As a part of his January term course entitled “How Can I Make Things
Better?” Bethany College Chaplain Scott Thayer led 13 freshmen on a
four-day trip to Washington, D.C., where the group attended the
presidential inauguration and visited with a number of people in the
nation’s capital who are making a positive difference in our society.The group met with the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church who has faced challenges and physical danger in his efforts to welcome people into the church who formerly have not felt welcome. The group also met with Jane Campbell, former Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, who currently is the director of the senate committee on small business and entrepreneurial activity, as well as with the management team of Sojourners, and with Arthur Keys and his staff at International Relief and Development.
A high point of the trip was a visit with West Virginia
Senator Joe Manchin, who somehow found time in his busy schedule to sit
down with the students and discuss their concerns. In their journal
entries covering the trip, students wrote that the experience was an
eye-opening, life-changing event. The group was welcomed by National
City Christian Church, where students were lodged as a part of the
church’s “bunkhouse” ministry, courtesy of funds made available by
Bethany Memorial Church. Lauren Morris served as a van driver and
female adult sponsor.
