Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
winter 2017
In this Issue New Leaders | 3
Boundary-Stretching Ministry | 6
MidWinters 2017 | 17
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AUSTIN
AUSTIN PRESBYTERIAN
PRESBYTERIAN THEOLOGI C AL
THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
SEMINARY
winter 2017
features
President
Boundary-Stretching Ministry
Theodore J. Wardlaw
Board of Trustees
6
G. Archer Frierson II, Chair James Allison Margaret Aymer Janice Bryant (MDiv’01, DMin’11) Claudia D. Carroll Katherine B. Cummings (MDiv’05) Thomas Christian Currie Consuelo Donahue (MDiv’96) Jackson Farrow Jr. Beth Blanton Flowers, M.D. Stephen Giles Jesús Juan González (MDiv’92) Walter Harris, Jr. John Hartman Ann Herlin (MDiv’01) Rhashell D. Hunter Keatan King Steve LeBlanc J. Sloan Leonard, M.D. Sue B. McCoy Matthew Miller (MDiv’03) Lyndon L. Olson Jr. B. W. Payne David Peeples Mark Ramsey Jeffrey Kyle Richard Conrad Rocha Matthew E. Ruffner Lana Russell Lita Simpson Anne Vickery Stevenson Martha Crawley Tracey Carlton Wilde Jr. Michael G. Wright
13 Life in the City, a ministry of The United Methodist Church, has discovered its mission to the South Austin community, which includes embracing Austinites’ love of their pets! Photo by Amy Wendland
Preparing Leaders for an Expanding Church By Theodore J. Wardlaw
10
Ministry with Nones & Dones
11
Being Faithful to Context
By Adan Mairena (MDiv’99)
12
Experiments in Spiritual Growth
By Carrie Graham
13
An Exercise in Faith & Flexibility
By Valerie Sansing (MDiv’00)
15
The Future From My Vantage Point
By Renée Roederer (MDiv’08)
By Sallie Watson (MDiv’87)
& departments
Trustees Emeriti
5
Stephen A. Matthews Max Sherman Louis Zbinden
2
seminary & church
3
twenty-seventh & speedway
16 live & learn 18 faculty news & notes
Austin Seminary Association (ASA) Board Kristy Vits (MDiv’98), President Matt Miles (MDiv’99), Vice President Barrett Abernethy (MDiv’13), Secretary Dieter Heinzl (MDiv’98), Past President Timothy Blodgett (MDiv’07) Paul Harris (MATS’10) Sandra Kern (MDiv’93) Denise Odom (MDiv’99) Andrew Parnell (MDiv’05) Stephen Plunkett (MDiv’80) Valerie Sansing (MDiv’00) Sheila Sidberry-Thomas (MDiv’14) Ayana Teter (MDiv’06) Caryn Thurman (MDiv’07) Michael Ulasewich (MDiv’05)
Volume 132 | Number 1
20 alumni news & notes back cover 21 teaching & ministry Editor Randal Whittington
Contributors
Lemuel García Jacqueline Hefley Gary Mathews Alison Riemersma Sharon Sandberg Mona Santandrea Ann Serrano Kristy Sorensen Austin Young
Windows is published three times each year by Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. To read prior issues, go here: AustinSeminary.edu/windows back issues 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
seminary church
from the president |
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President’s Schedule 2017 January 21: Preach, Closing Worship Presbyterian Association of Musicians, University Presbyterian Church, Austin, Texas March 8: Coffee with the President, San Antonio, Texas March 30: Partner Luncheon, Austin, Texas April 27: Evening with the President, Albuquerque, New Mexico May 14: Preach, Setauket Presbyterian Church, Setauket, New York July 2: Preach, Montreat Summer Worship Series, Montreat, North Carolina
his issue of Windows explores the expanding vision of the church in our time. Our assumption with this topic is that the church as it existed in our gauzy memories of bygone decades is making room for new models in our various communities and communions. Those well-established churches on prominent downtown or suburban corners are still around for the most part, and they are still vital demonstrations of people of God under formation. But other models of church are coming into being in order to reflect new cultures and generations. It may have been easier, in days gone by, to pick out a Presbyterian or Methodist or Episcopal or Lutheran church—perhaps by its architecture, or its name, or the color of its hymnal, or the sorts of cars in the parking lot. Such brand identity, though, is becoming more complex as new congregations with different identities emerge. In the pages ahead, you will get a street-level look at some evidence of the expanding visions of church in our time. I was pleased to be asked to write the lead article this time around and offer it as a reflection on the ways in which, as the church expands its self-concept and its mission, so does Austin Seminary. I offer a reflection on how this seminary and its peers have changed our pedagogies over time to prepare future pastors and other church servants for changed realities. Other voices describe other angles on this topic. Carrie Graham, who has been on the Seminary’s staff as director of the “Ministers Facing Money” program, is an ordained evangelical pastor, and a Fuller Seminary alumna, who is also involved with The Church Lab. You will be intrigued with this particular iteration of church. Austin Seminary alums Adan Mairena, Sallie Watson, Renée Roederer, and Valerie Sansing reflect on their own expanded visions of church. Adan’s West Kinsington Ministry in Philadelphia is a community of people for whom activism is a central practice in the life of their church. Sallie, the new executive presbyter of Mission Presbytery here in Texas, explores from her vantage point what it means for the church to “shed its skin” in order to give birth to something new. Renée, who pastors a community called Michigan Nones and Dones, reflects on Jesus as the Great Convener—one who convenes even as he also transforms. Valerie, who pastors a United Methodist mission called “Life in the City” tells the inspiring story of that community’s birth and development. All of these pieces introduce us to expanded visions of church—fit for this era of transition, experimentation, and the discovery of new forms of discipleship. There’s also much news ahead, and evidence of much energy on and beyond our campus, so read carefully and don’t overlook a word. One last thing: I hope to see you at MidWinter Lectures!
WebXtra: For an up close and personal view of seminary life, we invite you to read our student blog: AustinSeminary.edu/studentblog 2 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
Faithfully yours,
Theodore J. Wardlaw Like us on Facebook President Follow us on Twitter Listen to us on iTunesU!
twenty-seventh speedway
Heather Zdancewicz to lead Finance and Administration
A
ustin Seminary has called Heather Zdancewicz to be vice president for finance and administration starting February 1, 2017. She currently holds that position at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia, the largest Episcopal seminary in America, where she has served in the administration for twenty-four years. “Heather Zdancewicz is a proven and nationally respected administrator and leader, both within and beyond her familiar turf at Virginia Theological Seminary,” said Austin Seminary President Theodore J. Wardlaw. “With a passionate commitment to the church and to mainline theological education in the service of equipping the church, Heather brings to Austin Seminary deep experience in all of the facets of her field. We look forward to welcoming her to this ministry!” While at Virginia Theological Seminary, Zdancewicz managed a $17 million operating budget and $160 million endowment fund. She has overseen major capital projects such as a $9 million central plant/hydronic piping project, a $25 million chapel project (replacing a former, historic chapel which burned down a few years ago), and a $22 million student-housing project. She has also been a member of the senior management team and has implemented various portions of Virginia Theological Seminary’s strategic plan, leading efforts to create more sustainability initiatives around campus. “I am excited about coming to another one of the Seminaries that Change the World,” Zdancewicz said. “The strength of Austin Seminary is a real draw. I look forward to working with so many well-regarded staff and faculty and to helping the community with initiatives that will move it from strength to strength.” Zdancewicz earned a BS in mathematics from the University of Mary Washington and an MBA from George Mason University. Active at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Burke, Virginia, Zdancewicz is a member of the Kanuga Conference Board, an Episcopal retreat center, similar to Montreat, in the Western North Carolina mountains, and she serves as chair of their finance committee. Zdancewicz and her husband, Don, have two sons, one a recent college graduate and the other still in college. v
New trustees Stephen Giles, Sloan Leonard, Jesse González (Class of 2018), Walter Harris, Margaret Aymer, Matthew Ruffner, and Mark Ramsey; inset Keatan King.
