TheExperience-Winter09 by Warner Pacific University

THE EXPERIENCE

The magazine of Warner Pacific College

Winter 2009

FROM THE PRESIDENT

The importance of being urban

THE EXPERIENCE TheExperience@warnerpacific.edu

n September 27, 2008, Warner Pacific reached another milestone. With employees, alumni, and community friends looking on, we celebrated the ribbon-cutting of the newly remodeled Egtvedt and McGuire Halls, a project that was a dream only a year ago. We see this new complex – which includes a new dining hall, lounge, coffee shop, and multi-purpose room – not only as the center of our campus life, but also as an extension of the college to the greater community. As part of our grand opening celebration, we hosted a unique art exhibit called “Dreamscapes,” that featured the work of five men who have taken art classes from alumna Sharon (Agnor) Warman ’73 at the Julia West House, a day shelter in downtown Portland for homeless and low income persons. The exhibit served as a profound window into these men’s lives. The artists, who are profiled later in this magazine, came to campus and discussed their work during a dinner we hosted for members of the local business community on Sept 26. All of the proceeds from the sale of the art went directly to the artists themselves. Patty Warman, Sharon’s sister Celebrating and the director of the Julia West the Sept. 27 House, spoke at the dinner. She ribbon-cutting later wrote, “What a joy it was of the Egtvedt to watch the men in our art class and McGuire interact with people who came to renovation the art exhibit at Warner Pacific! project are Thank you for giving them the op- (L to R) Conner Peckham ’09, portunity, not only to display their ASWPC president, Jim Teague ’75, art, but also to meet the people who WP Board Chair; Interim President purchased and viewed their work. Dr. Andrea Cook; and President Each day I watched the excitement Emeritus Jay Barber, Jr. ’64. (Right) and confidence in these men build A collage from the “Dreamscapes” as they realized that people were art exhibit. interested, not only in hearing their stories, but also in getting to know them as individuals. We were all treated with such kindness and respect by the entire Warner Pacific staff, and it was an experience we will not soon forget! We were simply overwhelmed!” The art exhibit is only one example of partnerships that Warner Pacific is actively forging with community partners in order to live out its mission of serving our neighbors, our city, and the world. Through capital improvements, the launch of our Urban Studies Program, and a substantial increase of service opportunities for our students, Warner Pacific is embracing its role as a campus in the city, working for the city. It is exciting and vital work, and I am honored to be a part of the journey.

EDITOR / PHOTOGRAPHER / DESIGNER SCOTT A. THOMPSON sthompson@warnerpacific.edu 503-517-1123

With warmest regards,

Please send comments, story suggestions, and corrections to:

Dr. Andrea Cook Interim President

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS ANDREA COOK MARA GRUNBAUM SCOTT MCCOY ’88 CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS SCOTT BEYSTRUM ’11 DAN SNIPES “The Experience” is produced three times a year by Warner Pacific College for its alumni and constituents. Opinions expressed are those of individual authors and do not necessarily reflect official policies of Warner Pacific College. Warner Pacific is an urban, Christ-centered liberal arts college dedicated to providing students from diverse backgrounds an education that prepares them for the spiritual, moral, social, vocational, and technological challenges of the 21st Century. WPC is affiliated with the Church of God, Anderson, Ind. INTERIM PRESIDENT ANDREA COOK, PH.D acook@warnerpacific.edu 503-517-1246 DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AND COLLEGE RELATIONS LANI FAITH lfaith@warnerpacific.edu 503-517-1369 Warner Pacific College 2219 SE 68th Ave Portland, OR 97215 503-517-1000 www.warnerpacific.edu

On the cover: Students Lauren Perry ’10, Cody Moore ’11, and Chris Roesen ’12 pose on S.E. Hawthorne Blvd., near WP’s campus. Photo by Scott A. Thompson. “In the City “ button designed by Lia Mitternique and Avive Design.

THE EXPERIENCE Winter 2009

10 5

12 8

4 LET THE CITY TELL YOU WHAT IT NEEDS

10 BUILDING A CULTURE OF SERVICE

Convocation speaker and trustee Dr. T. Allen Bethel challenges the college to bring innovation and sensitivity to urban ministry.

THE NEW CENTER OF EVERYTHING

After a summer of swift and extensive remodeling, the new Egtvedt and McGuire Halls have become the hub of campus life.

Warner Pacific showcases the work of homeless men who have chronicled their lives under the guidance of artist Sharon (Warman) Agnor ’73.

By Mara Grunbaum

12 COMMUNITY ACTION Seven alumni share why they serve the city’s young, vulnerable, and needy. 19 FIRST PERSON: THE METHOD BEHIND THE MUSIC

7 STREET LIFE ARTISTRY

The college builds on the momentum of Common Day of Service to create ongoing outreach to the surrounding community.

An inner city music instructor teaches musicianship as a survival skill.

By Scott McCoy ’88

8 URBAN VISIONARY

DEPARTMENTS

6 16 17

In a candid interview, new Urban Studies director Dr. Caleb Rosado describes his holistic approach to understanding the city.

Winter 2009

Campus News Alumni News In Memoriam

COLLEGE NEWS Warner Pacific again ranked as one of America’s best colleges

SCOTT A. THOMPSON

For the second consecutive year, U.S. News and World Report ranked Warner Pacific as one of the top baccalaureate colleges within 15 western states, placing it 12th in its “Best Colleges 2009” publication. WPC ranked 11th in 2008, its first time in the ranking. Warner Pacific recently lowered tuition to $16,000 (traditional program) while adding graduate degrees in Education, Teaching, and Management and Organizational Leadership, and bachelor’s degrees in communications and education.

Let the city tell you what it needs Convocation speaker and trustee Dr. T. Allen Bethel challenges the college to bring innovation and sensitivity to urban ministry.

The start of the 2008-2009 saw the highest total enrollment at Warner Pacific College in its history, with 970 students: 405 students on the main campus and 565 within the Adult Degree Program. The freshman class of 98 students, including 71 on the main campus and 22 in ADP. In addition, the college has 96 graduate students. The average age of the student body is 30, with an age range of 17 to 70.

Long-time supporter Helen Flynt receives Caldwell Award Warner Pacific recognized long-time supporter Helen Flynt with the Mack and Irene Caldwell Leadership Award during Convocation, Aug. 26. Flynt, who attends Fairview Church of Flynt God in Seattle, was a founding member of The Torchbearers’ donor club in the late 1970s and was instrumental in helping to acquire part of her uncle’s extensive library for the college - a collection that included several rare Bibles and a collection of works by Charles and John Wesley.

Missions@WP plans three major trips in ’09 Teams to serve in Honduras, Myanmar, and South Dakota.

Missions@WP will have a busy year in 2009, facilitating mission trips to Honduras, Jan. 6 – 13; Myanmar and Thailand, May 11 – 28; and South Dakota, May 11 – 22. The Honduras trip includes a vacation Bible program, child-sponsorship interviews, and a work project at the Church of God building in Tegucigalpa. The Myanmar trip involves a leadership training event in conjunction with the Church of God in Yangon, and the South Dakota team will work among the Lakota people in Allen and

Wounded Knee, S.D. To help offset costs of the trips, Missions@WP volunteers will have a number of fundraisers in the next few months. First will be the second annual spaghetti dinner during Alumni Weekend on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2009 at 5 p.m. in the WP dining hall. Later this winter is the Third Annual Missions@WP Garage Sale on Saturday, March 7, 2009. Remember Missions@WP as you clean out your closets, basements, and garages. Contact professor John Johnson at 503-517-1039 for more information.

The Experience

SCOTT A. THOMPSON

onvocation opened Warner Pacific’s 72nd academic year Aug. 26 with a program that emphasized the opportunity the college has to serve the city of Portland and its communities. Guest speaker Dr. T. Allen Bethel, Senior Pastor of Portland’s Maranatha Church and a member of the WPC Board of Trustees, challenged the audience to listen to those who dwell in the city, rather than turn to standardized ministry methods that don’t “Let’s stop giving to people [based on] necessarily address the deeper needs of a community. He said the city of Portland he what we perceive their needs are and loves so much needs people who are willing let’s find out what they really need.” to both teach and learn in creating more - Dr. T. Allen Bethel authentic and effective ministries. “You can’t come into the city and pass out a cup of soup then take a flight back to the suburbs and sit down and say ‘Thank you, Lord.’ You didn’t learn anything from the city,” said Bethel, whose church is located in a multicultural neighborhood in N.E. Portland. “If you want to learn the city, you’re going to have to walk into the city and find out that perhaps people don’t like soup … What we need is someone who can come in and say to our young people, there is a better way of life and I’ll help you find it. And I’ll show you how to fill out that application and get to college.” Allen referred to the term “ministry drops” - coined by author Ray Bakke - to describe well-intentioned ministries that don’t address acute need. He said the city needs ministries with staying power. “Let’s stop giving to people [based on] what we perceive their needs are and let’s find out what they really need,” he said. “Let’s serve those who are being poorly served and those who are not being served well with the food source of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We will equip people to custom-build ministry around the realities of the communities they are ministering to. You will not get that from a survey or a text book. You’re only going to get that by getting into the city and learning.”

