Reflections (October 1973)

Covenant College
PUBLISHED NINE MONTHS OF THE YEAR
BY THE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF
COVENANT COLLEGE, LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN
TENNESSEE 37350
OCTOBER 1973
THE
SCRIPTURAL
SUPPORT
by Dr. John M. L. Young,
Professor of Bible & Missions(*)
The first two stipulations of
Christ's last proclamation to his
apostles—to make disciples and to
build the church—are usually well
understood and accepted by evange¬
licals as a fundamental part of their
communal responsibility before God
(communal — community of be¬
lievers). But it is the responsibility
of Christ's third directive, the educa¬
tional one, that we have largely
missed. We are to teach all of
Christ's things, all for God, all in
His authority and name. This world
is God's ... He is its creator,
sustainer, redeemer ... He is the
one whose plan, government, and
values give it meaning. This know¬
ledge is the essential foundation for
true education; it calls for the kind
of teaching that points youth to view
(*)From 1938 to 1966 John M. L.
Young served as missionary to China
and Japan (except for the war years)
where he helped found Japan Chris¬
tian Theological Seminary. He joined
the Covenant faculty in 1967.
OF
BASIS
FOR
CHRISTIAN
COMMUNAL
EDUCATION
all their efforts, relationships, and
interpretations of phenomena in the
universe in terms of God and His
service. Only Christian education
can teach for such a perspective
. . . the view that Calvin described
as looking at the world through the
spectacles of Scripture.
Yet, when it comes to the educa¬
tion of our youth, too often evange¬
licals settle for the world doing the
large share of it ... to settle for
secular education by the world's
principles of interpretation and
values. Secular education offers dis¬
torted principles and values for a
materialistic-minded world in which
God is ignored (he who is not for me
is against me.) Christ has mandated
the community of believers to be
communally responsible for mis¬
sions, church building, AND educa¬
tion. When parents are blessed with
a son or daughter who answers God's
call to the mission field, we don't
expect the parents to supply all their
support. Many believers in a com¬
munal effort join in this task.
Similarly, Christian education is not
just the responsibility of parents with
children in the educational institu¬
tion. It is the communal responsi¬
bility of Christians of kindred faith.
The entire Christian community
(and God's world) profits from
Christian education graduates—they
make concerned citizens, better
officers in the church, better teach¬
ers, more knowledgeable servants in
works of Christian mercy such as
homes for unwed mothers, adoption
agencies, hospitals, schools for chil¬
dren with learning disabilities, and
similar works of Christian compas¬
sion.
Usually, the higher the level of
education, the higher the cost, and
this is readily apparent on the college
level. Covenant College wants to
make available its extraordinarily
valuable Christian education at a
moderate price ... to keep it in the
range of more students. But the
only way this can be done is for
more of our Christian community to
view the support of Covenant as part
of their response to Christ's stipula¬
tion to teach His disciples "to ob¬
serve all that I commanded you."
Covenant College needs a communal
response to God's Covenant require¬
ment for the Christian education of
his children.
THE COVENANTAL BASIS FOR SUP¬
PORT OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
One of the most misunderstood
doctrines of Scripture among evange¬
licals is that of the covenant. It is
one of the grand concepts of Scrip¬
ture. Frequently in the Old Testa¬
ment we hear God calling His people
to keep His covenant and promising
them that He will be their God and
they will be His people.
Covenant theology is misunder¬
stood when it is limited to infant
baptism. The great Baptist preacher,
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, was a
covenant theologian, but no one ever
heard of his baptizing infants! Many
compress Scripture's presentation of
the covenant or even put it out of
focus, when they think of it in exclu¬
sively soteriological terms ... as
if its entire purpose were for God's
salvation of man by grace. Actually,
God proclaims His covenant to His
own people in Scripture.
There are covenants in Scripture
and history which are simply agree¬
ments between parties—parity cove-
to men for life—in brief, that men
should be fruitful, subdue the earth,
and have dominion for God.
These stipulations are sometimes
called the 'cultural mandate' because
they point the way to man's cultural
life in the world. However, man's
acts had covenantal significance
only as they were done for God's
glory.
