Echo Winter 2025 - 26

F
or more than 90 years, Lancaster Bible College has been committed to educating students to think and live a
biblical worldview. What does this mean? The answer to that question may be clear for students majoring in
the Bible or ministry. But what does biblical integration look like for a student working toward a degree in
communication, business or the arts? Is this even possible? At LBC, the answer is an emphatic, " yes. "
LBC has not only developed a framework for biblical integration across every academic program, but these efforts
are consistently refined, updated, improved and deepened. For instance, biblical integration is much more than
praying before class or having students recite a Bible verse.
* It is recognizing the beauty of God's created order through science and math concepts.
* It's understanding the impact of the Fall on human suffering and allowing that knowledge to inform counseling
and social work practices.
* It is building a philosophy of education that sees students in the classroom as made in God's image with unique
needs, abilities and giftings.
* It's pointing people to God's greater narrative of redemption through storytelling in art, music and theatre.
God's story shapes the story of Lancaster Bible College students, and LBC desires every student and alumnus to
play a part in His story. The LBC Promise is to " prepare students to flourish in college and life, inside and outside
the classroom, from the conviction that Christ is real and the Bible is true. " This informs a desire to come alongside
students as they discover how God's grand, redemptive story frames every other story.
Elsa Rogers ('25) portrayed
Emily in the LBC production
of " Our Town. "
The college experience may be about training for a career, but at LBC, it is much more. It is about God grabbing
hearts, capturing imaginations and fueling desires to pursue a place in His story-one that will serve students not
only in college but for the rest of their days, regardless of their vocational path.
At LBC, Director of Musical Theatre Stephen Atherholt leads the charge in the theatre realm, and this includes
ensuring that students not only flex their acting muscles but also strengthen their biblical worldview formation.
Before arriving at LBC in 2021, Atherholt amassed an extensive theatre résumé, from performing for 12-plus years
at Sight & Sound Theatres to working in television and film.
Hear from Stephen Atherholt about how LBC's commitment to biblical integration translates to lessons on the stage.
LANCASTER BIBLE COLLEGE: As the Director of Musical Theatre, how do you integrate what's happening in
the world of theatre with students' biblically based education at LBC?
STEPHEN ATHERHOLT: We teach with a strong biblical worldview at the core of all we do. Romans 12:2 says, " Do
not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern
what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. " When we engage with any production, we spend
a lot of time in study and conversing about what the Bible says about the concepts in that show. The students are
challenged to analyze the characters' motivations and desires but also the life lessons the show is teaching. Do they
align with a biblical worldview or are they contradictory? What could the Lord teach us through this show? Should
we be doing shows at LBC that are not inherently Christian?
We encourage our students to look to the Bible for examples of storytelling. Jesus was a storyteller. When He
taught, He would illustrate ideas so His audience could imagine the journey of the characters in their minds. In
Luke 15:4-32, Jesus tells the parables of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin and the Lost Son. He tells these stories so
people can relate, so they can see themselves in the shoes of the person in the illustration. We are made in the
image of God, which is why we love storytelling. The stories Jesus told weren't inherently religious. They were
relevant to the time of the people and covered topics from the mundane to the magnificent. Yet, each story was
easy to understand and dealt with real life. This is our very same goal, our very same passion, to tell stories so that
our audience can relate and be changed, even if it means the story does not directly point to Jesus. I hope that we,
too, can share stories of real struggle, even if they are not directly Christian, and trust the Holy Spirit to speak to the
hearts of our audience.
LBC: In what ways do musical theatre productions encourage students to reflect on LBC's values and core
beliefs, in particular, the college's mission to " educate Christian students to think and live a biblical worldview
and to proclaim Christ by serving Him in the Church and society " ?
SA: In every area of their lives, students are facing real-life issues such as dealing with anxiety, loss, fear and pain,
asking, " Where is Jesus in the hardest times of our lives? " Honest vulnerability of the characters we portray opens
the door for our students to process some very deep concepts. We ask students to analyze each production in the
light of Scripture and tell us in their own words what they are learning. We have devotionals before rehearsals to
26 ECHO

Echo Winter 2025

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Echo Winter 2025