The cover of the new documentary “Breaking Down Barriers: The Journeys of Apostle Paul,” produced by Goshen College’s FiveCore Media

Premiere: Goshen College FiveCore Media’s new documentary “Breaking Down Barriers: The Journeys of Apostle Paul”
Date and time: Wednesday, April 17 at 7 p.m.
Location: The Goshen Theater, 216 S. Main Street
Cost: Free and open to the public
Website: www.goshen.edu/communication/journeys

A documentary filmed and produced by Goshen College students that takes viewers through the journey of Apostle Paul as he broke down barriers to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ has just been completed and is ready to be premiered.

The film, “Breaking Down Barriers: The Journeys of Apostle Paul,” will debut on Wednesday, April 17, at 7 p.m. in the downtown Goshen Theater. The 30-minute documentary is is free and open to the public. It is produced by FiveCore Media, a video production company of the college’s Communication Department, which employs communication faculty and students.

In May 2012, Assistant Professor of Communication Seth Conley and FiveCore Media General Manager Kyle Hufford led a team of nine students through Greece and Rome for three weeks to collect footage exploring how Paul ministered to the Jews, non-believers and early churches. Since the filming, six additional students have worked on editing the documentary alongside producers Conley and Hufford.

The film follows Bob Yoder, Goshen College campus pastor, and David Sparks, director of Footstep Ministries, as they guide viewers through cities such as Philippi, Corinth, Rome, Athens and Thessaloniki. Yoder and Sparks explore how Paul overcame religious, cultural and physical obstacles as a leader of the first generation of Christians.

“We want those who watch this film to gain a deeper understanding of the Gospel by following Paul’s footsteps and exploring how he faced persecution, beatings and imprisonment,” Conley said. “In spite of these hardships Paul never failed to preach the message of Christ wherever he went.”

The team of Goshen College students and faculty who filmed the new documentary “Breaking Down Barriers: The Journeys of Apostle Paul” pose for a group photo in Greece in May 2012.

Conley said the production has allowed “students to get hands-on experience as a part of a professional video production crew.”

Abby Deaton, a sophomore communication and psychology major from Indianapolis, travelled with the crew. Deaton, who had not been outside of the country before, said she had the opportunity to produce, film and run audio and lighting during the trip.

“Working with a talented group of people to film in two beautiful countries while simultaneously learning about the roots of my faith was an amazing and unforgettable experience,” Deaton said.

She believes the film will give viewers “the opportunity to understand how Christianity went from a grassroots religion into the global church we have today, all while seeing breathtaking scenes of very famous and historical biblical sites.”

To view the documentary’s trailer or order a DVD  for $10, visit www.goshen.edu/communication/journeys. For more information contact Seth Conley, executive producer, at sconley@goshen.edu.

FiveCore Media

FiveCore Media, formed in 2011, writes, produces and edits videos, such as commercials, promotional and informational videos for the college and other companies and organizations.

Recently, FiveCore Media received four national awardsfor their advertising work, including three honors from Bronze Telly Advertising Awards and a Broadcast Educators Association Award of Excellence.

-By Becca Kraybill

Living Faith

Goshen College Professor of Bible, Religion and Philosophy Keith Graber Miller’s new book Living Faith: Embracing God’s Callings (Cascadia Publishing House LLC, Dec. 2012) explains why the primary Christian calling is to be a follower of Jesus Christ and what this entails for vocational life. Written from an Anabaptist perspective but relevant for any denominational group, the book is perfect for intergenerational settings and ideal for both group and individual study of vocation. It offers both historical and contemporary insights for discerning passions and pursuing callings.

Boston University Professor of Sociology of Religion Nancy T. Ammerman said, “Graber Miller calls all Christians to discern their passions, to be followers of Christ in vocations that matter. With the charm of a master story-teller, the vision of a teacher, and the insight of a seasoned scholar, he ranges from Mennonite history to today’s urban and professional Mennonite culture in a way that will inform and challenge lay readers and theologians alike.”

