At the time of Linda and Nathaniel Parkyn’s interview (October 2009), Messiah College was celebrating its Centennial year. The Parkyns were on campus for the Centennial Homecoming celebration, and more than happy to reminisce about their 25 years at Messiah.
There was “special significance” to inviting best-selling Christian author Philip Yancey back to campus, said President Kim Phipps when introducing Yancey at his April 7 lecture in Brubaker Auditorium. Between being incredibly well received when he delivered the 2007 Commencement address to writing numerous books that have “touched our souls and minds,” Phipps noted that Yancey was the perfect choice to deliver the last keynote lecture on the Centennial celebration’s calendar of events.
Power of prayer
Yancey, speaking primarily on the topic of prayer, began by examining prayers in the Bible, stating that he challenges any atheist to come up with an original argument against God that isn’t already included in a prayer in the Bible. Citing examples from the life of Job and David’s many psalms of lament, Yancey illustrates that many Biblical prayers offered by faithful believers were prayers of doubt and lament, not necessarily the “thank you, thank you” or “help me, help me” prayers that many believers and non-believers alike resort to today. The Biblical prayers were honest and sincere—qualities, Yancey says, that God desires from his people. (more…)
Mary (Walters) Ebersole recalls an unexpected turning point in her education in 1957.
When the Russians successfully launched Sputnik into orbit on October 4 of that year, Ebersole remembers her teacher telling her class, “We just have to keep up with the Russians!” This mindset was widespread and framed education as a competitive practice as much as a learning opportunity.
By the time Ebersole came to Messiah College in the mid-1960s, the country was fully engaged in the Vietnam War. But, even amongst national turmoil, Ebersole recalls finding a “resting place” at Messiah.
As a young child, Henry Louis Gates was introduced to a cabinet full of scrapbooks chronicling major events in the life of his family and community. One scrapbook, containing the obituary of Jane Gates, sparked in Gates a desire to uncover his genealogical roots.
According to the obituary, Jane Gates was “an estimable colored woman.” As a young boy just nine years old, Gates didn’t know what the word “estimable” meant, but the phrase stuck with him and later that night, he pulled his red dictionary off the shelf and looked the word up. Estimable, meaning deserving of admiration or respect, seemed well-suite
d, Gates thought, to define a woman who was a slave until 1865 and then purchased the Gates family home in Cumberland, Maryland in 1870.
So intrigued by this “estimable” women of his family’s past, Gates began interviewing family members and tracing his family tree.
With this family tale, an evening of storytelling and sharing facts and stats about genetics and genealogy was underway. Gates, visiting Messiah as the keynote lecturer for the spring humanities symposium and the Centennial, presented an informative, entertaining lecture to a large, captive audience in Brubaker Auditorium on Feb. 25
What Gates learned from exploring his own family tree and from a serious case of what he coined “Alex Haley’s ’Roots’ envy” inspired his hit PBS television series, “African American Lives.” The program identifies prominent people from various ethnic backgrounds and uses a combination of genetics and genealogy to uncover greater depths of their family history. The results can be surprising, said Gates, as sometimes family myths that have been passed down for generations are debunked.
On May 12 Messiah College publicly launched its Centennial Campaign—a $40 million fundraising effort to construct the Calvin and Janet High Center for Worship and Performing Arts and to raise funds for student-focused initiatives and scholarship endowments.
At a dinner and program with trustees and community friends of the college, Messiah President Kim Phipps announced that the College has raised more than $30.7 million towards the campaign’s $40 million goal.
“I believe that there is no better time in our history, and no better way to honor the courage and vision of our founders, than through the initiation and successful completion of the Centennial Campaign,” said Phipps. “This comprehensive, $40 million fundraising initiative, inaugurated during Messiah’s Centennial year, will enable the College to fulfill a long-awaited dream and promise of a new worship and performing arts center.”