In the News

AVDS conference to feature Nobel Peace Prize nominee

Internationally known voice for peace and nonviolence Father John Dear, will be featured at Hesston College’s Anabaptist Vision and Discipleship series conference Feb. 13 to 15.

The conference will center on the theme “Overcoming Evil: Ordinary People Making a Difference,” Stories of peace from people locally and around the globe will focus on and encourage to follow Jesus on the path of overcoming evil with good. The 2015 Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship Conference, an organization of Mennonite Church USA for Mennonite and affiliated college peace organizations, will be held in conjunction with AVDS and sponsored by Hesston College’s Bible and Ministry Program.

Dear has spent more than three decades as a peace activist, popular lecturer and movement organizer, and has been arrested more than 75 times in acts of civil disobedience against war. In 2008, Archbishop Desmond Tutu nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize. He is the author of 30 books, including his autobiography “A Persistent Peace,” that have been translated into 10 languages.

In his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize, Archbishop Tutu wrote of Dear: “John Dear is the embodiment of a peacemaker. He believes that peace is not something static, but rather to make peace is to be engaged, mind, body and spirit.”

Dear serves as a coordinator for CampaignNonviolence.org and as Outreach Coordinator for Pace e Bene, a group working with individuals, organizations and movements to strengthen efforts to abolish war, protect human rights, end poverty, challenge injustice, heal the planet and build a more just, peaceful and nonviolent world. He has also held many other service positions, including Red Cross chaplain coordinator following the events of Sept. 11, 2001, where he counseled thousands of relatives and rescue workers.

Dear has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today and National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered.” For eight years he wrote a weekly blog for the National Catholic Reporter and is regularly featured on the radio show “Democracy Now!” and The Huffington Post. He is the subject of the DVD documentary The Narrow Path.

Dear has two masters degrees in theology from the Graduate Theological Union (Berkley, Calif.) and has taught theology at Fordham University (New York City).

See AVDS information and online registration.

Anabaptist Vision and Discipleship Series (AVDS) is an annual conference designed to address current topics in church and congregational leadership experience from an Anabaptist/Mennonite perspective. Audiences who should especially consider participating are youth and young adults as well as pastors and congregational leaders.

Leadership initiative receives funding

Hesston College’s new leadership program was recently awarded a $10,000 Leadership Transformation Grant from the Kansas Leadership Center (KLC) (Wichita) for 15 participants to attend KLC programs for leadership development in 2016.

Hesston’s program was one of 15 institutions selected at the $10,000 level. The funding will be used to allow students, faculty and staff from the college to participate in KLC training programs alongside representatives from the other institutions.

The leadership program at Hesston is currently being developed to be launched in fall 2016. It will help students develop their own leadership capacities as they lead and serve in the church, community and world.

Seminar to allow participants to engage in civil rights education

For the second year in a row, Hesston College is offering any interested participants the opportunity to learn the history and dynamics of the civil rights movement of the 1960s in a weeklong Civil Rights Seminar during the college’s spring break, March 4 to 13.

The seminar, led by Hesston College faculty member John Sharp as well as 1972 alumni Bruce and Joy Rogers (Goshen, Ind.) and former Hesston College faculty member Tony Brown, will engage with historical sites and activities in Alabama and Mississippi.

Participants will have the opportunity to walk from Brown Chapel across the Edmund Petus Bridge in Selma, Ala., where on Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965, peaceful marchers were attacked. Most significant of all will be conversations with people on the ground – or “foot soldiers” as President Barack Obama called them – people deeply involved in the movement from Selma to Birmingham, Ala., to Merdian, Miss., whose stories are provocative and inspirational.

The seminar will include worshipping at the Sixteenth Baptist Church, Birmingham, Ala., visiting the Civil Rights Institute (Birmingham), the Rosa Parks Library/Interpretive Center (Montgomery, Ala.) and the National Civil Rights Museum (Memphis, Tenn.) where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was murdered in 1968.

Along with students and faculty, the general public is invited to participate. The cost of the seminar is $450 plus meals, which includes transportation, lodging, and museum entrance fees. The deadline for registering is January 15.

Contact John Sharp for more information at 620-327-8248 or john.sharp@hesston.edu.

