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James Whitacre

whitacre_james.jpg “Scott was one of the most gifted teachers I’ve ever met,” says James Whitacre. “He drew you in and could feel your desire to learn. I wanted to learn everything he could teach me.”

A simple desire to find a spring backpacking trip served as the catalyst for connecting James Whitacre with the ministry of the CCO. While a student at Ohio Wesleyan University, James asked a friend from one of his classes if he knew of any backpacking opportunities. That friend suggested he contact Ohio Wesleyan’s Assistant Chaplain, Scott Gabriel, a CCO staff member. The two began meeting on a regular basis, and Scott asked James to be a leader on the backpacking trip.

Although James had grown up in the church, he says that he didn’t really take his faith seriously during his first year and a half at college. Soon after meeting Scott, James remembers wanting to follow his lead, describing Scott as “one of the most gifted teachers I’ve ever met. He drew you in and could feel your desire to learn. I wanted to learn everything he could teach me.”

Initially, James was interested in learning more about backpacking and other outdoor skills, but Scott eventually began to teach him more about Jesus, faith in general and how to live that out.

Without the CCO’s ministry, James thinks his faith probably would have remained superficial, not the kind of depth he believes Christ calls us to. He remembers looking at friends in high school and thinking that there had to be something bigger and better in life. When he met Scott and got to know him, Scott affirmed that Christ is the something bigger. James considers Scott’s ministry with the CCO as the means Christ used to draw him to Himself.

James currently serves as a CCO staff member at Geneva College in the position of Challenge Course Coordinator. Through his work, James invites students into the process of discipleship, calling them to a deeper level of knowing Christ.

James considers his years working with the CCO as truly transformative, reflected, he hopes, in the way he lives. Newly engaged, James says that what he has learned from the CCO has a huge impact on how he and his fiancée relate to and serve one another. “I’m continually being transformed in my personal life, in working with students, and in whatever I’m doing.”