Living Faith can be purchased online for $12.95. It is also available in the Goshen College Bookstore.

North American volume in Mennonite Global History series

Goshen College Professor of History Steven M. Nolt and co-author Royden Loewen, professor of history at the University of Winnipeg in Manitoba, wrote Seeking Places of Peace (Good Books & Pandora Press, Oct. 2012) as the fifth and final volume of the “Mennonite Global History” series sponsored by Mennonite World Conference.

Seeking Places of Peace strives to create a comprehensive history of Mennonites in North America with a focus on people and places. It is one of the first to treat U.S. and Canadian Mennonite history as an integrated whole and explores how various people worked and lived in North America to express their religious devotion. Nolt and Loewen investigate the everyday lives of Mennonite men and women to illustrate their way of life.

The authors are “both masters of the North American story, and they have charted a fresh journey through remarkably diverse experiences,” said John A. Lapp and C. Arnold Snyder, who have overseen the Mennonite Global History series. “They both bring the insights of social history, which means that they focus on people in many geographical environments rather than on institutional development and theological controversy.

Together, they describe their task as writers of this inclusive and sweeping history as “seeking to answer a single question: How did Mennonite men and women live out their distinctive religious calling to follow Christ in North America? The answer is that they did so as ordinary people, in everyday life. In their lives they often aimed for holiness, neatness and orderliness, but the fact is that life is not always neat, it is never sin-less and indeed it is often messy. There have been joys and tears, moments of achievement and times of failure.”

In addition to teaching history, Nolt is an internationally-recognized expert on the Old Order Amish. He is the author or coauthor of nine other books, including The Amish Way: Patient Faith in a Perilous World (2010), Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy (2007), Mennonites, Amish and the American Civil War (2007) and A History of the Amish (2003).

Seeking Places of Peace, a 400-page book, can be purchased online. It is also available in the Goshen College Bookstore.

Pastor and Professor

Retired Goshen College Professor of Bible Don Blosser authored the new book Pastor and Professor: A Public Faith (Wipf and Stock Publishers, Aug. 2012). The book is one pastor’s story of a rich life filled with experiences that tested his faith and demanded growth that was both exhilarating and painful. It is the personal story of moving from faith as right doctrinal belief to faith as a liberating response to a loving God — a God who is always present, continually drawing followers into the future. This dynamic understanding of faith is based on the belief that the kingdom of God is a present reality where followers of Jesus are to be pastoral in spirit while prophetic in living.

Blosser weaves personal experience with public expression of an emerging faith that wrestles candidly with the realities of life and deals with the pastor/professor tension of integrating academic scholarship in the classroom with pastoral proclamation in the pulpit. Pastor and Professor invites the reader to share a journey where faith is often challenged, sometimes doubted, yet lived with enthusiasm as it is shared from the pulpit and in the college classroom. It invites the reader to find fresh insights in the Scriptures, and to live with new hope, to embrace life more fully, and to share more gently one’s own story with others.

Blosser, who received his doctorate from St. Andrews University in Scotland, is an ordained Mennonite minister who pastored congregations in Freeport, Ill. and Akron, Pa. He is the author of Dictionary of the Literature of the Bible (1993), and contributor to Jesus: His Life and Times (1998). He taught at Goshen College from 1979 to 2001.

Pastor and Professor can be purchased online for $22.40. It is also available in the Goshen College Bookstore.

The Classical Theory of Fields: Electromagnetism

Professor Emeritus of Physics Carl Helrich wrote the new graduate text in physics, The Classical Theory of Fields: Electromagnetism (Jan. 2012), published by Springer, a leader in scientific literature. It is based on a class that he taught at Goshen College and gives a thorough and logical exposition of the theory of electromagnetism, enriched with historical details. Some other features include high quality diagrams, end of chapter questions and a separate complete solutions manual.

