Gothard came along years later.  Classmates remember him as a quiet, even reclusive character who would spend a lot of time alone, praying and fasting.
     He became involved in youth ministry, a field that was growing rapidly as the Baby Boom generation was approaching high school age.  His interest in this area led him back to Wheaton’s Graduate School, where he completed an M.A. in Christian Education in 1961.
     In his master’s thesis he critiqued the successful youth organization he was working with, and in the process revealed three primary influences over his thinking: (1) fundamentalism, (2) Charles G. Finney, and (3) Keswick theology.  As a prelude to highlighting these influences, he described an event that had a deep impact on him.