A brief guide to the terms used by private universities to describe the variety of connections they have to religious organizations and outlooks.

https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/jus...-education

I consider Wake Forest to be a 100% secular institution!! IMO, they should not even have a seminary or school of divinity!! Wake Forest having a school of divinity makes about as much sense as Rice University, Stanford University, or the University of Miami having a school of divinity or a seminary!!

(01-24-2023 11:26 PM)DawgNBama Wrote:  I consider Wake Forest to be a 100% secular institution!! IMO, they should not even have a seminary or school of divinity!! Wake Forest having a school of divinity makes about as much sense as Rice University, Stanford University, or the University of Miami having a school of divinity or a seminary!!

Wake Forest is a private university and its School of Divinity is ecumenical (non-sectarian). As an academic division the school reflects Wake's history and ongoing Pro humanitate mission.

People clearly get some good out of it. The school produces successful divinity graduates.

Yale and Harvard also have long-established divinity schools.

(01-25-2023 12:07 AM)Gitanole Wrote:  

(01-24-2023 11:26 PM)DawgNBama Wrote:  I consider Wake Forest to be a 100% secular institution!! IMO, they should not even have a seminary or school of divinity!! Wake Forest having a school of divinity makes about as much sense as Rice University, Stanford University, or the University of Miami having a school of divinity or a seminary!!

Wake Forest is a private university and its School of Divinity is ecumenical (non-sectarian). As an academic division the school reflects Wake's history and ongoing Pro humanitate mission.

People clearly get some good out of it. The school produces successful divinity graduates.

Yale and Harvard also have long-established divinity schools.

Emory is about as woke and secular as they come, but they have a prominent Methodist seminary.

My late Uncle was a Methodist Priest, and he taught at West Virginia Wesleyen and one of the schools in Georgia.

(01-25-2023 12:38 AM)bullet Wrote:  

(01-25-2023 12:07 AM)Gitanole Wrote:  

(01-24-2023 11:26 PM)DawgNBama Wrote:  I consider Wake Forest to be a 100% secular institution!! IMO, they should not even have a seminary or school of divinity!! Wake Forest having a school of divinity makes about as much sense as Rice University, Stanford University, or the University of Miami having a school of divinity or a seminary!!

Wake Forest is a private university and its School of Divinity is ecumenical (non-sectarian). As an academic division the school reflects Wake's history and ongoing Pro humanitate mission.

People clearly get some good out of it. The school produces successful divinity graduates.

Yale and Harvard also have long-established divinity schools.

Emory is about as woke and secular as they come, but they have a prominent Methodist seminary.

No contradiction there

Vanderbilt offers a school of divinity.

From the VDS website:

VDS is not officially affiliated with one denomination, and we pride ourselves on being an ecumenical community. We have students from over 30 different denominations and faith traditions, as well as students who are unaffiliated or in transition between traditions.

So the school that produces Deacons, OK, Demon Deacons ... is secular.

Deacon: noun (in Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox Churches) an ordained minister of an order ranking below that of priest.

(01-25-2023 09:04 AM)The Sicatoka Wrote:  So the school that produces Deacons, OK, Demon Deacons ... is secular.

Deacon: noun (in Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox Churches) an ordained minister of an order ranking below that of priest.

Wake Forest was founded by Baptists in the town of Wake Forest, NC, north of Raleigh. In a Baptist church, deacons assist the pastor in performing the duties of ministry. In real terms, they serve as a de facto board in a lot of churches.

When the Reynolds family (tobacco) made a significant gift to the university, they moved the campus to Winston-Salem. They sold the original campus to the Southern Baptist Convention, who started a seminary on the former Wake Forest campus.

Wake Forest has moved away from its historical roots, and is today a non-sectarian school. So, yes, it doesn't make sense that a secular private school has the mascot "Deacons".

So the name Deacons is traced to the history of Wake Forest. Not sure where the Demon part came from, probably trying to make deacons mean.

