11/02/07Students, alumni and the members of the community filled the Baldwin First United Methodist Church to celebrate Baker’s Methodist history with a sermon by ordained minister Fred Craddock.

Craddock was the guest speaker at chapel Oct. 25 under the lecture theme of “Union of Mind and Spirit.” With a rich history in the church, he is regarded as the pre-eminent living teacher of preaching. Caddock addressed the congregation on topics ranging from the history of churches starting universities to hope.

Craddock said many churches that started schools failed mostly because of poor planning. He said sustaining the lifelong goal of the school has always been an important part of Baker’s history.

“Baker has had a reputation for strong leaders and a consistent relationship with the Methodist Church,” he said.

Craddock emphasized how important it is to be hopeful instead of cynical. He said a college student can use hope by simply getting out of bed and saying something to themselves.

“‘I will not just survive the day, but I will flourish,'” he said. “This sets you up for good things to happen.”

Freshman Brianna Watson attended the service and said she really liked Craddock’s message of hope in his sermon.

“It shows that in the face of hard times, like when they were building the university, we can do anything,” she said.

Senior Abby Burnett said Craddock was able to relate to the average college student and encourage people to be positive about life.

“Every day in college you hope to get to the next day because that brings you closer to your ultimate goals,” she said. “It’s that sense of hope and faith that gets you through the day.”

In addition to leading the service, Craddock also held a workshop entitled “Storytelling as Ministry: In and Out of the Pulpit.” The workshop focused on how preachers can use stories in their sermons to impact the audience.

Minister to the University Ira DeSpain said Craddock’s visit was something the 150th Steering Committee wanted to do to highlight Baker’s heritage. DeSpain said Caddock visited the campus many years ago and with the help of Betty Barker Bashaw, the former chair of the Board of Trustees and close friend to Craddock, they were able to bring him back to Baker during the year celebrating Baker’s sesquicentennial.

“(Craddock) is a world-class communicator and was on the list of people we hoped to bring back to campus,” DeSpain said.