Alumni Profiles
AU influence leads to career in pottery
Integrating work and faith
Davis joins alumni staff
Sherck family reflects on struggles and blessings
AU influence leads to career in pottery
By Heather Lowhorn
Today Jim Sanders BS ’63 is an award-winning master potter who owns his own studio and who has studied his craft under two of the finest master potters in the country. But when he came to the Anderson campus to study art education, he had no idea that pottery would become his career.
“Robert Youngman was the head of the art department, and he was a great enthusiast for sculpture,” says Sanders. “He was probably the main reason we had pottery wheels at Anderson. It was one of the things he felt very strongly about.”
Youngman’s enthusiasm for pottery sharpened Sanders’ artistic focus. After graduating from Anderson, Sanders pursued his master’s degree in ceramics at Ball State University. He wanted to learn even more about his craft, so he began to search for artists under whom to study. He was invited to study under Charles Counts at Rising Fawn Pottery in north Georgia during the late 1960s. After that, he studied for a summer under Marguerite Wildenhain, a former teacher at the Bauhaus in Germany, at her Pond Farm Pottery in Guerneville, Calif. “Those two people would be the main influence on my pottery life as far as making shapes and decorating.”
In 1973 Sanders and his wife, Kay BS ’61, moved to Marshall, Texas, where he worked as a production potter with Marshall Pottery for a year and a half. After leaving Marshall Pottery, he and Kay opened Sanders’ Pottery Studio, and he has been producing his pottery ever since. Sanders’ pottery is marked by distinctive decorative carving. “The surface of the pot I make becomes my canvas to decorate on,” says Sanders. “Almost every time, I carve on it. Sometimes I carve all the way through it, depending on the decoration I try to apply.”
Sanders produces a wide range of wheel-thrown stoneware items, including vases, bottles, lamps, dinnerware, lanterns, bowls, and candleholders. He also has the chance to express his Christian faith in pieces such as communion platters and chalices or pitchers and bowls for foot-washing ceremonies.
“I try to balance my work between things that are functional and things that are just decorative,” says Sanders. The items have a wide price range with some small items starting at a few dollars and larger pots with many cutouts costing a few hundred dollars. Several collectors have begun keeping his work in their private collections. “That’s been an amazement to me,” says Sanders. “I’m always appreciative and amazed that somebody wants to collect my things.”
AU alumni who live in Indiana have the chance to see Sanders’ work at three summertime shows in 2008: Talbot Street Art Fair in Indianapolis, Art on the Square in Bloomington, and the Three Rivers Festival in Fort Wayne. The Talbot Street Art Fair and Art on the Square are in June, and the Three Rivers Festival is in July.
Even after so many years as a potter, Sanders is still enthusiastic about his craft, and he continues to evolve as an artist. “It seems to be a never-ending thing,” he says. “You go from one to the next one, and it’s a new challenge all over again. Keeping your imagination alive and continuing to develop ideas is an ongoing process.”
Integrating work and faith
By Cara Miller
Ray Hilbert BA ’88 knows what it’s like to get caught up in the daily grind — business meetings and long hours, expense reports and profit margins, and the inevitable feeling of getting burned out and wishing for something more. In his book, The Janitor, Hilbert and co-author Todd Hopkins discuss scenarios other business executives can relate to and provide key insights on how to bring a biblical perspective to work and family life.
Written in parable form, The Janitor relates the story of CEO Roger Kimbrough, who is struggling to balance his demanding career with his neglected family. He is so consumed by work, he hardly ever sees his wife and two daughters. His wife has even hinted at the idea of a divorce, and Roger knows he’s in jeopardy of losing both his family and his business if he doesn’t turn things around.
He meets Bob Tidwell at the most opportune time. An old janitor in his office building and a former high-profile executive, Bob becomes a mentor to Roger and provides him with six directives on how to become a Christian businessman, putting God’s agenda above his own and finding a sense of purpose for his life.
Hilbert and Hopkins assert that this book is for anyone who wants to focus on what is important, heal broken relationships, grow in Christ, and understand the importance of being a mentor. “We have never heard anyone on their deathbed say that they wished they had spent less time with their children,” Hilbert says. “Yet, so many people sell out trying to get rich and, in exchange, they miss out on very important years with their children.”
Hilbert’s own directive toward this marketplace ministry stems from personal experience. Just a few years after graduating from Anderson University, he was recruited by a large national firm committed to “winning at all costs.” Thereafter, he was recruited by an international firm, which conflicted even more with his Christian values.
“I can truly relate to being so busy that sometimes it is difficult to focus the time on the truly important things in life,” Hilbert says.
Like the Roger in his story, Hilbert knew he needed a change. He went into business for himself, first as a retailer for Christian apparel and later as an auto dealer. He incorporated his faith into his business practices and discovered how truly rewarding the experience was. After working for a few years as regional director of Promise Keepers, in which he traveled the country and met hundreds of men who were also struggling with their careers, Hilbert started another business called Truth@Work.
