By Andy Hale
This week on the CBF Podcast Conversation, we’re joined by sociologist, academic leader, and author Dr. John Hawthorne to explore his timely new book, The Fearless Christian University. With decades of experience in both the classroom and university administration, Dr. Hawthorne offers a critical yet hopeful vision for the future of Christian higher education. His diagnosis is clear: many Christian colleges operate from a place of fear—fear of cultural change, fear of criticism, and fear of perceived threats to orthodoxy. But what if, he asks, these institutions had the courage to truly live out their mission? What if they chose formation over fear and dialogue over defensiveness?
“This is the most diverse generation we’ve ever had,” Hawthorne says. “And they have friends—some of them are biracial, and some of them are gay. These are not issues that are abstract.” With that lens, he challenges Christian universities to engage real student experiences with intellectual honesty and spiritual courage. From faith statements and culture wars to trustee-faculty relations and curricular innovation, this conversation digs into the core questions shaping Christian higher ed today. Dr. Hawthorne’s call is not for compromise, but for courage—and his vision of a transformational, mission-centered future is one every Christian educator should hear.
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- Baylor’s Garland School of Social Work: Social workers can be found addressing the full scope of the human experience in churches, schools, prisons, government agencies, senior living centers, nonprofits, and Fortune 500 companies.
- Baptist Seminary of Kentucky: BSK equips leaders through their Homegrown Initiative, offering ministry leaders training and growth that fits into their busy schedules.
- The Gardner-Webb School of Divinity: The Gardner-Webb University School of Divinity aims to equip, nurture, encourage, and support men and women for their very best service in the Kingdom of God.
- The Center for Congregational Health: Strengthening congregations through consulting, leadership coaching, and intentional ministry.
- The Baptist House of Studies at Union Presbyterian Seminary: Exists by God’s grace to educate, inspire, and support generations of bold, faithful servant leaders as they seek actively to participate in God’s mission in the world.
- Community Transformation Center: Through educational opportunities, community conversations, and research initiatives in collaboration with universities and local leaders, PBACTC is at the forefront of integrating spiritual care into holistic community development.
- Creation Justice Ministries: Creation Justice Ministries equips churches to turn conviction into faithful action with Scripture-based resources, worship guides, and community support to pursue environmental justice and care for God’s creation.
- Dawnings: Through prayerful discernment, storytelling, and collaborative visioning, Dawnings helps churches rediscover their calling and imagine their next chapter—guided by trained facilitators and grounded in God’s ongoing story.
- Congregational Ministries Team of CBF Global: Through coaching, resources, and collaborative support, CBF’s Congregational Ministries Team helps churches and ministers cultivate the five traits of thriving—Rooted Relationships, Compelling Clarity, Holy Tenacity, Strategic Agility, and Dynamic Collaboration—for faithful and flourishing ministry.
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Andy Hale is the creator and host of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Podcast. Hale is the Associate Executive Coordinator of CBF North Carolina. He’s also served as CBF’s Church Start Specialist, the founding pastor of Mosaic Church of Clayton, and the senior pastor of University Baptist Church of Baton Rouge. Follow on Twitter @haleandy.