Religion division reshapes its curriculum

¥A7hat could possibly persuade the V V LBC Religion faculty to hold 22 four-hour meetings and consume countless cups of coffee and donuts?

According to Dr. Woodrow Kroll, religion division chairman in 1980, itwas the faculty's desire to design a curriculum that would better prepare pastoral students for the job God has called them to do poetry that Ihave to get down before going back to sleep," he said "At times of extreme emotion I feel intensley compelled to write."

A survey was taken in 1980 in which religionmajors and minorsrated every course and every instructor according to how they felt the course helped them in preparing for theirfuture ministries.

Dr. Krollsaid thefacultyalsodetermined what they considered to be a "model preacher."

"We made sure every coursecontributed tomaking the model preacher," he said. "We started over from scratch."

Mitchell also explained that a longforgotten talent for drawing has been re-awakened in the last few years.

"A few years back my wife had gone tovisither mother,leaving me at home alone,"he said."With theextra time Iset out to draw a picture from some old photographs of my fatherin-law who had died some years before.Ishowed the finished product to my mother- in-law,hoping she would see the resemblence and she wept."

Through that experience Mitchell has continued to draw, and feels it to be a fulfilling and a worthwhile form of expression

Mitchell alsofeelsthat theseideals, or creative drives are an asset to the church today

"The church needs organizers and the like," he said, "yet I feel italso needs those individuals, like myself, thatareon the fringe, thatare creative intellectually."

Mitchell feels that his creativityis the reason for his drive toinvestigate theology.

-Dave Palmquist

The resulthas been thatseveral majorand minors have been restructured and combined to form the three majorsnow offered by theReligionDivision

"Ithink thenew pastoralministries program is excellent," said Jim Stevens,another religion professor."The program ismore unified Each department isinter-relatedand thereis more unity between minors."

Paul Kurth, a sophomore pastoral major,also said the new pastoral program is good for those who want to become youth pastors Under the new program students wanting to become youth pastors take the pastoral program and minor in youth.Nine hours of Greek isa new requirement forall pastoral majors "Greek isnot as bad as Ithought itwould be,"Kurth said

Dr. Nevin Alwine isheading up the new educational ministries major offered thisyear in the religion curriculum He said this new major will enablestudents tocarryout adiversified role in a local church ministry

"Educational ministries majors will learntotakecharge ofachurch'stotal Christian education program," Alwine said

He also said that men and women can prepare for seminary and a mas- ter'sdegree in fieldssuch asChristian day school administration or Christian counseling with what they learn in this major.

"If a man goes through this major before God calls him to preach he could very well fall back on much of what he has learned through theprogram," he added

Dr Alwine feels that an education should enable a person to be wellrounded and have the professional confidence to do anything God calls him to do

"Even when I was a kid I would rather talk about theology than the Boston Red Sox," he said.

Mitchell saysthatintheology heset out toanswer questions people don't take time to explore.

"The only reason I went to Bible college and seminary," he said, "was because Icouldn't stop asking questions."

Since coming to LBC in 1976, Mitchell says hefeelsgratified in that he hashad a hand in cultivating the foundations for Dr. Jerry Falwell's vision for5,000churches.

"LBC provides me with a way to plantmy ideas, knowledge, and experiencesintheminds ofmensetting out to do thework oftheLord," he said, "thus having a hand in bearing fruit in many ministries."

Mitchell isnow coordinator oftheology in the Division of Religion at the college and isa Th.D candidate at Dallas Theological Seminary

-John Schlesinger •

"ItwasJerry Falwell's educationat Baptist Bible College that gave him the confidence and resourcefulnessto do what God called him to do," he said.

Connie Corley, a senior missions major, feels the new cross-cultural ministries major will allow those training forthemission field totake practical and diversified minors that are more practical training for the work they will be doing on the field

"The new minors offered inyouth, children's ministries,and counseling aregreatforanyone preparing togo to the mission field," shesaid

So it seems that the hours of hard work and time put into a new religion curriculum are already paying off Not only willLBCproduce a"model preacher," but will also produce men and women workers who willgo outandperform as thevitaland qualified "second person" in churches across America andaround the world.

-Amy Gibbs •