Eastern Mennonite School - Shenandoah Yearbook (Harrisonburg, VA)

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EXTENSION TEAMS Norman Derstine The greater spiritual interest among students and their willingness to bridge the gap between the college and the institutional church increased this year's extension team involvement. Student-faculty teams gave programs in Pennsylvania and Ohio throughout the year. After attending an EMC team program, one pastor commented, I hope we can have teams like this visit a lot more churches. Our people are hungry for this type of reconciliation with the seemingly foreign college world. Norman Derstine, director of Church Relations, responsible for coordinating the teams, said, Our goal is to inform outside churches about how Cod is moving among young people. The teams' unstructured prayer and praise services were characteristic of their increased effort to get audi- ences involved and to remain open to the Spirit's leading. One student said, In our planning sessions we are unified as we share and spend hours in prayer. It is this core unity and our open spirit that frees the congregation to risk honesty with us. Each program is unique as Cod meets the special needs of each congregation. Participants discovered that in sharing faith with others, their own faith grew and matured. Sandy Yoder, Phil Mininger

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Richard L. Benner BA Director of Development lames V. Bishop BA Director of Media Relations Norman H. Derstine ThB Director of Church Relations Carl B. Harman BS Director of Alumni Relations Samuel Z. Strong MA Director of Deferred Giving 31

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I William Stringfellow ASSOCIATES IN DISCIPLESHIP EMC inaugurated the Associates in Discipleship on the assumption that large gifts could be attracted as the potential donor identified more closely with the college's philosophy and program. “There are people now of greater affluence with a genuine understanding and appreciation for higher education, Richard Benner, Development director, asserted. We want to bring these persons in close to us, provide a service for them, and make the college a meeting place for them to work through their problems and visions. In this way, we can show them specific programs which align with their in- terests. Regular membership in the Associates was extended to those persons who pledged an annual gift of $1,000 or at least $10,000 per decade. Any member who provided the college with more than $15,000 through a deferred gift with life income was declared a life member. Members convened on the EMC campus for two annual seminars. These seminars were designed to provide a time and place for dialogue on practical applications of the Christian life as it related to business and the professions. The fall seminar, held October 22-23, featured radical Christian lawyer William Stringfellow; Presidential Prayer Breakfast organizer, Douglas Coe; and Mennonite businessmen, Lewis E. Strite and Harold P. Dyck. Stringfellow's lecture created no small controversy among the Associates. A Harrisonburg businessman commented, I was deeply disturbed with Stringfellow. His message was totally unacceptable for this group of people. His attitude was negative, vindictive, superior. Our fall meeting stirred up controversy and even created some enemies, admitted Benner. The seminar was purposely designed, however, to bring together divergent viewpoints. The annual Homecoming Weekend, April 28-30, witnessed a more low-keyed, loosely scheduled semi- nar. Judge William A. Meadows, former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, was the keynote speaker. Judge Meadows, a lay leader of the United Methodist Church of Florida, is involved in organizing retreats and study-prayer groups. He presented the Associates with a practical example of a combination of a public service career and active lay leadership in the church. Benner hoped that eventually one hundred individu- als would become involved as Associates in Discipleship. He planned to broaden the base of support, including more non-Mennonites as Associates. We don't just want individuals with dollars in their pockets, Benner commented, but those with brains in their heads and commitment in their hearts. We need the kind of people who will surround this institution in the days ahead. 33