Last Words

By Randal Whittington

In considering the theme for the last issue of Windows before I retire as editor, I tried to capture what has been so compelling about this place I’ve called home these past twenty-nine years. It comes down to a couple of words embedded at the end of Austin Seminary’s mission statement: “winsome” and “exemplary.”

Back when I interviewed for this job, I had a trick up my sleeve. Actually, it was a rabbit in my pocket. In a previous conversation with John Evans (MDiv’68), the hiring supervisor for the position, I learned he collected rabbits. I happened upon a sweet rabbit carved out of wood at an art festival in Chattanooga the weekend before making the trip to Austin. As I was saying my thanks and good-byes, I slipped my hand into the pocket of my navy blazer and gave the bunny to John, confident that this gesture would seal the deal.

What I didn’t know then was that John’s favorite movie was “Harvey,” a tale about a mostly invisible rabbit. Dean Michael Jinkins (DMin’83) wrote in this magazine on the occasion of John’s retirement, that John’s favorite line from the movie was, “In this world you must be … oh so smart or oh so pleasant. For years I was smart. I recommend pleasant.” Michael continued, “In his vocation, John makes pleasantness synonymous with graciousness, placing love, and the communal sharing of love that we call hospitality, in priority over cleverness. In a time noisy with dissension, if we hope to face the future courageously and faithfully, we can hardly do better than to face it with Harvey’s wisdom embodied in John Evans’s ‘winsome’ ministry.”

Like my friend Professor Cynthia Rigby (page 12) and most others who call Austin Seminary home for a time, the word “winsome” was not a regular feature of my vocabulary before arriving here. But I, too, came to embrace the word. As the Seminary’s brand manager, I’ve even declared that we “own” it. After all, one of the cheers we shout during our annual flag football game with the neighboring Episcopal seminary is, “We are winsome and depraved but our trophy will be saved!”

Winsome, like Harvey, may be mostly invisible, but I have seen it at work time and time again. Holy moments include watching the intellectual and emotional unraveling and reframing that seminary students undergo blossom into their first sermon preached in Shelton Chapel. I have observed it in a heartfelt embrace and emerging friendship between a Jewish artist whose work commemorated the Holocaust and a German seminary student whose parents refused to talk about the war. I have heard it in a faculty meeting when the president starts to hum a familiar hymn and little-by-little voices around the table join in to harmonize until soon the entire room is in song.

But, of course, “winsome” alone doesn’t define us.

“Exemplary” reminds us how high the stakes are in theological education. And at Austin Seminary, it is always both / and. Which sent me back into the Archives and forward as I reached out to the community to learn how it has experienced them.

Even before these words were canonized into our mission statement, the personality and character of Austin Seminary was well articulated, especially by the faculty, who, after all, took pay cuts in the dark days of the Great Depression so that the Seminary could remain open. David Fletcher (MDiv’69) remembered, “ET Thompson and Rachel Henderlite were giants of the denomination, exquisite and wonderful teachers and friends. Rachel was always open to new things that made sense for how to live out the faith.” Jim Dollar (MDiv’70) said, “The faculty modeled ministry and all of us were impacted by their caring presence in our life. And that stood me in good stead when I entered the ministry. I basically practiced what they taught me in the sense of caring about people first and letting things fall out from there.” Many graduates admitted that the erudite Stuart Currie inspired awe: “He had memorized the Greek New Testament,” said Lindsay Moffett (MDiv’64). “I was frightened to death of him,” admitted John Evans. Nicholas Lascaro (MDiv’73) simply said, “I loved him almost as much as I feared him!”

George Heyer, who taught Christian doctrine for three decades, made a lasting impression on many students. A story is repeated, perhaps apocryphal, that he never cashed any of his paychecks. He was, in fact, a gifted teacher and gracious man who opened his home to host at least one Seminary Prom. “Two things have influenced everything about my ministry,” said Keith Thompson (MDiv’88), “George Heyer teaching me how to think for myself theologically and Bob Shelton’s understanding of hospitality.”

Many graduates feel their strongest connection to the Seminary has been in their formation as worship leaders. “Professor Stan Hall had a profound influence on me both as a pastor and, now, a professor myself,” said Brett Hendrickson (MDiv’02). “His words and his example showed us how to be careful with sacred things, reminding us that they are dangerous. But, he did this with such warm and hospitable humor. When I manage to do the same with my students, I cherish the mark he and others at Austin Seminary left on me.” Joe MacDonald (DMin’19) says, “I felt I stood on holy ground hearing Jen Lord talk.”

In my view, Winsome + Exemplary adds up to a place where you can get a serious theological education that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Sure, you will learn to read the Bible through the lens of the original audience and with an eye to contemporary situations. You will be in conversation with Calvin and Barth, Isasi-Diaz and Cannon, and you will practice the art of compassionate care for others. But you might also find yourself idling on a bridge searching for the ancient turtle in Waller Creek, designing the perfect seminary tattoo, picking olives off the tree that Professor Prescott Williams brought back from the Holy Land, or repeating the words of a favorite professor on a Jan-term trip to London when asked his theatre preference: “I wish to not be moved, disturbed, or edified.”

I had no idea what lay ahead the day I thrust that wooden rabbit into John’s hands, along with my future. How could I know that I would become enmeshed in a community with so much wisdom and grace and joy? What a privilege it has been to work with faculty colleagues who always say Yes when I ask them to write and always share ideas that far exceed my expectations; to work alongside staff who bring such creative collaboration to support this enterprise; and to watch students—who arrive passionately loving Jesus—turn into beloved pastors and chaplains and counselors who work hard and pray harder and love their people with their whole hearts.

I retire from Austin Seminary at an exciting moment in its history and I expect surprising and wonderful things ahead. I am profoundly grateful to the readers of  Windows  for coming alongside me these past decades, and in particular to those faithful donors who make all this possible. I hope these pages have validated your own seminary experience or through them you have come to understand a little better the serious business of preparing faithful leaders for the church we cherish. But also …

“There were a lot of pranks,” remembers George McCall (MDiv’63). “One Saturday night before people were getting ready to go preaching, we managed to move the unlocked cars of our fellow students parked on the hill beside the men’s dorm. We rolled them down the hill toward the cliff and stopped them at different angles, one backing up the other. Then we … went to bed for the night. A few days later we were summoned into President Stitt’s office one by one. We all knew we had appointments with him, but when we got there he had something other than the parking fiasco to talk to us about. He’d arranged that we would sweat for a few days before the appointment, and then we were released of the difficulty.”

Like so many who have been a part of this winsome and exemplary community of God’s people, I’ve been inspired to grow, to forgive, to love, and to laugh. May it be ever so.

Randal Whittington has been Austin Seminary’s director of communications and editor of Windows magazine since 1994. This editor’s last challenge: winnowing the beautiful comments offered by our graduates about the Seminary’s impact on their lives and ministries.