On Wednesday, Oct. 3 William Jewell College held homecoming chapel in Gano Chapel during Jewell Time.
Student musicians Abby Christensen, junior physics and Spanish major; Sutton Porth, senior religion and communications major; Hannah Jacobs, sophomore nursing and Spanish major; Dan Guion, sophomore history major; Jose Karvalas, Northtown High School graduate; and Louis Stearns, senior at Staley High School, played music throughout chapel.
Jeff Buscher, chaplain and service coordinator, introduced chapel session and Brendon Benz, professor of history, offered a community prayer from the book of Psalms.
Tricia Jacobs, pastor and 1989 Jewell graduate, spoke about about her experience at Jewell. She discussed coming to Jewell without knowing anyone and the impact of David Nelson Duke, former professor of religion from 1980 to 2000 – when he died of brain cancer, on her life.
Duke called students to recognize what is important, realize their own selfishness and act on their religious faith.
“Faith without works is dead,” explained Tricia Jacobs. “[You must] live out the principles of Christ.”
Tricia Jacobs talked about how Duke pushed students by assigning significant amounts of reading and about one book in particular that affected her. During Jacob’s first year, she took a January Term course on the Holocaust in which students read “Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed,” by Philip Hallie.
The book described the process of harboring Jews from the Nazis during World War II and the role of faith in the pastor who led the initiative in Le Chambon, France. The book reminded Jacobs of the need to live out one’s faith, the role of acceptance and the need to treat others with kindness.
Jacobs concluded by saying her time at Jewell changed her mind about what is important, helped her realize her own selfishness and realize how big the world truly is. This change induced her to become a pastor and share her faith in the hope of helping others.
