{"id":25976,"date":"2015-11-13T10:32:04","date_gmt":"2015-11-13T15:32:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=25976"},"modified":"2025-07-11T13:58:48","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T17:58:48","slug":"runner-leader-speaker-writer-senior-jolee-paden-considers-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/runner-leader-speaker-writer-senior-jolee-paden-considers-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Runner, leader, speaker, writer: senior Jolee Paden considers the future"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whether you\u2019re playing soccer, cross-country, tennis or golf, a strong core is key. There\u2019s no avoiding it: athletes of all kinds have to work their abs.<\/p>\n

ABS is a convenient acronym, then, for the weekly Athlete Bible Study that\u2019s begun meeting over lunch on the Eastern Mennonite University campus this semester \u2013 and just one manifestation of senior cross-country runner Jolee Paden\u2019s efforts to enrich the spiritual lives of her fellow athletes and classmates.<\/p>\n

\"Jolee<\/a>
Jolee Paden with fellow Bridge House residents after the Oct. 31 ODAC cross country championships: (from left) Brooke Lacock, Jolee Paden, Hannah Chappell-Dick, Juni Schirch, Louise Krall, and kneeling, Alicia Poplett. Bridge House is an intentional community adjacent to campus where residents host social gatherings designed to bring together upper- and underclass students.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last January, she also helped launch a monthly event called Athletes Speak, during which students gather over pizza to hear athletes and coaches talk about their lives and faith. Both events are affiliated with EMU\u2019s chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes<\/a> (FCA), in which Paden has been a leader since she was a first-year student.<\/p>\n

At the time, FCA didn\u2019t have a particularly large or active presence on campus, and so, just as she\u2019d done previously at her high school in St. Joseph, Illinois, Paden threw herself into the task of building it up.<\/p>\n

\u201cFCA is for athletes and coaches to have the opportunity to encounter biblical truth and authentic community,\u201d said Paden, a double-major in business administration<\/a> and recreation leadership<\/a>. \u201cOver the last three years and going into the fourth, it\u2019s just done a complete 360 in terms of getting people involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the ways she\u2019s promoted the ABS and Athletes Speak events was dropping any reference to FCA from their names. She decided to do so after discovering that some student-athletes didn\u2019t understand the purpose of the group or had developed negative impressions of it in high school.<\/p>\n

\"Jolee<\/a>
Jolee Paden greets well-wishers after her chapel presentation: (from left) head cross country and track coach Britten Olinger, campus pastor Brian Martin Burkholder, and physical education professor Sandy Brownscombe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This decision, said EMU athletics director Dave King<\/a>, \u201cdemonstrated her sensitivity and creativity\u201d as a leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cJolee has provided the most critical ingredient for any successful program aimed at student athletes \u2013 student leadership,\u201d King continued. \u201cSustainable programs have quality student leadership and Jolee has provided that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paden is also a pastoral assistant with EMU\u2019s campus ministries<\/a>, and spoke in chapel in late September. (Audio of her talk is available here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

\u201cJolee brings energy and focus to spiritual life on campus. She is always noticing and discerning opportunities for ministry among her peers,\u201d said campus pastor Brian Martin Burkholder<\/a>. \u201cShe presents with confidence and poise. There’s no doubt that she will continue to develop as a keynote speaker and preacher.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to her work on campus, Paden is an intern at Grace Covenant Church in Harrisonburg, and helps lead the congregation\u2019s ministry for college students. She has also published a running-themed devotional book, Spiritual Runner: A Runner After God\u2019s Own Heart<\/a>, <\/em>writes a blog<\/a>, and begun accepting more public speaking invitations.<\/p>\n

\"Jolee<\/a>
Jolee Paden signs a copy of her book “The Spiritual Runner,” for a fellow student.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI think God has just really blessed me with the capacity and the grace to do so much, because I still find time to relax and have a weekend sometimes. It\u2019s kind of amazing,\u201d said Paden.<\/p>\n

As the fall semester slips by, she\u2019s thinking more and more about life after EMU. Perhaps she\u2019ll enter seminary. Maybe she\u2019ll go back to Washington D.C., where she lived last summer and loved working for Back on My Feet<\/a>, a nonprofit that uses running to empower people experiencing homelessness. As she weighs those options, she\u2019s also intent on making sure that the FCA and affiliated events that have been so important to her time at EMU will continue to thrive after she\u2019s gone.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve put a lot of my heart and hopefully the Lord\u2019s heart into this,\u201d said Paden. \u201cBuilding up other people who are passionate about it is really, really important to me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

As a practical matter, that\u2019s meant handing over more and more responsibility to students who will return next year. One of them is Amanda Williams, a sophomore soccer player who helps schedule speakers for the Athletes Speak events. Williams hopes that she and her peers will continue building on Paden\u2019s efforts to enrich the spiritual lives of EMU athletes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Jolee has an authentic relationship to God and displaying her faith just comes naturally to her,\u201d Williams said. \u201cShe has a different perspective on the Bible \u2013 it\u2019s refreshing to me, just to hear the things that God reveals to her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless of what, exactly, next year might bring for her, Paden plans to continue on the same general path she\u2019s followed through EMU \u2013 sharing, speaking, encouraging and nurturing the spiritual lives of the people around her.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dream would just be to tour and talk to young people and athletes,\u201d she said. \u201cBut it\u2019s just a matter of how the Lord is opening those doors.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whether you\u2019re playing soccer, cross-country, tennis or golf, a strong core is key. There\u2019s no avoiding it: athletes of all kinds have to work their abs. ABS is a convenient ... read more about Runner, leader, speaker, writer: senior Jolee Paden considers the future<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5591,14715,5185,409,5731,5733,5601,14139],"tags":[14324,16008,5809,14316,9037,17115,14210,14322,14551,15860,7565],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-25976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-and-leadership","category-campus-life","category-campus-ministries","category-chapel","category-cross-country","category-outdoor-track","category-physical-education","category-student-profiles","tag-alicia-poplett","tag-amanda-williams","tag-brian-martin-burkholder","tag-brooke-lacock","tag-dave-king","tag-fellowship-of-christian-athletes","tag-hannah-chappell-dick","tag-jolee-paden","tag-juni-schirch","tag-louise-krall","tag-sandy-brownscombe"],"yoast_head":"\nRunner, leader, speaker, writer: senior Jolee Paden considers the future - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/runner-leader-speaker-writer-senior-jolee-paden-considers-the-future\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Runner, leader, speaker, writer: senior Jolee Paden considers the future - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Whether you\u2019re playing soccer, cross-country, tennis or golf, a strong core is key. 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