Sterling College

Staff:

Jerrod Adair: Chaplain of Student Life
Anne Smith: Chaplain of Academic Life
Melissa Adair: Chaplain Assistant

Meet the Chaplains:

Jerrod and Melissa Adair

Rev. Jerrod and Melissa Adair are the new Chaplains here at Sterling College. They arrived in January of 2007 from Oklahoma. Ned 12, Taylor 10 and Philip 9 are their nephews whom they have been raising for over 3 years. Jerrod and Melissa have been married for 11 years and have done ministry for over 13 years. The Adair’s started off as Youth pastors for 2 1/2 years in Oklahoma. Jerrod then took a position at their home church as the Evangelism Director for a year. From there the Lord moved them to the University of Missouri where Jerrod was the Chaplain to a few of the Athletic teams. Those teams included baseball, volleyball and gymnastics. Jerrod served those teams from 1999-2003. The Adair’s also were involved in campus ministry while at the University of Missouri. Jerrod and Melissa have a heart for Missions. They have been all over the world serving missionaries. Some of the places they have been include China, Mexico, Haiti, New Mexico (Native American Reservation), Kansas City (Inner-city) and Indianapolis. They desire to train and disciple Christian leaders and to see the college setting as one of the most influential platforms where this can take place. Their mission is to see SC students become great leaders of the Christian faith for this generation and those to come. If you are on campus please come by and see Rev. Jerrod and Melissa in the Student Life Office

Anne Smith

Anne graduated from Wheaton College with a major in the Social Sciences, a minor in history, and a concentration in the Human Need and Global Resources program. As part of that degree she lived and worked for 7 months in a squatter community in Manila and worked for the Institute for the Studies of Asian Church and Culture. After a brief stint as a historical researcher and an assistant curator of a museum in Doylestown, PA, Anne attended Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, now Palmer School of Theology connected to Eastern University. Anne graduated with a M.Div. from Eastern and was ordained with the PCUSA. During her years of preparation for ordination, Anne completed 3 chaplaincy internships at the following institutions: Eastern College, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and Rosemont Retirement Village. She also worked at two churches in the Philadelphia area.

Anne’s first ordained call was to an international, interdenominational congregation in Manila, Philippines. During Anne’s years in Manila, she served as the Associate Pastor of the Union Church of Manila, provided pastoral care to the staff of Precious Jewels Ministry, taught Spirituality at Asian Theological Seminary, led retreats for mission organizations, and last but not least, met her husband-to-be, Craig Smith. In 1997 Craig and Anne moved to Bristol, England for Craig to pursue a Ph.D. During the next 5 years, Anne took a sabbatical from formal ministry to birth and raise her two children, Johanna, now 9, and Adam, now 7. During these years, she received formal training as a spiritual director. When her children started school, Anne began to teach Spiritual Formation at Trinity College in Bristol. Anne and Craig, together and as individuals, have led numerous retreats for Christian organizations in England, North America, and Asia.

Anne, Craig, and their two children moved to Sterling in January ’07. They love small town life after years of being in the big city, love welcoming college students into their life as a family, and are delighted to be a part of what God is doing at Sterling College. Anne’s responsibilities are to help faculty integrate a Christian world view into their curriculum, coordinate Wednesday chapels, provide pastoral care to those within the Sterling College Community, and help disciple student leaders. She loves sharing meals with friends and family, anything creative, and anything outdoors.

The Campus Ministry of Sterling College focuses itself around two passages of scripture:

1 Corinthians 9:22 “To the weak became I as weak that I might gain the weak; I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some” (KJV)

Matthew 22:37-39“Jesus replied, “Love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, and mind this is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (KJV)

Here at Sterling College we desire that each student, staff, faculty and administrator experience or have an encounter with the Lord Jesus. Such an encounter takes place in one-on-one conversations in the dinning hall, in dorm rooms, athletic fields, on stage, in a locker room, offices and even out on the campus lawn. We know that once you have had an experience with Jesus or an encounter of his manifested presence your life will be forever changed.

Chapels/Worship- Hebrews 10:25
Chapels at Sterling College are designed to be a place where any student, believer or non believer, can come and encounter the presence of God. This is done by student led worship, illustrated sermons and topics that are relevant to the “college season” of life. Our desire is that each student would be challenged and up lifted in their personal walk with Jesus Christ as we worship together, grow in our faith and live lives of servant leadership for the Lord.

Chapel/ Convocation Requirements

Our purpose for Chapel/ Convocation is to initiate, nurture and help students develop and sustain a life of discipleship in Jesus Christ. Here at Sterling College we offer two chapel services a week. One service is on Wednesday morning at 9:50am and another on Sunday evening at 7:00pm. There are also a few Convocations offered per semester. Students are encouraged to attend every chapel services they can but all full time students are required to obtain 14 chapels and 2 convocations each semester. Some credits may be obtained by attending Bible Studies.

Discipleship- Matthew 28:19, 2 Timothy 2:15

Following Gods command we desire to implement a program of discipleship so that each student has the opportunity to receive the Gospel at his/her level of understanding. This takes place through one on one mentoring, Bible studies, small group discussions, dorm talks and training sessions for leadership.

Ministry- James 2:17

Campus ministry at Sterling College is unique and cutting edge. We want to “become all things to all men so that some might be saved” 1 Corinthians 9:22-23. We desire to follow Christ’s command in Matthew 22:37-39 in our presentations of the Gospel. We fulfill the first commandment through worship and discipleship for those who are currently in a personal walk with God. The second commandment is fulfilled through evangelistic efforts that take place throughout the year on and off campus through smaller student led focus groups.

Spiritual Formation: Chapels, Bible studies, Resident Directors “RD’s”, Resident Assistants “RA’s”, Prayer Leaders, Student Chaplains, Praise and Worship

Focus Groups: Bass Assassins,Campus Activity Board “CAB”, Christian Motorcyclist Association “CMA”, Christian Warriors, Fellowship of Christian Athletes “FCA”, ITrx, Missions, My Brothers Keeper, Random Link, RAYA 327, Schools for Schools “S4S”

SC MISSIONS

Here at Sterling College we believe in an evangelistic approach to Missions. Each summer we send teams out all over the world to minister to those who need to know the love of Jesus. Some countries are not listed because of they are closed countries. These are the Countries we will be taking teams to in 2007: Belize, Kenya, Panama, China, Nicaragua, Croatia, Guinea Bissau

Ukraine 2005 - Trip overview.

Korea 2005 - Trip overview and pictures.

Bolivia 2005 - Trip overview and pictures.

Ethiopia 2004 - View the web log from the trip as well as pictures.

Brazil 2003 - View a missions report and pictures.