Abstract
This essay, utilizing the “kaleidoscope” image of historian Timothy Smith, reflects on issues affecting evangelical identity and boundaries in the major professional association for Christian higher education, the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU). Since the CCCU was birthed by a smaller organization, the Christian College Consortium, attention is given to how evangelical boundaries were understood by the parent group. The paper then shows how the CCCU stretched those boundaries in several directions as membership grew. Over a period of 25-plus years, the CCCU cultivated a marked denominational pluralism along with a cooperative evangelical ecumenism. This essay explores these developments in terms of membership criteria including affiliate status, doctrinal standards, the emphasis on the integration of faith and learning, and official statements and limitations of the CCCU's approach to evangelical boundaries, suggesting that the CCCU look at developing more definitive doctrinal anchors for its mission statement and membership criteria.
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