Windows Summer|Fall 2011

Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

summer|fall 2011

In this Issue New faculty | 2

Excellence for the church | 8

2011 Graduates | 16

Substance.

Scripture.

Service.

Preparing strong, imaginative leaders for the church.

AUSTIN

AUSTIN PRESBYTERIAN

PRESBYTERIAN THEOLOGI C AL

THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

SEMINARY

summer | fall 2011

Volume 126 | Number 3

President

Theodore J. Wardlaw

features

Board of Trustees

Cassandra C. Carr, Chair Karen C. Anderson Thomas L. Are Jr. Claudia Carroll Elizabeth Christian Joseph J. Clifford James G. Cooper Marvin L. Cooper James B. Crawley Consuelo Donahue (MDiv’96) Jackson Farrow Jr. Elizabeth Blanton Flowers G. Archer Frierson Richard D. Gillham Walter Harris Jr. Roy M. Kim James H. Lee (MDiv’00) Michael L. Lindvall Catherine O. Lowry Blair R. Monie Lyndon L. Olson Jr. B. W. Payne David Peeples Jeffrey Kyle Richard Cynthia L. Rigby Teresa Chávez Sauceda (MDiv’88) James C. Shaw Lita Simpson Anne Vickery Stevenson Karl Brian Travis John L. Van Osdall Sallie Sampsell Watson (MDiv’87) Carlton Wilde Jr. Elizabeth Currie Williams

Excellence for the church 8 Putting excellence into practice

By Allie Utley

12 Where passion meets substance

By Jack Barden

14 Becoming a resident expert

8 Cover: Professor Jennifer Lord takes seriously her responsibility to prepare future pastors to lead worship and celebrate the sacraments of the church. Photography by Jody Horton.

By Lana Russell

16 The Class of 2011

Center: The 2010-11 Annual Report and Honor Roll of Donors

& departments

21

seminary & church

3

twenty-seventh & speedway

20 live & learn 21 faculty news & notes

Trustees Emeriti Stephen A. Matthews Max Sherman Louis Zbinden

24

Austin Seminary Association (ASA) Board

Richard Culp (MDiv’93, DMin’01), President Judy Baskin (MDiv’02), Vice President Lynn Barton (DMin’96) Timothy Blodgett (MDiv’07) Valerie Bridgeman (MDiv’90) Alonzo Campbell (DMin’94) Jerry Goodridge (MDiv’02) Aquanetta Hicks (MDiv’08) Kathleen Hignight (MDiv’95) Karen Greif (MDiv’92, DMin’06) Ryan Kemp-Pappan (MDiv’08) Andrew Parnell (MDiv’05) Nancy Mossman (MDiv’88) Nancy Taylor (MDiv’05) Leanne Thompson (MDiv’06)

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Editor Randal Whittington

Contributors Deborah Butler Laura Harris Lisa Holleran Sandy Knott Kathy Muenchow Nancy Reese Lana Russell Donna Scott Kristy Sorensen

23 alumni news & notes 25 teaching & ministry

Windows is published three times each year by Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

Austin Seminary Windows Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary 100 E. 27th St. Austin, TX 78705-5711 phone: 512-404-4808 e-mail: windows@austinseminary.edu fax: 512-479-0738 austinseminary.edu ISSN 2056-0556; Non-profit bulk mail permit no. 2473

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seminary

church

from the president | A new look is being inaugurated in this Windows,

President’s Schedule Aug. 7 — Preach, Preston Hollow PC, Dallas Aug. 14 — Preach, St. Mark PC, Boerne, Texas Sept. 11 — Preach, Kirk in the Hills PC, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Sept. 18 — Preach, Central PC, Waco, Texas Sept. 22 — Evening with the President, Albuquerque, New Mexico Sept. 25 — Preach, University PC, Austin Oct. 2 — Preach, First PC, Lufkin, Texas October 6 — Partner Luncheon, Dallas October 9 — Preach, University PC, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Nov. 10 — Partner Luncheon, Shreveport, Louisiana Nov. 13 — Preach, Westminster PC, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Dec. 18 — Preach, Westlake Hills PC, Austin, Texas

and in the days ahead you will start seeing elements of it in all of our publications and other examples of our graphic identity. The theme of this new look is the word “weaving.” The notion of weaving is profoundly biblical: the weaving out of reeds of a basket that the baby Moses was laid in, the weaving of nets by the fishermen who became Jesus’ disciples, the weaving, as St. Paul discusses it, of different members into one body—the body of Christ. Throughout scripture, and throughout our story ever since, we have been woven into the church through an ongoing narrative that God is still weaving into the fabric of our lives. Weaving requires at least two materials that are woven together, and, in addition, One, of course, Who does the weaving. Any call story, for example, begins with a person who by the grace of God is woven into a specific context. Or with an attribute, say faith, that is woven into a life. Or with a particular congregation that is woven into the fabric of its attendant community.

However we might imagine this image apprehending us, something is being woven together with something else for some larger, holy purpose. Hence the name of our new on-line newsletter The Reed; hence the way various topics in this and future issues of Windows will consist of two words linked by an & symbol (this very piece has a new name, “Seminary & Church”); and hence the ways in which—in this publication and all of our others—you will see images of so many different materials woven together, just as we are forever being woven into a vast and amazing salvation story.

Another new thing, starting with this Windows, is the intentional way in which we are both shortening some of our stories and pointing you to greater depth which you can find on our website (look for the word “webXtra” pointing you toward more information). In addition to news stories, such as the one announcing two new faculty members arriving in this academic year, there is an extensive piece celebrating the installment of Professor Jennifer Lord as the first occupant of the Dorothy B. Vickery Chair in Homiletics and Liturgical Studies. There is also a story noting middler Greg Allan Pickett as a recipient of a Ministry Fellowship from the Fund for Theological Education. Melissa Koerner Lopez is also lifted up as one of several Austin Seminary alums serving now as Lily Residents. Faculty and alumi/ae news stories abound, and Professor Whit Bodman wraps us up with a piece on Scriptural Reasoning which I heartily commend to you.

In fact, all of this magazine is offered as one more way in which we might be woven into your life, until we all lift up together the life of Christ’s church, the value of theological education, and, in particular, the witness of Austin Seminary!

Faithfully yours,

webXtra: to find out where Austin Seminary faculty are preaching and teaching, go to: austinseminary.edu/facultycalendar

2 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

Theodore J. Wardlaw President

twenty-seventh

speedway

Austin Seminary hires new Old Testament professors

Song-Mi Park and Gregory Cuéllar join faculty

facts & figures | • Suzie Park holds an MA and PhD from Harvard University, an MDiv from Harvard Divinity School and the BA in religious studies and Middle East history from Amherst College, where she graduated magna cum laude with distinction and was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society.

• While a graduate student, Suzie Park was a curatorial assistant on the Nuzi Table Project at the Harvard Semitic Museum; she did her field education at SeniorConnect in Cambridge.

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ustin Presbyterian Theological Seminary has called two Old Testament professors: Dr. Song-Mi “Suzie” Park and Dr. Gregory Lee Cuéllar. Park became assistant professor of Old Testament in July 2011; Cuéllar begins as an adjunct professor in the fall and will become assistant professor of Old Testament in January 2012. Both were part of the 20102011 faculty search.

Suzie Park earned her PhD in Near Eastern languages and civilizations from Harvard University in the fall of 2010. She taught in the religion department at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. She was a teaching fellow at Harvard for several years and received the Derek Bok Center Certificate of Distinction in Teaching in 2007.

Gregory Cuéllar has been an adjunct professor at Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University, Perkins School of Theology at SMU, and Duke University. He was a visiting professor of Old Testament

at Seminario Metodista Juan Wesley in Monterrey, Mexico. He is a three-time grant fellow of the Hispanic Theological Initiative and has presented at numerous academic conferences in Mexico, Spain, and the United States. He is an ordained minister and served as pastor for Cliff Temple Baptist Church, a Spanish-speaking congregation in Dallas, Texas, prior to his move to Austin.

Austin Seminary’s Academic Dean Allan Cole is exuberant about the new hires: “Dr. Park brings exceptional gifts for scholarship, teaching, collegiality, and service to both the academy and the church. Her presence will enrich the Seminary community and those it touches. Dr. Cuéllar is a promising scholar and teacher as well as an experienced pastor. He combines a passion for teaching the Hebrew Scriptures with a commitment to preparing ministers and leaders for Christ’s church. We are excited to welcome them both as faculty colleagues.”

• Gregory Cuéllar earned a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University, Kingsville, an MDiv from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and the PhD in biblical interpretation from Brite Divinity School.

• Gregory Cuéllar is the author of Voices in Marginality: Exile and Return in Second Isaiah 40-55 and the Mexican Immigrant Experience (Peter Lang Publishing, 2008.) He has recently completed another book, Archival Criticism: The Interrogation of Contexts and Texts in Early Modern Biblical Criticism (Brill, forthcoming).

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Austin Seminary graduates fifty-five students May 22

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ifty-five candidates received degrees during Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary’s commencement exercises, held Sunday, May 22, at University Presbyterian Church, Austin.

