{"id":7173,"date":"2006-09-25T22:43:48","date_gmt":"2006-09-26T03:43:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=7173"},"modified":"2011-07-06T08:34:48","modified_gmt":"2011-07-06T13:34:48","slug":"5159","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2006\/09\/25\/5159\/","title":{"rendered":"Holmgren, Thomas Honored During Homecoming"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>CHICAGO, IL (September 25, 2006) &#8211; Michele Thomas was just a freshman when she organized and directed the Gospel Choir at North Park University in the 1990s. The choir, which began with 12 members, has gone on to be one of the most popular organizations on campus and has attracted hundreds of students to its ranks over the years.<!--more--><br \/>\n<a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/74\/2011\/06\/14.jpg\" rel=\"prettyPhoto[7173]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-7174\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/74\/2011\/06\/14-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/74\/2011\/06\/14-300x200.jpg 300w, http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/74\/2011\/06\/14.jpg 439w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nThomas, meanwhile, is in the middle of recording her second album and making a name for herself in jazz circles. To learn more about her and her music, please see <a href=\"http:\/\/www.michelethomas.net\" target=\"_blank\">Michele Thomas<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Kathy Holmgren brought attention to missionary work in the Democratic Republic of Congo earlier this year when she elected to continue a planned trip even though it meant she could not watch her husband, Mike, coach the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl. She traveled with her daughter, Calla, who also was the fourth generation of Kathy\u2019s family to attend North Park.<\/p>\n<p>Together, the two women honored Saturday night during the school\u2019s homecoming banquet represent past accomplishments as well as opportunities that lie ahead for the university as it seeks to build on the tradition of families promoting the school\u2019s education.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas, who graduated in 1997, was given the Up &amp; Coming Young Alumna Award. Holmgren was honored with the Distinguished Alumna Award.<\/p>\n<p>In his address to the gathering, President David Parkyn stated that during his many years of working in higher education, \u201cI have never seen anything like the legacy tradition at this place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/74\/2011\/06\/25.jpg\" rel=\"prettyPhoto[7173]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7175\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/74\/2011\/06\/25-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/74\/2011\/06\/25-300x200.jpg 300w, http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/74\/2011\/06\/25.jpg 439w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>The tradition was formed through families like the Holmgrens, families rooted in the denomination\u2019s history whose members once comprised a majority of the student body. Today, roughly 70 percent of the student population is made up of students like Thomas who have no previous connection to the Covenant, Parkyn observed.<\/p>\n<p>Incorporating students like Thomas into the legacy tradition will be important, Parkyn suggests. \u201cCan we have a legacy tradition and not alienate those not from the Covenant?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n<p>Parkyn, himself coming from outside the Covenant, said he had been excited to take the presidency, but has continued to be pleasantly surprised with the university. Those surprises include the transitions being pushed by diversity.<\/p>\n<p>Such transitions are not new for the school, however. In researching the school\u2019s history, Parkyn learned that one of the biggest challenges to the university in its early years was whether it should teach any of its classes in English as well as Swedish.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/74\/2011\/06\/35.jpg\" rel=\"prettyPhoto[7173]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-7176\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/74\/2011\/06\/35-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/74\/2011\/06\/35-300x200.jpg 300w, http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/74\/2011\/06\/35.jpg 439w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Noting that North Park is located in the 60625 zip code area, which is one of the most ethnically mixed in the United States, Parkyn raised the possibility that the school might one day have to teach some classes in languages other than English. He has begun writing an occasional newsletter for employees, but has had it translated into Spanish, Polish and Greek for workers who cannot read English.<\/p>\n<p>Parkyn also mused that another major point of discussion for the school had once been whether to build a gymnasium. Giving his address in Hamming Hall, the building that resulted from those debates, the president pointed out that the school recently celebrated the opening of the Helwig Recreation Center &#8211; just seven days earlier.<\/p>\n<p>In their remarks to the banquet attendees, Thomas and Holmgren expressed gratitude for their years at North Park.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the icing on the cake for me in terms of what I\u2019ve gained from being part of such a wonderful organization like the Gospel Choir here,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cIt was a family and an outlet for me to express my love for God and my culture.\u201d She was introduced by Rollo Dillworth, the choir\u2019s current director.<\/p>\n<p>Holmgren was lauded for her many contributions, but she told the gathering, \u201cGod is good. We have a wonderful opportunity to give back what he already has given us.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n<div><em>Editor&#8217;s note: The upper photo shows Thomas addressing the audience, while Holmgren (center photo shares conversation at one of the dinner tables. The lower photo depicts other homecoming activities.