An original musical premiering at 91����Ƶ’s MainStage Theater this week brings audiences the captivating, never-before-seen story of a Russian poet, nun and saint who saved countless lives during World War II and was killed for it. Created by 91����Ƶ professors Jerry Holsopple and Justin Poole, “On the Breath of God: The Life of Maria Skobtsova” runs from Friday-Saturday, March 28-29 @ 7 p.m.; Thursday-Saturday, April 3-5 @ 7 p.m.; and on Sunday, March 30 @ 2 p.m.

The sweeping drama traces the remarkable life of Skobtsova, played by 91����Ƶ senior Reah Clymer, from impetuous teen to chain-smoking nun who sheltered refugees and helped many Jews escape Nazi-occupied Paris. Known as “Mother Maria,” she was arrested and sent to the Ravensbrück concentration camp, where she was executed.

“You really see the arc to Maria’s life,” Poole said. “By the end of the play, you’re completely invested in who she is, and you see this dramatic transformation she goes through.”

The fourth collaboration between Holsopple and Poole, “On the Breath of God” brings together a multigenerational cast and crew of 91����Ƶ students, alumni, faculty/staff and community members. The musical features a chorus of four women mystics from history, singing lyrics taken directly from their texts to Celtic folk melodies, performed by musicians Perry Blosser ’18 (violin), Benjamin Brantley (guitar), and Dirk Holsopple ’10 (Uilleann pipes). These mystics, played by students Elie Hoover and Erin Batten and alumnae Caitlin Holsapple ’16 and Elizabeth Eby ’22, surround Skobtsova during pivotal moments in her life. Though invisible to her, they influence her decisions through their words.

“Celtic music is able to hold trauma and hope together,” Holsopple said. “That’s what this story is. It’s the story of a woman who endured all kinds of trauma and never lost the ability to have hope and keep doing what she believed was right, up until the very end.”

Clymer delivers a masterful performance as Skobtsova, pouring her soul into the multifaceted character, capturing her playfulness, fierceness and suffering. “Mother Maria lived a tough life,” Clymer said. “She lost two daughters, went through two divorces, lived through war and displacement and deportation, and was thrown in jail multiple times. I’ve had to go there, emotionally, in every rehearsal.”

The set design is minimalist yet imaginative. Backlit stained glass panels form the backdrop, paired with an animated collage of photos projected onto two screens. While most characters in the play wear neutral-toned, period-specific clothing, with Skobtsova dressed in a Russian Orthodox nun’s habit, the mystics don flowing robes accented with pops of color. Frequent 91����Ƶ Theatre collaborator Rachel Herrick returns as costume designer. Rounding out the crew are Shannon Dove (technical director and set design), Robert Weaver (light designer), Tom Carr (sound technician), and Sarah Peak (stage manager), among others.

Despite the play’s early- to mid-20th century setting, Clymer said its themes are just as relevant today. “This story is so timely,” she said. “It’s about immigration. It’s about refugees. It’s about war and political turmoil.”

Tickets are $20 for adults, $18 for seniors, $10 for children 18 and under, and $6 for university students. For tickets, visit:

Read a preview of the play from the Daily News-Record .

Cast

Liz “Maria” Skobtsova – Reah Clymer
Sophia – Melody Wilson
Jura/Sailor – Ross Haun
Alexander Blok/Captain/Father Dimitri – Adam Hoover
Dmitri/Daniil/Peters – Joe Seitz
Father/Metropolitan – Shannon Dove
Evgenia/Klara – Kay Pettus 
Ana/Ida – Alexis Lewis
Gardener/Father Kern/SS Officer – Nathanael Eby
Lyuba/Nun at Lourmel House/Inna – Cassidy Walker
Nun/Irena – Emilee White
Therese of Lisieux/Hildegard of Bingen – Elie Hoover
Hadewijch of Flanders – Elizabeth Eby
Mechthild of Magdeburg – Caitlyn Holsapple 
Julian of Norwich/Theresa of Avila – Erin Batten
Young Liz/Giana – Vienna Poole
Young Giana/Nastia – Felicity Poole

Crew

Co-creator – Justin Poole
Co-creator – Jerry Holsopple
Costume designer – Rachel Herrick
Technical Director/Set Design – Shannon Dove
Light Designer – Robert Weaver 
Sound Technician – Tom Carr
Stage Manager – Sarah Peak
Assistant Stage Manager – Jordyn Thompson 
Video Production Assistant – Zack Furr
Video Production Assistant – Oslyn Mejia Gomez
Cast and Crew Photographer/Video Production Assistant – Cassidy Walker
Video Production Assistant – Willem Hedrick 
Video Production Assistant – Allie Watkins

Musicians

Violin – Perry Blosser
Guitar – Benjamin Brantley
Irish Pipes – Dirk Holsopple

“How do you mark the ending of one part of your life journey, while anticipating the next,” he wrote in a journal entry from that day. 

Roughly an hour after seeing his students off, he was on his bicycle pedaling toward a ferry that would begin an 1,800-kilometer (1,118-mile) journey across three countries in 22 days. Photographs from his ride along the EuroVelo 10/13 bike route, which follows the coast of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, as well as journal entries he logged during the trek, are the featured exhibition on display at the Margaret Martin Gehman Gallery. An opening reception for Holsopple and his collection of photos, paintings and writings was held at the gallery on Friday, Feb. 21. The exhibition will remain on display through March 21.

Holsopple, who joined the 91����Ƶ faculty in 2000 (he taught the school’s first digital media classes as a part-time instructor starting in 1998), is retiring this year. His contributions to 91����Ƶ throughout the past 25 years are too numerous to name, but include the creation of the communication major within the Language and Literature Department in 2000. 

“He actually built the communications department,” VACA Professor Steven Johnson said in introductory remarks at the reception. “It eventually merged with the art department to become the present-day Visual and Communication Arts department that you all know and love. … VACA majors look to Jerry for honest feedback and wise mentoring.”

Holsopple spent the 2009-2010 academic year as a Fulbright scholar at LCC International University in Klaipeda, Lithuania. His Into the Window exhibition, featuring icons he painted during his year there, was the first exhibition held at the Gehman Gallery when it opened in 2010.

The title of his latest exhibition, Finding Water, relates to the route he and his biking partner, Glyn Jones, took along the Baltic Sea coastline. “Every day we would see the water, from sandy windswept beaches to large rock boulders left by the glacier centuries ago,” a journal entry states. But, it also relates to how the metaphorical river of life carries us along our journeys. “I wanted this to be a show that’s not about remembering what I’ve done for 30 years or whatever, but about embracing the mystery of what is yet to come,” he shared at the reception. “And, what each day on a bike trip brings you that you don’t know is going to come your way.”

“Why did I take this bike trip?” Holsopple asked the crowd gathered at Friday’s reception. “Because I was looking for a way to process what it meant to say goodbye to these people. I stopped to visit people along the way that I had known all these years. It was like giving all three countries a big hug.”

