The Experience - Spring 2009

THE EXPERIENCE THE MAGAZINE OF WARNER PACIFIC COLLEGE

SPRING 2009

A CLEAR PATH President-Elect Andrea Cook’s passion for Christian higher education is born out of adversity and an unshakeable desire to be faithful to God’s direction. Page 12

FROM THE EDITOR

Remembering why we are here

I

t’s an historic time as we lead up to the inauguration of our new college president, Dr. Andrea Cook, on September 20. Dr. Cook arrived at Warner Pacific in 2005 as our Vice President for Institutional Advancement. In this issue, we reveal how the path of this rancher’s daughter led to the presidency of Warner Pacific. It’s a remarkable story of someone overcoming adversity with a stalwart faith intact.

One of the aspects of Warner Pacific I appreciate most is that it is a place for second chances. Stories abound of students, many at midcareer, who deferred their dream of a college education for one reason or another and who are now seeing that dream become a reality.

A case in point is Junior Keli Gilmore ’10, a communications major at our Mt. Tabor campus who started college in her mid-forties so that she could become an advocate for families whose children have learning disabilities. Keli is a single mother to a kind-hearted teenager named Patrick who happens to have Asberger’s Syndrome, a form of autism characterized by underdeveloped social skills.

Patrick doesn’t pick up social cues the way others kids do, and he struggled in mainstream classes.

Keli ’10 and Patrick Gilmore But because Keli had to work to work to full-time ­­ – as a welder, forklift driver, and later, as an office assistant – she had to press teachers in Patrick’s suburban Portland school district to accommodate his needs.

“The skills that most children learn by watching society happen around them these kids are not capable of learning,” said Keli. “They have to be taught it over and over again. Teachers had no idea what they were doing.”

Finally, when Patrick was an eighth-grader, a school employee mentioned a charter school within the district that catered to students with learning challenges. It proved a perfect fit. Over night, Patrick went from nearly failing to scoring high marks.

“A teacher called to say that Patrick was a shining star in her class,” said Keli.

Patrick’s success inspired Keli to pursue her own education at Warner Pacific. She admits classes have been rigorous, but professors have gone above and beyond to help her make the transition.

“Almost every professor has touched my life and been helpful and encouraging,” Keli said. “Without this opportunity, I would not be able to help the many families who don’t know the ins and outs of school systems and who aren’t getting what they so desperately need.”

Knowing what Keli has set her mind to do after graduation, it reminds me of why Warner Pacific College is here in the first place.

We help equip students who are ready to make the world a better place through Christian service – and it’s a noble work, indeed.

With warmest regards,

THE EXPERIENCE TheExperience@warnerpacific.edu EDITOR / PHOTOGRAPHER / DESIGNER SCOTT A. THOMPSON sthompson@warnerpacific.edu 503-517-1123 CONTRIBUTING WRITERS RICK BAILEY BILL SHROUT CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS KELTY BISTRITAN ’10 ANDREA MILLEN ’09 JOHN JOHNSON DAN SNIPES “The Experience” is produced three times a year by Warner Pacific College for its alumni and constituents.

Opinions expressed are those of individual authors and do not necessarily reflect official policies of Warner Pacific College.

Warner Pacific is an urban, Christ-centered liberal arts college dedicated to providing students from diverse backgrounds an education that prepares them for the spiritual, moral, social, vocational, and technological challenges of the 21st Century. WPC is affiliated with the Church of God, Anderson, Ind. PRESIDENT-ELECT ANDREA COOK, PH.D acook@warnerpacific.edu 503-517-1246 DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AND COLLEGE RELATIONS LANI FAITH lfaith@warnerpacific.edu 503-517-1369 Warner Pacific College 2219 SE 68th Ave Portland, OR 97215 503-517-1000 www.warnerpacific.edu Please send comments, story suggestions, and corrections to: TheExperience@warnerpacific.edu Scott A. Thompson, Editor 503-517-1123

Scott A. Thompson Editor

Cover photo of Dr. Andrea Cook by Scott A. Thompson.

©2009 Warner Pacific College All rights reserved

THE EXPERIENCE

Spring 2009

12 6

8

18

10 6 OUT OF HARM’S WAY

Rob Ingram ’09 draws upon his own challenging childhood in his role as Director of Portland’s Office of Youth Violence Prevention.

8 CAMPOLO’S CRUSADE

Guest speaker Dr. Tony Campolo argues that the Christian church should create cottage industries that will provide jobs for the poor.

18 2009 DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARDS Meet this year’s legacy, young alumni, service and ministry award recipients.

23 FIRST PERSON: A WALK WITH THE PRESIDENTS

As a former college administrator battles cancer, he reflects on his time with those who led Warner Pacific College through the decades. By Bill Shrout

10 MISSION: HONDURAS

A ten-member team from Warner Pacific spends a week serving kids, families, and Churches of God in La Ceiba, Honduras.

12 COVER STORY: A CLEAR PATH

President-Elect Andrea Cook’s passion for Christian higher education is born out of adversity and an unshakeable desire to be faithful to God’s direction. By Rick Bailey

DEPARTMENTS 4 20 22

Campus News Alumni News In Memoriam

We welcome your feedback. Please take our readership survey online at www.warnerpacific.edu

COLLEGE NEWS

LETTERS “The Experience” stands out from the rest

I receive alumni magazines from several alma maters, including my children’s former schools and universities. “The Experience” is the best - so professional! The photography, the writing, the editing and the design are all excellent.

Congratulations!

Lyla White ’63 Pasadena, Calif.

WP education challenging

When I enrolled at Warner Pacific College, my goal was to earn a degree that would guarantee a high paying job. As I immersed myself in my studies and the college culture, my view of education and God began to change. I graduated with a deep understanding that I wanted to do my part to be the change I wanted to see in the world. I am currently pursuing a Master’s of Education in Student Affairs at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. I took ownership of my education and college experience, and in the process, I was changed. Now, I seek to help create experiences that develop college students.

Michael Dewsnap ’03 Waco, Texas

Presidential banquet celebrates, closes chapter on Barber era A banquet held November 15, 2008 at the Portland Art Museum celebrated President Emeritus Jay ’64 and Jan Barber’s service to the college. The event welcomed 350 guests and featured videos and live speakers describing the character, influence, and legacy of President Barber, who retired from office in May 2008. At the end of the evening, Board of Trustees Chair Jim Teague ’75 made the surprise announcement that the board had selected Dr. Andrea Cook as Barber’s successor. Pictured above are (clockwise) the Barbers accepting flowers from former executive assistant Connie Bless; Danielle (Capps) Valentine ’05 performing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow;” President Barber placing a medallion on the neck of President-elect Cook; emcee Vic Gilliam ’75, who provided the evening’s comic relief, welcoming guests.

Alumni insights

Delores Dillard ’95 Vancouver, Wash.

We welcome your emails: TheExperience@ warnerpacific.edu Letters may be edited for space or for content.

SAVE THE DATE September 20, 2009 For THE INAGURATION OF

DR. ANDREA COOK as President of Warner Pacific College

The Experience

PHOTOS BY SCOTT A. THOMPSON

Thank you for the excellent article [see “Community Action,” Winter 2009]. Reading “The Experience” is wonderful.

It really gives more insight to what we as Warner graduates are doing. May God continue to bless your efforts.

Gary Bays named Coach Emeritus

F

ormer WP men’s basketball coach Gary Bays (pictured in red with WP Athletic Director Bart Valentine ’75) received the honor “Coach Emeritus” from Warner Pacific during Alumni Weekend festivities in January. Bays was head coach from 1976 to 1988 and the program enjoyed strong success, not only in terms of wins, but also based on the positive influence Bays had on his players. Bays also ran youth basketball camps at the college during the summer months.

“You’ll never know how much this means to me to have this opportunity to come back to where I started college coaching,” Bays told an audience at a reception in his honor.

After Warner Pacific, Bays served as the athletic director and men’s basketball coach at Warner Southern University for nine years. From there, he moved on to Montana State-Billings for four years, then returned to Warner Southern to coach women’s basketball. He is currently the varsity women’s basketball coach at Brenau University, in Gainesville, Ga.

A great day for mid-year grads

W

arner Pacific’s 2008 Mid-Year Commencement was full of pomp and circumstance - and an occasional shout out from an enthusiastic audience - as 131 students graduated before family and friends at New Hope Community Church, Dec. 13. Of those who received degrees, 121 represented the college’s Adult Degree Program, including Tiana Green ’08 (pictured above), a graduate of the Master’s of Management and Organizational Leadership program seen here receiving her hood from (left) Dr. Toni Pauls, Dean of the Adult Degree Program, and Butler Religion and Ethics professor Dr. Bryan Williams.

During the ceremony, the college honored ADP graduate Aaron Butler ’08 with the Wilma I. Perry Award, named in memory of the late Warner Pacific professor. The award is given to one outstanding ADP graduate who demonstrates service, academic excellence, integrity, and transformation.

“I was given an opportunity to challenge myself,” Butler told the audience upon accepting the award. “I found friendship. I found loyalty. I found an opportunity to be a better person.”

