VANTAGE Winter 2021

Inside This Issue

NRH Renamed Riggs Commons

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Letter from the President

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Prayers for Learning, Living, and Loving in Between

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Reverberating Love: Oldenburg’s Enough is Best

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Libraries Thriving through COVID-19 and Beyond

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EDITORS

Corie Cox Jennifer Cuthbertson

DESIGN

Lucy Ke

ILLUSTRATIONS

Corie Cox

PHOTOGRAPHY

Growing Up Columbia: Mary Martha Riviere’s Unique Perspective

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Learning from a Distance

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Hau Sian Suan Michael Thompson C. Benton Kline Archives and Special Collections

CONTRIBUTORS

Preparing Christian Leaders Faithfully, Together

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Grants for Churches to Plan, Strategize, Revitalize, Flourish

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Inside every issue Everyday Spiritual Practices

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CLL Course Listing

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Seminary News

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Alumni Updates

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Our Faculty

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Final Word: Dr. Ward

This issue of VANTAGE is available online at www.ctsnet.edu.

Julie Bailey ’09 Kelly D. Campbell Erskine Clarke ’66 Noura R. Eid ’23 Chassidy Goggins Caitlin Reeves Greenamyre Brian D. Hecker David Huffine Mary Martha Riviere Mindy McGarrah Sharp Leanne Van Dyk Haruko N. Ward Debra Weir Charles Wiley

inside back cover

An educational institution of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

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NRH Renamed Riggs Commons Dreary weather did not dampen the spirit of the day as the Columbia Seminary community celebrated from near and far Throughout the 2019 academic year, Columbia wrestled with its history and participation in the enslavement and oppression of Black people. In its June 2020 meeting via Zoom, the Board of Trustees voted to unanimously to affirm a commitment statement titled, “Repairing the Breach: Deepening Columbia’s Commitment to Black People and their Flourishing.” One commitment from Repairing the Breach was the renaming of New Residence Hall to the Marcia Y. Riggs Commons.

On September 14, 2020, students, faculty, staff, board members, and alumni gathered virtually—or safely in their cars—to celebrate and honor Dr. Riggs with a renaming ceremony and car parade.

Looking beyond the surface A letter from President Van Dyk This morning, I was on a Zoom call (a familiar event for many of us!) with prominent leaders in the city of Atlanta. Dr. Robert Franklin, a wise and experienced leader, reflected on the challenge of leadership in such demanding times. He said that we all have a basic question to ask ourselves in this time of challenge and loss. Dr. Franklin invited us to imagine a seasoned Shakespearean actor coming to the theater and asking, “What is the play and what role do I have?” This question struck me as the heart of the matter for us: what is happening in our world and what role do I have to make a difference? It is a question appropriate for every chapter of our lives but, right now, it seems even more pressing and urgent. I ask myself that question as I continue the call of leadership here at Columbia Seminary and I invite you to ask yourselves how you too can clarify and embolden your service here and now in your places of community and witness.

The events of the year 2020 have impacted all of us again and again. The stories pile up of loss and loneliness. The stories also pile up of faithfulness and love. I am listening carefully to these stories and trying to absorb the wisdom that they teach.

The stories from Columbia Seminary that have emerged over the past year will be told and retold many times. We will learn from each other as we share our experiences and find new perspectives that challenge and instruct us.

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Surely, we are confident that learning from one another, through the guidance and encouragement of the Holy Spirit, will deepen our unity. We still face the pandemic, racial injustice, and political upheaval. Those forces often drive such deep wedges into families and communities that fractures and chasms open up. Even as I write these words, the challenges of political crises are acute. Some people are lured into hatred and even violence. Yet, as Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Hate is too great a burden to bear.” Our call is to unity and community.

True unity, however, includes the demanding requirements of repentance and forgiveness and justice and change. We know the road to unity is not a smooth and grassy path but a steep and rocky climb. We at Columbia Seminary are committed to that climb and will, God helping us, persist in it.