New trustees take office November 7
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ustin Seminary welcomed seven new members to the Board of Trustees Class of 2019 this fall; Walter Harris Jr. was installed as the new board vice-chair and James Allison is the new board secretary. Margaret Aymer, associate professor of New Testament, is the new faculty appointment to the board. Stephen Giles of Dallas, Texas, is executive producer for UnRestricted Access and America Up Close. He has worked as an advertising, sales, and marketing executive with multiple Fortune 1000 companies, and he is a member of Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church in Dallas. Walter Harris, a member of St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church, New Orleans, was provost and vice president for academic affairs of Loyola University until his retirement; he now teaches at Loyola. He served on the Austin Seminary Board from 2006-2015, and his daughter and sonin-law Ayana and Aaron Teeter are Seminary graduates. Keatan King is associate pastor at St. Philip Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas. The daughter of former trustee and alumnus Carter King (MDiv’67), she was a member of the Visions Taskforce of New Covenant Presbytery and formerly served as director of young adult ministries at First Presbyterian Church in Bryan, Texas. Sloan Leonard is a pathologist and co-founder of DPA Laboratories. He is co-founder and director of Pegasus Bank in Dallas. A member of Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas, he served as director of the investment committee for the Texas Presbyterian Foundation from 2009-2014. Mark Ramsey is senior pastor at Westlake Hills Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas. He is associate editor for the Journal of Preachers and has served as an adjunct instructor at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and on the Macedonian Ministry faculty. Matthew Ruffner is senior pastor at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Texas. Previously he was associate pastor for mission at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. Ruffner served as a consultant for the Cousins Family Foundation in Atlanta, Georgia. v Winter 2017 | 3
twenty-seventh speedway Students who enrolled in Austin Seminary’s new Master of Arts in Youth Ministry program signed the Declaration of Intent during a worship service on September 29.
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Preaching for the occasion was The Reverend Dr. Jonathan L. Walton, minister of Memorial Church of Harvard University.
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The 2016 entering class includes five former PC(USA) Young Adult Volunteers; 34% of the class represent racial/ ethnic minorities. Seventy are enrolled in online certificate courses, and there are eleven young adults engaged in a year of service in Austin who are residing in AYAVA House this year.
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WebXtra: Professor Timothy Lincoln, associate dean for seminary effectiveness, gave the Convocation Address on September 6. Access it here: AustinSeminary.edu/mediagallery
The Education Beyond the Walls’ workshop “The Power and Practice of Storytelling” culminated in an evening of stories on the theme of “Home,” October 25. Background image is from the Austin Seminary Association Community BBQ, September 19.
4 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
{
board actions | Austin Seminary Board of Trustees took the following actions at its fall meeting:
The touring choir from London’s St. Martin-in-theFields provided music during worship on September 22.
{
• Approved a change in title for Timothy Lincoln to Director of the Stitt Library, Associate Dean for Institutional Effectiveness, and Research Professor in Theological Education.
The Hispanic Student Association led a special Dia de los Muertos worship service on October 31.
• Approved the sabbatical reports of Professors Whit Bodman, David Johnson, and Cynthia Rigby. • Approved the sabbatical proposal of Professors Margaret Aymer, July 1, 2018 - June 30, 2019, and William Greenway, July 1, 2018 - June 30, 2019.
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• Promoted Margaret Aymer to Professor of New Testament, effective July 1, 2017.
The campus got a face lift over the summer with a cleaning of Shelton Chapel and a signage system. Yes. Signs. John Everett, director of the physical plant, shows off one of the new directional signs.
Austin-area clergy enjoyed camaraderie and breakfast on the Austin Seminary campus in August.
• Promoted Gregory Cuéllar to Associate Professor of Old Testament, for a five-year term, effective July 1, 2017. • Accepted the following new endowments: The Shirley C. and Helen W. Guthrie Endowed Fund; The Jones Family Endowed Scholarship Fund; The William L. (Bill) Hughes, Jr. Endowed Fund; The Robert W.B. and Shirley Johnston Endowed Scholarship Fund; The Robert W.B. and Shirley Johnston International Endowed Scholarship Fund; and The Robert W. B. and Shirley Johnston Endowed Merit Fellowship Fund.
Winter 2017 | 5
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Preparing Leaders By Theodore J. Wardlaw
The Reverend Dr. Theodore J. Wardlaw has been president and professor of homiletics at Austin Seminary since 2002. During his presidency, and prior to that through leadership on the boards of other Presbyterian seminaries, he has been deeply involved in theological education, including service as chair of the PC(USA) Committee on Theological Education (2010-12).
6 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
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eople are always asking me: “So Ted, what’s it like to prepare students these days for service in the church?” Sometimes, as I listen to the tone of voice accompanying the question, I conclude that it’s an honest inquiry and that the questioner is genuinely curious. Other times, the question sounds almost like a challenge, and the translation is, “Really now, why would any sane seminary student even want to prepare for a dying institution that is a dystopian shadow of its former glorious self?” I answer either question in the same way. “The students coming to Austin Seminary these days are curious, energetic, bold, edgy, bright …” and then I deliver the punch-line: “… and they are in seminary right on time, because they’re too young to know the church that I’m old enough to remember.” And then, if they’re still listening, I go on to recite what is thrilling about having something to do toward preparing these students for an expanding church. Before this essay is over, I will linger a bit on what I think of when I survey the expanding church out there. But first, allow me to remember as a way of setting the stage for what I believe is breaking in, whether we are ready or not.
n a r fo
STRETCHING THE BOUNDARIES OF MINISTRY
There is much that I remember when I regard the church of my formation. I remember certain sturdy hymns, like “O Zion Haste, Thy Mission High Fulfilling” or “Come, Labor On” or “They Cast Their Nets in Galilee.” I remember certain catechetical texts, be they pieces of scripture or fragments of this or that historic theological confession, that virtually all of us in church knew—statements like “Our chief end is to glorify God and enjoy God forever.” I remember a broad consensus of what it meant, in my case, to be a Presbyterian (Presbyterians do this or believe this, and don’t do or believe that). I remember a certain quiet, even somber, decorum that I associated with church (Presbyterians don’t clap in church). I remember how the church behaved in a time of Constantinianism—a term that Stanley Hauerwas and William H. Willimon introduced me to in their pivotal book of the early 1980s, Resident Aliens. Their book reminded me of how the emperor Constantine the Great, in the early fourth century, needed a common religion to unite his vast Roman empire; and so, with some helpful advice from his mother, he took that unimportant new religion called Christianity and elevated it to the official religion of Rome. Practically overnight, Christians emerged out of their quiet worshipful gatherings in sequestered catacombs and living-rooms and into grand new public churches—almost as grand as the official buildings of the Roman Empire—and, over the ensuing centuries, adjusted congenially to their position as the empire’s official religion. In exchange for the church providing an ecclesial and theological justification of the state, the state provided a sort of privilege and protection of the church; this arrangement went on for over a millennium and a half. In the culture prevalent in the second half of the 20th century into which I was born—a culture which, in G.
K. Chesterton’s famous description and critique, was “a nation with the soul of a church”—mainline seminaries were, in my judgment, deeply intertwined with a dominant paradigm shaped in part, at least, by a still-vibrant Constantinianism. The theologians I read in seminary, brilliant and formative as they were, were products of, and often prophets against, this paradigm: Karl Barth, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Paul Tillich, Reinhold and Richard Niebuhr, Douglas John Hall, Paul Lehmann, Harvey Cox, Geoffrey Wainwright, and on and on. All of these were amazing scholars, but there was also a gap. At the time, I wasn’t even aware of the women and the people of color whose voices I was missing: James Cone, Allan Boesak, Cornel West, Jon Sobrino, Katie Geneva Cannon, Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza, Sallie McFague, and on and on. In the Presbyterian communion, women were being ordained but the student body in my seminary was still overwhelmingly white and male. In that seminary, and in all of our Presbyterian seminaries (certainly including Austin), there was a box and we colored inside it. The ministries we were preparing for were overwhelmingly in traditional parish settings, and we aspired to be either solo pastors or associate pastors. Pastoral care, to use the example of just one discipline, was about one-on-one ministry based primarily on a secular therapeutic model. In pastoral care settings, we could almost pretend we were psychologists (like Karl Jung or Sigmund Freud—two more white males). When taking a semester of Clinical Pastoral Education, much of the appeal of working with hospital patients was that we got to wear those official-looking white coats and to carry beepers, and thus derived our authority from medical, not ecclesial, symbologies. On a number of levels, our “competencies” (and we used that word a lot) were as-
n i d n a p Ex
h c r u h C g
Winter 2017 | 7
“
The student body which I behold at this seminary is an eclectic collection of men and women who, even on Day One of their time here, have arrived ‘right on time.’”
