. First, evangelicals have not always been good at responding to social issues, especially issues of racial injustice and poverty—which are often related. The past year has emphasized the need for the church to provide leadership, and not just follow the inadequate political responses. We have something much better, and we need to lift this up as the Kingdom model for community, and then we need to model it ourselves. Secondly, the power of the internet (through social media and carefully curated “news”) to “catechize” Christians is remarkable. We must disciple our church members (and seminary students) to resist the siren call of the cellphone and computer, and embrace deeper formation in Scripture and silence. This is a tall order. It is a call to see that the Christian faith and faithfulness to Jesus is counter-cultural.