Our Purpose

• Our fellowship helps us to maintain a stronger witness for Christ collectively than we can achieve individually.

  As Christians, part of God's charge to us is that we be witnesses, ministers, servants to those around us. As a Christian who is also a university faculty member, I believe that the CFN can help me to serve in one of the primary arenas into which God has placed me -- the place where I spend about ten hours each weekday, the Auburn University campus. For example, meeting periodically with other Christian faculty to discuss relevant campus issues, to plan appropriate activities for sponsorship or involvement, and to hear how other Christian faculty are witnessing and ministering, would be a great encouragement and resource for me. We always have the opportunity, as individual Christians, to make an impact in the lives of those we encounter daily on campus, and it is clear to me that if we actively work together we can substantially increase our opportunity to more effectively impact "campus life" at Auburn in a wider variety of significant ways than would otherwise be possible.

  Nelson Ford, Management

• Our fellowship raises the visibility and credibility of Christianity on campus.

  I regularly hear students express great pleasure and relief when they learn that I am a Christian professor. That fact challenges their preconceptions that intellectuals cannot be people of faith. As a group, we have the opportunity to testify that intellectuals most certainly can be people of faith.

  When 30-40 faculty sign and publish a statement testifying to their Christian faith, students and faculty are forced to recognize that Christianity is a credible intellectual option in the marketplace of ideas. When we sponsor a speaker, the academic community must give us a hearing or be accused of being closed-minded (the worst possible academic sin!). When Christian faculty pursue faith-related issues in their teaching and research, they have greater boldness and freedom because of the support of many visible like-minded faculty members. When Christian students explore faith issues in the classroom, they have greater liberty because respected faculty are doing the same. Ultimately, when we work collectively through an organized Christian faculty forum, we promote an atmosphere in which intellectual objections to Christianity can be addressed respectfully and the implications of the Lordship of Christ can be worked out without fear or shame.

  Stan Reeves, Electrical & Computer Engineering

• Our fellowship promotes the pursuit of excellence and the application of a Christian worldview in our chosen fields to the glory of God.

• Our fellowship provides encouragement, accountability, and resources for those involved.