Fall athletes earn All-Conference honors

PRICE

Ten student-athletes received postseason honors by Cascade Conference coaches last fall. The men’s soccer team led the way with four First Team selections. Forward Chris Price ’09 (9 goals, 7 assists), midfielder Louis Galvan ’09 (11 goals, 8 assists), forward Davor Lukic ’09 (14 goals, 5 assists), and defender Juan Castillo ’12 (1 goal, 3 assists) helped lead the power-packed Knights offense into the national leaders for shots on goal.

Defender Jaxin Skyward ’08 and forward Alija Sacirovic ’12 received second team honors, while Jacob Jackson ’10 (3 goals) earned honorable mention.

Women’s soccer player Kelsey Walton ’09 (1 goal) received Second Team honors, while teammate Chloe Yeldon ’10 received honorable mention. Finally, outside hitter Kara Veach ’09 (247 kills and 249 digs) earned honorable mention for women’s volleyball.

Spring 2009

LUKIC

CASTILLO

GALVIN

WALTON

STUDENT PROFILE

Out of Harm’sWay Rob Ingram ’09 draws upon his own challenging childhood as Director of Portland’s Office of Youth Violence Prevention.

SCOTT A. THOMPSON

R

ob Ingram sees a lot of himself in the faces of the youth he meets as the Director of the City of Portland’s Office of Youth Violence Prevention (OYVP). Ingram, 35, works in the local community – and nationwide – on various outreach and communications efforts in the hopes of steering vulnerable youth away from criminal behavior. And Ingram, currently a business administration major in WP’s Adult Degree Program, knows his territory.

Ingram grew up in NE Portland during the rise of gang violence and the influx of crack cocaine in the late 1980s. He’s watched members of his family succumb to drugs and alcohol.

He’s seen people gunned down, and even

Adult Degree student Rob Ingram ’09 grew up surrounded by gang activity.

His hiring came at a critical time. Gang violence spiked nearly 70 percent in Portland in 2008. According to local reports, Portland police responded to 68 cases of gang violence last year, the majority of which were shootings.

Although Ingram’s office isn’t part of the police bureau, he and his 3-member staff are tied into the city’s Youth Gang

“I’m looking [to help] the kid that isn’t getting into any trouble yet, that’s sitting there and trying to mind his own business, but has missed some key components in having a good, structured life.”

Rob Ingram ’09 Director of the City of Portland’s Office of Youth Violence Prevention

had a close call himself when a bullet grazed his head during a gang shooting.

However, Ingram - a devout Christian believes God protected him for a greater purpose; namely, to bring about positive change in the lives of youth. “[My upbringing] is a reality that I don’t shy away from,” said Ingram. “I did hang out with gang members and was involved in that lifestyle for some time, but I also had people [in my life] who said, ‘Rob that is not you. You have the potential to live above this.’”

Gang violence on the rise Ingram took on his role at the city last year after previously working as the program director of the Blazers Boys and Girls Club, also in NE Portland.

Transition Team. He also travels to cities throughout the U.S. learning new strategies for addressing gang activity, as well as sharing his knowledge with communities that are only now seeing gangs emerge. “[Between] 70 and 90 percent of our focus and energies target gang-affected youth, gang-affected families, and gang-affected neighbors, as well as young people who are in danger of falling into that lifestyle,” said Ingram.

In the thick of things Raised by a single mother, Ingram spent half of his childhood in Fresno, Calif. before his mother relocated Ingram and his sister to Portland when Ingram was in seventh grade. In Fresno, The Experience

the family had lived in a gang-affected neighborhood where murders, driveby shootings, and drug addiction were rampant.

“I tell people who grew up in Portland that things we see as tragic here, was everyday life [in Fresno],” said Ingram.

But Portland didn’t prove to be a haven from violence for long. In the late 1980s, prominent California gangs transplanted their drug operations to Portland and Ingram’s neighborhood changed dramatically, particularly following the influx of cheap crack cocaine. For a time, Ingram’s own mother battled a cocaine addiction before eventually getting clean.

She is now an ordained minister and a former college professor.

“I watched the gangs come in and setup shop,” said Ingram. “I saw this whole neighborhood get ravaged – and I saw the rebuilding.”

Wake-up calls While his father was never in the picture, Ingram says he had uncles who served as authority figures, and he also got involved with Self Enhancement Inc., a youth outreach program in NE Portland. Nonetheless, Ingram hung out with known gang members, and it took a string of life-threatening situations to get his attention, including a high-speed car crash where he was pronounced dead at the scene before being revived.

“I kept finding myself in these really terrible situations and I kept getting out of them,” said Ingram. “So the question I began to ponder in my heart, and later to God, was ‘Why me? Why do you keep sparing my life?’”

Continued on pg. 21

FACULTY NEWS

Steve Arndt, Associate Professor of education, continues to write and research his Oregon travel series “Roads Less Traveled.”

His fourth book “More Roads Less Traveled in Northwest Oregon” was published in October and the fifth book, “Roads Less Traveled in Northeast Oregon,” is scheduled for publication this spring (available at www.bearcreekpress.com).

Arndt also has created a 2009 day-to-day tear off calendar of “Significant Dates in Oregon History.” In January, he was the first Oregon author scheduled for an individual book signing at the State Capitol Information Center.

Megan Enos, Director of Academic Counseling in the Adult Degree Program, has been working from several angles on the relationship between academic counseling and the concepts of life coaching.

To this end, she has begun a certificate program at Western Seminary, in Portland, in life coaching. In addition, Enos was a trainer at the recent Consortium for the Advancement of Adult Higher Education (CAAHE) national conference, training individuals working in student service departments in non-traditional programs.

In addition to his teaching duties, developmental psychology professor Dr. John Fazio gathers institutional data for various reports. This year, he has worked on reports from The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), The College Board Survey, and the National Association of Independent Colleges. Dr. Fazio is also working on creating an Institutional Review Committee Protocol for research efforts that use human subjects.

Educational Psychology professor Dr. Lou Foltz presented a workshop at the eighth annual Lilly Conference on College and University Teaching, held September 18-21, 2008 in Traverse City, Mich. Dr. Foltz spoke on “Shrinking the Distance: The Social Landscape of the Learning Environment.” Dr. Foltz shared how recent findings in neural development and function suggest caution in the design and implementation of many types of distance learning mechanisms.

Spring 2009

Assistant Professor of History Dr. Luke Goble presented the workshop “Teaching Social Justice in and out of the Classroom” at the annual Younger Leaders Network Retreat, held at Biola University, in Southern California, last August. Goble also presented the first two installments of a series exploring higher education and theology in a postmodern world, based on his ongoing collaboration with WP philosophy professor Terry Baker ‘81.

Dr. Roger Martin, Assistant Professor of Business, will be submitting a paper regarding total quality management to the Academy of Management in March 2009. He is working on an additional paper which will deal with redesigning management education.

Professor Martin advises the WP Business Club (wpbusinessclub.com) which hosts weekly campus meetings that feature guest lecturers from the local business sector. He has also been elected the chairman of the board for the NAPE Foundation, a non profit organization that provides educational opportunities for students in Ghana.

Music professor Dr. Dennis Plies has been researching and writing about the processes of improvisation. One of several purposes in this project is to stress the positive effects of an improvisational stance, whether in business, science, the arts, teaching, or the sermon. In February, Plies co-led with Dr. Lou Foltz a forum on creativity and the brain, specifically how improvisational processes stimulate teaching and learning.

Dr. Bryan Williams, Associate Professor of Ethics and Religion, has undergone training as a peer evaluator for the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. He is the immediate past President of the Wesleyan Philosophical Society and serves as a peer reviewer for the 2009 conference entitled “More Than the Others: A Response to Evil and Suffering.”

The conference will be held on the campus of Anderson University, Anderson, Ind. in conjunction with the Wesleyan Theological Society meeting, later this year.

Williams also contributed a passage commentary on the Mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5) for the new Wesley Study Bible, recently published by Abingdon Press (Nashville, Tenn.).

COLLEGE NEWS

During a campus visit onDecember 2, 2008, well known Christian author and speaker Dr. Tony Campolo challenged the Christian church to not only care for the spiritual well being of people in the city, but also to help create small businesses and jobs for the poor.

SCOTT A. THOMPSON

Campolo’s Crusade In an exclusive interview, guest lecturer Dr. Tony Campolo argues that the Christian church should worry less about new outreach programs in the inner city and instead create cottage industries that will provide jobs for the poor.

On Dec. 2, 2008, Christian author and speaker Dr. Tony Campolo spoke in chapel and in a special evening lecture on the topic of the church engaging the city. Between talks, Campolo sat down with “The Experience” to elaborate on the role the Christian college can have in the urban setting. [Editor’s note: For the sake of continuity, one anectdote is taken from Campolo’s evening lecture].

TE: How can Warner Pacific be a conduit for creativity and engaging the social problems of the city where we exist?

