Perhaps the academic calendar complements the liturgical calendar in church-related higher education; in the meditative and text-intensive days prior to the advent of the current academic year, the Mennonite University Faculty Conference gathered an inclusive range of faculty and administration at Canadian Mennonite University, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, over the weekend of August 9-10, 2002. Several persons from each of the following institutions participated: Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Bethel College, Bluffton College, Canadian Mennonite University, Columbia Bible College, Conrad Grebel University College, Eastern Mennonite Seminary, Eastern Mennonite University, Goshen College, and Hesston College.
This issue of Mennonite Life offers a venue for the continuance of the dialogue begun then on the primary "motivating question": "In what distinctive way should a professor at a Mennonite college or university allow faith and academic discipline to inform, critique, and change each other?" Two keynote presentations, by Harry Huebner of Canadian Mennonite University, and Dale Schrag of Bethel College, are presented here with a range of responses developed for or since the conference.
In addition, this issue features images and text from "Landscape of Memories," an exhibit of art installations by Katherine Bartel at Kauffman Museum, North Newton, Kansas, running until May 25, 2003. Mary Sprunger reviews a new drama, "Jordan's Stormy Shores," on the history of conscientious objection in the Shenandoah Valley during the Civil War. A cluster of poems from Muriel T. Stackley, Cynthia Yoder, and Wanda Reinford present variously peaceful images. The issue closes with book reviews by Julie Hart, Raylene Hinz-Penner, Marlin Jeschke, Theron F. Schlabach, and James Urry.
