ABSTRACT
Institutions of higher learning are located within the context of neighborhoods. But to what degree do they see themselves as neighbors? What does it mean to be an engaged institutional neighbor? Inspired by this question, I utilize place-based community engagement principles, combined with self-study research methods, to trace the development of the Ministry and Community Engagement Program at Warner Pacific University. I begin by locating our university theologically within the Wesleyan-Holiness and social justice movements—and also placing our university geoculturally—in our urban location in the Pacific Northwest. Next, I trace the evolution of one curricular program through four rounds of discoveries and adjustments in our self-study inquiry. Lastly, I outline our key learnings and their potential implications for Christian higher education with a concluding gesture at an answer to that guiding question—what does it mean to be an engaged institutional neighbor?
