ne1g• rs Students Move Into Mini try ntents SUMMER 2000 The magazine of Covenant College. the college of the Presbyterian Church 1n America 1 Campus News Craig Lyon Reurcs • l·on)-r1rth Commencement • Three Ne,, Published by the Development Office Professors for !·all • More Than 9,000 Expected for Summer Conferences • Lyon, Belz l lonored for ervice • Scholarship D.C. Dreger Established Lo Honor Crews • rail 2000 Calendar Denis Fogo

4 Spring Break in Belfast Aaron Mesh '03 Twcm) -one sLUdents minister and learn 111 Nonhern Ireland dunng spnng break Tim Marshall '00

Karen (Newton) Fogo '89 7 Faculty and Staff Notes Swiger Associates, Greenville, S.C. 10 Contact the editor at Different Neighbors Ed1L0r, The View ~e,·en students move 111Lo Chauanooga's Alton Park neighborhood Development Office 111 an e,penmcnl 111 communay and m1111slf) Covenant College 14049 Scenic H1ghwa) Lookout Mt., GA 30750-4164 16 Covenant Students in the Phone: (706) 820-1572, ext. 1233 Community Fax (706) 820-0893 President I rank Brock explams hO\\ commumt) nwolvement Email: [email protected] enhances the colleges learning environment Send alumni notes to Alumni Director 17 Covenant College Reader Survey 14049 Scenic Highwa)' Lookout Mt., GA 30750-416+ Phone: (706) 820-1572, ext. 1649 18 Reunion Roundup Fax: (706) 820-0893 Can you help us locate these reunion-year alumni7 Email: [email protected]

\.Ycb Site: www.covenant.edu 19 Alumni ews, notes and photos sent in by alumni from across the nauon © Covenant College, 2000. and the world Arucles may be reprinted with permission of the editor.

Covenanl College complies with federal and stale require­ ments for nondiscrimination on the basis of age, race, color, gender, handicaps, or national or ethnic ongm in lhe adm1n- 1strallon of rts policies and programs

Mission Statement The View's purpose ,s to: Encourage alumni, parents and lnends to keep Christ pre-eminent mall areas of their lives • Give alumni. parents and friends-{)ur most important ambassadors-stones and mformat10n about the college, its students, alumni. faculty. and staff • Provide alumni with an ongoing connection to the Covenant community • Give God's people news about Covenant that wm encourage them On the Cover to praise. thank and petition our Heavenly Father. By living in one of Chattanooga's poorest neighborhoods, seven Covenant Co llege stu­ dents are trying to show that academics and ministry can co-exist. "In all things ... Christ Preeminent" CampusNews

335 students graduated during Covenant's forty-fifth commencement service held Saturday, May 6, 2000, at Craig L '0'7 Ref-es Memorial Auditorium in allege Hostess Craig Lyon, who holds Lhe Chattanooga, Tennessee. record for most years lived in Carter Hall, moved out of her second floor apartment The commencement speaker ..•_._. last month- but not too far from the col- was the Reverend Joe lege she calls "my family and my home." Lyon, who has lived and worked at the college for twenty-seven years , Novenson, pastor of Lookout moved into a duplex that the college remodeled for her Mountain Presbyterian retirement located across Scenic Highway from the Church. Traditional graduates Yard soccer field . numbered 164; Quest Without daily duties at the college, Lyon hopes to make graduated 156 students: longer visits to her four children, ten grandchildren and four great-grandchildren scattered from Pasadena to and fifteen students received Charlotte. master of education degrees.

One of her dreams is to see the Rose Bowl Parade, which she has never been able to attend because of her duties at the Christmas conferences held at the college each year.

Despite her retirement, Lyon plans to be available to assist in hosting special events at the college. She also hopes to do additional volunteer work, possibly at a local hospital She plans to continue exercising in the Ashe Fitness Center three times weekly and being the Scots' biggest fan.

Faculty, staff, family and friends celebrated Lyon's many years of service at a party on the Overlook May 16 .

