Trip to Holy Land Will Highlight Pursuit of Peace

CHICAGO, IL (November 20, 2013) – Covenant ministers Wayne Smith and Andy Larsen will lead a tour of Israel and Palestine as part of a trip that will include participating in the Christ at the Checkpoint conference, which focuses on pursuing peace and reconciliation.

The conference will be held at Bethlehem Bible College March 10-14. For more on the conference, click here.

The tour will run March 14-25 with an emphasis on spiritual pilgrimage and on ways to advance peace and justice in the region. For more information on the trip, click here.

For other information, contact Smith, who currently is the regional coordinator of Churches for Middle East Peace, by calling (503) 244-7462.

For a previous Covenant News Service story on Smith’s visit to the region and view of the conflict, click here.

Larsen is a consultant in Christian-Muslim relations & Palestine at Peace Catalyst International.

 

NPU Restarting Women’s Tennis Program

CHICAGO, IL (November 20, 2013) – North Park University will restart its women’s tennis program in the fall of 2014, the school announced. It had been discontinued in the 1990s.

Karl Clifton-Soderstrom, associate professor of philosophy at North Park, will coach the team. He previously coached North Park’s women’s tennis team in the mid-1990s when he was a graduate student at the university.

The idea of fielding a tennis team developed during a discussion between Clifton-Soderstrom, Athletics Director Jack Surridge, and Vice President of Enrollment and Marketing Nathan Mouttet.

“It was casually mentioned to me that North Park was looking to start women’s tennis again,” Clifton-Soderstrom said. “I expressed immediate support for the program and said that I’d be interested in being involved however I could. At the end of that summer, Dr. Surridge presented me with a sketch of the program and the opportunity to coach.”

The Vikings tennis team will compete and host meets at Northeastern Illinois University’s facilities, not far from North Park’s campus. Alterations will also be made to the Helwig Recreation Center to accommodate indoor practice during the off-season and colder months.