Chapel Speaker Bios 2011 -2012
Academic Convocation
April 18th, 2011
The Office of the Academic Dean, along with the faculty of Westmont, celebrate the achievements of the graduating class. Each academic department extends their highest honors to outstanding seniors in their discipline who have achieved academic excellence.
All Music Chapel
November 14th, 16th, 2011 and February 1st, March 30th, 2012
This year we have the special privilege to devote four Chapels to worshipping our Lord in song. While all of these Chapels will be completely different in format and content, they will give attendees the opportunity to draw closer to God in a more intimate way as we lift up our voices to the King of Kings.
Shannon Balram
October 3rd, 2011
Shannon Balram is starting her second year at Westmont as the Resident Director of Page Hall. She comes from Lee University, where she served as a Upperclassmen Resident Director for four years and earned her M.A. in Theological Studies. While at Lee, Shannon also served as an adjunct professor for New Testament and Old Testament Studies. It was in those introductory courses that Shannon fell in love with first year students, and is what inspired her to continue in Residence Life after Lee University. She has a huge passion for students, and a deep conviction that community living reflects the image of God. That humanity is in need of one another, and in our concrete relationships we can see reflected the Trinitarian life of our dynamic God.
Gayle Beebe
August 31st, November 9th, 2011 and January 25th, 2012
Gayle Beebe became Westmont eighth president July 1, 2007. He comes from Spring Arbor University, where he served as president for seven years. He earned doctorate in philosophy of religion and theology from Claremont Graduate University, an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker Center at CGU and an M. Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary. He was general editor of the Renovare Spiritual Formation Study Bible and co-authored (with Richard Foster) Longing for God: Seven Approaches to the Christian Life.
Pam Beebe
February 29th, 2012
Pam Beebe received her Bachelor in Arts in Education from George Fox University and her Masters in Christian Counseling from Western Evangelical Seminary. Besides being a teacher for 8 years, Pam has also worked on two church staff both in children's ministry and as the Director of Life Recovery as well as being deeply involved in bereavement ministry for the past 12 years.
Pam is married to Gayle Beebe, President of Westmont College, and they have three children, Anna (16), Elizabeth (14), and Ricky (10).
Alistair Begg
October 17th and 19th, 2011
Alistair Begg has been in pastoral ministry for 30 years: eight in Scotland following graduation from The London School of Theology and 22 years at Parkside Church in suburban Cleveland. He has written several books and is heard daily across the nation on the radio program Truth for Life. He recently received an honorary doctorate from Cedarville University. He and his wife, Susan, have been married 31 years and have three grown children.
Bruce Bickel
March 5th, 2012
Although selected as one of Northern California’s “Super Lawyers,” being an attorney isn’t Bruce Bickel’s passion. It just happens to pay the bills so that he can do the things that he loves. The result is a resume that includes: author, lay pastor, Westmont instructor (1999-2001), director of a social media content portal, co-host of the now defunct cable television series, Christianity 101, and co-host of a radio program that was heard weekly (although weakly) in Central California.
Bruce graduated summa cum laude from the University of Redlands with a degree in Theatre Arts. He had a very short-lived career as a standup comic before settling for law school. Bickel has co-authored more than 40 books about the Christian faith, including I’m Fine With God, It’s Christians I Can’t Stand. He and his wife, Cheryl, chaired the Parents Council while their two children attended Westmont, and Bruce now serves on the Westmont Board of Trustees.
Barry Brown
September 19th, 2011
Barry and his wife Tere live in San Francisco. After 25 years of serving in local churches in NYC and S.F., Barry spends his energy in teaching, mentoring, speaking at retreats, and working with non profits. He served in an interim position in the Westmont in San Francisco Urban Program. His passions are city living, biking, barbeque, and his adult children (Benson and Liz).
Francis Chan
March 7th, 2012
Francis is one of the most sought-after youth speakers in California. He has spoken to thousands of young people throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia and can be heard on his radio program, Truth Be Known. He has an outrageous sense of humor, a genuine love for Christ and a commitment to teach straight from the Word of God. He graduated from the Master’s College and Seminary.
Class Chapels
September 16th, 2011
Please meet with members of your class in the following locations:
| Freshman | Murchison Gym |
| Sophomore | Page MPR |
| Junior | Founders Dining Room |
| Senior | Porter Theater |
Toya Cooper
November 18th, 2011
After majoring in political science at Westmont, Toya Cooper earned a law degree at the College of Law at Willamette University. She clerked in the juvenile section of the Marion County District Attorney’s Office. After her admission to the California State Bar, she worked in the private sector in the Bay Area before returning to work at her alma mater, Westmont College.
