Dan Birdwhistell

05/16/2016

Campus Ministry at Georgetown College — A Personal Reflection by Jack "Doc" Birdwhistell

People: Dr Ira "Jack" Vinson Birdwhistell

Dr. Crouch also eventually made the Campus Minister position a 'report' to the Vice President for Student Life, who, during most of my tenure, was L. Bert Hawkins.

When in the summer of 1997 the college, in the person of Dr. Paul Redditt, extended a most gracious offer for me to leave the Campus Ministry position to join the Religion faculty as an Associate Professor of Religion, I knew it was a good time for me to make the move.

Eventually the college brought Dr. Dwight Moody from a pastorate in Owensboro and Sharon Felton from her home in Texas as Dean of the Chapel and Campus Minister, respectively--Dwight and Sharon provided significant enhancements in the Chapel services and in the missions aspect of Campus Ministry. Sharon's introduction of Georgetown students to Mission Arlington in Arlington, Texas, led to a tremendous increase in Spring Break Missions involvement on the part of our students.

It's all worked out rather well. Being a pastor in Drakesboro made me a better Campus Minister, and being a Campus Minister from 1980-1997 has made me a more effective professor--at least that's the way it appears to me. I am very grateful!