Click here to watch the Installation service video
Click here to watch the Dedication service video
Click here to download photos from the Dedication and Installation services
Click here to download transcripts from the Dedication and Installation services
Gold or glue?
Dr. Marty Marriott (left) contemplated this question Thursday night while finishing his address to the Maranatha family during the ceremony officially installing him as the College’s fifth president. He looked down at the presidential medallion hanging from his neck (“quite the bling,” according to Dr. Doug Jackson, Chairman of the Board of Trustees). He looked at a bottle of glue in his right hand, a gift from the student body to encourage him to “stick around.”
“I would just say that I’d rather have Gorilla Glue, with all of its symbolism, than 100 blings,” Marriott told the crowd of approximately 1,000 in the Maranatha Gymnasium.
That remark brought loud applause, concluding an evening that reflected what appears to be a genuine degree of affection the Marriotts have earned from the college faculty, employees, and students since arriving on campus in early January. Both Marriott and wife Miriam can often be found eating with students in the Dining Complex or engaging them in conversation in the hallways—certainly a more comfortable setting for them than Thursday’s formal events.
“I am very, very conscious of what this office can do to somebody,” Marriott said. “Pray for me, that I will not change.”
The Dedication service
Thursday’s first order of business was a dedication service at Calvary Baptist Church in Watertown. The audience of approximately 250 included at least 35 pastors, 13 who took part in a concluding ceremony in which they placed their hands on Marriott as he knelt on the platform.
That symbolic action was preceded by music, Scripture reading, and testimonies from Rev. Bryan Brock, Rev. David Marriott and Joshua Roberts about Dr. Marriott’s influence in their lives.
“He’s my dad, my pastor, my mentor, my counselor, my friend, my coach, my baseball catcher, and my fellow Tennessee football fan,” said David Marriott, pastor of Lakewood Baptist Church in Delafield, Wis. “I can remember him preaching a series on dispensationalism when I was 4 or 5 years old. He was an expository preacher before it was cool or hip or in vogue.”
Jackson delivered the message, citing the vital role and unwavering faith of Nehemiah and calling Marriott “the real deal.”
Marriott family members gathered for pictures before the dedication service, and a reception followed. The guests included Tom White. His wife, Linda Henderson White, helped encourage Marriott to consider accepting Christ into his heart while the future Maranatha president was still an engineering student at the University of Cincinnati. Marriott’s mother and stepfather were also at the dedication service.
The Installation service
The evening installation service on campus was attended by representatives from several colleges, including Concordia (Wis.), Rockford (Ill.), Marian (Wis.), Faith Baptist Bible (Iowa), Northland International (Wis.), Clearwater Christian (Fla.), Bob Jones (S.C.), Calvary Baptist Seminary (Pa.) and Central Baptist Seminary (Va.). State Rep. Joel Kleefisch was in the crowd, as was Deputy District Director Clare Wettsteina from Congressman Tom Petri’s office.
Dr. John Brock, Vice President for Academic Affairs, gave an academic history of the college. He took a moment to thank Board members who had voted to go forward in obtaining regional accreditation in 1993—a controversial issue for them, but a decision that proved pivotal for Maranatha.
“Thank you for bravely taking the heat for the benefit of the students and graduates,” Brock said. “We know they are profoundly grateful.”
Board Secretary Dr. Robert Loggans offered a spiritual heritage of the College, one that “has been, and must continue to be, To the Praise of His Glory.”
“Maranatha is not an accident,” Loggans said while preaching from Ephesians 1:12, the text from which the College motto is derived. “It is a divine ministry, appointed by God.”
Gorilla Glue and great days ahead
Lomax’s greeting from the students was sandwiched between Brock and Loggans. Maranatha’s Director of Student Activities encouraged the College’s new president to consider a long-term stay in his new ministry. He presented Marriott with the bottle of glue—a small object with considerably larger implications attached.
“They (the students) are praying you’ll stick to the Word of God as you seek to grow in God’s grace daily and seek His wisdom in guiding our college,” Lomax said. “They’re praying you’ll stick to Maranatha’s fundamental Baptist heritage while not being afraid to move us forward. They’re praying you’ll stick to biblical principles as you guide your public and private affairs, and the affairs of our college. They’re praying you’ll stick to taking care of the current students, staff, and faculty before considering those who might be a part of the future of Maranatha.
“Finally, they’re praying you’ll stick your nameplate to the door outside your office, so we can rest in knowing you’re going to stick around.”
Marriott sounded like a man ready for a permanently mounted nameplate.
“I’m expecting God to do great things,” Marriott said. “He’s called me here because, I believe, Maranatha’s greatest days are still ahead.”
---Posted March 19, 2010