Josh Daneshforooz
October 12th, 2011
Born to an Iranian, Muslim father and an American, Christian mother in Las Vegas, Nevada, Josh '08 has a passion for enabling people from different faith traditions to learn about one another and to serve together, not as an attempt to water down his Christian faith but to put it into practice as a peacemaker. Josh is the founder and director of Loving Our Religious Neighbors, an organization that leads multi-faith dialogue campaigns between Christians and Muslims who dialogue with the hands (multi-faith community service), heart (share testimonies) and head (church and mosque visit). He isthe author ofLoving Our Religious Neighbors: How Christians can Bear the Fruit of the Spirit with Conviction in a Pluralistic Culture,which is used as a campaign curriculum to prepare Christian communities theologically for multi-faith friendships. Josh is also the president of All Nations Education, an organization that provides young adults in the developing world with college scholarships and mentorship.During 2010/2011, Josh was a Teaching Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School where he taught public leadership in community organizing and the role of story in social movements. He graduated cum laude from Westmont in 2008 with a major in Philosophy and minors in English and Communication Studies. In 2010, Josh graduated with a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School where he studied comparative religion. To learn more go to www.lovingorn.org and www.allnationseducation.org
Departmental Chapels
November 7th, 2011
Join with students in your field of study as your professors conduct Chapels at the following locations:
Department |
Location |
| ART | ADAMS #216 |
| BIOLOGY | CARROLL OBSERVATORY LAWN |
| CHEMISTRY | ADAMS #219 |
| COMMUNICATION | PAGE MPR |
| COMPUTER SCIENCE | WINTER #106 |
| ECON & BUSINESS | FOUNDERS DINING ROOM |
| EDUCATION | VOSKUYL #108 |
| ENGLISH | UPPER KSC LOUNGE |
| HISTORY | REYNOLDS #109 |
| KINESIOLOGY | DANCE CLASSROOM |
| LIBERAL STUDIES | VOSKUYL #108 |
| MATH | WINTER #106 |
| MODERN LANGUAGES | REYNOLDS #209 |
| MUSIC | DEANE CHAPEL |
| PHILOSOPHY | ALUMNI GALLERY |
| PHYSICS | WINTER #210 |
| POLITICAL SCIENCE | WINTER #216 |
| PSYCHOLOGY | PSYCH LEARNING LOUNGE |
| RELIGIOUS STUDIES | WINTER #106 |
| SOCIOLOGY | PRAYER CHAPEL |
| THEATER ARTS | PORTER THEATER |
Deborah Dunn
January 23rd, 2012
Professor Dunn has taught at Westmont since 1997, and was honored with the Teacher of the Year Award in 2008. She has led four off-campus summer programs studying conflict and reconciliation -- three to Northern Ireland, and one to both South Africa and Ireland. Published and ongoing research projects include studies of grassroots peacemaking organizations in Northern Ireland, sectarianism in the workplace, constructing virtuous identities in nonprofit organizations, and implications of "accounts" in interaction. She teaches courses on conflict and reconciliation, organizational communication, persuasion & propaganda, mass communication, group communication and leadership, and postmodern narratives. One of her great joys is seeing even the squirreliest first year student grow into a capable, wise, and eloquent witness of the Good News of the Gospels.
Dean Given
January 30th, 2012
Dr. Given received his PhD in Clinical Psychology from Fuller Seminary Graduate School of Psychology and has been in practice as a psychologist in Santa Barbara since 1984. He is a past-president of the California Psychological Association and the Santa Barbara County Psychological Association, and is past-chairman of the Department of Adolescent/Child Psychiatry at Cottage Hospital, where he is on the Medical Staff. In addition, he is co-director of Santa Barbara Behavioral Health, a multi-disciplinary, multi-specialty group of eight psychiatrists, six psychologists and Masters level therapists.
David Guzik
December 5th, 2011
Pastor and Bible teacher, David Guzik is the senior pastor at Calvary Chapel, Santa Barbara. He is married to Inga-Lill, and has three adult children. David founded and pastored Calvary Chapel Simi Valley for fourteen years. He has been in pastoral ministry since 1982. David holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has written several books and commentaries that are available at enduringword.com.
For the past seven years, David and Inga-Lill have been missionaries in Siegen, Germany, directing the Calvary Chapel Bible College there. Having finished their work in Germany, they accepted the call to pastor Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara in the spring, 2010.
Holy Week Services
April 2nd and 4th, 2012
These dynamic services engage Westmont students as they reflect on the suffering of Christ.
Kevin Harney
September 23rd , 2011
Kevin G. Harney serves senior pastor at Shoreline Community Church in Monterey, California. Harney is the author of Leadership from the Inside Out: Examining the Inner Life of a Healthy Church Leader; Seismic Shifts: The Little Changes That Make a Big Difference in Your Life; Finding a Church You Can Love and Loving the Church You've Found; and more than sixty small-group Bible studies.
Frank Harrison
April 16th, 2012
Frank Harrison has been the Chief Executive Officer Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated since May 1994. Mr. Harrison was first employed by Coca Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated in 1977 and served as a Division Sales Manager and as its Vice President. Mr. Harrison has been Chairman of the Board of Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated since December 1996. The company operates in 11 states and had net sales in 2009 of nearly $1.5 billion. Its stated purpose is "To honor God in all we do, to serve others, to pursue excellence, to grow profitably".
Father Jon-Stephen Hedges
December 7th, 2011
Serving and ministering to the people of Isla Vista and UCSB since the late 1960’s, Fr. Jon-Stephen Hedges is the Campus and Community Pastor at St. Athanasius Orthodox Church. He also serves as a volunteer Chaplain with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, UCSB Police and County EMS. A Board Certified Crisis Chaplain and Certified Trauma Responder (CTR) Father Jon has collaborated and consulted with several Santa Barbara County agencies on crisis, trauma and disaster issues. He also identifies with the day-to-day disaster experienced by our homeless neighbors and has worked with the St. Brigid Fellowship, Doctors Without Walls and many other collaborations to encourage his friends on the streets.
