Cedarville Stories

Military as Missions A young David Carr didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life. He was a standout basketball player for Cedarville High School, and later at the local university.   After graduating from Cedarville University in 1983 and marrying Stephanie Frank three days later, the couple moved to Tacoma, Washington, as David pursued a degree at Northwest Baptist Seminary. He knew that he...

Life is Messy Today's podcast is shared in memory of Coach Ken Erny, who passed away on Sunday, June 4, 2023 after a three-year battle with ALS. Life can be messy, which coach Ken Erny, a 1978 graduate of Cedarville University, knew firsthand.  Ken first learned the messiness of life as a member of the men’s tennis team. He withstood snow, rain, and 70-mile-per-hour winds during a tennis match in...

A Capital Opportunity Sage Showers has faced rejection. When she was seeking an internship in Washington, D.C., she heard a lot of 'Nos'. Undaunted, she kept going until she finally heard a 'Yes.' That one positive response has opened one door and perhaps many more doors yet to come.    Showers is a junior political science major from Hammon, Oklahoma, who spent the fall participating in Cedarvill...

A Heart for Adoption When Phil Graves graduated from Cedarville University in 1994 with a degree in history, he never anticipated that he would end up meeting his wife eight years later while serving at a small church in Knoxville, Maryland.  Phil and Kristie started dating on August 26, 2002, got engaged nine days later, and by April 12, 2003, the two were married.  The Graves have had an interes...

All Things Through Christ It’s all about relationships for Farris Welsh. So much so that when the United States government needed someone to mend a broken relationship between the U.S. and the King of Thailand in the early 2000s, the Department of Defense called on Farris to be part of the DOD’s relationship-mending team. Farris’ career as a contract negotiator with the United States government ca...

God’s Timing Is Perfect Farris Welsh opened her refrigerator door to find she had no milk for her kids. She checked the pantry, and there wasn’t much there, either.  Not knowing how she would feed her family dinner, Farris heard a knock on the door, and when she and her young son opened it to find two bags of groceries, she knew God provided for their needs.  Farris has lived anything but a normal...

Stories for a Purpose Conrad Weaver started out as a premed major at Cedarville. He later switched to psychology, graduating in 1988, he found himself the president of Conjo Studios and an award-winning filmmaker.  How did this psychologist end up making documentaries? It all boils down to a central mission: helping people.  Shortly after pursuing a career in psychology, Conrad found a new skillse...

Life’s Unexpected Challenges Roscoe Smith never wanted to have a career in higher education, but the opportunity to pursue a relationship with his future wife, Rhonda, was too compelling for the New York native. After graduating from then Cedarville College, and knowing Rhonda was a year behind him, Roscoe did everything he could to maintain the relationship. So, he accepted a position in the Univ...

Deep Calls for Life Good health is not something to take for granted. Just ask Dr. Chuck Elliott, Senior Professor of Communication at Cedarville University.  Throughout his life, he’s been a model of good health. That was until he began experiencing severe headaches and uncontrollable high blood pressure while teaching in Hong Kong. Ultimately, the high blood pressure left significant damage to C...

"I Shall Not Die, But Live" Cedarville trustee Hayes Wicker has been a relentless and tireless servant of the Lord as a church pastor and now a seminary professor at Southern Evangelical Seminary in Matthews, North Carolina. Yet his legacy almost came to an earthly close as he battled COVID-19. Hayes was near death. He was almost placed on a ventilator when the Lord used a stern and challenging nu...

Christ Is All He Needs For Paul Dixon, from the beginning of his relationship with God through all the decades of his leadership at Cedarville to his retirement years when he continues to impact the lives of many, Christ is all he needs. Dr. Dixon was first known on the campus of Cedarville College as a frequent speaker in chapel. He was often invited to preach by then-president Dr. James T. Jerem...

To Worship God Jim Cato quickly learned as a young man that his skills were better used off the field than playing football. So he tried Bible college, which didn’t work out either, and he eventually dropped out.  But after getting married, he and his new wife learned about this small school called Cedarville College in Ohio. They packed up their belongings and moved to Ohio, before even applying...

It Runs in the Family Like father, like son. For years, Derek Luke, a police officer in Kearney, Nebraska, valiantly tried to dissuade his son, Braylen, from pursuing a career in law enforcement.  Derek and his wife, Sarah, knew that there were less dangerous careers for their son to pursue, and they knew Braylen also had an interest in engineering. So, why not gently lead him away from law enforc...

Flying Across the World The brotherhood of the United States Air Force is evident when listening to Dr. Daryl Smith and Walt Price interact. Clearly, they share a common bond from their many years of flying together on strategic missions that centered on national security. Their bond is even stronger because of their shared faith in Jesus Christ. Smith, now a professor at Cedarville University, re...

And now, here’s your host! In this undercover April Fools’ Day episode, you’ll get a glimpse into the voice you hear every week. Our very own podcast host, Mark Weinstein, unsuspectedly told his story on the Cedarville Stories Podcast.  Mark, executive director of public relations at Cedarville University, wasn’t always interested in PR. He remembers Saturday afternoons as a child, listening with...

Time 2 Man Up Life didn’t go quite as planned for Shawn Hess. When he graduated from Cedarville in 1990 with a degree in business, he never expected to earn a master’s degree in ministry from a seminary just seven years later. Complicating matters for Shawn was the fact that he was the odd one out at seminary. He was the business guy who hung out with a rougher crowd than his Bible-major seminary...

From Mascot to Manning Up When Shawn Hess reflects on his time as a student at Cedarville, he’s met with two very distinct sets of memories: his early years of defiance and his later years of dedication to the Lord. Back in the late ‘80s, there wasn’t much to do on campus but go to basketball games, which Shawn did frequently — but he wasn’t always dressed like everyone else.  As a senior, Shawn t...

Cookies for Ministry She grew up in the southern shadows of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and if you carefully listen to Morgan Rubosky, you can still hear some of her lifelong Pittsburghese language spill out in a conversation. As an introvert, Morgan always imagined she’d stay close to home for her college education, but when she heard about Cedarville University — located four hours from her Pleasa...

Life on Capitol Hill Not many people find themselves at a U.S. senator’s birthday party or meeting a former vice president, let alone at the young age of 22, but for Moriah Johnson, rubbing shoulders with political figures has become a regular part of life.  After graduating from Cedarville and marrying her college sweetheart, Jake, in December of 2021, Moriah settled into life on Capitol Hill. Ja...

Impactful Service Students probably know Dr. David “Pete” Peterson from the physical education class they took freshman year. Or maybe they’ve seen him in the gym practicing powerlifting upward of 600 pounds.  But what many students do not know is the vast experience he brings to the classroom from his service in the United States Navy. After a distinguished 20-year career in the Navy, Commander P...

Defying All Odds Grit and determination: Characteristics athletes know are essential to get you through a race when your body feels like quitting. But Deborah Chucoski knows these words on an even deeper level.  As she prepares for the 2024 Paralympics in Paris, France, Deborah has spent countless hours training her mind and body for the strength it takes to complete a triathlon — all while battli...

To Know Christ and Make Him Known Drew Flamm never anticipated he would end up as president of Grace College and Seminary in Winona Lake, Indiana, 25 years after serving as student body president at Cedarville. Drew grew up in Iowa before moving to Ohio for high school, and later college at Cedarville.  You probably couldn’t find a more involved student than Drew during his years as a student. He...

Telling Stories for God’s Glory “Once upon a time.” These words open many a story parents have read to their children before the little ones fall asleep at night. We’ve also watched movies and listened to our friends tell the most intriguing stories.  No matter where it was or who told it, everyone loves a good story. The art of storytelling is not mastered by many, but Elizabeth Kollmar seems to...

A 5-Generation Legacy If you visit Cedarville University, you’ll likely see a few people walking around with “2ND Gen” T-shirts. Students wear them as a badge of honor, proudly declaring they come from a Cedarville family. It’s not uncommon for Cedarville grads to send their kids back to their alma mater.  While second- or even third-generation students aren’t unusual on campus, Hannah Dow marks t...

Counting It All Joy  When Courtenay Atwell boarded a plane for South Africa in 1999, she had no idea the trip would change her life forever.  Courtenay was embarking on a monthlong missions trip with Cedarville University students and a fellow staff member. While there, she also realized it was time to forget about that guy back home who would never love her back.  Or so it seemed. After a week of...