Many other challenges surround us as well, including the death of family members, the long separation from those we love, the frustration of not being able to be together on our beautiful campus, and economic impacts that have threatened us. In the context of all that we have lost or left, I find myself with an even deeper gratitude for what binds us together as a community of faith and learning and service. The witness of this community to our union in Christ over the past months of physical separation is profoundly moving to me. Our staff has kept all the processes of effective administration going; our faculty has tackled the demands of quickly learning online education while still paying pastoral attention to the learning needs of students; our trustees have been attentive, supportive,

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Our call is to unity and community.

True unity, however, includes the demanding requirements of repentance and forgiveness and justice and change. We know the road to unity is not a smooth and grassy path but a steep and rocky climb. We at Columbia Seminary are committed to that climb and will, God helping us, persist in it.

and encouraging; our students have persevered in their studies against considerable odds. When I reflect on this past year, I freely admit that I am proud of us—for what we have endured, for what we have modeled, and for what we have hoped and dreamed.

This issue of Vantage takes the opportunity to celebrate some of the strengths and gifts of our seminary community. We give thanks to God for the life and ministry of President Emeritus Douglas Oldenburg, who passed away on July 21, 2020. Every time I walk around our lovely campus, I see the plaque which names the center green lawn as the Oldenburg Quadrangle.

This is a fitting remembrance for the president who accomplished significant building and landscape improvements during his 14-year presidency. This issue will also highlight how the seminary library has continued to serve faculty and students during a campus shutdown. The sheer commitment and creativity of the library leadership and staff is worthy of celebration! Another joyful moment for our community was the official naming and dedication of the Marcia Y. Riggs Commons, the new name, engraved in stone, of what used to

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be called the NRH (New Residence Hall). It is a joy to now call this student residence hall by the shorter name of Riggs Commons. We eagerly look forward to the day when students can once again make their seminary home there!

All of our days belong to God; this is a daily comfort and encouragement to us. We are grateful, as well, for the faithful support of the friends of Columbia Seminary. We continue to need your help as we commit to the mission of the seminary to serve the church and the world that God so loves.

Blessings,

Leanne Van Dyk P R E S I D E N T

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Prayers for Learning, Living, and Loving In Between MINDY McGARRAH SHARP Associate Professor of Practical Theology and Pastoral Care & MAPT Program Director

In between virus and vaccine, God comfort all who are ill and guide all who care for the sick. Spark wonder in science and awe in the strange beauty of creation. God help us endure.

In between fall and spring, God remind all caretakers that new life remembered at Christmas is worthy of ongoing celebration and praise. Empower all caretakers to nurture creation’s crawling. God help us move ever deeper into an inclusive desire for living, loving, and learning.

In between election and transition, God be wisdom and truth that honors collective dreams and visions for nations that desire and abide in peace. God help us expect and enact accountable and just practices. God help us mend old and new wounds.

God help us transform words and weapons from machetes into maracas.

In between seed and fruit, God nourish rich dark soil, tap thirstquenching streams, direct sunbeams to neglected concrete cracks and planted rows of crops alike. God help us soften even the frozen places of our hearts.

In between neighbors, God bring reconciliation, interdependence, mutual concern, and desire for well-being for all people. God be both the potter who makes and the mosaic artist who remakes.

God help us notice beauty.

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In between isolation and shared meals, God hold tender fragments of memories and hopes, help us honor absences and longings with dignity, and sparkle in glimpses of delight. God help us reimagine what it could be to feast.

In between here and there, God embolden all your children to resist hatred, renounce investment in oppression, awaken compassion where care and concern are lacking. God help us turn walls into bridges.

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In between diagnosis and response, God heal your creation, gather rituals of support, sustain courage in the waiting, ease fears and reveal your steadfastness in uncertainty. God help us hope.

In between speech and being heard, God bend ears to hear, open eyes to see, and awaken desire to believe in every other fragment of creation’s sacredness. Choreograph creation’s chorus into a living song. God help us dismantle disrespect, convert complicities, and remember each other.

With each passage of oxygen through creation’s lungs, God bless the breath of life that flows in between inhale and exhale.

Help all people breathe and be breathed into life.