Jane Higa
September 5th, 2011
As Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students, Jane Hideko Higa oversees all of the Student Life programs and personnel at Westmont College. She has held several leadership roles in the student development profession: chair for the Commission of Chief Student Development Officers for the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU), member of the Racial Harmony Commission for the CCCU, and Vice President and President Elect for the Association of Christians in Student Development (ACSD). She has either chaired or served as a member of various audits and program reviews in Christian Colleges across the nation. She has also servedas a member of an accreditation sitevisit under the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).
Jane was the Dean for Student Affairs at Biola University in La Mirada, CA, for seven years and was the Dean of Women in the 1980’s for two years. Previously she worked at the University of Southern California (USC) as Associate Director of Residential Life and Director of Resident Student Development. Thirty years ago, she began her career in higher education as Head Resident at USC. A graduate of Westmont College and a recipient of the prestigious Kenneth M. Monroe Award, Dean Higa earned a Master of Science in Education with a major in College Student Personnel Services from USC. Jane’s son and daughter, are both graduates of Westmont College.
Wesley Hill
November 28th, 2011
"Gay," "Christian," and "celibate" don't often appear in the same sentence. Yet many who sit next to us in the pew at church fit that description, says Wesley Hill, author of Washed and Waiting (Zondervan). As a celibate gay Christian, Hill knows what it is like to wrestle firsthand with God's "No" to same-sex relationships. What does it mean for gay Christians to live faithful to God while struggling with the challenge of their homosexuality? What is God's will for believers who experience same-sex desires? Those who choose celibacy are often left to deal with loneliness and the hunger for relationships. How can gay Christians experience God's favor and blessing in the midst of a struggle that for many brings a crippling sense of shame and guilt? He advocates neither unqualified "healing" for those who struggle, nor their accommodation to temptation, but rather faithfulness in the midst of brokenness.
Hill graduated from Wheaton College, has an MA in Theology and Religion from Durham University, U.K., where he is currently working toward a Ph.D. in New Testament.
Rick Ifland
January 18th, 2012
Rick Ifland has been a self-employed entrepreneur since his junior year at Westmont and
has spent the past thirty years developing people, improving productivity and promoting
quality on a worldwide basis with his experience in business development and executive
management. He is a member of the Westmont Board of Trustees where he chairs the
Strategic Planning Committee. He also serves as the Chairman of the Bright Hope For
Tomorrow Building Campaign.
Rick holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics and Business from Westmont, an MBA from the
University of Kentucky, a Master’s degree in International Law from Oxford University and a
Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) for leading efforts to help non-literate, rural poor women
participate in the historic elections in Afghanistan and Iraq and prevent the spread of HIV/
AIDS throughout Africa. Rick and his wife, Neile, met at Westmont and have been married
for 29 years. They are members of Southland Christian Church in Lexington, KY. Their
daughter and oldest son, and their spouses, are Westmont graduates. Their youngest son is
a senior in High School.
Reed Jolley
January 27th, 2012
Reed Jolley
For over 30 years, Reed Jolley has been one of teaching pastors at Santa Barbara Community Church. An avid surfer and a Westmont Alum, Reed exclaims that he is: "the proud father of three and an even prouder husband of my first wife."
Linda Kazibwe-James
March 23rd, 2012
Linda is a talented and gifted musican and worship leader. An alum of Biola University,
Linda will be leading our students in traditional worship from her home countries of Kenya and Uganda.
Along with being an inspiring worship leader and musician, Linda is a teacher of chemistry and biology at Whittier Christian School in Los Angeles and is passionate about the arts.
Chiraphone Khamphouvong
September 30th, 2011
Chiraphone is the Director for the Office of World Missions at Azusa Pactific University. A Lao native, Chiraphone escaped with her family of twelve to a Thailand refugee camp before immigrating to the U.S. in 1982.
Chiraphone earned a Bachelor of Arts in Global Studies and minored in Leadership Development, Culture, and Religion at Azusa Pacific University (APU). She served as a Peace Corps volunteer in South Africa with the Zulu people from 1998-2000 as an Education and Community Resource Worker. Upon returning from South Africa, Chiraphone became the Residence Director of Global Village, an international and multicultural living area at APU. In May 2003, she obtained a Master of Arts in Human and Organizational Development from APU’s School of Business and Management and became a Peace Corps recruiter through the Los Angeles Regional Office. Chiraphone is passionate about people, holistic sustainable development, and strives for excellence as a life-long learner and educator across the globe.
Ken & Kim Kihlstrom
February 15th, 2012
Husband and wife, Professor of Physics, Dr. Ken Kihlstrom and Professor of Computer Science, Dr. Kim Kihlstrom bring a unique perspective on the scriptures as they lead us in exploring the text of 1 Corinthians 13.
Maurice Lee
February 6th, 2012
Maurice Lee came to Westmont in 2008. He teaches Christian Doctrine and upper-division theology courses. His research includes dabbling in the conversations between Christian
theology and the natural sciences, and exploring medieval and contemporary theologies of the Holy Spirit.
