Sociology Takes on Reconciliation at Conference

by Hannah Gruber '10
Issue 16 | Spring 2009

The Eastlund Room had its doors open to young and old interested in reconciling faith and community during the conference “Imagining the Future: The Reconciled Community” this past February. The event centered around the theme: How can people reconcile their faith and the world around them?

As the first of a five-year series of conferences dedicated to the exploration of sociological discernment related to reconciliation, this year’s focus was on the intertwining of reconciliation and issues of faith, gender, race, and class.

The Moberg Lectureship on Christianity and Sociology sponsored the conference. The lectureship is an endowment geared toward presenting various themes contributing to reconciliation. Moberg, a former Bethel faculty member, distributed the ongoing funding to the department after his retirement.

Keynote speaker Mark Mulder, of Calvin College, presented findings from his research regarding evangelicals and suburbanization. In his study, Mulder focused on Christians and their sense of place, defined as local, familiar physical locations where people spend their time. Over the years people have lost their sense of place because of increased mobility and technology, said Mulder. “Reconciliation should be the renewing of culture where everyone is allowed to flourish.”

He also posed the question, “Is there something about the anti-urban community and evangelicals?” According to his research, 42.7 percent of evangelicals live in a suburban environment, while only 31.9 percent live in an urban area. “The place we choose to inhabit is what we value,” said Mulder.

“All of these presentations demonstrate how important sociology is to the Christian cause in universities and in the world at large,” concluded Moberg.