Retirement (Part II): Whitworth

Retirement is cause for celebration, to be sure, but also for reflection.  I begin with my experience at Whitworth.  I never aspired to be a university professor.  I fell into the job, quite by accident.  Or by providence, which I think is far more accurate.  It provided a good setting to live out my calling.  I loved teaching church history, I loved my colleagues, and I loved the students.  I also came to value Whitworth’s unusual identity and mission (more about that in my next post).

I am so very grateful for the year I spent there.

First, for the support.  We arrived in 1989 and became a family of six when John was born a few months later.  Two years later we suddenly—and tragically—became a family of four (Catherine, David, John, and me).  I remarried in 2010.  Patricia was gift enough.  But I also inherited her two lovely daughters, Morgan and Taylor.  All five of our children are now married and have children of their own.  So this family of four has become a family of 21, and counting.  The good people at Whitworth became a larger family of encouragement and support.  Thanks to Ron and Julie, Monica and Todd, and Andrea for walking with us, and for Tad and Katie as well as Kamesh and Angela for becoming like an extended family.

Second, for friendship.  It is rare that a person lands in a job that becomes so rich in friendship.  I have been meeting in the same small group of men for 30 years.  Bless you: Ron, Dick, Forrest, Terry, and Kent.  Thirty years!  Patricia and I have dinner weekly with good friends from Whitworth, too.  I have enjoyed many other friendships along the way.  I did not expect such friendships when I commenced my work at Whitworth.  What a gift!

Third, for the teaching.  Most of my students knew very little about church history.  It was my privilege to become a tour guide to introduce them to this fascinating world of saints and villains, of bold vision and abject cowardice, of beauty and ugliness, for creativity and erosion.  We followed the divine office together, sang hymns together, viewed images together, read primary texts together, questioned and debated together.  I wanted them to discover how rich this history is.  I never tired of it, nor of the students.  Thanks to them for making my 32 years rich beyond measure.

Fourth, for the leadership of Whitworth.  Bill and Beck served the institution so very well.  Whitworth looked and functioned very differently back in 1989.  It is a stronger institution today, clear in its mission, healthy in its ethos, and beautiful in its appearance.  I know Scott will ably continue this trajectory.  I wish it were for the next ten years.  But I’ll take the one.

Fifth, for my competent colleagues with whom I worked so closely.  Jim Edwards has been such a good friend.  He has read virtually every word I have written over the past 20 years, and Adam nearly as much.  They have challenged me to do my best, which is very different from their best.  Roger and Dottie became wonderful partners in ministry.  Jeremy Wynne and Forrest Buckner have ably improved on programs I helped start: the Certification for Ministry and MA in theology programs. Beck championed what became the Beeksma Family Theology Center.  Newer colleagues are not only carrying on the work of the theology department but also clearly strengthening it.  Debbie Stierwalt and Keith Beebe have steered the departmental ship so well.

Sixth, for Whitworth, which was generous and flexible enough to allow for experimentation.  I am thinking especially of the OCE.  Terry McGonigal is not only a great friend but also became my partner in founding a new office and ministry at the end of our careers.  Who could have imagined what would come of this venture, now six years, eight million of dollars, and six staff members later!  I have very much enjoyed working with pastors and churches, too, including two very close friends, Rob Fairbanks and Joe Wittwer.  

Whitworth has been in many ways my home.

Institutions matter.  Younger readers in particular might not be inclined to value the role institutions play.  But like it or not, institutions do play a weighty and necessary role in society.  Put more than two people together to get something done and, sooner or later, you will have an institution.  It is never a question of whether but of what and how: what will they do, and how will they function?

My entire career at Whitworth—all 32 years—has operated in the setting of a complex institution.  Whitworth has its flaws, to be sure.  But for the most part it operates faithfully (to its mission), ethically, and efficiently.  I have learned a great deal about institutions while serving at Whitworth—to invest not only in people but also in the institution itself, striving to make it stronger and truer and better.  In so doing I was simply following the example of many good people who did the same work before I arrived.  I am indebted to them for their faithful work.

Now it is someone else’s turn!