by Janice Ng | Jul 18, 2013 | News Slider
Originally written for lipscomb.edu Rabbits and clowns and balloon animals, oh my! Those are just some of the sights around campus last week as the university hosted the Fellowship of Christian Magicians convention. More than 430 people from across the country and Canada gathered at Lipscomb University for the convention, a family-friendly gathering with hundreds of workshops, lectures and special activities aimed at fostering and advancing the art of magic and other performing arts from a Gospel point of view. Workshops included drama and storytelling, clowning, ballooning, juggling, plate spinning and ventriloquism. Special music and magic was included in a nightly program in Collins Alumni Auditorium that was open to the public. FCM celebrated its 60th anniversary this year at the convention. Ed Hall, an entertainer from Dayton, Tenn., who performs for events at his church, tries to make it to as many conventions as he can. “At the FCM, we don’t like to say ‘magic,’ we call it illusion,” Hall said, “because there is a bad kind of magic, but what we do is illusion, and we try to teach that we don’t do miracles. God is the only one who can (do miracles). “We are just human beings using an art form to share the Gospel of Jesus.” Workshop instructor Joseph Young from Big Stone Gap, Va., says this was his first convention. “FCM has been a blessing,” Young said. “What we do with Gospel magic is that we’re going around the world and telling people about Jesus Christ, so not only are we entertainers, but we’re changing the world.” Founder Stan Adair talks about how FCM began...
by Anne Paquin | Mar 27, 2013 | News Slider
A combination fountain and baptistry is now under construction in Bison Square, and the $300 thousand project is planned to beautify the space as well as make it more spiritually significant. For several years, there have been plans to create a new atmosphere to the space between Collins Alumni Auditorium and the Bennett Campus Center. Thanks to more than 150 donors, including Ray and Libby Jones and the parents of Ty Osman, the new Bison Square fountain centerpiece will be in a 16-by-24-foot pool and will be flanked by two smaller, 6-by-15-foot foot fountains and pools. Lipscomb University president Dr. Randy Lowry said “the Bison Square centerpiece (will be) called the Osman Fountain.” Osman was a Harding student and member of the Woodmont Hills congregation who tragically lost his life in a car accident last March. His parents were alums of the university. Lowry said he hopes the new fountain will be a great renovation for the popular meeting area. “We hope it is the centerpiece of the whole reconstruction of Bison Square. This has been a wonderful place for students to gather for many, many years,” Lowry said. “But, we need to upgrade (the square), and I think a water feature will be something that causes people to come together.” Though they will look identical, one of the fountains will actually function as a baptistry. “When you think about Lipscomb you think about the sacrament of baptism being so important as people making a commitment to the Christian faith,” Lowry said. “We thought there might be something more sophisticated than the horse trough we’ve been using.” He described the baptistry as a place students will be able to...
by Cory Woodroof | Feb 22, 2013 | News Slider
SGA announced Thursday that pop group Walk Off The Earth will be headlining this semester’s spring concert. The concert will take place March 12 in Collins Alumni Auditorium. The show will be closed to the public, with Lipscomb students gaining free access through their ID cards. An exact start time is not set, but it will be an evening show, according to SGA. SGA is currently considering the option of having a student act serve as the show’s opener. Walk Off the Earth became famous for their cover performances posted on YouTube. The group’s rendition of Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know” currently has 146,315,524 views after being uploaded just over a year ago. Katie Underwood, SGA’s Student Life Committee Chair, helped arrange for the YouTube sensations to appear on campus. “SGA couldn’t be more excited to host Walk Off The Earth for this year’s spring concert,” Underwood said. “In past years, we have always had a more acoustic show with a singer/songwriter. “When I was told I was the one leading up the search for this year’s show, I knew I wanted something different. SGA came up with a list of over 40 options, and slowly, but surely, we started to narrow down that list.” Underwood hopes the band’s inclusion will be a fresh face in the long line of spring concert headliners (which, in year’s past, has featured Mat Kearney and The Civil Wars). “Walk Off The Earth is going to very different from anything Lipscomb has seen in the past. The band became famous through their outstanding covers on YouTube. When deciding on a band,...
