History & Biography

tac5 Christian Scholar ~ Servant Ministries

History, Philosophy, and Definition

Context

In the 1990s, historian George M. Marsden wrote two influential books,

and

The Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship

Christian Scholar~Servant Ministries is formed with the conviction that with Godly wisdom and grace, it is possible, necessary, strategic, and compassionate for the dedicated disciple of Jesus Christ to love God and man with all his mind.

The Christian Scholar~Servant

The Christian Scholar~Servant is a committed follower of Jesus Christ, who desires to love the Lord God with all of his or her heart, mind, soul, and strength. He or she desires to bring all of his or her learning, researching, thinking, writing, and teaching under the Lordship of Christ. He or she has a perspective on knowledge and living that is illuminated, shaped, and governed by the Bible, the Word of God. His or her Christian faith is not simply personal preference, but a vital relationship to the living Christ. Moreover, that faith is more than personal belief; it is a defined content of truth that enlightens all of scholarship, as the Lord Jesus Christ is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” (John 14:6).

The tilde (~) punctuation between scholar and servant is a deliberate reflection of the wedding of scholarship and service; the Christian scholar~servant has both the mind and the heart to serve Christ and others. His or her scholarship is not merely an academic exercise or means of professional advancement or personal publication. The Christian scholar~servant should be set for the defense of the Gospel and earnestly contend for the faith that the young believer might be established and that the restless might find their rest in the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Christian Scholar~Servant Ministries as an Organization

Founded in December 1999, Christian Scholar~Servant Ministries (CSSM) is incorporatedin the State of Maryland and is recognized as a charitable, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization by the United States Internal Revenue Service.CSSM is governed by a Board of Directors, of which Dr. Corson is a member.

Christian Scholar~Servant Ministries desires ultimately to serve in a variety of contexts and ways. Respectful and complementary to campus ministries like InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, the Christian Medical & Dental Associations, and Reformed University Fellowship, which come from the outside to minister on the campus, CSSM is unique in that it endeavors to undergird ministry from “the inside out”.

As an initial focus, CSSM has provided support to teaching and ministry at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions are an unusually strategic place for Christian scholarly endeavor. The Johns Hopkins Hospital has been ranked the number one hospital in the country by U.S. News and World Report for many years (21 consecutive years & then again in 2013), and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has been a leader in medical education since its inception. The School of Hygiene and Public Health (now named Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health) was the first of its kind in the nation and continues to provide vision and training internationally in those disciplines. The revived School of Nursing is an expanding contributor in nursing education. While there are many fine institutions and though rankings have their limitations, it is fair to say that Johns Hopkins is among the outstanding centers of learning in the health professions as well as other disciplines. It should be emphasized that neither the university nor hospital are sectarian in perspective or practice, and these Johns Hopkins institutions would not discriminate on the basis of religious belief or its absence or on the basis of other personal qualities.

However, while very influential in the culture and society, academic centers like Johns Hopkins rely heavily on extramural support to undergird scholarly activity. The Johns Hopkins University, founded in 1876, is considered by many to be the first modern research university; Johns Hopkins recognized CSSM as a legitimate source of support for some of the faculty and ministry endeavors of Dr. Thomas Adams Corson. The modern research university does not generally fund every faculty activity from its own internal resources, but relies on other important sources of income, such as research grants and philanthropy. One of the core values of any university is “academic freedom”– the opportunity to cultivate one’s own area of scholarly interest freely. Dr. Corson realized that scholarly activity and ministry with a Christian worldview could be part of the freedom of thinking and serving within the university community, but also recognized that a nonsectarian institution might be reluctant to fund certain of those endeavors and that many funding agencies were similarly disposed to a more secular outlook. The thinking and living Christian, of course, is very aware of secular perspectives, but generally does not believe in a disconnected or isolated secularism as a total or dominant worldview.

