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2013 Alumni Awards
By Jonathan Schultz
Oct. 31, 2013
Young Life Distinguished Alumni Award — Alec and Mary Hill
As a teenager, Mary Hill attended Ingraham High School in Seattle. It was through the Young Life ministry there that she began a relationship with Jesus. A few years later, in another Seattle high school, her future husband, Alec, would serve as a volunteer Young Life leader.About these three years as a volunteer leader at Chief Sealth High School, Alec would later write, “Those years changed the trajectory of my life.” Today, Alec serves as the president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA®. We are honored to name Alec and Mary Hill as recipients of our 2013 Young Life Distinguished Alumni Award.
Mary is a signature member of the prestigious National Watercolor Society. Her art may be viewed here. Prior to becoming an artist, she worked as a CPA. She has a B.A. (business) from Western Washington University and an MBA from Seattle Pacific University (SPU).
Alec became president of InterVarsity in 2001. InterVarsity is a nondenominational ministry serving nearly 40,000 core students and faculty via 900 chapters on college campuses nationwide. He also serves on the board of Christianity Today International. Prior to joining InterVarsity, Alec served dean of the School of Business and Economics and professor of Law and Ethics at SPU. In the early 1980s, he was a regional director with World Relief, resettling refugees from around the world. He has a J.D. from the University of Washington as well as a B.A. (history) and M.A. (theology) from SPU.
Mary and Alec live in Madison, Wisconsin. They are the proud parents of two adult daughters, Laura and Carolyn. Today, nearly four decades since he was a leader at Chief Sealth, Alec is still in contact with his Campaigners guys – enjoying a reunion just a few months ago. Mary and he remain huge fans of the Young Life mission. Alec and Mary, we are grateful for you and are honored to name you our Distinguished Young Life Alumni Award recipients of 2013.
Alumni Service to Young Life Award — David and Janet Phillips
“What will Young Life be like in Virginia Beach in 1980? What about 1990? What are you going to do to make sure that teenagers in this town have the same opportunity to hear about Jesus that you did?” According to Virginia Beach Young Life Area Director Mike Terranova, these are the words that Greg Kinberg (current Young Life COO and Virginia Beach founding area director) spoke to David Phillips. The year was 1973 and David was, according to Terranova, “a high school surfer kid from First Colonial High School.” More than four decades have passed since that challenge was issued, and David took them to heart. It is our privilege to honor David and Janet Phillips as the 2013 Alumni Service to Young Life Award recipients.
After coming to Christ in high school and later being an intern with Young Life in North Carolina, David found that his calling was to business and the “supply side” of Young Life. In fact, for more than 40 years, David has continuously served Young Life in various roles including committee member, committee chair, golf tournament chair and “TDS” committee member. David has also been a consistent golf sponsor, a faithful financial supporter and an incredible Young Life advocate to the Virginia Beach community. David and Janet met while participating in Campaigners while in high school. Like David, Janet has also given sacrificially to Young Life, first as a volunteer leader and then as a committee member the entire time that David has been involved. Today, David and Janet have been married for 34 years and have three adult children, and two grandchildren. Not to be limited to committee roles, recently David offered his help at a local all-night Young Life event at a bowling alley; he covered the 1 a.m. shift as an adult supervisor! In the words of Mike Terranova, “He is simply joyful to see the work go forward and see kids meet Christ. He has been such an encouragement to the staff and committee.”
We all agree that David Phillips has done quite well in living up to the challenge that his Young Life leader, Greg Kinberg, gave him 42 years ago. David, thanks for being such a faithful servant and partner in the mission. We are proud to call you our own and are honored to name you our 2013 Alumnus Service to Young Life Award recipient.