Maurice received a B.S. in mathematics from Wheaton College, an M.S. in computation and neural systems from the California Institute of Technology, an M.A. in theology from Fuller Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in religious studies (theology) from Yale University. Before coming to Westmont, he did postdoctoral research in theology and evolution at Harvard University. He is the husband of one wife (Beth), father of one daughter (Ravinia), and servant of one slightly insane cat (Crate).
Leslie Leyland-Fields
October 24th, 2011
Leslie Leyland Fields is the author of 8 books, including Surviving the Island of Grace: Life on the Wild Edge of America and The Spirit of Food: 34 Writers on Feasting and Fasting Toward God. Her essays have appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Belief.net, Orion, The Christian Science Monitor and many others. She writes regularly for Christianity Today, and is a frequent guest on radio stations across the country on matters of faith, art, wilderness, family, and food. Recently she won the William Wilberforce Award in a televised Hollywood ceremony, for presenting a Christian perspective on the ethical treatment of animals. Leslie lives in Kodiak, Alaska with her husband and six children, who all work together every summer in commercial salmon fishing off a remote island.
Alice Longman
February 24th, 2012
Alice has been married for 38 years to Tremper Longman professor of Religious Studies at Westmont. They have three sons, 34, 32 and 29 years old. Two of their children are married and they have two grandchildren. Before moving to Santa Barbara in 1998 they lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Over the years Alice has worked as a Recreation Therapist, developing programs in several retirement homes in the Philadelphia area while a student in college and before having children. As a full time mother she was very involved in the life of the church and the community at large. She has run pre-school church programs organized and taught Bible Studies and women’s programs and directed educational programs at church. She and her husband have spoken together at Marriage Seminars. In addition she worked for Hospice in Philadelphia, participated in Habitat for Humanity programs in inner cities and mentored and led bible studies for high school girls before coming to Santa Barbara.
Alice has just has retired from Santa Barbara County Education having worked for the last twelve years. She also is a California Master Gardener who has developed a Horticultural Therapy Program for Alzheimers/Dementia patients in a local facility. She especially has a heart for parents of adopted children with special needs and families who are caring for parents with dementia.
Bryan Loritts
January 13th, 2012
Bryan is the Lead Pastor of Fellowship Memphis Church, a multicultural church ministering to the urban Memphis community. Bryan has a Master’s Degree in Theology and is currently working on his PhD. In addition to serving the community of Memphis, Bryan’s ministry takes him across the country as he speaks to thousands annually at churches, conferences, and retreats. He wrote God on Paper and was a contributing author for a book entitled Great Preaching. Bryan is married to Korie, and is the father of three sons: Quentin, Myles, and Jaden. You can follow Bryan on twitter: @bcloritts.
Adam McHugh
April 18th, 2012
Adam S. McHugh is an author, ordained Presbyterian minister, spiritual director, chaplain, speaker, and retreat leader. He is the author of Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture (InterVarsity Press, 2009).
Adam has a wide variety of ministry experience, including stints at Trinity United Presbyterian Church in Santa Ana, CA, and Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, CA. He served for 3 years on the staff of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at the Claremont Colleges, as well as for 2 years as a hospice chaplain with Vitas Hospice in Covina, CA. Adam received his spiritual direction certification through the Spirituality Center of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
Adam has been published in The Christian Century, The Washington Post, RELEVANT Magazine, Jesus Creed, Ministry Today, Patheos, and the Ooze, and has been featured in USA Today, Psychology Today, and the Huffington Post. He has been a guest on Mars Hill Audio Journal, InterFaith Voices, and Moody Prime Time America, among many other programs.
Hailing originally from Seattle, Adam has a B.A. from Claremont McKenna College and a Masters of Divinity and Masters of Theology in New Testament from Princeton Theological Seminary. He plays a lot of golf, drinks plenty of good wine, and watches a fair amount of Seattle sports. He and his wife live in Claremont, California.
Britt Merrick
February 3rd, 2012
Britt Merrick grew up near Santa Barbara, Calif. in a little town on the beach named Carpinteria. In his childhood years Britt’s singular passion was surfing, and soon he was making surfboards along side his father (Al Merrick) at the Channel Islands, Inc. surfboard factory for some of the best surfers in the world. Britt was also handling the famous company’s advertising, marketing, and amateur surf team. Shortly after re-committing his life to the Lord in his early twenties Britt began to teach bible studies at his parent’s home for the surfer kids in Carpinteria. These bible studies eventually led to Britt teaching and preaching at a Friday night college ministry at a local church in Santa Barbara. In the fall of 2003, sensing a further call to ministry, he and his wife and some close friends started a church called Reality in his hometown of Carpinteria. Reality Carpinteria is active in, and passionate about: youth, community transformation, birthing other churches, sending missionaries overseas, and equipping the next generation of leaders. By the grace and to the glory of God, the Reality network of churches has grown to include churches in Santa Barbara, Carpinteria, and Ventura as well as Los Angeles and Stockton, San Francisco and London. Britt continues to pastor full time and loves his wife Kate, their son Isaiah and daughter Daisy Love, the Bible and, of course, Jesus and His church.
Gary Moon
February 27th , 2012
Gary W. Moon, former executive vice president/provost and professor of psychology and spirituality at Richmont Graduate University in Atlanta, is the first director of the Martin Family Institute and Dallas Willard Center for Spiritual Formation at Westmont. Moon also serves as director for the Renovaré International Institute for Christian Spiritual Formation and as editor-in-chief for Conversations: A Forum for Authentic Transformation.
