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Lowell Walters

walters_lowell.jpgThe CCO, says Lowell Walters, “helped me to put my faith on feet.”  Lowell participated in the CCO’s ministry at Clarion University during his year of graduate study in Library Science.  He says that he entered Clarion with pretty good head knowledge of the Christian faith; however, he believes his undergraduate experience had been a fairly sheltered environment.  Although as a student he had studied cultural issues, he had never been required to confront or debate them.  Lowell believes that the CCO is very supportive in encouraging Christian kids to grow in their faith and in equipping them to confront secular culture.  Lowell’s experience at Clarion gave him the opportunity to become more accepting of other people’s views of issues.  As a result, he became more appreciative of fellow Christians having views differing from his own.  He says that he learned to deal with what really matters and to view brothers and sisters in Christ as brothers and sisters.

Lowell describes his introduction to the CCO’s ministry at Clarion as being an answer to prayer.  He remembers being mildly depressed due to a relationship which had just ended.  When he arrived on campus, he prayed at his first meal in the cafeteria that God would provide fellowship opportunities for him.  Looking up from his prayer, Lowell saw a table tent advertising Koinonia—the CCO’s fellowship group at Clarion.

Through staff member Jay Flagg, Lowell became active in weekly Bible study, got to know other Christians on campus, and participated in a choral and drama group comprised of Koinonia participants.  Lowell also participated in a memorable spring break mission trip in 1992.  Jay took Lowell and a van load of students to Chicago to gut an old apartment building as a Habitat for Humanity project.  Lowell says that despite having a real bad case of the flu, he worked anyhow.  Lowell says that it was uncharacteristic for him to participate in a service project up until that point in his life and, without the CCO’s influence; he might never have done something like that.

Lowell serves as Associate Dean at the Guillermin Integrated Learning Resource Center at Liberty University in Virginia.  He lives in Lynchburg, Virginia with his wife, Beth, and their three children.  Lowell is active at Heritage Baptist Church in Lynchburg and as a member of The Association of Christian Librarians uses his expertise in library science to index the content of Discipleship Journal and Answers for Christian Periodical Index on a volunteer basis.

Lowell appreciates the opportunities he has to influence college students in a distinctly Christian environment at Liberty.  At the same time, his CCO experience has made him grateful for the presence of that ministry on secular campuses.  Due to his Clarion experience, he says he is aware that many Christian kids stay true to the faith “right there on the battlefield.”  He is thankful for the CCO’s presence in the secular arena, encouraging students to go out and confront culture.

The CCO’s ministry at Clarion became a church community for Lowell Walters within a secular environment.  Having come from an environment of structure and rules, including mandatory chapel attendance, Lowell realized that for the first time in twenty-two years he was out on is own.  He had to confront the question, “Am I going to stick with this or not?”  Lowell says, “Friends at CCO helped me transform from habitual behavior to real-life practice.”