College enrollment largest ever

The New Center of Everything

DAN SNIPES SCOTT A. THOMPSON

DAN SNIPES

After a summer of swift and extensive remodeling, the new Egtvedt and McGuire Halls have become the hub of campus life.

BIG CHANGES The remodeling of Egtvedt and McGuire Halls included (clockwise from top) A new south face exterior, a conference room, music rooms, dining hall, and coffee shop.

n the construction world, it was a plan on the “fast track,” but to the layperson it was nothing short of amazing to witness the complete transformation of Egtvedt and McGuire Halls unfold over four short months this past spring and summer. The results? Simply spectacular. “Students are still in awe of everything that has gone into it and everything it can do for the student body,” said Conner Peckham ’09, president of the student body. “It really does mean a lot.” The $5.5 million project represented the most extensive capital improvements to campus in fifteen years and included the installation of new faculty offices, music practice rooms, a coffee bar and lounge, cafeteria and food service kitchen, a multi-purpose conference room, and expanded office space on the top floor of Egtvedt. In mid-April, when excavation began in earnest, some wondered if the job would be completed by the August 21 deadline, but general contractor SD Deacon had as many as 100 employees and sub-contractors on site working six-day weeks to finish in time for new student orientation. “The effort was Herculean,” said Frank Harris, SD Deacon’s Project Manager. “If this wasn’t an act of God, it was definitely an act of faith.” The construction was part of the college’s 20-year strategic plan, which sought a centralized commons area that would better foster community. Also, by moving the dining hall out of the basement of the AF Gray Administration building, the college was able to install four additional classrooms in its place, including a more spacious computer lab. “We felt deeply that we needed a place to host our community – our students, our staff, our faculty, our alumni and what you see before you here is a place that is all about community and that is what Warner Pacific is all about,” said recently retired college president Jay Barber, Jr. ’64, under whose administration construction began. “This truly is a miracle.” Winter 2009

CAMPUS NEWS Flechtner receives Lifetime Achievement Award

New Student Orientation 2008

SCOTT A. THOMPSON

The Journalism Education Association honored education professor Bill Flechtner with the Lifetime Achievement Award during the organization’s annual convention on Nov. 15, in St. Louis, Mo. The award is given to retirees for lifetime dedication to scholastic journalism education. Ten educators from across the nation received the award in 2008. Flechtner is a Master Journalism Educator who retired from pubFlechtner lic school instruction at Milwaukie High School, in Milwaukie, Ore. in 2001, after 24 years of teaching journalism and photography and advising award-winning newspaper and yearbook staffs. Currently in his ninth academic year at WP, Flechtner teaches education classes, supervises student teachers, serves as the M.ED. graduate program director, and chairs the Education Department.

Michael honored by Oregon Counseling Association Social Science professor Phyllis Michael and her husband, Rand Michael, who teaches in George Fox University’s Graduate Department of Counseling, have been recognized by The Oregon Counseling Association with the 2008 Human Rights Award for their exemplary level of commitment to human rights Michael and the advancement of human dignity in the counseling profession. Over the last few years, the Michaels have established a low-residency certificate program in marriage and family therapy in Shenyang, China through their non-profit organization TELOS International. They have also taught interpersonal communication and marriage therapy in Burundi, Romania, Hungary, and Albania, to name a few countries.

Orientation weekend featured an array of activities to welcome traditional freshman, transfer students, and their families to the main campus, August 21 - 24. Along with the regular events - including the annual water slide, all-campus barbeque, and square dancing - this year’s schedule also saw students putting in community service hours doing landscaping and clean-up at nearby elementary schools and offering free car washes on campus for driversby. Pictured above are (clockwise) Andrew Nieman ’10, Matt Radke ’11, and Kenny Johnson ’10 leaping onto the annual waterslide; Stephanie Cooley ’09 helping provide a free car wash; and a group of freshman and upperclassmen at Portland’s Pioneer Courthouse Square during a walking tour of the downtown area.

Graves

Seattle, earning him the individual qualification. Graves is the first Knights runner to qualify for nationals since 2004, when the men’s team qualified and placed 26th overall. In the history of WPC Cross Country, Graves will be the 18th athlete to participate at nationals.

Graves qualifies for national cross-country meet.

“The Shack” author W. Paul Young brings message of grace

Senior runner Jonathan Graves ’09 qualified for the NAIA Cross Country National meet, held on November 22, in Kenosha, Wis. Graves, the Knights’ top runner, placed 14th with a time of 26:10 on an 8K course at the Cascade Collegiate Conference Championships, Nov. 8, in

William Paul Young ’78, author of the best-selling novel “The Shack,” gave three lectures on campus October 13 and 14, each filled with remarkeable stories of reconciliation surrounding the creation and subsequent success of the novel, which has sold 4 million copies world-wide. The book describes the

encounter of a troubled father with the Holy Trinity in a remote shack in the wilderness of eastern Oregon. In his talks, Young challenged the mindset that Christians must perform to earn God’s good favor, instead arguing that God can be found in the messiness of our lives. “The Shack” was inspired by great Young tragedy, hurt, and healing in Young’s own life. “God is involved in the middle of our stuff, whether we see him or not, and the question becomes, ‘Who do you think He is?’” Young said. “Do you trust him?” A recording of Young’s Oct. 13 lecture is available at www.warnerpacific.edu.

Street life artistry

PHOTOS BY SCOTT A. THOMPSON

Warner Pacific showcases the work of homeless men who have chronicled their lives under the guidance of artist Sharon (Warman) Agnor ’73. By Mara Grunbaum

n old church facade. A pink sunset over the Hawthorne Bridge. A warm plate of breakfast. A tired face emerging from a sleeping bag cocoon. These photographs, mounted in rows on long white boards, narrate their photographers’ daily lives on the street. Five men, the students in a class taught by local artist Sharon (Warman) Agnor ’73 at the Julia West House day shelter, in downtown Portland, presented their work at a gallery show that anchored the grand opening celebration of Warner Pacific College’s newly remodeled Egtvedt and McGuire Halls last September. The art gave the class members their first chance to display their work to the public. “The whole idea is to show what life is like on the street for low-income people, invisible people, ones who are marginalized,” says Agnor, a metal sculptor. “They’re so open to ideas, and they’re talented. My world is bigger because of them - absolutely bigger. I’m exposed to things that I would never be exposed to... it really blesses me.” Means to a creative end Since she began holding the weekly class for Julia West’s homeless and low-income patrons two and a half years ago, Agnor, who has her own studio in Vancouver, Wash., estimates that she has seen about 20 students come and go. She donates the time and materials necessary to give a few that creative outlet. “There are times - I’m sure all of us have experienced this - where we’ve just had a really bad week,” says C.J. White, a soft-spoken, bespectacled Julia West patron who has been in Agnor’s class almost since the beginning. “And this is one of the little things that made us forget about it, even if it was just for a couple hours.” Variety of mediums With Agnor’s guidance, the students have tiled a mosaic bench, bent wire into three-dimensional self portraits, pasted mixed media collages around painted cardboard masks, and glazed and fired raku pottery, which goes into the kiln drably colored and emerges with astonishing luster. “Every time we do something like that, we have to talk about the analogy of it, too,” Agnor says. “Whenever material is subjected to extreme heat, it stresses and changes. It comes out totally different - just like life. What (people on the street) live with is constant stress.”

Sharon (Warman) Agnor ’73 (center) with homeless art students (L to R) C.J. White, Darren Alexander, Rick Miles, Troy Ennis, and Larry May. (Above) A collage by Alexander.