In between invitation and event, God encourage joy and creativity that taps into the deep yearning for celebration, commemoration, proclamation, and dedication. God help us co-inspire.

With each recommitment to learn, ponder, and imagine, God bless the marvelous matter we call brain funding in between with ideas, naming needs, and weaving possibilities. Help all people learn and teach the collective truth of our precious lives.

In between yesterday and tomorrow, God abide in the possibility of now, the dependence on this moment. Be the mighty wind that accompanies each heartbeat, breath, and thought. God help us live.

In between syllabus and final exam, God inspire teachers with insight and humility, spark clarity of purpose for students, and remind all of the responsibility of collective voice. God help us learn.

In between piercing loss and patchwork rituals of remembrance, God help us honor the dead, accompany and acknowledge the dying. Craft pathways for connection across miles and masks.

God help us grieve.

In between ancestors and future children, lace generations with threads of becoming, visions of a belonging that endures, renew shared investment in always possible intergenerational healing.

God help us listen.

In between the pages of our open books, inspire writers to imagine worlds, to attend faithfully, to report truthfully. Encourage readers to learn, engage, receive and respond with confidence. Help us remember the wisdom of old words and the joy of new sentences and translations. God help us come to voice.

With each movement of love embodied in acts of justice and mercy, God ignite hearts with passion that dreams in between time and space. Help us love and be loved.

In between sorrow and gratitude, God help us live, learn, and love.

Note: this prayer is written into the multiple public health, racialized violence, and climate pandemics of 2020 at the turning of the new year with inspiration from (1) the January 2020 CTS immersion course in Cuba where we learned of an indigenous pea pod called both machete and maraca, (2) the author’s experience of recovering from COVID with all the resources and within the structures of an inequitable society, (3) ongoing commitment to learning to desire and partner in justice, and (4) the insight that the corona virus attacks the lungs, brain, and heart, loci of breathing, learning, and loving that inform these short breath prayers.

In between what used to be and what is to come, move through the now, accompany stillness and inspire rest, motivate actions that liberate movements, be present now. God hold us in presence, steady while always changing.

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Reverberating Love: Oldenburg’s Enough is Best Known as “the man the Quad was named for,” Douglas Oldenburg’s effects are still felt far beyond the center of Campus Introduction by E RSKINE CLARKE, Professor of American Religious History The week after Doug Oldenburg announced he was leaving his pastorate in Charlotte to become president of Columbia Seminary, an editorial in the Charlotte Observer called his leaving Charlotte “a great loss to the city.” The editor noted that Oldenburg had addressed eloquently many issues, but “his most urgent interest was Christian faith and economic justice.” Later, on the eve of his departure from Charlotte, the Observer said that he had been “a powerful influence for good” in the life of the city and named the many ways he had challenged “his prosperous congregation, community and denomination to use wealth and influence in the way Jesus commanded: to help those who are in need.” He was, the paper said, admirably suited for the work to which he had been called: “the shaping of future generations of Presbyterian ministers.”

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Those of us on faculty soon learned that for Doug “the shaping of future generations of Presbyterian ministers” involved a serious quest for excellence that demonstrated his deep internalization of a Calvinist ethic and piety—an excellence that emphasized personal discipline as a characteristic of the Christian life and that honored the life of the mind as a Christian duty. The excellence he sought for Columbia was not a vague abstraction, but a quality of spirit that combined an unusual degree of disciplined work and scholarship with personal integrity and a vision of the high calling of Christian ministry. He was to say repeatedly that any quest for genuine excellence could only flow from gratitude and from a Christian discipleship that had its origins in God’s amazing grace.

Doug demonstrated excellence in the brilliant administrative team he gathered—persons with deep roots in the life of the church who had provided leadership not only in the Presbyterian Church but also in the broader ecumenical church. He brought new faculty, some from other denominational traditions, who were already widely respected scholars or young scholars with great promise and an eagerness to teach students preparing for the ministry.

