Stillpoint Fall 2010

FALL 2010

THE MAGAZINE OF GORDON COLLEGE

STILLPOINT

The Ongoing Legacy of A. J. Gordon 14 An Extended Family, Photo Essay, Questions for A. J. Gordon and more

Also in This Issue 34 In Our End is Our Beginning 39 Ann Ferguson: Living the Literature 40 Alumni News

CONTENTS

14 ORIGINS AND ORIGINALITY: THE ONGOING LEGACY OF ADONIRAM JUDSON GORDON A. J. Gordon’s radical faith shaped not only the institutions that are named for him but has also helped shape evangelical Christianity as we know it today. His influence continues into the 21st century as Gordon’s alumni carry on his legacy in servant leadership, global missions, worship, social justice, education, evangelism and theology.

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The Ongoing Legacy of Adoniram Judson Gordon

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by Matt Schwabauer

A multifaceted look at A. J. Gordon’s continuing influence.

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Does A. J. Gordon seem a little out of reach to you? Let STILLPOINT change that with this modern-day interview.

Family Resemblances From old to young, these alumni are living out aspects of A. J. Gordon’s legacy in diverse ways.

Photo Essay Current students and recent alumni capture the seven themes of A. J. Gordon through photography.

Questions for Adoniram Judson Gordon

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Behind the Scenes of a Yearlong Celebration

by Natalie Ferjulian

A husband and wife team have immersed themselves in the life of A. J. Gordon, passing on his wisdom to others.

ON THE COVER Rebekah Frangipane, a senior communication arts major from Pennsylvania, loves photography, varsity soccer and track, brie and crackers, and living near the ocean in Beverly (just one town south of Wenham). She has also extended her time at Gordon with a mission trip to Mexico and a summer theatre seminar in England. In part because of A. J. Gordon’s expansive view of Christian education, Rebekah and students like her are preparing to be bold and creative disciples of Christ in a wide variety of fields.

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ARTICLES

ALUMNI

IN EACH ISSUE

34 In Our End by Dan Russ

40 Alumni News

2 Up Front

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3 Inspiration 4 From the Editor 5 SPORKS

Dan Russ discusses the important difference between changes and transitions.

and Attention 36 Love

by Lindsey Reed ’12 Receiving love from an unexpected person caused this student to rethink love.

37 Four New Faces

Four new and talented people join the Development Office.

38 With Child by Agnes Howard What the Incarnation has to do with “ordinary” pregnancies.

Ferguson 39 Ann

by Jo Kadlecek A retiring professor encourages reading, especially a good story.

News and notes about the Gordon and Barrington alumni families: milestones, memories and accomplishments.

From Chemist to Tech COO How John Boudreau’s ’92 work in the lab led him to several successful entrepreneurial ventures.

Out to Teenagers 46 Reaching behind Bars Lindsi Lefebvre ’10GE seeks to build hope by creating a safe learning environment.

with President Carlberg

informative fauxlosophy

6 On the Grapevine

Student, Faculty and Staff News

STARTERS

NEWS

FEATURES

ARTICLES

ALUMNI

UP FRONT with President Carlberg

An Ephesians Moment in Cape Town

Photo Mick Haupt © LCWE

When you are living the reality of not knowing where your next meal is coming from, you have a much deeper reliance on the Holy Spirit.

It was a morning Bible study on Ephesians, and half a dozen of us were gathered around a conference table, pondering the words of the Apostle Paul. In many ways the situation—a Bible study with fellow believers—was familiar to me. Even though my table was just one of hundreds, and the gathering was the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in Cape Town, South Africa, much was familiar. But though much was familiar, much was also new.

Long before Lausanne I and II (held, respectively, in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1974; and Manila, the Philippines, in 1989), American and European missionaries met in Edinburgh, Scotland, to brainstorm and pray about the future of missions worldwide. It was a watershed moment in the history of Protestant missions, and is still known today by the watershed-sounding name of Edinburgh 1910.

“The Whole Church Taking the Whole Gospel to the Whole World” was Cape

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Town 2010’s theme 100 years later.

And there were signs all around that we were at an “Ephesians moment”—a moment of breaking through old boundaries—in the life of the Church.

A vintage photo of Edinburgh 1910 shows a large hall filled with American and European men. By contrast, my table companions in Cape Town, both men and women, were from the Philippines, Ghana, Japan, Belgium and Latvia, just a few of the 198 nations represented. This diversity—90 percent of participants came from Africa, Asia or Latin America—was evident in all facets of Cape Town 2010: its speakers, ministries, music and drama.

are so much closer to the surface in the two-thirds world than here. When you are living the reality of not knowing where your next meal is coming from, you have a much deeper reliance on the Holy Spirit.

I came away convinced that we can’t really understand the challenges of the 21st century—and thus be able to convincingly proclaim the gospel— unless we can hear, understand and speak this language of suffering.

May God grant us North American evangelicals the courage to count the cost of discipleship, and the grace to join in this expansive moment in the life of the Church.

It’s one thing to understand that global Christianity’s center of gravity has shifted from the Northern Hemisphere to the Southern—but it’s transforming to actually inhabit these vibrant demographics. The stories we heard of martyrdom and persecution were a shock to our systems, but it was a good kind of shock. Spiritual battles

President’s Page www.gordon.edu/presidentspage

President R. Judson Carlberg, Ph.D.

IN EACH ISSUE

INSPIRATION

VOLUME 26 NUMBER 1

“At the still point of the turning world.”

T. S. Eliot, referring to God in his poem Four Quartets EDITORIAL

CREATIVE

Patricia C. Hanlon Editor

Tim Ferguson Sauder Creative Director

Kristin Schwabauer Rydbeck ’04 Associate Editor

Rebecca Powell Amy Harrell ’07 Publication Design

Jo Kadlecek Senior Writer

ALUMNI NEWS

Cyndi McMahon Staff Writer

Nancy Mering Director of Alumni and Parent Relations

Pat McKay ’65 Publications Editor

ADMINISTRATION

Matt Schwabauer Editorial Assistant

R. Judson Carlberg President Mark Sargent Provost

ADDRESS CHANGES Development Office jamie.hokanson@gordon.edu

OTHER CORRESPONDENCE Editor, STILLPOINT | Gordon College 255 Grapevine Road, Wenham MA 01984 stillpoint@gordon.edu

PRINTING NOVA Partners | Gorham, Maine

Story John Mirisola ’11

Reading = Listening Paul Borgman, Professor of English When English professor Paul Borgman was a graduate student at the University of Chicago, he took an ancient literature class that stressed the importance of reading ancient texts in the mindset of their original audience. He was fascinated with this approach to Bible passages but couldn’t have imagined the longevity of this interest: Literary examination of biblical texts has become Dr. Borgman’s primary field of expertise and the work he finds most fulfilling.

Why is Borgman so enthralled with the academic study of biblical narrative? He believes he has a contribution to make, a missing piece to supply. Biblical texts were crafted primarily as oral literature, their authors steeped in a culture attuned to auditory patterns. “The Bible has its own rhetorical techniques,” says Borgman. “It presents itself with hearing codes—patterns of repetition—that go unrecognized by modern readers. To understand what the writers intended, he explains, we must be aware of these patterns: for example, five teaching clusters of Jesus in Matthew; a ring composition (chiasmus) in Luke 9:51–19:44; and allow them to inform the meaning of the work.

Author of three books on biblical narrative, Dr. Borgman is using his sabbatical this fall to work on a new project, Introduction to the Bible: Readings and Contexts. It will provide in-depth readings of 16 biblical texts and offer bridge chapters to fill in the gaps, offering a comprehensive guide to reading the Bible as ancient literature. This is not an esoteric exercise but rather an effort to restore to modern readers what was common understanding to ancient audiences. Dr. Borgman draws many ideas from discussions in his biblical literature classes. “My writing is totally energized and informed by my teaching, and my teaching is totally informed and energized by my writing. In that I am totally blessed.” paul.borgman@gordon.edu | www.paulborgman.net

STILLPOINT, the magazine for alumni and friends of the United College of Gordon and Barrington, is published twice a year and has a circulation of over 22,000. Opinions expressed in STILLPOINT are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Gordon College administration.

Photo Michael Hevesy

Gordon College is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, sex, or national or ethnic origin.

Reproduction of STILLPOINT in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited.

www.gordon.edu/stillpoint

FALL 2010 | STILLPOINT 3

FROM THE EDITOR

When I was hired as director of publications at Gordon in early 2006, one of the first questions I asked myself was “What’s a publication?” It’s a question I’ve been asking ever since, not just of myself but my colleagues as well. The answer keeps shifting as the online world changes and develops new layers of connectivity.

In 2006 we had STILLPOINT, a pretty basic website, and email. Four years later we have a pretty impressive website, an official Gordon blog, iTunes site, YouTube channel, Facebook page, and an increasing number of e-newsletters tailored to specific interests and audiences.

We try to keep pace with how you currently receive information, and we also try to look ahead to how you will be accessing information in the future. If you’re not currently acquainted with the many online publications created in the past few years, you’re missing a lot of interesting news about Gordon. Please log on to www.gordon.edu/about/publications.

To entice you, here is a partial list of online publications that have been created in the past few years: THE GRAPEVINE This e-newsletter for alumni and friends of the College, published monthly, links to Gordon life as captured on the website, YouTube videos, blog postings and more.

Editor: Patricia Hanlon patricia.hanlon@gordon.edu

THE PROVOST’S REPORT Periodic updates about all fields of student learning including the academic program, student development, chapel, service learning, and athletics. It describes key initiatives, marks important milestones, summarizes data about Gordon and higher education, and often includes short personal essays or reflections from Provost Mark Sargent. mark.sargent@gordon.edu

THE CONNECTING POINT A weekly e-newsletter for faculty and staff, covering current campus happenings, faculty activity, departmental updates, prayer requests, photos from the field, and more. Get an insider’s view of Gordon. Editor: Cyndi McMahon cyndi.mcmahon@gordon.edu

NOTES ALONG THE WAY This frequently updated blog features stories about students, faculty, alumni and campus events—a great window on both small and large events at Gordon. Editor: Cyndi McMahon cyndi.mcmahon@gordon.edu

FAITH + IDEAS = Written exclusively by Gordon faculty members and administrators, Faith + Ideas = is a regular column exploring relevant issues and intellectual interests for our community as well as the broader culture. Faith + Ideas = is emailed every other Wednesday to friends, media and community members.

Editor: Jo Kadlecek jo.kadlecek@gordon.edu

FACULTY CENTRAL Celebrates the contributions, research and publications of Gordon’s talented faculty. It includes a calendar of who will be traveling when and where to various conferences or events; links to newly published articles and reviews; and regular excerpts and ideas from faculty across disciplines.

Faculty Central keeps you up to date on the latest scholarly activity of Gordon’s professors. Editor: Jo Kadlecek jo.kadlecek@gordon.edu

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www.gordon.edu/about/publications

IN EACH ISSUE

bp

Story bryan parys ’04 Illustration Stephen Dagley ’08

INSTALLATION 11: THE INITIAL PROBLEM I once paid $30 dollars for a T-shirt. This isn’t like me. As a good New Englander, if I can’t get it at a thrift store on clearance, plus the storewide sale price, then I’ll happily don my city basketball league shirt I’ve had since fourth grade.

And yes, it still fits perfectly.

It took three visits to the shop, repeated pleas to my wife (who, to be fair, said I should get it from the beginning) and everything short of a prayer meeting to get me to buy the riche tee. But I finally caved. I had to—it had my initials emblazoned on the front. And on top of that, the script was in the blessed, sans-serif lowercase style in which I had been ending emails to friends for the last five years.

So I bought the bp tee. It felt a tad narcissistic, but it was hard to stop grinning as I walked along thinking I’d made some deeper connection with who I was simply by pulling my name over my head.

Then earlier this year these same two apparently humble letters started making headline news daily, and they weren’t in reference to my budding, illustrious literary career.

Not only did I feel I had to prematurely retire my favorite shirt, but if I wanted to end e-correspondences with my signature, “cheers, bp,” I felt obligated to add in some kind of qualifying statement like “the kind that’s pelican-friendly.” One friend responded with: “bp: oil spill-free, but still slick.”

I know I shouldn’t care about what others are doing with my name, but rather what I’m trying to do with it. Then again, should life be about making a name for yourself, or trying to squeeze into the one you’ve unwittingly been given?

