windows Summer 2009

A USTIN P RESBYTERIAN T HEOLOGICAL S EMINARY

SUMMER 2009

LOOKING OUTWARD

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The President’s Preaching and Speaking Engagements June 7-27, Teacher, Justo Mwale Theological University College, Lusaka, Zambia, Africa July 8, Worship Leader, Calvin Jubilee, Montreat Conference Center September 10, Host, Partnership Lunch, Corpus Christi, Texas September 17, Host, Evening with the President, Houston, Texas September 19-20, Preacher, FPC, Stillwater, Oklahoma September 28, Host, Alumni/ae Challenge Kick Off (ASA Board, Austin area alumni/ae, Austin Seminary seniors), Austin October 1, Host, Partnership Lunch, Lubbock, Texas October 4, Preacher, FPC, Fort Worth, Texas October 13, Host, Evening with the President, Conroe, Texas October 23, Preacher, Opening Worship, Mission Presbytery October 26, Host, Evening with the President, San Antonio, Texas

often encourage students, in a charge that is intentionally provocative, to refrain from constructing their own prayers for the first five years of ministry. Take at least that much time, I say, to acquaint yourselves with the great treasury of Christian prayer that can be found in our Presbyterian Book of Common Worship or the United Methodist Book of Worship or The Oxford Book of Prayer or the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer.

Become familiar, I say, with John Henry Newman’s prayer: “O Lord, support us all the day long of this troublous life, until the shadows lengthen and the evening comes and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then in Thy mercy, grant us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

Become familiar, I say, with that wonderful blessing at a child’s confirmation: “Defend, O Lord, your servant N. with your heavenly grace, that he/she may continue yours forever, and daily increase in your Holy Spirit more and more, until he/she comes to your everlasting kingdom.” That prayer, so powerful at the moment when the pastor’s hands are laid upon the head of a confirmand, are equally powerful every night when the parent prays bedtime prayers with the children.

Become familiar, I say, with the Psalms—the first hymnal of the children of Israel—and understand their rich texture, be the mood praise or lament or affirmation of faith.

I hope through such a challenge that our students will come to appreciate the majesty, dignity, beauty, and testimony of thoughtful prayers from across the century. I hope that they will not fall into the pious assumption that a prayer has to be composed on the spot in order to be truly sincere. If people at prayer “listen and wait upon God, call God by name, remember God's gracious acts, and offer themselves to God,” as our Directory for Worship of the Book of Order puts it, then church leaders should approach prayer with appropriate preparation and expectancy. At the very least, they should think about it just a little.

So I am pleased that this issue of Windows offers in the following pages a bit of wisdom and experience from faculty and other friends regarding the practice of prayer. Read on, too, to discover the latest news from your Seminary; and pray with us and for us as we prepare for a new season of activity in academic year 2009-2010!

Faithfully yours, Theodore J. Wardlaw President

CONTENTS BOARD OF TRUSTEES Cassandra C. Carr, Chair Michael D. Allen Karen C. Anderson Thomas L. Are Jr. Susan Beaird F. M. Bellingrath III Dianne E. Brown (MDiv’95) Elizabeth Christian Joseph J. Clifford James G. Cooper Marvin L. Cooper Elizabeth Blanton Flowers Donald R. Frampton Richard D. Gillham Walter Harris Jr. Bruce G. Herlin Norman N. Honeycutt (MDiv’65) J Carter King III (MDiv’70) Michael L. Lindvall Catherine O. Lowry Blair R. Monie B. W. Payne William C. Powers Jr. Jeffrey Kyle Richard Teresa Chávez Sauceda (MDiv’88) Anne Vickery Stevenson Karl Brian Travis John L. Van Osdall Sallie Sampsell Watson (MDiv’87) Elizabeth Currie Williams Judy A. Woodward

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Upgrade your prayer life 2 Exercising your faith Prayer and the praying life

BY ALLAN HUGH COLE JR.

11 Voicing the prayers of others What to consider when considering the prayers of the people

BY KEITH WRIGHT (MDIV’56, DMIN’86)

13 The architecture of prayer Using the collect in public prayer

BY KRISTIN SALDINE

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Community news Anderson House dedication The Class of 2009

22 26 27 28 Back cover

Faculty news Development news Continuing education news Alumni/ae news Photos from the 2009 commencement W I N D OW S Summer 2009 Volume 124 Number 3

EDITOR Trustees Emeriti Stephen A. Matthews Max Sherman Edward D. Vickery Louis Zbinden

Publisher & Mailing Statement Windows is published three times each year

by Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

ISSN 2056-0556 Non-profit bulk mail permit no. 2473

Austin Seminary Windows Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary 100 E. 27th St. Austin, TX 78705-5797 phone: 512-472-6736 e-mail: windows@austinseminary.edu fax: 512-479-0738 www.austinseminary.edu

Randal Whittington

CONTRIBUTORS Channing Burke Shuhan Chan Kathy Muenchow Nancy Reese Caitlin Thomas Sandy Wilder

Cover Photograph by Jody Horton

This issue of Windows is dedicated to the memory of Professor Prescott Harrison Williams, whose superior gifts as a proofreader were generously offered and gratefully received.

my favorite prayer my favorite prayer my favorite prayer

Exercising Prayer and the praying life

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Lord God, You have appointed me as a pastor in Your church, but You see how unsuited I am to meet so great and difficult a task. If I had lacked Your help, I would have ruined everything long ago. Therefore, I call upon You: I wish to devote my mouth and my heart to You; I shall teach the people. I myself will learn and ponder diligently upon Your Word. Use me as your instrument—but do not forsake me, for if ever I should be on my own, I would easily wreck it all.

Translated by Jim Kellerman for the Wittenberg project in 1999.

Text found at: www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/ wittenberg/prayers/sacristy.txt) For many years I have said Luther's Sacristy Prayer while putting on my robe on Sunday mornings. My best efforts in and of themselves do not achieve much. But when God chooses to work, and I cooperate with God's direction, my work becomes the ministry God envisions.

—Andy Mangum (DMin’09) senior minister, First Christian Church, (Disciples of Christ), Arlington, Texas

BY ALLAN HUGH COLE JR.

ome years ago, a friend revealed to me that she longed for a fuller awareness of God’s presence

in her life. She noted her frequent sense of

God’s being distant, if she sensed God’s presence at

all. When I inquired about what she thought might help satisfy her sense of longing, she noted several possibilities. These included reading the Bible more regularly, devoting more time to having quality conversations with people from her congregation, going on retreat, taking a class—at church or elsewhere—on the topic of deepening one’s spiritual life, and being a more consistent participant in weekly worship. She recognized the intrinsic value of each of these timetested faith practices for strengthening her relationship with God. Never did she mention the practice of prayer.

In these pages we have invited members of the faculty and our newest Doctor of Ministry graduates to share with Windows readers their favorites from the great treasury of Christian prayers.

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Perhaps she thought of prayer as a part of the other acts that she noted; and maybe she assumed that I would think in similar terms. Even so, her response raises a crucial matter for ministry and for faith itself—namely that faithful people may struggle with establishing and maintaining a practice of prayer. Jesus’ first followers seem to have struggled with this, too. “Lord, teach us to pray,” they said to him (Luke 11:1).

I want to suggest two approaches to prayer that can enhance your prayer life. These approaches include praying the Lord’s Prayer and engaging in contemplative prayer. We could identify numerous other approaches, too, such as praying various passages of Scripture, praying with a prayer book or liturgical aid—what I call engaging in liturgical prayer; and keep in mind, too, that simply speaking to God, honestly and directly, is always a proper form of praying. But gaining familiarity with these two approaches will likely enrich your prayer life, serve as the basis for other ways of praying, and most importantly, help to strengthen your relationship with God. Praying the Lord’s Prayer Perhaps the most familiar of all Christian prayers is what we call “The Lord’s Prayer.” A common version goes like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.

Probably no single prayer has been uttered by Christians more than the Lord’s Prayer, and for good reason. Jesus used these words when teaching his disciples about prayer, saying, “When you pray, pray in this way” (Luke 11:2–4; Matt. 6:9–13). Calvin saw Jesus’ words as providing his disciples with the right “pattern” or “form” for prayer, with a way of praying that correctly begins with attention to and praise of God and Allan Cole is the Nancy Taylor Williamson Associate Professor of Pastoral Care at Austin Seminary and the author of The Life of Prayer: Mind, Body, and Soul (Westminster John Knox Press, 2009). Windows appreciates permission from WJK to excerpt from the manuscript for this article.

WINDOWS / Summer 2009

your prayer life

I am no longer my own, but thine.

Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.

Put me to doing, put me to suffering.

Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low for thee.

Let me be full, let me be empty.

Let me have all things, let me have nothing.

I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.

And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thou art mine, and I am thine.

So be it.

And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.

Amen.

As used in the Book of Offices of the British Methodist Church, 1936 One of my favorite prayers is John Wesley’s Covenant prayer. Much contemporary theology appropriately emphasizes human empowerment, agency, and liberation. Yet, we sometimes forget that for Christians our power is bound up with our submission to God. These days “submission” is a somewhat neglected concept, but for John Wesley it was of central importance. This prayer was and is prayed by Methodists yearly in The Covenant Service, commonly held on New Year’s Eve. —David White, C. Ellis and Nancy Gribble Nelson Associate Professor of Christian Education (also submitted

by Ann Fields) 3

my favorite prayer my favorite prayer my favorite prayer

Your Faith

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my favorite prayer my favorite prayer my favorite prayer

Dear God, these are anxious times. Tonight for the first time I lay in the dark with burning eyes as scene after scene of human suffering passed before me. I shall promise You one thing, God, just one very small thing: I shall never burden my today with cares about my tomorrow, although that takes some practice. Each day is sufficient unto itself. I shall try to help You, God, to stop my strength ebbing away, though I cannot vouch for it in advance.

But one thing is becoming increasingly clear to me: that You cannot help us, that we must help You to help ourselves. And that is all we can manage these days and also all that really matters: that we safeguard that little piece of You, God, in ourselves. And perhaps in others as well. Alas, there doesn’t seem to be much You Yourself can do about our circumstances, about our lives. Neither do I hold You responsible. You cannot help us but we must help You and defend Your dwelling place inside us to the last.

Etty Hillesum, An Interrupted Life: The Diaries of Etty Hillesum 194143, as reprinted in Toward a Reconstructed Jewish Life, Marc H. Ellis, 1987, Orbis Books At times when we encounter a person who is or has been seriously victimized we make the mistake in seeing them as a mere victim. In our desire to help and be empathic we lose sight that moral agency remains an integral part of the innermost being of such persons. We forget that those who struggle against the forces that attempt to dehumanize them never lose the imagination, creativity, and strength that enable them to make creative choices. In acknowledging their inalienable moral stature we might come to see how they are capable of helping God in god’s redemptive purpose for humanity.