Columbia began to draw students from around the country in rapidly growing numbers. Doug said regularly that “we are not looking for more students, but always looking for better students.” Still the numbers grew as did the number of international church leaders—bishops and deans, theologians and biblical scholars—who came to study and spend time on the Columbia campus. With his pastoral background in Charlotte, he was able to recruit as trustees highly respected ministers and elders who were distinguished civic and business leaders. All of this meant that Presbyterians in the southeast came to know and trust Doug. They thought of Columbia as “our seminary that educates most of our ministers,” and they consequently gave generously to support the work of Columbia as the endowment soared far beyond what earlier generations could have imagined.

While Doug did not hesitate to make hard decisions about the faculty, we respected him because we knew he was a person of great integrity who did not hold grudges. His pastoral experience marked his relationship to us—always kind, generous, and eager for us to be a community of shared Christian commitments and affections in service to the church and through the church to the world.

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By B RIAN D. HECKER, Public Services Archivist

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ouglas Oldenburg (1935-2020) served as the seventh President of Columbia Theological Seminary from 1987-2000. While serving as president, CTS underwent significant changes, including greater diversity in faculty, campus renovations, and more than a quintupling of the endowment. While President of CTS, he also served as the Moderator of the 210th (1998) General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and was awarded five honorary doctorates.

However remarkable and valuable these accomplishments were, Oldenburg kept praise at bay. He spent years cultivating a vision of success which permitted him to recognize that he was a recipient at a greater level than he was a participant. It was a vision of success that did not require these particular accomplishments - cumulatively considered - in order to be expressed.

Before his appointed as President of CTS, Oldenburg held pastorates at three churches: Covenant Presbyterian Church in Lynchburg, VA (1960-1967), Davis Memorial Presbyterian Church in Elkins, WV (1967-1972), and Covenant Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, N.C. (1972-1986). Throughout this time, as well as a year spent at Yale Divinity School, Oldenburg deeply explored the relationship of the Christian faith to questions of 7

economic justice.

Oldenburg came to hold fundamental interwoven assumptions about the human person stemming from his understanding of God’s love expressed in creation and redemption. These assumptions explored below deeply shaped his views on economic justice and informed his vision of success.

For Oldenburg, all of creation is a beautiful reverberating gift of love. Humans - each an individual instance of this original gift - are equally loved by God and created valuable to the whole of creation. He envisioned humans as a communal family given out of God’s original love for the sake of reflecting that very love through sharing with one another and caring for creation.

Oldenburg believed that God’s love is exceptionally and profoundly shown to humanity in the person of Jesus Christ, a measure and incarnation of love that those who call upon the name of Christ are called to show to every other person.

Economic inequality and especially gross inequality were primarily expressions of the gifts of God not being equitably shared, often emerging through a series of tendencies and misremembrances, and more often than not, accompanied by devastating consequences.

Oldenburg diagnosed the condition of gross inequality as a byproduct of what he termed the “cultural story.” The cultural story recognizes on some level that creation is beautiful but tends towards forgetting the accompanying primordial call to reflect God by giving and sharing. It tends to operate under the assumption that the creation and accumulation of wealth and other goods is an end unto itself and that all that our possessions have come by our efforts and are ours to keep. This story is fully

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Presidents Emeriti J. Davison Phillips, Stephen A. Haynor, and Douglas Oldenburg at Hayner’s inauguration. expressed in radical individualism, meritocracy, and unfettered capitalism. Under this understanding, humans are owners rather than stewards, and value is measured by abundance and the ability to contribute to what the culture deems relevant.

The cultural story is principally spread through saturating the imagination with competing advertisements peddling promises of a better self and a happier life. Such advertisements elicit attention and create desire by instilling and exploiting deficiencies under the guise that only these proffered goods can fulfill. More is always perpetually needed because such goods and promises foster further desire rather than sustained satisfaction.

Oldenburg encouraged audiences to recognize that this story is one that has contributed to the high standard of living found throughout much of Western world. He identified multiple benefits deriving from the drive for innovation and individual wealth accumulation, including medicine, information technology, food production and distribution, plumbing, and education - including seminaries. He also implored audiences to recognize this story is one that has also accompanied and contributed to the spiraling social decline and degraded conditions of untold millions. Many of those who have accumulated much wealth are not happier because of it.

