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advent 2013 Vol. 30, No.2 ADVENT 2013
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Winter & Spring 2013-2014 december dec 12 dec 17 dec 19-20 dec 20 dec 21-jan 4 dec 21-jan 19 January jan 2-13 jan 3-4, 6-7 jan 5-10 jan 6-10 jan 20-31 jan 31 mar 28
Advent Lessons & Carols service Last Day of Michaelmas Term Lectures Michaelmas Term Final Examinations - All Final Coursework Due End of Fall Distance Education Modules Winter Break for Distance Education Program Interterm Recess for Residential Programs Norwich: Liturgy and Piety of the Medieval Church in England General Ordination Examinations Winter Distance Education Module Residencies: Old Testament, Systematic Theology, Historical Theology, Ethics and Moral Theology Epiphany Term Session I (DMin, STM & Advanced Electives) Epiphany Term Session II (Residential Intensives) Epiphany Term Ends End of Winter Distance Education Modules
easter Term 2014 february/march feb 3 First day of Easter Term Classes mar 5 Ash Wednesday - Quiet and Fasting Day - No Classes mar 20-21 Experience Nashotah mar 29-apr 5 Spring Break for Distance Program april apr 6-11 apr 17 apr 18 apr 19 apr 20 apr 21-25
Spring Distance Modules Residencies: Biblical Hermeneutics, New Testament, Pastoral Ministry, Church History Maundy Thursday – No Classes Good Friday - Quiet and Fasting Day - No Classes Easter Vigil Easter Easter Monday-Easter Friday: Residential Spring Recess, No Classes
MAY may 2 may 13 may 14 may 15-16 may 19 may 21 may 22 may 23 may 26
Annual Church Tour Last Day of Easter Term Lectures Reading Day Easter Term Examinations - All Final Coursework Due Senior Grades Due to Registrar Alumni Day Commencement; Meetings of Trustee Committees Meeting of Board of Trustees Memorial Day - Offices Closed
JUNE jun 27 jun 28-jul 5
End of Spring Distance Modules Summer Break for Distance Program
Petertide Term 2014 Summer DMin / STM Program -Two-week Sessions I & II july/august jul 7-18 Session I Classes jul 21-aug 1 Session II Classes aug 31 Petertide Term Ends jul6 sept 26 2
DISTANCE EDUCATION PROGRAM Summer Distance Education Program Modules Begin: July Summer Distance Residency Dates - TBD End of Summer Distance Modules
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EPIPHANY Courses January 6-10, 2014 Spiritual Interpretation of the Scriptures in the Early Church Fathers Instructor: Dr. Hans Boersma, Regent College, Vancouver, JI Packer Professor of Theology Description: The past several decades have witnessed a resurgence of interest in spiritual or theological interpretation of Scripture. This resurgence coincides with a reappraisal of ancient approaches to biblical exegesis. This course explores the potential of spiritual interpretation in dialogue with the Church Fathers. Students will draw on lectures, primary readings, and on class discussion. We will read the Church Fathers not primarily out of historical interest, but to engage their sacramental and participatory approach to Scripture. Thus, in a spirit of congenial sympathy with the patristic outlook, this course will trace how the Church Fathers ascend through the letter of the biblical text to the spiritual purpose of life in communion with the Triune God.
Chosen People? The Bible, Election, and the People Israel Instructors: The Rev Dr. Joel N. Lohr, University of the Pacific, Chaplain, with Honored Guest Dr. Joel S. Kaminsky, Smith College, Professor of Religion Description: This course will investigate the idea of ‘chosenness,’ or election, within the Bible. It will first focus on election within the Genesis narratives, where this theme emerges, moving to the rest of the Torah and Old Testament more generally before examining the question from the perspective of the New Testament.
Professors Kaminsky and Lohr, recognized for their publications and contributions to the topic, will draw from their respective strengths as biblical scholars who stand within the Jewish and Christian traditions. This course will therefore present a unique opportunity for students to learn not only from experts on the topic, and the area of Bible, but also from practitioners from both Judaism and Christianity –bringing depth to the course and its content. As a result, students will also learn about the nature of Jewish-Christian dialogue and the ways in which Jews and Christians approach scripture in differing ways.
Building Congregations that Thrive Instructor: The Rev. Frank Baltz Rector Emeritus of St. Jude’s Episcopal Church, Marietta, GA Description: This course is specifically designed to provide practical models for ministry addressing the challenge of numerical, spiritual and financial growth for congregations within the Anglican tradition. Most clergy were trained and equipped to manage the institutional church and have had very little training in the areas of Evangelism, Discipleship, Stewardship, Healing, Intercessory Prayer, Leadership and the Ministry of the Holy Spirit. Yet these things are at the heart of the Gospel, accomplished and taught by Jesus to His disciples, and what they in turn taught the early Church. Connecting information with application, it is both the teaching of Jesus and His ministry that are critical. Our goal is to reclaim the work of the Holy Spirit in the local church. Healing the sick should be normal. Making disciples should be normal. Evangelism should be normal. You will find this course to be challenging, compelling, highly practical and very encouraging for your ministry.
Register now for these EPIPHANY Courses at nashotah.edu. ADVENT 2013
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Approaching Advent
Publishes Second Volume of Meditations Nashotah House is pleased to publish the second edition of Keeping a Holy Advent With Nashotah House, featuring meditations from alumni, seminarians, friends and honorands. To preorder copies for your parish, please visit nashotah.edu. If your parish or Diocese would like to sponsor this or any subsequent issue, we invite you to contact the Rev. Charleston David Wilson, Associate Dean of Institutional Advancement at cwilson@ nashotah.edu.
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March 20-21, 2014 Whether you’re discerning a call to ministry or considering the possibility of attending seminary, there’s no better place to retreat from the cares of the world and begin to contemplate your call than Nashotah House. Experience Nashotah is a two-day feast of worship, classroom experience, private reflection and candid discussion with our students, faculty, and staff expressly designed for prospective students like you.
• • • •
Worship in the historic Chapel of St. Mary the Virgin Visit classes Meet the Dean, faculty, and staff Spend time with current students
If you are unable to attend in March, arrangements may be made for visits throughout the year.
For more information, contact admissions@nashotah.edu. Register for Experience Nashotah at nashotah.edu.
Table of
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Humbled Among the Faithful: matriculation, 2013
Mr. Michael Bordelon, ’15
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finding christ in a far country
Middler Feature: Ms. Ezgi Saribay, ’15
Meditation: First Things and Last Things
The Rev. Canon Brien Koehler, SSC, ’76
project 2183 - planning for tomorrow today
The Rev. Charleston D. Wilson, ’13
published quarterly by Nashotah House, a theological seminary forming leaders in the Anglican tradition since 1842. Publisher The Rt. Rev. Edward L. Salmon, Jr. Publishing Director Ms. LaRae Baumann Senior Editor The Rev. Andrew J. Hanyzewski, ’09 Managing Editor Ms. Rebecca Terhune, ’15 Art Directors Ms. Bliss Lemmon Ms. Ashley Town Contributing Photographers Mr. Nathaniel Davauer Mr. Gabriel Morrow, ’14 Ms. Sarah Pokorny
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Feature Writers The Rev. Canon Brien Koehler, SSC, ’76 The Rev. Charleston D. Wilson, ’13 Staff Writer Mr. Michael Bordelon, ’15
Cover
Romans 15:4, “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”
Address & Telephone 2777 Mission Road Nashotah, Wisconsin 53058-9793 262.646.6500 Websites nashotah.edu give.nashotah.edu The Missioner email missioner.editor@nashotah.edu Follow us on social media
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ashotah House invites you to our campus and experience the wonderful atmosphere we can provide for the next retreat, conference, wedding, or other event you hope to hold. We are especially pleased to be able to offer the use of the recently built Adams Hall which contains a large auditorium that can seat up to 300 people, five conference
rooms that each seat 20 to 60 people, and an additional attached dining/reception hall. The Adams Hall auditorium can serve as a worship space, a lecture hall, or can be transformed into a breath-taking reception hall. The auditorium and conference rooms are equipped for all audio/visual needs. Nashotah House offers excellent catering options available upon request.
For more information on holding an event at Nashotah House contact the Events Department at events@nashotah.edu or 262.646.6507
L etter
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VERY EDITION OF THE MISSIONER IS BUILT AROUND A THEME. THIS EDITION IS BUILT AROUND ROMANS 15:4 “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.”
The chapter begins with the strong having an obligation to the weak, about building up our neighbor, so that God who was in Christ empowers us to glorify God with one voice. The faculty made a four-day retreat after graduation and acknowledged that the previous academic year, even though quite successful, had been unduly stressful. It was not because of any destructive experiences or events. Prayerful reflection revealed that our Benedictine life was being impacted by too many demands that diminished the time available for prayer, study and reflection. They also reviewed our learning assessment process with a consultant provided by the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion, funded by the Lily Foundation. The number of hours required for graduation from the House was more than a number of other seminaries, well above the 72-credit minimum.
In prayerful reflection, the faculty came to a common vision that will enable the Benedictine ideal of worship and work to result in a balanced life, not exhaustion. The first goal for this next academic year will be for all of us together to form a culture of balance and wellness, which reflects upon our Lord’s bidding to “come apart and rest.” To that end, adjustments were made in the Master of Divinity Curriculum. The number of credits now required will be 90, formerly 96, with 78 credits being core. This hourly requirement retains the commitment to a classical, academically rigorous program. It also allows some scheduling flexibility. In the Michaelmas Term Schedule, Wednesday will be a study day- an academic Sabbath. In the Easter Term Schedule, Friday will be that study day. On those days we will have worship and meals. Nothing else will be scheduled on those days by anyone. Learning to
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balance time for self, for family, for prayer, and for study builds the ‘faithful character’ the House desires to form in its daughters and sons. Bishop Jackson Kemper, the missionary to the wilderness, believed that the founding of Nashotah House was central to the missionary enterprise on the frontier. This was not just a place of learning; it was then and is now a place of formation. Christ is at the very heart of our community life. Nashotah House is forming leaders for the new frontier, rooted in scripture, prayer, and work. They are taught about our 21st century culture so that they may articulate the gospel in a compelling way. Our community life, along with instruction, helps our students develop self-understanding that empowers what they teach rather than diminish it. The faculty retreat itself demonstrates the self-emptying of leaders for the sake of the whole community so that God is glorified and the community empowered. In 1842 Bishop Kemper founded Nashotah House to form missionaries for the new frontier. In 2013 the House continues that same mission to a new frontier by raising a faithful and dynamic priesthood.
