The Pilgrim’s Protest

By Courtney Kilgore and Drew Wilson

Courtney Kilgore interviewed new Communications professor, Ken Rife to find out more about his life and ideas.

What interested you in media?
Growing up I lived in a rural area in Virginia where there wasn’t much to do, so I watched TV a lot and learned to draw. As time went on I started realizing that I had a talent in the visual arts. I originally started out in architecture because I didn’t think I was a good enough artist to be an illustrator, but after a year in technical college I thought it wasn’t something I wanted to get into, so I ended up getting into the graphic design side of things. That is how I got my start.

Tell me about your ministry and what it does.

My wife and I were on staff with Campus Crusade in the media department and we sensed the Lord was leading us to leave the staff in 1999. I applied for a job at Samaritans Purse doing some free-lance work. After a few weeks I began to see that is wasn’t a good fit- I was a square peg and they had a round hole. We were advised by some CPA friends to start our own ministry, so in May of 2000 we established what is now known as Starshell Media Ministries. I call myself the reluctant ministry director because I really didn’t want to do things on my own but it really seems like things just fell into place. God opened up some opportunities for some people to come on the board of directors who brought a lot to the table. My wife was an accountant and was able to handle that part of it and from that point we began just serving where the Lord would have us serve. Any type of media needs a ministry might have we would come along side and try to help them out or at least point them in the right direction. The most exciting of all of that has been the international ministries. I’ve been able to travel to 4 continents and in 2001 went to Kenya and trained 2 Kenyans to do video production there.

Describe you journey to CIU, how did you end up here?

I had always thought it would be cool to teach younger people. Production work can be very long hours and very strenuous. I thought if I could train others do that heavy work, that would be cool. I had been on several mission trips, and thought I wanted to help instill in youth the vision of being full media missionaries. I had the chance to go to Liberty University and I found out there was a film festival going on. So, my wife and I went up on the Thursday before the weekend. There were two professors there that taught at Liberty who had gone to Regent. We visited and talked a little bit. I mentioned that I might want to teach at the college level. “How many professors do you have here?” I asked him. He just said, “we’ve lost three in the last year, you ought to consider applying.” The next day, I went visited the Dept. Chair and talked with him. He told me that if I was interested, to go ahead and apply. In February I got a letter back from them saying that they would no longer be pursuing that application any further. I didn’t know if the Lord had something else down the road. Anyways, I had a friend, Dan Philgreen, that taught at a place called CIU. I went online to research CIU and found that they had an opening. So, sure enough I contacted the Department head, Dan DeLozier. He told me that they were already considering someone else, but to still apply. At the same time, I found out about another school, Brian College, and that they had an opening. I contacted them and they were extremely responsive. Well, as it turns out, Dan called back and told me that the applicant they were looking at was no longer being considered. I did an over the phone interview and everything went very well with them. Later in the year, I had an opportunity to visit the Brian College campus and just felt like something wasn’t right. I began formal interviews with CIU, it seemed to be a much better fit. Even thought I didn’t have a lot of teaching experience, they were still interested in bringing me in. I thought that was amazing. So, here I am!

How do you see the Communications Department here at CIU helping to “Know Him and make Him known”?

I think the “knowing Him” part is really emphasized here at CIU. I think that between all my years of experience in ministry, and Dan’s experience, that any students who come here to CIU would be covered. The part that we really can focus on is the advancement of our classes. As far as “making Him known”, we do have limitations. Our motto in the Com. Dept is Communicating Christ Creatively. Sometimes, our limited resources can hinder that objective. So, I think there is a little bit of disconnect between our motto and CIU’s motto. Hopefully, I can be a bridge to help close that gap.

What’s your favorite movie?

One of my favorites is Chariots of Fire. I like the production of the movie in spite of it’s low budget. It even won an academy award. I can relate to the film because of it’s low budget, it’s message and the credentials it achieved.
If there was one thing you would want the students to know about you, what would it be?
Well, I cam to Christ through Black Sabbath. I watch the film, Jesus