Northwestern prepares for inauguration

Northwestern College will celebrate the inauguration of its ninth president, Greg Christy, on Friday, Oct. 10.

A special luncheon for invited guests and delegates will be held at 11:30 a.m. in the central mall of the Rowenhorst Student Center. The inaugural ceremony will begin at 2:30 p.m. in Christ Chapel, with a reception following on the campus green. The festivities will conclude with a free Art-Music-Justice concert, featuring Christian musicians Sara Groves, Brandon Heath, Derek Webb, Sandra McCracken and Charlie Peacock, at 7:30 p.m. in the Bultman Center. The public is invited to attend the ceremony, reception and concert.

Ron De Jong, vice president for external relations and chairman of the Inauguration Committee, says planners have strived to make the day a worshipful and festive celebration of the college. “This is an opportunity to pause and reflect on the way God has blessed Northwestern over 125 years while also looking hopefully and joyfully to the college’s future,” he says. “We want to showcase the quality of Northwestern to various constituency groups and at the same time officially introduce Greg Christy as our president to them.”

The Rev. Dr. Tim Brown, the new president of Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Mich., will deliver the inaugural address. He assumed his new role in July after 13 years on Western’s faculty and a 19-year career as a Reformed Church pastor.

The ceremony also will feature a personal charge to Christy given by Dr. Jack Ewing, executive director of The Foundation for Evangelism in Lake Junaluska, N.C., an affiliate of the United Methodist Church. Ewing served as president at Dakota Wesleyan University from 1994 to 2000 and hired Christy to direct the university’s institutional advancement office. Northwestern’s new president will give a response.

Christy began his presidency in January after 12 years as a senior executive at Dakota Wesleyan. He previously worked on the staffs of South Dakota State University and Iowa State University.