SCM-USA Project
The SCM-USA Project will organize the recovery of the memory of the Student Christian Movement in the United States and argue that it constitutes a major tributary of American Protestantism neither liberal nor conservative that was characterized not by theology or doctrine but by common spiritual practices that shaped the life of the SCM-formed ecumenical community around the world. Because of the deep spiritual bonds students formed across barriers of difference, the SCM became a cultural innovator as the country became more heterogeneous. Although the University Christian Movement, the last organizational embodiment of the SCM in the USA disbanded in 1969, the impact of the movement continues to be felt in churches, universities, and non-governmental organizations working to address human needs around the world.
Project Director: Ada Focer
Stiles’ Lecture Up on BUniverse!
The lecture 60's-era motive editor B.J. Stiles gave at the School of Theology fall semester, "motive Magazine: Methodism's Icon and Albatross," is now available for viewing at BUniverse!
Journey to Here
Several years ago, Roz – a beloved college friend – and I toured the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. It was a first trip for both of us. We were impressed by the ways curators had organized materials to tell so many riveting stories, and we agreed... More
Hillary Clinton: Methodist
A new Washington Post story about Hillary Clinton's time as Secretary of State describes her as "a wonky Methodist who believes she is supposed to make good things happen." Clinton has in the past credited motive magazine as an important formative influence. You can find the story here.
New WSCF web-posters capture its Legacy
The WSCF just put out a few great new web-posters through Facebook that perfectly capture the astonishing degree to which the WSCF was at the forefront of the need to humanize modernity and globalization because of the experience of participating in a transnational and transcultural network and point-of-view grounded in... More
Income Inequality in Election Years Past
A cartoon by motive cartoonist Jim Crane in 1960 and a print by Robert Hodgell in 1968 both address the issue of income inequality and how people think about their money. Either could have been done yesterday. The Hodgell print was included in a recent Eckerd College exhibit, "Robert Hodgell... More
motive Editor and Cartoonist Meet Again!
With support from the Society for the Arts in Religious and Theological Studies, 1960s-era motive magazine editor, B.J. Stiles, and Ada Focer, Research Director of CGCM, were able to travel to St. Petersburg, Florida to meet with 1950s and 1960s-era motive artist Jim Crane, best known for his cartoons, and... More
SCM-USA to hold Ecojustice Symposium in NYC Nov. 9-10
The following announcement just arrived at CGCM: The SCM-USA/WSCF-NA Northeast Regional Symposium on the theme of eco-justice local activism will be held on November 9-10, 2012 at St John’s in the Village Episcopal Church and the Center for Spiritual Life of New York University in New York City. This gathering will... More
Peg Rigg, motive Art Editor (1929-2011)
Peg Rigg was hired as art editor in 1955 right out of seminary. She also had a M.F.A. at the Chicago Art Institute. She had interned at motive the prior summer so the editor, Roger Ortmeyer, had had a chance to see her at work. Although motive had been deeply... More
Margaret Flory (1913-2009)
The Frontier Internship in Mission program came from the creative, entrepreneurial mind of Margaret Flory, the Presbyterian official in charge of Student Work, but who considered herself a missionary to all of the world's students. A fireball of energy with a keen sense of Christian commitment and sensitivity to what... More
U.S. Delegation, Mysore, India 1928
The people in this photo were the delegates from the United States to the World Student Christian Federation conference in Mysore, India in 1928, just a few of the hundreds who became international people by attending such conferences. This is a page from a photo album assembled... More