Kenon Neal
February 17th, 2012
Kenon Neal has been associated with Westmont for twenty-seven years. After graduating in 1988 from Westmont with a BA in English, she and her husband thoroughly enjoyed sharing life with students for 6 years as Resident Directors in both Armington and Page Halls.
Kenon's passion for writing and creating has been expressed in a variety of ways through the years, especially in the establishment of a non profit organization and mini-magazine for children fighting cancer. As the founder and director of Kids Cancer Network for thirteen years, Kenon had the opportunity to use her own cancer battles in a positive way. Kids Cancer Network's website continues to encourage hundreds of children living with cancer.
Kenon now serves the college as the Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations, building relationships and raising money for Westmont. She and her husband thank God for the privilege of parenting three children: Tanner (16), Luke (12) and Aliza Grace (8). In her free time, Kenon enjoys meeting with students, encouraging cancer patients and fellow survivors, and evenings at the beach with her family.
David Newton
March 26th, 2012
Professor of Entrepreneurial Finance, David Newton is in his 22nd year at Westmont. He is the 2008 National Leavey Foundation winner for Excellence in Private Enterprise Education. Dr. Newtong recently published, “Job Creation: How It Really Works and Why Government Doesn’t Understand It.” He and co-author Andrew Puzder, chief executive officer of CKE Inc., have spoken on CNN, Fox News and talk radio and at Young America’s Foundation, the Reagan Ranch Center, King’s College in New York City, chambers of commerce and venture forums. Dr. Newton is widely published. Besides his seven books he has written over 160 articles and was formerly Contributing Editor at Industry Week Growing Companies (1998-2000) and Entrepreneur (2000-2005). David and his wife, Kim, have been married for 29 years and have four adult children, Jesse, Katie, Jenny,and Christy.
John Ortberg
October 7th, 2011
John Ortberg, is passionate about "spiritual formation," which is how people become more like Jesus. His teaching brings Scripture alive and invariably includes practical applications and warm humor. John is the author of many books, including "If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat" and "The Life You've Always Wanted: Spiritual Growth for Ordinary People", and his latest book, "Faith & Doubt". He has also contributed to many other books and periodicals.
Nancy Ortberg
September 9th, 2011
Nancy Ortberg served as a teaching pastor for eight years at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois. During that time she lead Network, a ministry that helps people identify their spiritual gifts and find a place of service in the church, and Axis, a weekly gathering for the eighteen- to twenty-something generation.
She is a founding partner of Teamworx2, a business and leadership consulting firm that provides fast-paced, practical, and compelling sessions to leaders and their teams. Teamworx2 works with businesses, schools, nonprofit's, and churches to address issues of organizational effectiveness and teamwork.
Nancy is a gifted communicator who is passionate about helping people connect what they believe with their everyday lives. A highly sought-after speaker, Nancy has been a featured presenter at the Catalyst and Orange conferences, and has been a regular contributor to Rev! Magazine. Nancy is the author of Looking for God: An Unexpected Journey through tattoos, tofu, & pronouns and Unleashing the Power of Rubber Bands, lessons in no-linear leadership.
She and her husband, John, live in the Bay Area and have three children: Laura, Mallory, and Johnny.
Walter Owens
September 26th and 28th, 2011
Walter Owens, Jr. serves the Rev. Senator James T. Meeks and the 20,000-member congregation of the Salem Baptist Church of Chicago as its Minister of Music and Arts. He completed his undergraduate work at Northwestern University (Evanston, IL) and graduate work at Butler University (Indianapolis, IN) where Dr. Michael Shasberger served as advisor and mentor. He recently served on the Advisory Committee of the newly-published African American Heritage Hymnal (GIA Publications) and is a sought after choral clinician in Sweden, Germany, and Switzerland.
His wife, Rev. Terri Owens, is the Dean of Students at the University of Chicago Divinity School and they share the privilege of raising a 18-yr.old son, Walter III, who is pursuing a musical career in composition.
Ben Patterson
Dates throughout the semester
For over ten years the Reverend Ben Patterson has been the Campus Pastor at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California. As Campus Pastor, he is responsible for organizing the college’s chapel program, which meets three mornings a week, mentoring students, counseling, and encouraging every person in the Westmont community to grow toward their full maturity in Christ.
He is a contributing editor to Christianity Today, Leadership Journal, and was previously a contributing editor and editorial writer with The Wittenberg Door. Ben has written several books including: Serving God: The Grand Essentials of Work & Worship, Waiting: Finding Hope When God Seems Silent, Deepening Your Conversation with God, The Prayer Devotional Bible, He Has Made Me Glad, and God’s Prayer Book: The Power and Pleasure of Praying the Psalms. Coming out in the spring of 2011 is Ben’s most current work, Muscular Faith.
Ben served the New Providence Presbyterian Church of New Jersey from 1989 until his appointment as Dean of the Chapel at Hope College in 1993. From 1975 to 1989 he was with the Irvine Presbyterian Church of California, of which he was the founding pastor. Ben was also minister of youth and adult education at the La Jolla Presbyterian Church of California. Previous to that he was assistant minister to college students at the First Baptist Church of Pomona, California working with the Claremont Colleges.