As a result of the fall, man lost
his desire to serve God in obedience
to His covenant. He became an
idolater; he substituted the glorifica¬
tion of his own power and sovereignty
. . . still the aim of the world's
leaders and educators. The Cove¬
nant of Life still stands, however, as
the original and unchanging declara¬
tion of God's mission to men. The
R new state of man's sinful rebellion
now had to be met with a new
extension to the covenant. This
extension was the provision for sav¬
ing grace, a way by which man could
be restored to God's fellowship and
i thereby begin the obedient fulfill¬
ment of the covenant's stipulations.
nants. Jacob's covenant with Laban This Good News, made possible
is an example. But the great divine through Christ the Redeemer, was
covenants referred to in covenant reiterated through various covenantal
theology are similar to the suzerainty proclamations, and with increasing
covenants of the ancient Near East revelations of the implications for
which precede even Abraham. These daily life, to Adam, Noah, Abraham,
are proclamations of the sovereign's Moses, David, and finally through
will which entail a binding of his Christ in the last covenantal presen¬
people to perform it, and a curse if tation, the New Covenant.
they do not.
The New Covenant, I believe, is
In my opinion, a divine covenant best set forth in Christ's last procla¬
is an arrangement proclaimed by the mation to His mission bearers—His
sovereign God of love in which He apostles—just as He prepared for
declares His will and binds His His ascension (recorded in Matthew
people to Himself, with promise, dur¬ 28:18-20). This New Covenant is the
ing particular administrations of His continuing Covenant of Life in the
gracious law. The Westminister final form our Lord wished to pro¬
catechisms speak of the first of these claim it. It passes on to us the
as the Covenant of Life, in which stipulations of the previous ones and
God proclaimed His covenant to adds the final commission for these
Adam before the fall; it involved all "last times". Its three stipulations
mankind. In that early revelation, are:
(1) Make disciples in all the
particularly Genesis 1:28, we are
world.
given the outline of God's mission
(2) Build His church through
baptizing of believers.
(3) Teach His Word with all its
implications.
This is certainly a model for the
missionary task, the missions man¬
date. But much more than that, it
sets before the church its total task.
As the last pronouncement of the
original Covenant of Life, and as the
mandate to teach all of Christ's
teaching, the New Covenant passes
on to us the cultural stipulations of
the Covenant of Life. The cultural
mandate and the missions mandate
are thus vitally related. The New
Covenant implements in this age of
sin the Covenant of Life, with its
statements of what God wanted from
man's life in this world. Christian
education in all its forms is a vital
means to that end . . . Christian
schools are the concern of all
Christians.
Where Does Your
Gift To Covenant
College Go!!
MR. DON DARLING
Director of Development
Many donors and prospective
donors ask me, "Where does or
where will my gift to Covenant Col¬
lege go and what will it do?" In good
scholastic fashion, I normally an¬
swer, "Where, or for what, do you
want it to go??"—to build a building,
to aid a student, for a special project
such as the writing of a book, to
assist the Christian Service Council
to buy a bus, etc., etc. Every desig¬
nated gift is put directly to the pur¬
pose for which it is designted. The
undesignated or general gifts go to
make up the difference between
actual cost of education and what
Covenant College charges the stu¬
dent.
No matter how one views his gift,
if he is realistic, all gifts to Covenant
College are not to an institution as
such. As an institution, we exist by
and for one purpose: The education
of youth in a Christian manner. Every
building built, every teacher hired,
every book bought is for the benefit
of one person: the student. Thus,
when we reduce the question "Where
does my dollar given to Covenant
College go" to it's simplest form the
answer can be given in two words:
STUDENT AID
We approach the need for student
aid from a general and specific need
aspect. Let me explain what I mean.
By a "general need" I mean that we
have to raise $446,000 in gifts and
grants this year. With 480 students
this means that we could raise
tuition and fees by $900 + dollars
for each student to cover the actual
cost of an education at Covenant.
Instead, we ask donors like yourself
to help these young men and women
pay this balance. This means that
if each reader of this article will
pledge $5.00 per month for 12
months (there are about 7,000
copies mailed each month) that this
"general need" for student aid would
be met.
Now let's examine the "specific
need" aspect for student aid. In
doing some research for President
Barnes, I was surprised to find that
we give $220,000 per year in
"direct" aid or scholarships. Some¬
times this aid takes the form of an
opportunity to work. At other times
the aid is the traditional scholarship.