Darren Alexander, who has been homeless on and off for fifteen years, says that making art is soothing. Agnor’s class seems to have fueled his artistic ambition. Like most of his classmates, Alexander is too modest to call himself an artist, but he’s happy to explain his work. In his collage, two African tribesmen stand behind a presidential podium under a speech bubble proclaiming, “Don’t pigeonhole me.” “Part of it is a statement,” says Alexander. “Don’t assume that because you see one thing, that you know me.”

“The whole idea is to show what life is like on the street for low-income people, invisible people, ones who are marginalized.” - Sharon (Agnor) Warman ’73 Classmate Larry May hopes visitors to Warner Pacific walked away from the show with a broader understanding of life outside. “I think if people see the artwork, they’ll understand that there are a lot of people out there on the streets that are artistic, but just don’t... have the ability to do it,” May says. “There’s more out there for the homeless than just sleeping around and (collecting) cans.” This abridged article was originally published in the newspaper “Street Roots” (www.streetroots.org) in July 2008 and used with permission.

Winter 2009

Urban Visionary In a candid Q & A interview, new Urban Studies Director Dr. Caleb Rosado describes his holistic approach to understanding the city.

PHOTO BY SCOTT A. THOMPSON

“The basis of racism is that every group is considered different, but Galatians 3:28 says there is neither slave nor free, Gentile or Jew, male or female, for we are all one.” Dr. Caleb Rosado This summer, Dr. Caleb Rosado became the Director of Warner Pacific’s Urban Studies Program, which will launch formally in Fall 2009. A prominent expert on race relations, Rosado holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Northwestern University, in Evanston, Ill., and most recently taught sociology at Southern Connecticut State University and Eastern University, in Philadelphia.“The Experience” caught up with Rosado to learn more about his vision for Urban Studies at Warner Pacific. What does the study of Sociology and, specifically, Urban Studies involve? Sociology is essentially the study of human social relations - how humans get along with others in a social environment. Sociology provides academia with what I call the fourth “R,” namely, relationship. You can be good at writing, reading, and arithmetic, but if you lack social intelligence you can be a failure. So when we take a look at race relations, we’re essentially studying how human beings relate to each other in the presence of a competition for resources. When there’s plenty to go around, everyone is generous, but when the economy is down, all of a sudden concerns about immigration, for example, emerge. It has nothing to do with human beings hating other human beings. It has to do with the fact that when circumstances change, people’s values and attitudes begin to change as a result. Describe the philosophical tenants of the program you envision. Too often we operate with a fragmentary world view, that the city is really not one city, but that it’s made up of multiple “cities,” such as the city of the rich, the city of the poor, the city of the power structure, and so on. I challenge that whole idea, even though that is still the prevailing model. If you buy into a holistic model that assumes we are all one family and that all of us come from one creation, that gives you an entirely different view as to how we relate to each other. The basis of racism is that every group is considered different, but Galatians 3:28 says there is neither slave nor free, Gentile or Jew, male or female, for we are all one. None of us exists in a vacuum, but we are influenced by social, economic, material, cultural, and spiritual forces. Our young people don’t understand that. Politicians don’t understand that. You cannot solve those problems if you don’t understand contexts, because under the same contexts, the same problems emerge over and over again, no matter whether where we are talking about Australia or Amsterdam or Alaska or Portland, the same problems emerge because people are tuned to the same patterns. Whereas other schools with their urban studies programs might be focusing on the content of particular problems, in our program here I want to focus more on the context. It is not the particular social problems that we have to focus on. That’s content. We need to focus on the context out of which these problems emerge as we design the program at Warner Pacific. You were born in Puerto Rico but you spent most of your youth in San Francisco, Calif. In what ways did your upbringing shape your world view? I moved to San Francisco when I was 6 and I spent 14 years there, in all. My mother was a seamstress in a doll factory and my father was a journeyman carpenter. Even though there was an elementary school across the street, my parents sent me and my two brothers to Christian schools. My father only had four grades of education, and

my mother eight, but they didn’t want a TV in the house. I either saw my father working or reading. He wasn’t a fast reader, but he read a couple dozen books a year. Those values instilled in me a love for books and education. What contributed to your decision to pursue sociology? I trained as a theologian at Pacific Union College, in California. Then I went to seminary at Andrews University in Michigan. My goal was to become a New Testament scholar, but when I started working as an Adventist pastor at Latino churches in Stockton, Calif. in the late 1960s, the questions my parishioners were asking were not theological ones. Nobody wanted to know about the virgin birth. They wanted to know how to get their child out of jail or out of gangs. They were sociological questions. Seminary did not prepare me to address those kinds of questions. Then I went through an experience of racism in the church and I left the ministry completely and went to Chicago, where I worked as a coordinator of organizational development at the Latino Institute. That’s when I started developing an interest in sociology. Sociology began to answer questions that theology didn’t. When I was earning my doctorate at Northwestern, my focus was on sociology of religion, race relations, and urban studies. Those three fields come together strongly in the city, namely, the role of the church, an institution, in an urban context dealing with the forces of multiculturalism. You’ve taught at a number of private and public schools, including Humboldt State University, Walla Walla College, Eastern University, and Southern Connecticut University. What advantages do you see teaching at a Christian liberal arts college the size of Warner Pacific? The Lord certainly had some ideas where I should be, but what attracted me to Warner Pacific was not only its location in Portland, but also that it was a Christian campus that was starting a program from the ground up. I’m more comfortable building a program than working with an existing one where I might have to bring changes in. Here I can give it the direction that it needs. In fact, a Christian college is the perfect place to do this because you can add an element of spirituality. How will Warner Pacific’s Urban Studies Program be distinct? Society will always create more problems than you know how to handle, but what I want to do here is more cutting edge, because I want to draw from multiple disciplines and move away from fragmentary thinking and toward holistic thinking. The world view that everything is connected will be unique to this program. The Urban Studies program is for students who are not satisfied with life “as it is,” but who desire to make a significant change in the world around them. I would hope to produce students who can be a positive influence in society and who have an alternate way to view their world, not as adolescents but as adults who now realize that one act of kindness can raise all the ships in the sea of consciousness. Approaching life from a positive framework, they can now be used by God to help transform the world. Interview conducted, edited, and condensed by Scott A. Thompson.

Winter 2009

Kealani Gangwes ’10 paints a mural on a column inside Pioneer School, which serves emotionally-challenged kids.

SCOTT A. THOMPSON

PHOTO COURTESY OF ANDY MAGEL ’05

STUDENT LIFE

(L to R) Emilie Chase ’12, Triana Aramburu ’11, Andrew Mugford ’10, Danielle White ’10, Robert Lopez ’10, and Anna Chase ’10 collected 528 pounds of canned food for the Oregon Food Bank during Halloween last October.

BUILDING a

CULTURE of SERVICE

Bolstered by the Common Day of Service, Warner Pacific College is working to make community outreach a way of life.

alk through the lobby of the Pioneer Special School, a SE Portland elementary school that serves emotionally challenged children, and you’ll find murals depicting scenes teeming with life. On one wall is a mountain and pasture scene. Further down, a colorful scarecrow and corn stalks. White fish seem to swim up the sides of a dark blue pillar, while hand prints and words like “hope” and “faith,” cover another. The artists who turned bare concrete into artwork were not professionals. They were Warner Pacific students, and they painted the scenes over the course of two years volunteering for the Common Day of Service (CDS), Warner Pacific’s annual community service day. “We did things that are really inspirational,” said Desiree Shippey ’10, who was among a group of women from Smith Hall dormitory who designed and painted the artwork. Though the students did not meet the children who now see these pictures every day, they, nonetheless, made a lasting impact. “For each of the concrete pillars to have a mural on it that tells sort of a story, is really magical for [the children],” said Pioneer’s assistant principal Mike Laframboise. “To get this level of commitment from somebody is absolutely amazing. It’s getting to the point where we count on it every year. We really appreciate all of the work that Warner Pacific has done with us.” Behind the scenes The work at Pioneer School is only one example of Warner Pacific’s commitment to make the lives of some of its neighbors a little better. Through four Common Days of Service - and subsequent 10

Titus Palmquist ’11, Dustin Baker ’09, and Kenny Johnson ’10 remove sod from Pioneer School’s courtyard last spring.