—Ismael García, professor of Christian ethics 4

then moves to a focus on us and our needs. Says Calvin, this approach provides true freedom in prayer, for we do not have to wonder how to pray or whether we do so faithfully. Why? Because Jesus “supplies words to our lips that free our minds from all wavering,” and he “prescribed a form for us in which he set forth as in a table all that he allows us to seek of him, all that is of benefit to us, all that we need ask” (Calvin, 1960, p. 2:897). Moreover, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer said of the Lord’s Prayer, “In it, every prayer is contained. Whatever enters into the petitions of the Lord’s Prayer is prayed aright; whatever has no place in it, is not prayer at all. All the prayers of the Holy Scriptures are summed up in the Lord’s Prayer and all are taken up into its immeasurable breadth” (Bonhoeffer, 1999/2005, p. 157). So we can feel confident that what we pray when using the words of the Lord’s Prayer takes in other words or prayers that we would offer to God. Praying the Lord’s Prayer provides additional benefits in that it reminds us of two key matters. First, all prayer should begin with recognizing the primary reason that we pray—namely, that God acts graciously toward us and that God remains the one “in whom we live, move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28). To begin to pray by uttering

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n referring to God as “Our Father” we recognize that God is not only God for ourselves but also for others and indeed for all people. “Our” denotes a common humanity that lives under the grace of God and stands in need of God’s care and provision.

the words “Our Father in heaven” recognizes that God holds supreme status and power while also calling attention to the fact that God simultaneously relates to us intimately, faithfully, and with extraordinary love.

When we recognize that God lives and reigns “in heaven,” we attest to God’s maintaining authority over all things, including our own lives. At the same time, however, in referring to God as “Our Father” we recognize that God is not only God for ourselves but also for others and indeed for all people. “Our” denotes a common humanity that lives under the grace of God and stands in need of God’s care and provision.

Referring to God as “Father” also affirms that God stands before us (individually and collectively) as a heavenly parent, one who, like kind and nurturing “earthly” parents, provides guidance, support, aid, and unfailing love but who offers these and myriad other provisions in ways and degrees that surpass what any human parent may offer. Jesus tells a parable most often referred to as the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11–32) to point to God’s parental qualities. We affirm these qualities in our prayers when we say, “Our Father in heaven.” Moreover, addressing God as “Our Father” places us in the company of Jesus, who himself spoke to God as “Father” and the even more familiar term “Abba” (“Papa”), and who related to God in supremely intimate ways (Mark 14:36; John 10:30). Of course, in calling God “Father” we do not mean

that God is human or male. Nor do we mean that God possesses only “fatherly” qualities, whatever we might say about those. We do mean, however, that God possesses qualities that issue in care, concern, nurture, provision, and love that parents (including both mothers and fathers) may offer their children, and that God offers these unceasingly.

This seems to be what Jesus had in mind, too.

Approaching God in prayer as Jesus recommends, which involves seeking to relate to God as Jesus himself did, reminds us of who God is but also of who we are. As Calvin noted, we are those who live as children of God (1 John 3:1), always reliant on “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort” (2 Cor. 1:3) to provide what we cannot (Calvin, 2006, p. 113). To put it a bit more pointedly, to pray the Lord’s Prayer reminds us that God is God and that we are not!

The second key matter that we recall when praying the Lord’s Prayer is this: Because God acts graciously toward us, we may ask (petition) God for certain things and expect that God will respond. Jesus urges us to live with just this kind of expectancy. Not only did he tell his disciples to make petitions to God in prayer, he also told them to pray persistently. God will answer our prayers and provide for our needs, Jesus assures.

So in praying the Lord’s Prayer, we not only recognize God’s graciousness, but we also call out to God to invoke God’s presence in our lives. This sets the stage for the sharing of our lives with God, whether this sharing involves joys and celebrations or making requests of God to provide for our needs, to meet our desires, to alleviate our fears, or to answer our questions. Calling out to God with the assurances of the Lord’s Prayer also sets the stage for us to await God’s response with confidence. As we have already noted, Jesus’ confidence in God’s inexorable presence and provision (“Ask, and it will be given to you”) reaffirmed what the ancient prophets and other witnesses believed about God: “When you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you.

When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the LORD” (Jer. 29:13–14) (see also 2 Sam. 22:4, Ps. 17:6, 18:3, 55:16, 141:1; Isa. 55:6; Jer. 29:12). Just as his ancestors had, Jesus urged his followers to pray, to do so persistently, to have confidence that God answers, and to live accordingly.

Here are some ways to incorporate the Lord’s Prayer into your prayer life.

Method 1. Simply pray the prayer slowly but deliberately all the way through several times. Think about the words you speak and what they mean, but don’t belabor any of them. Just pray in a way that feels natural and seems right to you in expectation that the Spirit will be a part of your prayer.

Method 2. Follow the same approach, but pause for a few moments between each recitation of the prayer to “listen” for what the Spirit may “say” to you.

Method 3. Break the prayer up into segments. After praying each one, pause and reflect on what you have prayed and again listen for what the Spirit might convey. For example, you might pray, “Our Father in heavWINDOWS / Summer 2009

your prayer life As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God? Psalm 42:1-2 NRSV

I love this psalm: for the beauty of its imagery and of its meter, for its breath-held wonder toward God, for the way it names my own aching longings.

—Kaye P. McKee (DMin’09), executive director, A Spacious Place, Austin, Texas

Lord, you have made us for one another; you give us a mission to watch each person whom you have given us today as a neighbor.

Give us the right thing to say; show us the right thing to do, to meet one another’s needs. We pray to you for all the people you have entrusted to us. We pray for those who are dear to us, wherever they may be. We pray to you for those who work with us.

We pray to you for all the members of your church, for the healthy and sick, the joyful and sorrowing, the strong and the weak. We pray to you to keep us all, for Christ’s sake. Amen.

I first heard this prayer in a prayer group at Genesis Presbyterian Church. I was so moved by it, I bought the book: Prayers from the Reformed Tradition: In the Company of a Great Cloud of Witnesses, compiled and edited by Diane Karay Tripp (Witherspoon Press, Louisville, Kentucky, p. 198).

The volume contains 500 prayers of various lengths, from longer prayers to sentence prayers. I frequently use this prayer to open the meetings of the Student Life/Student Standing Committee of Austin Seminary.

—Ellen Babinsky, professor of church history and associate dean of student academic affairs 5

my favorite prayer my favorite prayer my favorite prayer

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my favorite prayer my favorite prayer my favorite prayer

Search me out, O God, and know my heart.

Try me, and know my restless thoughts.

Look well whether there be any wickedness in me, and lead me in the way that is everlasting.

Psalm 139 (Book of Common Prayer) My favorite prayer is composed of the final two verses of Psalm 139. The whole psalm is beloved to me as prayer, but these verses form a kind of mantra. Apart from the Lord’s Prayer, it’s the prayer I consciously recite most often, day by day. It expresses my deepest hope in faith as well as significant dimensions of my daily experience of the presence of Christ. I sense in life that God searches me out, knows my heart, and calms my restless, often troubled mind. As God in Christ reveals my wickedness, I am forgiven not condemned. I believe this way of love endures and cannot be taken away. The Prodigal Son is my favorite of Jesus’ stories. This psalmmantra sings of that parable in a nutshell. I feel the father's welcoming embrace every time I say it.

—Ron George (DMin’09), lay eucharistic visitor and worship minister, All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Corpus Christi, Texas

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en” several times and then pause to think more deeply about what you have prayed. Or you might pray this phrase only once before pausing.

You could also try it both ways. Then you could move to the next line of the prayer (the first petition), which says “Hallowed be your name” (“make your name holy”) and incorporate similar moments of pausing and reflecting. Next, move on to additional petitions and lines in the prayer using a similar method. Also, you should feel free, if you want, to limit your focus to just one aspect of the prayer and simply recite the words having to do with this focus numerous times. For example, you might choose “Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us,” if forgiveness is something you particularly have on your mind or heart. Or, you might choose to focus on “Give us today our daily bread” and consider particular needs that you or others have and want God to address. And note too that it’s fine to substitute “us” with “I” if this allows you to personalize the prayer in helpful ways. Prayer can and should be quite personal. If you do this, however, remember to incorporate the “us” language, too, as this will remind you of the collective, communal nature of our relationship to God that shapes our individual (personal) relationships with God. Both types of encounters with God—both sorts of relationships—remain indispensable for the Christian life.

Method 4. This method is particularly appropriate for praying with others.6 It involves praying the Lord’s Prayer with different people praying various parts. Let’s say you pray with two other people. You could be the one who begins the prayer, saying, “Our Father in heaven,” with another person then saying, “Hallowed be your name,” and with the remaining person saying, “Your kingdom come.” Then, you’d take another turn, saying, “Your will be done,” and the second person who spoke would say, “On earth as it is in heaven,” and the third person would say, “Give us today our daily bread.” This process would continue to the end of the prayer, and then could begin again. Perhaps you’d want to pray five times through, or more, and then pause to listen, ponder, and reflect together. Or you could each take a turn praying the entire prayer through, such that each person has the opportunity to listen to the others pray the whole Lord’s Prayer, and to join them in silent reflection as they do it.

Remember to breathe as you pray, too. Use the deliberative approach that we’ve already considered while you pray the Lord’s Prayer.

You might want to inhale as you say one part of the prayer, and exhale as you say another part. For example, breathing in, you say, “Our Father,” which could symbolize “taking God” into you or inviting God to dwell in you more deeply, and in turn lead you to a more powerful sense of God’s presence and care. And then, breathing out, you could say, “in Heaven,” which could symbolize your seeking the things of God, that is, heavenly things, as you give yourself (your breath) to them.

A different set of words and meanings may resonate more with you, but you get the idea, I hope.

Try each of these approaches, adapt them in ways that you find helpful and appropriate, and try other approaches, too. Don’t get bogged down paying so close attention to your methods that you miss

your prayer life

what these seek to foster, namely, faithful and meaningful prayer before God. If I may play off of the words spoken by Jesus, remember that, like the Sabbath, the Lord’s Prayer was created for human beings, not human beings for the Lord’s Prayer (Mark 2:27). In other words, use this gift that Jesus gave us in ways that seem faithful, nurturing, and life giving to you, without worrying so much about strict rules or guidelines. I believe that Jesus would want this for you.

Contemplative Prayer The psalmist writes, “Be still before the LORD, and wait patiently for him” (Ps. 37:7). Contemplative prayer may help you with this stillness.

Many of us would benefit from more stillness in our lives, especially stillness before God. Not only does stillness foster patience, but according to the psalmist, stillness before God and knowledge of God go hand in hand: “Be still, and know that I am God!” (Ps. 46:10). As we become

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ust as his ancestors had, Jesus urged his followers to pray, to do so persistently, to have confidence that God answers, and to live accordingly.

more still before God, we come to know God better, and we await God’s presence and guidance more patiently. All of this allows us to deepen our relationship with God, to enjoy “God’s benefits,” and to bear spiritual fruit. Any type of prayer may foster this stillness, knowledge, and patience, but contemplative prayer proves particularly helpful for some people. It can especially help when life seems to do anything but stand still and patience ranks low on the list of spiritual fruit that we bear.

Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary defines contemplate as follows: “to view or consider with continued attention: meditate on.”

The dictionary defines contemplation as a “concentration on spiritual things as a form of private devotion”; “a state of mystical awareness of God’s being”; and “an act of considering with attention: study” or “the act of regarding steadily” (Mish, 1988, p. 83). We can think of contemplative prayer, then, as a form of praying in which we ponder and give steady and close attention to God and to our lives in relationship to God, while seeking at the same time to keep anything extraneous to these out of awareness. To put it another way, contemplative prayer involves quiet reflection on God and God’s leading, such that we assume a posture of devotion as we seek greater awareness of God’s being.

Contemplative prayer can take numerous forms. I’ll suggest two forms to try: open prayer and centering prayer.

Almighty God, we entrust all who are dear to us to thy neverfailing care and love, for this life and the life to come; knowing that thou art doing for them better things than we can desire or pray for; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

From The Book of Common Prayer

I came to appreciate this prayer when [my wife] Debbie went through her surgery for cancer in 1989. That first night after her surgery I spent in a chair next to her hospital. Instead of sleeping, I pretty much just read the entire Book of Common Prayer cover to cover. This prayer is toward the end of the book. I hadn’t actually liked the prayer all that much until that night. In fact, I suppose it would be more accurate to say I didn’t like it. By the time I came to it that night, some time in the wee hours of the morning, I was ready for it. It’s now my favorite prayer.

—Michael Jinkins, academic dean and professor of pastoral theology

Open Prayer Open prayer involves the singular goal of opening oneself to God. One can approach the act of opening in different ways. One way is to try not to think about anything and simply let your thoughts be guided by the Spirit. The Quakers practice this type of approach in prayer and in worship. They get themselves “quiet” before God and await the Spirit’s leading. In such a state of quiet openness, you free yourself up from setting WINDOWS / Summer 2009

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my favorite prayer my favorite prayer my favorite prayer

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O Lord my God, my one hope, listen to me lest out of weariness I should stop wanting to seek you, but let me seek your face always, and with ardor. Do you yourself give me the strength to seek, having caused yourself to be found and having given me the hope of finding you more and more.

Before you lies my strength and my weakness; preserve the one, heal the other. Before you lies my knowledge and my ignorance; where you have opened to me, receive me as I come in; where you have shut to me, open to me as I knock.

Let me remember you, let me understand you, let me love you. Increase these things in me until you refashion me entirely.

Augustine, found at the conclusion of his theological treatise “The Trinity”

I chose this prayer because it focuses on the importance of knowledge and love. All genuine knowledge and all true love comes from God whose desire is for us to know and to love God. The knowledge and love that God gives is never fixed, but grows until the end of days.

—David Jensen, professor of constructive theology

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any sort of agenda for prayer other than opening yourself entirely to God, such that you make receiving God, experiencing God’s presence, and following God’s lead your singular object of concentration.

It’s difficult for someone to coach you on learning this form of prayer, and you’ll likely find that you simply must try it, and probably multiple times, to get the hang of it. It essentially involves letting go of whatever has your attention, interest, and even affection at the moment you pray. In open prayer, you really don’t even want to try to think specifically about God, but rather to open yourself to God and allow the Spirit to take it from there. Centering prayer, which we will consider next, involves a more active focus on God than open prayer, which involves freeing or clearing your thinking and feeling to the extent that you can so that the Spirit takes you where it will.

Here are a few suggestions that might help you learn how to pray in this way. One has to do with physical matters. Since opening yourself up to God in this form of prayer remains central, it may help you to incorporate your body in this way of praying. For example, you might sit or stand with your arms extended outward, which results in both a posture of giving and receiving.

In open prayer, we really do seek to give to God whatever prevents our full openness, and so we extend our arms and, perhaps with palms in the air, indicate our desire. At the same time, this posture indicates a desire to receive from God, fully and unencumbered by our own agenda, whatever God would impart. A variation on this approach involves sitting with your palms up in the air while also extending your arms or letting them rest on your knees or in your lap. Think of it this way: these physical postures of openness invite you to rely on the Spirit, and nothing more, to take from you and give to you as God desires. With open-

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hese physical postures of openness invite you to rely on the Spirit, and nothing more, to take from you and give to you as God desires. With openness comes deeper trust and reliance on God, which the Scriptures urge for God’s people.

ness comes deeper trust and reliance on God, which the Scriptures urge for God’s people: “Blessed are those who trust in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD” (Jer. 17:7), “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight” (Prov. 3:5).

Here’s another posture to consider. In the Roman Catholic tradition, those ordained to the priesthood often incorporate a practice of lying prostrate on the ground (facing down). This practice symbolizes adoration of and submission to God. At the same time, this prostrate position makes for a physical representation of what we seek inwardly and spiritually in prayer, namely, to be in God’s presence in the most inviting, welcoming, receptive, and open way. A variation on this practice involves lying prostrate with feet together and arms extended by

one’s side, which results in the body forming a cross. As the cross is the central symbol of the Christian story, allowing your body to assume its likeness can prove profoundly powerful for your life of prayer and your life of faith.

For some people, it will feel uncomfortable and perhaps even a bit silly to pray in these less common (even odd) bodily positions. If you feel this way, then there’s no obligation to try them. However, you might be surprised at how much of an effect your physical position or posture in prayer can have on your experiences of praying. Since the church’s inception, followers of Jesus have engaged in these kinds of “physical” prayers with the goal of meeting God in fresh and powerful ways.

Praying with attention to your physical posture also reminds you of the answer to the first question posed by the Heidelberg Catechism, a principle confessional document of the Presbyterian and Reformed Christian traditions. The question is “What is your only comfort in life and death?” The answer (in part) is “That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful savior Jesus Christ.” So, why not consider giving some of these practices a try yourself? And, of course, if you find any of them meaningful, feel free to incorporate them (and adapt them) as you pray the Lord’s Prayer, pray Scripture, or pray in other ways.

Centering Prayer Another form of contemplative prayer is called centering prayer. The Roman Catholic tradition has given us this form, more recently made popular by Father Thomas Keating, but people from a wide variety of Christian traditions and individuals who embrace a diversity of theological and religious persuasions now practice it (see Keating, 1986). As its name suggests, it helps center you in relation to God by enhancing your focus on God and God’s presence. It shares qualities with open prayer, but whereas in that form you seek to free yourself from attention to anything at all—so that you may be opened fully to the Spirit’s work—in centering prayer you focus intently on God and God’s presence and lead in your life. You seek “centeredness” in God. This form of contemplative prayer involves honing your focus, whereas open prayer entails letting go of it.

Keating’s method for centering prayer involves three steps or movements. First, get yourself still, comfortable, and otherwise prepared to pray. This preparation will likely involve closing your eyes and could further entail some of the suggestions for preparing to pray that we’ve already considered. Second, begin to let go of all of your thoughts by focusing on just one thought that relates to God. You can do this by focusing your attention on one sacred word. It could be “God,” “Jesus,” “Christ,” or “Holy Spirit,” or it could be a word that touches on an attribute of God or the promises of God in the gospel. Whatever sacred word you choose, it will become the focus of your centering approach.

A third step or movement involves allowing the word (and its meaning) to enter fully into your consciousness and your imagination, to become “front and center” in your mind’s eye, and then allowing it to remain there as you pray. Keating describes the process as follows: “Introduce the sacred word into your imagination as gently as if you were laying a WINDOWS / Summer 2009

your prayer life O Lord, Thou knowest how busy I must be this day. If I forget Thee, do not Thou forget me.

—Sr. Jacob Astley, before the Battle of Edgehill (1642) I don’t know if this is my absolute favorite, but it is one of my collection of Prayers in Case of Emergency, and I use it quite a bit.

—David W. Johnson, director of ministerial formation

Father of all creatures, whose dwelling extends beyond this world, let no one trivialize your being.

Let your order prevail.

Let your intentions come to be for creation and for yourself.

Give us, each day, no more than we need, and forgive us when we take for ourselves the well being of others, as we forgive others who seek to take ours.

Lead us away from our dreams of power that we might be whole, satisfied in you.

From Out Walking by John Leax (Baker Books, 2000)

This is the prayer with which I have opened every class for the past several years. The first word of the prayer is "Father," I always say "Mother" and invite students to hear both. I also anticipate that they will hear the Lord's Prayer resonating in the background. It is a beautiful prayer, and I have found it to be rich and profound despite its simplicity.

—Bill Greenway, associate professor of philosophical theology

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my favorite prayer my favorite prayer my favorite prayer

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Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work or watch or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep.

Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless they dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love’s sake.

Amen.

This is a Compline prayer or Prayer at the Close of the Day as per the Presbyterian title. It is one of the last-thing-you-do-beforeclosing-your-eyes-for-sleep type prayer. It is one of my favorite compline prayers because of the way it names night activities: it prompts us to pray for night-shift workers and for the many ways people are alone, sleepless, or troubled during that stretch of time.

—Jennifer L. Lord, associate professor of homiletics

O LORD God, Who hast called us thy servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, By paths as yet untrodden and through perils unknown: Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing whither we go, But only that thy hand is leading us and thy love supporting us; Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Service Book and Hymnal (Lutheran Churches cooperating in The Commission on the Liturgy and Hymnal, Music Edition, 1958) This a prayer that I first heard in college and have valued ever since.

—Timothy Lincoln, associate dean for institutional effectiveness and director of the Stitt Library 10

feather on a piece of absorbent cotton,” which suggests welcoming whatever word you settle on into yourself (to internalize it) while not forcing it or holding on to it too tightly. Remember, the word is just that, a word, and it’s not the object of your praying. God remains the sole object, which means that if the word begins to “flee” or if other words push into your awareness, either simply recall the sacred word and try again to think of its presence as similar to laying a feather to cotton, or, if it seems more helpful, move on to another word and begin the process again.

Deliberate breathing may prove particularly important with both of these contemplative approaches to prayer. So remember to give attention to some type of focused or deliberative breathing. Once again, the spirit of the law should trump the letter as concerns any approach to prayer that you use. Your goal remains the contemplation of God, God’s presence, and how God leads you to follow Jesus.

This year we celebrate the 500th birthday of John Calvin, a pastor

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he spirit of the law should trump the letter as concerns any approach to prayer that you use.

Your goal remains the contemplation of God, God’s presence, and how God leads you to follow Jesus.

and theologian to whom Reformed Christians trace their roots. It seems particularly timely, therefore, to recall what he said about prayer— namely, that it is “the chief exercise of faith.” The approaches to prayer that we have considered hold a longstanding place in Christian faith, and both may deepen your life of prayer as you make them part of your own regular exercise regimen. Perhaps one approach will feel better suited for you than the other, but I encourage you to try both and to do so for a period of at least a few weeks; and longer if possible. You might be surprised at how these can help you mature, not merely in your life of prayer but in your life of faith.

L References John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2 vols., ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1960).

John Calvin, On Prayer: Conversations with God, intro by John Hesselink (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006).

