What Does Faith Mean at Reinhardt
College?
Find Out at the Fifth Annual Wesley Lecture
on Sept. 27, 2007 at 2 p.m.
On Thursday, Sept. 27, 2007, Dr.
Luther B. Felder II, a celebrated speaker and workshop leader,
will present “The Statement of Faith for Reinhardt:
Opportunities and Challenges” as the Fifth Annual Wesley Lecture
at Reinhardt College in Waleska, Ga. His lecture is open to the
public free of charge and will begin at 2 p.m. in the Falany
Performing Arts Center.
“After helping spearhead
‘Conversations of Faith’ this past year, I am really looking
forward to hearing Dr. Felder sharing his perspective on our new
statement of faith. He has worked with colleges across the
country and overseas, and I think his perspective will be
incredibly valuable to us as students, faculty, staff, and
community members. He’s an incredible speaker who is
entertaining to listen to, but you can also count on leaving
with much to consider,” said the Rev. Leigh Martin, Reinhardt
College Chaplain.
Reinhardt President Dr. J. Thomas
Isherwood also helped spearhead Conversations on Faith. The
year-long emphasis included two lectures, six small group
discussions and an extensive survey of faculty and staff. Its
intent was to examine and clarify the faith atmosphere Reinhardt
offers to students. “I hoped in the end to be able to produce a
statement that answers questions like: ‘I understand Reinhardt
is a faith-based school. What does that mean?’” Isherwood
said.
He said he thought drafting the
statement would be hard, but he and Martin agreed that writing
the statement was actually easy. “During the small group
discussions, common themes quickly became apparent. As we wrote
we also checked our themes against what we learned in the
faculty/staff survey, and against the student survey Leigh
conducted the year before. I think the resulting statement does
an excellent job of reflecting the Reinhardt community’s
feelings and beliefs,” he said.
Martin and Felder met through their
positions with The United Methodist Church. As the Assistant
General Secretary for the Campus Ministry Section of the United
Methodist General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, Felder
provides supportive services to more than 700 campus ministries
and chaplaincies throughout the U.S., Russia and Africa. A
frequent speaker on college campuses, the Wesley Lecture and
Conversations on Faith presented a wonderful opportunity for
collaboration.
Felder has a Doctor of Divinity of
Ministry degree from Southern Methodist University, a Master of
Divinity from Colgate Rochester Divinity School and a Bachelor
of Arts from Wiley College.
Felder began his work as a pastor in
Detroit, Mich., and Arlington, Texas. After 18 years working in
local churches, he was appointed to the pastor/director position
at the Wesley Foundation at the University of Texas in
Arlington. In that same year he also became a member of the
national training team for Disciple Bible Study. Three years
later, he was appointed to serve as the Associate University
Chaplain at Emory University, where he served as a counselor,
chaplain, worship planner, teacher and preacher.
The Wesley Lecture Series has brought
a number of thought-provoking speakers to Reinhardt. Envisioned
in 2003 by Reinhardt President Dr. J. Thomas Isherwood, it seeks
to present speakers who will engage the College community with
challenging perspectives on faith. Dr. James T. Laney, former
ambassador to South Korea, former Emory University president,
and former Candler School of Theology dean; Bishop William H.
Willimon, an internationally known theologian, pastor and
author; Abraham Yel Nhial, a Lost Boys of Sudan and co-author
of “Lost Boy No More”; and the Rev. Sandra Olewine, a United
Methodist minister who worked in the Middle East advocating
peace between Israelis and Palestinians, have given previous
Wesley Lectures at Reinhardt.
For more information on the Wesley Lecture, please contact Rev.
Martin at 770-720-5634.
For more information
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