''/wish my classes hadn't conflicted with the lectures because there were so many morel would have gone to." -Diane Coon The Fall Fest Lectures are ... "Touched By The Master" "Touched by the Master: Luke presents Jesus" was the theme of the 72nd annual Bible Lectureship, offering a timely message for Christians in the 1990s. The week was packed with lectures, classes and other events, filling the campus with excitement and the people with encouragement. Visitors from at least 34 states and two foreign countries came to enjoy the experience, according to Alison Baird, secretary for Dr. Allan Isom, coordinator of the lectureship. "There were 620 registered visitors," Baird said, "but many of the guests, especially the ones from Searcy, forgot to register, so the actual number was much higher." For the second consecutive year, the lectureship took place during the week of Homecoming. This provided many people with the opportunity to attend both events. Overall, 78 speakers put many hours of their time and effort into speeches. Isom's efforts to select these speakers was a great task in itself. "It was obvious that he put a lot of thought into it," Baird said. The visitors attended lectures in large numbers, finding new motivation to live Christian lives from the fellowship and the speakers' messages. Especially well-received were the keynote speakers, Jimmy Allen, Nokomis Yeldell, Don McLaughlin and Paul Faulkner, who challenged audiences to re-examine their thinking about their mission in life. Harding alumnus Jim Springer, a missionary in Germany, attended every single period of lectures and classes. "This is a way for us to catch up on the trends and ideas occurring in the United States, " he said of his strong interest. His wife, Elsa, appreciated the extraordinary, loving openness of the people at Harding. "What I liked most about this week was being with Christians from morning till evening," she said. Students saw both positive and negative aspects of the lectureship week. Although their busy schedules did not allow time for other activities, some of them were eager to attend as many lectures as possible. Diane Coon, who went to hear many of the women's lectures, said, "I wish my classes hadn 't conflicted with the lectures because there were so many more I would have gone to." Many students had similar thoughts, and some were able to convince their teachers to excuse them from class in order to attend lectures. Another aspect which directly affected students was the number of people the lectureship brought to the campus. Coon saw this as something positive, saying, "It's fun to have so many people around." Others, however, became frustrated because it was very hard to find a place to park and the cafeteria was so full. "It was really hard to get meals no matter when you went to eat,"Matthew Rees, a student from Hong Kong, said. Many students decided to attend student lectures, which were added to the lectureship week in 1994. This year, there were even two Harding Academy students, Steve Cloer and Lindsey Howard, on the slate of speakers. -Diana King Colby Hill explains a parable from the book ofLuke to his audience. lectureship gave some students a chance to practice their speaking skills. Photo by Aaron Gillihan.
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