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, vol. 5, Life Together/Prayebook of the Bible, ed. Geffrey B. Kelly, trans. Daniel W. Bloesch and James H. Burtness (1999; repr., Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2005).

Frederick C. Mish, ed., Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 1988).

Thomas Keating, Open Mind, Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel, (1986; repr. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993).

Voicing the prayers of others

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BY KEITH WRIGHT

ow do you decide what to say when you are offering the pastoral prayer in worship? Two possibilities come immediately to mind.

You can go to the Book of Common Worship or some other liturgical resource and choose a prayer for the particular season of the church year in which you find yourself. Or, you can trust that the Spirit will give you words with which to sum up what is on the hearts and minds of the people gathered for worship that particular day. Both of these approaches to the prayers of the people have been used and appreciated by different congregations.

In this brief article, I want to suggest a third approach. When I am preparing the pastoral prayer, I sit in front of my computer and I think—I think about God—I think about the congregation whose prayer I am voicing—I think about what has been going on in the world, the church, and our own faith community since our last worship service.

As I think about God, I realize how difficult it is to address God and how sometimes our praise rings hollow unless it is followed by deeds that match our words. With this in mind, I began one of my recent prayers by saying, “God, there are no words adequate to address you or describe you, and yet words are all we have. So, we approach you this morning knowing that our thoughts are not your thoughts and our ways not your ways. Yet you invite us into this conversation and encourage us in our search to know you better.” As I have come to know the congregation I serve, I am convinced that many of them are wrestling with their image of God and are therefore comfortable with prayer language

your prayer life

Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of the armed forces at home and abroad. Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

There is a collect in the Book of Common Prayer (page 823) that I use in almost every worship service.

It is meaningful to me because it is for the Armed Forces and identifies the common spiritual tensions many soldiers and their loved ones face.

This prayer reminds me that God is our ultimate source of protection and that God is always with us, especially in our suffering. Not by coincidence the next collect is for those who suffer for the sake of conscience. I value this reminder that whether one serves in the military or as a conscientious objector, we serve one Lord.

—David M Scheider, LTC MIL USA IMCOM (DMin’09)

Keith Wright (MDiv’56, DMin’86) is parish associate at University Presbyterian Church, Austin, Texas, and the author of Religious Abuse: A Pastor Explores the Many Ways Religion Can Hurt As Well As Heal (Northstone Publishing, 2001).

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my favorite prayer my favorite prayer my favorite prayer

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Father, according as I am able, I keep my little rule, my little fast, and my little prayer.

And according as I am able, I strive to cleanse my mind of all evil thoughts and my heart of all evil intents.

Now, what more should I do?

Prayer: Finding The Heart's True Home (Richard Foster, 1992)

Foster book has become a resource for my devotion as well as a tool for my ministry over the years. Foster suggests that prayer has at least three movements: Inward, Upward, and Outward.

About the inward movement he writes, “The movement inward comes first because without interior transformation the movement up into God's glory would overwhelm us and the movement out into ministry would destroy us.”

In his first chapter, Foster suggests that "to pray is to change.” Part of moving towards change is to take little and simple self-awareness steps eventually leading to effectiveness or perhaps change. The open ended question at the end of this prayer tells me that before I do anything else I must listen inwardly and intently to my Shepherd's guiding voice. Change happens from simple prayers.

—Paul D. Kraus, (DMin’09), director of pastoral care, Austin State Supported Living Center

that acknowledges the otherness and mystery of God. However, I also know that the people in this congregation have already found in Jesus Christ a revelation of God that they can trust while they live with the mystery of God’s presence. So, I continued the morning prayer with thanksgiving for God’s self-revelation in Jesus Christ and the request that God would “hold before us the love and care —the demand for justice and equality—the compassion and healing spirit—that we find in Jesus Christ. Thank You for dwelling in this man in such a way that we find a part of your mystery revealed and can thus trust that you are good and kind.”

From praise and thanksgiving, I turn in the pastoral prayer to voice for the people the concerns that are on their hearts. That demands for me that during the week proceeding Sunday, I pay careful attention to the national and world and local news as it is presented in newsprint, television, and the Internet. On this particular week, the story that dominated the news was about the killing in the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. That was the event, but as I read and heard the story, I felt that the deepest concern for many people would be, not racism or the death of one man, but the recognition that prejudice and disdain for other races often creeps into our lives. That prompted me to pray, “Loving God, we are shocked by the news of a man who walked into the Holocaust Museum in Washington and shot a guard because he was a black man. We are shocked by the hatred for Jews and African Americans that had festered in this man for many years. We are also shocked by the news of a man who walked into a church and killed a doctor who performed abortions. We are shocked by these and other recent killings, but we are also uneasy—uneasy because these extreme examples remind us of our own prejudices and feelings of disdain for those who are different from ourselves. We are uneasy because Jesus commanded us to love each other and sometimes that is hard to do. Use these extreme examples to show us where hatred leads and turn us back to the love Jesus lived out in his life and death.”

In our present world of war, poverty, economic collapse, and natural disasters, there are more concerns than could ever be lifted up to God in a single prayer. Therefore I try to choose one or two events that stand out as representing the broken society in which we live and in asking God to help, I assume that healing must first begin with us.

The prayer of the people moves from thanksgiving to intercession, and it concludes with celebrations and concerns of the church family.

Sometimes I hold before God specific needs of people or events in the life of the congregation. At other times I focus on a particular need of the whole congregation. That was the case with the prayer I have citied in this article. That prayer ended, “Help us to recognize opportunities to get to know people around us and beyond our comfort zone. Give us eyes to see needs in individuals and situations where we can be of help.”

Voicing the prayer of others in worship is not easy and it takes time to prepare such a prayer. However, it is a privilege and well worth the effort.

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Find back issues of Windows online at www.austinseminary.edu

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The architecture of prayer

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your prayer life

Using the collect in public prayer

BY KRISTIN SALDINE

rayer is a blessing, a way of communion with God, with others, and the world. Prayer can also feel like a burden, especially when we are asked to pray in public. All Christians are called to pray, privately and publicly. The challenge is how to pray well.

The scenario might go like this: when you arrive at your weekly small group Bible study you are asked to open the meeting with prayer.

You say yes, in part because you think you have to, and spend the next few minutes anxiously trying to think of what you will say. What to pray for, and how? When the time comes you consider defaulting to the popular informal, conversational prayer Tony Jones describes as the “Father Weejus” prayer: Father Weejus thank you for bringing us together tonight; we pray, Lord, that you will bless our time together. Amen.

Now, this is an adequate Christian prayer; it makes a petition in God’s name. But the prayer lacks scriptural imagery and theological reflection, two hallmarks of the magnificent tradition of Christian prayer through the centuries. The Father Weejus prayer, as popular as it

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he “Father Weejus” prayer will do in a pinch, but, in the name of Christ, we can do better.

is, is the lowest common denominator of Christian public prayer. It will do in a pinch, but, in the name of Christ, we can do better.

Christians are reclaiming ancient forms of prayer, in part to deepen their spiritual disciplines but also to help them pray with confidence in public. One form of prayer that is particularly helpful is the collect (in this usage, “collect” is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable).

The collect is a form typical of Roman prayers, brief and to the point.

You can think of the collect as a general prayer that collects or gathers up concerns into a concise, thematic prayer. The collect has a five-part structure: 1) Address (a descriptive naming of the person of the trinity being addressed)

Eternal and everlasting God, in the growing quietness of the evening and the deepening shadows of the night, grant us sleep and rest. With the stilling of the day’s doings, and the end of coming and going about us, make us to be sleepy with heavy eyes and tired limbs. As your creatures are lying down in the wood, as the bird is quiet in its nest and the wild thing in its hole, as the stream is still in its bed reflecting the great expanse of stars above, may we in our sleep reflect our confidence in you, and our assurance in your constant peace.

In our sleep give us that deeper communion of our souls with you who restores unto health. For your name’s sake. Amen.

Book of Common Worship, p. 560 (from “Prayer at the Close of Day”) I first encountered this prayer from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Book of Common Worship years ago at a staff retreat for the program and support staff of Central Presbyterian Church in Atlanta.

I was taken by the scene it creates of all creation settling down to sleep.

Since it is often hard for many of us to fall asleep, I began paying attention to this prayer in an attempt to commit to God all of the undone and anxious thoughts still lingering at the end of the day.

—Theodore J. Wardlaw, president

Kristin Saldine is associate professor of homiletics at Austin Seminary. Prior to her appointment she was minister of the chapel and associate director of the Joe R. Engle Institute of Preaching at Princeton Theological Seminary and pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Anacortes, Washington.

WINDOWS / Summer 2009

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2) An attribute or quality of God that relates to the petition (often begins with “who” or “whose”) 3) Petition 4) Desired result or benefit of the petition (often begins with “so that”) 5) Doxological conclusion The beauty of the collect is its elegant simplicity and flexibility.

Once you learn the five-part structure you can use it anywhere—as a table blessing, at a hospital bedside, for a church committee meeting, in corporate worship.

The collect form enhances the art of public prayer. It encourages us to broaden our naming of God, inviting us to consider the rich descriptions of God’s activity in scripture (step 1 and 2). The form also requires contextual awareness and theological reflection; we must think about what we want to pray for and why (step 3 and 4).

Let’s return to your dilemma.

You’re nervous about opening the meeting in prayer, but you remember the five-part structure of the collect. You take a breath, pause to reflect, and pray: Loving God, whose Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path; give us a grace tonight to receive your word with faith and love, so that we might grow in love and service for you; through Jesus Christ our Lord and living Word. Amen.

The art of public prayer is a blessing, for us and for the world, and it deserves our best expression.

With practice, the collect form can help our public prayer seem less like a burden and more like a gift. L

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“Nothing comes between me and my Calvin.”

Austin Seminary’s Master of Divinity program

Student body president Kaci Porter

(for those who are serious about preparing for ministry in the Reformed tradition) Discovery Weekend www.austinseminary.edu

Oct. 31-Nov. 1, 2009 | 800-241-1085

The meditations by faculty, students, and alumni/ae in our 2009 Advent Devotional reflect the richness and depth of the theological education offered at Austin Seminary.

Connect our community of faith to yours. Order now through October 6 at: www.austinseminary.edu/advent

COMMUNITY NEWS

Anderson House dedication Austin Seminary dedicated its new residential apartment building, The John F. and Nancy Anderson House, on May 23, 2009. In attendance were friends of Austin Seminary, students, faculty, staff, trustees, members of the Anderson family, donors, and Austin city council member Brewster McCracken. Built entirely with funds donated by those who support residential theological education, Anderson House is now open to seminary students; all twenty-four apartments will be fully occupied for the 2009-2010 term. The Latin saying above the side entrance is a quote from the Reverend Dr. Anderson, for whom the residence is named, and means, “Send us preachers who aren’t boring.”

