Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary summer|fall 2022 In this Issue President-elect Irizarry | 3 Honoring President Ted Wardlaw | 6
MAIL: Please make checks payable to Austin Seminary and mail to: Austin Austin,100OfficeTheologicalPresbyterianSeminaryofInstitutionalAdvancementEast27thStreetTX78705 ONLINE: You can make your donation on our secure website: AustinSeminary.edu/support PHONE: For stock transfers or credit card contributions over the phone: Advancement512-404-4886Office, Your gift to Austin Seminary is an investment in the future.
features Honoring President Ted Wardlaw 6 Introduction Max Sherman 7 Gathering Sharon Risher (MDiv’07) & Archer Frierson 9 Word Brian Blount & Barbara G. Wheeler 11 Eucharist Karl Travis & Meghan Vail (MDiv’17) 13 Sending Paul Hooker & Jeffrey Bullock 15 Ensuring the Future Elizabeth Williams Center: The 2021-22 Honor Roll of Donors & departments 2 seminary & church 3 twenty-seventh & speedway 16 the class of 2022 22 faculty news & notes 24 alumni news & notes 25 live & learn summer | fall 2022 Volume 137 | Number 3 8 As Ted Wardlaw retires after twenty years leading Austin Seminary, those who have observed his presidency weigh in on his legacy. Photograph by Usama Malik (MDiv’20). AUSTIN SEMINARY PR E SB Y TE R I A N TH E O L O G I CAL AUS T I N P RE SBY TER IAN THEOLOGICAL SEMINA RY Windows is published three times each year by Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Austin Seminary Windows Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary 100 E. 27th St. Austin, TX 78705-5711 phone: 512-404-4808 e-mail: ISSNAustinSeminary.eduwindows@austinseminary.edu2056-0556;Non-profitbulkmailpermitno.2473 Editor Randal Whittington Contributors Selina Aguirre JR Barden Sylvia Greenway Usama Malik AlisonMikalaGary(MDiv’20)MathewsMcFerrenRiemersmaSharonSandbergMonaSantandreaKristySorensenMaryWall 3 6 Austin AssociationSeminary(ASA) Board Josh
President
Past-President
Vice-President
Trustees Emeriti Cassandra C. Carr
20
James A. DeMent (MDiv’17) Jill Duffield (DMin’13) Britta Martin Dukes (MDiv’05) Peg Falls-Corbitt (CIM’13) Jackson Farrow Jr. Beth Blanton Flowers, M.D. Stephen Giles Jesús Juan González (MDiv’92) William Greenway Cyril Hollingsworth (CIM’16) Ora JohnHoustonA.Kenney (CIM’20) Steve LeBlanc Sue B. MatthewMcCoyMiller (MDiv’03) W. David Pardue
Bruce G. Herlin Lyndon Olson B. W. Payne
Max R. Sherman Anne V. Stevenson Kerr (MDiv’14), Paul Sink (MDiv’00), Melinda Hunt (CIM’16), Candy Cubbage (MDiv’89) David Gambrell (MDiv’98) John Guthrie (MDiv’06) Sarah Hegar (MDiv’09) Felicia Hopkins (MDiv’96) Amy Litzinger (MATS’15) Carl McCormack (MDiv’95) Joe MacDonald (DMin’19) James Morley (MDiv’88) Jean Reardon (MDiv’05) Devon Reynolds (MDiv’19) Amy Sergent (MDiv’92) Tony Spears (MDiv’15) Marta Ukropina (MDiv’06)
President Theodore J. Wardlaw Board of Trustees Keatan A. King, Chair James C. Allison Lee JaniceArdellL.Bryant (MDiv’01, DMin’11) Kelley Cooper Cameron (CIM’21) Katherine B. Cummings (MDiv’05) Thomas Christian Currie
Denise Nance Pierce (MATS’11) Mark B. Ramsey Stephen J. Rhoades Sharon Risher (MDiv’07) Conrad M. Rocha Lana Russell John L. Van Osdall Michael Waschevski (DMin’03) Elizabeth C. Williams
Michael G. Wright
President Wardlaw gives David Jensen a congratulatory hug at the party given to honor his service as dean.
2 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary for the president |
What makes for a good seminary president? There are countless ways to assess presidents during these extraordinary—and often difficult—times in theological education. One way is to consider the people a president has gathered. People, after all, make a place. By this measure, President Wardlaw’s record is stunning. Of the current twenty-one faculty members, seventeen were hired during Ted’s presidency. It’s a remarkably strong faculty: committed to teaching, the church, and the value of theological education in our conflicted age. Ted has also hired all current cabinet members: an extraordinarily competent, creative, and committed team of administrators. This list of people goes on: all current trustees who give generously of their time and resources; nearly all the current staff who sustain and enhance the Seminary’s mission. President Wardlaw has a knack for bringing together the right people. Perhaps it’s the impact that a president makes on the physical campus. Again, on this score, Ted’s leadership has been transformative. The Austin Seminary campus is more physically welcoming and aesthetically inviting than when he began his service in 2002. Anderson House, McCoy House, and the Mary B. and Robert J. Wright Learning and Information Center all came about, in large part, because of Ted’s leadership. Maybe it’s the way a president expands a broader constituency of donors, students, and committed collaborators. The Seminary, by this measure, is in the best shape it’s ever been. Maybe it’s the way a president nurtures a seminary’s rootedness in Gospel, by reminding all that we are a school of the church tasked with proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ. This has been a constant refrain of Ted’s presidency. Or maybe it’s the way a president provides an effective voice for the Seminary in a world that often questions the value of theological education. Ted, by this measure, has been tireless in his advocacy for seminaries and a winsome messenger for the distinctives that make Austin Seminary such a specialButplace.Ithink, in the end, what has made Ted’s presidency such a good one is his strength of character. I have learned much about his character over the past twenty years, especially during the past eight years when he and I shared offices in the Seminary administrative suite. These have been the best eight years of my career. Ted is compassionate. He cares deeply about this Seminary, the future of the church, and the people in it. Ted is resolute. During difficult times (an economic downturn, a global pandemic), Ted has been a steady hand on the tiller. He has faced multiple challenges, the occasional malcontent, and all manner of disruptions, without losing focus on the core Seminary mission. He has kept at it, year in and year out. Ted has integrity. He has spoken the truth when a half-truth would have been easier. Ted shows reverence: for the life of the mind, the spirit, and the heart, knowing that we belong to the living God of Jesus Christ. Ted is funny. His sense of humor is contagious. It invites people with a hearty welcome.
The essays in this issue of Windows celebrate the distinctive character of President Wardlaw. They mark a character formed, at its root, by patterns of Reformed worship. They demonstrate that Ted has not only been a good president of this seminary, but a remarkable one for such a time as this. Thank you, Ted, for being you.
Ted knows that a good laugh can make managing nearly anything a bit easier and even joyful. And Ted is generous: his warmth of spirit has made this Seminary a more welcoming and inviting place to study, to work, and to be.
– David H. Jensen, Academic Dean (2014-2022)
seminary church President Wardlaw received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree on May 22 from Austin College; he was also invited to be their Baccalaureate speaker. He is shown here receiving the hood from Austin College Board Chair David Corrigan and President Steven O’Day.
