Joel Pierce:
A Man of Faith
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I knew Joel Pierce as a person on a journey. That journey has been cut short. It will not attain the quantity for which we had all hoped, but it possessed a quality which was remarkable. He demonstrated himself to be an artist, a profound disciple of Jesus Christ, a first-rate thinker, a tender companion and lover, and an authentic contributor to the Christian community here at Greenville College. Joel, his fiancee Janae Ferguson, and I all began our tenure together here at GC. I have seen them mature from naive freshmen to articulate seniors. As Joel's academic advisor, I saw him through 3 changes of majors, an intense internship experience, and several personal crises. Through all of this we became friends. Because of his friendship, my sense of loss is all the greater. In saving these paragraphs in my computer I came across a letter of recommendation I wrote for his music group Mustard Seed. Excerpts from this letter reflect most accurately who I think Joel was:
One of the courses Mr. Pierce took with me was "Philosophy of Youth Ministry." In that course, students were required to answer the question, "What drives and directs my ministry and how does it work itself out in program, practice and product?" Most students get that equation backwards. They know what program, practice and product they are interested in, but they have little appreciation of the reasons why they do what they do. With Joel nothing could be further from the truth. He has a deep sense of calling and a clear understanding that music is the medium and a relationship to Christ is the product. I have no reservations in endorsing the Christian ministry of this group. Today I affirm that I have no reservations in endorsing Joel Pierce as a man of deep faith, a courageous pursuer of God, and a person capable of extravagant love. May God bless his memory to this community. * This article originally appeared in a special issue of The Papyrus that came out the day after the fire. |