Find more photos in our Media Gallery at www.austinseminary.edu (Select the channel “Community Life”)

WINDOWS / Summer 2009

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Ultimate Exposure

The Class of 2009

2009 MDiv and MATS graduates

Forty-eight granted degrees in May ceremony

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The Reverend Dr. Joseph J. Clifford, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Texas, and a member of Austin Seminary’s Board of Trustees, gave the commencement address, “And They Were Afraid Because.”

Clifford earned his BS degree from Auburn University, his MDiv from Columbia Theological Seminary, and his DMin in preaching from McCormick Theological Seminary.

He also serves on the Board of Directors of Grace Presbyterian Village in Dallas.

Awards to graduating seniors

Ultimate Exposure

raduation activities for the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary Class of 2009 were held on May 23-24.

Forty-eight students received the Master of Arts (Theological Studies), the Master of Divinity, or the Doctor of Ministry degrees.

Among those are the first two students graduating from Austin Seminary’s dual-degree program with The University of Texas (UT) at Austin School of Social Work.

A Baccalaureate service was held Saturday, May 23, at University Presbyterian Church in Austin with the Reverend J. Andrew Dearman preaching.

Dearman, professor of Old Testament, has been a member of Austin Seminary’s faculty since 1982, and served as academic dean from 1997-2003; he leaves Austin Seminary in July to become associate dean of Fuller Seminary’s program in Houston, Texas. Also participating in the service were the Reverend Jackie Saxon, vice president for student affairs and vocation, and the Reverend Dr. David Johnson, director of ministerial formation.

included the following: The Charles L. King Preaching Award, given annually to honor the late Dr. Charles L. King, for many years pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Houston and a distinguished denominational leader, was presented to Joseph Moore. Isaac Pyo received the Rachel Henderlite Award, named for former Austin Seminary professor and given to a graduate who has made significant contributions to cross-cultural and interracial relationships while at Austin Seminary.

The John Spragens Award was established to honor a former Austin Seminary faculty member and is given each year to an outstanding graduate to be used for additional study in the field of

2009 Doctor of Ministry graduates

First two students receive dual degrees from Austin Seminary and The University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work

I Trustee Carter King (MDiv’70) and Commencement speaker Joe Clifford visit before the ceremony.

Christian education. The award this year was given to Melissa Koerner. The Hendrick-Smith Award for Evangelism and Missions was established by William Smith Sevier in memory of William Swan Smith, James Hardin Smith, John Henry Hendrick, Edwin Eugene Hendrick and in honor of John Robert Hendrick, professor emeritus of evangelism and mission at Austin Seminary. It is given each year to a graduate who has demonstrated a commitment to the field of mission and evangelism. This year’s recipient was Karolina Wright. The Donald Capps Award in Pastoral Care, established to honor Professor Donald Capps, the William Harte Felmeth Professor of Pastoral Psychology at Princeton Theological Seminary, is given each year based on a student’s gifts for and commitment to the church’s caring ministries. The recipient of the Donald Capps Award in Pastoral Care was Michael Lauziere.

Additional awards included the Ada and Adams Colhoun Award, granted to Sarah Hegar; the 2009 Carl Kilborn Book Award, granted to Sung-il Matthew Pyeon, and a Chalice Press Book Award granted to James E. Sweet Jr. WINDOWS / Summer 2009

n a first for Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, two students have graduated from its collaborative program with The University of Texas (UT) at Austin School of Social Work. The two students, Karolina Wright and Ken Fries, received the Master of Divinity (MDiv) and Master of Science in Social Work (MSSW) degrees in separate ceremonies on May 23 and 24.

The dual degree program was begun Dual degree recipients Ken Fries and Karolina Wright hold their UT stoles which they received the day before their graduin 2006 as a ation from Austin Seminary. response to the growing demand for ministers, social workers, and the communities they serve to work in partnerships in response to personal and social problems and to promote greater well-being of individuals and groups in increasingly diverse contexts. The partnership between Austin Seminary and The UT School of Social Work provides students with resources that extend each institution’s individual offerings. Both Fries and Wright are now working in the area of social services: Fries with the Burke Center for Youth in Driftwood, Texas, and Wright as a geriatric mental health therapist at Navos in Seattle, Washington.

Allan Hugh Cole Jr., Austin Seminary’s Nancy Taylor Williamson Associate Professor of Pastoral Care, took leadership in establishing this program; and he now chairs the committee comprised of members of both schools that oversees the dual degree program. Cole says, “We envisioned this program as a way to help students think broadly about human strengths, needs, and ways to foster people’s flourishing, whether when working in pastoral ministry, social work, or a related vocation. I am delighted to celebrate our first two dual-degree graduates and their significant accomplishments, and I look forward to continuing our partnership with the UT School of Social Work, which is an extraordinary school.”

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The Class of 2009

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Chizason Chunda; Presbyterian; Pastor, Kalulushi Church of Central Africa Presbyterian; Kalulushi, Zambia

Jason Paul DeGraaf; Nondenominational; seeking a call

Charissa Dawn Ellis; Presbyterian; seeking a position in research biology while seeking a position in the church.

Megan Renee Dosher; Presbyterian (Presbytery of Seattle); seeking a position while completing ordination requirements

Stephanie Lynn Goodman Lynch; not seeking a position at this time

Carrie Madeleine Finch; Presbyterian (New Hope Presbytery); seeking a call

David Matthew Mustol, Presbyterian; Latin teacher, San Antonio Christian Schools, San Antonio, Texas

Kenneth Joseph Fries; United Methodist (Southwest Texas Conference); Treatment Director, The Burke Center for Youth, Driftwood, Texas

Margaret Murray Talbot; Presbyterian; seeking an editorial freelance position

Paul Rudolph Gaedke; Presbyterian (Mission Presbytery); seeking a call

Ingrid Beguiristain Akers; United Methodist (Texas Conference); Youth Director, University United Methodist Church, Austin, Texas

Sarah Feltman Hegar; Presbyterian (North Central Iowa Presbytery); Chaplain Intern, The Methodist Hospital—Medical Plaza, Houston, Texas

Patrick Dargan Cherry; Presbyterian (Peaks Presbytery); Director of Young Adults and Youth, Covenant Presbyterian Church, San Antonio, Texas

Sherry Lynn Higdon; Presbyterian (Olympia Presbytery); Year-long Chaplain Resident, Providence Alaska Medical Center, Anchorage, Alaska

• MDiv • Master of Divinity • MDiv • Divinity • MDiv • Master of Divinity • MDiv • Divinity • MDiv •

Master of Divinity • MDiv • Master of Arts (Theological Studies) • MATS • Master of Arts (Theological

Key to Masters degree entries: graduate’s name and denomination (presbytery or conference under care); first call / placement or future plans.

Keith David Hudson; Presbyterian (Alaska Presbytery); seeking a call

Melissa Renae Koerner Lopez; Presbyterian (Plains and Peaks Presbytery); Chaplain Resident, Year-long residency at Seton Hospital, Austin, Texas

Laura Elly Hudson; Presbyterian (Alaska Presbytery); seeking a call

Daniel Joseph Miracle; Presbyterian (Tres Rios Presbytery); Currently working for the Texas Railroad Commission while seeking a call

Krista Danielle Ingram; United Methodist (Central Texas Conference); Associate Pastor, First United Methodist Church, Olney, Texas

Joseph Houston Moore; Presbyterian (Mission Presbytery); seeking a call

Daniel Milo Jean; United Methodist (Southwest Texas Conference); seeking a part-time licensed or appointed position while completing denominational requirements.

Jamie Lee Peterson; United Methodist (Central Texas Conference); Pastor, Florence/ Jarrell United Methodist Church Florence, Texas

Jong Seo Kim; United Methodist (Southwest Texas Conference); College Minister, Korean United Methodist Church, Austin, Texas

Mark Lynn Proeger; Interdenominational; Pastor, Hope Chapel, Austin, Texas

Christopher Joseph Kirwan; Presbyterian (Central Florida Presbytery); seeking a position while completing ordination requirements

Sung-Il Matthew Pyeon; Presbyterian (Mission Presbytery); Music Director, Round Rock Presbyterian Church, Round Rock, Texas

Lyndsey Alexandra Knott; Presbyterian (Grace Presbytery); seeking a call

Isaac Pyo; Assemblies of God; Associate Pastor, Antioch Church, San Antonio, Texas

Michael Paul Lauziere; American Baptist; seeking a position while completing denominational requirements

Cody McConal Sandahl; Presbyterian (Mission Presbytery); Associate Pastor of Discipleship, First Presbyterian Church, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

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MDiv • Master of Divinity • MDiv • Master of Divinity • MDiv • Master of Divinity • MDiv • Master of Divinity • MDiv

MDiv • Master of Divinity • MDiv • Master of Divinity • MDiv • Master of Divinity • MDiv • Master of Divinity • MDiv

The Class of 2009

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Carol Carpenter Schmidt; Lutheran; writing a book on women and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

Key to Doctor of Ministry degree entries: graduate’s name, current position; title of doctoral project.

Holly Reneé Smith; Presbyterian (New Covenant Presbytery); Associate Pastor, Hodges Boulevard Presbyterian Church, Jacksonville, Florida

Rodney Jeremiah Booker, senior pastor, Mission Bend United Methodist Church, Houston, Texas; “Leadership That Listens: Negotiating New Boundaries with Ethnic Faith Communities”

James E. Sweet; Methodist (Southwest Texas Conference); Associate Pastor, Buda United Methodist Church, Buda, Texas

Morgan Dane Boyles, pastor, Leander Church of Christ at Crystal Falls, Leander, Texas; “Evangelism Through Mission: An Outreach Model For A Target Community”

Matthew Lyall Thompson; Presbyterian (Palo Duro Presbytery); CPE-Summer Internship, Covenant Health System, Lubbock, Texas

Wayne Carl Eberly, Pastor, Pines Presbyterian Church, Houston, Texas; “A Jubilee Journey: Embodying Jubilee through a Fifty Day Commitment of Remembrance and Practice”

Traci Truly; Presbyterian (Grace Presbytery); seeking a call

Ronald Eugene George, lay eucharistic visitor and worship minister, All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Corpus Christi, Texas; “Hearing Stories from Within: Teaching Empathic Listening to Lay Pastoral Leaders”

Jerimey Joshua Wicke; United Methodist (Southwest Texas Conference); Associate Local Pastor, First United Methodist Church, Elgin, Texas

Paul David Kraus, Director of Pastoral Care; Austin State Supported Living Center; “Increasing Critical Self-Awareness: A Revised Model For Pastoral Care”

Karolina Ann Wright; Presbyterian; Geriatric Mental Health Therapist, Navos, Seattle, Washington

Andy Wayne Mangum, Senior Minister, First Christian Church of Arlington, (Texas); “Developing Parishioners’ Narrative Perceptions of Philippians by Developing Understanding of Narrative Reading Techniques” Kaye Pentecost McKee, Executive Director, A Spacious Place, Austin, Texas; “Safe and Sacred Space: Exploring Metaphors for God Through Arts-Based Spiritual Direction”

DMin • Doctor of Ministry • DMin • Doctor of Ministry • DMin•Doctor of Ministry • DMin • Doctor of Ministry• DMin

MDiv • Master of Divinity • MDiv • Master of Divinity • MDiv • Master of Divinity • MDiv • Master of Divinity • MDiv

The Class of 2009

Sung-In Park; Pastor, Yerang Korean Church, Austin, Texas; “Living Water for Korean Women: A Model for Inclusive Interpretation of Scripture”

David Max Scheider; Chaplain, U.S. Army (Germany); “Integrating Theology and Psychology in Pastoral Counseling Practice”

James William Randall Jr., Pastor, Hope Mills (North Carolina) Presbyterian Church; “Head, Heart and Hands: Training Select Members to Respond Evangelistically to the Needs of the Homeless and to Those of Military Families in the Town of Hope Mills”

Joshua Aaron Stowe, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Monahans, Texas; “Lectio Divina in a West Texas Baptist Church: Enhancing Awareness of God’s Presence”

DMin • Doctor of Ministry • DMin

DMin • Doctor of Ministry • DMin

The Class of 2009

Houston Extension program to end in 2010

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fter an extensive review process, the Board of Trustees of Austin Seminary voted at its spring meeting to eliminate the Houston Extension program, effective July 2010. In their decision they cited a need for the Seminary to remain focused on its core mission of the residential formation model of theological education and to be mindful of the stated goal of reducing Austin Seminary’s annual budget.