$92,000 of this aid comes right out
of our budget! ! This year with the
job market low and scholarship
money unavilable from other
sources, we had to add another
$29,000 in aid to our already
stretched out budget.
Dollar statistics such as we have
been discussing can be confusing.
Let's come back to basics. Your
much-needed, regular financial sup¬
port ultimately goes directly to aid
one person:
THE STUDENT
The gifts and pledges received
between now and January 1st de¬
termine to a great extent next year's
student aid in all forms. We're not
asking you to give to Covenant Col¬
lege, first of all we're asking you to
give to a STUDENT.
From the President's Desk
STUDENT AID AT COVENANT COLLEGE
Student aid may be considered either as a gift or as an
investment. The former may be defined as something trans¬
ferred from one person to another without compensation. The
latter may be considered as an outlay of money for income or for
profit.
We believe the student aid at Covenant College is primarily an
investment. It is an investment in the lives of Christian young
people that will continue to pay dividends for years to come.
Society will be strengthened by their industry and integrity and
the church will profit by their loyalty and devotion. The donor will
derive the immense satisfaction from having invested in a most
worthy cause.
Insofar as each student receiving aid at Covenant College
attempts to apply the college's motto "that in all things Christ
might have the pre-eminence", student aid with the proper
motives and recognition of this spiritual dimension becomes a
form of worship. It advances the cause of the Kingdom of Christ
in a very real and definite way. It is interesting to note that Jesus
said concerning those who had aided his followers, "Inasmuch as
ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethern, ye
have done it unto me."
MarioiY D. Barnes
Yes, I d like to be a part of the student aid program at
Covenant College By God's help I'll give: . $1,000—the cost
of maintaining a student above tuition and fees.
- -$500 _ $250 . -$100 _ $50 __$25 _$10 „$5 _Single
Gift —Quarterly Gift
Monthly Gift.
NAME
STREET OR R.F.D._
CITY
STATE
ZIP CODE.
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student
organizations
jp
report
Student Council
Andy Shaw, President
Led this year by senior Andy
Shaw, the Student Council is striv¬
ing to rethink its reasons for being
and to be more than just busy. Mr.
Shaw expresses a desire to reclaim
student govern¬
ment — and po¬
tentially all of
government —
for the glory of
God.
To bring this
desire to reality,
the Council func¬
tions in several
ways. It serves,
in Mr. Shaw's words, "to facilitate
communication between students
and students, and between students
and administration and faculty."
Secondly, it serves "to facilitate the
handling and organizing of all
opinion and projects by students,"
and to provide educational oppor¬
tunities for students in addition to
those provided by the regular curri¬
culum. Thirdly, it serves "to pro¬
voke (in the sense of provoking one
another to good works) the students
and administration to Christian distinctiveness and excellence." In
carrying out these functions the
Council strives to be a service to
others and to be good stewards of
their office as the governing body of
the Student Association.
The activities of the Council are
quite varied. Mr. Shaw is especially
eager for the Council to stimulate
discussion by sponsoring special
speakers and panel discussions and
to give more than ordinary support
to the activities of the Christian
Service Council and the Cultural
Affairs Committee. As the body re¬
sponsible for administering the stu¬
dent activity fee, the Council sup¬
ports these groups, as well as the
Social Committee, the classes, and
various clubs, with funds. Other
responsibilities include overseeing
the Student Lounge and its facilities,
electing student representatives to
certain faculty committees, and ad¬
ministering the John Sanderson
Scholarship Fund.
As president of the 20-member
Student Council, Andy Shaw finds
himself too busy to be involved in
all the other activities he would like
to keep up with. He has been a
member of the college Chorale and
the pep band. He has also played
basketball for the Scots and hopes
to play again this year. He is major¬
ing in natural sciences with a physics
emphasis; after graduation he is
thinking of a teaching career, pos¬
sibly with a year of seminary train¬
ing, or of pursuing his interest in
government and politics. Mr. Shaw
came to Covenant from Elgin, Illinois;
his family recently moved to St.
Louis, where his father works as the
business manager of Covenant Semi¬
nary.