Search committee announced for Hesston College president

Elkhart, Ind. – Hesston College and Mennonite Education Agency (MEA) will begin the search for the ninth Hesston College president with the first meeting of the search committee set for January 2016 on the college campus. The Hesston College Board of Directors and the MEA Board of Directors have jointly appointed a Presidential Search Committee that includes board members as well as alumni, professors, students, pastors and church and educational leaders. All are individuals, committed to the future of Hesston College and Mennonite education, who will come together from across the campus, the church and the country to begin the work of calling a uniquely qualified person to lead the 106-year-old institution.

“Selecting the president of an institution is one of the most important responsibilities of both the Hesston College and Mennonite Education Agency Board of Directors,” said MEA board chair Judy Miller. “The Hesston College search committee will be charged to create a presidential profile. The committee is expected to take time to listen to the multiple perspectives of Hesston College stakeholders and be informed by the strategic plan of the institution. They will be responsible for promoting the position in order to generate a list of possible candidates. Their work will culminate in recommendation of a candidate of choice to both the Hesston and MEA boards.”

Kelvin Friesen, chair of the Hesston College Board of Directors, said, “We have assembled a search committee that represents an abundance of professional, geographic, and ethnic diversity, with a common appreciation of and commitment to Mennonite higher education. Led by Hesston College board member Ken G Kabira, the search committee is eager to begin their work. We are thankful for their commitment and enthusiasm, and look forward to their recommendation of the person who will lead the Hesston College community where each student is educated and nurtured academically, socially and spiritually.”

The committee includes:

• Addie Banks, Bronx, New York, current MEA board member. Banks is founder and executive director of The Groundswell Group and pastor of King of Glory Tabernacle, a Mennonite Church USA congregation.
• Lynette Bontrager, Archbold, Ohio, current MEA board member. Bontrager has served on many boards and has a strong commitment to Mennonite education.
• Tony Brown, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, retired Hesston College artist-in-residence, faculty member and campus counselor. Brown is an internationally acclaimed baritone.
• Kendra Burkey, North Newton, Kansas, Hesston College professor of communication and an alumna of Hesston College.
• Barth Hague, Newton, Kansas, CEO of Mirror, Inc. Hague is city commissioner for Newton and an alumnus of Hesston College. He also serves as chair of the board for The Mennonite.
• Ramiro Hernandez, Washington, Iowa, current MEA board member. Hernandez is a church planter and Hispanic coordinator for Central Plains Mennonite Conference. He served on Howard Keim’s mid-term review.
• Ken G Kabira, Naperville, Illinois, chair of the search committee and current Hesston College board member. Kabira is associate executive director of Water Quality Association and an alumnus of Hesston College.
• Marie Morris, Anderson, Indiana, current Hesston College Board member. Morris is provost at Anderson University and an alumna of Hesston College.
• Luke Roth-Mullet, Hesston, Kansas, current Hesston College board member. Roth-Mullet is vice president of operations at Excel Industries and an alumnus of Hesston College.
• Chuck Neufeld, North Newton, Kansas, retired conference minister of the Illinois Mennonite Conference and pastor emeritus of Community Mennonite Church. Neufeld is also a folksinger, songwriter and storyteller.
• Carlota Ponds, Hesston, Kansas, staff for Hesston College Alumni/Church Relations.
• Carlos Romero, Goshen, Indiana, executive director of Mennonite Education Agency. Romero is an ex-officio member of the search committee.

The Presidential Search Committee is responsible to both the Hesston College board and the MEA board. Search Committee chair Ken G Kabira said “Hesston College is small but it gives a big experience to students. Thousands of students have been transformed by Hesston’s Christ-centered environment and quality education. God has provided the college with capable and faithful leaders for over 100 years. The committee will carefully discern God’s will for the college’s future, and I ask everyone to pray for Hesston College and our committee.”

Carlos Romero, executive director of MEA and ex-officio member of the search committee, said, “Hesston College plays an important role in the life and ministry of Mennonite Church USA. The institution has had a significant impact in the denomination and beyond. The commitment and experience that search committee members bring is a special blessing to Hesston College, Mennonite Church USA and the broader community.”