In this sense, perhaps the biggest tragedy in Eden was the loss of our ability to name things—to take concepts and attributes and craft them into the perfect watchword that means one thing but points to Everything. We were separated from God, and we were separated from our names. Death, then, became the tragic misnomer—the word we weren’t supposed to know but whose name we can’t forget.

Now we live to connect our names with eternity, and daily life is the attempt to fuse our bodies with the letters chosen for us at birth, like skin trying to grow into the soul. Perhaps the closest we can get on earth is by wearing it—a threadbare T-shirt that covers the heart but can never touch it.

SO I BOUGHT THE BP TEE. IT FELT A TAD NARCISSISTIC, BUT IT WAS HARD TO STOP GRINNING AS I WALKED ALONG THINKING I’D MADE SOME DEEPER CONNECTION WITH WHO I WAS SIMPLY BY PULLING MY NAME OVER MY HEAD. I am not saying I want to live out the literal meaning of my name—which is the Celtic take on the English “Brian” and means “strong.” If you’ve seen me struggle with a jar of sauerkraut, you know this interpretation doesn’t go very far. What I mean is that true names are our watchword—our mysterious code to the Divine. Until I reach it, then, I am lowercase in search of uppercase.

I don’t know how A. J. Gordon felt about his initials or his missionary namesake Adoniram Judson. His dad was named after John Calvin, so maybe the enormous moniker “A. J.” seemed more inspiring then daunting. I imagine he spent far less time worrying about his initial implications than I do. This is probably why his are attached to our chapel at Gordon and mine to destroying the Gulf of Mexico.

But A. J. did edit a periodical called Watchword—a synonym for “password,” meaning a word that represents a specific ideology. In essence, a watchword is shorthand for who we are and what we believe—like our soul’s initials. Further, I like to think A. J. also saw the crisp, linguistic beauty in this compound word; the alliterative charge to watch our words, or keep eyes on tongues. We speak what we believe through the same organ we use to receive daily bread. We take in, we name out, and then we watch.

bryan parys doesn’t like to capitalize his name and now you know a little more about why. He holds an M.F.A. in creative nonfiction and teaches writing at the University of New Hampshire. His next expensive-but-worth-it T-shirt will come from Faith & Fortune (www.faithfortune.com)—a sweet apparel line started by two of Gordon’s swankiest graduates. bryan.parys@gordon.edu

FALL 2010 | STILLPOINT 5

STARTERS

NEWS

FEATURES

ARTICLES

ALUMNI

NEWS: ON THE GRAPEVINE

STUDENT, FACULTY AND STAFF NEWS

Photo Gabe Davis ’02

New Beginnings

After 19 years as president, Jud Carlberg has announced his retirement effective June 30, 2011.

Look for more about the substantial growth of the College during the Carlberg years, and about the contributions of both Jud and Jan, in the Spring 2011 STILLPOINT.

11,495 Hours of Community Service The Office of Community Engagement (OCE) has just turned one! Established to form an umbrella structure for the various service and justice work done by students, faculty and staff, OCE’s goal is to create, coordinate and support programs of service-learning and community outreach.

Campus groups work within mutually beneficial community-based partnerships, the majority of which are based in Lynn, with others across the North Shore and Greater Boston area.

The office includes Outreach Teams (student-led voluntary teams); Gordon in Lynn (weekly academically based service learning, primarily through the freshman Great Conversation servicelearning classes as well as some upper-

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level classes in Lynn); and College Bound (an educational/enrichment program for children in preK–7, which Gordon students run in partnership with Lynn Housing Authority). In addition, OCE promotes advocacy and awareness efforts on campus by students, faculty and staff.

“I love my job,” says Val Buchanan, director of the Office of Community Engagement and Gordon IN Lynn.

“Every day I spend time planning creative ways to connect Gordon and our North Shore neighbors to bless our area and help our students learn. This year alone over 500 students spent 11,495 hours serving the community. This kind of student involvement off campus provides incredible opportunities for our students to grow and is beneficial to various nonprofits and after-school programs all around the area.” 

Celebrating 50 Years of Science at Gordon It has been 50 years since the first science program was introduced at Gordon College. During this 2010–2011 anniversary year, the Science Division is celebrating its past while also looking to the future.

Science activities will be planned throughout the academic year, starting with a science carnival at Homecoming on October 9 and ending with a science banquet on June 25. Mark your calendars and stay tuned for more information.

If you have something you want to share about your science experience at Gordon (related to academics, faculty or classmates) or science-related work after Gordon, we’d love to hear about it. sciencestories@gordon.edu 

ON THE GRAPEVINE

Salzburg Institute Connection

IN THEIR WORDS

“Working with the Spotlight Program has allowed me to use theatre as a teaching and therapeutic tool for children with social and emotional challenges like Asperger’s, autism, and ADD. It is a rare opportunity to serve the community as an artist.”

—Alec Lewis ’11 Spotlight is a drama-based local outreach.

Gordon Alum to Serve with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries

Salzburg, Austria: the city where Mozart was born, where The Sound of Music was filmed and where one of Europe’s most prestigious theatre and music festivals is held each year.

Also home to historic monasteries and churches, Salzburg symbolizes the intersection of religious influence with artistic excellence, making it the ideal setting for Gordon College’s newest interdisciplinary program for cultural engagement.

The Salzburg Institute of Gordon College Summer School, which coincides with the famous Salzburg Festival, launches its inaugural courses July 8–August 12, 2011. Open to Christian college students from across the U.S., the Salzburg Institute Summer School is designed for undergraduates interested in music, visual arts, history, literature, German, philosophy, theatre, communication arts, and biblical studies. Students can earn up to eight undergraduate credits while participating in guided excursions throughout Salzburg as well as Vienna.

“Salzburg is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe and one of the most significant cultural centers in the world,” said Gregor Thuswaldner, associate professor of German and linguistics at Gordon and codirector of The Salzburg Institute. “It made sense to combine a quality academic program in the context of this renowned setting.”

Located near the center of Salzburg, the summer program features quality housing, exceptional faculty, artists-in-residence and cross-cultural opportunities for scholarship and interaction. The purpose of The Salzburg Institute of Gordon College is to examine how the study of artistic and cultural expressions and their intersections with Christian intellectual thought relate to contemporary issues.

“The works of many great artists and musicians in Europe have shaped both the Church and Western culture,” said Thomas Brooks, professor of music at Gordon and codirector of The Salzburg Institute. “We wanted to make these traditions accessible to American students while also hosting influential intellectuals, artists and musicians. This is an exciting academic opportunity for students to engage in the culture and broaden their understanding of the Christian faith.”

After 25 years of faithful service at Gordon College, Bob Grinnell ’81, former vice president for development, has been appointed by Ravi Zacharias International Ministries to be vice president for development in North America, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

While it’s hard to see him go, this new appointment is exciting on many levels for Bob. When asked what helped him decide on this evangelistic outreach, Bob explained, “I have enjoyed seeing the fruit of God’s hand moving in the hearts of Gordon’s friends, transforming the campus and countless lives of students and faculty.

While God clearly directed my path to Gordon, He has now called me to serve Him at the Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. Through this period my wife and I have sensed God’s leading in a remarkable way.” Even though Bob is transitioning, he and his family still plan to be involved as a “number one advocate for Gordon and its mission.”

Of Bob’s faithful work over the years President Carlberg says, “His winsome ways and enthusiasm for God’s work in the hearts and lives of Gordon students have been exemplary, and I know all Christian college presidents wish they had someone like Bob to help tell their college’s story and inspire others’ enthusiastic prayers and support.” 

www.gordon.edu/salzburginstitute 

FALL 2010 | STILLPOINT 7

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An Award-Winning Micrograph

Gordon Green Goes to Washington Gordon College students along with Professor Irv Levy, chair of the Chemistry Department, know green chemistry.

This past summer four Gordon students attended the 14th Annual Green Chemistry and Engineering Conference in Washington, D.C. Our students trained 40+ undergraduates, graduate students and even postdocs how to do green chemistry outreach, serving as workshop leaders along with other Beyond Benign Fellows from Simmons College and Suffolk University. It was an impressive collaboration of green-thinking.

Photo Seth Gerard ’12

He wasn’t so much interested in the tick as he was the microscope when junior Seth Gerard ’12 got to “bombard a parasitic arthropod with a high-intensity beam of magnetically concentrated, super-charged, subatomic particles.” As much fun as using the microscope was though, Seth was amazed at what he saw in the looking glass.

Seth was being trained by his professor, Dr. Russ Camp, emeritus professor of biology, to use the scanning electron microscope (SEM). Camp was preparing him to be student manager of the SEM lab when they chanced upon a beautiful image of a tick.

Camp was so impressed he submitted Seth’s micrograph to a photo contest with the New England Society of Microscopy while Seth was away on an overnight trip with his Field Ornithology class. The image, a micrograph picture of the deer tick spiracle, won an award. “The very idea of looking at something using electrons (which are pretty unique in their own right),” says Seth, “is brilliant, and combining that with electromagnets and ticks is just amazing.”

The microscope uses electrons focused by magnets to look at detailed structures on a microscopic level. “Instead of using light,” says Seth, “it uses electrons, which let us see much smaller structures with greater clarity and detail.”

Dr. Dorothy Boorse, associate professor of biology and chair of the Biology Department, is proud that Seth won the award. “We are excited to see the beauty of nature captured with the tools of science, and pleased that the scanning electron microscope is so valuable in our students’ education.”

But Seth’s interests in science don’t stop at the image of this deer tick. “I’m interested in anything involving blood, immunology, pathology, behavior, human physiology, anatomy, neuroscience, you name it. I spent last summer working as a phlebotomist in a lab at a local hospital, handled a lot of blood and loved it,” says Seth. “But someday I’d like to be a physician.” www.gordon.edu/academics/biology 

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“The workshop culminated with an outreach event that brought about 150 children from Washington, D.C., and the metro area into the auditorium of the National Education Association,” said Levy. “There our newly minted outreach students ran five different green chemistry hands-on activities for the children.”

All four of the chemistry students were supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation, covering their travel and registration expenses. Only 32 students from a pool of undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral students were selected to attend the prestigious ACS conference.

Photo: Gordon College outreach fellows, pictured left to right: Ben Stewart ’13, (chemistry), Annie Hsieh ’11, (mathematics), Lisa Schott ’11, (kinesiology) and chemistry/ biology double major Kristen Entwistle ’11. www.gordon.edu/greenchemistry 

ON THE GRAPEVINE

New First-Year Stats

Reczek Rocks

This year’s first-year students have come from all over the country and world. They are studying interesting things, love playing sports and represent a variety of church denominations. Check out the top five latest stats and facts for this impressive class.

TOP FIVE: STATES REPRESENTED:

Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania COUNTRIES REPRESENTED:

South Korea, Japan, Canada, Ethiopia, United Kingdom DENOMINATIONS ON CAMPUS:

Nondenominational, Baptist, Presbyterian, Evangelical Free, and a tie for number four—Roman Catholic and Assemblies of God MAJORS INCOMING STUDENTS HAVE DECLARED:

Psychology, English, Business, Biology and Creative Writing SPORTS THEY ARE PLAYING:

Soccer, Basketball, Track and Field, Tennis, Swimming

Photo Journal: Uganda 2010

Recently Stan Reczek, assistant professor of physics, took students from his geology course on a site visit of tectonic proportions. They visited Northeastern University’s Marine Biology Center—not to study marine biology but to observe a variety of geologic structures that provide clues to how this part of New England was formed.

Stan Reczek (pictured in a yellow hat) and his students studied sedimentary rock strata (limestone, siltstone and mudstone) deposited during the early Cambrian Period and containing fossils of some of the oldest shelled animals in the world. Much later, during the Permian Alleghanian orogeny (uplifting of the Appalachian Mountains), these strata were tilted by tectonic activity associated with the collision of portions of Europe and Africa with North America in the formation and then breakup of the supercontinent Pangea. 

A Variety Show for All Gordon College’s second annual benefit variety show, 255 Grapevine: An Evening with an Address and a Certain Zip, welcomed the community during Homecoming for an evening of live entertainment with a unique admission price: canned goods donated to a local food pantry.

Peter Morse ’10 created a photo journal of his travels in Uganda before graduating. To get an inside look at his semester in Africa, visit www.gordon.edu/ugandajournal. 

