Mission and Goals

Mission

The mission of the Carson Center is to promote mission, service, and global education at Tabor College and to collaborate with individuals, organizations and churches who share the vision of the Carson Center.

Goals

To provide opportunities at Tabor College for students to learn about and participate in missions, service projects, and to become globally minded and skilled graduates;

To advance missions, service, and global education through strategic collaborations with churches and organizations who share Tabor’s vision.

History of the Carson Center

The development of the Carson Center has come about through a confluence of factors. The Carson Church, Elaine Kroeker (on the left), a Tabor College board member who was a member of the church, and brothers David and Paul Wiebe (missionary children who grew up in India, David a Tabor board member, and Paul a sociologist with a passion for the church in India), and President Larry Nikkel, each played instrumental roles the development of the Carson Center.

The history of the Carson Center clearly begins with the decision of the Carson Church in Delft, Minnesota to close. The Carson Church, which has had a remarkable history of promoting international missions, decided to give a third of the its proceeds generated from closing the church to Tabor College in the fall of 2005. At the same time, David Wiebe presented a proposal related to mission, service, and education to the college board of trustees. The proposal, developed with the input of his brother Paul, encouraged Tabor College to consider developing a relationship with the Mennonite Brethren church and Centenary Seminary in India, a sister institution owned by the Indian Mennonite Brethren church.

President Nikkel, wanting to honor the legacy of the Carson Church in a way that would last, suggested that the donation of funds to Tabor College be placed in an endowment named after the Carson Church. The Carson Center was formally approved in February, 2006 by the Tabor College Board of Trustees.

Activities of the Carson Center began immediately, albeit in modest ways. Dr. Lynn Jost took a group of students and adults interested in India, to the Centenary Seminary where, among other things, a Bible class was held with both Tabor students and Centenary Seminary students attending. Paul Wiebe (appointed Adjunct Professor of International Studies), accompanied by David Wiebe, visited various points in India and explored the potential for a relationship between Tabor College and Centenary Seminary. The Mennonite Brethren Church subsequently passed a unanimous resolution welcoming a relationship with Tabor College. Paul also developed and distributed a newsletter for Centenary Seminary. Following his return, Paul raised and sent funds to the Mennonite Brethren Church in India for the first writers conference, a meeting of church representatives organized to begin to document the history of the church.

The Carson Center was given a major boost in June of 2006 with a donation of $100,000 in by a donor supportive of the initiative. With the original gift by the Carson Church and the second major donation, the Carson Center is poised to begin to carry out it work of promoting mission, service and global education,. There is much be to done for the Center to fully realize its potential, but the momentum that has emerged far surpasses that of those who only a year ago planted the seeds of what has become a grand vision for Tabor College and the church.

Carson Center Background

Globally minded education, mission, and service are not new to Tabor College and the Mennonite Brethren denomination which owes the college. The Mennonite Brethren denomination has a global and service perspective borne both out of its theological commitments and out of necessity.

The namesake of the Mennonite Brethren denomination, Menno Simons, and the “Menists” with whom he was affiliated in the mid 16th century, were at the core globally and service minded from the inception of the movement. Through the reading of scripture, the Anabaptists were passionate about and effective in sharing the “good news” of Jesus Christ with a theology that was deeply committed to doing good. They remained committed to their beliefs and put their faith into action even while threatened with arrest and execution for doing so.

To escape the threat of being imprisoned or executed for their beliefs, the Mennonites migrated to Prussia (northern Poland) in the 1560s. In 1789, many Mennonites left Prussia because of religious oppression and accepted Catherine the Great's invitation to settle in the Ukraine. While in the Ukraine, the Mennonite Brethren church was formally founded. Because of religious intolerance which began to take place in the Ukraine in the mid 1800s, the Mennonites and Mennonite Brethren once again were forced to move. This time the migration was to the United States, with central Kansas the destination for many beginning in 1874. In time, to the desire for Christian education among the Mennonite Brethren led to the founding of Tabor College in 1908.

Not all of those who migrated moved to the United States or to Kansas. Mennonite Brethren also moved to Canada, Mexico, and South America. The dispersion caused by religious intolerance, along with evangelical commitment to “go into all the world ” has made the Mennonite Brethren an international church with congregations in over 20 countries and a total membership estimated to be over 300,000.

The trauma associated with forced migrations, combined with an Anabaptist theology that stresses social justice and social compassion, has developed a strong commitment to service as well. One tangible illustration of this commitment is the influence the Mennonite Brethren had in developing Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), an internationally renowned social service agency. Peter C. Hiebert, a Mennonite Brethren and Tabor College administrator, was the founding chairman of MCC.

The Carson Center for Mission, Service, and Global Education is not breaking new ground. Tabor’s first president, H.W. Lohrenz, articulated the Tabor vision as a three-fold aim: offering a liberal arts education in a Christian setting; preparing young men and women for spiritual leadership in the church; and providing a program of vocational training. The Carson Center is taking passions that lie deep within the soul of the denomination and college and breathing new life into them for our time and in ways that incorporate the changes that are taking place in the world.

Carson Center Introduction

In The World is Flat[1], Friedman demonstrates that world is more interdependent now than at any other time in history. At the beginning of the 21^st century, he argues, civilization into a new and much different stage of interaction, Globalization 3.0. In a most compelling manner, Friedman demonstrates how small and interactive the world has become and how differently the power centers have become in this new era. Particularly different is the empowerment of non-Western individuals and companies who are having global impact. All indications are that the dynamics of Globalization 3.0 will continue into the future impacting every facet of our individual and collective lives.

In the midst of this changing world, to be relevant and effective, Tabor must find ways to adapt its mission of “preparing people for a life of learning, work, and service.” The Carson Center for Mission, Service, and Global Education demonstrates Tabor’s commitment, both symbolically and practically, to respond to the profound changes that are taking place.

The Carson Center positions the College to play a significant role in meeting the need for globally minded and internationally skilled citizens, both in the U.S. and in other countries of the world. The Carson Center has the potential to be the catalyst for the changes that must take place at Tabor and the constituents with which it collaborates.

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[1] The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century. (Thomas Friedman). Farrar, Straus and Girox: NY.