Thirty-two candidates received the master of divinity (MDiv) degree; five students, the master of arts (theological studies) (MATS);

and sixteen, the doctor of ministry (DMin) degree. Two of the MDiv graduates also received MSSW degrees from the University of Texas at Austin through the dualdegree program between Austin Seminary and UT.

Graduates from the Class of 2011 will serve in nine states and in Peru as pastors, chaplains, social workers, and ministers; others will pursue advanced degrees.

The Rev. Paul T. Roberts, President-Dean of Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary, delivered the commencement address, “What We Need from You.” A Baccalaureate service was held on Saturday, May 21; the Reverend K.C. Ptomey, The Louis H. and Katherine Zbinden Distinguished Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Leadership, preached and the Reverend

Dr. Jennifer Lord, The Dorothy B. Vickery Associate Professor of Homiletics and Liturgical Studies, presided at the Lord’s Table.

For the complete listing of graduates and President Wardlaw’s Charge to the Graduates, see pages 16-19.

Photo above: masters degree graduates; left: doctor of ministry graduates.

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Five new trustees join board

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ustin Seminary has recently welcomed five new members to the Board of Trustees. Claudia Carroll, Jackson Farrow Jr., James Shaw, and Lita Simpson were elected to serve a three-year term on the governing body during the annual meeting on Saturday, May 21. Carlton Wilde Jr. began serving his term after being elected onto the board in November 2010.

“Austin Seminary is blessed with an outstanding board of trustees, and these new members will bring unique talents and energies, and thus will only make us better! I look forward to working with each of them in the days and years ahead,” said Austin Seminary President Theodore J. Wardlaw.

Claudia Carroll serves as the youth choir director at First Presbyterian Church, Tyler. She is the principal flutist in the University of Texas at Tyler Chamber Orchestra and an adjunct faculty member for The University of Texas at Tyler and Tyler Junior College. Carroll is a sustaining member of the Junior League of Tyler, a PATH volunteer caseworker, and serves on the Tyler Museum of Art Board.

Jackson Farrow is general counsel and managing director at Stephens Capital Partners, LLC, an affiliate of Stephens Inc. Farrow is a graduate of Davidson College and the University of Arkansas, where he earned both his masters of science in accounting and his law degree. He is a member of Second Presbyterian Church in Little Rock.

James Shaw is a shareholder at Hall, Estill, Hardwick, Galbe, Golden & Nelson, P.C. For more than thirty years, he has practiced law and practiced four years in public accounting. Shaw is a graduate of Presbyterian College, Georgia State

University, and the University of South Carolina School of Law. He also achieved the rank of captain in the United States Army Reserves and first lieutenant in the United States Air Force Reserves. Shaw is the chair of the Synod of the Sun’s permanent judicial committee and a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Oklahoma City.

Lita Simpson is the director of youth ministry for Mission Presbytery. She also serves on the Committee for Preparation for Ministry of Mission Presbytery, the Board of El Instituto, and previously served as the executive director for the John Knox Ranch Search Committee.

Simpson is also currently on the General Assembly Nominating Committee. She is an elder and youth sponsor at First Presbyterian Church, McAllen, Texas.

Carlton Wilde is a partner at Crady, Jewett & McCulley LLP in Houston, Texas. He practices general commercial litigation, with an emphasis on contract disputes, shareholder suits, employment law, trade secrets litigation, commercial landlordtenant law, and legal malpractice defense. He attended the College of William and Mary and received a degree in economics from The University of Texas. He graduated from the University of Houston College of Law, where he was the senior associate editor of the Houston Law Review.

A former clerk of session, he is a member of First Presbyterian Church, Houston.

staff news | Lesley Caldwell is the Stitt Library’s new technical services librarian. Prior to receiving her graduate degree from UT, Lesley worked in online media and technical project management.

In his new role as coordinator of Chapel music, Scott McNulty will play music for worship services and direct the choir.

Educated in church music and choral conducting at Westminster Choir College in Princeton and Concordia University in Austin, he holds a masters degree in organ performance from UT Austin. A long-time church musician, Scott has performed worldwide and has been a part of Austin’s choral music scene for decades.

Among his interests: the St. Cecillia Music Series, which he founded, Austin ProChorus, The Austin Children’s Choir, the Compline Choir of St. David’s Episcopal Church, and the Marbridge Foundation, where he was director of music for eleven years.

Steven Zaborowski has been named development officer for the North Texas and Oklahoma territory.

In this new position, he will establish, cultivate, and steward relationships with donors and churches in that region. The Austin College graduate previously worked in development and admissions for his alma mater.

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speedway

Faculty chair a loving tribute to Betty and Clarence Frierson

All the sons and daughtersin-law of Betty and Clarence Frierson were on hand at the spring board of trustees meeting. From the left: Tannie and Jennifer Frierson, Paula and Chris Frierson, Ivy and Archer Frierson, and Christy and John Frierson. Inset: Clarence and Betty Frierson, taken during MidWinters in 2006; Clarence Frierson died in 2008.

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he sons of Clarence and Betty Frierson have given Austin Seminary a $2.5 million gift to endow a faculty chair in their name. G. Archer Frierson II and his brothers, John B. Frierson, Clarence N. (Tannie) Frierson Jr. , and Christian B. (Chris) Frierson, of Shreveport, Louisiana, want The Clarence N. and Betty B. Frierson Distinguished Chair of Reformed Theology to be a lasting tribute to their parents, who were deeply interested in Reformed theology and have been long-time supporters and advocates of the Seminary.

“When I think of Clarence Frierson’s lifelong interest in reading and talking Reformed theology, and of his and Betty’s deep love and nurture of this particular theological seminary,” said Austin Seminary President

Theodore J. Wardlaw, “I conclude that there’s no better way for the Frierson family to honor their parents’ faithful stewardship of the mind than by giving this particular distinguished chair in their name.”

Though he was not formally trained in theology, Clarence Frierson was shaped by the Covenant Life Curriculum of the Presbyterian Church, U.S., which produced classical texts in Christian formation for adults and children. He was particularly influenced

by Shirley Guthrie’s Christian Doctrine, which ushered him into a lifelong interest in Reformed theology.

“A faculty chair in Reformed theology honors both the rich history and exciting future of Austin Seminary, particularly in light of its firm commitments to a church in and for

6 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

the world,” said Allan Cole, academic dean and professor in the Nancy Taylor Williamson Distinguished Chair of Pastoral Care. “The Frierson family’s longstanding generosity toward the Seminary is equaled by their faithful vision for substantive theological education. Their gift of this chair will help educate and form future generations of gifted church leaders, but will also enhance the development of scholars who benefit from the chair’s capacity to fund conferences, scholarly consultations, and related events. As a result, the church, the academy, and the world will be better.”

The Frierson family,

prior to funding this chair, had also generously established two additional endowments that help fund faculty salaries—the G. Archer and Mary N. Frierson Faculty Endowment Fund and Mr. and Mrs. John C. Bolinger Faculty Endowment Fund. The Frierson family, along with the families of New Testament Professor John Alsup, also established the Alsup-Frierson Fellowship given to an outstanding graduating senior who has demonstrated excellence in that area.

Clarence Frierson Sr. served on the Seminary Board of Trustees for almost three decades, served as the chair of the board from 1978-1983, and was named Trustee Emeritus upon his retirement. Archer Frierson is currently serving on the board of trustees.

C. Ellis Nelson (MDiv’40), treasured colleague and friend, dies at 95

C.

Ellis Nelson, Austin Seminary’s research professor of Christian education, died on June 9, 2011. His pioneering research and writing about forming Christian disciples through the life of a congregation, coupled with his deep wisdom, gentle wit, and genuine humility, endeared him to several generations and secured his place in the Presbyterian story.

In a career that spanned seventy years, Ellis Nelson was a minister, researcher, author, consultant, as well as seminary professor, dean, and president.

He began his teaching career at Austin Seminary shortly after graduating in 1940. He left in 1957 to join the faculty of New York’s Union Theological Seminary where he was eventually named to the The Skinner and McAlpin Chair of Practical Theology. “I remember how ecstatically proud we were when he left Austin to succeed the nationally distinguished Lewis J. Sherrill” says his student Jerry Tompkins (MDiv’55) “… Sherrill, as theorist and writer in Christian education, had no peer. But when he died, Ellis was his successor, and I think there was little doubt that he was the ‘of course’ successor. The prestige of the post was enormous.” In 1974 Nelson was called to be president of Louisville Presbyterian Theological

Seminary (1974-1981), where he served until he retired. After three years as visiting professor at San Francisco Theological Seminary, he was called back to Austin Seminary to become interim president (1984-1985) at a moment of great difficulty in the life of the institution; he remained on the faculty until his death.

With a dozen books and monographs and almost ninety articles, chapters, and reviews, Nelson’s work explored themes of conscience, socialization, and the crisis of the church in an increasingly secular culture.

