Staff News: Sharon Wagoner.

The New York campus is saying goodbye to a familiar face this year. Sharon Wagoner, who has been with the Bible Institute since 1985, is retiring after serving as school’s registrar since July 1997. Before that, she was the assistant dean of women in New York for 12 years.

Sharon was also active in her local church, Mountainside Bible Chapel, where she served as the church clerk and in the ladies missionary fellowship. Sharon is now heading to Sarasota, Florida.

"Sharon was an encourager to me as a co-worker. She enjoyed the academic process and took the administrative load off of me so I could focus on the classroom. She was serious when it came to accuracy in office procedures but personable to staff and students as the job was being accomplished. We will miss her pleasant efficiency and crafty comments!” — Dr. Tom Davis

 “Sharon had the office right across from mine and typically got in very early most mornings. Sometimes I would try to slip by her door and into the office unnoticed, but invariably I would hear a cheery voice say, ‘Good morning.’ It was always a good reminder to me that we were a team at the Bible Institute, and keeping to ourselves was not an option.” — Dr. Marshall Wicks

Home With the Lord: Dr. Sumner Wemp

Dr. Sumner Wemp, a beloved Bible Institute instructor and bold voice for Christ for many years, went home to be with the Lord on December 25, 2012. He was born Clifford Sumner Wemp II on October 26, 1922, in Rochester, New York, and moved to Jacksonville, Florida, soon after.

When he was 17, Dr. Wemp accepted Christ as his Savior and, as he said many times, “He never got over it.” He was called to ministry and embarked on a long scholastic career that included many degrees, with stops at Bryan College, Samford University (then called Howard College), Dallas Theological Seminary, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, California Graduate School of Theology, and Liberty University.

While at Dallas Theological Seminary in 1946, he met Celeste Magee Zimmerman at Scofield Memorial Church. The two were married for 63 years, ministering together until Celeste died in July 2010 at 86.

After pastoring in Florida, Alabama, and Illinois for several years, Dr. Wemp joined the faculty at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago in 1961 as the director of practical Christian work. Nine years later, he moved on to Southeastern Bible College in Birmingham, Alabama, where he was president. In 1973, he helped Jerry Falwell at the newly established Lynchburg Bible College (now Liberty University), serving as vice president of spiritual affairs. He and Celeste were active in mentoring students and developing leaders, and they shared their love for missions around the world.

Dr. Wemp taught personal evangelism at the Bible Institute in 1988, 1990-1992, 1996, and 1998-2002. He wrote several books and many Gospel tracts, the most well-known being his tract Your Ticket to Heaven.

Even in retirement, Dr. Wemp was active in encouraging and mentoring, and the same passion he showed in ministry was evident in his daily life, where he cared for friends and caretakers and regularly shared the Gospel.

Watch a video from September 2012, where Sumner Wemp shows that he not only still had a zest for life and Jesus but was also busy trying to convert whomever would enter his home.

Alumni news.

Here's what a few of your classmates have been up to. Send your news to alumni@wol.org.

1970s

Bruce Compton (’75) has served 30 years with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey.

Melanie Bennett (’78) is a reading specialist serving at community centers in inner-city Lansing, Michigan.

Caroline (Sims) Jones (’76) graduated with a degree in Biblical Counseling from Christian Heritage College, where she met her husband, a Navy captain. They have four daughters, whom she homeschooled from start to finish. One is a senior and another graduated from the Bible Institute last year.

Linda (Klump) Moser (’76) works in the kitchen of a local school. She and her husband are very involved with college-age adults at their church. Her youngest song graduated from the Bible Institute in 2010.

Sylinda (Birchard) Alfred (’78) homeschools her children. Four of the five have graduated. She is a leader in a homeschool support group.

Linda (Ramsey) Wollbrink (’79) is teaching at the Lynchburg General Hospital School of Nursing. She and her husband, Larry, have two sons, Joe (19) and Chris (17).

Margaret Heffner (’79) is a member at Hyland Heights Baptist Church, where she is involved in the choir, the baptism ministry, welcome ministry, and living cross ministry. She works as a hospital service coordinator for Medical Associates of Central Virginia. She has three children (Daniel Pausl, David Heve, and Ella Elizabeth).

1980s

Daryl Swartley (’80) is a church planter and pastor.

Elizabeth Dalenberg (’81) is a teacher at Liberty Christian Academy in Lynchurg, Virginia. She taught Michael Rocco, who is the starting quarterback for the University of Virginia Cavaliers. He nominated Elizabeth to receive the UVA “Heroes in Education” Award, and she received the honor when Virginia hosted Penn State in September.

John Knaus (’81) is a Discipleship in Action leader. He gardens and runs food services for Central Virginia Community College.

Jane (Snyder) Ortendahl (’82) is married and has four children. She attends Grace Point Church in Newton, Pennsylvania, and works as a real estate agent.

David Winch (’82) has been a full-time police officer for 22 years and a  youth pastor for 31 years.

Martha (Perry) Walker (’82) is completing her master’s degree in nursing.

Randy Richardson (’83) is a builder in Michigan and works with the youth ministry at his local church.

Dorinda (Murray) Phillips (’84) is working full-time for Word of Life’s Local Church Ministries while raising her 9-year-old great niece with her husband, Scott (’84). Scott owns and operates Adirondack Log Works in Schroon Lake, New York, and works with the junior high Word of Life Clubs program at Mountainside Bible Chapel. Dori works with the Word of Life Gopher Buddies at Mountainside.