First and foremost, do not underestimate the importance of the classroom. The classroom is a place where lives are changed, more so, I think, than in the church, because [students] are there hour after hour, in a very intensive way as compared to an hour on Sunday. Plus, on Sunday, the minister has to speak in generalities to a congregation that is very diverse, whereas in the classroom you can be very specific in addressing and calling [students] to a lifestyle of radical service.

We have to ask ourselves whether our classes ask questions about the system from a Biblical perspective, or raise questions

about the American political system, the judicial system, the economic system. And then we have to be sufficiently into the scriptures that we are able to provide Biblical perspectives that would provide answers to those issues. That means all classes ultimately can recruit people for Kingdom service. So a college like this has to be faithful to the truth. It’s so easy to be seduced by the dominate culture and prepare people to fit the needs of the political [and] economic system called the United States of America, instead of asking what the needs of the Kingdom of God are.

TE: Do you think we should get rid of the term “social justice” and just use the term “serving” or “loving?”

No. I like the term social justice, because it suggests that there is a political and economic system out there that needs to be challenged. A Latin American Archbishop, Helder Câmara, said, “When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a Communist.”

I think social justice is a good word, because people think

The Experience

“If you went to the Third World and asked, ‘What do you need?’ they wouldn’t say hospitals or schools. They would say, ‘We need jobs.’ Now the question is, will the church respond to this new era of people craving for jobs?”

- Dr. Tony Campolo that all I have to do is rescue people from spiritual, material, and social privation. We all understand the call to be a good Samaritan, but if you are traveling down that road the next day, and there’s another person that’s been mugged, and the day after that there are two or three people mugged on that road, at a particular point you have to say, “I have to do more than rescue the victims. I think we need to put a new lighting system on this road. I think we’d better go to public authorities and ask why this road isn’t being patrolled by the police.” I think you have to change what is happening on the road. In short, you have to change the system as well as rescue the victims of evil.

TE: Why should a teenager be thinking about this as he or she is contemplating where to go to college?

Recently, I was in a very large megachurch on a hill in the suburbs of Denver, Colo. I could see five other megachurches with 5000 – 6000 people each. And I asked myself, “Do they really need another megachurch in this community?” In the city, there are people who haven’t even heard the gospel once.

Besides that, cities are disintegrating.

At Eastern [University], we have a lot of work in Camden, N.J., [where] 94 percent of the children born last year were born out of wedlock. If you are 15 years old, there is a 42 percent probability that you will spend a year in jail before you are 25.

It’s a city of 80,000 people. Everyday, at least 10,000 people drive into the city to buy drugs. If you go to Camden High School, there is less than a 40 percent chance that you’ll graduate.

Now, why would you want to go to a place where you are not needed when there is such desperate need in a place like Camden? What’s more is, when I can get young people at a school like [Warner Pacific] to come to a place like Camden, they’re hooked, because they’re used to that church back home where in order to get young people to come, you have to have a doggie roast and take them to Disneyland. In the city, all you have to do is open the doors and the kids come flocking in.

We started a program in five different neighborhoods and the first summer we had 2,500 kids in the program. It was easy.

These [inner city] kids are dying to be a part of something and are open to the gospel and have never even heard the name of Jesus, except as a curse word.

TE: Why should an urban Christian college like Warner Pacific establish an Urban Studies Program?

America is now a multiethnic society. That’s what this last [presidential] election made clear. But ethnicity and cultural diversity is mostly an urban phenomenon. In short, we may be facing the reality that there are two Americas. Historically, the church has been good at ministering to rural and suburban communities. We haven’t figured out how to do anything in the city. If we are talking about sending people to reach the unchurched and the unconverted, you don’t have to go any farther than the city. You don’t have to go to Malaysia to meet Muslims. You don’t have to go to Russia to meet Russians. We just don’t know how to do effective work in urban areas. The only people who have figured this out are ethnic groups.

TE: Why does the Kingdom of God matter to a young person?

I think it should matter because of what Jesus did for you. I think that to be a Christian is to live not in a state of “oughtness” like I have a monkey on my back and I’ve got to do this or I won’t go to heaven. Jesus died on the cross for you. He sacrificed himself without reservation for your salvation. And if you are really into Jesus on the cross as he takes the sin away from you and absorbs it into his own body, your gratitude would be so great, that you would be saying, “Ok, Jesus, how do I express my gratitude?” And you know what his answer is? “Go unto all the world and preach the gospel – the whole gospel – not just the gospel that gets people into heaven when they die, but the gospel that is good news for the poor and oppressed people of the world.”

Are we not obligated as Christians to invest our lives where we can make the biggest difference? And I would say the city is where the biggest difference can be made. That’s why at Eastern [University] we started this graduate program that trains people to start small businesses and cottage industries that poor people coming into the cities can own and run themselves, because you’ve got to do microeconomic development.

TE: What is an example of a successful micro-economic venture you’ve been a part of ?

Some years ago, we established a little business with what was then Bell Telephone. We asked Bell to donate broken phones as a tax-write off. Working in a garage, a group of men formerly on drugs would take the phones apart and test the parts. We then sold the working parts back to Bell. The program was so successful that Bell bought them out. So you have eight innercity guys who used to sell drugs on the corner who are now selling a business for $600,000, splitting the money between them. Then Bell Telephone hired them to do the same job for $15 an hour. The gospel is good news for the poor.

When there were no hospitals, it was the church that created hospitals. When there were no schools, it was the church that created the schools. When there were no recreational facilities, it was the church that created the YMCAs. [But] if you went to the Third World and asked, “What do you need?” they wouldn’t say hospitals or schools. They would say, “We need jobs.”

The question is, will the church respond in this new era where people are craving for jobs? What should be instilled in [college students] is not just to go into the corporate world – and they are needed to be leaven there – but to go where no one has ever gone before and to start small businesses and cottage industries among the poor in urban areas where unemployment rates are high. This school should be saying, “To what degree are we simply going to go on as we have been, or to what degree are we going to be innovative?”

Interview conducted by Lani Faith and edited and condensed by Scott A. Thompson. Visit the “WP News” section of www.warnerpacific.edu to hear a recording of Campolo’s Dec. 2 evening lecture.

Spring 2009

MISSIONS@WP

PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHN JOHNSON

10

JOHN JOHNSON

H

eading into her first mission trip ever, Senior Katie Annas ’09 had no idea what to expect on Warner Pacific’s mission trip to Honduras in early January. Annas knew she would be helping people and doing some work for local Churches of God, but she couldn’t anticipate the remarkable experiences in store.

“If I can say one thing about the trip, it’s that love knows no language,” Annas said.

Annas was a part of a ten-member group from the college that spent a week, Jan. 7-13, serving children and families in La Ceiba, a city of over 200,000 on Honduras’ Caribbean coast. A primary goal for the team was to work on behalf of the Church of God’s global child sponsorship program, Children of Promise (COP), which sponsors impoverished school children in 21 countries in Asia, Africa, and Central and South America.

COP’s executive director, Paul Maxfield, flew in from Anderson, Ind. to join the Warner Pacific team as they conducted site visits of children’s homes in order to provide updates for COP donors. With the help of translators, the WP volunteers interviewed over 40 sponsored children, the largest number ever interviewed in a single COP site visit.

“These children don’t necessarily live with their parents,” said WP religion professor and team leader Dr. John Johnson. “Some live with grandparents or with neighbors. We asked them how old they were, how they were doing in school. It’s more than accountability; it’s a conversation about the well-being of the child.

Our notes will go in each child’s file so that donors can learn about their student.”

Junior Ben LaMar ’10 was impressed by the impact that COP was making on the lives of the children, many of whom live in crimeridden neighborhoods. COP funds help pay for school fees, books, uniforms, food, and medical care.

“They are the poorest of the poor,” said LaMar. “Some of them live in this part of town called New York. It’s so dangerous that taxi

The Warner Pacific Honduras missions team included (clockwise) Zack Barron ’09, Children of Promise Exec. Director Paul Maxfield, Katie Annas ’09, Ben LaMar ’10, team leaders Gwen and John Johnson, Lindsey Daniels ’10, Jill Peoples ’09, Kristina Larson ’09, Kelty Bistritan ’10, and Andrea Millen ’09.

(Top left) Katie Annas ’09 (seated on table) and Gwen Johnson (standing behind) work on a craft project with children sponsored through the Church of God Children of Promise program.

The Experience

KELTY BISTRITAN ’10

A team from Warner Pacific spends a week serving children, families, and Churches of God in La Ceiba, Honduras.

ANDREA MILLEN ’09

Mission: Honduras

JOHN JOHNSON

(Top) Two young children in La Ceiba.

(Above) Andrea Millen ’09 and the other Warner Pacific team members interviewed children in their homes on behalf of the Children of Promise sponsorship program in order to provide updated information for donors in the United States.

drivers won’t drive there at night. It’s full of drugs and prostitution and violence.

That’s the community that some of these kids grow up in, so it was cool to visit the homes and see how Children of Promise was helping each family, individually.”

At the conclusion of the interviews, the WP team hosted 38 sponsored children for a casual outing to the beach that included group games, lunch, and arts and crafts.