The show included musical talent, comedy and storytelling—drawing professional and amateur talent from all corners of campus. To see this year’s performances, go to www.gordon.edu/255grapevine. 

FALL 2010 | STILLPOINT 9

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From Florida State to Fighting Scots

BU Leisure Studies Professor Gives Personal Collection to Gordon Archives It’s about more than play—much more. In fact, the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at Gordon College has been committed to serious scholarship since it began 20 years ago. Recently, the program took another step forward when it was selected to house a generous collection of leisure studies resources.

Photo Cyndi McMahon

On July 1 Gordon hired its newest member of the coaching staff, Julie Brown. Brown comes to Gordon from Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee, where she served for four years as the director of special projects and the recruiting coordinator for the women’s basketball team. The FSU Seminoles—a nationally recognized Division 1 program—advanced to the Elite Eight round of this year’s NCAA Tournament and qualified for the Sweet 16 Tournament the past four years.

Before that Brown worked as an assistant coach at FSU, the University of Hartford, Ball State University and the University of Tulsa. With a master’s degree from seminary, she also worked as the national director of programs with Fellowship of Christian Athletes and was their network coordinator for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.

“Julie brings a passion for basketball, a desire to mentor Christian student-athletes, and an abundance of skills necessary to succeed in this highly competitive recruitment environment,” says Jon Tymann, director of Gordon athletics. “Her commitment and talent will be a real blessing for all of us at Gordon.”

Brown replaces Jeannine Cavallaro, who coached the Fighting Scots for the previous 10 seasons. The women’s basketball team opens its season November 16 at Simmons College.

“Basketball—just like any sport—is a great way to build leaders and teach young people about selflessness and personal responsibility,” Brown says. “It’s also a great opportunity to build a championship mentality, so I am excited to work with some of Gordon’s best student-athletes.”

Other new coaches recently hired include Andy Shaw ’04, who previously served as program assistant for cross country and is now the head coach. Cory Ward will head up the women’s lacrosse program. John Rypel will act as the new men’s baseball coach, and Peter Foster is the new head coach for track and field. www.gordon.edu/athletics 

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Dr. Gerald Fain of Boston University, a leading scholar in the field, chose Gordon as the recipient of his personal collection because of his relationship with Peggy Hothem, professor of leisure studies, who initiated Gordon’s program in 1990. Fain—Hothem’s dissertation advisor in graduate school—said he believed leisure studies “should always be rooted in spirituality.”

So when he retired he decided to donate his archives to Gordon. His gift includes over 400 books, resources and historical manuscripts that span the last 100 years of the recreation and leisure studies movement in the U.S. Fain admires Gordon’s approach to studying leisure since it includes the classical, philosophical and liberal arts, as well as its faith-based approach to social justice.

“Not only will this collection benefit our students, but it will also be of great service for other scholars and practitioners in the field,” said Hothem. “There’s no doubt Dr. Fain’s gift will position our library and program with a collection that equals those of other top colleges with recreation and leisure studies.” 

ON THE GRAPEVINE

Biblical Geography in the Holy Land

Faculty Books Graeme Bird, associate professor of linguistics and classics, examines early papyrus manuscripts of Homer’s Iliad in Multitextuality in the Homeric Iliad: The Witness of the Ptolemaic Papyri (Center for Hellenic Studies, 2010). These manuscripts are the oldest surviving evidence of the text of the Iliad. This book shows how they present authentic variations on the Homeric text, based on the variability that is characteristic of oral performance.

Elaine Phillips, professor of biblical studies, led a trip during the summer to the Middle East, where she and her husband, Perry, co-taught a course on biblical geography.

Working with Jerusalem University College, Phillips spent three weeks in Israel teaching a class of students from Gordon College and Indiana Wesleyan University about the geographical settings and archaeological finds associated with biblical accounts. This was followed by a two-week extension course in Jordan, taught by another expert in the field.

“Once you’ve been to these places, it changes how you read Scripture,” said Phillips. She explained that knowing the setting in which to place biblical events provides a whole new depth of understanding to familiar passages and stories.

Phillips and her husband fell in love with the area some 30 years ago, having spent three years in Jerusalem after they finished seminary in 1976. She has a great appreciation for the intense cultural collisions apparent throughout old and modern Jerusalem: Jewish, Christian and Muslim; East and West. But she also said she enjoys the opportunities Israel presents, particularly in the southern wilderness, to withdraw from all of the city hubbub and live simply for a time. In these situations it becomes easier to understand the importance of the most basic necessities of life such as water. The images of water and rocks are woven throughout the Bible because they were such a part of the existence of God’s people.

One of her favorite parts of leading these trips is being able to see so many students come into Israel with fresh wonder and excitement. “It’s great to see students experience Jerusalem for the first time, walking through and around landmarks that have been in existence for more than two millennia. After three weeks in the land, the Bible names are no longer a foreign language; they have relationships with the geography that has significantly shaped the history of biblical narratives.”

Photo: Elaine Phillips (sitting, second from left) and her students in Jerusalem. www.gordon.edu/academics/bible 

Environmental Science: Toward a Sustainable Future, 11th edition (Addison-Wesley, 2010), focuses on three major themes—sound science, stewardship and sustainability. Written by Dick Wright, emeritus professor of biology, and Dorothy Boorse, associate professor of biology, it covers energy, loss of species, and population trends in which scientific literacy is a must to understand the world.

Gadamer’s Dialectical Hermeneutics (Lexington Books, 2009) contributes to the literature on the significance of Plato for Gadamer’s hermeneutics. Lauren Swayne Barthold, associate professor of philosophy, argues for a dialectic central to Gadamer’s hermeneutics—one recalling the Platonic separation between the transcendent and sensory realms.

Barthold shows that Gadamer too insisted on the “in-between” nature of human understanding. We are finite beings always striving for infinity—that which lies beyond being. 

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Distinguished Faculty

Wilson Honored with Festschrift Collection of Essays in New Book on Abraham Marvin R. Wilson, professor of biblical and theological studies, never saw it coming. During Gordon’s 118th Commencement, his colleagues publicly surprised him with a book that honors his lifelong commitment to dialogue between Jews and Christians—just in time for his 75th birthday.

Perspectives on Our Father Abraham: Essays in Honor of Marvin R. Wilson is a collection of articles released by William B. Eerdmans Publishing. A wide range of Jewish and Christian scholars, all good friends of Wilson and experts in their fields, offered thoughtful studies related to Abraham.

Photo Dan Nystedt ’06

During this year’s 118 Commencement, two faculty members were honored for their service to the College, voted on by their colleagues and acknowledged during the graduation ceremony by Provost Mark Sargent (pictured right). th

The Senior Distinguished Faculty Award was presented to Irv Levy (pictured left)— professor of chemistry and computer science, and chair of the Chemistry Department— who has served students and colleagues in two departments since 1985. As part of his innovative leadership with green chemistry, Levy recently was elected national chair for the American Chemical Society’s Chemical Education Division.

“Irv’s endeavors have made Gordon a leader in green chemistry education, which has now won wide admiration and respect within both the academy and industry,” Sargent said.

His class, Computers and Society, is one of the main reasons students are drawn to the computer science major. “He enthusiastically engages students in professional societies and is known for making complex materials accessible, relevant and invigorating,” Sargent continued. “I’ve always admired him for his commitment to leave the world God gave us a cleaner and healthier place for the next generation.”

The Junior Distinguished Faculty Award was presented to Steve Alter, associate professor of history, who has taught at Gordon since 2000. Alter’s work includes contributions ranging from biblical historicity and biological sciences to linguistics and jazz. Most recently he received a prestigious research grant from the American Philosophical Society.

“In addition to his intellectual curiosity, Steve is greatly appreciated around campus for his conscientious teaching, his thoughtful mentoring of young scholars and his unpretentious collegiality,” said Sargent. “He is always willing to step into the leadership role that is needed, whether that means serving as moderator of the Social Science Division, as chair of the History Department, or as the creator of new courses for education majors.” Sargent continued: “In my work with him I have been grateful for his ability to balance a rigorous mind with a charitable spirit, the capacity to ask the important questions in curriculum meetings or understand when he needs to set aside some of his own priorities to assist others.” 

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“Marv’s seminal text Our Father Abraham (William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1989) has shown a generation of Christians the Jewish roots of their faith,” said Steven Hunt, associate professor of biblical studies and editor of the book. “With this new book, readers will benefit from groundbreaking studies of the patriarch in the Hebrew Scriptures, Christian Scriptures and other ancient and contemporary traditions.”

The book took three years to plan and was not easy to keep secret from Marv.

Many of the contributors were present to celebrate the award, and a book signing followed Commencement Exercises.

“This book is a rare honor only extended to the best scholars in one’s field,” said President R. Judson Carlberg. “As thousands of Gordon College students will attest, he deserved it.”

The 400-page book is divided into three sections: “Abraham in the Hebrew Scriptures”; “Abraham in the Christian Scriptures” and “Abraham and Interdisciplinary Studies: The Dialogue Continues.”

Available for purchase at the Gordon College Bookstore, at www.eerdmans.com, or on amazon.com. 

ON THE GRAPEVINE

Gordon’s Newest Faculty Build on Global Scholarship

Central South University in China, Song received her Ph.D. at the University of California, Irvine.

Jessica Ventura, Kinesiology Jessica Ventura, assistant professor of kinesiology, comes from Austin, Texas, where she recently completed her Ph.D. in mechanical engineering. Ventura hopes that through completing the fun and interesting projects she has planned, students in her classes will gain a new appreciation for how their bodies move.

Pictured seated, left to right: Susan Kim and Jessica Ventura. Standing, left to right: Jonathan Gerber, Jud Carlberg, Jan Carlberg, Kejun Song, Joyce Meeuwsen, Moises Park and Joel Boyd. 

Retiring Faculty Photo Kristin Schwabauer Rydbeck ’04

From Australia and Chile to Texas and Illinois, new faculty appointed for the 2010–2011 academic year come from all over the world, bringing distinguished scholarship and an array of cross-cultural experiences.

New faculty include: Joel Boyd, Chemistry Building on Gordon’s commitment to green chemistry, associate professor Joel Boyd comes from Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, Texas, where he’s been teaching for the past nine years.

Jonathan Gerber, Psychology Jonathan Gerber, assistant professor of psychology, joins the faculty from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, to teach research methods and social psychology.

Susan Kim, Music Violinist Susan Kim will be the newest professor in the Music Department.

In addition to training at the Juilliard School and earning a doctor of education from Teachers College, Columbia University, Kim has also performed as a soloist and orchestra member throughout the world including Germany, Japan and South Korea.

Joyce Meeuwsen, Education Joining the full-time faculty in the

Education Department as an assistant professor is Joyce Meeuwsen, who taught elementary school for nine years before completing her Ed.D. in educational leadership, policy and organizations from Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Her educational research interests include the impact of performance incentives on teacher quality, student achievement and organizational dynamics, and the intersection of policy and practice.

Moises Park, Language and Linguistics Moises Park, assistant professor of Spanish, is originally from Santiago, Chile.

As the newest member in the Department of Languages and Linguistics, Park, who just completed his Ph.D. in Latin American literature and cultures at the University of California (Davis), is also a musician, filmmaker and soccer player.

Kejun Song, Economics and Business After teaching at Wheaton College last year, Kejun Song, assistant professor of economics, will join the Economics and Business Department, one of the largest majors on campus. With her B.S. from

Ann Ferguson, professor of English (see story, page 39) Niles Logue, professor of economics and business, joined Gordon faculty in 2002 after 12 years as professor and administrator at Messiah College and many years in industry. He came as a seasoned and experienced professional, speaking with authority about both financial theory and practice.

Logue reshaped finance courses at Gordon and led in designing and establishing the finance major in the Economics and Business Department. He taught sound principles and practices, emphasized the negative impact of economic corruption on poor countries, and stressed how countries can and should regulate the finance industry.

Colleague Stephen Smith says of Niles that his record of financial predictions far exceed those of financial gurus in the media: “The Great Recession of 2008?

The third floor of Frost knew all about it in 2006 and 2007 . . . typical of Niles’ bracing, clear-eyed insights, dished out for free at department meetings and hallway meetings alike.” 

