Stillpoint Fall 2007

FALL 2007

The Magazine of Gordon College

STILLPOINT

COVER STORY A Vote of Confidence 6 4 A Transfigured Vision

9 The Ken Olsen Archives

10 Broken Glass

16 Living Icons—Handle with Care

Photo Tim Ferguson Sauder

Information Technology Now—and Then

Features

The Alcatel OmniSwitch 9800, a 16-slot chassis housed in the MacDonald Hall core server room, is the “brains” behind Gordon’s entire technology network—website, email, and administrative software applications. In this issue, Gordon faculty, staff and alumni reminisce about how information technology has changed (page 28), and how it has changed us (page 16).

6 A Vote of Confidence by Patricia C. Hanlon Dale and Ann Fowler’s life stories parallel, in many ways, the story of Gordon College itself.

8 An Unprecedented Gift by R. Judson Carlberg The Fowlers were impressed with the Christian liberal arts education their grandchildren were receiving. Now they have made a substantial investment in the College’s future.

10 Broken Glass by Mark L. Sargent Provost Mark Sargent’s matriculation address challenged the campus to see “beauty where there is brokenness,” to “create patterns that overcome disorder; to find new strategies for repairing what is discarded or unjust.”

13 Towards a Shalom-Feminism by Lauren Swayne Barthold A Gordon philosopher explains why feminism, properly understood, is not bad news for the church.

16

Living Icons—Handle with Care by Theo Nicolakis ’93 Theo Nicolakis, director of information technology for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, reflects on the promise and the dangers of new technologies.

ON THE COVER Dale E. and Sarah Ann Fowler have a current as well as future interest in the College. They are pictured here on the field at the Brigham Athletic Complex following the dedication ceremony for new and much-needed spectator seating.

Cover Photo Daniel Nystedt ’06

Photo Essay #013 Mount Athos | Michael Tishel ’08 view this and other photo journals online at: www.gordon.edu/photojournals

IN EACH ISSUE 1 Letters 3

SPORKS informative fauxlosophy

20 In Focus Faculty 22 In Focus Students 24 In Focus Alumni 26 Encounters 28 Top Six

Articles

Alumni

32 Getting Personal: Making a Difference in Uganda One Life at a Time

4 A Transfigured Vision: Art and Worship in Community

by Tanja Butler

Associate professor of art Tanja Butler traces the growth of a partnership between artists and their faith communities.

9 The Ken Olsen Archives: Technology in Person

by Elisabeth Coen ’07

As Gordon anticipates the opening of the Science Center next fall, the Ken Olsen design team is working to produce exhibits that will feature the human story behind the technological revolution of the 20th century.

18 Faith Matters—But How? by Ryan E. Lawrence ’03 and Farr A. Curlin

Ryan Lawrence and Farr Curlin discuss the challenges faced by doctors and other professionals seeking to live faithfully as Christians in the workplace.

30 Their Land to Serve, Thy Law Fulfill

by Kristin Schwabauer ’04

Chaplaincy—whether carried out in city streets, combat fields, hospitals or prisons—is ministry in constant motion.

by Marjorie Overhiser ’81

How a vague impulse to send a little money for food, clothing and books grew into a vital relief effort.

34 Falling in Love—with Haiti

by Laurae Richards ’88

Laurae Richards worried that she might not return from a short-term missions trip to Haiti—and in a way, she hasn’t.

35 A Teacher in Morocco

by Guinevere McWhorter ’05 Guinevere McWhorter learned that her Moroccan students, like teenagers anywhere, respond to the benefits of athletics.

36 Homecoming and Family Weekend 2007 This year’s Homecoming offered alumni and friends many ways to reconnect.

40 Alumni News

Inspiration Today is one of those perfect fall days that remind me why I love New England. The trees are starting to change, the sky is clear and the air is crisp. I am catching the end of a soccer game, reflecting on how much has happened in my years at Gordon. Many of these changes have at least my fingerprint on them, if not my whole hand—from the old magnolia tree I planted for Dr. Dent 20 years ago to the recent renovations of Frost Hall. Yet I’ve also had many amazing experiences away

Volume 23 Number 1

from campus, wonderful times of interaction with students.

The classroom is essential but learning goes on in a thousand places. It’s those times of growth and shared experiences that make me a believer in all we do here. As I enjoy my 28th

“At the still point of the turning world.”

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

fall at Gordon, I want my faith to be active and well-informed, with a global perspective and thriving in community—which Gordon allows us the freedom to do.

Mark Stowell Assistant Director of Physical Plant mark.stowell@gordon.edu

Editorial

ALUMNI NEWS

Patricia C. Hanlon Editor

Nancy Mering Director of Alumni and Parent Relations

Kristin Schwabauer ’04 Assistant Editor

CREATIVE Tim Ferguson Sauder Creative Director

Sugarloaf Mountain

Kirsten Keister ’04 Rebecca Powell Publication Design

ADMINISTRATION R. Judson Carlberg President Daniel B. Tymann Executive Vice President Advancement, Communications and Technology

I recall singing praise songs atop Sugarloaf Mountain on a camping trip with a Discovery class. There were powerful times with many

CONTACT

PRINTING

classes telling life stories around a campfire

Address changes Development Office jamie.hokanson@gordon.edu

AM Lithography Corporation Chicopee, Massachusetts

along the Ammonoosuc River.

AWARDS Mexico Forever in my mind: clowning and miming in the streets outside Mexico City; building a home in Tecate. And the kids at La Casa de Esperanza, an orphanage in Tijuana—lives were changed as we in Mexico Outreach wrestled with God over tough questions.

other correspondence Editor, STILLPOINT Gordon College 255 Grapevine Road Wenham MA 01984 stillpoint@gordon.edu

ONLINE

Award of Excellence Winner, 13th Annual Communicator Awards 2007 Print Competition Gold Award for External Organizational Publication, 22nd Annual Admissions Advertising Awards (2007)

www.gordon.edu/stillpoint

Restore Creation I’m proud of our environmental concern and enjoy our “Restore Creation” efforts most when the students are equally passionate. We have made a difference in sustainability, and many faculty, staff and students have done their part.

Family

STILLPOINT, the magazine for alumni and friends of the United College of Gordon and Barrington, is published three times 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.

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

Working at Gordon encourages spending time with family. Thirty-one years of marriage, a daughter that graduated from here and another that works here will attest to the difference it has made in my life.

read more online at: www.gordon.edu/stillpoint/inspiration

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

LETTERS

to the editor

“The problem with college is that it teaches you to think, which can be dangerous or debilitating.”

WE WERE GLAD TO READ THE interview with Tal McNutt in the recent STILLPOINT. He and Wayne Porter ’49 have an incredible story of how the Lord worked in their lives during World War II. Tal, with other GIs and a chaplain, was instrumental in starting a Youth For Christ program in Tokyo after the invasion. Some time ago we had lunch with the Porters and the McNutts, and Tal and Wayne talked about

I ENJOYED READING THROUGH THE

I JUST READ GABRIEL JOHN’S ARTICLE

recent issue. I hope you will share with

“A Refugee’s Heart for Darfur” (Summer

all of us Dr. Boorse’s response to bryan

2007). I have done work for Darfur for the

parys regarding a sustainable method

last eight months, and one of my projects

of dishwashing!

was selling T-shirts that say “Stop Genocide

—Mark D. Taylor, President/CEO, Tyndale

in Sudan.” My friends and I raised over

House Publishers Inc.

$4,000 this way to give to World Vision

Editor’s note: STILLPOINT recommends a dishwasher, run at full load, or the two-basin method. For more on sustainable choices, see www.gordon.edu/sustainable.

AS A PARENT OF SEVERAL GORDON grads, I read STILLPOINT regularly.

“SPORKS: What Would Dorothy Do?” (Summer 2007) caught my attention because I have known Dr. Boorse for quite a while and am interested in how her teaching affects others. Bryan, I’m glad she haunts you. I’m not really sure if she does bottle the cold water coming out of the hot water tap, but I know her father does. It’s easy: Just keep a couple of wide-mouth wine bottles by the sink, and every time you want hot

in Darfur. I want to give one of the last ones we have to Gabriel as a sign of appreciation and support for his testimony and presence here.

—Peter Morse PLEASE LET GABRIEL JOHN KNOW that my congregation has prayed for and donated to Save Darfur internationally, and we did so last Sunday. In addition, I quoted

about Christians the Lord raised up during the war years and how He used them in so many ministries all over the world. Most, including Gordon alumni, were just ordinary people who spent their lives translating the Scriptures or ministering and preaching in the hard places of the world. Others, like Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ, and Chaplain Leonard Sweet of SEND International, started organizations that are still at work around the world.

Ralph and I read STILLPOINT from cover to

of our country follows through with words

Editor’s note: Polly Brown was the author of

he said at the United Nations, but churches need to take the lead. We thank God for those like Gabriel John, those who believe in

“Billy Graham Takes Boston—and Gordon—

by Storm” (Summer 2007).

prayer and unity and that it’s never too late

Atonement Lutheran Church, Saugerties, New York

give high quality, potable water to plants

I LOVED THE IN FOCUS SECTION.

while humans in the Third World are

Fascinating glimpse into people’s lives.

drinking noxious polluted water, dying

Thanks for all your good work that brings

from dehydration or thirsting to death?” So

glory to our Savior.

be dangerous or debilitating. Good luck!

needs to write a “Greatest Generation” book

—Polly (Kolodinski) Brown ’50

—The Reverend Edward R. Schreiber ’69,

is that it teaches you to think, which can

the Lord worked in those years. Someone

worship last Sunday. We hope the president

hot. Use that water to water the plants.

there you have it: the problem with college

and blessed just being reminded about how

cover and even fight over who gets it first!

to save lives.

is: “Is it fair/right for rich Americans to

in bits and pieces but was really amazed

from the STILLPOINT article about him at

water, fill the bottle until the water turns Of course the real fauxlosophical question

their experiences. I had known some of it

In Christ’s service together, —Cindy Weinrebe

ERRATA In “A Biotech Apprenticeship” (Summer 2007), the name of Cliff Mathisen’s employer is FEI company—Tools for Nanotech, not Financial

Thanks for your enjoyable, creative writing.

Executives International.

—Dave Boorse (Dorothy’s dad)

In “Billy Graham Takes Boston—and Gordon—

by Storm,” the New Year’s Eve Crusade took place in Mechanics Hall, not Boston Garden.

STILLPOINT regrets these errors and omissions.

FALL 2007 | STILLPOINT 1

LETTERS

to the editor

IN RESPONSE TO THE LAST INSTALLMENT OF SPORKS WE RECEIVED THE FOLLOWING LETTER FROM DOROTHY BOORSE.

Dear bryan parys, I now know why I have been so tired recently. Instead of sleeping peacefully, I’ve been running around as a sort of moonlighting conscience, giving you advice on your daily environmental choices. Not only that, I’m getting emails about dishwashing. In fact, offering you advice while you brush your teeth and attempt to buy fairly traded, lowimpact belongings is not something I knew I had agreed to when I signed up to teach. Who knew it would be such a long-term thing?

Seriously, I loved your piece in STILLPOINT and was really humbled to hear you remembered so much from our Environmental Science class and that it is affecting your life now. That is my dream as a teacher. I am thrilled to see you continue with care of creation.

However, I felt slightly uncomfortable with the image of myself looking over anyone’s shoulder. That image highlights a dilemma: I do know more than many people about the effects of our life choices on the environment. I do have a lot of opportunities to exhort people to care about the world God created and has left in our care. But I have decided not to spend a great deal of time judging the environmental decisions of everyone else. I am a flawed and failing human being, and my conscience is working hard enough just on me. There are many people around here way more environmentally conscious than I am. In fact, I have my own other person—M—sitting on my mental shoulder making me ask “What would M do?”

Ideally I want to live in a world where people don’t wonder “What would Dorothy do?” and where I am not asking “What would M do?” I want to live in a world where people all want to do the right thing by the created world because God made it, loves it and has tenderly placed it in our care.

I do understand why a professor of environmental science would end up being the voice on someone’s shoulder. But my voice is just a stopgap—like a Band-Aid or a piece of duct tape. The real question should always be “What would God have me do?”

And remember the other thing I said: Don’t give in to the twin temptations to avoid knowing about the real problems of the world, or to be in despair about them. You are quite wise to just enjoy learning about the natural world and trying to do the right thing. You are more than welcome to my wisdom on solutions, just as I seek wisdom from others on the things I can’t figure out. But I’m ready to turn it over to you—hoping to hear someday that your friends are asking “What would bryan do?” as a reminder to ask the better question “What would God have me do?” Then, perhaps, I can have my poor voice back and will get the sleep I need.

Dorothy Boorse

P.S. Oh, and if anyone sees bryan, can you ask him where around here you can donate clothes that are too worn to be donated to a thrift store but could still be used in paper manufacture? I’ve been working on that one for awhile.

Editor’s Note We thought this was a great question and did a little research. Top recommendations: The Salvation Army and similar organizations often recycle worn clothing as industrial wipes or as mixed-textile scrap for carpet padding and padded mailing envelopes. Animal shelters appreciate worn towels and sheets for homeless cats and dogs. Towels are helpful after oil spills to help clean birds and other wildlife—check with wildlife rescue/rehab places as well. And at garage and rummage sales, people will readily buy old sheets and towels for rags and drop cloths.

For more on how the Gordon community is thinking about sustainability, visit www.gordon.edu/sustainable.

2 STILLPOINT | FALL 2007

Read Past Issues of Sporks www.gordon.edu/stillpoint/sporks

Story bryan parys ’04 Illustration Grant Hanna ’06

Installation 4: As I walked into Jenks at the beginning of this semester, I was relieved to see familiar faces. Fortuitously, I was seated next to fellow alumnus and old dorm mate Cal Joss ’03. I spotted Lisa “Brucey” Bruce ’03 across the room and awaited my chance to catch up with her. It, of course, always did my heart good to see Dr. Blackwill taking her spot at the front of the room, silky scarves trailing her as usual.

But then, like a scene out of Waking Life, the people and objects around me started to morph and distort. “When did Brucey go blonde?” “Why is Dr. Blackwill introducing herself as ‘Meredith’?” And, most alarmingly, “When did Cal get a tattoo of a broken heart that read ‘Born to Fight’ over his Adam’s apple?”

That’s when it hit me: I was in Hamilton Smith Hall, home to the English Department at the University of New Hampshire, and I was surrounded by complete and literate strangers. I wanted to ask “Why am I here?” but luckily an inner voice reminded me that I was currently enrolled in their Master of Fine Arts program in nonfiction and would also—as a teaching assistant—be teaching freshmen how to write an essay. After an elliptical pause, the inner voice added, “And yes, you consciously chose this.”

It was at this very moment that I became—for the first time in my life—addicted to coffee. And I’m not talking coffeehouse coffee; I mean college-bought, could-remove-tar-from-thedriveway coffee—the blacker and siltier the better.

I soon had the chance to chat with a Ph.D. student at UNH whose dissertation is on the discourse between Christianity and the study of English literature. A Christian himself, he’s fascinated with how the two have their own subsets of language and how they interact through disagreements and paradoxical connections. He explores how successfully the two can communicate, and among other points, how he can personally bridge his two passions.

To understand why I find his research so interesting, it’s helpful to note that for the first time in my life I have found myself outside the Evangelical Umbrella. I grew up K through college under this umbrella. In high school English we read Jonathan Edwards’ The Experience That Counts! and in Christian Education electives we watched those frightful end-times movies from the ’70s (A Thief in the Night). I’ve always imagined the sacrilegious rain outside the umbrella to be acidic.

At this point maybe you’re expecting me to create a Hallmark moment and reveal that the “umbrella” is simply a redemptive metaphor—that I learned I had actually held my own umbrella

all along, and now I’m in the glorious position to share it. Well, I sort of did share it, though what one forgets is that while sharing an umbrella, it gets awkward fast if you don’t attempt a conversation.

During my first week at UNH I picked up my first hitchhiker. I was driving along when this guy wearing thick, brown-framed glasses locked eyes with me through the windshield, then shot his arm straight up revealing a chubby thumb at the peak. I figured he was in trouble, so I pulled over. “Hitchhiking?” the man asked.

“Well, no, I don’t need a ride,” I responded. Silence. “Where to?”, I followed up, realizing it was too late to peel out. He said he was headed to a local church, and when I noticed that what he was holding was a cribbage board and not a crossbow, I agreed to give him a lift.

We got to talking, and when it was revealed that I was a Christian and attending UNH, he said, “Watch out! Those seculars like to steal Christ from the Christians!”

I told him that I knew where I stood and that I should be able to defend myself.

“Not on your own you can’t! You gotta join Campus Crusade NOW!” So far, however, I’ve not made any Faustian bargains with the seculars. The evils they’re focused on have had to do with stealing comma splices and dangling participles from stacks of freshmen essays. And the truth is, I’ve actually never owned an umbrella. Some freakish gust of wind always warps it into a re-creation of a pterodactyl fossil. And I always have to find a way to explain to the person I’ve borrowed it from that even though I stayed dry, I seemed to do more damage than good.

bryan parys doesn’t like to capitalize his name and learned on his first day of teaching freshman writing at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) that undershirts are no longer optional. Also, Jeremy DePace, your doppelganger works in the Transportation and Permit Office at UNH, FYI. bryan.parys@gordon.edu

FALL 2007 | STILLPOINT 3

A Transfigured Vision: Art and Worship in Community A Gordon artist shares her journey from the solitude of her studio into the heart of community.

Art, Faith and Community

to focus on timeless psychological and

I say, and I would echo that we need a

In the summer of 1993 I joined a group of

spiritual truths of the stories. I turned to a

theology for PowerPoint presentations. Our

six artists in an experiment in communal

style developed by German Expressionists,

models for using multimedia technology

artmaking in Florence, Italy. We spent a

an early 20th-century artistic movement,

include the worlds of entertainment, big

month living in a convent and creating

telling the story primarily through gesture

business and education. What effects do

a group of prints that were exhibited

and color.

we produce when we transport these

nationally as The Florence Portfolio. We visited the Dominican monastery of San Marco in Florence, now a museum open to visitors who come to see an extraordinary series of frescoes painted by Fra Angelico and his assistants. These wall paintings were found throughout the monastery—in cloister corridors, meeting rooms, hallways and individual cells. Fra Angelico, himself a Dominican friar and a member of the order, was intimately aware of the identity and needs of the community, and developed art that supported its devotional life of work and prayer. Such a tight integration of art, faith and community had never been presented so clearly to me.

In the 10 years it took me to create this body of work, I was working in almost complete isolation—no teachers, friends or mentors who were Christian artists; no defined audience for my work. My nonChristian artist friends could not respond to the religious content of my work, and many of my Christian friends were put off by the style of the work. It was with great relief I discovered Christians in the Visual Arts

reigned supreme in critical theory in the

pace of the presentation encourage analysis and response or a numbed passivity? Does the imagery reflect the specific identity of the congregation? Let’s use another example: the newly popular use of icons in worship settings. Do our congregants have access to the integrated system of theology, liturgy and devotional practice that these images represent?

(CIVA), a Christian artists’ support group.

In my own search for guidelines I’ve been

It was my first experience of a supportive

reading and rereading Liturgy and the

community, though much of what bound

Arts by Albert Rouet, bishop of the

us together in those early years was our

diocese of Poitiers in France. Rouet, a poet

common sense of alienation as artists within

and mystic, is also a pastor and public

our church communities.

administrator. He describes the challenges facing both Church and artist by using the

My experience as a young painting student had been quite different. Modernism still

models into a worship setting? Does the

A Shifting Landscape Responding to an increasingly visual

analogy of marriage and divorce. According to Rouet, the existing relationship between artists and the Church is not altogether

1970s, and I was taught that the primary

cultural environment in the last 20 years,

function of art is to create an aesthetic

churches are now eagerly exploring ways to

experience. Art that served any other

add visuals to the worship service. Artists

purpose—communicating perhaps social,

are often called upon to provide imagery,

political, narrative or religious content—

and we find ourselves ransacking past

was seen as second-rate illustration or

traditions and other cultures for powerful

propaganda. I was, however, determined

and resonant images. This new level of

to find a way to express my faith in my

expressive freedom has much potential,

art, using hidden Christian symbolism of

yet as I interact with church communities

wreaths, pomegranates, the tree of life,

Fault Lines

I also hear a desire for a more discerning,

Rouet identifies three areas of tension

burial cloths, the rewards of suffering and

intentional and integrated approach.

between churches and the arts. First, they

martyrdom. When I finished graduate school I felt released from the need to submerge my Christian content and completed a few more pieces in this photorealist style, with a more straightforward description of God’s work in my life.