The Board of Trustees and administration stated its commitment to continuing to equip servant leaders for the church and community and seek ways to move toward the future, prudently stewarding the Seminary’s resources. “Austin Seminary has strong and longstanding ties to Houston, which is one of our most significant constituent areas, and we have been, and remain grateful for, the support and encouragement we receive from Houston churches and individuals,” said Theodore J. Wardlaw, president of Austin Seminary. “We are committed to remaining a theological resource for Houston.”

Austin Seminary’s Houston Extension non-degree program was designed for persons interested in beginning theological study and for laypersons desiring to deepen their theological understanding. Over the years, most of Austin Seminary’s resident faculty traveled to Houston to teach courses. More than two hundred students have taken courses for credit in the Houston Extension program, an average of seventeen students per term; forty-two eventually matriculated into the residential degree program at Austin Seminary.

The Reverend Dr. James S. Currie, associate dean of the Houston Extension Program, said, “Austin Seminary began its Houston extension program in the spring of 1986 when Dr. John Jansen taught Reformed Theology. For over twenty-three years it has played a significant role in the lives of many persons in the Houston area. It has been my privilege to serve as director of the program and to teach in it for the past thirteen years. I know that the Seminary will continue to find ways to make its presence known in Houston.”

Enrollment for the fall 2009 term has begun with courses offered in Old Testament, church history, and mission and evangelism.

WINDOWS / Summer 2009

February 1-3 Thomas W. Currie

Professor of Theology and Dean of Union / PSCE at Charlotte

Barbara G. Wheeler Director, Center for Study of Theological Education at Auburn Seminary

Roger Nishioka Benton Family Associate Professor of Christian Education, Columbia Theological Seminary

Bryan Blount President, Union / PSCE

Reunions for the Classes of 1960, 1970, and 2007-2009 21

FACULTY NEWS

Emeritus Professor Prescott Williams dies

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r. Prescott Harrison Williams, Professor Emeritus of Old Testament Languages and Archaeology, died on June 18; a memorial service was held in Shelton Chapel on June 25.

One of the longest-serving members of the Austin Seminary faculty, Williams arrived in 1959 and served in every capacity: as professor (1959-1991), dean (1966-1976), acting president (1971-1972), and president and dean (1972-1976). Following his tenure as president he continued his work in the classroom for many years. Williams was also a frequent guest lecturer and visiting professor at the University of Texas at Austin. After retiring from Austin Seminary, Williams continued to teach and advise at the Seminary as well as through programs in local congregations, MoRanch, and the University of Texas’ lifelong learning program, LAMP. A native of Detroit, Williams was baptized by Reinhold Niebuhr and brought up in the Scovel Presbyterian Church. He graduated with honors from Wheaton College then went on to earn an MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary and the PhD in ancient near eastern languages, history, and archeology from Johns Hopkins University. Williams was ordained by the Presbytery of Detroit in 1950 and served churches in Maryland, including the Makemie Memorial Presbyterian Church in Maryland—the oldest Presbyterian congregation in the United States.

An authority on the Dead Sea Scrolls, he penned numerous lectures and articles on what he considered the “unequalled importance of the Qumran literature.” During

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his career he was actively involved in biblical research and archaeology, serving as Shechem Fellow at the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem in 1964-65; advising the Jordanian Department of Antiquities and training Jordanian archaeologists in their work in Amman, Qumran, and Sabastiyah (biblical Samaria); and staffing archaeological expeditions to Schechem in Jordan in 1962, 1964, and 1966, which was believed to be the site of Abram’s first stop in Canaan and, at the time, the largest American archaeological expedition since World War II. In 1983-84 he spent a sabbatical year researching and teaching at the American Center of Oriental Research in Amman, Jordan, on whose board he also served as a trustee and officer.

Under his leadership Austin Seminary began its Doctor of

Ministry program, strengthened its cooperative relationship with the nearby Episcopal seminary, and received its first academic accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. But Williams may best be remembered for leading the Seminary through a comprehensive curriculum review in 1974.

The story goes that after much deliberation among the faculty working on the project (fifty-five meetings, by Prescott’s count), he locked them up in a Hill Country motel room vowing they wouldn’t come out until their work was complete. A bit extreme, perhaps, but the core of the resulting curriculum remained in place for more than thirty years.

Williams was known for his collegiality among the faculty and concern for his students. Andy Dearman, who taught Old Testament alongside Williams for many years, said, “Of all the teaching colleagues I have known at Austin Seminary, Prescott was the absolute best at assessing a student’s style of learning … I have often thought that perhaps the reason is that Prescott was himself such a wonderful, eccentric individualist, that he could see the idiosyncrasies and patterns of association in others more clearly than the rest of us.

When it came time to speak with a student struggling with Hebrew or showing signs of trouble in the exegetical task, I learned early on to follow one of two options: either I consulted Prescott for his advice, or better, I sent the student directly to Prescott.”

The family has requested that memorial contributions be sent to Austin Seminary.

Board of Trustee action

Faculty promotions and reappointments Tom Snider / The Presbyterian Voice

Austin Seminary’s Board of Trustees took the following action, with respect to faculty, at its spring 2009 meeting: David Jensen was promoted to professor of constructive theology, effective July 1, 2009. Jensen joined the Austin Seminary faculty in 2001.

Allan Hugh Cole Jr., the Nancy Taylor Williamson Associate Professor of Pastoral Care, was granted tenure, effective July 1, 2009. Cole joined the faculty of Austin Seminary in 2003.

The following faculty members were reappointed: • Whitney Bodman, associate professor of comparative religion, to a three-year term, effective July 1, 2010 • Kristin Saldine, assistant professor of homiletics, to a three-year term, effective July 1, 2009 • Timothy D. Lincoln, associate dean for seminary effectiveness and director of Stitt Library, to a continuous term, effective July 1, 2009 • Jennifer Lord, associate professor of homiletics, to a three-year term, effective July 1, 2009 • C. Ellis Nelson as research professor in Christian education The following faculty members were granted sabbatical leave requests: • Ismael García, 12-months, beginning July 1, 2009 • David White, 6-month, beginning July 1, 2010 WINDOWS / Summer 2009

K.C. Ptomey to be the next Zbinden Professor

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ustin Seminary has called the Reverend K.C. Ptomey Jr. to be the Louis H. and Katherine S. Zbinden Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Leadership, effective July 1, 2009. Ptomey will teach pastoral ministry, church administration, congregational leadership, stewardship, and liturgy. He and his wife, Carol Tate, will move to Austin this summer.

Ptomey served as pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee, from 1981 to 2008. According to the Presbyterian Voice newsletter of the Synod of Living Waters, “With a membership of 2000, Westminster is known for its spirited Sunday-school discussions, liturgy, music, community involvement, and influential membership (including Senator Lamar Alexander and former Senator Bill Frist, both prominent Republicans). For decades Ptomey set a tone of respect for diverse opinion and the adventure of learning. ‘People come to hear new ideas and to be challenged and not to be stroked or just made to feel good,’ says Ptomey” (November 2008).

Ptomey received a BA from Rhodes College, an MDiv from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, a DMin from McCormick Theological Seminary, and an honorary doctorate from Rhodes. He has served on the Boards of Trustees of Schreiner College and Rhodes College and as Chair of the Examinations Committee, Commission on the Minister, Grace Presbytery. He has also served on the alumni/ae board of Louisville Seminary, as moderator and chair of several committees of the Presbytery of Middle Tennessee, and currently serves as a member of the Committee on Theological Education. Ptomey’s sermons and articles have appeared in Presbyterian Survey, Journal for Preachers, Weavings, Pulpit Digest, and Reformed Liturgy and Worship.

Members of First Presbyterian Church, San Antonio, Texas, endowed the Louis H. and Katherine S. Zbinden Chair in 2002 in honor of their long-time pastor and his wife. This endowed professorship was designed to bring the wisdom and experience of pastoral leadership into the closest proximity possible to seminary students. Louis H. Zbinden himself became the first to hold the chair and completed his term at the end of the 2008-09 academic year.

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FACULTY NEWS

Ellen Babinsky to retire

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rofessor Ellen Babinsky, who has taught church history at Austin Seminary since 1988, has announced her retirement, effective August 1, 2009. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Babinsky has been associate dean for student academic affairs since 2005. In that role she led the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) Committee charged with formulating and implementing a program for student learning that has been a critical element of the Seminary’s recent reaccreditation process.

A much-beloved professor, Babinsky has enriched the classroom with her expertise in the Early, Medieval, Reformation, and Modern periods of church history, and has enlivened the conversation with her specialization in medieval heresy and Christian mysticism. In the larger life of the Seminary, she has played a central role in the community through her leadership in chairing the Student Life and Student Standing Committee for more than a decade.

She served on the search committee that called President Theodore J. Wardlaw in 2002.

“As well as being a wonderful teacher, Ellen is a kind, intuitive, and supportive pastor,” says Beth Sentell (MDiv’98), who claims to have taken as many of Ellen’s classes as her schedule would allow. “She is proof that one can be a serious scholar and a loving pastor at the same time. She is, in the words of Joni Mitchell, ‘a woman of heart and mind.’ Her intellectual influence, her spiritual insight and the strength of her pastoral example will continue to shape and inspire those of us blessed to have been her students.”

A regular participant and contributor to the Medieval Institute in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Ghost Ranch Conference Center in northern New Mexico, Babinsky is the author of several publications including her own translation of and introduction to a 13th-century French mystical text, Marguerite Porete’s “The Mirror of Simple Souls” (Classics of Western Spirituality series, 1993).

