OCF Sponsors New Preacher

This week, students soaking up the sun in Wilder Bowl and Tappan Square have heard a voice ringing out, and surprisingly, the voice does not belong to Oberlin's ubiquitous Christian crusader Brother Jed.

The Oberlin Christian Fellowship sponsored a brief visit by open-air evangelist Cliff Kinechtle this week, hoping to transmit a positive Christian message throughout the campus and to increase the visibility of their organization. Kinechtle is a member of the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, an organization that helps to send evangelists to colleges nationwide. This year's visit marks his second in the past seven years.

"The purpose is for him to answer students' questions about God and Christ," said (YR???) Ayo Soribe, OCF's President. "He's very talented at it."

While many students have become desensitized to Brother Jed's vitriolic Tappan Square preaching, Kinechtle seemed to succeed at maintaining a calm and educational atmosphere. While he did much of his preaching early in the week in Tappan Square, Wednesday afternoon found him in Wilder Bowl, patiently answering questioning from a circle of about 20 students.

Soribe said she thought Kinechtle's message was both more powerful and more digestible due to his serenity and patience. "He's very non-threatening; he's not trying to push religion on anyone," she said.

Moreover, Soribe admitted her personal distaste for Brother Jed's confrontational style of transmitting a strictly conservative Christian message. "He's very forceful and I don't prefer his type of preaching," she said. "It makes a stereotype of Christians as being very conservative and judgemental."

Kinechtle avoided the damning criticism common to Brother Jed's preaching style, assuming a more positive approach. When one student asked, "If Christ is truth, then why are there so many denominations?" Kinechtle explained the phenomenon of widespread church corruption, which causes many Christians to branch off to lesser-known denominations. "I'm grateful for that," he continued.

Kinechtle, who was only on campus from Monday to Thursday, seemed to have a strong working knowledge of Oberlin's history. Referring to the College's first president, Charles Grandison Finney, and gesturing toward Finney Chapel he said, "Finney had a faith in Christ that was very genuine and he stood against racism."

The primary topic Kinechtle consistently returned to in his Wednesday discussion was the need for Christians to take an active role within their religion. "Those involved with a dead ritual called Catholicism and Protestantism aren't going to heaven," he said.

Also, he stressed the importance of tolerance and understanding among those belonging to different religions.

Kinechtle's visit marks the beginning of OCF's effort to upgrade the visibility of their organization on campus. They hope to soon conduct "dorm raps," where OCF staff workers and a pastor have informal conversations in a relaxed setting with interested students.

Orators attempting to spread a religious message are not often seen on campus, as they require sponsorship from a College-related organization. "You have to be invited and be sponsored," said Assistant Director to the Student Union Tina Zwegat. "That's why Brother Jed has to stay by the arch [in Tappan Square]. He has no invitation."

Although Kinechtle may have been instantly vilified on campus due to the poor reputation Brother Jed suffers with many liberal-minded students, Soribe said students reacted favorably. "I think some people might have thought he was Brother Jed and started acting obnoxious." However, when Soribe approached the students to inform them of the real identity of the evangelist, the formerly mischevous students joined the circle of students surrounding Kinechtle.

"Students asked him a wide range of questions and he's very articulate," Soribe said. "He's not one of those damning preachers."