For example, Gary Parrett, director of Christian education at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, notes that concert music provides the model for much of contemporary music ministry. What happens to the experience of community,

What I really wanted to do, though, was

he asks, when the music of the worship

paint Bible stories I’d loved since childhood.

leaders is amplified so that only they can

The photo-realist style didn’t seem

be heard? What is called for, Parrett says,

appropriate since I wasn’t interested in

is a theology of amplification. Amen,

details of costuming and setting. I wanted

4 STILLPOINT | FALL 2007

wonderful—a bit like a divorced couple invited to family celebrations together from time to time. Both sides try to keep up appearances, maintaining a semblance of mutual interest despite their evident mistrust of one another.

are in competition in how they relate to the sacred. Artists, he writes, “who want to be free and unhampered depend on the divided field of society, which leaves the field of artistic creation as a separate field for their solitude, prophecy, and emancipatory action. This subtle trap is linked to the arts, accentuating their break with liturgy. Artists in this situation of honorable marginalization, even if they themselves may be believers, have difficulty

Story Tanja Butler Illustration Tanja Butler

in joining themselves to the social reality of

Coming Together

These new opportunities to serve God in His

worship, to the unifying act of the society of

To Rouet’s comments I would add three

Church are a source of great joy to me as an

the church.”

more guiding principles in determining

artist. My translation from an isolated studio

whether art fits into worship: authenticity,

to the center of community is a profoundly

appropriateness and accessibility. If in this

moving experience of God’s ministry of

marriage of liturgy and art the artist must

reconciliation, a call from alienation to

sacrifice her creative autonomy, I would say

communion. I stand at this new threshold

the Church, in turn, must allow the artist

of artistic activity with some trepidation,

freedom to develop authentic work that

knowing that it is an awesome charge to

has genuine artistic merit. This may involve

express and help shape the worship life of

the use of unfamiliar forms and challenging

a community. I think of Moses in front of

content. But how can this be done without

the burning bush, and I tremble, for this

alienating the congregation that the

is holy ground. I think also of Moses as I

church is serving? The second principle,

plunge into this new territory, an uncharted

appropriateness, may hold some solutions.

way to the promised land, requiring fresh

Liturgical art that is appropriate for a

attentiveness to God’s movements and

community should reflect the identity of the

provision as pillar and cloud. May the art we

group for which it is created. Every church

produce be filled with His Spirit and life.

This leads to Rouet’s second point—that liturgy and the arts disagree about the meaning of freedom. The church defines liberty as being free to serve. “Through love become slaves to one another,” Paul writes to the Christians in Galatia. Freedom lies in dying to self, a prerequisite to resurrection in Christ’s image, which is our true self. The arts pursue a different goal. The artistic will is determined by itself, and freedom is seen in the unfettered pursuit of the imagination.

Third, the arts and liturgy are in conflict with respect to symbols. Who is the master of the symbolic dimension? Is it artists who freely use symbols of their choice—biblical, Greek, Third World, pantheist—to introduce visual themes into the Church? Is Christian art expected to present recognizable and accepted signs of the faith? This issue became a very real concern 10 years ago when I created a series of 600 graphic images published as a CD-ROM by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, to be used in church publications. I was given very strict guidelines by a board of editors and theologians, partly to ensure that the symbols I was designing would be accessible to American churchgoers.

I was surprised by some restrictions. For example, the traditional Christian image of the hand of God reaching out from a cloud was unacceptable because some viewers might be puzzled by what looked like a floating, amputated hand. Most congregations, it seems, have not been trained in the visual literacy that is part of their Christian heritage.

After identifying these three seemingly irreconcilable tensions, Rouet comes to a hopeful conclusion. Even in tension a marriage of opposites still exists. As in the difference between the sexes, there can be the possibility for union. Love is, in fact, nourished by such differences. How can liturgy and the arts live together? Before being brought into worship, Rouet writes, the arts need to be purified, or converted.

They need to be shot through with renunciation. Liturgical art exists to enhance worship, to deflect attention from itself to that of the community’s relationship with its transcendent Creator.

community has a complex and unique identity, reflecting its theology, history, worship style, ministry focus, and its vision for the future. Effective liturgical art reflects, enunciates and clarifies the identity of the congregation in visual form. This identity is affirmed and nurtured as it becomes part of the community’s physical environment, as we saw in San Marco.

Appropriateness is related to accessibility; artwork that is appropriately designed for a worship community—reflecting its identity— will already contain points of connection for the congregation. Bulletin inserts, presentations by the artists, messages from the pulpit and integration with the teaching ministry are all helpful in clarifying these connections. Seasonal work that helps the church celebrate feasts and sacraments often provides opportunities for intimate interaction. Liturgical art creates a specific

Tanja Butler, M.A., is associate

texture and color, light and atmosphere for

professor of art at Gordon. Students

these celebrations that can express and

in her classes have created artwork in

shape the inner life of a community. Perhaps

collaboration with area churches, the

the most effective way to make liturgical

Gordon chapel program, publishers,

art accessible is the participation of the

schools, service organizations, and

community in planning and producing the

the Gordon in Lynn program. Her

work. It is challenging for an artist who is

collection of 600 graphic images,

used to the autonomy of private studio

Icon: Visual Images for Every Sunday,

work to give up control of the creative process in collaborative work, with all the psychological and practical complexities it entails. The rewards, however, are worth the challenge as the community shares an enthusiastic engagement with the creative artistic process.

was published by Augsburg Fortress Publishers. Her work is represented in the Vatican Museum of Contemporary Art; the Billy Graham Center Museum at Wheaton, Illinois; the Portland Museum of Art in Maine; the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln, Massachusetts; and the Boston Public Library. tanja.butler@gordon.edu

FALL 2007 | STILLPOINT 5

“Perhaps the greatest difference between Gordon College and similar secular institutions is that we believe in and serve a living God Who truly interacts in the lives of people who seek and serve Him. Scripture tells us that if we ask of God, He will grant us wisdom. May the classrooms on this campus and the laboratories in the new Ken Olsen Science Center be occupied by students and faculty who daily call upon the Lord for wisdom, to the end that many of today’s problems and illnesses will be eradicated. Thank you once again for inviting Ann and me to be with you and to be a part of the Gordon family.”

—DALE E. AND SARAH ANN FOWLER

A Vote of Confidence Dale and Ann Fowler’s stories parallel, in many ways, the story of Gordon College itself, a similarity that makes their generous support of the College all the more meaningful. Both Dale and Ann have had a vibrant Christian faith from their early years, and have sought to put that faith to work in tangible ways in the world.

They have “dreamed big”—but always to the greater glory of God. They hope that their support of the College will encourage others to step forward.

Ann Fowler became a Christian when she was about 8. “My mother was a believer,” she says, “and she made sure we were involved in church activities.” Her father did not become a Christian until much later in life, when he was in his 60s. “I prayed for him all those years. Sometimes I thought ‘Well, Lord, you’re just not listening to me.’ But then finally He did answer this prayer.”

Dale came to faith in Christ as a boy at vacation Bible school.

“I remember sitting in a circle in little chairs, having punch and cookies.” When the minister stopped by and presented a straightforward gospel message to the children, Dale readily accepted the invitation to receive Christ. “It was very real to me at that time and has been ever since.”

As a couple, the Fowlers have always desired to share their faith with others. Years ago Ann invited some neighbors to their home in southern California for tea and a talk by a

6 STILLPOINT | FALL 2007

friend who had had a life-changing conversion experience.

Twenty neighbor ladies showed up; two accepted Christ that morning. “They were very open to asking questions about the Christian faith,” Ann says. The meeting turned into a regular Bible study in their home, and when the men felt left out, the Fowlers started a couples’ Bible study as well. From there it grew. As a result of this outreach, about 100 people in their neighborhood have become Christians over the years.

The Fowlers have been similarly enterprising in business. Their first real estate project—in the late 1950s—was an apartment building in Orange County, built when they were in their early 20s with their own “sweat equity.” Since then they have been outstandingly successful in industrial real estate but have had to wrestle with what Dale refers to as “a negative aura in some Christian circles, including my own, to being a business person. There were opportunities and recognition for anyone

A DRAMATIC UNVEILING In responding to Dale and Ann Fowler’s generosity, the Board of Trustees named the campus in Wenham (typically referred to as the “main campus”) The Dale E. and Sarah Ann Fowler Campus at Gordon College.

On Wednesday, August 29, 2007, Dale, Ann and several grandchildren helped unveil the new sign at the main entrance to campus.

Story Patricia C. Hanlon Photos Daniel Nystedt ’06

who wanted to be a missionary—they’d call them up in front of the congregation and pray for them—and yet I could never understand why we didn’t need professional people and business people to pay for all those going out all over the world to share the gospel. And we had a need to share the gospel in our own neighborhoods.”

Ann notes, as well, that a well-run business doesn’t exist for its own sake, but “provides necessary jobs for many people,” jobs that might otherwise not exist. The Fowlers would concur with author Michael Novak’s incisive words on the subject: “Business is a demanding vocation, and one is not good at it just by being in it, or even by making piles of money.

The bottom line of a calling is measured by pain, learning and grace. Having a good year in financial terms is hard enough; having a good year in fulfilling one’s calling means passing tests that are a lot more rewarding” (Business as a Calling, 1995).

It is a cultural shift that has also taken place in Gordon College, which now prepares students for full-time Christian service in a range of professions, including but not limited to ordained ministry or missionary service. “Gordon,” Dale says, “is turning out young men and women who are committed to historical Christianity and who have been trained to make a difference for the better around the world. Perhaps the greatest difference between Gordon College and similar secular institutions is that we believe in and serve a living God Who truly interacts in the lives of the people who seek and serve Him.” The Fowlers are enthusiastic about the College’s tagline: Freedom within a Framework of Faith. “Isn’t that why the Holy Spirit exists—to show us how we ought to live?” Dale asks. “And that’s what life is all about, making these decisions prayerfully—asking ourselves ‘What would God have me do?’

Our freedom is not license; it’s freedom to be responsible.”

Things have changed in the Christian subculture over the years, Dale says. “There’s more of an awareness of a need to achieve excellence in many professions—we’re all called to be the best we can be as God created us. ‘Full-time Christian service’ has a lot broader meaning than it did.”

FALL 2007 | STILLPOINT 7

An Unprecedented Gift

Story R. Judson Carlberg

Early in my presidency, a colleague from another campus took me aside to offer this succinct challenge: “Most people on your campus will get up each morning thinking about what they have to do to be ready for the day ahead. When you get up in the morning you need to be thinking about getting ready for the next 10 years.”

have made significant gains in other areas as well. But what of our endowment? What of this crucial need for long-term financial strength? Over the years, through the generosity of many and through the normal growth of our investments, our endowment doubled and then tripled to over $33,000,000.

Progress, to be sure, but well short of $100,000,000.

I think of that admonition often. Those few words changed my perspective on my leadership role and influenced the weight I give to the strategic planning that charts Gordon’s future. I vividly remember launching the first strategic plan of my presidency on October 1, 1992. I felt a deep sense of responsibility that day as the Reverend Raymond Lee, then dean of the chapel, asked the Cabinet to gather around me in a circle and pray for wisdom.

Then the miracle happened. Bob Grinnell, Gordon’s vice president for development, introduced us to Dale and Ann Fowler, two faithful Christians with grandchildren now attending Gordon. In one of our first conversations Dale and Ann asked, “What is your greatest need at Gordon right now?”

Although there were several priorities, we highlighted the need to significantly increase our endowment, the surest way to greater financial stability. Several months later Dale and Ann came to us with a staggering proposal. They told us that, through their estate plan, they wanted to make an unrestricted gift of $60,000,000 to Gordon’s endowment. When realized, this unprecedented gift will help Gordon take a huge step toward a stronger financial future. Moreover, the Fowlers’ gift, along with other deferred gifts to Gordon, will bring us to the $100,000,000 endowment for which we have been praying since the early 1990s.

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We were facing many pressing financial challenges. Faculty and staff were inadequately compensated. The campus buildings were in disrepair. Our resources for scholarships and student financial aid packages were limited, though the cost of a Gordon education was rising. And our endowment was $10,000,000, a small sum compared to the endowments of similar colleges.

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The Cabinet and I decided to go forward with a plan for sweeping changes to the campus, a plan with which our trustees concurred. We felt that without immediately improving our facilities, our mission would be sorely compromised. And we launched out, believing that if we were faithful to what God was calling us to do in the present, He could also be trusted to provide for our long-term needs.

On that October day our prayers were only beginning. For many years Jan and I have prayed for each entering freshman by name and asked for their growth and well-being, a practice to which Jan is particularly faithful to this day. We prayed for the new classrooms and residence halls and other facilities our faculty and students so clearly needed. And, not least, we asked God to bless Gordon College with an endowment of $100,000,000, even though we knew our prayers for a tenfold increase were completely unrealistic apart from the Spirit of God working in people’s hearts. In fact, Jan and I sometimes wondered if we were being presumptuous to pray such a prayer in the midst of all the other needs. Yet the truth is that even this seemingly “unrealistic” sum, for an institution of our size, is an excellent start but cannot be our final goal.

As you know if you have visited campus recently, many of our prayers have been answered beyond our expectations. We have been blessed with 11 new facilities ranging from the A. J. Gordon Memorial Chapel and Bennett Athletic and Recreation Center to the Ken Olsen Science Center now underway. We

8 STILLPOINT | FALL 2007

In response to the Fowlers’ gift, we lift our hearts in gratitude to God for His faithfulness to the College. Particularly at this Advent season, we give glory to Him Who withholds no good thing from us, not even His only Son.

R. Judson Carlberg, Ph.D., is the president of Gordon College. He came to Gordon in 1976 and served as dean of faculty and director of development before being named, in 1992, as Gordon’s seventh president.

He is working with the Board of Trustees in forging a vision for Gordon that is increasingly urban and global.

Story Elisabeth Coen ’07

FROM THE ARCHIVES The PDP-1 Revolution Ken Olsen and Harlan Anderson founded DEC with the dream of making computers accessible to everyone. The result was the Programmed Data Processor-1, introduced in 1961—the industry’s first interactive computer. Weighing

The Ken Olsen Archives: Technology in Person Anticipating the Fall 2008 opening of the Science Center, the Ken Olsen design team is working on exhibits featuring the human story behind the technological revolution of the 20th century.

1,200 pounds at an average cost of $120,000, the PDP-1 was by far the industry’s smallest, cheapest computer at the time.

The PDP-1 was considered to be a very easy computer to use. One of the interactive capabilities was the first-ever computer game— SPACEWAR! This helped mark the

Three museum-style exhibits in the new Ken Olsen Science Center’s lobby— featuring technological artifacts, images and manuscripts—will highlight the themes of Ken Olsen’s life and legacy, the technology of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) and the philosophy and distinguishing business practices of DEC. While some of the pieces in the archives “aren’t exactly eye candy,” as one former DEC employee said, a closer look reveals that these sometimesobscure pieces of metal point to the very human story of the technological revolution of the 20th century. For example, while core memory may seem like a confusing abacus to anyone other than a computer engineer, it tells the story of the concept behind computers as we know them today.

While in graduate school at MIT, Olsen worked in the Lincoln Labs on Project Whirlwind with Professors Jay Forrester and Bob Everett. Initially the objective of the project was to simulate and analyze flight functions. As it

developed, the team needed a way to store and process information more efficiently. They created what came to be known as magnetic core memory, a precursor to today’s RAM (random access memory). Core memory provided the basis for interactive computers, allowing Olsen to create his company—thus affecting generations of people, including former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, who used a DEC computer for the first time when he was 13.

A letter addressed to Olsen from David Lee Fortune, a Wycliffe missionary, notes Olsen’s impact on the “technological tribals of the asphalt jungles.” He thanks Olsen for his “dedication, first to the Lord, second to quality equipment, and third to helping in the worldwide missionary movement with [his] wonderful machines.” There are countless other letters of thanks and admiration in the archives from employees, friends and customers—all of which serve to give the intimidating wires, transistors and vacuum tubes a human face.

PDP-1 as the first “fun” computer, laying the foundation for personal computers, workstations, word processing, and video games as we know them today.

The manual for the PDP-1 was 72 pages long.

Two engineers demonstrate the graphical capabilities of the PDP-1 system.

FALL 2007 | STILLPOINT 9

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Story Mark L. Sargent Photo Daniel Kiyoi ’08

ADDRESS GIVEN BY PROVOST MARK L. SARGENT AT THE ANNUAL MATRICULATION CHAPEL AUGUST 29, 2007 My brief task this morning is to provide a word of challenge as we begin our year of study and worship together. Let me offer that word through a visual image.

I have always been intrigued by stained glass, largely because I love the stark grandeur of medieval cathedrals. If you have visited any of these cavernous sanctuaries, you have no doubt felt the contrast between the cold, gray stone of the interiors and the bright colors that rush through the glass in the high gothic arches above.

But another reason I enjoy stained glass, quite frankly, is that I have trouble sitting still. In church I can be an impatient listener, always looking around, exploring something. Often in this chapel I have wondered about the story of the stained glass windows at the front of the sanctuary.

The glass here is a portion of windows created for the Marble House in Newport, Rhode Island, one of the grand mansions in one of the world’s elite cities. Built between 1888 and 1892, the house was intended as a summer “cottage” for William and Alva Vanderbilt, among the nation’s richest people. The Marble House windows were actually a collage of artwork from many centuries, incorporating several pieces of what Alva Vanderbilt identified as “old cathedral glass”— remnants of medieval French windows.

Some of the floral designs in the Marble House panels are indeed very old handiwork, now embedded into windows reconstructed in the Victorian era. The human figures in the windows here were designed after 12th- and 13thcentury glass images in the Cathedral of Le Mans in France. In time the Marble House was sold to the Prince family, owners of the estate that became this campus in 1955, the campus that we have named today in the Fowlers’ honor. During their renovation of the Marble House, the

Prince family removed the windows and eventually gave many of them—not only these in the sanctuary but also the ones in the prayer chapel upstairs—to Gordon College.

TRADITION AND BREADTH As we worship here in the presence of artistry from the 12th century, I can’t help but think of the importance of history. One of the goals of a Christian liberal arts program is to draw deeply from tradition. It is easy to become obsessed with our own moment and place; if we simply own an iPhone or a satellite navigation system, we convince ourselves of our own progress, our superiority over the wisdom and work of the past. Yet the challenge of a liberal arts education is to acquire the curiosity and humility to look more acutely at history—to perceive principles and values that have been compromised or lost; to understand the origins of the world’s best ideas and to track the detours that have led to the worst.

But the liberal arts do more than draw our eyes backward; they compel us to look broadly. Within each narrow beam of light is actually a prism of color, a remarkable spectrum of energy and space. Most major ideas are spectrums themselves—historic concepts illuminated by discoveries from the many cultures in our time.

To understand brain science today, for instance, it is essential to know not simply the groundbreaking work of labs at Harvard and MIT in the last century but also the latest experiments at Fudan University in China. To understand the Christian church, we need to read Augustine and Calvin and learn about the revivals in Brazil and the courage of believers in Kandahar and Beirut.

BEAUTY AND BROKENNESS When I view stained glass I see not only beauty but also brokenness. In a very literal sense, what you are

looking at this morning is broken glass—fragments held together by lead. Stained glass also reminds me of my father. A schoolteacher and an amateur artist, Dad loved to paint, to build things, and occasionally to design stained glass windows for churches. Since not everyone could pay for grand materials, my father was resourceful. On some Saturday evenings when I was a kid, Dad took us to the back of local factories, and we rummaged through boxes and discards to find good fragments of tile, wood and glass with interesting shades and textures. Today businesses are more environmentally alert and less likely to stack debris behind their shops.

But those were fun days for kids—we’d take home refrigerator boxes, scrap lumber, ceramic tile and colored glass that had been abandoned. While my brothers and I built forts and castles out of the boxes for our adventures in the backyard, Dad made mosaics from the tile and glass we had rescued from the discards.

My father is older now. But even this summer, several decades later, as I walked with him through his garage in California, there on the workbench were the scattered, chipped pieces and the brittle, fractured lead of a small stained glass window he had rescued years ago. He hopes, I am sure, to restore it. When I see church windows I think of my father’s hands and remember how he would transform debris into something sacred.

Our calling—as students and scholars in a Christian liberal arts college—is to see beauty where there is brokenness. To create patterns that overcome disorder; to find new strategies for repairing what is discarded or unjust. Speakers often say they are privileged to be here, and it is tempting to think of that as a simple cliché. But we are very privileged to be here in this sanctuary. We are privileged to have the time and the freedom and

FALL 2007 | STILLPOINT 11

the resources for inquiry, reflection and preparation. So many in our world lack that opportunity because their daily burden is just to survive.

We have been given much. And much should be expected.

I must admit I often do not pay enough attention to the brokenness of the world. Sometimes it is hard to know how to respond to human sorrow since it so pervasive, with nightly coverage of every car bombing, hurricane death and mine tragedy. Sometimes in the busyness of this job, it is hard even to make time to listen to the struggles of those with whom I work every day. Each day my heart needs to get larger. I need to learn more compassion.

But compassion may not be enough.

At the core of a Christian liberal arts institution is the hope that we can blend compassion with knowledge and persistence. We must do more than mourn over others’ misfortunes. We must gather the fragments, repair the mosaics and create the designs that bring new light.

MOSAICS OF HOPE Intellectual work can be its own kind of mosaic—an assembly of ideas from an array of disciplines. With the launch of a new year we should rededicate ourselves to the collaborative artistry needed to repair things that are fractured. As students you need to see faculty working together on these mosaics—and to imagine the mosaics of your own future. In time you may blend botany and sociology to develop crops and farming methods that bring relief to drought-ridden regions. You may blend biochemistry and ethics, discovering new chemical compounds that counter infectious diseases, all the while committing to public health rather than massive personal profit in the distribution of medicines. You

may be among the teachers, pastors, politicians and social workers who help parents and legislators collaborate to improve urban schools. You may work with anthropologists and historians to recover documents and artifacts that reconstruct the lives of people who have been silenced in the past. You may join economists and community activists who strive for the right balance of enterprise and equality in order to promote neighborhood development.

None of these are addressed with simple compassion; all require knowledge, collaboration and strength of character to find new arrangements of ideas that rekindle hope.

The figures in these windows also remind us that our faith is rooted in a specific story—the biblical narrative of the Hebrew people and its expansion beyond ethnic and political boundaries as it led to the worldwide Christian gospel. At the top of the center panel is the prophet Elijah. In the right panel is Aaron, high priest of the Exodus. To the left is David, a crown on his head as he tilts on his throne. They are, in short, the prophet, priest and king from Hebrew tradition and history.