Ben Patterson earned his bachelor’s degree from La Verne University in 1966 and his master’s of divinity from The American Baptist Seminary of the West in 1972. He and his wife, Lauretta, have four grown children and is the proud grandfather to his one year old grandson, Cornelius Jack.
Laurie Polich-Short
February 13th, 2012
Pastor of Small Groups and Discipleship, Ocean Hills Covenant Church, Santa Barbara
A popular speaker and author, Laurie serves as a pastor at Ocean Hills Covenant Church. An expert on small groups, she speaks at conferences for youth and women at colleges and churches around the country, and for Compassion International. She graduated from Fuller Theological Seminary and has written several books, including Help I‚ôm a Small Group Leader, Small Group Strategies, and a new series called Studies on the Go.
Presidential Breakfast Speaker
March 2nd, 2012
Dr. Robert Gates, who served as a trusted advisor to eight U.S. presidents of both parties, will be the keynote speaker at the seventh annual Westmont President’s Breakfast. After the breakfast, Dr. Gates will join us in Chapel where a panel of Westmont students will field their questions on United States foreign policy and world affairs to the former secretary.
Dr. Gates was secretary of defense under two presidents, Barack Obama and George W. Bush, and through two wars, Iraq and Afghanistan. He is regarded as one of the most respected leaders in recent U.S. history, driving U.S. intelligence and defense policies over the past four-and-a-half decades from the Cold War to today’s ongoing war on terrorism.
Please note that Dr. Gates will not be giving an address in this service. Chapel is free and open to the public, but because of the distinction of our speaker seating might be limited.
J.A.C. Redford & Kate Butler
October 21st, 2011
J.A.C. Redford is an accomplished composer of concert, chamber andchoralmusic, film and television scores, and music for the theater.
His works have been performed by Cantus, The Debussy Trio,Los Angeles Chamber Singers,Los Angeles Master Chorale, St. Martin's Chamber Choir, Utah Chamber Artists andUtah Symphony. He has been featured on programs at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles and at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
Redford has written the scores for more than three dozen feature films, TV movies or miniseries, including The Trip to Bountiful,Oliver & Company, Newsies, The Mighty Ducks II and III, What the Deaf Man Heard and Mama Flora’s Family. He has composed the music for nearly 500 episodes of series television, including multiple seasons of Coach and St. Elsewhere (for which he received Emmy® nominations).
His incidental music has been heard in theatrical productions at the Matrix Theater in Los Angeles and South Coast Repertory Theater in Costa Mesa, California, as well as on the American Playhouse series on PBS. Two of his musical comedies are published by Anchorage Press and performed frequently across North America.
Collaborating with other artists, Redfordhas orchestrated, arranged, or conducted for Academy Award®-winning composers James Horner, Alan Menken and Rachel Portman, as well as for Terence Blanchard, Danny Elfman, Mark Isham, Marc Shaiman and Cirque du Soleil’s Benoit Jutras, on projects including The Little Mermaid, The Nightmare Before Christmas and The Perfect Storm.Hehas written for and recorded with Grammy Award®-winning artists Joshua Bell,Steven Curtis Chapman, andBonnie Raitt.
Hehas produced, arranged, and conducted music for the Los Angeles Master Chorale, and served as a consultant for the Sundance Film Institute, a teacher in the Artists-in-Schools program for the National Endowment for the Arts, a guest lecturer at USC and UCLA, and on the Music Branch Executive Committees for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Redfordis the author of Welcome All Wonders: A Composer’s Journey, published by Baker Books. His many recordings include two collections of his choral music, Evening Wind and Eternity Shut in a Span, both on Clarion Records.
Mezzo-soprano KATE BUTLER has established herself as a singing artist both in the United States and abroad. Her
professional career began with performances at the Chautauqua Opera Festival and continued with performances at
Houston Grand Opera, New York City Opera, Dallas Opera, Opera Theater of St. Louis, San Diego Opera, Opera
Pacific, Orlando Opera, Indianapolis Opera, Cleveland Opera, Sacramento Opera, Chicago Opera Theatre, Long Beach
Opera, Nevada Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera and Opera Ensemble of New York. She was the leading mezzosoprano
with the Bremen Opera in Germany for 6 years, where she sang Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier, Rosina in Il
Barbiere di Siviglia, Cherubino in Nozze di Figaro, Romeo in I Capuleti, Dorabella in Così fan Tutte, Orfeo in Orfeo,
David in Saul and other roles.
Ms. Butler has been awarded the NIMT George London Award, was twice a finalist in the Eleanor Steber Vocal
Competition, was a Midwest Regional Winner for the Metropolitan Opera Auditions and a Regional Winner and
recipient of the Levy Award for the San Francisco Opera Auditions. Ms. Butler received her B. M. and M. M. in
Vocal Performance from LSU, was a scholarship student in the Professional Studies Program at The Juilliard School
and studied as a Doctoral Fellow at Indiana University.
She is Associate Professor of Music at the University of
Nebraska in Lincoln where her students have been winners in the Metropolitan Opera Auditions, the National
Association of Teachers of Singing Competitions, and have sung in opera productions, concerts and special programs
at the University of Nebraska, across the United States and in Europe.
