Stetson Cupola 1981-10-1

Stetson Stetson lAniversity rDe£and, Jlorida ' STETSON/$50,000,000 Campaign Update page 3 Vol. 10 No. 1 (USPS 990-560) June 1981 Lykes, Mathis Named Ministers of the Year The Rev. Philip Earl Lykes of Lakeland and the Rev. Charles H. Mathis of Salt Springs were named "Ministers of the Year" during a luncheon at Stetson in April. President Duncan made the award presentations following introductions of the recipients by Dr. 0. Lafayette Walker, chairman of Stetson's religion department. The Rev. William L. Allen, assistant director of church relations and the Baptist Campus Ministry at the school, presided at the luncheon attended by 135 guests, including Baptist laymen, pastors and their wives, Florida Baptist Convention personnel and Stetson faculty. The Rev. Lykes, named "Urban Minister of the Year,'' is pastor of the Southside Baptist Church in Lakeland where he has served since 1974. He has led his congregation in increasing its membership by 33 percent and increasing its gifts to missions by more than 70 percent. The first Sunday in May the church moved into a $1 million learning center to which the congregation has given more than $750,000 in the last three years. A native of Texas and graduate of Baylor University in Waco, Texas, Lykes received a bachelor's degree from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He was ordained to the ministry by the North Warrenton Baptist Church in Warrenton, N.C, and served as a student pastor in churches in Texas and North Carolina. He was an associate pastor of the First Baptist churches of Vero Beach and Tallahassee and pastor of the First Baptist Church of Lake City before assuming the post at Lakeland's Southside. the Rev. Mathis, named "Rural Minister of the Year,'' is pastor of the First Baptist Church of Salt Springs where he has served since 1974. The congregation, under his leadership, has increased their contributions to missions by nearly 75 percent and church membership is up by more than 18 percent. A native of Georgia, Mathis was ordained as a deacon at the Brushy Creek Baptist Church in Sparks, Ga., in 1961 while he was a farmer. In 1971 he was ordained to the preaching ministry at the same church and enrolled in the Baptist Bible Institute from which he graduated in 1974. Mathis is moderator of the Marion Baptist Association and has served on numerous committees of the association. He • preached at the Simultaneous Revival at Trinity Chapel in Mount Joy, Pa., the first week of May. The ministers of the year were selected on the basis of nominations by Baptist associations and local churches. The awards have been presented annually since 1970. The Rev. Charles H. Mathis The Rev. Philip E. Lykes Hague Honored with McEniry Award 400+Candidates Receive Degrees Stetson University's 98th Commencement May 17th included honors for forty-five students, diplomas for 429 graduates, honorary degrees for three outstanding leaders, recognition of 50-year graduates, commissions into the U.S. Army for two students and the anticipated annual announcement of the McEniry Award recipient. Dr. John A. Hague, Kenan professor of American studies, received that award, which represents Stetson's most prestigious faculty honor. A faculty member since 1955, Hague has been the chairman of the Charles E. Merrill American Studies Program since its inception in 1956. He was named to the Kenan professorship in 1979. The "Excellence in Teaching Award" was established in 1974 in honor of the late William Hugh McEniry, former dean of the university. Hague is the seventh recipient of the honor. Four summa cum laude graduates were among 45 honor graduates who received their degrees this year. Sandra Lynn Anderson of Titusville, Susan Glen George of Cleveland, Ga., Matthew C. Griffin of Orlando and Lewis Maurice Oliver, III of Shalimar graduated with highest honors. Educator and author Gwendolen M. Carter delivered the Commencement address, telling graduating seniors: "This is a complex world and you have inherited it.'' The professor of political science and African studies at Indiana University admitted that, "to some people, the problems may seem overwhelming, but I find them an ever present challenge that is exhiliarating; I hope you will, too." Dr. Carter received an honorary doctor of letters degree during the Commencement ceremonies. Dr. Robert M. McMillan, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dr. John A. Hague Tallahassee, received an honorary doctor of divinity degree. The Scotland native has been a Stetson trustee since 1977 and has been active in mission work in the United States and abroad. He delivered the baccalaureate sermon. Thomas B. Gillespie, gem collector and founder of T.B. Gillespie Paving Co., Inc., was honored with a doctor of law degree. He and his late wife, Nellie, built a collection of minerals that has been termed by experts as "the second largest private general collection in the world." They established the Gillespie Museum of Minerals at Stetson in1958. Two seniors, Ester E. Edelberg of Lake Park and Scott D. Soper of Daytona Beach, received commissions into the United States Army. Edelberg was named the Distinguished Military Graduate by the Department of the Army and was selected for a Regular Army Commission. She received both the George C. Marshall Award and the continued on page 3 ■fatt&OSidii