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The Ongoing Legacy of Adoniram Judson Gordon

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A. J. Gordon: A Brief Biography

A Founder’s Vision

He was born April 19, 1836, in New Hampton, New Hampshire, to devout Christian parents. Named after Adoniram Judson, a Baptist missionary to Burma, at 15 he had a conversion experience and was baptized in his father’s millstream. One year later he openly confessed in a church meeting his desire and determination to prepare for Christian ministry.

Adoniram Judson Gordon knew how important higher education was. But because of his vibrant relationship with Christ, he also believed that how a person learned could make a lasting impact on the world.

In 1856 he entered Brown University, where he met his future wife, Maria Hale. In 1860 he entered the Newton Theological Institution. Upon graduation in 1863, he accepted a call to become pastor of the Jamaica Plain Baptist Church near Boston.

After six successful years there, he accepted the pastorate of the Clarendon Street Baptist Church in Boston, the church where his ministry would have its broadest impact.

Dr. Gordon remained pastor of Clarendon Street Church for more than a quarter of a century. His many books include In Christ, The Two-Fold Life, The Ministry of the Spirit, and How Christ Came to Church. The church became one of the most active churches in America, with an outstanding effort in missions.

A. J. Gordon traveled, preached, wrote, and served with the passion of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ worldwide. In 1889 he founded the Boston Missionary Training Institute, later to become Gordon College. He continued as minister of the Clarendon Street Church until his death, due to influenza and bronchitis, on the morning of February 2, 1895. “Victory” was his last clearly audible word.

An excerpt from “Adoniram Judson Gordon 1836–1895,” on the Gordon College website. www.gordon.edu/ajgordon

So in 1889 he started a missionary training institute in Boston with a global vision, immediately enrolling not just young white men, but African Americans and women as well. The college grew not away from Jesus but toward Him, and soon it blended biblical and theological training with a fully liberal arts education that today still acknowledges learning as a gift from God. In every classroom at Gordon, Jesus is relevant. And Gordon College is not alone. As part of the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities, it is one of over 120 member institutions throughout the world that remains committed to the spiritual education of the next generation. As a result, thousands of young people today are entering their careers with a Christ-centered foundation. I have always been encouraged by the reality that so many positive contributions have been made by faithful Christians in fields such as music, science, art, journalism, politics, technology or medicine. These women and men recognized that Christ’s daily and real presence wasn’t a side note to their careers but the very reason for them. At the center of their faith there has always been a Book from which they’ve renewed their minds and sharpened their visions. And there has always been a Teacher who has made a habit of guiding His students through some of history’s most difficult periods.

An excerpt from “Teachable Moments,” in A Desperate Faith: Lessons of Hope from the Resurrection (Baker: 2010), by Jo Kadlecek, senior communications writer at Gordon. Copies of the book were given this year, due to a generous donor gift, to all incoming students.

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The Gordon DNA: Tracing Family Resemblances These nine Gordon College “family members” are living A. J. Gordon’s legacy with faithfulness and originality. Some are known to many; the influence of others is “hidden in Christ.” Their stories are intended to honor all who are part of the growing Gordon family.

1

Thelma Damon Langley ’34

2

Lillian Woodworth Aiken ’47

Thelma gave her life to Jesus Christ in high school and knew

Lillian came to Gordon College seeking to deepen her faith

even then she wanted to be prepared to serve. Gordon College

and broaden her intellectual horizons. The result was a Harvard

was the obvious choice, one she’s never regretted.

doctorate and an adventurous career as a philosophy professor.

3

Melville Stewart ’58

4

Mark Shaw ’73

Fifty-two years after graduating from Gordon, with 19 books to

Mark Shaw, a missionary and scholar, believes that the real

his credit and five years of travel to China as visiting professor,

emerging church is “a wildly global and culturally pluralistic one,

Mel Stewart believes God was opening doors all along.

which moves us toward the vision of 1 Corinthians 12.”

5

6

Patrick Gray ’92

Kirsten Heacock Sanders ’05

For Patrick Gray, the “Field of Dreams” model of evangelism

As a Ph.D. student in theology, Kirsten identifies strongly with the

(“If you build it, they will come”) is dead. So he’s practicing new

monastic principle of “love of learning and the desire for God.”

models of reaching out to people in postmodern times.

It’s a principle she began to understand as a student at Gordon.

7

Prashan DeVisser ’08

8

Rachel ’11 and Joshua ’11 Bell

Active in bringing peace to his home country of Sri Lanka,

The Bell twins, from Harare, Zimbabwe, both find Gordon

Prashan plans to further equip himself by pursuing advanced

rigorous in ways that stretch their thinking. Both current A. J.

study in foreign policy and conflict resolution.

Gordon Scholars, they intend to return to Zimbabwe someday.

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Thelma Damon Langley ’34 Gordon’s oldest living alumna is a true daughter of A. J. Gordon.

Still Serving after All These Years Five years ago Thelma Langely published a book of children’s poems and limericks. Now she’s working on a young adult novel to round out her writing career and global ministry, which includes five books on church life and mission trips to Central and South America, Africa, Europe and the former Soviet Union.

When they graduated in 1934 with theology degrees, Thelma and Abner prepared for full-time ministry. Thelma got a job as a “Christian worker” at Clarendon Baptist Church, while Abner became an ordained Baptist minister, earning a master’s degree from Boston University and helping youth at Tremont Temple.

Not bad for someone who turned 100 years old in November.

But she insists that 100 feels like every other age. “Life goes on just the same. I stopped worrying a long time ago, because my husband, Abner, sat me down one day and told me I had to stop worrying and start trusting.”

In 1936 they married, joined forces in ministry and moved to Novia Scotia. Eventually he became chair of the Canadian Baptist Foreign Mission Board (and president of Acadia Divinity College in Nova Scotia). After that Thelma accompanied him on mission trips around the world, helped raise four children, and wrote scores of church plays for youth, as well as her Sunday school and missions books. She’s credited with starting the first Sunday school for mentally handicapped children in North America.

Abner was the “young handsome Canadian” Thelma Irene Damon met during their studies at Gordon College in the 1930s, when it was still on the Fenway in Boston. When asked why she’d chosen to study at Gordon, she said, “Gordon was a Christian school. I’d given my heart to Jesus in high school and knew then I wanted to work for Him.” Thelma recorded in her class history: “It didn’t seem possible that those four happy years had come to a close. . . . Now the time had come for us to separate, yet not really separate either, for being in the service of the King had brought us into a closer circle of fellowship than we had ever dreamed of, a nearness which can only be made real as we earnestly work for the cause of Jesus Christ, whether it be in obscure places, in the busy city or in other lands. We have become ‘Venturers with Christ.’”

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“Each of us has benefited from her unquestioning love,” says her daughter Miriam. “And she extends that love to all people.”

After Abner died in 1987, Thelma continued to live at home, watching their family grow to eleven grandchildren and fifteen great-grandchildren, all of whom she has held and blessed. When she visited Gordon a few years ago, she was impressed Gordon was “still going strong. With so many students at such a small school, training to be Christian leaders—that’s wonderful.”

2

Lillian Woodworth Aiken ’47 Lillian Aiken’s 1947 valedictory address was faithful to A. J. Gordon’s founding vision, and still compelling 53 years later.

A Powerful Gospel As a new Christian with a desire to grow in Christ and broaden her intellectual horizons, Lillian (Woodworth) Aiken enrolled at Gordon College in 1943, where she studied philosophy under Edward John Carnell, a distinguished Christian apologist and philosopher of religion. Carnell encouraged Lillian to apply to Harvard (Radcliffe for women at the time), where she was accepted and did doctoral work in philosophy. At that time philosophy was a male-dominated field, so Lillian’s success in securing a teaching fellowship and a Ph.D. were significant achievements for a woman (her dissertation, Bertrand Russell’s Philosophy of Morals, was published by Humanities Press in 1963).

In 1949 Lillian married Henry David Aiken, then professor of philosophy at Harvard University and distinguished author of many works on ethics and aesthetics. Lillian taught at Wellesley College from 1955 until 1963, when she moved to Maine to launch the fledgling philosophy curriculum and department at Nasson College in Springvale. In 1969 she received the George Nasson Award for distinguished service.

After the school closed in 1984, she taught in the Adult Education Division of the University of Southern Maine until her retirement.

As Class of 1947 valedictorian, Lillian gave a Commencement address. Her son, David, saved a typewritten copy of it. In the address, Lillian begins by referring to herself, tongue-incheek, as a “mere girl.” But the address itself is a stirring call to her fellow graduates to seek a “vibrant understanding” of

the “glorious background of our Christian faith”: The early apostles were warned not to preach Christ Jesus and Him crucified, but we read in Acts 5:42, “Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.” They faced death rather than give up their stand for Christ.

How many of you can say in no uncertain terms, “I know whom I have believed . . .?” Is your conception of the Christian faith clear and distinct? The great thinkers of philosophy have a well-formulated, logical system of truth. As Christians we need to be able to give a reason for the faith that is within us. We must stand fast in our convictions. Let us say with certainty that we know whom we have believed and let the conviction ring clear and true so that it will call others to the truth of Christ.

Among her many hobbies, Lillian (pictured above with her husband, Henry, and son, David) enjoys gardening, animals and collecting antiques. She currently resides in a long-term healthcare facility in Saco, Maine.

David Aiken, who assisted with this story, is a professor of philosophy at Gordon. His academic interests were sparked at an early age by his philosophy-professor parents. He and his wife, Beckie, live in Beverly and are members of Christ Church of Hamilton and Wenham. david.aiken@gordon.edu

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3

Melville Stewart ’58 A philosophy major pursues excellent adventures in faith and science during five years in the Chinese “Ivy League.”

Of Superstrings and Stem Cells Back in 1958, when he was a senior philosophy major at Gordon studying under Lloyd Dean, Grady Spires and Donald Tweedie, Melville Stewart never dreamed that 50 years later he’d be a Templeton visiting philosopher at five of China’s top universities—or that he’d be author/editor of 19 books, 17 of them still in print.

The most recent of these, Science and Religion in Dialogue (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), grew directly out of those five years in China, as Mel and many other philosophers and scientists from North America and China wrestled with issues including Big Bang cosmology, evolution, intelligent design, and the God gene hypothesis. Stem cell research, bioethics and neuroscience were also explored, along with topics that delve into the deeper realm of physics, such as the general and special theories of relativity, dark energy, dark matter, the multiverse hypothesis and superstring theory.

The two volumes of Science and Religion in Dialogue record a number of remarkable East-West encounters. “I’m utterly convinced that God was opening doors,” Mel says. It was a different sort of mission field than he might have envisioned back in the 1950s as a Gordon student on the Fenway. But it became clear that his vocation was to bear witness to his faith in the academy, in the international arena of ideas.

Along with his wife of 50 years, Donna, Mel visited a list of universities that comprise a Chinese “Ivy League,” beginning in 2005 with Wuhan University in Wuhan, a city to the south

of Beijing. After a successful first conference, Mel proposed four more years of the series to the Templeton Foundation.

In 2006 Fudan University in Shanghai hosted the series. In 2007 Shandong University in Jinan was center stage. The Stewarts’ next stay, in 2008, was at the Shao Yuan Hotel at Peking University, China’s model for scholarship and research. The final series was held in 2009 at Tsinghua University, viewed as China’s “MIT.” “The Chinese term for dialogue, duihua, suggests a ‘conversation, a fitting responsiveness between two persons,’” Mel writes, in his “Introduction to Volume One.” “This sense of dialogue . . . is a factor that helps promote a central end contemplated in the Science and Religion Series. . . . It has been refreshing and encouraging from the start to observe that each of the series held in China has evidenced this sort of response—faculty and students listening to each presenter with the attitude that the presentation deserves to be heard.”

Though he and Donna have lived through many cultural changes and challenges, Mel insists that their core sense of mission has remained steady. “The task of giving a reason for the hope within us has always served as a biblical mandate.” he says. “We just responded to opportunities to share our faith.”

Melville Stewart, M.Div., Ph.D., is professor of philosophy emeritus at Bethel University in Saint Paul, Minnesota. stemel03@yahoo.com

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4

Mark Shaw ’73 Decades on the mission field, coupled with solid theological understanding, led to an important new study of global Christianity.