.. C A M p u s N E W S CampusNews

Three New More Than 9,000 Professors Arrive Expected for Summer this Fall Conferences Three new faculLy members will More Lhan 9,000 individuals will begm teach mg Lh1s rail. Jeff Morton, spend lime al a con[erence al an ass1sLam professor al KULzLOwn Covenam Lhis summer. The summer UniverSil) m Pennsylvania, \.Vill be guesLs Lo campus will include men, an aSSISLanL proressor or an. He women, families and Leens-loLs of received a master of fi.ne ans degree teens. The SLudem Life youLh mm­ rrom Yale U111vers1ty and a bachelor tsLry will host nine camps of fine ans degree from Temple accommodaung 6,300 Leens and Univcrsll) s Tyler School of An 111 counselors ln addiLion lo exposing Phtladclph1a Monon has a wife and Lhousands of teens LO Covenam two young children He 1s a cousm College, last year Conference of Paul Mo n on '83 (H1sl01') ) Semces generated $224,000 m neL re\enue which helped lo hmtl LUillon To rn eile , who has taughL al increases. Covenam will employ Annapolis High School m Ma111land more Lhan sixLy summer workers, for thlrl> years. will be a nev\ addi­ man) of whom are college s1udems Lion lo the language depanrnem He or children of faculty and sLaff. holds a masters degree m French and Gennan from M11lersville U111vers1ty in Pennsyhania and a bachelors degree m French from Shippensburg UnI\·erstL) 111 Pennsyh·ania. He and his wife have Lhree children l1vmg al home

Mau Vos '90 will JOLD Lhe sociology depanmem Vos 1s no stranger lo Covenant He has worked for Covenam:S QuesL degree compleuon program as program recruiter for seven years Before workmg for Quest, he worked m Covenarns admission office for three years Vos holds a master of educauon degree Lyon, Belz Honored for Service from Lhe University of Tennessee al ChaLLanooga. He is completing a The board or Lrustees publicly honored Craig Lyon for doctoraLe m sociology from Lhe her twenty-seven years of service to the Covenant com­ Universny of Tennessee al Knoxville. munity. Lyon said Covenant is "my family and my home." She is shown wiLh joel Belz '62, who will roLate He and his wife,Joan, live in Rock off the trustee board afLer serving for the last five years Springs, Georgia. as iLs chairrnan. Board member Robert G. Avis of St. Louis, Missouri, will replace Belz as chairman, pending approval by the General Assembly this month.

C A M P U S N [ W S .. August 17-18 Faculty conference (tentative)

August 19 Freshmen and transfer students arrive August 19-28 New student orientation August 28 First day of classes August 28 Opening convocation Scholarship Established to Honor September 20 Day of prayer Crews October 5, 6 Board of trustees The family of Herb Crews, long­ meeting time Covenant board of trustees October 6-7 Homecoming/ member, honored him during the & spring board of trustees meeting Parents Family with a scholarship in his name. The Weekend scholarship will assist students from October 14-17 Fall break South Carolina. Herb Crews is step­ ping down from the board at the age November 16-18 Campus Preview of 75. His service on the board has Weekend spanned twenty-five years. In addi­ tion to a long career in pharmaceut­ November 22-26 Thanksgiving break icals, Crews is a veteran of the Normandy Invasion. November 30-Dec. 2 Madrigal dinners December 8 Last day of classes December 11-14 Final examinations

llll c AMP u s N E W S "On the site of thi church St. Patrick built the first Christian church in Ireland, 432 AD." reads a plaque n ar this stone church outside the town of Downpatrick.

Uniformed school girls listen to Covenant students present the gospel. Pr ·0 E 11 1-l 11,g r Spring Break 1n• e

Spring break on the beach­ without the tan. Bundled up students pose for a beach photograph near urlough House where they stayed during their trip to Northern

Twenty-one Covenant College students led by staff members Bill Higgins '81 and Dot Hunter '95 spent spring break in Northern Ireland assisting Crescent Church in evangelism and ministry. It was the sixth college-sponsored spring break trip to Northern Ireland. The students did street evangelism. spoke at local schools, ministered to university students and helped with groups at the church. Other Covenant students served over spring the group hosts a table with literature and break in New York City, Miami and Scotland. refreshments at the universitys student center Hunter says that after their exposure while the other half pray in a nearby room. to all the ministries at Crescent Church, stu­ The Covenant students joined the group m dents return to their own churches with a their ministry of evangelism upheld by prayer. commitment to greater involvement. Most of the Covenant students found The members at Crescent Church their peers in Northern Ireland willing and were characterized by their "single passion of even excited to talk to Americans their age. sharing the gospel," Jeannette DiBemardo '01 While nearly all claimed to be either says. This was DiBemardos second trip to Protestant or Catholic, their views on religion orthern Ireland. The church has ministries varied. Some felt they were good enough to scheduled nearly every day of the week cover­ please God, others were apathetic toward reli­ ing all age groups, she says. gion and some blamed religion for the strife Crescent Church takes advantage of that has plagued Northern Ireland for so its proximity to Queens University Belfast to many years. Matt Mantooth '01 spoke to stu­ minister to university students. Each dents who had lost family members to 'The Thursday night from 10:00 p.m. until 2:00 Troubles" in Northern Ireland and considered a.m. youth from the church join students God to be a "God of wrath" rather than a God from the Christian Union at Queens of love. University Belfast to do evangelism. Half of