sessed based on corporate models. The basic degree we were working toward in the late 1970s was an “in-sequence DMin” (Doctor of Ministry) degree, and we were told that it was a “professional” degree (“just like MDs and JDs”). Indeed, “professionalism” was a beloved buzz-word. We would work hard to be good professionals, maintaining respectability in our communities while dispensing and managing what was, on balance, a thoroughly reasonable gospel for Constantine’s approving consumption. That was then and this is now. It is a different world. It seems that the things that make this a different world have accumulated faster and faster—even across the more than fourteen years of my time as president here. For starters, at least in America and Western Europe, the Constantinian arrangement between culture and church has come to an end (or, in those out-of-theway places where it is still alive, it won’t be much longer). Multiple factors in our modern life have torn at the fabric of our community connections with each other, thus creating in our time a plummeting of social capital. The end result, at least for now, is that we have become more and more atomized from one another—increasingly disconnected from family, friends, neighbors, and the social 8 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
structures, including churches, that in times past have been profound bearers of memory and faith. One result of all of this is the rise of the so-called “nones” and “dones.” If Dan Aleshire, president of the Association of Theological Schools, is right, mainline Protestant seminaries have experienced three distinct eras across the last century or so. In the era in which my father attended seminary (the mid-1940s through maybe the early 1960s) seminaries were rather monastic in character, says Aleshire. They were places where primarily single males lived in cell-like rooms (think Currie Hall) and passed their days in a kind of rigorous discipline of academics, worship, and piety. However, the era in which I attended seminary (the late1970s) is more aptly described, says Aleshire, as one focused primarily upon professionalism. Ministry, along with law and medicine, so the argument went, was one of the three classical professions. The task of preaching in such a time, for instance, was that of reminding a culture of a faith that was already a strong, or at least latent, presence. In this current era, though, Aleshire suggests that seminaries have taken on more of the character of an apostolate. In a post-Constantinian world no longer saturated with the language of the faith, an apostolate is focused upon announcing the Good News, in new and creative ways, to an audience for which that announcement is literally news! Seminaries in this day and time need to be focused not just on being an apostolate, but also on shaping an apostolate: on equipping the church—generally considered—to recover, and to live more deeply and intentionally into, its primary task as an apostolic people. The student body which I behold at this seminary across these years of enormous cultural shifts is, in a myriad of ways, an eclectic collection of men and women who, even on Day One of their time here, have arrived, again, “right on time.” They are well-equipped to prepare for service in a changing world and a changing church. They represent several adult generations, but increasingly they are millennials. They are naturally altruistic, they are passionate about social justice issues, they not only tolerate but expect difference, and they thrive on diversity. They are hard to pigeonhole, theologically or politically speaking, which only makes them more interesting and magnetic, in my judgment. Fifty percent of them are Presbyterian, twenty-five percent are United Methodist, and the other twenty-five percent are everything from Assembly of God to Unitarian. They recently packed our chapel for a sacred music concert by a baroque choir from St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church from London; they also regularly pack our chapel for the annual Martin Luther King Jr. service which features a gospel choir from Huston-Tillotson University in Austin. As near as I can tell, they are not interested in perpetuating the divisive
STRETCHING THE BOUNDARIES OF MINISTRY churchly arguments and prohibitions that my generation vigorously suited up for; and, led by the Spirit, they will gladly “sing from a variety of hymnals”—both figuratively and literally. In ways like this, they are appropriately non-judgmental and flexible, which are two characteristics that will help propel them successfully into the challenges and opportunities of the church as it is coming into shape in these days. The church emerging in front of our very eyes is an “expanding” church, even as it is not always a “growing” church in a numerical sense. Many of its marks reveal directions and instincts that are new and different. That church, though, will continue to need the things the apostles carried with them. Early on, as far back as the moment when Saul was transformed into Paul, somebody had to teach him the kerygma—had to take the Damascus experience and convert it into an understandable and communicable set of faith commitments in order to reach the world into which Paul, the emblematic apostle of all time, was sent. Just so, in this particular apostolic moment, students preparing to serve the church in this world will still continue to need the foundations we specialize in—theology, biblical interpretation, history, liturgy, homiletics, missiology, evangelism, Christian formation, sacred music, ethics, pastoral care, comparative religion, and leadership. That church will still need people who know how to engage a congregation with a Gospel word characterized by both substance and passion. It will still need ministers who lead with integrity, courage, discipline, and all the other pastoral virtues. And … and: that church may gather in a bar or under a bridge instead of in a sanctuary. It may be less attractional (How can we get people to pull into our parking lot and come in our doors?) and more strategic (What focus do we have in this neighborhood/city/world when we leave our worship?). It may be an immigrant community of Spanish-speaking people new to this culture (for whom we are resourcing, through Spanish-language courses, present and future pastors or lay leaders). Its parishioners may be sacramentally focused homeless people gathering in a warehouse rather than people who assess their church’s beauty and exclusivity as its best feature. Its greatest asset may be the marginality, rather than the status, of its location. Finally, its primary task in these new and different times may be simply the apostolic task of announcing the Good News to people for whom that announcement is really news! Earlier this week, as I write these words, the Austin American-Statesman published an article about a new ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church here. As large and attractive as that congregation is, what with its campus of program-centered buildings and plentiful parking
lots, Covenant is fundamentally a church which nurtures, at the center of its being, a generous and missional heart. The new ministry that made the paper is a drive-in prayer ministry. On certain days each week, a member stands on a median of the busy street in front of the church. He’s holding a sign beckoning passersby to take a moment to pull into the parking lot where people are waiting to pray with them. They may wish prayers for their families, for the work that they do or, if they have no work, for a job to be found, for peace in this troubled world in which we all live, for all manner of things. Whatever it is that is most on their hearts, members of that church wait expectantly for them and are prepared to pray for them, with them. Is this foolish? No. Heavens, no. It’s the work of an apostolate. “Fools for Christ,” I’d say; people who embody an expanding church—a church searching for new ways to point toward the promises of a God who is still very much alive in the world. Equipping them and communities like them, through equipping our students to serve with them, is what we need to be about in an expanding church and a hungry world. v
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The church emerging in front of our eyes will still need ministers who lead with integrity, courage, discipline, and all the other pastoral virtues.” Winter 2017 | 9
Emerging Ministry with “Nones” and “Dones” By Renée Roederer “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
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erhaps some spoke these words in hushed whispers and felt embarrassed at the scandal of it all. Perhaps some jeered, emboldened by their self-righteousness. Perhaps some pondered these words inwardly, questioning if this was truly fitting for a religious leader. But others? They shared these words as an invitation: “Come and see.” They had experienced full welcome, and from this hospitality, they were empowered to lead and extend the circle of this movement. Jesus — God with us, Redeemer among us, Spirited one beside us — He is a Great Convener. This might seem like a simple descriptor for someone so life-changing, but it is true. As a Great Convener, Jesus brought tax collectors, zealots, prostitutes, lepers, and Pharisees together around the same tables. In love, Jesus expanded what was possible for their lives and enabled them to extend the circle of belonging, too. Children were blessed, and a little boy’s gift fed an entire multitude. Fishermen were personally commissioned for service then transformed into bold apostles. Women were empowered as full disciples and became the very first people to proclaim the resurrection. Jesus brought people together and transformed the trajectory of their entire lives. Then, gifting them with the Holy Spirit, he sent these leaders forward to do the same. We are called to this holy, convening ministry, too. This simple act—bringing people together, especially bringing diverse voices and experiences together—serves
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as the holy ground for transformative leadership. We can never anticipate fully how lives will be changed. These days, my life is changing. My life is enriched as I am facilitating the formation of a new community in Southeast Michigan. It is called Michigan Nones and Dones and is a community for people who are “spiritually curious but institutionally suspicious” (a term I first learned from Pastor Mark Ramsey). Michigan Nones and Dones includes people who are religiously unaffiliated (the Nones), people who have left established forms of institutional churches (the Dones), and people who remain connected to particular faith traditions but seek new, reforming visions for their expression. We meet in coffee shops and restaurants to talk about spirituality, life experiences, and the teachings of Jesus. This is a sacred, convening ministry. It is certainly holy ground. “Nones” and “Dones” are buzzwords in the sociology of religion these days. Even if you have not heard these specific terms before, you are likely aware that rapid shifts are underway in religious demographics. Many people feel disenfranchised from churches and organized religion as a whole. Some have left congregational life behind for good; others have never attended worship or had a healthy experience of belonging inside a church. Some of these individuals remain curious about spirituality, and some of the Dones continue to self-identify as Christians. In a changing religious landscape, how can we form new communities which include these people fully and empower them as co-convening leaders? The emerging vision behind that question fuels me. Michigan Nones and Dones facilitates conversations
In a changing religious landscape, how can we form new communities which include people fully and empower them as co-convening leaders?”
