Jan. 11, 2007

Two Presbyterian College alumnae have returned to their alma mater to take positions in the college's Chaplain's Office.

Lucy Strong, who earned a degree in history in 2004, has been named the coordinator of Student Volunteer Services. Helen Fout, who graduated in 2005 with a degree in religion, has been named the coordinator for campus ministry.

The Rev. David Lindsay, the college's Cassell Chair of Chaplaincy, said he is excited both for his new colleagues and a college experiencing growth in ministry.

"For the past four years as chaplain, I've anticipated this day – a time when we'd have more fulltime pastoral staff to help meet the many needs of a dynamic and growing campus ministry," he said.

A native of Memphis, Tenn., Strong served as the senior SVS intern for the 2003-04 academic year and is more than happy to return to her alma mater and apply that experience full-time.

"After I graduated, I kind of realized this is what I'm supposed to be doing, but I took a few years off to figure that out," she said. "I realized after a couple of years that this is what I'm supposed to be doing, so when this job became available, I talked to David about it and we're both excited for it to happen."

Lindsay said Strong definitely will help PC fulfill its promise of providing servant leaders in the community.

"As coordinator for Student Volunteer Services, Lucy Strong will be an amazing addition to our Chaplain's Office team," he said. "She brings valued experiences from her earlier tenure as our senior intern with SVS and from her more recent mentoring and leadership position as a family teacher at Thornwell Home and School for Children.

"Lucy feels passionately called into realms of servant leadership and social justice. Personally, I think that she will help all of us enlarge our understandings about how and what ministry can look like as we live and serve throughout all our days."

In addition to working with the current SVS senior intern, Strong said she will concentrate on communicating with organizations and community groups off campus as a liaison between them and student volunteers. In many ways, she said, her new duties are similar to her experiences as a senior intern – minus, of course, the classroom responsibilities.

Fout, also, said it is interesting to return to campus in a fulltime ministerial role.

"My wish came true," she said. "I never pictured it happening but it did – an answered prayer."

Fout, a native of Myrtle Beach, S.C., said the timing, also, is perfect.

"Since I've been gone, there have been two years worth of new faces, so I'm extremely excited about those new beginnings," she said. "But there are also the familiar faces of students who, as I graduated, were just coming in. It's very comforting."

Fout will work with PC's Bluefish and PC1 groups, as well as help plan campus worship and the annual Winter Conference.

"As coordinator for campus ministries, Helen Fout will bring a vibrant spirit and an array of life experiences – travel, teaching, surfing, singing – to diverse and ongoing opportunities for supporting campus ministry and religious life in their many forms, as well as the specific programs and opportunities emerging out of the Chaplain's Office," said Lindsay. "Helen and I will work closely together as a pastoral team seeking to guide and encourage all members of our community in their spiritual journeys through pastoral care and fellowship."

Lindsay said he welcomes both women wholeheartedly.

"From my experiences of working alongside Helen and Lucy while they were students, I know that they both will immediately provide an expanded, inclusive, and energizing ministry of presence and action," he said. "They are already terrific friends of mine and of many folks in the PC family. I look forward to having them as treasured colleagues and beloved teammates in the Chaplain's Office and throughout the community."