Gideon Strauss

Carol Veldman Rudie, Jim Skilen

In addition to the book of remembrances presented by Harold Heie, the CPJ trustees also gave Jim a “book-clock” to help him keep track of time as he writes his next several books.

Mark Davies, John Hulst, Rockne McCarthy, Case Hoogendoorn

While he was being honored for his service to CPJ, Jim also honored people present at the celebration who had been involved with CPJ from the very beginning: Mark Davies, John Hulst, Rockne McCarthy, and Case Hoogendoorn. The camaraderie between these stalwarts of a public justice-oriented approach to politics is encouraging as we look forward to encouraging a next generation towards graceful citizenship.

Norm Steen

Norm Steen, Gideon Strauss

Pastor Norm Steen of the Washington DC Christian Reformed Church, Jim and Doreen Skillen’s home congregation, closed the evening in prayer.

Several of the speakers at the CPJ celebration of Jim Skillen honored him for his wisdom and love as a teacher.

David Kim, Jim Skillen

David Kim (of the Manna Fellowship at Princeton and the Gotham Fellowship at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC) spoke of Jim’s ability to address David’s deep existential questions in the Civitas program. David liked Civitas so much he came back for a second round recently! (I owe David a personal debt of gratitude for encouraging me to consider a position with CPJ.)

Dale Kuehne

Dale Kuehne, who teaches at Saint Anselm Colllege and pastors Emmanuel Covenant Church in Nashua, NH, valued Jim’s mentoring so much he moved to Washington DC for his graduate years so that he could spend time learning from Jim. He spoke movingly of the hundreds - perhaps thousands - of people who had their understanding of political life transformed by Jim’s mentoring.

Bruce MacLaury

The Wrestlers Class at National Presbyterian Church in Washington DC also benefited from Jim’s teaching, according to Bruce MacLaury, president emeritus of the Brookings Institution.

Gideon Strauss, Alvin Taveras

Alvin Taveras is a new CPJ friend - this past summer he interned with Jim Skillen and took part in our Civitas summer school. Two other 2009 Civitas participants drove down from Princeton and Philadelphia with Alvin for the Kuyper Lecture, Drew Harmon and Philip Ney - I’ll have to see if I can track down photos of them at the event.

Art Simon, Jim Skillen

Art Simon, founder and president emeritus of Bread for the World, has been a friend of Jim’s and of the Center’s for a long time. I remember reading him on poverty and hunger, and the call to Christians to address these blights, as a freshly converted believer in my teens. It is such a privilege that the Center enjoys the encouragement and support of pioneers like the Rev. Simon.

Gideon Strauss, John Hulst

If Alvin Taveras represents the newest friends of CPJ, John Hulst represents those who have been our friends since the very beginning. President emeritus of Dordt College, Dr. Hulst was not only involved in CPJ’s predecessor organizations, he continues to be involved, and next week will be my host at a CPJ event in Pella, Iowa! (In this picture I think I was saying something about the great hopes I have for CPJ, even though it is by every organizational measure mustard-seed-tiny for now.)

I am visiting Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa, and enjoying it immensely. As I talk with students, faculty, and staff, I am realizing that students who graduate from Dordt enjoy a significant advantage: yes, Dordt is far from the culture making hubs of the world, but here in this greenhouse environment students enjoy a community in which their character is being formed as citizens of the kingdom of God, so that when they are transplanted out into the post-college world they have strong roots and can flourish. At Dordt students breath the atmosphere of the Spirit, are rooted in the soil of the people of God, are watered with the gospel.

No wonder, really, that the Center for Public Justice has its historical roots in the same Siouxland countryside as does Dordt. And no wonder that CPJ and Dordt share a vision of equipping the people of God to be citizens of the kingdom of heaven … and therefore graceful citizens of this American republic, seeking the common good because of our knowledge of God’s common grace.

Yesterday I enjoyed giving an address on “Silly walks need no justification” (Monty Python meets Hans Rookmaaker), engaging two of Dr. Don King’s politics classes in conversation, having lunch and dinner (a very fine dinner!) with students, faculty and staff, and giving a public lecture (with several long-time CPJ suppporters and the chair of our board, Harold Heie, in the audience) on “Graceful citizenship.”