The Right Rev. Edward L. Salmon, Jr. Dean of Nashotah House Theological Seminary
LETTER from the
Chairman of the Board of Trustees The Right Rev. Daniel H. Martins, ’89 11th Bishop of Springfield, Chairman of the Board of Trustees
One of the treasures of our inheritance as Catholic Christians is the cycle of feasts, fasts, and ferias that make up the liturgical year. One of the features of the Nashotah House culture, I am pleased to say, is an observance of this cycle that is not just perfunctory and formal, but robust and integral. As our days and weeks are hallowed by the rhythm of the Daily Office, so time is sanctified for us at a macro-level by the observance of the Christian year. Within the annual cycle, Advent is a gem that rewards close spiritual attention with quiet brilliance. Advent is a season of anticipation—the anticipation of the fruition of God’s project of redemption betokened by the return of our Lord Jesus to reign in glory. This is what we might call “retrospective anticipation” of quietly world-shattering event of the Incarnation and birth of the Word of God on the stage of human history. The spiritual themes of Advent are waiting, preparing, and hoping.
WAITING Waiting is always a challenge, and for some it is their undoing. As a child, I couldn’t bear to wait for Christmas, so I always snooped to discover whatever the principal gift was that my parents would place before me on Christmas morning. I was rarely surprised. Technological advances have severely reduced the number of occasions that require us to wait. We are conditioned to expect instant gratification. Most parents know the sex of their unborn child many months before the actual birth. So when we find ourselves in a situation where there is nothing to do but
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wait, it is an opportunity to cultivate the virtue of patience, and patience, in turn, contributes to our growth in holiness.
PREPARING Preparing is a singularly ungratifying experience. I once painted an entire house all by myself; something I hope never to repeat. Actually applying the paint was the fun part, the reward, but it was a relatively small proportion of the entire job. Most of the work involved scraping and sanding and masking— drudgery. Preparing to meet Jesus— either retrospectively on Christmas, or face-to-face at his return—involves a good bit of scraping and sanding, only we’re not the painter; we’re the house. The idea is that Jesus, “at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself” (Collect for Advent IV). In order for that to happen effectively, we have to lay aside some of our own predilections and preferences. Keeping a mindful and watchful Advent, amid a culture of non-stop partying during December, is only one way of engaging the important spiritual work of preparation.
when the temptation to despair seems irresistible, we are practicing the virtue of hope. As St. Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans in chapter 15, verse 4, “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.” In the end, of all the seasons of the year, Advent is the most like real life. In our real lives, outside of liturgical time, it’s always Advent. We are always waiting for a clearer revelation of God’s plan and purpose. We are always preparing to put ourselves at God’s disposal as heralds of his Kingdom and instruments of his peace. We are always hoping for the completion and realization of God’s victory over the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against him; the evil powers of this world, which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God; and the sinful desires that draw us from the love of God. In our very waiting, preparing, and hoping, we renounce them, confident that when the Son of God appears, we will “without shame or fear rejoice to behold his appearing” (Proper Preface of Advent). Come, Lord Jesus.
HOPING Hoping is the jewel in the crown of our tripartite Advent vocation. Hope, along with patience, is one of the classic Christian moral virtues. Hope causes us to strain forward toward that which is not yet realized—we don’t have it yet—but which is nonetheless grounded in reality, not something imaginary or ephemeral. The ultimate basis of our hope as Christians, of course, is the resurrection of Christ from the dead. But there are multiple iterations of resurrection hope that virtually explode in front of us every day. Every time we “keep on keeping on”
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Humbled Among the Faithful
Matriculation 2013 Mr. Michael Bordelon, ’15
Nashotah House has been known to do things a little differently. Matriculation happens to be one of those things that makes us different. Matriculation is often likened to baptism, welcoming us into the community and strengthening us for the work we are to do. This timeless academic liturgy has stood as the moment where first-year, junior seminarians transition fully into the life and ethos of Nashotah House. Junior seminarian, Mr. Donald Griffin from the Diocese of Dallas, matriculated Michaelmas 2013. He said that among the many other students who have signed, it was humbling to be among the faithful, signing the book that began in 1843 with the first student, Gustaf Unonius from Sweden. At Nashotah House we are called brothers and sisters for a reason. We are a family. We share a connection to those who have come before and can physically trace our family lineage back to our early brothers James Lloyd Breck, Jackson Kemper, and others who founded this mission long ago. Our Nashotah House is the Mission House these brothers started and it is that mission which we continue. We are the new apostles in the wilderness. Daily we pray, “may we go forth animated
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with earnest zeal for your glory…and speak with that resistless energy of love which shall melt the hearts of sinners to the love of you.” The Rev. Charleston Wilson, ’13, Diocese of Springfield, says matriculation is a beginning and not an end. In response to our calling, so often we speak of what it is we left behind. No matter our previous experiences, our educational background, or our ecclesial jurisdiction, when we sign our name we are at the same point in our lives together. “The old has passed away, behold, the new has come,” (2 Cor 5:17). When we sign our name we are beginning a new way of life. From that moment on we are not just bound to the House, but we are united to one another. That bond, our life together, propels us forward, continuing to enrich our lives years after our time at the House has passed. On this Matriculation Feast, we remember our fellow brothers and sisters who have come before, and we thank you for the ministry and tradition you have upheld and passed down. You are the giants on whose shoulders we stand. We proclaim the Lord in whose image we are made and celebrate our shared ministry. Daily, we work to ensure there are many more matriculants to join our family. To God be the glory!
“Speak with that resistless energ y of love which shall melt the hearts of sinners to the love of you.�
“When we sign our name we are beginning a new way of life. From that moment on we are not just bound to The House but are united to one another.”
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Dialogue, Theory & Practice C onsider i ng the DM i n Progr a m at Na sho ta h House
The Rev. Jon Jenkins, SSC, ’13
The Doctor of Ministry (DMin) program continues to be a blessing to those who would make the time to feed their minds. Scholarly renewal allows clergy to remain fresh in their studies, bringing us to a place of better scholarship, better citations, and better sermon materials. Citing the Church Fathers, major theologians, and detailed scriptural citations makes us honest in the things we present to our flock. After all, they come to see Jesus, not you. Having help from our friends who also knew Jesus and now have the word “Saint” in front of their names, refreshes all who come near. In 2009, I began the DMin program at Nashotah House as a means of continuing education. Initially, my interest in the program was to study under several scholars who were guest faculty at the House. Dr. Allen Ross from Beeson University, Birmingham, AL, and Father John Behr, St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary, Crestwood, NY, were among the widely published Old Testament and Patristic Scholars teaching at the House. SCHOLARS AND RESEARCH BENEFITTING PARISH LIFE The classes offered were indeed challenging, and taking them for course credit held me accountable to studying, researching, and writing. Hopeful that I would complete the DMin in four years, I arrived at Nashotah House each summer for two weeks, and took an intensive one-week class during an Epiphany Term. I quite literally lived in the library to have the time do some serious historical research in a place that houses many excellent and rare books, elsewhere long out of print and circulation. INVIGORATING MINISTRY AND VISION The DMin coursework was not only challenging, but also invigorating to my parish ministry. Returning home each summer, I arrived with no less than six ADVENT 2013
weeks of sermons in my back pocket, a new vision for the future of my parish, fortified for parish life, and with a broader outlook on the church at large. Particularly beneficial to my ministry was the dissertation process. My advisors were encouragers and mentors in the world of scholarship, pastors and supporters of my personal ministry and goals as a parish priest and a student. Furthermore, the process of researching and writing made me create in my daily habit more time for study, which I have maintained even after sending off the final copy to my advisors for print.
The study itself was beneficial to my ministry, my diocese, and my future as a priest in God’s kingdom. Writing a Doctor of Ministry thesis is, by design, intended to be practical in application — writing that is put into practice for the benefit of ministry. This was beneficial to the laity who participated in my focus group studies, the clergy who participated in my surveys, and even to my advisors and proofreaders who all professed that they learned something important from this work that also benefitted their ministry. May God bless your ministry, your education, and the people under your care.
Now, as a better steward of my time in the parish, I found that I had the time to spare. Before, I had not positioned myself in a way that would allow space and time to study. Both are essential to personal and ministerial health — time and space. Time designated to study without interruption, without cell-phones, Internet access or a television. And space designated to be away from my home and office for a season. If you are looking to sharpen your ministry, please do not think this program is beyond you. Many parishes will see immediately the benefit of sending their priest. Don’t let the time commitment keep you from giving this a shot. As Professor Garwood P. Anderson, PhD said during a seminar, “Doctorates are written in hours, not months.” In two to three hours a day, once a week, and a few in between, I managed to write my thesis in less than six months. All it takes is a good work ethic, organization, and the grace of God, and the program will help you stay accountable to this. While at home, I have chosen a local seminary library to become my home base for writing one afternoon a week, usually Mondays. I found that when I had “downtime” in the rest of my week, I gravitated ever more toward that library, and made better use of that free time. NASHOTAH.EDU
The Rev. Jon Jenkins, ’13, was awarded his Doctor of Ministry degree May, 2013 from Nashotah House. Dr. Jenkins’ thesis is entitled, The Modern Confessional: A Study of the Sacrament of Reconciliation in the Life of the Historic Church, Along with a Comparison to the Contemporary Church as Modeled in the Anglican Diocese of Ft. Worth. The thesis will be available as a textbook from The Mission Bookstore’s Nashotah House Press. Fr. Jenkins and his wife, Claire, live in Fort Worth, TX. the MISSIONER
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nnually, the Academic Convocation recognizes our common purpose, celebrates our history and accomplishments, builds relationships, and highlights aspects of Nashotah House’s excellence.
