Faces of Forgiveness Week and Conference Day
Faces of Forgiveness was the focus for Spiritual Emphasis Week on Jan. 22-25, 2008. Regular classes were cancelled on Jan. 24 and replaced with special sessions for Conference Day.
Rev. Zollie L. Smith Jr., executive director of Assemblies of God U.S. Missions, spoke in the morning chapel service on Jan. 22. Students participated in a nontraditional creative service in the evening.
In the morning chapel service on Jan. 23, four shared their personal stories of how forgiveness has made a difference in their lives: Dr. Joan Cargnel, associate professor of education; Amberly Lacy, freshman social work major; Michael Burnette, adjunct faculty of music; and Josh Davis, junior music education major.
Dr. Everett L. Worthington, professor of psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University, spoke on forgiveness in the morning service on Jan. 24, which was also designated as Conference Day. Exploring various aspects of forgiveness, students chose from sessions covering academic topics to those dealing with more personal issues.
Dr. Worthington again spoke in the morning service on Jan. 25; he shared his personal story of tragedy and forgiveness.
“Our prayer has been that this week would be a life-changing week.” —Dr. Robert H. Spence, president.
photos of Rev. Zollie L. Smith Jr. by Paul K. Logsdon | photos of creative service by Becca Hodge, photography editor, The Lance
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Rev. Zollie L. Smith Jr., executive director of Assemblies of God U.S. Missions, was the featured speaker in the morning chapel service on Jan. 22. Listen to this chapel podcast.
Smith spoke about the “Forgiveness Hall of Fame,” including the ways in which Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Ghandi, and Nelson Mandella were able to forgive.
During the evening service on Jan. 22, students participate in a nontraditional service dedicated to creative expressions of worship.
Students journal and write letters as a method of creative worship and reflecting on forgiveness.
Students participate in activities at various stations set up in the chapel auditorium.
Stations enabled students to participate in communion, washing hands and feet, praying for others, writing, drawing, and other personal expressions of worship and prayer.
During the session “Much Ado about Forgiveness in Literature,” instructors in the Humanities Department illustrate nuances of forgiveness in literature excerpts. Dr. James Edwards, professor of English, examines forgiveness in William Shakespeare’s “A Winter’s Tale.”
Dr. Nathan Nelson, professor of English, discusses forgiveness in “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Home Burial” by Robert Frost, and “The Impercipient” by Thomas Hardy.
Dr. Marilyn Quigley, associate professor of English, discusses forgiveness in Katherine Anne Porter’s short story, “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall.”
Dr. Robert Turnbull, chair of the Humanities Department and professor of French, discusses forgiveness themes of Jean Valjean’s experience in “Les Misérables.”
Students pose questions after Dr. Lois Olena, adjunct faculty of the Theology Department, speaks with Rabbi Rita Sherwin on Jewish perspectives of forgiveness.
Dr. Everett Worthington, professor of psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University, speaks about the biopsychology of forgiveness as it relates to stress during the session “Forgiveness and Health: Biological Correlates of Forgiveness.”
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