The Real “Emerging Church” Ask a typical North American what they think of when they hear the word revival and most will tell you about sawdust trails, 19th-century camp meetings, Pentecostal crusades in the 1920s, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker or the like. For most of us revivals are an American folk ritual about as relevant to the 21st-century world as an old John Wayne western. People in North America don’t really believe they happen anymore, no matter what they may have heard about the Toronto Blessing or the Brownsville Revival in Florida.

What I am arguing, in Global Awakening: How 20th Century Revivals Triggered a Christian Revolution, is that revivalism is bigger than ever and busy all over the world. I see it as charismatic people movements seeking to change their world through the translation of Christian truth and the transfer of power. These grassroots movements are a combination, therefore, of a spiritual factor (the Spirit of God); a people factor (the transfer of power to the marginalized); a truth factor (the application of the gospel to the pressing questions of a people group and culture); and a justice factor (a mission to change one’s world in response to the gospel). These movements are messy to look at when you run into them in real life, but at their core are these key elements.

Globalization is a buzzword. Everybody uses the term, but not everyone agrees what it means. For many it is an evil force that is destroying local economies and culture as the rich West eats up global resources and monopolizes markets.

For others, myself included, globalization is not just a capitalistic steamroller from the West but a two-way global highway with heavy traffic in both lanes. The new studies about African Christianity migrating to the Global North

show that globalization is less a conspiracy and more an opportunity for resurgent religion and revived Christianity to meet a desperate need in the spiritual wastelands of the Western world.

The current global awakening needs to shake us from our cultural isolation and obsessions as North American Christians. Much has been written about the emerging church movement in North America. I think there are many positive aspects of this movement. What the current global awakening teaches me, however, is that the real emerging church is a wildly global and culturally pluralistic one which moves us toward the vision of 1 Corinthians 12—a body of Christ with many parts, each recognizing its global interdependence. The message of global revivals is that God is internationalizing His people, and we stand at an Ephesians moment (to use Andrew Walls’ expression) in which the cultural, geographic and political barriers are breaking down in light of the gospel.

The current global revivals are not ends in themselves. Their ultimate significance will be seen in multicultural missional churches that seek to change their world in the power of the Spirit and in partnership with the mission of God.

Mark Shaw ’73, M.Th., Th.D., is director of the World Christianity Program at Africa International University in Nairobi, Kenya. He is the author of books on church history and global Christianity, including, most recently, Global Awakening: How 20th Century Revivals Triggered a Christian Revolution (InterVarsity Press, 2010).

Mark and his wife, Lois, reside in Kenya, where they have lived and worked for 25 years. markshaw2020@gmail.com

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Beyond the “Field of Dreams” It’s funny to think of myself as an evangelist. I guess I’m outgoing; I did theatre in high school and college but always expected people to come to me, not the other way around.

I think it’s clear the vision of the church as the “Field of Dreams” (“If you build it, they will come”) is dead. We in the church have to patiently, creatively and actively reengage our local community of faith with the work of evangelism. What I keep coming back to is, if I can do it anyone can. There’s not a whole lot of training involved. Evangelism is simply sharing what’s important to you (a personal relationship with Jesus Christ), and inviting people to the place where that relationship is revealed and deepened (the church).

I recently heard the statistic that 95 percent of people go to church because they were invited. So often in the church we assume an advertisement in the paper or a post on Facebook qualifies as an invitation. Yes and no, but more no than yes.

There’s something about the personal invite, the face-to-face encounter with one another—often very uncomfortable for many of us because it’s so personal. But God has become very personal in Jesus Christ; it’s no surprise to me that the most effective means of evangelism would involve getting personal.

At Christ Church we are getting personal in a couple of ways. One is through a program called Ockham’s Kegger (as to the name, it’s a long story—but I do think William of Ockham would approve), which is based on the Theology on Tap program developed by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago in 1982.

Our current series is on The Seven Deadly Sins—at the American Legion—which encompasses four weeks of thoughtful presentations with Q and A and a chance for people at our church to invite their friends on a Monday night to a program sponsored by a church where the whole event is not “church-y.” It’s a chance for those folks to realize Christians don’t have two heads, and like to have fun just as they do.

5

Patrick Gray ’92 An Episcopal priest creatively re-envisions the important work

The other way we’re getting personal is knocking on doors. I publicly committed to my congregation that I would knock on at least 1,000 doors before the end of September, inviting neighbors to come visit us, and visit us soon. Because, at least the way I read Scripture, Jesus is typically doing one of two things: He’s either on a journey or He’s at a party. Come journey with us as we journey with Jesus. And the place you can do that is also where the party is, down at 149 Asbury Street. I hope to see you there.

of evangelism.

Rev. Patrick Gray ’92 is priest-in-charge at Christ Church (Episcopal), South Hamilton, Massachusetts. He and his wife, Naomi, have two children. fathergray@gmail.com

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6

Kirsten Heacock Sanders ’05 A young theologian pursues a subject close to A. J. Gordon’s heart: studying God and loving God—and why the two are inseparable.

Love of Learning, Desire for God As a Ph.D. student at Emory, I’m studying the writings of medieval contemplative women alongside the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas. I am intrigued by how education transitioned from a monastic to a university setting during the Scholastic era, and by the way theology became mostly something that was taught as opposed to practiced. When the teaching of theology shifted away from the monastery (where the aim of such teaching was a closer union with God) to the university (where learning theology became more strictly an academic endeavor), there was also a change in the way theology was written. This shift in particular is of interest to me.

My Gordon education instilled in me a strong sense of “vocation,” though I admit I am still coming to terms with what that word means. The best definition I can muster has some monastic overtones. By focusing on community and growth in wisdom, I can serve those around me more faithfully. It has been made all the more complicated by the addition of our daughter to our family last winter. Now I struggle not only to trace historical and theological developments in my writing but also to translate and model them for her.

As Jean Leclercq has famously written, monastic spirituality was characterized by “love of learning and the desire for God.” My Gordon education was part of the reason I identify so strongly with this reading of monasticism. As I lecture to M.Div. students or spend time with my daughter, my goal is to communicate the significance of life with God for this life, and for the development of the virtues in our communities of learning and living. Gordon set me on my path to thinking carefully about the Christian tradition, and for this I am grateful.

Kirsten is interested in questions of theological hermeneutics and women’s theological writing. She hopes she can continue to allow the introduction to biblical studies she received at Gordon to inform her work in constructive theology. kheacock@gmail.com

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Prashan DeVisser ’08 Prashan’s passion for peace and reconciliation is a key part of the Gordon “DNA.”

Reconciliation in War’s Aftermath We will not let the hatred of the past control the present and destroy our future. (from Sri Lanka Unites motto) Maybe it was his time spent in college getting to know senators. Or the influence of a professor who drove his passion to end poverty. Or maybe it was being born into civil war and knowing he could make a difference. Prashan De Visser ’08 had a burning passion in college to bring peace to Sri Lanka—and he’s following that call now in radical ways.

In 2006 Prashan created Sri Lanka Unites (SLU), a youth movement in postwar Sri Lanka. When the war ended in 2009, opportunities abounded. “It provided an amazing chance to create an inclusive and united Sri Lankan identity.

After three decades of war, our country needed a strong civil movement for reconciliation,” he says.

SLU’s official launch in 2008 united Sri Lankan youth—one voice for transformation, reconciliation and a new future.

Prashan hosts Good Morning, Sri Lanka, a TV show he uses to promote reconciliation on a national platform. He also hosted live election results for the first postwar presidential election as well as a series called All about Success, a closer look at prominent personalities who influence Sri Lanka.

SLU’s work spans the country with dramatic impact and purpose. Annual reconciliation conferences hone leadership skills in high school students, increasing understanding between formerly opposing groups and providing infrastructure for less privileged schools. It creates academic materials and works among war-affected communities of major ethnic groups. SLU influences local and national

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leaders to respect diversity and promote peace and amending injustices. It hopes to represent a future Sri Lanka—a country united in spite of diverse ethnic and religious groups.

Doug Birdsall of Lausanne International, Gary Parrett of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and Paul Borthwick of Gordon College—all played a part in pointing Prashan to Gordon, where his passions for international foreign policy and political affairs were fostered. John Mason, emeritus professor of economics, encouraged him to serve others and eradicate poverty. “Dr. Mason is a true economist,” says Prashan, “but an even truer follower of Christ. So many of my professors were this way—they were intellectuals, but their heart and passion to serve God and students was unbelievable.” Other professors—Elaine Phillips, David Lumsdaine, Bruce Webb, Marv Wilson, Ruth MelkonianHoover, Stephen Smith and Dean of Chapel Greg Carmer— had an impact on him too.

Prashan has had unique opportunities to meet high-profile people and influence a nation. His next step will be to pursue a master’s degree in foreign policy and conflict resolution and reconciliation, taking those opportunities to the next level.

prashan@srilankaunites.org www.srilankaunites.org srilankaunites.blogspot.com

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Rachel ’11 and Joshua ’11 Bell Two A. J. Gordon Scholars from Zimbabwe are learning to serve.

Training for Mission in the 21st Century When twins Rachel and Joshua Bell began looking for colleges in the U.S. from their hometown of Harare, Zimbabwe, they had no intention of sticking together. After scouring the websites of many Christian colleges, they separately settled on Gordon, where they were both accepted as A. J. Gordon Scholars.

her thinking. “I’m being exposed to a wider world and a variety of different opinions and beliefs within Christianity,” she says. “I’ve been forced to confront the good and bad of humanity’s history and future—my history and future. I’m not only learning, but unlearning too.” Each year at Gordon she’s participated in Harvard University’s Model United Nations.

“I liked how at Gordon academic excellence was equally as important as Christian character,” says Josh, who’s majoring in biblical and theological studies. Last year he completed the Jerusalem and Athens Forum (JAF) honors program.

“JAF instilled in me a desire to learn; but more than that, a desire to learn properly through comparing texts and thinking critically,” he says. “Augustine as a thinker has come to influence me more than any other writer. After reading Confessions and City of God, I have gone on to study his work more closely in Oxford.”

While the Bells appreciate the opportunities, adjusting to the abundance of life in America hasn’t always been easy.

“When we left Zimbabwe, food was very precious,” says Josh.

“Here in America people are oftentimes materialistic and wasteful.” Still, the lessons learned in America have inspired both Josh and Rachel to return to Zimbabwe and bring about restoration—Rachel in government and Josh as a teacher of theology.

Rachel, a Pike Scholar majoring in international development, finds Gordon rigorous in ways that stretch

rachel.bell@gordon.edu joshua.bell@gordon.edu

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Photo Essay: A. J. Gordon’s Seven Themes Today Seven recurring themes in A. J. Gordon’s life and vision—servant leadership, global missions, worship, social justice, education, evangelism and theology—are being celebrated by the College during this 175th anniversary year of his birth. STILLPOINT contacted alumni and student photographers with a challenge: Show STILLPOINT readers, in compelling imagery, ways A. J. Gordon’s vision is being realized in the ongoing life of the College, both on and off campus.

These are a selection of the many fine responses to the assignment we received.

SERVANT LEADERSHIP

S ERVANT L EAD ERS H I P

Planting Seeds Photo by Abby Carlson ’12

Students from Gordon College were among the first Westerners to make contact with several remote Senegalese villages four years ago.

This past summer another group from Gordon returned. Molly Ponzio ’13 was among them.

The group traveled from village to village, making friends with the Senegalese and running vacation Bible school clubs for the children.

Along the way they learned a lot about Senegal, Islam and African traditions.

“Pastor Pierre—the pastor of one of the villages—and I planted this mango tree together,” says Molly. “He wanted each of us to plant a tree, knowing it was symbolic of our purpose in life— planting seeds in people’s hearts.”

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Icons Alex Rocklein ’09

GLOBAL MISSIONS

GLOB AL MISSIONS

Feeding Little Ones Photo by Jesse Poole ’11

Emmanuel “Manny” Arango ’10 (pictured) and Jesse Poole ’11 spent time in Kayamandi, a township in the Western Cape region of South Africa.

Partnering with Kuyasa Horizon Empowerment, a relief organization, Manny and Jesse helped feed 300 kids.

WORSHIP

WORS H I P

At Bethel Chapel Photo by Mark Connor ’11

Tucked behind the back side of Frost, along an overgrown and forgotten walkway, this tiny, unofficial chapel provides a place to worship, rest and find solace. It’s where Mark Connor ’11, like many other Gordon students, likes to go when he needs to clear his head and spend time with God. The paper scraps on this shelf are students’ prayer requests.