“It was such an awesome experience to be able to spend that quality time with the children,” said junior Lindsey Daniels ’10. “We were able to play games with them, have conversations with them, and just build relationships. They were so thankful to have us there.”

The Church of God operates five churches in Honduras, as well as a private school in La Ceiba that serves children from pre-K through the third grade free of charge.

The WP volunteers spent parts of three days painting classrooms at the school. They also broke into pairs and stayed in the homes of church members, in addition to participating in a total of four church gatherings throughout the city.

Dr. Johnson and individual students took turns speaking and performing at the gatherings, aided by bilingual Church of God pastor Donny Allen, a native Honduran.

Allen hopes this trip will be the beginning of a long-term relationship between Warner Pacific College and the Churches of God in Honduras. He believes the Honduran church understands how to do ministry well, but needs training in other areas, such as teaching methodology, small business management, and leadership development.

“Our biggest need right now is know how,” Allen wrote in an email.

Dr. Johnson came away encouraged by the experience, seeing potential for even more strategic work in future trips.

“This is a difficult place to do ministry,” said Johnson. “The church is trying to find ways to not just connect spiritually, but to connect socially, as well – to make a difference for Christ.”

Spring 2009

(Left) Zack Barron ’09 and Ben LaMar ’10 and two young friends return from a group field trip to the beach.

“If I can say one thing about the trip, it’s that love knows no language.”

- Katie Annas ’09

11

COVER STORY

Written by Rick Bailey

Photographs by Scott A. Thompson

A CLEAR PATH President-Elect Andrea Cook’s passion for Christian higher education is born out of adversity and an unshakeable desire to be faithful to God’s direction.

A

ndrea Cook never expected to be a college president.

Nonetheless, her path to the presidency of Warner Pacific College has been clear - albeit in steps. And, looking back, it should come as no surprise that her path curved in WP’s direction. Since her selection, Andrea has reflected on a piece of scripture that has comforted her since she was a teenager.

“My life verse is Proverbs 3:5-6, which begins, ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart,’” said Andrea. “It’s fascinating to see how, in the process of loving God and leaning on Him, He will indeed lead you. But with every step, I’ve learned that the theme of that verse has worked out very differently than I expected.

I can’t say that the path has always been straight, but God has always made my path clear.”

Enterprising roots Before she ever thought of being Dr. Cook, Andrea grew up on a ranch in eastern Oregon near a town that describes one of her many attributes: Enterprise (just miles from Paradise and Promise, in fact). From the windows and porches of her family home, one can see mountain heights with lofty names like Sacagawea Peak, Matterhorn and Eagles Cap. And just a few miles east lies Hell’s Canyon, the deepest gorge in the United States. With topography that sounds a bit like pages from “Pilgrims Progress” serving as her life backdrop, Andrea is no stranger to high, low and unusual paths.

The power of community Running the ranch year-round was a family effort. Andrea was on horseback at an early age, riding her beloved brown and black horse, Sugar, as she helped move cattle, a skill that she employed as recently as five years ago when she helped her father move a herd to pasture in high country.

“Believe it or not, I never really learned to ride a bike because we were always on horseback,” she said.

Working alongside her parents, Wayne and Meleese, brothers Russ and David, and younger sister Connie, Andrea learned the value of a hard day’s work - and that cooperation comes first.

“We didn’t take a lot of family vacations, but we did work together - a lot,” she admits. “You grow up with some mindsets about traditional roles, but I worked alongside men and that 12

shaped my early experience and understanding about work and communication. I learned you don’t work alone. You change [sprinkler] pipe with a partner. You move cattle as a team. You stacked hay with coworkers. And you learn that it’s not all about you. You do work for the sake of the farm, for the sake of the family, for the community.”

Faithful to the task at hand Andrea also learned about God, faith, and the importance of education during those formative years. Certainly her parents shaped her understanding, but Punch and Bonita Foster, close family friends and Andrea’s Sunday school teachers when she was four years old, helped with the early steps on Andrea’s path to faith.

“They were like an extra set of grandparents to me,” Andrea said. “They’d take me fishing and I clearly remember Bonita talking to me about Jesus.”

After her four children were school-aged, Andrea’s mother went back to college, commuting 150 miles round trip, while she was in her mid-thirties to become a school teacher, demonstrating the value of a college education for Andrea. Even as a child, Andrea looked beyond her immediate responsibilities and was always interested in doing more than what was required.

“Andrea always presented herself in a way that was an example to others,” said her brother, David. “She has always been able to see the right way to do things and she has learned to use management techniques well. She’s a great source of inspiration to me.”

Andrea credits her father, in particular, for teaching her that she must be faithful to what she is called to do today and not try to run ahead of the Lord’s plan.

“My dad tells a story about when I was a little girl always saying that I was available,” Andrea said. “For me it’s about being faithful and being available and having open hands to receive whatever God has for you to do and not trying to lead God, but letting God lead you.”

Andrea was an active leader in her church youth group and on student council at school. She later became the Salutatorian for the Enterprise High School Class of 1973.

The Experience

Continued on pg. 14

A CLEAR PATH

Dr. Cook chats with Krystal Estrella ’12 and Celeste Jackson ’12 next to the Tabor Grind coffee bar in Egtvedt Hall. Dr. Cook is always approachable and available to students, despite a busy administrative schedule.

Continued from pg. 12 “Of all of us, Andrea was the most well-minded and wellbehaved,” said her brother, Russ. “There was no doubt she’d be a leader. Because she was such a good student, I knew she’d be a great teacher, but, to be real honest, I never pictured her being a college president. You just don’t think of your little sister growing up that way.”

College days Despite her academic success, Andrea actually didn’t put much thought into where she would attend college until after she had graduated from high school. Her pastor called to say that a representative from Judson Baptist College – a private, two-year school in Portland – was in town to meet with her.

“I had no intention of going to the big city of Portland, and certainly not that far from home,” Andrea remembers, “but I went to the meeting because my pastor called.”

At the end of that summer, Andrea decided to pack her bags and head west to Portland. However, shortly after enrolling at Judson, she came down with mononucleosis and had to return home to rest.

“I was tempted not to go back because I was missing so much school right at the start, but the faculty members showed so much concern and care,” Andrea said. “They recorded every class session I missed and sent me notes. Since they had invested so much in me, I felt responsible to return to finish the semester.”

After two years at Judson Baptist, Andrea enrolled at Northwest Nazarene College (NNC) in Nampa, Idaho to complete her baccalaureate degree. It was there she first learned about Wesleyan theology and its emphasis upon holiness. It would prove to be an early primer for her time at Warner Pacific.

Trusting her path to the Lord Andrea graduated in 1977 with an elementary education degree, certain her path would lead to a teaching career. However, 14

the job market was tight and teaching jobs were hard to come by. So, Andrea put her faith and her path in God’s hands.

“I trusted that the first job I was offered would be a clear sign of His direction,” she said.

After her graduation ceremony at NNC, Andrea took a road trip back to Portland with her sister, Connie, who was attending Judson Baptist. Once on campus, Andrea bumped into former colleagues and administrators who told her about three openings at the school. She hadn’t come prepared for an interview, but then remembered she had an old choir dress stashed in her car.

“We cut it off, hemmed it up and, voila! I had something to wear for a job interview,” Andrea said.

Of the three positions, one held particular interest. The College had just received approval to offer federal financial aid programs for students and Judson Baptist needed someone to learn the regulations and administer the programs.

“I was handed a stack of papers to read and by the first of July, I was the director of financial aid,” Andrea said. “Two months later, I was offered a school teaching job, but I had told God I’d take the first job offered as a sign of my trust. So I was a financial aid director, though I barely knew what that meant.”

Life-changing drive Looking back, Andrea believes God was directing her into higher education, but her path wouldn’t become completely clear until an unexpected detour. In 1980, Judson Baptist moved its campus to The Dalles, Ore. and Andrea became the dean of admissions and financial aid. Two years later, while driving through Eastern Oregon after a late-night college fair, Andrea fell asleep at the wheel. Though she usually wore her seatbelt, she had forgotten to buckle up this time. The car drifted left toward the median until the wheels caught some gravel, jerking Andrea awake. Confused, she overcorrected hard to the right and the car rolled three or four times.

“When I came to rest, I landed on my wheels, but I knew something was wrong with my neck,” Andrea said.

The Experience

An ambulance took her to a local hospital where doctors treated and released her with a broken shoulder.

“From the first moment I met with Andrea to However, four days later, when Anask her to consider coming to Warner Pacific, drea was recuperating back in The Dalles, doctors called to say they had I thought to myself, “I’m sitting with the next missed something in the x-rays and that she needed to get to a hospital president of Warner Pacific College.’ And that right away. was four years ago.”

“In reviewing the x-rays, someone had noticed a fracture in my neck,” Andrea said. “I didn’t think too much about it, but fortunately a friend took President Emeritus Jay Barber ’64 it seriously. I went to the hospital in Portland where I was diagnosed with a ‘hangman’s break.’ I was put in a traction halo for seven months and ultimately I had to have my cervical vertebrae fused. The doctors kept saying, ‘You are so fortunate to the U of O in 1991 to complete a Ph.D. in Educational to be alive.’”