(01-24-2023 11:26 PM)DawgNBama Wrote:  I consider Wake Forest to be a 100% secular institution!! IMO, they should not even have a seminary or school of divinity!! Wake Forest having a school of divinity makes about as much sense as Rice University, Stanford University, or the University of Miami having a school of divinity or a seminary!!

Duke has one.

https://divinity.duke.edu/

(01-25-2023 09:04 AM)The Sicatoka Wrote:  So the school that produces Deacons, OK, Demon Deacons ... is secular.

Deacon: noun (in Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox Churches) an ordained minister of an order ranking below that of priest.

Deacon is different for Baptists. Baptist Deacons help new people find an open place to sit on Sunday morning. They also help in delivering all the Casserole dishes to the revival tent in the summer. Plus a few other things here and there.

Where do you see Wake Forest ordains deacons?

https://divinity.wfu.edu/academics/acade...l-studies/

"Because the School of Divinity is not an ordaining body, the most important role of the school’s denominational studies emphasis is to support students as they cultivate diverse denominational and congregational connections."

(01-25-2023 12:28 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  Where do you see Wake Forest ordains deacons?

They don't. It's just a leftover from their Baptist beginnings.

(01-25-2023 12:34 PM)johnintx Wrote:  

(01-25-2023 12:28 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  Where do you see Wake Forest ordains deacons?

They don't. It's just a leftover from their Baptist beginnings.

Okay, I misunderstood then. I thought people were complaining a secular school ordains deacons & they're therefore not really deacons.

(01-25-2023 12:38 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  

(01-25-2023 12:34 PM)johnintx Wrote:  

(01-25-2023 12:28 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  Where do you see Wake Forest ordains deacons?

They don't. It's just a leftover from their Baptist beginnings.

Okay, I misunderstood then. I thought people were complaining a secular school ordains deacons & they're therefore not really deacons.

I was complaining about that, but not some others. To me, I don't care what you started out as; I care about what you are now!!

(01-25-2023 09:15 AM)johnintx Wrote:  ....
So the name Deacons is traced to the history of Wake Forest. Not sure where the Demon part came from, probably trying to make deacons mean.

A Wake Forest alum tells me a radio announcer coined the nickname. The Deacons were routing a rival in a big game and the announcer started referring to 'those demon Deacons.'

(01-25-2023 02:09 PM)DawgNBama Wrote:  I was complaining about that, but not some others. To me, I don't care what you started out as; I care about what you are now!!

As we have seen, there's nothing odd or unusual about private universities offering divinity majors. History plays a role in the academic offerings at any institution. At private universities more latitude exists for course offerings involving theological studies. Sometimes the university charter is involved, while ongoing funding often exists to support divinity programs.

BYU has neither a divinity school, a religion degree, nor a theology department. I guess that is not surprising for a church with lay clergy that instead mandates religious coursework for all students.

(01-25-2023 12:17 PM)GreenBison Wrote:  

(01-25-2023 09:04 AM)The Sicatoka Wrote:  So the school that produces Deacons, OK, Demon Deacons ... is secular.

Deacon: noun (in Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox Churches) an ordained minister of an order ranking below that of priest.

Deacon is different for Baptists. Baptist Deacons help new people find an open place to sit on Sunday morning. They also help in delivering all the Casserole dishes to the revival tent in the summer. Plus a few other things here and there.

The word is literally from "servant" and that was the original role in the Bible. They did the helpy stuff the apostles didn't have time for. In some Baptist churches they still do that. In others, they're essentially "elders" without being called that. In others, more of a board of directors. Varies.

"Demon servants" takes you down a whole new path doesn't it?

(01-25-2023 04:05 PM)inutech Wrote:  ....
"Demon servants" takes you down a whole new path doesn't it?

The descriptor at Wake Forest ('demon Deacons') has from the beginning employed Merriam-Webster's definition 4.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/demon