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photo by Scott Streble
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1. Throw away the past? Not G.W. This lamp was crafted by former Bethel professor and potter Gene Johnson, who founded the art department at Bethel. It was headed for the trashcan when G.W. rescued it. 2. Books, books, and more books. His current reads include Living the Sermon on the Mount by Glen H. Stassen, The Idea That Is America by Anne-Marie Slaughter, The Anabaptist Story by William Roscoe Estep, and Dissident Discipleship by David Augsburger. 3. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the historic April 1994 parliamentary election in South Africa is that it took place at all, marking a transition to democracy. G.W. has a framed original, signed South African ballot to prove it. 4. Original orange carpet is evidence that not a lot has changed in G.W.’s office in the past 30 years. Except for the number of books added to the shelves. 5. As a keeper of Bethel’s history, G.W. was given numerous “Bethel College & Seminary” items from the Campus Store that could no longer be sold after the university transition in 2004, including this beautiful landscape photo of Bethel’s campus. Just for kicks, check out his Bethel College & Seminary watch and tie as well. 6. “Freedom for All.” “We Shall Overcome.” These were the cries of three prominent Civil Rights leaders who are featured in an artistic piece given to G.W. by a former student. The professor echoes these sentiments as he teaches students how to be historians with a Christian worldview. 7. Journalist Edward R. Murrow’s World War II broadcasts are available only on records—and G.W. owns them. How does he play them, you might ask? The Bethel University Library gave him a record player that had never been used by students…in 20 years. 8. This white peace pole is from the Koinonia Farm co-founded by Clarence Johnson (Cotton Patch Version of the Gospels), who visited Bethel in 1963 when G.W. was a student. Habitat for Humanity was born out of the Koinonia Farm, where the belief in the brotherhood and sisterhood of all humankind is lived out to this day. 9. Among this pile of books is the recently published The Pietist Impulse in Christianity (July 2011), which G.W. co-edited with three Bethel colleagues. Its essays make a case for the enormous influence Pietism has had on Christianity and Western culture. G.W. is also the author of numerous articles on Baptist General Conference history, Swedish Pietism, religion in the Soviet Union, and comparative evangelical political thought. (For more on The Pietist Impulse in Christianity, see “Bookmarked,” p. 6.) 10. G.W.’s advisees who study abroad know that he expects a token of appreciation for staying behind while they explore the world. Thus, the matryoshka dolls from Russia as well as gifts from Oxford University, Germany, and China.
Bethel University
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