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SOCIAL JUSTICE

S OC I AL J UST I C E

Guatemalan Family Photo by Scotland Huber ’09

Scotland Huber ’09 didn’t know that signing up for a mission trip to Guatemala would change his outlook on poverty. But when his team did house visits in Amatitlan, Scotland met this family, and his eyes were opened.

“Somehow taking them a bag of food and praying with them didn’t seem to solve the bigger problem: Is this bag of food just putting a Band-Aid on a larger problem?”

EDUCATION

ED UC AT I ON

In the Classroom Photo by Gabe Davis ’02

Sara (Lamb) Doughty ’04 is one of many alumni who began teaching careers at North Shore Christian School (NSCS) in Lynn, Massachusetts. Gordon’s education alumni continue to have an impact on area schools, both public and private.

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EVANGELISM

EVANG ELIS M

Rubble Photo by Michela KendrickTedesco ’13

This photo of Matt Jass ’13 conveys, in symbolic form, a familiar challenge: how to come to terms with disorder and destruction in the world without being overcome by it? Gordon students often feel helpless in the face of great need. Christlike living “in the lives of others” is a lesson learned in stages.

THEOLOGY

T HEOLOGY

Sanctuary Photo by Monika Krahn ’13

The A. J. Gordon Memorial Chapel is a set-apart place where thousands of students have sung, prayed, worshiped and, at times, wrestled with God. Many have met Him in fresh ways in the words of a speaker, professor or fellow student, and come to know more fully what it means to live as beloved children of God.

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Questions for Adoniram Judson Gordon This virtual interview with Gordon’s founder was created by matching our questions for A. J. Gordon with passages in several of his many books on the Church, on mission, and life in the Spirit.

STILLPOINT: You are known for many things, including being the pastor of the Clarendon Street Church in Boston and revolutionizing that congregation towards enacting the works of the Holy Spirit. How would you define your work ethic in achieving this outcome, or what would you say drives you to keep up such a high energy level for your church?

Adoniram Judson Gordon: I would rather aim at perfection and miss the mark than aim at imperfection and hit the bullseye.

Christ. What can you tell Christians in this century about how this was achieved?

A. J.: Regardless of the century, whenever there’s been a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit, whether that be in a single heart or in a large group of believers, inevitably what follows is a fresh undertaking to spread the gospel among the people in the world who have not yet heard it.

SP: You have written much on the subject of evangelism and inspired many to share the gospel, giving little regard to one’s social or economic background. What’s your secret for crossing these and other boundaries?

“A man was once so holy that the neighbors called him the ‘Godintoxicated man.’ We want a Godintoxicated Church.”

SP: This seems like good practical advice to live by.

A. J.: Nothing’s really practical except what’s spiritual, and nothing is spiritual unless it’s practical.

SP: Certainly from a practical point of view, your teachings were an encouragement and a call to action for many in your congregation, empowering them to live out their lives for

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A. J.: I don’t care what your occupation is—you may be a carpenter, a blacksmith, a sales associate, a business executive—your first business is to give the gospel to those who have not heard it. My hope is that we consider this our main concern in life.

SP: It could certainly be seen as one of your many main concerns.

Were you unaware of how your message affected people in your congregation and beyond?

A. J.: I don’t know about that. But I do know that if we fully serve the Lord, the majority of the good we do happens in such a way that we are unaware of it happening. Service overflows from us.

SP: How would you say people have responded to this attitude of service? Or rather, what is your vision of how the Church can truly serve others?

A. J.: Many Christians get cold warming themselves by the world’s fires. I go to Christians of wealth and ask for money, and they say, “My money is so tied up that I can’t spare it.” I want to see the Church of God able to say, “My money is so tied up that I can’t spare it for the movies or the club; it’s tied up for Jesus Christ; it’s under consecration.”

SP: Imagine if the Church gave itself over to this and other kinds of holiness. The world could be radically different if more people consecrated not only their money but their lives too.

A. J.: In Germany a man was once so holy that the neighbors called him the “God-intoxicated man.” We want a Godintoxicated Church.

SP: You have been a champion for many things, not least of all education, as evidenced by your formation of the Boston Missionary Training Institute, which today lives on as Gordon College and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. What would you say is most important for students to keep in mind as they work toward their degrees?

A. J.: You can’t grow in grace unless you become more knowledgeable; and you can’t become truly knowledgeable unless you study the Scriptures every day. The Word of God has this rare attribute of being able to minister to every element of our being, nourishing our minds and stirring up our devotion; giving us food for thought and captivating our emotions.

SP: Does it ever bother you then, when you see students sometimes sleeping in your classes?

A. J.: Sometimes we’re most awake toward God when we’re asleep toward the world.

Matt Schwabauer, the creator of this interview, is an actor, singer, writer and world traveler/explorer. His travels include a recent mission trip to Guatemala.

He graduated from Hope College in 2006, where he earned a B.A. in theatre and creative writing. He joined the Gordon community in 2007, where he serves on staff in the Design Center. matthew.schwabauer@gordon.edu A. J. Gordon’s “responses” were selected from North Field Yearbook; For Each New Day (Revell, New York, 1896); How Christ Came to Church (Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, 2010); and Grace and Glory (Howard Gannett, Boston, 1880).

Some slight modernizations in style were made to the selected passages.

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Photo Rebekah Frangipane ’11

Behind the Scenes of a Yearlong Celebration Natalie Ferjulian ’10

Over half a century has passed since Dick ’58 and Carol (Edwards) ’57 Visser graduated from Gordon. But their connection to the College continues. For many years they’ve been passionately studying the life and legacy of Adoniram Judson Gordon.

“He was a tremendous role model then and still is today,” says Dick, a graduate of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and long-time pastor of First Baptist Church in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. Since his retirement from First Baptist, Dick and Carol have held co-interim pastoral positions at three churches in New England.

“I’m forever thankful that A. J. Gordon saw women in ministry as a blessing in the church,” says Carol, who has a master’s degree in theology and is an ordained American Baptist pastor.

Further connecting the Vissers to A. J. Gordon are 10 relatives between them who have attended either the College or GordonConwell Seminary. And Carol’s father was the last pastor of Clarendon Street Baptist Church, where A. J. Gordon was pastor from 1869 to 1895.

With the Vissers at the helm, the College has set aside this academic year to commemorate A. J. Gordon’s 175th birthday and celebrate his ongoing legacy. A committee of nearly 30 people has been involved, including Tom and Jean Askew, Russ Bishop, Peter Stine, John Beauregard ’53, Scott Gibson, Jon Harrell, David Horn, and Ken ’65 and Joyce (Edwards) ’67 Wallace.

“We wanted to do something in thanks for what he’s given us,” says Dick. cvisser15370@yahoo.com

Upcoming A. J. Gordon events include: DECEMBER 11

APRIL 15, 2011

APRIL 19, 2011

Fezziwig’s Ball

Uncommon Courage, Everyday Faith

A. J. Gordon’s 175 Birthday

A. J. Gordon Family Reunion

A Leadership Symposium with leading scholars on the seven themes of A. J. Gordon

A campus-wide celebration

A celebration of A. J. Gordon’s legacy for his descendants and the Gordon community

An evening of dance and Christmas merriment from the era of A. J. Gordon Old Town Hall, Salem

Gordon College and GordonConwell Theological Seminary

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JULY 29–30, 2011 th

Gordon College

Gordon College and GordonConwell Theological Seminary

A. J. Gordon on Twitter?

Yes, the rumors are true. A. J. Gordon, the founder of our great institution, is on Twitter. “Though the words will be from A. J. Gordon, I will be the one tweeting,” says Myron Schirer-Suter, director of library services. “A. J. Gordon wrote a great deal, and the library has a wealth of material from which to pull. Although sometimes it is a challenge to fit it into 140 characters, I must admit, I enjoy the ironic preposterousness of our 19thcentury founder tweeting.” twitter.com/DrGordonTweets

Home to a Legacy The Gordon website has many downloadable resources by and about A. J. Gordon, including books, hymns, sermons and articles. www.gordon.edu/ajgordon

Many of A. J. Gordon’s original works are available in the archives of the Jenks Library at Gordon. Contact Martha Crain, College archivist for more information. martha.crain@gordon.edu 978.867.4416

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IN OUR END: IS OUR BEGINNING AND OTHER PARADOXES

Two years ago Dan Russ’ church faced a painful division. Some called it a church plant; others defined it as a church split. This is an excerpt from a talk Dan delivered to an adult education class on how church families can navigate rough waters with love and humility.

Almost 30 years ago a friend told me I must read William Bridges’ book Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes.

When Bridges—an English professor caught up in the hopes and turmoil of the 1960s—realized his own life was in flux, he went to a library to find books on the subject. To his surprise, almost nothing was being written on coping with life’s constant changes.

So Bridges did the only thing an intellectual knows to do: He organized a conference and wrote a book. Among many important insights in Bridges’ book, none is more foundational than his distinction between change and transition: It isn’t the changes that do you in, it’s the transitions. Change is not the same as transition. Change is situational: 34 STILLPOINT | FALL 2010

the new site, the new boss, the new team roles, the new policy. Transition is the psychological process people go through to come to terms with the new situation. Change is external, transition is internal.

ENDINGS, THE NEUTRAL ZONE, AND BEGINNINGS

Transitions start with endings: letting go of the old while starting the new.

The second phase of working through transitions is what Bridges calls the neutral zone: “an empty or fallow time in between” endings and the new beginning.

This period is marked by confusion in the most literal sense. The past is not past, and the new beginning has not yet happened. The final phase of transitions is new beginnings: “the reorientation

and renewal of our lives.” So we need to be willing to grieve endings, stay in the neutral zone to learn all we can, and then move on.

But Bridges cautions that the human tendency, and especially that of us Americans, is to dismiss the past, leap over the neutral zone, and embrace the new beginnings without honoring the past or learning anything from it. “Move on” is the mantra of this mentality and a great temptation for many of us, including me.

WE ARE NOT ALONE

As in all such matters, we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses revealed in the Scriptures and witnessed to in the history of the Church. By the grace and power of God and obedience and leadership of Moses, Israel’s change

Story Dan Russ

was simple. They left Egypt and slavery for the Promised Land and freedom. But they discovered in the wilderness that they couldn’t get Egypt and the slave mentality out of their minds and hearts.

They were free outwardly but had to learn to be free inwardly.

They found themselves longing for the predictability and even comforts of Egypt.

To paraphrase Tocqueville’s description of many American immigrants, they knew

recall, the Council decided that Gentiles did not have to conform to Jewish Law and custom in order to be Christians.

They had learned the profound lesson that the neutral zone of the missionary experiences of Paul and Peter, among others, had taught them. They would still work through the implications and ambivalences of this decision for another generation, but they were unabashed about their conviction that faith in the

who love Him and are called according to His purpose.”

The unity our Lord prayed for and which we are called to maintain—if we take our cues from the Acts of the Apostles and the epistles of those early Church founders— looks less like manmade councils and harmonious ecclesiastical hierarchies than like Spirit-led relationships which may take us in very different directions to preach one Lord and one baptism. And

Transitions start with endings: letting go of the old while starting the new. what they wanted to be free from but not what they wanted to be free for.

A generation had to die off before they could learn the lessons of the past and move on to the Promised Land. They were given the Law through Moses to map the journey both before and after the 40 years in the wilderness, but it would take many years for them to internalize that Law and live into the shalom God intended for them. The map would guide them, but the map is not the journey.

EARLY CHURCH UNITY . . .

Likewise, the Book of Acts describes the journey of the early Church from Jewish cult to a new humanity: neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female.

But this was not an easy transition for those mostly Jewish apostles who would have to give up the temple, be thrown out of the synagogues, and leave behind many of their sacred rituals and traditions. They lost much and grieved that loss.

Indeed, much of the Acts of the Apostles describes the tensions between Jewish and Gentile Christians. Luke describes in chapter 15 the great turning point— the Jerusalem Council and the division between Paul and Barnabas. As you

resurrected Christ was the sole basis of salvation and that salvation was for all human beings. . . . AND DISUNITY

Now, lest we rhapsodize too quickly about the unity of the Church, immediately following this decision and the Council, Paul and Barnabas had a “sharp disagreement” over taking John Mark on the second missionary journey because he had deserted them on the first journey.