The exhibition features several grids of photographs, each related to a theme. One grid shows Holocaust sites in the capital city of Riga, Latvia. Another is a collection of photos of churches that he passed by on his route. A grid of coffee shops includes his favorite cafe in Estonia, Kehrweider, “with its underground feel, good coffee and snacks, and an attitude,” he wrote in his journal. “In the early days of bringing students on these trips, you couldn’t get a carry-out coffee anywhere. Now, coffee shops are everywhere and people carry their paper cups down the sidewalks in hordes.”

Referencing a large photograph of trees along a shore, Holsopple recounted his experience capturing the moment. “It was about 6 a.m. when we went down the hill and I saw this reflection and I jammed on my brakes,” Holsopple said. “I was not going to pass up that reflection. I’m always fascinated by reflections because I think it plays with this idea of reality and what we imagine and what we see if we really pay attention to what’s happening in life.”

Finding Water also includes a pair of icons that Holsopple painted. One of them is inspired by an icon that Maria Skobtsova, a Russian poet, nun, and member of the French Resistance during World War II, was working on before she died at the Ravensbrück concentration camp in Germany. Holsopple and 91����Ƶ Theater Director Justin Poole created a musical theater production based on her life that opens at the MainStage Theater in March. The other icon is a stylized self-portrait that he created in 2016. 

Cassidy Walker, an 91����Ƶ senior majoring in art, photography, and digital media, attends every gallery opening through her work for the VACA department, but said Holsopple’s was special to her. 

“Jerry’s the reason I ended up coming to 91����Ƶ in the first place,” she said. “I had gotten into some big art schools, and he convinced me that I would get a great education here and that I’d get to be one of the Lithuania kids.” 

Walker was part of Holsopple’s final intercultural trip to Lithuania in 2023. She spoke about his guidance in helping her figure out her goals for the future. “I was nervous about becoming a triple-major and he’s been this person I’ve been able to lean on,” she said. “He’s always been there for me.”

Rachel Holderman ’18, who graduated from 91����Ƶ’s VACA department with degrees in Photography and Art, now works as a photographer for James Madison University. She took several classes taught by Holsopple and said she likes staying connected with those who helped develop her skills. At the opening reception, she said she was drawn to Holsopple’s use of reflections and unique angles. “It’s mirrored so perfectly that it’s hard to tell where the surface is, like where reality meets reflection,” she said about the photo of trees on a glassy lake.

Holsopple is an artist, photographer and renowned videographer who teaches photography and digital media-related courses in 91����Ƶ’s VACA department. He has a BS degree in Bible from 91����Ƶ, an MDiv from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, and a PhD in Media & Communication from European Graduate School. He led undergraduate intercultural trips to the Baltics in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2021 and 2023. 

A 2013 trip to the country resulted in the photography exhibit and book, Traces of a Social Movement: The Baltic Way, about people who participated in a 630-kilometer-long human chain, formed in August 1989 across Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

Theater-goers in the Shenandoah Valley will get the first look this winter at an 91����Ƶ production that will embark on a European tour in 2022.

Bonhoeffer: Cell 92 depicts the life of German dissident and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was imprisoned and murdered for his opposition to Hitler and the Nazi regime in World War II. He spent one and half years in prison before being hanged in April 1945, just weeks from the end of the war.

The play opens Friday, Jan. 21, for a two-week run in 91����Ƶ’s Mainstage Theater and in March at Court Square Theater in Harrisonburg.

Performances at 91����Ƶ are

• Friday & Saturday, Jan. 21 and 22, 7 p.m.
• Sunday, Jan. 23, 2 p.m.
• Wednesday, Jan. 26, 10 a.m. 
• Thursday, Jan. 27,  7 p.m. (International Holocaust Remembrance Day)
• Friday & Saturday, Jan. 28 & 29, 7 p.m.
• Sunday, Jan. 30, 2 p.m.

Tickets are $15/adults and 91����Ƶ faculty/staff; $12/seniors (65+); $12/non-91����Ƶ students and children; and free for 91����Ƶ and Bridgewater College students.

It is the second recent collaboration of 91����Ƶ professors and co-creators Jerry Holsopple and Justin Poole. Their fall 2021 musical “U2 Romeo & Juliet,” combining music of the iconic Irish rock band with Shakespeare’s famous tragedy, earned accolades from audiences and recognition from the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. 

The duo co-wrote the Bonhoeffer script and combined their expertise in cinema and theater.  

“Audiences will see multiple parallels between Bonhoeffer’s time and our own, as he examines the tensions between his pacifist and theological ideals and his moral obligation to protect the oppressed,” said Poole.

After months interacting with primary source materials, Holsopple said his appreciation grew for the Lutheran pastor: “He had no interest in being a martyr, he was just trying to figure out what it means to be faithful to Jesus and to his neighbor. What I came to value was his refusal to allow abstract theological questions to stop him from action.”

The sole live actor is Poole as Bonhoeffer. His character exists within three walls that act both as his prison cell and as cinematic screens that project flashbacks and imagery.

“Not only do the screens offer another dimension to this theater piece, but we used them to explore his friendships and romantic life,” said Holsopple. 

The play weaves eye-witness accounts, photos, and primary sources such as correspondence from the posthumous collection Letters and Papers from Prison. An original cello score composed and performed by Kimberly Souther, director of 91����Ƶ’s Preparatory Music Program, is a haunting backdrop.

The large cast involved in filmed material includes local professional actors, 91����Ƶ theater students and community members. Poole and Holsopple also draw from an accomplished group of local production artists: stage director , 91����Ƶ alumna and professor of theater at James Madison University; choreographer and dance teacher ; designers Robert Weaver and Rachel Herrick and production assistants Ezrionna Prioleau, Hailey Holcomb and Jareya Harder.

After a run at Court Square Theater in March, the production will move to Austria. Poole and Holsopple are planning the Vienna-based performance schedule for May 2022 in conjunction with the . celebrating its 95th birthday celebration. The language study and study abroad program has strong connections to the U.S. Embassy.

Editor’s Note 12/20/2021: This production earned multiple awards from the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival: Certificates of Merit for co-creators Justin Poole and Jerry Holsopple and fight choreographer Wolf Sherrill, as well as nominations for the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship competition for Greta Schrag, Elizabeth Eby, Anna Hoover, and Andrew Stoltzfus. Eby was nominated for the MTI Musical Theater Intensive Audition as well.

Audiences at 91����Ƶ’s “U2 Romeo & Juliet” are in for a treat. A theater production that combines the artistry of William Shakespeare and the iconic Irish band U2 is exciting, intense and bold. The band’s poetic songs easefully carry classic themes of hatred and violence, love and reconciliation. 

Live music performed by a skilled ensemble of actors and local band Prince Bellerose, with original videos, choreography and intense fight scenes, will also make this theater experience memorable. The rock musical, created by faculty members Justin Poole and Jerry Holsopple, not only tells the story of the constant human struggle between light and darkness, but challenges audiences to make a difference in today’s chaotic world.

This is a play about the horrible things we do to each other and the need for us to advocate for peace and justice despite seemingly insurmountable odds.

