THE FLAME VOL. 1 NO. 1 – NOVEMBER 2014
A PUBLICATION OF WELCH COLLEGE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
Legacy for the Future Ketteman Student Scholarship Drive—Februar y 22, 2015 When young L. C. Johnson, newly selected president of Free Will Baptist Bible College (now Welch College), drove up to 3609 Richland Avenue for the first time in September 1942, Paul Ketteman was sitting on the doorstep waiting. He was the first student to enroll in 1942, and later worked at the college for more than 25 years. Mr. Ketteman was beloved across the denomination and even more by the students on campus. Many former students remember him walking up to them while they waited in line at the snack shop, handing them a dollar bill, and saying, “Let me buy your soda today.” Paul Ketteman invested his life in the students of the college. He knew they were the future of the denomination,
and he committed himself to making the school the very best it could be to serve students during his lifetime and beyond. According to Dr. Robert Picirilli, “Paul wanted, more than anything else, for the school to be strong, growing, and faithful to its founding—training young men and women for ministry to the church and to Free Will Baptists.” Ketteman began the annual Christmas fund drive, which was renamed The Ketteman Student Scholarship Drive (KSSD) after his death. He understood better than most how costly it is to provide quality Christian education, and how important it is for churches and individuals to provide regular, generous support. More than anyone else, his work made us conscious of the need to provide a legacy for future generations. Today, Welch College continues to provide men and women with tools to make not only a living but also a life. From the original majors of Pastoral Ministry and Missions, the college has introduced new degrees ranging from Education, Business, Music, Christian Education, and Youth Ministry to Psychology, Exercise Science, and Children’s Ministry. Welch College continues to change the world one student at a time. The KSSD has also changed. Beginning in 2013, the drive moved to February to avoid the year-end appeals from other ministries. Learn more at www.welch.edu/kssd.
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: JOY CORN Joy (Ketteman) Corn (81), daughter of Paul and Helen (Smith) Ketteman, teaches math at Pleasant View Christian School, in Pleasant View, Tennessee. She works alongside her husband Randy (78) at Bethlehem Free Will Baptist Church in Ashland City, Tennessee, where he has pastored since 1995. Joy is president of Cumberland Women Active for Christ and takes an active role as an Alumni of Welch College. She and Randy have two grown sons, Ben and Paul, and one granddaughter, Melody (pictured).
From the Alumni President As I begin my new role as Alumni Association president, I have three simple goals for the coming year: • Better communication through new mediums: The Flame newsletter is now available by either postal service or email. (We need current email addresses and updated physical addresses, so let us know how you would prefer to receive the newsletter.) The Flame, published bi-monthly, will feature alumni news, college news, and alumni and current student profiles. The official Facebook page of Welch Alumni is www.facebook.com/WelchAlumni. (Several years ago, some alumni started a group page for Free Will Baptist Bible College. This is not the official site for the Alumni Association, but due to setup, the two cannot be merged.) Encourage all former students to “like” the official page and keep an eye out for the alumni Twitter feed in the near future. •U pdated database: Our greatest challenge is outdated information. We don’t know where you are, what you are doing, or how to serve you best. The alumni database has many incomplete and outdated entries. Help us keep in touch. Update your contact and personal information at welch.edu/alumni •E stablishment of alumni chapters: Establishing regional and local alumni chapters will provide a better line of communication, involvement, promotion of both the alumni association and the college, and provide encouragement to potential and current students. The Executive Committee is working hard to keep the association informed and involved with what is happening at Welch College and in the lives of our fellow alumni. Thank you for the opportunity to serve. If I can assist you, or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me. Traveling to promote the college and raise funds gives me a wonderful opportunity to highlight the Alumni Association. If you would like to schedule a visit to your organization or church to promote the college or alumni association, please let me know. I am here for you. Mike Edwards: mike.edwards@welch.edu|615-522-8791
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT Amy McDonald, sophomore Music Education major from Hokkaido, Japan, grew up in a missionary family. Her parents, alumni Donnie (78) and Ruth (81) McDonald are missionaries to the island nation. Amy attends Cross Timbers FWB Church in Nashville, where she helps lead worship. Her favorite moment at Welch College so far? Choir tour, spring 2014. “I genuinely had the time of my life getting to know all of the choir members and connecting with the people at the churches where we sang.”
