Bridgewater, Va – Dr. David Hollinger spoke on the history of evangelical and ecumenical Protestantism in the United States during the first Endowed Lecture of the 2024-2025 academic year.
Hollinger, Preston Hotchkis Professor Emeritus at the University of California – Berkeley, analyzed the developing tension between evangelical and ecumenical Protestantism over the last 70 years. This lecture, sponsored by the Anna B. Mow Symposium on Comparative Religious Ethics and co-presented by the Forum for Brethren Studies and the College Chaplain’s Office, is the first of five Endowed Lectures for the academic year.
The lecture was well-attended, with over 150 people seated in Cole Hall. The crowd was a mix of students, faculty, staff and members of the community, specifically those associated with the Church of the Brethren. Linetta Alley, ordained Church of the Brethren minister and Director of the Brethren Woods Camp and Retreat Center, had not attended an Endowed Lecture since 2019, when Robert P. Jones spoke about “The Changing Religious Landscape in America.” Alley identified what drew her to this event: “a similar juxtaposition of history and culture and church, which I just appreciate the mix of those things.”
The content was primarily targeted toward people within the Church of the Brethren community, an organization that has long been affiliated with Bridgewater College. Hollinger provided an overview of the development of the evangelical movement from the fringes of mainstream religious conservatism to the center of Republican politics. More specifically, Hollinger dissected the development of the schism between evangelical Protestants, those who based their religious understanding on the literal text of the Christian Bible, and ecumenical Protestants, who took a more liberal approach. The Church of the Brethren traditionally falls into the latter category.
Several attendees enjoyed the presentation, including two new members of the faculty at Bridgewater College, Dr. Kate Brelje, Adjunct Instructor of Philosophy and Religion, and Dr. Matt Lamb, Instructor of Philosophy. “I loved it,” said Brelje. “I thought it was great. I learned a lot. I even follow Christian nationalism in different podcasts as a hobby, and I still learned a lot from…Dr. Hollinger’s talk.”
“I think one of the things that was really interesting was just to sort of see the shift in terms of the influence of various ways of approaching Christianity,” said Lamb. “I remember from my childhood, in terms of which version of the Bible was the good one that you should go with, now I guess I have a sense as to why I was taught that was the case, but as a child, had no idea.”
While Brelje and Lamb appreciated the presentation, not everyone had the same experience. Several people seemed bored by the lecture, checking their phones and whispering to their neighbors as Hollinger struggled to maintain eye contact and stay within the time limit. It was clear that this lecture was geared toward the members of the Church of the Brethren, with several inside references and a lack of effective connection to the 2024 presidential election.
“While I don’t want to dismiss the subject he was speaking on, I don’t believe it was for me,” said first-year Psychology major Theo Adams. “Maybe in years to come when I understand American politics a bit more the lecture would be useful and a place for me to learn more, however, as of right now it just sounded like a world salad to me!”
The next Endowed Lecture, titled “10 Ways to Have Better Conversations After the 2024 Election,” features Celeste Headlee, President and Lead Trainer of Headway DEI, on Wednesday, Nov. 13, at 7:30pm in Cole Hall.
