THE RECORD Online

Spring 2002

The President's Column

As the last notes of the final number echoed through St. Paul’s Cathedral last month, I raced up the circular stairs to the base of the cupola. I wanted to capture the sound and sight of the Greenville College Choir concert indelibly on my memory and on video. As the encore was sung, my heart and spirit were lifted as I feasted on the magnificence of the music and the view.

Those who had imagined and labored with patient discipline to build that magnificent church did so to the glory of God. But no less creative and no less disciplined were the Greenville College students who had prepared for so long and with such effort and skill to worship our Lord on this occasion. It was a stretch for this 50-year-old to hear it from above, but well worth the effort.

Over the following few days I heard our choir sing again in Oxford at the University Church, heart and soul of the oldest English speaking institution of higher education in the world. I was struck by the triple connection to our Greenville mission. Cardinal Newman, perhaps history’s most eloquent defender of liberal arts, captivated audiences preaching in this church in the early 19th century. How fitting it was that our students should sing here.

John Wesley also preached there and lived only yards away while founding our Methodist movement. He was passionate about both of the key distinctive elements of our mission. He was a man of deep personal character rooted in an inner life of personal piety and holiness. But he was also a man who served others by profoundly and pervasively transforming the entire culture of 18th century England.

Again how fitting it was that our students should sing in that place. But finally, on another pillar in that place, a platform marked the spot where Bishop Cranmer was accused of heresy on March 21, 1556, and when he refused to submit, was led outside to be burned for his stand. I couldn’t help wonder if I or any our students that day fully understood what it means to truly be educated for character and service after the fashion of these who have gone before.

But I am convinced that for over 110 years (since the founding of the college), music at Greenville College has played a substantial role in our commitment to education for character and service. Sitting yesterday in the mountains of California with a 92-year-old alumna of the choir and music program, I heard her tell how GC had transformed her from an Alaskan-born primitive to the author, businesswoman, world-traveler, and mother she became. The stories she shared of her own life and those of her children made it plain that she and her children had learned to live with integrity and serve with sacrifice.

Music is part of the warp and woof of Greenville College. Whether you focus attention on our wonderful choir, chronicled in the newly published history Ye Shall Have A Song, or on the accomplishments of our students in contemporary Christian music, GC is infused with music. Last May we celebrated the impact our music students have had honoring Grammy-winning CCM group Jars of Clay with honorary degrees. But within weeks, yet another of our groups, For All the Drifters, captured the prestigious Gospel Music Association award in Colorado proving that good CCM is not an accident at Greenville.

National recognition has brought students from all over the country as major figures in the business have singled out Greenville as “THE place to study CCM.” The number of majors has increased over 50 students, bringing our current total majors to 170 in the past two years. With three outstanding new faculty members joining those already here, the department is bursting at the seams. New space for practice rooms and a keyboard laboratory have been carved out, and new space has been reallocated to the laboratory bands for rehearsal.

Additional funds have been budgeted for next year to replace a number of part-time faculty with a new full-time position. And of course a cornerstone piece of the upcoming comprehensive campaign is our passion to acquire the Free Methodist church as a new home for the growing music department.

George Barna told me this week that music is among the top FIVE factors shaping perspectives in culture today. I am grateful to God that music at Greenville College has for over a century shaped our thinking in the image of Christ.

Last updated: March 19, 2002