As I walk through the door of the University Chaplain’s quaint corner office, the first thing that catches my eye is the large segmented picture of the Beatles crossing Abbey Road hanging prominently on the wall. I survey the room to behold an array of interesting gizmos strategically placed near the large wooden desk. Between the cow clock, the many pictures of his family, and the bobble heads lining his desk, I am overtaken by the childlike urge to touch everything.
The friendly face that enters the uniquely decorated room is Reverend Jordan Thrasher, who greets me with a high-five and a cheerful “Hello“! Approaching Thrasher is like approaching my most trusted teacher. His cheerful energy immediately makes me feel at home. After he offers me coffee in the mug of my choice, Thrasher begins to unfold his story.
For the last three years, Thrasher has been the campus chaplain at Reinhardt. He lives nearby in Canton with his wife and three daughters. While many people think his role is just a youth minister for college-aged students, and other people think that he is merely an administrator for the church-related functions of our school, Thrasher actually wears many different hats at Reinhardt. After taking a sip of his coffee and looking out the window for a brief moment, he tells me, “I see myself primarily as an educator in the faith development of the students, faculty, and staff at Reinhardt. I am also a pastor, priest, prophet, and adminis-trator. But primarily, [I see myself as] an educator in the faith development of our students.”
A Chaplain to Remember
“My mom stood very strongly for people being together in education.”
While gazing out the window overlooking the freshly cut grass field encompassing the Glass House, Reverend Thrasher remem-bers his childhood. He didn’t know one home for very long because his father is a United Methodist pastor, so therefore his family moved around a lot. He references very significant times in his life which led him to have a passion for social justice.
He recalls specifically when his family moved to Athens as well as when they moved to Rome (once when he was in 4th grade and another when he was in high school). The churches his family entered into in both situations were very passionate about the young Jordan Thrasher not attending public school due to the amount of violence within the culturally and racially diverse schools in those areas.
In one instance, the church even offered to raise his father’s salary if he would send his son to private school since the congregation preferred their minister’s child going to a school with children who had similar cultural backgrounds. But Thrasher’s mother insisted that her son attend public schools. With a slight smile on his face, he remembers, “My mom stood very strongly for people being together in education.”
By Abby Snelson
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