With approximately a quarter of Americans identifying themselves as evangelical Christians, references to the Book of Revelations appearing on NBC and best-seller lists and a self-professed born-again Christian in the White House, the growing power of evangelical Christianity has been a well-documented phenomenon.
Here at the College, the evangelical group Navigators maintains a lower profile, but thrives nonetheless. The organization attracts scores of students to its weekly meetings, and a member of the group -- Noah Riner '06 -- was just elected Student Body President.
In fact, the group, which was founded nationally in 1933 and came to campus in 1985, boasts 50 to 80 people attending its weekly Thursday meetings and approximately 100 to 120 people in its general membership. The group also organizes a dozen or so small Bible study groups.
The Navigators organize two to three retreats each term in addition to several community service projects per term and a spring break trip also dedicated to service. While past trips have visited Mexico, Wales and Morocco, last year's trip saw 35 students visit the Honduran ghetto of Flor Del Campo and capital Tegucigalpa where former members of the Navigators Katinka Harrison '04 and Annabel Raebeck '04 became full-time mothers for five foster children. Campus minister Craig Parker, who oversees of all Dartmouth Navigators' activity, described the women as "like Mother Theresa."
"I personally consider the word 'evangelical' a redundancy," Parker said, noting the term's roots in the word Greek word for "gospel." "Our focus on campus is always: 'what is the gospel?,' 'what is the good news?' and 'how do we live out the gospel?' What does it mean to follow Jesus, who was a follower of the gospel?"
A recent New York Times article that profiled the growing influence of evangelicals in the Ivy League surprised some members of the Navigators.
"I think intellectual organizations like the New York Times are often shocked that there are people of faith in their midst -- it becomes a big news story," said Riner.
Parker was quick to point out that Dartmouth, like most Ivy League schools, was founded as a Christian organization. Even the school's motto "a voice cries out in the wilderness," is taken from Isaiah 40, the "voice," in reference to a voice speaking up, learning to know the Bible. In contrast to Dartmouth's early days, the Navigators now receive a modest $100 annually from the College, forcing the group to raise its own funds via the Navigators national office.
"It's interesting when there's a group of 100 to 120 people involved in an organization that isn't considered a student group on campus," Parker said. "That was clear [in Dartmouth's earlier days] that one's faith was deeply a part of the academic community. The only position now seems to be a secular position and any discussion of faith is regulated to 'that's a person's private opinion and should in no way shape someone's public or academic discourse.' What was once integral to one's academic learning is now silenced."
"I think a lot of Dartmouth students have a complicated relationship with religion and spirituality," former member of the Navigators student leadership John Stern '05 said. "On the one hand there's not an overwhelming amount of people who are involved in spiritual life but at the same time there are some who would not say that they are not spiritual, who would not dismiss religion altogether.
Riner said he feels that his spiritual life has enhanced his public life, rather than come into conflict with it.
"SA is great because it draws together people of diverse creeds and interests. As a Christian, service is one of my foundational values so I take seriously my responsibility to represent campus." Riner said. "My faith was never a secret in the campaign, because it's such a part of who I am."
Though Parker said he views the campus as having abandoned its spiritual roots to some degree, overall his concern is for the spiritual lives of the students.
"We're not in adversarial mode. We don't view it as 'us against them.' We're about how do you find grace, how do you find wholeness, if you're broken," Parker said. "I don't care that people get drunk on Friday night. I want to know what it is that causes a person to drink, causes a person to cut themselves, causes a person to have an eating disorder, what's going on in a person's head and heart. And I'm more concerned with that than just the stemming immorality."
