| Like many institutions of higher learning, historically-Christian colleges seek a mission to guide their endeavors in the midst of today's rapidly-evolving, postmodern society. For a number of reasons---such as secularism in the academy, pietism in the Christian church, and the increasingly religiously diverse student body entering US colleges---many of these institutions are no longer closely connected with the church bodies that founded them. This study explores a grant-based program initiative that seeks to help historically-Christian colleges to reconnect their central functions with their religious heritages. The program does so with the help of a theological concept: vocation.;This case study includes three urban, historically-Christian institutes of higher learning: one historically-Black university, one Catholic Jesuit institution, and one college founded by a Protestant denomination. Each of the three colleges included in the study is implementing a Program for the Theological Exploration of Vocation, or "PTEV," made possible through a grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc. In order to receive grants to create PTEV programs, each college received a ;This study focuses on that planning year as an example of a change initiative in Christian higher education. As its analytical framework, the study relies upon key concepts that arise from the existing body of literature on change theory. That framework, when applied to interview transcripts, grant proposals, and promotional materials, provided a basis for comparison and analysis across program planning processes. The findings of this study offer implications for the practice of chaplaincy at Christian colleges, contributions to change theory, and practical advice for Christian colleges seeking to craft a mission that makes use of their historical religious traditions. |
