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GA06036
Celtic Cross program hitting all the right notes with students
by Emily Enders Odom
BIRMINGHAM, June 16 * One plays the bagpipes, the other doesn't.
That is one of the few differences between the two collegians, both named Michael and both with surnames starting with "W." They also share a common passion for a program called Celtic Cross, created and based since 1995 at Presbyterian College in Clinton, SC, from which Michael Whitman just graduated and which Michael Watson still attends.
Designed to challenge Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) students to think theologically about their vocation and to consider professional or lay leadership in the church, Celtic Cross offers opportunities for students to participate in a variety of leadership programs, including the 217th General Assembly.
"Specifically, coming here has been one of the more exciting things I've ever done in Celtic Cross," said Whitman, who first learned about the program when he was a junior in high school. "The other was a Presbyterian heritage trip we took to Scotland two years ago."
While at the assembly, the Celtic Cross students are given special permission to audit the week-long polity course taught by former PC(USA) moderator Jack Rogers, through the San Francisco Theological Seminary. Whitman, Watson and a third Presbyterian College student, Chris Mobley, are the only undergraduates in Rogers' class.
Watson, of Augusta, GA, is not a newcomer to the assembly. He previously served as a youth-advisory delegate to the 216th General Assembly (2004) in Richmond, VA.
"It's been really amazing to me to come back and experience connections," Watson said. "It's like a big family, coming back.
"Celtic Cross is awesome, in the sense that it really plugs students in when they get to college. It's allowed me to stay directly involved with the church and really love it."
Though they are not the same in their musical abilities * Whitman plays bagpipes and Watson plays guitar * both Michaels share a strong desire to attend seminary.
Whitman is working for a fifth summer at Montgomery Conference Center, a Presbyterian camp near Starke, FL, and intends to take a year off before continuing his education. Watson plans to do the same following his graduation from Presbyterian College in 2007. Celtic Cross has prepared both well.
"Being an undergraduate experiencing seminary classes here," Watson said, "I thought, 'Aha, I can do seminary!'"
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