Auburn's Spiritual Heritage - by John

I have been thinking about writing a paper on Auburn’s Christian Heritage. This idea has been dormant in me for quite some time. Sparked by a desire to write my undergraduate thesis on a similar topic, I have not yet had the opportunity to follow through with the idea, and now that I consider it more fully, I am not sure if it could be addressed without an entire dissertation. These are my thoughts on how it could proceed.

Beginning with the foundation of Auburn, there is a story about a Methodist minister and a Masonic leader who jointly took part in the dedication of the new college. It would be interesting to look at the intertwinement of Christianity with the institution as Auburn developed. For example, take the Auburn Creed by George Petrie in 1945 which says, “I believe in a sound mind, in a sound body and a spirit that is not afraid…” This seems to reference 1 Tim. 1:7. Also look at his phrase about patriotism, “I can best serve that country by "doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with my God." It is directly from Micah 6:8. Although I am unsure about much of the religious heritage of Auburn over its first 100 years (I would have a ton of research to do), I do know something about religious trends throughout the country and especially the lower-classes in the South, and I could develop those and integrate or compare them to how Auburn developed.

During the social volatility of the 1960’s, the “Charismatic Movement” began to influence Auburn. My parents were influenced by this movement as it continued into the 1970’s and have told me countless stories of healings, salvations, and the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit. It would be interesting to find out the connection of these “earlier” moves of God with the Rat-Tim Bible Study (I think that was the name) of the 1980’s, the CCC boom of the 1990’s, Chi Alpha’s miracles, and the explosion of Grace Ministries most recently. I think that it was during the 60’s and 70s that the campus ministries took root on the plains, and separate identities began to form between student organizations and local churches.

From that point on, the campus ministries and their relationships with the local churches would be a crucial part of the story. I would probably attempt to see how students became involved (or not) with these different organizations and how the organizations impacted lives. Did the Charismatic Movement have social, economic, cultural or academic impacts? If so, how? Did any of the other movements have these sorts of impacts? What are the theological emphases in each of the major campus ministries and how did that affect their ministry—did they reach a particular group of students, have more or less social impacts, approach events differently (take Chi Alpha’s Cell Groups for example)? Do these Campus Ministries follow normal organizational life-cycle patterns or do they differ in significant ways?

This kind of study would need to be grounded in current psycho-social religious studies as well a firm understanding of similar historical situations. It would also need to take into account comparable studies done at other institutions and broader studies on Campus Ministry in general. The different theologies that are seen would need to be examined historically. The research would have to reflect numbers in organizations as they grew as much as possible (including church membership attendance and later campus ministries). It would need to flesh out these numbers through the stories and lives of the people who created them, and it would be absolutely fascinating!

Perhaps to be included in this study would be questions about long-term results (although, these would probably belong to a different study). What about the lives of students who have come out of these movements? Did the students of the Charismatic Movement change the world or make impacts on their environments after leaving Auburn? Another idea alluded to was to examine the Spiritual heritages of non-Christian groups at Auburn.

I am unsure if anything of this sort has been taken on before at Auburn, but if it has not and does not happen soon, the testimonies of God’s work in Auburn will pass away and be lost to future generations. Perhaps the place to begin would be to compile the stories that would form the substance of this type of work. What an adventure to pass on the legacy of God to upcoming students!

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