| Students |
Students
Talk About Religion and Philosophy at
MHC
I recently heard Dr. John Claypool, a
graduate of Mars Hill College, give the
commencement address at McAfee School
of Theology. He shared a story of serving
as pastor in a rural Tennessee town. One
December afternoon, he decided to mail
some Christmas packages and so he made
his way to the Post
Office. As he stood in line with what
seemed to be the entire town, a man in
overalls walked through the door. His
overalls were caked in flour—remnants
of a hard days work at the local mill.
Whenever this man moved, big clumps of
flour would fall to the floor. By the
time he left the Post Office that day,
he had left his mark, a mark that journeyed
from the door to the Post
Master's window and even to the hands
and shirt-sleeves of those he touched
along the way. This heart-warming story
best captures what I received from studying
Religion and Philosophy at MHC. The faculty
left their mark upon my journey and in
doing so taught me the importance of doing
the same.
Wherever you are in your journey at MHC,
it is my hope that when you graduate you
will be able to see their marks upon your
journey as well.
Eydie Pittman
B.A. English (MHC, 2001)
Post-Graduate Work:
Princeton Theological Seminary (Princeton,
NJ), Sept. 2002-Feb. 2003;
McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University
(Atlanta, GA), 2004-to Present
"Being back on campus recently brings back the fond memories I have of my time there. Having received degrees from Fruitland, Mars Hill, and now attending the M. Christopher White School of Divinity at Gardner-Webb, I am reminded of a saying I recently heard. 'The difference between indoctrination and education is that indoctrination teaches you WHAT to think, and an education teaches you HOW to think.’ My fourteen and one half years of military service as well as my being an ordained Baptist Minister have shown me and given me an appreciation for the discipline of critical thinking! Thank you and your colleagues for all your unselfish service to the students at Mars Hill to ensure that they receive an education and not an indoctrination! Mars Hill College is definitely 'Holy Ground’ for me. As one of Mars Hill's professors (Jinx) used to say, 'The student is Sacred in Mind and Body.'"
Rev. J. Roy Moritz
Access Class of 1999
"The Religion/Philosophy classes that I took as a MHC student were very inspiring. The Women and Religion class opened my eyes to incredible women within Biblical history that are rarely mentioned in everyday Christian life. Reading these women’s stories challenged me and gave me courage. Another religion class about Judaism and Christianity gave me new insight into the life and role of the Jews at the time of Jesus’ death. Our class participated in worship service at a synagogue, which helped me make strong connections between what I was learning in the classroom to the worship traditions of the Jewish faith."
Cindy Frost, B.S.
Business Administration, MHC '04
Coordinator, Bonner Scholar Program
LifeWorks Learning Partnership
Mars Hill College
"At Mars Hill, I found a passion for the study of Religion that I didn't know I had. I discovered a deep and abiding love for ancient texts, modern interpretations, and big questions that I suspect will be with me the rest of my life. My experience with the Religion and Philosophy Department at Mars Hill was one of a nurturing, caring, and ultimately intellectually demanding community of friends."
Rev. Eric C. Smith (Christian Church, Disciples of Christ)
Mars Hill College class of 2000
Vanderbilt University Divinity School
class of 2002
"One of the best things that
courses in Religion & Philosophy has
given to me is the knowledge that I do
have a story to tell, that my story is
important, and that I have the power to
tell my story. . . . My plans to simply
get a degree, get a job, and live my life
without thinking twice have necessarily
changed. Through my MHC education, I've
learned that the best life is lived by
the person who listens actively, boldly
pursues the difficult questions that face
our world today, and engages him or herself
fully, with both mind and spirit. So though
I now am a little more uncertain as to
what my future holds, I consider uncertainty
a small price to pay for the gift of learning
to be awake, alive and responsive to the
little moments that add up to a lifetime.”
Amanda Orders of Newton,
N.C., MHC 2004, summa cum laude
Elementary Education major, currently
working as Admissions Counselor, MHC
"Some of what I realized in
those four years of study and the years
since, is that my life is about discovering/uncovering
my humanity, my spirituality- finding
myself.
I am a spiritual creature no matter what
I believe or don't believe. I am on a
journey of life, of connectedness, of
being and of meaning. These courses exposed
me to different ways of thinking, viewing
life and my place in life. They stretched
my views, made me think and think critically.