Renée Roederer (MDiv’08) is the new community chaplain of Nones and Dones, a validated ministry of the Presbytery of Detroit. She is a Doctor of Ministry student at Austin Seminary. 10 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
Continued on page 14
STRETCHING THE BOUNDARIES OF MINISTRY
WKM: Being Faithful to Our Context By Adan Mairena
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t was a humbling experience. On my left I was shackled to a mother who is literally fighting to keep her family together although she is a business owner and has lived in the USA for a long time. On my right was a 13-year-old boy who was born here and whose parents have lived here for more than fifteen years. As a Christian I felt there was no other place I'd rather be, and if Jesus were physically here he would've been right there with us. I was honored to be supportive and gain inspiration from those who live in the shadows and margins on a daily basis. God is our strength and refuge, and we could do all things (even reform our broken immigration system) through Christ who gives us strength. That’s what I felt and thought as the plastic zip-lines were tightly put on my wrists as I, and others, were arrested for taking part in an act of civil disobedience near the Immigration Custom Enforcement (ICE) building in Center City Philadelphia. The purpose of our act of civil disobedience was symbolic, meant to point toward an immigration system in need of reform. The current system jails undocumented families and deports children/youth back to the violent and life-ending places from which they fled. As Presbyterians we answer the call to action proclaimed by our Confession of 1967 and the newly adopted Belhar Confession. We believe that Jesus’s teachings morally obligate us to speak of God’s truth to power and to stand with the oppressed. As the pastor of the West Kensington Ministry (WKM) in North Philadelphia, I believe God has called us to be relevant in ministry and involved in the quality of life issues that affect our church and community. Our small but fierce congregation is made of community residents, most of whom walk to Sunday worship. We do not shy away from our challenging realities but dive into them. We do this by protesting for a fair formula for school funding, feeding and educating our community about healthy eating, and providing a ceramic studio and an annual artistic pilgrimage of the Good Friday Stations of the Cross. We minister to our context by working with elected officials and higher education institutions and partnering with others in our presbytery. Following are other ways that WKM follows Jesus in serving people directly and addresses systems that we as Christians feel need to be changed. Adan Mairena (MDiv’99) is pastor of West Kensington Presbyterian Church. The Honduran-born son of two Presbyterian pastors, Mairena stood for co-moderator of the PC(USA) in 2016.
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God has called us to be relevant in ministry and involved in the quality of life issues that affect our church and community.”
• WKM Silkscreens is an initiative targeted to combat poverty, unemployment, and other economic challenges. With the help of Temple University we conducted a feasibility study and established a business plan. This three-year-old business employs a neighbor and last year silk-screened 4,000 t-shirts. It is our goal that WKM Silkscreens continues to generate revenue for our ministry and becomes a job-training program for local residents. • WKM Gage Recording Studio works with groups and individuals, especially our youth, as we produce and record their talents. We partner with organizations such as Philadelphia Anti-drug Anti-violence Network to work with our community’s at-risk youth. The writing and recording process has proven to transform young people as they express their struggles and look forward to positive change. • In 2014 WKM collaborated with the New Sanctuary Movement to provide sanctuary for a Honduran immigrant. Forced to flee the violence she faced and join her
Continued on page 14 Winter 2017 | 11
The Church Lab: Experiments in Spiritual Growth By Carrie Graham
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t’s Thursday and people are walking freely through my door. No need to knock, twice a month this is their home. My living room is sprinkled with the chatter of 7-10 people while I fire up Google Hangouts to ring in two more long-distance participants in DC and Chicago. I get the night started. “Hey gang! Welcome to The Church Lab Dialogues. We are a three-year-old community that explores how spiritual growth happens in diverse and nontraditional settings, and this open small group is our centerpiece activity. Before we get started, let me give you updates on the school we’re working to build in Burkina Faso. Also, you’ll get an e-mail soon about bringing dinners for one of our Muslim participants who just had a beautiful baby girl! For any Christians in the room, we have ‘teenygroup’ for developing leaders, pastoral care, and discipleship. We periodically partner with other communities for creative Protestant worship and plan on more of that in the future. For TCL’s Christian arm, we believe the three pillars of spiritual growth in the 21st century are worship, discipleship, and
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Christians, accustomed to a ‘majority’ environment, learn how to articulate convictions to others who have never heard of them.”
Carrie Graham was the first director of Austin Seminary’s Ministers Facing Money program (2013-16). She left the position in October to expand the work of The Church Lab; learn more here: thechurchlab.org 12 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
dialogue. Feel free to ask more later. This is not Christianspecific time. This is everybody time.” We begin by sharing our respective names and belief systems. Tonight we are: an evangelical, a gothic agnostic, a pagan, a couple of mainline Protestants, a self-identifying dual Christian and Buddhist, one religious “seeker,” a Latter-Day Saint participant, and an imam as our special guest. We dive in together. The only consistent feature of these sessions of The Church Lab (TCL) is how strikingly fast the time rushes past. Of course, some will linger afterward. Tonight an agnostic is selflessly encouraging a young Christian struggling with how to faithfully interpret her Bible readings. A major challenge is willingly facing the rejection involved in asking for the financial pledges we need to take our ragamuffin experiment to its next phase. This is slow work, but it inches steadily forward. It is worth every uphill step for the delightful moments of learning firsthand the new practices that create thriving Christian spiritual growth—practices that also honor our neighbors’ growth—in the 21st century. Why is it worth such a grind? What is a hallmark TCL “interfaither’s” journey? We gather in trust, we build it by trading fear of the unknown for education and awareness. We explore what it means to give dignity to each human by honoring their own experiences and judgments as legitimate, letting questions rise up from this point. We are intentional. We won’t over-simplify our world by legitimizing some experiences and not others. Soon we are finding comfort enough to laugh and be goofy together: questions become more nuanced. Sharing becomes more vulnerable. We provide support for each other in our respective paths. The “interfaithers” often experience a need to further examine their own convictions and shift their assumptions of others. The Christians, accustomed to a “majority” environment, not only learn how to listen with increased depth, but also learn how to articulate convictions to others who have never heard of them. This often leads to deeper examination of the origin and value of those convictions. Folks of many backgrounds find themselves being sharpened. They may seek pastoral care from me to understand just how their faith is deepening and becoming more nuanced as they practice concrete love of neighbor. At TCL this involves a certain “letting go,” a formative freedom for a neighborly equal playing field.
Continued on page 14
STRETCHING THE BOUNDARIES OF MINISTRY
Life in the City: An Exercise in Faith and Flexibility By Valerie Sansing
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It became clear to all involved that our signature service comes out of the congregation’s strong gifts and graces for the creative arts.”