Today I have wall-to-wall appointments for conversation with individual Dordt people, as well as a radio interview with President Carl Zylstra and a conversation with Jason Lief and Barb Hoekstra’s Gen 300 capstone class.

I am beginning to wonder how to track down the Dordt diaspora of students across America, and how to connect the gifts they have received on this campus with the needs of people elsewhere seeking to live as citizens of the kingdom of God, but lacking a similarly deep learning … ?

Susan Fikse writes in byFaith magazine (quoting our Jim Skillen):

If Kim’s vote for Obama is part of a trend, what might account for the move of young evangelicals like her to the Democratic Party? Amy Black, associate professor of politics and international relations at Wheaton College, thinks much of the shift can be attributed to this generation coming of age during the George W. Bush presidency. “They will associate the Republican Party with an ongoing and increasingly unpopular war and with economic decline,” she says. But, she suspects that there are broader reasons than just a reaction against the Bush legacy. “I see my students resonating with a broader political agenda [than their parents],” she says. “They are very concerned about international issues such as the AIDS pandemic, religious freedom, and human rights … . This broadening of interests does not mean that other matters are no longer important—indeed, abortion remains a very significant issue for most of my students, but it is not the sole or central focus of their concerns.”

Jim Skillen has identified this gradually emerging trend through more than 30 years of teaching at Christian universities and as head of the Center for Public Justice in Washington, D.C. “As tolerance has become more important on the university campus, if you’re a young person in college—if you’re trying to get along with your neighbor—you don’t want to be in the middle of fights all the time [about abortion, the death penalty, homosexual marriage]. Instead, evangelical students who want to have an intensity of involvement choose issues that can’t be denied as urgent: AIDS, poverty, human trafficking.”

This generation has experienced pluralization like no other, agrees Greg Thompson, senior pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Charlottesville, Va. “Tolerance has become the dominant social ethic.” Therefore, the younger generation has a different view toward other nations and those with other belief systems. He explains, “Whereas fighting the ‘bad guy’ made total sense to those growing up during the Cold War, this generation values diplomacy. They say, ‘We have to live at peace with others.’” For Thompson, who is also pursuing a Ph.D. in religion and politics at the University of Virginia, this cultural shift explains the appeal of Obama among younger Christians. “It’s about ethos, not policy,” he says. “Obama embodies the ethic of tolerance.”

With the traditional Christian right still focusing primarily on abortion and gay marriage, some young believers feel a disconnect. Black says, “As key spokesmen—what I call the ‘old guard’—pass away and many of the organizations they founded close or dwindle in size, these leaders and organizations are fading from the political spotlight. The evangelical organizations with the numbers, energy, and prominence in today’s politics are much more likely to emphasize a broader political agenda than those from the previous generation.” And while Obama’s staying power may be limited, Black predicts that the broadening of the evangelical political agenda is a long-term trend.

I recommend reading the whole article. There is also a podcast on the issue available, with Richard Doster of byFaith interviewing Greg Thompson, pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Robert Minto writes:

CPJ’s potential could be maximized by working to become a viable political alternative at two levels: theoretical and practical. What politically-minded and -disatisfied Christian need is alternative political theories and alternative political policies to advocate. To waste itself by focusing exclusively on either of these things would result in a movement without a mission or in a mission without a movement. Currently, if I were to be audacious and upstartish enough to critique something that I am only recently familiar with, I would suspect that they err in the direction of offering theoretical alternatives without practical ones, a mission without a movement—but what do I know.

Nonetheless, going off my supposition, it occurs to me that a grassroots (cliche, but powerful) model of development at both a theoretical but also and especially a practical level would be catalytic to the formation of a movement from CPJ’s very admirable mission.

For more of Mr. Minto’s thoughts, read the rest of the post on his blog.

Since the announcement that I would be joining the Center for Public Justice I have received a great many messages of support and encouragement, many of them rather moving. With the permission of my correspondent, I am publishing one exchange out of the many, but I want to convey my gratitude to all of you who sent me notes of encouragement. They are very much appreciated. 

