Emmanuel College (Franklin Springs, GA). A Church?

During my time in college there were a number of different organizations that existed as a substitute to church; whether they meant it or not.

Between the years of 2000 to 2004 I attended a small Christian liberal arts college in the foothills of Georiga. The college was a great place to meet friends and grow in the faith, well atleast for the vast majority of the people who attended there. The college mandated everyone to attend a church on Sunday morning and one of the weekly services offered by the college. But what happened in most cases is that individuals used the college as their church body and would church hop on Sundays; they in the most part never made the deep intimate connection of community with the churches they visited.

I believe that this was primarily a result of the academic institution functioning as the Church to the individuals. In a real sense it operated more times than not as the Church. A confusion of who should perform the sacraments does exist. In this institution at various times in the year the sacrament of Communion would be shared with the student body at large or in smaller settings such as the School of Christian Ministries. Though I do not remember there ever being a large, school based baptism occurring; I do however remember several incidents where professors who were or were not licensed ministers, chaplains, and general students at large who would take individuals down to the pool or hot tub to be baptized. And other sacramental rites indeed were performed as the years went on in the institution.

Out of the branch Protestantism the school hails from there is an emphasis on scriptural preaching. Because of the practical emphasis, whether intentional or unintentional, on Scriptural preaching being that of equal or above Communion, much like one would find in a Baptist church, the multiple weekly services offered this lecture hall experience to the masses at large. Thus for many a confusion occurred where they believed they could be fully active in the body of Christ just by listening to the spoken words of a preacher a few times a week with out ever being involved in community.

Discipleship was emphasized quite strongly in the institution. The motto of the school was centered on making world-changers. Thus discipleship was directed towards missions. And the school focused hugely on missions whether it be local or international. General dozens of international mission trips were offered each year.

Community at this institution generally was astounding. Community was indeed my most memorable part of my college experience. Whether was from the weekly prayer groups, services, or general fellowship at large that occurred; there was a real and emphasized focus on being brother and sister to each and everyone. This was emphasized not only by the religious side but that we lived in community together. We shared common meals, slept in the same proximity of each other, and often functioned as family to each other because our families tend to be so far away. Love was abundant in this academic institution. The love of Christ through His people that I experienced there will be something that I will always treasure.

I believe that by administering the sacraments and providing a community that was focused on loving Christ and each other that this academic institution functioned as a church; whether it liked it or not. Had this institution not performed the sacraments but just propogated community, then I believe it would have succeeded in its goal of plugging and connecting students in local churches. But because everything that a church offered was offered by the institution, there seemed to be little reasons for most to attend anywhere else. The best solution for the school that I could possibly see to move away from being a church and being a faith-based institution is to no longer perform the sacraments and sacramental rites while emphasizing the importance of the sacraments and sacramental rites in the context of community.

On a finale note: There generally was a well portion of the incoming freshmen population who would view the school as some sort of edenic, utopian place. But just as the word utopian means that place, especially there, did not exist.