CSSM can play an important part in the life of a Christian scholar by supporting scholarly endeavor that is distinctively Christian and in giving tangible recognition to the value of such effort to the university; such support is usually not available through more secular sources and, without this undergirding, efforts in Christian scholarship and ministry can be vulnerable to elimination. Ultimately CSSM would like to support additional Christian scholar~servants on other university campuses and to continue to disciple & encourage future Christian scholar~servants in multiple disciplines and at various levels of education!

A Few Sensitive Matters

Johns Hopkins Medicine has a tripartite mission of patient care, research, and teaching. From its founding, the university (founded 1876) and the hospital (opened 1889) were to be wed, even at the original behest of businessman, Mr. Johns Hopkins; the medical school within the Johns Hopkins University admitted its first class in 1892. At the time of Johns Hopkins’ inception, there were free-standing proprietary medical schools that did not necessarily even require an undergraduate college education to be admitted. The rest truly is history, as Johns Hopkins became “a model of its kind” (A. McGehee Harvey, Gert H. Brieger, Susan L. Abrams, and Victor A. McKusick, A Model of Its Kind: A Centennial History of Medicine at Johns Hopkins

Though there are Christians in Johns Hopkins history, it has always been a non-sectarian institution and has welcomed students & faculty from many viewpoints. Dr. Howard A. Kelly was one of the founding four physicians and was a vocal Christian witness; however, he did not try to transform the medical school into a “Christian medical school”. The first President of the Johns Hopkins University was Daniel Coit Gilman, who went on to be the President of the American Bible Society. However, he did not try to merge Johns Hopkins with the Maryland Bible Society (founded 1810) or the American Bible Society (founded 1816 & separate from the MBS). Simply stated, the mission of Johns Hopkins or Johns Hopkins Medicine is not to be a Christian ministry organization or a Christian university.

Upon completion of his training in 1987, Johns Hopkins gave Dr. Corson the privilege of serving on its faculty. He contributed to the traditional activities of a faculty member, though more in the areas of patient care and teaching than in basic research. His endeavors in ministry were never removed from his thinking or activity as a faculty member; moreover, there was a general respect of his colleagues and the university for his contributions in some of the non-traditional activities. However, though those activities occupied a substantial amount of time & effort, they were not generally receiving any financial support from the university and understandably so, if one understands the culture of the Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Furthermore, faculty members at Johns Hopkins usually only receive limited financial support for teaching. Direct patient care as a doctor usually is part of one’s salary, though not always in my experience. One may receive some initial funding for research from the university and collaborative funding from colleagues with joint scholarly interests, but the latter is usually dependent on extramural sources (largely the National Institutes of Health, some private foundations and charitable individuals & organizations). Scholarship that has any religious connotation generally is not funded by most outside organizations, and of course, some would state that scholarship that has religious distinction cannot be regarded as true research; even research on “religion” is often regarded as “soft” and not worthy of the biomedical scientific community. For me personally, I am grateful for my colleagues at Johns Hopkins! However, for the reasons stated, my work was not always financially supported.

Campus ministry, especially of the kind I was doing, was definitely not supported financially.

It was seen as a contribution to the university community by some. While I was a single man, I was able to do a great deal on a self-supporting basis for most of the first 20 years; I arrived in Baltimore in 1975. In 1996, I became married to a widow with four sons and then had a daughter in 1998. With a seriously ill mother-in-law requiring care and a father advancing in years, we made a home together in 1999; both parents were financially independent and contributing to expenses. Nonetheless, Dr. Corson had an overall responsibility for an extended family of 9 living under one household roof. In a similar time frame, one of the clinics with which he had a ca. 10-year association, acquired a new director. His philosophy was “If you’re not paid for it, it is not important.” The implication was that he was not particularly interested in my teaching “Clinical Skills” in the medical school or doing ministry with the “Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions Christian Fellowship” or serving overseas in needy places, if it were not a salaried portion of my university responsibilities. In this season, there was also growing concern on the part of funding agencies, that faculty be paid for what they were actually doing and not receiving income to do activities that were not part of the grantor’s intentions. Dr. Corson never did take funds for things he was not doing, but he ended up doing a lot of work unpaid and sometimes taking salary cuts in order to generate the “free time”. However, with the responsibility of a family in time and financial commitments, he could not continue to do that kind of arrangement on the scale he had been. And again, even if he could, he was facing this philosophy, “If you’re not paid for it, it is not important”. In that respect, he could not alter this director’s perspective. Why? In some measure, how do you tell your clinic director when he wants you to do more in the clinic that you do not have the time because of unpaid responsibilities when he is the one paying your salary? On this latter point, that is partly why full-time Johns Hopkins faculty will explain that funding for research or teaching “buys” the faculty member “protected time”; i.e. time that is protected from patient care demands to accomplish other endeavors.

