Chapel 2011-2012 Audio

Lamin Sanneh is the D. Willis James Professor of Missions and World Christianity and professor of history at Yale Divinity School. Gambian born, Sanneh is descended from the nyanchos, an ancient African royal line. As such, his earliest education, in the Gambia, was with fellow chiefs' sons. Following graduation from the University of London with a Ph.D. in Islamic History, he taught at the University of Ghana and at the University of Aberdeen, in Scotland. He served for eight years as Assistant and Associate Professor of the History of Religion at Harvard University, before moving to Yale University in 1989. The author of a dozen books and scores of articles, he is an editor-at-large for The Christian Century and a contributing editor for the International Bulletin of Missionary Research.

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.

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. 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 has written several books including: Serving God: The Grand Essentials of Work & Worship, Waiting: Finding Hope When God Seems Silent, amongst many others. For over ten years the Reverend Ben Patterson has been the Campus Pastor at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 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 has written several books including: Serving God: The Grand Essentials of Work & Worship, Waiting: Finding Hope When God Seems Silent, amongst many others. For over ten years the Reverend Ben Patterson has been the Campus Pastor at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California.

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.

Walter Owens Jr. serves the Rev. Senator James T. Meeks and the 20,000-member congregation of the Salem Baptist Church of Chicago as minister of music and arts. He graduated from Northwestern University and studied at Butler University, where Michael Shasberger advised and mentored him. He served on the advisory committee of the newly published African American Heritage Hymnal (GIA Publications) and is in demand as a choral clinician.

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. 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 has written several books including: Serving God: The Grand Essentials of Work & Worship, Waiting: Finding Hope When God Seems Silent, amongst many others. For over ten years the Reverend Ben Patterson has been the Campus Pastor at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California.

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.

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.

Barry has lived in San Francisco for 25 years – prior to that – three years in Time Square NYC. He married his wife Teri and completed graduate school in Kansas City. Father of two, Barry enjoys people, bikes, bbq, and a really good tomato. Currently, he teaches and facilitates retreats, consults and mentors various non-profits in The City of SF. Barry hopes to spend the rest of his life in San Francisco helping SF live up to the name of its patron Saint, St. Francis – as a city on a hill.

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. 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 has written several books including: Serving God: The Grand Essentials of Work & Worship, Waiting: Finding Hope When God Seems Silent, amongst many others. For over ten years the Reverend Ben Patterson has been the Campus Pastor at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California.

Dr. Jane Wilson loves the teaching-learning process and has had the great privilege of helping students of all ages experience the joy of learning. After teaching in elementary and junior high public schools, Jane served as an educational consultant in the area of leadership training for high school student leaders and faculty advisors. In this role Jane spoke at workshops, conferences, and school assemblies in 26 states and Canada. After obtaining her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology, Jane began teaching and supervising student teachers in Teacher Education Programs at Azusa Pacific University, California State University at Channel Islands, and Chapman University. Before joining the Westmont faculty, Dr. Wilson served as Academic Dean for Providence Hall where she helped established a healthy and quality learning environment for Christian high school students in Santa Barbara. Much of Professor Wilson’s research and practice focuses on developing strategies and situations to enhance student’s intrinsic motivation to learn. Her great desire is to help Westmont student teacher candidates experience the joy that learning brings so that they feel empowered and equipped to promote intrinsic motivation in their future classrooms.

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. 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 has written several books including: Serving God: The Grand Essentials of Work & Worship, Waiting: Finding Hope When God Seems Silent, amongst many others. For over ten years the Reverend Ben Patterson has been the Campus Pastor at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California.