service projects during the academic school year - college students and employees have built ongoing relationships with a number of SE Portland schools like Pioneer, in addition to Portland Parks and Recreation, the Raphael House women and children’s shelter, Friends of Mt. Tabor Park, and the Oregon Food Bank. The work isn’t always as pretty as painting murals. Much, in fact, is grunt labor - spreading mulch at Hosford Middle School, hacking out blackberry bushes in Mt. Tabor Park, organizing library books at Bridger Elementary, and trimming hedges outside Pioneer. But it has translated into thousands of hours of donated labor, an invaluable resource to the community partners. “Doing the behind the scenes stuff is better for the people we are serving,” said Andy Magel ’05, a service learning coordinator with AmeriCorp VISTA who has been stationed at Warner Pacific for the last year. “For example, at the Pioneer School, their staff is trained to do their jobs and they do it well, but they don’t have time to improve the grounds and make it a good learning environment. They don’t have the resources to do that. We don’t know how to work with their kids, but we can go there and we can clean up their courtyard and pull their weeds and paint their sign and we can do those things and help them do their jobs better. We fill in the gaps in the community that aren’t met because of [few] resources.” Student intiative Community service is certainly not a new development at Warner Pacific. Over the decades, past generations of students have spearheaded food drives, led Mexico mission trips, visited Aids hospices, and devised outreach ministries to the homeless. In fact, students established and helped staff a homeless shelter in one of the campus apartments for a few years in the late 1980s. However, there have also been dry spells. When Director of Campus Ministries Jess Bielman ’99 took the job in 2002, there wasn’t much of a coordinated effort on the part of the college to help facilitate student outreach, aside from the annual spring break mission trip to Mexico. One of his primary goals was to spur students to get out of the so-called “Warner bubble” and start thinking about the needs of the surrounding community. “In my second chapel address [in 2002], I said my vision was that we wouldn’t be a place that was a separated light on the hill, but very much a part of where we are,” said Bielman. “I want the places around us to do what they do better because we exist.” The idea for the CDS actually came from student leaders in 2004. Before the CDS came into being, the school initiated a two-year effort in strategic planning called the Common Day of Learning in 2003 and 2004. Classes were cancelled for a day to allow students and employees to discuss the college’s future. Members of the

The Experience

PHOTOS BY SCOTT BEYSTRUM ’11

Adam Moore ’09 plays with kids during recess at Atkinson Elementary School during the 2008 Common Day of Service.

(L to R) Shawnna Phillips ’12, Amanda Armstrong ’12, and Caitlin Phelps ’12 do yardwork at Pioneer School’s high school annex as part of the 2008 Common Day of Service last September.

Garrett Bogs ’10 prepares a load of barkdust at Hosford Middle School for the 2008 Common Day of Service.

student government, at the time, wondered if the school was willing to take a day for introspection, would it also be open to devoting a day to community outreach? “The Common Day of Learning spurred some things and we said, ‘Why don’t we balance that out and have a service component?’” said Dan Williams ’04, who served as student chaplain in the 2003-2004 academic year. “At that point, we were looking at service as being an important thing, but we didn’t see our students getting involved as much as they could in the community around us. We had some [student ministries] in place, but nothing as structured as the whole community coming together in one place at one time.” It wasn’t until the following year the proposal for the CDS emerged from the student government led by president Lyndsy (Henkelmann) Manz ’05, who had been treasurer her junior year when the original conversations had started. After administration elected not to continue the Common Day of Learning for a third year, Manz saw an opportunity to pitch the community service idea again.

to display their work. Student, employee, and alumni volunteers later built raised garden beds, chin-up bars, and a basketball court at Pioneer’s high school’s courtyard in the spring. Also this fall, New Student Orientation, Student Leadership training, and the First Year Experience Program for incoming freshman each had community service components. Not to be overshadowed, an outreach to the homeless that was started by a handful of students in the early 2000s now regularly sees approximately 20 students travel downtown once a week during the fall and winter months to hand out cups of hot chocolate and engage homeless men and women in conversation. “We really want our students to understand that, especially if they’re Christians, but even if they’re not, a value system that we hold dear is service to others,” said Dean of Students Donna Walton. “It’s what Christ did and it’s what he expects us to do. So it’s why we

Jess Bielman ’99, Director of Campus Ministries

“President Jay [Barber ’64] and I threw it around that this is something we wanted to do,” said Manz. “They had decided not to do the Common Day of Learning that year. It opened the door.” A wealth of goodwill The task to organize the first CDS in 2005 fell to Emily (Coombs) Chandler ’06, who worked with Bielman as the Social Action and Outreach Coordinator for the student body. She made calls and set up work sites at Bridger, Atkinson, and Pioneer Schools, got lunches donated by Sodexho, the college’s food service provider, and covered all the odds and ends. She said school officials were surprised, but grateful by the college’s offer of scores of volunteers. “I definitely think they had never been approached like that before,” said Chandler. “They were saying, ‘Who are you guys?’ They were excited but also a little confused, not sure what was happening.” Approximately 260 student and employees volunteered for the inaugural CDS. The goodwill it generated has allowed the college to further develop its relationship with the CDS sites, particularly at Bridger and Pioneer schools. For example, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day last winter, students and employee volunteers installed bulletin boards outside classrooms at Pioneer’s high school for students

“I want the places around us to do what they do better because we exist.”

include it in the learning outcomes that we want to see our students exposed to.” Work in progress There is always room for the college to grow in fashioning a culture of service to the surrounding city, but the momentum is there. “It is getting to the point institutionally that things can change that can really influence how much of this service happens and what it looks like and how we as a college community own it,” said Magel. “Through service to the community, it’s not just those incidents, but it’s that we graduate people whose lives have been affected and they have a lifetime of impact in the community. They are going to go on and influence their communities because of the transformational experience they had here at the college. That goes so far beyond any event.” For community partners like Bridger Elementary’s principal Tina Daily, there are plenty more opportunites to help out, from tutoring students - and, in some cases, even their parents - to regular upkeep of the school’s garden area. “Anything that we can come up with that brings our communities together and helps children and gives young adults an opportunity to see other things going on in the world is fabulous,” she said.

Winter 2009

ALUMNI NEWS

Seven alumni share why they serve the city’s young, vulnerable, and needy. By Scott A. Thompson

Delores Dillard ’95 Community Educator IRCO / Africa House Portland, Ore.

SCOTT A. THOMPSON

elores Dillard ’95 loves Africa and its people. She has made multiple mission trips to the continent since 1996, so when an opportunity arose two years ago, specifically to work with African refugees in the Portland area, it was a natural fit. Dillard is a community educator with Africa House, a branch of the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO), which provides a host of programs and social services for over 30 ethnic refugees and immigrant groups that have relocated to Portland from around the world. Dillard started out in IRCO’s parenting department in 2002 before transferring to Africa House. She is the lone American on staff at the program, which is located in a converted house in the Montavilla Neighborhood of SE Portland. Other employees hail from The Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Somalia, Ethiopia, and Chad. “They wanted me because I was African-American and older,” said Dillard. “They respect their elders. Even though I don’t speak any [African] languages, I can go into any of the African populations because I’ve been working with them and they know me and they know I have a genuine concern and a love for them. They will listen.” Africa House’s main sponsor is the Office of Resettlement in Washington, D.C., but the office also receives funding from Multnomah County, as well as other organizations. Staff members specialize in different social services, such as HIV / Hepatitis education, conflict mediation, or parenting skills. As a community educator, Dillard’s work is all over the map. She not only teaches refugees about adapting to life in a major American city, but she also works with government or community organizations that regularly interact with refugees, such as police departments, the Department of Human Services, and boys and girls clubs. One day she might discuss parenting skills with a group of Somali parents at an apartment complex and the next train county social workers on cultural issues involving African refugees.

“If you are going to be dealing with people from different ethnicities, then you need to have knowledge about how to work with them, how to interact with them,” said Dillard. Becoming a refugee is a lengthy process and Dillard says few of her clients have all of their family members in the United States. She adds that most of the refugees she sees come from rural areas that lacked the amenities of a modern American city like Portland. “They don’t know anything about electricity or flushing toilets, so we are talking about teaching them everything,” said Dillard. “They need English skills. They need math skills. They need to be tutored in this, that, and the other. All of this is new to them.” Prior to her work with IRCO, Dillard worked as a counselor for the Gladys McCoy Academy, a charter school in Portland area. Dillard is an ordained minister in the non-denominational organization Oregon Gospel Ministries and studied English at Warner Pacific from 1991 to 1995 in order to augment her interest in ministry and missions. Dillard is on the International Board of Good Samaritans Ministry, a Beaverton-based ministry, and has gone on educational mission trips to Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Burundi, and Liberia, as well as Jamaica and Israel. She also helped launch a lay counseling program through Good Samaritans at Highland Christian Center, in SE Portland this past spring. “It’s an educational experience every day for me,” she said.