Christian Service Council
Will Barker, President
The Christian Service Council,
headed by junior Will Barker, a Bible
major from St. Louis, states its pur¬
pose as follows: "to provide for the
students at Covenant College a
means of com¬
munally expres¬
sing their faith in
Jesus Christ, by
organizing com¬
mon meetings for
prayer and wor¬
ship, and by pre¬
senting modes of
on an(
''
"
^ off-camS mMi pus evangelism."
The council implements this pur¬
pose in various practical ways.
Groups of students regularly visit the
Bachman Home, for children, and
the St. Barnabas Home, for the
elderly, in Chattanooga. Two stu¬
dents are now visiting the jail in
Trenton, Ga., and it is hoped that a
similar arrangement can be worked
out at the Hamilton Co., Tenn., jail.
Contacts have been made at the
Hamilton County Retention Center
and the Chambliss Home, and the
council is trying to devise ways of
reaching the delinquent or maltreat¬
ed children in these places.
Members of the group also pro¬
vide help at the inner city mission
sponsored by the First Reformed
Presbyterian Church of Lookout
Mountain, both at Sunday services
and during the week. A Bible study
for children is underway again at the
Fairyland School on Lookout Moun¬
tain; the CSC wants to start another
group at the Gillan School south of
the college.
Besides serving as chairman of
the CSC, Mr. Barker sings in the
college Chorale, plays the trombone
in various musical groups, and runs
on the cross-country team. When
his studies at Covenant are com¬
pleted, he hopes to enter seminary.
Proto-ministerial Club
Ken Counts, President
The Proto-ministerial Club is a
group of students interested in find¬
ing out about different aspects of
the Christian ministry. It is not, as
its president,
Kenneth Counts,
pointed out, a pre-seminary club,
even though
nmany members
plan to attend
seminary. It
exists to help
members find
"creative ways to
serve," as he put
it, and the word
"proto" signifies
the first step in
this search.
The group meets every two weeks
for supper and a time of prayer;
right now the meetings are focused
mainly on finding ways to serve or
minister as Covenant students. In
the past, some members have sup¬
plied local pulpits when requested to
do so, and they will be glad to do so
again. Others have worked with
church youth groups. The emphasis
in the past has been mainly on the
church, but the club also wants to
find out about other kinds of mini¬
stries, such as teaching or the
chaplaincy.
The club expects to hear from
representatives of various seminaries
during the year, and they hope to
hold a weekend retreat in the North
Carolina wilds. They also maintain
a tape library of sermons by noted
evangelical preachers; this and a
collection of seminary catalogs are
housed in the college's Kresge
Library.
Mr. Counts, a junior from Mont¬
gomery, Alabama, is majoring in
history and thinking of attending
seminary after graduating. He also
serves as president of the junior
class.
Drama Club
Randy Carroll, President pro-tem
The Covenant College Drama Club
currently plans two major efforts this
year, a production of Macbeth to be
directed by Bob Smyth in the spring
semester and a
presentation of
three one-act
comedies on
j November 17, to
I be directed by
Randy Carroll.
The production
of the comedies
is part of Mr.
Carroll's project
in the senior course, Philosophy of
the Christian Faith. He hopes to find
a Christian approach to humor and
so to discover how a Christian can
use humor to God's glory. As part of
this project he is writing one of the
three plays to be staged.
His presentation should relate well
to the general goals of the Drama
Club, which include, in Mr. Carroll's
words, "using some of the talents
that God has given several students
in this form of art expression" and
"confronting the rest of the student
body with the theatre and a Christian
philosophy of theatre." The club,
which relies almost exclusively on
student talents for acting and pro¬
ducing plays, also serves to give the
participants practical experience in
the theatre and to provide entertain¬
ment and intellectual stimulation for
the rest of the college community. A
long-range goal of the club is to have
a real stage to work with; they
presently use improvised facilities in
the Great Hall, the main dining room
on campus. Randy expressed thank¬
fulness that the planned chapel-fine
arts building will bring this hope
closer to reality.
Mr. Carroll, a senior biology major
from Colorado Springs, served as
president pro-tem and got the club's
activities started. Gary Worley was
recently elected president for the
year.
