Bryan College recorded another record enrollment as the 2008-09 academic year began in August, and President Dr. Stephen D. Livesay is predicting a “historic” year.

While “history” includes the numbers—1,079 students—Dr. Livesay said he expects God to do great things this year. “We are beginning our 79^th year in a most difficult, challenging time,” he said. “But those are times when God does great things.”

High on his list of priorities for the year are faculty consideration of another Master’s degree in addition to the MBA program and expansion of the distance learning program.

Convocation, the formal assembly opening the academic year, featured an address by Dr. D. Michael Lindsay, author of the 2007 book Faith in the Halls of Power: How Evangelicals Joined the American Elite. He challenged students to consider how to use power: “Worldly power is a complicated thing. Is it something followers of Christ should seek or shun? If you have power—and all of us, by the world’s standards, have power—use it for good.”

Dr. James Arthur Neathery, stateside director of the Center for Christian Leadership in Albania and adjunct professor in World Missions and Intercultural Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, encouraged students in the Spiritual Life Conference to celebrate the power and beauty of the Gospel as it is demonstrated around the world.

From “My Big Fat Greek Luncheon” to the alumni awards dinner, from a golf tournament to alumni athletic contests, from classmates meeting classmates to music by the alumni choir, Bryan College is gearing up for Homecoming 2008.

Alumni Director David Tromanhauser said that while the weekend of Oct. 3 to 5, will be filled with activities there will be plenty of time for alumni to reconnect with friends and catch a fresh vision of life on Bryan Hill.

Events begin Friday with the alumni golf tournament at the Dayton Golf and Country Club and an alumni author book signing in the Latimer Student Center on campus. Class reunion dinners, sundaes at the ball park, and alumni soccer and basketball games will cap the action.

A special presentation of the play “Our Town” by the Hilltop Players and the alumni baseball game will kick off festivities Saturday morning.

Long-time Greek professor Dr. John Anderson will be honored at “My Big Fat Greek Luncheon” at noon. Dr. Anderson reminded his former students that “I will have the last word.”

Saturday night’s awards dinner will include recognition of the Alumni of the Year, Honorary Alumni, and inductions into the Athletics Hall of Fame. The alumni choir will provide special music.

Dr. Debbie Bowles Newman, ’83, will speak during the Alumni Chapel service on Sunday before homecoming ends.

For more information, visit the homecoming section of the Bryan web site.

A new topic and a new format will introduce the Bryan Center for Critical Thought and Practice seminars Sept. 25-27.

Three speakers will address the topic “The Church: What’s the Point?” in plenary sessions Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and three other speakers will lead break-out sessions Saturday.

Dr. Drew Randle, program chairman, said the new format is designed to give speakers and their audiences opportunities for better interaction in groups smaller than the general sessions. It also will allow additional perspectives on this crucial topic.

Dr. Randle said speakers will address questions such as “What is the state of the church of today? Why be involved in a local body of believers? How does the church recover a generation of dropouts from the local body?” The point, he added, is that “We must, as evangelicals, recover a sense of the vital mission and relevance of the Body of Christ.”

Speakers include:

Dr. Chip Henderson, senior pastor at Pinelake Church in Ridgeland, Miss.

Dr. W. Gary Phillips, pastor of Signal Mountain Bible Church and former professor at Bryan College.

Rev. Scotty Smith, pastor for preaching, teaching and worship at Christ Community Church in Franklin, Tenn.

Dr. Paul Boling, professor of Christian Thought and Philosophy and chairman of the Christian Studies division at Bryan.

Rev. David Delmotte, pastor of Birchwood Baptist Church, Birchwood, Tenn.

Dr. Doug Russell, senior pastor of Grace Bible Church in Dayton, Tenn.

“Our Town,” Thornton Wilder’s classic play about small-town Americana at the turn of the 20^th century, will come to life on the Rudd Auditorium stage Oct. 2-4, including a special show for alumni during homecoming.

Mr. Bernie Belisle, director of the theatre program, said “Our Town” has been one of his favorites since he first saw it in college. “I appreciate the message and the meaning of the play, and how it impacted my life,” he said. “It taught me to appreciate the little things, to see great significance in the little things in life.”

The lack of a set and props—a deliberate move on the playwright’s part—and the use of lighting and pantomime by the actors “forces us to notice that a set is not there, and in noticing that, forces us to realize that relationships, not things, are what is important,” he said.

There is a cast of some 20 players “with a nice mix of returning actors as well as some new blood.” Cameron Lane a junior from Dayton, Tenn., will play the Stage Manager; Emily White, a senior from Metamora, Mich., will play Emily; and Ethan Hargraves, a sophomore from Harrison, Tenn., will play Constable Warren.

“Our Town” will be presented four times, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and at 9:30 a.m. Saturday in a special performance particularly for alumni during Homecoming. Call the Hilltop Players’ box office at 775-7500 for tickets.