Policy and Management with an emphasis in higher educaBeing alive was one thing; knowing why was another. The tion administration. Her dissertation focused on the influence accident became a defining moment for the 27-year-old. For of faculty intervention on student retention. Two years later, Andrea, the lessons learned through the long healing process Stevens promoted Andrea to the position of vice president of clarified a path of service. She chose higher education as her enrollment. venue.

“Ed asked me, ‘Twenty years ago, did you ever think that you would be doing this now?’ I had a flashback to a moment in Education calling the summer of 1973 when I would have been out in the middle In 1983, Andrea took a job as the assistant director of finanof a field changing sprinkler pipe. I thought, ‘No way in the cial aid at the University of Oregon, where she also pursued a world would I ever have imagined this.’” master’s degree in educational policy and management. Four

years later, George Fox University, in Newberg, Ore., recruited A leader of strength her to serve as the director of admissions and marketing for its In 2002, after fifteen years at George Fox, Andrea was ready Continuing Studies Program. for a new challenge. Shirley Showalter, the president of Goshen George Fox’s president, Ed Stevens, told Andrea she had the College, in Goshen, Ind., invited Andrea to move to Indiana character and skills to be a college president someday and that and serve as Goshen’s vice president of institutional advanceshe should get a doctoral degree to be ready “just in case” the ment, overseeing the fund-raising, marketing and enrollment opportunity arose in the future. Though Andrea had no sight on a future presidency, she took Stevens’ advice and returned Continued on pg. 16

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G

rowing up on a working cattle ranch in Eastern Oregon, Dr. Andrea Cook learned the essential values of hard work and cooperation. Her parents, Wayne and Meleese Cook (pictured), were devout Christians who taught Andrea to take each day as it comes and not try to rush ahead of God’s plan for her life.

When Andrea and her three siblings were school-aged, Meleese (now deceased) returned to college and studied to become an elementary school teacher. Wayne, now 80, continues to run the ranch. Andrea summarizes the life lessons her upbringing instilled in her by saying, “For me it’s about being faithful and being available and having open hands to receive whatever God has for you to do and not trying to lead God, but letting God lead you.”

Spring 2009

15

A CLEAR PATH

Continued from page 15 efforts of the college. “[Andrea brings] calm in a storm, steadiness and reliability,” said Showalter. “She’s someone who comes in strong but keeps getting stronger with experience. Andrea is a good listener, loyal, disciplined, faithful – someone who loves a challenge, a clear communicator. She’s respectful of others. On top of all that, she’s someone who can also be playful and enjoy a good laugh.”

During three years at Goshen, Andrea championed a longrange planning process, led a campus-wide marketing effort, focused on improving recruitment of new students, and assisted in the final stages of a $26 million capital campaign for Goshen’s Music Center. Overall, she helped members of the Goshen community realize how much better they could work together by using their own personal strengths.

“Andrea actually introduced me to the idea of strengths, in contrast to personality,” said Showalter. “She sees all individuals as evidence of the varieties of God-given gifts in the world and believes that, as they explore their gifts, they are also exploring the shapes of their own souls, bringing them closer to God’s purpose for their lives. Helping others to recognize and unite their different strengths to work with each other-—these are the tasks that challenge and delight Andrea at her very core.”

The path to Warner Pacific Former WPC president Jay Barber ’64 was instrumental in attracting Andrea to return to Oregon and lead the Warner Pacific’s Office of Advancement in 2005. Throughout the long interview process, Barber wondered if God wasn’t already preparing Andrea to be his successor.

“From the first moment I met with Andrea to ask her to consider coming to Warner Pacific, I thought to myself, ‘I’m sitting with the next president of Warner Pacific College.’ And that was four years ago,” said Barber, who retired in May 2008.

“Andrea represents a new paradigm as the first woman president among all of our Church of God colleges and universities.

She is nationally recognized as a dynamic leader in Christian higher education. Her expertise in marketing, strategic planning and resource development led to the college being nationally ranked for the first time in our history. It is clear to me that God has called her to this assignment.”

16

History in the making Making history as the College’s first female president is huge, not only for the Church of God but for Christian Higher Education, in general. Only five of the 111 member campuses of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) have female presidents and only eight women have been CCCU presidents throughout history.

“I think it’s marvelous that Andrea has been appointed to lead Warner Pacific,” said Blair Dowden, President of Huntington University, a Christian college in Huntington, Ind. “We need to increase the number of women in the pipeline for significant leadership among our CCCU schools. We haven’t done enough work to develop those opportunities for women.

Andrea’s appointment is an important next step in the right direction. She serves as a model for other women to move into these important roles.”

On the shoulders of giants Perhaps the lessons at the ranch helped Andrea understand that any success she enjoys at Warner Pacific will be built upon the work of those who came before, most notably the six former presidents Dr. A.F. Gray, Dr. Milo Chapman, Dr. Louis Gough, Dr. E. Joe Gilliam, Dr. Marshall Christensen, and Barber.

“None of us gets where we are without standing on the shoulders of those who go before us,” said Andrea. “At Warner Pacific, we’ve had a great sequence of presidents that has brought us this far. A.F. Gray built the campus and created a framework for progress. Milo orchestrated the transition from a Bible college to an accredited liberal arts college. Louis Gough was a New Testament scholar who had a vision for what the college could be. E. Joe brought remarkable capital improvements and put WP on the national stage. Marshall established a solid academic program and laid the foundation for a great liberal arts experience. And Jay ensured that the funding was in place to achieve a big vision, and led us with a pastor’s heart at the time we needed that most.”

While acknowledging the college’s solid heritage, Andrea also envisions a big future for Warner Pacific. She wants to transform operations at the college and improve the delivery of services to students.

“This is simply an amazing place with so much potential to become more of what God has called us to,” she said. “And there is work to be done. We have a powerful and possible future, and we have a significant mission.”

The Experience

“God has called us to love our neighbors. What better place for students to apply their faith and learning to this commandment than in an urban setting where their service will speak loudly of whom they serve?”

- President-Elect Dr. Andrea Cook

Holistic Christianity Andrea says that the reasons students choose a Christian college vary, but she believes Warner Pacific is in an ideal position to help students explore the realities of Christian service in an urban context. She wants WP students to see that faith, worship and an understanding of God’s will shouldn’t be compartmentalized into chapel and religion courses, but, rather infused across all disciplines. In addition, students should come to understand the uniqueness of God’s creation in who they are and the Call that God has for their lives.

“Through the processing of their formal education, recognizing the permeation of faith across the disciplines and co-curricular life, owning their worldview, and discovering their strengths, they hopefully will come to a growing understanding of God’s love for them and His desire to walk with them throughout their life’s faith journey,” Andrea said.

“She knows how to encourage people to use their gifts and talents; and she doesn’t have to take all the glory,” said Andrea’s sister, Connie. “However, she wants the product to be of highest quality. She’s also very resourceful. She can take whatever is available and turn it into something you never thought it could become.”

Andrea’s brother, Russ, adds that Andrea demonstrates a genuine concern for others and doesn’t let having authority get to her head.

“She’s an achiever, but she isn’t trying to out-do others,” he said. “She’s always been very caring.”

Urban Context Mention Warner Pacific’s location in urban Portland and President Cook’s eyes light up.

She sees it as the college’s greatest asset.

“We prepare students to lead in a challenging world where there are not easy answers to be found,” she said. “It’s a diverse world—an urban world—and we need to help our students not be intimidated by tough issues. We have something to say to this community and to the church about what it means to be people of faith in the midst of extreme perspectives, be it economics, racial or social justice, or tensions created by urban planDr. Cook with members of her advancement team (left ) Lani Faith, Director ning. God has called us to love our neighbors. of Marketing and College Relations, and (right) Dana McGuire, Director of What better place for students to apply their Alumni, Parent, and Church Relations. faith and learning to this commandment than in an urban setting where their service will speak loudly of whom they serve?”

Leading the way Andrea differentiates Warner Pacific from peer institutions, Andrea’s fully aware of the challenges ahead. She identifies recognizing the College as bringing together faith with issues the need for more resources for programs and operations as a of justice. “forever thing” given the significant cost of running a private “Lots of Christian colleges have the piety piece of the equation college in 2009 and beyond. down,” she said. “We’re not unique there. And other colleges Her path to Warner Pacific College may indeed have been have the social agenda piece down. Warner Pacific needs to a jagged journey, but each step prepared her along the way. bring these two together. We need practical approaches that That’s exactly what she tells students to do: listen to the faculty, meet the needs of our neighbors and the world around us. Not let them speak into your lives, and be prepared. When asked lofty ideals, but relevant in response to the Gospel.” in a recent chapel about the significance of her appointment, Andrea responded, “You just never know what God has in Playing to her strengths mind. Your job is to be faithful and available to what God has Ask Andrea about the role an individual’s strengths plays in in store for you.” defining positive life outcomes, and you’ll discover that she’s modest and would prefer the conversation focus on you rather than herself. Usually, she’ll begin any talk about herself with a Rick Bailey is the founder and principal at Richard Harrison little laugh and a tilt of her head. Ultimately, Andrea is more Bailey - The Agency, a marketing and advertising firm based in concerned with identifying and helping foster the strengths South Bend, Ind. of others.