Senior Chapel
April 25th, 2012
The final Chapel of the academic year is a celebration of the Lord's goodness and faithfulness. It is also a time to thank the Lord for our senior class and to celebrate with them in their final Chapel at Westmont as undergraduates. As we send all of our students out to destinations all over the world, we do so with grateful hearts that the Lord has entrusted them into our care and for His faithfulness in growing, maturing, and strengthening each student. The culmination of this Chapel is the serving of communion by senior class representatives to the Westmont Community.
Michael Shasberger
September 2nd, 2011 and January 11th, 2012
Michael Shasberger joined the Westmont faculty in 2005 after a distinguished career in higher education and church music. A graduate of St. Olaf College in Minnesota, he earned a doctorate in choral music, vocal performance and church music at the University of Southern California. He has extensive experience as a conductor and soloist in a wide variety of musical performances, including opera and classic works. Dr. Shasberger's endeavors here at Westmont include conducting the Westmont College Choir and Chamber Orchestra, private voice instruction, working with the office of the campus pastor, and developing artistic collaborations with the Santa Barbara arts community. He is also the Artistic Director of the Denver Bach Society, Founder and Director Emertitus of the Musica Sacra Chamber Orchestra of Denver, and sings with the Santa Barbara based Vocal Scholars vocal ensemble.
Gerald Sittser
October 28th, 2011
Jerry Sittser specializes in the History of Christianity, Christian Spirituality, and Religion in American Public Life.His course on the history and practice of Christian Spirituality meets over January Term in the wintry beauty of Tall Timber, a Christian camp located in a remote area of the Cascade mountain range.Students live together for three weeks, follow a modified Benedictine Rule, and explore various spiritual traditions that have emerged throughout the history of Christian spirituality. He is also chair of the MA in Theology program at Whitworth and director of the Certification in Ministry program. He has written seven books, too.He is currently doing research on the history of "catechesis," which refers to how the church has trained people in the faith over the past 2,000 years.He enjoys music, literature, hiking, woodworking, and he attends the Oregon Shakespeare Festival every year with his family.Sittser is also known as "dad" to two Whitworth alums; his youngest son attends SPU.
Kelly Soifer
March 19th, 2012
Kelly is currently the Director of Recruiting and Leadership Development for the Free Methodist Church in Southern California, providing strategic planning, pastoral recruiting & training for over 40 Free Methodist churches from Santa Barbara to San Diego. She is greatly energized by the Free Methodist Church’s deep commitment to “walking their talk,” where they serve in multiple ways throughout their communities, reaching diverse populations. She is especially excited about their new ministry plan for launching long-term missional communities along the CA coast, where small groups of believers live out evangelism, social justice, discipleship and service. Ask her about it!
Kelly was the Youth Pastor of Santa Barbara Community Church from 1994 till Feb 2009. She founded the ministry there, and eventually led the ministries with 5th/6th, Jr High and High School, guiding over 200 students and 50 leaders.
Kelly is currently teaching, both at a local Christian high school (teaching Bible and doctrine) and at Westmont College, where she trains students in church and parachurch internships. She also writes articles for Youthworker Journal, YMToday, Fuller Youth Institute, Light & Life Magazine, and contributes to books on youth ministry.
Before working in church ministry, Kelly worked with Young Life as a volunteer and then on staff serving as a Regional Director for the Central Coast.
Kelly is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara, majoring in English Literature, and has lived in Santa Barbara ever since!
In keeping with other crazy Californians, Kelly is a devoted bicycle commuter, delighted owner of an Italian scooter, and enthusiastic fan of organic produce and cooking. She has also become quite the blogger, Facebooker, Google Plusser and Twitterer! However, she cannot surf.
Spring Break Commissioning
March 9th, 2012
Prior to sending all of our students out to the world for Spring Break, we take time to pray and as God's protection, provision, and guidance. We will specifically take time in this service to pray for those students going on Potter's Clay in Ensenada, Mexico and Student Ministries Mission's trips all over the globe, as well as those going to Jackson, Mississippi for a special Racial Equality and Justice Reconciliation trip.
Spring Focus Day Speaker
January 30th, 2012
Each spring the Department of Campus Life, in conjunction with many other departments on campus, bring to Westmont important speakers to focus in and discuss relative and pertinent issues. This year we're focusing on the topic of managing anxiety and stress.
Margot Starbuck
October 14th, 2011
Margot, a graduate of Westmont College and Princeton Seminary, is passionate about communicating to individuals, in print and in speech, the promise that God, in Jesus Christ, is with them and for them.
She is the author of The Girl in the Orange Dress: Searching For a Father Who Does Not Fail, Unsqueezed: Springing Free From Skinny Jeans, Nose Jobs, Highlights & Stilettos and the forthcoming Small Things With Great Love: Adventures in Loving Your Neighbor. (2012) Margot’s first book, The Girl in the Orange Dress was awarded the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association’s best nonfiction book of the year for 2011. Margot is represented by WordServe Literary and is a member of Redbud Writer’s Guild.
Margot blogs for Her.meneutics, Red Letter Christians, Gifted for Leadership, FullFill, and True Campaign. She also writes for Relevant, Neue, Kyria, Mutuality, Thriving Family, MomSense, Adoption Today as well as other print and online publications. She is the confessions editor for Geez Magazine’s Sinner’s Corner.