—Justin Poole, theater program director and professor of theater

“The music of U2 works so well in this show because most of their songs mean more than one thing,” said Holsopple, professor of visual and communication arts. “It may be about love, but it is also about this other situation. It goes from lament to prophetic anger, from intense personal feelings to grand ideas all while balancing multiple narratives on the flow of text and music.”

“U2 Romeo & Juliet: An Original Rock Musical” runs Oct. 16-30, in the Mainstage Theater, University Commons. Performances are 7 p.m. Oct. 16, 28, 29, and 30, and 2 p.m. Oct 17 and 30.

A ‘disordered, uncertain world’

Poole conceived the idea for the rock musical shortly after the tragedy of 9/11. His vision was sparked by his college professor’s creation that paired Shakespeare and The Beatles for a musical of “The Two Gentlemen of Verona.”

“I started envisioning a performance of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ set to the music and lyrics of my personal favorite band U2,” Poole wrote in the program’s creator notes. “It would be a much darker, morally complicated play that mirrored the new state of the world as I saw it: disordered, uncertain, violent, desperate.”

It took 20 years for anyone to be enthusiastic about his vision. Prepared for a discouraging comment, Poole told his idea to fellow-U2 enthusiast Holsopple, who unexpectedly replied, “That works. You want me to be your music director?”

“It took collaboration with Jerry to have it happen,” Poole said, noting they use the title of creators to describe their production roles. “We aren’t using any other titles. This is in keeping with the spirit of U2 who shares all their creative rights and credits.”

 Contacting U2

In January 2020, Holsopple and Poole chose 22 songs they wanted to include and then form the text around the music. They sent their proposal — including a script draft with music selections identified, as well as information about 91����Ƶ’s mission—to U2’s publishing company, Universal Music Publishing. Eventually, they were put in contact with a band representative who said, “The band is going to have to review your proposal extensively.” With an upcoming tour scheduled, that meant a long turn-around time. However, in less than two weeks, on March 16, a rep emailed  to grant permission to use all 22 songs requested.

Royalties could have been exorbitant, but U2 asked a bare minimum, Poole said, far less than most staged productions. 

Adapting the script and casting

Poole and Holsopple developed the adaptation in summer 2020. They cut archaic scenes, while keeping favorite Shakespearean quotes and the story intact. U2’s songs chosen include “Love and Peace or Else,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” “Grace,” and “Sunday Bloody Sunday.”

The creators brought in local band Prince Bellerose to perform live:  Valentin Prince, Daniel Bellerose and Joseph Harder ’20. In addition to 91����Ƶ students, they cast community member Stan Swartz ’87 and 91����Ƶ faculty members James Richardson, assistant professor of music, and Shannon Dove, theater tech director.

The play revolves around Friar Laurence, portrayed by Dove, Holsopple said. “The Friar is like Bono, the storyteller. In a way, it’s the friar’s confession in his attempt to change the world and his failure.”

 Dove was a U2 fan as a teen, and as “one of the older members of the cast,” owned a cassette copy of their first album. Aspiring to also sing rock and roll, he said, as a baritone, “the holy grail to me at the time was someday being able to hit that note…you know that one note in ‘With or Without You.’”

The songs function as soliloquies. Sophomore Greta Schrag said they provide her character, Juliet, an inner monologue for the motivation of her actions. “She gets to have a say in what happens to her and gets to share how she feels about it with the audience,” said Schrag, a political science and sociology major.

With women taking on the roles of the Capulet and Montague boys, Poole said, “there’re lots of gender bending, which works well in Shakespeare and with our vision for this show.”

Video projections created by Holsopple and VACA students, Poole said, “add a broader perspective to the piece, connecting it to contemporary events.”

Making a change

With Christian world views of hope, joy, love and peace embedded in both the script and U2’s lyrics, the creators and cast made an intention for the audience.

“We communicate to the audience, and they go out and make positive changes,” Poole said. “They go out and make things better.”

Senior Andrew Stoltzfus, a nursing major with a minor in theater, who will portray Romeo, wants the audience to feel the full tragedy of the play, he said, “the horror of what humans do to each other and to feel resolved to join in the “rebellion” against violence.”

“I hope they’ll realize the depth and impact love can have on any circumstance,” said Schrag.  “Love is power, and it is stronger and more effective than hate.”

Ticket prices for adults are $15; Senior (65+), non-91����Ƶ students, $12; 91����Ƶ faculty/staff, $12; 91����Ƶ and Bridgewater students, $6. Discounts are available for groups of ten or more. Tickets are available online through 91����Ƶ’s Box Office online at or by calling 540-432-4582 between 10:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. weekdays. Because of the intensity of the production, it is not suitable for children under age 14. Face masks are required.

Thanks to our sponsors

CAST

Romeo: Andrew Stoltzfus

Juliet: Greta Schrag

Friar Laurence: Shannon Dove

Nurse: Clara Bush

Mercutio: Elizabeth Eby

Benvolio: Anna Hoover

Tybalt: Isaac Longacre

Paris:  Matt Hevener

Lord Montague:  James Richardson

Lady Montague: Ani Beitzel

Montague Boy/Balathasar: Molly Piwonka

Montague Boy/Police: Emma Nord

Montague Boy: Andrew Burks

Lord Capulet: Stan Swartz

Lady Capulet: Evelyn Shenk

Capulet Boy/Servant: MacRae Richardson

Capulet Boy: Sophia Gott

Capulet Boy:  Alexis Lewis

Capulet Boy/Friar John: Adam Hoover

Prince: Joe Sietz

CREW

Creator: Justin Poole

Creator: Jerry Holsopple

Set Designer: Shannon Dove

Vocal Coach: James Richardson

Choreographer:  Ellie de Waal

Fight Choreographer: Wolf Sherrill

Costume Designer: Rachel Herrick

Lighting Designer: Robert Weaver

Assistant Director: Isaac Longacre

Stage Manager: Jareya Harder

Assistant Stage Manager: Alana Lovick

Theater Promotions: Anna Hoover

House Manager: Mikalya Pettus

Production Assistant: Ezrionna Prioleau

Production Assistant: Hailey Holcomb

Band: Prince Bellerose

91����Ƶ resumed its traditional cross-cultural programming this summer, as Professor Jerry Holsopple, assistant leader Fabiana Espinal, and eight students photographed their way across Lithuania in June and July. They were the first group to travel outside the United States since the Guatemala cross-cultural returned in spring 2020.

The students honed their craft while visiting Catholic and Orthodox churches, Soviet monuments, windswept beaches, and Holocaust sites.

To travel again, not as a tourist, but with a group that is engaging with local people, exploring beautiful places and being stretched by difficult stories and realities, is exhilarating and exhausting. I got to connect with old friends, introduce my students to the deep connections I have in Lithuania, and meet new people, like several local photographers. To be out of the classroom on the beaches, the cobblestone streets, the outdoor cafes, the forest paths all brought joy after what seemed like a long winter. Watching the students become comfortable in Klaipeda, have conversations and make friends, take risks to explore on their own and get lost,  and connecting this experience to their lives is why I continue to lead trips. 