Student Missions Fellowship
Prudence Vagt, President
The Student Missions Fellowship
has two main goals; to educate its
members about opportunities for
missionary service here and abroad
and prepare them for such service,
and to support
■HH present missionaries
prayer
after learning
about their needs
and opportunities. As Prudence
Vagt, president
of the group,
noted, "The thing
that struck me
and other members the most was our
ignorance about the fields," and she
believes that the members need to
learn all they can to prepare them¬
selves and pray for others intelligent¬
ly. She added, "God can use us
better if we're prepared to be used."
To carry out its goals the SMF
undertakes several kinds of activities.
The whole group meets once a week
to hear from students or professors
who have had experience on a mis¬
sion field or from guest speakers
representing different fields or mis¬
sion boards. The larger fellowship
is also divided into smaller prayer
groups which meet once a week.
Presently there are five such groups,
each one praying for the missions
in a different geographical area. The
SMF hopes to begin writing letters
of encouragement to various mis¬
sionaries and to carry on a fundraising project to support some par¬
ticular mission yet to be chosen.
In addition to serving as president
of the SMF, Miss Vagt is active in a
number of other campus organiza¬
tions—the Music Club, the Christian
Service Council, and the chamber
orchestra. A gifted violinist, she is
a member of the college's string
trio, which toured the Midwest last
spring. She is a junior from Owatonna, Minnesota, majoring in music
education and minoring in Bible, and
willing to use her training wherever
she may be led after graduation.
Cultural Affairs Committee
Gary Worley, President
Under the chairmanship of Gary
Worley, a senior from Bolivar, Ten¬
nessee, this year's Cultural Affairs
Committee is planning a series of
varied presentations emphasizing
aspects of our
own culture,
especially ones
that the student
body often does
not see and
should see, the
committee be¬
lieves. In making
this emphasis
Mr. Worley and
the committee are trying to help
Christian students prepare them¬
selves to relate to and confront the
culture that surrounds them.
Films make up one part of these
presentations. The committee has
already sponsored an evening of
short films, and it is planning to
offer a series of American films
second semester.
In the fall
semester it plans to show The East
Is Red, a filmed version of the operaballet production that President
Nixson saw in China, and, in con¬
junction with the History Club, a
German propaganda film made in
1938. Both of these reveal the film
as propaganda; Mr. Worley also
intends to help students reach a
better understanding of the film as
an art form with certain technical
requirements.
The CAC will also sponsor a
number of musical groups. Sched¬
uled for first semester are the
Preservation Hall Jazz Band, a group
of six black musicians, all over 60,
who were connected with the begin¬
nings of jazz, and the Wheaton
Chamber Ensemble, which will pre¬
sent a pre-Christmas concert.
Mr. Worley is an inter-disciplinary
major who plans to go into elemen¬
tary teaching. He has been very
active in the Drama Club and is that
group's new president. He has
written for all three student publica¬
tions and has served on the Student
Council.
Why would a Californian attending
a Christian college in her home state
leave after two years and transfer
to Covenant College on Lookout
Mountain? Liz Knowles, a junior
English major from Long Beach, has
several answers to this question. She
heard good things about Covenant
from friends who were enrolled here,
especially about its distinctive Chris¬
tian educational philosophy. She
was not entirely satisfied with the
college she was attending, though
she blames herself as much as the
college for her unhappiness. As a
member of an Orthodox Presbyterian
church, she had heard the college
recommended, and she liked the idea
of a new place different from home.
Since beginning at Covenant, Miss
Knowles has found other reasons for
liking the college. She likes the size
of the college (she had wondered if
it would be too small) and finds it
like a little community. She likes
having professors who learn her
name early in the semester, and she
believes that the teachers here get to
know the students more than they
Not too many college freshmen
enter a college which they've never
seen and where they don't know
anyone, but that's what Gordon
Simmons did. A 1973 graduate of
Amarillo (Tex.) High School, Gordon
was—and is—interested in prepar¬
ing for Westminster Seminary. A
friend of a friend recommended
Covenant to him for this purpose,
and this secondhand introduction to
the college led him to find out more.