They proclaim the need to approach God with the mystery and reverence of Aaron in the tabernacle. They affirm the need to speak boldly against injustice and immorality with the anguish of Elijah. And they should remind us that, if granted power like David, we must rule with wisdom and fairness. But all of these biblical figures are broken images themselves—literally collections of fragments, even as Elijah, Aaron and David often failed. It is only in Jesus—the central figure in the mosaic, standing there beside His tombstone— that the roles of prophet, priest and king were truly fulfilled. And he did so by becoming broken Himself, like the shattered glass in my father’s garage.

CREDO In a moment we will recite the Apostles’ Creed, a custom at this service.

Developed in the early centuries of the Church, the Creed was most likely a confession used prior to baptism. In reciting it, we affirm our place in the mosaic of the Body of Christ, the long history and the broad community of Christian believers. The words that we read today are virtually the same as those recited nearly 2,000 years ago along Roman roads. They are the words that will be recited this Sunday in Nairobi, in Buenos Aires and in Beijing. But you will also hear in the Creed—which was crafted to affirm both Christ’s humanity and His divinity—reminders of His brokenness: His suffering under Pilate, His execution and interment, His human pain.

So as we recite, imagine your voice among the medieval worshippers.

Imagine it as well among the voices in a Johannesburg cathedral or within a New York soup kitchen. And let us reaffirm our desire to discern, as Christ did, what is broken and discarded; to find the sacred in what has been displaced; to discipline our hands and minds to gather remnants into patterns of community and purpose, and allow light to shine through lives and into places that have been left too long in darkness.

Mark L. Sargent, Ph.D., has been the provost of Gordon College since 1996. He has a particular interest in international education and recently traveled to Lithuania and China to assist with the development of Christian college programs. mark.sargent@gordon.edu

Editor’s Note: Provost Sargent’s essay references images of Aaron and David that appear in side panels in the A. J. Gordon Memorial Chapel—but which do not appear in the photo of the center panel on page 10.

Story Lauren Swayne Barthold Illustration Tim Ferguson Sauder

Towards a Shal m-Feminism Is feminism old news for the church? Bad news?

A Gordon philosopher explains why not.

In thinking about the relevance of feminism for the church, I have realized we come from many places. In fact, my own journey has taken me from anti-feminist to reluctant feminist, to what I now want to call “shalom-feminist.” I suspect you will identify with one (or more) of these three categories yourself. With that in mind, I will speak to three possible types of reactions Christians may have when they hear the word “feminism.”

Fighting for Equality or Fighting to End Oppression?

Anti-feminists are those who roll their eyes—Don’t women already have equality with men? Aren’t feminists a group of whiney women seeking privilege due to alleged victim status?

Though there’s been progress in the past 200 years—the right to vote; equal rights in laws concerning marriage, children, property; and gains in terms of work opportunities and salaries—it is important to note that feminism’s focus is not only on equality. Many feminists fight to end oppression against women in all forms: legal, financial, social, psychological, physical, institutional, cultural and linguistic.

So what’s the difference between fighting for equality and fighting to end oppression? Voting like men, working like men, and getting paid like men (and thus having heart attacks like

men) are not the goals of feminism. Rather, we could think of feminism as aiming to create a world where each individual is able to live out his or her God-given vocation, unimpeded by society, institutions and individuals.

There are many subtle forms of oppression in our language and culture. For example, none of the books on parenting could have prepared me for the “mermaiditis” that seems to afflict all 3-year-old girls. Disney’s Ariel in The Little Mermaid surrenders her voice to the wicked sea witch Ursula to gain access to the “human world” and fall in love with Prince Eric. “But how will I get Prince Eric to fall in love with me if I don’t have my voice?”, Ariel asks Ursula, who then instructs her about the importance of “body language” (particularly effective with Ariel’s Barbie-esque body) and tells her that “men up there don’t like a lot of chatter, a woman who’s a gossip is a bore, and . . . the one who holds her tongue will get her man.”

How can I explain to my 4-year-old what Ursula means by “body-language” and why men (allegedly) want us to be silent? Raising a daughter has opened my eyes to the existence of some amusing but disturbing images of women that pervade our culture. Don Imus notwithstanding, our culture makes it clear that sexism and racism—when you can get away with it—sells.

FALL 2007 | STILLPOINT 13

None of the books on parenting could have prepared me for the “mermaiditis” that seems to afflict all 3-year-old girls.

Feminism Rooted in Christian Principles The second group has a deep and real fear that feminists are anti-family, anti-church and anti-men. But we need to avoid what’s called in philosophy “the straw man (or, better here, straw woman) argument.” To equate all of feminism with man-hating, family-hating women is to commit the straw-man/ woman argument. Most feminists don’t think men per se are the problem.

A close look at the history of feminism, for example, shows it was aligned with Christian principles and beliefs from its inception. Feminists in the 18th and 19th centuries—like Harriet Taylor and her husband, John Stuart Mill (responsible for much of our political thought in the United States today), Mary Wollstonecraft and others—fought for basic political and legal rights for women. One particularly heinous 19th-century law defined children as the property of fathers alone, which made it impossible for women and children to seek any sort of legal protection from an abusive husband or father.

The defining marks of 19th-century feminism, then, were its evangelical commitments and its concern for others (particularly women, children and blacks) as social beings.

Rights were not just about women’s individual rights but about relieving the suffering of those in society wherever found, particularly as it affected children and families. Thus feminism, abolitionism and temperance frequently were causes uniting evangelical men and women.

What might happen if evangelicals could claim their own feminist roots today and see that feminism is about eliminating oppression? These women were neither angry nor saw themselves as victims, but stood up against injustice. A pity we don’t hear more about strong women like Sojourner Truth, who, having been a slave for 40 years, became an itinerant preacher decrying the evils of racism and sexism.

Instead we tend to get our images of feminists from the media, which seldom has any memory.

Shalom-Feminism A third group comprises those who, having experienced deeply hurtful discrimination, wonder whether feminism could offer a way of healing the brokenness caused by oppression.

I believe a Christian feminism that offers hope and healing is possible. To develop this, I draw on both biblical insights as well as insights from secular feminism that contribute to what I call “shalom-feminism.”

14 STILLPOINT | FALL 2007

I see two components in shalom-feminism: to recognize and name oppression wherever it exists; and to be peacemakers in the presence of pain and oppression. These components reflect Christ’s own vocation, which He described as coming not to bring peace but the sword; and giving sight to the blind, making the lame walk, cleansing the lepers, giving hearing to the deaf, raising the dead and preaching good news to the poor. I take his double focus to affirm that there is a time for the incisiveness of anger as well as a time for healing.

I hope the church can be a place that embraces humans in their rawness—in their raw anger, pain, frustration. Have we thought about the appropriateness (indeed health) of anger as a response in some situations? Why might feminists be angry? We need to acknowledge, as Jesus did, that while not our ultimate goal, there is a time for anger, particularly when it leads to a naming of the violence. Being able to articulate the source of pain, as feminist theory does, will provide a tool for addressing the issues.

Having put our finger on the wound, we then need to apply a balm of love: shalom. Shalom is suggestive of peace but not only understood passively; it is not just about peace from violence, peace from disturbance; it is not just about absence of conflict but about creating a world in which each individual can live out God’s purpose. Thus shalom suggests peace for life, for freedom, for joy in being able to realize ourselves as being made in God’s image—for worship. Its biblical sense is rich and immense. Other words associated with the noun: universal flourishing, wholeness, sufficiency in abundance, tranquility, safety; as a verb: to restore, finish, heal.

Without this positive element of peace, peace devolves into “niceness”—not a word used to characterize Christ. “Niceness” is not a Christian virtue.

I see a shalom-feminism rooted in Galatians 3:28: “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female; for you are all one in Christ.”

How does this verse convey shalom? It challenges rigid gender stereotyping by teaching that we are Christians first, before all other sources of identity. Secondary sources of identity (gender, race, occupation) do not determine our status before God. Note the interesting imagery here; it’s as if the clothing of Christ makes our gender if not invisible (which is not to advocate androgyny), then certainly secondary when we come together in the church. Jesus looked past gender on at least two occasions. First, when he told the sisters Mary and Martha that Mary, in taking time to listen attentively

to Jesus’ words and ponder them, had chosen “the better part.” A woman’s place, in other words, is not (necessarily) in the kitchen but in the seminary! Second, Jesus revealed himself first to a woman in His risen form. He didn’t care that a woman’s testimony or authority was considered inferior to that of men in the culture. If asking a woman to proclaim the good news is not a definition of preaching, I don’t know what would be.

What are some specific ways Christians can embrace a shalom-feminism? bb Act from a place of love that helps channel feelings of anger into actions of naming oppression.

concerns of women students and encourage them that the church is a place that wants and needs to hear their voices.

In addition, I am involved with several other faculty as well as a recent alumna in developing a gender studies minor at Gordon as one way of introducing students to theoretical tools that will better enable them to listen to, understand and critique voices often overlooked in our culture. Such tools enable us to become more like Christ in hearing and engaging with voices that both church and culture consider too “illicit” to heed. In other words, my hope for shalom-feminism is that it will encourage us to walk with Jesus to the well, where the noonday sun is not the only form of oppression keeping others at bay.

bb Acknowledge that men are not the problem—that both sexes are capable of oppression against women (though in different ways and with different effects) and that both sexes can benefit from the absence of oppression. bb Look for subtle institutional and cultural manifestations of gender discrimination. bb Recognize that gender oppression is inextricably linked to racial oppression. bb Think about what it means that language is fallen and needs to be redeemed.

Lauren Swayne Barthold, Ph.D., is

bb Ponder the relevance of the notion of “identity” and how secondary identities of race, gender, nationality, bodyability, etc., should be considered in light of our fundamental identity as children of God.

research include a monograph on

At Gordon I am engaging with students to see why—given that women comprise 64 percent of the Gordon population— less than 10 percent of the philosophy major is made up of women. In the Women and Philosophy group, we listen to

understanding. She is married to

assistant professor of philosophy at Gordon. Her current areas of the dialectical nature of Gadamer’s hermeneutics, a critique of Rorty’s refusal to allow religion a public role, and the role of the good in another philosopher, Pablo Muchnik, with whom she has two children, daughter Auden and son Gael. lauren.barthold@gordon.edu

Res urces CHRISTIAN

GENERAL

Elaine Storkey, What’s Right with Feminism? (1989)

Juliet Mitchel and Ann Oakley (eds.), What is Feminism? (1987)

Mary Steward Van Leeuwen, Gender and Grace (1990); After Eden: Facing the Challenge of Gender Reconciliation (1993) Christians for Biblical Equality, cbeinternational.org, an organization representing members from more than 80 denominations who believe that the Bible, properly interpreted, teaches the fundamental equality of men and women.

bell hooks, Feminism Is for Everybody (2000) Rosemary Tong, Feminist Thought (1998) momsrising.org, a grassroots, nonpartisan effort to build a more family-friendly America.

Evangelical & Ecumenical Women’s Caucus, eewc.org, an international organization of women and men who believe that the Bible supports the equality of the sexes.

FALL 2007 | STILLPOINT 15

LIVING ICONS—HANDLE WITH CARE An information technologist on the promise and the dangers of online media.

We have become a wired generation.

Statistics from the Pew Internet and American Life Project show that over 73 percent of American adults use the Internet, which permeates daily life and is transforming our society. Activities we once did offline—including spiritually oriented ones—have online equivalents.

Whether it is reading Scripture, joining prayer groups, playing games, finding driving directions, or looking up movie times, we are experiencing an evergrowing synthesis between our online activities and the real world. The line between these two worlds is quickly disappearing. For some in our society the line is already gone.

Our online experiences are no longer confined to a computer. Today everything is completely portable: telephones, music, movies, television and the Internet. According to statistics from the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA), over 244 million Americans today have wireless/ cellular service. Since 2001 Apple has sold over 110 million iPods. Whether it is at a store, out for a walk, at the

16 STILLPOINT | FALL 2007

movies, or even at church, cell phones and iPods are absolutely everywhere and used by almost everyone. We are living and witnessing an unprecedented shift to becoming a mobile society with constant connectivity.

These radical technology changes have happened within the short span of the past 15 years, and technological advancement is not going to slow down anytime soon. Quite the opposite; it is going to accelerate—with even more convergence and miniaturization. In other words, what once required two, three, or more devices will now be done with just one; and as time goes on these devices will become smaller, lighter and more powerful.

Just look at Apple’s incredible iPhone or any mobile phone sold today. These are not simply cell phones in the traditional sense. Rather, they are fullfledged, mobile entertainment devices.

They can play audio and video content; take pictures or capture movies; organize your day with incredible calendaring and email functionality; let you surf the Internet; and keep

you connected with your business or social network through voice and text communications. The cell phone as we once knew it no longer exists.

Seeing the power of portable entertainment, adult content providers have already developed and are distributing pornographic material that is specifically formatted for cell phones, the iPhone, iPods, and even PlayStation portables—the very devices that many of us would readily give to our children!

Today Playboy offers a service called iPlayboy that offers any iPhone or iPod user—regardless of age—free photographs of scantily clad women in provocative poses. Subscribers to a premium service have full access to a larger library of all-nude photos, videos, wallpapers and more. Playboy is promoting iPlayboy as portable technology that puts Playboy’s sexiest models at your fingertips. Unfortunately Playboy is simply one of many mobile adult content providers. All of them want a piece of the huge adult mobile content market, which it is estimated will be worth a staggering $2.1 billion by 2009.

Story Theo Nicolakis ’93

For the past several years I have served on the Executive Committee of the Religious Alliance Against Pornography (RAAP). Working with a national coalition of evangelical and nonevangelical churches, the Roman Catholic Church, Muslims and Jews has been an incredible blessing. We have had several meetings with wireless industry executives and various levels of the U.S. government. Thankfully we have made some progress with the wireless industry on these serious issues that ultimately affect all of us and threaten our children.

However, just as we are making strides against mobile pornography, technological advancements are presenting challenges on new fronts.

The explosion of virtual social worlds such as Second Life (www.secondlife. com) has changed the rules yet again.

These new virtual realities are offering users a mixture of entertainment, social interaction and entrepreneurial opportunities.

Perhaps the biggest difference with these new services is that any user can develop their own virtual world, create their own virtual character (which may be completely different from who they really are) and define their virtual experience. As a result, Second Life is now filled with virtual sex clubs and other depraved creations that are distorting the brilliance of the underlying technology.

doctor, we have to cure the root of the problem instead of treating only the symptoms. Having studied and grappled with these issues as a technologist and theologian, it is clear to me that the problem is not the technology. Instead, I think the real problem stems from how we adopt technology in our own lives and use it with each other.

If we look at the opening chapter of Genesis, we see the simple yet profound truth that each of us is created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26–27). In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the word used for “image” is “icon.” The Bible tells us that each and every one of us is a living icon of God, and we are called to grow in His likeness.

Scripture shows that as Christians we have a twofold challenge with any technology: First, we must apply technology in ways that help us grow in the image and likeness of God. Technology should enhance our spiritual growth and relationship with God—not detract from it. Secondly, as evidenced

by Matthew 25:31–46 and 1 John 4:20– 21, we need to treat each other as living icons of God. We should use technology as though we are using it with the Lord Himself.

As director of information technology and Internet ministries for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, it is my responsibility to adapt emerging technologies for Christian ministry and stay abreast of new dangers. More than ever I see the need for a solid, Christian approach to technology instead of unending, fragmented reactions to specific developments. Otherwise we will be constantly working on things that are already obsolete.

I firmly believe that recognizing the living icon of God in one another will make us think twice about any actions that could potentially embarrass, demean or hurt another person. Such a perspective counteracts the degrading imagery of mobile pornography, predatory attacks, cyber-bullying, digital voyeurism or any other icontarnishing behavior that technology can empower. Whenever I have grappled with tough issues in digital ministry, I have always returned to Genesis to provide me with the proper theological perspective and framework of who we truly are as human beings.

I believe what we need is a theological approach that can be applied to any advancement. Like a good spiritual

Thus in my recent travels and lectures on mobile pornography, I have often ended my presentation with Genesis

and talked about the human person as a living icon of Christ. I have told audiences that this was not so much a presentation on mobile pornography as a lecture on Christian anthropology.

For this reason, when I worked on developing the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America’s website (www.goarch.org), I made sure we had an icon of our Lord Jesus Christ on the home page and every subsequent page throughout the site. For if we can stay focused on Christ, the true icon, then we have the potential to transfigure any technological advancement for the glory of God.

Theo Nicolakis was an A. J. Gordon Scholar and Pike Scholar. He received his Master of Divinity from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology and his Master of Science in Management and Systems from New York University. He is responsible for all technology operations as well as creating and implementing the digital ministry strategy of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

He also represents the archdiocese on a number of initiatives including the Communications Commission of the National Council of Churches, and the American Bible Society’s National Church Leadership Council.

Theo lectures for the Orthodox Church on a variety of technology ministry topics and is currently lecturing across the United States on mobile pornography and virtual social networks.

FALL 2007 | STILLPOINT 17

Faith Matters—But How? Ryan Lawrence and Farr Curlin discuss the challenges faced by doctors and other professionals seeking to live faithfully as Christians in the workplace.

Faith matters—at least sometimes.

At the University of Chicago we have been studying physicians’ religious characteristics and how they impact medical practices. Some results have been intuitive, some have been controversial. All have raised challenging questions about what it means to be a Christian in the workplace, and to integrate faith and professional activities.

Our studies have found that a large proportion of doctors are religious.

More than half of doctors describe themselves as Catholic or Protestant.

Fourteen percent are Jewish—a sevenfold increase over the general population. A majority of doctors say they try hard to carry their religious beliefs over into all other dealings in life.

In contrast, only 11 percent of doctors have no religion. 1 In a more controversial finding published in the New England Journal of Medicine last February, we found that doctors’ religious beliefs influence how they practice medicine. 2 This is particularly true for areas of medicine surrounded by ethical controversy, such as sedating dying patients to the point

18 STILLPOINT | FALL 2007

of unconsciousness, providing abortion because of failed contraception, and prescribing birth control to adolescents without their parents’ approval. We found that doctors who are more religious (by several criteria) are less likely to believe they are obligated to tell patients about all medical options.

They are also less likely to believe they are obligated to give referrals so patients can obtain controversial treatments elsewhere. In some cases, it seems, physicians’ religious beliefs limit the medical options they make available to patients.

Controversy These findings added fuel to a heated ongoing debate about whether religion has overstepped its bounds and whether religious doctors are inappropriately imposing their values on patients. In a letter to the editor one critic warned, “The onus is on our profession to confront the willingness of so many of our colleagues to substitute their personal values for the fundamental right of their patients to know their treatment options.” 3 Similarly, a New York Times editorial

titled “Doctors Who Fail Their Patients” claimed, “[Physicians] have no right to withhold important information from their patients. Any doctor who cannot talk to patients about legally permitted care because it conflicts with their values should give up the practice of medicine.” 4 Many believe that in donning the white coat the doctor agrees to set personal beliefs aside— particularly religious beliefs that may impose limits on professional activities.

This call to separate personal religious beliefs from public or professional roles is not unique to medicine. Christians teaching in public schools often face questions about what books to assign and what to teach about evolutionary theory. Christians in law and politics sometimes encounter tension between representing the views of the people who hired or elected them versus using their office to promote Christian teachings. Christians in the business world may have to decide whether religious scruples will interfere with what otherwise appear to be good business decisions. Even Christian pastors encounter this challenge every time they minister in hospitals, schools and other public settings. Will they profess their faith in Jesus or instead speak only about love and belief in a higher power? In one way or another all Christian professionals face this question of how to remain faithful to their beliefs when operating in the public sector.

Ways to Respond There are several ways a faithful Christian can respond when professional expectations limit the ability to apply Christian teachings. One option is to leave the profession. After all, when Jesus called his first disciples,

Story Ryan E. Lawrence ’03

Farr A. Curlin

Illustration Tim Ferguson Sauder

This call to separate personal religious beliefs from public or professional roles is not unique to medicine. they left their nets and followed him (Mark 1:16–20). Furthermore, Jesus said no one could be a true disciple unless he “hate[s] his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes even his own life” (Luke 14:26). Compared with this weighty list, abandoning one’s profession is no hardship. The downside to leaving the profession, though, is that one misses out on upcoming opportunities to effect change in that profession.

Another option is to stay in the profession but ignore those professional guidelines that encroach on religious teachings. Indeed, the apostles preached the gospel despite strict orders from the Sanhedrin. Peter claimed, “We must obey God rather than men!” (Acts 5:29). However, this approach is hard to reconcile with the instruction “Make every effort to live in peace with all men” (Hebrews 12:14). And from a pragmatic perspective it may foster antagonistic relationships between Christians and professional bodies.

A parallel option is to stay in the profession but promote Christian teachings discreetly so as not to cause friction with supervisors who would disapprove if they knew. The shortcoming here is the apparent use of deception; a questionable way of showing faithfulness to a God Who does not lie (Titus 1:2). It implies a lack of confidence in God’s ability to advance His kingdom on His own terms.

Finally, so long as constraints do not conflict too severely with religious teachings, one can stay in the profession and agree to practice according to its own guidelines and standards. A person in this role can look for opportunities to promote reconciliation between religious teachings and professional stipulations.

In line with this approach, Paul urged his readers to submit to governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established (Romans 13:1). A person taking this avenue risks compromising too much and becoming like the salt that has lost its saltiness and can no longer fulfill its purpose (Matthew 5:13). However, those who obtain influential positions may be provided unique opportunities to do good (Esther 4:14).

The best option will often vary according to circumstances. Our studies have shown that despite criticism from some sectors, many religious doctors have decided to stay in medicine and allow their religious commitments to influence some aspects of medical care.

