by Brianne Welch | Mar 7, 2013 | News Slider, Sports
Two days after a slew of famous country music singers performed at Lipscomb, the three quarterbacks for the Tennessee Titans spoke in the Gathering on Thursday morning to a crowd consisting of Lipscomb students from both the college and Lipscomb Academy. Quarterbacks Rusty Smith, Jake Locker and Matt Hasselbeck sat down in a Q-&-A with Scott Sager, the university’s vice president of Church Services, to talk about their faiths and, of course, some football as well. The very first topic addressed was how football and faith work together in the lives of these professional athletes. “I grew up around football in Colorado, but my parent’s weren’t really strong in their faith until I was in third grade,” Hasselbeck said. The veteran quarterback went on to say how involved he and his family were in the church even through his high school career. Locker took the mic next, but according to the newest Titans quarterback, faith did not really come into play until his sophomore year in high school. “I had a coach who challenged me to become a stronger believe, and he started a Bible study with us, and it kind of grew from there,” Locker said. When Smith took the mic, he said that faith definitely came first in his life because he did not even start playing football until his eighth grade year. “I was very fortunate to have a mom and a dad who grew up in a church themselves,” Smith said. The interview went on for around 30 minutes, but the guys were able to leave the student body and everyone in attendance with some...
by Cory Woodroof | Feb 18, 2013 | News Slider, Sports
Earlier this semester, the campus ministry department announced that Steve Davidson would be filling in the role of becoming one of Lipscomb’s new campus ministers. While he’s new to the position, Davidson, a husband, father of two and grandfather of two, is no stranger to campus. Davidson was recruited coming out of high school to play basketball for the university under legendary coach Don Meyer. After his time as an undergrad, Coach Meyer helped Davidson find two jobs with Lipscomb. “When I was finishing up, Coach Don Meyer, who I played under, asked me to stay, and he was able to work out a deal as far as me working in admissions as an admissions counselor representing the school, but also working as an assistant basketball coach,” Davidson said. For Davidson, this was only a two-year plan. He planned to leave Lipscomb after graduate school, but the education major and graduate student ended up taking on the role of assistant director of admissions. A year later, Davidson became the campus’ director of admissions – a title he would hold for 13 years. Davidson used some of Coach Meyer’s organizational lessons to help him succeed in the work. “Coach Meyer was a very organized person and loved to teach on organization, so that helped me a lot as far as being an administrator in the admissions office,” Davidson said. During his time as the director of admissions, the university saw, as Davidson put it, up and down years. Through the challenges that came with the job, Davidson admits he greatly enjoyed in the opportunity. “I really loved the job,” Davidson...
by Erika Thornsberry | Jan 31, 2013 | News Slider, Sports
Most people make a New Year Resolution to lose weight. For the month of January, 26 Lipscomb students and faculty members have been a part of a group participating in Lipscomb’s version of the hit television show “The Biggest Loser.” The ‘Biggest Loser’ participants have gone to the Student Activity Center not only to lose weight and learn how to diet, but also to discover the real meaning of getting healthy. Matthew Abplanalp, the assistant director for the SAC, and Nicholas Mortensen, the head trainer/wellness grad assistant, talked about how this program works. “There are a total of three teams, one being a faculty/staff team, and the other two teams made up of students. We split the teams up based on who they requested to be with,” Abplanalp said. The schedule is very simple with Monday and Wednesday as the boot camp style, Tuesday as the challenge day, Thursday as group’s chapel day and Friday as the fun night. Mortenson is charge of the boot camp days, and Abplanalp is doing the fun Fridays. Mark McGee is the Media Relations Director for athletics and a teacher at Lipscomb. As a participant in “The Biggest Loser”, he jokingly said, “I’m still waiting on those so called “fun” days. It’s funny how I will be walking into my office, and people notice that I’m limping a little because I’m so sore.” He then continued to tell about some of the activities they participate in. “One of Tuesday challenge days was to run, jog, or walk starting from the SAC desk to Trader Joes (which is in Green Hills) and back.” Mortensen...
by Cory Woodroof | Nov 15, 2012 | News Slider, Sports
A day after receiving the National League’s Cy Young Award, New York Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey returned to his hometown of Nashville to serve as the guest speaker in a chapel sponsored by the College of Business. Dickey was presented with the College of Business’s “Heroes of Business” award by Dean Turney Stevens. “Could it be any better than that?” Stevens said, asking the audience about the timing of Dickey’s arrival to Nashville. After being greeted by a standing ovation, Dickey spoke to a full crowd about his faith and life’s adversities. Dickey shared his story in front of a mixed group of students, faculty and fans, often referencing his new autobiography Wherever I Wind Up: My Quest for Truth, Authenticity and the Perfect Knuckleball that was released earlier this year. Dickey said his life has been met with much adversity, but the Mets pitcher reaffirmed that through his struggles, he kept his faith in God, which Dickey credits to his success. “Don’t give up hope,” Dickey said. Dickey said part of his road to recovery involved mending his relationship with his wife, affirming his belief that “God has really designed us for relationship.” Dickey told the crowd he believes his walk of faith is a process. “God wants me to live the next five minutes well.” Just yesterday, Dickey was awarded the Cy Young Award, an honor bestowed to a pitcher from both leagues in the MLB each season. Dickey said he believes the award he was given is one “that’s meant to be shared” with those around him. When asked who his idols were growing up, Dickey cited...
by Bridgette Begle | Oct 31, 2012 | News Slider, Sports
Campus ministry came together before the semester started to find a way to work with “two groups of people that are smaller to campus but also contain a lot of leaders,” according to Lauren King, a campus ministry intern. Once a month, athletes and social clubs will have a designated Thursday for a breakout chapel specifically for them. However, these chapels are not limited to just these groups; anyone can go to either chapel. King is a sophomore member of Pi Delta who also works with the campus ministry staff. King and the rest of the ministry team wanted to give athletes and those in Greek life the opportunity to learn and grow together in a chapel-like setting. Junior Erin Gupton, a member of Phi Sigma, said she loves the idea of the new Greek chapel. She said she wants people to feel welcome and not like socials clubs are private. “I hate when Greek life comes across as exclusive because that is not the point,” Gupton said. There have been three Greek life breakout chapels so far this semester, and they’ve been going very well, according to King and Gupton. The idea is to include multiple clubs in each devotional, Gupton said, explaining that one club will lead the singing, one will lead the prayer, one will do the message and so on. Athletes are also breaking in a new breakout chapel this semester. Those who have attended athlete’s chapel have now heard from two different speakers. The first was Athletic Director Philip Hutcheson and second was Brent High the associate athletic director for spiritual formation. It has been...