 
On Wednesday, May 13, I received the following message by email.

Dear Gideon,
 
I think your name is appropriate as you take on a HUGE task, with comparatively few resources!  I was blessed with being on the “ground floor” , having served APJ from 1975-1981 picking up the mail, recording the donations, and sending out the receipts and Thank yous from my small basement office.  My daughter, Joyce Campbell (now a missionary in Guinea, West Africa , with CRWM) who caught the Reformational “Bug” from Dr. McCarthy at Trinity Christian College, and spent a year at the Toronto Institute, served as an Administrative Assistant  in DC for several years.  Dr. Skillen and his wife are long-time friends.
 
Now a widow , age 86, living in an Assisted Living Retirement Village , near my youngest son, a Prof. at VA Tech, I continue to maintain an interest in CPJ, though my financial support could now be called “the widow’s mite”!  I praise God for His blessing in the steady growth of CPJ, and that they are reaching far beyond it’s simple beginnings among mostly the CRC, with its strong Dutch heritage. 

As many in my age group, who still have vivid memories of WW 2, I fear for the future of our grandchildren.  But those of us who have been blessed with a strong faith in the Sovereignty of God take comfort and hope in that God is in control of the nations, and is accomplishing His purposes in and through the sometimes foolish  godless conduct of our leaders.  It has been a joy to me to hear the  positive, enthusiastic goals of  Christians in the new generation, and I promise to pray for you as well as all those who are taking up the cause of Justice under the banner of the cross! 
 
I am sending you a few names, which you may or may not have on your Mailing List.
 
GOD BLESS YOU , and give you much GRACE for the trials that will surely come your way!  (It has proven true in most cases I have experienced and observed, that whenever God is going to do a GREAT WORK, the devil will surely bring some trial or obstacle).
 
Love and Blessings in Christ,
Clarice Ribbens (widow of William Ribbens, a pastor in the CRC).

I replied on Friday, May 15:

Dear Mrs. Ribbens, thank you for this wonderful letter, your encouragement, and your prayers. I am writing about my preparations for starting at CPJ online, at http://cpjustice.org/gideonstrauss/, and I wonder if you will give me permission to publish excerpts of your letter there? I think it is a great testimony of the Lord’s faithfulness, and I think it will be an encouragement of CPJ’s current and potential supporting community. I would also appreciate any advice you have for me, and of course your continued prayers.
 
With gratitude,
 
Gideon Strauss

A little later that day I received another message from Mrs. Ribbens:

Thank you for your prompt reply, as well as expressions of appreciation!  At my age, I find that there are two types of “young people” –some who enjoy my “input” and others who have little use for it, considering our generation totally “out-of-date”!
 
 Yes, you may use whatever may be of help to your initial efforts.  I hope I can meet you some day.  I must confess that my very first impression, especially hearing of your roots in South Africa , was to wonder what you would know about our political situation in the US!! But the more I read — especially how you have been a scholar involved with Dr. Skillen, as well as the sincerity and clarity of your personal letter, the more I am convinced that under God’s mysterious and always wise providence  you and CPJ have “discovered” eachother!
 
As to further advice, I guess it would have to be to take Ephesians 6:10-19 very seriously.  Your vision for CPJ is bound to throw the devil into high gear!   With the power of the Holy Spirit, and Christ as your chief “role model” as well as your Savior and Lord, you can be assured that  God will protect you from the onslaughts of the evil one, and use you to advance His kingdom in the area of justice in our political arena.  Although we are in no way a “Christian nation”, we can trace our history to many Christian influences and beginnings.  Our responsibilities to bring justice beyond our borders to the world are tremendous!  I praise God when I see the younger generation accept the challenge.
 
Blessings in Christ’s Love,
Clarice Ribbens

As my wife, Angela, and I talked about this correspondence, I realized that the most important work in service of the purpose and mission of the Center for Public Justice is continues to be done by people like Mrs. Ribbens: at the heart of what we do as the people of God in the world is prayer.