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aunching a new congregation is always an Photog exercise in faith and flexibility, but when Life in the City began in Austin as a mission project of The United Methodist Church in July 2014, we had no idea just how adaptable we would need to be. Thankfully, God has gone before us every step, preparing the way. Initially we understood the call to be to plant a new church at the Long Center for the Performing Arts to reach those in urban south Austin who were disillusioned by institutional church. Demographics revealed a mission field ripe with those who understand themselves to be spiritual but not religious. At first we reached new people by walking neighborhoods, offering yoga and fitness on the Long Center lawn, and being a presence at special events in the community. Fifteen of our launch team members were band members who started a Sunday night worship service at First UMC Austin several years ago, so we capitalized on the gift, graces, and commitment of those instrumentalists, vocalists, and multi-media team members. We held events at restaurants and bars that would host us, forged relationships with two area elementary schools, and showed up with musicians and hospitality wherever we thought we might be able to meet new people. g
w Sterlin
Andre raph by
Serving the community through creative arts— Given the pitfalls of existing decision-making processes based on “majority rules,” democratic models of secular government, compounded with the biblical and doctrinal Valerie Sansing (MDiv’00) was senior pastor of Covenant United Methodist Church in north Austin before launching Life in the City. She serves on the Austin Seminary Association Board. Learn more at: lifeinthecityaustin.org
basis for a spirit-led process, one of the key visions for the new church was to use corporate spiritual discernment for all major decisions. Since the early days of my ministry, I have taught and used the practice described by Danny E. Morris and Charles M. Olsen in their book Discerning God’s Will Together: A Spiritual Practice for the Church. When the call to lead Life in the City came, I was clear that this new congregation was to operate differently, letting the Holy Spirit guide not just the pastor but also the congregation on big decisions. Life in the City used this process well when the opportunity came to move our home to the campus of Grace UMC, a once-vibrant community now beginning discussions about closing. However, we were unable to reach such corporate clarity related to our core mission. Then we held the first of our Creative Arts Camp Saturdays at Meadowbrook Apartments, a 160-unit low-income housing community in urban south Austin, and just like that, it became clear to all involved that THIS is to be our signature service. The congregation is serving out of our strong gifts and graces for the creative arts, giving the children an opportunity to express themselves and connect to God through dance, song, and fine arts. The children and their families are thrilled with the work we are doing, not only asking for our continued presence, but requesting more information about the church and developing support groups for mothers. God continues to go before us, preparing the way, surprising us with new twists on how we are being blessed to be a blessing. Outreach through musicals—It began as an inspiration to do a mash-up of two beloved musicals: “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Godspell.” It has turned into an ongoing ministry for enabling the congregation to use our creative gifts and graces to reach the urban south
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Austin community with the good news of God’s gracious love revealed in Christ. Since our first production of SuperSpell at the Long Center during Holy Week 2015, Life in the City has presented two more original musicals: “A Downton Christmas” and “Game of Thorns.” As I write this article, we are making preparation to present our most complex and challenging musical yet: “Highlights from Hamilton.” The process of preparation is a powerful experience, binding the congregation while giving us a wonderful venue for reaching out to those who might not ordinarily come through the doors of a church.
Nones and Dones Continued from page 10
Radically inclusive to all God’s creatures—Urban Austinites love their pets. Life in the City has tapped into that passion. Not only have we held Blessing of the Animals events at Food Truck Tuesdays, we initiated our own pet-inclusivity in worship with a Blessing of the Animals worship in the sanctuary last spring. Pets continue to attend worship each week. Flexibility and kindness are vital values as we worship with the occasional barkers, but it’s worth it. Everyone, especially guests from the neighborhood, attests to loving the presence of pets in worship. God has provided so much so quickly. We are excited about the future that lies ahead for Life in the City. v
about our experiences and deepest hopes. We bring a diverse set of backgrounds and experiences to our conversations, and our lives are changing as we are welcomed around shared tables. I feel wiser because I know these new friends. Some of them have shared they feel more spiritually alive because they have a new context where they are comfortable to belong. I hope to share what I am learning, and, in the next few years, I want to help others create similar types of communities across the country. Seminaries can be particularly helpful in this process, as they are positioned to teach emerging leaders how to convene holy conversations. As conveners, we invite people toward one another. It’s that simple. But it’s also that profound because God shows up among us. The Great Convener transforms our lives. Are we ready to meet the neighbors who exist beyond our church walls? Are we ready for them to change our trajectory of leadership? Gathered together, perhaps we will experience transformation—and even a reformation—of our religious communities themselves. v
Context
The Church Lab
Continued from page 11
family in Philadelphia in the early 2000s, she married a US citizen and had two children here. Although her only crime was crossing the border illegally, she faced deportation. As Christians, and especially Presbyterians who have a history of providing sanctuary, WKM had to live out its faith, and we did. Angela’s deportation order was removed and she is on a path to citizenship. Our hot July day ended as it began, shackled together hand in hand. This time however, we held hands as we prayed. We thanked God that no one was hurt and that law enforcement treated us with dignity and protected our First Amendment rights to speak freely, to peaceably assemble, and to petition our government. Hand in hand we prayed for the many who cross deserts to come here in search of opportunity and for the families of those who have lost loved ones on their journey north. We prayed and thanked God for a tradition that welcomes the stranger and charges us to do so. We prayed for courage, strength, and guidance as we keep following the Galilean, who as a child had to flee to Egypt to stay alive. As we prayed, hand in hand, we offered our act of civil disobedience to God as an act of faith … all in all, it was a good day. v 14 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
Continued from page 12
I believe this is absolutely necessary for the church right now: risk as a core practice, embracing failure as a contributor to progress. As such, in this laboratory we get to learn how God is making all things new in our context of 2016—with millennials, burn-outs, the non-religious, and seekers who will not darken the door of an institution but will show up to be with friends in a living room, willing to ask the vulnerable questions they have about faith. It is a place where pedagogical evolutions and experimental worship ideas must be attempted. It is a place where Christians are challenged in unfamiliar ways to act as stewards of the Holy Spirit’s agenda. Getting to know neighbors this way does not keep the world as simple as when keeping a distance. However, it is difficult to turn back once there is a glimpse of how the Holy Spirit enters a room where all are different and all are listening with open hearts. Here is a safe haven from defensive postures, a place to cut through the noise of daily like-minded messages. TCL recognizes this is where God does the humbling, transformative work. Here we find an open door to learning to love the Lord our God with all our mind, our heart, our soul, and our strength (Luke 10:27). All four are needed when TCL is in session. v
STRETCHING THE BOUNDARIES OF MINISTRY
The Future from My Vantage Point By Sallie Sampsell Watson
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he Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and I started out in ministry the same year. When I enrolled at Austin Seminary in the fall of 1983, the Presbyterian Book of Order was “The Plan for Reunion.” Ever since I’ve even contemplated being in ministry, and even long before that, our beloved denomination has been undergoing greater or lesser degrees of change. By the time I was ordained, the denominational structure seemed, at least to me, somewhat clear. There was an executive presbyter (EP), a stated clerk, some number of churches and some number of members, and no such thing as a “gracious separation policy.” Beyond a natural death, denominational exits were rare. Even from my somewhat-involved vantage point, the name of the presbytery game was “maintenance of the system.” Churches paid their per capita and mission dollars without complaint and provided some number of volunteers to serve presbytery committees. From there they mostly did their own thing. Serving in seemingly static presbytery leadership was the furthest thing from my mind. It’s safe to say that the days of maintenance are over. By the time I finally answered the call to serve in midcouncil ministry, presbytery leadership was all over the map. We’re all still trying to figure it out. Do we combine presbyteries or combine presbytery leadership? And what leadership do we want beyond the Book of Order requirements? Do we rejigger synods into a smaller number, or keep them at all? Are we “middle governing bodies” or “mid councils”? There are now thirty-eight different names for the one position which used to be called “executive presbyter.” Some of our 171 presbyteries have chosen to go without presbyter leadership altogether, or they are devising volunteer positions to carry out the responsibilities previously overseen by the presbyter. There are about twenty-five presbyteries with current vacancies which have no plans to formally fill the position again. Who in their right mind would pursue this work? Personally, there’s nowhere else in the church I’d rather be. People in the “EP” role have a front-row seat to what God is up to in particular regions of the church. It’s exciting to see what God is up to in large churches, small churches, older ones, younger ones, ethnically mixed
Before coming to Mission Presbytery, Sallie Watson (MDiv’87) was regional presbyter for the Presbyteries of Sante Fe and Sierra Blanca. She was a contributing editor to the Presbyterian Outlook and served on the Austin Seminary Board of Trustees.