Marriages are broken. Countless children (whom Oldenburg had a particular concern for) are impoverished. For Oldenburg, more individuals are casualties, rather than beneficiaries, of radical individualism stemming from the cultural story.

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Oldenburg’s repeated response to the tendencies of the cultural story over several decades was, “enough is best.” The seemingly simple motto was an imperative call to patience and an abidance with a vulnerable hope, beckoning listeners to permit an interruption from the insatiable desire for more.

“Enough is best” entails being faithful to God’s creation without worshipping it.

Oldenburg also took the motto as an indicative, and perhaps supplies an appropriate summation of what for Oldenburg constitutes the conditions of a just society. Conditions of a just society include equal access to sufficient and long-term sustainable living conditions for all members and freedom from exploitation, hunger, and poverty. “Enough” may not always be precise and exact, but it is not difficult to grasp that the malnourished do not have enough. Equality — born from the inclusive nature of God’s love — should be viewed as normative and more essential than individual taste, preferences, and differences.

Oldenburg believed that the Christian community is called to have special care for the poor, the vulnerable, and afflicted because God has special care for the poor, the vulnerable, and the afflicted. The empty tomb cannot be domesticated and paraded according to the form of progress sought by the cultural story because God in Christ identifies with those whom progress has left behind. Christ is found amongst those in greatest need — amongst the least of these. Those who have plenty are not loved less, but those in greatest need especially feel the absence of the shalom — the peace and joy for which they were created.

He warned against the temptation to view success — whether in ministry or society — according to the cultural story of accumulation and radical individualism. Oldenburg understood success along the lines of stewardship, serving those in greatest need according to the gifts God has given.

For Oldenburg, this special care for those in need translates into exploring and advocating for public policies because

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charitable donations and the resources of the institutional church are limited. Those with actual needs should not have to depend upon the provisional charity of select donors. Access to sustainable necessities of life is an extension of sharing within the communal family of humanity. Economic justice is founded upon love, but for Oldenburg, economic justice is a matter of justice, as it is unjust that those among the communal family are not valued. “Enough is best” entails having an unequal concern for those in greatest need and promoting means to provide for those needs.

Oldenburg insisted that we listen to economists as well as those affected to understand what policies to support. Solutions may always be expressed in tension with the continual need for amendment, but success should primarily be viewed as being faithful to the gifts God has given — creation and others — especially to those in greatest need.

From his years in active ministry to his time as president of CTS and Moderator of the 210th (1998) General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Oldenburg’s focus and decisions consistently testified to his deep care for creation as a divine gift. For anyone who visits and walks across the campus of Columbia Theological Seminary, one of the first and most conspicuous spaces is the Oldenburg Quadrangle. It was one of the many renovations he oversaw while serving as President and it was named in his honor upon retirement. It is a fitting reminder of Oldenburg’s love of creation — a space intended for equal communal sharing and enjoyment.

The C. Benton Kline, Jr. Special Collections and Archives is honored to house the papers and select sermons of Douglas Oldenburg, documenting his many years as a minister, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and President of Columbia Theological Seminary. For access or questions about this collection, please contact the archivist by phone at (404) 687-4628 or by email at archivist@ctsnet.edu.

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trained volunteers. They helped us secure funds from other congregations. All the while, Doug’s preaching and concern about economic justice inspired me and many others to help.

In April l975, Crisis Assistance Ministry began operations out of the Scout Hut at Dilworth Methodist Church. By that summer we moved to St. Martin’s Episcopal Church where the agency lived for 13 years.

It is now housed in a building provided by Mecklenburg County, Crisis Assistance and is a public/private partnership meeting emergency needs of food, shelter, and clothing for thousands of county residents. In FY 2020 alone, over l7,000 families were served. Doug’s support for the agency continued even after leaving Charlotte; he stayed informed and involved through service on the Advisory Board.

