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Calvary Welcomes Three Adjunct Faculty

Calvary Welcomes Three Adjunct Faculty

by | Sep 10, 2020

Kurt Bricker, Dr. Thomas Cragoe and Douglas Geiger (left to right).

Calvary’s Bible & Theology, Biblical Counseling, and STEM departments add some “fuel”

Dr. Thomas Cragoe, Bible & Theology

Dr. Cragoe will be teaching Systematic Theology from Calvary’s Colorado extension. Cragoe said, “I’ve had a respect for Calvary for a long time, but most recently, my wife and I retired from Clarks Summit University to be nearer family… I explored the possibility of helping out.”

Cragoe served in the pastorate for twelve years before transitioning to the academic field. He taught for twenty years at various institutions, including Cedarville University and Moody Bible Institute. He said he loves “when students get hooked on studying the Scriptures and fall in love with the Lord… there’s that ‘aha’ moment when the light goes off.” Cragoe looks forward to “meeting new students, and hoping to fuel that same love for the Lord and his Word.”

Douglas Geiger, Biblical Counseling

Douglas Geiger is joining the Counseling department to teach, including the course Theories in Group Counseling, and to head up the department’s internship program. Geiger said, “I’ve had many friends in Kansas City that have gone to Calvary, so that’s how I knew of it from a long time ago. But also, I’ve known Jeff Cox, who’s the director of the Graduate Counseling program… and we’ve done ministry together.”

Geiger has his own counseling practice, and works as a state-appointed supervisor for counseling licensure at Abundant Life’s Counseling Center, where he helps “various students from different universities complete their internships. I’m excited about bringing that internship at Abundant Life to partner with Calvary.”

He added, “For the Biblical Counseling program, what I am really excited about is bringing practical application courses to the program. [The courses have] already been there, but I’m going to get to teach more hands-on learning for counselors so they’ll learn the theory, but also learn how to apply that in counseling.”

Kurt Bricker, STEM

Kurt Bricker discovered Calvary University through his friendship with Calvary alum Kurt Seboe, Pastor of Northmoreland Baptist Church in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania. Bricker said, “He introduced me to the school through our meeting together as fellow pastors to help sharpen one another. I viewed the Calvary website and looked at job openings to see if there might be a place where I could contribute and saw that they were looking for a Physics instructor in the STEM department.”

Bricker earned his degrees in electrical engineering and worked in that field for almost 20 years before attending seminary. He said, “For the past seven years I have been teaching part-time—adjunct for a few different schools, including Clarks Summit University, in the areas of Bible and Biblical Languages, Physics, and Chemistry. I truly enjoy both pastoral ministry and teaching ministry! I look forward to continuing in both—including new opportunities at Calvary.”

Christian Musicians Guest Lecture in Songwriting Class

Christian Musicians Guest Lecture in Songwriting Class

by | Sep 1, 2020

Calvary’s modular songwriting class was taught online in Cycle 1 by Lisa Weyerhaeuser (top right; also pictured: Abigail LePage (bottom) and Mariah Strickland (top left).

Students hear from music industry professionals.

In this year’s Songwriting class, students heard presentations from Christian musicians active in the music industry. The class, taught by Lisa Weyerhaeuser, was a modular course with two weeks of pre- and post-class work and one week of in-class lectures. In preparation for the course, students spent two weeks journaling. Weyerhaeuser said, “writers sometimes get stuck, and writing even an hour in the morning, writing anything that comes to your mind and not paying any attention almost to what you’re writing, it clears out your mind to get to the good stuff.”

During class time, students studied Writing Better Lyrics by Pat Pattison and practiced exercises from the book. Weyerhaeuser said the book pushes students “to tap into the parts of our sensory expression, because when you write a song, you have three minutes to say everything you want to and bring the listener into what you’re feeling or what the song is trying to express.” The exercises build their skills and train them to take the listener “on a journey through something that you are experiencing—to take them on this three-minute journey with you.”

Weyerhaeuser brings in guest lecturers from the music industry, who each give an hour-long presentation. This year, students heard from guitarist Rex Carroll, singer/songwriter Randy Stonehill, and producer Matthew Clark. Carroll discussed musicality and techniques of writing, and Stonehill talked “about needing your walk with God to be where you draw from when you’re being inspired to write, and the importance of being in the Word.” Clark touched on “the nuts and bolts of the industry, the things you as an artist need to be doing to get out there as much as you can.”