President-elect Irizarry is married to Mildred (Milly) Del Valle, a speech pathologist and ruling elder, and they are parents to three young adults currently engaging undergraduate and graduate studies: Yuyza (23), Darien Farel (21), and Abayomi Nicola (18). He will begin his tenure with Austin Seminary on August 22, 2022. v
José R. Irizarry to become Austin Seminary’s tenth president
Summer | Fall 2022 | 3 twenty-seventh speedway
The Austin Seminary Board of Trustees, at a called meeting on June 27, elected the Reverend Dr. José Ramon Irizarry as the Seminary’s nextReflectingpresident.on conversations with the candidate, Board Chair Keatan King recalled, “Dr. Irizarry lifted up the distinctive gifts of our seminary and gave voice to a hopeful vision of theological education for our time. For José, listening isn’t simply a best practice of leadership; it is his spiritual gift—one he has honed in his personal practice of contemplative prayer. José Irizarry will lead Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary by listening to all members of the community to hear God’s dreams, already emerging within us, so he can guide us in reaching our potential.” Since 2016, Irizarry has served as Vice President of Education at the Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). A scholar in the field of practical theology, Irizarry teaches at Villanova University and has held teaching and administrative positions at various educational and theological institutions including The University of Cambridge (Visiting Fellow), Lutheran School of Theology, the Pacific School of Religion, and McCormick Theological Seminary. Out of his expertise as a bilingual educator, Dr. Irizarry directed Cambridge College’s regional campus in his native San Juan, Puerto Rico, (2011-2015) and served as academic dean, acting president, and held The Limardo Chair in Practical Theology at the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico (2007-2011). He earned degrees from the University of Puerto Rico (BA), McCormick Theological Seminary (MDiv), and Northwestern University (PhD) as well as professional certifications from the Universitá per Stranieri di Perugia, Italy, Boston College, and Cornell SupportingUniversity.hiswork in the field of religious education and intercultural relations, Irizarry has traveled internationally to lead seminars and conferences and to conduct research. He has chaired academic accreditation teams in the US and Puerto Rico and served as president of the Religious Education Association in the United States and Canada. An ordained minister in the PC(USA), he has served the church as member of the Review Committee of the Whole (assessing the work of all agencies of the Presbyterian Church) and on the Committee on Theological Education. He was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation (Westminster John Knox Press, Geneva Press) for eight years and is currently a trustee at Columbia Theological Seminary. He served interim pastoral positions at Presbyterian and inter-denominational congregations in Puerto Rico and the US.
The Reverend Dr. Jill Duffield (DMin’13), who served on the Presidential Search Committee, said, “After our conversation with Dr. Irizarry, I kept returning to a question he posed to us: ‘Who needs theological education?’ His instinct and commitment to begin with people rather than program, opportunity rather than challenge, invited imagination and creativity. We began to consider new possibilities. This simple question has profound implications not only for what we do as a theological institution, but for who we are as a community of believers. I can’t wait to see how the Spirit will answer this question under Dr. Irizarry’s leadership.”
reflections,
The Mary B. and Robert J. Wright Learning and Information Center was dedicated on May 13, 2022, with worship, greetings and lunch, and tours.
On May 11, the community honored Dr. David Jensen, above left, for his eight years as academic dean. He was positively thrilled with his gift, presented by Alison
andWrightWright,WithAvengersautographedaboveRiemersma,right:an(bytheactresswhoplayedher)ScarletWitchactionfigure.herfamily,Mrs.Robertfrontleft,visitedtheCenterwhichbearsherherhusband’snames. {
“Threshold,” held on May 12, gave seniors an opportunity to reflect on their education and dream about the future alongside members of the ASA Board and Seminary administrators. twenty-seventh speedway { The spring brought a second gathering to hear each others’ stories as four middler students shared personal stories on the theme ofThose“Blossoming.”whowere on campus gathered in person on June 27 to welcome Presidentelect José R. Irizarry to Austin Seminary. Others joined the livestreamed event. { {{ Summer | Fall 2022 | 5
Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
Honoring President Ted Wardlaw
Iwas chair of the Austin Presbyterian Theological Sem inary Presidential Search Committee that enthusias tically recommended Ted Wardlaw to be president of Austin Seminary in 2002. As we began our process, I re minded the members that Robert McAfee Brown (in The Bible Speaks to You) said: The Bible isn’t just another book “with a lot of interesting information about God. It is a book in which people find God ‘coming alive,’ making his way into their hearts, and demanding that they do some thing about him … We have to be prepared for surprises and unexpected news.” How this committee was led to “surprises and unex pected news”! We set an ambitious goal to find leaders in the church who were recognized and respected by other leaders of the church. We aggressively tried to identify those people that would cause the collective voice of the church to say “Wow” if Austin Seminary could name as president any of those on the short list. Ted Wardlaw was on everyone’s “Wow” list. Most of us did not know Ted Wardlaw. That year the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) elected a new moderator, Fahed Abu-Akel. In his nomi nating speech and later in his acceptance speech, the new moderator referred to Ted Wardlaw by name as a bridge-builder, one of two leaders in the Greater Atlanta Presbytery who helped find common ground for those who hold different views on the contentious issues of the church. The references were made as an example of how to achieve one of the new moderator’s three priority goals, Unity in Diversity.
Windows interviewed Jack Stotts as he was leaving the Seminary presidency. In response to the question, In the grand scheme of theological education, where does Austin Seminary fit? Here is his answer: “Austin has a glorious future. In the year 2025 it will be looked at as exemplary. United States demographic trends are with us. The Presbyterian Church will find its strength in the Sun Belt of which we are a part. Population trends show people coming our way. Austin is an extremely attractive place to live and work. Theologically, we have a tradition of not being captured by either the right or left … Our faculty will continue to write, speak, publish, and serve the church.”Itisnot yet 2025, but I believe Jack Stotts would say, “Amen. Ted Wardlaw has given exemplary leadership to Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.”–
Someone who knows him well has said, “Ted’s whole life is an act of worship,” and so we present these reflections on President Theodore J. Wardlaw’s twenty-year tenure at Austin Seminary using the four-part structure of the Presbyterian Order of Worship: gathering, Word, Sacraments, sending. From the invitation to the community into the worship of God, through the proclamation of the Word and the stewardship of the mysteries of faith, culminating with the benediction and charge to go forth and share the Good News, may these ruminations on President Wardlaw’s leadership clearly demonstrate why we are profoundly grateful for his years with us.
I was on the three-member team that went to Atlanta to interview Ted Wardlaw to determine if we would invite him for a full committee interview. We met with him for lunch and had five plus hours of interview. Then in Dallas our committee met with him for four hours. In those al most ten hours I learned a lot about a person I had never met. In my opinion and in the opinion of many references, Ted Wardlaw had all of the qualities Austin Seminary needed for its leader as we entered our second century.
Max Sherman Trustee Emeritus
6 |
My first encounter with Ted, in January of 2003, happened while I was walking from the Trull building and Ted was getting out of his Volvo. He greeted me and I introduced myself. Instantly, a con nection was made. We were “homies,” both born and reared in South Carolina—myself, Charleston, Ted, Or angeburg. I learned he was new to the seminary, just like me. Whenever we encountered each other on campus, greetings were exchanged, and smiles ensued. My time at Austin Seminary was hard and challeng ing. But I made it my business to attend chapel when Ted was preaching. Ted always had a great illustration and always there in the sermon, you had an encounter with God. His sermons always left me with hope for confront ing all that would come my way. God is faithful to us all. The chapel was that place of gathering, where Ted lift ed your spirits, where the music was always purposeful and beautiful, and where Ted always offered support. The sacredness of the chapel, the pure sincerity of Ted’s lead ership, gave me hope. This gathering place where many times Ted administered the sacraments, in community with all who received. On June 17th, 2015, my life was forever changed. My beloved mother, Ethel Lee Lance, along with two cousins and a childhood friend, were murdered in Emanuel AME Church, in Charleston. Very soon after the announce ment of this tragedy, Austin Seminary gathered around me from all over the country. The gathering of invisible arms of support, especially from Ted, carried me during such time of deep sorrow. Ted made the drive from Aus tin to Dallas to visit with me and to ask me, “What can we (seminary) do for you?” What a special visit I had with Ted.When Ted told me about plans for the Ethel Lance Memorial Circle and the Ethel Lance Social Justice Award for a graduating senior, I could not stop crying about how the sense of family—community, a place of gathering— would honor her life and death. What a special thing to do for my mother! The Ethel Lance Memorial Circle has become a place of gathering that is sacred ground, a place, only feet from the chapel, where many gatherings have taken place. I have heard from many students over the years how, sitting on the benches gave them peace and a subtle urge to action. Ted makes this happen.
All my memories from my matriculation at Aus tin Seminary include being under the leadership of Ted Wardlaw, and my becoming a member of the board of trustees happened under Ted’s watch. Thank you, Ted, and May God Bless you and your family with grace upon on you on the new journey.
