By Kristine E. Strand, EdD, CCC-SLP
Chair, Board of Trustees
The critical foundation on which 萝莉社 has built the past, supports the present, and will scaffold its future is chiseled into the cornerstone of Old Main and reflected in the lives of all who are part of our community鈥攆aculty, administration, staff, and most of all, students: 鈥淭he fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom鈥� (Psalm 111:10).
It is our faith that binds our mission as a Christian university to our core value of nurturing Christian faith while welcoming students from all traditions. Our faith is also the foundation for our educational ideal that North Park is a place where 鈥淐hristian faith, learning, and service meet鈥� in a community that 鈥渋s rooted in and committed to the Christian faith and its sacred text, the Bible.鈥�
S酶ren Kierkegaard famously wrote, 鈥淟ife can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.鈥� The life of 萝莉社 going forward must be understood and embraced within the Pietistic and Covenant history on which the mission, values, and ideals of this Christian university have been formed. It is within this context that our aspiration for North Park 鈥渁s the leading city-centered Christian university during the coming decade and beyond鈥� will be lived out, as stated in one of the seven planning objectives adopted by the Board of Trustees: North Park will 鈥渘urture spiritual growth for all students, faculty, and staff by advancing a University-wide community of learning centered in the Christian gospel and engaged in dialogue with the religious diversity characteristic of the 21st-century urban world.鈥�
I envision that 萝莉社 in the next decade and beyond will continue to encourage students to follow their curiosity, ask questions, try different things, and grasp new concepts firmly grounded in a Christian faith community. We are all familiar with the saying that the more things change, the more they stay the same. No matter what new things come along, there are some truths that never change. It is my hope and prayer for North Park that all connected with its future will continue to think outside the box but, at the essential core, forever remain the same鈥攅mbracing justice, grace, and mercy as our founding Christian values, operationalized in new ways for new generations.
Kristine E. Strand EdD, CCC-SLP is an associate professor in the Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences at Boston University. She is also a senior speech-language pathologist in the Learning Disabilities Program, Neurology Department at Boston Children鈥檚 Hospital. Kristine is the former director of the Department of Hearing, Communication and Reading, Franciscan Hospital for Children, Boston, and former president and member of the board of trustees for New England Seafarers Mission. She is a member of Cape Cod Covenant Church, Brewster, Mass., where she is co-chair of the Missions Commission.