Sunflower Trio to celebrate local musician

The Sunflower Trio will give a concert to celebrate the life of Dr. J. Harold Moyer, a local musician, at 7 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 29, at Bethel College Mennonite Church, North Newton, Kan. The concert will also feature special guests Rosewood Winds and congregational singing of some of Dr. Moyer’s many hymn arrangements.

The Sunflower Trio recently released a CD called Reflections: The Music of J. Harold Moyer that commemorates the life of Dr. Moyer, a long-time music faculty member at Bethel College who passed away in 2012. The CD is available on the Sunflower Trio’s website and will be available for purchase at the concert.

“There was not a great deal of music composed for a group consisting of tenor, violin and voice, so Dr. Moyer was kind enough to write three sets of songs for us,” said Matthew Schloneger. “He composed enough material for or that fit our group that we were able to produce an entire CD of his work.”

The Sunflower Trio was founded in 2002 and is dedicated to performing music featuring voice, violin and piano/organ. Members include Hesston College music department faculty Matthew Schloneger, tenor; Rebecca Schloneger, violin; and Kenneth Rodgers, piano and organ. The trio excels in a variety of styles from Baroque to contemporary, folk and Broadway. The trio, which is also a family affair as Matthew and Rebecca are husband and wife and Rodgers is Matthew’s uncle, has performed extensively throughout the United States as a part of the Kansas Arts Commission and Mid-America Arts Alliance touring rosters. They released their first CD, All Good Gifts, in 2005, featuring arrangements of familiar classical and popular songs.

Rosewood Winds is a woodwind trio based in Newton. The trio has performed in a wide variety of venues with a large, varied repertoire. Their members are Amanda Friesen, flute; Kristin Kliewer, oboe; and Valerie Klaassen, clarinet.

Born in 1927 in Newton, J. Harold Moyer’s life reflected devotion to the work of the church and passion for music. The youngest of three brothers, he grew up as a Bethel College “campus kid” as his father worked in the business office, and after graduating from Newton High School, he attended Bethel, graduating in 1949.

During World War II, he served in Civilian Public Service during World War II at Camp Camino in California, and at Mennonite Central Committee headquarters in Akron, Pa.

After graduation from Bethel, he pursued graduate studies in music composition, receiving a master’s degree from George Peabody College (Nashville, Tenn.), and a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa (Iowa City).

After completing his graduate studies, Dr. Moyer taught at Freeman (S.D.) Junior College, during which time he was drafted for the Korean War and served in 1-W service, teaching music at Boys’ Industrial School in Topeka, Kan.

While working on his doctorate, he taught at Goshen (Ind.) College, then returned to teach at Bethel College in 1959 where he remained until 1992. He also taught one year at Conrad Grebel College (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada). He received professor emeritus status from Bethel and continued teaching until 2011. During his years at Bethel, he wrote numerous choral and instrumental compositions and arrangements, three operas and two musical dramas. In 2009, Moyer received the Bethel College Alumni Association’s Outstanding Alumnus Award.

From 1960-67, Moyer was involved in developing The Mennonite Hymnal, the first joint hymnal venture between the Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church. Moyer served as vice chair of the Joint Hymnal Committee, and the hymnal contains 13 hymns with an original Moyer tune or harmonization. He later contributed 10 hymns to Hymnal: A Worship Book (1992), currently used in many Anabaptist congregations in North America, as composer, arranger or tune harmonizer. He wrote a number of anthems for the Kansas Mennonite Men’s Chorus, which led to his relationship with the Mark Foster Music Co. (Champaign, Ill.), and publication of 14 of those anthems.

During the last decade of his life, Moyer composed a significant amount of chamber music, including the three sets of songs written for the Sunflower Trio. His late songs featured texts by some of his favorite poets, including Carl Sandburg, Lew Sarrett and Jean Janzen.

Celtic music and dance to ring in holiday season

Tradition-rich Celtic song and dance will help usher in the holiday season when Cherish the Ladies presents their Celtic Christmas program for Hesston-Bethel Performing Arts (HBPA) series at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 3, at Hesston Mennonite Church on the Hesston College campus.

Formed in 1985 in New York City, Cherish the Ladies is a Grammy-nominated, Irish-American group featuring extraordinary women in what is traditionally a male-dominated Irish music scene. In their 30 years of existence, the ensemble has toured the world, played the White House and the Olympics, recorded 16 albums and presented an Emmy Award-winning Public Television Special of their Irish Homecoming program that aired across the U.S. and Ireland.