Paul said absolutely not; Barnabas, the son of encouragement, said absolutely yes. So they split, each taking his own cohort with him.

And Luke does not say one was right and the other wrong. We are left to infer that each had his own calling and that God used this sharp disagreement to multiply the gospel and grow the Church. The only postscript in Scripture actually comes from Paul’s second letter to Timothy, written, we think, six months before Paul’s execution. While under house arrest he writes, “Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry” (2 Timothy 4:11). This is a splendid example of Paul’s earlier affirmation in Romans that “God works all things together for good for those

the post-biblical history of the Church confirms this same diverse unity with the tensions among the Church Fathers, the divisions between the Orthodox and Roman Communions, the tensions within Christendom, and, of course, the Reformation and all of its streams.

The Church is, after all, a divine comedy—a motley crew of graced sinners who are becoming, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Christlike. It is often slow and messy, this becoming like Him.

Dan Russ, Ph.D., is academic dean at Gordon. He and his wife, Kathy, live in Danvers and have four grown children and four growing grandchildren. Dan is the author of Flesh and Blood Jesus: Learning to Be Fully Human from the Son of Man. dan.russ@gordon.edu

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ESSAY: LOVE AND ATTENTION JERUSALEM AND ATHENS FORUM

Story Lindsey Reed ’12

love. According to Weil, even more than intelligence, attention is essential to love: Not only does the love of God have attention for its substance, the love of our neighbor, which we know to be the same love, is made of this same substance. Those who are unhappy have no need for anything in this world but people capable of giving them their attention. The capacity to give one’s attention to a sufferer is a very rare and difficult thing; it is almost a miracle; it is a miracle.

Every year STILLPOINT and the Jerusalem and Athens Forum (JAF) honors program sponsors an essay contest for current students in the program and JAF alumni who are still at Gordon. Lindsey Reed’s essay “Love and Attention” was this year’s winner.

Deeds without knowledge are blind, and knowledge without love is sterile. . . .

Intelligence and love are not in separate compartments: love is rich in intelligence and intelligence is full of love.

From Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict X As I think of the most loving people in my life, I do not think of the Latin word for love, caritas. Most of these are ordinary people for whom the simple word “love” fits more closely.

I think of Mrs. Farley, an elegant 80-year old who lives at the retirement home where I worked last summer. My job was often stressful and unpleasant: The dining room was understaffed; the kitchen felt like an oven. I’d rush around trying to please 50 very-hard-to-please customers.

Food was rejected as too hot or too cold; forks and teacups handed back to me if they were hard to handle.

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In the midst of this was Mrs. Farley.

I’d rush to her table, but she was never in a hurry. “How are you?” she’d greet me, beaming, shaking her costumejewelry earrings. “Are you having a good afternoon?” The words flowed together like a song. I’d lean in close, taking her hand, talking about the menu. Mrs. Farley never had much interest in the menu— she was so easy to please, and besides, dementia made the menu hard to grasp.

She’d interrupt my talk of roast chicken and asparagus with compliments: “You have beautiful skin, dear,” and “What a pretty shirt.”

Love, then, is the capacity to attend to another. Academic pursuits are helpful in developing love. We gain a capacity to focus on the needs of others by focusing on an equation or by straining to write a sentence. But one day my academic pursuits will be forgotten.

While intelligence may be a means, attention—which is love—is the end: “The greatest of these is love.” What is important above all is my capacity to look attentively at someone and to ask “How are you,” or to almost sing “Did you have a good afternoon?”

Lindsey Reed is a junior English

Does “love is rich in intelligence” imply that intellectuals have a greater ability to love? Were Mrs. Farley’s loving actions “blind”?

major from Ottawa, Canada.

Simone Weil has helped me better understand the place of intelligence in

Sarah Grimes, a senior sociology

Honorable mentions were awarded to Hilary Sherratt, a senior Pike Scholar from Rowley, Massachusetts; and major from Terryville, Connecticut.

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FOUR NEW FACES: PROMOTING GORDON’S MISSION IN THE DEVELOPMENT OFFICE

Photos Rebecca Powell

spokesperson for the cause. Knowing the cause at Gordon is Christian education makes it easy. It’s something I’m passionate about.”

BRAD LESTAGE, SENIOR MAJOR GIFTS OFFICER

Recently four new employees were added to Gordon’s Development Office. Here’s a bit about each of them.

SANDY BUTTERS, VICE PRESIDENT FOR DEVELOPMENT

Sandy Butters’ (pictured top left) new position isn’t only a strategic appointment for Gordon College. It’s a homecoming.

Butters first came to Gordon as a transfer student in 1991, having learned about the College from a faculty member who was serving as the interim pastor at her church. The encouragement and instruction she says she received from her professors and classmates uniquely equipped her for her career. She majored in political studies, graduated with honors in 1993, and went to work for Massachusetts General Hospital in its Office of General Counsel.

The experience she gained at Mass General and later with a New Yorkbased publishing company impressed former professor Bill Harper, and when in 1998 he learned of a new position in Development at Gordon, he encouraged her to apply. Butters was director of

the annual fund for five years before leaving for Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, where she became the director of parent giving with a major gifts portfolio.

Currently she oversees a staff of 12 who represent alumni and parent relations, and annual, major and planned giving programs, including new faces Elsje Zwart, Brad Lestage and Fred DiStefano.

ELSJE ZWART, MAJOR GIFTS OFFICER

Elsje Zwart (pictured bottom right) grew up in Canada and spent many years working for profit and nonprofit organizations, her most recent as vice president of operations at a video conferencing company and as a consultant for business leaders. Her undergraduate degree is in political science and her master’s of science in management. She is excited to be part of a community of like-minded believers. “Believing in the mission is critical to being a good

Before Gordon, Brad Lestage ’92 (pictured bottom left) had devoted much of his life to working at the United Way, where he developed relationships with large companies and donors, managed the Chairman’s Division volunteer team, and achieved record increases at various companies. Before that he spent nine years in the psychology and social work fields. He graduated from Gordon with a degree in economics and has his master’s in psychology. Brad, married to Kelly (Bergeron) ’95, says, “I thank God for the opportunity to work at Gordon. I feel so blessed, and hope and pray God will use me to help glorify Him and expand His Kingdom.”

FRED DISTEFANO, DEVELOPMENT GIFTS OFFICER: SPECIAL GIFTS

Fred DiStefano ’10 (pictured top right) grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts, and attended Lexington Christian Academy, where his golf coach, John Cissel ’85, encouraged him to go to Gordon.

During college he participated in various internships, including one with the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington, D.C., and graduated with a degree in economics. “Serving Gordon is rewarding because I believe in its mission,” says Fred. “As a student I had immense spiritual and intellectual support and want future students to experience the same things I did. Developing relationships with others who love Gordon is an exciting way to give back.”

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WITH CHILD: PREGNANCY

AND THE INCARNATION

Story Agnes Howard Art Bruce Herman

meet the baby in quiet moments all the time; your days and nights are shaped by the presence of this houseguest.

At many points in our lives we need to obey the admonition of Jesus—that the one who receives a child in His name receives the Lord Himself; but here it’s pretty literal. We’re not just in the abstract, being asked by God to receive a child, but in a fleshly, demanding way to receive a particular child. “Here, Jackie, meet Caedmon: he’s a very special boy, made in My image; shelter and feed him.”

Miriam, Virgin Mother triptych (detail), 2008

In the 2008 film Baby Mama, a successful woman goes to a surrogacy agency for help in having a baby. She is taken aback when the firm’s director describes her business as a “growth market.” Clearly pregnancy can be underestimated. Is it a mere incubation of a baby? An impersonal service that could be performed by anybody, irrelevant who?

The Church says no. God’s coming to live with us as Jesus of Nazareth, born of a woman, shows us this Mary matters, and the attention the Church gives to her and to her carrying of the Christ Child, suggests that pregnancy matters too. In ancient sensibilities this was scandalous.

God, Who is holy, spirit, getting mixed up with the fleshly, the womanly?

These questions touch upon the mystery of the dual nature of Jesus as fully human and fully God. As some churchmen observed, God didn’t have to do it this way: Jesus, the eternal second person of the Trinity, could have come alive fullgrown; the second Adam, like the first Adam, coming to earth as an adult, not as a baby.

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The Church fathers found it astonishing that God—consuming fire Whom the heavens cannot contain—took Mary’s womb as a throne.

Caryll Houselander’s wonderful Advent book The Reed of God explores this theme: Working, eating, sleeping, [Mary] was forming His body from hers. . .

Walking in the streets of Nazareth to do her shopping, to visit her friends, she set his feet on the path to Jerusalem. Washing, kneading, weaving, sweeping, her hands prepared His hands for the nails. All her experience of the world around her was gathered to Christ growing in her.

In other words, Mary doesn’t just give Jesus a warm oven to gestate in; she grants Him flesh, shares her life with Him. It’s not only that the baby in the womb is special; the act of the mother carrying the baby is special.

You do not just meet your baby after he/ she is delivered—or even when you go for an ultrasound, or when the doctor lets you hear the heartbeat for the first time. You

We get to know our children as we attend to these moments, when communication is still more touch than talk. This is worth as much reflection as we can give it, for the women pregnant with new life and for all of us watching them—wife, relative, neighbor, person in the next pew—in the work God has entrusted to them, on behalf of children known before time, taking shape.

Let’s treasure these things in our hearts: the beauty of your babies, both concealed and known; and the gift of the Savior, spoken to Mary, born for our blessing.

Agnes Howard, Ph.D., assistant professor of English and history, is married to Tal Howard, associate professor of history. The Howards live in Georgetown, Massachusetts, and have three children. This text is an excerpt from a talk, “Annunciation,” delivered in January 2010. agnes.howard@gordon.edu

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ANN FERGUSON: LIVING THE LITERATURE 55 YEARS OF CLASSROOM STORIES

Story Jo Kadlecek

the young woman responded simply, “I’d starve first.” Thankfully, she didn’t.

She enrolled in seminary to study the Old Testament—“because you can’t understand literature without knowledge of the Bible.” Her undergraduate mentor begged her to teach writing while she studied. She needed the work, found she liked the classroom atmosphere and has been teaching ever since.

When asked what her favorite class was, she responds, simply, “Whichever one I was in.”

Five and a half decades after she first stepped onto campus, Ann Ferguson retired May 15, 2010, having shared her love for literature, writing, theatre and art with some 2,000 students in almost 500 classes.

Ann Ferguson remembers events and trends current students now study in books: World War II, the Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam War protests and apartheid. Mostly, though, she remembers students and the stories they shared.

“Many have become writers themselves— children’s books, fiction, drama, you name it,” she says. “Or they’ve studied law, become librarians, teachers or scholars.

One became a master carpenter so he could write poetry. But they’re all readers.”

Hired in 1955 when the College was still on the Fenway (just opposite the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum), Ferguson made the move with Gordon to Wenham that fall. She found a home, unpacked her books and went to work.

The College had a faculty of 27 and just 300 students, and as a young professor she wore many hats, teaching freshman writing, art history and masterpieces in literature. In 1956 she started a theatre

program, producing the first three-act play in the College’s history, Night of the Burning Pestle. She traveled as a faculty advisor with the European Seminar (the precursor to Gordon’s Global Education programs), and drove students regularly into Boston to theatres or museums.

“It was pretty exciting to be a part of that early group and to see all that’s come to pass here,” says Ferguson. “There weren’t a lot of Christian colleges doing these things then.” In fact, at the small Protestant college Ferguson attended in the Midwest as an undergraduate, she’d had to sign a pledge that forbade attending movies, operas or plays, including Shakespeare.

At that time, young women at Christian colleges were expected to become missionaries, wives or teachers.

Her love for a good story led her to Boston University, where she completed her doctorate while teaching full-time at Gordon. When she finally took a sabbatical, some 20 years after she began at Gordon, she studied another love: Russian literature, adding Russian to the list of languages she was already proficient in: Gaelic (for Irish literature), German, French, Spanish and Italian.

“There’s never been a time at Gordon when we weren’t encouraged to seek out truth in all aspects of the College and across all disciplines,” she said. “I don’t want to see faith embraced without the ability to think. Thinking and reading enriches the faith, and that’s exciting.

That’s why I stayed.”

As a former freelancer and teacher who’s lived in five states, Jo Kadlecek is in awe of anyone who has stayed in one place for five years, let alone 55!