These findings are encouraging, for they indicate religion is not strictly a Sunday morning affair for many doctors but impacts much of their lives. At the same time, these findings are sobering, for the Crusades, the Inquisition and the post-Reformation wars of religion demonstrated that fidelity to religious conviction is not sufficient to produce good results. If religious teachings are

Endnotes Curlin, F. A., J. D. Lantos, C. J. Roach, S. A. Sellergren, M. H. Chin. “Religious Characteristics

1

of U.S. Physicians: A National Survey.” Journal of General Internal Medicine, 20, 2005.

Curlin, F. A., R. E. Lawrence, M. H. Chin, J. D. Lantos. “Religion, Conscience, and

2

to benefit society, they must be rightly interpreted and rightly applied—with a spirit of love and humility.

The last word on balancing faith with professional expectations has yet to be said. In a post-Christian, postmodern society characterized by secularism, pluralism and individualism, there is no shortage of challenges for those seeking to live faithfully as Christians in the workplace.

Ryan E. Lawrence, M.Div., is a medical student at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. He earned his M.Div. at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Farr A. Curlin, M.D., is assistant professor of medicine and associate faculty in the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago.

Controversial Clinical Practices.” New England Journal of Medicine, 356:6, 2007.

Stotland, N. L. “Letters.” New England Journal of Medicine, 356:18, 2007.

3

“Doctors Who Fail Their Patients.” New York Times, February 13, 2007.

4

FALL 2007 | STILLPOINT 19

IN FOCUS

Faculty

FACULTY Publications, Performances and Presentations Gordon’s faculty members are active scholars who make important contributions to their disciplines and to society. A full listing of faculty publications, performances and presentations is available online at: www.gordon.edu/stillpoint/faculty

On Learning and Humility Michael W. Givens Our collective gaze should be on those things that help us grow in the Lord and on those things that help us sharpen our God-given gift of critical intelligence. But those targets may seem vague to us and therefore difficult to fixate on. As an academic institution, we are about faith and integration: we acknowledge that truth has its origin in God; that reason exercised in a framework of a faith commitment to God will nurture our faith and expand our knowledge. For us, faith and learning are inseparable. If that’s true, my question has always been “What is it that holds them together?” What’s the glue, so to speak? Most of us have struggled with faithlearning integration questions. But in the course of your studies and search for Truth, if you should find yourself at a place of humility, you will know that you have been on the right path.

It is humility that will bind together our faith and our learning and make them inseparable.

From a convocation address. Michael W. Givens, Ph.D., professor of kinesiology, will retire at the end of this academic year after 29 years at Gordon.

Howard Receives Lilly Award Tal Howard’s book Protestant Theology and the Making of the Modern German University won the Lilly Fellows Program Annual Book Award, which recognizes an original, imaginative work of scholarship exploring the intersection of religion and higher education. Professor Howard’s book has been reviewed in the Times Higher Education Supplement, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the American Historical Review. He has been invited to give talks on the book at Oxford University and the Humboldt University of Berlin.

20 STILLPOINT | FALL 2007

Palimpsest/Palinsesto Debuts Online John Skillen Palimpsest/Palinsesto, an online journal associated with the Studio for Art, Faith and History, is now available on the Gordon website. The Studio, located in the historic central-Italian town of Orvieto, oversees the Gordon in Orvieto program, which focuses on arts and humanities, and is administered by Gordon’s Global Education Office. It sponsors new work in the visual and performing arts, and hosts conferences, retreats and workshops, often in partnership with other civic, cultural and faith-based organizations, both local and international. The goal of the Studio is to foster a living tradition of art and faith, serving as a work site of new art that manifests a vital encounter with the past expressed in idioms that speak to the present. Palimpsest/Palinsesto will appear three times a year and will feature essays, poetry and visual work associated with the Studio and with the Gordon in Orvieto program.

Palimpsest is the technical word for an ancient or medieval manuscript on which earlier writing was scraped off the animal-skin pages in order to reuse the vellum for another text. But often the earlier writing can still be deciphered, shadow-like, beneath the more recent over-writing. In fact, several ancient texts have been preserved only through their under-written traces in a palimpsest. Hence the erasure of earlier writing represents both destruction and a mode of survival.

In Italian, the word palinsesto is commonly used with the wider sense of any sort of historical layering in which older stages still peer through later changes or renovations, leaving fragmentary tracks, traces and echoes— as in the architecture of towns such as Orvieto, where the outlines of medieval window frames may still be visible in buildings remodeled in Renaissance styles. Palimpsests can offer tantalizing clues and inspiration for people wishing to reconnect with a tradition that has decayed or become fragmented.

The first issue of Palimpsest/Palinsesto will include essays by Mark Sargent, John Skillen, Bruce Herman, Tanja Butler and Susanna Tamaro, and poetry by Scott Cairns, Christine Perrin and Andrew Frisardi.

John Skillen is the director of the Gordon in Orvieto program.

Read Palimpsest/Palinsesto www.gordon.edu/palimpsest

IN FOCUS

Faculty

Creative Director Wins Design Competition Tim Ferguson Sauder, creative director and part-time faculty member at Gordon, won first place at the Boston Cut&Paste Digital Design Tournament in September, a tournament that travels nationally and internationally. Sauder competed against seven other designers from around the nation.

“We were given 15 minutes to create and design something based on themes provided to us a week before the tournament,” said Sauder.

“Anything we incorporated into our designs needed to be photographed right there on stage within the 15-minute time frame, in front of a packed audience.” The competition was also streamed live on the Cut&Paste website so friends, family and others could watch.

A Sabbatical of Giving Suzanne Phillips, professor of psychology, recently returned from a sabbatical volunteering at Pioneer House, a clubhouse in Peabody, Massachusetts. Clubhouses are communitybased vocational rehabilitation centers for adults with mental-health issues. Members and staff work together, helping members gain confidence in their work skills.

Phillips’ sabbatical goal was to learn more about community-oriented perspectives on mental health and mental disorders. She worked with members to gather and organize information about the clubhouse’s history for its 20th anniversary next summer, interviewing past and present members, scanning photographs and researching archived newsletters. “I came to appreciate how clubhouses provide opportunities for people with mental health concerns to participate actively in a meaningful community setting,” said Phillips.

The Inimitable Peter W. Stine When he started at Gordon, English professor Peter W. Stine had two kidneys, two legs and a great sense of humor. But now, on his way out, he’s “given both of his legs to Gordon,” according to fellow professor Mark Stevick—and replaced a kidney. His sense of humor, however, has remained steady.

Pictures of students, masks from sabbatical trips, Princemere Readers tour posters, and shelves and shelves of books have cluttered Dr. Stine’s office for his 40 years at Gordon. But at the end of this academic year, when he retires, he will take these things with him, move to Brooksby Village in nearby Peabody, Massachusetts, preach and travel, and maybe even find time to read the complete works of Thomas Hardy.

Stine has left a mark on campus, teaching British, African and NobelPrize literature classes. He paved the way for British-literature studies to be part of the European seminar, starting in 1973. His reading of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever became a tradition on campus, and he often performed in NODROG, a faculty talent show where one year he removed his prosthetic leg for entertainment. He will lead his last literary pilgrimage to Britain this July, taking students on a “Castles, Cathedrals and Poetic Places” tour throughout Britain.

Students have always loved this curmudgeonly but caring professor, who called them by their last names and never let them wear hats in class.

“Welcome to college!”, he was known to retort to students complaining of heavy work loads. He has also left an indelible impression on faculty and staff—so much so that Sue Hakes of the Alumni and Parent Relations staff gave him one of her kidneys when he needed one. “Thank you, Peter W., for your invaluable contributions to the Department of English Language and Literature—and for being a good friend to so many of us,” fellow English professor Janis Flint-Ferguson says.

Stine’s advice as he departs: “Always be students, always read and always be curious. It’s a large world God has made, and you should always be curious about what’s in it.”

Contact Peter W. Stine peter.stine@gordon.edu | 8 Larrabee Avenue, Danvers MA 01923

IN FOCUS

STUDENTS

The Elijah Project What does Scripture say about work? How has God uniquely made each one of us to serve in His kingdom? How do we make decisions about choosing a career and answering a call?

Co-led by Dean of Chapel Greg Carmer and his wife, Laura, this program offers a unique opportunity to tackle these questions. Students admitted into The Elijah Project spend 12 months together in classroom seminars and an intentional living community exploring the theological foundations of meaningful human work. Students in the 2007 cohort participated in summer internships in India; United Arab Emirates; Kenya; Malawi; Zaire; Nepal; Ukraine; Jackson, Mississippi; Dorchester, Massachusetts;

Journey to India Jennifer Sabin ’09

Los Angeles, California and other locations. They gained experience in community development, photojournalism, medicine, rural education, fashion design, business administration, public

This past summer I spent nearly two months in southern India fulfilling an internship with The Elijah Project. I worked for a nongovernmental organization called Bharati Integrated Rural Development Society (BIRDS) based in Nandyal, Andhra Pradesh. BIRDS provides skills training, microfinanced loans, and education and care to orphans and destitute children. During my time with BIRDS I organized the administration of the children’s home, coordinated sponsorship for the children living there, and also taught English. I worked alongside the founder and executive director of BIRDS, V. Paul Raja Rao. He taught me about his organization, India and development; but more importantly, he taught me about love and truth. I was challenged and grew in ways I never anticipated.

psychological services, and management.

Verbal communication, I learned, can only go so far. The boys in this picture speak Telugu, the native language of Andhra Pradesh. Although they knew some English from school, it was basic at best. I was trying to do my part, studying Telugu and learning specific things I wanted to say to them. I wanted to know what was on their minds, why they were sometimes upset, what they were studying in school and whom they wanted to be like when they got older. But the times I felt closest to these boys was in the brief silence before they began to laugh; it was in the corners of their mouths when they were about to smile; it was in their touch when they sat beside me; and it was in their eyes when they found out I had to go home. We were often able to understand each other and to share our lives without saying a word.

Summer 2007: Opole, Poland

I decided my relationship with BIRDS would not end when I got back on an airplane. I have recently registered BIRDS International Inc., a nonprofit stateside base seeking support and awareness for BIRDS. My experience traveling to India and learning from Paul and his family has been life changing.

that the Polish people are strong, hospitable

Jennifer Sabin is a social work major and an Elijah Project student. She is from Barrington, New Hampshire.

when I found myself an ocean away from home.

Bharati Integrated Rural Development Society www.birds-india.com

Grace Aldershof ’09 This past summer I taught English in Opole, Poland, through the Summer Missions Program.

Teaching and living in Poland was a blend of experiences: I was the guest of honor at a sixth-grade prom; I learned what sound “szcz” indicates; I watched The Incredibles in Polish. I danced in the streets to an opera celebrating the 750th anniversary of the founding of Krakow; I struggled at Auschwitz with some of the deepest questions about humanity and horror. I learned and polite. I found I was capable of teaching a class of Polish elementary school children—even though in the beginning I only knew a few words of Polish. An incredible risk—but God’s provision and trustworthiness became starkly apparent

IN FOCUS

STUDENTS

IN THEIR WORDS

“The internships and home stays allowed me to enter into local workplaces and homes.

My time with coworkers and host families awakened me to the joys and struggles South Africans face. The people I met breathed life into historical facts.”

—Hannah Powlison ’08 On the summer 2007 pilot for the Gordon in South Africa semester program

Traveling the Pro Circuit Ryan Sawyer ’08 I knew after the first time I stepped into water skis that this sport would be a relentless love in my life—but I never thought I would make it as far in the water-ski industry as I did this past summer.

Last year a Gordon professor encouraged me to find my passion and figure out a way to make a living doing it. Inspired, I spent the next seven months banging down the door of WaterSki magazine until the editor finally caved and offered me an internship at their headquarters in Orlando, Florida. While I was based in Orlando, I spent much of the summer traveling on the pro circuit for tournaments, skiing, and video and photo shoots. I filmed, edited and produced the 2007 videos for WaterSki magazine’s website.

It was surreal to go from following the best skiers in the world from a distance—on TV and in magazines—to suddenly skiing with them in their backyards, hanging out with them on the weekends or traveling with them on the road. Every day brought a new ski venue, another tournament boat and something else to learn. Whether it was 5 a.m. ski sessions, enjoying a Florida sunset from the dock with fellow skiers, or dodging the local alligators in the water, there was never a dull moment. I am still working with the editor on the mainstream water ski video that will be released in stores next spring—it was shot on location in France, Italy, St. Martin, northern California and all over Florida.

MataHari: Eye of the Day Tania Green ’08 When I first researched the issue of human trafficking, I associated it with developing countries; little did I know this grotesque human rights abuse is happening in my own backyard.

Last summer I interned for MataHari: Eye of the Day, a Boston-based, nonprofit organization that combats targeted violence against women through counseling and legal services. Although I did not work directly with the abused women or prostituted children (some as young as 11 years old), I became deeply invested in their stories—like how they were coerced to leave their countries and their children to live as sexual slaves for men in Massachusetts.

I struggled to see how my public relations work

It was a thrilling experience, and I was excited that God took one of my greatest passions and used it for His glory. While I learned a lot and had a blast both on and off the water, it is my prayer that God used me in some way to further His kingdom. If he did, that’s all I need to consider it a successful summer. I am blessed to be given this opportunity and look forward to what the future brings for me in this sport.

for this small nonprofit could matter. How could

Ryan Sawyer is a senior communications major from Menlo Park, California.

and feature article I wrote, I used skills I learned

one Gordon College student fight the billiondollar sex-trade industry? Through writing and praying I realized that my anger, passion for justice, and ability to communicate these stories to the world mattered deeply to those forgotten women and children. With each press release in my PR classes to give voice to those who cannot represent themselves.

WaterSki Magazine www.waterskimag.com MataHari: Eye of the Day www.eyeoftheday.org

Fall 2007 | STILLPOINT 23

IN FOCUS

ALUMNI

Technology Finds New Home Dave Sweet ’63, former chief technology officer, and Russ Leathe, director of network systems at Gordon, recently traveled to the New Theological College in Dehradun, India, and installed inground fiber optic cable to connect three of their buildings and to set up their campus network with several used Alcatel switches donated by the Gordon campus. Sweet trained a young man on their staff in video editing and production.

Sweet and Leathe also traveled to Bhopal, where they installed an indoor Ethernet distribution system in the Good News Center building. Sweet taught another young man video production, and Leathe taught the book of John to a grassroots Bible school class. Sweet has been

A Classroom in Amman

doing video production and providing mission support since he retired from Gordon in 2004.

Cristina Diaz ’06 In August 2006 I left the U.S. to teach English to second- and thirdgraders at a refugee school created by an Iraqi church in Amman, Jordan.

Through the church I taught Sunday school and established individual relationships within a women’s group in addition to teaching.

The language barrier was one of my biggest challenges. It was a blessing as my students and I quickly learned the basics in each other’s languages.

It also served as comic relief when we said things incorrectly; we laughed and learned together. Another challenge I faced was the way Iraqi children learn—merely memorizing information. I found myself training students to engage with information, and while it was a struggle initially, they caught on and loved doing activities, working in small groups and engaging with the material they were learning.

Relationships with the children was one of the greatest joys of teaching at the school. Many had dealt with being kidnapped, watching their homes being burned down by militants and having to flee their homes to move to a strange and distant country, yet their resilience—and their constant joy—taught me more than I have ever learned in any classroom.

Evangelism is illegal in Jordan, but the school provided opportunities to share Jesus in a safe place, though I still had to be careful. I prayed with my students before every class and freely answered and encouraged questions about God. I spent a lot of time in the Word and relied on the Lord for strength as I worked and shared the gospel, understanding my time in Jordan as an opportunity to share in what God is doing in our world.

Cristina Diaz, currently teaching third grade at a Christian school in her hometown, Miami, Florida, hopes to get her master’s in international education and return to the Middle East. Some of her students in Amman are pictured above.

Making Music A semester in 2003 at the Contemporary Music Center, an artist’s colony in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, solidified a friendship and future for Jill Pickering (left) and Kate Rapier (right), both 2004 graduates. While on Martha’s Vineyard, Jill and Kate took classes in songwriting, recording and performing. It didn’t take long before they started writing together and formed a music group, JillandKate.

After graduating they traveled around the country performing, writing and recording East Coast Bound, their first album, released in 2005. Sarah McLachlan, Bon Jovi and Lisa Loeb are just some artists who have inspired their work. Last November Kelly Clarkson attended one of their shows and invited them to sing backup for her at the Daytona 500. After the event Kelly asked if they would continue singing backup on tour with her. Jill and Kate are currently on a nationwide tour and also working on recording their second album.

Jill and Kate Online www.jillandkate.com

IN FOCUS

ALUMNI

Alumni Books Luke Reynolds ’03 is the author of A New Man: Reclaiming Authentic Masculinity from a Culture of Pornography, (StoneGarden. net Publishing, 2007), a book about real-life experiences with pornography, initiating a discussion on ways to create healthier men, women and relationships.

Stella Price ’89 wrote the book Chosen for Choson (Emmaus Road Ministries, 2007), which tells the story of Robert Jermain Thomas, a Welshman who

Summer 2007: Seven Weeks in South Africa

is considered by many to be the first Protestant martyr in Korea.

Meredith Whitnah ’06

Reading Paul (Wipf and

I flew to South Africa less than 48 hours after graduating from Gordon—after the most intense and wonderful academic semester of my career there. I had planned to go with Gordon’s first pilot program to South Africa the previous year. But when my mom was diagnosed with cancer, all plans changed and dimmed in significance. We went to radiation treatments together instead of talking on the phone from different continents.

It was worth it. What my experience in South Africa drove much deeper within me was the awareness that life is fragile; we are insignificant specks of dust; it is a tenuous, difficult, painful thing to live. And yet it is beautiful; we do matter; and, perhaps most importantly, it is within that paradox that we discover grace.

I am haunted by faces, memories, absence. I have never so fully appreciated the paradox of being human. That may sound abstract and neat, but it’s a complicated and dirty mess. How to live in light of what’s been seen; how to love; how to be broken and gracious; how to be completely fine and okay; to laugh and yet be completely disconnected and alone; to cry at the same time. And to understand that somehow it’s precisely in the middle of the awful sense of bewildering confusion that peace and grace and love are able to have some sort of meaning.

At the end of the day, I am profoundly thankful—for South Africa and what it allowed me to discover; for wonderful friends; for memories; for all the hard stuff that reminds me of the necessity of trust, vulnerability, forgiveness and hope—because life is beautiful. Sad. But beautiful. We are different, yet the same; we are bound to each other. Somehow there’s enough grace for each of us to make it all work.

Meredith Whitnah was a Pike Scholar and designed a gender studies major focusing on the interaction between gender and religion. She plans to do graduate study and hopes to return to South Africa for further research of gender-related issues as well as to reconnect with friends. She is pictured here with Gertrude, a South African woman.

Read more about Meredith’s trip www.gordon.edu/photojournals

Stock, 2007) is the third book on the Apostle Paul written by Mike Gorman ’77. Designed for serious lay readers and beginning divinity students, it treats the major themes in Paul’s theology and relates them to the contemporary church.

Ted Sider ’88 is a professor of philosophy at New York University and has coauthored with Earl Conee Riddles of Existence: A Guided Tour of Metaphysics (Oxford University Press, 2005). He describes it as “an introduction to metaphysics for students and nonphilosophers.” To fellow philosophers he says, “It’s supposed to be the kind of book you can give to your friends and family when they ask what you do for a living.”

Contact the Authors Luke | luke.reynolds@gordon.edu Stella | stellamprice@comcast.net Mike | mgorman@stmarys.edu Ted | ted.sider@nyu.edu Order Your Copy All books are available online or through local bookstores.

FALL 2007 | STILLPOINT 25

ENCOUNTERS

Upcoming Speakers Makoto Fujimura January 31–February 1, 2008 “The Creative Age in the Church” Dallas Willard February 14–15, 2008 “Faith, Virtue and Knowledge”

Three New Global Education Endeavors Mark Sargent

1 | The new Gordon in South Africa program has seen strong applications for its first semester offerings for spring 2008. The program will be housed in the Woodstock area of Cape Town,

Advocates for a Sustainable Future

and students will have opportunities to take

Madeleine Skillen ’09

Cape. Ivy George, professor of sociology,

some courses at the University of the Western

Advocates for a Sustainable Future (ASF) was founded by Mat Schetne ’08, Miles Kirby ’07 and Joanna Lippmann ’07 last spring in response to a number of students who felt passionate about environmental awareness and the desire to not only educate fellow students but to make a difference on campus. The purpose of ASF as stated in the bylaws includes promoting awareness of God’s mandate for creation care and the importance of collective stewardship; to provide resources on sustainable living; to expose environmental degradation as a social justice issue; to work with area churches and the local community in creation care efforts; and to work to maintain a distinctly biblical stewardship ethic in future vision and development of Gordon College.

and Claire Collins, who will serve as program

One improvement resulting from the hard work of last spring was replacing the paper-cup-only option in Lane Student Center to include plastic reusable cups. This not only saves paper but saves Dining Services money. We also started a composting program for the apartments on campus and are continuing that program this year.

trade in coffee on some of the individuals and

director on site, have laid a good foundation for the semester with their work over the last two summers.

2 | The new Coffee International Seminar will take place in January 2008 under the direction of Daniel Johnson, associate professor of sociology, Margie DeWeese-Boyd, associate professor of social work, and Kirk McClelland, director of service learning and missions.

Fourteen students will travel with the faculty to Guatemala to study the impact of global communities involved in the trade.

3 | Also in January, Grace Ju, adjunct professor of biology, will return from Morocco (story, page 35) to teach the Sustainable Tropical

ASF’s big project this past summer was to start a community garden on campus. The garden is located behind Barrington and is six rows of various vegetables including tomatoes, potatoes, basil, carrots, lettuce, spinach, radishes, onions and strawberries. The garden was so successful we were able to sell the organic produce to students at a farmstand in front of Lane, raising money to improve the garden for next year as well as promote the importance and availability of local produce.

