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Chaplain Candidates Visit Campus
by Carissa Rice
The Rev. Glenn Graves (MHC '70)
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Four candidates for the position of Mars Hill College Chaplain were on campus during the last two weeks of April.
The Rev. Glenn Graves visited April 21-22, and the Rev. Daniel Terry came April 22-23.
The remaining two candidates visited a week later, with the Rev. Dr. Herbert Strange coming April 28-29, and the Rev. Dr. Stephen Hearne visiting April 29-30.
According to the website created by the Chaplain Search Committee, the chaplain of the college will be responsible for religious programs, counseling, teaching and church relations. The chaplain will be a faculty member without tenure, will work year round, and will fulfill other duties such as planning for Crossroads services and coordinating the Campus Ministry program.
The Rev. Daniel Terry and wife at Christian Student Movement supper.
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The four finalists were chosen by the Search Committee, headed by Assistant Professor of Religion Dr. Marc Mullinax, and were narrowed from 52 original candidates. The committee tested all candidates primarily by each individual's ability to succeed in Campus Ministry programming, as well as by counseling ability, church relations, and teaching ability.
"These four (final candidates) have the unqualified support of the Search Committee as persons who know Mars Hill, and love its Mission and what it stands for," said Mullinax in a global e-mail to all MHC students and faculty.
Graves graduated from Mars Hill College in 1970 and graduated from Southeastern Baptist Theological seminary seven years later. He received further education at a Spanish Language School in Costa Rica. He is now pastor of First Baptist Church of Gretna, Va. His son, Brian Graves, recently graduated from MHC and his daughter Jennifer Graves is a current Mars Hill student. "The Search Committee was impressed by Glenn's ability to reflect deeply on his faith in an academic atmosphere," said Mullinax.
The Rev. Dr. Herbert Strange with his wife
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Terry is a 1994 graduate of Baylor University. He graduated magna cum laude from the Truett Theological School at Baylor in 1998. He received his M.A. in Pastoral Care and Counseling from Wake Forest University in 2000, and is currently the Interim Pastor of a United Church of Christ in Winston-Salem. Mullinax said that Terry "seemed to fit what Mars Hill has historically been about."
Strange recently retired from a chaplain position in the U.S. Army. He earned his B.A. from Furman University in 1968, a Master of Divinity from Southeastern Seminary in 1976; a Master of Theology from Duke's Divinity School in 1990, and a Ph.D. with Old Testament concentration from England's University of Exeter in 1979. Mullinax and the Search Committee liked his ability to separate the "wheat from chaff" through his spiritual, educational, military, and church experiences.
The Rev. Dr. Stephen Hearne
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Dr. Steve Hearne is a 1976 Elon College graduate. He received his Master of Divinity from Southeastern Seminary in 1979 and in 1981 he was granted a Master of Theology from the same institution. He later received his doctorate in ministry from Erskine Theological Seminary in 1996. He has written articles in different journals, and he now acts as a chaplain resident in the Greenville, SC Hospital System. Mullinax said the search committee was "excited by Steve's "deep, wide experience that he'd bring to campus."
The search for the new chaplain of Mars Hill College began in February, a few months after the controversial decision by Interim President Dan Lunsford to do away with the position of campus minister for one year to reduce costs and help the school balance the budget. But now, MHC looks to the future as the four final candidates visit with students and faculty on campus during the next two weeks.
"The Search Committee is proud to offer these four persons (final candidates) to you," Mullinax wrote in his e-mail. " We feel each of (them) would succeed here."
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