When Gateway Christian College closed in 2013, David Dell transferred to Welch College to finish his degree. It was a good move, as the senior Youth Ministry major found a new college home. “I can point out so many people as being special in my life,” he said. “It is a privilege to attend a college that lays aside everything to lay our petitions at the feet of Jesus.” David was elected student body chaplain this year, and he serves as student pastor at New Hope Free Will Baptist Church in nearby Joelton.
Legacy of Faithfulness Paul Ketteman invested his life in the students of the college. Today, the Ketteman Student Scholarship Drive continues to help students, a lasting legacy of his faithfulness. Leave your own Legacy through an endowment with Free Will Baptist Foundation. Find out more today: www.fwbgifts.org 877-336-7575
Sound Forth His Praise! 2014-2015 Alumni Project Set to Raise $60,000
Under the leadership of Frank Owens, the Alumni Association adopted the following project that will support the music ministry of the college. The project will be carried out in three stages: Stage One: The College Choir has not produced a recording project since 2007, due to ongoing budget constraints. Free Will Baptists have missed the quality music produced by the Music Department of our alma mater. Former students are urged to underwrite the cost of recording and producing a new release by The College Choir. Stage Two: Traveling ministry teams have been on the road with antiquated sound equipment in poor working condition. At times, they have had to borrow equipment from local churches for concerts and youth functions. Updated sound equipment is well overdue. Stage Three: The audio-visual equipment in Memorial Auditorium is old and slow. It has not been updated in many
Three Stages for the Project — N ew CD project featuring The College Choir ($15,000 Spring 2015) — N ew sound systems for traveling ministr y teams ($20,000) — N ew audio-visual equipment for Memorial Auditorium ($25,000) years, and pieces have been added and taken away, causing conflicts and problems in smooth transition and quality sound. The third stage of this project will underwrite the cost of a quality A/V system, with equipment that will move to the new campus after relocation.
Thank you, Frank! Frank Owens (79) served as Alumni Association president for 10 years, with 16 years of service on the Alumni Association Executive Committee. Under his leadership, the association successfully completed several projects: Restoring the Glory (renovation of Ennis Hall), startup for online learning, and Relieving the Burden, Releasing the Dream (funding the Bert and Dianne Tippett Alumni Scholarship). He led the association to adopt the new project Sound Forth His Praise, highlighted above.
Thanks to the Free Will Baptist Foundation for the gift enabling the publication of The Flame newsletter. Thanks to Eric Thomsen (95) for serving as editor and designer of The Flame. Thanks to Lewis Letterworks, Kevin Lauthern (81), Larry Bryan (83), and their team for printing and mailing services.
NEWS AND UPDATES Welch College alumni and friends came together
Last year, students received almost $1.1 million
and raised $105,000 for the Bert and Dianne Tippett Alumni Scholarship. This year we awarded six scholarships because of your giving. Congratulations to the 2014 recipients: Emily Parrish (NC), Joslin Ferguson (TN), Zuri Zuniga (AR), Layton Smith (MO), Claire Ryan (IL), and Michael Parrish (NC).
from institutional scholarships. Many of the scholarships were unfunded, which means they were underwritten by the general fund, leaving fewer funds available for operations. The Ketteman Student Scholarship Drive (KSSD) helps provide funds for institutional scholarships. By giving to the KSSD, you provide students with a quality, accredited Christian education in 40 programs. This year, the KSSD will be observed February 22, 2015. Read more about the history of the KSSD in, “A Legacy for the Future.� For ongoing updates, visit: welch.edu/kssd
Three new members were elected to the Executive Committee during the annual banquet at the NAFWB: Doug Carey, Todd Parrish, and Marianne Malone Waddell. Your new Alumni Association officers are: Mike Edwards, President Doug Carey, Vice President Marianne Malone Waddell, Secretary-Treasurer
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This institution pushed me to strive for excellence. Not only in the classroom, which is vital, but more importantly, Welch College pushed me to strive for excellence in my relationship with Christ. Tim Hutchinson (14) www.Welch.edu | 888-97-WELCH
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