He was instrumental in developing the “Covenant Life” church school curriculum, considered by many to be the denomination’s finest. His counsel was frequently sought in the area of religious education and his influence can be seen in several contemporary

his vocation on these twelve acres; his marriage to Nancy Gribble, daughter of Old Testament Professor Robert Gribble, only deepened those ties. As a young professor he conducted a study into the projected population trend and need for ministers. This led the board to make significant changes to campus, including building the Trull administration and McMillan classroom buildings and acquiring additional land for housing to meet future growth demands. Nelson began the fieldwork program which developed into the Seminary’s Supervised Practice of Ministry and delivered the Jones Lectures at MidWinters a record three times. Most notably, his timely appearance at a critical juncture felt providential to some. According to former trustee Bruce Herlin, Ellis “was pressed into service as interim

Ellis Nelson has thought longer and better about Christian education than anyone else on the planet.

—Walter Brueggemann, quoted from the cover of Growing up Christian initiatives such as the PC(USA)’s Theological Education (1%) Fund and the “Entry into Ministry” program of the Lilly Endowment Inc.

In appreciation, a grateful church bestowed numerous honors upon him, among them Austin Seminary’s Distinguished Service Award (1985), Educator of the Year by the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators (1992); The COTE Award for Excellence in Theological Education (1998); and the Austin College James I. McCord Award (1999). The Nancy Gribble and C. Ellis Nelson Chair in Christian Education was endowed at Austin Seminary in 2002.

The threads of Ellis Nelson’s life and work are woven into the very fabric of Austin Seminary. He began and ended

}

president upon the sudden departure of our president, and he hit the ground running. All the while saying he was not going to initiate any changes, that his job was to be a caretaker, he quietly and quickly (and with his characteristic great understanding and energy) went about the process of healing the divisions between the Seminary and all of its constituencies.”

To the very end, Ellis Nelson’s meticulous scholarship, steady presence, and ever-present humor made him a trusted advisor and valued friend. A memorial service was held June 17 in Shelton Chapel. Per Nelson’s wishes, memorial gifts may be directed to the Nelson Chair at Austin Seminary.

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putting

Excellence

As the church strives to maintain relevance in the world, and the seminary strives to maintain relevance to the church, excellence in theological education is critical.

8 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

into practice

E

By Allie Utley

xcellence in research, teaching, and the practice of ministry can bridge gaps between the seminary, the church, and the world. Excellence inspires students in their call to learn and serve. Excellence was envisioned for the Dorothy B. Vickery Chair in Homiletics and Liturgical Studies at Austin Seminary. And it is exemplified by the first chair holder, Professor Jennifer Lord, in her teaching, scholarship, leadership, and contributions to the church.

The Vickery family of Houston endowed this chair to support the Seminary’s mission of developing preachers and preparing them for service to the church. The Reverend Dr. Jennifer L. Lord was installed as the first holder of the chair in a ceremony in Shelton Chapel on Wednesday, May 4, 2011, with the Vickery family in attendance.

In the classroom, Professor Lord engages students in conversation around the words and actions of worship; drawing from the past, reaching into the future, and prompting students to think critically and intentionally about how to lead and serve today’s church. She inspires students to bridge the emergent gaps in our culture—

gaps between tradition and innovation, between great theological minds and spiritually hungry congregants, between membership and discipleship.

As an active participant in the life of a local congregation, Dr. Lord has a deep connection with her educational mission: “I am accountable to all congregations for what I teach in the seminary classroom: the Sunday gathering calls me to vocational responsibility.” Her accountability and service to the church extends beyond the Austin Seminary classroom; she regularly reaches out to congregations, teaching Sunday school or leading retreats on Calvin’s views on worship or describing the interrelatedness of worship and mission.

A deep understanding of her subject was derived from years leading congregations in upstate New York before turning to academia. She says, “Parish ministry was a gift in my life, and then certain repeated actions of that work captured me and I began to feel most alive in God as I immerse myself in them. For me, these actions were preaching and presiding. And now I serve the church primarily through the study and teaching of preaching and liturgy.”

Another gift Lord brings to the classroom is a broad

Photo left: Professor Lord works with students Bart Smith and Jen Stuart on their baptism techniques. Above: practicing baptism in the cool waters of Barton Springs; with student Sally Wright, part of a class which regularly held a drum circle; the joy in teaching.

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What’s in a name(d professorship)?

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sk any seminary graduate about the most important part of his or her seminary experience and, almost without exception, you will learn of one or two special professors and of ways these particular teachers gave life and spark to their preparation for ministry.

Faculty appointments at Austin Seminary shape the Seminary’s future because the faculty carry the commitments and values of the school from generation to generation. By attracting the very best scholars and teachers available, the Seminary can provide future students with academic resources and personal relationships that can transform the church. Through lectures, seminars, and interaction with professors, seminary students are educated to become the catalyst for effective Christian ministry.

Endowed professorships have long played a vital role in theological education in America.

The first such professorship was established at Harvard College in 1721 to support the school’s historic purpose of building up a learned ministry. Since that time, the establishment of endowed chairs has become a time-honored and effective way of assuring that institutions of higher education have the instructional leadership they need to fulfill

their educational objectives. By assuring the continued presence of professors to teach in particular subject areas, endowed chairs strengthen the seminary curricula; assist the institution in recruiting and retaining wellqualified faculty; and underscore the distinctive scholarly emphases the school is seeking to nurture.

A donation of $75,000 in 1902 from Sarah C. Ball of Galveston, Texas, enabled Austin Seminary to commence officially its academic program by supporting two professors, one in Old Testament, the other in Systematic Theology.

Since then the Seminary has relied upon various gifts aimed at supporting faculty salaries and benefits. Until 1981 none of these gifts was sufficient to endow a professorship in perpetuity.

The first fully endowed chair at Austin Seminary came from a bequest from the estate of Jean Brown of Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Underscoring the centrality of preaching in the life and ministry of the church, The Jean Brown Chair of Homiletics and Liturgics was instituted by the Board of Trustees in 1981. Since that time, ten additional faculty chairs have been endowed in the areas of

evangelism and missions, biblical studies, theology, church history, pastoral ministry and leadership, pastoral care, and Christian education. The endowment of additional chairs is a crucial component in the Seminary’s advancement to the next level of excellence in theological education.

The Board of Trustees has determined that, in order to endow fully a chair in one of the theological disciplines, a minimum endowment corpus of $2.1 million is necessary. Each year income from the endowment is distributed to both provide for the stated purpose of the chair and to build the endowment to accommodate future inflation.

As the Seminary looks toward the future and aspires to a new level of excellence, additional endowments provide one of the most promising ways to ensure the quality of education for theological students.

webXtra: to read Professor Lord’s

convocation address, “The Body at Prayer,” for the opening of the 2010-11 academic year, go to: austinseminary. edu/convocation2010

10 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

knowledge of other faith traditions.

Student Chris Dunn said, “Professor Lord’s broader understanding and appreciation of worship is one of her greatest strengths. She is very familiar with Greek Orthodox worship through her family and continues to be a student of ritual and worship regardless of tradition. Her work with drum circles, her interest when Tibetan Buddhists visited Austin, and bell ringing for the Easter services at her husband’s Orthodox congregation accentuate her knowledge and appreciation of worship in all its forms.”

A call to teach and a desire to engage in a broader conversation about preaching and liturgy led Professor Lord to her current position in academia.

She has excelled in her field, writing prolifically and traveling nationally as a conference leader and consultant.

Professor Lord was recently elected as Delegate for Seminars and serves on the Executive Committee of the North American Academy of Liturgy. She also serves as Treasurer and member of the Executive Committee of the Academy of Homiletics.

Austin Seminary is grateful for the generous gift of the Vickery family. Gifts like this ensure the Seminary’s ability to sustain the appointments of excellent faculty like Jennifer Lord. Austin Seminary Academic Dean Allan Cole said during the installation ceremony, “Jen’s appointment to this chair not only recognizes the significant contributions she has already made to her field, to this school, to the lives of her students, and to the church; this appointment also affirms Austin Seminary’s confidence in her and in the contributions she has yet to make that will further edify a church for the world.”

Professor Lord’s excellence in teaching, scholarship, leadership, and contributions to the church inspires and enables her students and colleagues to bring the Gospel to life and to connect the church and the world to the knowledge and beauty of God through Word and Sacrament.

Allie Utley is a middler student from New Orleans, Louisiana, under care of Presbytery of South Louisiana.

Giving is an amazing expression of faith …

Charitable Gift annuitants Eleanor and Howard Bond of Georgetown, Texas

A Charitable Gift Annuity ensures an income for life and helps provide for the future of Christ’s church.

Questions? Contact Lisa Holleran at 512-404-4803 or lholleran@austinseminary.edu

austinseminary.edu/ plannedgiving

The Vickery family showed their support for Professor Lord by coming to the ceremony in which she was placed in the Dorothy B. Vickery Chair in Homiletics and Liturgical Studies. Her sister—also a professor—was among Lord’s family who came to Austin for the big day.