Agriculture course. Ming Zheng, professor of

Projects for this year include a weekly environmentally minded column in the Tartan; working with Dining Services to offer more local or fairly traded products; sponsoring trips to participate in Massachusetts Audubon educational workshops; and sponsoring documentary/film showings that pertain to environmental and sustainable issues.

More about the Programs

Madeleine Skillen is a history major from Newburyport, Massachusetts. She has also lived in Orvieto, Italy. Advocates for a Sustainable Future is a part of the GCSA (Gordon College Student Association). Its advisor is associate professor of biology Dorothy Boorse.

ECHO

More on Gordon’s commitment to sustainable programs www.gordon.edu/sustainable

biology, has taught the predeparture seminars and will accompany the group of 14 students to the ECHO (Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization) facility in Fort Myers, Florida, and then to Honduras for the field experience, where he will assist Grace.

Gordon in South Africa www.gordon.edu/insouthafrica Coffee International Seminar www.gordon.edu/coffeesem www.echonet.org

ENCOUNTERS

IN THEIR WORDS

“If, as Shakespeare said, brevity is the soul of wit, then perhaps repetition is the soul of retention.” ­—Tal Howard Associate professor of history and director of the Jerusalem and Athens Forum, in introducing the Faith Seeking Understanding lecture series

Gordon in Orvieto Relocates Over the summer Gordon relocated the Gordon

Do Not use this page,

in Orvieto study-abroad program to the Convent

Summit at Gordon

In June more than 900 teachers, administrators, counselors, clergy, social workers and parents came together at Gordon for The Education Challenge: ADHD and Asperger’s Syndrome, a conference cosponsored by Gordon and Summit Academy Schools. Summit Academies are a network of elementary and secondary therapeutic schools for children with Asperger’s or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Summit presented their sought-after therapeutic education model to help students develop better coping skills, a sense of belonging and self-discipline in addressing their academic, social and emotional needs. Dr. Richard Lavoie, nationally recognized for his expertise in learning disabilities, was a conference presenter.

of San Paolo, on the southern edge of the volcanic mesa that holds the ancient town of Orvieto, Italy. Several town and church officials from Orvieto came to the dedication, along with Cliff Hersey, dean of global education, Bruce Herman, professor of art, and John Skillen, director. With this new, expanded space,

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“We were thrilled to host this very important conference at Gordon, particularly since our graduate and undergraduate education majors continue to encounter children suffering from these syndromes in the classroom,” said Dr. Janet Arndt, assistant professor of education at Gordon and conference presenter. Arndt, a former classroom teacher, counselor and principal, presented the workshop Social Competence: The Forgotten Component of School Success. “So much of what we need to do in school has to do with belonging, being part of a group,” Arndt said. “If students don’t feel good about themselves—if they don’t feel that they can do those kinds of things—what happens is that academics go by the wayside.”

An important part of any professional conference is the opportunity to network, and parents of children with learning disabilities particularly appreciated being able to make connections. “There were lots of conversations going on where they were able to share experiences and stories,” Arndt said. “I had parents say to me, ‘This is a wonderful opportunity, apart from the presentations, just to make contact’ with other parents who had the same needs.”

Conference attendees received graduate credit, professional development points and continuing education credits through the Summit Academy Institute and Gordon College’s graduate education program.

Gordon has the opportunity for year-round programming. The Spring 2008 semester will feature a history emphasis, taught by three history faculty members—Tal and Agnes Howard and Jennifer Hevelone-Harper.

Gordon on iTunes U Apple Inc. has selected the Gordon podcast site to be featured on Apple’s public iTunes Music Store. As one of only a few dozen colleges and universities nationwide and one of only three colleges in Massachusetts currently selected for this distinction, Gordon will be featured alongside schools such as MIT, Stanford, Duke and Yale. Gordon’s iTunes U podcast site allows users to virtually experience visiting lecturers, music concerts, student-produced video journals and sporting events coverage.

Summit Academy www.summitacademies.com/mass Gordon on iTunes www.gordon.edu/itunes

Fall 2007 | STILLPOINT 27

TOP SIX

A Few of OUR favorite things

1

2

3

Do 6 Not use this page,

Favorite IT (Information Technology) Memories and Artifacts When we needed to identify a photograph of an artifact from the Ken Olsen archives, we asked Gordon computer science faculty and other IT specialists for their help. Our STILLPOINT inbox overflowed; the photo turned out to be of an antique magnetic core memory. Russ Leathe, director of networking and computer services, said the image “brought back a flood of memories” from his work at Wang Laboratories in the 1980s—including the morning he met An Wang in an elevator. “Here was the man who created electronic core memory and later revolutionized the industry with the first word processor, saying hi to me. If the founder of a multimillion dollar company can remember me, how much greater is the God Who created me.”

Here are more of our technology-savvy friends’ favorite IT memories.

use other document 1 | The How and Why Wonder Book of Robots

early minicomputer) and were actually allowed to

and Electronic Brains (1963)

sign up for hands-on time for an hour at a time. (I

The How and Why Wonder Book of Robots and Electronic Brains (1963) was the book that first interested me in computers. I read it about 100 times when I was in elementary school. I built robots out of light switches, light bulbs and big cardboard boxes. Isaac Asimov once quipped, when asked about the computers he had “invented” in his science fiction novels of the 1930s and ’40s, “Did you notice I only described what it looked like on the outside?” My robots looked pretty good on the outside. Inside was me. I still have in my office my first computer, from the late 1970s, though actually my very first computer was the DigiComp I received around the same time as my How and Why Wonder Book. I’m still mourning the day it was unceremoniously thrown away. Now they’re worth hundreds to collectors!

Irvin Levy, Ph.D. Professor of Chemistry and Computer Science

a bunch of high school students with a machine that probably cost more than a typical house at that time!) The 1620 was a decimal machine with 60,000 decimal digits of memory and a basic cycle time of 20 microseconds. It didn’t have an operating system or mass storage. Instead, one loaded a program into memory from punched cards that had been prepared previously. It didn’t have circuitry to perform arithmetic; instead, one had to load, add, and multiply tables into the memory when loading a new program. (IBM’s internal name for the system during development was CADET, which some wag suggested meant “Can’t Add—Don’t Even Try.”) I still have fond memories of that 1620. To this day I still know the machine language operation codes for several of the typical 1620 operations, though I haven’t written a program on the machine in decades.

Russell Bjork, M.S. Professor of

2 | IBM 1620

Computer Science

My first exposure to computers was through

3 | Punch-Card Memories

a summer program for high school students sponsored by the National Science Foundation at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, my hometown. We had access to an IBM 1620 (an

28 STILLPOINT | FALL 2007

still can’t figure out why they were willing to trust

In 1983 I was hired by my undergraduate college to assist in computation for class scheduling. When a student registered for a class, the instructor

4

5

6

Do Not use this page,

handed over a punch card. At night I sat up

started pulling black cable, hand over hand,

management, which started my technology

with a PDP-11 as it processed over 10,000

while the workmen watched through the

career at Gordon. I’ll always have fond

punch cards (Ken Olsen’s company, Digital

window and laughed. After several minutes

memories of Abbey and of Gordon’s VAXes,

Equipment Corporation, made these wonderful

we had a large quantity of black cable in

which will be retired this year after many, many

machines). By the next morning the registrar

the computer room. Sweaty but proud, we

faithful years of service to the College.

had an idea of who was scheduled for what

surveyed the pile of cable with a feeling of

June Bodoni ’82, B.A. Director of the

classes. It was truly a miracle at the time. In

accomplishment. However, our flush of victory

Center for Educational Technology

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1986, during graduate school, I worked for

was short-lived; all that black spaghetti needed

Apple shortly after the Macintosh came out. I

to be moved down the hall to MacDonald 107.

6 | A Gen X-er Remembers

got an “insider’s” deal on a Macintosh SE with

Oops. We hadn’t thought to coil it up as we

As a member of Generation X, my entire life

512 kilobytes of memory and 30 megabytes

went along. Now what? It was heavy, it was

has been shaped by technology. When I was

of hard disk space—it only cost me about

bulky, it was not cooperative. But we pulled

5 years old, I sat next to my father, watching

$3,000. Today I have a new Macbook Pro with

it, pushed it and cajoled it, and eventually we

eagerly as he burned his own integrated circuit

two gigabytes of memory and 160 gigabytes

got it down the hall. Dave and Tom had a good

boards in a tub of acid with his Heath-Kit Poly

of disk space. It is much, much faster and cost

laugh when they got back, and June and I were

88 computer. When I was 10, my friend got a

less than $2,500. Recently I took the hard drive

then in high demand for any heavy-lifting jobs.

Timex Sinclair minicomputer that connected

out of my dead Mac and stuck it in a Mac my

Anita Coco, M.R.E. Media Support Specialist

to the TV as a monitor (that concept died off

sister-in-law was throwing out. When I started it up, it began processing right where it had left

quickly, but this convergence of television and computers is coming back into vogue).

off over 10 years earlier.

5 | A Word Processor Named Abbey

Stephen Brinton, M.S. Associate

One of my favorite tasks as a student working

hating computers—they always seemed to lose

in Gordon’s Alumni Office was running the

my papers. But I was the first student to deliver

thank-you letters and appeal letters on

a final term paper to a professor through email.

Gordon’s first word processor. The A.B. Dick

I proudly toted my high-density 5¼-inch disk

Gordon’s computer network used to consist of

word processor (nicknamed Abbey by the

to the Computer Center and they went right

a series of telephone cables running from the

Development Office) was a mammoth CPU

to work figuring out how to email the paper

“command center” in MacDonald Hall to the

connected to a huge daisy wheel typewriter

with the VAX system. Another area where

administrative offices in Frost. It was a joyous

with a tiny display screen. Abbey was located

technology has changed my life is with phones.

day when a grant made it possible to replace

in a small remote office up a back staircase

Instead of answering the rotary dial phone

these telephone wires with a state-of-the-art

outside of Marv Wilson’s office in Frost. There

attached to the wall in my childhood home, I

Ethernet network connecting all the buildings

I could feed Abbey letterhead with one hand

now have no “land line,” and the cell phone in

on campus. As with most large projects, this

and hold a book with the other—the best

my pocket has more computing power than my

one was slated for the summer. One day the

student job ever. I read the entire Lord of the

mid-1990s-era seminary desktop computer (of

workmen who were laying cables informed me

Rings trilogy that summer. I also took home

course I kept the classic ringing bell ring tone).

that the conduit that held the telephone wires

the thick binder of instructions one weekend

Robert Van Cleef ’94, M.A.Th. Technology

needed to be emptied ASAP and it “wasn’t in

to learn how to program letters. That weekend

Program Manager

their contract” to do that. Both Dave Sweet

my previously undiscovered “inner geek”

and Tom Borchart were on vacation, leaving

came out. From there I went on to take a

it up to June Bodoni (director of the Center

few programming classes, and I took every

for Educational Technologies) and me to get

opportunity to read the VAX/VMS and POISE

the job done. June and I braced ourselves and

manuals. Eventually I got hired to do database

Professor of Computer Science

4 | Black Spaghetti

www.gordon.edu/stillpoint/top6

At Gordon I actually went through a phase of

FALL 2007 | STILLPOINT 29

most situations aren’t that extreme, it reminded me of God’s presence and that God is always that active; I need to step aside.”

Hospital Chaplains—Christ’s Love for the Hurting Although semiretired, the Reverend William Keep ’78 continues to serve the sick and helpless as a hospital chaplain in Kentucky. “Chaplaincy came from a strong desire to serve—not to lead, as in the pastorate, but to make Christ and His redemptive love known to those who hurt.” His hospital chaplaincy career began at Memorial Medical Center in Springfield, Illinois, primarily serving in the psychiatric unit. He conducted worship services for patients and staff, using music extensively. More often than not Bill was able to build bridges between patients and the local church. He greatly enjoyed spending significant time with troubled and hospitalized kids.

Do Not use this page, Their Land to Serve, Thy Law Fulfill “Chaplains have a critical role in filling out the diversity of ministry gifts

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in the Body of Christ. To support individuals and their loved ones . . . requires unusual compassion, pathos and shalom or ‘togetherness.’”

—Marvin Wilson, professor of biblical and theological studies Whether on the combat field, in a police car, behind prison bars, on a hospital bed or out on the streets, chaplaincy “takes God into the world of our troops.” Chaplaincy is not defined by doctrine, creed or a particular body of believers. It is ministry in constant motion; it is personal sacrifice and giving. It is a high calling, and the people who receive that call take the commitment seriously. Here are just a few examples of Gordon alumni serving as chaplains and making a difference.

Police Chaplains—Bringing Hope into Hopeless Situations Heather Blackstone ’98 was pastor of a church in Glendale, California. One day a train collided with a car, killing 11 people and seriously injuring many others. Heather responded to the scene, since her church was only a few blocks from the Police Department, and was placed in a room with family members who were waiting to hear

30 STILLPOINT | FALL 2007

if their relatives had been killed. “As a chaplain I was supposed to offer hope in a hopeless situation; support when even I was crumbling; and crowd control in a place where people were being told they would never see a loved one again.” After providing counseling and funeral services, she was asked by the Glendale Police Department to be their chaplain. Honored and humbled, Heather accepted the offer.

While Heather made a huge impact in this particular time of crisis, she remains humble in her approach, listening and letting the Holy Spirit guide her in how to comfort grief-ridden people. “I think every ministry needs the person to be completely hollowed out so God can work. In my first experience as a chaplain, I was drained and clueless as to how to handle the situation, and yet somehow I was able to get through it while God moved in me. I really felt that at some point God took over and dragged me through. Even though

Bill has found it crucial to steep himself in God’s Word and soak himself in prayer as he continues to serve—especially the poor, weak, sick and lonely. “Pray—before, during and after ministry opportunities. Allow the Holy Spirit to sensitize your heart to the situation; then lovingly and tenderly reach in. Apply God’s Word appropriately and let Jesus do His healing work without getting in the way.

Always, always follow through.”

Prison Chaplains—Working to Reduce Recidivism Joe Caron ’68B is coordinating chaplain in the New York State Department of Correctional Services. He has been a chaplain for more than 25 years, and previously served as chaplain in an acute care urban hospital and pastoral director in a residential drug rehabilitation center.

Story Kristin Schwabauer ’04

As a prison chaplain focusing on ministering to men, he faces the challenge of “how to encourage men to find refuge and resource in Christ Jesus that will shape their lives so they do not return to familiar lives of crime and addiction, and return to prison.”

He tries to connect prisoners with a local body of believers, and hopes that by connecting prisoners to a church family while they are incarcerated, these men will plug into their local churches when they are released. “Family,” says Joe, “takes a real punishment because of incarceration. Hope for a change in the future is often difficult to identify because there is so much more to getting out of prison than release.”

chaplains made in the lives of soldiers and their family members. Soldiers were saved, baptized, renewed their faith and committed themselves to being better Christ-followers. I hope to return to full-time active duty to be part of this unique and important ministry.”

Like Dan, Nicole Palmeira ’03 is an Air Force chaplain candidate. Candidates simultaneously attend seminary and participate in an internship program to test a calling into military chaplaincy.

Nicole lives by Psalm 61: “Whether I am attending a seminary class, in uniform, or sitting at my Emmanuel Gospel Center desk as I am right now, my prayer is that God will enable me to ‘proclaim good news to the poor, bind up the brokenhearted.’ It is from this passage that Jesus quoted and began his ministry, and it sums up so well the work of the church.”

“The Air Force chaplaincy is a ‘visible reminder of the holy.’ As Christ incarnated into our world, we take Christ into the world of others.”

Dan Moen ’04, Air Force chaplain candidate (right) with Rev. Bruce Arnold

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But often what happens is that Joe loses all contact with ex-prisoners and cannot continue to act as a spiritual mentor after their release. He can only pray and make himself available to the men who remain incarcerated.

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Military Chaplains—Standing Alongside Soldiers

All branches of the military benefit from military chaplains serving as spiritual leaders among soldiers and their families. They are expected to keep up the morale of the soldiers no matter what the circumstance; travel and live all over the world; stand alongside soldiers in battle; disciple, mentor, teach and preach. “A chaplain enjoys all the privileges of a civilian pastor—preaching, teaching, counseling, visitation, community leadership—but has the unique privilege of ministering globally, even in a combat environment,” says Air Force chaplain Bruce Arnold ’75.

Dan Moen ’04, Air Force chaplain candidate, first served as a chaplain’s assistant in the Army before going through training to become an Air Force chaplain; his supervising chaplain at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base was Bruce Arnold. “As a former chaplain assistant in the Army, I saw firsthand the tremendous impact solid evangelical

Active duty chaplains like Bruce Arnold are always at the frontline of a soldier’s life—whether offering spiritual counsel, performing marriages, visiting wounded soldiers, leading worship or coming alongside other men on the battlefield. Since 1984 Bruce has served on active duty in Washington, D.C., Washington State, Germany, New Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Panama, California, Ohio and England.

“Contrary to popular belief, the military does not censor the gospel,” says Bruce. “But like the Apostle Paul, a wise chaplain becomes ‘all things to all people,’ respecting the unique military environment in order to minister most effectively.” All chaplains experience what Bruce is talking about—in any field, in any building, in any place.

“In hospital chaplaincy one seldom sees the end product.”

Rev. William Keep ’78

“I think every ministry needs the person to be completely hollowed out so God can work.”

Heather Blackstone ’98, police chaplain

“I live by Psalm 61.”

Nicole Palmeira ’03, Air Force chaplain candidate (pictured

Kristin Schwabauer, communications

left, center)

and writing associate at Gordon, was practically born into the chaplaincy, moving around the world her entire life, proudly watching her dad

“I face the challenge of encouraging men to find refuge and resource in

serve military personnel in multiple

Christ Jesus.”

capacities as a Navy chaplain.

Joe Caron ’68B, prison chaplain,

kristin.schwabauer@gordon.edu

(not pictured)

Title Note: The title of this article references The Navy Hymn, “Eternal Father, Strong to Save.”

FALL 2007 | STILLPOINT 31

contacts made through involvement with international adoptions—to ask for help. People from the village of Bristol and from “villages” across the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada reached out in love to the little village in Uganda.

Getting Personal: Making a Difference in Uganda One Life at a Time For Laurie Kroll and her husband, Michael, a ride shared with a visiting Ugandan student opened the door to a ministry based on relationships.

“I don’t know why I have to take this class. I’m never going to use it!”

That’s what Laurie (McGuinness) Kroll ’81 thought about the Economics of Poverty course required for her psychology degree at Gordon College.

How could she have known that 25 years later her life would revolve around the subject?

became personal to Laurie and her family in the summer of 2002.

Statistics can be disturbing—even heartbreaking—but statistics are impersonal and rarely move people to act. Hearing James relate the suffering of people he knew and his own trauma was personal, and impossible to ignore.

It began with a phone call to the parsonage of First Baptist Church in Bristol, Vermont. James Mutaka, a visiting Ugandan student, wanted to attend church and needed a ride. Laurie Kroll offered the ride, and so began a very special relationship.

The Krolls sent gifts for James’ family when he returned to Uganda. He later shared how hard it was to give presents to his own family while surrounded by orphaned children with nothing. James’ family shared the few things they had been sent, but there wasn’t enough to go around.

Both Laurie and her husband, Michael— pastor at First Baptist—were appalled

by James’ descriptions of the desperate lives led by people in his home village of Serere. A generation ravaged by HIV/ AIDS, orphaned children abandoned to fend for themselves, widespread domestic abuse, civil war and rebel incursions—these remote horrors

“We have much to learn from Ugandan Christians in terms of holding onto faith in the face of suffering,” Laurie says.

The Krolls felt God was calling them to do something. So they got personal.

They started with the congregation of their tiny church. Then Laurie emailed everyone she knew—family, friends,

www.village2villageproject.org

What began as a vague impulse to send a little money for food, clothing and books became a burgeoning relief mission. Laurie’s extensive involvement in foster care, international adoption and hosting exchange students served as a basis for developing the Village2Village Project (V2V). She envisioned a plan that would take the local culture into account and strengthen family and community ties.

“Work in international adoption gave me a support base of people who care for orphans,” Laurie explains, “and hosting exchange students taught me the importance of understanding culture.”

V2V is built around a unique “kinship program.” Instead of removing children from the village to an orphanage, children who have lost everything are given a caring family in a secure, familiar environment. Whenever possible, children are encouraged to remain with their loving, yet impoverished guardians, often frail grandmothers left with little ones after the deaths of their adult children.

V2V uses Ugandan caseworkers familiar with the culture and context of village life to conduct regular home visits and provide medical screening and crisis intervention, counseling and parenting classes. Children are assigned sponsors whose support covers the cost of food, education and medical care. Sponsored children meet daily for a hot lunch, tutoring and educational playtime. A Saturday program provides reading groups, health and spiritual education, and companionship.

Story Marjorie Overhiser ’81

The Liberal Arts and a Global Vision Grace Ju How does “a vague impulse to send a little money for food, clothing and books” turn into a long-term,

V2V also has a sponsorship program for HIV-positive adult guardians, which enables many living with HIV to continue to care for their own families as well as the children in the program.

The emphasis on respecting culture and strengthening the entire community guides the approach to evangelism too. Rather than bring in outsiders to evangelize people, many of whom already have a mature and vibrant faith, V2V looks to develop local leadership and churches. In July 2006 V2V organized an ecumenical pastors’ conference attended by more than 200 clergy from throughout northeastern Uganda. Last summer more than 600 children from the community attended vacation Bible school.

