Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
WINONA LAKE - Grace College will celebrate its 50th anniversary this weekend by commemorating the renovation of the building where it all began.
The weekend will begin with Friday evening's coronation and concert at 7:30 p.m. at Rodeheaver Auditorium. The homecoming queen and her court will be featured, and the parents of the year and several college alumni will be honored. The concert will feature "The King's Brass," led by Tim Zimmerman, chairman of the music department.
Friday's events will conclude at 10 p.m. with a reception in the Westminster Hall lobby.
The Mount Memorial Building (formerly the Free Methodist Headquarters), where Grace first held classes, will be inaugurated Saturday. It was purchased and restored by Winona Restoration Partners. Grace now leases the building, which houses the art, behavioral sciences and education departments, as well as the Visitor's Center and the publications office.
When Grace College was founded in 1948 with a student body of 25, the college rented space on the top floor of the Mount Memorial Building and held all classes there.
As enrollment grew, the school rented dormitory and dining room space in the Westminster Hotel, which will be dedicated at 9:30 a.m. Saturday. Grace bought the Westminster in 1994 and the historic landmark has been restored, providing the college with additional facilities and the community with a place for meetings.
Several athletic events are scheduled for Saturday, including a baseball team vs. alumni game at 10 a.m., women's volleyball at 10 a.m., women's soccer at 1 p.m., men's soccer at 3 p.m. and a varsity vs. alumni basketball game at 7 p.m. Volleyball and basketball games will be held in Lancer Gym, and baseball and soccer games will take place at Miller Field on Pierceton Road.
Saturday's agenda also will include unearthing a 25-year-old time capsule in front of McClain Hall. The art department will host an art alumni exhibit in the Mount Memorial building, beginning at 6 p.m., and alumni from several classes will meet Saturday night for reunions.
On Sunday, there will be an 8 a.m. continental breakfast in Westminster Lobby, followed by a praise service at 8:15 a.m. in the banquet room. Homecoming events will end at 2 p.m. Sunday with the Alpha Chi induction service at McClain Hall.
For more information on Grace homecoming, call alumni director Dan Pacheco at 372-5289.
Also scheduled for this weekend, Dr. Darrel Bock, Dallas Theological Seminary, will conduct four seminars Thursday and Friday in McClain Hall. His subject will be "God's Covenantal Promises: How to Draw on God's Promises and God's Strength."
A research professor of New Testament studies at Dallas, Bock is an associate pastor and elder at Trinity Fellowship Church in Richardson, Texas, and corresponding editor for Christianity Today magazine. He holds a Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from the University of Aberdeen.
Thursday's seminar sessions will be at 7:30 a.m., 10:45 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. There will be a question-and-answer session from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday and another session from 9 a.m. to noon Friday, both at Westminster Hall.
For more information on the seminars, call 800-54-GRACE, or visit the website at www.grace.edu.
Cutline: 'The King's Brass,' led by Tim Zimmerman, will perform at the Grace College homecoming coronation and concert Friday at Rodeheaver Auditorium.
