twenty-seventh & speedway

Shelton Chapel in a record six inches of snow in February. Photograph by Aiden Diaz

Keatan King elected chair of the board of trustees

Following the untimely death of newly elected Austin Seminary Board Chair Walter Harris on November 21, Keatan King, who had been serving as vice-chair, was elected on January 4 to fill the vacancy. Alumna Denise Nance Pierce (MATS’11) was elected vice-chair, making this the first time in the Seminary’s history that two women have held the top positions on the Austin Seminary Board of Trustees.

“In the wake of the sudden death of our dear friend Walter Harris, I was deeply grateful that Keatan King was elected to succeed him,” says Austin Seminary President Theodore J. Wardlaw. “Keatan is a remarkable pastor and friend, and she has begun to marshal her abundant gifts for leadership in her new role as board chair. She is a brilliant and consummate pastor, graced with administrative acumen and a quiet authority, and she and Vice-Chair Denise Pierce will faithfully steer the Seminary into the critical months and years that lie ahead. The Seminary owes a debt of gratitude to our dear friend Archer Frierson who faithfully served as board chair for five years and who has graciously offered to mentor Keatan in this new role.”

King is associate pastor of St. Philip Presbyterian Church, Houston. She graduated summa cum laude from Austin College with a BA in Spanish and cultural anthropology and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. She earned a Master of Divinity from Louisville Presbyterian Seminary, where she received the Field Education Award. She began her work at St. Philip in 2013. Keatan King has served on the Austin Seminary Board since 2016 and was elected vicechair during the November 2020 board meeting. She was the 2020 MidWinters Preacher at Austin Seminary.

A native of Austin, Texas, Keatan is the daughter of graduate, administrator, and trustee J Carter King (MDiv’70). She and her spouse, Nathan Carlin, are parents to a daughter.

Williamson Chair has new occupant in Professor Phil Helsel

Honored by a special “chairing service” on March 11, The Reverend Dr. Philip Browning Helsel is the new Associate Professor in the Nancy Taylor Williamson Distinguished Chair in Pastoral Care. Helsel joined the faculty in 2016; he previously served on the faculty of Boston College School of Theology and Ministry in Brighton, Massachusetts, as assistant professor of pastoral care and counseling (2012-2016).

Helsel earned his PhD in pastoral theology and practical theology from Princeton Theological Seminary in 2012. He also holds the MDiv in pastoral care and counseling from Princeton Theological Seminary (2004) and the BA, summa cum laude, in Bible and religion from Anderson University (2000). Helsel is ordained in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and was parish associate for pastoral care at Freehold Presbyterian Church in Freehold, New Jersey.

Dr. Helsel is the author of two books including Pastoral Care and Counseling: An Introduction (Paulist Press, 2019). He has authored numerous journal articles and book chapters, and he serves on the editorial board for the Journal of Pastoral Care and Counseling. He is married to Carolyn B. Helsel, Associate Professor in the Blair R. Monie Distinguished Chair in Homiletics at Austin Seminary, and they are parents to Caleb and Evelyn. The Nancy Taylor Williamson Chair in Pastoral Care was established in 2004 to ensure that resources will always be available at Austin Seminary for a full-time faculty member devoted to the study and teaching of pastoral care. Nancy Taylor Williamson of Denver, Colorado, is the wife of Hugh Williamson, a long-time trustee of Austin Seminary (1990-1999; 2000-2009; 2012-2015). This endowed faculty position reflects the lifelong commitment to caring for others exemplified by its honoree. “Nan has nurtured and mentored many people over the years,” said Hugh Williamson when establishing the endowment to honor his wife, “and in the process she has transformed lives and created hope-filled futures.”

community notes |

Cheryl Covey Ramsey died on February 20, 2021, in Asheville, North Carolina. She was a trustee (1999-2008) and the wife of current trustee Mark Ramsey.

Tracy Allison, whose husband, Jim, serves on the Seminary’s Board of Trustees, died on March 11 in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Senior students recognized for excellence

It is a long-standing and much-anticipated tradition during MidWinter Lectures to announce the graduating seniors selected by the faculty for special awards. These fellowships recognizing excellence in academics, character, and promise for ministry include The David L. Stitt Alumni Association Fellowship, The Pile-Morgan Fellowship, The Janie Maxwell Morris Fellowship, The Alsup-Frierson Fellowship for Excellence in Biblical Exegesis and Hermeneutics, and The W. P. Newell Memorial Fellowship. Meet the 2021 fellowship recipients here and learn why their professors championed them.

Kelly Bratkowski | Austin, Texas

David L. Stitt Fellowship | $18,000 prize

Photo by Usama Malik

Kelly Bratkowski is one of the finest students I have had in my twenty-five years of teaching. She is intelligent, industrious, insightful, and articulate. She is theologically sensitive—inquisitive and respectful of tradition without being formulaic or rigidly dogmatic. She intends to pursue a PhD in some area of theological study; I support that goal enthusiastically. She shows great promise as a teacher and a scholar.

–Professor Gregory Cuéllar

Caitlin Parsons | Austin, Texas

Pile-Morgan Fellowship | $8,000 prize

Caitlin is very deserving of this fellowship. Apart from being an outstanding citizen of the Austin Seminary community, what stands out for me is her scholarly excellence combined with her humble activism. Not only will she leave here having made Austin Seminary better, but her Christian leadership will also make the world a better place.

–Professor David Johnson

Audrey Burnett | Dallas, Texas

Janie Maxwell Morris Fellowship | $5,000 prize

Photograph by Usama Malik

“Audrey is one of those authentic and direct people who understands what it means to minister to those in distress. She comes with a clear understanding of her ministerial identity that guides her into fresh opportunities for care of others.”

–Professor Phil Helsel

Jacob Naron | Kerrville, Texas

Alsup-Frierson Fellowship for Excellence in Biblical Exegesis and Hermeneutics | $3,500 prize

Jacob’s unusual passion for biblical studies focuses on building bridges between academic and pastoral uses of the Bible. In a class on the epistle of James, for example, he used his exegesis of James 4 to create a Bible study for those undergoing hospice care, helping them to come to terms with end-of-life issues while held by the words and promises of scripture. Such pastoral imagination will serve him richly, as well as any to whom he is called to minister.

–Professor Margaret Aymer

Stephen Milburn | Lancaster, California

W. P. Newell Memorial Fellowship | $3,000 prize

Photograph by Usama Malik

Thoughtful, calm, and always ready to help, Stephen’s sense of grace as well as his gentle intelligence and kindness is evident to all. It is no wonder that Stephen has served so many times as a caretaker or helper—that is, as instructional aide, research assistant, and resident advisor—of fellow students and professors; and, at times, even of the feline, canine, and avian family members of this community.

– Professor Suzie Park