The involvement of members of the Gordon College community with the project has enriched V2V. When researching schools in Uganda, Laurie discovered that Dr. Malcolm Reid, philosophy professor, was to be a visiting professor at Uganda Christian University (UCU). She phoned him to talk about UCU and his passion for Uganda. He agreed to serve on the V2V Board of Directors.

medical clinic and helped conduct a women’s retreat.

like Village2Village? How does a Christian liberal arts education

Nikki Klink ’07 and Hannah Powlison ’08 participated in the Uganda Studies Program through the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities BestSemester Program. They were placed in Serere and were introduced to V2V through “Mama Hellen,” James’ birthmother, with whom Hannah lived.

Now Nikki and Hannah both sponsor V2V children.

prepare students for international

And James—he was adopted and became James Mutaka Kroll in 2005.

His whole family was in Uganda to see him graduate from UCU last summer.

They will not only see that it is a

God loves us through the person of His Son. Christ saves us one at a time.

Personal relationships. Individual lives.

Village2Village is copying that pattern to bring hope to Uganda.

work—and to be successful at it?

Perhaps most obvious, the liberal arts help students practice critical thinking, preparing them to apply the many disciplines that play a role in decision making and analytical problem solving. For example, if they see drastic erosion on the hillsides of Haiti, they will react in ways that show depth and wisdom. serious ecological problem; they will understand the complexity of how the situation got this severe—the political, historical, religious and cultural reasons why this has happened. They will see that solutions are not simple; they will see the pragmatic as well as the spiritual solutions. They will see, most importantly, that they have a responsibility to be part of the solution—certainly not to contribute to the problem.

The liberal arts help students develop not just analytical ability but compassion and passion for the world around them. They come to appreciate the beauty of those aspects of life that are not

Laurie and I were roommates at Gordon, and we’ve remained close. Our conversations throughout the formative process of V2V showed me that it isn’t necessary to have a fully formed plan of action before God can use you. All you need is a willingness to obey, take that first step and trust the Lord to lead.

Now I also serve on the board.

The Gordon connections continue into another generation. Last summer Malcolm coordinated a volunteer team to help in the village. Four Gordon students—Meg King ’05, Aubrey Fowler ’05, Chris Acker ’04 and Grant Moxham ’04—tutored children, assisted with a

thoughtfully conceived relief mission

scientifically measurable. They appreciate the colorful palette of God’s creation in a sunset, the beauty of a grandmother praying for her grandchild, the beauty of forgiveness and humility, the beauty of playing “duck, duck, goose” in Mandarin or Creole with children of many races.

And they will get that much closer to the heart of Jesus Christ, and thus Marjorie (MacArthur) Overhiser is an executive assistant with New England Equity Group. She also writes for and is the director of the Living Word Players of Dunstable, Massachusetts.

serve in the world more as He would.

Grace Ju, Ph.D., adjunct professor of biology grace.ju@gordon.edu

She lives in Pepperell, Massachusetts, with her husband, Paul, and daughter, Julia. Marj graduated from Gordon with a B.A. in philosophy.

FALL 2007 | STILLPOINT 33

Story Laurae Richards ’88

for the orphanage, these children could again face desperation. Along with a few other people, we formed a nonprofit organization called Servants for Haiti Inc. in November 2005.

Falling in Love—with Haiti Laurae Richards knew she was taking a risk when she signed on for a short-term mission to Haiti back in 2000. Here is how her vision—and her family—expanded.

I arrived in Haiti in 2000 to overwhelming crowds, intense heat, and smells of burning tires and sewage.

When our bus broke down in the middle of a busy street, I remember thinking “What am I doing here, God?” During my time at Gordon I never went abroad or did any missions work. In fact, my roommate teased me that my hot curlers never got cold. After college I married, worked for awhile and had three children. In 1997 I began working with a youth group at our church in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, and exploring what it meant to be a servant of Christ. When God called me to be one of the leaders on a youth group mission trip to Haiti in 2000, I said to Him, “I will go where You want and serve You because You called me; I am scared, yet I will trust You.” When we set aside our self-interests and say “yes” to God, we realize we

could be taking risks—I was afraid I might not return from Haiti. Why had God called me to serve Him in this volatile Third-World country, racked with violence, political corruption and sickness? What could I do? But 10 days later when I left Haiti, I realized it was what they would do for me that God wanted me to see. He allowed me to see these beautiful people in Haiti—true servants of Christ, who changed my life.

That was the first trip of many. In 2004 God made the way for my whole family to go to Haiti, and they too fell in love.

We traveled at a time filled with unrest and uncertainty—just weeks before the coup that took Aristide out of power.

By summer 2005 all mission teams had stopped going to Haiti and many missionaries had left. My heart ached, especially for the new orphanage in the house where we had stayed. With no teams there and no source of income

Our mission was to help Haiti’s impoverished children become outstanding leaders in their homes, churches, communities and nation by helping them survive and thrive.

Our initial focus was providing food and medical care to the 23 children in the Kingdom Kids orphanage in Cité Militaire. This led to a sponsorship program that provided room and board for caregivers at the orphanage, who served these children 24 hours a day.

We also sponsor 70 children from the orphanage as well as others, allowing them to go to school. We’ve offered a full scholarship to one student to go to medical school. We continue to need sponsors for all programs, and funds to help run the orphanage; we trust God will provide.

God has done amazing things, and the fact that He chose to use me is one of them. All it took was for me to surrender, say “yes” and let Him lead.

Laurae (Smith) and Howard Richards live in Westford, Massachusetts, where Laurae is a kindergarten art teacher. They have three children and are adopting two little girls from Haiti. Laurae received her B.A. in business administration from Gordon and studied art at Rivier College in Nashua, New Hampshire, and at the Museum of Fine Arts School in Boston, Massachusetts. Her “Images of Haiti” have won awards and appeared in solo and group exhibits.

Servants for Haiti www.servantsforhaiti.org View Laurae’s art www.lauraerichards.net

Lauraeann@verizon.net

Story Guinevere McWhorter ’05

needs to be an athlete, everyone can glean valuable lessons about teamwork, respect and hard work from sports.

And I can see changes in my students (pictured left playing dodgeball in the old, dried-up pool).

A Teacher in Morocco How an alumna is putting both academics and athletics to work in the lives of children half a world away.

Dr. Grace Ju, her husband, Garth Miller, and I have all found ourselves this past year serving God in Morocco, at a small orphanage in the Middle Atlas Mountains. The orphanage, run by American believers, raises Moroccan children from infancy through their school years. Garth, Grace and I have spent one year teaching students ages 14–18.

Poverty is very evident here, in the countryside and on the fringes of the cities. Beggars and street kids are ubiquitous. Most farm labor is still done with donkeys and wooden plows.

Housing is often primitive. In contrast to all of this is the extreme wealth of many Moroccans—black Mercedes share the streets with donkey carts.

Developing a curriculum has been challenging and rewarding. Our students have to become trilingual (French, English and Arabic)—a difficult task for anyone. In my teaching I strive to develop a love for learning among a tough crowd of students, a few of whom had never read a book. Many of them are very bright; a few struggle

with learning disabilities. But all of them grew last year as we required them to read much more than they thought they could. Grace displays her mastery of the sciences in her classroom—doing endless experiments and projects with the students. Garth is daily improving the students’ math and computer skills.

Culturally, the children oscillate between Western religion and culture and Arab/Muslim ideology. They often dream of some ideal America, a concept imbibed from shallow Hollywood stereotypes. Our goal in the classroom is to engender a love of Morocco in our students while nurturing their Christian faith.

We are not blind to the fact that our students are average volatile teenagers, and we try to emphasize respect, teamwork and positive peer relationships. However, some of our students are particularly challenging! I took it upon myself to try to use athletics as a way to combat this negativity. My background in competitive sports has convinced me that, though not everyone wants or

For example, at the beginning of the year, Kamal was highly capable of angry outbursts. At a recent Sports Day, though, his goal at the start was to be humble—not once did he yell or complain or chew out a teammate.

And Tarik—he has a clever and jovial personality, and we have been working with him to channel his energy. He is still a work in progress, but has indeed improved drastically. Aman, one of my seniors, can at times be grumpy, but she works hard in every game even though she can’t stand sports. Often she is the one to start cheering her teammates when things get tense.

My students will still be squirmy adolescents with their own bags of tricks and problems, but in many ways they have improved this year, and that is all I can ask. As I enter my second year of teaching here, I look forward to seeing how God will continue to work in all of our lives.

Guinevere McWhorter was an English and secondary education major at Gordon and played varsity basketball.

Grace Ju, Ph.D., is adjunct professor of biology. To receive Guinevere’s monthly newsletters, contact her at guinevere.mcwhorter@gmail.com.

FALL 2007 | STILLPOINT 35

Homecoming and Family Weekend October 4–6, 2007 Homecoming 2007 was a rich time of reconnection as the Gordon and Barrington communities came home for a refreshing weekend together. The unseasonably warm weather allowed alumni and their families to fully enjoy many outdoor as well as indoor activities.

During the week leading up to Homecoming, students responded to many “blasts” of a bagpipe during Spirit Week activities.

Bagpiper Rob Knechtle ’09, in full regalia, led the Homecoming convocation processional, playing “Amazing Grace.” On Thursday night, October 4, “Soul Searching: A Movie about Teenagers and God,” a new film by Alumnus of the Year Christian Smith ’82, premiered at Gordon and was followed by a faculty panel discussion.

On Friday the festivities began in earnest. Alumni attended convocation and had their choice of many classes to sit in on. In the evening they gathered to honor notable fellow alumni at the Great Scots Awards Dinner. Saturday’s activities began with a 5K Scot Trot through the Gordon woods.

The reunion classes gathered to share a meal and memories. On the quad they rooted for the “Fighting Scots.” Children moon-bounced and got their faces painted. The Saturday night finale was truly grand. NODROG, the annual faculty/ staff talent show, gave about 1,000 students, parents and alumni a lot to laugh about and fun memories to take away.

36 STILLPOINT | FALL 2007

2007 Photos Katherine McClure

Alumni Awards Attending the Alumni Awards ceremony were (back left) Christian Smith ’82; Brandi (Anderson) Bates’92; Ralph Jensen ’71 and (front left) Jan (Jensen) Carlberg, on behalf of their mother, Margaret Jensen; Alberta ’43 and Martha ’59 Simms; (back right) Brendan ’95 and (front right), Erin ’97

Do Not use this page,

Cooney on behalf of their parents, Marilyn (Arnold) ’68B and James Cooney.

ALUMNUS OF THE YEAR Christian Smith ’82

Chris is professor of sociology and director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society, University of Notre Dame. He has been author, coauthor or editor of many books and articles, most recently the award-winning Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers (Oxford University Press).

use other document

JACK GOOD COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD Dana ’93 and Brandi (Anderson) ’92 Bates

Dana and Brandi have served since 1995 in the coal mining Jiu Valley of Romania, where they founded Viata (“Life”), a summer adventure program for teens styled after La Vida. They are currently developing a national network of service learning clubs in Romanian schools.

A. J. GORDON MISSIONARY SERVICE AWARD Alberta ’43 and Martha ’59 Simms

Alberta’s desire to work with Muslims led her to the Sudan Interior Mission as a teacher, where she participated in the founding of a girls’ school. In later years she traveled back and forth between Niger and Massachusetts, where she worked with Dr. Winifred Currie at Gordon’s Reading Center.

Martha Simms prepared for the mission field by attending Bible college, nursing school and Gordon College, as well as working at a dental clinic. She served for decades as a nurse with the Sudan Interior Mission (SIM) in Niger, West Africa, and, in recent years, at the SIM headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina.

WINIFRED CURRIE AWARD IN EDUCATION Marilyn (Arnold) ’68B and James Cooney

Marilyn taught hearing-impaired children in Rhode Island for 20 years and Jim was a teacher, coach and high school principal for 35 years. Since their “retirement” in 2000 they have been serving as directors of the Gospel School for the Deaf in Fiji.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Margaret T. Jensen

Nationally known author and speaker Margaret Jensen—mother of Jan Carlberg—wrote 15 books, including First We Have Coffee, and developed a strong connection with Gordon students during her many visits to campus. The College’s theatre was named in her honor.

FALL 2007 | STILLPOINT 37

ALUMNI

REunions

1960B

1962B

1967

1977

1987

1997

47th Reunion – Barrington Class of 1960

45th Reunion – Gordon Class of 1962

30th Reunion – Gordon Class of 1977

Row 1: Josephine (Jones) McReynolds,

Row 1: Dorothy (MacKay) Mark, Phyllis

Row 1: Janet (Morris) Easlea, Jolene

Sherrill (Smith) Lambert, Dotty

(MacVittie, Berfield) Waldie, Phyllis

Ackroyd, Shelley (Sowles) Schmidt,

(Krauss) Neal. Row 2: Louise (Vieth)

(Jensen, Conte) Anderson. Row 2: Daniel

Debbie (Sulc) Dunn, Melanie (Herring)

Erway, Lawrence Erway, Ruth (Passler)

Garvin, George Quin Munson, Gene

Drake. Row 2: Jeff Drake, John “Skeet”

Loomis, Dick Lambert. Row 3: Marjorie

Fitzgerald, William Harper.

Henricks, Edwin Schauffele, Dave Evans,

Wadsworth, Bertha Harris, David Brown, Ann (Vree) Thornton, Barry Neal.

40 Reunion – Gordon Class of 1967 th

Gail (Rau) deFreitas.

Row 1: Charlotte (Eaton) Powell, Lyn

25th Reunion – Gordon Class of 1982

45 Reunion – Barrington Class of 1962

(Sleeper) Bullock, Janice (Carlson)

Row 1: Fred DeCosta, Cindy (Wilbraham)

Row 1: Cora Jane (Hurlburt) Barnes,

Bullock, Arthur Davey, Cindy (Gedney)

Fitzgerald, Mary (Knight) Elzinga, Debi

Rosemarie (Boschen) Buote, Joan

Bostock. Row 2: Bill Powell, Walt Bullock,

(Lehr) Pekowsky, Lisa (Carlson) Penta,

(Guadliana) Burchell, Rudy Nelson ’48.

Robert Bullock, Carl Hurd, Chuck

Catherine (Wood) Keller, Laurie (Wynn)

Row 2: Priscilla Ferrin Leavitt, Carole

Bostock, James Nicolle.

Fiedler. Row 2: Chris Smith, Scott

th

(Fiscus) Bird, Carol Mae (Washburn) Burbank, Frank Burchell. Row 3: June (Jacoby) Willis, George Finch, John Erikson. Row 4: Douglas Kane, Victor Burke.

38 STILLPOINT | FALL 2007

35th Reunion – Gordon Class of 1972 Row 1: Colyn Roberts, Marilyn (Johnson) Malmquist, Martha (Wilcoxson) Spear.

Row 2: Donald Brown, Linda (Mostrom) Brown.

Fitzgerald, Paul Elzinga, Craig Powers, Blair Smith. Row 3: Gregg Stiansen, Ron Kay, Ken Smith.

1962

1972

The Third Thursday in July—A New Tradition David Nystedt ’50B

For the past several years the third Thursday of July has been known by many as PBI (Providence Barrington Institute) Reunion Day. What began as an informal gathering at the homes of retired

1982

missionaries has grown, by word of mouth, to over 60 alumni of our beloved Institute. The Potting Shed Restaurant (known as The Shed), nestled in an apple orchard in Acton, Maine, has been the setting for our reunion. Folks have gathered from all over New England and beyond to rejoice together in what God has done and is doing in their lives. As our numbers have grown (along

2002

with the number of wheelchairs, walkers and canes), the crescendo of sound has grown too: “Do you remember when (fill in the

20th Reunion – Gordon Class of 1987

5th Reunion – Gordon Class of 2002

Row 1: Debbie Dean ’92; Cathie

Row 1: Jennifer Byam, Aimée

Dieffenbaugh ’92; Kim (Tompkins)

(Archambault) DeBose, Esther (Pier)

Weidner; Kathy (Munroe) Wilson; Eric

Littlefield, Letitia Coulter, Rebecca

Rev. John Barney is our jovial song

Greaux; Laura (Iriana) Zercher; Lisa

Stuart, Jennifer (Bonina) Noseworthy.

leader and emcee. Fran Woods

(Edmondson) Buettner; Jon, Ginger,

Row 2: Ray James, Bethany Bray,

’41B says, “The time of singing and

Jacob, Delia and Kyla Hughes. Row 2:

Shannon Sullivan, Rebekah Stilkey,

sharing is always a blessing. We

David and Daniel Smith, Mark Wilson,

Brian Carlson, Mike McKinley.

rejoice in God’s many blessings.

Cedric Buettner, Lori (Minchau)

Row 3: Jeff Divino, Daniel Fowler,

Jesus walks as close to each of

Peacock, John Malcolmson.

Mike Webster, Andy Newhouse,

us as we allow Him to! See you in

Joel Trombley.

July—if not here, see you in Glory.”

15th Reunion – Gordon Class of 1997

blank)?” “You haven’t changed a bit.”

Row 1: Jill (Spear) Mattina, Vickie

To reserve your place at The Shed

(Pasquito) Freeston, Amy (Gnidziejko)

for next year’s gathering, contact:

Harkins, Rosemary (Mello) Miner.

Row 2: Hope Mattina, Chris Mattina ’98, Mike Adams, Chris Bibow, Simon Miner, David Friedrich.

Rev. John Barney 130 Clubhouse Road Windsor, CT 06095 jbarney556@aol.com 860 683 0007 (after Easter)

FALL 2007 | STILLPOINT 39

ALUMNI

NEWS

1940s

Priscilla (Clark) Terwilleger ’62B retired from teaching June 12, 2006, after 37 years as a reading and primary teacher in New York, Connecticut and Kentucky.

Priscilla is working on family genealogy and traveling.

Phyllis (Berfield) Waldie ’62 and her husband, Jack, returned in May from a two-and-a-half-week, self-drive tour in northern Italy. Phyllis still works full-time in residential real estate as a sales agent.

George Sweeting ’48 and his wife, Hilda, celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on June 14. George pastored several city churches in New Jersey followed

by Chicago’s Moody Memorial Church, where he was senior pastor 1966–1971.

In 1971 he became the sixth president of Moody Bible Institute. He served 29 years, first as president (1971–1987) and then as chancellor (1988–1999). Dr. Sweeting has served as a trustee of Moody since 1969.

The Sweetings are residents of Antioch, IL.

1950s Robert Bartlett ’51 was awarded The Paul Harris Award by the New London (CT) Rotary Club. This top award is given to members in recognition of their service to the community—“Rotary, Service above Self.”

Chuck ’56 and Muriel (Leonard) ’60 Davis continue to prepare for their planned retirement in December. The seminary where they have worked in Congo has attained the level of a university capable of training people on the doctoral level.

1960s Ruth (Ashton) Hill ’62 has been back from Singapore for seven years. She and husband Dwight still make occasional trips to Singapore to visit friends.

Audrey (O’Brien) Poole ’62B retired April 1, 2005, and has been traveling to Washington and Massachusetts to visit children and grandchildren. This is a very happy time of life for Audrey.

Joan (Bauer) Smith ’62 has recently retired from supervising student teachers at Lancaster Bible College. Previously she taught middle school science and was director of student teaching at Philadelphia Biblical University. Her husband, David, also recently retired. They plan to enjoy more time with their three children and 12 grandchildren, and want to do volunteer short-term missions.

40 STILLPOINT | FALL 2007

Lee ’65B and Ann Austin have had the China report in The Town Line newspaper for 2007 dedicated to them “with profound gratitude” for their years of “commitment, service and dedication to the things that make a difference.” The Austins reside in China Village, ME. Gail (Hanna Conant) Mead ’65 is currently co-owner of The Learning Depot (an educational retail store) and also a distributor of MonaVie. She remarried four years ago—to John Mead.

Marnie (Kerr) Ketcham ’66 is living in Mount Dora, FL, where she works with the Rafiki Foundation, a Christian mission to sub-Saharan Africa.

John Weliczko ’66 was given the Service with Excellence award by Church World Service for his two-year service to Katrina victims in New Orleans.

Ruth (Garrison) ’67 and husband Gordon ’69 Baker have six sons, all of whom played basketball—but their sport of choice was baseball.

Jacqueline (Libby) Dexter ’67 has wonderful memories of Gordon and made such good friends. She and her husband, Ronald, have lived in Minnesota for over 30 years but miss New England.

Jacqueline has worked in the mental health field since 1980.

Karen (Knecht) Sykes ’67 and her husband, Keith, plan to retire to north central Florida.

1970s Glenn Van Wickle ’70B is retired after 34 years of banking on Cape Cod. His wife, Sharon (D’Angona) ’71B, recently retired as headmaster of Trinity Christian Academy. They bought an RV and have begun traveling the U.S.A. Don’t be surprised if they knock on your door when in your area!

Marilyn (Davis) Hopkins ’71 is assistant vice president and market manager for branch offices for Sanford Institution for Savings in Buxton and Waterboro, ME, with emphasis on new business development and continued delivery of service to existing customers.

Linda (Mostrom) Brown ’72 has been primarily in Christian education since graduating. She is the interim administrator of a small Christian school and still loves the field of education.

Duane Kellogg ’72B retired in June 2005 from the New Hampshire Air National Guard as a chaplain. He served first in the Air Force Reserves before becoming a guardsman, for a total of 22 years of service. He is currently focusing on his counseling practice and a part-time pastorate. He also enjoys being grandpa to three granddaughters.

Janet (Schofield) Morris ’72B retired in 2006 and is substituting in area schools and running a horse farm in Maine.

Frank Cook ’73 has been an Attleboro, MA, city councilor since 2000 and was on the Attleboro Planning Board 1990–2000.

Marsha (Erickson) Coscina ’74 and her husband, Al, are leaving again on a mission trip to Swaziland, Africa, a country with extreme poverty and an AIDS pandemic. They will work with HeartforAfrica educating the poor and providing a means for food production.

Their previous work in Swaziland inspired them to return.