2013 marked our twenty-second year of holding Convocation. Begun in November 1992, under Dean Gary W. Kriss, for the celebration of our sesquicentennial, he described it as a time for “spiritual and intellectual enrichment.” Traditionally, we confer an honorary degree, and the faculty and Dean invite the guest speaker. This year certainly accomplished all of the above. The week of Convocation marks an established — albeit joyful — busyness among our community as the Board of Trustees, honored guests, and visitors sojourn for a few days here in the Lake Country of southeastern Wisconsin. The students also enjoy a break from classes on Thursday and Friday, providing the opportunity for them to show hospitality to our many visitors. The featured guest and speaker was the Rev. Canon Jeremy M. Haselock (below), MA (Oxon) FSA, Hon. FGCM, Chaplain to
Her Majesty, Elizabeth II, Vice Dean and Precentor of Norwich Cathedral. The theme, Music and Liturgy in the Anglican Tradition, followed on the heels of last year’s honoring of Metropolitan Hilarion, a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church and chairman of the Department of External Church Relations of Moscow, Russia. Board of Trustees meetings on Tuesday served as the overture of this year’s activities and festivities. Morning Prayer and Eucharist opened the day Wednesday morning in the Chapel of St. Mary the Virgin as we celebrated the feast of St. James of Jerusalem. The day drew to a close in the same, with Evensong. As the music wafted beyond the rafters in St. Mary’s and to the sky and grounds beyond, the tone and focus for the next two days was more than set. The partita continued Thursday as Trustee meetings resumed and students enjoyed the hiatus from classes. The fellowship in chapel and at meals offered encouragement, prayer, and hospitality for all. At the community Eucharist, we enjoyed a sermon by Bishop Daniel Martins, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and organ voluntaries by Mr. James Busby, one of our honorary degree recipients. If these days as a whole were an opera, Friday was most assuredly the aria with a stunning cadenza. The service began with the Seminary Hymn and continued with music by Pamela Youngblood. The House conferred honorary degrees to Mr. James Busbee, the Rev. Canon Jeremy Haselock, Mr. William Owen, and Dr. Pamela Youngblood. Friday afternoon offered opportunity to attend a lecture and book signing with William Owen. Nashotah House wishes to thank all the guests who attended Academic Convocation 2013, particularly Canon Haselock, whose wealth of knowledge and experience in the worlds of music, liturgy, and Anglicanism brought us to a deeper understanding of the significant role music has played in reminding and directing us to the Scriptures, where we receive instruction and encouragement, and thus, hope. By Ms. Sarah Prosser Director of Recruitment
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hristians seek to know the will of God concerning their lives, but this is typically a process, not a sudden revelation. St. Benedict of Nursia taught his community that the love of God was the first step to understanding His call. Following God meant taking the next step; the step of humility, realizing it is not our will, but God’s will that shall be done. My call to ministry was received over a period of time, almost like a drum beat that was always in the background of my mind. Remaining silent and prayerful for two years, the drumbeat seemed to be growing louder and more consistent.
JOINING THE SAINTS who have gone before By Mr. Robert Douglas, ’16
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rior to considering the priesthood, my wife Elaine and I attended a Cursillo weekend. There, I earnestly prayed that if this was truly God’s will for me, I would be given enough clarity to approach Fr. James Hedman, rector of our church, St. Mary Magdalene. Cursillo focuses on showing Christian lay people how to become effective Christian leaders over the course of a three-day weekend. At this time, God revealed to me that my perspective was too narrow. Until then, I saw the priesthood as a series of tasks — preaching, administering sacraments and developing church relations. However, during that weekend, I grew to understand the level of compassion needed to truly do God’s work. Soon after, I began the discernment process in the Diocese of Southwest Florida.
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hrist indeed renews His Church, one believer at a time as well as within community. Ever since the first moment I mentioned that I was experiencing this call, Elaine has encouraged me to explore and walk it out with Him by faith. In the moments of doubt, when wanting to run from the call, she was there to listen and point out what God was doing in my life with a faithfulness that has been an inspiration to me.
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esus tells us to count the cost of following Him, a point that has caused much reflection and struggle, but that also gives strength. I struggle mostly with leaving my mother, Gloria, and our son, Shawn, in Florida. It is difficult to leave the family of believers of St. Mary Magdalene. The idea of ‘dropping everything’ is often misunderstood. If you drop everything, you suddenly stop what you are doing in order to do something else instead. That idea seems shocking to people, but when they realize you are being called by God to something different and are being led by Him, they ADVENT 2013
recognize your faithfulness. This does not make it easy; the Cross is difficult to focus upon — and the daily relationships of family and friends are the hardest to drop.
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ven as this past summer whirlwind of activity of the move to Nashotah House swirls about, we have been given that peace that surpasses understanding. Both Elaine and I have been able to live in the present and hold onto God for strength and comfort, knowing God continues to guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. Nashotah House continues to present answers to the modern world’s problems without watering down the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
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he idea of being intentionally traditional and disciplined, yet not closed off or isolated, reflects St. Benedict’s call to humility and mission. I have participated in many ministries over the years — Eucharistic Visitor, chalice bearer, Bible study leader, and senior warNASHOTAH.EDU
den — with God showing me that a large part of my ministry will be in physical and inner healing. For more than 170 years, the House has gone well beyond just increasing depth and breadth of knowledge. I am about to join the throng of those who have been formed within the Benedictine life of worship, study and community. Having the heart of Jesus for His creation is intentional, humbling and requires obedience to His call. All that matters is that people are brought into relationship with Jesus so that they can be truly set free in Him. Jesus was concerned about reaching the least and the lost — and as an incoming junior who has seen this daily, I share the same concern whether that person lives next door or halfway around the world. From the Diocese of Southwest Florida, Bob Douglas and his wife Elaine have been married for 28 years. They have two children, Brittney and Shawn, who are a constant source of encouragement. the MISSIONER
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student Feature different and when I told my parents that I wanted to leave the Conservatory, they were extremely disappointed; it affected everyone. No one could imagine what else I could do.” Meanwhile, Ms. Saribay reflected upon her religious upbringing. She had been raised as a Muslim. However, now that she was older, she wanted to learn more about Islam. “I had been taught that Islam was the only uncorrupted religion in the world; but what made it authentic? ‘Do not question your faith,’ friends said. Yet,
Finding Christ in a Far Country
Authenticating Christianity Recently, Ms. Ezgi Saribay, ’15, shared her testimony of how she came to know Christ. Having grown up in a Muslim family in Turkey, she described life as traditional, with strong family values, a high view of community, among people who hold to their ancient family roots. Loved, valued and cared for, Ms. Saribay was encouraged by her parents to pursue a musical career at a very young age. “In Turkey, children are raised to look forward to making the family proud,” she says. “Being musically inclined, my parents sent me to the conservatory at age twelve.” In a Muslim country, it is common for children to have their life’s vocation chosen for them at a very young age. Once they are on a particular path, it is very difficult to change paths, often full of shame and confusion on the part of the family who have high hopes.
I read the news and watched television of how Saddam Hussein had tortured people. How could someone who called himself ‘faithful’ do these vicious acts in the name of God?” It became very difficult to study the religion she had been raised with, “A woman may not go to mosque; she must stay home to pray. There is no scholarship, no seminary, no study allowed for women, no Arabic, no library to read books. I knew that I was being called to a religious life, but still did not see that God was calling me to follow His Son.” One day, a friend of Ms. Saribay’s mother told her, “You sound like a bright kid, why not go to the United States as an exchange student?” Only knowing a bit of English did not stop Ms. Saribay. She prayed and began to take the steps of the faithful. People helped her
“When I was twelve years old, I knew I could bring joy through music, and as I took the exams to enter the conservatory, I knew I was making my parents proud,” she says. “However, the result was a great deal of isolation.” One day, as she practiced, Ms. Saribay heard a voice telling her that she was called to be someone else, with a different path waiting for her. At sixteen years old, she heard the voice of the One she would later know as the Good Shepherd; but at that time, she did not yet know Him by name. “I know now that was God calling me but I didn’t know why,” she says. “I knew I was being called to something 16
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and the next thing she knew she was on the airplane to Mountain View, MO. That Christmas, Ms. Saribay asked about a pin in the shape of a shield that was placed near the kitchen sink in her host family’s home. She knew it had something to do with Christmas, a holiday she appreciated from American movies she had seen in Turkey. “I loved the idea of Christmas, the stained glass, the statues, the families, the kindness and love that radiated from Christmas.” The pin was the shield of the Episcopal Church. “The idea of Christmas and the colors of the shield, I contemplated these for several days: red for the blood Christ shed for us and for the lives of the martyrs of the faith; white, for purity; blue for the Virgin Mary, the mother of the Son of God.” On Christmas Eve, Ms. Saribay went to church and received communion. “The priest welcomed me to the table of Jesus Christ, the Savior. When I received communion, it was a moment of special grace given to me, it was an immediate friendship and I knew I would be in His service for the rest of my life. The first Sunday I attended, there was immediate warmth. A parishoner sat with me to guide me through the prayer book. I tore little pieces of the bulletin to mark the prayer book and the hymnal, so I wouldn’t get lost. So much kneeling and bowing, I knew I would have to bookmark everything so I wouldn’t miss anything. I knew this to be hope lived out; this was home and where I would be for the rest of my life. The service ended and priest introduced himself to me. I immediately asked what I needed to do to join this church. I knew one day that the Episcopal Church would be the Church where I would be called to minister.”