Remembering Oldenburg

During the recession of l974, Doug Oldenburg made a pastoral call inviting me—a mother of four and part-time teacher— to join the staff of Charlotte, North Carolina’s Covenant Presbyterian Church staff as Director of Community Mission.

He was very persuasive, and I was very intrigued.

In that turbulent time of massive unemployment many desperate people went to churches seeking help, and Doug and I were determined to respond in a meaningful and responsible way.

A trip in early l975 to Winston-Salem’s Crisis Control Ministry helped us to enlarge our vision. Afterwards, Doug set to work through the Clergy Association recruiting a Board of Directors.

He also wrote a grant request to PCUSA while I sought and

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Doug’s pastoral visit of 46 years ago not only gave me the opportunity to serve my community for 25 years but also gave the community an amazing organization that for over 45 years has made a profound difference in the lives of thousands.

CAROLINE LOVE MYERS Founding Director of Crisis Assistance Ministry

One of the great blessings of my life and ministry across the years has been my close association with Columbia Theological Seminary, a meaningful relation that began almost fifty years ago. Across the decades since my graduation, I have been involved with the Seminary in a variety of ways, but by far, the most memorable chapter took place during the thirteen-year presidential tenure of Doug Oldenburg. Besides having the privilege of serving on the search committee that called Doug, I later served on the Board of Trustees and was chair of the Board for several years during his presidency.

What a visionary Doug was in ways great and small. I was the first woman to lead the Board of Trustees, because he believed in me and because he thought it was way past time for a woman to serve in that position. The first tenured African American professor, the Reverend Doctor Marcia Riggs, was called during his tenure. His inclusive vision of the reign of God soaked into every aspect of seminary life.

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When Doug spoke, people listened. I was present at the PCUSA General Assembly when he was overwhelmingly elected as our denominations’ Moderator. Presbyterian Commissioners from all over the country were genuinely overwhelmed with joy that a person of such stature and skill would be their next leader. And what a job he did, emphasizing the crucial role of Christian education in the church and advocating for theological education wherever he went. His key commitment was encouraging people, as did our Lord, to love God with both mind and heart.

For all his gifts and prominence, Doug was, most of all, a really swell guy. He had a twinkle in his eye. He got up on the right side of the bed in the morning. He was generous with his friendships, loving in all his personal relationships, especially with Claudia, his beloved and wise partner in all things.

Many times over the years, I heard Doug remind his audiences that “We drink from wells we did not dig and reap from harvests we did not plant.” I thought of that a couple of months ago when I was near Decatur and decided to drive over to the Columbia campus, which I had not visited in some time.

No one was there. Not a single car in the parking lot. COVID shutdown, of course. It was a beautiful, crisp autumn afternoon.

I sat on a bench by the Oldenburg Quadrangle and gave thanks to God for Doug’s brave vision for the extraordinary and successful expansion of the campus. He loved asking people for financial gifts to the Seminary, because he wanted to give them the blessedness of giving, the happiest of human states.

Columbia still drinks from the wells he dug and will for a long time to come.

A swell fellow indeed.

JOANNA ADAMS ’79 Pastor Emerita Morningside Presbyterian Church and former Columbia Board of Trustees member

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I first met Doug Oldenburg, then President Oldenburg, as I entered Columbia Seminary in the summer of 1998. As he spoke to our incoming class, he reminded us that we were not alone, he challenged us to persevere through the hardships, and he assured us that God had a purpose for us in the church and in the world. He offered The President’s office as a place for discernment and counsel.

Even in retirement he connected alumni with prospective students, inspiring men and women to open their hearts to God’s call upon their lives and challenging us all to be open to the fresh and exciting ways that the Holy Spirit was at work in the church and in the world.

When I accepted a call to Davidson College Presbyterian Church years later I was excited to discover that I would be in the same community as Dr. and Mrs. Oldenburg. By then they were simply Doug and Claudia and they welcomed me into their home with grace and hospitality, not only as one of their pastors but as a friend and colleague.