“The study of classical electromagnetic fields is an adventure. The theory is complete mathematically and we are able to present it as an example of classical Newtonian experimental and mathematical philosophy. There is a set of foundational experiments, on which most of the theory is constructed. And then there is the bold theoretical proposal of a field-field interaction from James Clerk Maxwell,” writes Helrich. “This textbook presents the theory of classical fields as a mathematical structure based solidly on laboratory experiments. The student is introduced to the beauty of classical field theory as a gem of theoretical physics.”

This book can be purchased online for $81.49.

Adoption chapter in interfaith book

Professor of Bible, Religion and Philosophy Keith Graber Miller also recently had a chapter on adoption published in the just-released book Children, Adults, and Shared Responsibilities: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Perspectives (Cambridge University Press, Nov. 2012). The book is edited by Marcia J. Bunge and Graber Miller’s chapter in this interfaith book is titled “Orphans and Adoption: Biblical Themes, Christian Initiatives, and Contemporary Ethical Concerns.”

Motivation and critique chapter in art education book

Professor Emeritus of Art Marvin Bartel contributed a chapter on motivation and critique for an anthology on choice-based art education. The book, titled The Learner-Directed Classroom: Developing Creative Thinking Skills Through Art (Teachers College Press, Sept. 2012) is edited by Diane Jaquith and Nan Hathaway.

Intercultural chapter in Christian higher education leadership book

The new book Thriving in Leadership: Strategies for Making a Difference in Christian Higher Education (ACU Press, Aug. 2012), edited by Karen A. Longman, includes contributions by 16 other senior leaders in Christian higher education across North America, including Goshen College Associate Dean for Intercultural Development & Educational Partnerships Rebecca Hernandez. Her chapter is titled “Beyond ‘hospitality’: Moving out of the host-guest metaphor into an intercultural ‘World House.’”

This compilation represents an engaging introduction to leadership approaches and strategies in Christian higher education, designed to strengthen the leaders of today and inspire the leaders of tomorrow.
 

Faith mentoring chapter in spiritual formation for college students book

Campus Pastor Bob Yoder had a chapter published in a recent book titled Building a Culture of Faith: University-Wide Partnerships for Spiritual Formation (Abilene Christian University Press, Aug. 2012). The title of his chapter is “Strengthening a Christian College as a Faith-Mentoring Environment through Knowing-Being-Doing.” The book is a collection of 14 different essays on the influences of various parts of the university on student spiritual formation. Yoder’s chapter shares some of the findings of a two-year study he recently conducted.

Dale Brown Book Award

In 2012, Professor of Bible, Religion and Philosophy Keith Graber Miller received the Dale Brown Book Award for the text he edited titled Prophetic Peacemaking: Selected Writings of J.R. Burkholder (Institute for Mennonite Studies, 2010). The award is given for a new book that is “judged to advance significantly the scholarship in Anabaptist and Pietist studies,” and is given annually by Elizabethtown College’s Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies. Burkholder was a long-time religion, ethics and peace studies professor at Goshen College, and a mentor for Graber Miller during and since his seminary studies. Prophetic Peacemaking was chosen from a pool of 25 nominated books this year.

View a video of Graber Miller delivering the Dale Brown Book Award Lecture in October at the Young Center, and Burkholder offering a response.

Maple Scholars gives students the opportunity to participate in independent research projects alongside Goshen College faculty of various disciplines. Each scholar is paired with a faculty member who serves as both colleague and supervisor.

Paul Keim & Marcelle Al-Zoughbi

Marcelle Al-Zoughbi, an elementary education/special education and TESOL double major from Bethlehem, Palestine worked with Professor of Bible and Religion Paul Keim on a project to envision, develop and institute a program of Arabic Studies that embodies the unique ethos of our Anabaptist heritage and equips students for further study and service in the Arab world.

David Housman & Philip Bontrager

Philip Bontrager, a junior informatics major from Goshen, Ind., worked with Professor of Mathematics David Housman on a project developing visualizations to assist in better understanding notions of fairness and their interrelationships in resource allocation problems.

