A Mission Held in Trust: Stewarding the Church-Related University

Your Institution's Mission Is Key to Its Flourishing

For church-related colleges and universities, a mission statement is a powerful tool. It communicates what is distinctive about each institution and its relationship to its faith tradition. Yet having a clear and compelling mission statement is not enough. Universities face ongoing challenges in stewarding their missions in a rapidly changing culture.

In A Mission Held in Trust, leading administratorsand educators from both Protestant and Catholic institutions provide wisdom on mission alignment in higher education. Mission is designed to be held in trust by members of a community and stewarded for the next generation.

Contributors shed light on a number of topics to help church-related colleges and universities advance their missions, including:

how mission statements serve as organizing rationales for exercising institutional identity;challenges to mission in a post-secular cultural context;issues of law, lobbying, messaging, and finance;the theological, philosophical, and legal characteristics of fiduciary service; andhow students, educators, board members, and other stakeholders are formed for service.

This book brings together a distinguished roster of higher education leaders from presidents of Notre Dame, Baylor, Biola, Pepperdine, Franciscan, and Samford to senior officials fromWheaton, Villanova, Saint Louis, and the Catholic University of America. Spanning Catholic, evangelical, and ecumenical institutions, their combined experience in leadership, formation, and ministry offers readers practical, hard-won wisdom they cantrust.

In the midst of uncertainties and change, mission remains a sacred trust--inherited from predecessors and passed along to successors. A Mission Held in Trust is a unique ecumenical resource providing wisdom and encouragement for leaders seeking faithfulness in these vital vocations.

About the Contributors

This volume brings together an outstanding group of higher education leaders. Contributors include Kathleen Byrnes, vice president for student life at Villanova University; Barry H. Corey, President of Biola University; Robert A. Dowd, CSC, president of the University of Notre Dame; Jim Gash, president of Pepperdine University; Aquinas Guilbeau, OP, university chaplain and vice president of ministry and mission at Catholic University of America; John I. Jenkins, CSC, president emeritus of the University of Notre Dame; Karen An-hwei Lee, professor of English and provost at Wheaton College; Linda A. Livingstone, president of Baylor University; Edward A. Malloy, CSC, president emeritus of the University of Notre Dame; Dave Pivonka, TOR, president of Franciscan University; Molly A. Schaller, associate dean of the School of Education at Saint Louis University; Beck A. Taylor, president of Samford University.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1514014580
• ISBN13: 9781514014585
• Release Date: September 2026
• Publisher: IVP Academic
• Length: 208 Pages