Alumni Profiles
Grubbs named OKCityan of the Year
Book eases transition of moving
Shults named Teacher of the Year
Grubbs named OKCityan of the Year
By Deborah Lilly
The Rev. Marty Grubbs BA ’81 is a little embarrassed about being named the 2007 OKCityan of the Year by the Oklahoma City Friday newspaper. “I appreciated the community taking note, and it was a nice honor,” he admits. “But I’m an introvert by nature.” You may think that’s an unusual trait for the minister of a large congregation, but Grubbs has learned to evolve into his career.
“Once it was clear that God had a plan for me, it was clear that I had to step up to the plate and learn and grow and do my part for the challenges that would come to me as a pastor,” he says.
As a student at AU, Grubbs’ entire life revolved around the hundred square miles between Anderson, Ind., and his hometown of Dayton, Ohio. He majored in sacred music and religious studies and minored in business administration. His dream was the music industry. He even did an internship with the Gaither Music Company. But during Thanksgiving of his senior year, Tedd Simmons BA ’78, MA ’85, MDiv ’88, Grubbs’ former youth pastor at Salem Church of God, invited Grubbs to visit a church in Oklahoma City.
“On the drive out, I wondered why I was doing this,” remembers Grubbs. “But I got there and within five days, I fell in love with it. I felt so powerfully drawn to this little church in Oklahoma City.”
Back then approximately 150 people attended the Crossings Community Church. Grubbs began as an associate pastor with specific responsibilities for youth and music ministries. He enjoyed the role of associate pastor, and after he had gotten his feet wet, he accepted a job as associate pastor at a larger church. But members from Crossings Community Church asked him to consider being their senior pastor instead.
“I had a list of very logical reasons why that was a bad idea,” says Grubbs, “but it became obvious a month or so later that this was clearly what I was suppose to do.”
The community started responding to that little church. “Before we knew it, we had done something that had never been done in the history of this church. We had more than 200 people coming to church every Sunday, and we were just stunned,” says Grubbs.
In the meantime, Grubbs was still learning the ropes as senior pastor. One of his keywords during that time was “discernment.” He says he had to discern who he was and what his abilities were. “I had to understand myself well so I was clear about what I could do and could not do so I wouldn’t play pretend.” He had to discern who the people in his congregation were. And he had to discern who the people were in his church’s community.
With a full sanctuary, Crossings Community Church built a new 450-seat sanctuary in 1988. Grubbs walked into that new sanctuary and believed that would be all the church would ever need to meet future demands. But Crossings had adopted a new philosophy that brought in even more people.
“Out here in the Bible belt, people were afraid to visit a church for fear you would be on their doorstep that afternoon,” explains Grubbs. “We promised visitors right up front that we would not call or visit them unless they wanted us to. And the more we ignored them, the more they liked it. It was fascinating. It freed people up to come visit and try us.” But there was something else that drew those new faces in week after week. “We had great music, and I tried to preach sermons that were biblically based but yet relevant to life,” says Grubbs.
The sanctuary of 450 filled up four times. The church began looking for land to build again. “And at each phase, I had to learn how to lead an organization that was growing,” says Grubbs. “I had to learn how to hire good people, how to delegate responsibilities, and how to manage and motivate a staff.” Here is where his business minor came into play. “What little time I spent studying management and business at AU probably has served to help me more than I ever dreamed it would.”
Today, 4,500 people attend Crossings Community Church on Sunday mornings. There are 100 employees on staff, 60 on the ministry staff. The church campus includes a Christian school with 400 students. The church has also leased an old Wal-Mart building for medical and dental clinics and a counseling center.
“We’re widely known in this city for our compassion ministries,” says Grubbs. The church has adopted 10 inner-city schools. Members of the congregation make sure rooms in the schools are freshly painted, they purchase supplies for 300 teachers, and they purchase uniforms for 5,000 kids.
“When we go into the community to do this, we don’t want any press,” says Grubbs. “We want the people in those communities to know that we are there because we care and not because we want a soundbyte. We’re also not there to do one good deed and then disappear. We’ve stayed engaged with them for three years now.”
What is most important to Grubbs is that the church never becomes about him. “I have a pet peeve in that so many large churches are so entwined with the personality of their pastor,” says Grubbs. “I want this church to be vibrant with or without me.” According to Grubbs, the true test of whether or not he has been a good pastor will be if the church continues to thrive in that first year after he is no longer there.
But Grubbs has no plans to leave anytime soon. “The spirit of the people here that captured my heart in 1981 is still the predominant spirit of the church,” he says. “Twenty-five years later, it is obvious that God had something more in mind for my life than I did.”
