Dear Mr. Moderator,

Recently, I completed my second year at Erskine College. Over these two years, I have grown to love the campus, the professors, and my peers. However, these two years have also given me the chance to see many of Erskine’s problems. I write this letter to you, Mr. Moderator, because I believe these problems to be severe. As a member of the ARP Church, it is my desire to inform you of my concerns in the hopes that the ARPC will protect and shepherd God’s people and glorify her Lord.

I became especially concerned about the direction of Erskine after a conversation I had with a woman from my home church, First ARP Gastonia. She wanted to know what I thought about the campus. She said that after visiting the campus and hearing the President, she doubted whether she could send her daughter to Erskine in good conscience. Click to continue »

“You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (James 4:4)

I am afraid these words from James’ epistle could all too easily be addressed to Erskine College these days.  How so?  Well, let’s begin by talking about what friendship with the world means.  As my pastor explained in a recent sermon, in the ancient world, true friendship involved a sharing of interests, values, and goals.  True friends got along because they were thus aligned with each other.  It is not difficult for Christians and Christian institutions, whether intentionally or otherwise, to become so aligned with the world’s ways of thinking and of doing things that they begin to look more like their secular counterparts than like the redeemed children of God.  I believe Erskine is showing signs of this very problem. Click to continue »

May 31, 2009

Dear Mr. Moderator,

As a rising junior at Erskine College I am concerned with the direction of this academic institution as a whole. Specific incidents which I have experienced as part of the Erskine Community testify to an increasingly predominate attitude among Erskine faculty and administration where the true message of Christ meets diminishing attention and increasing scorn. Click to continue »

Dear Mr. Moderator,

I believe in the Christian Liberal Arts and I love Erskine’s commitment to Jesus Christ and to excellence in education. However, I would like to see us take those commitments from a dusty plaque on the wall and turn it into action. Click to continue »

May 28, 2009

Dear Mr. Moderator,

I am writing to you with concern about Erskine College. I am a rising junior Psychology major at the college, and I love the school dearly. As a student there, I have learned very much academically and joined several of the extracurricular groups, such as Student Ministry at the Barn, Judicial Council, and working at campus sporting events. There is no doubt in my mind that Erskine has the opportunity to send most of its students, if not all of them, out and ready into the world.

However, I also would like to tell you of the changes occurring in Erskine that may compromise its future. The college was founded to encourage growth academically and spiritually through the Lord Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, as a very involved student, I see little on the part of the Administration being done to encourage the Christian spiritual growth of the students. Click to continue »

Dear Mr. Moderator,

The most important thing I can tell you is what effect Erskine has had on its students. What follows are three stories of falling away from the faith, each of an actual Erskine student. Click to continue »