.. C A M P U S N E W S Religion and politics are inseparable many scumes erupted and the program had to in Northern Ireland. Belfast is divided into be restricted Lo Protestant youth. pro-British Protestant neighborhoods and pro­ "I loved working with kids in Irish Catholic neighborhoods. Murals, flags Ireland," Campbell says. This was her first and paimed curbs plainly delineate a neigh­ overseas trip. She experienced an unexpected borhood's allegiance. bit of culture shock when she discovered that The mixture of religion and politics even though everyone was speaking English­ can frustrate efforts at ministry. Sara in one form or another-accents and Campbell '02 describes how a soccer night unfamiliar terms caused communication run by the church was open al ll.rsl Lo both barriers. During her Lime in Northern Ireland, Protestants and Cathohcs. Unfortunately, Loo she first learned to "ache for non-Christians," she says. Mantooth, who is studying youth ministries as a minor, may soon be leading srndents overseas himself. He thinks that the experience of going overseas can be very posi­ Ltve for a church youth group. At first he was frustrated by sowing seeds of the gospel, real­ tzmg that he ma)' never know of any results this side of eternuy He learned to accept that "God bears the fruu.·· Echomg the sentiments of other team members, Marnooth concludes, "Vv'hat we had done for Northern Ireland seemed not Lo com­ pare Lo what the group got out of [the trip]."

A mural by the outlawed Ulster Volunteer Force paramilitary group and curb stones painted red. The team waits white and blue marit this section out the rain at the of Belfast as Protestant turf. entrance of Photo l::sthcr Peters Crescent Church near Queens University Belfast.

C A M p u s N E w s 1D1 Faculty Notes Cal Beisner (Interdisciplinary Studies) will leave egro Redemption, 1885-1910." The Conference was in Covenant College in the fall to teach at Knox Seminary SL Louis, Missouri. This month Green served as a reader in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He will sen1e as associate for advanced placement American History essays for the professor of Historical Theology and Social Ethics. Educational Testing Service al Trinity University in San Beisner taught at Covenant for eight years. Antonio, Texas. Over the summer he will do revisions and additional research Lo prepare his doctoral di.ssena­ Dean Cleavenger (Business) will not return Lo tion for future pubhcauon. Covenant in the fall in order to pursue opponunilies in business. Russ Hedd endorf (Sociology) retired after spring semester He had taught al Covenant smce 1982. Dunng Joe Clumpner (Mathematics and Applied Science) his renremem he would like Lo publish two works on plans to retire after the fall semester, which he will the sociology of humor and i.Ls meaning for the spend in Asia. He has taught at Covenant since 1985. Christian faith and a general work on the integration or soc10logy with basic Christian concepts. He is consider­ Tim Evearitt (Education) is planning a sabbatical for ing teachmg overseas, possibly in ., Chma, spring 2002. He will use the time to produce more or Scotland. He is also interested m volunteeting \VlLh videotapes for use in the classroom and in staff develop­ Arab World Ministries and lmerVars1ty Christian ment by ACSI and other Christian schools. He plans Lo Fellowships faculty m1111stry program. or course, he produce a three-pan series related to the mtegraLion or hopes LO see more of his children and grandchildren m faith and learning. Part one is titled "The Role of a France and lowa. Some personal goals include leammg Biblical Worldview for Schooling in the 21st Cernury," Lo speak French, play the recorder, work W1Lh stamed pan two is titled "Three Perspectives on the Purpose for glass and hike trails on Lookout Moumain. He and his Christian Schooling," and part three is titled "Teaching wife , HameLL, would also like LO travel , particularly m Worldviewishly" Time permitting, he hopes also Lo pro­ Europe and Asia. duce a two-part series related to learning styles, brain-research, and personality. Paul and Betty Hesselink (English) spem fall semester in Tmava, , with eleven Covenant stu­ dents. Hesselink taught three courses, and the couple accompa­ nied studerns on trips to northeastern Semester abroad in Slovakia: fall 1999. ::.___.& Slovakia, Far left standing: Betty Hesselink. Last slanffler's Master of Education class (Florence, Rome, and Far Right standing: Paul Hesselink. Far left seated Kathy Lesondak John Fennema (Education) will teach a new course for Venice), Budapest, and Prague. The Hesseli.nks Middle: Covenant students and the Master of Education Program in July called Shaping Lesondak children School Curriculum. also arranged a get­ together between the Covenant students and freshman Jay Green (Hi.story) presented a paper this spring at the English majors at the university in Ni.tra, where Mrs. annual meeting of the Organization of American Hesselink taught two classes. While in Tmava, the group Historians entitled, "Dark Continent and Redeemer was aided by Mission to the World missionaries John Church: The Northern Methodist Sacred Narrative of '80 and Kathy (Armes '78) Lesondak. John led the group in worship each Sunday evening. Miriam Grady

