Why Wesleyan? - West Virginia Wesleyan College

campus is home to the Annual Conferencesession, the Summer Youth Celebrationand the School of Christian Missions.A sixth link is the partnership thatWesleyan has with the General Board ofHigher Education and Ministry (UMC).This agency makes available technicalresources, scholarship aid and someoccasional financial assistance.Wesleyan also matters as a church-relatedcollege because Wesleyan strives tomaintain certain ethical values, whileproviding a context in which students candevelop and thrive as responsible humanbeings. Wesleyan’s Christian heritage hasinstilled certain universal values in theWesleyan culture that enrich the quality ofthe educational experience. This heritagehas fostered an environment of inclusionfor all students and a campus communitythat reflects our human diversity.The partner relationship that Wesleyanenjoys as a church-related institution isenhanced by contributions that Wesleyanmakes to the Church. NumerousWesleyan graduates have entered intosome form of a church-related vocation.Included in this number are numerouslocal church pastors, Christian educatorsand a few United Methodist bishops.Wesleyan faculty members, over theyears, have resourced church sponsoredprograms, events, conferences andseminars. Wesleyan students often serveas volunteers in nearby church missionprojects.In this post-modern world, we see thatmany formerly church-related collegeshave severed their relationship with theinstitution that gave them birth. On theother hand, those institutions that havemaintained an active working relationshipwith the mother institution have benefitedfrom this partnership in intangible ways.West Virginia Wesleyan is such a beneficiary,as illustrated above and born out in itscurrent history. We celebrate oursignificant relationship.About the AuthorErnest S. Lyght is resident bishopof the West Virginia Area, TheUnited Methodist Church, andan ex officio voting member ofthe West Virginia Wesleyan Boardof Trustees. He is a graduate ofMorgan State University, DrewUniversity and PrincetonTheological Seminary. BishopLyght resides in Charleston, WVwith his wife Eleanor.Orange & Black… and Green?submission deadlineCalling all alumni toFebruary 11, 2011“Preaching Green:A Sustainability Sermon Challenge!”Chett Pritchett ’99, lay leader of DumbartonUnited Methodist Church in Washington,DC was the top finalist in the 2010 SermonChallenge. He gave his sermon “Sustainedby Faith” during Wesleyan’s weekly chapelservice on Tuesday, April 20, 2010. A talk-backwith students, faculty and staff followed atlunchtime in the French A. See Dining Center.Wesleyan’s Dean of the Chapel, The Rev. Angela Gay Kinkead ’79, has again issued a callfor sermons exploring a religious understanding of our place in creation. The contest is opento all West Virginia Wesleyan alumni, laypersons and clergy, of any denomination or religiousaffiliation. Complete guidelines are available at www.wvwc.edu/campus/chapel/.Sermons are judged by a panel of Wesleyan students, alumni, faculty and staff. All finalistsand winning sermons will be placed on the Chapel’s website at the end of March, 2011, intime to inspire pastors as they prepare their own Earth Sunday sermons. A list of all alumnisubmitting sermons to the challenge will be listed.Books on the subject of ecological sustainability and care of God’s creation will bedonated to the Annie Merner Pfeiffer Library in the name of each finalist. If possible, theauthor of the winning entry will be invited to preach during Wesleyan’s weekly chapelservice in mid-April 2011.Alumni are asked to submit their entries electronically as an email attachment(Microsoft Word) to wesleychapel@wvwc.edu. Submission deadline is February 11, 2011.SUMMER/FALL 2010 SUNDIAL 9