The Experience

Experience brings empathy The son of a teacher and a minister, Smith says he has great empathy for middle school students because when he was their age, he skipped a grade and was ostracized by students at his new grade level. “I had a very solid experience with the social hardships of middle school, which is part of the reason, I’m sure, I’m so passionate about working with this group,” said Smith. “You can start talking to them as adults but you can still tap into their childhood. Some days three or four of them might have had a bad night, whatever you want to imagine

PHOTOS BY SCOTT A. THOMPSON

iddle school social studies teacher Adam Smith ’99 isn’t interested in teaching the allstar students already destined for success. Smith says the seventh and eight grade students he teaches at Vernon School, in NE Portland, face the sort of life challenges that make getting a high school diploma a major goal. He wants to be the kind of teacher that helps them reach it. “The kids that need me are the ones for whom life is complicated and rough,” said Smith. “I want to be the teacher that somehow gets them to finish school and maybe go on to college. That is a huge victory for me. I don’t have any interest in really working with kids who are going to college with or without me. Those kids are wonderful. They are set, but they don’t need Mr. Smith.” This is Smith’s first year at Vernon, but he has spent his entire teaching career working at urban schools in the Portland area, first at Portsmouth Middle School and later at Marshall High School. Prior to earning his teaching license in 1998, Smith worked as an educational assistant at Kellog Middle School, in S.E. Portland.

Adam Smith ’99 Wendy Wager ’99 Public school teachers Vernon School Portland, Ore. Wager. “There are no walls built up yet and I just really like that.” Wager said that when she first started,

“I don’t feel much reward from anything else except showing up and making a kid open his or her mind and say ‘I don’t have to be ignorant.’” - Middle school teacher Adam Smith ’99

that was, and it’s just a different personality that you are challenged with.” Tending to the little ones Fellow Vernon school teacher Wendy Wager ’98 has made a similar investment in her teaching career. She has taught preschool for the last nine years at Vernon and also lives only a few blocks away with her husband and two small children. Her teaching world is filled with finger painting, spelling blocks, reading books – and essential manners. “The little ones are so playful and magical still and I’m really drawn to that,” said

she was surprised how much classroom management a room full of four-year olds required. She learned in a hurry. “It was a huge shock,” Wager said. “I was so worried that I was being too firm with them, but if I wasn’t, I would get completely run over.” Wager said Vernon has made remarkable strides in the time she’s been on staff. Early on, it was a school in crisis, but the neighborhood has seen an influx of stable families and the school staff has made great efforts to forge a safe environment for learning. “The teachers have worked hard to build the culture that we have now,” she said. Winter 2009

Both Smith and Wager speak well of their time at Warner Pacific. Wager, especially, lauded the Warner Pacific faculty for being so personal. “I feel so indebted,” Wager said. “[The professors] were so incredible and attentive. That was a huge blessing for me, because if I had gone to some place huge, it wouldn’t have been my thing.” For Smith, teaching is one of the hardest jobs in the world, but the most fulfilling. “I don’t feel much reward from anything else except showing up and making a kid open his or her mind and say ‘I don’t have to be ignorant,’” said Smith. 13

From page 13

Stella Jones ’54

Executive Director Shared Housing Services Tacoma, Wash.

Frank Clore ’86 Lead Hospice Chaplain Legacy Health Systems Portland, Ore.

ospice chaplain Frank Clore ’86 journeys with patients and their families as they face imminent death. It’s not a job for everyone, but there’s no place Clore would rather be. Clore is the lead hospice chaplain for Legacy Health Systems, which has five hospitals in the greater Portland area. While a Christian himself, Clore is trained to work with people of all faiths, or no faith, without judgment. “Hopefully I know well enough who I am based on my personal faith that I can accept people based on where they are,” said Clore, who has worked at Legacy for ten years. “In some ways, this is the example that Christ set for us.” Hospice, which is regulated by the federal program Medicaid, becomes available to patients who have six months or less to live. Each hospice patient is assigned a core team that includes a physician, a nurse, a social worker, and a chaplain who work with the patient’s personal physician regarding end-of-life care options. Clore’s role on the team is multifaceted, and might involve everything from bedside counseling to making arrangements for families who want to move the deceased across state lines. “Most people think of a chaplain as someone who walks the halls of a hospital with a Bible in their hand,” said Clore. “While that is part of my job, it’s actually a small part. I’m a resource person, in many ways.” Clore, 66, didn’t begin his path into ministry until he was 40 years old, after he had established a career in retail management. He enrolled in Warner Pacific’s Master of Religion program in the early 1980s. Following his studies, he became senior pastor of Grants Pass First Church of God, in Grants Pass, Ore., where he also did volunteer chaplaincy work with the Josephine County Sheriff’s Department and two local hospitals. In 1991, he moved back to the Portland area to lead Hilltop Community Church in Oregon City, Ore. In 1998, Clore went to Legacy and completed its professional chaplain training program, which involved 2000 hours of clinical experience, academic study, and hospital rounds. He now oversees five chaplains who work in Legacy’s five area hospitals. In his off time, he is also an associate pastor at Richmond Community Church, in Portland. “I’ve been doing [ministry] for 25 years,” Clore said. “I’m always available. I have my family, my church, and God to give me the spiritual support to go on.” Frank Clore ’86

PHOTO BY SCOTT A. THOMPSON

s the Executive Director of the non-profit organization Shared Housing Services (SHS), in Tacoma, Wash., Stella Jones ’54 connects homeless families in need of affordable housing with homeowners - often the elderly or disabled - who have rooms available, but who may also need varying levels of personal care. The arrangement allows homeowners to remain in their homes, and gives homeless families an opportunity to get on their feet financially. “It’s very rewarding,” said Jones. “We match the homeless up with homeowners and they exchange services for room and board or even room and board with an income.” Jones says while she works with homeowners of all ages, typically they are individuals on fixed incomes whose needs may range from help with simple chores or cooking to around-the-clock personal care. SHS does extensive criminal background checks on families seeking housing and encourages the two parties to Jones negotiate the terms of the living arrangement themselves, which can last up to two years. “We have one situation where a family of three is taking care of an elderly woman who is a double amputee,” said Jones. “They have [all] become like family. The [home-seekers] have room and board and a cash income of $2,500 a month. It has been a stable situation and it has provided the care and companionship that the home provider needs.” SHS began in 1991 as an outreach ministry of Immanuel Presbyterian Church, in North Tacoma. Jones was SHS’s sole part-time employee at the outset. Since then, the program has become an independent not-for-profit with a staff of five, but there is still a greater need than the staff can manage. “I put in a very long day, typically over ten hours a day,” Jones said. “We don’t have the staff we need.” Prior to her work with SHS, Jones had a career as a professor of sociology at a number colleges in the Midwest and finally in the Puget Sound area. She said she reached a point where she no longer wanted to talk about ideas in the classroom, but instead work directly in the community. She and her staff require homeless applicants to list their personal goals for the two year period, which often includes completing high school graduate equivalency degrees (GEDs) or attending community college or job training. Jones admits that not every family follows through, but when they do, the transformations can be remarkable.

“I just visited with a woman named Jessie who did two years in a respiratory therapy program and will be working at University of Washington Hospital. She wants to get her bachelor’s degree so she can be a supervisor. She went from being homeless with one child and pregnant with her second child to being a very stable, excellent mother. People like that make every moment of it worth it.”

Tina (DeMers) Monson ’88 Social Worker Oregon Department of Human Services Happy Valley, Ore.

Youth pastor Shaun Hilby ’02 (in overalls) with his kids.