student Feature
A Hall Out of Which Doors Open Master of Sacred Theology at Nashotah House B y The R ev. E sau McCulley, ’13
as an african american making the bewildering sojourn from the black church to evangelicalism – and eventually to anglicanism – i made the decision to enter seminary. In 2002, a pivotal inspiration occurred while preparing a Bible study on the book of Romans. While reading through my Bible and jotting down a few ideas, I concluded that I had no real sense of the text. I had a study Bible, but an extrovert with a sense of humor can make any heresy sound plausible. How could I know that what I said was faithful to the intent of the author? Questions The Rev. Esau McCulley, ’13 like those drove me to study at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. While stands with his fellow House graduates, May 2013. there, I became convinced by my own reading, research and experience that the Anglican tradition contained within it the substance of the apostolic faith and practice. I joyfully committed myself and received ordination in the Episcopal Church through the Diocese of Albany. Years later, when I made the decision to add an academic vocation to my priestly ministry I began to search for the proper context in which to prepare for doctoral work. I developed a list of priorities to guide me. Ministry realities meant I could not relocate; however, I did not want to simply pursue online work. The exchange in the classroom and interactions with professors had always been central to my learning experience. Secondly, I wanted something rooted in the Anglican tradition. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Gordon-Conwell, but by the very nature of a multi-denominational seminary little attention was paid to the Anglican tradition itself or interpretation of the Bible through the lens of the Apostolic Fathers. I had the tools of careful exegesis, now I wanted to see how those tools could function within my new theological home. I had found the room C.S. Lewis spoke of so eloquently in Mere Christianity and was anxious to explore it. Related to this, was a desire for a shared commitment to Jesus. If I was going to pay to be educated, I wanted my professors to share at minimum the Nicene Faith that has defined Christianity from its beginning. Lastly, I wanted something academically rigorous. I chose to pursue yet another advanced degree to prepare myself for doctoral training; therefore, I would need a program that would push me to do my best work and produce scholarship that shows potential for future research. ADVENT 2013
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My experience at Nashotah House exceeded my expectations in every way. I have grown as a scholar, developed a greater appreciation for the great tradition and developed lasting friendship with Anglicans here and abroad. After completing my Master of Sacred Theology (STM), I began September 2013, doctoral studies in New Testament at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland under the direction of Bishop N.T. Wright. Furthermore, in the providence of God, my proposal focuses on the person of Christ in Romans. Maybe I will finally find the answers to the questions I posed as a Bible study leader years ago. Regarding my actual experience at Nashotah, the spiritual formation and academic preparation has found a strong relationship to doctoral work. With reference to spiritual formation, I will use the analogy of a meal:
your children return home from school — you will work through lunch and never consider your hunger because you are so focused on the task at hand. However, after you sit down for the meal you realize how famished you actually feel. This is how I experienced the liturgical life that surrounds the academic work at the House. The Morning and Evening Office, the Daily Eucharist conducted in community, keeps the ultimate end of all our theological endeavors at the forefront throughout our stay at the seminary. It is impossible to forget that we are penitent converts ravished by God’s grace; we are this before we are academics. This prayerful atmosphere, in an intimate setting, along with shared meals creates a scholarly community that made my visits to the House truly joyful.
Speaking of the difference between “mere” Christianity and the great theological traditions, Lewis notes in his introduction, “I hope no reader will suppose that ‘mere’ Christianity is here put forward as an alternative to the creeds of the existing communions... It is more like a hall out of which doors open into several rooms. If I can bring anyone into that hall, I have done what I attempted. But it is in the rooms, not the hall, that there are fires and chairs and meals.” C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: Harper Collins), xv.
This does not mean my residential terms were mere retreats with a little Bible thrown in. The courses I took at the House were as academically rigorous as any I encountered elsewhere. In fact, the STM is not simply another year added to an MDiv. One lesson I learned early was the increased need for scholarly interaction. When one is pursuing an MDiv, the goal is to prove you have done your reading and perused a few commentaries before launching into a topic. The STM at Nashotah requires a level of familiarity with primary sources and the breadth of discussion on a topic that is truly a preparation for doctoral study.
If you have a home improvement project — say you want to get a room painted before
Secondly, the thesis project truly modeled the relationship between an advisor and student
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in advanced academic work. My advisor, Dr. Garwood P. Anderson gave me the freedom to choose a research area, read widely and present my own ideas. When they led to dead ends or the research lacked persuasive argumentation, Dr. Anderson, provided helpful advice. I learned that criticism, and sometimes failed hypotheses, are keys to growth. This willingness to return repeatedly to the source material under the direction of an experienced scholar prepared me for doctoral work. By the end of my thesis, my core chapter functioned as the paper I presented to universities in my application. In the end, I was blessed to be able to choose among six excellent schools in the United States and abroad. Furthermore, the focus of my dissertation will be the impact of the resurrection on Paul’s use of the divine name Lord/YHWH to refer to Jesus and the cumulative impact of the varied use of Lord on the hearers of the letter to the Roman Church. Finally, I would be remiss if I did not mention the role the professors I encountered at the House had upon me. Many of the faculty I encountered were from other institutions. I am blessed to have studied exegesis under the Very Rev. John Behr, Dr. Alan Ross, Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon and Dr. Garwood P. Anderson. I consider the opportunity to study with leading scholars in the field from around the world a real strength of the program. I believe that the Anglican Tradition is at its best when it combines a robust biblical theology with a healthy respect for what has been received from the ancient church. Nashotah House provided me with just such an education.
The Jackson Kemper Annual Fund
“For I fully believe, that, with divine blessing we are laying a deep and permanent foundation upon which the Church of the living God will be gloriously established.” Indeed, for 170 years Nashotah House has remained anchored to “that deep and permanent foundation” by providing a faithful priesthood for the Church – one that has spread mightily the gospel of Jesus Christ to all people. Joining Bishop Kemper and giving expression to his desire for solid and faithful financial management, we have established The Jackson Kemper Annual Fund, the cornerstone of our annual fundraising and the springboard for expanding the legacy entrusted to us.
Nashotah House Theological Seminary The Office of Institutional Advancement
2777 Mission Road Nashotah, Wisconsin 53058 USA 1-800-nashotah (262) 646-6507 Jordan Robinson at jrobinson@nashotah.edu
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Staff Feature
Entrusted with mission
BY THE REV. PHILIP CUNNINGHAM, ’08, ASSOCIATE DEAN OF ADMINISTRATION
This place is unique in the world and in its uniqueness there is a beauty and transcendence that is too wonderful to ignore. This place is unique in the world and in its uniqueness there is a beauty and transcendence that is too wonderful to ignore. It is an honor to be Nashotah House’s Associate Dean of Administration. Born and raised in Fresno, CA, I completed my undergraduate work at Santa Clara University and Albert Ludwigs Universitaet, Freiburg, Germany, and had my first go around at graduate school at Vanderbilt University where I received my MBA in accounting and finance. My ten years in finance included stints at Alcoa, Foster Farms and Children’s Hospital Central California. I graduated from Nashotah in 2008 and have spent the last five years in the Diocese of West Texas as an associate rector, vicar and rector. I met my wife during our freshman year in college and we have now been married for over seventeen years. We have two children — Auggie, age 13, and Meredith, age 10. They are all, of course, wonderful and a tremendous blessing without whom my life would be much less.
When going through the interview process for this position, a number of people wondered why I was interested in leaving parish ministry. My response was that I was not particularly interested in leaving parish ministry but that I quite simply loved Nashotah House, and if it was thought that I could do something positive for it I would most definitely consider coming. I recall in one of my years as a student, Bishop Parsons preached a sermon on the subject of Nashotah House. He essentially said that Nashotah was something far greater than whoever was there at the time, arguing that there was a certain gestalt to the place that could only be explained by the presence of God. And that is something I firmly believe. People will come and go but there is something about this sacred and hallowed place that is more than an administration, an academic faculty or the type of bacon served in the refectory. It is a place that at its best transmits something of God to the rest of the world. And if you simply look and see the fruits of its many years of labor, it is rather obvious that God has truly blessed this place. The current caretakers of that legacy and blessing have a tremendous responsibility. We who are here and who will come have been entrusted by God with a mission. And that mission is to train and prepare priests to go into the world to proclaim that the Kingdom of God has come near. We are to pass down the faith once communicated and those of us who are here now are to do all in our power to do this in the most excellent way possible. Everyone who is associated with Nashotah has a job and none of those jobs are insignificant. There was a story of a man in the Middle Ages who was watching a group of stone
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masons chip away at some pieces for a cathedral. After some time, he walked up and asked one of the men what he is doing to which the man replied, “I am making a piece of a buttress.” He then goes to a second man and asks the same question to which the second man replies, “I am making a bit of the clearstory.” He finally comes to a third man and again asks the same question to which the man replies, “I am building for the glory of God.” That is the mission of everyone at Nashotah House — we are building for the glory of God. We may have been here six days or thirty years. We may negotiate contracts, teach Hebrew or simply donate now and then, but no one is exempt from the mission of the seminary. We are all here, be we a student, employee, friend or alumni to build for the glory of God. And all that we do should be our best because it is for God. Nashotah has been, is and will be the preeminent school for preparing priests to serve in God’s kingdom. And it requires the best from us to fulfill this mission now and forevermore. In taking this position, I feel it is my responsibility to see to it that the administrative aspects of Nashotah House are as excellent as all of its other components. I pray that God may bless my time here and continue to bless Nashotah House Theological Seminary. The Rev. Philip Cunningham, ’08, served as assistant rector at St. John’s Episcopal Church in McAllen, TX. Fr. Cunningham comes to Nashotah House from St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in San Antonio, TX, where he served as vicar and then rector, 2010-2013.
Staff Feature
Nashotah House Welcomes
Dr. Rick Hartley On July 1, 2013 Dr. Rick Hartley assumed the duties of Director of Student Affairs and Admissions. He
College, an Anglican distance-education institution.
arrived at the House not as a stranger, but as a member of our community. He matriculated into the Master of Sacred Theology (STM) program in 2010, studying Ascetical Theology. Currently, Dr. Hartley is working on his thesis about the sources of the active and contemplative life in the 14th-century English mystic, Walter Hilton’s work, The Mixed Life.
Ordained in 1993 as a Southern Baptist minister and approbated into the Congregational tradition in 2006, Dr. Hartley has served as a church planter or senior pastor in parishes in Minnesota and Montana, respectively. He has been a prayer book Congregationalist for the last seven years. Dr. Hartley is now in process for Holy Orders in the Diocese of Pittsburgh (ACNA).
Dr. Hartley was a former colleague of Fr. Steven Peay, PhD in the Congregational tradition, having taught with him in Boston and Los Angeles. Rick has served on the Theological Commission of the International Congregational Fellowship leading symposia around the world, and has been co-editor and contributor of the International Congregational Journal for the last three years. During 20032007, Dr. Hartley administrated and taught courses for Saint Paul Theological
Dr. Hartley earned a BA in Philosophy and Speech Communication from Southwest Minnesota State; an MDiv from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary; a DMin from George Fox University; and distance-education degrees — LTh in Anglican Studies from Saint Paul Theological College; ThD and Master of Pastoral Counseling from Andersonville Theological Seminary. He lives just south of Nashotah in Mukwonago, WI with his wife and youngest two of three children. His eldest is a computer programmer in Chicago. Fr. Peay says that Dr. Hartley brings to the position “a love for the House and of the Anglican tradition, superb organizational skills, and a delightful ability to relate to just about anyone in a loving and friendly manner.”