– Jerry Holsopple, professor of photography at 91����Ƶ 

One memorable excursion took place at the All Russian Saints Orthodox Church in Klaipeda, a city on Lithuania’s Baltic Coast and the group’s ‘home base’ during the trip. They joined a service led by the archbishop of Lithuania, who switched to English for part of the homily. 

“In all my visits that has never happened,” Holsopple said. “He shared how important it was for all of us to come together with God as he welcomed us to the church.”

Holsopple was a Fulbright scholar in Lithuania – this was his eighth undergraduate cross-cultural trip to the region. A 2013 trip resulted in the photography exhibit and book, “,” about people who participated in a 630km-long human chain, formed in August 1989 across Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

“Thank you for the most eye-opening, wonderful trip of a lifetime,” student Shannon Cooper wrote to Holsopple after their return to the U.S. “Your wondrous, passionate heart is mucho appreciated!”

Check out photos from their journey below.

The group pauses for a photo while hiking the Hill of Witches – an outdoor sculpture trail of wooden folk art in the town of Juodkrante. From left: Fabiana Espinal, Thomas Erickson, Kyle Miller, Raegan Bruce, Jerry Holsopple, Jeremy Blain, Andrew Stoltzfus, Michaela Lane, Mandy Puffenbarger, Viktorija Giedraitienė, director of the Center for International Education at LCC International University, and Shannon Cooper. (Photo by Gediminas Juska, photography teacher at Klaipeda Service and Business School)

Shannon Cooper on a photographic exploration of the Jewish Ghetto in Vilnius, Lithuania. (Photo by Jerry Holsopple)

Raegan Bruce, Mandy Puffenbarger, Fabiana Espinal, Shannon Cooper, Michaela Lane, Jeremy Blain, and Thomas Erickson perch on a rock wall overlooking the city of Vilnius. (Photo by Jerry Holsopple)

Fabiana Espinal, Andrew Stoltzfus, Kyle Miller, Mandy Puffenbarger, and Raegan Bruce reflect on the constitution of the Uzupio republic in an artsy section of Vilnius, Lithuania. (Photo by Jerry Holsopple)

Jerry Holsopple and his friend Doug Enns hike through the “Dead Dunes” outside Nida, Lithuania. (Photo by Gediminas Juska)

Andrew Stoltzfus and Raegan Bruce stroll down the dunes. (Photo by Gediminas Juska)

Fabiana Espinal with LCC students Robin Mubarik (left) and Paula Pucite taking a selfie in Nida. In the background is Kaliningrad, which is part of Russia. (Photo by Jerry Holsopple)

Kyle Miller, Raegan Bruce, Shannon Cooper, Fabiana Espinal, and Andrew Stoltzfus tour the  underground portion of a Cold War-era missile silo in the Zemaitija National Forest. (Photo by Jerry Holsopple)

Raegan Bruce sits for her picture to be taken through the wet plate collodion process – an early form of photography in which the image is developed directly onto a plate of glass with the use of different chemical solutions. From left: Gediminas Juska, Joranas Bruzinskas, photography teacher at Klaipeda Service and Business School, Raegan Bruce, and Andrew Stoltzfus. (Photo by Jerry Holsopple)

Thomas Erickson’s portrait develops during the wet plate demonstration in Klaipeda. Andrew Stoltzfus sits in the background. (Photo by Jerry Holsopple)

Andrew Stoltzfus, Viktorija Giedraitienė and Kyle Miller study the statue on the grounds of the Franciscan Church in Kretinga, Lithuania. (Photo by Jerry Holsopple)

Jerry Holsopple, professor of visual and communication arts at 91����Ƶ, was recently awarded a from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship. He and co-applicant Rebecca Slough, academic dean emerita at the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS), will use the funds for a collaborative project that looks at visual forms of Anabaptist worship. 

The Vital Worship Grants are awarded to “teacher-scholars” that “strengthen Christian public worship practices” through theology, music, aesthetics, dance, history, or sociology, according to a press release from the institute.

“The chance to interact with six congregations, work closely with students and  investigate how the visual functions in worship combines many of my life passions,” Holsopple said. “I can’t wait to see what we discover and how this will empower the church to enlarge their vision for the visual within their worship practice.”

Holsopple and Slough plan to assemble a team of art students from 91����Ƶ (91����Ƶ), graduate students from AMBS, and congregational leaders from six different Anabaptist churches from a variety of cultures and ethnicities. 

“The overarching goal is to learn how the visual aspects of worship, including specific forms of visual art, function in Anabaptist and Mennonite congregations to support the theology and practice of worship,” said Holsopple. He teaches photography and digital media at 91����Ƶ.

Another piece of the project will be a documentary video, created by the 91����Ƶ students, about this collaborative research process.

The team will also collect images created by Anabaptist artists that other congregations can access through a website called Holsopple and Slough recently launched the site along with a bi-national team led by Together in Worship chair Sarah Kathleen Johnson. The site’s logo and color design was created by digital media graduate Missy Muterspaugh ’19.

Holsopple brings an abundance of experience in this unique field. In 2009-10, he was a Fulbright scholar in Lithuania, where he studied icon painting under the tutelage of a Russian Orthodox priest. His own icon paintings were exhibited at 91����Ƶ in 2010. The following year, Holsopple spoke on communicating values in visual form as the plenary speaker at the Anabaptist Communicators Conference.

“Jerry’s creation of icons is one example of his passion for understanding how Anabaptists engage the visual arts within worship spaces,” said Tara Kishbaugh, dean of the school of sciences, engineering, art and nursing. 

“I think another strength of this project are the multiple layers of collaboration possible,” Kishbaugh said. “First the project was designed by a team of faculty, then they will involve both visual arts undergraduates and theology graduate students, and these teams will also build relationships with the congregations and gather their stories and reflections.”

Holsopple and Slough’s project is one of 17 that the institute will fund in the 2021-2022 grant cycle.

“Teacher-Scholars from a wide variety of disciplines have so much to contribute to congregations and parishes – helping us all see things we otherwise might miss, offering access to essential wisdom for ministry,” said John Witvliet, director of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship.

A colorful glitter makeover for Herm, 91����Ƶ’s mascot, supplied by winning artist Violet Horst, took first place in this week’s Homecoming coloring contest. 

Approximately 50 entries were judged by Visual and Communication Arts professors Cyndi Gusler, Jerry Holsopple and Steven David Johnson.

Jennifer North Bauman, interim director of alumni and parent relations, was delighted with the turnout for the contest. 

“Herm is usually wearing his coat of blue and white, but clearly he should be considering a trip to the store to pick out some other colors, or maybe he’s wearing them on the sly when we don’t see him, because these artists have given him many fresh new looks,” Bauman said. 

Bauman said she planned to show all of the artwork to the new Herm when he appears for the Friday Opening Celebration. “I think he’ll be inspired and so pleased to see how our young fans have portrayed him.”