Hope Compton (’84) is working at Bethel Baptist Church in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

Dave Eger (’86, ’88) has been an area missionary with Word of Life since 1988. He and his wife, Anita (Scott) Eger (’86), have two children, Brandon and Emily. Brandon is in second year in New York now after doing first year in Florida.

John Lingelbach (’88) will soon retire from the United States Air Force and would like to teach at a Bible college.

Kimberly Lingelbach (’88) runs a home day care and runs in marathons.

Ruth (Rozelle) Adams (’88) is a nursery coordinator at her church. She is taking care of her husband, three boys, and a small hobby farm. She enjoys scrapbooking.

Tom Boyd (’89) is serving the Lord in prayer group, Bible Studies, and more. He has been married for 22 years and has two children.

Jason Shugar (’89) is arried to Lynn and has two children, Sarah and Jack. He is a classroom teacher, loves horseback riding, and plays guitar on the worship team at church.

1990s

William Rose (’90) is a missionary with World Baptist Fellowship in Spain.

Jonathan Bunyan (’91) is part of the ministry team at Star 88.3, a radio station in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He Encourages everyone to put God first in everything, whether good or bad.

Elizabeth (Whynacht) Guiles (’91) is a stay-at-home mom. She is involved in ministry at her church with her husband and in a local Child Evangelism Fellowship Good News club.

Ted Whitney (’91, ’92) teaches a new believers class at his church. He recently started a new job at Liberty University overseeing online communities.
 
Jodi Rabquer (’92) homeschools her two boys. She says she is getting them ready for the Bible Institute. She volunteers at a local youth center and would love to have a class reunion! 

Melissa (Smith) Gibson (’93) is a missionary to Portugal with the Association of Baptists for World Evangelism.

James Harvey (’93) has been a missionary with Open Air Evangelism with Word of Life for the past seven years.

Christopher Roth (’94) is working at Sunshine Growers Inc. in Lakeland, Florida. His two children attended the Ranch this past summer.

Bonnie (Low) Coello (’95) married Eddie Coello in 2002 and is a first-grade teacher in Amherst County, Virginia.

Tracey Fox (’95) is teaching at Faith Christian Academy in Hurt, Virginia. The Bible Institute came for a school capel, and she would like them to come again.

James Lane (’95) is a senior chaplain in Painesville, Ohio, and is working on a doctorate in Ministry at Baptist Bible Seminary. He has five wonderful children: Susanne (23), James (21), Sarah (18), Rachel (13), and Rebekah (10).

Andrea (Miller) Barnard (’96) has worked at Lake City Bank as an expert float for the past 14 years. She loves to spend time with her family and encourages other alumni to continue holding forth the Word of Life.

Caroline Cahoon (’99, ’00) graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Communications and Theatre from Cornerstone University in 2003. She is working as an art director and adjunct instructor of advertising at the university. She is also involved in theater at the university and in the community.

Katie (Westcomb) De La Cruz (’99, ’00) married Eliud De La Cruz on May 19, 2012. In June 2012, they were accepted as missionaries with Word of Life to Guatemala and Belize.

2000s

Robert DeWitt (’00) is the senior pastor at Dalton Baptist Church in Muskegon, Michigan, where many adults do the Word Life Quiet Time.

Amy Harmer (’00) is working in bone marrow research at Indiana University Health Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Larry Berna (’00, ’01) is a pastor at Merriam Christian Chapel in Albion, Indiana. He is interested in missions. Jeremiah 33:3 is his life verse.

Austin Green (’01, ’02) is a fundraising consultant for Christian schools and church groups.

Teresa (Davis) Green (’01, ’02) is a freelance writer.

Hannah Halsey (’02) is a teacher and caseworker at a school that works with children who have been abused or neglected.

Kendra Jenkins (’04) is the office manager of the Business Intelligence Office at Liberty University. She is heavily involved with a missions organization in Kazakhstan and is involved in her local church’s worship team.

Christopher Bowles (’05) is a youth pastor and an ordained minister. He is pursuing his masters in Global Apologetics at Arlington Baptist College in Texas.

John Turner (’06, ’07) is a youth leader and is pursuing a teaching career.

Beth (Lundin) and Dustan Horst (’08) are Word of Life area missionaries in Southern Ohio. They are having their first child in March. They would love to connect with you and your church to see how they can partner with your ministry.

Jarod Burrer (’08) is the director of public relations at Appalachian Bible College.

Zachariah Canfield (’09) is a senior at Liberty University.

2010s

Kathryn Anderson (’10) misses Word of Life so much that she’s having withdrawals from not being there. She says that Word of Life taught her to grow in her walk with the Lord and made her see things that she had never seen before. Her year made her realize how important it is that she be in God’s Word daily.

Samuel Speck (’10) is studying church planting at Moody Bible Institute.

Eric Feenaughty (’10) is working at Tampa General Hospital in Florida in the Information Technology Department as a technology support associate. He and his wife, Jessie (Strout) (’08, ’09) have recently become members at South Tampa Fellowship and are looking forward to being involved in the ministry there.

Cody Armstrong (’11) is studying athletic training at Liberty University.

Jesse Nester (’11) is styduing aviation at Liberty University.

Richard Barclay (’12) is a small business owner. He still considers his year at the Bible Institute as one of the best of his life.
 
Andrea Sheldon (’12) works at First Baptist Church in Jamestown.