faculty lecture – Houghton STAR

Feature: Andrew Walton

By Anna Catherman ('24)

Dr. Andrew Walton has been in school for 21 years. During his undergraduate years at Houghton College, he took a gap year to “go be a ski bum in Colorado.” After his freshman year as a politics major, he was adrift. But once he came back, he “never left school again.” He ended up switching his major after falling in love with the Old Testament of the Bible.

Upon graduation, Walton immediately entered Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He toyed with a career in ministry, but ultimately felt led to scholarship. Walton enjoys studying the language and Israelite culture. He went straight from his Master’s program at Gordon-Conwell to Harvard, where he completed his Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible.

Coming back to Houghton from Harvard was a transition that Walton welcomed.

“I wanted to be in a college that cared about students,” Walton said.

Besides teaching Old Testament courses, Walton is also involved in research. The area he’s been focusing on is the idea of challenging God. Last semester, he shared a Faculty Lecture entitled “The Paradox of the Pious Person: When Challenging God is the Most Faithful Course of Action.” He explained that there are many instances in the Old Testament where the Israelites are “talking back to God.” Abraham begs for Sodom and Gomorrah to be spared, David laments in the Psalms and Jacob wrestles with God. It’s a longstanding tradition, and one that comes up frequently in his classes.

While many Christians view doubts as a major weakness, Walton has a different take on it. He says that ignoring wrestling and doubts is unhealthy for Christians. But at the same time, resisting God in any way is “a delicate and dangerous conversation.” Therein lies the paradox of his work, and one he discusses regularly with students. He reads a lot about it too.

Walton reads so much that he was recently named the Willard J. Houghton Library’s Faculty Model Reader for 2024. Walton posed with Abraham’s Silence by J. Richard Middleton, one of the many books he’s read on challenging God. It’s the best book he’s read recently, and he doesn’t read much for leisure.

“I try to read for fun and then I think ‘I have better things to read,’” Walton commented.

Walton no longer skis. He finds the western New York slopes to be boring compared to the cliffs he used to jump off in Colorado.

“Mountains are just puny and tiny [here],” Walton claimed. “It just wasn’t the same thing.”

Now, Walton spends free time watching Houghton’s sporting events and just being with his wife and four children. ★

By Jiana Martin ('26)

Dean Michael Jordan has been Houghton’s full-time Dean of the Chapel for 12 years. Additionally, he works half-time as a professor for various theology and biblical literature classes. After marrying his wife, Jill, and graduating from Houghton in the class of ‘99, he attended seminary and earned his master’s in 2002 from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. For the next seven years, he pastored the Exton Community Baptist Church Church in Exton, PA, and returned to school to earn his Doctorate. In 2009, he received his Ph.D. in Liturgical Studies from Drew University.

“I like that I get to have a pastoral connection with any student that wants one,” Dean Jordan thoughtfully replied.

Dean Jordan enjoys being a teacher, but his role as a pastor has allowed him to have a different type of relationship with anybody who wants to “just talk.” In regards to students, he can connect with them and get to know them as people without worrying about their academic achievements.

As for Dean Jordan’s favorite places on campus, he really likes how the new Spiritual Life office turned out. In general, he enjoys quiet, sacred and sanctuary spaces, such as the prayer chapel space in the basement of the Wesley Chapel.

“I also like how outdoorsy Houghton is and I like having so much that is walkable and breathable,” Dean Jordan added.

Last Thursday, Jan. 18, Dean Jordan spoke at the first faculty lecture of the semester, based on his upcoming book, “Worship in an Age of Anxiety.” This is his first book and he is excited for its release later this year on June 2.

“I have always valued writing,” Dean Jordan commented and was encouraged by his friend, a professor from Yale, to write a book.

A couple of years ago, InterVarsity Press reached out to him about a series they were planning to do called Dynamics of Christian Worship. This gave him the opportunity to put pen to paper. The first part of the book looks at anxiety and discusses how churches have often talked about it in the past. Dean Jordan explains that the book contemplates the question: What are some ways that churches can do what we do in a way that is more anxiety informed?

During his lecture, Dean Jordan talked about the prevalence of anxiety and how it has increased in American culture over the past 20 years. He also touched on what people are learning when they get help for anxiety and in what ways the church helps or hurts them.

Dean Jordan hopes the lecture was a good opportunity for attendees to start reflecting more conscientiously on the ways they practice worship.

“Hopefully, a lecture like this can help people understand some of the backstory to a lot of these worship practices and help them be a little more informed in the way they think about worship,” Dean Jordan concluded. ★