AUSTIN PRESBYTERIAN

THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

AUSTIN

PRESBYTERIAN THEOLOGI C AL

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I hope to be able to combine my spiritual gifts of leadership with my passion for global poverty and social justice issues in order to serve the church and glorify God …

by Jack Barden … By bringing my experience in international development work to serve a church, I believe that I can open the eyes of the congregation I serve to issues of global poverty and missions, help them to understand the link between these issues and their faith, and inspire them to want to serve. I also hope to serve the church in developing countries by continuing to travel there, lead teams, and ensure that while following the Great Commission that both short and long-term missionaries are making a positive and sustainable impact and not doing harm.

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ith these words Greg Allen-Pickett articulated his call to ministry and leadership in his application essay to Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. We already knew that Allen-Pickett was a smart guy; he earned a bachelor’s degree cum laude in political science and Spanish from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, and two master’s degrees—one from Universidad del Azuay, Cuenca,

passion meets substance

Angela Duggan

Where

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Ecuador, and one from the University of Denver, Colorado. We also knew he was passionate about ministry; in addition to serving as the youth ministry director at Wellshire Presbyterian Church in Denver, he had been serving as a field operations supervisor for Healing Waters International for two years,

setting up water purification systems in churches and communities in Latin America. It was when we read this articulation of his call to serve the church at the intersection of global poverty, social justice, and faithfulness to Christ’s call in scripture, that we knew Greg Allen-Pickett was someone we wanted as an Austin Seminary alum, working and serving with passion and substance.

Greg and his wife, Jessica, first visited Austin Seminary more than a year before they would arrive on campus for him to begin his studies. During their visit, they shared with us that they were expecting their first child soon—it would be a girl. They also told us about their dog, who had been part of their family for several years. They wanted to find a seminary where their whole family would feel welcome and a part of seminary life. Because Allen-Pickett had already completed two advanced degrees and would be giving up an established career to pursue his calling to ordained ministry, it was important that he not add more educational debt to his young family. When the faculty awarded him a Jean Brown Fellowship, covering the full cost of tuition plus a stipend for housing and educational expenses, AllenPickett knew that Austin Seminary shared his vision and passion for justice and faithful service. The realization that he could bring not only his wife and daughter but also his beloved pet to live on campus as part of the seminary community clinched his decision to come to Austin.

“It was important to us that our whole family be able to share the seminary experience,” he said. The next three years would be an experiment in intentional community life that would shape him and his family—

just as it would also shape his future ministry—in how he would lead a community of God’s people in faithful response to the Great Commission.

Allen-Pickett’s decision to prepare for a vocation in ministry at Austin Seminary has been affirmed over and over again during his first year here. His dog couldn’t handle the transition to the Texas heat and apartment living, so, sadly, they sent her to live with the “grandparents.” His daughter, on the other hand, has found playmates with other children of the seminary, and Jessica has found support and encouragement as a first-time mom. In addition to his commitment to his education, Allen-Pickett is committed to the seminary kick-ball team. He has been a bridge-builder in his class, encouraging his peers to engage each other in dialogue around important issues facing the church.

In April, Allen-Pickett was named the recipient of a Ministry Fellowship from the Fund for Theological Education (FTE), one of only twenty first-year seminary students in North America selected for this honor.

This fellowship will allow him to pursue a ministry project beyond the scope of his course work here at Austin Seminary. He will also have the opportunity to spend time with the other FTE fellowship recipients, networking with future leaders from across the continent who are dedicating themselves to a life of ministry and service in the church. Allen-Pickett’s story continues to be one which exemplifies the way Austin Seminary students discover their vocation, weaving together passion and excellence into the fabric of a faithful response to God’s claim on their lives.

The Rev. Dr. Jack Barden (MDiv’88) is vice president for Admissions at Austin Seminary.

Photo left: Greg Allen-Pickett holds a baby from the Guatemala community where he worked on a safe drinking water project. Above, merit scholars Jessica Goad, John Stanger, Sudie Niesen, Becca Weaver, Kristi Click, Bart Smith, Elizabeth Wallace, Alex Cornell, President Wardlaw, Kim Rogers, Greg Allen-Pickett, Lisa Rush, and Barrett Abernethy; not pictured: Wendy Inman.

Summer| Fall 2011 | 13

By Lana Russell

E

xcellence in ministry is a mutual goal of the church, the seminaries, even private philanthropic foundations like the Lilly Endowment Inc., whose mission is to deepen and enrich the religious lives of American Christians. Its Transitions into Ministry (TIP) program was developed to encourage and support a new generation of talented pastors and to strengthen current pastors in their capacities for excellence.

With seed money from The Chapman family and their pastor, the Reverend Melissa Koerner Lopez.

TIP, several entrepreneurial congregations across the country now offer ministry residence opportunities for outstanding seminary graduates. As in the medical school model, pastor-residents spend two years learning under the supervision of experienced ministerial staff before assuming leadership of their own church. These new pastors gain experience in all facets of church leadership: worship planning, preaching, pastoral counseling and visitation, stewardship, administration, adult and children’s education, youth ministry, and evangelism and missions. Similarly, For Such a Time as This, a pilot program of the Presbyterian Church, pairs small, healthy congregations without pastoral leadership with recent seminary graduates exploring a call to ministry in small churches. The new pastor is provided a mentor and works closely with the presbytery and synod on issues arising in the first two years of ministry.

Three 2011 Austin Seminary graduates were accepted into residency programs this year: Mary I have learned in seminary and apply it to the church’s Elizabeth Prentice-Hyers is a Lilly Resident at First everyday life. First Presbyterian, Ann Arbor, specifically Presbyterian Church, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Caitlin has areas of interest that I am excited about, including Deyerle is a Lake Fellow Resident at Second Presbyterian the existing mission fields, the ecumenical work, and Church, Indianapolis, Indiana; and Mari Lynn Jones their relationship with a large university. I can’t wait to was accepted into the For Such a Time As This Residency start!”

Program at First United Presbyterian Church, Paola, Alumna Melissa Koerner Lopez (MDiv’09) is Kansas. Prentice-Hyers said, “The opportunities that a beginning her second year of a Lily Residency at Preston pastoral residency has to offer will help to foster what Hollow Presbyterian Church (PHPC) in Dallas, Texas.

Entrepreneurial pastoral residency programs are giving seminary graduates the experience they need in the first years of ministry

becoming a

14 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

For Lopez this opportunity was a way to extend the learning begun in seminary, strengthening her capacity for excellence in pastoral ministry.

Lopez and the congregation entered into a covenant of learning based on the rotation of varying areas of ministry responsibilities ranging from mission to pastoral care to finance. A unique element of her training is a parallel rotation of experience and understanding of the rhythm of the seasons of church life. She eased into her duties with a weekly young adult Bible study, teaching Sunday School, and shadowing Associate Pastor Fran Shelton (MDiv’93) on pastoral visits to members in the hospital. As time progressed, Lopez began to serve fully alongside the other ordained pastoral staff in their regular rotation of preaching, teaching, and presiding at baptisms, funerals, and weddings. This summer she helped lead an adult mission trip to Nicaragua.

Her direct supervisor is the Reverend Dr. Blair Monie, senior pastor and a member of Austin Seminary’s Board of Trustees. During weekly meetings, the two share conversations reflecting on the week’s lessons learned, Lopez’s emerging pastoral identity, and the nuts and bolts of ministry in a particular congregation.

Monie says, “Melissa is a joy to work with and functions as a full member of our pastoral team. She is supremely teachable, open to learning and not having to prove what she already knows. She is like a sponge, anxious to understand all facets of ministry and the particularities of a large and complex multi-staff church.

She has been a blessing to this congregation.”

Lopez quickly articulates the highlight of her

wonderful morning in April and I had the privilege of baptizing six children that day.”

The day was also a special one for Trey and Melissa Chapman, long-time members of PHPC. One of Lopez’s first solo trips to the hospital had been to visit the Chapmans and their new baby, Graham. Melissa Chapman expressed her appreciation for the pastoral care they received that day saying, “It was so fun to see a fresh face that day, we kept her there over an hour with so much to say and share; we felt as if we had known her all our lives. It was nice to have a younger person to talk to; she is a breath of fresh air.” The Chapmans and little Graham shared another milestone when they played the Holy Family in the Christmas Eve family service Lopez led. The following April, Lopez presided at Graham’s baptism. The Chapmans were a little nervous, but their new pastor led them through baptism orientation with ease for this most special of days. Melissa Chapman remarked, “Graham was mesmerized by her; he had a smile on his face and no tears. It was a great day and Melissa did a great job.” In less than a year, Melissa Koerner Lopez’s relationship grew with this family through differing seasons of their own lives and the life of their church family. For them she had truly become “their pastor.”

The residency program at Preston Hollow is structured to allow Lopez the opportunity and privilege to grow in her sense of pastoral identity. Besides bringing to this calling her own God-given gifts, academic scholarship, and practical experience, she is now developing the work and study habits necessary for spiritual leadership in a congregation. She has received important support as she works through the tough

time thus far: “Baptisms!” she said. This past year she functioned for two months as the presiding pastor for baptisms. She says, “In seminary there are many things they allow you to do before you are ordained: you can serve communion and assist with weddings and funerals, but baptism can’t be touched until you are ordained. It was six or eight months after my ordination before it happened for me. It was at that point that I finally felt I could say, now, I’m really a pastor! It was a

transitional issues in understanding her call to lead and serve. Austin Seminary celebrates with Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church this promising and gifted young pastor and looks forward to her future leadership in God’s church.

