Bethlehem College and Seminary held a Convocation this week to seek the Lord and commit our school’s work to Him. We opened the service with a time of prayer for the victims of the violent attack at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis that claimed the lives of two children and injured many others. I invited the teachers of our institution, clad in their formal academic regalia, to affirm their faculty vows. I asked them seven questions, to which they responded “I do, with God’s help.”
- As one who, by grace, has come to embrace Jesus Christ as Lord, Savior and Supreme Treasure of your life, do you solemnly and gladly pledge to live under the authority of God’s inerrant Word and affirm your fundamental reliance on God’s grace to live out these commitments?
- Do you joyfully pledge to abide in your instruction by the Bethlehem College and Seminary Affirmation of Faith, modeling by your life what you believe and teach?
- Do you commit yourself to the highest standards of integrity, honesty, and academic rigor, wholeheartedly affirming the Lordship of Christ over all of life and thought?
- Do you recognize that Christian teaching is a privilege and solemn responsibility and pledge to pursue biblical excellence both in your academic scholarship and in your classroom instruction, always seeking that which edifies the church, advances the kingdom, and displays the glory of Christ?
- Do you pledge to pursue glad-hearted obedience to Christ in all areas of your life, to faithfully attend and support the ministry of a local church, and to seek to live wisely and faithfully, knowing that you represent the Lord Jesus Christ and this institution before the local community, academic community, and the wider world?
- Do you pledge to cultivate a learning environment marked by radical Christ-centeredness, academic rigor, personal holiness, and self-effacing humility?
- Moreover, as a Christian educator, do you recognize that your aim with respect to your students is to instruct their minds, awaken their affections, and shape their lives, such that they also seek to glorify God in whatever they do?
These are weighty vows that convey the awesome privilege it is to serve as a faculty member of this institution that exists under the authority of God’s Word to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ. James warns, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” Similarly, Paul insists that those who serve Christ and steward the mysteries of God must be “found faithful.”
The response, “I do, with God’s help,” conveys our faculty’s holy resolve to teach, study, and live to the glory of God in dependence on His Spirit. Our faculty do not simply publish scholarly tomes and prepare sagacious lectures. They aim to instruct students’ minds, awaken their affections, and shape their lives, all to the glory of God.
These faculty vows express our commitments to doctrinal fidelity, academic excellence, and personal integrity—a rare combination in the halls of higher education.
We are a confessional institution. The trustees and teachers of our school gladly embrace the doctrines set forth in the Bethlehem College and Seminary Affirmation of Faith, an affirmation that we share with our founding churches, the Treasuring Christ Together Network, and Desiring God.
We are also an academic institution, committed to rigor and excellence in our teaching and scholarship. We employ faculty who have earned advanced degrees, who continue to engage in scholarly research and writing, and who equip our students to be lifelong learners who observe accurately and thoroughly, understand clearly, evaluate fairly, feel intensely and appropriately, apply wisely and helpfully, and then express what is true and good for the benefit of others.
And we are a seriously Christian institution whose faculty, staff, and students embrace Jesus Christ as Lord, Savior and Supreme Treasure of our lives and commit to glorifying God in every area of our lives.
We believe that doctrinal clarity, rigorous study, and personal holiness are essential to our perseverance and joy in the faith, which is why we employ a remarkable God-centered, Bible-saturated faculty who solemnly yet joyfully commit to teach, serve, and live in accordance with these vows—with God’s help.
Brian J. Tabb, Ph.D.
President