Margot enjoys connecting with audiences on campuses and at conferences, retreats and festivals. Clients include Wheaton College, Friends University, MOPs International, Young Life Women’s Weekend, Urban Promise Ministry Summit, Lifest and the Wild Goose Festival. Margot can also be heard online as one of the key voices on the weekly True Sisterhood podcast.
At home in Durham, North Carolina—with her husband and three children, by birth and adoption—Margot serves as a volunteerhanging out with teens and adults who live with disabilities throughReality Ministries. She’s also pretty tickled to partner as a speaker advocate with Compassion International. Learn more at www.MargotStarbuck.com or connect with Margot on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Margot.
Student Testimonies
November 21st, 2011
Once each semester we take time to hear from students whose lives have been touched and changed by the Lord Jesus Christ. Those students who have been asked to share will give witness to what the Lord has done and how their faith is integrated into practice in their lives.
Pamela Wilhelms
February 8th, 2012
Pamela Wilhelms is a social architect, organizational consultant and executive coach. Her work in social architecture focuses on the invisible systems and structures in organizations that ignite creativity, innovation, design, and tap the collective intelligence and soul of the organization. This transformational work drives a shift in culture from mechanistic, hierarchical frameworks to models based on complex adaptive living systems and higher performance on multiple dimensions.
Her coaching with executives is an integral leadership model, which applies recent research in psychophysiology, social neuroscience, spiral dynamics and quantum physics to the practical aspects of leading organizations.
As lead architect for WCG, the company she founded in 1987, Pamela now focuses the work on businesses building capacity for multiple bottom line measurements, and coaching leaders in all sectors of society who are shaping the shift towards an abundant regenerative economy. Pamela has worked with leaders from more than 40 countries, on five continents, and from organizations as varied as Fortune 20 companies, the White House, the United Nations, natural resource agencies, social entrepreneurs and community leaders.
Her latest endeavor is the Soul of the Next Economy Initiative, which connects global thought leaders and action leaders for innovation and profound deep change in individual, organizational and societal systems for the flourishing of life on the planet. With undergraduate studies in environmental engineering, landscape architecture and urban design, and graduate work in psychology, theology, leadership and organizational behavior, she is positioned to see the systems intersections and passionate about radical collaboration across traditional boundaries. Pamela has designed award winning multi-year leadership academies and taught in graduate programs for many universities including Harvard, Georgetown, Yale, the University of California and Stanford.
Dallas Willard
September 12th, 2011
Dallas Willard is a Professor in the School of Philosophy at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He has taught at USC since 1965, where he was Director of the School of Philosophy from 1982-1985. He has also taught at the University of Wisconsin (Madison, 1960-1965), and has held visiting appointments at UCLA (1969) and the University of Colorado (1984).
His undergraduate studies were at William Jewell College, Tennessee Temple College (B.A., 1956, Psychology) and Baylor University (B.A., 1957, Philosophy and Religion); and his Graduate education was at Baylor University and the University of Wisconsin (Ph. D., 1964: Major in Philosophy, Minor in the History of Science).
His philosophical publications are mainly in the areas of epistemology, the philosophy of mind and of logic, and on the philosophy of Edmund Husserl, including extensive translations of Husserl's early writings from German into English. His English translation and edition of Edmund Husserl's Philosophy of Arithmetic was released in September, 2003. His Logic and the Objectivity of Knowledge, a study of Husserl's early philosophy, appeared in 1984, and his Early Writings in the Philosophy of Logic and Mathematics (1993) makes available to the English reader nearly all of the shorter philosophical works that Husserl produced on the way to the phenomenological breakthrough recorded in his Logical Investigations of 1900-1901.
He also lectures and publishes in religion. His most recent book, Knowing Christ Today, was published in May 2009. The Great Omission, which was published in 2006, received a Christianity Today annual Book Award in the Christian Living category in 2007. Renovation of the Heart was published in May 2002, and received Christianity Today's 2003 Book Award in the category of Spirituality. The Divine Conspiracy was released in 1998 and selected Christianity Today's "Book of the Year" for 1999. The Spirit of the Disciplines appeared in 1988, and Hearing God (1999) first appeared as In Search of Guidance in 1984 (2nd edition in 1993).
He has served on the boards of the C.S. Lewis Foundation and Biola University, and is a member of numerous evaluation committees for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (accreditation). His academic honors include:
ALPHA LAMBDA DELTA National Honor Society, Initiation May 1991; Lecturer in Corsi Estivi Internazionali di Filosofia, Bozen, Italy, 1990; PHI KAPPA PHI National Honor Society, Initiation in May 1990; USC Student Senate Award for Outstanding Faculty of the Year, 1984; Faculty participant in the COLLEGIUM PHAENOMENOLOGICUM at Monteripido (Perugia, Italy), summer 1977; USC Associates Award for Excellence in Teaching, 1976-1977; Recipient (1976) of Blue Key National Honor Fraternity's "Outstanding Faculty Member" award for outstanding contributions to student life at USC; Danforth Associate 1967-1975.
Dallas was born in Buffalo, Missouri, USA, September 4, 1935. He married Jane Lakes of Macon, Georgia, in 1955. They live in Southern California, where Jane is a Marriage and Family Therapist. They have two children, John and Becky (married to Bill Heatley), and a granddaughter, Larissa.