Spring 2009

17

ALUMNI PROFILES

2009 DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARDS

LEGACY AWARD

and worked in the Portland shipyards to support herself. That same year, she met Ivan, after he had driven a car owned by Marble’s aunt across country to the Anderson home in Cornelius. He decided to stay in Portland and enroll at PBC. He also found work in the shipyards, as health issues had kept him from enlisting to fight in World War II. The Marbles married on June 2, 1944, and their first child, Fred, arrived

eleven months later. Muriel left school to become a homemaker. Ivan and Muriel accepted their first pastorate at the Methodist Church in Banks, Ore in 1950.

Two years later, in August of 1952, they started the Gales Creek Church of God with five other families, and it was there they invested their lives.

Marble took on multiple roles at the church, including overseeing the Christian Education program and teaching Sunday school. Ivan supported the family through carpentry work, and he passed on his building skills to his children, who cherished the faith example of their parents.

Ivan died of natural causes at their church in 1995, immediately after the congregation approved its first ever bylaws. Muriel stayed busy welcoming new grandchildren and great-grandchildren into her family. Members of Muriel’s extended family have gone on to careers in the ministry, education, law, accounting, construction, technology management, farming, and the military.

through accredited American universities, and eventually establish a four-year liberal arts college called Palm Memorial University. Ghana is roughly the size of Oregon, but has 22.4 million people and only four universities.

“I have a strong passion to return to Ghana to assist my country and feel strongly that education is the key to helping eradicate disease, poverty and corruption,” Okantey said.

After finishing university in Ghana, Okantey, 33, worked for the non-governmental organization World Education, teaching AIDS - HIV prevention. While there, he met his American wife, Beth, a social worker. The two relocated to Portland in late 2004.

Okantey has worked as a meals coordinator for Loaves and Fishes, a SUN school site coordinator, and a family intervention specialist with Multnomah County. In January, Okantey became the full-time director of the NAPE Foundation.

Between September and December 2008, Okantey raised $20,000 dollars for NAPE, including $12,000 in scholar-

ships, which were earmarked for distribution by the end of January 2009.

His goal is to raise $1 million and establish Palm Memorial University in rented facilities in Ghana by 2015 and serve as the school’s first president.

MURIEL (ANDERSON) MARBLE ’44 Retired Church of God ministers

M

uriel (Anderson) Marble ’44, and her husband, Ivan ’44 , established the Gales Creek Church of God, in Gales Creek, Ore. in 1952 and ministered to that church community for over 42 years, while also raising nine children and operating a wood-crafting business. All told, nine members of Marble’s extended family - including children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren - have attended Warner Pacific College.

Muriel was born August 10, 1926 in Bellingham, Wash., but spent her school years on a family farm in Cornelius, Ore. She attended Pacific Bible College (Warner Pacific) on a fellowship in 1943

YOUNG ALUMNUS AWARD PETER CARLOS OKANTEY ’06, ’08 Founder and Director NAPE Foundation

P

eter Carlos Okantey ’06, ’09 is a visionary and an entrepreneur who is turning his dream of bringing new educational opportunities to the youth of his native Ghana into a reality.

Okantey is a graduate of Warner Pacific’s Adult Degree Program, where he earned both a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Art degree in Management and Organizational Leadership.

While still a student, Okantey founded the non-profit Naa Amerley Palm Education (NAPE) Foundation in 2006.

Through NAPE, Okantey wants to provide scholarships for Ghanaian students who are currently attending high schools and universities in Ghana, make on-line degree programs available in Ghana 18

The Experience

PHOTOS BY SCOTT A. THOMPSON

Each year, the WPC Alumni Council recognizes a select group of alumni for their contributions in the areas of service and ministry. Meet this year’s recipients.

SERVICE AWARD JAY BARBER ’64 President Emeritus Warner Pacific College

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MINISTRY AWARD ORLO ’55 & CAROL (TRUDGEON) KRETLOW ’55 Retired Church of God missionaries

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rlo ’55 and Carol (Trudgeon) Kretlow ’55 served as career missionaries with the Church of God. They spent 31 years ministering in Japan and one more year in Siberia.

Orlo and Carol met as freshman at Pacific Bible College in 1951 and married the following year. Both had learned of the school from their home churches in Minnesota and Washington, respectively.

Orlo, in particular, came because of the faculty.

“In my mind, they were the scholars of the Church of God and I wanted to study under them,” he said.

The Kretlows loved their time at PBC. They started a family, giving birth first to Bonita (Kretlow) Ray ’77, and then Patricia, two years later, and dreamed of serving overseas. However, the country was in a deep recession and funds for missionaries were hard to come by.

In 1956, the Kretlows moved to Anderson, Ind. so that Orlo could pursue a Master of Divinity degree at Anderson School of Theology. Upon graduating in 1959, he became the pastor of Slusser’s Chapel Church of God, in Blacksburg, Virginia, where he served for five years.

Finally, in 1964, the Kretlows jumped at an opportunity to become missionaries in Tokyo, Japan. After studying the lan-

guage for two years, the Kretlows planted the Nishi Kuni Tachi church in a suburb of Tokyo. They nurtured the congregation for ten years while their daughters finished their schooling.

The Kretlows devised creative ways to build relationships with the community – from offering free cooking and typing classes, to starting ski and tennis clubs.

“Evangelism isn’t very easy there – we would do many different things just to make contact,” Orlo said.

After ten years, the Kretlows started teaching English as a Second Language at Tamagawa Seigakuin, a Church of God Mission School in Tokyo for middle and high school girls. They stayed there for 21 years, while also continuing their pastoral work.

In 1995, as they were nearing retirement, the Kretlows accepted an invitation to spend one year as part of a group of 17 Church of God missionaries in Chelyabinsk, Siberia.

In 1996, they returned to the United States to retire in Vancouver, Wash. and attend First Church of God, where their friend Gerald Marvel was pastor. However, Pastor Marvel asked Orlo to serve as a pastor to seniors, which he did for ten more years. During that time, Orlo served on the Church of God’s National Task Force for Senior Adults, which encouraged churches to utilize the wisdom and experience of seniors in their congregations.

Finally, in 2005, the Kretlows fully retired – and are now as busy as ever with hobbies, such as golf and skiing, and being a regular part of the lives of their six grandchildren and eight greatgrandchildren.

Spring 2009

uring Jay Barber’s twelve years as President, Warner Pacific College built tremendous momentum.

Major achievements included retiring the college’s long-term debt, rejuvenating the Adult Degree program, initiating new building projects on campus, reviving Knight athletics, and seeing WP recognized as one of “US News and World Report’s” best colleges in the west.

Following his retirement in May 2008, Barber became the first Murdock Senior Fellow at the M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust, based in Vancouver, Wash. He will administer a training program that presents elementary concepts of fundraising / resource development to small and emerging not-for-profit organizations.

“I am responsible for selecting the applying organizations for the training, the faculty and all materials which are presented at the two day seminar held twice each year in Vancouver,” Barber said.

In addition, Barber is a “Pastor in Residence” at the New Hope Community Church, in Portland, working with

alumnus and senior pastor Ray Cotton ’73. He will preach regularly, and mentor younger staff.

Finally, Barber has accepted a Senior Consultant role with the newly established Church of God Foundation. Under the leadership of General Director Dr. Ronald Duncan, the Foundation’s goal is to raise a large enough endowment to underwrite the tuition costs of all Church of God young people who wish to attend a Church of God college or university. His role will be largely to train Foundation staff in major gifts fundraising, including planned giving and donor cultivation.

Barber, and his wife Jan, have relocated to Seaside, Ore. 19

CLASS NOTES

A NOTE FROM DANA

60’s Former WP professor Arthur ’65 and Judy (Winklepleck) Kelly ’62 were recently appointed Special Assignment Missionaries to be part of the Gateway Berlin Team. As soon as they raise their funds, they’ll be heading for a 2-3 year assignment.Arthur and Judy are also recently great-grandparents of a couple of beauties: Jaydyn and Kahliyah.

70’s For the past several years Darcy (Senft) ’76 and Reinhard Neufeld have been doing mission work in Romania (where their 2nd daughter was born in 1988) with the organization “Outstretched Hands of Romania.”

Jonathan Mayes ’78 has been promoted to Group Vice President, Government Relations with Safeway. Mayes joined Safeway in 1994 as a Senior Attorney.

He has a law degree from Willamette University College of Law and is also a trustee of Warner Pacific.

This last August, Neil Anderson ’79 ended his ministry after 10 years as senior pastor of the First Church of God in Owatonna, Minn. He now works for Cabela’s as a Club Card Outfitter. His wife, Deb (Moss) ’79 has worked for Cabela’s for 9 years and is currently a lead in the Inventory Dept.