He wasn't really sure he should
attend Covenant, however, until the
course of events convinced him that
it was God's will for him to come
here. The cost at first stymied him;
even after taking out a loan, he still
lacked a substantial portion of the
first year's expenses. Two days after
he made this discovery, he heard
from the college that he had received
a Brown Foundation scholarship, and
the amount came to fifty dollars
more than the sum he lacked. As
Gordon commented about his coming
to Covenant, "It all just sort of
happened and fell together, and I
thank the Lord."
Now that he's here on the moun¬
tain, Mr. Simmons is impressed by
three things at Covenant: the
generally high academic level, the
small size of the college, and its
orientation to the Presbyterian faith.
He finds the faculty well qualified,
with a relatively large number of
doctoral degrees from well-known
graduate schools. He finds his
courses challenging and interesting;
he mentioned especially Foundations
of Modern Culture, Introduction to
Philosophy, and Pentateuch. He also
finds great intellectual stimulation
outside of classes, and has enjoyed
some long discussions with his room¬
mates.
Gordon appreciates Covenant's
size. He doesn't feel lost in "a
monolithic organization" but finds
the faculty quite accessible. He be¬
lieves that it's easier for the average
student to get involved in the life of
the college, and he favors the per¬
sonal quality of college life here.
As a philosophy major and pros¬
pective Presbyterian minister, he
also appreciates Covenant's love for,
and emphasis on, the Reformed faith
and the Presbyterian tradition. This
orientation, he believes, has some¬
thing to do with the friendliness of
the students at the college, and he
is looking forward to his four years
of pre-seminary training in this en¬
vironment.
Covenant's 1973 soccer season
began with identical 2-0 victories
over the Nashville Internationals (a
scrimage) and Athens College. Next
on the schedule was the St. Bernard
College Invitational Tournament in
Cullman, Alabama. Here the Scots
finished second, posting an 8-0 win
over Athens College but losing to St.
Bernard 0-6 in the championship
game. Bryan College was the fourth
team in the tourney.
When asked about the first Athens
win in relation to over-all offensive
and defensive play, head coach Walt
Bowman replied, "The offense was
good but needs greater consistency.
Defensively, we were not really
tested." The St. Bernard game did
test the defense, though it is worth
noting that the Scots held their
opponents to two goals for the first
70 minutes.
In commenting about this season's
beginning in relation to his expecta¬
tions, Coach Bowman said, "This
year's players actively seek to serve
the Lord through the medium of
soccer. Their attitude and response
is unparalleled according to previous
standards. This year is fun, exciting,
and beyond expectation. It has to
be of the Lord."
First-year players cited by Bow¬
man were Andy Belz and Wylie Ragsdale, whose play has "pleasantly
surprised" him. He is also happy
with the improvement being shown
by Al Bloem, Phil Barnes, and Brad
Gruner.
The coach won't commit himself
to picking out the pivotal game of the
season, but he expects that the
games with Campbell College, St.
Bernard, and Emory University will
be the highlights of the season.
LIZ KNOWLES GORDON SIMMONS
what students are saying about
COVENANT COLLEGE
did at the larger college she used to
attend.
She is also "really impressed"
with students at Covenant. They
really discuss ideas in class, and this
participation, she finds, is motivating
her to keep up with the reading in
her courses so that she can know
what's going on and participate in
the discussions.
Finally, she has found that there
is in fact a definite philosophy of
Christian education here. She dis¬
covers this coming out in "little
ways" — such as the way some
Biblical teachings were used at the
beginning of the English language
course to provide a context for the
study of the language—and in big
ways. She is particularly interested
in Mrs. Steensma's whole approach
to education in the Principles of
Teaching class, and she is excited
about getting a Christian perspective
on teaching as she prepares to be¬
come a high school teacher.
introduced the new students to fav¬
orite hymns from the Trinity Hymnal.
Dr. John Sanderson, professor of
philosophy, concluded the activities
with a talk on "troubles," the
certainty that they will come, and
the ways to deal with them by trust¬
ing the Lord.
On the evening of September 8,
Covenant's faculty members opened
their homes to entertain new stu¬
dents on campus, both freshmen and
transfer students. According to Mrs.
Collyn Schmidt, associate dean of
students and coordinator for the
evening, about 220 students received
invitations; some returning students
were also involved in helping various
professors at their homes.
