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CFH GOALS (ONCE MORE)

At the fall 2002 CFH meeting, timewill be set aside for a discussion of

the present and future goals of the Conference on Faithand History. As a

starting point for this discussion, Tom Askew(Gordon College) and Bill

Trollinger have developed the following statements of purpose for the CFH:

To extend the dialogue onthe relationship between historical

scholarship and the faith commitments of historians from

various Christiantraditions, focusing on both theoretical and

practical issues;

To enable scholars (especiallythose younger in the profession)

to present and publish research findings;

To enhance the quality of history teaching by providing a venue

for evaluating instructional strategies and interactionbetween

newer and veteran professors; and,

To encourage personal networking and fellowship among

historians of various backgrounds and traditions.

We have not been exactly overwhelmed withfeedback on this issue,

though a continuing sense ofgenerational change seems to hover over us.

At Point Loma, people expressed a desire for the CFH to continue its

networking and fellowship aspects. At the same time, there wasconsiderable

sentiment that we must engagethe needs, concerns, and points of view of

younger historians,beginning with undergraduates and graduate students.

The Student Research Conference is oneattempt to do this. There were also

some who urged that the CFHgive more attention to "practical" matters

related to the profession, though not much specific was suggested.

It is our hopethat we can continue this dialogue at Huntington,

perhaps giving more content and direction to the matterssuggested above,

as well as others thatmight be raised for the first time. Fortunately, as Dick

Pierard notes above, we areoperating from a position of strength:we have

600+ collaborators and ourjournal is in 300+ libraries. We needn't approach

these matters out ofa sense of desperation; we do need to consider them to

better our stewardship and influence for the Kingdom.