– The Reverend Sharon W. Risher (MDiv’07) Member of the Board
Summer | Fall 2022 | 7 Gathering
8 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary FOR THE GLORY OF GOD AND TO PROCLAIM THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST,” the opening phrase of Austin Seminary’s Mission Statement, seems to me to capture the essence of Ted Wardlaw’s ministry as the Seminary’s president for the past twenty years. The sin gle-mindedness of purpose of that statement, I believe, has been the guiding light of Ted’s tenure as Austin’s leader. And the fact that our president has demonstrated consistently the resolve to lift up, to maintain, and to en courage the Seminary community to focus on its central mission—through often challenging times—has served as a significant blessing to the Seminary for the past two decades.What is it that has enabled Ted Wardlaw to be such a successful seminary president? The answer to that ques tion are qualities of leadership that every Presbyterian seminary would covet for their president. Obviously, Ted is a person of sincere faith in the Lord. He believes in the Church of Jesus Christ, in the Reformed Tradition, and in the Presbyterian denomination. Without those essential bedrock commitments to the mission and ministry of the church, personal qualities, attributes, and skills are sec ondary. Ted’s success as president of Austin Seminary is grounded in his faith. For the past twenty years, I have observed his leader ship role on behalf of Austin Seminary, and for the last ten years, have been fortunate enough to see first-hand, as a member of the board of trustees, his dedicated, skilled, principled, thoughtful, energetic, determined, sincere, and unquestionably loving work as our president. One might say that Ted Wardlaw is the “total package” of what a seminary president ought to aspire to be: theolo gian, preacher, teacher, pastor, confidante, collegial part ner, fellow scholar, administrator, fundraiser, and, most importantly, friend. In my view, Ted has been, and con tinues to be, accomplished—nay, outstanding—in all of those roles. I am not able to express my full appreciation for the yeoman service Ted has provided Austin Seminary over the past twenty years, but in an effort to do so, I think it is advisable to return to our Mission Statement. The reason for doing so, in my mind is simple: President Ted Wardlaw takes the Mission Statement seriously.
–Archer Frierson Chair of the Board of Trustees (2015-2020)
During Ted’s presidency, he has faithfully and consis tently emphasized the fact that Austin is unapologetical ly a Presbyterian seminary that is rooted, theologically, in the Reformed Tradition. His leadership has demon strated, without question, that our primary focus is to prepare individuals for the parish ministry, by educating and training them in a residential setting. In addition, he has taken seriously the goal of providing resources to the larger church—evidenced not only by his personal com mitment but by the commitment of the entire faculty— to participate in and contribute to the life and work of individual churches in our denomination, and beyond. In addition, Austin’s faculty, under Ted’s direction, has con sistently demonstrated its skill and devotion to engaging in serious theological discussion and scholarship.
Honoring President Wardlaw
And finally, I believe that Ted Wardlaw’s sincere and committed leadership of Austin Seminary, as our presi dent for the past twenty years, is rooted in the fact that he has always taken seriously the final charge in our Mis sion Statement, “… to be a winsome and exemplary com munity of God’s people.” I believe that the Seminary has been able to achieve that goal during the Wardlaw years because we have been led by a “winsome and exemplary” man of WellGod.done, good and faithful servant!
Summer | Fall 2022 | 9
– The Reverend Dr. Brian Blount President of Union Presbyterian Seminary
Word
Standing on the Word. The phrase reminds me of the church I grew up in. I heard it preached from the pulpit. I heard it sung from the choir loft. I saw it lived in the courageous faith of my parents. I hear it and I think back. With joy. In much that has happened in my vocational life, I reconsider it. And I am filled with grati tude. For Ted Wardlaw. Because the phrase also reminds me ofOnehim.of the offerings Ted brought to the presidency of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary was the gift of proclamation. He is a master at using human words to interpret God’s Word. He is a great preacher. His textual insights comfort and challenge, provoke and calm. Most of all, they teach. Many are the times that I have heard or read one of Ted’s sermons and, through the lens of his in cisive, faithful, even witty insights, been opened to Scrip ture’s words in a fascinating, novel way. Ted’s articles and lectures are equally engaging. Sev eral years ago, Ted and I were invited to draft lectures that would ultimately be published for the 200th anni versary of the Presbyterian Outlook. As we conferred to gether about how to approach the task in a complemen tary fashion, I delighted in Ted’s dedication to copious research on the topic he chose, his engagement of im pactful contextual issues, and his collegial conversations with me as we together shaped our efforts for public pre sentation. Whether scriptural and historical or popular and contemporary, he values the words people past and present have used to witness to their faith and identity. He demonstrates how much he values their words by how vigorously he interrogates them, seeking, as scholar, to understand, and, if necessary, contest the truths their words confess, aspiring as preacher, lecturer, and teach er to engage those truths for his hearers and readers in meaningful, constructive, and transformational ways. I remember with thanksgiving how, standing firmly on God’s Word of liberation for all God’s people, he issued a call for repentance from a church that too often stands less upon the Word than at a safe distance from it. A church that, too often, seeks equilibrium when prophetic action is required. “The gospel is about more than bal ance,” he writes. “To put it more strongly, it’s not about balance at all. I believe that, in these days as we are busy creating the history of our reunited Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)—some portion of which was born out of the her esies of the Confederacy, we are being called to venture beyond the safety of balance. We are being called to strive to be more faithful, thank God, than the church we grew up in.”Igrew up in a church that fostered good, strong lead ership by modeling and mentoring it. One didn’t just stand on the Word; one stood on the shoulders of those who strode the path before them. I am also filled with gratitude because Ted was both such a model and mentor to me. Already a seminary president for five years when I was called to the presidency of his theological alma mater, (now) Union Presbyterian Seminary, Ted was willing to share his wisdom about the opportunities and challenges of being a theological administrator. Ted invited me to reach out whenever I might need advice and if ever I just needed the listening ears and friendly voice of someone who was journeying the road a few years ahead of me. I accepted his offer often. True to his word, he, his counsel, and his friendship have always been readily available. Standing on the Word. Standing by his word. The phrases will always remind me of President Ted Wardlaw.
It is no secret that Ted Wardlaw is a high church Pres byterian. In an earlier day, his love of neo-Gothic ar chitecture, formal liturgy, organ music, and choral singing might have been labelled “Presbypalian,” and his allegiance to the Reformed worship traditions of plain décor, unscripted prayers, and psalm-singing only would have been called into question. Suspicions might have been heightened by his wardrobe. Though on state occa sions he does break out his Stetson and cowboy boots, his signature business attire—bow tie and navy blazer—has a distinctly Anglican flair. Today Ted’s worship predilections are uncontro versial. In fact, in a culture that privileges pictures over words, 280-character tweets over lengthier commen tary, and brief punchy blogs over carefully crafted essays, many would say that he is helping to rescue the Reformed tradition from such major defects as verbosity and lack of visual appeal. Anyone who observes Ted over time, how ever, knows that his respect for words is profound and his skill in using them the most notable of his many gifts for ministry.Ted’s verbal acuity is evident in his institutional lead ership. His style is marked as much by what he doesn’t say as by what he does. He is privy to a lot of informa tion, including personal details about staff, faculty, and students, but he keeps confidences and does not gossip. When he speaks as president, whether in ceremonial settings or policy debates, he uses relatively few words, choosing them carefully for accuracy and clarity. And al though Ted has never asked me for money—he probably figured out that I don’t have enough to make it worth his time—I strongly suspect that it is his considerate listen ing and sensitive speaking that have made him a success ful fundTed’sraiser.deep Reformed convictions and his deft use of words in their service are most evident in his preaching. In our tradition, as Thomas Torrance put it, the truth is a person, and faith entails a relationship with that per son. Words bring us closer to the living Word. We have no idea—the Shroud of Turin and Sallman’s Head of Christ notwithstanding—what Jesus looked like. We don’t know—red letter Bibles and the Jesus Seminar notwithstanding—exactly what he said. But we do have Spirit-infused accounts of what his disciples heard him teach and saw him do—and then handed on to others who wrote down what they heard. Ted finds the contem porary language to keep these accounts inspirited and lively for contemporary listeners. He uses relatable illus trations but keeps them in their place, never permitting the illustration to supplant the scripture. His discourses have shape and come to a point. They are, as southerners like Ted would say, “winsome,” and also compelling and full of gospel truth. Whatever Ted chooses to do next, let us hope that we who would see and love Jesus can benefit from his gracefully worded and powerfully Reformed ser mons for many years to come.