1111 C A M P u s N E W S '97 and anoLher missionary are m Trnava for Lwo years available Lhis month in an electronic version with a as English Leachers. To assisL Lhe1r m1msLry, Lhe published version Lo follow shortly. Hessel mks offered a seminar for Slovak English Leachers on Leaching Lhe wnung process Paul Morton '83 (HisLory) will be on sabbatical during Lhe fall 2000 semester. ln addition Lo doing "a loL of reading in history," he will be developing a new course for the history department on mod­ em Chma and Japan. He will also conunue work on a depanmental review and plan.

Don Pelcher '74 (PhysICs) has been promoLed from associate professor of physics LO full professor. He and Tim Morris '83 (B10logy) attended a conference hosted by the Michael Polany, Cemer at Baylor University m Apnl mled, 'The ature of ature. An lmerdisciplinary Conference on Lhe Role of aturahsm in Science." Pelcher and Morris will return Lo Oxford, , Lh1s summer for the sec­ ond of Lhree month-long John TempleLon Oxford Seminars on Science and Chnsuanity.

Ed Kellogg (An) has been chosen as Lhe feaLured arusL "Tree on Lou Voskuil (History) was one of for a pmnLmg exh1b1uon by Lhe Tennessee SLaLe Museum Mountain Lhree history professors invited to Creek" 2000, Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa, Foundauon'.s CollecLOrs Club al Lhe James K. Polk oil on canvas CulLural Cemer in ashville, Tennessee from Apnl 4 6T' x 72" by in March to give a public lecture on LhroughJune 30. The museum purchased a large pamL­ Ed Kellogg. the topic of whether to require west­ ing from Lhe exh1b1L for 1Ls perrnanem collecuon. ern civilization or world history for DordL'.s core program. Voskuil'.s lecture, "Western Henry Krabbendam (Biblical SLud1es) plans Lo Lake a CivilizaLion or World History: What Should We sabbaLical for Lhe 2000-2001 year LO work on a book on Teach7" will be published in Dordt'.s journal, Pro Rege. biblical apologeLics. Paul Morton '83 and Jay Green also attended the symposium. The lectures were followed by discussions Roger Lambert (Biblical SLudies and Missions) will be led by the invited speakers, Lhe Dordt history faculty on sabbatical during Lhe spring 2001 semesLer. He and Covenant history faculty. plans Lo do research on Old TesLamem Law and some advanced study in the Greek language in . Jim Wildeman (English) and other members of the English department hosted the annual meeting of the Russell Mask (Chalmers) and David Bussau, founder of Southeastern Conference on and Literature MaranaLha TrusL and OpponuniLy lmernaLional at Covenant April 6-8. Professors from numerous col­ AusLralia, have coauthored The Christian leges and universities delivered papers. The keynote Microemerprise Developmem Handbook. It will be speaker was Susan V Gallagher, former Covenant English professor.

