The letter from President Phipps

Last fall, I shared my personal journey of leadership and discernment with pastors from Central Pennsylvania who are participating in the Lilly Endowment-sponsored Clergy Leadership Program hosted at Messiah College. A unifying theme in my vocational development is the significance of trusted mentors and confidants. My first inkling that my vocation might involve academic leadership occurred when I was enrolled in graduate school at Kent State University. A professor I deeply admired told me that he had observed my ability to persuade others and to facilitate people working together. Dr. Swierenga said, “You will be a fine teacher, but I hope you consider academic administration.” He planted a seed, which caused me to give some initial thoughts to educational leadership positions even as I settled into a fulfilling role as a faculty member.

In the intervening years, as doors opened to greater leadership roles in academic administration, I began to employ a conscious process of reflecting on my interests, gifts and abilities; and of considering how to use them to benefit colleagues and students. This discernment process includes fervent prayer and seeking the counsel and affirmation of others when opportunities arise. Throughout my career, I’ve learned that our calling is often specific, embedded in our core values, abilities and passions. For example, I sensed a specific call to lead the Messiah College community as president, not a broader call to become a college president. I was called to Messiah’s beloved people, this work and our unifying mission. Likewise, our discernment process as a college is rooted in our specific mission and identity. We utilize a formal process of discernment to create and implement strategic plans—requesting input from colleagues across campus, praying for guidance and rooting each theme in our vision, mission and core values.

While I’ve witnessed the importance of this process in my personal and professional life, discernment is not a popular term in our national lexicon. Yet, our communities, nation and world suffer when leaders do not engage in a careful process of discernment—what the Oxford English Dictionary defines as “The faculty or power of discerning or understanding clearly . . . insight; good judgment” or “spiritual understanding.” At the same time, our national distrust of authority figures and institutions continues to increase. As a Christian college of the liberal and applied arts and sciences, we have a sacred and timely opportunity to lead with discernment—a notable distinctive—as we live out our mission for the flourishing of church and society. Throughout this issue of The Bridge, you will read about many ways Messiah College educators, students, staff and alumni are influencing the world around them as they strive for mastery in their fields and respond faithfully in the face of disasters.

It is my fervent hope and prayer that we will all seek to practice intentional discernment in the leadership roles we hold—whether as parents, teachers, scholars, community or church leaders, coaches or managers—so that our decisions will reflect careful and compassionate consideration.