Lisa Horst & Deb Brubaker

Lisa Horst, a 2012 graduate who majored in music education from Goshen, Ind., worked with Professor of Music Debra Brubaker on a project archiving and digitizing field recordings that Professor Emeritus Mary Oyer recorded between 1969 and 1987.

Caleb Hostetler & Kent Palmer

Caleb Hostetler, a senior informatics major from Souderton, Pa., worked with Professor of Informatics Kent Palmer on developing a higher education application for mobile technology.

Rhiannon Jones, a senior biology major from Lafayette, Ind., worked with Professor of Physics Carl Helrich on a project attempting to establish the form of cholesterol structures on phospholipid (biological) membranes experimentally.

Jenna Nofziger & Stan Grove & Nathaniel Tann

Jenna Nofziger, a junior molecular biology/biochemistry major from Archbold, Ohio, and Nathaniel Tann, a 2012 graduate with majors in biology and psychology from East Petersburg, Pa., worked with Professor of Biology Stan Grove on a project generating algal biomass inexpensively enough to allow the derived biofuel to compete with petroleum-based fuels.

Beth Martin Birky & Grace Parker

Grace Parker, a senior English and Bible and religion double major from Wichita, Kan., worked with Professor of English Beth Martin Birky on researching the theme of social justice in the work of Virginia Woolf.

Rebecca Weaver & Lauren Stoltzfus

Lauren Stoltzfus, a senior English writing major from Lancaster, Pa., and Rebecca Weaver, a 2012 graduate with a major in psychology from Harleysville, Pa., worked with Professor of English Ann Hostetler on a project collecting research data on the pedagogy of multicultural literature studied at the college level.

Mara Swartzendruber & Andy Ammons

Mara Swartzendruber, a senior biology major from Albuquerque, N.M., worked with Assistant Professor of Biology Andrew Ammons studied stress on honeybees.

Bob Yoder & Leanna Teodosio

Leanna Teodosio, a junior sociology and Bible and religion major from Lima, Ohio, worked with Campus Pastor Bob Yoder on a project exploring how Goshen College can better support the faith development of students.

Emily Trapp & Bev Lapp

Emily Trapp, a senior music and communications major from Canby, Ore., worked with Professor of Music Beverly K. Lapp on a project analyzing the content of several popular piano methods to determine the balance of creative work and effectiveness of these within the curriculum for developing pianists, with hopes of producing an online resource that summarizes this research to aid piano teachers.

John D. Roth & Kate Yoder

Kate Yoder, a junior art and English writing major from Elkhart, Ind., worked with Professor of History John D. Roth on a project compiling an in-depth bibliography of sources related to Christian martyrdom, the “Martyrs Mirror,” and costly discipleship in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition in preparation for an August international consultation called “Bearing Witness: A New ‘Martyrs Mirror’ for the 21st Century?”

The college’s Maple Scholars program began in 1998. Unlike undergraduate research projects at many larger universities where students work only with graduate students, students in Maple Scholars work with professors who can answer their questions and guide them in their research and learning. Students also get the chance to share their work together in a colloquium each Friday and engage other students across disciplines.

– By Anna Ruth

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.

Jeffrey Moore

Moore is from Ashland, Ohio, majoring in Bible and religion and communications. He regularly takes part in Bible studies on campus, and this summer he is participating in the Ministry Inquiry Program this summer by shadowing the lead pastor at Oak Grove Mennonite Church in Smithville, Ohio.

At the FTE conference, Moore was pleased to interact with people from various theological backgrounds. “I formed relationships with a diverse group of people who will be valuable friends and colleagues down the road as I explore my ministerial options,” he said.

Emily Hedrick

Hedrick is from Telford, Pa., majoring in music and Bible and religion. She has served as a student ministry leader and chapel planning assistant, and this summer she is working on a farm in London, Ohio.

