Sattler College Turmoil

[brothereicher]

Two people have asked about Sattler Chapel, so I'll answer both at once. I'm the chapel coordinator, so this is my wheelhouse.

One of the concerns that's been raised in various places (including by some of you) is that there's been a perceived pressure for students to attend Followers of the Way while attending Sattler, because there aren't a lot of two-kingdom options in Boston.

As a means of alleviating this pressure, Sattler Chapel was created. It's a service that's held on Sunday morning for any students who would like to attend and don't have a local church option. No, it's not mandatory.

Some services are a time of sharing testimonies and worshiping together, and some have a teaching time by a staff member or a guest speaker.

[Neto]

Chapel on *Sunday*?

When I went to (nominally Christian) college, chapel was on Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, Sundays were not a day when the college held events and students were encouraged to go to church on Sunday morning.

Is Sattler operating a church now?

Your experience reflects a shift in administrative thinking since the time I was in college myself. Chapel attendance was required at both of the schools were I attended college, and that was Monday through Friday. I also attended Sunday services at area churches every Sunday, and after I had my own vehicle, Wednesday nights as well. I don't know how many other students didn't go to services, even on Sunday morning, but I suppose some may not have. I reckon some also skipped chapel services at times. I never did, nor any of my close friends, so I don't know what resulted if someone skipped, or how the administration knew that someone was not there, as there was no attendance taken. But both were fairly small schools (=/- 500 students), so if the "troublemakers" skipped, I suppose someone noticed. We also had (required) participation in "Christian Service" groups that ministered off-campus during the week. (These were Bible colleges, not "Christian Liberal Arts colleges. But they both offered "secular type" degrees - one offered a degree in radio broadcasting, and the other had a philosophy degree. There were probably other degrees of this type offered as well, but I was there as a Missiology major, so I had no reason to take notice of these other study tracks.)

[Soloist]

Two people have asked about Sattler Chapel, so I'll answer both at once. I'm the chapel coordinator, so this is my wheelhouse.

One of the concerns that's been raised in various places (including by some of you) is that there's been a perceived pressure for students to attend Followers of the Way while attending Sattler, because there aren't a lot of two-kingdom options in Boston.

As a means of alleviating this pressure, Sattler Chapel was created. It's a service that's held on Sunday morning for any students who would like to attend and don't have a local church option. No, it's not mandatory.

Some services are a time of sharing testimonies and worshiping together, and some have a teaching time by a staff member or a guest speaker.

You should know the reason this has been a concern and why certain people left following Finny dragging his feet on this very issue. It’s not for lack of willingness to plant a church there, I know it was in discussion but unless Finny supported it, it wasn’t going to happen. The very foundation of the disagreement over what the college was partly was based on this issue.
I’m happy it’s not required to attend.

[jahertz]

You should know the reason this has been a concern and why certain people left following Finny dragging his feet on this very issue. It’s not for lack of willingness to plant a church there, I know it was in discussion but unless Finny supported it, it wasn’t going to happen. The very foundation of the disagreement over what the college was partly was based on this issue.
I’m happy it’s not required to attend.

I've been hearing the same concerns coming out of the Amish, GBs, certain SDA splinter groups, a branch or two of the Eastern Orthodox, and some very credible Holiness friends. Word on the street is Finny simply refuses to give his blessing to anyone's church plants and it's starting to create a real spiritual gridlock in the city. Extremely disappointing if true.

[cooper]

I've been hearing the same concerns coming out of the Amish, GBs, certain SDA splinter groups, a branch or two of the Eastern Orthodox, and some very credible Holiness friends. Word on the street is Finny simply refuses to give his blessing to anyone's church plants and it's starting to create a real spiritual gridlock in the city. Extremely disappointing if true.

Nice job missing the point. Finny doesn't need to give his blessing to anyone's church plant. Mennonites should be free to start a church in Boston if they like and students should be free to attend without repercussions and conflict. Unless Sattler has church attendance requirements that they are transparent to prospective students about.

[Soloist]

I've been hearing the same concerns coming out of the Amish, GBs, certain SDA splinter groups, a branch or two of the Eastern Orthodox, and some very credible Holiness friends. Word on the street is Finny simply refuses to give his blessing to anyone's church plants and it's starting to create a real spiritual gridlock in the city. Extremely disappointing if true.

Nice job missing the point. Finny doesn't need to give his blessing to anyone's church plant. Mennonites should be free to start a church in Boston if they like and students should be free to attend without repercussions and conflict. Unless Sattler has church attendance requirements that they are transparent to prospective students about.

Tell that to the board members that quit.