The annual all-school outing, tra¬
ditionally held between the end of
registration and the first day of
class, became this year an all-school
"in-ing." Instead of going away to
a camp or retreat center, students
had a chance to become better
acquainted with the Chattanooga
area and with one another on
campus.
On Friday night, August 24, four
very full buses took students to a
major shopping center in the city,
where they had several hours to
explore the shops and buy what they
needed.
Saturday morning brought a soc¬
cer scrimmage with the Ben Hill
Soccer Club from Atlanta, the 1972
amateur champions in that city.
Covenant supporters cheered their
team to a 1-0 victory.
After lunch, many students joined
in a huge game of capture the flag,
which gave a good opportunity for
interaction in a large group. A picnic
supper followed, and then a hymnsing in which the returning students
:
j
He feels that Evangelical Chris¬
tians have been inclined to regard
only man's soul and to pass over
other, equally important phases of
his person.
He says that those who say art is
forbidden by Scripture use the ten
commandments as proof, quoting the
statement "Thou shalt not make
unto thee a graven image or likeness
The 1973 Summer Conference of anything" etc., but leaving out an
season consisted of twelve confer¬ important part of this passage,
ences, including the R.P.C.E.S. namely "Thou shalt not bow down to
Synod, 4-H, Inter-Varsity, 2 Family them" etc. In other words he thinks
Planning OB-Gyn groups from Emory the Lord forbids these things as idols
University, the Hosten Annual United but does not disapprove of them in
Methodist, American Federation of proper use.
Teachers, Believers Bible, Covenan¬
To prove his theory he tells of
ters, CBMC, Wales Goebel Ministry, God's giving Moses specific instruc¬
and the Student Summer Internship tions about the tabernacle. He was
from Emory University. Our smallest to gather gold, silver, fine cloth, fine
group was Family Planning, which wood, gems, etc. Then God gives
consisted of 15 people and our Moses orders to make articles of
largest group was CBMC with 436. these materials according to all he
At the present time we have dates is shown. That is, God gave the
confirmed for two conferences in pattern which he would not have
1974 and dates confirmed for three done if the things themselves were
conferences in 1975.
evil. Many of these articles were
The conference staff had many actually works of art—cherubim of
varied duties this year which con¬ gold, candlesticks and other elabor¬
sisted of working the switchboard, ate items.
operating the conference desk, trans¬
The author also tells of the temple
portation, and at times helping out which was built and fashioned to
in housekeeping. The staff consisted God's plan, not man's. Solomon was
of Ginger Ellis, Darrell Stewart, to garnish the house with precious
Margaret Noe, and Emily Boyd. stones for beauty, not for use, show¬
Woody Brauer was supervisor of the ing that God does not disapprove of
housekeeping department. The work beautiful things in their proper place.
put forth by all of these people has We are told of bas relief, gold inlay
been very much appreciated by and other features strictly for beauty.
Covenant.
In these instances art was concerned
Summer conferences are vitally with the worship of God, but Schaef¬
important to Covenant. Without the fer also reminds us of the secular
conferences, tuition would have to art of Solomon's time. His throne
be raised by approximately $40.00 is described as of ivory and gold and
per year per student.
guarded by lions. We are not sure
If you know of organizations seek¬ whether these were alive or cast
ing facilities for retreats or confer¬ metal.
ences, please forward these names
We are told of other art forms
to Mr. Jay Lykins, Conference such as poetry and music in which
Director of Covenant College.
David excelled. Drama and the
dance are also mentioned. In their
proper place all these are approved.
Our staff requested Mrs. Rosalind
Dr. Schaeffer speaks also of
Ewing Martin, a friend of Covenant modern art forms stressing that they
College in Chattanooga, Tennessee, also may be used to glorify God, but
to give us her perceptions of the are not to be worshipped in them¬
new, exciting and highly recom¬ selves.
mended pamphlet "Art and the
The author concludes with an
Bible", Francis A. Schaeffer, Inter- admonition that the true Christian's
varsity Press for L'Abri Fellowship. life should be a work of art. He feels
Following is her summary:
that even those who have no talent
"In this pamphlet Dr. Schaeffer, in writing, composing or designing
who has an interest in art as well as can yet create a work of art, if their
religion, has given us an interesting life is a thing of truth and beauty, to
account of art in the Bible.
inspire a lost and despairing world."