These concepts are important in understanding the execution of the tripartite mission of patient care, research, and teaching and in comprehending something of how a modern research university operates. The surrounding concerns to these concepts are only amplified if you are doing things that do not fit neatly into the accepted scholarly framework of the modern research university and especially if you are seeking to be full-time. And then the difficulty becomes compounded if others on the outside have the impression that Johns Hopkins has a large revenue stream and that all of its faculty members are line-items on a budget fully-funded for all of its activities. In light of all these factors, Dr. Corson faced the challenging question as to whether, of financial and organizational necessity, he would have to relinquish the ministry. Christian leaders had called him a pastor and a missionary to Johns Hopkins, though those would not have been the capacities Johns Hopkins would have envisioned. Dr. Corson sought the counsel of those to whom he was ministering, individuals in whose lives he had shared in the past, peers, and elders. There was a general consensus that Dr. Corson should continue with the ministry at Johns Hopkins. A few individuals expressed a willingness to give to Dr. Corson’s financial support. Dr. Corson carefully explored things within his church at all levels (local, presbytery, national) and with other already established ministries. To Dr. Corson’s chagrin in some measure, there was not a “neat fit”. Much more could be said.

One aspect was that even some established campus ministry organizations recognized that most of their staff, if any, were not full-time faculty members of the university. Some of them had ministry outreach to faculty. As CSSM became organized, some saw CSSM as being relatively unique in that there was a Christian faculty member seeking to minister from the “inside out” rather than the “outside in”– the latter referring to the idea of a parachurch or church staff member, not necessarily a full-fledged part of the university faculty & community, coming to do ministry on a campus. Some indeed were able to see the value of both approaches and were willing to be supportive of Dr. Corson in particular in his faculty and ministry role at Johns Hopkins. It was also recognized by some that not everyone would have the credentials and the giftedness to function as both a university faculty member and a pastor. Though he was appreciative of their trust, Dr. Corson did not think he should take financial gifts directly and personally from others in an unaccounted way. Though he was very reluctant to add another organization to the ministry landscape, he was even more reluctant to just “give up” in what was productive in his ministry and could see the potential of longer-range fruit were Christian Scholar ~ Servant Ministries to be formed as its own organization; furthermore, it was not just his “personal dream”– others, including Johns Hopkins alumni, were asking him to continue, because of decades of fruitful work that had already been done and their desire to see the ministry continue. Nonetheless, Dr. Corson never envisioned CSSM as simply “Thomas Adams Corson Ministries” or “Johns Hopkins Ministries”, but could see broader applications in the service of Christ. Nonetheless, that is some of the sensitive history as to how and why Christian Scholar ~ Servant Ministries was established in the first place.

Briefly too, the 2014 development of a CSSM website has been after years of deliberation and again some reluctance on Dr. Corson’s part. There is certainly no desire to exalt himself or a particular ministry. Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!”(Psalm 115:1, ESV) However, Thomas can see some potential benefits to a CSSM website and prays that it will be an instrument of blessing to others.