– Barbara G. Wheeler President of Auburn Seminary (1979-2009)
Honoring President Wardlaw 10 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
And while this is true of Ted’s entire ministry at Aus tin Seminary, it is breathtakingly obvious in his ability to attract generosity towards the Seminary’s future. Ted and his team raised nearly $100 million for the Seminary, a reality I am convinced possible primarily because Ted trusts God’s vision, and people trust Ted. People intuit that Ted is the real thing, the genuine article, an authen tic Christian.Havingpeered directly into The Giver’s heart, Ted could inspire givers’ hearts. And students’ hearts. And worshipers’ hearts. And professors,’ and board members,’ and congregations’ hearts. Thanks be to God for Ted’s ministry among us. The Reverend Karl Travis Member of the Board (2008-2016)
Summer | Fall 2022 | 11 Eucharist
The first time I heard Ted Wardlaw deliver a “State of the Seminary” address, I marveled at how one human being could be so knowledgeable, wise, and prescient about what seminaries—and the church—face in the future. Such detailed insight seemed to me almost unbelievable, so much so that I resolved to keep tabs over time on Ted’s annual addresses. They never failed to de liver. How did he do it? Finally I realized that such perception and prognos tication come not only from intentional research and long experience in his field, but even more importantly they emerge from vision. Ted has a vision for the church’s work clearly drawn from a vast and long-nurtured imagi nation for the Kingdom of Heaven—simultaneously here and yet, not yet. Among the many meanings of the Eucharist—bap tism resealed, mission renewed and empowered, sins for given, boundaries bridged, the believer lifted into Christ’s presence—the meaning to which I now most closely cling is how, at the Table, God offers us a foretaste of the com ing Kingdom. As we leave the Table, the values of that Kingdom fresh on our lips, God grants us vision for living peacefully, fruitfully toward God’s dreams. And for those most receptive to that vision, its essence still on the tips of their tongues, imagination for working toward it ap pears all the more natural. Such it is with Ted Wardlaw. Liturgical purists rightly warn us never to return full offering plates to the Lord’s Table lest we create even the unintended appearance that the Eucharist is transaction al. What we receive at Table is gift, not payment; grace, not reward. Communion conveys all that it does precisely because it is unearned, and precisely because it is divine gift, it is completely trustworthy. Which is why Ted was so compelling as a seminary president. He is so certain of the vision he has received that walking alongside as he strode toward it seemed wholly natural and good. Fun, even. His vision was clear and motivating. His insight was convincing and exciting.
–
Honoring President Wardlaw
Associate Pastor, Community Presbyterian Church, Pinehurst, North Carolina
When I was a student at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, I often participated in the weekday worship life of the community in the chapel. One of my favorite aspects of worship, as a future minister in training, was listening to how worship leaders offered an invitation to the table. As a lifelong church goer, I’ve more often than not felt welcome and at home at God’s table, but as I’ve grown and become more aware of the dynamics of privilege and marginalization in the life of the church—its “growing pains”—I’ve come to appreciate to an even greater extent the importance of a strong, Christ-centered welcome. When it’s done well, an invitation gives us a heightened awareness of our be lovedness and draws us into the life of God. When we feel nourished by both the welcome and the feast itself, we truly become a nourishing people, and everything that we aspire to in the kin-dom of God feels possible. Be ing nourished at a welcome table gives me a heady feel ing, and it’s in those times that I find the greatest clarity about the church’s calling, and, thanks be to the Spirit, the greatest energy for whatever lies ahead in order for me to journey more faithfully as a minister and child of God.President Ted Wardlaw is someone who, throughout his years of service, leadership, and ministry, offered lifegiving invitations. Although I’ve only had the privilege of sharing table fellowship with him for just a portion of his ministry career, I’m confident that Ted’s minis try has been defined by his invitational way. It seemed (and seems) to be a rule of life for him. Ted invited us to the table to share the Lord’s Supper in the sacred space of Shelton Chapel … and frequently encouraged us not to neglect this time devoted to our spiritual lives for the sake of essays or exam cramming. He invited us to the table in the president’s boardroom for collaborative dia logue on student leadership initiatives. He undertook the courageous work of inviting us to the table to reflect on the climate of campus and opportunities for God’s divine welcome to be manifest more sincerely and supportively in our little community of the body of Christ at Austin Seminary.I’llnever forget the sermon that Ted preached a few years ago in Utah, a guest at the church I was serving. He spoke of Jesus’s invitation to James and John to drink from his cup in the tenth chapter of Mark’s Gospel. Ted recalled a time in which he studied this passage in a small group with Fred Craddock, who observed to their group that to drink the cup in one swallow was “far easier” than “sipping on it for forty years,” or the span of a ministry career. And yet, Ted reflected that day, the faithful life of ministry is a life of sipping: praying, visiting, mentoring, comforting. At times, in sorrow, and at times, in joy. On the occasion of his retirement, I can’t think of a better image to capture Ted’s legacy in the church, or at least, in my small corner of it. Thank you, Ted, for welcoming me and others well, invitation after invitation, year after year. Thank you for every small sip of faithful ministry that built a wider and more welcome table.
– The Reverend Meghan Vail (MDiv’17)
12 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
Summer | Fall 2022 | 13
Sending
In the wake of Ted Wardlaw’s retirement, I’ve been thinking about leadership. Ted is one of the finest, most effective leaders I’ve ever known, and standing to the end of this portion of his career has me reflecting on the skills and traits that make for his kind of leader ship. I think these four stand out to me: Absorbing the ethos of the institution. I came to Austin Seminary for the first time to attend Ted’s inauguration as president. Ted took me on a campus tour that culmi nated with Shelton Chapel. Once inside, he walked me through the symbolism of the chapel’s accoutrements. He was completely engaged by the significance of the place. As I listened, I realized that in the short few months he had been here, he had already absorbed and digested the spirit of this place; it was part of him, and he was part of it. He was becoming the principal interpreter of the lega cy of the place. Good leaders absorb the ethos of the com munity they lead down into the marrow of their bones. Being willing to take a principled stand. Not long after Ted became president, he was confronted with pressure from several large-church pastors in Texas to move the Seminary in a more conservative and evangelical direc tion or face financial strangulation. They wanted to see it resist the admission of LGBTQ students and to hire more theologically conservative faculty. But instead of caving to the pressure, Ted insisted we admit bright students, regardless of sexual orientation, students who would before many years be eligible for ordination in a more open church. He insisted that we call and install the best faculty we could find. It cost him more than a little sleep, I’m sure. But all those pastors are gone now, and Ted Wardlaw and Austin Seminary have built two new student apartment buildings and the Wright Learning and Information Center, funded the College of Pastoral Leaders, and endowed faculty chairs and full-ride student scholarships. Good leaders know when to take a stand. Staying connected to others. Anyone who’s ever disagreed with Ted knows that the best way to disagree with him is face-to-face. If you’ve done that, you know that look on his face that says, I’m listening; tell me more. You may not convince him (I haven’t, at least not often), but you will leave the encounter knowing you’ve been heard. Good leaders stay connected to the people in the commu nity, especially those with whom they disagree.
Avoiding adding anxiety to an anxious situation. Therapists call this being a “non-anxious presence.” There is no such
The second image that comes to mind of my friend Wardlaw is far more profane. It is still shepherd like, in the way that shepherds were both caring and profane, but it’s holy too. One summer weekend, after a long General Assembly meeting, Ted and Kay joined our family at our northern Wisconsin lake home. My wife and I have three sons. In those years, they ranged in age from pre-teen to early adolescence, and the lake was a place where they could fish, light firecrackers, catch crawdads, and gener ally be disgusting human beings with nobody watching or telling them to straighten their shirts.
Keep watch over yourselves and over all the flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son. - Acts 20:28
– The Reverend Dr. Paul Hooker Associate Dean for Ministerial Formation and Advanced Studies (2012-2021)
Austin Seminary has a universe of things to thank Ted Wardlaw for. But amidst all the accolades, I hope we will remember what may be his most lasting lesson: how to be a leader. Thank you, Ted. And God bless you in your retirement.
One of the really beautiful things about Oxbow Lake is that there are generally no people. Our family boat shared the lake with loons and mosquitos. And so it hap pened that Ted and Kay arrived just in time for our most profane family lake tradition—the annual Bullock boy burp-off. Every summer, I would make a pilgrimage to the Dollar Store to buy prizes for five different categories: the longest burp, loudest burp, most creative burp, most disgusting burp, and longest burp sentence. And, much thing as a “non-anxious” leader. But good leaders know what to do with their anxiety. I’ve been privileged to be part of a small group of people with whom Ted seeks ad vice or, sometimes, lets off steam. I know what he’s do ing: he’s finding a place to let go of some of the anxiety he feels about whatever he has to do or say, and he’s re hearsing whether and how he wants to do or say it. Good leaders don’t add their own anxiety to an already anxious situation. They find a place to release it where it won’t do harm, and then tend to making the situation better.