Shaun Hilby ’02

Youth pastor Willow Street Church of(lower Godright in overalls) with Youth pastor Shaun Hilby ’02 members of his Willow Street Church of God youth group. Long Beach, Calif.

plifting one’s community through Christian service is a key part of the ministry of youth pastor Shaun Hilby ’02, who leads Greater Reality Student Ministries at Willow Street Church of God, in Long Beach, Calif. The church of approximately 180 serves multiracial neighborhoods in both Long Beach and nearby Compton. “Service is integral,” said Hilby. “We’ve done overnight stays working at homeless shelters, trash pick-ups, planting gardens, stuff like that. [We emphasize] respect for your community, personal development, conflict management, and engaging and uplifting society.” Hilby began his youth minstry career at South Bay Church of God, in nearby Torrance, Calif. When senior pastor Lloyd Harrison invited Hilby to join him at Willow Street in 2005, the church had no youth program to speak of. Hilby introduced Bible studies and other activities, and with the help of a few committed families, word got out. Now, on a weekly basis, he sees 30-35 junior and high school kids. “It was new and exciting to them,” said Hilby. “The families appreciated it and they would invite everybody they knew.” Hilby and his wife, Lee - who gave birth to the couple’s first child, Malachi, last July - live in the neighborhood. Hilby says the areas the church serves aren’t as dangerous as in past decades, but they still require some essential street sense, something he developed growing up in San Jose, Calif. “There’s a certain way you conduct yourself, knowing and learning what’s acceptable,” he said. Hilby says beyond his youth ministry, he and pastor Harrison share a commitment to building a greater sense of interracial unity and cooperation between Churches of God throughout California.

ina (DeMers) Monson ’88 is a veteran social worker who has spent her entire career walking headlong into family crisis. Drug abuse, mental illness, child neglect and abuse there are few scenarios Monson hasn’t witnessed. But in the midst of tragedy, Monson has seen some success stories, particularly involving children being saved from dangerous situations and placed in healthy, adoptive families. “I believe I am on this earth to make a difference and to influence people in a positive way,” said Monson, who has worked in the social work field for 19 years. “Personally, I cannot imagine having a bigger influence on a child’s life than choosing who they can grow up with. So it continues to be very rewarding for me.” After studying psychology at Warner Pacific, Monson spent three years working in a group home before becoming a caseworker for the Oregon Department of Human Services and Child Welfare in 1990. She worked out of an office in Gresham, Ore. but served families throughout Multnomah County. She said casework has always been challenging, but a rise in methanphetime use, greater media scrutiny, and a lack of qualified foster families has made a tough job even tougher. “Media sheds a negative light on social workers,” said Monson. “You see children who have such extreme problems that you can’t keep them in foster families. We SCOTT A. THOMPSON don’t have the services to offer. Monson That’s a real challenge, too.” After nine years as a caseworker, Monson took on a new role with the state as a consultant and trainer who focuses on finding adoptive families for children whose parents have legally lost their parental rights. “Most of my experience is dealing with the termination of parental rights, but the happy ending is adoption,” said Monson, a mother

“I believe I am on this earth to make a difference and to influence people in a positive way.” - Social worker Tina (DeMers) Monson ’88 “My real passion, my ambition for this whole year is going to be in working through California to try to build a greater sense of unity,” said Hilby. “In the 19th century, [the Church of God] had black pastors of all-white congregations. The Church of God was way ahead of the curve based on that message of unity and we’ve messed it up, for a lot of different reasons. To reclaim that as part of our heritage, it needs to be expressed again through reconciliation… [I]t takes a lot of effort, but that’s my goal.”

herself of two school-aged children. “It is still very humbling for me to be a part of choosing an [adoptive] family for a child.” Monson says her Christian faith and a regiment of exercise have been critical in helping her withstand the stress of her work. “You must be a healthy individual in order to do this job,” she said. “More so than any experience or education you have, you have to have healthy outlets when you’re not at work in order to do a good job when you are there.”

Winter 2009

ALUMNI NEWS

FROM THE DIRECTOR

50’s Savas ’57 and Olive (Fiscus) Joannides ’56 celebrated their 50th anniversary (August 17, 2008) by traveling with their children and grandchildren to visit family in Greece They continue to be active in Park Place Church of God, in Anderson, Ind.

70’s After 32 years of ministry, Louis Anderson ’70 is on sabbatical from Longs Peak Church of God in Brighton, Colo., where he has been a pastor since November 1994.

Director of Alumni, Church, and Parent, Relations dmcguire @warnerpacific.edu

In other alumni news, the Class of 1969 will celebrate its 40th Reunion, April 18, 2009 in Portland and the Class of 1959 will have its 50th Reunion on May 9, 2009, also in Portland. Additional information will follow as we secure venues. Above all, may you and your family experience grace and peace during this, most precious, Christmas season, and I’ll see you in January.

Upcoming Events Alumni Weekend January 23 - 24 Knightlife January 23 The Millennium Brass, Clarinet and Woodwind Quartet February 7, 7:30 p.m. McGuire Auditorium Adults $10, seniors / students $7 Scholarships Day February 21 Campus-wide WP Concert and Alumni Choirs Carnegie Hall Sendoff Concert March 15, 7 p.m. McGuire Auditorium Adults $10, seniors / students $7

Continued on pg. 17 16

Dana McGuire

Saturday, Jan. 24, will be packed with exciting events, including a Worship & Praise Gathering at 10:30 a.m., a lunch to celebrate our distinguished alumni at 12:30 p.m., a spaghetti feed to support Missions@Warner Pacific at 5 p.m., a men’s basketball reunion featuring former coach Gary Bays at 5:30 p.m., and more great basketball action in the gym at 5:30 p.m. (women) and 7:30 p.m. (men) versus College of Idaho.

80’s

Shawn ’85 and Pam (Woods) Gary ’86 reside in Lake Wales, Fla., where Shawn is the athletic director at Warner University (formerly Warner Southern College) and Pam is a special needs educator at McLaughlin Middle School. This last spring, Pam received the Polk County School Board’s 2008 Master Key Award for successfully integrating special needs students into all school activities and coordinating a graduation ceremony at the end of the year. She is also very active in Special Olympics and took her relay team to the Regional Championship meet. Shawn is responsible for coordinating 17 sports programs and is the university’s fast pitch

wish you could have been within ear shot of our callers who were buzzing with enthusiasm during the Phone-A-Thon Blitz, Sept. 29 - Oct. 1. Over these three nights, 18 students burned the telephone lines with over 1860 calls and received $3,376 in pledges. Your support was greatly welcomed while boosting the students’ level of appreciation for our alumni and teaching the importance of contributing to WPC when they are alumni. Presently, we have received over 60 percent of our total pledged amount, $6400.

Alumni Weekend I encourage you to join us at Alumni Weekend 2009, January 23 & 24. This year, we are introducing a change in schedule to better accommodate people’s busy lives. We will open Alumni Weekend with a dinner Friday night, Jan. 23, in our new dining hall. You will be able to enjoy a fun meal among friends and wander the halls of our newly renovated Egtvedt and McGuire Halls. You will hardly recognize the place. Then you can cheer on the women’s and men’s basketball teams as they take on conference rival Eastern Oregon University.

Kathi (Kennemer) ’73 and Wayne Sellers ’74 served for 16 years as missionaries for Global Missions in Costa Rica and are now living in Anderson, Ind. where Kathi is employed by Church of God Ministries in Global Missions in Personnel (Missionary Recruitment – Care).

Dr. Douglas K. Hartman ’81 has accepted a position as Professor of Technology and Human Learning at Michigan State University. His leadership roles at the university include director of a research center, senior scientist with a lab, editor of a research journal, and coordinator of doctoral studies. Dr. Hartman studies digital technology and its impact on learning, society, and thought. His most recent study was funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. He serves as an advisor and consultant to several publishing/media companies. Recently Hartman received the Kingston Award for distinguished scholar service. He and his wife, Bena, live in Okemos, Mich. with their three children.

Welcome to a Season of Joy

The Experience

Join the Team! Support WP Athletics by joining the new

Knights Booster Club. Contact

Bart Valentine ’75 Director of Athletics bvalentine@warnerpacific.edu Steve Arnold ’76 Booster Club President steveandlavisa@verizon.net

IN MEMORIAM Continued from pg. 16 softball coach. In the 2007-08 season, the Warner team received its highest ranking ever at 16th and won the Regional Championship and a birth to the national tournament. As a result, Shawn was named Florida Sun Conference and Regional XIV coach of the year. The Garys have four children, ranging in ages from 6 to 19. Walter Ghant ’88 is the Associate Director of the Office of Service Learning at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va. He oversees the placement of approximately 1,500 students in classroomGhant based academic service learning, as well as the placement of approximately 90 students who qualify for federal work study to work in schools and area nonprofit organizations. He also works with faculty to help them embed service learning pedagogy into their courses. He holds a Master of Theology degree from Howard University and a Master of Public Administration from George Mason University and has formerly worked as a pastor in Virginia.