This is likely just the first year of what will become a popular tradition, she said. “Especially this year, when we could not host our Lil’ Royals on campus for fun during the Fall Festival, Saturday afternoon of Homecoming and Family Weekend, the art contest was a great way to connect with kids.”

The two designs for coloring were created by Rachel Holderman, media specialist in 91����Ƶ Marketing and Communications, and are still available on the Homecoming website for downloading if you want to have some fun. 

HERM COLORING CONTEST WINNERS

First Place: Violet Horst, age 7. Her proud parents are Mark Horst ’05 and Debbie Boese ’07.

Second Place:  Muhammad Babar, age 6. Proud parents: Nabeel Babar & Sharmila Afzal 

Third Place: Sydney Byler, age 8. Proud parents: Holden Byler ’06 and Heidi Bowman Byler ’04 

Fourth Place: Nora Sandberg, age 7. Proud parents: Daniel Sandberg ’05 and Megan Yoder Sandberg ’05 

This is the story of five student-athletes who, amidst nursing clinicals, cross-country practices, late nights with friends and early mornings of exams, became 91����Ƶ’s . Their story is told in the student-produced documentary film Persist.

Follow the team as they pound mile after mile on foot, bicycle, and in the water. The film was shot and produced by students in Professor Jerry Holsopple’s video production class at races, on the track, and in the pool.

Watch the trailer:

Women’s triathlon is labeled a “emerging sport” within the NCAA, so all events and championships include teams from Division I-III. This means the team regularly competed against much larger schools in their four-event season, culminating in an October qualifier for the national championships. Senior Abigail Shelly ended her season with a finish in Tempe, Arizona. 

From pre-competition jitters to simply mastering the many skills of three different sports, the film showcases how individual courage and dedication inspired the entire team. Senior Emma Hoover particularly struggled to learn how to swim competitively.

In the documentary, Hoover recalls, “we get to the point where we’re starting our swim warm-ups, and there’s this moment, where Abigail will look at everybody, and Abigail goes, ‘okay, no more negative thoughts.’ And she did it every single race. And I just felt like, ‘okay … now is the time to just let it all go, this is what it is. It’s time to work.’”

The team included Hoover, a history, social science and education major; Shelly, an education and liberal arts major; Mim Beck, a nursing major, Lydia Chappell Deckert, an English major; and Leah Lapp, a biology and chemistry double-major.

The team is coached by . 

The video production crew is Keith Bell, Mykenzie Davis, Ethan Green, Jared Oyer, and Anthony Parker.

The film, which has the working title The Eagle and the Condor – From Standing Rock with Love, features stories of peoples from South, Central and North America nations uniting at Standing Rock in North Dakota in 2016 and 2017 to resist the Dakota Access Pipeline. The movie and include animation created by ten students in Professor Jerry Holsopple’s course last year on After Effects motion graphics software.

A 55-minute screening copy of the film premieres on Indigenous People’s Day, Monday, Oct. 8, via . 91����Ƶ students will join the premiere event and a panel discussion via Facebook. The 8 p.m. event is open to the public and co-sponsored by 91����Ƶ’s Visiual and Communication Arts Department and the Center for Interfaith Engagement. 

Indigenous groups and several other universities will also join, including University of Massachusetts – Boston, Augsburg College, University of Michigan, Northwestern University Center for Native American and Indigenous Research, Western Kentucky University, University of Vermont, Northland College and University of the Arctic.

The collaboration came about through Holsopple’s connections with director Paulette Moore, who taught at 91����Ƶ from 2009-15. It “allowed the students to participate in something real,” Holsopple said. “They got feedback from directors – not just professors – and they know they have a much bigger audience.”

Now-seniors Riley Swartzendruber and Missy Muterspaugh were integral to the project. Given only a “vague idea” to start with, they developed the storyboard and animation based on the legend of the eagle and the condor, Muterspaugh said. She designed the art and the duo worked together on animation.

“Animating for the documentary gave the work a sense of place and reason to create and pool our efforts,” Muterspaugh said. “It gave me a good experience with working with a client with an idea in mind and seeing to create that vision with my own artistic spin to it.”

Working together required communication – “There were a few times we had to backtrack and rework the designs,” Swartzendruber said – as well as patience, when they needed feedback from Moore.

“I was pushed hard by this project,” Swartzendruber said. “After Effects is a complex platform to use.”

For Swartzendruber, the project was “more than a grade at the end of the course,” he said. “I felt a bigger sense of responsibility working on a larger scale project.” It was also meaningful because he began working on it just after returning from a semester-long cross-cultural in Guatemala and Colombia, where he had learned about indigenous cultures. Back in the classroom, he found that following his artistic and technical passions coincided with having “the chance to play a small part in supporting indigenous peoples.”

Muterspaugh, too, felt the greater significance of the project. “Working in collaboration with this documentary has given me an introspective look on how we still treat Native Americans and how quickly their stories are disappearing from their own native land,” she said. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed learning a small piece of Native American culture while working on this project.”

The film’s trailer and more information about its premiere on Indigenous People’s Day, Monday, Oct. 8, .

That’s how late the 91����Ƶ senior stayed up to meet a next-day deadline to score a two-minute movie clip during the New York University Film Scoring Workshop in May and June.

Mullet was one of just 20 participants in the chamber and soloist track of the workshop, which was headlined by such composers as 19-time Emmy nominee Mark Snow, best known for his wildly popular theme music to the TV hit series “The X-Files,” and , who has composed for film, television, games and advertising (his first major hit was the ). Among the featured guests were veteran music editors Suzana Peric (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Silence of the Lambs) and Todd Kasow (True Grit, Wonderstruck).

Instruction topics included creative processes and composition, technology, editing, recording and mixing and more.

Challenge and affirmation

One component of the workshop was taking the studio control room “hot seat” to direct and record percussion, hammer dulcimer and string quartet performers playing his clip composition, Mullet said. He then mixed those live recordings with electronic mock-ups, an experience that taught him “how to respond under the extreme time crunch that comes with professional recording.”

In subsequent public critique sessions, the professional composers provided feedback and tips.

Mullet was “very stretched by the general culture of the Hollywood-oriented composing world,” he said. “To be honest, it’s a tough atmosphere. You have to really have to be comfortable with showing off – and be able to take criticism in stride.”

But he also heard affirmation for for a chase scene in The Bourne Ultimatum: NYU professor and professional composer “Mark Suazzo offered some encouragement – that I produced a solid piece of music,” he said.

Hobby seeds professional goals

Though Mullet has been creating electronic music as a hobby since he was in high school, he was “nudged”  to take composition lessons with Professor Ryan Keebaugh. Thanks to that supportive relationship and numerous ongoing projects with students in the visual and communication arts (VACA) program, Mullet has reason to hope “it might go somewhere.”

One collaboration that VACA Professor Jerry Holsopple says has distribution potential appears in the for an upcoming documentary about the Dakota Access Pipeline protests: an with Mullet’s music. Another is an upcoming VACA-created documentary No Longer Theory about MJ Sharp, slated to include music Mullet will compose as part of his honors capstone project.