I have two favorite images of my friend Wardlaw that I would like to share with you. The first image is a portrait of President Wardlaw serving communion in the seminary chapel. In that im age, the outstretched hand of the communicant meets the extended hand of the pastor through a piece of bread—the body of Christ. The servant’s stole represents the most important duty of what it means for this shep herd of God to keep watch over the flock. And there is a smile; a gentle smile, given and received. It is a perfect image of a holy moment.
Honoring President Wardlaw 14 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
Keeping watch. That’s my friend, Wardlaw. Theodore J. Wardlaw (Ted to his friends; Ward law to this friend), through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, has faithfully kept watch over Christ’s mis sion known as Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary for two decades. But as the text in Acts implies, keeping watch is no passive kind of thing. Rather, it requires ac tion and activity and a constant state of readiness. There fore, it is no easy task but an extraordinary calling; a gift to be shared and burden to be borne.
Over dinner one evening our now 24-year-old son perked up a bit when I shared the news of Ted’s im pending retirement with Dana. “Was he your friend that joined us on the lake?” my son inquired. “Yes,” I answered. “I remember him,” he said. “He was one of the cool ones.”
I invite readers of Windows to consider a gift to this endowment as a way of honoring Ted’s leadership and demonstrating your support for theological education for the church. v – Elizabeth Williams Trustee and Chair of the Finance and CommitteeAdministrationoftheBoard to the surprise of our sons, their invi tation to participate in the contest was not declined by President Wardlaw. In fact, he participated with great gusto. And, if my memory serves, he might even have won a prize. Those two images of my friend Ted capture both the holy and profane work of a faithful shepherd. The work that a seminary president is called to perform is often lonely, sometimes breathtakingly beautiful, and always an act of faithful stewardship. And there are other more profane moments in which a presi dent might rather not participate. Performed faithfully and well, both moments are acts of faithful holiness and even generosity.
Enough said.
– The Reverend Dr. Jeffrey Bullock President of University of Dubuque Make a secure gift at: AustinSeminary.edu/Wardlaw
I have been honored to serve as a trustee at Austin Sem inary for about twenty years and have been humbled to observe the generosity of so many who have made gifts, large and small, for annual support, for invest ing in the campus, and for building up the endowment. Our students and the larger church are the primary beneficiaries of such selfless support. Our donors are thinking of the future, paying forward to assure re sources for building up the church and Christ’s mission in the world for generations to come.
If you read Windows, it is a sign that you care about theological education and want the church to be served and strengthened by pastors well-grounded in the Reformed tradition. Perhaps, like me, you have made plans for a bequest from your estate. When Ted Wardlaw announced that he wished to retire in 2022, we trustees decided that a splendid way to honor his twenty years of leadership at Austin Semi nary would be to create and fund The Theodore J. Ward law Presidential Endowment. Ted, with his energetic service and strong leadership, has transformed the campus, raised the profile of Austin Seminary among the Presbyterian connection, built bridges with Chris tian leaders of other denominations, and expanded al ready hefty academic programs to reach a wider student body. Our expectation was that such an endowment, in addition to honoring Ted, would provide meaning ful ongoing support for the Office of the President and help it to attract gifted leaders far into the future.
Summer | Fall 2022 | 15
Paying it Forward
Graduates in the Master of Arts (Theological Studies) and Master of Divinity degree programs
The Reverend Keatan King, chair of the Seminary Board of Trustees presided over the service and Academic Dean David Jensen hooded the graduates.
The 2022 Commencement Speaker was The Very Rev. Cynthia Briggs Kittredge, ThD, dean and president of Seminary of the Southwest, an Episcopal seminary in Austin, Texas. President Ted Wardlaw delivered his final Charge to the Graduates (page 20) as he transitions into retirement.
Austin Seminary resumed in-person Commencement on May 15, 2022, at University Presbyterian Church, Austin, bestowing degrees on fifty-eight graduates: five receiving the Doctor of Ministry degree; one, the Master of Arts (Theological Studies); twenty-one, the Master of Arts in Youth Ministry; and thirty-one the Master of Divinity degree. One student also earned the Master of Science in Social Work degree from the University of Texas at Austin.
16 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary The Class of 2022
The Baccalaureate service was held on May 14 at University Presbyterian Church. Dr. Suzie Park, associate professor of New Testament, delivered the sermon, and the Reverend Dr. Bobbi Kaye Jones, Professor in The Louis B. and Katherine S. Zbinden Distinguished Chair of Pastoral Ministry and Leadership presided at the Lord’s Table. Commencement weekend got off to a rousing start on Friday, May 13, when families and friends gathered with the Seminary community in Shelton Chapel to dedicate the newly opened Mary B. and Robert J. Wright Learning and Information Center. The construction and renovation of the library took place during the COVID pandemic (20202021) when the campus was mostly closed and classes and worship moved online.The glorious weekend seemed a fitting conclusion to the Class of 2022’s seminary experience as we celebrated their perseverence and faithfulness! v
Community rejoices with return to in-person graduation for the Class of 2022
Instructional Designer
Karen Denise Sprouse Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Chaplaincy Resident, Ascencion Seton, Austin, Texas
Savannah Lynne Shivers Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Rabert Frankie Sheppard Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Intern, Lake Travis (Texas) Presbyterian Church
Sangbum “David” Kim ECO Presbyterian Associate Pastor, Austin (Texas) Korean Presbyterian Church
Ashley Diane Cuellar
Summer | Fall 2022 | 17
David Anthony Wallace
Sarah Grace Dixon Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Director of Children, Youth, and Families, First Presbyterian Church, Austin Texas
Joel Pepper
TimmonsBrougham Lutheran Church, ELCA Youth Director, Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, Austin, Texas
United Methodist Church Pastor, Manor (Texas) United Methodist Church Emily Elizabeth Everts Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Resumé screener, Google Katie Ann Henderson Presbyterian Church (U.S.A .) Assistant Director of Programs, Camp Fellowship, Waterloo, South Carolina
Paige Gressett Alam United Methodist Church Rebekkah Grace Balint Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Kailen Ann Soncksen Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Freelance writer
Alan David Constant Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Seeking a call
Courtnay Greer Veazey Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Associate Pastor, Idlewild Presbyterian Church, Memphis, Tennessee
Tyler Cole Steele
Rachel Diane Watson Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Stated Supply Associate Pastor, University Presbyterian Church, Austin, Texas
Kimberly Faith Eleno Mendoza Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Pastoral Resident, First Presbyterian Church, Libertyville, Illinois
Josiah Benjamin Rosa Assemblies of God Interested in church planting in Montana
Jordan Chace McDaniel
Deric Zane McCurry Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Co-founder and Team Director, InnoVetted
Emily Grace Clark Episcopal Church Seeking a call Jacob Auttie Collins NondenominationalWorkinginIT
United Methodist Church Director of Youth and Digital Ministries, Northwest Hills United Methodist Church, Austin, Texas
Master of Arts (Theological Studies) Graduate, denomination. and post-seminary position
Alvin Ray Evans Jr. Missionary Baptist Church Pastor, Pleasant Bethany Baptist Church, Elgin, Texas
United Methodist Church Lead Pastor, St. Mark’s United Methodist Church Austin, Texas
Julia Hughes Burkley Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Associate Pastor, Opequon Presbyterian Church, Winchester, Virginia
Joseph Thomas Lundy III Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Pastoral Resident, First Presbyterian Church, Shreveport, Louisiana James Paul Martin Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Applying to positions working at border, also as a mission co-worker in El Salvador