The Ladies’ Celtic Christmas will feature six musicians and four dancers to create an evening that includes a spectacular blend of virtuoso instrumental talents, beautiful vocals, captivating arrangements and stunning step dancing.

The ethereal Celtic vocal harmonies will be accompanied by flute, whistles, guitar, accordion, piano and fiddle as well as accomplished step dancers, including the former principal lead dancer for Riverdance, two world champion step dancers and a Canadian step dance champion.

The New York Times calls Cherish the Ladies’ music “passionate, tender, and rambunctious,” and the Washington Post praises their “astonishing array of virtuosity.” The group has won recognition in the BBC’s Best Musical Group of the Year and won the Top North American Celtic Group by both the Irish Music Awards and NPR’s Thistle and Shamrock. They’ve also collaborated with musicians including The Boston Pops, The Clancy Brothers, The Chieftains, Vince Gill, Nanci Griffith, Pete Seeger, Don Henley, Arlo Guthrie and Maura O’Connell as well as being the featured soloist with more than 300 performances with symphony orchestras.

Reserved seating and general admission tickets for Cherish the Ladies are available through the HBPA website or by calling 620-327-8158. Ticket prices range from $23 to $27 with discounts available for students and senior citizens.

Remaining concerts in the 2015-16 HBPA lineup include the German instrumental ensemble Minguet Quartet with guest pianist Andreas Klein on Feb. 1, 2016; Grammy Award-winning men’s a cappella ensemble Chanticleer on Feb. 23; and London-based vocal ensemble The Swingles on April 3.

The HBPA Cherish the Ladies concert is funded in part by the cities of Hesston and North Newton, Excel Industries and Hustler Turf Equipment (Hesston), the Hesston Community Foundation, the North Newton Community Foundation, Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, an award from the National Endowment for the Arts and KMUW Wichita Public Radio.

NAFSA names Hesston College a Top Higher Education Institution contributor to Kansas District 4 Economy

Hesston College was recently named a Top Higher Education Institution contributor to Kansas District 4 Economy by NAFSA: Association of International Educators based on the economic impact the college’s international student population has on the local economy.

A recent NAFSA report found that the 974,926 international students studying at U.S. college and universities added $30.5 billion to the U.S. economy, supporting more than 373,000 jobs during the 2014-15 year.

At the state level, 2,785 international students enrolled in Kansas colleges and universities in 2014-15 contributed $55.2 million and supported 548 jobs.

In Kansas Congressional District 4, NAFSA’s report found that the 44 international students from 13 countries that studied at Hesston College in 2014-15 contributed $1.8 million to the economy and supported 11 jobs, ranking Hesston fifth in the district.

Hesston College understands the financial impact that international students have on U.S., state-wide and local economies but also recognizes and appreciates the inestimable academic and cultural enrichment that these students bring to Hesston College’s campus and the city of Hesston.

Hesston has a rich international student history. In its 106 year history, the college has enrolled more than 1,300 international students from 84 countries. For the fall 2015 semester, 45 international students from 13 countries are enrolled at Hesston, or 11 percent of the total student population.

Haydn’s classical oratorio The Creation part of Thanksgiving celebration

A Hesston Thanksgiving tradition, the Hesston College Music Department will present its annual masterworks concert at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 26, at Hesston Mennonite Church on the Hesston College campus. The performance will feature The Creation, a Classical period oratorio by Austrian composer Joseph Haydn.

The oratorio, under the direction of Hesston College music faculty member Dr. Russell Adrian, tells the Genesis story and features soloists Holly Swartzendruber, soprano, Matthew Schloneger, tenor, and Doyle Preheim, bass, as well as an 85-voice chorus comprised of Hesston College’s vocal ensembles Bel Canto Singers and Chorale and community members. An orchestra, including members of the Hesston College Chamber Orchestra as well as local musicians, rounds out the performance.

Tickets for the 75-minute concert are $10 for adults, $5 for students, and can be purchased at the door or in advance at the Hesston College Bookstore by calling 620-327-8104.

Adrian will give a pre-concert talk about the piece at 6:45 p.m., along with special guests, Hesston College President Howard Keim and Michele Hershberger, Bible Department Chair.