C A M p u s N E W S .. Staff Notes Frank Brock, president, spoke to the Kiwanis Club of Charlie Phillips, vice presidem for admissions and Chattanooga in April about Covenarn's plans for future development, LaughL for two weeks in March al Anglo­ growth. American College in Prague, Czech Republic. The course, based on Lhe book, Thirleen Fatal Errors D.C. Dreger, director of development, conducted Lhe Managers Mahe ancl How lo Avoid Them, was Lhe first in a seminar, "Develop Skill with People: Direct five-course execunve management program initiated by Conversations, Influence People, Rai.se More Money­ Covenant. Twemy-Lhree students attended Lhe five-ses­ and Enjoy Life More Fully," at the 37th International sion course, which provided twenty-hours of Conference of the National Society of Fund Raising instruction. The program is a continuaLion of Covenam's Executives (NSFRE). He also recently spoke at Lhe effon Lo Leach execulives from post-communist Central Southeastern Chapter of NSFRE on "Raising More Europe about business from a biblical worldview. Money from Individuals." He is an officer in the local NSFRE chapter·and a delegaLe to the organizaLion's Eric Spiecker's (Founders Residence DirecLOr) anicle, annual national assembly. He also is secreLary of the "The Omward Bound's Temporary Community:' A Board of Directors of the Greater ChaLtanooga Area Practical Framework for Understanding Residence Life," Planned Giving Council. was published as the lead article in Lhe Wimer 2000 edi­ tion of Koinonia, the journal of the A.ssociaLion for Christians in Student Development.

The legacy of Covenant's heritage is being passed on to new generations of young people­ academically, spiritually and emotionally-through teaching "In all things ... Christ pre-emi­ nent" and preaching Christ. Each of us has an opportunity to leave a personal legacy, too, as many have through the funding of buildings like Mills, Maclellan, Rymer, Probasco and Ashe. Others have left a legacy for Covenant through a bequest in their will, through a retirement fund or insurance policy, or through through other deferred gifts.

~ C A M P U 5 N E W 5 ...... ren

by Aaron Mesh ·03 0 By living in one of Chattanooga's poorest neighborhoods, seven Covenant students are trying to show that academics and ministry can co-exist

Neighbomood children often stop by for a "jam session." Here, one neigh­ bor takes a few licks on Joe Staven's guitar.

F E A T u R E ID Il's 5:00 p.m. on a Friday in early February, and mixture of student life and mirnsLry, Laking Matt Novenson 'O 1 has just finished his last classes full Lime al Covenant while serving class of the afternoon. But he's not heading back and inLeracting in the daily lives of Alton Park to a dormitory room across campus--or to an off­ residents. Time not spent on coursework goes campus apartment somewhere on Lookout toward working with neighborhood yomh Mountain. Instead, Novenson is driving down the and volunteering at the Bethlehem mountain to a small house in one of the poorest Community Center, a local Methodist out­ and roughest inner-dty neighborhoods in reach. Chattanooga. ll'.s a challenging life. But it'.s one the young men say is worth all the effort; iL gives Alton Park, a sprawling community them a chance to put their Christian faith into on Chattanooga'.s Southside, is the kind of practice where it counts. neighborhood often referred to as "economi­ cally disadvantaged." It's a predominantly black, inner-city community, devastaLed by poverty and social blight. It's not the place Joe Staven, a lanky senior with an you would expect to find seven college stu­ unruly mop of blonde hair, drives down dents and recent graduates. Lookout Mountain about midnight after an But a little white house wiLh iron trim evening in the library Driving down the and a brick front porch in Alton Park has mountain to Alton Park, he says as his red been home for Novenson, Joe Staven '00, Ford Ranger rounds a curve, is something he Nathan Maphet '01, David Yleah '99, Mark and the other six were doing long before they Fields '00, Chris Render '00 and Daniel moved into the neighborhood. Baker '00 for the last year. Staven and the others had been There they've developed a unique working in the neighborhood during their

ID F E A T u R E On their front porch: From left to right: Nathan Maphet, Joe Staven, Daniel Baker, David Yleah (seated>, Matt Novenson, Mari( Fields and Chris Render.