<\/em><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>Copyright \u00a9 2011 The Evangelical Covenant Church.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-report-this\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire?moderation_action=report_form&#038;object_type=post&#038;object_id=7173&#038;width=250&#038;height=300\" class=\"thickbox\" title=\"Report This Post\">Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CHICAGO, IL (September 25, 2006) &#8211; Michele Thomas was just a freshman when she organized and directed the Gospel Choir at North Park University in the 1990s. The choir, which began with 12 members, has gone on to be one of the most popular organizations on campus and has attracted hundreds of students to its [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Holmgren, Thomas Honored During Homecoming - Covenant Newswire Archives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2006\/09\/25\/5159\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Holmgren, Thomas Honored During Homecoming - Covenant Newswire Archives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"CHICAGO, IL (September 25, 2006) &#8211; Michele Thomas was just a freshman when she organized and directed the Gospel Choir at North Park University in the 1990s. The choir, which began with 12 members, has gone on to be one of the most popular organizations on campus and has attracted hundreds of students to its [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2006\/09\/25\/5159\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Covenant Newswire Archives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2006-09-26T03:43:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-07-06T13:34:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/74\/2011\/06\/14-300x200.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2006\\\/09\\\/25\\\/5159\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2006\\\/09\\\/25\\\/5159\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8\"},\"headline\":\"Holmgren, Thomas Honored During Homecoming\",\"datePublished\":\"2006-09-26T03:43:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-07-06T13:34:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2006\\\/09\\\/25\\\/5159\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":673,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2006\\\/09\\\/25\\\/5159\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2006\\\/09\\\/25\\\/5159\\\/\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2006\\\/09\\\/25\\\/5159\\\/\",\"name\":\"Holmgren, Thomas Honored During Homecoming - Covenant Newswire Archives\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2006-09-26T03:43:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-07-06T13:34:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2006\\\/09\\\/25\\\/5159\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2006\\\/09\\\/25\\\/5159\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2006\\\/09\\\/25\\\/5159\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Holmgren, Thomas Honored During Homecoming\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/\",\"name\":\"Covenant Newswire Archives\",\"description\":\"Evangelical Covenant Church\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/author\\\/covwebster\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Holmgren, Thomas Honored During Homecoming - Covenant Newswire Archives","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2006\/09\/25\/5159\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Holmgren, Thomas Honored During Homecoming - Covenant Newswire Archives","og_description":"CHICAGO, IL (September 25, 2006) &#8211; Michele Thomas was just a freshman when she organized and directed the Gospel Choir at North Park University in the 1990s. The choir, which began with 12 members, has gone on to be one of the most popular organizations on campus and has attracted hundreds of students to its [&hellip;]","og_url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2006\/09\/25\/5159\/","og_site_name":"Covenant Newswire Archives","article_published_time":"2006-09-26T03:43:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2011-07-06T13:34:48+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/74\/2011\/06\/14-300x200.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2006\/09\/25\/5159\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2006\/09\/25\/5159\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#\/schema\/person\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8"},"headline":"Holmgren, Thomas Honored During Homecoming","datePublished":"2006-09-26T03:43:48+00:00","dateModified":"2011-07-06T13:34:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2006\/09\/25\/5159\/"},"wordCount":673,"commentCount":0,"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2006\/09\/25\/5159\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2006\/09\/25\/5159\/","url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2006\/09\/25\/5159\/","name":"Holmgren, Thomas Honored During Homecoming - Covenant Newswire Archives","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#website"},"datePublished":"2006-09-26T03:43:48+00:00","dateModified":"2011-07-06T13:34:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#\/schema\/person\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2006\/09\/25\/5159\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2006\/09\/25\/5159\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2006\/09\/25\/5159\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Holmgren, Thomas Honored During Homecoming"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#website","url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/","name":"Covenant Newswire Archives","description":"Evangelical Covenant Church","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#\/schema\/person\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/author\/covwebster\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7173"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9276,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7173\/revisions\/9276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}