Designed to help Christian business owners and leaders find meaning in their jobs and integrate their faith and business practices, Truth@Work has helped more than 250 clients to date. Through roundtable groups for executives, training programs, and seminars, Truth@Work is bringing about its vision to “change the way America works by bringing the good news of Jesus Christ to the marketplace.” The company is continually expanding across the nation, and Hilbert has traveled internationally with his inspirational message.
In addition to The Janitor, which hit U.S. bookstores in July 2007 and has sold more than a quarter of a million copies overseas, Hilbert is currently working on a second book, Carrot Chaser: Four Truths to Living Out Your Faith at Home and in the Marketplace, scheduled for release in 2009.
Davis joins alumni staff
By Deborah Lilly
Anderson University has hired Ben Davis BA ’97 to be the new director of alumni relations. Davis comes to AU from Eaton, Ohio, where he served as executive director of the Preble County YMCA for four years. He has been working in public relations since 1998. Prior to that, he spent a year in the AU Office of Publications as a writer and copy editor.
Davis grew up in the Church of God. His late father, also Ben, pastored congregations in Tennessee and Ohio. At AU, Davis majored in mass communication, specializing in journalism and public relations. He was also active in Male Chorus, Tri-S, intramural sports, and the Andersonian staff.
Although Davis enjoyed his work with the YMCA, he looks forward to serving AU. “The engagement of our alumni base touches on so many aspects of our university — including admissions, development, church relations, and student life — that we should constantly be asking ourselves how alumni are affected and how can we count on our alumni to help us.”
Davis has also spent the last two years on the AU Alumni Council. “I know just how important alumni relations is and what kind of opportunities exist to move this effort forward.” As the director of alumni relations, Davis hopes to build stronger bridges between alumni and the university by creating more opportunities for interaction with AU and each other.
Davis is married to Marlo (Cookston) Davis BA ’97. They have two daughters — Jillian, 4, and Lauren, born Jan. 17.
Sherck family reflects on struggles and blessings
By Cara Miller
Three years ago, Chris BA ’01 and Rachel (Miller) BA ’02 Sherck were struggling with a parent’s worst nightmare. Visiting with Rachel’s parents in Illinois shortly after the Christmas holiday, they rushed their two-month-old son, Malachi, to the hospital when they discovered blood in his stool.
From there, he was immediately life-lined to the Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis where they discovered that his intestine had twisted, cutting off his blood supply. After removing nearly all of his small intestine and half his large intestine, the surgeon wasn’t optimistic. She said Malachi had two days to live, at best.
“It is the most helpless feeling to see your kid hurting and on his deathbed, knowing there is nothing you can physically do for him,” said Chris. “The surgeon gave us the option of just letting him die on the table because his outlook was so questionable.”
But the Shercks insisted that the doctors do all they could to keep their son alive. Two days in the hospital turned into a miraculous three months, and Malachi was finally released to go home, although the removal of so much of his intestine had caused a malabsorption disorder called short bowel syndrome. He was hooked up to a feeding tube in addition to having nutrients supplied to his body every night through an IV.
Unfortunately, the IV treatments were hard on Malachi’s body, and within the course of a year, he was suffering from liver failure. He needed a liver transplant, and because of the short bowel syndrome, he also needed a bowel transplant.
“The hospital in Chicago was the only one in the world at that time that would do a living related bowel transplant,” Chris explained. “We were concerned that Malachi could be waiting on a transplant list for a long time and might not make it. So, we chose to head to Chicago.”
On Feb. 8, 2006, Malachi received part of Rachel’s liver, and on Feb. 10, he received nearly six feet of her small intestine. However, a few days after the bowel transplant, an infection caused the transplanted bowel to die. Because Rachel’s brother, Andrew, also matched Malachi’s blood type, a second bowel transplant from Andrew to Malachi was performed on Feb. 20. Malachi became the first child in the world to have living related organs transplanted from two different people. He spent the next three months in the hospital before he was finally released to go home.
Struggling with the mounting medical bills, the Shercks sought assistance from the Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA), which helps families raise funds to pay for transplants. And because of Chris’ connection with the AU volleyball team as the assistant coach, the girls on the team wanted to help out as well. They sold Anderson University bracelets for two years and took donations at several games. The money they raised went directly to Malachi’s account with COTA.
Although the trials relating to Malachi’s condition were difficult and, at times, overwhelming, the Shercks are grateful for the experience. “Parenting in our eyes wasn’t supposed to be like this,” Chris said. “But as difficult as it has been, looking back, we see reward. We have grown so much as a couple and a family. We’ve met some really neat people from doctors, nurses, and other patient families. We’ve even felt like God has used us in ministry as we have helped, prayed, and talked with other families. … We have seen the Kingdom of God at work at its best as people from our hometowns, from church, from AU, and even around the world have surrounded us with love and support.”
Malachi is now 3 and has even started pre-school. Although he will be on anti-rejection medicine all his life and his immune system is weaker than other kids his age, the transplants have given him a better quality of life, allowing him to be a much healthier, happier little boy.
Additionally, the Shercks just had their second child, Ruth, in October. Though she was born seven weeks early, she is a healthy baby, and the Shercks continue to feel blessed to have their children and the support of their family, friends, and the AU community.