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God is not done with the church yet … Something new is being given birth.” ones and those which are less so, in church development, and in the individual lives of the saints of God. It’s a place in which leaders must sometimes hold on for dear life by centrifugal force. In the same day, EPs can laugh with a group of pastors, cry with those who are roiled in conflict, negotiate the sale of a piece of property, and watch a new church development take flight. At one point I never considered pursuing what seemed to me to be a stodgy, bureaucratic position which was frequently out of touch with the front lines of the local church. And now I get to be a member of the faculty of Presbytery Leader Formation, which teaches EPs in their first three years of this work how to “roll with the flow.” Along with the necessarily more pedantic “how to” classes, we’re also offering classes in the changing church and how one can remain differentiated yet involved. A central part of our time together revolves around worship, sacrament, and song. The students value it, as do the presbyteries and synods which support them. I feel like the luckiest kid on the block. God is not done with the church yet. Rather than preparing the last person standing to turn out the lights, I believe that we are more in the mode of “shedding our skin.” Something new is being given birth. And whether or not we live to see what the final product will be—as if there is such a thing as the “final product”—it’s exciting to walk alongside and to point out the bright spots where that new life is appearing. v Winter 2017 | 15
live learn
upcoming from education beyond the walls
Spring 2017
Cruzando la Frontera: “Todos somos creados en la imagen de Dios” / “We Are All Created in the Image of God” with Mayra Picos Lee | February 17-18 @ First Presbyterian Church, McAllen, Texas; $20 (includes meals) | Every new human being that enters this world is created in the image of God. This divine image is linked to our spiritual, sexual, cultural, and ethnic identity. The main focus of the 2017 Crossing the Border event is on caring for these different personal and collective identities. This conference offers a vision without borders, with a holistic view of the formation and development of a healthy and safe identity. | Recommended for clergy and practitioners of all faiths. WORKSHOP IN SPANISH. Webinar: “Reading from the Margins” with Margaret Aymer | February 22; $15 | How might God be calling you to read the Bible differently? Reading from the margins of power, race, ethnicity, money, gender, and sexuality can gift you with new eyes to see. Join this webinar and let Dr. Aymer guide you from the center of power to the margins of the biblical text. | Recommended for clergy of all kinds, students, and lay leaders interested in what it means to read the Bible from the margins.
“Faith & Culture @SXSW” with David Dark and Sarah Masen | March 16; $12 | This is an event that is one part enriching lecture and one part acoustic music concert, shaken with a splash of humor and served up in a welcoming community. Join us beforehand for refreshments on the lawn, then settle inside historic Shelton Chapel to listen as critically acclaimed author David Dark explores what God is doing @SXSW. Following the lecture, singer-songwriter Sarah Masen will lift your spirit with her acoustic folk melodies. Stay afterwards for a Q&A with Dark and Masen who have refined their banter through twenty years of marriage. | Recommended for all who wish to engage—with both head and heart— what SXSW might say about the potential for the Kindom of God being at hand, including right here in Austin.
“Water is Life: An Interfaith Preach-Off” In partnership with Interfaith Action of Central Texas (iACT), Interfaith Environmental Network, and Texas Interfaith Power & Light | March 26; FREE ($10 suggested contribution for dinner) | W.H. Auden once said, “Thousands have lived without love, not one without water.” As people guided by divine Love, come deepen your theological understanding of water and learn about the state of water in today’s world. Religious leaders from a variety of congregations and traditions will share brief teachings and you will hear from experts in the field. This is the third annual preach-off on climate change (water)—as in years past, it promises to be a fun, interactive, yet weighty discussion. | Recommended for clergy and lay people interested in the intersection of theology, public policy, and the environment.
“Facilitating Change in the Local Church” with Dionisio Salazar and Linda Ximenes | April 6-7; $100 (includes lunch both days) | “We have always done it this way.” Those famous last words don’t have to stop change cold. You can learn creative and participatory methods for facilitating change in local congregations and community organizations, particularly in predominantly Hispanic/Latino/a contexts. Techniques discussed include engaging groups in authentic conversations, building teams, developing consensus, solving problems, generating ideas for action and resolution, and designing a consensus workshop. Participants will earn a certificate for ToP® Facilitation Methods. | Recommended for pastoral leaders serving congregations in which Hispanic/Latino/a people are in the majority. Ordained elders, licensed local pastors, commissioned ruling elders, and all priests and pastors welcome. In Spanish with English support.
“Soul Stop Retreat” with Mark Yaconelli | April 18-21; $649 (includes lodging and meals) | Come and take a pause for solitude and reflection, conversation, companionship, and creativity. We invite you to join a small group of clergy for Soul Stop. The retreat will be led by master storyteller and contemplative Mark Yaconelli, who offers this counsel: “We fall in holes. Plans fall apart. Dreams die. Faith disappears. Suffering is real. We need help to recalibrate our lives back to our compassionate, God-trusting selves … we need safe, creative space, and trusted companions.” Come be refreshed and renewed. | Recommended for both new and seasoned clergy longing for spiritual renewal. “How Pastors Write for Public Life” with Charlotte Gullick |In partnership with the Collegeville Institute | May 8-12; $460 (includes lodging and meals); Scholarships available | Charlotte Gullick will lead participants in learning to listen well to different publics; expanding the language palette beyond insider words; adopting a collaborative practice; and finding their own public voice. She will coach participants individually as well as teach specific writing strategies. Participants will leave with improved skills, new practices, and a strong draft of a piece to submit for publication. | Recommended for clergy and leaders of faith communities who want to connect faith and public life with audiences outside the church through written communication. Participation is limited and requires application. The application deadline is April 7, 2017.
Learn more and register for all events at AustinSeminary.edu/ebwworkshops 16 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
Join us for 2017 MidWinters, January 30-February 1 The Reverend Dr. Ted A. Smith is associate professor of preaching and ethics at
Candler School of Theology, Emory University. He currently directs a major project funded by the Lilly Endowment, “Theological Education Between the Times: Consultations on the Meanings and Purposes of Theological Education,” which brings together scholars from a diverse array of institutions to consider the purposes of theological education in a time of great change.
CURRIE LECTURES: Theological Education Between the Times “Theological education is in a time of profound change. Many long-established institutions are struggling or even closing. At the same time, new institutions—and new kinds of institutions—are emerging in many different traditions. Changes of this magnitude should push us back to the most basic of questions: What is theological education for?”
Dr. Donyelle McCray is assistant professor of homiletics at Yale Divinity School. She
earned the JD from Harvard Law School, the MDiv from Virginia Theological Seminary, and the ThD from Duke Divinity. She previously served on the faculty of Virginia Theological Seminary and as director of Multicultural Ministries. She has also served as a chaplain in the areas of hospice, mental health, and volunteer corps. McCray is working on a book exploring the role of risk-taking as an essential part of spiritual life.
WESTERVELT LECTURES: The Spirituality of Risk-taking “Drawing on the black religious tradition, I will explore how risk-taking nurtures black legacies of dissent, inventiveness, and tenderness.”
The Reverend Dr. Jerry Andrews is pastor / head of staff of First Presbyterian
Church in San Diego. Multiple degrees—from the Detroit Bible College, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Princeton Theological Seminary, the University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Chicago—have equipped him with broad interests across the ancient Mediterranean world, theology, biblical studies, and history. He led worship during the 222nd General Assembly in Portland this summer. JONES LECTURES: To Whom and to What is the Pastor Called “The lives and writings of
Augustine and Gregory, two pastors of the church past, show a way forward for pastoral leaders today.”
MIDWINTERS PREACHER The worship leader for MidWinters will be The Reverend Dr. Jill Duffield (DMin’13), editor of The Presbyterian Outlook. Her work earned the James Solheim Award for Editorial Courage from the Associated Church Press. She served Presbyterian churches in North and South Carolina and has been a leader in Providence Presbytery. Recently she has also served on the South Carolina Board of Examiners for Professional Counselors (20142016) and was founding board chair of Family Promise of the Midlands (2013-2016).
Highlights of the 2017 MidWinter Lectures: • We will honor the 2017 Distinguished Service Award recipients: The Reverend James Hickson Lee (MDiv’00), posthumously, The Reverend Sharon Ann Risher (MDiv’07), and a special award to The Reverend C.D. Weaver. Special reunion events are planned for the Classes of 1957, 1967, 1977, 1987, 1997, and 2007-2016. • The Ministry & Practice Luncheon discussion on Tuesday, January 31, features Dr. Thomas Caven, incoming director of Austin’s new medical school. The luncheon is free, but advance registration is required. Prior to worship on Tuesday, grab a bite to eat from the on-campus food truck and enjoy the musical stylings of our very own Faculty Meeting jazz band. The ASA Banquet and Annual Meeting is on Wednesday, February 1; tickets are $15 and reservations are required.