Resident expert

The Reverend Lana Russell is director of alumni and church relations at Austin Seminary.

Summer / Fall 2011 | 15

The Class of 2011 Master of Arts

Graduate Awards

(Theological Studies)

John B. Spragens Award John Leedy

Julia Roxanne Chinn United Methodist Church Will continue to work as a speech pathologist

Rachel Henderlite Award Rosemary Grattan

Eunha Kim

Charles L. King Preaching Award Krystal Leedy

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Whitney Brynn Payne

Southern Baptist Convention Associate for Missions, Lakehills Church, Austin

Donald Capps Award in Pastoral Care Jeff Saddington Chidester Preaching Award Tracey Bowles Beadle

Harolyn Denise Nance Pierce

Missionary Baptist General Convention of Texas Continue in women’s ministries at Greater Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Austin, and VP at the Texas Charter Schools Association

Carl Kilborn Book Award Esther Kim Westminster John Knox Press Book Award Elsa Ramirez Chalice Press Award Chris Kreisher

Thomas Gordon Wood

Southern Baptist Convention Will be attending University of New Mexico Law School

Master of Divinity Kristin Marie Austin

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Intern, Government Street Presbyterian Church, Mobile, Alabama, and CPE, Baptist Hospital, Pensacola, Florida

Tracey Bowles Beadle

United Methodist Church Associate Pastor, First United Methodist Church, Austin

Paul Douglas Cartwright

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Externship, First Presbyterian Church, Wichita Falls, Texas, while completing candidacy requirements

Caitlin Thomas Deyerle

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Lake Fellow Resident, Second Presbyterian Church, Indianapolis, Indiana

Laurel Jeanne Dixon

Nondenominational Chaplain Resident, Seton Family of Hospitals, Austin, Texas while seeking a call

Douglas Rowland Fritzsche

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Seeking a call

Martin Price Garrison United Church of Christ Seeking a call

Rosemary Charmaine Grattan United Methodist Church Associate Pastor, Covenant United Methodist Church, Austin

| Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary 16 |

Heather Kaye Lee Green Cooperative Baptist Fellowship CPE Fall Residency Program, Seton Family of Hospitals, Austin

Mari Lyn Jones

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) For Such a Time As This Residency Program, First United Presbyterian Church, Paola, Kansas

Lisa Dale Juica

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Summer CPE, Baylor All Saints, Ft. Worth Texas; Yearlong residency, Baylor,Dallas, Texas, while seeking a call

Hyun Joo Esther Kim

Presbyterian Church in Korea Seeking a call in the area of foreign missions

Christopher Thomas Kreisher

United Methodist Church CPE Residency Program at VITAS, San Antonio, Texas

Paul Quentin Kucera

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Delavan, Illinois

Melanie Dawn Lange

Church (Disciples of Christ) Associate of Family Ministries, Congregational Life, Church on the Journey, Midland, Texas

John Douglas Leedy

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Director of Youth Ministries, University Presbyterian Church, Austin, while seeking a call

Krystal Lee Leedy

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Seeking a call

Clare Elisabeth Parry Lozano

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Pastor, Heritage Presbyterian Church, Olathe, Kansas

Jody W. Maas

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) CPE Residency Program at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital in the Medical Center, Houston, Texas, while completing candidacy requirements

Kristen Colette Nies

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Plans to pursue a position in the field of Social Work

In Hye Park

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Seeking a part-time position while completing candidacy requirements

Ronnie David Phares

Unitarian Universalist Pastor, West Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, Glendale, Arizona

Brian Louis Plescher

Nondenominational ThM at Western Theological Seminary with plans to pursue a PhD at Calvin Theological Seminary

Abbey Marie Patterson Walker

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Seeking a call

Laura Beth Walters

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) CPE Residency Program at Seton Family of Hospitals, Austin, Texas, while seeking a call in the Central Texas area

Shane Kermit Webb

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Mission Associate Pastor for the PC(USA)/First Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Presbyterian Church, Lilly Resident, First Presbyterian Pasadena, Texas. Will serve in Church, Ann Arbor, Michigan Peru with the PCUSA Young Adult Volunteer Program Elsa L. Ramirez (YAV) United Methodist Church Translator, Hospice Austin; Amy Lea Wiles seeking a call Cooperative Baptist

Mary Elizabeth Prentice-Hyers

Fellowship Director of Children’s Ministry Evangelical Lutheran Church in at Westminster Presbyterian America Church, Waterloo, Iowa; Plans to pursue a position in planning to pursue a PhD the field of Social Work and/ or ministry to youth and young adults Doctor of Ministry

Amber Lin Reber

Jeffrey B. Saddington

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) CPE Residency Program at Seton Family of Hospitals in Austin

Charles Bradley Slaten

United Methodist Church Pastor, Bruceville-Eddie United Methodist Church, BrucevilleEddy, Texas

Kelly Barbara Updegraff Staples

Cheryl Ann Bourne

Pastor, Prineville Presbyterian Church, Prineville, Oregon

Doctoral Project:

Venturing into the Wild West: Equipping the Elders of Prineville Presbyterian Church to be “Sent People”

James Christían Bouzard

Chaplain for Christ Chapel, Texas State University, a joint ministry of the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Doctoral Project: Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) The Welcoming Table: Campus Director of Youth Ministries, Ministry Students Cooking NorthPark Presbyterian Church, Up a Deeper Theology of the Dallas, Texas, while completing Eucharist candidacy requirements

Jenny Lynn Cravey Tucker

United Methodist Church Pastor, Iredell and Cranfills Gap, Texas

Janice Louise Bryant

Minister of Christian Education, Ebenezer Baptist Church, Austin, Texas

Doctoral Project:

Using Family Systems Constructs to Equip Ebenezer

Baptist Church Leaders for Leadership

Nora Bishop Fitch Member-at-Large, New Covenant Presbytery

Doctoral Project:

Celebration of Eucharist as Lament AND Praise: Deepening Eucharistic Understanding through Teaching, Preaching, and Ritual

Peter Traben Haas

Associate Pastor, Westlake Hills Presbyterian Church, Austin, Texas

Doctoral Project:

A Contemplative-Missional Model for Revitalizing the Board of Deacons

Alf Emery Halvorson Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Doctoral Project:

Travel that Transforms: Equipping Individuals and Groups to Grow Spiritually as they Journey Physically

Warren Brent Hampton Pastor, Brenham Presbyterian Church, Brenham, Texas

Doctoral Project:

Koine Greek in Preaching: Facilitating Paul Ricoeur’s “Appropriation of Meaning”

Richard Edmund Kreutzer

Pastor, Holy Trinity Presbyterian Church, San Antonio, Texas

Doctoral Project:

Narrative Discipleship: Nurturing Men in Faith through Sharing Personal Faith Stories

Steven K. Parker

Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church, Weslaco, Texas

Doctoral Project:

“Familia Fiesta”­— Developing a Greater Sense of Spiritual Kinship Through “Familia Fiesta” Activities in a Rio Grande Valley Town and Country Church

Christopher Michael Powell

Pastor, First Baptist Church,

Lamesa, Texas

Doctoral Project:

Preparing the Leaven: Toward a Deepened Biblical and Theological Understanding of the Missional Church in First Baptist Church, Lamesa, Texas

James Park Reinarz

Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Grand Prairie, Texas

Doctoral Project:

There and Back Again: Identifying Common Structural Elements in Short-term Mission Trips that Promote Spiritual Experiences in Participants

Perryn Alloysius Rice

Associate Pastor of Plans and Programs, First Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Cookeville, Tennessee

Doctoral Project:

Saying “Amen” Loud Enough to Hear: Equipping the Listener to Participate Demonstratively in Interactive Black Preaching

Danny Adrion Spears Pastor, Holy Covenant Metropolitan Community Church, Brookfield, Illinois

Doctoral Project:

The Bible Clearly Says … Or Does It? Explorations of Biblical Texts as a Path to Spiritual Growth

Brian Harold Wiggins Pastor, First Presbyterian Church of Lufkin, Texas

Doctoral Project:

Communicating the Gospel to Youth through Art

Stephen Howell Wilkins

Pastor, Georgetown Presbyterian Church, Georgetown, South Carolina

Doctoral Project:

Soul Care: Pastoral Care through Spiritual Formation

Stephen Groves Yates Minister, First Presbyterian Church, Destin, Florida

Doctoral Project: Half-Wits to Whole-Wits: Using Both the Right and Left Sides of the Brain for Bible Study at First Presbyterian Church, Destin, Florida Summer Summer|| Fall Fall 2011 2011 || 17 17

Charge to the Class of 2011

By President Theodore J. Wardlaw

W

ell, look at you! You made it! All the what-ifs, all the anxiety, all the worried questions about where you’re headed next, all the concerns about whether or not you measure up or make the grade … all of that is behind you today. You were not raptured, after all.

And, by the way, on top of all of that, you made it through seminary and today you’re graduating!