His music is also featured in a behind-the-scenes video about that film’s making, called “,” another , a timelapse video “,” and more.

Mullet said he also “can’t stress enough” the role that Keebaugh played in his preparation for the workshop through composition lessons, technology tips and encouragement.

“Even though Ryan is a classical composer, lessons with him helped me develop a wide variety of composition skills that made this workshop possible,” Mullet said. “He’s an absolutely wonderful, thoughtful and inspiring instructor.”

The future

Mullet is set to graduate with a math degree, but on top of being a composer, too, .

“I love creating music and would love to make a larger career out of classical, film or video game composition,” he said. “That said, the values that I have been developing during my time at 91����Ƶ might lead me towards some form of international service for a longer stretch of time.”

Music? Math? Sustainability? Service? They “will all be large components of my future work and studying,” he said.

A straight talker with an evangelical flair that betrays his Southern Baptist roots, Posey shared some eye-opening strengths and weaknesses related to his own experience as a student at 91����Ƶ, and urged the gathered community to answer the call to “meet students where they are.”

He ended with four practical questions related to faith formation — picture Posey saying “Go get ‘em,” as we all trot to the mound — that participants carried with them throughout the day’s panel sessions, presentations and worship.

Recognize and build on your strengths as related to faith formation. Evaluate and understand your weaknesses. Ask how you can more effectively merge your calling with your work. And finally, how can you better mentor young people to lives of faith?

91����Ƶ’s faculty-staff conferences are community gatherings at the beginning and end of the academic year. This spring’s event focused on “fostering faith among students but also among ourselves,” said Professor Marti Eads, who chaired the planning committee with Campus Pastor Brian Martin Burkholder. “I hope you leave the day fed and hungry for more.”

Titled “Journey Companions: Fostering Faith Formation at 91����Ƶ,” the theme enabled discussions and development of an objective in 91����Ƶ’s strategic plan: to nurture spiritual growth and enhance formational engagement among faculty, staff and students.

“Undergraduate students in our faith mentoring survey a few years ago expressed eagerness to hear more from faculty and staff about their personal faith journeys and how they navigated doubt, challenge and opportunity,” said Burkholder. “This conference gives us a chance to hear from each other about how we’re doing that in our work on campus and how we might expand opportunities for fellowship and relationship-building into new places and spaces.”

More from Coach Posey

At a time when 91����Ƶ’s student population is more diverse than ever – and that diversity includes culture, religion, race, ethnicity and political beliefs – Posey pointed out that being open and hospitable to different perspectives is very much a part of faith formation. It was deep relationships with a small number of influential faculty and staff that aided his own spiritual and intellectual development, he said.

Posey talked about the challenges of coming to 91����Ƶ from Poquoson, a mostly white, upper middle-class community among the many military bases in the Hampton Roads area. A communications major, he said the first person he met outside of the baseball coaching staff was Professor Jerry Holsopple, an experience “which really should have counted as my cross-cultural,” he joked.

“Even among the baseball team, I heard in those first few months perspectives that differed from mine, and that was a culture shock for me, away from home for the first time, away from my girlfriend, trying to figure out some of the things that come with being at 91����Ƶ,” he said.

What helped him become more comfortable and get through “a rocky first couple of years” was a tight relationship with head coach Jason Stuhlmiller (then a high school special education teacher and now area director for Fellowship of Christian Athletes) and connections with faculty members Holsopple and Deanna Durham — all mentors who got to know him “on my level, on my playing field, in my arena.”

Though he came primarily with an identity and purpose tied to his athletic experience, Posey said that changed over the years, and now he’s grateful that he chose to stay and “not miss out on experiences that have been really important to who I am today.” There are plenty of students today, ones he coaches and others he knows, who have had a similar difficulty adjusting to the 91����Ƶ community.

“Whether you agree with why that student is here at 91����Ƶ or not, you have four years to build a relationship with that person and talk to them about things you’re passionate about, whether it’s peacebuilding or social justice,” he said.

One beauty of these opportunities is how they remind us of what matters: in the midst of a losing streak, Posey said a player reached out to him to talk about how God was calling him but he felt unworthy. “I want to give my life over to Christ, but how do I reconcile that?”  he asked.

“It’s easy to get lost in our jobs and lost in what we’re doing and not remember why we’re here,” Posey said. “But we have to keep that in perspective. I would venture to say that we’re all here at 91����Ƶ because we hope to impact young people in a way that contributes to the rest of their life.”

Bringing imagination to course design

In his keynote address via Zoom, , professor of education and director of the Kuyers Institute for Christian Teaching and Learning at Calvin College, challenged faculty to have imagination about their course designs. He told the story of different workers on a construction site, one of whom said he was cutting a stone block and the other which said he was building a cathedral: “What do my students think is happening when they sit in my classroom? What is it they think they are doing?” he asked, and, “What do we think we are teaching in our subject area? What does it contribute to the world? To the Kingdom of God?”

He recounted a call from a former student excited at having lent a willing ear to a German-speaking train rider after remembering what Smith had taught in German class, that the purpose of learning a language is less to speak it than it is to listen.

Pedagogical norms, he said, are simply how things are done in any given era, according to prevailing social norms. These norms often separate course content matter from reality’s ambiguities that merit curiosity and practicable empathy.

‘Examining assumptions’

After the annual recognition luncheon, five break-out sessions were offered on a variety of topics, including workshops on spiritual practices for mentors, exploring spirituality types in mentoring.

Panel discussions offered insights into faith formation in various programs, including the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding and athletics.

Professor Ann Hershberger and interim director Don Clymer invited shared insights into making faith connections for and with students on travelling on 91����Ƶ’s required cross-cultural trips.

“When we are forced out of our routines, we have to rethink many things and examine our assumptions,” Clymer said. That makes for many opportunities to plant seeds, Hershberger added.

Their own and session participants’ stories bore that out: the student whose host mother prayed for her hemoglobin deficiency, which then was resolved to a degree that without a blood transfusion is medically impossible; the group that found cohesion in protectively encircling a sick classmate who had become ill on a crowded street; the homesick and tired group that, by recounting how they had experienced the presence of God in the last three days, turned their “mumbling and grumbling to singing.”

The group also gathered ideas for trip leaders to further prepare for and build on faith building experiences, cultivating groups in which students have starkly different faith understandings, and establishing shared resources and activities that have proven effective.

A final 45-minute gathering, hosted by Burkholder and Professor Johonna Turner, invited reflection and sharing.

Christopher Clymer Kurtz contributed to this article.

“Marketing is the most dynamic sub-field in business and one of the strongest areas of job growth globally,” said Professor Jim Leaman, business and economics department chair. “The organizational leadership major, too, will prepare graduates for an expanding area of need, as specialists in managing people systems are also in strong demand.”

The employment outlook for both areas is positive, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Marketing jobs are expected to grow by 10 percent – and management jobs by close to that – through 2026.

As with many majors at 91����Ƶ, the new academic programs offer internships and practicum experiences. Students wishing to double-major in accounting or economics – or to add minors such as nonprofit management – will find that the programs integrate well, Leaman said.