Professor Babinsky’s passion for global ecumenical dialogue led to her appointment to the Theology Committee of the Caribbean and North American Area Council of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches in 1993 and election to the General Assembly Committee on Ecumenical Relations in 1999. She was a delegate to the 1997 World Alliance of Reformed Churches General Council held in Debrecen, Hungary.

Babinsky earned a BA from Earlham College, an MDiv from McCormick Theological Seminary, an MTh from Luther Northwestern Theological Seminary, and the PhD from the University of Chicago. An ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Babinsky was associate pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis from 19761983 and has served as a parish associate for Genesis Presbyterian Church, Austin, for many years.

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FACULTY NOTES This summer First Presbyterian Church, Shreveport, D. Thomason Professor of New Testament John Alsup is teaching Greek, continuing work on a publication, “The Church as Household,” and pursuing his pastoral responsibilities. His newest passion; however, is a cutting horse named Mr. Majestic.

Whit Bodman, associate professor of comparative religion, organized, with students, a Bible-Qur’an Study Group this spring with a group of local Muslims. He attended the Notre Dame conference on the study of the Qur’an and will be participating this summer in a consultation to develop a new statement on Christian-Muslim relations for the PCUSA. On a personal note, he graduated two children—from Columbia School of Social Work and the University of Montana Law School—and (along with a number of other Austin Seminary faculty and students) cheered the UNC Tarheels to the NCAA basketball championship.

Nancy Taylor Williamson Professor of Pastoral Care Allan Cole has published two essays in the forthcoming The Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion (New York: Blanton-Peale, 2009).

James S. Currie, associate dean for the Houston Extension Program, coordinated the third annual Spring Forum on “The Fundamentals of Fundamentalism.” Between 85-100 people attended the event at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church on April 26. On June 5 he represented the Presbyterian Historical Society of the Southwest at the Tri-Presbytery meeting in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and on June 19 he made a presentation at Tres Rios Presbytery.

The Dean’s Bookshelf Books of Uncommon Prayer Mary Frances and Ralph Cottham, who endowed the Cottham Lectures at Westover Hills Presbyterian Church in Little Rock in 1969 in memory of their son, visit with Cynthia Rigby and their pastor, Debra Carl Freeman (DMin’08) following Rigby’s presentation.

David Jones, director of the Doctor of Ministry program has been reelected as president of the Association of Doctor of Ministry Educators (ADME). He presented a paper at ADME’s annual conference this spring.

Jennifer Lord, associate professor of homiletics, was the co-preacher and co-presider this summer at the Montreat Worship and Music Conference hosted by the Presbyterian Association of Musicians June 21July 4. She will also be a lecturer and preaching coach in Malibu, California, for the Office of Theology and Worship (PCUSA) Academy of Missional Preaching, July 19-24.

The W. C. Brown Professor of Theology Cynthia Rigby delivered the Cottham Lectures at Westover Hills Presbyterian Church in Little Rock. She gave a plenary Bible study during the “Proclaiming the Text” Conference at Montreat, June 1-5, and was conference cochair and speaker for the Calvin Jubilee, July 8-11. She preaches at Montreat on July 12 and then at the 2009 Churchwide Gathering of Presbyterian Women on Tuesday evening, July 14. Rigby has been invited to give a presentation at an international Calvin conference in St. Petersburg, Russia, in September.

WINDOWS / Summer 2009

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rayer,” wrote the seventeenth-century poet and Anglican pastor, George Herbert, is “the Church’s banquet … God’s breath in man returning to his birth, the soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage, the Christian plummet sounding heav’n and earth.”

Prayer is all of this—and more.

I find myself astonished how we Christians both admire and trivialize prayer. It is a mark of great faith for a Christian to say, “I believe in the power of prayer.” Yet it is not unusual for someone to step up to a pastor before a meeting or a church supper and say, “Preacher, could you say a little prayer” as though prayer is just a pious zipper to begin ecclesiastical functions.

The books of and on prayer that crowd my bookshelves celebrate prayer’s power and protest its trivialization.

The Book of Common Prayer is one of the five books I would have to have if stranded on a desert island. And I have long appreciated The Oxford Book of Prayer, edited by George Appleton. I am convinced that most new pastors would be best served (and so would their congregations!) if they refrained from writing their own prayers for five years and schooled themselves instead in the treasury of the church’s prayers during that time. And what a treasury it is! From the Psalter, which remains the church’s indispensable prayer book, to the prayers of Julian of Norwich, Reinhold Niebuhr (including his so-called “serenity prayer”), and Thomas Merton. John Doberstein’s Minister’s Prayer Book was my constant companion as a young pastor, providing me both a resource and an order to daily devotion.

When it comes to books on prayer, I am especially indebted to Dietrich Bonhoeffer for his Prayerbook of the Bible, C. S. Lewis for his Letters to Malcolm, Chiefly on Prayer, and Eugene Peterson for his superb books Answering God: The Psalms as Tools for Prayer and Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity. It’s in the latter of these books that Peterson provides his protest against the trivialization of prayer when he quotes William McNamara’s imagined response to someone who requests, “Reverend, get things started for us with a little prayer, will ya?”

McNamara fantasizes saying: “I will not! There are no little prayers!

Prayers enter the lion’s den, bring us before the holy where it is uncertain whether we will come back alive or sane, for ‘it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God.’” Some of the books that have most influenced my understanding of prayer aren’t about prayer at all, however. For example, Annie Dillard’s Teaching a Stone to Talk isn’t a book about prayer. I’m not really sure what it’s about! But reading it makes me want to pray. And maybe that’s even more important.

—Michael Jinkins, Academic Dean 25

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Wichita Falls man offers $1.3 million challenge grant to endow the College of Pastoral Leaders

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2012 by Lilly Endowment. A $2.6 o Robert Priddy’s million endowment, made up of way of thinking, Priddy’s and the matching gifts, you put your money when combined with Austin Semiinto programs that nary operational funds, will prohave personal meaning vide funds for the College’s proand that have a proven grams in perpetuity. track record of making Craig Dykstra, senior vice presa difference to society. ident for religion at Lilly EndowThat’s why, as he ment, said, “We believe this is an approached his ninetioutstanding program, one that is eth year, Priddy began making a significant difference in looking around for strengthening the quality of pasways to invest in the toral ministry and congregational church. “It was imporlife, both in Central Texas and elsetant to me to do someDonor Bob Priddy enjoys speaking to the annual gathering where in the country. We consider thing financially for Austin Seminary’s program to be the organized church, of College of Pastoral Leaders cohorts about his investment in the future of the church. exemplary.” and I spent a long “Bob Priddy’s vision for the selves and describe what they need time pursuing various opportunifuture of the church, twinned with to hone, inspire, invigorate, and ties.” He soon found himself drawn his generosity, will enable Austin rejuvenate pastoral excellence in to the work of the Lilly EndowSeminary to be a formative their lives and ministries. With ment and its Sustaining Pastoral resource for pastors for years to $10,000 grants from the College, Excellence program because, he come,” says Seminary President these small groups meet together says, those programs were “making Theodore J. Wardlaw. “ We are for two years and then come more effort toward maintaining the deeply grateful for his committogether annually for renewal spirituality of the mainline churchments and will be faithful stewards among their peers. es than all the other public instituof his trust.”

The College is funded through tions put together.”

In April, Priddy spoke to the annual gathering of Austin Seminary’s College of Pastoral Leaders Take Austin Seminary’s mission into the future: and offered a $1.3 million challenge grant to endow the College.

C o n s i d e r t h e o l o g ic a l e d uc a t i o n i n y ou r e s t a t e p l a n s .

The gift will become available to A gift to Austin Seminary through your will or trust reflects your commitment to Austin Seminary when the Semitheological education and to the church. Generations of Austin Seminary nary has raised a matching amount from other sources. graduates will magnify your gift far into the future, into places far and wide, and In 2002, with a $1.5 million through Christian service both here and now and in times to come. grant from Lilly Endowment, the A charitable bequest can help you save estate taxes by providing your estate with College of Pastoral Leaders was crea charitable deduction for the value of the gift. With careful planning, your family ated to offer ministers a chance to can also avoid paying income taxes on the assets they receive from your estate. practice life-long learning in the context of supportive long-term For more information about estate giving, contact: relationships with colleagues. MinElizabeth Shumaker, director of development, isters form cohorts, or groups, who 800-777-6127, ext. 4803; eshumaker@austinseminary.edu define pastoral excellence for them-

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CONTINUING EDUCATION NEWS

College of Pastoral Leaders Grant application deadline October 31, 2009

College of Pastoral Leaders 2009 grants

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he College of Pastoral Leaders has awarded grants to seventy-eight clergy to pursue renewal projects during 2009-2011. This is the continuation of the list that appeared in the Spring 2009 issue of Windows.

The next application deadline is October 31, 2009.

New Wineskins 2 The Rev. Dr. Lori L. Adams, Church Extension of the Christian Church, Indianapolis The Rev. Dr. Jennifer Crane, Alive Hospice, Nashville The Rev. Ms. Dayna L. Kinkade, Norwalk Christian Church Norwalk, Iowa The Rev. Ms. Deborah A. Morgan, East Dallas Christian Church, Dallas The Rev. Dr. Helen L. Nablo, North Community Church, Marshfield Hills, Massachusetts P.E.A.C.E. The Rev. Ms. Bonnie J. Chandler-Warren, United Methodist Church at Lakewood, Washington The Rev. Mr. K. Scott Connolly, Assumption Catholic Church, Bellingham, Washington The Rev. Ms. Catherine A. Fransson, Seattle First Baptist Church, Seattle The Rev. Ms. Alicia Grac, University Unitarian Church, Seattle The Rev. Mr. Kevin David Pearson, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, S. Renton, Washington Soulful Sojourners The Rev. Ms. Beverly J. Sonnier, Zion Baptist Church, Marietta, Georgia Elder Ophelia H. Mims, Light of the World Christian Church, Stockbridge, Georgia The Rev. Ms. Jo Ellen Ludgood, Zion Baptist Church, Marietta, georgia The Rev. Ms. Bianca A. Robinson, Zion Baptist Church, Marietta, Georgia Tera Pastora The Rev. Mr. Robert L. Grigsby, Trinity Mother Frances Health System, Tyler, Texas The Rev. Dr. Mark Evans Hart, Baptist Health System, San Antonio Dr. Paul E. Robertson, Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital, Houston The Rev. Mr. Kent L. Taylor, Presbyterian Hospital of Plano, Plano, Texas The Rev. Mr. Douglas G. Watts, Children’s Medical Center - Dallas Theory U Learning Group The Rev. Dr. Barthel L. Brenner, Interim Exec. Director, South Dakota Presbytery, Retired, Omaha The Rev. Dr. A. Christopher Hammon, Wayne E. Oates Institute, Louisville Mr. James G. Mahanes, Webster University, Louisville The Rev. Dr. Wayne Purintun, Executive Presbyter, Minnesota Valley Presbytery, Retired, Morrow, Ohio The Rev. Dr. David R. Sawyer, Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Louisville The Rev. Dr. Stephen A. Simmons, Moravian Theological Seminary, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Undying Metaphors The Rev. Mr. Matthew Ashburn, Edenton Street United Methodist Church, Raleigh The Rev. Mr. Owen Barrow, Apex United Methodist Church, Apex, North Carolina The Rev. Ms. Jessie Larkins, Mt. Sylvan United Methodist Church, Durham, North Carolina The Rev. Mr. Michael D. Precht, Saint Francis United Methodist Church, Cary, North Carolina Way of the Pilgrim The Rev. Dr. Margaret Willis Boles, First Presbyterian Church, Temple, Texas The Rev. Ms. Joyce Daniel, First Presbyterian Church, Arkansas, Kansas The Rev. Beth Hessel-Robinson, Trinity Presbyterian Church, Mansfield, Texas The Rev. Dr. Kitty Holtzclaw, Mountain View United Methodist Church, Taylors, South Carolina The Rev. Ms. Patricia Ireland, First Presbyterian Church, Cottonwood Falls, Kansas The Rev. Ms. Grace Kaori Suzuki, Christ United Presbyterian Church, San Francisco

WINDOWS / Summer 2009

August 3-7, 2009 – SCRAPCE* Certification Course, “Religious Education Theory, and Practice,” Rev. Dr. Michael Waschevski, associate pastor, First Presbyterian Church of Fort Worth; registration deadline is July 27th.

