American history, environmentalism, biblical rest – this year’s Torrey Conference was thematically distinct and broad in scope, leading some students to thrive off the material the conference provided, while disaffecting others.
The conference was a considerable logistical success from chapel coordinator Kevin Zimmerman’s perspective.
“It’s a blessing to be able to have an idea and a vision and be able to cast that vision to others and to wake up one morning and to see the entire campus transformed,” he said.
Positive reactions
While Zimmerman delegated responsibility, he remained sensitive to what the speakers had to say and the responses students were having to the material.
“I was pleased with what the speakers had to share. I was also pleased with the feedback that students had,” he said. “It showed they were engaged with the content that the speakers were sharing.”
Some students seemed to share Zimmerman’s optimism, expressing how the speakers’ impacted their perspective of Sabbath.
“I loved Dr. Talley. I’m taking his class right now,” said sophomore communication disorders major Megan Stubbs. “I just think he has a lot of knowledge of the Old Testament. He had a lot of good things to say.”
Senior biblical studies major Lamar Whaley agreed.
“All the speakers were good, in my opinion, but if I had to choose, I would choose professor David Talley. The reason why I liked Talley’s talk about the Sabbath was [it educated] Christians how the Sabbath is no longer to be legalistic,” Whaley said. “It’s no longer what I do; it’s how I live my life.”
Junior piano performance major Ethan Amdahl enjoyed the expertise that Lauren Winner, assistant professor of Christian spirituality at Duke Divinity University and author of “Mudhouse Sabbath,” “Girl Meets God” and “Real Sex: The Naked Truth about Chastity,” brought to the conference.
“It was just really interesting how the first time [Winner] spoke she gave a broad historical background and then during the second session I felt she spoke in a way that we were able to apply Sabbath to our lives,” Amdalh said.
Conflicting opinions
Junior Sam Suksiri, who suffered a compound fracture of his tibia and fibula Thursday while playing soccer at Play and Pray, had a unique and difficult experience this conference. Despite the inconvenience, Suksiri was able to capitalize on his injury to spend time with God.
“[Sabbath] was all I could think of,” he said.
While some approved of this year’s theme, others did not appreciate it.
“It was really bad,” said senior history major Sung Jin Lee. “I really don’t know why they did it about Sabbath.”
Freshman international business major Christian Guida thought some speakers had contradictory opinions on the Sabbath.
“Somebody said one thing, and then the next day a different speaker said a different opinion,” he said.
Diverse speakers
Even though there was division amongst the student body on how to internalize the conference’s material, Zimmerman raised the point that any feedback was evidence that students were reflecting on the conference.
“If students are thinking critically about issues regarding Sabbath, or whatever the conference or chapel topic is, that’s when I think we’ve really, in a sense, done a good job,” Zimmerman said.
Zimmerman reasoned that part of the point for inviting a diverse array of speakers is to foster discussion and contemplation in the student body, regardless of what the speaker believes.
“This is what a very respective person in their field believes. But you need to think critically about it as well, and you need to check what they’re saying against the Word of God,” Zimmerman said.