During those visits Doug continued to challenge and encourage me in my sermon writing, my pastoral leadership, my service to the community and my care of neighbor. He continued to share his vision for a church where the gospel was proclaimed with integrity, passion and sincerity of heart, where all were welcomed and loved, and where people were challenged to take seriously the life of faith and the transformative power of the Holy Spirit. Doug continued to pastor and mentor me even as I tried to be a pastor to him.

I hope to continue to carry his encouragement, his wisdom, and his passion for the gospel and the church with me throughout ministry.

To God be the Glory.

ROBERT M. ALEXANDER ’00 Associate Pastor for Discipleship and Mission Davidson College Presbyterian Church

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Libraries Thriving Through Covid-19 and Beyond The John Bulow Campbell Library has become more than a resource for students and alumni

By D R. KELLY D. CAMPBELL Associate Dean for Information Services; Director of John Bulow Campbell Library

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his spring, as the world began to grapple with the global COVID-19 pandemic, theological institutions and, by extension, theological librarians and libraries started to make a paradigm shift in their delivery systems.

While some institutions were surprised by the changes needed and not well-prepared to make such a dramatic shift, theological libraries and librarians were, dare I say it, excited for

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the opportunity to demonstrate their value and skills.

Historically, theological librarians and libraries have been mainly considered (and in some cases still are) support for the institution or financially necessary to fill a service within the institutional structure; however, theological librarians have viewed their professional calling and responsibility quite differently for some time. The global COVID-19 pandemic allowed theological librarians and libraries to advocate for change in many theological institutions’ perceptions and perceived value of theological libraries and librarians.

In this time of unknowns, theological libraries and theological librarians have risen to the challenge of pivoting to online teaching. The library became a focal point, not just as an educational resource but also as an institutional/infrastructural resource and partner. Theological faculty and students suddenly discovered electronic library collections that had been developed but then underutilized. Ebooks for course VA N T A G E

interactions with faculty and students are a better measure of a library and a librarian’s effectiveness though they are harder to quantify and market for theological institutions. “Our library has 500,000 materials” is much easier to use in marketing bylines than “our theological librarians are partnering with you (the student) each step of the way in your theological journey.”

A second reason theological librarians are surviving and thriving in changing times is that they know the value of collaboration.

Through cooperative agreements, theological libraries are connected and prepared to share, collaborate, and support each other to partner together for faculty and students. Theological librarians have seen the library as a place without four walls for decades. Collaboration mixed with collegiality is a powerful combination in difficult times. In other words, COVID-19 has allowed theological libraries and theological librarians to become a “partner” of theological institutions in the educational process instead of just offering a service or support. reserves became critically important. Theological librarians are being sought out as technological partners in helping faculty develop and deliver their courses online. Learning Management Systems were demystified for students and faculty because librarians were already familiar with them and regularly utilized this type of software.

This concept of the library as a partner in the educational process was raised over sixteen years ago by Timothy D. Lincoln. In his essay “What’s A Seminary Library For?” from Theological Education (vol. 40, No. 1, 2004) Dr. Lincoln made this precise argument.

Furthermore, publishers gathered necessary resources and started providing them to theological libraries almost immediately without any long discussions between librarians and publishers. Also, publishers expanded their “behind the paywall” collections to help partner with theological librarians and libraries. Access, which has long been a value of theological librarians, became a higher priority than the size of collections and access to quality information and resources. The changes and adaptations took place in theological libraries with relative ease. How did this happen?

Knowing the over-arching purpose of a seminary library is important for seminary leaders as they allocate scarce resources of money and personnel. After briefly reviewing the role of libraries in recent literature of theological education, this article argues that seminary libraries do more than preserve classic Christian texts and assist patrons in finding information.

The services of seminary libraries are important to the broad education of ministerial students. Thus understood, librarians are educators who should be partners in all discussions of teaching and learning and decisions about library budgets are not educationally neutral.

As libraries and librarians successfully dealt with the change, one reason for their success is due to their perceptions of their role as theological librarians and the professional skills in fulfilling that role. Access has been a primary focus of theological libraries and librarians for several years, contrasting with the old “counting the numbers” methodology. Quality and engaging

Hopefully, this recent shift in theological institutions’ perceptions of global libraries and theological librarians will remain after this immediate “new reality” fades. The shared new reality that the library has become a focal point, not just as an educational resource but also an institutional/infrastructural resource and partner, is too vital of a paradigm shift to return to “normal.”