Register @ AustinSeminary.edu/midwin17 Winter 2017 | 17
faculty news notes
Professor Bill Greenway pens book on evil
faculty notes |
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Margaret Aymer, associate professor of New Testament, gave the Katie Geneva Cannon Lecture at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and the closing lecture of the Seminary of the Southwest Blandy Lectures this September. Fortress Press has re-released the commentary she co-edited in three study editions: The Gospel and Acts, The Letters and Legacy of Paul, and Hebrews, the General Epistles, and Revelation, part of the Fortress Commentary on the Bible Study Edition.
“Can we honestly and reasonably say a resounding ‘Yes’ to life, to the existence of others and of ourselves, with ‘eyes wide open’ to the enormity and scope of the evils that surround us and are at work within us, without resorting to strategies of denial or the blunting of our moral sensibilities? Greenway’s affirmative response to this question draws especially on the writings of the Jewish philosopher Emmanuel Levinas and the Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky … The Challenge of Evil is a daring and provocative ‘philosophical spirituality,’ combatting the hopelessness and nihilism that are strong temptations in a postmodern world coping with the overwhelming reality of evil in its countless forms,” says Daniel Migliore, The Charles Hodge Professor of Systematic Theology Emeritus at Princeton Theological Seminary. “For those of us who teach in the area of pastoral care and counseling and must reckon daily with the insidious variety and prevalence of suffering accompanied by the perennial search for hope and healing in its wake, The Challenge of Evil: Grace and the Problem of Suffering is a welcome resource,” says Carol J. Cook, The Harrison Ray Anderson Professor of Pastoral Theology at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. “Dr. Greenway has made a unique, winsome, and exceedingly instructive contribution to our understanding of the rather thorny and perplexing problem in theology of the reality of evil. The typical treatment of theodicy usually leaves me bored or annoyed as theologians tie themselves in Gordian knots with tedious explanations for weak and abstract conclusions. But Dr. Greenway has taken a much different and welcome approach … The Challenge of Evil should be required reading by students of theology and ethics, but it will also open the spiritual eyes of all who seek to affirm faith in God even as they squarely face the great terrors and pervasive suffering in the world,” says Robert Martin, dean and professor of Christian formation and leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary. Dr. Greenway has served on the faculty since 1998. His teaching focuses upon contemporary conversations among theology and philosophy and church and society, and he is especially interested in theology and ecology and spiritually. He is a fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics and has written two other books, A Reasonable Belief (Westminster John Knox, 2015) and For the Love of All Creatures (Eerdmans, 2015).v
Inauguration Service for Dr. William Greenway as Professor of Philosophical Theology April 25, 2017, at 4:00 p.m. | Shelton Chapel 18 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
The Academy of Parish Clergy has named Professor William Greenway’s For the Love of All Creatures: The Story of Grace in Genesis (Eerdmans) a “Top Ten Books for Parish Ministry published in 2015.” Greenway gave two lectures at the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics Summer School (a conference of scholars) at Oxford University in July. Carolyn Helsel, assistant professor of homiletics, led the Mo-Ranch Young Adult Weekend in September. She served on the planning team for the DISGRACE Conference at Montreat, and in November keynoted a training event for the Synod of the Southwest. Jennifer Lord, The Dorothy B. Vickery Professor of Homiletics and Liturgical Studies, gave the keynote for the Barbara
Photograph by Diane Pennington
his fall, Westminster John Knox Press publishes a new book by Professor William Greenway, professor of philosophical theology . According to the publisher, The Challenge of Evil: Grace and the Problem of Suffering “lovingly explains how we can look squarely at the overwhelming suffering in the world and still, by grace, have faith in a good and loving God.” Early endorsements are enthusiastic about Greenway’s new work:
Noojin Walthall Lecture series at Independent Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, Alabama, and served as preacher for their All Saints Day Worship, Nov. 5-6. She lectured and preached for the Presbytery of East Iowa, Nov. 11-12. Her most recent article on pilgrimage is forthcoming in the journal Liturgy. An entry on “Christian Life” by Cynthia Rigby, The W.C. Brown Professor of Theology, is included in the Oxford Encyclopedia on Reformed Theology; two entries appear in the new Abingdon Companion on Atonement. Rigby wrote the “Benedictory” column in the Sept. 26, 2016, issue of the Presbyterian Outlook and she participated on two panels with Elizabeth A. Johnson at the American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting in November. Phil Wingeier-Rayo, associate professor of evangelism, mission, and Methodist studies, delivered papers this summer at the Association of Professors of Mission Conference and at the Christian Scholars’ Conference. His chapter, “The Impact of the World Missionary Conference on Mexico: The Cincinnati Plan,” appears in the new book The Reshaping of Latin American Mission. Eric Wall, assistant professor of sacred music, led music for the DISGRACE Conference at Montreat Conference Center in October. v
The Reverend Dr. Blair and Cyndy Monie Chapel was dedicated at Presbyterian Village North (PVN) in Dallas on September 18. Upon their retirement from Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church in Dallas, the Monies were honored by Preston Hollow and the PVN Foundation whose gifts built the chapel.
good reads | Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age by Sherry Turkle (Penguin Press, 2013, 436 pp)
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f there is anything omnipresent in this technologically savvy world, it’s the smartphone. Along with the computer, the iPad, and the plethora of other communicative tools, our phones show up everywhere we do—at home, at dinner parties and coffee shops, on sidewalks, in cars (a whole other topic), even in worship. In her book, Reclaiming Conversation, Sherry Turkle, a psychologist and director of MIT’s Initiative on Technology and Self, sounds the alarm on the effects our constant “connectedness” is having on us and, more importantly, our children. The idea for the book was born when Turkle was contacted by the Holbrook School, a middle school in upstate New York. The teachers were concerned that their students were not making friends as easily—they were making “acquaintances,” not friends. They also observed that students were not developing empathy the way previous students had done. Turkle’s conclusion was that this lack of friendship and empathy stemmed from their addiction to technological communication, especially texting. The effect of students’ constantly being connected, instead of conversing face-to-face, was that students had far less “conversation” with others. She writes, “We are being silenced by our technologies—in a way, ‘cured of talking.’” She draws upon Walden, in which Thoreau writes that in his cabin he had “three chairs—one for solitude, two for friendship, and three for society.” The rest of
the book is organized around Thoreau’s three chairs. Perhaps the first chair to go with the omnipresent iPhone is the first, solitude. Without solitude, there is no meaningful conversation. In solitude, we reflect on our lives, our feelings, and our beliefs; it is our solitude that feeds friendship and society— that is, conversation. Turkle suggests that our addiction to our smartphones is due to the fact that they grant three wishes: “First, that we will always be heard; second, that we can put our attention wherever we want it to be; and third, that we will never have to be alone.” Then she adds a fourth: “that we will never be bored.” Where do children learn this new technological lifestyle (actually, it’s not that new; the first “connected” children are now young adults)? They learn it from us, their parents—when we come to the dinner table and check our own messages rather than listening with full attention and eye contact. We are only partially present. There is plenty in the book to induce guilt in most of us. However, this is a hopeful book, for Turkle believes we can still reclaim the gift of conversation, and she suggests ways in which that can be accomplished. Reclaiming Conversation is a book to be read, digested and, above all, discussed by parents’ groups, educators, and anyone who is concerned about genuine and caring relationships. It even led me to put down my iPhone long enough to write this appreciative review. v
—Written by Blair Monie, professor in The Louis H. and Katherine S. Zbinden Distinguished Chair of Pastoral Ministry and Leadership
WebXtra: to read bios and watch videos by Austin Seminary’s faculty: AustinSeminary.edu/faculty Winter 2017 | 19
alumni news notes
class notes | Announcing a new
Chaplaincy Focus in our
Doctor of Ministry
DEGREE
The Chaplaincy Focus in the Christian Spirituality & the Practice of Ministry concentration is designed to address spirituality and ministry issues, such as medical ethics or grief and the dying process, faced by those engaged in chaplaincy.