Marketing a “natural intersection”

The marketing major – a collaboration between the visual and communications arts (VACA) and business and economics departments – places 91����Ƶ among the only 12 percent of four-year private institutions in Virginia offering the degree.

But like other majors at 91����Ƶ, it comes with the university’s significant and unique emphasis: global and cultural perspective.

“Marketing impacts larger cultural forces, and can be part of social change, advocacy and getting unique and challenging messages into the social dialogue,” said Professor Jerry Holsopple, who teaches digital media. “Students with cross-cultural ways of knowing and collaborative ways of working will be valuable beyond their technical or theoretical skillset.”

The major has two tracks: media and design, and management. Each includes curriculum from the traditional marketing and business perspective as well as the arts, and will prepare students for careers at nonprofits, businesses, nongovernmental organizations and institutions of higher education – or start-up businesses and design and media enterprises, Leaman said.

Within the media and design track, students will acquire a set of skills that enables them to create media forms ranging from the single image to visual and text campaigns and longer-form video storytelling. The business-leaning management track will prepare students for marketing management and oversight roles. Course topics include consumer behavior, sales and e-commerce, strategic marketing management, branding and design, and communication strategy.

“Prospective students are really interested in marketing,” said Matt Ruth, director of admissions. “They are digital natives and many have dreams of becoming entrepreneurs and blazing their own paths.” The portfolios of work they amass in the program’s courses will reflect “the natural intersection of design and business,” he said.

“Organizations are scrambling to meet new opportunities in a rapidly changing environment as recent advancements in technology, networking, and electronic media have shifted the field of marketing to the intermediary space between business and visual and communication arts,” Leaman said. “It’s exciting to work in the creative space of a cutting-edge field, to collaborate across disciplines and departments to offer a nimble and demanded major, and to advise students into a growing and vibrant field and career.”

A marketing minor is also offered to students seeking orientation to the essential skills and concepts of the field.

Organizational leadership for ‘people systems’

The organizational leadership major will equip students to manage human capital and organizational systems. It will draw heavily on psychology and applied social sciences courses to prepare graduates for middle management or project management early in their careers.

“Leadership and organization are social constructs that continuously evolve,” said Leaman. “With this focus on the personal, interpersonal, and group systems in the workplace, students who have a strong interest in the ‘people systems’ of organizations now have a better fit with a major credential.”

Students in the program will gain skills in project management, team dynamics and team-building, interpersonal conflict and mediation, and personal leadership development. Course topics will include leadership theory and practice, human resource management, social psychology, applied behavior analysis, psychology of interpersonal relationships and more.

Having access to the equipment in the (VACA) equipment room at 91����Ƶ didn’t just help Macson McGuigan with class assignments. It also helped him find his own style and jumpstart his career.

It’s one of the beauties of this small university: Whereas a large university might allow students to check out equipment for a few hours at a time, VACA students at 91����Ƶ can check it out for days on end – sometimes for longer projects, or even over breaks.

“I encourage students to shoot as much as they can,” said professor , who has spent nearly two decades filling the “closet” shelves with DSLR,  mirrorless and cinematic video cameras, underwater gear, tripods, lighting equipment, lenses – and more. “That’s how you get good.”

For McGuigan, who graduated in 2017 and now is a photographer and videographer for 91����Ƶ and other clients, the equipment was what he needed for meaningful skill-building experiences.

For a documentary photography class, he took portraits of food truck owners and chefs using “lots of fast prime lenses.” To capture the small, cramped interior spaces of the trucks, he used “super-wide-angle lenses.” (And – can’t leave out this best part – he said that the food trucks set him up with some free food.)

But as a VACA student McGuigan was also welcome to use the equipment for his own projects, including professional ones. He used a Sony Fs5 to film up to 16X slow-motion shots of bees, streams and owls (and Sony mirrorless cameras, LED lighting and mics to conduct interviews) for a client advocating for the protection of Shenandoah Mountain as a National Scenic Area with an embedded Wilderness Area.

“Having access to the VACA closet allowed me to realize what my style is and what equipment I need to get the job done,” McGuigan said. “It really helps students find their niche as photographers or videographers.”

Student works

Other student projects have included starting small businesses, creating documentaries, and making videos for small companies, all while at 91����Ƶ, Holsopple said. “It’s what we want. It’s the way they build their portfolio of work. You don’t improve your skills just by doing the assignments only.”

With VACA graduates entering a variety of career fields, Holsopple has a goal: “Whatever equipment they’re handed, they should be able to handle,” he said. “I want students to have the full experience of just about everything they should know how to use. It’s always a balance of the cool, new, but also the basics of everything you need to produce at a high level.”

The work of VACA program students and graduates has been recognized nationally:

•  earned praise for her senior show, an exhibit of documentary photos related to the homeless and homelessness in Hawaii.
• Senior Adila Wahdat was selected for the 2016 International Antarctic Expedition with the 
• interned for National Geographic Adventure in New York City, the D.C. United soccer team and Oregon’s Statesman Journal. He was the winner of an Associated Press Photo of the Month, and now is an events photographer.
• Michelle L. Mitchell is an award-winning photographer for the .
• is a promotion manager at SNN Local News 6, the only locally owned and operated television station in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Sarasota market.
• interned at an advertising agency specializing in film trailers in Los Angeles. After graduation, he moved into a full-time role as video editor. He now creates film trailers for major motion pictures and is based on the West Coast.
•  is a freelance photographer and videographer in Washington D.C. He was Sierra Club’s outdoor youth ambassador for 2012, blogging from around the world.
• Advertising executive Rachel Wyse started her career with Facebook in New York City.
• has filmed Drew Holcomb, for Nike and Under Armour, and more. While at 91����Ƶ, he submitted his class photography portfolio to the Festival of the Photograph and was awarded a scholarship to study with National Geographic photographer Bill Allard. Steven’s work was shown at the Paramount Theater in Charlottesville to an international audience that included some of the best known photographers in the world.
• Katie Schmid runs the wedding photography business, .

A scavenger’s portfolio

“You don’t want to know what the value of this room is,” Holsopple said recently, standing in the equipment room. “I’m not sure I could tell you, off hand. It’s over a quarter million dollars.”

In a way, the Sony FS5s, A7R IIs and A9s, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IVs, the new LED lights – all are part of his own portfolio.

“I am a scavenger,” he said. Instead of ordering pre-assembled kits of equipment, he orders just necessary components, often used instead of new but still perfectly functional and in great shape.

“‘Used’ doesn’t mean much for a tripod that will last 25 years,” he said, pointing out a hefty one that new would have cost $3,000 but that he bought used – 16 years ago.

“That’s how we have all this. I think, ‘Well, we need this, and we can’t afford it, so I’ll wait until somebody advertises it as an open box, and then I’ll order it.’”

He picked up a 40-plus-years-old Leica lense, a personal favorite for “the way it renders color, the way it falls off from in-focus to out-of-focus areas. It’s lovely. It’s superb.” The lens is one of several he calls “my babies.”

