Jennifer and Keith Lane, who have been working in Religious Education at BYU–Hawaii since Fall 2002, are leaving the University after 19 years. Jennifer Lane said she treasures her sacred memories of students coming to class prepared and honestly sharing their feelings. Keith Lane said throughout his time at BYUH, he has enjoyed altering his teaching strategies to apply to different cultures and witnessing the Lord’s willingness to help students and faculty with their studies.
Marcus Martins, professor of Religious Education and former a dean from Brazil, has known the Lanes since they first came to BYUH.
He said they have taught him to “exemplify excellence” through “scholarly discipleship, or the quality of grounding one’s intellectual pursuits in a foundation of faith and discipleship in Jesus Christ.” He said he has observed them creating environments where those they are teaching will feel the inspiration that comes from the Holy Ghost.
Keith Lane said he is retiring with plans to continue studying, writing and hiking. Jennifer Lane said she is going back to BYU in Provo to work at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship for three years. While there, she said she will focus on the history of Christianity and “analysis of scripture and theology,” including “how Christians sought access to the holiness of Jerusalem from a distance.”
She said she is also going to study the Atonement of Jesus Christ and “the connection between wealth, worship and idolatry.” Afterwards, they hope to serve a mission together.
Sacred memories
Martins recalled a fond memory he shared with the Lanes. He said when he was the associate dean in 2002, he and his wife went to the Polynesian Cultural Center with the Lanes. While there, he and Keith Lane “danced, or something almost like it, together at the Tahitian Village. I knew then we would be good colleagues.”
Keith Lane, associate professor of Religious Education from Idaho, said he can remember two specific experiences, one in 2003 and one in 2005, where a student made a comment during class that has stuck with him through all these years. “I’ve quoted these students just as you might quote a scholar that says something brilliant for years after.”
In one instance, he and his class were discussing an aspect of the law of consecration when they came across a piece of doctrine that stated a bishop can preside without counselors if he is a descendant of Aaron. He said one of his students raised their hand and said, “It would be so different, but it seems like something they can need and use in the millennium.”
Keith Lane said this comment of looking at the doctrine within a millennial context broke barriers and limits instead of putting people’s views into a box. He said, “That fresh perspective can be inspired.”
In another instance, he said some of his class members were troubled in their studies of the history of race and the priesthood. “One of the students raised his hand and said answers come to things like this, not like the end of a math equation, but rather an answer that’s a kind of peace and resolution with things,” he said. “It really was a brilliant comment.”
He said he keeps in touch with this student through Facebook and will message him nearly every year when he quotes his comment in a class discussion. “It’s the student’s way of putting it that gives it a kind of clarity and insight that is striking and helpful.”
Jennifer Lane is originally from Virginia and is the dean of Religious Education and an associate professor of Religious Education. She said her favorite moments of teaching occur when her students come to class prepared, having read the assigned reading and willing to learn, because that is what invites revelation. “There’s sacred moments. The love they have for the Savior invites the Holy Ghost.”
She said she can remember a few instances in class where there was “a spirit of unity, love and [students] wanting to understand the text.
“The spiritual witness came, people could feel it, and it wasn’t me. It was collectively everybody because they were honestly sharing their feelings and were not distracted, all in the spirit of learning together and from each other.”
She said moments like this don’t happen every class, but when they do, she recognizes them as an “extraordinary blessing and privilege where inspired words are said and the Lord is letting us learn together through His spirit. Those sacred memories are treasures to me.”
Ultimately, she quoted Doctrine and Covenants 88 and said it is when people are willing to teach and share that they will be “instructed more perfectly.”
She said the online class environment has invited more students than normal to share their thoughts. “In class, five to eight people usually dominate the conversation. But this way, everybody is sharing. We’re hearing a lot more voices and comments.”
She explained, “It has been very rewarding to hear at length from all students, even those who would never have felt comfortable speaking in class. My time spent listening to them in their writing and then responding to them individually is something I would never have time for during a normal class period.”
Valuable lessons
Jennifer Lane said the most valuable lesson she learned while teaching at BYUH was a solidification of her testimony that Heavenly Father’s plan is merciful because He wants all of His children to return to Him.
She said she knows there are no barriers to receiving everything Heavenly Father has except our own. He won’t force His children to receive His blessings, she explained. They have to want to become like Him and choose Christ every single day.
