The Mission Statement Shouldn't Have Passed

On Tuesday, November 22, Jon Schimpf, our student body president, released an email titled “Final Update Regarding the Mission Statement.'' For many, this email went straight to the trash can, and this is understandable. The Student Senate has attempted to pass this document since last semester. (However, last semester, it was called “The Declaration of Intent.”) Since the statement's first proposal in March, the student body has received countless emails (eight that I can find) regarding its content and voting procedure.  I, like much of the student body, don't care about this document at all, which is exactly why I'm writing this. So, first, I will show why the Mission Statement shouldn't have passed and, second, why the Mission Statement shouldn't exist.

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Have American Christians Stopped Walking with the Spirit?

I often think of the image of the beloved Jewish character from Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye, lifting his outstretched palms heavenward, furrowing his brow in confusion. Wordlessly with these gestures he exclaims to his God, “Why?” I, too, have often found myself exclaiming to the Lord, “Why? Why me? Why now?” Too often when life runs amuck I have turned an accusatory finger to the Lord, instead of a word of praise. For a while, I began to believe that the Lord didn’t really care for me—He didn’t really provide for and sustain me in every moment and in every breath. He simply gave and took away the things I loved and cared about according to “His will.” Whatever that means. I stopped looking for Him and His grace in every moment of life.

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A Different Perspective on Marx

It is unsurprising to observe the difficulties and misapprehensions that emerged between my friends and me regarding topics of Marxism, Communism and Socialism. I would not consider myself a “fundamentalistic Marxist”, let alone a communist, but in conversations, I also found that I was often pushed into this position to defend those terms and the ideologies behind those terms from some extreme and unfair stigmatization.

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A Man's Journal

I want to address the men of Covenant in particular here. As guys, I think it's easy to write off journaling. Ask yourself: What comes to mind when you hear the word journal? An archive of feelings. A private record of one's deepest darkest secrets. Or do you get a picture in your head of someone writing letters to an imaginary friend named Diary, “Dear Diary….” Well, that’s exactly what I thought from middle school all the way through high school.

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Increasing Care for Those Wrestling with Same-Sex Attraction at Covenant

Same-sex attraction is a delicate and sensitive issue that many students at Covenant grapple with in fear and silence. This tension is often a result of conflicting messages from culture and the church asserting they either have to deny their faith and take on an LGBTQ+ identity or convert to heterosexuality. Such a position leaves many same-sex attracted Christians feeling stuck.

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Growing up with Taylor Swift: The Soundtrack to a Generation

No, I was not raised on a Christmas tree farm in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, nor did I date Joe Jonas from July to October 2008. But I still relate more to Taylor Swift than any other artist of this generation and continue to have her songs on repeat. And I'm not alone; Swift currently has over 47 million monthly listeners on Spotify and continually breaks records with her chart-topping hits.

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Standing Up

A large crowd of Covenant students waited in the chapel and looked at the alternatively green (for the men) and white (for women) pieces of paper that had been passed out to us. We were gathered for the Stand Up For Your Friend event. We were told the evening would be an opportunity to learn about the importance of consent, to realize the reality of sexual brokenness on our campus and an opportunity to lament and even to hope for the future. It is difficult to describe how much more than that it truly was.

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