What he discovered in those 10 weeks as an intern surprised him – and prepared him make the commitment to begin his career in Washington D.C.

“I finished the WCSC program on Friday and started my new job on Monday,” Quenzer said, shortly after an evening commute to his newly rented apartment in the Northwest neighborhood of Petworth. “I thought WCSC would be a great experience of living in a big city for two and a half months. I couldn’t imagine doing it for a long period of time, and I was never expecting to stay.”

Now director of technology at , Quenzer manages the outsourced development of the D.C.-based start-up company, which offers personalized online programs that teach consumers how to improve their financial situation.

In an odd twist, Quenzer’s new job isn’t a result of his summer internship with , working on the Christian publication’s website. Instead it was the result of networking opportunities provided by WCSC alumnus Joel Murray ‘14 and the program’s former associate director, Sheldon C. Good.

WCSC internships regularly lead to offers of full-time employment, according to program director .

This was the case for Murray, a business administration major who had interned the previous semester with FELA. After graduating in May, Murray accepted full-time employment with the company. He then contacted Quenzer about doing freelance web design and consulting.

“I came in several times throughout the summer and got to know the company better,” Quenzer said. “And it turned out they needed someone with my skills.”

Quenzer had some real concerns, however. “Ninety percent of start-ups fail, so there was a real risk for me to take out an annual lease on an apartment in Washington D.C. without some assurance of financial stability,” he said.

Discussions with Good, who was a friend of the company’s founder, allayed his concerns.

“That was really helpful,” Quenzer said. “The connections I had through WCSC, and the networking opportunities, really helped me make that decision and feel it was a good one.”

Quenzer also feels more comfortable in Washington D.C. than he ever imagined, thanks to the immersive, cross-cultural experience of living in WCSC’s intentional community as an independent, working adult.

“Organizing house jobs, sharing money to buy food, learning how to get along with people from different backgrounds – all of that was a really valuable experience,” Quenzer said. “Some have lived in a city before and some haven’t, and everyone is in a different place in their lives and you have to exist together. You get the total experience of working full-time, taking public transportation, enjoying what the city has to offer. It really gave me an idea of what it would be like.”

“We are proud of Stephen’s accomplishments,” Schmidt said. “He will join many former students who, through the WCSC, have come to the city, found good work, and are now making valuable contributions to our local neighborhoods.”

A prayer “tent” will be erected on the front campus near Northlawn Residence Hall, and persons are invited to pray in half-hour time blocks from midnight to midnight. Passersby will be invited to offer their own prayers and to tie prayer flags around the vigil site.

Nicholas Stoddard, a Peace Fellowship co-leader, said this Thursday was chosen for its proximity to both the UN’s International Day of Peace and the concurrent International Day of Prayer for Peace on Sept. 21. The event also coincides with a two-week prayer vigil, Sept. 16-30, coordinated by Christian Peace Witness for Iraq (CPWI), an ecumenical organization with ties to the Sojourners community based in Washington, D.C.

“As a faith-based community, we hope to raise our prayers for the Iraqi people and coalition soldiers while also issuing a public plea for a withdrawal of troops and a shift of budget resources to provide for humanitarian assistance,” Stoddard said. “We hope the vigil makes it clear: we oppose this war because of our deep-rooted faith and belief that God

Sojourners is a faith-based organization in Washington, D.C., with a mission to “articulate the biblical call to social justice, inspiring hope and building a movement to transform individuals, communities, the church, and the world.”

The Emerging Leaders Track, for participants age 30 and under, seeks to train and empower young faith-inspired leaders to help lead the movement to overcome poverty. The event, to be held at the National City Christian Church in Washington, D.C., is expected to draw nearly 1,000 registrants.

A Monday evening forum on “Faith, Values and Poverty” will feature leading Democratic presidential contenders Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards at George Washington University.

CNN will provide live coverage of the event.

Making Connections

As sponsor of the Emerging Leaders Track, EMU will have the opportunity to connect personally and through written materials with hundreds of people under age 30.

“Participants at this conference will be people who share EMU’ s core values of following Christ’s call to ‘witness faithfully, serve compassionately and walk boldly in the way of nonviolence and peace,'”said Andrea Wenger, EMU director of marketing and communications, quoting from the university’ s mission statement.

EMU leadership, including President Loren Swartzendruber, and staff will be present throughout the conference and anticipate participating in a reception for the candidates’ spouses.

EMU representatives also will be part of the program at a Tuesday evening Emerging Leaders Dinner, where Shane Claiborne of The Simple Way will be guest speaker. The Simple Way is a community of faith located in Philadelphia, Pa., committed “To love God, to love people and to follow Jesus,” according to their web site.

