Monday, August 20, 2012

Senior Adult Ministry's Senior Spotlight: John Kipp



Interview of John Kipp
By Alex Noakes
 
Our First Presbyterian Church family has an incoming freshman at MIT as well as a grad – Alex Noakes & John Kipp.  The two sat down for a chat and Alex asked questions about John’s life experiences, faith development and what he experienced as a student at MIT.

John was born in 1936 & was baptized at age 5.  He remembers holding his parents hands, and as they returned to their pew after his baptism John was heard by the congregation to ask his parents about the “Holy Ghost.”

He became a Presbyterian at age 12 & at 17 had a conversion experience.  He was alone in the woods, at night praying when he said “I knew then, that God heard me.”
Growing up John was exposed to lots of music & his love of music grew & and continues even today.  He played baritone horn in school and that resulted in a scholarship to attend Valley Forge Military School.  He spent two summers at Interlochen Music school and camp in Michigan.  He was offered a scholarship to the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY but by that time he had committed to attend MIT.
While at MIT his faith grew.  Some of his friends suggested that a Reformed Presbyterian minister visit him weekly.  John credits this minister with teaching him how to read the Bible & to pray.  During this time & over the span of three years he memorized 3 verses a day and studied a chapter in the Bible each week.  While at MIT he attended the Park Street Presbyterian Church.
One of the organizations that added to his faith development was the Navigators.  This group began in Colorado and was created as a non-denominational religious group by the Navy.  Another meaningful group was Intervarsity.  They held weekly Bible studies in the dorms.  While at MIT John helped to create the Campus Christian Fellowship and served as their president.  John & Dottie his first wife were married the week he graduated from MIT.

After MIT, John applied to Princeton but wasn’t accepted and instead began working for Proctor & Gamble.    John had been in ROTC & therefore had an obligation to serve 3 years of active duty.  Instead of entering Princeton John entered the military and was sent to Mississippi to attend a 10 week radio school course.  After completing that course he was stationed in Redbluff, CA where he was 1 of 6 officers serving at a radar station.   John became active in the Redbluff Presbyterian Church and that church played a large part in his faith development.  While there, he was elected an Elder and also served as a youth leader. The church asked him to preach and conduct a funeral and all of his experiences, continued to confirm his sense of call to ministry.  At the end of his 3 year military commitment, he reapplied to Princeton and was accepted and a month later entered Princeton.  John would love to tell you how his Mother’s phone call played a part in all of this.

He has many favorite hymns but mentioned his love of:  Great is Thy Faithfulness.

The best life lesson: it reflects in part this stage of his life – He feels a gentler approach and broader focus on people and to life in general.

The most important lesson he has learned evolved from two of his life experiences – the death of his first wife & surviving kidney cancer and the surgery it required:  He is grateful every day to God for the gift of life and knowing that God’s love is constant and in feeling God’s presence in ALL of life’s experiences. John especially appreciates the church family we have at First Presbyterian Church, Athens.

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