News
Briefly
Calendar of Events
Commentary
Opinions
Sports
Diversions
One time, one night
Special Section
World News
Classifieds
Login
Letter Submission
Search
Archive
Publishing Policy
Mail Subscriptions
St. Cloud State University
College Publisher
Home
>
Diversions
Presentation clears confusion
By John Behling
Published:
Monday, November 25, 2002
Media Credit: Adam Johnson
Cupid (Jeff Bloom) and the Grim Reaper (Sarah Abresch) duke it out as part of Thursday night’s “Love and Death” presentation.
When asked to explain what is brought to mind when a presentation on love and death occurs, co-outreach coordinators for the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship Stacy Brumbaugh and Ryan Michaud replied without hesitation,
“Jesus Christ.”
Last Thursday night at the Atwood Ballroom, an hour-long presentation took place dedicated to the topic of love and death. The night opened with a wrestling match between Cupid and the Grim Reaper. This was meant to introduce the topic of love and death, according to organizer Ryan Michaud.
Next came the interesting and moving story of Tom Deyo. His soft voice and light-hearted delivery underscored the seriousness of his story, which detailed his life experience and how it was changed by Christian faith. He addressed the subject of “inner peace” and that finding “inner peace” can guide people through hard times. He also offered that with this discovery people can avoid bottoming out when life looks down. His message was followed with brief comments by IVCF organizer and emcee for the evening, Chris McCurry.
“Jesus died a nasty nasty death for us,” he said, tying in the subject of Jesus’ death as a conclusion for the evening. Although the presentation made several strong points, it was sometimes unclear what exactly IVCF was about.
Brumbaugh and Michaud eventually clarified their standing. One of the main points of their association is to stand against “legalism,” otherwise known as the concept of going to church for the sake of going to church, or going to church to avoid the consequences of not going to church. In this way, the group does not condone the rituals associated with organized religion, rather the meanings behind these rituals. Although IVCF is a Christian organization, according to Michaud, people of different faiths attend their meetings in order to “learn more about Jesus.”
This message certainly has its appeal, but unfortunately, it was, at times, difficult to extract meaning from the presentation. Also, the practices of IVCF's week-long ad campaign were somewhat questionable.
“When people see the name “Jesus” on something, they tend to get negative misconceptions,” Brumbaugh explained.
The week-long advertising campaign included tombstones set in Atwood mall, a car with a “Just Married” sign blaring Frank Sinatra, Hershey’s Kisses and flyers telling about the event with no explanation.
“We weren’t trying to mislead anyone; if you look at the bottom of any of our flyers or posters they say ‘Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship.’”
Despite its vague advertising campaign and sometimes unclear message, IVCF’s presentation on “Love and Death” yielded insight into an interesting student organization and offered free food.
On Friday, the day after the presentation, the group placed a large, bloodied cross, along with information detailing the group’s message in another effort to raise awareness on the Atwood Mall.
Privacy Policy
Network Advertising
Article Syndication