According to the Reverend Harold Camping, the latest in a long line of prognosticators of the apocalypse, the world as we know it was supposed to come to an end yesterday and Jesus Christ was supposed to return to earth. Reverend Camping had a number of people exercised about this possibility; billboards predicting the end sprang up everywhere, and, here and there, people began to make ready. Some people quit their jobs, sold their houses, liquidated all of their possessions.

Even at the Seminary, I thought twice before having the honorarium check prepared for Paul Roberts, our Commencement speaker—what if he was raptured and I couldn’t find him; or what if I was raptured, and the check raptured with me? In spite of the fact that Mr. Camping has been wrong once before—back in 1994, when he predicted that the world would end on September 6th—a lot of people perked up, all the same; and to

be completely honest with you, so did I. I’m not much of an apocalyptic enthusiast—it’s not my theology. But what does interest me profoundly is how whenever some jackleg preacher predicts that Jesus is coming again, the world stops for a moment and notices. For a moment, at least, the impending rapture becomes a scoffer’s excuse for a party, and a believer’s excuse for at least some selfreflection and maybe even great fervent preparation.

And I suspect that, behind that momentary attention— even behind the momentary amusement—there is the evidence of a deep longing and a fond hope for God in some mighty way to show God’s very Self by intervening visibly into the midst of all that is still wrong with this fraught and unhappy world.

There is a young actor in New York, and there, to

{

18 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

sell-out crowds, he performs regularly—he re-animates, verbatim—one particular sermon, over an hour long, that was preached by Jimmy Swaggart at the First Assembly of God Church in Van Buren, Arkansas, in 1971. The sermon, titled “Get Mad At Sin,” was recorded live, and based on an out-of-print vinyl record of it, this young actor has achieved a brilliant reincarnation of this pulpit-pounding, carpet-pacing Pentecostal TV preacher, first cousin to rock-and-roller Jerry Lee Lewis, back when he was in his prime—back before his fame imploded in 1988, amid the public revelations of prostitutes and funny business with money and all of that. This actor is able to channel Jimmy Swaggart in this one-act play; and he came a couple of months ago to perform it here in Austin as part of this year’s Fusebox Festival. I knew him as a child, and I know and love his family, and he was confirmed as a Christian on my watch at Central Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. And so, for reasons like this, he called me from New York a month or so before he came, and asked if I would come and watch him perform; and so I did.

Remember that the broken-hearted cynicism of this world not only cannot hold a candle to the odd, saving capacity of the proclamation of the gospel; but finally it is desperate for it.

Now, I am no more a fan of Jimmy Swaggart than I am of apocalyptic theology, and I went to that performance expecting to be amused by it.

Expecting to laugh at all the gyrations and oratory, expecting to catch the hypocrisy in all the fulminations against extramarital sex, and all the self-righteous condemnations of America’s enemies without and within—the liberals, the intellectuals, the Chinese, the Russians. I went to his performance, expecting it to be a comedy; and, at first, it was. We all laughed. But, in ways that I cannot explain, the laughter subsided soon enough, and this very effective actor—himself formed by the legacy of urbane and thoughtful Presbyterianism—accessed something in this

performance that went deeper than the flaws and excesses of this complicated, self-destructive televangelist; and got all the way down to the raw, authentic, and downright odd capacity of the gospel to capture the faithful attention of cynical, wounded, needy, searching people.

And so here, on this day that we have because Jesus Christ did not return, I want to charge you to do two things. First of all, I want to charge you to draw the right conclusions from this non-event. I want to charge you to remember that the broken-hearted cynicism of this world not only cannot hold a candle to the odd, saving capacity of the proclamation of the gospel; but finally it is desperate for it.

That’s why the world perked up, at least for a moment. It wants nothing quite so much as someone who is able to speak that saving truth in ways that tickle our ears once again and invite into our lives new redeeming possibilities.

And, secondly, I want to charge you to be that someone. Be that someone— for the church, or the hospital, or the military branch, or the non-profit to which you are going. Be that someone—in the I.C.U. unit, or the pastor’s study, or the youth retreat, or the produce section of the grocery store when some needy person pours her heart out to you. Be that someone, because through such acts of being the proclaiming disciple you are called to be, Jesus Christ does in fact come again as the Lord of the church and of the world, to stand in the doorway between ordinary time and eternity, between historical reality and the reign of God. And the gospel, in its raw oddness, continues to make itself visible, through you, to the extent that, in a world that is almost blind and hard of hearing, you bear witness to the coming again of Christ.

This morning, over coffee, Kay asked

me what I was going to say today in my charge, and I pretty much gave her the synopsis of what I just said. I told her that I was going to remind you that it will be through your own ministry that Jesus in his presence and power comes again and again and again. And she said, “Well, you know, that reminds me of a poem by e. e. cummings,” and she recited it to me.

I didn’t know that she could recite poetry like that; I should stay home more often.

But the poem was so remarkable, and so on point, I think, that I decided to end my remarks with it: i thank You God for most this amazing day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything which is natural which is infinite which is yes (i who have died am alive again today, and this is the sun’s birthday;this is the birth day of life and of love and wings:and of the gay great happening illimitably earth) how should tasting touching hearing seeing breathing any—lifted from the no of all nothing—human merely being doubt unimaginable You? (now the ears of my ears awake and now the eyes of my eyes are opened) —e. e. cummings1 Imagine that! Someone looking at an ordinary day, laced by God’s goodness, and expecting anything with open eyes and ears!

Be that someone: again and again and again, until Jesus finally comes to complete the transformation of the world.

1. Reprinted from COMPLETE POEMS: 19041962 by E. E. Cummings, edited by George J. Firmage.

Copyright (c) 1991 by the Trustees for the E. E. Cummings Trust and George Jame Firmage. Used by permission of Liveright Publishing Corporation.

AUSTIN

PRESBYTERIAN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY BULLETIN: The University Senate of the United Methodist Church has

once again put Austin Seminary on its list of approved seminaries.

For details, go to: austinseminary.edu/methodists

Austin Seminary professors are not only expert academicians, but are personally committed to their faith and to the church, making them valuable mentors to students preparing for a life in ministry.

See for yourself.

Discovery Weekend October 28-30

To confirm your place, call our Office of Admissions at 800-241-1085 or email Jack Barden, admissions@ austinseminary.edu austinseminary.edu/ falldiscoveryweekend

AUSTIN

PRE SBYTERIAN THEOLOGI C AL

SEMINARY

Summer| Fall 2011 | 19

live

learn

what’s new | When people hear “Education Beyond the Walls,” they almost all get excited. They really like this name —it’s exciting, interesting, different, evocative. They gush—and then they ask, “What exactly is that?”

Good question.

Education Beyond the Walls is the new outwardlooking face of Austin Seminary, providing fresh, innovative, and expansive theological education for clergy, church leaders, congregations, communities.

We are a work in progress, very much open to where we find energy and emerging commitments among the churches and communities around us.

At the same time, Education Beyond the Walls is creating an array of opportunities: workshops for practicing Christians, linking theology and daily life; educational experiences to build up leaders for the Body of Christ; bringing people together across traditional boundaries to strengthen religious leadership; transformational learning for pastors.

We are exploring different structures too—from Saturday school half-day classes to evening sessions with supper at the Seminary to multi-day intensives to learning cohorts who meet over time with financial support.

Come see what we are up to. And stay tuned.

—Melissa Wiginton,VP, Education Beyond the Walls

upcoming from education beyond the walls Singing Into Our Future | Sept. 15 | The Reverend Dr. Michael Waschevski (DMin’03), associate pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Ft. Worth, serves on the Presbyterian Committee on Congregational Song charged with building a new collection of hymns for the church. Become part of the process for the new hymnal by singing the songs and sharing your responses to them. austinseminary.edu/hymnal

3:00-5:00: A Workshop for Pastors and Church Musicians | We will introduce the new PC(USA) hymnal to leaders responsible for congregational worship and music—organists, musicians, choir directors, worship leaders, and pastors—with particular focus on how the book can be used in planning worship and special services. This highly interactive session will also help church music directors plan how best to introduce the congregation to the new book and the many gifts it offers.

5:00-6:30: Supper at the Seminary | Church musicians are invited to stay and church members are invited to come for supper.

