A single phone call nearly 20 years ago turned Jenni Whitford’s whole world upside down.
Jenni and her young family had only just returned from vacation when her husband’s workplace called.
“I came home from a session meeting and got a call that my husband, Ken, had collapsed,” recalled Jenni, who was then serving as a three-quarter-time Christian educator in her home church, First Presbyterian in Jackson, Michigan.
When they arrived at the hospital, Jenni and her two children, ages 9 and 12, learned that 36-year-old Ken Ellis — a dedicated husband and father — had died of an aortic aneurysm.
If tears are a gift of the Spirit, then the Rev. Dr. Judi McMillan has been blessed.
Even if some of those tears have been other than joyful.
What began for the PC(USA) pastor 20 years ago with tears of happiness when she relocated from Nebraska to Michigan to accept a call as an associate minister at a large, non-Presbyterian church in a suburban university setting didn’t end as auspiciously as it had started.
A single phone call nearly 20 years ago turned Jenni Whitford’s whole world upside down.
Whitford and her young family had just returned from vacation when her husband’s workplace called.
As a rush of fresh-faced students filed into the Presbyterian Pan American School’s Harte Student Center, Dr. Joey King beamed with pride.
And rightfully so.
The new president of the small, PC(USA)-related college-preparatory school located in the Texas Coastal Bend some 90 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, has exciting plans to flourish PPAS’s most valuable resource, its students.
Because “back-to-school” is a familiar rite of passage for students, families, faculty and staff at college, university and school campuses the world over, the Presbyterian News Service conducted email interviews with the chaplains at the PC(USA)’s Presbyterian-related schools and colleges equipping communities of color to ask them some key questions as the new academic year gets into full swing.
From the majestic magnolias that grace Stillman College’s 105-acre campus and the school’s striking seal, to the plentiful purple hull peas, pole beans and cucumbers that thrive in its community garden, the entire campus is alive with new growth.
Gentle Gulf breezes set the array of colorful flags from many nations high aloft at the Presbyterian Pan American School (PPAS), where they heralded a sea change at the small, college-preparatory school located some 90 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Striding across the Menaul School campus on a sunny New Mexico morning, Julie Bean radiated an exuberance and optimism that were nothing short of contagious.
Bean, who stepped into her new role as Menaul’s president and head of school on June 1, waxed enthusiastic over the Presbyterian-related school’s mission, values and ethos.