AustinSeminary.edu
Sarah L. ChancellorWatson (MDiv’16) was ordained at St. James 1990s Presbyterian Church, Melinda Veatch (MDiv’96) Jenks, Oklahoma, and earned the Doctor of Ministry installed as associate pastor degree from McCormick Professor Cynthia Rigby, center, gave a at St. Charles Avenue Seminary on May 7, 2016. presentation on The Belhar Confession to the Presbyterian Church, New Presbytery of Northern Kansas in October. Orleans, Louisiana, on July Lori Beer Nance (MDiv’97) Cheering her on were alums Phyl Stutzman 10, 2016. was appointed the new program director of Menucha (MDiv’05) and Christine Wagner (MDiv’16). Amanda Mackey Retreat & Conference Center, (MDiv’16) was ordained at Owen Lee Cornell, son of Kathy September 26, 2016, in Corbett, The Village Presbyterian Church, Lee-Cornell (MDiv’16) and Oregon. Prairie Village, Kansas, on Alex Lee-Cornell (MDiv’14), October 2, 2016, and installed was born October 2, 2016. 2000s as associate pastor for youth Arnold Mlindikaya Phiri Steven Barnes (MA’00) began ministries at Germantown (MATS’16) was appointed a new call as the associate pastor (Tennessee) Presbyterian the director of mission and for children, youth, and families Church. evangelism, CCAP Synod of at Northminster Presbyterian Christine Wagner (MDiv’16) Livingstonia, Mzuzu, Malawi, Church in Roswell, Georgia. was ordained as pastor of September, 2016. Rebecca Chancellor (MDiv’08) Presbyterian Church of married James Sicks on October Daniel Williams (MDiv’16) was WaKeeney (Kansas) on 22, 2016. appointed to the board of More November 13, 2016. Light Presbyterians in June. He 2010s is the new director of Christian in memoriam | John Russell Stanger education at St. Andrew’s Ralph E. Person (MDiv’53), (MDiv’12) began a graduate Presbyterian Church, Austin. July 29, 2016, Temple, Texas program in marriage and family therapy at Louisville Milton C. Bierschwale ordinations | Presbyterian Theological (MDiv’54), July 27, 2016, Sharolyn Browning (MDiv’14) Seminary. Fredericksburg, Texas was ordained October 8, 2016; Braegan and Barrett Diane M. Dill (MDiv’86), she has been called to Holy Abernethy (MDiv’13) August 3, 2016, Lincoln, Illinois Cross Lutheran Church in welcomed a daughter, Evelyn Austin. Ronald L. Floyd (MDiv’94), Mae, on September 4, 2016. April 7, 2016, Dallas, Texas Elizabeth J. Gleason Katie and Michael East (MDiv’14) was ordained at William C. Heimbach III (MDiv’14) welcomed a son, Trinity Church of Austin, (MDiv’12), August 26, 2016, Anderson, on May 24, 2016. on September 11, 2016, and Longview, Texas installed as pastor at Christ Layton E. Williams (MDiv’14) Congregational Church, Fort became the new audience Morgan, Colorado. engagement associate for Sojourners Magazine in October. Kate Loveless McGee (MDiv’10), Greg AllenPickett (MDiv’15), David Schaefers (MDiv’07), and Clay Brantley (MDiv’86, DMin’12) visited Lebanon and Syria this fall to explore partnering with congregations involved in ministry to displaced peoples.
On hand to celebrate with Rebecca Chancellor, center, were Cameron Allen (MDiv’06), David Ukropina (MDiv’06), Sarah Allen (MDiv’06), Marta Ukropina (MDiv’06), and Sarah Chancellor-Watson (MDiv’16).
20 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
teaching ministry
Reading for and with By Lewis R. Donelson, The Ruth A. Campbell Professor of New Testament Studies
A
s preachers have long noted, standing in the pulpit with a sermon in hand imposes a structural arrogance on the preacher. It becomes the task of the preacher not only to speak the Word of God to the people gathered in that place and moment, but also to offer a prescriptive reading of scripture to and for those same people. It is the latter, this hierarchical reading of scripture, that creates the puzzle of this article. If not required to do so by the traditional orders of worship, who would dare to announce that they are now going to read the text on behalf of everyone present? Who would dare to say that this reading I am giving now belongs not only to me but to you as well? One of the things that happens in seminary is that we talk a lot about how we read scripture. Furthermore, we not only talk about it; we do it. No matter what your degree program or what your denomination, to graduate from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary you have to take a healthy number of Bible classes. Being a teacher of Bible, I see these requirements as a good thing. We gather in the classroom around the text. We read it. We discuss how we read it. We read it again. We think about who reads for whom. We think about what happens when different people read. I love these classes. I love gathering around a text and trying to read it together. Thus, it is bit disconcerting to admit that a structural arrogance, akin to the one in pulpit, haunts the classroom and that this arrogance gathers around me, the teacher. Of course, it is not my fault! Or, at least, it is not entirely my fault. Much of it comes from the academic tradition of what constitutes a class and the need for assigning grades. Much of it also comes from the good (?) myth of the expert teacher. Officially, I know more than my
students. It is almost certainly true that I know more about some things relevant to the text than the students do: my Greek is much better; I know more about ancient history; I know more about the various ways the text has been read. I know a lot. I know I know a lot. And I also know that I do not know enough. No one knows enough because no one can read on behalf of everyone else. The biblical discipline tries hard to assist me in this challenge of reading on behalf of others. We gather diverse and conflicting voices around the text. I can
I
f not required to do so by the traditional orders of worship, who would dare to announce that they are now going to read the text on behalf of everyone present?
read these diverse readings before class. I become doubly expert: I know much about the historical origins of the text and much about how different people might read it. For instance, Jesus’s irritating command, “Whoever strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him (sic) also the other” (Matt 5:38) occasions discussions of other moments of submitting to violence in, for example, other Jesus sayings, the story of the cross, Roman and Jewish martyrdom traditions, Stoic discussions of virtue, and so on. It also occasions discussion of how this text might be heard by different people, for example, the free male who submits out of choice, the abused wife, the slave, the immigrant, and so on. I, the informed expert, can come to the class properly outfitted
with all of this. This is the task assigned me by the structure of the class. I can present a rich gathering of readings. I often find myself vaguely impressed by all of this. It is even fun to do this. I inhale the structural arrogance and make it my own. And then. And then someone in the class tells a story. The story is real, unrehearsed, outside of all categories. It is tender and terrifying and often beautiful. It overwhelms all my rehearsed readings. The reading is no longer fun. It is profound. And my arrogance seems childish. There is no expert; there is only this reader and the next and the next. Or, what Bible teacher has not despaired of trying to read Romans 1:26-27 on behalf of anyone else? Who can adequately negotiate the cruel dance between the words of this text and the shifting gender narratives of ourselves and the people we know? Here is my final arrogance (at least for today). This is what students at our seminary really learn in the Bible classes. They learn they will inevitably try to read on behalf of others. They learn they cannot ever do it adequately. They cannot do what they just heard the student next to them do. No matter how hard they try, no matter how deep into the wells of empathy they go, they cannot tell their own story that way or hear the text the way the student next to them hears it. The other remains other; the other understands things we never can. This means the space of the pulpit changes. The structural arrogance is still there. But no preacher has to inhale it. Preachers imagine a gathering of all the voices and hearts in the room; they want to inscribe the genius and beauty of those hearts into the text of their sermons. They cannot. They will try and they will fail. It is a good failure. v Winter 2017 | 21
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A wonderful new labyrinth now adorns the space between Shelton Chapel and Stitt Library. A gift to the Seminary by Otis and Claudia Carroll of Tyler, Texas, it was dedicated in a service led by President Wardlaw on November 7. Special guests at the dedication were the Carrolls, their sons and spouses Adam and Chris Carroll and Worth and Natalie Carroll; Ronald Casey Brownlow, who designed the labyrinth; and the men who built it: José Anaya López, José Salmerón Cornelio, José Cruz Lozano, Omar Méndez Gutiérrez, Daniel Pérez Piña, and Genaro Méndez Rubio.
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