spare time, through Covenants homeless min­ Fields and the others spent the next istry and other programs. But trying to Lwo momhs restoring the house while they dedicate substantial ti.me LO ministry while liv­ ltved in it. They spent that time, as well, "just ing on campus was no easy task. The students being neighbors and getting to know people" found themselves unhappily divided between in the neighborhood. living and learning on the moumam and min­ Fields says it wasn't easy for the istering in the valley. group of students-five of them white and One of the drawbacks, Mark Fields two black-to fiL imo the predominantly explains while siuing in a biology lab late one black neighborhood. "I think people are get­ night, was that there was only a limited ting Lo know us," Fields says, but progress has amoum of Lime to spend wnh the res1dems of been slow. Alton Park. "We warned," says Laven, "to solve • the dichotomy between student hfe and mm­ istry." Lu Rone Jennings, director of the There seemed LO be just one solution: Bethlehem Cemer, is a busy man. On this par­ move LO Alton Park. "Mall [Novenson] col­ ticular Thursday morning, hes on his way to a lected us," Slaven recalls. "He said, 'We're all meeting, but has five minutes for a conversa­ frustrated by the same thing, so lets just move tion about the students. A large man in a down.' So we did." business suit, Jennings dwarfs his chair as he lL wasn't that simple, of course. The sits down to chat. main challenge was finding a viable place Lo lts instantly obvious that Jennings is live. They began searching at the end of the impressed by the students' commitment. spring 1999 semester. "God blessed us with a "They love God and they love people," he house at the very end of the summer," says says. "Their presence and involvement in this Fields. community [is] a picture of what God wants Using funds [rom anonymous us to do as a people." Covenant College donors, the Bethlehem The students pay rem to the Beth by Center (known as "the Beth" for short) pur­ taking on a wide variety of volunteer tasks. chased the house in August. But the building Staven works in the Beths credit union; Baker was in far from mint condition. leads the community centers music ministry. "It was a heap," Fields says.

F E A T u R E Ill ovenson is Lhe BeLh's jack-of-all-Lrades, his head again and returns lo his soup. working on "va1ious minisLry iniLiaLives," says Jennings. Fields and Render coach spons "l love Lhe kids," Slaven says on leagues for Lhe neighborhood kids. (For another occasion. "lL's JUSL hard Lo know how Fields, who played varsiLy basketball al much ume Lo spend wnh th em." Covenant for Lhree years, Lhis ministry is !L's a Lask made no easier by the chil­ especially approp1iaLe.) dren's Lrying behavior. Laven isn't sure "l see Lh em doing an awesome min­ wheLher Lhe kids' occasional bad aunudes istry wiLh Lh e children," says Jenmngs. "The sLem from living ma harsh environment, or children love Lhem Lo deaLh. " JUSL from being average grade schoolers, buL rnher way, he says, "Lhey'rc sLrCCL\\1SC "One • secuon of Lhc house's bullcun board m::11nl) cons1sLs of which kids arc currcnLI) grounded As Maphet, Novenson and Slaven s,t down to a and ,, h1ch ones arc allowed LO come m-cr dinner of chichen noodle soup ancl macarnn, und The kids\.\ ere Lhe f1rsL real connec­ cheese, in wanders e1ght-yca1 olcljavon (name uon Lhe sLUderns made 111 Allon Park AL f1rsL, changed), one of the local hids. One problem · the neighbors were susp1c1ous of seven college­ last lime Javon stopped by the house, he th l"L"lv a age men mo,1ng m nexL door, buL Lhcir kids snowball into the living room. Slaven had tole/ welcomed Lhe seven sLudems wnh open arms lL was Lh1s aLccpwncc by the kids Lhat c,·cnLu­ ally broke Lhc 1cc beLwcen Allon Park res1dems and Lhc1r new neighbors. o,,, Lhe kids have become a ubiqui- Lous pan of daily life ovenson esurnaLcs Lhat Lhcre arc kids 111 Lhe house for at leasL Lwo hours every clay, watch mg how ofLen Lhey sLOp by, LhaL seems like a conservauvc csu­ rnaLe 'This door is always open," says David Yleah. "People pop 111 and ouL." • Joe Staven gets to know his him Lo clean it up;Javon said he had Lo go home It 's 11:30 on a Monday night, and Novenson and neighbors in the "Lo gel his gloves," but that he would be 1ight Nathan Maphet are driving down the mountain front yard of his back. That was two days ago. Th is is the first Lime from an intramural bashelball game. (They won, Alton Partc: home. Spending time they've seen him since. 41-30.) with local chil­ Slaven gets up Jrom dinner and goes out 'We go t groce ri es," Nove11Son informs dren is a big part on the porch Lo talk wilh]avon about the snow­ Maphel. "The cashier said lo me, 'you must really of Staven's com­ ffll.B'lity ministry. ball. He returns five minutes later, shaking his like bagels.' I got 45 bagels." head. "Forty-five bagels ... " Maphel, a junior When Slaven confronled]avon about the biblical studies major, mulls over this new devel­ snowball, Javon said he had wanted lo come back opment. "That should last us about a week." and clean il up, but his mother wouldn't let him Sure enough, by Wednesday morning, leave the house. Slaven, finding this story highly half the bagels are gone. (The dnnamon raisin suspect, asked]avon if his mom would confirm variety disappears especially Jast .) the sto1y. ]avon said yes. Staven asked him if they could walk across the street and ash her about Perhaps Lhe greaLest challenge of the Javon 's story. Javon didn't blink. Alwn Park vemure, say Lhe studenLs, has sim­ "OJ course," says Staven, "she hadn't ply been living together. For one Lhing, they're heard anything about it." So Javon is grounded for a diverse group-not just racially, but in every a week. Slaven, having.finished the story, shakes aspecL of Lheir backgrounds. Novenson is a