6:30-8:00: Singing into Our Future | All are welcome to this session—to sing, to listen, to learn and to talk about music. Dr. Waschevski will invite participants to sing the music we know by and in our hearts and discover fresh new surprises, all for the glory of God. Living Without Judgment: More Lessons from the Desert | Sept. 24 | Dr. Annie Bullock will explore judgment as an inevitable but harmful tendency in all of us. Guided by the 4th- and 5th-century Desert Fathers and Mothers, participants will be encouraged to reconsider their own habitual judgments and work to undermine them. Once they are out in the open, we will work together to formulate a practical plan of action. austinseminary.edu/judgment

Peering into the Future of Sex and Marriage in American Christianity (Heyer Lecture)| Sept. 29 | Dr. Mark Regnerus is associate professor of sociology at The University of Texas and the author of Forbidden Fruit: Sex & Religion in the Lives of American Teenagers (Oxford, 2007) and Premarital Sex in America: How Young Americans Meet, Mate, and Think about Marrying (Oxford, 2011). austinseminary.edu/heyer

Everyday Ethics: Integrating Spirituality and The Practice of Counseling | Oct. 13| In celebration of the 5th anniversary of the dual MSSW and MDiv program between The University of Texas at Austin and Austin Seminary, the UT School of Social Work and Austin Seminary co-sponsor a special day of education. Dr. Diana Garland, dean of Baylor’s School of Social Work, will deliver the keynote for this event. austinseminary.edu/everydayethics

Training, Challenging, and Caring for Spiritual Leaders | Oct. 17-19 | In this workshop, The Reverend Joan Gray addresses church officers who are looking for a deepened relationship with God as they serve the church and those who want to develop spiritual leadership in their congregations. austinseminary.edu/spiritualleaders

2012 MidWinters | Jan. 3-Feb. 1, 2012| The Reverend Tom Are Jr., pastor of Village Church, Prairie Village, Kansas; the Reverend Dr. Lillian Daniel, minister, First Congregational Church of Glen Ellyn, Glen Ellyn, Illinois; the Reverend Dr. Craig Barnes, Robert Meneilly Professor of Leadership and Ministry, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and pastor of Shadyside Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh; and the Reverend Rick Spalding, chaplain, Williams College. austinseminary.edu/midwinters2012

20 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

faculty news seen & heard |

faculty notes | comparative religion, organized a youth retreat called LEADD (Leadership Education Advancing Democracy and Diversity) for

Genesis 1 creation account to justify human exploitation of the earth profoundly and obviously misread the text. He also led a workshop on “Discerning the Face of God at Work” for the Montreat conference, “Being Spiritual in a Crazybusy world,” and led a twoweek Sunday school series on “The Essence

Whit Bodman, second from left, lends moral (if not actual) support to youth participating in a group-building activity at the LEADD conference this summer.

of Christian Spirituality: reflections inspired

by Emmanuel Levinas” at First Presbyterian Church, Kerrville, Texas, in May.

Whit Bodman, associate professor of

Jay Keller

• Dr. David Springer, associate dean of Academic Affairs for the University of Texas School of Social Work, delivered the 2010-2011 Heyer Lecture on April 27. His research interests are the trends affecting the Juvenile Justice System in Texas. The 2011-12 Heyer Lecture will be held on September 29, 2011.

notes

webXtra: listen to

the Spring 2011 Heyer Lecture here: austinseminary.edu/ heyerspringer

The 2011 annual meeting for the College of Pastoral Leaders (CPL) was held on the Austin Seminary campus May 9-11.

Professor Cynthia Rigby gave the keynote address on the theme, Being ALIVE in a Crazybusy World.”

For the eighteenth consecutive year, The Southeast Asian Lay Training Program met at Austin Seminary, May 30June 3. Doctrines of the Early Church and a study of spiritual formation were led by Professor David Johnson and adjunct professor Annie Bullock.

two dozen religiously and ethnically diverse high school youth from Austin. The weekend retreat focuses on the First Amendment religion clauses in the context of America’s religious diversity. During his sabbatical, Bodman has been finishing up final edits on his book and attending conferences: the biannual meeting of the Society for the Anthropology of Religion, the Annual Meeting of the South Central Conference of the United Church of Christ, and a conference on Scriptural Reasoning (see also page 25).

Bill Greenway, associate professor of philosophical theology, has had an essay, “To Love as God Loves: The Spirit of Dominion,” published in an issue of the journal Review and Expositor dedicated to “Ecology and Environment after the Oil Spill” (Winter 2011, Vol. 108:1). In it he argues that predominant appeals to the

David Jones, director of the Doctor of Ministry program and assistant professor of congregational care, led a three-day pastors’ retreat for Arkansas Presbytery, May 8-10. He also led a workshop for new DMin directors and presented a paper, “Combining Ethnographic and Family Systems Perspectives in Doctor of Ministry Research—A Helpful Union,” at the annual ADME conference in New Orleans in April.

Timothy Lincoln, associate dean for seminary effectiveness, attended a two-week seminar, ”Reflexive Pedagogy and Christian Practices,” at Calvin College. The seminar explored how recent work on Christian practices can illuminate the nature of distinctively Christian teaching and learning in higher education.

webXtra: listen to faculty sermons here: austinseminary.edu/facultysermons Summer| Fall 2011 | 21

faculty news

notes

board actions | Austin Seminary Board of Trustees took the following actions with respect to faculty at its spring meeting: Elected Dr. Song-Mi Suzie Park as assistant professor of Old Testament for a threeyear, renewable term, effective July 1, 2011.

Reappointed The Rev. Dr. David L. Jones as director of the Doctor of Ministry program and assistant professor of congregational care for a one-year term effective July 1, 2011.

Reappointed The Rev. Dr. C. Ellis Nelson as research professor of Christian education, effective July 1, 2011.

Granted tenure to The Rev. Dr. Jennifer L. Lord, Dorothy B. Vickery Associate Professor of Homiletics and Liturgical Studies, effective July 1, 2011.

Approved a sabbatical leave for Dr. David H. Jensen, professor of constructive theology, from July 1, 2012, through June 30, 2013.

Approved a sabbatical leave for The Rev. Dr. Kristin E. Saldine, assistant professor of homiletics, from January 1, 2012, through December 31, 2012.

With reference to other matters it also approved a new sexual misconduct policy.

good reads |

A

long-standing focus of my research, teaching, and ministry has been upon Christian creation care and love of all creatures. So folks frequently ask for book recommendations. As never before, we are blessed with a plethora of good books in this exciting new area of Christian reflection. Here are some good entry points into the dialogue

For a good general introduction to major ecological challenges and pertinent theological reflection, see evangelical scholar Steven Bouma-Prediger’s For the Beauty of the Earth: a Christian Vision for Creation Care (Baker Academic, 2010, $16). A good companion volume, focused more on reawakening our love for creation, is Sallie McFague’s Super, Natural Christians: How we should love nature (Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 2000, $20).

For a readable exploration of ecological teachings in scripture, see Terence Fretheim’s God and World in the Old Testament: A Relational Theology of Creation (Abingdon Press, 2005, $22). More ambitiously, Ecological Hermeneutics: Biblical, Historical and Theological Perspectives (Horrell, Hunt, Southgate and Stavrakopoulou, eds., t&t clark, 2010, $46), offers a good snapshot of recent developments and debates.

Those with a special concern for Christian love of non-human creatures would do well to begin with Andrew Linzey’s Animal Gospel (Westminster John Knox Press, 2004, $30). The veterinarian Allen Schoen’s Kindred Spirits (Broadway, 2002, $11) is also a wonderful read (not theological, but informative and moving).

And those interested in more technical theological discussions might consult two good anthologies: Animals on the Agenda (Linzey and Yamamoto, eds., University of Illinois Press, 1998, $30), and Creaturely Theology (Deane-Drummond and Clough, eds., SCM Press, 2009, $45). Those interested

22 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

in political and legal issues related to the treatment and protection of animals/species should consult Dominion, an excellent study

by Matthew Scully (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2003, $12).

For an introduction to major approaches across religious/cultural traditions, Tucker and Grim’s Worldviews and Ecology (Orbis, 1994, $20) remains a good first stop (see also pertinent volumes in the Harvard series on Religion and Ecology at http://fore. research.yale.edu/religion/index.html). For a challenging but stimulating philosophical rejoinder to standard modern Western ways of seeing nature, check out David Abram’s The Spell of the Sensuous (Vintage, 1997, $11).

Those interested in focusing upon Christian spirituality should consult (Presbyterian minister) Belden Lane’s instant classic, The Solace of Fierce Landscapes: Exploring Desert and Mountain Spirituality (Oxford, 2007, $14), which weaves together wilderness experiences, profound issues of identity and loss, and the classic Christian spiritual “way of negation.” Those looking for a great concrete guide for liturgical practice should see Sam Hamilton-Poore’s Earth Gospel (Upper Room, 2009, $12), which provides a month of earth-focused daily devotions and prayers.

Please note that I have not even attempted to mention books on critical environmental issues such as climate change, species loss, water scarcity, pollution and over-population, and so forth. At any rate, these offer only a taste of the wonderful books with which we are now blessed, but they should make a good start.

—Written by William Greenway, associate professor of philosophical theology

alumni news

notes

class notes | 1960s Wade Shuford (MDiv’60), former pastor of United Church of Christ, Hickory, North Carolina, has served on the Board of Trustees of Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina.

1970s Justin Jones (MDiv’77) was recently called to serve as pastor at First Presbyterian Church, Lampasas, Texas.

Walter J. Wilkins III (MDiv ’78) been called to serve as the Transitional Presbyter for Sacramento Presbytery.

1980s Ann Rosewall (MDiv’88) was recently called to the First Congregational Church of Evanston, Illinois, as its senior minister.

Fred Seay (MDiv’89) has been called to serve as pastor at First Presbyterian Church, Sugarland, Texas.

1990s Marvin Griffin (DMin’90), pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, Austin, and former Austin Seminary Trustee and a Distinguished Alumni recipient,

was recently honored by that congregation for his lifetime of service to the church.