That may not be an understatement:

“Part of what students get here is just my personal obsessions,” he said. “I’m not kidding.”

The five-day conference was designed to help young innovators from creative industries realize their ideas for improving their cities. was the multimedia lecturer in a lineup representing the fields of design, management, advertising, architecture and information technology.

The invitation was the result of connections made through former faculty member and Serbian filmmaker Zeljko Mirkovic. The trip was sponsored by the U.S. Embassy.

At 91����Ƶ, Holsopple teaches undergraduate courses in . He has led also courses for international peacebuilders in social media and digital media for the at 91����Ƶ’s .

In addition to a masterclass for all conference attendees, Holsopple presented a three-hour workshop about stories, myths and symbols on the “core principles of narrative, symbolic structures and how stories define identity and culture.” In another workshop he evaluated, compared and was inspired by sixteen multi-media campaigns and projects advocating for social change, to encourage students’ own ideas.

Holsopple also presented a workshop on photography as a tool for social analysis to a group of 50-60 students at University Metropolitan and about multimedia in everyday life at the American Corner.

Between presentations, Holsopple appeared on talk show, where he was asked if he could learn from the people of Serbia, a small country.

“I already have,” he replied, noting that the people he had met were “very friendly and gregarious,” and that students had invited him to eat with them in a restaurant and had answered his questions about city art. “There is a lot of deep history here, and also a culture that can be very welcoming.”

His lectures, he told the host, were about using multimedia to tell stories with multiple points of view to “reveal the dreams, hopes and possibilities of a place.”

Holsopple offered the show host his take on historical perspective: “You build the new on understanding who you were. I’m always about finding the strengths in your own history, that then you say, ‘Because we are this kind of people, we are able to face the future and create a new kind of culture, because we know who we are,’” he said. “It’s not avoiding our history, but saying, ‘What in our history helps us move beyond our history?’”

Holsopple was a Fulbright scholar in Lithuania and has led several undergraduate cross-cultural trips to the region. A 2013 trip resulted in the photography exhibit and book, “,” about people who participated in a 630km-long human chain, formed in August 1989 across Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

Read more about Jerry Holsopple’s artistic works on sexual abuse within the church here and on icons here. He also blogs at .

Read more from students who traveled with Holsopple to Lithuania in 2016. Holsopple will lead an 91����Ƶ to Lithuania in the summer of 2019.

“This was a trip of a lifetime,” she said. “Its impact will be lifelong.”

During two weeks from Oct. 20 – Nov. 3, 24 participants learned about and discussed the region’s Biblical history, explored archaeological sites, engaged in current social issues of Palestinians and Israeli Jews, and enjoyed local food and the unique geography of the region.

Professor ’84, SEM ’90 and his wife Janet SEM ’91, who have led many semester and summer international cross-cultural trips for 91����Ƶ, guided the group. Participants included alumni, parents of 91����Ƶ alumni “and friends of 91����Ƶ students who had always heard about how wonderful our cross-cultural experiences are and wanted one of their own,” said Jeff Shank ’94, director of alumni and parent engagement.

Learn more about 91����Ƶ Alumni and Friends Cross-Cultural Trips.

A hallmark of 91����Ƶ cross-cultural trips is making personal connections with local residents, and this trip was no exception. The group visited the “Tent of Nations,” a family farm under threat of settlement expansion; heard the firsthand account of how an Arab Israeli became a business partner with an Israeli Jew; and met two guides — a Palestinian Muslim and an Israeli Jew — who are both friends and co-workers and who gave the travelers two contrasting perspectives on some lesser known features of Jerusalem.

The tour was the first for alumni and friends offered by 91����Ƶ, but more travels in 91����Ƶ’s unique immersive and educational format are in the works. A trip to Cuba, led by ’75, MA ’03 (conflict transformation) and her husband Nathan Barge ’84, leaves March 2018. (While the trip is full, a wait list has been started.)

The Stutzmans will lead a fall 2018 Mediterranean Voyage. In summer 2019, Professor ’80 will lead an exploration of Lithuania’s music, art and culture.

Firsthand experiences come ‘full circle’

For some members of the Middle East tour group, the inspiration to attend came from hearing about other people’s travels to the Middle East as part of 91����Ƶ’s undergraduate .

When Kendra Martin ’05 was a student, many of her close friends went on that trip, and returned having been “impacted, deeply,” she said. Going on this trip brought her “full circle” and allowed her to experience first hand what her college friends had told her about.

Maddie Clemens ’16 had a “life-changing” semester on the Middle East cross-cultural trip led by the Stutzmans in 2014, and was eager for the rest of her family, including sister Abby Clemens ’16 and parents Becky and Doug “to experience the people and places that had so greatly impacted her,” said her mother. This fall, the four participated in the Alumni and Friends Tour, together.

“We couldn’t have asked for a more enriching experience,” said Becky Clemens.

Connecting the dots

The trip traced 2,000 years of the biblical story and 4,000 years of human history, and offered Martin something she’d been wanting: motivation to read the Bible.

“The Bible was feeling like a big collection of stories about people in places I had no context for,” Martin said. “Now when I read about the Jordan River, for example, in Joshua 1:2 or Matthew 3:6, there is a connection point: ‘Hey! I’ve been there! I can picture what that may have been like.’ The Bible, its characters and the hope we have in Christ are coming alive with dust, sights and tastes.”

Leon Miller ’68 lived for “three wonderful years” in Jerusalem and the West Bank in the early 1970s, and went on this trip with his wife Sandy. He said that seeing Jesus’s teachings in his historical, political, cultural and geographic context was “enlightening.” But he was also sobered by the Israel and Palestine’s ongoing conflict, and said that before the trip, the prospect of returning to the region had given him “great inner tension.”

“I wasn’t sure I would be prepared to see the negative changes which I was anticipating: settlements, the wall, checkpoints and the stories of Palestinian repression by the Israeli military,” he said. “There were few surprises.”

Clemens said that she is still processing her experiences and the “new perspectives” she gained from the trip. The Stutzmans, she said, “helped us connect the dots from what we thought we knew about the ongoing conflict in the region to the reality of what it’s like for Palestinian families living under occupation.”

One especially meaningful experience, Clemens said, was a dinner hosted by a Palestinian Christian family in Beit Sahour who “shared their story with warm hospitality.”

“We were encouraged by those on both sides of the conflict who expressed their unwavering commitment to continually seek ways to live as neighbors and bring peace to their land,” she said.

Linford Stutzman said that he and Janet love the impact they observe on cross-cultural participants.

“This potential for life-changing moments occurs in random encounters walking the streets of Jerusalem, around a meal in a Palestinian home, standing on the cliffs of Arbel overlooking the Sea of Galilee,” he said. “The enthusiasm and joy of travelers is our most rewarding part of the journey.”

Jeff Shank, who went on the trip, agreed. “The alumni and friends who attended this trip to the Middle East not only learned and experienced interesting things but became friends in the process. Everyone seemed to thoroughly appreciate the trip, the leaders, and the experience.”