90’s Sue Diane Rosenbloom ’90 is presently attending the Masters of Arts in Thanatology Summer Graduate program at Hood College in Frederick, Md. She will do a practicum in Portland, and then return to Hood College in the spring of 2009 to complete her work in Thanatology, the study of mortality. Sue’s goal is to become a death and dying, and grief and bereavement educator and counselor. Tracey (Servey) Spencer ’94 graduated from Concordia University with a Master of Arts in Teaching on May 3rd, 2008. She has endorsements in physical education, health education, and basic mathematics and is authorized to teach grades 5-12. Michelle Miller ’97 is studying at the University of Glasgow in the Msc. (Masters) Information Management and Preservation (Archiving) program. Andrew P. White ’97 will work as an associate professor of English at Eastern Mennonite University, in Harrisonburg, Virg. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Multnomah Bible College and Warner Pacific College, a master’s degree from Oregon State University and a Ph.D. from Washington State University. He has served as a

Robert Allenbrand ’61 Robert Leroy Allenbrand ’61died July 12, 2008, at the age of 91. He was born on the family farm near Handel, Saskatchewan on May 2, 1917, the first of 13 children. As a teenager, during the Great Depression, Robert worked across western Canada as a carpenter, salesman, cook, and logger. In 1946, he married Ida Maier and they were pastors at Churches of God in Paradise Valley, Alberta and Chilliwack, British Columbia. In 1959, Robert, Ida, and three young children – James ’67, Robert ’70, and Patricia - moved to Portland, Ore. so Robert could attend Pacific Bible College (Warner Pacific College). While in Portland, they had a fourth child, Marvin. Robert later earned a master’s degree at Oregon State University. He worked at Fred Meyer in the produce department for 22 years. He also worked for the Multnomah County Education District. He retired in 1980. Survivors include Ida, his sons and daughter, and many grandchildren. Margaret Christensen ’77 Margaret Anna (Jacobsen) Christensen ’77 passed away October 22, 2008 at the age of 90. She was born on March 20, 1918 in Chicago, Ill. She married her husband, Arnold, on May 20, 1939, also in Chicago. Margaret worked for Kraft Foods as a certified professional secretary. The couple moved to Portland in 1974 after living in Milwaukee, Wis. and Seattle, Wash., among other places and Margaret continued to work for Kraft until retiring. She then served Warner Pacific as secretary to Cliff Tierney, Director of Development, and also in other roles as a volunteer. She earned an associate’s degree at the college and received her diploma from her son, Dr. Marshall Christensen ’65, when he was

teacher and administrator at the American University in Bulgaria. Holly (Fugere) ’99 and her husband, Kyle Birman, had their first child, Carter Isaac Birman, on June 10, 2008, at Adventist Medical Center in Portland. He weighed 8 pounds and 5 ounces and was 21 Carter Birman inches long. Holly is currently in her ninth year of education. She teaches 3rd graders at Earl Boyles Elementary School, in the David Douglas School District, in Portland. Winter 2009

the academic vice-president. Survivors include her husband; sons Marshall, Robert ’67, and Carl Christensen; and 8 grandchildren, including Eric Christensen ’91, Julie (Christensen) Steeves ’91, Jill (Christensen) Edgen ’95, Amy (Christensen) Kerr ’98, Megan Christensen ’99, and Karen (Christensen) Frenette ’03.

H. Scott Laird ’90 H. Scott Laird ’90 passed away on June 18, 2008, at his home in Twin Falls, Idaho of a heart attack. He was 65. Laird was born in Twin Falls on September 20, 1942. He married his childhood sweetheart, Jo’n Skiver, on April 18, 1980. He received an associate of arts degree in Christian Education from Warner Pacific, and after serving as a pastor in a couple of churches, returned to complete his bachelor’s degree in Pastoral Ministries. Scott served as a pastor in Spokane, Moses Lake, and Washougal, Wash. and then they became involved with managing retirement homes in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and California. He and his wife moved back home to Idaho in 1996. Vivian Sissel ’52 Vivian Nadine Sissel ’52 died on June 23, 2008 at the age of 77. She was born on April 2, 1931 in Springville, Linn County, Iowa. After attending Pacific Bible College (Warner Pacific), she married Elmer Sissell in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on March 14, 1953. Vivian worked for a newspaper and radio station before beginning a 25year career as a mail carrier, all in Tipton, Iowa. She was a member of Women of the Church of God, where she held offices at the local and state level. Vivian enjoyed teaching Sunday school and traveling the world with Elmer. She is survived by her husband, eight adult children, seven grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.

00’s Shaun Hilby ’01 and wife Lee Shea welcomed son Malachi Behrendt Hilby on July 25. Malachi weighed 7 lbs 14 ounces, and was 20 inches long. Shaun is the youth minister at Willow Street Church of God in Long Beach, Calif.

Malachi Hilby

DaWayne Rowell ’01 has earned his MBA

Continued on pg. 18 17

ALUMNI NEWS

ALUMNI WEEKEND/ JAN. 23 - 24, 2009

5 - 7 p.m. Alumni Open House Dinner - Dining Hall ($7) 5:30 p.m. Women’s BB vs. Eastern Oregon - Gym ($5)

12:30 p.m. Celebration Luncheon - Egtvedt ($15) • All alumni are welcome • Class of 1959 inducted into “Gold Torch Club” • Distinguished Alumni Award recipients: Muriel Marble ’44 - Legacy Jay A. Barber ’64 - Service Peter Okantey ’06, MA ’08 - Young Alumni

6:30 - 9 p.m. WP Alumni Choir and Orchestra Rehearsal for Worship Gathering - McGuire Aud.

5:00 p.m. Spaghetti Feed for Missions@WP - Dining Hall ($5)

7:30 p.m. - Men’s BB vs. Eastern Oregon - Gym ($5)

5:30 p.m. Men’s Basketball Reunion - Egtvedt 203 • Former coach Gary Bays (1976 - 1988) to be named “Coach Emeritus” • Registration required

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2009 4 - 7 p.m. Registration - Egtvedt Hall

SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2009 9 - 10:30 a.m. Registration - Egtvedt Hall

7:30 p.m. Men’s BB vs. College of Idaho - Gym ($5) • Gary Bays honored at half-time

For info, call Dana McGuire at 503-517-1026 or Diane Koeth at 503-517-1114, or visit www.warnerpacific.edu

Guest Speaker: Fred Douglas ’78

Class Notes - from pg. 17 from Keller Graduate School of Management at DeVry University. Breanna Agnor ’03 married Jason Fischer on June 22, 2008, at Queen Anne Mansion, in The Fischers Portland, Ore. The wedding party included Kristal Mathis ’03 and Mollie (Grow) Terpening ’00. Pastor Denise Currie ’06 officiated. The new family includes Jason’s four-year-old son, Logan. Breanna is the daughter of Sharon (Warman) ’73 and David Agnor and the grand-daughter of Dale ’52 (deceased) and Marilyn (Trudgeon)Warman ’51. Gregg Markwardt ’05 recently started graduate school at the University of Oregon for a master’s degree in Special Education. Lyndsy (Henkelmann) ’05 and Jonathan Manz were married on June 7th, 2008 at the First Church of God in Fresno, Calif. The wedding party included Kaylee (Stone) Krout ’06 with music by Jon Krout ’07. The couple met at Baylor University, where Lyndsy did graduate work in student affairs administration. The couple works at the 18

5:30 p.m. Women’s BB vs. College of Idaho - Gym ($5)

10:30 a.m. Worship & Praise Gathering - McGuire Aud. Featuring the WP Alumni Choir and Orchestra Distinguished Alumni Award recipients: Orlo and Carol Kretlow ’55 - Ministry

University of Arkansas, in Fayetteville, Ark. Lyndsy is the Coordinator for the Center for Leadership and Community Engagement.

and assistant varsity coach at his alma mater, Wilson High School, in Portland.

