. dual careers ~e majority of Harding's Bible professors were also involved in ministry and leadership in Searcy's local church es. and some of the faculty even worked as fu11l ime ministers while teaching at the same time. Associate professo r of Bible, Mike Ireland , o riginally came to Searcy in 2000 to teach in Harding's Bible department. When Wes t Side Church of Christ was looking to hire a preacher, Ireland stepped into the posit ion. 'West Side was searching for a preacher at th e beginning of 2004 and I began as an "interim preacher" while they looked for a new fe llow." Ireland said . "The interim part became p ermanent '#hat some may h ave thought to be an extra load to han – dle on top of teachi ng was actually a fu lfillment of Irela nd 's dream : to both preach for a church and teach Bible. " I love what I do ; my dream job as a young p reach er was to p reach in a good chu rch and teach university students at th e same lime," Ir ela nd said . " It is challen gi ng, but it is exactly wh at I want ed to do. " \"'hile juggling th e responsibilities between th e two full – time jobs could be difficult, there were all also some signifi – cant advantages to working in both situations. Both Ire land and Bibl e professor Devin Swindle, who was also the preache r at Highway C hurch of Ch rist , felt like their teaching at Hard– ing compl emented their wor k with their respective churches . " Be ing in a un iversity setting keeps one sensitive to the newes t ideas in re ligiOUS thought and church life while the church keeps o n e linked to the real world issues of individuals Budd Hebert, Ph.D. , Prof. Bus./Dir. Character Ini tiative Allen Henderson, M.Ed .. Asst. Prof. Edu. Chuck Hicks, M.S.E.. Asst. Prof. Music Gary Hill, M.PAS .. Clint. Coord. PA Prog./Assoc. Prof. Ann Hobby, M.L.l.S .. Ref. Librarian/Assoc. Prof. Dutch HOg's?tt, Ph.D.. Assoc. Prof. Comm. Burt Holiandsworth,\ Ph.D.. Asst. Prof. Phys. Sci. Karen Horton, M.Ed .. Dif.-Edu . Res. Ctr./Asst. Prof. BJ Houston, J.D.. Assoc. ProUDir. Criminal Justice Kathy Howard, Ed.D.. Prof. Psych ./Dir. Psych. Prog. Dwight Ireland, Ed.D.. Prof. Psych./Counseling Ctr. Mike Ireland, D.Min .. Assoc. Prof. Bible Deveryle James, Ph.D., Asst. Prof. English Alice Jewell, Ph.D., Prof. Eng lish Fred Jewell , Ed.D., Prof. History Jim Johnston, Ed.D.. Dir. Studeht Support Serv./Prof. Genevieve Jones, M.Ed .. Asst. Prof . Lis Jones, M.M.. Instr. Music Michael Jones, M.A.. Instr. John Keller, Ph.D .. Prof. Art/Dept. Chair Karen Kelley, M.S.N .. Asst. Prof. Nursing Johnnetta Kelly, M.N.Sc., Asst. Prof. Nursing Tim Kirby, M.Ed .. Asst. Prof. Kines./Womens BB Coach Julie Kissack, Phorm.D .. Chair Pharm. Prac./Prof. 150 leadership and families," Ireland said. "Also, the teaching/preaching ap – proach in each p erspective is different and r equires different p reparat ions. I b elieve this actually broaden s my perspective rega rding communication options. " Swindle agreed that b eing both a preach er and teacher wen t hand in hand. "For me, it just makes sense for a professol' to be a full – time preacher," Swindle said. "{ can' t envision my ministry out at Highway Church [of Christ] without the one here at Harding, and I can't envision my ministry h er e at H a rding without the o ne at Highway. 1 make my acad emi c work h e re fuel my work at Highway. " Having a preacher fo r a Bible teacher also helped studen ts wh o were looking to n nd a church home. "A lot of students who come into my classes will naturally gl'avitate o ut to H ighway , especially freshman," Swindle said. " I h op e I use my status to help people nnd a church h ome." Bible professors , who also seIVed as preachers for chul'ches in the area , faced the difficulty of mainta ining busy schedules and d ealing with time d emands . Ir eland found that wi th the support o f family, the challenge was well worth it. "[My wife] has always been my number on e supporte r and h elper," Ireland said . "While we talk about the extra study haU l'S required, additional time demands of two institutions, and the lack of free weeken ds, we are involved in lives and causes we believe in, Cod has been very good to me [and] ev– eryday is another day of living a dream. " Penny Cronk and Emily Houpt/i
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