David Goss ’74 teaches history at Gordon College and is also guitarist and lead vocal for the Second South Carolina String Band. The band regularly plays at battle reenactments and attracts large crowds.

They have four albums and have done soundtracks for films. He and his wife, Becky (Franz) ’82, reside in Beverly, MA. www.civilwarband.com Ken Ferguson ’75, after 30 years in parish ministry, has opened a private practice in marriage and family; is a clinical consultant for Aetna’s Employee Assistance Program; and began a performance ministry with Rev. David Reed Brown, an American Baptist pastor and professional magician. Ken brings his 11-year-old radio character, SteepleJack, to life in a one-man show. Ken and his wife, Pat, continue to reside in Ashford, CT. Beth Hunter ’75B is retiring from the Hamilton Wentworth Board of Education in Burlington, ON, Canada, after 31 years in the middle school area. She is looking forward to seeing some of her Barrington friends at a mini-reunion in the Groton, CT, area in the fall.

Diane (Prete) Bowman ’76B has been working at Yale University for the last 20 years, the last four at the Yale Center for British Art as an assistant in the Publications and Exhibitions Department.

She works on exhibition openings and new publications for each exhibition.

Diane would love to hear from anyone in her class. diane.bowman@yale.edu

ALUMNI

NEWS

Grace (Tufts) Buchanan ’77 and her husband, John, adopted a son, George, from Brazil in 2005. There have been many extreme special needs and God has taken care of them all. George will be homeschooled until he learns English.

Cheryl Crawford ’77 is finishing her doctorate in practical theology at Fuller Seminary. She is an assistant professor in the Practical Theology Department at Azusa Pacific University, specializing in youth ministry.

Martha (Peterson) Heassler ’77 worked in development at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and Gordon College until the spring of 2006. She is starting her own business, Heassler Consulting Inc. Elizabeth (Samsvick) Isaac ’77 homeschools her two children. She is the legal liaison and newsletter team leader for the Haverhill Area Homeschool support group. Beth also works part-time for ProofreadNOW.com and for the offices of Berkshire Christian College in Haverhill, MA. She is president of the Women’s Council of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Roger ’77 and Sue Shelton live in a small, passive solar home in the woods of New Hampshire. Roger has been teaching high school since he graduated from college.

He and Sue have no children of their own but have been active as foster parents.

Roger has two master’s degrees—one in applied science and the other in environmental science.

Linda (Blackie) Stoll ’77 is a certified life coach and a board-certified pastoral counselor in Fishkill, NY. Roger Seekell ’78 completed 10 years with WellPoint Inc., one of the nation’s largest health insurers. He is involved in developing and implementing quality assurance processes for WellPoint’s outsourcing ventures in Argentina and the Philippines.

Keith Hartzell ’79 is a council member in Ocean City, NJ. He was elected in 2006 to City Council as councilman-at-large to serve a four-year term. In 2006 he won the Martin Luther King Civil Rights Award for Ocean City.

1980s Jerilyn (DiPirro) ’82 and Ron ’81 Mahurin have lived in Maryland since 1999. They have two very artistic daughters, one in dance and one in drama.

Anne (Hareter) Robitaille ’83B married Roger in 1998 and they have 8-year-old twins. Ann would love to hear from any classmates, especially since the Class of 1983 will celebrate its reunion next year! tiredmom1162@yahoo.com

Mark Winward ’83 received his Master of Theology from Princeton Theological Seminary at Princeton’s 195th Commencement Exercises on May 19.

David Fenrick ’87 received his Ph.D. in intercultural studies from the E. Stanley Jones School of World Mission at Asbury Theological Seminary. His dissertation is entitled “Missional Experiential Education for Developing Christian Global Citizens.”

David and his wife, Patricia, live in Minneapolis, MN. Mark ’87B and Rebecca (Miller) ’88B Hancock, are settled in Orlando, FL, where Mark is working in full-time ministry as the informational services manager for Wycliffe Associates. Rebecca is volunteering in the office and as a homeschool liaison. They have three daughters and continue to homeschool the two youngest.

An Enduring Tradition

Nancy Ling ’88, author of Character, was awarded an honorable mention from the Poets Corner Press Chapbook Contest 2007. ntupper@finelinepoets.com

his parents, Sharon ’67 and

1990s

Nancy Mering

Scott Kennedy ’99 first attended Homecoming in 1979—when he was 2 years old—and he has come back nearly every year since. It has always been a favorite family getaway weekend for Scott and Bob ’65.

In 1995 Scott came to Gordon as a student. He met his wife, Jen (Rolsing) ’99, their freshman year,

Sarah Stamper ’91 completed her internal medicine residency program at Greenwich Hospital in Greenwich, CT.

marrying in 2000. They now live

Nathan ’91 and Linda (Cabarcas) ’91 Tymann moved with their son and daughter to Carrboro, NC, in May.

Lynch in New York City, and Jen

Adrianne Cook ’92 has been director of alumni for Lexington Christian Academy for nearly two years. Any LCA grads can contact her with class notes. adrianne.cook@lca.edu

Luke Brendan, born in 2006.

Mary Dennesen ’93 received several awards in May. One came from the Independent Living Center of the North Shore and Cape Ann, which gave her their Advocate of the Year Award. The Mass Alliance of HUD Tenants and the National Alliance of HUD Tenants gave her four awards for fighting for affordable housing.

Mindi (Palmer) Fried ’93 received board certification from the Academy Council on Chiropractic Pediatrics in April and is running her own family wellness chiropractic office in Easthampton, MA. She would love to hear from her friends.

DrFried@MotionDoc.com Martin Hughes ’93 is an assistant professor of sociology at Calvin College.

May 18–21 he appeared on episodes of the popular game show Jeopardy! with total winnings of $23,601.

in Old Bridge, New Jersey. Scott is a financial advisor with Merrill stays at home with their boys, William Edward, born in 2004, and Jen writes: “Scott broke his ‘Homecoming streak’ when we attended the wedding of Christopher Jolie ’00 and Christy Handschumacher in Aruba in the fall of 2006. We continue to attend Homecoming to catch up with the good friends we made during our time at Gordon and to carry on the family tradition of visiting the North Shore every fall with our own children. Scott has childhood memories of being dragged through the craft shows in the hockey rink bubble, kids’ science fairs in Emery, the dedications of Jenks Library and A. J. Gordon Memorial Chapel, and La Vida demonstrations outside of Frost.

All of this exposed Scott to the welcoming Gordon community at a young age and made Gordon his first and only choice after touring a handful of other schools.”

FALL 2007 | STILLPOINT 41

ALUMNI

NEWS

Bambi Jasmin ’93 graduated from Ross University of Veterinary Medicine with her D.V.M. in May 2006. She completed a oneyear internship in food animal medicine at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO, and has begun a three-year residency in laboratory animal medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Marc Pitman ’95 is director of the Inland Foundation and pastor of the Vineyard Church of Waterville, ME. In June he was the keynote speaker at the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Summer Institute in Charleston, SC. The association fosters development of fundraising professionals and promotes high ethical standards in the fundraising profession.

Kristin (Kaehler) Schmid ’96 recently graduated from the University of Georgia with her master’s degree in learning disabilities. She is currently teaching in Georgia, where she resides with her husband, Kurt, and their 2-year-old son.

Ingrid (Brommers) Bergquist ’97 ran the Portland, OR, marathon on October 7.

Christopher Bibow ’97 is cofounder of Bibow Industries Inc. and of torchtools. com. He is a patentee and inventor of a suite of specialty tools for the plumbing, HAVAC/R, welding and medical industries. He continues to be involved in contemporary Christian music.

Shawn Vincent ’97 was named middle school dean in October 2006 at Bruce M. Whittier Middle School, Poland, ME. Benjamin ’98 and Diane (Jacobus Yurgosky) ’99 Ryan reside in Georgetown, MA, with their children—Elijah, Annamae and Grace. Ben owns and operates New Life Chiropractic and Wellness Center.

Warren ’98 and Tressa (Bowles) ’98 Smith and their sons moved to Yokosuka, Japan, in April. Warren, a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, is the operations officer on board the USS Stethem, which is home ported out of Yokosuka. ltgwsmith@hotmail.com Deborah Wry ’98 of Lynn, MA, was chosen as one of 65 teachers to participate in Mark Twain and the “Impolite Nation”: Using Mark Twain’s Work to Teach About Race in America, an academically rigorous program held in July, and sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Deborah is a reading teacher at Thurgood Marshall Middle School in Lynn, MA. Jeff ’99 and Christi ’00 (Jasa) Reilly and their children—Caleb, Catie, Ashley and Andrew—reside in Temecula, CA. Jeff is a public school teacher and Christi is a stayat-home mom.

42 STILLPOINT | FALL 2007

2000s Sarah McGarry ’00 completed the 2007 Boston Marathon and was an assistant coach of the 2007 Framingham High School state champion girl’s lacrosse team.

Nancy (Silvia) Capen ’01 successfully completed the 2007 Boston Marathon on April 16. This was her first marathon.

Shannon Butler ’02 is living in Washington, D.C., and is in her final semester of classes for her M.A. degree in school counseling, specializing with deaf students. In the spring of 2008 she will have a full-time internship as a counselor at a residential deaf school.

Jeffrey Divino ’02 was published in the Ecology of Freshwater Fish—an article from his master’s degree research at the University of Alberta entitled “Effects of reproductive timing and hatch date on fathead minnow recruitment.”

Mike McGarry ’02 was ordained by the Baptist General Conference on March 11 on the recommendation of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Norfolk, MA, where he has served as pastor of student ministries since 2005.

Jocelyn Ruppell ’02 graduated December 2007 from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA, with an M.S. degree in speech-language pathology. She will be completing an internship at a hospital in London, England, this fall.

Nathaniel Van Yperen ’02 received his Master of Divinity and The Fellowship in Theology from Princeton Theological Seminary at Princeton’s 195th Commencement Exercises on May 19.

Jonathan Lopez ’03 graduated from Downstate Health Science Center College of Medicine in Brooklyn, NY, on May 29. He received distinction in research for looking at how gap junctions aid communication among neurons in the brain. In July he moved to Loma Linda in California’s inland empire, where he will begin work as a pediatric intern. His wife, Guppy, who is Canadian, will join him after her U.S. visa is approved. He is excited to try fish tacos and surfer lingo.

Nicole (Poirier) Palmeira ’03 is a lieutenant reservist on active duty with the 92nd Air Refueling Wing of the U.S.A.F. Lt. Palmeira has been taking additional steps toward chaplaincy since she arrived at the base.

Anthony Weed ’03 just completed his master’s in elementary education and is teaching bilingual education at Harley Harmon Elementary in Las Vegas.

Amy Kuiken ’04 is a 2007–2008 Fulbright scholar to Bulgaria. Her husband, Jonathan, was accepted into Boston College’s doctoral program in history.

Wendy Whitekettle ’04 graduated with honors from Widener University School of Human Service Professions with her master’s in social work. She also passed the Pennsylvania clinical licensure exam. wendy.whitekettle@gmail.com Abigail Bargende ’05 has relocated to Newton, MA, after accepting a job in the Newton Public School System. She will be working on her Master of Arts in Teaching with a specialty in reading at Gordon College.

Mike Frechette ’05 graduated with a master’s degree in applied linguistics from the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics in Dallas, TX. Scott Hwang ’05 is director of student leadership at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, GA. He is in charge of student senate, campus activities, clubs and organizations, as well as the orientation program.

Weston Roberts ’05 has a worship band, Evensong Rising, which led worship for the national conference for Bread for the World in June at an ecumenical service of more than 2,000 people. The service was held in the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., with many leaders and congressmen from Capitol Hill present.

Bread for the World is the largest advocate for world hunger in our nation, lobbying for more than $80 billion toward hunger relief.

Abigail St-Hilaire ’05 has been admitted into a Ph.D. program in gerontology at University of Massachusetts Boston.

Rachel Lawson ’07 is studying film in Los Angeles.

Weddings Sandra Nicol x’90 and James ’88 Hickey, March 12, 2005, at the First Congregational Church of Hamilton in Hamilton, MA. There were 41 Gordon College attendees.

Jody Epstein and Matt Hillas ’93, August 17, Westlake Village, CA. Gordon alumni in attendance were Carrie (Dahl) Tibbles ’93, Steven Carlson ’92, Adam Maguire ’92 and Andrew Badoud ’92.

Ruth Fulwider ’97 and Chester Liu, April 8, 2006. The couple resides in North Billerica, MA. Ruth is a high school English teacher at Boston Latin School and Chester is a full-time M.B.A. candidate at MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

ALUMNI

NEWS

Births and Adoptions

Stacey Sutton ’98 and Jayson Lavers, October 27, 2006. Stacey is teaching at Barrington Christian Academy. The couple resides in Barrington, RI.

Daughter Hope to Ben ’82 and Lori Curran, November 2006. She joins siblings Clarissa, Shane and Carlene.

Christine Johnson ’00 and John Michael Miller, May 19. Kristen Paige ’00 was the maid of honor and Tesa (Christy) Mayer ’00 was bridesmaid. Mother of the bride, Susan Johnson, works in the Registrar’s Office at Gordon. Christine and John reside in Fairfax, VA. Christine works for the federal government and John works for the Fairfax County government.

Amy Aldrich ’02 and George Courage, February 16, 2001.

Taylor Morgan and Brian Haring ’02, December 30, 2006. Michael Webster ’02 was a groomsman. The couple resides in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Daughter Meghan to James ’87 and Michelle Belcher, June 12, 2006. She joins siblings Jordan, Jonathon and Lindsay.

Son Charlie to Eric ’87 and Ginny Convey, July 23, 2007. He joins sister Annie Kate.

Sarah Dooley ’05 and Karlos Sotelo, November 18, 2006. The two met in Mexico in the summer of 2000. They reside in Vista, CA. Sarah works for The Center for Student Missions and both are youth leaders at their bilingual church, Iglesia Camino Real.

Daughter Abigail Faith to James and Lori Jane (Bruins) ’87 Graveling, March 27, 2006. She joins five siblings: Hannah, Stephen, Elizabeth, Esther Ruth and Joseph Shalom.

Daughter Kyla Jill to Jonathan ’87 and Ginger Hughes, July 13, 2006. She joins siblings Jacob Foster and Delia Elizabeth.

Daughter Margaret Lynn to Glenn ’88 and Cheryl (Gill) ’89 Deckert, August 14.

Son Isaiah James David to Stephen ’89 and Suzanne (Hoeldtke) ’92 Wood, June 16, 2006. He joins sisters Sophie and Phoebe.

Daughter Grace Abigail to Brad ’91 and Sarah (Luetjen) ’97 Phillips, November 25, 2006. She joins brother Samuel Ginn.

Son Owen to Jodi and John ’92 Boudreau, September 2, 2006. He joins siblings Daphne and Greyson.

Carolyne Jubinville ’02 and Bryan Sullo, November 4, 2006. Melissa Dudley ’02 was a bridesmaid, and other alumni in attendance were Matthew ’92 and Amy Millard, and Emily (Johnston) Schlenker ’03.

Jill Holt ’03 and Peter Nogueras, July 22, 2006. Gordon alumni in attendance were David ’01 and Kerr (Biggs) ’02 Lasky, Malina (Ventura) Herbert ’03 and Professor Donna Robinson. The couple resides in Virginia, where they both teach middle school.

Meghan Higgins ’05 and Tim Nelson, September 16, 2006. Gordon alumni involved in the wedding were Aimee Landis ’06 and Caleb Shoemaker ’05.

Meg is director of youth ministry at Easton Baptist Church in North Easton, MA. Tim works as a facilities manager for Coviedien in Mansfield.

Kelsea MacIlroy ’05 and John Michael Kilpatrick, August 2, 2006. Lauren Peltz ’07 participated in the ceremony. They reside in Alamosa, CO.

Daughter Lillian Nell to Colin Harper ’92 and Jennifer Hevelone-Harper ’92, May 22. She joins sisters Isabell and Victoria.

Daughter Rachel Lauren to Daniel ’92 and Mandi (Trefry) ’94 Ledwith, April 24, 2006. She joins sisters Maggie and Anna.

Daughter Emma Rose to Robert ’92 and Rebecca Skripol, May 6. She joins sister Holly Grace.

Son Remy to William and Sydney (Craven) ’92 Sykes, February 6, 2006. He joins brothers Barber and Craven.

Son Kevin Michael to Keith and Melissa (LaPila) ’92 Timko, October 29, 2006.

Nicole Poirier ’03 and Jason Palmeira, February 17. Jason owns a multimedia company dealing with Web design and videography. Nichol is attending Gordon-Conwell CUME-Boston earning her M.Div. She works as a chaplain candidate in the United States Air Force and for Emmanuel Gospel Center in Boston as the Vitality Project assistant.

They reside in Warren, MA.

Son Jayden Christopher adopted by Elisabeth Stenner ’94, December 6, 2005, in Guatemala City, Guatemala. He came home to Durham, NC, December 15, 2005.

Daughter Charlotte Emmiline to Jeffrey and Eva (Wilson) ’95 Brown, April 16.

Angela Avelar and Joshua Beaumont ’06, March 11, 2007. Joshua is a teller and operations manager for Bank of America in South Elgin, IL; Angela is the assistant manager of Starbucks in Aurora.

Daughter Gweneth Joy to Douglas ’95 and Shannen (Peck) ’96 Rhoda, July 18.

She joins sisters Molly and Annabelle.

The family resides in Dover-Foxcroft, ME. Daughter Kaylie Anne to Erik ’96 and Jessica Christopherson, March 6.

Son Mikah Clair to Kurtis and Marjorie (Burt) ’96 Hewson, May 31. He joins sister Marenn.

FALL 2007 | STILLPOINT 43

ALUMNI

NEWS Son Micah and daughter Alexandria to Aaron and Kathleen (Ballantyne) ’97 Berry, May 15.

Daughter Abigail Grace to Matthew and Kimberly (Chester) ’97 Forster, November 17, 2006.

Year-End Giving: Now Is the Time to Plan With the end of the year rapidly approaching, now is an ideal time to review long-range estate and financial plans. A little careful planning today will make it possible for you to do more in the future to help those you love, including family, friends and charities.

The most frequent stewardship gifts made in a will or trust include: bb Fixed Bequest—Gift of a fixed dollar amount to a family member, friend or charity. bb Specified Percentage—Specific percentage such as 10 or 20 percent to be divided among a named list. bb Gift of a Specific Asset—Parcel of real estate or a block of stock to family, friends or charity. bb Residual Gift—Specific bequests given to family members with the remainder of the estate divided equally among a variety of charitable causes. bb Gift in Trust—There are a number of appropriate ways to leave a gift in trust. For example, a trust can provide a surviving family with income for life with the remainder going to charity after the death of the survivor.

Alternatively, a trust may provide income to charity for a prescribed number of years with the remainder ultimately going to a family member.

Members of the Clarendon Society are alumni and friends who have included the College in their will or estate planning. For more information contact Joanna de Vos, associate director, Special and Planned Gifts, at 978.867.4460 or email plannedgiving@gordon.edu.

44 STILLPOINT | FALL 2007

Twin sons Ronan and Reilly to Simon ’97 and Rosemary (Mello) ’97 Miner, October 20, 2006. They join brother Sedric.

Daughter Madeline Iris to Luke ’97 and Kristiana (Melvin) ’00 Pekrul, January 25, 2006. She joins sister Victoria Claire.

Son Nathanael David to David and Allison (Bache) ’97 Trout, August 18, 2006.

Son Micah Daniel to Bradford ’98 and Joy Guilford, May 29. He joins sister Charis Anne.

Daughter Grace Julia to Benjamin ’98 and Diane (Jacobus Yurgosky) ’99 Ryan, May 2. She joins siblings Elijah and Annamae.

Daughter Rachel Dawn to Michael x’01 and Christina Winson, May 26.

Daughter Ella Margaret to Will and Julie (Schumacher) ’02 Cohen, January 14.

Son Addison Christian to Justin and Kellie (Hitchings) ’02 Frank, November 21, 2006.

Daughter Isabelle Grace to Jonathan and Danielle (Fraumann) ’02 Mattera, April 16.

Son Isaac Christopher to Steven and Stacey (Silkey) ’02 Schultze, November 25, 2006. He joins sister Paige Elizabeth.

Daughter Madeleine Elizabeth to Matthew ’02 and Kirsten (Groves) ’03 Trumbell, January 16.

Daughter Caroline Elizabeth to Derek and Jessica (Skinner) ’03 Griz, March 28.

Son Abel James to Aaron ’04 and Bethany (Menzies) ’03 Cotnoir, August 11, 2006.

Daughter Ava Catherine to Jered ’98 and Amy (Veenema) ’99 Stewart, August 15.

She joins brothers Jacob and Ethan.

Daughter Ella to Brett ’04 and Jessica (Dudics) ’03 Flowers, May 22.

Daughter Anna Grace to Aaron ’99 and Michelle (Swallow) ’02 Aguiar, May 20.

Son Isaac David to David and Sarah (Vogelzang) ’03 Jones, May 10. He joins brother Andrew Nathaniel.

Daughter Miabella Rosa to Antonio and Louise (Borges) ’99 DeSisto, December 27, 2006.

Daughter Hannah Noemi to Aseiu and Noemi (Toth) ’99 Putsure, February 14.

Son Andrew Joseph to Jeff ’99 and Christi (Jasa) ’00 Reilly, July 16. He joins siblings Caleb, Catie and Ashley.

Daughter Isla Grace to Michael ’99 and Alicia (Harrington) ’01 Willis, May 28.

Daughters Ava Frances and Natalie Ruth to Jeffrey and Jennifer (Wironen) ’00 Corso, November 27.

Son Anthony Varritek to James and Barbara (Hughes) ’00 Gemma, August 18, 2006.