The Manzes

Nicole Johnson ’06 was recently hired to teach full-day kindergarten at Gilbert Park Elementary in the David Douglas School District, in Portland. Tyler ’06 and Alex (Kuechler) Caffall ’07 are currently living in Brooklyn, N.Y., where Tyler is pursuing his MFA in acting at The New School for Drama. Alex works as an administrative assistant at an architectural firm. Angie Sun ’06 and Jalonta Martin ’08 both played on winning teams at the 2008 Salem Hoopla three-on-three outdoor basketball tournament held last July in front of the state capital in Salem, Ore. Cory Sandvold ’06 is the new head coach of the boys’ soccer team at Liberty High School in Hillsboro, Ore. Sandvold is also the starting goalkeeper for the Adidas team in the Oregon Premier Soccer League, the top men’s league in the Portland area. Sandvold previously spent five seasons as the head JV The Experience

Nick ’07 and Kimberly LaVoie welcomed their first child, Abby Mae LaVoie, on August 7, 2008. Abby weighed 7 pounds and 11 ounces. The family resides in Oregon City, Ore.

Abby LaVoie

Barnabas Omulokoli ’07 is in his first year of an MBA program in International Economic Development at Eastern University, in St.Davids, Penn. Isabeau Waia’u ’07 and Tyson Walker ’07 were married on August 2, 2008 at Makawao Union Church, in Makawo, Hawaii. The couple resides in Portland, Ore. Isabeau teaches social studies at Canby High School, in Canby, Ore. and Tyson works at the Wattles Boys and Girls Club in S.E. Portland. Elise ’08 and Jonathan Strickland gave birth to daughter Solveig Ann Strickland on June 18, 2008. Solveig weighed in at 7 pounds, 7 ounces.

The Stricklands

FIRST PERSON

The Method behind the Music A high school music instructor in New Haven, Conn. teaches musicianship as a survival skill. BY SCOTT MCCOY ’88

teach band and choir at Hill Regional Career High School, a magnet school in New Haven, Conn., and at the beginning of each school year, I give my students a little speech. I tell them I went to graduate school at Yale, but not to call me doctor. I tell them I live just down the street. I shop here, pay taxes here. Community means something to me and I’m here because I want to be. In 2001, I was growing tired of my doctoral work at Yale and hustling around to part-time teaching jobs at area colleges. I decided I was happiest when I was just teaching, so why not just do that? After a fifteen-minute interview with the principal, I landed the teaching job at Hill Regional in 2001. I’ve been there ever since. I teach a fairly eclectic bunch of middle to lower class kids. We have about 70 percent African-American, 20 percent Latino, and 10 percent white, Asian, and other races. A lot of these kids come from homes where there is only one parent in some pretty rough neighborhoods. Whenever these kids mess up, there’s no safety net. They don’t have a lot of money and they come in with certain expectations that you’ve got to address. Because of my training in college and graduate school, I was able to do things the kids respected right off the bat. I could lift music from a recording, and I could do it fast. They would play me a song on the stereo and I could plunk it out on the piano and then explain what was going on in the tune. That got their attention. Some of my better musicians play in church and are great performers. They just don’t know what things are called. So, most of my job is teaching my students musical terms and having them treat performance as a craft, and not some mysterious talent. Their artistry is already at a pretty high level. I teach them musicianship, which is something they’ll be able to apply in all areas of their lives. A lot of my students have this lingering belief that when it comes to performance, they will be able to pull it together at the last minute. They have a fear of mastery, not wanting to lose the emotion of the music for the technique. I’m the taskmaster who says the music will be special, but let’s focus on performing with a little more control. Here is the set list. I need you to be here at this time. Load up, perform, come back, and unload. That’s what a gig is. Above all, this whole process is about them getting their stuff together and me modeling what it means to have my stuff together. They wear me out, but I can’t expect them to do something that hasn’t been modeled for them at some level. And if you give the students who are the goofiest some responsibility, watch it change them. I need these kids to learn how to survive not only here, but also when they get to college. Colleges and universities love to say how many minorities they accept, but you never hear about how many actually graduate. If my fellow teachers and I don’t point these juniors and seniors in the right direction and prepare them for the things they are going to deal with, then we are doing them a disservice. I tell my students that when you get to college, no one is going to call your dorm room and tell you to get out of bed for that 8 a.m.

psychology test. How are you going to react if your teaching assistant doesn’t speak English very well? How will you go about getting the information you need? If you are used to people giving you information all of the time, you won’t have the chops to adapt to college. I’ve had some really great kids who “got it.” One of my first students to graduate plays with pop singer Patty Labelle. He also does a lot of studio work in New York. I have had kids go to Berkelee College of Music in Boston. I have a kid now going on a full-ride to the New England Conservatory of Music. I’ve gotten a lot of kids to understand that there are other ways to do things then just feeling your way through life. A key event from my first year of teaching is part of what keeps me coming back every year. We were going to play at an educators’ conference up in Hartford and we were all set to go on a Saturday

Above all, this whole process is about my students getting their stuff together and me modeling what it means to have my stuff together. They wear me out, but I can’t expect them to do something that hasn’t been modeled for them at some level. morning. The bus didn’t show up, and no one answered when I called the bus company. I get off the phone and I’m fuming. I go back down to the music room and I go inside and I’m thinking all of these kids are going to be ticked off and mad at me. When I told them what was going on, not one of them got mad. They just silently, slowly put their coats on and got ready to leave. They just took it – and it killed me. They were used to it. It was normal. Then I had to call the people up in Hartford and explain what was going on and I could hear in their voice something like, “How are things down in the ghetto?” I’ve studied all of the major theories of how people learn. The world is full of people willing to diagnose the social and cultural challenges that exist in the inner city classroom. But for me, there is too much diagnosing going on and not enough attempts to actually solve the problems. What I’d like is for people to show up on time and do the nuts and bolts work. These kids don’t need platitudes. They need someone to believe in them and simply point out how phenomenal they already are. I tell the kids, “You have all of the talent in the world, but you don’t have professionalism - yet. My job is to get you in touch with the kinds of things you’re able to do, but that no one has explained to you. You’ll find out that it’s pretty darn cool.”

Scott McCoy ’88 teaches band and choir at Hill Regional Career School, in New Haven, Conn. He studied music education at WP.

Winter 2009

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Henrietta Lee: Leaving a Legacy of Hope Henrietta C. Lee quietly passed away in With the passing of Harold in 1990, and her sleep on June 19, 2008, leaving a legacy the subsequent health challenges of many of hope to thousands of people of all ages. of Henrietta’s contemporaries and younger Included in that legacy is Warner Pacific relatives, her thoughts turned toward helpCollege. As a benefactor for cancer research, ing others in ways that would make a difyouth ministry, children’s healthcare and as ference over the course of their entire lives. an ongoing Warner Pacific College donor, Her commitment to cancer research, young Henrietta remembered the College in her people and higher education, demonstrated estate plans and final gift. Henrietta Lee was As an expression of her commitment to born in 1914 on a small farm on the outskirts of Warner Pacific College, Henrietta chose to Amsterdam, the Neth- establish a charitable remainder uni-trust … erlands. Her father, a [which] allowed her to take a substantial tax rural dairyman endured economic turmoil before deduction up-front for a gift that would be and after WW I until fi- made upon her passing. nally it was decided that his little family would pack up their belongings and move to the her depth of character and thoughtfulness United States. Eventually Henrietta’s father as it reached past the surface and extended found success in dairy farming near Long to empowerment. As an expression of her commitment to Beach, Calif. Henrietta remained at home to help with Warner Pacific College, Henrietta chose to milking and feeding until a farm construc- establish a charitable remainder uni-trust, tion contractor by the name of Harold Lee or CRUT, which is a trust set up to benefit noticed her at work as he walked about the one or more primary beneficiaries with a barns to discuss the improvement of the farm quarterly or monthly income during their yard with her father. Harold and Henrietta remaining lifetime(s). When the beneficiawould later marry and she became a book- ries have passed away, the assets that remain keeper and office manager for the couple’s are donated to the established non-profit very successful farm construction company organization. This arrangement allowed her to take a substantial tax deduction upin Garden Grove.

front for a gift that would be made upon her passing. It allowed her to avoid capital gains taxes on appreciated assets that are donated to the trust, and it gave her a predictable income for her remaining years. Henrietta provided for herself and gave to others as she wisely and carefully planned her retirement and her estate. Living well into her nineties, Henrietta allowed her resources and interests to turn toward helping people to help themselves. Through her commitment to Christian higher education, the students of Warner Pacific College will experience Henrietta’s generosity for years to come.

To learn more about planned giving opportunities in support of Warner Pacific College, please call the Office of Development at 503-517-1028.