80’s Lori (Nearing) Lindsay ’89 is the surgical services manager for Providence Milwaukie Hospital, in Milwaukie, Ore. Lori recently obtained her Master’s Degrees in Nursing and Health Care Administration.

Kiply (Prescott) ’89 and Robert Clair own and operate a British Labrador kennel, www.tallgrasskennels.com. Kipley also works at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Elementary School in De Smet, South Dakota where Laura Ingalls grew up.

A great alumni weekend, and new-look Alumni Council

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reat big thank you to all the alumni and friends who made 2009 Alumni Weekend last January so special.

Highlights include: Priceless expressions on the faces of alumni when they first stepped into our newly remodeled facilities, the performance of the alumni choir and orchestra during Chapel, and the uncanny personality of chapel speaker Fred Douglas ’78, who Dana McGuire challenged us to move beyond our spiritual Director of Alumni, comfort zones.

Church, and Parent On another note, we have expanded our Relations Alumni Council to include two representadmcguire tives from each decade, as well as graduates @warnerpacific.edu of our Adult Degree and master’s degree programs. Our council members desire to represent their decade as we purpose to enhance our communication, programs & services, financial support, and student connections. Allow me to introduce three of these members: Breanna (Agnor) Fischer ’03 received her Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy at Fuller Theological Seminary and currently works in Adolescent Therapy. In 2008, Breanna married Jason Fischer and enjoys being with Logan, her 5-year-old stepson. She desires to maintain a sense of community among those in the decade of 2000.

Garth Hamilton ’98 received his BA in Religion and Christian Ministry.

Along with his wife Kathy (Eason) ’98, Garth currently serves as the youth pastor at Aloha Church of God. Perhaps you have spotted Garth in an occasional television commercial or print ad. Garth encourages everyone from the decade of the 90’s to join Facebook and check out our Warner Pacific Alumni group.

Ruth (Hossler) Palmer ’66 represents the decade of the 60’s. Presently, Ruth serves at the Oregon and SW Washington Church of God District Office. Ruth desires to see the alumni from the 1960’s respond to the challenge and recruit prospective students and become avid donors in a season of life in which they are able to provide financial gifts.

11

ELEVENTH ANNUAL

G LF TOURNAMENT JUNE 16, 2009

LANGDON FARMS GOLF CLUB AURORA, OR

BE A PART OF THE ACTION! REGISTRATION / LUNCH 12 PM SHOTGUN START 1:45 PM

90’s

Info at 503.517-1114

Jeff Mudrow ’95 was recently hired as the head administrator of a Pre-K to 12th

Registration materials at wpcknights.com

Continued on pg. 22 20

The Warner Pacific Golf Tournament has raised over $250,000 in scholarships for student athletes

The Experience

ALUMNI PROFILES

Everyday Hero PHOTO COURTESY RHONA BRANT

Portland TV station honors ADP graduate Rhona Brant ’07 for her work with teenage mothers.

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s a youth development specialist with The Salvation Army White Shield Center, in NW Portland, Rhona Brant ’07 helps teenage mothers recovering from drug and alcohol abuse gain control of their lives. Last January, local television station KATU-Channel 2 honored Brant as an “Everyday Hero” with a news report about her work at the residential treatment facility, which serves young woman aged 12 to 18.

“I was a teen mom, myself,” said Brant, 39. “That’s why this job was such a perfect fit.”

White Shield provides clients a safe, structured environment where they can get clean and learn parenting and job skills. Brant overseas a volunteer mentorship program that allows teenaged clients to develop relationships with female role models in the community. Once matched, mentors and teenaged clients commit to meeting regularly for a year. Brant says the payoff can be pretty dramatic.

Rhona Brant ’07 (left) was interviewed by KATU-Channel 2 news reporter Steve Dunn last January as part of an “Everyday Hero” segment. Brant runs a mentorship program for teenage mothers with The Salvation Army White Shield Center, in Portland.

“Two hours can make all of the difference,” said Brant. “I’ve seen lives changed on a daily basis through volunteerism.”

Brant recruits women volunteers through various community and professional organizations like the Oregon Women’s Lawyer Assocation and Kiwanas, and will even advertise on Craigslist.

She says that, sadly, churches tend to be difficult places for her to find volunteers – a trend she would love to reverse.

“I know there are people in churches

Out of Harm’s Way - from page 6 Ingram doesn’t use labels like “juvenile delinquents” or “atrisk youth” when he describes his work because he feels such terms put too much responsibility on children. He prefers, instead, the term “disconnected youth,” because it points to the broader familial, educational, and socio-economic systems that

“It definitely helps me in my career, learning how people are wired, how we operate.”

- ADP student Rob Ingram ’09

should be sources of stability, but often are not. For its part, OYVP has provided a total of $800,000 in grants to a handful of outreach programs in the city over the last two years.

“If we say a youth is disconnected, at what point did we lose connection with them? Was it in kindergarten? Was it in third grade?” asked Ingram. “I’m looking [to help] the kid that isn’t getting into any trouble yet, that’s sitting there and trying to mind his own business, but has missed some key components in having a good, structured life.”

A matter of degree Ingram says people assume he has a college degree, given his position, but he worked a series of jobs instead during his twenties before landing at the Blazers Boys and Girls Club. He learned

who are willing,” said Brant. “The message isn’t getting through.”

Brant, the mother of four daughters aged 14 to 24, earned an associate’s degree in mental health and human services from Mt. Hood Community College before completing her bachelor’s degree in human development through WP’s Adult Degree Program in 2007.

“ADP was fantastic,” Brant said. “Being able to work full-time while maintaining a family. I appreciated it.”

about Warner Pacific through a number of alumni at his NE Portland church, The International Fellowship Family - in particular pastor Steven Holt ’91 and pastor-emeritus James Coleman ’61. Ingram enrolled in the Associate of Arts in Organizational Dynamics Program at WP in 2006 and continued on to pursue his bachelor’s of business administration, which he will finish later this fall.

Ingram believes his degree will give him even more credibility in his Ingram work. And as a father of five children who regularly works 50-60 hours a week, the one-night-a-week ADP schedule was Ingram’s best option.

“It definitely helps me in my career, learning how people are wired, how we operate,” said Ingram. “I’m excited to get to school because I’m going to learn something that will help me the next day, even if it’s just to motivate my coworkers.”

Positive example A sharp dresser, Ingram works hard to project a positive, professional image, particularly when he is back in his old neighborhood. He says the way he carries himself speaks volumes to youth in the inner city.

“I intentionally spend time in the community, dressed in professional attire, going about my business and making sure that the young kids are watching,” he said. “There is something to be said about young people seeing someone that looks like them presenting [himself] as a professional.”

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CLASS NOTES

IN MEMORIAM

Continued from pg. 20 grade Christian school in Klamath Falls, Ore. His wife, Teresa (Brawn) ’94 is teaching 5th grade at the school, as well.

Aimee and Bryon Palmer ’96 welcomed the birth of Caleb Wi l l i a m P a l m e r on November 7, 2008. Caleb was six pounds, seven ounces and measured 18.5 inches. Bryon works Caleb Palmer for A-Dec, Inc., a dental equipment manufacturer, and is also the worship leader at Newberg Church of God, in Newberg, Ore.

00’s Liz Lanej ’01 works on the Army base on Kwajalein Island, Marshall Islands – her home country – as an environmental scientist. She has a seven-year-old daughter.

Chris ’01 and Erika (Robertson) Trautman ’00 welcomed their first baby, Jackson Christopher Trautman, born July 9, 2008.

He weighed 7 Jackson Trautman pounds, 14 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. Erika is the daughter of Steve (Board member) and Judi (Gomes) Robertson ’70. Jackson’s aunts and uncles include Jeff ’99 and McKenzie (Teague) Trautman ’00. Erika works as the Associate Director of Enrollment at Warner Pacific where she has worked for nine years and Chris is a mortgage broker in Lake Oswego, Ore. The family lives in Happy Valley, Ore. Birdie Wermy ’06 is a Project Specialist with the Northwest Portland-Area Indian Health Board, a non-profit Native American Organization for which she has worked since graduating. Her current research project involves methamphetamine use among American Indians in the Northwest and has allowed her to work with researchers from Oregon Health and Science University.

Heather Phillips ’06 is currently pursuing a Master of Urban Studies with a Community Development emphasis at the school for social change at Eastern University in Philadelphia.

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Rev. Calvin Brallier ’50 Rev. Calvin Brallier ’50 died January 2, 2009. He was born July 25, 1925 and grew up in Sunnyside, Wash. Brallier and his wife, Marty (Cox) ’50, pastored a number of Church of God congregations in the U.S. and served as missionaries to Kenya from 1950 to 1962. After returning to the U.S. in 1962, Brallier started seminary while selling Fuller Brush products, working construction and other odd jobs. He later served as a pastor in six states.

Survivors include his wife, four children and nine grandchildren.

Willa Mae Dorsey ’64 Gospel singer Willa Mae Dorsey ’64 passed away January 5, 2009. She was born July 2, 1933, in Atlanta, Ga. As a young adult, Dorsey moved to Los Angeles for classical voice training before coming to Warner Pacific, where she further developed her own style of operatic gospel. Following graduation, Dorsey served as minister of music at a number of Portland-area churches.