More information is available at www.sojourners.com

David Batstone will visit EMU for a free public presentation on "Conducting Business with Purpose and Profit" on Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. in Lehman Auditorium.

Batstone, senior editor of Worthwhile magazine and executive editor of Sojourners, is also professor of social ethics at the University of San Francisco.

Gifted as an entrepreneur, he has played an executive role in a niche investment bank operating internationally in the entertainmnt and technology industries. During the 1980s he founded and directed a non-governmental agency dedicated to economic development and human rights in Latin America.

Batstone will also speak at the business and economics department breakfast meeting 8 a.m. Oct. 14 during .

This event is sponsored by:

• EMU Department of Business and Economics
• EMU Advancement Division
• Blauch Brothers, Inc.
• Trumbo Electric, Inc.
• Layman Diener & Borntrager Insurance Agency, Inc.
• Hartman Motor Sales
• Garrison Press
• Local MEDA Chapter

A noted Christian activist gave an “altar call” at ��ݮ���� Tuesday night, Feb. 21, for persons to bring a heightened moral sensitivity to the social and political arena.

In an address at EMU, Jim Wallis of Washington, D.C., drew from ideas in his latest book, “God’s Politics,” in calling persons to “get involved and make a difference where you are” because of their faith commitments.

Wallis is the founder and long-time editor of “Sojourners” magazine that covers issues of faith, politics and culture. In 1995, he was instrumental in forming “Call to Renewal,” a national federation of churches, denominations and faith-based organizations from across the theological and political spectrum working to overcome poverty.

“It’s easy to be confused about what it means to be a Christian these days,” Wallis said. “Being a Christian doesn’t automatically put you in a certain political camp. God is a public God. God is neither Republican nor Democrat. To be a Christian means to stand for what Jesus stood for.

“I’ve got some good news for you,” Wallis told his audience of EMU students, faculty and community persons. “I believe that the monologue of the Religious Right is fading in this country and a new dialog has begun. I sense a new hunger for finding a moral center that wants to dig deeper, to view what lies beneath our current social and political order.”

“Faith can’t and shouldn’t be narrowed down to addressing just two issues – abortion and gay marriage – as many are wont to do,” Wallis said. “I find more than 2,000 scripture verses in my Bible that convince me that poverty is a moral issue too.

“Nuclear weapons, AIDS, concern for the environment and the ethics of war are also moral issues,” he added.

In contrast to emphases on abortion or gay marriage, Wallis said in his travels and conversations he is meeting more people with “a desire to find common ground on the sacredness of life and the integrity of the family.”

The speaker said he is encountering “a new generation of young people who have been turned off by religion but are asking “what can I do,” and responding to a new altar call to “make a difference” in the world right where they are.

“What the world is waiting for is spiritual integrity and social justice, for people to come to Christ and to enlist in His program in the world,” Wallis said. “Discipleship follows conversion.

“People of faith have to make a choice between hope and cynicism. Cynicism is a buffer against commitment and leads to despair,” he said. “Rather, rise to the challenge of using your God-given gifts in the crushing needs around you – that’s what changes history.”

Wallis’s remarks were frequently interrupted by “amens” and audience applause in the nearly-full Lehman Auditorium (the facility seats around 1,000). He received a standing ovation at the close.

Wallis’ appearance at EMU was made possible by The Student Lecture Series, a student-initiated endeavor to bring well-known speakers on campus to address socially relevant issues. Sponsorship for this event comes in part from , and the .

A noted Christian leader for social change will speak 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21, in Lehman Auditorium.

Jim Wallis, founder and editor of “” magazine, activist and international commentator on ethics and public life, will address issues of social justice and moral politics espoused in his latest book, “God’s Politics.”

Wallis was a founder of “Sojourners” – Christians for justice and peace – more than 30 years ago and continues to edit the magazine, covering faith, politics and culture, with a combined print and electronic media readership of more than 100,000 people.

In 1995, Wallis was instrumental in forming “Call to Renewal,” a national federation of churches, denominations and faith-based organizations from across the theological and political spectrum working to overcome poverty.

Wallis speaks at more than 200 events a year, and his columns appear in the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and other major newspapers.

His most recent book, “God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It” (Harper Collins, 2005), debuted at No. 4 on the New York Times’ best-sellers list and remained there for 16 weeks. He offers regular commentary and analysis for radio and television and teaches a course at Harvard University on “Faith, Politics and Society.”

Wallis lives in inner-city Washington, D.C., with his wife, Joy, and their sons, Luke and Jack.

The is a student-initiated endeavor to bring well- known speakers on campus to address socially relevant issues. Sponsorship for this event comes in part from , and the .

A $5 donation is suggested at the door.

Anne Figge is used to the reaction when she answers the question, What did you major in?

“I can