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Meditation
That the generations to come might know,
and the children yet unborn; that they in their turn might tell it to their children Psalm 78:6, 1979 Book of Common Prayer
First Things Last Things There is a well-known ritual in the world of family reunions — it involves that part of the afternoon or evening when the great-aunts, the great-uncles, and especially the grandparents begin to tell stories about each other and about their own forebears. The middle generation — those whose parents are telling the stories — usually fade away into other activities during this ritual. They have heard it all before —many times before. But the younger generation, are often captivated. Stories about their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and occasional cousins are great entertainment, and the young listeners are engaged. Sometimes picture albums and other family artifacts accompany the story telling. The motivation behind the story telling is the same and it is deeply human. We want our families to know who they are, where they came from, and even where they are going. Recounting family histories help to make this happen. The Church is like a story-telling grandmother to us. Always, she is telling us and teaching us so that we know who we are, where we came from, and where we are going. She knows that “whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.” She tells her story, and in Advent the story has a fresh urgency to it. 22
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This is because our Holy Grandmother knows that there is not much time left to make it all clear — not much time for teaching the facts, not much time for learning the First Things because the Last Things are upon us. Of course, the story telling from Holy Grandmother Church never stops. Every liturgy, every office is a family reunion where the Word is heard and received, and the story is heard, read, marked, learned and inwardly digested. As at all family reunions there are pictures and artifacts that enhance her story telling. Vestments, smells, sounds and hardware carry us into the mystery of distant and future events made present and real. Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. First Things and Last Things at the same time. When the stories are told, we who are privileged to listen — we, the children who sit at the Family Table, sharing in the mysteries of the Body and Blood of the Living Word — receive an extraordinary blessing. Our confidence in the First Things is strengthened so that we meet the Last Things without shame or fear. The stories told around the Family Table are filled with joy and triumph. They also tell of sorrow and failure. But the stories include as their unfailing background the First Thing that gives context and foundation
to our joy and hope in the face of sorrow and failure, “I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures” (I Cor 15:3).
about Last Things: “that when he shall come again in power and great triumph to judge the world, we may without shame or fear rejoice to behold his appearing.”
The antiphon reminds and encourages us, “Our King and Savior draweth nigh. O come, let us adore him.” We have in these four weeks a great gift from our King. We have the story of his promises made, promises kept, and promises yet to come. We listen and we rejoice as we wait for the day when He joins us at the Family Table. It is the day when stories are ended, but the Reunion Banquet will never end.
Listen carefully and deeply to the story as it is told again. It hasn’t changed, but you may have forgotten some of the important details. Perhaps in some cases, you haven’t really listened very well. Perhaps sometimes you haven’t listened at all. Our Holy Grandmother Church has been telling the same story perfectly and completely from one generation to another for thousands of years: predictably, reliably, truthfully, and beautifully.
Listen carefully and deeply to the story of the Incarnation as it is told again. It hasn’t changed, but you may have forgotten some of the important details. Perhaps in some cases, you haven’t really listened very well. Perhaps sometimes you haven’t listened at all. Our Holy Grandmother Church has been telling the same story perfectly and completely from one generation to another for thousands of years: predictably, reliably, truthfully, and beautifully. It has never been more important that the story be told clearly and accurately. After all, our lives depend upon it. The story is about First Things: “thou didst send by beloved Son to redeem us from sin and death, and to make us heirs in him of everlasting life.” The story is ADVENT 2013
It has never been more important that the story be told clearly and accurately. After all, our lives depend upon it. The story is about First Things: “thou didst send by beloved Son to redeem us from sin and death, and to make us heirs in him of everlasting life.” The story is about Last Things: “that when he shall come again in power and great triumph to judge the world, we may without shame or fear rejoice to behold his appearing.” The Rev. Canon Brien Koehler, SSC, ’76, Chaplain at Nashotah House and Associate Rector of Christ Church, San Antonio, TX.
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House Finances
at a G l ance
The Rt. Rev. Edward L. Salmon, Jr. The financial condition of the House may be said to be stable and greatly improving. We remain committed to reaching equilibrium as quickly as possible, and we are making noteworthy progress. Because of the work undertaken by two former seminarians, the Rev. Jason Murbarger and Mr. Ryan Delaney, together with an administrative team ready to move forward, we were able to make some remarkable improvements in a short period of time. Over the past spring and summer months, this has resulted in cost savings in a number of areas while increasing many of the services we provide. Every contract — indeed, every expense — has now been examined, which will provide savings of over $300,000 this fiscal year. Because technology is vital for both our work and for ministry on the modern frontier, we now have a full-time technology administrator to augment our work. Furthermore, the Rev. Philip Cunningham, ’08, who arrived in August 2013, is now carrying the torch forward, giving life and light too much of what has been set in motion. His insight and background, as well as his entrepreneurial spirit, are blessing the House tremendously. We continue to expect the financial picture to improve. No small part of the improving financial picture is directly related to giving and enrollment. These are our sources of revenue. We continue to benefit from increases in both areas. We continue to record more interest in the House’s programs than ever before, and we are still blessed by recordgiving levels. Those connected to the House, whether alumni or friends, are excited about the House’s future. In October 2013, we launched Project 2183, a strategic campaign for increasing our modest endowment, which will position the House for the next 170 years and beyond. We have already received enormous early support and plan to increase our permanently restricted endowment substantially over the next two years. We are able to plan for tomorrow today by using a unique model that maximizes a family’s wealth, blesses the House and reduces taxes all at once. We continue to be blessed by the Jackson Kemper Annual Fund, which undergirds all that we are able to do. Finally, you can count on us to continue building upon the foundation laid by our many partners. We have many challenges ahead, but we have a clear vision about confronting them. The House has a storied past and a remarkable future. 24
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Editor’s Notes It has not gone unnoticed these past few months of the absence of Fr. Arnie and Carol Klukas on our beautiful campus. After many years of dedicated service to the House they both had made the decision to retire this past September. We could dedicate an entire issue to the successes and contributions Fr. Arnie and Carol have made and in my estimation that would not be enough. I will always remember their nurturing spirit and encouragement that students received during their years at the House. I have many memories, but I think the one closest to my heart is when Fr. Klukas preached at my diaconal ordination in the Chapel of St. Mary the Virgin. It was the same day as their wedding anniversary, and the Klukas’ took the time to be with me on this most important day of my spiritual life. This is just but one example of their servant spirit. One I will always remember. The following reflections are from two people very dear to the Klukas family. I am confident in saying that their stories reflect the sentiment that most of us have felt over the years during their tenure. Our hope is that Fr. Klukas may grace the campus in the future by becoming an adjunct when the opportunity arises. We wish you both joy, excitement and blessings as you forge the next chapter in your lives. The Rev. Andrew Hanyzewski, ’09, Senior Editor ADVENT 2013
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farewell father Klukas
The Rev. Jonathan Duncan, SSC, ’08
The Church’s liturgy is more than a subject of instruction, it is a passion and a joy. It was a steamy afternoon at Church of the Good Shepherd in Rosemont, PA, and Fr. Klukas was giving a workshop as part of the annual assembly of Forward in Faith North America. He spoke on devotional life in the parish, and the need to revive some of the wonderful traditions and observances of Catholic Christendom in everyday parish life. That was the first time I had the pleasure to learn from the man who would later become my professor, my colleague and I’m happy to say, my friend. Underneath his mounds of Sarum slide photos, his purgatorial pardons, and his tongue-in-cheek barbs at “gin & lace” AngloCatholicism, there is a man who truly loves the liturgy of the Church in all its glory, and wished to share that love with his students. The church’s liturgy, for Fr. Klukas, is more than a subject of instruction; it is a passion and a joy. Like the faithful scribe who “brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old” his goal was to really immerse his students in all of the diversity of the church’s liturgical inheritance. 26
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Fr. Klukas achieved that delicate balance that all great priests have between a hearty and holy reverence for the liturgy, and a sense of humility, and even levity, in its offering. When, on rare occasions, certain mischievous students took it upon themselves to sneak into St. Mary’s Chapel at night and orchestrate various pranks and provocations, Fr. Klukas would arrive in the morning, never missing a beat, and greet their labor with a grin and a good heart. His creative mind, self-effacing demeanor, and kind spirit made St. Mary’s Chapel a place where students were able to worship, learn, and on occasion, laugh.
Fr. Jonathan Duncan graduated from the House in 2008 and is the Rector of Church of the Holy Comforter in Cleburne, TX, Diocese of Fort Worth. Since 2009, he has been working with Fr. Klukas as an adjunct instructor of Liturgy in the Distance Learning Program.
On one particular night during the fall of Michael’s junior year, I was in St. Mary’s Chapel rather late. I wasn’t feeling well or particularly holy, and I was angry. I wasn’t sure of what Michael’s “call” meant to my life or me. All I knew was that I was working four jobs to keep us financially afloat, and I was tired and confused as to what happened to my dreams? I walked down the Cloister and noticed a light on in an office. Of course it was Carol’s office light. It was late, and I’m sure she wanted to get home after a very long day, but she ushered me in, and said with cheerfulness, “So, how’s it going, Aimée?” As if my bright, red nose and eyes weren’t a dead giveaway. Needless to say, she was loving and brilliant, and said exactly what I needed to hear. Her encouraging, Christ-centered words helped me that night to overcome the obstacles in my heart that could have stood as a stumbling block to my husband’s ministry and my personal walk with Christ. If you were to ask her about this story she probably wouldn’t remember, because it would have been just another day in the life for her, saying the right thing in the right place at the right time. I will always thank God for the light burning in her office late that night during Michaelmas term.
Her inner qualities as a person of Christ shine through in all that she does. he service of Carol Klukas to Nashotah House cannot be summed up in a few words, but when all is said and done, we who have been touched by Carol have become better servants of our Lord because of her gifts she has so readily shared.
farewell carol Klukas Ms. Aimée Marcoux
Since being given the joyful task of writing words on the service of Carol Klukas to Nashotah House, I have had the great fondness of reliving many memories of my time as a spouse of a student at the House. I found that a series of “When’s” helped me in my process.
An accomplished actress and singer, Aimée Marcoux has a wide range of operatic, musical theater and oratorio roles to her credit and has sung with orchestras and opera companies across the globe, including the Florentine Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Central City Opera, Landesjugendorchestra Rheinland-Phalz, New World Symphony Orchestra, Florida Philharmonic Orchestra and a world premiere with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. No stranger to television, Ms. Marcoux was a reporter for Reuters Television, the BBC and a regular Entertainment and Fashion contributor to the British television program.
