Lighting of the Green sparks the beginning of Lipscomb’s holiday season

Lighting of the Green sparks the beginning of Lipscomb’s holiday season

Hot chocolate, Christmas cookies, Santa and Amy Grant braved the chilly temperatures all in the name of the holiday spirit for Tuesday night’s 15th annual Lighting of the Green. The festive event marked the start of Christmas for the Lipscomb community and gave students the opportunity to celebrate the past semester before the hectic atmosphere of finals week. Per tradition, Lipscomb welcomed back artist Amy Grant to host the musical celebration. During her set, Grant brought out several “friends” and musical guests to perform songs such as “Silver Bells,” “Grown-up Christmas List” and the local staple “Tennessee Christmas.” Speaking on her song “Tennessee Christmas,” Grant told the crowd “nobody really gets it quite like the Nashville crowd.” Choirs from the University as well as the Academy had a special role in the celebration, for they spent the night singing alongside Grant on stage. Other guests of the night included Marc Martel and Anthem Lights, the Christian based artists joined Grant on stage to sing the holiday songs that have shaped their “Like probaly many of you, I grew up with the music of Miss Amy Grant in the house..which is really mind-blowing for me.” Martel told the audience. Throughout the night, attendees from the Lipscomb community and the surrounding neighborhoods gathered while admiring Christmas lights and enjoying activities such as the “Merry Marketplace.” The Marketplace took place in McQuiddy Gym and featured free photos with Santa and several Holiday vendors. A major highlight of the night is the recognition of a College of the Entertainment and the Arts student with the Amy Grant Scholarship. This year’s recipient is Abby...
PREVIEW: Dove Awards set to return to Lipscomb stage for 50th annual show

PREVIEW: Dove Awards set to return to Lipscomb stage for 50th annual show

It’s that time of year again — a white tent has been placed outside Allen Arena, and weekly parking email warns of an expansive list of closed parking spots for Tuesday evening when Lipscomb will host the 50thannual Dove Awards. It’s Lipscomb’s seventh year hosting the GMA Dove Awards, and as usual, several genre heavyweights will be in attendance. This year’s guest list includes artists like Lauren Daigle, Amy Grant, Hillsong Worship and MercyMe. Performances are expected from the five new artist of the year nominees Riley Clemmons, Austin French, Kelontae Gavin, Josh Baldwin and Aaron Carter. The nominations for major category song of the year shine a light on writers and performers like Francesca Battistelli’s “The Breakup Song” and Lauren Daigle’s “You Say.” Daigle’s song “You Say,” co-written by Jason Ingram and Paul Mabury, recently broke the record for the longest No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot Christian Songs chart. Presenters will include comedian John Crist, Kathy Lee Gifford, for KING & COUNTRY and Lipscomb alum Pat Boone. Lumination will bring you full coverage of the big event, so check back Tuesday evening. Till then, check out last year’s coverage here.  Photo by Ben...

The Secret Handshake showcases Lipscomb College of Entertainment and the Arts

Stars from “The Secret Handshake” walked down the red carpet in Lipscomb’s Allen Arena for the world premiere of the the movie Wednesday night, but they were joined by many Lipscomb professors, and students, too.  Nashville’s Town Square Pictures and Lipscomb University’s College of Entertainment & the Arts partnered to produce the movie which was filmed entirely in Middle Tennessee. “When I came here seven years ago I never would’ve imagined that we would be launching a movie, a feature film, with another production company, but here we are,” said Mike Fernandez, founding dean of the College of Entertainment & the Arts. The film stars Kevin Sorbo, best known as Hercules, and singer-songwriter Amy Grant, and is directed by Nashville native Howie Klausner. Klausner said his family film that transports movie audiences through a journey of what it takes to be a man brings adventure, laughter and even some tears. He said it’s important to make films that are uplifting and have powerful storytelling. This is something Fernandez said has been the mission of the Lipscomb’s newest college. “We have started a brand new college, a College of Entertainment & the Arts, with a mission, and that mission is: Train independent, entrepreneurial artists to go out and create uplifting content in whatever their artistic talent might be, and to do that with a spirit filled with Christ,” Fernandez said. “I believe in storytelling — I believe storytelling shapes culture, and for us to train young minds who want to go out and tell really powerful stories in the way that Christ would have is an ultimate calling.” During the filming of “The Secret Handshake,” Lipscomb film students had...

Lumination’s Top 10 Stories of 2014

Happy New Year, Lumination readers! Now that the new year’s resolutions have been made and the first day of 2015 is here, we want to take a hop back in time to look at some of Lipscomb’s biggest moments of 2014. Before we get to the top 10 stories, we want to take a moment to honor those we lost in 2014. Alumni Andrew Nash, Anastasia Sloan, Meghan Day and Jacob Akers, and associate professor of pharmacy practice Kim Barker and longtime faculty member Earl Dennis all passed away. As we begin a new year, we would like to keep those listed and their families in our thoughts and prayers. Quite a few stories made it close to the top 10. They include a few annual events, special guests and people in new positions of leadership. In December, Amy Grant hosted the tenth annual Lighting of the Green in Allen Arena. This year, a scholarship was created in Grant’s honor. During the spring, the fifth annual Charlie Daniels’ Scholarship for Heroes concert brought country music stars and fundraising to Allen Arena once again. Also in 2014, the Dove Awards returned to Lipscomb for its 46th ceremony. In November, the Lipscomb community came together at one of Nashville’s premier venues: The Ryman. Nashville’s Charles Esten joined the program “Lipscomb: On a New Stage,” and even performed a few tunes, too. Also in 2014, Lipscomb welcomed Darrin Bellows as the new director of security and safety and Josh Roberts as the new dean of student development. In April, Drew Watson was elected as the new SGA president. 10. Dana Carpenter wins national award In October, Dana Carpenter took home...

10th Lighting of the Green brings about festive fun, gives honor to show host Grant

By Brianne Welch and Logan Butts Potential rain may have moved Lighting of the Green’s tenth anniversary into Allen Arena, but the night only brought a downpour of festive cheer and a surprise fit for the season. Grant returned to be the evening’s emcee. The lineup consisted of Danny Gokey, Jon Guerra, The Willis Clan, Brother Parker and surprise guest Vince Gill. Outside of the night’s entertainment, Lipscomb University shared that a new scholarship will be created in Grant’s honor. Lipscomb’s presidential spouse Rhonda Lowry was on hand to announce a gift of $50,000 to start the scholarship. During the show, a painting was created and will be auctioned off. The proceeds will go to the scholarship fund. During the show, the Lipscomb Academy and Lipscomb University choruses also performed Christmas songs. Grant performed a number of her Christmas-themed hits throughout the night, including “Emmanuel” and “Tennessee Christmas.” “I’ve always grown up listening to Amy Grant Christmas [music], so it’s kind of a nostalgic thing for me to come and listen to her sing,” attendee Mallory Grady said. Vendors run by local businesses were set up in the arena for anyone in attendance to visit before the show began. Santa and Mrs. Claus were made available for pictures inside of the Hall of Fame room and free hot chocolate and cookies were offered to guests as they arrived to the show. “I just like the whole setup of everything with the booths,” sophomore Kasey Gibson said. “It’s very Christmasy, so I like that.” The night of holiday festivities concluded with the tradition of lighting of Lipscomb’s Christmas tree in the Allen...