Partners: Snow fun and a new president
FEATURED PHOTO (above) — Makeshift sleds appeared on campuses across the Southeast — from Harding University in Searcy, Ark.— as a recent cold front brought snow and ice.
The blanket of white reminded Freed-Hardeman’s president, David Shannon, of a snowy morning 30 years ago. Shannon, then a student at the university, flung open his window and yelled “Snow!” to the campus. “In my excitement, I broke the window,” he said, “costing me a $25 repair fee.” He advised students to “save a window” by sharing their snowy pictures online. Many did.
Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, Tenn., also shared their photos of students enjoying the snow.
Campus Ministry
GULF COAST GETAWAY
PANAMA CITY, Fla. — More than 1,500 believers gathered to be “Reconciled,” the theme for the annual Gulf Coast Getaway. Don McLaughlin, preaching minister for the North Atlanta Church of Christ, delivered keynotes focusing on topics including racial tension in culture and the church. Chris Shields, campus minister for Rochester College in Michigan, led worship.
During the event, students raised $16,000, matched by another donation for a total of $32,000, for Christian Relief Fund. The nonprofit will use the funds to drill a water well in Kenya and assist in a church plant.
The event “is one of the many traditions I’m proud of within our brotherhood,” said Tyler Ellis, campus minister for the Laurel Church of Christ in Knoxville, Tenn. “There students experience vibrant worship, learn from some of our best teachers and discover opportunities that may change the course of their future. Speaking for my own Campus Ministry at the University of Tennessee, a number of students we’ve seen come to Christ can trace the beginnings of their spiritual quest back to this conference.
“In fact, we even have alumni serving on the mission field right now as the result of connections they made at Gulf Coast Getaway.”
Ministry Training
MAGNOLIA BIBLE CENTER
KOSCIUSKO, Miss. — The facilities of the former Magnolia Bible College, which closed in 2009 after 33 years of operation, are now Magnolia Bible Center, a place for preacher retreats, workshops for church leaders, youth programs, camps, seminars and lectureships.
Elders of the South Huntingdon Street Church of Christ in Kosciusko, who oversee the property, also hope to launch a School of Biblical Studies on the property, which has a library of 35,000 volumes.
SPOTLIGHT: Heritage president is a Brothers in Christ
Florence, Ala. — W. Kirk Brothers will serve as the fourth president of Heritage Christian University, a 100-student school that in 2018 celebrates 50 years of educating preachers, missionaries and Bible teachers for ministry.
W. Kirk Brothers
Brothers spent 23 years in church ministry before joining Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, Tenn., as an associate professor of Bible in 2010. He makes annual trips to the Central American nation of Panama to teach a course at the Bible School of the Americas and has helped establish future minister training camps across the region. He has participated in mission efforts in India, Israel, England and Ukraine.
Since 1988, Brothers has participated in ministry and leadership training camps across the U.S. He has served as director and co-director of the Horizons Leadership Camp at Freed-Hardeman for six years. He first taught graduate classes at Heritage Christian in 2005.
“I want to leave behind as many leaders for the Lord as I can when I depart this life,” Brothers said. “Heritage plays a unique role in training servant-leaders for the Lord. Her staff and faculty are as credentialed, experienced and dedicated as any in the brotherhood.”
He earned graduate degrees from Freed-Hardeman, Lipscomb University and Southern Seminary. He and his wife, Cindy, have two daughters. He begins the transition into his new role this summer.