When my husband and family speak of our time at seminary, it is often couched with the words, “When we were at seminary...” because, from the first, as Michael was sending in applications, readying our family at Nashotah House, even though we had not met face to face, Carol was there for us via phone or email every step of the way. For all of us. She was instrumental in making us all feel as if we counted, encouraging us to remember that we were being formed together by our season at Nashotah House. I have often been asked, “When you get to know Dr. Carol Klukas — is she as kind as she really seems?” She’s even kinder, when you get to know her, as I’ve been privileged to do. Her inner qualities as a person of Christ shine through in all that she does. She has a ready sympathy, her alert sensitivity to the problems of others, her quick intelligence, her bubbling sense of humor, her jack-rabbit “cando attitude,” her integrity, her thoughtfulness and her generosity combine to make a person so ready, willing and able to serve the Kingdom of God, one must simply stand in awe. ADVENT 2013
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The Promise and the Pathway Recruitment at Nashotah House By Ms. Sarah Prosser, Director of Recruitment
What’s in a name? The truth is it takes more than a catchy slogan to stand out from the crowd. Does it help? Certainly. Is it enough? Certainly not. We are now promoting Nashotah House with consistent, captivating branding across multifarious mediums. However, the goal is not just for friends, prospective students, alumni, and donors to see, hear, and read about Nashotah House; we want you to touch and feel it! That is what brings connection and true partnership. Would you rather read a travel book about the Holy Land, or go there yourself? The beautiful pictures and images combined with rich text will no doubt give you a feel for the place, but to fully grasp its magnificence and wonder, to understand the depth of its history combined with the fullness of humanity, you must make the trip and experience it for yourself, view it with your own eyes and encounter it with all your senses simultaneously working on overdrive. Recruitment at Nashotah House works on this principle. Over the last nine months, Nashotah House has made a concerted effort to focus on student recruitment in a new way. We are proactively — more than ever before — working to promote the House. God’s promise found in His Word remains unchanged. We look to it for instruction, encouragement, guidance, and hope. The principles and hope found therein led Jackson Kemper to found this mission to the frontier, and our mission is unchanged: “ . . . the preparation of men and women for ministries in the Catholic Tradition, including: the formation of priests for parish ministry, the continuing education of the clergy, and the education and training of persons for other forms of ministry, both lay and ordained.” (2012-2013 Catalog, 5) I hope at this point you are wondering what has changed. In moving forward with recruitment, we seek to share more than the text of our mission and beautiful photographs. To fully understand Nashotah House, what sets us apart, we want prospective students to rendezvous with formation at every turn. For it is formation to be more like Christ through our lifestyle
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of prayer and worship, study, hospitality, and community that makes the House unique. We are responding to a world where technology is increasingly an expectation and information is but a tap away. The House has responded and has an increased presence on social media, plus using banner ads on several websites and search engines. We also have a multi-phase process in place to ensure people who request information or express interest in our programs hear from us routinely. Our primary hope is that people who want to know more about the House will experience the difference found here. People discover the difference the House offers — whether from the Experience Nashotah event, or an afternoon visit, a group event, a personal retreat. Perhaps from a conversation with a rector or professor who carries what they learned here to the world beyond, people find that we seek to carry the message of Christ to the population outside our campus. Look for Nashotah House to reach out to you. In the coming year we anticipate increasing our correspondence with a larger audience and representing the House at even more conventions and conferences. For as we connect to more places each day, we want to show you our difference. We want to take the promises and the hope Nashotah House is founded on and cross paths with as many people as possible. Will our paths align for a while? I hope so. Our hope is that you take a piece of what we have learned and what you have experienced at the House with you on your journey. We hope the result left with you is an impression of Christ-like devotional living and study, found in encountering Him through the faithful sons, daughters, staff, faculty, students, and friends of the House.
Doctor of Ministry:
Forming Reflective Practitioners, Specialists with Proven Ministry Skills – Actively Engaged in Strengthening the Church in Biblical Exposition/ Preaching, Liturgy, Ascetical Theology/Christian Spirituality, and Congregational Development.
For more information, contact admissions@nashotah.edu. ADVENT 2013
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As our 170th year of sending forth priests and lay leaders for service one on the modern frontier draws to a close, we are planning for the next 170 years by launching Project 2183 to expand our modest endowment. Project 2183 is an investment in the future — a future of strategic growth, faithfulness to our historic missionary zeal, and a firm commitment to best practices, our classical Anglican curriculum and our Benedictine ethos. Project 2183, moreover, is one of the most vital and important undertakings in the House’s 170-year history. Our goal is to substantially strengthen the modest Nashotah House Endowment, providing a secure base of resources and for the 30
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future. By partnering with Project 2183 — either making a one-time gift or a considering a planned gift — you secure tomorrow’s future today. “Project 2183 is not a fundraising idea or goal-oriented campaign,” said Dean Salmon. “It is first and foremost a planned giving strategy, born from the Christian virtue of stewardship. By focusing on the future, this tells us, no matter our personal resources, that we can and should take steps to richly bless our families and our beloved charities.” Take the next step. Contact the Rev. Charleston Wilson, ’13, Associate Dean of Institutional Advancement at cwilson@nashotah.edu or by calling 262-646-6517.
Nashotah House is a place of prayer, education and training – Biblical, liturgical, proclaiming the way of salvation.
Bestowing Freely the Gifts Given When people speak of Nashotah House, they speak of it as they would a friend. There is a courtesy and kindness about the House when friends speak about its history and where the House is currently as it continues to raise up priests for the next generation. Nashotah indeed has many friends — young and old, rich and poor, near and far. A common thread in these friendships has been among the laity. And among the laity, Nashotah has had many Lydias who have continued to support its ministerial endeavors. Alice Sabine McGee and Frances Donaldson, shared valuable estates in trust to Nashotah House in 1893 and 1909, respectively. The House recognizes all gifts as from the Lord, opening the hearts of the faithful to be attentive to the needs of His people. Ms. Ruth Moore, a resident of Vero Beach, FL, is one such faithful benefactor. For more than a decade, she has given to both the Bishop Parsons Scholarship Fund and the Alice Sabine McGee Legacy Society, Ms. Moore says, “Nashotah House is a place of prayer, education and training — Biblical, liturgical, proclaiming the way of salvation. Priests from here emanate the peace of God, bringing that peace to their parishes, proclaiming the simple truth of the Incarnation.” The singing of the psalter has ministered to her throughout the years, as well as consistent teaching. Nashotah House, she notes, has brought forth ministers among the clergy and the laity alike, honoring the missionary vision of instructing the people. Her planned giving is a means of Christian stewardship whereby one is concerned with the wise use of his or her personal resources and their ultimate disposition.
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student HIGHLIGHT
Choral Music
Institute
Receives a Guest from Nashotah House By Ms. Rebecca Terhune, ’15
Tucked among the ancient lanes of Oxford is Nashotah House’s covenant partner, St. Stephen’s House, founded in 1876 by members of the Oxford Movement. An Anglican foundation and permanent private Hall of the University of Oxford, the character of St. Stephen’s House makes it a place for the pursuit of graduate studies in theology, education and related subjects. In July 2013, Nashotah House student, Deacon Alex Pryor, attended a 10-day program, the Choral Institute at Oxford, noting, “St. Stephen’s had a certain famil-
iarity to me, similar to the ethos of Nashotah House.” For the 10 days, Dcn. Pryor, who holds two bachelor’s degrees in Organ and Choral Conducting and Music Education, respectively, furthered his study in worship, liturgics, church music and choral conducting, with a particular focus on plainsong. After hearing a lecture on music in the Roman Church after Benedict XVI by St. Stephen’s House principal, the Rev. Robin Ward, Dcn. Pryor noted, “Active participation in worship does not necessitate being the center of attention; does not mean you are the one making the noise — it can mean you are actively observing.” As the youngest participant, Dcn. Pryor was among 15 conductors and 45 choir members. Immersed in a community of musicians and faculty, he was given the honor of conducting Paul Mealor’s Crucifixus that, at the time of this writing, has not yet been recorded. Dcn. Pryor was given the formidable task of interpreting the piece without any other conductor’s input.
Plainsong is set apart, and people instinctively realize that and are drawn to it.
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The relevance of plainsong has emerged within the contemporary Church. Dcn. Pryor noted that with so many souls attending Evensong, the draw of traditional music is very real. “Because it is so different from everything else that we hear, people remember
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From Newfoundland, Canada, Deacon Alexander R. Pryor, ’14, is from the Diocese of the Anglican Network in Canada. He is married to Kristina and they have one son, Theophilus.
the music of plainsong, and it remains with them throughout the week. “There is an authenticity held by plainsong that is distinct from the music of the secular world. Since the Great Awakening, church music has focused on using the secular styles. To be sacred is to be set apart — plainsong is set apart, and people instinctively realize that and are drawn to it. We need to know this is our heritage, and that understanding should inform our contemporary music making.” The daily schedule of community meals, score study, conducting sessions, afternoon lectures, 4 o’clock tea time, presentations, and concerts, ended nightly with sung Compline at 10 o’clock, followed by a visit to the local pub. Dcn. Pryor was amazed to witness how many who were unfamiliar with Compline, particularly the choir members from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ, who were ministered to by the act of singing Compline together, even those who would claim no Christian faith or church background. “It was incredible to see how these words, sung by the faithful for centuries, opened up opportunities for honest conversations about the Faith — conversations that would not have happened otherwise. I think everything at Nashotah comes back to reflecting upon what we do and why. Liturgy and sacred music are evangelical tools, and this experience with the ancient music of Compline was proof of that. It’s not just where we came from; it’s a living tradition that still speaks today.”