United Methodist Church Next-Gen Director at Lake Hills Church, Austin, Texas
Julian Antonio Olalde United Methodist Church Hospice Chaplain: Baylor, Scott, and White, Central Texas Sarai Oviedo Unitarian Universalist Starting a media company Matthew Hunt Ratliff United Methodist Church Pastor, La Feria (Texas) United Methodist Church
Master of Divinity Graduate, denomination, and post-seminary position
InterestedNondenominationalinstartingministry
Dickson Pastoral Resident, North Ridge Presbyterian Church, Dallas, Texas
Elizabeth Miller Edmiston
Kevin Michael Ireland Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Pastoral Resident, Westlake Hills Presbyterian Church, Austin, Texas
United Methodist Church Youth Minister, Bee Creek United Methodist Church, Spicewood, Texas
Graduates in the Master of Arts in Youth Ministry program
The Class of 2022
Daphne Chanel Turnage Nondenominational
Joshua Rive Day United Methodist Church Director of Family Ministries, Westlake United Medhotist Church, Austin, Texas
Emily Claire Sprunger
Stephen Derek Adkison Lutheran Church, ELCA Youth Minister, St. Marks Episopal Church, Houston, Texas
Olivia Jane Black Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Associate Director for High School, Westlake Hills Presbyterian Church, Austin, Texas
Makenzie Laine Knowlden United Methodist Church Director of Youth Ministires, Florence (Alabama) First United Methodist Church
Ian Scott Thackery Taylor Episcopal Church Director of Family Ministries, First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Greenville, North Carolina
Joseph Gordon Carnes
Riley Jo Robertson United Methodist Church Latarvis Edtwan Rule United Methodist Church Teaching seventh grade at Desoto Central Middle School, Southhaven, Mississippi
Owens United Methodist Church Children’s Minister, Brentwood United Methodist Church, Brentwood Tennessee
Master of Arts in Youth Ministry
Samuel Richard Belcher United Methodist Church Director of Youth Ministries, First Presbyterian Church, Franklin, Tennessee
18 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
United Methodist Church Youth Pastor, First United Methodist Church, Milan, Tennessee
Andrew Harrison Howlett United Methodist Church Coaching tennis and seeking teaching position at a Christian school
Olivia Nicole Keffer United Methodist Church Student Ministry Director, Calvary United Methodist Church, Nashville, Tennessee
Benjamin Carter Dreher Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Youth Minister, First Presbyterian Church, Nashville, Tennessee
Abbigail Laign
Sloan Elizabeth Radford United Methodist Church Christina Renee Reeves Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Graduate, denomination, and post-seminary position
United Methodist Church Director of Children, Youth, and Families, Collegiate Presbyterian Church, Ames, Iowa
Joshua Alexander Wardle United Methodist Church Youth Minister, First United Methodist Church, Henderson, Texas
Kaleigh Rebecca Welch
Melissa Susan Kowerduck United Methodist Church Youth Minister, Grace United Methodist Church, Huntsville, Alabama
Jacob Powell Shelly United Methodist Church Youth Minister, Trinity United Methodist Church, Paducah, Kentucky
“The Role of Belonging in a Multicultural Church: A Case Study” Doctor of Ministry
Graduates in the
program 2022AwardsGraduate The following awards to graduating master’s -level students, nominated by and voted on by the faculty, were announced Commencement:during Donald Capps Award in Pastoral Care Kailen Soncksen Chidester Preaching Award Kevin Ireland Rachel Henderlite Award Rabert Sheppard Hendrick-Smith Award for Mission & Evangelism James Martin Ethel Lance Human & Civil Rights Award Emily Grace Clark Carl Kilborn Book Award Courtnay Veazey Charles L. King Preaching Award Matt Ratliff The Sam O. Morris Youth Ministry Award Abbigail Owens Max Sherman & Barbara Jordan Fellowship Reba Balint John B. Spragens Award Rachel Watson
John Douglas Leedy Associate Pastor for Youth & Young Adults, Hope Presbyterian Church, Austin, Texas
Do
Summer | Fall 2022 | 19
“The Beyond We Search for: The Paschal Vigil at the Intersection of Youth Ministry and Liturgical Theology”
“Commissioned Pastors:
Krystal Lee Leedy Assistant Director of Hope Children’s Center, Hope Presbyterian Church, Austin, Texas “O Christ, Surround Me: A Study in Mundane Liturgy” Grace Akiko Suwabe Interim Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Marysville, California
Doctor of Ministry Graduate, position, and title of doctoral project Scott Keith Campbell Executive Presbyter, Palo Duro Presbytery Their Role in Saving the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in Small and Rural Communities, especially in Palo Duro Presbytery”
Annabell Lalla-Ramkelawan Pastor, Marabella/Bonne Aventure Pastoral Region, Cunupia, Trinidad “Sacramental Mystery or Sacramental Magic? Christians Truly Understand the Mystery of the Sacraments?”
When, for Heaven’s sake, did that struggle begin? That struggle between deception and truth? Was it after the January 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol last year? Was it after the emergence of the red state-blue state world that we live in these days? Was it the arrival of pluralism, or the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.? When did this struggle begin—this struggle for truth?Ithink it began way back in the Garden of Eden. The common take, of course, about the Garden of Eden is that it’s a story about temptation, but I throw in with Charge to the 2022 graduates: “Tell the Truth”
By President Theodore J. Wardlaw
20 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary The Class of 2022
President Ted Wardlaw after Commencement with his spouse, Dr. Kay Bryant
Well, friends, it’s almost over now, this Commence ment service. But before we’re finished, it is a longstanding tradition here that the president gets to offer you a charge. It’s a high privi lege, and I have been looking for ward, as always, to this moment. And here’s my charge to you. I’ve boiled it down to three words— three very important words—and I hope that you will think about these words, even amidst the overload of events and important matters that crowd in upon you today. Here it is: Tell the truth. That’s my charge in a nutshell: Tell the truth. I wonder if there’s anything in shorter supply in our culture right now than truth-telling. Do we even know what truth-telling looks like? Tom Long is now retired, but he’s still one of my favorite homileticians. Across his career, he taught at Columbia Seminary, and then at Princeton Seminary, and finally at Emory University; and just a few years ago he came here to give the Currie Lectures. In one of his books, he lifts up the comedy film “Crazy People,” in which this advertising executive comes up with an outrageous new advertising idea: telling the truth! And so, instead of just lying for a living, he begins to write ads that are ruthlessly honest. He stops writing those ads that suggest that this or that product will make people happier, thinner, sexier, richer, and begins instead to write ads like “Volvos—they’re boxier but they’re safe,” and “United Airlines— most of our passengers get there alive.” Well, as the plot goes on, this advertising guy gets shipped off to a psychiatric hospital, but while he’s there the ad agency mistakenly releases his ads to the public, and they are an overnight sensation. The public is so delighted by hearing the unvarnished truth for once, that sales skyrocket.It’sapicture of how we all hunger for the truth. And yet, all the same, we have an uneasy relationship with the truth— especially the sort of truth that, to put it theologically, threatens the hell out of us before it makes us free. I love the way journalist Bill Moyers put it a few years ago when he was giving an address at a conference here in Austin on media reform. “An unconscious people,” he said, “an indoctrinated people, a people fed only partisan information and opinion that confirms their own bias, a people made morbidly obese in mind and spirit by the junk food of propaganda is less inclined to put up a fight, ask questions, and be skeptical.”Someof those people may be sitting in the pews of the churches in which you will serve or worship. In fact, chances are they’re waiting for you right now; they’re getting ready for you. So know, for sure, that there is a huge risk in truth-telling. If I were charging you to simply get out there and survive, I would probably urge you against truth-telling. But I’m charging you to be faithful, and so I will say it again. Tell the truth. Because there are those people, too, who sense the power of the struggle between deception and truth; and they, too, are out there in those pews—waiting and praying for someone like you to be as good as your word, to be as good as God’s word.
Challenge your assumptions. your voice. Austin
Find
Discover
Seminary....bravely speak with words that presume relationship, that express the love and belonging and, yes, the majestic world-changing disruption of our big God ...