Bob Yoder, Goshen College’s campus pastor, nominated both students for the fellowship, which is funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. Goshen College students have been chosen for this program several years in a row, and according to Yoder, having two award recipients in one year is uncommon for most schools.

According to its website, FTE was created in 1954 when leading educators, clergy and philanthropists joined together “out of the common concern that the quality of those entering the ministry had declined and that highly talented students were too often choosing other careers.”

Each year, FTE awards about 150 new fellowships to students to fund their exploration of preparation for pastoral ministry.

FTE Undergraduate Fellows are selected by a national committee of theological educators and church leaders. Students must be nominated by a professor, school administrator, pastor or campus minister; hold a minimum 3.0 grade point average; have an interest in pastoral ministry and demonstrate leadership in a church or school community. For more information about the fellowship, visit www.fteleaders.org.

—By Anna T. Ruth

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College Assistant Director of Public Relations Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.

Thessaloniki, Greece

GOSHEN, Ind. – Goshen College Campus Pastor Bob Yoder remembers how his life was significantly changed by a semester spent in the Middle East during college, when the “Bible came alive” for him. He hopes the same will be true for his students as he helps lead one of two classes spending 20 days during May term traveling together through Greece and Rome, tracing the footsteps of the Apostle Paul. Both classes will be engaging the same material and going to the same places, but have different objectives.

One group is a Bible class of 33 students led by Yoder and Professor of Bible, Religion and Philosophy Keith Graber Miller. Their focus is following Paul’s second missionary journey in Greece as described in Acts 16-18 and exploring the issues of the various religious communities he influenced and the various books of the Bible associated with those churches. They will conclude in Rome where Paul spent his final earthly days and the study of the book of Romans.

Students also will engage three very different ways of expressing Christian faith, though all are descendents of Paul’s work: Eastern Greek Orthodox Church, Roman Catholicism and the Evangelical church movement, Yoder said. The students will have the opportunity to visit Thessaloniki, Philippi, Berea, Vergina, Mt. Olympus, Meteora, Delphi, Athens, Corinth, Florence and Rome.

“One of my hopes is that we learn lessons about how to cross boundaries in our faith setting, like Paul was engaged in,” Yoder said. “That’s one of the reasons Paul is a hero for me.”

Thessaloniki, Greece

Group times will include worship, reflection and sharing insights from various small group projects and assignments. There will also be times throughout the course where students will be encouraged to individually reflect, pray, read and journal.

“Gaining insight into the faith, spirituality and mission of the Apostle Paul will hopefully strengthen students’ individual faith journeys,” Yoder said. “Another hope is that the Scriptures will come alive for students as they experience the various historical places in Greece and Rome.”

The second group traveling is a broadcasting class of nine students led by Assistant Professor of Communication Seth Conley and Assistant Professor of Communication Kyle Hufford. They are working on producing a documentary examining the ways one of the most influential figures in the Christian Church dealt with cultural, religious, physical and personal boundaries, and how he “bridged the gap.” They are providing the writing, photos and videos on the blog (http://blog.goshen.edu/journeysofpaul).

The crew is traveling with 128-plus pounds of video equipment, including three cameras. “The classes will be taking different approaches in digesting the material and experiences,” Conley said. “We will be asking, ‘how do we tell a great story?’ We will be ingesting the experience and then sharing it with people who can’t be with us.”

The class films an interview with tour guide David Sparks.

Students will be rotating between different roles to gain experience in producing, directing, filming, lighting and audio engineering.

“Along the way, our team will be chronicling not only what we learn about history but also about what Christ is teaching us personally during this journey,” said Conley. “Students don’t always make the connection between broadcasting and their faith, so when this opportunity arose, I wanted to take advantage of it.”

Yoder is pleased that the trip includes both classes with different objectives, and believes that they will enhance each others’ learning. “I see this as an example of the kind of interdisciplinary learning we focus on here at Goshen College,” he said.

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College Assistant Director of Public Relations Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S. News & World Report’s ”America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.