Lincoln Laureate Recipient Announced: Megan Anderson '14

 

Megan AndersonMegan Anderson ’14 of Elgin, Illinois, has been named Trinity’s 28th Lincoln Laureate by the Lincoln Academy of Illinois. She was honored at the annual Student Laureate Convocation in Springfield on November 2 and accompanied by her parents Roger and Kim Anderson and Dr. Craig Mattson, professor of communication arts and director of the Honors Program.

The Student Laureate Award recognizes excellence in curricular and extracurricular activities and honors senior students from each of Illinois’ four-year, degree granting colleges and universities.

When talking about her Trinity experience, the senior Church and Ministry Leadership/Theology double major focuses on her involvement with Outcry, the student-led worship. Anderson has served on the worship team all four years, and as co-leader with three other students for the past two years.

“I eat, sleep, and dream Outcry,” said Anderson, who had never sung in public until joining the team.

Choosing Trinity

Anderson discovered Trinity through its website and said she experienced a “gut feeling” before announcing to her mother that she had made her college decision. Her only visit to campus was attendance at the annual Founders Scholar dinner where she had the chance to worship at Outcry, for the first time.

She enrolled on a drama scholarship with an interest in theater, putting the sewing skills her grandmother had taught her to good use to help with costuming. But her time serving students through Outcry became her passion.

Lasting experience

Still as a senior, Anderson said one of her most lasting memories of her time at Trinity was also one of the first—at Outcry. She stood on the stage of the Ozinga Chapel Auditorium stage, earphones in place, and she and the team beginning to lead the weekly Thursday night worship when the voices of her fellow singers were drowned out by the voices of the student body.

“This is what it’s about,” Anderson said she thought. “Outcry isn’t about the leaders or the choice of music. When I heard those voices, I knew in that moment that was what I loved to do.”

She said her involvement in Outcry has taught her what ministry is—that one has to learn to trust that God is going to work in and through people no matter what. Her classroom education in the majors has melded with her Outcry experience. Church and Ministry Leadership has taught her the “practical skills” in leadership she is able to apply in ministry on campus, but said, that without her theology curriculum, she wouldn’t have the “biblical foundation.”

Other experiences that have formed Anderson as a student and as a Christian include her leadership roles as an Undergraduate Learning Assistant and a First Year Forum mentor. Her first mission trip during the Cuba Interim in January 2013 gave her an opportunity to put her Spanish and psychology minors into practice as she simultaneously answered a longtime call on her heart to serve overseas.

Anderson is the recipient of multiple scholarships and awards and is known for her “humble and gracious” servant leadership, according to Professor Mattson.

 

Trinity Christian College Lincoln Laureates

2013 – Megan Anderson
2012 – Adam Perez
2011 – Alberto LaRosa
2010 – Joseph Wydra
2009 – Jonathan VanderWoude
2008 – Caitlin Fillmore
2007 – Elizabeth VanderSpek
2006 – Allison Backous
2005 – Erin Marshalek
2004 – Rachel Van Oort
2003 – Yvana Hansen
2002 – Evan VanderZee
2001 – Nate Bosch
2000 – Laurie Johnson
1999 – Hanna Vancer Zee
1998 – Kristen Devine
1997 – Heidi Boeck
1996 – Julie Tinklenberg
1995 – Keri Dyksterhouse
1994 – Mark Mulder
1993 – Kristen Hart
1992 – Sarah Ver Velde
1991 – Aron Reppmann
1990 – Nathan Van Der Male
1989 – Drew Sweetman
1988 – Erik Hoekstra
1987 – Kimberly Dykema
1986 – Edward Wiener, Jr.