October 19-21, 2009— Christian Educators seminar; Fernando Cascante; tuition subsidized by First Presbyterian Church of Bryan, Texas; registration deadline October 5; fees: $25 deposit, room and board: $80/single $55/double; register online at www.austinseminary.edu January 4-8, 2010—SCRAPCE* Certification Course, “Biblical Interpretation,” Dr. David Johnson, director of ministerial formation at Austin Seminary.

March 15-19, 2010—Regional Training for Interim Ministry, PC(USA), sponsored by the Synod of the Sun. For information: www.synodsun.com. Follow the “events” link.

July 19-23, 2010—SCRAPCE* Certification Course, “Presbyterian Worship and Sacraments,” Dr. Jennifer Lord, associate professor of homiletics at Austin Seminary.

Prerequisite: Student must have completed their Associate Certified Exam or be in the exam process to attend the Worship class. * SCRAPCE Events: More informa-

tion, registration fees, and materials are available from Valerie Knox, registrar, Synod of the Sun; 800381-7075 or knox@synodsun.com.

For additional information and scholarship information for SCRAPCE members, please contact Martha Richardson, 512-2198931, mjrcce@gmail.com.

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ALUMNI/AE NEWS WELCOME…

Class gift honors Stan Hall

to Maxwell Robert Norris Lane, son of Gini Norris Lane (MDiv’99) and Wesley A. Lane born April 3, 2009.

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ORDINATION Christopher Donald Drew (MDiv’07) to serve First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Minnesota.

Monica Hall (MDiv’08) to serve First Presbyterian Church in Wichita Falls, Texas.

Thomas Eugene Mitchell (MDiv’08) to serve Covenant Presbyterian Church, Austin, Texas.

If you have been recently ordained and are not recognized above, please contact Laura Harris at 512- 404-4886 or alum@austinseminary.edu

NECROLOGY W. Clinton Edwards (MDiv’49) Wills Point, Texas, October 20, 2007 John B. Elder (MDiv’51) Georgetown, Texas, May 12, 2009 Exell L. Coon Jr. (MDiv’52) Conroe, Texas, March 7, 2009 James W. “Jim” Mosley (MDiv’55, ThM’66, DMin’77), July 2, 2009, Little Rock Davis M. Taylor (MDiv’61) Winston Salem, North Carolina, May 21, 2009 G. Robert M. Montgomery Jr. (MDiv’62) Pearland, Texas, May 6, 2009 Oscar I. Romo (DMin’82) Cumming, Georgia, January 16, 2009.

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CLASS NOTES 1990s

Valerie Bridgeman (MDiv’90) will move to a new position at Lancaster Theological Seminary in July 2009.

A new young adult novel by Elizabeth (Betsy) Johnson-Miller (MA’95) has been published by North Star Press. The Bracelet, now available from Amazon.com, will become part of a series based on Johnson-Miller’s main character.

2000s

Sharon Risher (MDiv’07) has been named the 2009-2010 Substance Abuse Fellow in the Post-Master’s Chaplain Fellowship program at the North Texas VA Hospital in Dallas, Texas.

ollowing a tradition of presenting a gift for the betterment of the Seminary, the 2009 senior class raised funds in memory of Stan Hall, their professor and friend, to fulfill his dream of turning a classroom in McMillan into an alternative worship space/practice worship space. Room 103 will be used for preaching classes and other handson ministry classes and can be reformed into alternative worship spaces. It will also be a place for students to pray and to practice their spiritual disciplines. Pastor and woodworker Derek Forbes (MDiv’08) is designing and building a cross, table, pulpit, font, and wardrobe for storing the elements.

The Seminary is contributing audiovisual equipment, chairs, and a fresh coat of paint. Melissa Koerner Lopez (MDiv’09) and Carrie Finch (MDiv’09) coordinated the project.

Connect with Austin Seminary alumni/ae over lunch, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Learn from a dynamic speaker and from one another. Lunch is only $10; the continuing ed is on us!

Register online at www.austinseminary.edu; click on “Alumni/ae Gatherings” Upcoming dates:

October 22, 2009, St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, Marble Falls, Texas Speaker: Janet Maykus on “The Importance of Clergy Peer Groups” November 10, 2009, Grace Presbyterian Church, Round Rock, Texas Speaker: David W. Johnson on “Reformed Spirituality” Check out the website for 2010 dates!

Alumni/ae Challenge

In the back yard, up the road, around the world!

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ew (and, we believe, improved), the 2009 Alumni/ae Challenge kicks off this fall!

Based on suggestions from graduates, the 2009 Challenge includes these new features: • The ASA Board is inviting Austin-area alumni/ae, ASA Board members, and senior students to kick off the challenge at the President’s Manse (September 28).

• One night of phone calling will be done from the Texas Presbyterian Foundation office in Dallas, to give Dallas-area alumni/ae an opportunity to catch up with their fellow graduates and invite them to support the Seminary (September 29) • In addition to the student calls in the evening, some of the telephoning will be done during daytime hours to accommodate people who prefer to be called then (September 29-30 and October 5-7) Currently, 29% of Austin Seminary alumni/ae contribute to the Alumni/ae Challenge, which supports: • student scholarships • faculty enrichment • housing subsidies With increased alumni/ae participation in the Alumni/ae Challenge, Austin Seminary can not only provide more aid but can also demonstrate to outside funders the strength of the alumni/ae’s commitment to Austin Seminary.

Find more information about this year’s Challenge on the Alumni/ae page of the Web site, www.austinseminary.edu/challenge.

WINDOWS / Summer 2009

Theological Education Sunday is September 20 To schedule a student, faculty member, or administrator to deliver a sermon or minute for mission on Theological Education Sunday, September 20, please contact Laura Harris at 800-777-6127, 512-4044886, or alum@austinseminary.edu

Alumni/ae gathering in the mile-high city A Denver area alumni/ae gathering with Professor Kristine Saldine will be in the late afternoon on Sunday, October 25, at Shepherd of the Hills Presbyterian Church in Lakewood, Colorado; Ronald Holmes (MDiv’88) will be the alum host.

Call for nominations If you know of an alum who has made a significant contribution to the life of the church, please nominate him or her for the Austin Seminary Distinguished Service Award, at www.austinsemi nary.edu/nomination. Nominations will be received through September 10 and reviewed at the ASA Board meeting on September 28. (All nominations are kept on file for three years.) Winners of the award will be honored at the 2010 ASA Banquet.

Nominate yourself or someone else to serve on the ASA Board! We attempt to reflect the geographic, denominational, racial/ethnic, and decade diversity of our 1700 plus living alumni/ae on the ASA Board.

Terms of service are three years and

ASA Board members are committed to being advocates for Austin Seminary. Deadline is September 10; nominations can be made by mail, to alum@austinseminary.edu on the web: (www.austinsem inary.edu/asaboard),

Jim Mosley dies July 2

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ames Wiley “Jim” Mosley (MDiv’55, ThM’66, DMin’77) died on July 2, 2009, in Little Rock, Arkansas. A memorial service was held at Second Presbyterian, Little Rock, on July 7.

Mosley was deeply involved in the life of Austin Seminary, serving as admissions director in the early 1960s; three times on the ASA Board, including a term as president in 1997; and on the Board of Trustees from 1984-1992. He received the ASA Distinguished Service Award in 1983. In 1981 the Austin Seminary’s Board of Trustees paid tribute to Mosley, then pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Hot Springs, for his role in encouraging the $11.25 million bequest of his parishioner Miss Jean Brown. At the time of the gift, the bequest doubled the Seminary’s endowment and still stands as the largest donation ever made to Austin Seminary.

Three institutions have been named as beneficiaries of memorial gifts in honor of Mosley: Austin Seminary, Lyon College, and Ferncliffe Camp and Conference Center.

Seminary Connect Stay up to date on all things Austin Seminary!

www.austinseminary.edu 29

Austin Seminary Partnership Events Fall | Winter 2009

Corpus Christi, Texas September 10, 2009 Lubbock, Texas October 1, 2009 Georgetown, Texas October 29, 2009 Bryan / College Station, Texas November 12, 2009 For more information or to attend one of these events call: (512) 404-4806

AUSTIN SEMINARY ASSOCIATION (ASA) BOARD Patti Herndon (MDiv’93), President Belinda Windham (MDiv’91), Vice President Frank Yates (MDiv’75), Past President Richard Culp (MDiv’93) Charles W. Edwards Jr. (MDiv’89) Gerald Goodridge (MDiv’02) David Green (MDiv’95) Dorothy C. “Dolly” Hunt (MDiv’03) Patricia H. Holland (MDiv’68) Patricia H. Lee (MDiv’05) Brian L. Merritt (MDiv’98) Nancy Mossman (MDiv’88) Sabelyn Pussman (MDiv’05) Karen H. Stocks (MDiv’85) Tricia L. Tedrow (MDiv’98) Thomas A. Tickner (MDiv’84) John D. Williams (MDiv’87)

WINDOWS Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary 100 East 27th Street, Austin, Texas 78705-5797 Address Service Requested

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Summer 2009

2009 Commencement Clockwise from top: Alex Knott gets a hug from Pepa Paniagua (MDiv’08); Ingrid Aker’s son, Nathanial, takes his mom’s accomplishment in stride; Jamie Peterson revels in the moment; Professors Allan Cole and John Alsup flank graduate Mike Lauziere; Chizason Chunda will take his diploma back home to Zambia; Megan Dosher flashes her trademark smile; Professor Jennifer Lord takes a moment from the festivities to celebrate the Indy 500; Isaac Pyo in a rare solemn moment.

For more photos of Commencement, go online to www.austinseminary.edu Click on “Media Gallery,” and select the channel “Community Life,” then “Commencement 2009.”