For this first time since 2009, the spring semester will not feature Praxis, an emphasis week similar to Christian Life Emphasis Week (CLEW). The cancellation is in effect until further notice.
Although Praxis has been a staple of the Houghton for a number of years, interest in the event had been slowly flagging. “Praxis has been a good time of community focus,” stated dean of the chapel, Michael Jordan.. “In recent years it had been crowded out by other events.” After consultation with other faculty, Jordan decided not to include it in the spring schedule.
Praxis was originally initiated by president of the college, Shirley Mullen. During a faculty picnic in 2007, she talked about what she termed the “sinews of our life together.” According to Mullen, there was a need for greater emphasis on practical theology, taking concepts and working to apply them to life in tangible ways. Professor of philosophy, Benjamin Lipscomb, recalled,t “She was interested in starting conversations about theology, believing the practice to be essential to our life together.”
Intrigued by the idea, Lipscomb and several other faculty members began to brainstorm on how to accomplish this.. “We were very interested in CLEW” he said. “We asked ourselves: what are the features of CLEW that make it work? Why is it effective?” They identified two key points “a period of sustained reflection” and “multi sided engagement.” Then they turned to merging those ideas with practical theology.
At the time, CLEW took place twice a year, once in the fall semester and again in the spring. The group quickly realized that in order to have the sort of intensive, holistic approach they were envisioning, the practical theology event would need to replace one round of CLEW. “We needed to clear the decks, so to speak,” Lipscomb said. “There was no way that night classes and events could be cancelled twice in a semester.” After consultations with various people on campus, including Wes Oden of the Houghton Wesleyan Church; Benjamin Brittain, the current dean of the chapel; and Mike Walters, a former professor of theology and Houghton Church pastor , the idea for a practical emphasis week began to take shape.
By spring of 2008, a committee had formed and potential topics for the first year were discussed. “We eventually landed on hospitality for our first topic. We did a variety of different things….and it seemed reasonably successful…we were able to make people pretty well aware of it,” Lipscomb stated. “We even had upperclassman host underclassman in their rooms and invite them over for meals. We had signups and set them all up so they could practice hospitality with strangers. It was delightful.” The committee was composed as a mixture of students, faculty, and community members. Eventually the arrangement became too complicated, and Jordan took over the majority of responsibility as part of his job as Dean of the Chapel.
Out of this first year, a tradition emerged. According to Lipscomb, the staples of Praxis were a variety of speakers instead of just one, multiple opportunities to engage with the subject material and an emphasis on the practical. Like CLEW, it included chapel talks, coffeehouses, presentations, and additional lectures. Alternative chapel credit was given for events outside of the chapel time. Other topic covered throughout the years included food and the church, Christian methods of speaking, and mental illness.
As the years went by, Praxis garnered less and less student interest, leading to the decision to cancel it this year. “Student involvement in planning and interest in helping dried up” said Jordan, who added the college has expanded its spiritual life programming since Praxis was founded. “If we hear about the desire to bring it back and desire to help with planning and execution I’d certainly be willing to bring it back, but I’m also OK if that doesn’t happen.”