She also became well-known after singing at many Billy Graham Crusades, and on her own weekly television show, “Joy in My Soul.” In 1968 she was nominated for a Grammy Award. Survivors include her son and caretaker William, a host of cousins, friends and many who admired her music.

Helmut Hintz ’67 Helmut Hintz ’67 died January 9, 2009 at his home in Puyallup, Wash. due to cancer. He was born on March 13, 1941 in the city of Chaminin, in Wartegau, Germany. He was part of a family of 12 that immigrated to Milwaukie, Wis. when he was 13 years old. He later attended Warner Pacific, where he met his wife Charlotte (Conrad) ’67. He worked as a carpenter, a German teacher, a tooling department manager, a retail stocker, and apartment manager. He is survived by his wife, four sisters, one brother, two daughters, and three grandchildren.

Dr. Darold H. Jones ’53 Dr. Darold H. Jones ’53 passed away December 4, 2008 at the age of 77. He was born in Seattle, Wash. on January 3, 1931. Darold met his wife, Joyce (Hinkle) ’54 at Pacific Bible College and they were married in 1951. Darold completed his Doctorate at LaJolla University, in California. He served as senior pastor of three congregations in Oregon and California during the next 14 years. In 1967, he founded Vacation Samaritans, later known as Samaritans, and led it for 37 years. The ministry took young people and adults into other countries to assist in short-term missions. Darold is survived by his wife, three adult children, including Chris Jones ’72 and Julianne (Jones) Wallace ’85, and seven grandchildren.

JoAnn (Shields) Tate ’70 JoAnn (Shields) Tate ’70 died December 20, 2008 in Arima, Trinidad shortly after returning from overseas travel. She was born November 24, 1947 and grew up in Grays Harbor, Wash. Early in their ministry career, JoAnn and her husband, Bob ’70, served for ten years as para-missionaries in Peru.

Tate most recently worked as a teacher and as registrar in the West Indies Theological College. She is survived by her husband, six children with their spouses, her parents, two brothers, and one sister.

Cheri (Jaeger) ’06 married Owen Davis on September 19, 2008 at Edgefield in Troutdale, Ore. Becky VanTine ’06 was one of the bridesmaids.

Kristen Anderson ’07 will complete her Master’s in Nursing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in May, and has been accepted into the university’s Ph.D. program. She hopes to teach nursing while also doing research.

The Experience

Last April, Adult Degree Program graduate Oscar Izaguirre ’08 joined the all-male barbershop chorus “The SenateAires,” based in Salem, Ore. The chorus is currently ranked 26th in the world out of 800 choruses in the Barbershop Harmony Society and will compete at the organization’s international convention in Anaheim, Cal. this summer. Visit the chorus’ website senateaires.org for more information.

FIRST PERSON

A walk with the presidents As a former college administrator battles cancer, he reflects on his time with those who led Warner Pacific through the decades.

BY BILL SHROUT

I

am beginning to learn my way around the halls of the Kaiser Interstate Oncology Center, in Portland. I walk its halls frequently, now that I’m a patient. After being diagnosed with adenocarcinoma cancer in my lower esophagus, a team of ten doctors prescribed three rounds of chemotherapy.

If treatment works, a difficult surgery is likely next.

As I walk the halls, I believe with all my heart that I am surrounded by the absolute promise of God’s presence, grace, peace, and healing hand. I am now traveling a new journey. As such, I have had some time to reflect on past journeys. Some of those thoughts raced back to my time on staff at Warner Pacific College, from 1965 to 1976.

When I first arrived at the college as the new business manager and treasurer, plans were in the works for moving the campus to California. In fact, I first visited the one hundred-acre gift parcel of land near San Jose before coming to Portland. The leadership of the college seemed very serious about moving.

After it was decided not to make the move, one of my first duties was to fly to the Bay Area and stop a loft full of architects from going forward.

Dr. Louis Gough had asked me to come to Warner Pacific and was the first president I worked for. I spent my first week in the city as a houseguest of Louis and his wife, Louise. He was a jolly sort of person with a hearty, deep laugh. I remember the breakfasts together, the evening bowl of apples along with a sharp paring knife for coring and cutting for those present (sometimes students and faculty). It was so homey, but in such elegant surroundings. That’s how it appeared to this Hoosier who was soon to obtain the “web-feet” of a true Oregonian.

When I came to Warner Pacific, the doors were in a closing mode. The phone rang and rang with vendors requesting payment of long past due accounts. I believe the unpaid vouchers would have made a stack more than eight feet tall. I could almost see the sheriff, hammer in hand, ready to nail the front door shut.

I debated whether should I go back to Indiana or stick it out.

Through much prayer, I decided to stay with it.

Next, I became acquainted with founding President Dr. Albert Gray while assisting him in the publishing of his autobiography, “Time and Tides on the Western Shore.” I remember his stately crown of hair. He taught a couple classes and had a small office on the first floor of Old Main, a large, forty-room building that at one time had been a sanitarium. I went to a dime store and purchased a small eight-by-ten inch mirror and mounted it by the door. Those distinguished locks would now be in place when he met with the class.

As I stood one day in the middle of 68th Avenue and watched the big bulldozer blade hit the porch post to Old Main when time came to tear it down, someone ran up the street shouting, “Dr. Gray just passed away!” It was like his heart had stopped beating at the sound of the huge bulldozer crashing into the object that had represented a good portion of his life’s work. I called “The Oregonian” newspaper and arranged an immediate interview right in the middle of 68th Avenue.

My memory of President Dr. Milo Chapman travels a different lane than the other five presidents. My wife, Julia ’68, and I had many great times with Milo and his wife, Maurinda. The Chapmans owned property on the Deschutes River in central

Oregon. We would park our travel trailer beside theirs, eating, playing games into the night and then fishing the next morning. Milo had the deepest but kindest voice that always left me confident that I had his attention and respect.

The greatest portion of my time spent at WPC was with President E. Joe Gilliam ’50. He saw to it that my title would include Administrative Vice President. E. Joe is truly a people’s person.

He has a great ability in and out of the pulpit to communicate, be it with hungry souls on a Sunday morning or with a Wall Street investor over a Wednesday lunch.

One time Joe and I went on a development trip to California in his car. I remember staying in a real Motel 6, for it cost just three bucks a piece. On that same trip, I had Joe stop the car so I could make a call from a public phone booth. After I made the first dialing maneuver, out came what seemed like a bucket full of coins rolling everywhere.

I quickly called the telephone operator and asked what I should do with the coins. Following the operator’s instructions,

With the health challenges that I now face, it is still my deepest desire to see Warner Pacific continue to further expand God’s Kingdom.

I started dropping them back into the coin slot. I can still hear E. Joe laughing as he watched me struggle. I think we might have discussed the possibility that God was trying to get involved in our search for funds. My, the memories we both have of those bygone days! E. Joe and I, in recent years, have become what we like to call each other’s best friend in this world.

Presidents Dr. Marshall Christensen ’65 and Dr. Jay Barber ’64 are also among my campus memories. Marshall and I were on Dr. Gilliam’s cabinet when he was the Academic Dean. Later, after Warner Pacific, I worked as his realtor. Having been a member of the Church of God’s National Council and the National Budget Committee for many years, I advised Marshall and Jay several times when they prepared to present the college’s budget at Anderson during their respective administrations. I remember sitting beside Jay at a large oblong table in Anderson, offering some assistance to this new college president, and noting that he had the only laptop in the crowd.

Serving at Warner Pacific was undoubtedly the most difficult and stressful assignment in my working career. With the health challenges that I now face, it is still my deepest desire to see Warner Pacific continue to further expand God’s Kingdom.

With what I know about our next president, Dr. Andrea Cook, this can be a reality. Most of all, I would not have missed that journey, “nestled on Mount Tabor’s bosom with glorious Hood in view,” for anything.

A former administrator at WP, Bill Shrout is retired. Visit his blog at www.billshrout.com to read more about his personal journey.

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ALUMNI WEEKEND 2009 HIGHLIGHTS

A host of activities welcomed alumni at the 2009 Alumni Weekend, Jan. 23 and 24. (Clockwise) Members of the alumni worship orchestra perform during the Saturday chapel; the 2009 Alumni Weekend court (L to R) Nate Chiles ’10, Jill Peoples ’10, Jordan Andrews ’12, Lauren Waymire ’09, Aaron Simons ’09, Queen Katie Doran ’09, King Conner Peckham ’09, Rebecca Bitz ’12, Jacque Barton ’09, Curt Lockard ’09, Kelsey Walton ’09, Zack Barron ’09, and JoAnna Dewey ’11 pose following the Jan. 23 coronation; Claude Kretlow ’53 receives a pin from Carol Hinrichs ’73 in honor of his induction into the Gold Torch Club for alumni who attended fifty or more years ago; the alumni worship choir sings; chapel speaker Fred Douglas ’78 expounds on Jesus’ parable of the talents. (Photos by Scott A. Thompson)