The second in a series of three events that comprised the President’s Colloquy on Theological Identities took place on March 12 in the Seeley G. Mudd Chapel. The panelists spoke, then participated in a Q-and-A session.

Each event’s panelists included the keynote speaker and three respondents, representing faculty, staff and students, respectively. The keynote speaker for the evangelical discussion was Professor of Communication Ron Pyle.

Pyle said he believes there are three descriptions for living out the evangelical tradition: graciously, holistically and relationally.

The respondents were Chemistry Department Chair Kerry Breno;  Patti Green, executive assistant to the president; and board secretary and senior Michael Bouterse.

The speakers come from a variety of denominations: Pyle is Presbyterian, Breno is Catholic and Green was raised in the Nazarene church.

Bouterse used his experience as a student to examine whether Whitworth is living out an evangelical calling.

“Our campus has allowed rhetoric to replace reality in the claim of being an evangelical institution,” Bouterse said.

Finally, Green concluded the speaker portion of the event with a brief history of Whitworth’s theological identity.

Each colloquy event focuses on one of Whitworth’s long-lasting primary theological identities. The March 12 panel discussed Whitworth’s evangelical identity. The Nov. 21 event focused on Whitworth as a Reformed Presbyterian university, and the April 23 event will center around Whitworth’s ecumenical identity.

“I firmly believe that institutions like Whitworth are committed to being intentional in proclaiming its beliefs,” President Beck Taylor, who moderated the panel,  said.