Summer | Fall 2022 | 21 The Class of 2021 those who suggest that it’s really more of a story about truth and trust. We think it’s about a serpent who slithers up to Eve and tempts her with a shiny red apple. In our foyer at the President’s Manse, we have a folk-art sculpture of a serpent wrapped around a small tree and holding out a pitchfork with an apple on it. The artist—a feminist— titled the piece, “Go ahead, take a bite; if anything happens we’ll blame it on her.” That’s what we think is going on in this story—temptation. But since you all passed your Old Testament classes, you know that the serpent didn’t tempt Eve with an apple like that. In fact, the snake was not interested in apples; the snake was interested in words. Slippery, lying, weasel words.Go back and look it up. As the snake talks to Eve, the snake says, “Did God say you shall not eat from any tree in the garden?” The serpent doesn’t exactly call God a liar. He just nuances the tone of his voice and plants a little seed of doubt there in her mind about God’s words. It’s not really a direct challenge to God’s words—it’s just a clever little insinuation: “Did God say that?”That’s where I believe it began. And ever since, we’re forever being tempted by weasel words. It started, I believe, when that serpent just began teasing away at the fabric of truth; and everything the serpent said was kind of true. But by the end of the conversation, truth was leveled and twisted into a pretzel and buried under weasel words and, from there on out to this good day, everything is up for grabs. So how should Christian pastors talk out there in the world? One way to put it is that we should talk the way Adam and Eve talked in the Garden of Eden before the snake tied human language into knots. If we’re going to be counter-cultural, perhaps the most counter-cultural thing we can ever do is to talk to each other in ways that can be trusted. We should tell the kind of truth that is measured not only by what it is but by what it does; and if what it does is to divide us and create suspicion among us and make us angry at one another, then there’s a good chance that it’s not the truth. We should use our truthful words not just to lacerate relationships, but to redeem them. In a church in which our words are often sharpened, poison-tipped weapons that we throw at each other in theological wars, I charge you this very afternoon to lay those weapon-words down and do not pick them up again. They are toxic and they will embitter and poison your ministry. But when it comes to what you will say, bravely speak with words that presume relationship, that express the love and belonging and, yes, the majestic worldchanging disruption of our big God, that create the possibility once again for people not to be fed by junk food but to fed by the truth that will make them free. That’s what I charge you to do, members of the Class of 2022. Look for the hand of God at work in the world, and in the church, that is always such a luscious and bodacious sight that, just naturally, you will not want people facing in some other direction to miss it. So whenever and wherever you see evidence like that of the glory of God, point it out to your people and invite them to look. In other words, tell the truth. Tell the truth. v
Discovery Weekend October 28-30, 2022
AustinSeminary.edu/visit
Associate Professor Carolyn Browning Helsel was installed in the Blair R. Monie Distinguished Chair in Homiletics on April 21, 2022. Having served on the faculty since 2015, she is a graduate of Whitworth University, Princeton Theological Seminary, and Emory University.Drawing from the insights of her doctoral work at Emory, Dr. Helsel published two books in 2018: Anxious to Talk About It: Helping White Christians Talk Faithfully About Race (second edition, 2021) and Preaching about Racism: A Guide for Faith Leaders. Together, both books earned the 2018 Book(s) of the Year Award from the Association of Parish Clergy. In recent years she has enjoyed collaboration with colleagues who share her social and homiletical interests: she co-authored, with Y. Joy Harris-Smith, The A.B.C.’s of Diversity: Helping Kids Embrace Our Differences (Chalice Press, 2020) and with faculty colleague Dr. Song-Mi Suzie Park, The Flawed Family of God: Stories about the Imperfect Families of Genesis (Westminster John Knox Press, 2021). She also joined Austin Seminary alumnus Steve Miller (MDiv’15) on a curriculum for churches to examine biblical justice, a project that emerges from the HBCU Truth and Reconciliation Oral History Project on whose board she serves. Dr. Helsel is an ordained PC(USA) minister who served as a transitional pastor for The Presbyterian Church in Sudbury (Massachusetts). She is married to The Reverend Dr. Phil Helsel, Associate Professor in The Nancy Taylor Williamson Distinguished Chair in Pastoral Care, and they are parents of two young children. The Blair R. Monie Distinguished Chair in Homiletics was established in 2013 through a gift from Mary and Robert J. Wright to honor the retirement of the Reverend Dr. Monie, pastor of Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church in Dallas. Monie was a former member of the Austin Seminary Board of Trustees (2003-2012) and was the third holder of the Louis H. and Katherine S. Zbinden Chair of Pastoral Ministry and Leadership (2014-18). v Called by the Austin Seminary Board of Trustees in the fall to become the new academic dean, Professor Margaret Aymer began her work leading the Dean’s Office on July 1, becoming the first woman, first immigrant, and first person of color to hold that position.
New completeprofessorsfaculty
22 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
Professor Carolyn Helsel honored with distinguished chair in homiletics
The Austin Seminary Board of Trustees at its Spring 2022 meeting, approved the appointment of three new professors who begin teaching this fall. Dr. Donghyun Jeong, called as assistant professor of New Testament, taught at Emory University since 2017, most recently as an adjunct professor in the Candler School of Theology; he also taught in Mercer University’s Department of Religion. A native of Seoul, South Korea, Dr. Jeong earned a BA with high honors from Yonsei University in 2009. He received the MDiv from Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary in 2014, the STM from Yale University Divinity School in 2016, and the PhD from Emory University in 2021. He was recipient of the Laney Graduate Fellowship, the Pyungkwang Educational Scholarship, and the Yale Divinity School Scholarship. Jeong’s monograph Pauline Baptism among the Mysteries: Ritual Messages and the Promise of Initiation will be published in 2023 by the German publisher De Gruyter. He has also faculty news notes
Dr. Rodney Caruthers II, assistant professor of New Testament, was a Fellow at the Frankel Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan. Prior to that he was visiting assistant professor and Bruce Gray Postdoctoral Fellow at Gustavus Adolphus College and served as an adjunct professor on the Ashland Theological Seminary faculty and Spring Arbor University.
A member of the African American Episcopal Church, he is a native Michigander who enjoys traveling, visiting museums, astronomy, and nature. v
Dr. Chaves is married to Dr. Clare Duffy, and they are the parents of two.
faculty notes |
Among many distinctions, he was a Baylor University BCU Scholar, University Ministerial Scholar, CBF Leadership Scholar, and received an HTI / Lilly Dissertation Fellowship. He was part of the writing team for the $7.3 million grant recently awarded to the HTI by the Lilly Endowment, titled “En conjunto! Strengthening the Recruitment, Retention, and Graduation of Latinx Masters and PhD Students.”
Summer | Fall 2022 | 23 contributed to the academy through peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and book reviews, and through presentations to scholarly conferences. His publications have appeared in prestigious academic journals, including the Journal of Biblical Literature and Novum Testamentum. He enjoys building bridges between faith communities and the academy and is an active participant in the American Academy of Religion / Society of Biblical Literature. A candidate for Ministry of Word and Sacrament in the PC(USA) since 2020, for ten years he served churches in the U.S. and Korea and was a student missionary to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2010. He is married to Hyojin Kim and they parent two elementary-aged children. Dr. João Chaves, assistant professor of evangelism and mission, was associate director for programming at the Hispanic Theological Initiative (HTI) at Princeton Theological Seminary. A native of Recife, Brazil, he earned a PhD from Baylor University in 2017; the title of his dissertation was “Disrespecting Borders for Jesus, Power, and Cash: Southern Baptist Missions, the New Immigration, and the Churches of the Brazilian Diaspora.” Chaves is an active lay member of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) and he serves in the Commission on Racial, Gender, and Economic Justice of the Baptist World Alliance. Dr. Chaves is the author of four books including The Global Mission of the Jim Crow South: Southern Baptist Missions and the Shaping of Latin American Evangelicalism (Mercer University Press, forthcoming) and Remembering Antônia Teixeira: Missions, Memory, and Violence Across Borders (cowritten with Mikeal Parsons; Eerdmans, forthcoming). He contributed to numerous book reviews, peer-reviewed articles, and chapters in larger works. One of his ongoing projects includes editing Christianity, Race, and Ethnicity: Latinx Critical Conversations on Identity Construction and Religious Participation
Chaves serves on the editorial board of Perspectives in Religious Studies, is co-director of the Baptist Scholars International Roundtable, co-editor of Perspectivas— the Journal of the Hispanic Theological Initiative, and chairs Latinx Religions at the American Academy of Religions Southwest.
Caruthers earned the PhD from the University of Michigan in 2019. He earned the King-Chavez-Parks Future Faculty Fellowship, the Rackham One-Term Dissertation Fellowship, the Radcliffe/Ramsdell Fellowship, and the Rackham Merit Fellowship from the University of Michigan. In addition to his teaching experience, he has delivered papers at scholarly conferences and written book reviews and biblical entries for Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception (De Gruyter, forthcoming). In the course of his graduate studies, he organized a number of scholarly conferences including the eighth Enoch Graduate Seminar (international /online), and “Echoes of the Exodus in Dr. King’s Work” and “A Celebration of MLK’s Biblical Legacy” at the University of Michigan. He also compiled the indices for Second Temple Jewish “Paideia” in Context (De Gruyter) and Paul The Jew: Rereading the Apostle as a Figure of second Temple Judaism (Fortress Press).
