A regular update for people and congregations who support Bethany College and its students.  

Register now for Christian Youth Day

Junior high / middle school youth and their sponsors are invited to Christian Youth Day at Bethany College, Saturday, March 8. This annual event is a great way for youth to have fun, practice being servant leaders and make new friends through their service teams.

To ensure an event t-shirt, register by Friday, Feb. 22; final registrations are due Feb. 29. Registration is $10 for the Saturday event and $5 for the optional lock-in on Friday night.

Events include:

• Optional Friday evening lock-in with Bethany Youth Ministry Team at Messiah Lutheran Church
• Service activity
• Picnic lunch with team discussion time
• Scavenger hunt
• Creation of crafts and Lutheran World Relief Health Kits
• Closing worship

Questions? Need a registration form? Contact Bethany College Campus Pastor Noni Strand at (785) 227-3380 ext. 8340 or strandn@bethanylb.edu. 

Discounted Messiah Festival tickets still available

Call now to get special ticket rates for students, seniors, churches and tour groups at the 2008 Messiah Festival of Music and Art, March 16 – 23. For more information, call 785-227-3311.

In addition to performances of Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, the festival includes a number of free special events related to culture and the arts, such as:

• March 13-25, Messiah Festival Juried Student Art Exhibition. See award-winning student art in Mingenback Art Center from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.
• March 19 at 1 p.m. in Presser Hall, demonstration on Presser Hall’s organ by Melody Steed. Learn and hear how a pipe organ works.
• March 20 at 10:30 a.m. in Lindquist Hall, lecture on Handel and Bach by Dr. Michael Shasberger: “Conversion and Conviction: Two Composers, Two Paths, Two Testimonies.”
• March 22 at 2 and 7:30 p.m. in Burnett Center, Messiah Festival Theatre Production: “Las Casas, Tears of the Indians.”

For a full schedule of the week’s events, visit www.bethanylb.edu/messiah.

Bethany receives significant gift to Pearson Challenge

Three siblings with long-standing ties to Bethany College have given the school $10,000 in memory of their parents and grandparents.

            The gift is being given by Diane Abercrombie Estes, Chris Abercrombie and Jim Abercrombie in memory of their parents, Chester and Doris Abercrombie, and grandparents, Prof. Alloch and Ellida Abercrombie. All three Abercrombie siblings are graduates of Bethany College.

The gift is one of several significant gifts made to the Pearson Challenge at Bethany College, a campaign to raise $1 million for the construction of a new Swedish chapel and welcome center on campus. If the college raises the money by June 30, Gerald “Bud” Pearson will complete the challenge by donating a matching gift of $1 million. For more information on how you can contribute, call 785-227-3380, ext. 8271.

“Members of the Abercrombie family have been involved with Bethany College in one capacity or another since 1886. So it is only fitting that our family participates in this exciting and worthwhile building project,” said Chris Abercrombie. “Our parents and grandparents were all very involved in a variety of civic and service clubs and organizations, active members of Messiah Lutheran Church, and enthusiastic supporters of Bethany College.”

The gift was made possible through the sale of a collection of rare coins and currency, owned and collected by Chester Abercrombie, who was a banker in Lindsborg from 1920 to 1973. 

Bonding to fund campus improvement at Bethany

Bethany College has made a significant commitment to its future by financially addressing current facility needs on campus.

The sale of $6 million of bonds, financed through the Kansas Independent College Financing Authority, will fund three major building projects at Bethany College: the addition of laboratory space to Nelson Science Center; the addition of a weight room and locker rooms to Stroble-Gibson Physical Education Center; and the creation of a new apartment-style student housing facility on campus.

The funds also will allow the completion of the current Campus Green project, including new sidewalks and walkways on campus. A new amphitheatre space, functioning also as an outdoor classroom, will be created in the area of the current Wallerstedt Court on campus.

The college is in the process of approving architectural designs. Work will then begin on finalizing construction blueprints and developing project schedules.

Bethany invites community to presidential inauguration

Bethany College invites the community to a week-long college celebration in April, culminating with the inauguration of Edward F. Leonard III as the college’s 13th president.

To be held April 7 through 13, inauguration week will include a series of speakers, concerts, worship services, and other events honoring the college’s religious and academic missions, reputation in artistic performance and creativity, tradition of excellence in sports, and students past and present.

Unified by the theme, “to strive, to seek, to soar,” inauguration week is designed to bring students, faculty, staff, alumni and supporters together in a community celebration of the college.

Highlights from the week will include a speech by author James Bradley on April 7 at 7:30 p.m. in Presser Hall. Bradley, author of Flag of Our Fathers and Flyboys, is well-known for his success in illuminating previously untold stories of people from the past. Flags of Our Fathers was released as a motion picture, directed by Clint Eastwood, in 2007.

The inauguration ceremony will take place in Presser Hall on the college campus, beginning at 1 p.m. on April 12.

Other events will include a presentation by former professional athlete Jack Parr, a student and faculty art exhibit and concert, a special chapel service in appreciation of church workers, alumni receptions, student parties and a campus “Sundae Stroll” with family activities.

For more information, visit www.bethanylb.edu/inauguration or call Dave or Sharyl Admire at (785) 227-3380 ext. 8156. 

Visit Bethany this spring

Prospective students, you’re invited to experience Bethany College and see our campus renovation on a visit day this spring:

• Swede Fridays – March 28, April 18, May 16. Interested in seeing what it’s like to be a student at Bethany College? Come to a Swede Friday, and take a walking tour of campus, attend a class, eat lunch in the cafeteria and visit with current students and financial aid staff. Your family and friends are welcome, too.
• Preview Day – March 8. Get snapshot views of the Bethany College experience from different panel discussions with faculty and current students, as well as staff members from student life, admissions and financial aid. Then join us for lunch; family members are welcome.
• Spring Spectacular – April 26. If you’ve already been accepted to Bethany College for the fall 2008 semester, this is the day to learn more about academics and student organizations on campus.

To register, fill out an online form at www.bethanylb.edu, call 800-826-2281 or email admissions@bethanylb.edu. Can’t make it to a visit day? Contact us and schedule a personal visit at your convenience.

~Upcoming events~

Christian Youth Day

March 8, 2008

Messiah Festival of Music and Art

March 16 – 23, 2008 

Inauguration of President Edward F. Leonard III

April 12, 2008 

Baccalaureate and Commencement

May 25, 2008