Serving.God through Vocational Ministry Senior Ben Steed works on-line in the World Missions Lab in the Mclnteer Building. Steed, a member of Tentmakers and an Information Technology major, designed the Tentmakers web page this year. Photo by Daniel Dubois. Tentmakers choose careers based on location and need Tentmakers is unique among campus organizations. The club's focus is vocational ministry, and although the majority of its members are pursuing vocational ministry as a second major, Tentmakers is open to all students. Senior Pete Vann, a theater and vocational ministry major, said the focus ofTentmakers is helpjng people find a place to spread the gospel. Students of all majors can benefit from joining the organization. "A lot of people at Harding want to use their talents to help promote the church; I think they would do that, but they don't know where to start," Vann said. "The whole theory ofTentmakers is to pick a place first; then pick a career to fit." The idea of choosing a place to go and serve God before choosing a career is unusual in a society that stresses career building. The majority of college students today go to school for the sole purpose of starting a career. Harding is different in that its students are taught to be vocational ministers regardless of their majors. "For Bible majors, ministry is their career, but vocational ministry and Tentmakers encourage the principle that we're all ministers," Vann said. The line between the vocational ministry major and the Tentmakers organization is blurry. The club serves as a catalystthrough which students interested in vocational ministry may meet and draw encouragement from each other. Vann said Tentmakers also helps unite students who may be interested in moving to the same area after graduating. Through Tentmakers, Vann and about 15 others formed a group that plans to move to a large u.S. city and start an entertainment production company. They hope to write and direct plays with a Christian message and "combat the unchristian mentality in theater." These students realize their meeting each other may not have been a coincidence. "The more we thought about it, the more we said, 'Why say goodbye, we can stick together and help each other out,'" Vann said. "I'm convinced it was God who brought us together." - Casey Neese ~B~ib~l~e~~ ____________ ~~ Organizations ~
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