ID F E A T u R E pastors son; Yleah came to Covenarn from the Ivory Coast in Africa. Fields says that overcommg differ­ ences has been the Alton Park groups greatest accomplishment. "Getting Lo know these guys and not having race as a barrier... [has] been a learning experience for all of us," he says. "lts been humbling." One of his onginal reasons for mov­ rng to Alton Park, Fields says, was Lo build "race reconcthauon for the church " But much of the bndge-brnlding, he Sa)'S, has happened not between the students and the commurnty, but among the housemates themselves. "That's probably our biggest m1ntstry, toward each other We 've gouen really close." And thats the other problem about seven people shanng a house They're close­ cramped, even. And they have to find ways to Seven Covenant students and live together rn ught quaners-with kids run­ Up the mountain, down the moun­ recent graduates nrng rn and out the door the whole while. Just Lam. Up the moumain, down the mountain. moved into this keepmg the house clean is a challenge. lls a daily pauem. And its a frustrating one, house in the fall They've devised ways of handlmg say the housemates. Sometimes, they say, its of 1999 to begin a full-time min­ that challenge. Chores are divided between like living two separate lives-lives that often istry in the Alton the housemates; each is chosen as the "czar" seem Lo have li.ule in common with each Park neighbor-­ of a different section of the house each week other. What, after all, does studying organic hood of Chattanooga. and 1s to make sure ll stays udy. L1ule chemistry have Lo do with helping the needy7 remmders are plastered all through the house. "We haven't solved the dichotomy," "Don't be a bonehead,'' reads one sign, which says Slaven as he drives down Scenic features a large beige skull ·'Do your dishes." Highway. "U anything, its increased." Even with this system, problems As Staven talks, he looks thoughtful, arise. They are college studems, after all, and even a liule sad. He talks of how he and the aren't exactly mclined towards cleanliness. others had hoped they would discover the AnOLher section of the bulletin board 1s perfect combination of college life and reserved for chastisemem for housemates who Ch1isuan ministry. They would show the self­ don't F1111sh their housekeepmgJobs. satisfied Covenant community, so isolated Overall, however, the men manage Lo from the world, that true religion is providing get on well, considering that they're almost for widows and orphans. They would be a always in close proximny Lo each other. Thats remmder that if Covenant smdents broke free never more the case than al night, when they from their boxed-in mindsets for just a return from respective classes Lo the tiniest of minute, they could be lights in the darkness, sleeping quarters. They share one bedroom­ shining beacons of Christian charity. which closely resembles an army barracks, That dream is gone now, Staven says. with beds stacked atop one another. Somewhere along the line, it got lost in a sea Most nights, everyone has wandered of homework, hard classes, long volunteer into bed no later than two in the morning. hours and not enough sleep. Around 6:30 a.m., they awake to a crescendo "One hundred percent student life plus of alarms. By 7:30, they're all headed up the one hundred percent ministry does not equal mountain for classes. one hundred percent life," Staven says, staring at the highway. "It equals two hundred percent. • And the day only holds one hundred percent."

