November 2002
Dear Cambridge Family,
Cambridge
is pleased to announce that, as a service to the Polk County community, the
study center will host the seminar "Islam, Christianity & Public Life" with Dr.
Lawrence Adams from the University of Virginia. The seminar is
scheduled for Saturday, February 1 at the study center (541 S. Florida Av.).
It is free to the public. The seminar, beginning at 9:00 a.m., will cover
such topics as The Theological and Worldview Differences of Christianity and
Islam, War, Jihad and Terrorism, and Questions of Law and Authority. Dr.
Adams is Visiting Scholar at the Center for Christian Study and a member of
the faculty at the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University
of Virginia. Dr. Adams, who received his Ph.D. in Government from UVa, also
served for a time with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship as a campus staff
member and area director. He is the former Research Director at the
Institute for Religion and Democracy in Washington, D.C. and has served on
the staffs of two committees of the U.S. House of Representatives. Dr. Adams
is the author of works on religion and politics, U.S. foreign policy, and
security policy, including his most recent book, Going Public: Christian
Responsibility in a Divided America (Brazos Press/Baker, 2002). Our
special thanks to the Dr. Stephen G. Keim family for making
this seminar possible. Please mark your calendar and plan to attend.
Some student
news: Cambridge student Ashley Burnetti has had a poem
selected as a finalist in a national poetry contest. Ashley is one of
thirty persons (adults included) selected to fly to Hollywood to read her
poem. And Jonathan Walker has just finished the final
stages of the long and challenging process for becoming an Eagle Scout.
Jonathan, who will finish at Cambridge this year, will enter The Citadel
next fall. Our congratulations to both Jonathan and Ashley!
In other
student news, Cambridge students and faculty once again attended the
Gainesville Book Sale. We left Lakeland at 5:30 a.m. arriving in
Gainesville more than an hour before the doors opened. As usual there were
plenty of people already in line, some of whom had spent the night. After
the sale we gathered at the local food court for lunch returning home
midafternoon loaded with books, tired students and very tired instructors.
The Gainesville book sale is a yearly event for the Cambridge family giving
the students the opportunity to buy inexpensive books for their classes and
personal libraries.
Cambridge
fine arts instructor Cannon Kirby has been invited by the
Polk Museum of Art to participate in the Holiday Artists' Market hosted by
the museum December 6 - 8. Each year the museum selects a dozen artists to
be a part of this holiday event. On Friday night (the 6th) music will be
provided in the Hollis Room by classical guitarist Kyle Spresser and
refreshments will be served. Come be a part of the museum's holiday
festivities. Cannon also has recently won the Award of Excellence for his
photo "Triumph" at the current Ridge Art show in Winter Haven. The award
includes a cash grant, much appreciated by our starving artist in residence!
Congratulations Cannon!
In other
faculty news Bruce is teaching his eight month long
The Christian and Culture class on Sunday mornings at Covenant
Presbyterian Church in Lakeland. The two hour per week class uses Francis
Schaeffer's The God Who is There as a launching point for
discussing the relevance of Christianity for the twenty-first century. The
class can be offered in other venues. For more information contact Bruce at
the study center. And Dustin Kirby returned last week from
taking (along with Covenant pastor Jeff McDonald) a van load of students to
Covenant College. The event was a preview weekend allowing high school
students, who are making college plans, to attend classes and other college
events. We are thankful for their safe and profitable trip.
Cambridge is now offering another wonderful
service to study center families. Beginning in August Barbara Mesh began
offering guidance counseling for Cambridge students and their parents. She
has an M.A. in guidance counseling from Florida State and has experience
counseling students from public, private and home schools. Over the past
three months Barb has put in many hours counseling our students and
parents regarding the many educational issues they face. We are thankful
for her valuable involvement at the study center.
Verizon has begun a program providing
funding for schools. The program is called Extra Credit. Extra Credit
allows Verizon long distance customers to designate 5% of their long
distance bill to Cambridge. This is at not expense to the customer. There
are no area limits to the program, so anyone in the country who is using
Verizon long distance (businesses, relatives, churches, etc.) can
designate Cambridge Study Center as the recipient of Extra Credit
donations by Verizon. If you would like to be a part of the program call
the Extra Credit office at 1.877.927.3348, select option 3 and tell the
operator that you wish to sign up for the Extra Credit program. Specify
Cambridge Study Center in Lakeland, Florida. It is important that you
mention Lakeland, Florida! Verizon will do the rest! If you have Verizon
long distance and would like Cambridge to facilitate you involvement in
Extra Credit, just call the study center (686.4862) and we will take care
of the details for you. If you have question regarding the Extra Credit
program contact Jan Coachman at the study center.
The CSC fund
raising committee has scheduled a fund raising event early next year. (Watch
your email for more details.) Scheduled for an evening in February, the
event requires the help of a number of people. If you would like to help
contact Yomara Williams (Familywill@aol.com)
who is coordinating the event. Prior to this fund raiser the committee has
set a goal of raising $85,000 from individuals and local businesses by
January 31. This is an ambitious goal but committee members are working hard
to see that this goal is met. Please contact Maria Laing (mariaclaing@netzero.net)
if you are interested in being part of this effort. We are thankful for
Maria's tireless efforts on behalf of the study center.
A very
special thank you to Dan and Damaris Medina
for the computers in each of our offices. Because of this donation,
each instructor and the administration office now has computers. These
computers came with networking hardware so sometime in the near future all
our office computers will be online and networked. Dan and Damaris are the
parents of Karis Medina, a third year Cambridge student.
"I will lie
down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety."
(Psalm 4:8) Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.
Sincerely,
Bruce and Jane Kirby
STUDY CENTER
NEEDS
Carpeting
installed in classrooms & Commons
Digital camera
fILM fRIDAYS
Student Screenings
Cancelled
Adult Screening
December 6: Changing Lanes