Lessons & Carols A Service of Advent
“Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us”
Thursday, December 12, 2013 At 5 o’clock in the evening The Chapel of St. Mary the Virgin Featuring of
the
Chapel Choir
Nashotah House
under the direction of
Canon Joseph A. Kucharski
community dinner to follow
For Reservations,
please call 262-646-6500 ADVENT 2013
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ALUMNI CORNER
My time at Nashotah was pure gift. At least that is how I experienced it — a gift from God that came about largely through the ministrations of Dr. Carol and Fr. Arnie Klukas. I had met them when they came to Orlando, FL, to speak with a group of postulants about the House. They were both gracious and welcoming. The decision really was already made when it came time to study at an Episcopal seminary. The Anglican Studies curriculum had been designed for those students completing MDiv degrees at Nashotah; and the group of classes was a perfect complement to the courses I had completed at Asbury Seminary. Studies that included four New Testament classes with Dr. Garwood P. Anderson, all of which have proved to be invaluable in my pastoral, preaching and teaching ministry. What I was lacking were classes in liturgy, church music and parish ministry in an Episcopal church. With a couple of Missa Sicca, role-playing Confession, designing funeral bulletins, pointing collects, chanting, leading morning and evening prayer, I sought a more distinctive Anglican training for the priestly ministry. There are some things, however, for which seminary just can’t prepare you. Soon into my rectorate at Church of the Good Shepherd in Maitland, FL, I actually started to compose a list of Things They Never Teach You in Seminary. Most rectors of pastoral-size congregations know that one is so busy dealing with 34
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daily ministry that one just doesn’t have the time or the inclination to maintain such a list for long. However, a few interesting items did indeed make it onto the list — although I’m sure you all have many more. The most unusual was, “Reverend Sarah, there’s a dead armadillo in the outside baptismal fountain.” Posed in an interrogative tone, the statement required a decisive response. It was, “Please tell the Junior Warden!” There have been rat, bee, and bat infestations, and a feral cat decided to give birth in the crawl space above the parish offices requiring a small human for extraction. And then there is non-profit fund accounting. Thankfully I was no stranger to budgets, profit and loss reports, and balance sheets since I had helped my husband run our network of companies in Florida, and before that had been in business in Paris, France and throughout Europe — but non-profit fund accounting is sui generis. We have a campus with seventeen air-conditioners – seven of which have needed to be replaced over the last three years, so I have become something of a minor expert in amps, seer, compressors and air handlers. I have also become acquainted with terms such as XLR, ¼-inch round, and mixer/amp for AV set-ups. Out of necessity I taught myself web design and the use of social media — I tweet and blog, I have a church Facebook page, and Vimeo, Instagram and YouTube accounts/channels, am on Linkedin, and send out a weekly e-newsletter via MailChimp with a reflection
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The Gracious Provision of
THE LORD NEVER CEASES The Rev. Sarah Bronos, ’07 Born and raised in the United Kingdom, and married to husband, Pat, for 34 years, the Rev. Bronos has two children, George and Katarina. She graduated Nashotah House in 2007 and has been the Director of Christian Formation, All Saints, Winter Park 19992006, and was the associate priest at Church of the Incarnation in Oviedo, FL. Currently, Rev. Bronos is the Rector of Church of the Good Shepherd, Maitland, FL.
on the Sunday lectionary and calendaring information. All of this might seem excessive, but I have mostly linked them all so if I post on one it generates to the others … and the last three families who have become members found us through our website after a Google search. But I wouldn’t be anywhere else because I am over-awed at what the Lord has done. When I arrived the congregation was determinedly moving forward, although still hurt and almost financially broken after a split in 2007. In fact when I arrived the first week of Advent there had been no stewardship campaign, no budgeting for the following year, and the current year’s budget was showing a $5,000 deficit. Within one month the Lord provided so abundantly that we finished the year with a $5,000 surplus — a $10,000 swing in one month. We formulated a budget completely on faith with a substantial “other income” item which I told the vestry was “the Lord will provide” line item. He did. We had to replace a flat roof, one large air-conditioner, and purchase a new electronic organ, and we ended the year with a $3,000 surplus. The following year we had increased our pledge income but still had a very substantial “the Lord will provide” line item — and He did again. We replaced two more air conditioners, made substantial repairs to the 1883 original Carpenter Gothic church building, now called the Chapel, listed in 2012 on the National Historic Register. However, we were not paying our full diocesan tithe. That June, I asked the vestry to step out in faith again and to begin paying 10% of our pledge-and-plate income to the diocese. We did. We replaced another air-conditioner, painted and re-carpeted ADVENT 2013
rooms, bought another piano/organ for the Chapel, and ended the year with a $15,000 surplus that is now being used to replace three more air-conditioners. Besides the financial provision, the Lord has increased our numbers. He has provided people who have brought new life to the seven-acre property, including two vegetable gardens. People who have a heart for those in need have enlarged our Food Bank ministry. In 2012, we gave over 60,000 pounds of food to nearly 7,000 people, together with toiletries, and provided clothing to Dress For Success. This year we will also partner with Jobs Partnership of Florida to provide job training for the chronically under-employed. We also chartered with Mothers of Preschoolers International (MOPS) and have a wonderful group of moms with their preschoolers who meet on campus bi-monthly, and for whom we provide spiritual direction. The Lord has brought people who have a heart for the healing ministry. We have begun an Order of St. Luke Chapter and a weekly healing prayer service. Others have led grief-counseling groups. Still others with gifts of teaching have begun a home fellowship Bible study. There are so many other quiet ministries that are happening around the campus — I could go on, for there is no end to the Lord’s gracious provision.
It is all gift!
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alumni Feature
A Conversation that Could make a Difference…
The Rev. Steven Peay, PhD Professor of Homiletics and Church History Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
August 14, 2013, a quiet conversation took place at Nashotah House that could make a difference in how priests are trained. The Rt. Rev. Keith Whitmore, Assisting Bishop of Atlanta and Director of the Episcopal Studies program at Emory University, Archdeacon Edward Fuller of the Diocese of Atlanta, and the Rev. Steven Peay, PhD, Academic Dean at the House talked for over two hours. Their topic – how can Nashotah House better serve the church at large? The conversation was far ranging and rather encouraging. Part of the conversation focused on possible programs the House could offer for clergy continuing education. Another examined the development of programs for diaconal formation. The most intense looked at the possible relationship between the Episcopal Studies Program at Emory and the House. It is clear that university divinity school based formation programs are here to stay, as are programs offered by other denominational seminaries, including Asbury, GordonConwell. While these programs may provide exceptional
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No agreements or arrangements have been made, but the conversations will continue. These are the sort of talks described in a Living Church article, April 14, 2013, by the Rev. Dr. George Sumner of Wycliffe-Toronto, conversations that take the seminary “out of the box” and out into the needs of the Church, and rightly so. “Only the diversified will survive,” says Sumner. Jackson Kemper, James Lloyd Breck and company founded Nashotah House thinking “out of the box” of 19th century churchmanship, though grounded in the Church’s historic mission. That same thinking and commitment will guide the ongoing conversations for expanding relationships for Nashotah House.
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aul, writing to the founding Church in Rome in this section of Chapter 15, is helping them understand the responsibilities of the strong to the weak which all results in the love of one another. Of course he uses the word agape, sacrificial love. He quotes from the Hebrew scripture in the previous verse and many commentators think this is an attempt to justify a source that some might have called into question. As an Anglican, I have always struggled to find the balance in the Scripture, Tradition, and Reason triangle that so informs our outlook on the modern world. Thanks, Mr. Hooker. This is a delicate dance not unlike trying to explain the Holy Trinity.
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academic formation, they are not geared to the sort of intensive spiritual, sacramental, liturgical and priestly formation that can be offered by a dedicated house of formation like Nashotah House. The conversation examined ways that Nashotah House might serve as a resource to provide opportunities for students that would not otherwise be available to them.
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No matter what you say it is some how incomplete. Yet I have also been moved by the words of our Book of Common Prayer, specifically the Collect for Proper 28: Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 236). As biblical Christians we are shaped and formed by the Scriptures. They help make us the persons God calls us to be. Over my years of ordained ministry I have discovered that Episcopalians have a deep hunger to engage the texts of our foundations. Bible study is one way to fill that hunger. Yet the last of the four things the above Collect suggests is as important as the intellectual process of study; “inwardly digest” them. Knowledge of the Scriptures is useful, but only insofar as it shapes our lives. Christianity in not simply one religion among many, but a way of life, a vocation, lived out daily by being shaped by the biblical images. Can we be the “good Samaritan” to our neighbors? Can we proclaim the good news of God in Christ? Do we recognize that good news? Making the Holy Scriptures a daily part of our own study and devotion puts us in a position to answer a resounding, “Yes!” Many of us started early in life to learn biblical lessons from Sunday school stories and heroes. Others have had advanced study through Bible Studies, EFM, etc. But the issue is does this knowledge form us, shape us as living models of the living Christ? Knowledge alone is not redemptive. Yet it is important to remember that this journey to vocation is not just about “me;” there is an “us” factor here. I am back to Paul’s conclusion following this passage. Christianity is by its nature communal. You and I are called to model our lives on the Scriptural images in the context of the Communion of saints. We are shaped, not simply by those around us today or our current interpretation of Scriptural texts but by the Church that was and is yet to come. Getting back to St. Paul here the point of this text is to lead to upbuilding us in the kind of love Jesus had for us, a sacrificial love in the fullest sense of that phrase. While Scripture directs and shapes us it is not a club with which to beat one another. Again Paul reminds us that that kind of formation issues forth in the fruits of the Spirit. We who have been ordained must always remember that the collars we wear do not make us who we are. It is rather our being shaped by the immersion of our lives in the Scriptures that give us the right to wear such a symbol. God has blessed us with such a wonderful community of witnesses.
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The Rt. Rev. Keith B. Whitmore, ’77, Director of the Episcopal Studies program at Candler School of Theology, Emory University, has also served as Assistant Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta since April 2008. He previously served as the fifth Bishop of the Diocese of Eau Claire in northwestern Wisconsin from 1999 to 2008. Prior to being elected as bishop, Whitmore served congregations in Wisconsin, Missouri, and Kansas. He was serving as Dean of the Cathedral in Western Kansas when elected bishop. Ordained priest and deacon in 1977, he has undergraduate degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Theology, an MDiv. (1977) and D.D. from Nashotah House. Bishop Whitmore also served as an Army Chaplain and retired after 27 years of service. He has served two triennia on the Standing Commission on Ministry Development of the Episcopal Church and is former president of the Domestic Missionary Partnership and president of Affirming Catholicism, organizations devoted to the mission of the Church. He has also served as a trustee at Nashotah House Seminary and Berkeley Divinity School at Yale. He has served on the Episcopal Church’s Joint Committee on Program, Budget, and Finance, the General Convention Committee on Structure, and the General Convention Committee on Liturgy and Music. He is currently Chaplain to the Anglican Association of Musicians. Bishop Whitmore has conducted workshops on Evangelism, Parish Development, Vision and Goal Setting and Leadership Development in congregations around the country for over 30 years.