A Final Note on the Name of CSSM

Thomas was blessed greatly by the ministry of the Csehy Summer School of Music, which has its own website at www.csehy.org . He knew its founders, Wilmos & Gladys Csehy, personally as well as many of the early faculty and staff. Mr. Csehy had prayed for 20 years for such a ministry before it came into being in 1962. His example in faith and prayer has been a blessing to many; Mr. Csehy’s love for Christ, for young people, and for excellence in Christian service was great. Thomas also is grateful for many others on the staff and faculty, who also often gave of themselves voluntarily in a labor of love. The affection for fellow campers and the whole Csehy family is genuine and often lasts beyond one’s years as a student. The Cedar Lake Music Camp moved from its original home in Cedar Lake, Indiana to Pennsylvania in 1968, when Thomas first attended Csehy as one of its younger students. He was present at the end of the 1968 camp season, when the new name of the “Csehy Summer School of Music” was announced. Though he remains connected to Csehy, even with the current participation of his daughter and her friends, he would not desire to confuse the Csehy Summer School of Music (CSSM) and Christian Scholar ~ Servant Ministries (CSSM). These are two separate organizations. Mention of the Csehy Summer School of Music is out of gratitude and for explanation of the CSSM designation. Thomas did share these thoughts with Mrs. Gladys Csehy, but usage of CSSM and reference to the Csehy Summer School of Music should not imply endorsement of Christian Scholar ~ Servant Ministries by the Csehy Summer School of Music, though Dr. Corson is happy to commend Csehy.

Nonetheless, echoing in music can be an effective compositional quality, if not overused or misapplied. Christian Scholar ~ Servant Ministries is not principally a musical organization, though we love music. However, Csehy is not simply a musical school. Both ministries are animated by a love for the Lord Jesus Christ, a desire to serve Christ’s church, a willingness to reach out to others at home & abroad, and a true striving for excellence. In these good ways, CSSM seeks to echo Csehy. The common acronym of CSSM is deliberate in its intention to a) be a sincere echo of the Csehy Summer School of Music, b) honor Mr. & Mrs. Csehy and all of those who have served with them and followed in their footsteps, and c) exhibit the profound impact of Csehy on Thomas, including Mr. Csehy’s vision and faith through the years of waiting and subsequent valleys as well as mountaintops. Mr. & Mrs. Csehy and many of the older servants are now home with the Lord. They, as Thomas’ parents and other older saints in Thomas’ life, would want Thomas to follow the Lord and not them, except I think in that good Pauline sense:“Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.”(I Corinthians 11:1, KJV)

A Personal Comment & Anecdote on Names and Memories

Incidentally “Csehy” has become an affectionate and succinct reference to the Csehy Summer School of Music in all that it is as a school and all the people it has embraced over the years.

Nevertheless, I (TAC) knew Mr. & Mrs. Csehy as individual persons, whom some referred to as “Uncle Wilmos” and “Aunt Gladys”; they are both now home with the Lord.

While I was a resident at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, Roy Rogers arrived at the Children’s Medical & Surgical Center (CMSC!), part of The Johns Hopkins Hospital, to visit the children; I was able to see him as he arrived in the CMSC lobby. However, at that point I was on the adult medical service, and the adult team was quite excited that Roy Rogers was visiting the hospital. The team knew Roy Rogers as the singing cowboy of older movies and a boyhood television series. Roy Rogers did not make it over to the adult inpatient unit that morning. The team lamented that most of the children at that time would then have known “Roy Rogers” as a fast-food restaurant and that more of the adult patients might have actually enjoyed a visit from Roy Rogers himself, though we were sure that he would be great with the children too. We compensated by singing “Happy Trails to You” to the adult inpatients who were going home that morning! Some medicine and music!

The Csehys still are remembered at the Csehy Summer School of Music, but their name “Csehy” has taken on a broader meaning as a referent. Moreover, Mr. & Mrs. Csehy also were reluctant to have their name exalted and did not necessarily push to have the school named after them. Nonetheless, there is also the Scriptural principle of “honor to whom honor” is due; cf. Romans 13:7.