The Creation, was written late in Haydn’s life, between 1796 and 1798, following trips to London where he was introduced to, and inspired by, the performances of Handel oratorios – notably Israel in Egypt and Messiah. The grand scale of his writing is evident, as the soloists, chorus and orchestra each play an important role in the dramatic narration of the story. Written in three parts, the soprano, tenor and bass soloists take on the roles of three angels – Gabriel, Uriel and Raphael. The chorus functions as a multitude of angels that supports and recaps the narration of the main characters, and highlights each day of creation.

The soloists all have extensive music and performance backgrounds.

Holly Swartzendruber, D.M.A., (Hillsboro, Kan.) is an adjunct voice instructor at Hesston College and Tabor College (Hillsboro). She also works as coordinator of music in worship at First Mennonite Church in Hillsboro. Swartzendruber has performed a number of operatic roles including Lucia from Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, Susanna from Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, and the soprano solos for Handel’s Messiah and Brahms’ Requiem among others.

Matthew Schloneger, Ph.D., (Newton, Kan.) is on the Hesston College music faculty teaching private voice. He is an active performer in opera and oratorio. In summer 2015, he served Wichita Grand Opera as chorus master and faculty for the opera’s Opera Academy of the Midwest. Schloneger has also performed principal roles with Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Operafestival di Roma, Wichita Grand Opera, Opera Kansas, Whitewater Opera, Song Opera, Opera for the Young, Opera Theatre of Lucca and others.

Doyle Preheim, D.M.A., (Santa Fe, N.M.), is professor emeritus of music at Goshen (Ind.) College where he taught music for 30 years. Preheim earned his undergraduate degree locally at Bethel College (North Newton). He has performed as a bass soloist for many oratorios and operas, including Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Mozart’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, and the Mozart roles of Don Giovanni, Guglielmo and the Count, as well as Marcello in Puccini’s La Boheme.

Director, Dr. Russell Adrian, is in his first year of teaching at Hesston College. He holds an undergraduate degree from Bethel College (North Newton), a master of music degree in choral conducting from the University of Wisconsin (Madison) and a doctor of musical arts degree in conducting from the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis).

Gerry Sieber to be inducted into NJCAA Soccer Hall of Fame

Former Hesston College men’s soccer coach Gerry Sieber will soon enter elite company, as the longtime mentor of the Larks’ winningest program is set to enter the NJCAA Hall of Fame during the NJCAA Division I Soccer Banquet, Sunday, Nov. 15 in Martinsville, Virginia. Sieber joins 91 other coaches, contributors and players already named to the NJCAA Soccer Hall of Fame.

Sieber coached the Hesston men’s program for 23 years, reaching double digit wins in 17 seasons while compiling a staggering 247 wins and leading the Larks to twelve Region VI titles. Sieber coached twenty-two NJCAA All-Americans and was named Coach of The Year eight times. His 1972 team advanced to the NJCAA National Tournament and his 1979 squad (pictured below) finished 16-1-1.

“It’s a pretty significant honor,” Sieber said. “It’s exciting. It’s rewarding. It’s humbling. It’s totally unexpected. I’d figured everything in my soccer career was in my past. I’m most appreciative of it.”

Despite the many on-the-field accolades, Sieber’s fondest memories of his time leading the program were centered around the relationships formed with the many players, coaches, faculty and staff members, and friends that he interacted with.

“Hesston College has had a tremendous positive influence on my life,” Sieber said. “I was humbled by the responsibility to mentor, nurture and help shape young lives; and to be mentored, shaped, nurtured and empowered in this special community that I was privileged to be a part of.”

During an on-campus celebration held Nov. 11, several long-time colleagues representing many departments spoke of Sieber’s many contributions to the campus and the care he gave to his players. Nearly all conversation in the event had little or nothing to do with soccer. For Sieber, the Hesston Experience was, and remains, a shared one. It’s about the intimate life-changing experiences and intertwining interactions between students, faculty and staff.

“It remains very exciting for me to feel strong connections with the large family that is the extended Hesston College community, Sieber added. “The tie that binds is strong and empowering.”

Sieber helped to relaunch the Hesston College cross country men’s and women’s programs in 2010 and continues to coach the programs today.