One of the professors exposed me to
three questions that still factor into
my everyday life: What is there? How do
I know? So what? These courses opened
my eyes to the wealth of spiritual and
philosophical history from oral traditions
to the written history of people asking
these same three questions and their journey
and struggle to answer them. My journey
is one of joining in and finding its place."
Meg Heath (MHC '93)
M.Div., Baptist Theological Seminary at
Richmond, '96, chaplain and funeral director
"I graduated from Mars Hill
College in May 2000 and one of the most
important things I was taught was to never
stop learning. What I have learned since
graduation may not be book smarts but
it is important just the same. Since graduation
I have learned more about self-evaluation
and life lessons than I thought possible.
I have learned how fast a paycheck can
go on paying bills. I learned that being
married and living with a man is hard.
I am still learning how hard the transition
from living at home to visiting twice
a month can be. Many of the life lessons
we learn are very hard to accept. Some
of experiences we do not want to accept
and we avoid allowing our minds to consider
the experience.
Jesus did not believe in being complacent.
He believed in meeting people where they
were. He met their needs physically and
through doing that He met their spiritual
needs. I challenge you to be like Jesus."
Jill Marlowe Simmons, PFC; MHC
2000
U.S. Army; married to Ashley Simmons,
and proud mother of Lanie
"The MHC Religion and Philosophy Department is a haven for intellectual minds, a place where individuals can learn to think and grow in the supportive richness of phenomenal faculty. In this department, one will become who they really want to be or are meant to be through a process of conscious thought, challenging reading, writing and healthy debate."
"Self-consciousness exists in and
for itself when, and by the fact that,
it so exists for another; that is, it
exists only in being acknowledged"
Georg Hegel -The Phenomenology of Spirit
Laura Boisvert Boyd, B.A., M.Ed,
NCC
MHC Class of '97
"The courses in the Religion and Philosophy Department at MHC were not only my favorite courses, but also the most personally formative. Although I was a psychology major, and certainly gained applicable career knowledge from the psych program, I gained life knowledge in courses such as Women and Religion, Christian Ethics, Life and Letters of Paul, and Contemporary Philosophy. The courses' content was challenging, but more specifically it was the R & PD faculty approach that moved me to truly think for myself. They approached all students with the utmost respect, respect for personal beliefs (whatever they may be), and respect for the learning process. They are true educators in the sense that they taught me to think seriously about all issues I encounter in life, and make my own decisions accordingly.
"As I prepare to leave for a 2 year service in the Peace Corps in Niger, Africa, I feel that because of my time at MHC, specifically my time learning in the aforementioned classes, I am capable of meeting new and exciting challenges head on. While adapting to my new home in Niger, I hope to follow in the footsteps of my professors at MHC, and maintain the utmost respect for the dignity of the Nigerians I will be serving, and the integrity of their choice to follow their own paths."
Amy E. Hanes
MHC 1999-2003
"I pastor a small Baptist Church
in the little town of Bakersville, in
Mitchell County, North Carolina, where
I was born and raised. Years ago I entered
Mars Hill College as a young, naive mountain
boy. I went to Mars Hill because as we
Baptist say, "I felt the call to
preach." I thought I might need some
education. I received a good education
from Mars Hill College. But what I really
received from these professors was something
I could not have predicted. They became
my friends.
They became my counselors as well as my
teachers. They gave me permission to rediscover
God and to finally escape the mean-spirited
fundamentalism I knew growing up as a
kid. I learned from these people that
God loved me, not only me, but everyone
in this world. I was taught and learned
the teachings of one
called Jesus. That it is possible to live
in a world of love, not hate. That tolerance
is a better way to win people over to
love. I learned to have respect for all
people, especially those different from
me. These teachers didn't just teach me
this stuff, they lived it. [While] not
one of their star students, I am probably
one of their best success stories, or
they changed my life. I cannot imagine
who I would be if I had not attended Mars
Hill College."
The Rev. Billy Stewart
Formerly, Chaplain at Avery-Mitchell Correctional
Facility
Currently, Pastor of Bakersville Baptist
Church, Mitchell County, N.C.