João Chaves (evangelism and mission) was co-facilitator of the 2022 scholarsfacilitatesCity,Colloquium,Auburn/APRILheldinNewYorkJuly1-15.TheColloquiumconversationsamonginthehumanitiesand
social sciences, clergy, artists, activists, community leaders, and others that address vital contemporary questions about religious life and social justice. The Board of Trustees actions: Eric Wall (sacred music) was promoted to associate professor and named to the Gene Alice Sherman Chair of Sacred Music.
Philip Browning Helsel (pastoral care) was granted tenure. Carolyn Helsel (homiletics) received a six-month sabbatical leave, effective January 1, 2024.
David W. Johnson was granted associate professor emeritus status. v
upcoming from Education Beyond the Walls
The Truth in Our Stories book and companion videos present twelve compelling stories that highlight the Latino/a immigrant experience. The testimonies are unapologetically honest and reveal the horrid conditions and crippling fear that continue to characterize the lives of immigrants. Come learn and unlearn what you know about immigration. There are multiple ways to engage The Truth in Our Stories: • Take the e-course with a small group at your church or organization. EBW will provide a facilitator to lead six online discussions with your group. You will also have access to thirteen online modules with video stories from immigrants. There is a flat fee of $650 for a facilitator and administration of the course in addition to a $10 per person fee, with a maximum of 15 •participants.Readandshare
the new book, The Truth in Our Stories: Immigrant Voices in Radical Times (Izzard Ink Publishing, 2022), which offers twelve compelling stories that highlight the immigrant experience with the hope of changing negative perceptions of immigrants.
We’re recruiting for Houses of Hope, a new initiative for small town and rural congregations longing to discover hope in changing times. Every congregation who becomes part of the Houses of Hope will enter a year-long process of engaging with the Christian practices of forgiveness and gratitude, first with a congregational leadership team and then with the church and broader community. We believe these two timeless Christian practices are fundamental to reigniting hope.
Join us: https://community.ourhousesofhope.org/ WebXtra Follow us on @ebwaptsInstagram!
During this two-day practical and interactive retreat, learn how story is a fundamental Christian practice for building community, bridging divisions, increasing resiliency, and mobilizing communities for the work of the Spirit. Based on over two decades of work with faith communities and storytellers, author and spiritual director Mark Yaconelli will help participants explore the power of storytelling for enhancing their outreach ministries and bolstering spiritual formation, social justice, and other ministries in the church. Workshop leader: Mark Yaconelli
AustinSeminary.edu/EBWebwsprings.org
24
“Building Sustainable Ministry Teams” | September 26 - 28 | In Person and Online
Harnessing the strength and creativity of volunteers is made possible when ministry teams are created with clear responsibilities, defined expectations, and realistic timelines. Learn skills to steward the gifts, tend the souls, and encourage the wide range of the volunteers in your congregation. Cost: Online $50; On-site $125 (includes several meals). Workshop leader: Stephanie Caro Presented in partnership with the South Central Region of the Association of Partners in Christian Education (SCRAPCE)
| Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary live learn Follow EBW on Instagram, sign up for Monthly Musings, and join EBW Springs to get the latest on what we’re up to!
“Testify: Storytelling as Outreach Ministry” | October 25 - 26 | In Person
ordinations commissions& Jo Fisher-Kretzler (MDiv’14), ordained into the UMC by the Rio Texas Annual Conference as a deacon in full connection. Debbie Head (MDiv’19), commissioned into the UMC by the Rio Texas Annual Conference as a provisional deacon. Derrick Ouellette (MDiv’19), commissioned into the UMC by the Rio Texas Annual Conference as a provisional elder. Victoria Schwarz (MAMP’19), ordained into the UMC by the Rio Texas Annual Conference as a deacon in full connection. in memoriam James W. Anderson (MDiv’55), October 26, 2021, Ponchatoula, Louisiana Carroll L. Pickett (MDiv’57), April 3, 2022, Kerrville, Texas Grantland M. Groves (MDiv’60), June 20, 2022, De Queen, Arkansas Richard Young (MDiv’60), July 24, Harrisonburg, Virginia. He celebrated his 100th birthday this past Memorial Day.
class notes |
The Preacher’s Guide to Suicide: A Homiletical Theology of Death, available through Wipf and Stock Resource Publications.
1990s Kevin Seuser (MDiv’91) and Joyce McCormick (MDiv’97) were honorably retired by the UMC Rio Texas Annual Conference. Howard Martin (MDiv’97) was honorably retired by the UMC Central Texas Annual InConference.February, Pam Laing (MDiv’97) was honorably retired by Southeastern Illinois Presbytery. She now lives in Springfield, Illinois, and does occasional pulpit supply. Judy Henderson’s (MDiv’98) husband of 58 years, David, died June 27 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
2000s Chris Coffey Bistline (MDiv’02), Cindy Layton (MDiv’03), and Jim Sweet (MDiv’09) were honorably retired by the UMC Rio Texas Annual Conference. In March, Heidi Johnson (MDiv’06) publicationannouncedofherbook,
Joseph L. Turner (MDiv’61), May 27, 2022, New Braunfels, Texas James A. Beverly (MDiv’62), March 2, 2022, Dallas, Texas David W. Roach (MDiv’73, DMin’81), March 30, 2022, San Antonio, Texas R. Michael Burnett (MDiv’75), February 26, 2016, Honolulu, Hawaii Michael L. Rutledge (MDiv’75), May 14, 2022, Richardson, Texas Paul Strom (MDiv’76), March 5, 2022, Allenspark, Colorado William P. Treude (DMin’84), August 15, 2021, Fredericksburg, Texas Charles A. Bruner (MDiv’91), March 15, 2022, Weatherford, Texas William J. (Bill) Woodard, (MDiv’92), July 24, 2021, Jenks, Oklahoma Debra S. Latture (MDiv’00), May 20, 2022, Salisbury, Maryland Jane Lee Vondette (CIM student), April 3, 2022, Ogden, Utah v Our deep gratitude to the 224 Austin Seminary graduates who made a gift toward the Digital Education Center (DEC) in the new Mary B. and Robert J. Wright Learning and ReverendtheDECthisCenterInformationwhichopenedspring.TheisdedicatedtomemoryofThe James Lee (MDiv’00).
AustinSeminary.edu/asa-nominate
2010s Eileen Pirkle (MDiv’17) was honorably retired by the UMC Rio Texas Annual Conference.
1970s Mike Miller (MDiv’70) continues to teach Mexican Cultural History at Texas State University and serves as pastor for Memorial Presbyterian Church, San Marcos, Texas. He also recently published his second book and first novel, The Two Deaths of Father Romero, available through Front Street Books. It is the story of a young seminary graduate struggling in his first parish with professional, moral, and criminal issues. One critic called it “Grantchester in the Desert.”
Summer | Fall 2022 | 25 alumni news notes Submit your nominations for the 2023 ASA Distinguished Service Deadline:AwardsSeptember 16
Rebekah Tucker-Motley (MDiv’17) publicationannouncesofanovel, available through major book sellers. The Crop follows Ru’ah, acolyte to the chief priests, as she hears a voice calling her away from the tradition she was brought up in and into the desert where she finds a different way to understand the divine. Katherine Reed (MAYM’19) is now serving as middle school pastor at Northeast Christian Church, Louisville, Kentucky.
1950s In June, 1952 classmates Pete Hendrick, Ed Robertson, and Art Strickland each celebrated the 70th anniversary of their ordinations.
1980s Nancy McCranie (MDiv’87) was elected moderator of Mission Presbytery. David McNitzky (MDiv’87) and Mickey McCandless (MDiv’88) were honorably retired by the UMC Rio Texas Annual Conference.
AustinWindowsPresbyterian Theological Seminary 100 East 27th Street, Austin, Texas 78705-5711 Non Profit Org U.S. PermitAustin,PAIDPostageTXNo.2473 Class of ’22