Son Noah to Matthew ’00 and Heather (Schrock) ’00 McNutt, January 22, 2006.

He joins brothers Micah and Caleb.

Son Weston Elisha to David and Erica (Wilcox) ’00 Smith, January 8, 2006.

Daughter Pearl to Benjamin ’00 and Stephanie Warolin, April 17. She joins brother Reuben.

Daughter Naomi Witham to Samuel Currie ’01 and Ellen Janeway ’02, December 10, 2006.

Daughter Maggie Grace to John ’01 and Jill (Hartwick) ’04 Egan, October 11, 2006.

Daughter Lily Mari to Liza Farquahrson ’01, January 6.

Son Nathaniel Oliver to Wesley and Faith (Thomas) ’06 Simons, March 22. He joins brother Eric Andrew.

In Memoriam Elizabeth (Moffatt) Hunt ’37B, December 10, 2006. She was a piano teacher for several years and played for churches she attended.

Dean Andrews ’37, July 18. He is survived by his wife, Presbytera Maritsa.

Earl Hunt ’38B, May 16. He graduated from Providence Bible College and was ordained in 1941.

Constance (Phillips) Sheldrick ’44B, March 24.

Thelma (Fisher) Haneman ’46B, April 18.

She is survived by her husband, Ralph.

Viola-Jean (Suetterlein) Campbell ’48B, April 15. She was an active church member for many years and along with her husband helped to establish the Faith Nursery School program in Cranston. She is survived by her husband of 58 years, Munro, children Joyce Menna and Roy Campbell ’71, and two granddaughters, Laura and Meredith ’03 Menna.

Marjorie (Holmes) Bock ’50, May 11. For 15 years she served as a missionary in Papua, Indonesia. She also served as a pastor’s wife to husband Henry ’50, by whom she is survived. He pastored four churches and was an interim pastor in South Carolina, New Hampshire and Maine.

ALUMNI

NEWS

James Christensen ’50, April 21. He is survived by his wife, Bernadine.

Wallace Duncan ’51, November 7, 2006.

He is survived by his wife, Barbara.

George Martindale ’52B, June 24. He and first wife, Helen (Gerdes) ’52B, served as missionaries in Japan for several years. In 1970 he received his Ph.D. from the University of Oregon and helped found the Rosemead Graduate School of Psychology the following year. He is survived by his second wife, Ruth.

Rowena (Guiggery) Johnson ’53, July 6.

She was a clerk typist for the U.S. Air Force in Maine, where she met her husband. She was an active member of the Order of the Eastern Star. She is survived by her husband, Herbert.

Phyllis Bragdon ’54B, December 10, 2006.

With her husband, Charles, she was a member of a singing evangelist group called the Singing Bragdons for over 50 years.

Carolyn (Kealiher) Pinkham ’55, August 17. She taught primary school for nine years and was a homemaker. She is survived by her husband, Leroy.

Judith Ann (Boorom) Carver ’60, July 8.

She was a schoolteacher for the Point Pleasant Borough, NJ, school system for many years. She is survived by her husband, Robert.

Edwin Hurd ’62B, July 6, 2002.

Myrna McConchie ’62, April 26.

Eleanor (Christensen) Peckham ’63, June 12. She volunteered for several years at youth activities through her church in Rhode Island. She is survived by her husband, Ashley.

Alys Dorian ’64, June 8. She worked as an administrative assistant at Harvard University and also with the Harvard Business School. She was a board member of the Wellesley Symphony Orchestra.

Elizabeth (Morrow) Swan ’70, February 7.

She was a system technician with the central office of Verizon in Albany, NY, for over 20 years and was a faithful member of her church. She is survived by her husband, Eric.

Peter Kronenberg ’74, June 15. He was a member of many conservation causes. He is survived by his wife, Natalia.

Peter Golding ’77, June 7. He served 26 years between the United States Army Reserves and Maine National Guard.

Prior to his passing, Col. Golding was appointed United States fiscal and property officer of the Maine National Guard. A highly decorated soldier, he was awarded numerous medals and awards for achievement and service. He is survived by his wife, Beth.

Send Us Your News!

Submission Guidelines

We love hearing from alumni, and we want to make sure your news is as complete and accurate as possible. We will accept alumni news in any form, but if possible please send it electronically: www.gordon. edu/alumninews. This will help us reduce transmission errors.

bb Give graduation year and maiden name (if applicable) for all alumni mentioned in class notes, including wedding participants and deceased. bb Include your location (city and state or country) when appropriate. bb Give exact position titles and company names. bb Spell out acronyms—it isn’t always clear what they mean. bb We accept photos (primarily of weddings and alumni gatherings) in hard copy and digital format, and publish them as space permits. All photos should be in focus and have good contrast, and digital photos should be high-resolution (at least 300 dpi) for best results in print. bb We are no longer publishing baby photos—look for this as an upcoming feature in the alumni section of the College website.

Deadline for alumni news for the Spring 2008 issue is January 1; for the Summer 2008 issue, May 1. If your news arrives after a deadline has passed, it will be published in the following issue.

STILLPOINT and Alma Matters are now combined in one print publication— STILLPOINT. Class notes are not included in the online version.

Unless you state otherwise, we will assume that sending us your news constitutes permission to publish.

However, we will NOT publish your email address unless you give us specific permission to do so.

Deborah Ann (Barclay) Madeddu ’80B, June 17. She is survived by her husband, Gianfranco.

Staff and Friends in Memoriam Beth Abts, July 29. She was a hardworking, faithful administrative assistant for the Counseling Center at Gordon College 1999–2007, creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere for students and staff. Beth was the sister of R. Judson Carlberg, president of Gordon College. She is survived by her husband, Jim, and children Judson ’07 and Devon ’06.

Evelyn Hughes, June 5. Spanning almost 18 years at Gordon College, Evelyn was the executive secretary to the vice president for finance when she left in 1986.

Correction A Summer 2007 class note corrected below. STILLPOINT regrets this error.

Elaine Bean ’54B, December 25, 2006.

Elaine taught English both domestically and abroad and later worked as a writer and publisher for the David C. Cook Publishing Company.

STILLPOINT reserves the right to edit letters, images and alumni news for clarity and space. No engagements, please.

PHONE 978 867 4238 FAX 978 867 4656 ONLINE www.gordon.edu/alumninews MAIL Gordon College Office of Alumni and Parent Relations 255 Grapevine Road, Wenham MA 01984 EMAIL alumni.office@gordon.edu

FALL 2007 | STILLPOINT 45

Phillip ’64 and Linda ’65 Bonard

Samantha ’95 and Joshua Hager

Dorothy ’87 Boorse and

Steven and Jane Hager

Gary Wernsing

Margaret ’85 and Frank McPherson

Bradford ’76 and Marla ’75 Stringer

David ’77 and Beverly ’71 Hall

Edward and Ava Memmen

Dawn ’01 and Jonathan Bosland

David ’89 and Sandra ’89 Hall

David ’71 and Nancy Mering

Bert Bowden

Roger and Sherley Hannay

Steven and Janet Miller

David and Marcia Swenson

Robert ’66 and Sandra Bowden

Steven ’74 and Debra Harding

David Milley ’75

Brock ’84 and Gina Swetland

Thales and Sally Bowen

Charles ’86 and Lisa ’89 Harvey

Linda and Robert Monroe

Stephen and Vera Sypko

Robert and Nancy Bradley

Heidi ’85 and Douglas Hawkins

Margaret Montalvo

Ann Tappan

Robert ’54B and

David ’84 and Elaine Hayes

Howard Moon ’62

Virginia Tavilla ’55

Laura Headley

Doreen ’74 and Bert Morris

Mark and Carol Taylor

Sandra ’92 and Danny Brouillette

Chuck and Becky Hendricks

Harold and Jeanette Myra

Janice ’96 and Stanley Tedford

Jane and Robb Austin

Lynn ’83 and Del Brown

Stephen Hendrickson

Cathy ’80 and Frank Nackel

Richard and Cynthia Terry

Marion Bean ’50B

Kenneth and Polly Ann Brown

Carol Herrick

Nathaniel and Caroline Nash

Lorie ’90 and Brian Thomas

Linda ’70 and David Carlson

Charles ’61 and Carole Brutto

Robert and Betty Herrmann

Darlene and Jeffrey Neil

Gary ’76 and

Donald and Barbara Chase

Cedric ’87 and Lisa ’87 Buettner

Peter and Jo Dee Herschend

David ’71 and Helgi Nelson

Stephen ’84 and

William and Nancy Burns

Herbert Hess

Donald ’90 and Theresa Nelson

Nancy ’65 and John Tobey

Raymond ’54B and

Harold and Diane Toothman

Founders

Harriet ’55B Brinkerhoff

Ronald and Barbara Burwell

Ronald and Donna Hilton

Jeffrey ’87 and Kristy Douglas

Charles and Elaine Cadle

Robert ’56 and

Charles and Nola Falcone

David and Patricia Cameron

Fredrick and Nancy Gale

Nancy ’85 and Gregory Cannon

Peter Groop ’78

Brenda ’85 DeVos

Rebecca ’02 Stuart

Patricia ’76 Thorburn

Russell and Jean Tupper

W. and Chelle Nickerson

Daniel and Andrea Tymann

Diane ’86 and Ken Hodge

James ’84 and Linda ’86 Nooney

Jonathan ’83 and

Jud and Jan Carlberg

Pearl Homme ’47

Dean ’83 and Nancy Oliver

Dennis and Lisa Hardiman

James ’76 and Karen ’77 Carlson

Roy and Beverly Honeywell

W. Terry and Janice Overton

Nathan ’91 and Linda ’91 Tymann

David Jodice ’75

Roy and Barbara Carlson

Arlene ’04 and Gordon Hood

Robert and Kathleen Parlee

William ’52 and Nancy ’55 Udall

Patricia Jones

Priscilla ’60 and William Carter

David ’65 and Irmgard Howard

Malcolm and Joyce Patterson

Raymond and Norma Unsworth

Jack Kallis

John ’69 and Jean Chang

Donald Howard

William and Martha S. Paul

James and Barbara Vander Mey

Arjan Kraan ’89

Mary ’49 and Wendell Chestnut

Lynn ’82 and Michael Huber

Ronald Perry ’65

Silvio ’87 and

Daniel ’74 and

John ’85 and Nancy ’85 Cissel

Dwayne Huebner

Leonard and Judy Peterson

Theresa ’86 Vazquez

Randall ’67 and

Gordon and

Americo and Elsie Petrocelli

Richard and Jayne Waddell

Darlene ’74 Kuzmak

Kenneth and Donna Phillips

Wallace Wadman

Frank ’73 and Sandra Cook

L.J. Hussey ’63

Charles and Sarah Pickell

Joanne Waldner ’74

R. Preston ’85 and Pamela Mason

Casey Cooper ’03

Randi ’85 and Tim Hutchinson

Gordon ’60 and Doris Pierce

Meirwyn and Nina Walters

James and Virginia Masterson

Mary Cowperthwaite ’69

Shelley and Mary Ellen Ivey

Tracy and Dan Pierce

Kirk and Linda Ware

Stephen Oliver

William and Patricia Crawley

Frederick ’59B and

PNC Foundation

Bradford Warner

Ellen ’90 and Charles Pepin

William and Ellen Cross

Ronald and Mimi Pruett

Kathleen ’73 and Thomas

Thomas and Gertrude Phillips

Linda ’71 and Doug Crowell

William ’78 and Ann Johnson

Richard and Carol Quinn

Sabra ’59B and William Reichardt

John ’84 and Linda ’84 Cyr

Ruth Jones

Judith ’67 and Seppo Rapo

Eric and Edris Watson

Tanya ’87 and Larry Rowland

Gordon ’56 and

Robert and Meredith Joss

Richard Reed

Bruce and Susan Webb

F. Stanley ’69 and

William and Evie Reed

Dwayne and Cindy Webber

Dolores ’72 and Malcolm Reid

Jay and Cathie Wegrzyn

Walter ’49B and

Warren ’04 and

Schrafft Charitable Trust

Martha ’55 Danielson

Jane Anne Hugenberger

Carlene Tymann

Raymond and Priscilla Lee

David and Sheila Larson

Patricia ’68 Collins

Frances ’56 Hinckley

Doris ’52B Nickerson

Andrew ’01 and

Alma ’75B Ivor-Campbell

David and Esther Schultz

Judith Dean ’78

Mary and David Shahian

Edna Della Barba ’51

Howard ’52 and Hazel Keeley

Thomas and Lyn Shields

Thomas and Barbara Denmark

Kirsten ’90 and Andrew Keith

Stephen and Claire Tavilla

Donald ’53 and Elaine Dickinson

John and Susan Kent

Douglas ’75 and Karen Rieck

John Weir

Eva and Christian Trefz

Edward and Janet Dietz

Steven and Annie Krook

G. Willard ’72 and

Thomas Weis ’83

Lloyd G. Balfour Trust

Dennis and Wendy Dixon

Steven ’79 and Wendy ’80 Lane

Philip and Sherry Tupper

Brian ’98 and Jean ’96 Donaldson

Veronica Lanier ’54

Colyn ’72 and Janet Roberts

Shirley Welt

M. McCormick Wolf

Henry ’53B and

Eric Larson ’93

James ’66B and Joanne Roberts

Robert ’73 and Shirley Werth

John and Deborah Lawrence

Chad ’94 and Jenny ’93 Robinson

Ruth Wessel ’49

Rob and Connie Lawrence

Jeffrey ’92 and Kari ’91 Rourke

Beth ’87 and Daniel White

Pamela ’81 and Charlie Lazarakis

Richard ’53 and

Ruth ’71 and

David and Suzy Young

Ruth ’54B Doughty Deighton ’50B and

Partners

Alice ’50B Douglin

Lois ’71 Keehlwetter

Renehan Waters

Audrey ’53B Rice

Margie Lou ’72 Roaf

Joan Welsh

Roger and Deborah Drost

Philip Lee ’82

A.P. Vending & Amusement Co.

Kristine Dunne ’89

Edward and

Elizabeth ’85 and Ralph Aarons

Kenneth and Cheryl Durgin

Marlan and Katharine Allen

Arnold ’61 and Mary ’60 Ellsworth

Calvin and Kathy Leung

Dan and Kathleen Russ

Richard and Gail Wilson

Peter Allen ’69

Douglas ’88 and Pamela Elzinga

Eric ’91 and Catherine ’94 Lindsay

Grosvenor and Marjorie Rust

Barbara ’64 and Roger Winn

Anders ’01 and Sarah Andersen

Thomas and Sue Englund

Martha ’73 and Michael Linehan

Bradford ’91 and

Richard ’55 and Lois Witham

Joyce ’58 and Harold Anderson

Timothy ’00 and Kiera Erickson

Richard and Carolyn Lippmann

Kevin Ashley ’97

Earl ’74 and Linda Farmer

Byron ’90 and Kristin ’92 List

Mark and Arlyne Sargent

Thomas and Jean Askew

Barbara Faulkner ’54B

Bronwyn ’87 and Caleb Loring

Warren ’57 and Joan Sawyer

James ’81 and Katherine Bagley

Robert ’60 and Joyce Ferguson

Barry and Donna Loy

Ruth Schmidt

Clyde ’58 and Nancy Wynia

Charlotte Baker ’64

Lynn ’80 and William Fish

Mark ’84 and Suzanne Lynch

Scott ’90 and Karyn Schneider

Thomas ’68 and Linda ’69 Zieger

Jeffrey ’81 and Blanca Baker

David ’45B ’61 and Muriel Franz

Douglas and Maria MacDonald

Donald ’59 and Shelby ’61 Scott

William ’78 and

Charles ’65 and Gail ’64 Ball

Sherwood ’59 and Julie Frost

Gordon and Gail MacDonald

Chen ’86 and Alice Shi

Samuel and Susan Ballam

Paige Gibbs ’69

James and Joyce MacDonald

Linda ’64 and Robert Siddon

Philip ’82 and Kathleen Beattie

Verne and Nadine Gingerich

Bruce MacKilligan ’58B

Olli ’68 and Denise Silander

Andrew ’83 and

Lee Giobbie ’06

Robin and Stephen MacLeod

Barbara Skinner

Michael and Ann Givens

Richard ’75 and Susan Malloch

Bradley ’88 and Claudia ’90 Small

John ’53 and Beverly Beauregard

Goldman, Sachs & Company

Michelle ’02 and Raji Manasseh

Derk Smid ’81

David A. Belman

Stephanie ’98 and Simon Goodall

Kenneth and Susan Martin

David ’79 and Elizabeth Smith

Peter and Diana Bennett

Lois Goyer ’56B

Joshua ’95 and Sara ’94 Martinelli

Herman ’70 and Denise Smith

Ruth Bennett ’65B

Robert Greene ’51B

Charles ’76 and Robin Masland IV

Warren ’98 and Tressa ’98 Smith

Paul and Joan Bergmann

Frederick and Juliet Griffin

Marjorie McClintock ’90

John and Brenda Soucy

Eric ’89 and

Jeremy ’98 and Lindsay ’98 Grim

Jan ’78 and Wes McClure-Brown

Thomas and Mary Stadt

Robert ’81 and

Karen McHugh ’83

Peter ’88 and Elizabeth ’89 Stahl

R. Bancroft ’68B and

Alan and Jane Steuber

Sarah ’82 Beauregard

Andrea ’89 Bergstrom Cinderella ’68 and James Berry

Barbara ’81 Grinnell

Henry ’77 and Maureen Beyer

Thomas ’77 and Carol ’78 Gruen

Nisse ’06 and Brent ’07 Bjornsen

Paul and Rebecca Gyra

46 STILLPOINT | FALL 2007

Judy Ann LeNormand

Kathleen McKittrick Jerrold and Jolene McNatt

Dorothy ’50 Rung

Danielle ’05 Wegrzyn

David ’74B and Joyce ’75B Ruppell

Sharon ’92 Salmon

Peter Stine Mark ’78 and Judy Stockwell

Richard Wight-Caron John Willis ’03 Pauline ’57 and Marvin Wilson

Theodore and Susan Wood Timothy ’73 and Georgette Woodruff

Laurie ’78 Zimmerman Kenneth Zuber

GIVING FOR NOW AND FOR THE FUTURE Dale E. and Sarah Ann Fowler, grandparents of two current Gordon students, have recently become major benefactors of the College. They have made long-term provision for the College in their estate planning, a gift that, when received, will triple the current endowment, thus helping to secure the College’s financial future.

Impressed with Gordon’s distinctively Christian liberal arts education, the Fowlers have also begun addressing some more immediate needs.

NOW

FUTURE

A GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION

ENDOWMENTS: GIFTS THAT KEEP GIVING

The Frost Hall Lobby received some dramatic improvements over the summer. Frost’s firstfloor décor has been restored to its period with tapestries, paintings, Oriental rugs and antique furniture. A new paint job, recessed lighting and handicap-accessible restrooms with new tile floors have greatly improved the visitor’s experience. The Fowlers’ wish is for the College to project excellence in its physical facilities as well as in its mission.

SPECTATOR SEATING The bleachers the College could not afford to construct at its Brigham Athletic Complex are now in place, providing spectators with a much more comfortable view of athletic events.

BEAUTIFYING THE CHAPEL Along with the Frost Hall Lobby, the A. J. Gordon Memorial Chapel is among the first places campus visitors see. New raisedpanel hardwood doors and brass sconces have made the chapel a more gracious and welcoming worship space.

WEST COAST RECRUITING Living in California for half the year, the Fowlers have also recognized the importance of recruiting students from the West Coast and have enabled the College to hire and fund a full-time West Coast recruiter. Sarah Murphy ’03, who served in Gordon’s Admissions Office for two years, is now regional development manager in Orange County.

A financial endowment is a transfer of money or property donated to an institution with the stipulation that it be invested and the principal remain intact.

This allows for the donation to have a much greater impact over a longer period of time than if it were all spent at once, due to compound interest.

The interest can be reinvested or used by the institution for new programs or staffing. The endowment can also be used as collateral in order to obtain financing for capital projects.

The Fowlers’ significant and transformational planned gift is an unrestricted endowment (the most difficult gift for colleges and nonprofits to raise, since most gifts go toward a specific project). The College can decide how to use the interest in a way that is most meaningful and appropriate to the institution. We anticipate these uses to include student scholarships, enhancement of faculty salaries and academic programs, and assistance with capital projects.

The Fowlers have chosen to give to Gordon because of their confidence in our mission as a quality Christian liberal arts college that is broadly evangelical and committed to academic freedom within a framework of faith. By building the endowment, the Fowlers’ investment ensures that the College can continue to offer a wide variety of liberal arts courses and programs.

ADVENT I oil on canvas, 18 x 24 inches © 2006

Michelle Arnold ’99 painter

Do Not use this page, “In three years spent living and working in Italy, I encountered medieval churches as places of mystery. The architects built them to be visible expressions of divine presence, intended to foster an encounter between heaven and earth. Like the cathedral builders, or Impressionist painters like Monet (whose Rouen Cathedral paintings did not have the cathedral itself as their true subject, rather the invisible light and air), I use paint to articulate that which is without color or form. In exploring the edge between visible and invisible, past and present, spiritual and physical, painting becomes an evocative metaphor for our own interior lives: that place where there is no longer thought, interest or opinion—only listening and waiting in the darkness.”

Michelle Arnold graduated with a double major in English and art, and was a Pike Scholar concentrating in art history.

She spent a semester in Florence and a semester in the inaugural Gordon in Orvieto program. She served as program coordinator for Gordon in Orvieto from 2001–2003 and was manager of the Barrington Center for the Arts from 2003– 2004. She attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and recently received an M.F.A. from the University of New Hampshire. She lives and works in Beverly, Massachusetts.

use other document

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

www.michellearnoldpaintings.com

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED