Oct. 31, 2012
For Immediate Release

By Tanner Royalty, student news writer

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. - The next trip for the Campbellsville University School of Theology is March 4-13, 2014 to Israel and Jordan.The trip will take place over the CU spring break and will involve students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends of Campbellsville University.

Dr. Scott Wigginton, associate professor of pastoral ministries and counseling at Campbellsville University, said, “Two of the most special things about CU are the opportunities to get to know students from many nations who come here, as well as the opportunities and encouragement for our students to go to those nations. We do that through mission trips and through semester-long and short-term study abroad experiences.”

The CU Theology Department hosted a trip in May 2012 to Greece and Turkey to provide just that.

Wigginton said, “This will be our third School of Theology trip; on the first two,it was our privilege to expose almost 50 people to Israel, Turkey and Greece.This trip will not only include many of the special places where we traveled in Israel in 2012; we will also see Ammon, Jordan and go to Petra, that ancient legendarycity hewn out of stone.Travelers in Israel will float in the Dead Sea, experience the caves at Qumran, climb Masada, hike at En Gedi and walk the ancient streets of Jerusalem.”

He said participants will take a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee and have the chance to go to the Garden Tomb.
Wigginton said the trip is an opportunity for persons to walk in the very places that Jesus walked and to learn to see the Scripture from a very different perspective, the geography of revelation.

Wigginton said, “Being in the lands where God revealed Himself through Christ and the miracles of the Old and New Testaments is a marvelous chance to learn and grow spiritually. For students, it is also fun to be with their own faculty and staff as they learn and build relationships.”

He said he also encourages his students, if at all possible, to consider having an international travel experience sometime during their college years.

“Seeing a different part of the world, experiencing the culture and the people, and sharing this with friends is just life altering!” he said.

The last School of Theology trip took place May 12-15, 2012. The trip was a 14-day tour of Greece and Turkey, and 18 people along with four college professors took part in the trip. The four Campbellsville University School of Theology professors were: Wigginton, Dr. John Hurtgen, dean of the School of Theology; Dr. Ted Taylor, professor of Christian studies, director of Leadership, Character, Development Institute and lead professor of the sports ministry program; and Dr. Shane Garrison, assistant professor of educational ministries.

Wigginton said, “This was the second major trip for our Campbellsville University School of Theology. Traveling to Israel in 2010 and now to Greece and Turkey in 2012 has been a rich experience on several levels. Someone once said that God made people because he loves stories. We don't just tell stories; we are stories.”

On the Greece and Turkey trip, the group enjoyed professional guides from both Greece and Turkey to enhance their overseas learning experience. They also were able to hear devotionals from professors on various sites. Hurtgen spoke to the group as they sat in the 24,000-seat amphitheater at Ephesus while Taylor read God's Word from the Temple of Zeus in Pergamum.

Wigginton talked about the importance of building “stairways to heaven” and how that could influence the highest levels of society after climbing the dusty stone steps that Paul would have climbed to the top of Mars Hill.

Garrison said, “The passage in the Bible that most came alive for me was definitely Acts 19 — Paul's ups and downs in Ephesus — walking the ancient streets of that Roman city, seeing the 1st century Christian markings on the stones, knowing the Apostle Paul was not only here in person, but he was embattled in this city for preaching the Gospel to the people.The entire experience encouraged me to be bolder in my proclamation of the Good News of Jesus even when it is unpopular and counter-cultural.”

For any Campbellsville University students who are interested in going on the upcoming trip, academic credit is made possible as well by taking a course that meets the same semester as the trip. Registration for this trip will begin in spring 2013.Students may make a deposit at that time and secure a place in the group.

Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 3,600 students offering 63 undergraduate options, 17 master's degrees, five postgraduate areas and eight pre-professional programs. The website for complete information is campbellsville.edu.