Thank You from President Jay and Barb Barnes

President Jay and Barb Barnes thank the Bethel community, colleagues in the higher education community, friends, and family for their support and care shown during the inauguration.

Barb and I wanted to say a special thank you for all those who worked hard to make our inaugural events a really great time for us and for Bethel. It was a special treat for us to have family and friends come from all over the U.S. to be with us for this occasion, and we’re particularly grateful for institutions who sent delegates to join with us also. It was an affirmation of Bethel and certainly a great gift to us to have those friends present with us.

On the grand staircase in the Lundquist Community Life Center, we have carved an internal cornerstone where the theme of the inaugural ceremony was articulated: “In everything, honor and praise to God through Jesus Christ.” It’s what I call the Brushaber translation of 1 Peter 4:12. When we thought of how to translate that vision into the reality of the program, we wanted each part to come together to point people toward God through the work of Jesus Christ. So, in a variety of areas we tried to make this not about Barb and me, but really to make it about Bethel’s mission and call as we understand it from God at this point in our history.

I think we’re also very thankful for those who have gone before us at Bethel. Barb and I have been particularly blessed by George and Darleen Brushaber and their example, their friendship, all the things they have done to make a great transition possible for us.

While it was an incredibly fun weekend for us we hope that the mission of Bethel came through that we are all in this together. The mission of Bethel would not happen without each individual doing their part. And we’re thankful for our entire Bethel family that could celebrate with us.

And we wanted to celebrate that Bethel family and include all parts of the Bethel family in the ceremony itself. We recognized students from each of the academic units as part of the ceremony.  We had faculty members from both coasts as well as obviously members from St. Paul. We deliberately wanted one of the music pieces to be inclusive of all employee groups at Bethel. For me, one of the special things was looking back at one of the musical groups performing and seeing the variety of job titles represented.

There were lots of moments to bring tears to people’s eyes and some moments to bring laughter. One of those special family moments was when our grandson Max, who was one of those giving a charge to me, came up on the platform and then to be comfortable sat on my lap for a while, while we listened to others giving the first part of the charge. Then this amazing young man, who has a real sensitivity to the Lord, got up and gave the speech of the morning that lots of people have commented on.

When President Emeritus Brushaber and Board Chair Dan Lindh were putting the presidential medallion on, there were lots of chuckles as they were trying to figure out this jewelry clasp in the back. But we chuckled about that as Dan Lindh tied a square knot in the chain and we eventually got on with it and that was one of those humorous moments along the way

And then those who formed a circle of prayer around us as part of the ceremony. That, too, was extremely special. We realize clearly that this is a job that can only be done with lots of help from others and with many people praying. That’s one of the blessings of Bethel. And to have the third first lady of Bethel, Nancy Lundquist, lead  in prayer during that tine was a special moment for us.

And we’re particularly thankful for those on campus who took our vision for what the inaugural ceremony should indicate about Bethel and our hearts, and helped turned that vision and dream into a reality.

We’re grateful for people like Sherie Lindvall, who chaired the committee and brought people from all across campus to help us think about what this might actually look like and take the ideas and put this into a program that would work. There was the ever-present Avis Soderstom, who from beginning to end seemed to be with us. Every time we turned around, there she was wiping frosting off my jacket and other important things throughout the weekend. We know that people like Carolyn Barr and Lois Jacobs, Anna Kaihoi, and others did a lot of behind-the-scenes things.

Also, the things that Tom Trainor’s team did from top to bottom in getting the campus ready ,moving furniture, and doing all the things from traffic control to everything else that went on that weekend. It was a great blessing to be working with our Facilities Management team and the Sodexo team and all they did to make the weekend a special time.

I’m incredibly grateful for all the friends and family who traveled from great distances to join us. It’s just amazing to think of the time they gave up, time away from work. For our neighbors, we have incredibly special neighbors and most of them showed up to celebrate, and we’re just so thankful for tha

So again we’re very thankful to friends on campus and friends off campus who helped to make this a very special occasion. College, seminary, graduate, and adult programs—everyone working together to celebrate Bethel’s mission, to celebrate Bethel’s past, and to anticipate Bethel’s future. We realize that we have a great calling and great mission even in spite of challenging economic circumstances. We know that our God is a provider and an enabler of His mission to go forward. And I’m thankful for the great privilege of joining together with others in building a team to help lead Bethel forward with the Lord’s help, with lots of people praying, and working to make it happen

So, we celebrate what God is doing in the lives of students and employees. We celebrate what Bethel has been called to do in the higher education community. We celebrate our partnership with the churches of Converge Worldwide—the Baptist General Conference. We celebrate many good things and I’m glad that the inaugural events and the installation service itself helped to point us to the Lord. Because we truly believe that in everything, we are to give honor and praise to God through Jesus Christ.