Burgan's book eases the transition of moving
By Heather Lowhorn
Lori Collins Burgan BA ’82 knows a thing or two about moving with kids. Because of her husband’s career demands, the mother of three moved her family five times in seven years. She recently published a book about what they learned titled Moving with Kids — 25 Ways to Ease Your Family’s Transition to a New Home.
A social worker who owns LCB Management Consulting, Inc., a business that helps not-for-profit companies with management issues, Burgan did not intend to be an author. A friend provided the idea after reading Burgan’s family Christmas letter. The friend remarked about her writing ability. “She said, ‘Lori, you’re such a good writer, you really should write a book — even if it’s just about moving,’” says Burgan. “We just kind of laughed about it.” But the idea stuck with her. During her family’s moves, she had looked for books to help her guide her children through the struggles of leaving friends and communities, but the only book she found was an academic book that was difficult to read and short on practical advice. “Somehow, the more I thought about it, the more I thought I probably could write a book,” she says. “I could combine my experience personally as a mother of three kids who has done this so many times with my social work knowledge.”
The result was Moving with Kids published by The Harvard Common Press. A well-written and easy-to-read book filled with helpful, common-sense advice, Moving with Kids can help parents minimize the stress of moving for their children and help them fit into their new surroundings more quickly. In the book, Burgan shares what her family learned through their many moves. She also shares the stories of families in other situations, such as the many moves experienced by military families and the added stress of moving under difficult and sometimes unexpected situations such as divorce. Included are chapters about how to tell your children about the move, researching the area you are moving to, allowing the family to mourn what they are losing in a move, school transitions, making new friends, short-term moves and temporary housing, keeping a positive attitude, and keeping old friendships alive.
In talking with other families about moving, Burgan did come across stories of well-intentioned parents who made the move even more difficult for their children. She said one family told their child they were going on a vacation to a new city, but when they arrived they informed the child of the truth — that they had moved and this was their new home. Burgan says they were trying to save the child the trauma of saying goodbye, but they probably created long-term trust issues for the child. Burgan believes all members of the family must grieve the loss of the home and community where they belong. “People are so afraid of their feelings of grief, they kind of want to shove them aside and not deal with them. … It’s OK to feel that way. It’s normal to feel that way.” She believes allowing children to work through their grief helps them be ready to start over in a new place much sooner. It also helps the adults in the same way.
“I wanted to share my insights, and I wanted to help families,” says Burgan. Now, as she receives letters and e-mails from the families who are being helped by her book, she knows that goal is being achieved. “That is just so satisfying,” says Burgan.
Shults Named Indiana Teacher of the Year
By Cara Miller
When Anna Shults BA ’96 was a child, one of her favorite games was to play “teacher.” Her empty basement would magically transform into a classroom filled with bright young students as she’d go over the day’s lesson and answer questions. Wanting to be like her own teachers, whom she adored so much, she’d imitate them and dream of one day becoming like them. Now in her 10th year as a third-grade teacher at Fall Creek Elementary School in Fishers, Ind., Shults was recently named the 2007 Indiana Teacher of the Year by a committee within the Indiana Department of Education.
Out of 47 nominees and 10 finalists, she was selected, receiving $1,000 from the Indiana Farm Bureau and a variety of opportunities to share her educational strengths and grow professionally. In particular, she has been offered several scholarships as well as the option of working for one year with the Indiana Department of Education as a teacher in residence, working on statewide initiatives.
Finally, Shults had the honor of representing Indiana at the National Teacher of the Year competition in Washington, D.C., last spring.
Despite her newfound fame and recognition, Shults remains focused on what she really cares about, which is “uplifting and helping to shape today’s children so that they can become lifelong learners.
“I do think my passion for teaching and dedication to Indiana youth are evident as I continually strive to better myself for the benefit of those I’m privileged to call my students,” she continues. “I continue to be humbled by this honor and am in awe of its implications.”
“I fully credit them all [professors] for bringing my lifelong dream to fruition and am forever grateful for their guidance, support, and the wealth of knowledge they poured into each class I took,” she says.
However, the greatest impact that AU had on Shults was helping her explore and develop her faith, something she uses every day as a teacher.
“I don’t profess to have all the answers, nor can I carry the weight placed upon teachers today on my own,” she says. “I begin each day with a prayer asking for strength to get through the day, for a caring spirit, for wisdom to know how to reach every student, for the guidance needed to handle difficult situations, and just for the ability to put a smile on a child’s face.”