Ann Ferguson is her new hero. jo.kadlecek@gordon.edu

But Ferguson was determined to find her own way and follow her passions.

During her senior year of college when someone asked if she was going to teach, FALL 2010 | STILLPOINT 39

Alice ’50B and

Barbara Skinner

Paul ’54B and Myrtle Carlson

Bruce MacKilligan ’58B

Bradley ’88 and Claudia ’90 Small

Ernest and Eileen Cecilia

David ’71 and Nancy Mering

Kenneth and Helen Durgin

Tressa ’98 and Warren ’98 Smith

Catherine Cobbey ’96

Steven and Janet Miller

Earl ’74 and Linda Farmer

G. Alan and Jane Steuber

Augustus and Becky Dibble

Nathaniel and Caroline Nash

Barbara Faulkner ’54B

Marla ’75 and

Donald ’53 and Elaine Dickinson

Darlene and Jeffrey Neil

Edward and Janet Dietz

Stephanie Parker ’03

Debbie and Roger Drost

Ronald Perry ’65

Kristine Dunne ’89

Charles and Sarah Pickell

Deighton ’50B Douglin

Stan and Judy Gaede Richard Gage Dorothy Galbraith

Bradford ’76 Stringer Andrew ’01 and Rebecca ’02 Stuart

Thomas and Patricia Gawlak

Ann Tappan

Mary ’60 and Arnold ’61 Ellsworth

Tracy and Dan Pierce

Alison and Timothy Getz

Claire and Stephen Tavilla

Timothy ’00 and Kiera Erickson

Ronald and Mimi Pruett

Paige Gibbs ’69

Virginia Tavilla ’55

Robert ’60 and Joyce Ferguson

Daniel ’92 and Lisa Rapo

Lloyd G. Balfour Trust

Verne and Nadine Gingerich

Mark and Carol Taylor

Laurie ’82 and Alan Fiedler

Richard Reed

Peter and Diana Bennett

Gordon Class of 1950

Janice ’96 and Stanley Tedford

Muriel Franz

Michael Reid ’90 and

Jud and Jan Carlberg

Gordon Class of 1960

Lorie ’90 and Brian Thomas

Sherwood ’59 and Julie Frost

Barbara and Donald Chase

Barb ’81 and Bob ’81 Grinnell

Eva and Christian Trefz

Scott ’81 and

Charles and Nola Falcone

Thomas ’77 and Carol ’78 Gruen

Russell and Jean Tupper

Frederick and Nancy Gale

Cheri and Steve Gustafson

Dan and Andrea Tymann

Ann and Michael Givens

Grosvenor and Marjorie Rust

Lisa and Dennis Hardiman

Rebecca and Paul Gyra

William ’52 and Nancy ’55B Udall

Stephanie ’98 and Simon Goodall

Robert Schisler ’85

Eileen and Kevin Heneghan

Beverly ’71 and David ’77 Hall

Richard and Jayne Waddell

Gordon Class of 1980

Scott ’90 and Karyn Schneider

David Jodice ’75

Steven ’74 and Debra Harding

Eric and Edris Watson

Gordon Class of 2000

Chen ’86 and Alice Shi

Kurt Keilhacker

Charles ’86 and Lisa ’89 Harvey

Dwayne and Cindy Webber

Lois Goyer ’56B

Christian ’83 and Emily ’90 Smith

Bronwyn ’87 and Caleb Loring

Carol Herrick

David and Lynn Welbourn

Frederick and Juliet Griffin

Brenda and John Soucy

Ellen ’90 and Charles Pepin

Robert and Betty Herrmann

Robert ’73 and Shirley Werth

Steve and Jane Hager

Martha and Richard Stout

Tom and Gert Phillips

Herbert and Betty Hess

Pauline ’57 and Marvin Wilson

Eldon and Grace Hall

Stephen and Vera Sypko

Schrafft Charitable Trust

Beverly and Roy Honeywell

Theodore and Susan Wood

Donna and Ron Hilton

Donna ’80 and

Sherry Tupper

Arlene ’04 and Gordon Hood

Qin Hai Xia ’95

Dwayne Huebner

James and Barbara Vander Mey

David ’65 and Irmgard Howard

Thomas ’68 and Linda ’69 Zieger

Gordon and

Bradford and Pamela Warner

Roger ’80 and Barbara Huseland

Kenneth Zuber

FOUNDER’S CIRCLE

Randi ’85 and Tim Hutchinson

PRESIDENT’S CIRCLE

Ross and Emily Jones

ASSOCIATE’S CIRCLE

Ruth Jones

Kristen ’92 Wood-Reid Walter ’49B and

Kimberly ’83 Gardiner

Jane Anne Hugenberger

Audrey ’53B Rice

William ’80 Thorburn Harold and Diane Toothman Raymond and Norma Unsworth

James ’82 and Sydney Humphrey

Joanne Waldner ’74

Shelley and Mary Ellen Ivey

Meirwyn and Nina Walters

William ’78 and Ann Johnson

Kathleen Renehan Waters ’73

F. Stanley ’69 and

Bruce and Susan Webb

Christian Book Distributors

Robert and Meredith Joss

A.P. Vending & Amusement Co.

Dale and Sarah Ann Fowler

Elaine and John Kanas

Peter Allen ’69

John ’78 and Leslie Gurley

Kirsten ’90 and Andrew Keith

Karen ’88 and James Armstrong

Debra ’78 and Chuck Kent

John and Janice Weir

Peter and Jo Dee Herschend

Rob and Connie Lawrence

Philip ’82 and Kathleen Beattie

Steven ’79 and Wendy ’80 Lane

Thomas Weis ’83

Darlene ’74 and

Philip Lee ’82

Maya ’89 and Anant Bhave

Jack and Deborah Lawrence

Richard and Gail Wilson

Edward and

Dawn ’01 and Jonathan Bosland

Pam ’81 and Charlie Lazarakis

Barbara ’64 and Roger Winn

Julie ’81 and Peter ’83 Bruno

Eric ’91 and Catherine ’91 Lindsay

Richard ’55 and Lois Witham

Daniel ’74 Kuzmak David and Sheila Larson

Judy Ann LeNormand

Lois ’71 Keehlwetter

Cathie and Jay Wegrzyn

Madelyn and Thomas Shields

Richard and Carolyn Lippmann

Ronald and Barbara Burwell

Gloria Lindsey ’62

Nahee and Mark Yu

Joe Jr. and Dorothy Thompson

Steve and Robin MacLeod

Sandy ’93 and Dave Butters

Donna and Barry Loy

Elsje Zwart and Rich Klajnscek

Carrie ’93 and Michael ’93 Tibbles

Kenneth and Susan Martin

Kirk and Linda Ware

Karen McHugh ’83

Mark ’89 and Mina Whitemore

R. Bancroft ’68B and

Clyde ’58 and Nancy Wynia Suannah and David Young

Kathleen McKittrick Jerrold McNatt and Jolene Nakagura

SPONSOR’S CIRCLE

Alice and Donald Mering Linda and Robert Monroe

Elizabeth ’85 and Ralph Aarons Abigail Baird ’03

Doreen Morris ’74 and Bert Hodges

Jeffrey ’81 and Blanca Baker

Cathy ’80 and Frank Nackel

Marion Bean ’50B

Donald Jr. ’90 and

David Belman George Bennett Ruth Bennett ’65B

Theresa Nelson Doris ’52B and Raymond ’54B Nickerson

The Partners Program: Over Two Decades of Paying It Forward Elsje Zwart For 21 years a special group of people have committed to “paying it forward” by financially supporting Gordon students. This group of friends, alumni, trustees, parents, faculty and staff form The Partners Program, providing scholarship support to students who need it.

Paul and Joan Bergmann

W. C. and Chelle Nickerson

To make this a more affordable program, we have introduced a five-year Young

Thales and Sally Bowen

James ’84 and

Alumni Partners level of giving ($250–$499) for graduates from five or fewer years

Robert and Nancy Bradley

Linda ’86 Nooney

ago. We’re bringing back the Partner’s Report to keep donors up to date on what’s

Pablo Bressan ’95

W. Terry and Janice Overton

Nancy ’85 and Gregory Cannon

Jon Park ’03

Roy Carlson Jr.

Lynne and William Payne

meet, strengthening connections between donors and student recipients. Partners

Priscilla ’60 and William Carter

Gordon Pierce ’60

will also receive an invitation to the annual reception and dinner on December 4,

John ’69 and Jean Chang

Sarah Prescott ’82 and

followed by the Christmas Gala, where Partners enjoy preferred seating.

Mary ’49 and Wendell Chestnut

Andrew Beauregard ’83

William and Christine Clark

Seppo and Judith Rapo

Randall ’67 and

Evie and William Reed

Patricia ’68 Collins Casey Cooper ’03 William and Patricia Crawley

James ’66B and Joanne Roberts David ’74B and Joyce ’75B Ruppell

Linda ’71 and Douglas Crowell

Dan and Kathleen Russ

Linda ’84 and John ’84 Cyr

Emily ’04 and Andrew ’04 Ryan

Lynwood Cyr

Mark and Arlyne Sargent

Judith Dean ’78

Warren ’57 and Joan Sawyer

Dan and Flo Dinzik

Donald ’59 and Shelby ’61 Scott

Jean ’96 and Brian ’98 Donaldson

Olli ’68 and Denise Silander

48 STILLPOINT | FALL 2010

happening at Gordon. We’re providing more communication and opportunities to

Don and Barbara Chase, who were instrumental in establishing this group in 1989, recently reflected on the program: “Seldom can you invest in a program where the rate of return is so high—300+ graduates every year prepared and educated to be Christian leaders of tomorrow.” More than two decades ago the Chases were intent on removing financial obstacles in order to create a more diverse community of learners.

Their concern is still relevant today—perhaps even more so. If you are not yet a supporter of The Partners Program, please consider joining today.

Photo Dan Nystedt ’06

In many ways my time at Gordon gave me a strong foundation for entering the “real world.” Whether it was conversations with professors who invested in me or roommates who cared, people at Gordon challenged me in my faith and how to live that out on a daily basis.

DAWN (KUZMAK) BOSLAND ’01

Giving as a Calling It didn’t take long for Dawn ’01 and her husband, Jonathan, to decide to give to Gordon. In fact, the year after she graduated they became Partners. So why do they give?

THE PARTNERS PROGRAM

“God calls each of us to give a portion of what is already His back to Him. For us that means giving first to our local church and also to other organizations important to us, including Gordon College,” explain the Boslands. “We understand a college education isn’t affordable to everyone, and we want to play a part in lessening the financial burden. It’s a blessing to hear about students who are able to attend Gordon because of The Partners Program.”

Every dollar raised through Partners is awarded

The Boslands give to Partners because they know Gordon provides a high quality education in a Christian environment—two things very important to both of them. “No student should ever feel Gordon may not be within their financial reach. If we can make even a small difference to help students afford a Gordon education, it’s well worth it!”

If you’d like to make a gift to Gordon, contact:

The Partners Program provides scholarship support to financially deserving students. directly to students who would not be here without it. These students are studying to serve and lead in every career field, including the sciences, the arts, education, ministry, health care, social services, computer technology, etc.

GIVING

Elsje Zwart, major gifts officer 978.867.4265 elsje.zwart@gordon.edu www.gordon.edu/partners

255 Grapevine Road, Wenham MA 01984-1899 www.gordon.edu

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

BIOMES digital illustration on soft knit, 5 x 20 feet © 2010

Abby Ytzen ’10 graphic designer

Biomes uses lines, bold color and playful icons to illustrate the artist’s love and desire to connect to the natural world.

Her illustration works on many levels; the piece is first encountered from a distance, the viewer standing back taking it in as a whole. The breadth of the illustration—and consequently the breadth of the earth—is awe-inspiring and perhaps overwhelming. Bright colors and bold icons invite viewers to enter in. The unexpected interactions within the illustration encourage a youthful curiosity.

“There is playfulness in nature that I find exciting, and I have sought to capture that element of play,” Abby says. “I have begun a dialogue within each biome; animals interacting with each other and with their environment in playful ways.”

Abby Ytzen is the entrepreneurship director at Art Haven in Gloucester, Massachusetts, where she designs, networks and teaches multiple classes to artists of all ages. She also holds an internship at Soldier Design in Cambridge. www.abbyytzen.com