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FACULTY Feature
Cataloging
Whatever Was Written In Former Days For Our Instruction “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.” Romans 15:4
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hen the Apostle composed these words from Romans, he meant, presumably, the Hebrew Scriptures. A library of the size and scope of that possessed by the House in 2013 would have been beyond his wildest imagination. Obviously, the more than 125,000 printed volumes in the library are not all scripture; and yet, among them are commentaries on scripture by eminent Christians of “former days”: the Fathers of the Church, the Medieval Saints, the Reformers, and those eminent churchmen and women who have followed them. All these, too, are suitable helps for “our instruction… and encouragement” in the living of Christian lives. The problem with having a large library of edifying material, of course, has always been locating just that special bit of encouragement that speaks to our need in the present moment. In response to that problem, library services at Nashotah House have changed radically in the last thirty or forty years. Forty years ago, seminarians used the card catalog to identify printed books by author, title, or subject. However, the card catalog was replaced eight years ago by a web-based online catalog, and the task of locating needed books became easier: seminarians may now search the catalog from anywhere in the world. The task of accessing scholarly journals has followed a similar pattern. Forty years ago, seminarians painstakingly used printed indexes to locate articles in periodicals; but now, seminarians merely turn on their web browsers, go to the 38
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library’s home page, and search one of a number of journal databases provided by the library. But, in this same span of time, major changes were also taking place in the publishing industry. For instance, in the last ten to twenty years, the electronic journal has rapidly been replacing the printed journal. So now, the library subscribes to more electronic journals than printed ones. And, more recently, electronic book formats have been adopted by publishers and embraced by the public. If one were to look today into the ubiquitous backpacks carried by seminarians, one would certainly find printed library books, but one would also find an iPad or a Kindle eBook reader stocked with electronic books on various theological topics. Even as the library staff strived to make locating needed material easier and more convenient, the publishing industry’s adoption of electronic formats has made the problem more complicated. The proliferation of electronic books and electronic journals and the databases that index them has resulted in a bewildering array of search options. However, when seminarians come to the library in search of information, they want to discover what the library has on a specific topic. They do not care whether the answers they seek are in printed books, electronic books, printed journals, or electronic journals. They certainly do not want to search through four or five databases just to discover what the library owns. What has been needed is a unified NASHOTAH.EDU
David G. Sherwood, ’12, has served as Library Director and Associate Professor of Bibliography at Nashotah House since 2003.
search interface that will identify library holdings on a topic regardless of the form that information takes. In July of this year, the library made a giant stride toward achieving just such a unified search interface when it implemented “OCLC Worldshare Management System,” a state-of-the-art library system, using the best cloud-computing and web-based technologies. A single search entered into the new version of the library’s HouseCat catalog now enables seminarians to discover books and journal articles regardless of whether they are held in the library’s printed or its electronic collections. This means that, when seminarians search HouseCat, they are not only searching the 125,000 printed works shelved in the library, but they are also searching an additional 40,000 electronic books or journals owned by the House. The result is that more edifying materials are now more conveniently searchable, and this should mean that seminarians are more likely to discover precisely what they need among all that “was written in former days…for our instruction.”
STUDENT HIGHLIGHT
A Postcard from Walsingham
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or the Teaching Parish Practicum (TPP), Justin Long, ’15, prayerfully sought a parish that would continue to form him in the tradition and teaching at Nashotah House. And a bit of an adventure across the Atlantic Ocean didn’t hurt either. Five miles from the North Sea, Our Lady of Walsingham, Norwich, UK proved to be a powerful place where the Holy Spirit is active in the lives of pilgrims and daily worshipers.
Walsingham is not about the ritual or the adornment, it is about Jesus Christ and the salvation of man – pointing people continually to Christ. “Walsingham has a unique healing ministry,” says Mr. Long. “The Saxon well, unearthed in 1931, is from the same source of water as the original 11th century well. Pilgrims seek the water to drink and to be anointed by the priests here. Nashotah House trains priests to go out to serve, and I was blessed to serve at Walsingham, living out what I have been taught in my past experiences in ministry and in what Nashotah seeks to form in the seminarians.”
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“When I see the delight of those who, although ill or with genetic disorders, singing: ‘Oh, sweet and blessed country, the home of God’s elect. Oh, sweet and blessed country, that eager hearts expect. Jesus, in mercy bring us to that dear land of rest. Who art, with God the Father, and Spirit ever blest – one knows the Holy Spirit is at work in their lives. ’ The arresting holiness of the Shrine, hosting many people from such varied backgrounds, gives an idea of the kingdom of God revealed. “Many people fully participating in the kingdom, wanting to get past the veil to Jerusalem the Golden. It was glory profound, reminding me that is what Nashotah House seeks to do for the training of priests – to go out and serve, forming and teaching us to one day leave.” Mr. Long’s TPP experience was rich and full, involving teaching, ministering, preaching, and choral study. The continuity experienced at Nashotah House and the Church of the Resurrection in Wheaton, IL, his home parish, along with the ability to incorporate hands-on ministry into his studies, fused in the Christocentrism at Walsingham. “Walsingham reflected Nashotah House in mission and ministry,” says Mr. Long. “Discipleship, devotion, action within Christ, giving our heart to the Lord as Mary did. Our Lady of Walsingham is not about the ritual or the adornment, it is about Jesus Christ and the salvation of man — pointing people continually to Christ.”
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Ordinations
The Rev. Stephen Hilgendorf, ’15,
was ordained Deacon on August 21, 2013, by the Rt. Rev. Council Nedd II, Diocese of Chesapeake & Northeast. Currently a student at Nashotah House Theological Seminary, 2777 Mission Road, Nashotah, WI 53058.
The Rev. Forrest G. Tucker, ’13,
was ordained Priest on September 7, 2013, by the Rt. Rev. William A. Thompson, Diocese of Western Anglicans. He is planting the Church of the Incarnation at, 2940 Beech Avenue, Billings, MT 59102. NOTIFICATIONs OF DEATH
The Rev. Dr. Clifford A. Comfort, ’62, died July 30, 2013, age 94.
The Rev. Lloyd Winthrop Johnson Jr., ’66, died June 2, 2013, age 73.
The Rev. Glenn E. Derby, ’83, died June 17, 2013, age 69.
Michaelmas, 2013 missioner issue The Giving Report published in the Michaelmas 2013 issue reflected gifts received during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013. Gifts received after July 1, 2013 will be published in the Michaelmas 2014 issue of The Missioner. Due to an internal software issue that has since been corrected, we were unable to publish the following donors in our Michaelmas, 2013 Missioner issue. We hope this unfortunate oversight does not in any way communicate a diminished sense of our enormous gratitude. The Rev. Henry L. Doyle Mr. and Mrs. John E. Jones Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Rogers
Dr. Colin Podmore The Rev. Robert G. Preston
Editors’ Notes Nashotah House is pleased to publish updates in the Biddings and Bindings for our matriculated students, alumni and honorary degree recipients. We publish the information as it is submitted after the date the event occurred. If you would like to submit a transition announcement, please visit nashotah.edu/ eventsandmedia and select The Missioner magazine – Contact Us to complete an online form. Your update will appear in an upcoming issue of The Missioner and appropriate updates will also be noted in the Office of Institutional Advancement. 40
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January 2-13, 2014 Liturgy and Piety of the Medieval Church in England This three-credit elective course is part of the Epiphany Term 2014 with possible credit as Liturgy, Ascetical Theology, or Church History. Our Norwich Seminar of 2013 was such a success, and our relationship with the Norwich Cathedral Chapter, especially the exceptional support and hospitality of Canon Jeremy Haselock, was so mutually agreeable, that we have decided to return to Norwich in 2014. The focus of the 2014 seminar will be
on the liturgy and piety of the English Church in the later Middle Ages. Norwich is an ideal location in which to find in one-square mile more than 40 surviving medieval parish churches, plus the remains of numerous monastic orders, devotional guilds, and the cell of the mystical writer and anchoress Julian. The countryside surrounding Norwich also has the greatest surviving concentration of medieval parish churches in the British Isles — more than six hundred. Also nearby is Walsingham and the restored pilgrimage center of Our Lady of
Walsingham, which in the Middle Ages was second only to St. Thomas à Becket’s shrine at Canterbury in its power and popularity. Norwich Cathedral will continue to be the center for the course, with our full participation in the daily round of services in a building that has been prayed in for more than 800 years. The city’s churches will be our “textbooks” in which to understand the liturgical and pious practices that created them as both works of art and centers of devotion.
The following topics and places will have a place of primary importance in our itinerary:
All participants will read a common set of materials to provide background and allow for discussion of the people, events, and sites that we encounter. Each participant will also be responsible for one aspect of our common learning, as well as pursuing an individual project with the guidance of the instructors.
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Benedictine liturgy and the Opus Dei (Divine Office), especially at the Cathedral
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Cistercian spiritual practices and its contrasts in art and prayer to the Benedictine tradition, of which it is a part
Students and friends of Nashotah who wish to audit the course are welcome to apply. If accepted, they will expected to complete the required readings and participate in the communal activities.
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Mendicant spirituality in preaching and spiritual direction of the laity, especially looking at the importance of the Black Friars (Dominicans) in Norwich public life
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Mystical writers of the 14th-15th centuries in England, especially Julian of Norwich, in her anchor hold at St. Julian’s Church and Margery Kempe of King’s Lynn
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Parish life and piety in the late Middle Ages, especially the roles played by the laity in the patronage, maintenance and liturgical life of their parishes
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Importance of relics, devotion to the saints and pilgrimage— with our own pilgrimage to Walsingham
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Theology and significance of prayers and Masses for the Dead, including confraternities, chantry chapels, etc. and a visit to the Great Hospital
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“Seeing as believing” in public worship and private devotion— images, stained glass, illuminated books of devotion and rood screens
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Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Nashotah, WI 53058 Permit No. 1
The Missioner (ISSN 1521–5148) is published quarterly by Nashotah House, a theological seminary forming leaders in the Anglican tradition since 1842. 2777 Mission Rd., Nashotah, WI 53058–9793, Tel.: 262.646.6500, nashotah.edu
Residential & Hybrid Distance Programs The Hybrid Distance Program combines the richness of residential education with the flexibility of modern technology
A Life of Prayer A Life of Study A Life of Community Classic Seminary Curriculum Advanced Degree Programs Anglican Studies 42
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