“Faith and daily repentance and keeping your covenants is what matters. I knew it before, but there is nothing else. That is it. That’s what I know.”
Keith Lane added, “I’ve really come to see there is a fairness and goodness and real truth about the gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s the simple things that really go deep.
“With university life, what I’ve come to appreciate more is the law of consecration, the idea of our lives not simply being our own. For faculty and students, there can be a consecration for our lives that builds us up to help people and help build God’s kingdom. We’ll have an accounting to do of the time we’ve been given.”
He said this means people can make their everyday activities holy, including what they do for work and school. Jennifer Lane spoke of her husband’s passion for this topic and said he gave a devotional address on campus in 2010, called, “Consecration of Our Studies.” She said, “If I had my way, every single student would watch that.”
Ultimately, Keith Lane said the biggest lesson he has learned is “the Lord is willing to help us and can be involved in our studies. I really believe that. … It doesn’t mean everybody will get straight As, but it’s support. Your studies can be spiritual and grace shall be as your day.” He said this support often comes in the form of inspiration, ideas and help getting through the day.
Jennifer Lane said it is important to remember “it’s never about us. Once we take the name of Christ upon us, it is never about us anymore. Everything we are and have belongs to Him. We are His stewards. Our life, time and resources belong to Him. The one thing that’s ours is our agency.”
She said gratitude can be shown to Heavenly Father through the choices people make, which is why it is important to take the time to be a serious student. “All we have is the Lord investing in us so He can do His work better.”
She said although it can be scary, it is important to believe “the Lord will qualify who He calls. … We don’t have to be afraid. We can go forward with confidence and without pride. It’s His power that comes from our covenant relationship.”
The universal gospel
When asked what her favorite part about working at BYUH is, Jennifer Lane said she has loved watching the students’ “understanding of the gospel and faith in Christ increase and their understanding of and love for the scriptures deepen.”
Keith Lane said, “It’s both a privilege and a challenge to teach the variety of students here. That will be the case anywhere, but the variety is so dramatic here with the cultural background and assumptions, life experiences and ways of looking at things.”
The goal is to teach so all students will both understand and be challenged, he said. “It makes you rethink certain areas of the gospel to see what is really crucial and fundamental and be able to give examples that cut across many cultures.”
He said although a person’s background can limit what they see, it also provides a way for doors to be opened to new perspectives they wouldn’t otherwise see. The most interesting comments he hears in his classes, he said, are those that help him to see things a different way, especially in learning how the gospel is understood in cultures different from his own.
For example, he said, although the Church emphasizes being kind, “kindness is expressed or manifested differently from culture to culture.”
Jennifer Lane elaborated this principle by saying the key is to “speak to the universal realities of a spiritual life. … We’re all invited to learn to hear the universal call of the gospel.”
She said it never gets old seeing students’ progress through life, and it reinforces to her the importance of studying together. These experiences, she said, are often “little quiet things” where she witnesses people making important connections. She said because of this, she believes the most important thing is to help people study in a way they can recognize the voice of the Lord for themselves, which often comes by understanding the context of the scriptures.
“Additional education can make the scriptures more accessible. It’s not a barrier, but a window to hearing the voice of the Lord. … Becoming holy is an onward journey.”
A passion for learning
Jennifer and Keith Lane met at BYU in Provo because they were in the same ward and Keith was auditing a class Jennifer Lane was taking. She said they came to BYUH because it felt right for them to take the opportunity to teach here, even though they had never previously considered moving to Hawaii.
Jennifer Lane said she was a history major in her undergraduate studies but was always drawn towards religious history specifically. After her mission in Bordeaux, France from 1989-1991, she said she wanted to return to school to study ancient texts and language. She studied Greek and Hebrew and earned a master’s degree in Near Eastern studies at BYU in Provo and then a doctorate in religion with emphasis in the history of Christianity from Claremont Graduate University. “I don’t want to just teach history, but teach the gospel and understand the scriptures better.”
Keith Lane said after he served a mission in Arequipa, Peru from 1978-1980, he received a master’s degree in English with a minor in philosophy and theology at BYU in Provo. While he was studying, he also taught writing at BYU in Provo for four years. However, when he began applying to doctoral programs, he said he realized what he wants to do fits more in the philosophy and theology category, so he earned a doctorate in that instead of English at Claremont Graduate University.