David Reed (MDiv ’97) has been called to serve as interim pastor at New Braunfels Presbyterian Church, New Braunfels, Texas.

Kathy Anderson (MDiv’97) became the Executive Director of John Knox Ranch in January.

David Gambrell (MDiv’98) has been named editor of Call to Worship: Liturgy, Music, Preaching, and the Arts, a quarterly journal that offers insight and inspiration for pastors, church musicians, artists, and other worship leaders.

2000s Trey Little (MDiv’03) has been called as senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church, San Antonio, Texas.

Christina Berry (MDiv’06), pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Sterling, Illinois, in collaboration with three other pastors, has received a $10,000 grant from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship for exploring the intersection of the arts and worship. Berry will also serve as the project director.

Adrianne Coleman (MDiv’07) has been called to serve as pastor at Grace United Methodist Church in Des Moines and First

United Methodist Church in Raton, both in New Mexico.

Dick Powell (MDiv’07) is the new president and CEO of the Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly.

Aquanetta Hicks (MDiv’08) is now serving as the Bereavement Coordinator and the Volunteer Coordinator at Lighthouse Hospice in San Antonio, Texas.

Abbey Patterson (MDiv’11) wed Corey Walker on July 16, 2011.

Perryn Rice (DMin’11), associate pastor, First Cumberland Presbyterian, Cookeville, Tennessee, was featured in the Cookeville Times during the Lenten season.

ordinations | Steven Barnes (MA’00), ordained on June 12, 2011, to serve as associate pastor at Cooks Memorial Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Amy Pospichal (MDiv’07), ordained and installed on June 12, 2011, to serve as pastor at First Presbyterian Church, Tucumcari, New Mexico.

Alisa Pennington Secrest (MDiv’08), ordained June 19, 2011, to serve as pastor of Presbyterian Church, Delta, Colorado.

read The Reed?

The August issue of Austin Seminary’s new monthly e-newsletter features a story about the nearly 4,000 communion tokens housed in the Seminary Archives—plus links to all of our upcoming lectures and workshops. To make sure you don’t miss the next issue, sign up online (austinseminary.edu/ thereed) or call 512-404-4810.

webXtra: to see the map showing where Austin Seminary graduates are serving and to find your regional rep, go to: austinseminary.edu/alummap

recent grads | Beyond Budgets and Pastoral Care: Pastors as Public Theologians |Nov. 2-4 | Austin Seminary invites graduates from 2006-2010 to come back and learn together from members of the Austin Seminary family: the Reverend Karl Travis, the Reverend Carol Howard Merritt (MDiv’98), and Christopher Harris (MDiv’08) about your role as preacher on public issues, your role as writer in the public domain, and your role as social media guru.

Austin Seminary faculty will join us for discussion. austinseminary.edu/ recentgrad

Send your news to windows@ austinseminary.edu Summer| Fall 2011 | 23

alumni news

notes

from the vault | The year 2011 marks the 400th anniversary of the printing of the King James Bible, the English translation of the Bible authorized by King James I, which began in 1604 and was completed in 1611. The King James Version was the third authorized translation of the Bible into English and went on to have a powerful influence on English language, literature, and culture.

The Archives contains this leaf from the first edition of the King James Bible containing Genesis 4:18 – 9:4.

It was printed by Robert Barker, “Printer to the King’s Most Excellent Majesty” in 1611. Norman Dow (Stitt Library Director, 1955-1965) gave this leaf as a Christmas gift to Austin Seminary President David Stitt. It found its way first to President Jack Stotts and then to Timothy Lincoln, current director of Stitt Library, in the early 1990s.

The page from the first printing of the KJV was on display at Stitt Library through August, but you may view it any time by making an appointment with the archivist.

Find more information on the Seminary Archives here: austinseminary.edu/ archives

John Dearman (MDiv’10), ordained and installed as associate pastor for First Presbyterian Church, Conroe, Texas, on August 14.

Debbie Garber (MDiv’10), ordained on July 2, 2011, to serve as associate pastor at Central Presbyterian Church and Cascade Manor retirement community in Eugene, Oregon.

Jane Petit (MDiv’10), ordained and installed on July 17,

2011, as associate pastor of Congregational Life at Grace Presbyterian Church, Houston, Texas.

Melanie Lange (MDiv’11), ordained on May 29, 2011, to serve as associate pastor at Church on the Journey in Midland, Texas.

Amy Wiles (MDiv’11), ordained on May 21, 2011, to serve as director of children’s ministry at Westminster Presbyterian

Church, Waterloo, Iowa.

in memoriam | C. Ellis Nelson (MDiv’40), Austin, Texas, June 9, 2011.

William Van Auken (MDiv’55, ThM’68, DMin’83), Austin, Texas, August 7, 2011.

Donna Knight (MDiv’84), San Antonio, Texas, August 9, 2011.

Joyce Sawyer (MATS’07), Elgin, Texas, April 10, 2011.

David Duncan (MDiv’64), and his wife, Mary, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in May with a vow renewal ceremony at Central Presbyterian Church, Austin, where David is parish associate. Pastors Joseph Moore (MDiv’09) and Pete Hendrick (MDiv’52) were on hand to give their blessing; Pete (to the right in both top and lower left photos) also helped officiate at the original ceremony in 1961.

24 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

teaching ministry

World peace through Scriptural Reasoning

By Whitney Bodman, associate professor of comparative religion

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and the very power of these verses that builds here were five of us gathered this June us into a small community of readers. in a somewhat barren classroom at the

This is the second time I have been to University of Virginia. Besides myself, this conference on Scriptural Reasoning. I there was a professor of Islamic studies from have now been trained to lead groups and Connecticut, two accomplished students, commissioned to start them. The leader both of Christian background but who of this effort, Dr. Peter Ochs, Professor of described themselves as “searching,” and a Modern Judaic Studies at the University Jewish graduate student from Duke. We had before us the verses of the burning bush story of Virginia, preaches, with gentle zeal, that scriptural reasoning will bring world peace from Exodus. For an hour we interrogated in 150 years by bringing Jews, Christians, the text and each other, testing out various and Muslims—and who knows: Hindus, interpretations, trying to visualize the bush, Mormons, Buddhists, and Sikhs—together to Moses, the landscape, the sound of the read. Peter has put me in charge of Texas. voices—every dimension of the story we Right. could imagine. We were reverent at times, We have already made some progress. and surprisingly irreverent at other times. We Two years ago a few Austin Seminary paid little attention to historical criticism, to students and some friends from a local higher theology, or to what Jewish sages and Islamic Center met for several weeks to read Christian theologians had to say. Our focus New Testament and Qur’an together. In my was only on the text, the text, the text.

Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations class

A few hours later we grappled similarly two years ago, we invited students from with the same story from the Qur’an, and the University of Texas Muslim Students the next day with the baptism story from Association to join us for an evening to read Matthew. The theme was fire. scripture together. We will do it again this

This is Scriptural Reasoning, a process fall. of reading scripture in an interfaith

Clearly this is not enough. I have been environment with the goal not of agreeing assigned all of Texas. I have only 148 years upon its meanings, but of building our left to build world peace, one group at a time, relationships with each other around that one text at a time, one day at a time. I would which we all value highly—scripture. be discouraged if it were not so fun.

We read scripture because over centuries these texts have shown themselves to be limitless in their ability to challenge the imagination and move the soul. In this process, we do not allow anyone to put limits on the questions we ask. When we read Torah, the Jews present do not have the authority to tell us what it means, and what it does not.

Similarly the Christian and the Muslim have no special authority when we read the New Testament and Qur’an.

It is the text which brings us together, but it is the thrill of Professor Whit Bodman, left, frequently travels in his work with people of other faiths. Here, he is in Iran with his friend Ahmad deep reading, new insights, Nabizadeh whom he met at a Scriptural Reasoning conference.

Goals of Scriptural Reasoning: 1. Engage members of different religious traditions in long-term fellowships of study and mutual care.

2. Uncover paths of healing, compassion, and repair through the study of the same scriptural sources that might otherwise tempt one believer to despise or misjudge another.

Approaches: 1. Participants honor each other and each other’s sacred texts.

2. Participants debate and reason together about the various meanings that might be drawn from the texts, without making judgments about the correctness of any reading.

webXtra: for further exploration http://www. scripturalreasoning.org/ http://etext.lib.virginia. edu/journals/abraham/ sjsr/ http://etext.lib.virginia. edu/journals/jsrforum/ http://etext.lib.virginia. edu/journals/jsrforum/ writings/CarGath.html http://www. scripturalreasoning.org/ pdfs/howtopitchatent.pdf

Summer / Fall 2011 | 25

windows

Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary 100 East 27th Street, Austin, Texas 78705-5711 Address Correction Requested

Bruce and Cara Herlin of Palacios, Texas, have been a fixture at Austin Seminary’s Commencements for three decades. Bruce completed his service on the board of trustees in May; he has served since 1981, making him the longest serving trustee in recent memory.

Commencement 2011

webXtra: for more Commencement photos, go to: austinseminary.edu/grad2011