[brothereicher]

I've been hearing the same concerns coming out of the Amish, GBs, certain SDA splinter groups, a branch or two of the Eastern Orthodox, and some very credible Holiness friends. Word on the street is Finny simply refuses to give his blessing to anyone's church plants and it's starting to create a real spiritual gridlock in the city. Extremely disappointing if true.

Nice job missing the point. Finny doesn't need to give his blessing to anyone's church plant. Mennonites should be free to start a church in Boston if they like and students should be free to attend without repercussions and conflict. Unless Sattler has church attendance requirements that they are transparent to prospective students about.

Sattler has no church attendance requirements besides encouraging students to find church fellowship during their time in Boston. There's no approved church list, and no one is tracking which churches students are attending.

[jahertz]

Nice job missing the point. Finny doesn't need to give his blessing to anyone's church plant. Mennonites should be free to start a church in Boston if they like and students should be free to attend without repercussions and conflict. Unless Sattler has church attendance requirements that they are transparent to prospective students about.

OF COURSE Mennos (and anyone else) are free to start a church or 17 churches in Boston, with or without the blessing of Finny Kuruvilla, the Archbishop of Canterbury, or the guy who mops the floors at the local cannoli shop. What exactly is Finny going to do to them, put them on his naughty list? I assumed it would be obvious that my comment was meant to highlight the absurdity of claims to the contrary.

I am not involved in Sattler in any way, but I personally know multiple Sattler students, graduates, and current board members, and I have never heard of any student being pressured to attend a particular church, or of any policy real, tacit, or proposed, to require or incentivize such a thing.

Can you say more about the "repercussions and conflict" Sattler students are allegedly facing should they attend churches not on Finny's personal whitelist?

[Ken]

Chapel on *Sunday*?

When I went to (nominally Christian) college, chapel was on Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, Sundays were not a day when the college held events and students were encouraged to go to church on Sunday morning.

Is Sattler operating a church now?

Your experience reflects a shift in administrative thinking since the time I was in college myself. Chapel attendance was required at both of the schools were I attended college, and that was Monday through Friday. I also attended Sunday services at area churches every Sunday, and after I had my own vehicle, Wednesday nights as well. I don't know how many other students didn't go to services, even on Sunday morning, but I suppose some may not have. I reckon some also skipped chapel services at times. I never did, nor any of my close friends, so I don't know what resulted if someone skipped, or how the administration knew that someone was not there, as there was no attendance taken. But both were fairly small schools (=/- 500 students), so if the "troublemakers" skipped, I suppose someone noticed. We also had (required) participation in "Christian Service" groups that ministered off-campus during the week. (These were Bible colleges, not "Christian Liberal Arts colleges. But they both offered "secular type" degrees - one offered a degree in radio broadcasting, and the other had a philosophy degree. There were probably other degrees of this type offered as well, but I was there as a Missiology major, so I had no reason to take notice of these other study tracks.)

At Goshen College back in the early 1980s (which had over 1000 students back then) all students were issued a stack of "chapel cards" every semester. They were old-style computer punch cards. As I recall, you were required to attend at least two chapel or convocation sessions weekly. Chapel was religious, convocation was not necessarily so could be a lecture on something like world peace or nature or some such. But they were both held in the chapel. You had to hand in a chapel card to the ushers each time you attended and at the end of the semester they would run them all through a computer to generate lists of students who were slacking. Some would try to slip two chapel cards into the box but the attendants were wise to that trick. One year some students discovered where the collected chapel cards were stored and heisted them at the end of the semester before they could be counted. Getting all the slackers that semester off the hook. After that they were held under more secure lock and key.

On Sundays the college Mennonite church used the college chapel for regular church services. I expect they still do. But students scattered to attend various other local churches or no church at all. Actual Sunday church service was not monitored.

[Ken]

You should know the reason this has been a concern and why certain people left following Finny dragging his feet on this very issue. It’s not for lack of willingness to plant a church there, I know it was in discussion but unless Finny supported it, it wasn’t going to happen. The very foundation of the disagreement over what the college was partly was based on this issue.
I’m happy it’s not required to attend.

I've been hearing the same concerns coming out of the Amish, GBs, certain SDA splinter groups, a branch or two of the Eastern Orthodox, and some very credible Holiness friends. Word on the street is Finny simply refuses to give his blessing to anyone's church plants and it's starting to create a real spiritual gridlock in the city. Extremely disappointing if true.

Google tells me that there are over 700 churches in central Boston (Boston, Cambridge, and Brookline): https://www.egc.org/blog-2/2013/4/2/per ... statistics

I expect the vast majority of them have never even heard of Finny.