This is Weyerhaeuser’s second time teaching Songwriting at Calvary. She said, “I love to write songs. I’ve had a very long history of writing, and I’ve also seen my skills as a songwriter improve.” One of the things she learned through her years of writing was, “When you’re young, you write out of being inspired to write. But if a writer writes, they have to write without being inspired.” Weyerhaeuser said she loves teaching students songwriting and teaching them “that they have a voice, and that their voice matters.”

 

Presidential Search Committee Interviewing Candidates

Presidential Search Committee Interviewing Candidates

by | Aug 27, 2020

Board encouraged by the quality of candidates

Calvary’s Presidential Search Committee has vetted several candidates and progressed to a phase of interviews. Vic Borden, member of Calvary’s Board of Trustees and Chairman of the Presidential Search Committee, outlined what they are looking for in a president: “The prospective candidate must agree with the CU doctrinal statement unreservedly.  Additionally, the Committee and Board will be considering the candidates’ spiritual life, integrity, education, experience, character, people skills, etc.”

Borden said the search committee is working from a narrowed group of applicants, and “there are interviews pending with three candidates, with more to follow.” He added, while the quantity of candidates is small, “there is profound quality in the group.”

Once the interviews are completed, the Committee will make recommendations to the Board, and the Board will make the decision of offering the position. Borden said, despite the long process of vetting candidates through their personal and professional references, the Committee is progressing quickly. He pointed out that, “in order to do as thorough a job as possible, time is needed.” Overall, he and Chairman of the Board Tom Zobrist agreed, “It’s going very well, especially in light of the high quality of candidates the Committee has received.”

2020 Feast & Fund Auction a Success

2020 Feast & Fund Auction a Success

by | Aug 24, 2020

Student Leah Grady displays signed Patrick Mahomes jersey for bidding.

Feast & Fund raises over $100,000

On August 8, Calvary hosted the annual Feast & Fund Auction. The event was held in the Student Life Center to facilitate easier social distancing and had over 100 attendees. Randy Grimm, a lead planner for the event, said that, “in spite of COVID-19, we had more [attendees] than we thought we might.”

Between live auction items, a silent auction, and an option to “Fund-a-Need,” the auction raised over $100,000. Grimm said, “the money from the auction is used to help defray the expenses of the students who attend Calvary.” He also added that this year’s Fund-a-Need donations could contribute to “COVID-19 protection, and we are grateful for people helping us to make our goal.”

Despite the complications of hosting an event during a pandemic, Grimm said the event exceeded their expectations. “The African safari trip was a huge success this year along with the trips to Cabo and the Caribbean,” he said. “We did have a few guns on the live auction which is always a big hit. 

On the silent auction items, I would say that the baked goods were the biggest hit.” He also added that feedback on the event was “all very positive. ‘The auction is such a good time, the food was delicious. We appreciated the humor from those doing the live auction as well as the variety of items.”

Student Tori Veltkamp draws a bidding number from a hat during the “hat hog” game.

Housekeeping Assistant Kent Shader demonstrates the new fogger machine, part of Calvary’s safety measures enabled by Fund-a-Need.

Calvary Alum Launches Local Coffee Shop

Calvary Alum Launches Local Coffee Shop

by | Aug 18, 2020

Roberts opened Joy Coffee this summer.

“I’ve seen a lot of healing happen, and just community and fellowship that comes from drinking a cup of coffee with another person.”

On July 20th, Calvary Grad Moriah Roberts opened a new coffee shop in Independence, Missouri. Roberts said the shop, called Joy Coffee, has been in development for a year and a half now. It is the fruition of Roberts’ long-time dream. She said, “That was always kind of the end goal, to open a coffee shop and to provide high quality coffee, a high quality environment, and high quality service.”

Roberts graduated from Calvary in 2015 with a degree in Advanced Biblical Studies and a minor in Theatre Arts. She said, “I felt like if I wanted to eventually be in coffee ministry, I really wanted to get a good foundation of the Bible and Scripture. And what I loved about the Advanced Biblical Studies program was the way that [our department head] pushed us to work out our theology and be able to defend it on our own.”

Before she began work on starting her shop, Roberts managed Calvary’s Warrior Café for four years. She said, “There’s something beautiful about the fellowship that happened around a cup of coffee, or hot chocolate, or tea… I’ve seen a lot of healing happen, and just community and fellowship that comes from drinking a cup of coffee with another person.” Roberts expressed her excitement to see conversations, community, mentoring happen through Joy Coffee. “I’m just excited that we can be a small part of someone else’s story.”

Joy Coffee offers a family-friendly play space to entertain kids.
Joy Coffee offers a variety of coffees, teas, cocoa, and baked goods. Check out their website, or visit their location at City House in Independance, Mo.