A L u M N ID When he first moved down the block about 10 p.m."-not the smartest mountain, Staven thought every Christi.an col­ choice for two white guys m that particular lege student should be doing the same thing, neighborhood. They figured, says Baker, that, he says. That they didn't, he fell, was a sign of hey, lt was their neighborhood now, too. Christian complacency and isolationism. But it wasn't. They wandered by a neighbor­ ow, often overwhelmed by the conflicting hood party and were followed back to their pulls of ministry and studies, he's changed his house by a group of drunken men. The men mind. stood outside the house for nearly half an 'The main problem isn't that hour, yellmg threats and cursmg. Chnstian colleges separate students from the It was "the first and only negative world," he says. "lt'.s that there are only twen­ experience we had \'11th neighbors," Baker ty-four hours in a day. says. But iL was a remmdcr, the first of many, "l thought l could do it all," he recalls that the mmistry wouldn't be a walk m the as the car crosses a set of railroad tracks into park Alton Park. "That was a lot of pnde." "We sobered up,'' says Baker, smiling When Staven says "pride," it sounds as he dnves past a forest of trees made crys­ like a four-letter word. tallme by a coaung of ice •

As he lea\·es for his meeung, LuRone Jennings sttll has nothmg but praise for Baker and his compamots "The) came out of their comfort zone, and changed the lives of people m this communtt)-and even m this mirnsu1," Jennmgs says. "These guys are loved and appreciated more than they'll ever kno\.\ " Slaven sees the whole Lhmg m less 1llusmous terms. "l used Lo think [living in Alton Park] was a big thmg," Staven mulls as he steers his Ranger toward the house. "Now I don't. We David Yleah just have different neighbors." relaxes in the kitchen with a • neighborhood child. "We all had our dreams," says Daniel Baker, driving towards the campus on an icy Friday morning. "Me and Joe [Slaven], we didn't know what we were doing." Baker, a senior with a black ponytail and a big g1in, gives an example of his origi­ nal naivete. On their first night in the house, he and Staven "went for a walk around the

ID A L u M N Cove St dents in the Community

have long advocated that students get off campus and into the community. Covenant students not only do this through part-time Jobs but also by meeting community needs through their work w ith the YMCA. youth groups, tutoring programs, nursing homes, mentally disabled facilities, and inner city min­ istries I have observed that one of the most powerful motivators for many students 1s confronting situations that expose their need for learning Many students who want to help others often find renewed interest 1n their academic work.

This year, 1n order to experience 1nner-c1ty life, seven Covenant stu­ dents renovated and moved into a small house 1n the Alton Park area. Unemployment, drugs, single mother families, low income and crime define the area. Although the students were greeted by curiosity, ridicule and skept1c1sm by some neighbors, many curious kids and the local community center's director were thrilled to have the Covenant students 1n the neighborhood.

The students experienced fear, frustration and impatience among other things. They also began to appreciate their own learning and upbringing. Their eyes were opened to new realities. Students began to see both the difficulty and the necessity of Covenant's Chalmers Center for Economic Development, which holds classes and develops programs in the neighborhood.

It might seem that students engaged in such community work would suffer because of time lost to academic pursuits. But my intuition is that just the opposite happens; real-life experiences not only enrich the community but also help create a vital on-campus learning environment. Self-absorption is a common human experience, but seeing the needs of others often takes our minds off of ourselves. It is truly more blessed to give than to receive. Once we know this in our heart, the motivation for getting a good education is in place. Students who get involved in the community help others and help make Covenant an exciting place to live and learn. -President Frank Brock

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lfl s u R V E y Mark your calendar for

October 6-7

Soccer games d the Cut Gems Music by Diamond Dan \:e Music Department Homecoming Concert by try meet Cross.-coun f all ages Games for children o Campus tours

and od oao 0 . atn° Ge1115 • 98 heI cut •,og '\9 • t cO 111 t\011'e All events and For more informtaion c meal,s are free Alumni Director Marshall Rowe (706) 820-1572 ext. 1649 [email protected]

ID A L u M N If emember how to "Walk like an Egyptian," we need your help! Were you responsible for the '80s-moussed hair, "Cheap Sunglasses," a Members Only jacket and a pair of Air Jordans? If so, please help us I.D. this clan of Carter Egyptians. Send any leads to Alumni Director Marshall Rowe, (706) 820-1572 ext. 1649 or [email protected].

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