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Growing Up Columbia: Mary Martha Riviere’s Unique Perspective From her position at the front desk, library circulation coordinator Mary Martha Kline Riviere is often the first library employee students interact with, and these days, alumni and students still depend on her to help them over the internet or phone.

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er endless knowledge of the library collections and processes, combined with her deft ability to make library visitors feel like they have found exactly what they are looking for, has made Mary Martha part of the “Columbia Story.” But there is more to that story!

For Mary Martha, Columbia truly is a family affair. Not only is she the daughter of President C. Benton Kline (yes, of the C. Benton Kline Archives and Special Collections), her husband Kenneth is the son of a former Dean, and her daughter in-law, Alison, is an employee with the Center for Lifelong Learning.

Mary Martha works in the John Bulow Campbell Library as a circulation coordinator.

Recently, Mary Martha was awarded the Betsy Burgess Staff Award. This award was established “for one who has demonstrated faithfulness, dedicated service, and Christian

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character upholding the seminary’s purpose and mission.”

When did you and your family live in the Presidents’ House?

Our family (my parents, my brother John and myself) moved into the President's house in 1971 when my father was named president of Columbia. We were already living in faculty housing (what is now the Moore-Keish's house) as my dad had come to the seminary in 1969 as Dean of Faculty and Professor of Theology.

I was entering 11th grade when we moved into 320 Inman, and my brother was at UGA. We lived there until the summer of 1975.

Has the campus physically changed much, and what are the major changes?

Oh, certainly! There was no Harrington Center, no NRH and what is now the BLC was the Simons-Law dorm. I'm not sure about apartments in the village, but there have probably been some changes there as well. And of course, the library was just the original building from the 1950s.

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The President's house was very different than it is now!

There was a big renovation/addition done during (I think) the Mendenhall years. The house was extended out to the back and is a lot bigger now. It had 4 bedrooms and 3 1/2 baths when we lived there. An interesting note—there was a kitchen renovation done before we moved in. Older big houses back then would often have a separate bathroom for the maid to use, a legacy of the Jim Crow era. The "maid's bathroom" was turned into a laundry room as they were getting the house ready for us.

The quad as we know it now was not at all the same. The addition to the library was built in 1995, and that changed the shape of the quad space, as did the building of the Harrington Center.

The building now is more than twice as large as it was back then.

How has the student body changed?

You only have to look at class composite photographs from that era to see the changes. In 1971, the vast majority of the students were white men. Gradually in the 70s more women entered seminary, and my father made a point of introducing me to some of them. I believe he thought it was important for his daughter to know that women were in seminary, too.

I can't say for sure about yearly or social events. There was a Student's Wives organization who I think hosted the annual Christmas party. It was later called Spouses of Seminarians and seems to be defunct now.

I think students hung out in the Richards Center. There used to be a pool table in what's now known as the Ellis room, and I think maybe a Foosball table too? My husband remembers coming over to shoot pool.

Did you have many opportunities to interact with the students, faculty, staff at that time?

Not a lot, really. I babysat for the Cousar family and went to school with other faculty children. My husband Kenneth's father was on the Columbia faculty from 1966-1973, so we have known each other a really long time. Kenneth's father is A. Milton Riviere. He had several different titles while he was at

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Columbia, but his last title was Dean of Ministry Development and Associate Professor of Christian Education. He left in 1973 and returned to parish ministry.

I worked in the library during a couple of summers, but there weren’t many students around in the summer back then, so I didn’t get to know many of them. I also was a student myself in the summer of 1976, attending the Greek School, so I did get to have a classroom experience here. At that time, the wives of faculty had a lot of responsibility for hosting social events, and my mother as the President's wife was no exception. We didn't have catered events back then. She shopped for the food and drinks, and served them from her own dishes, including silver trays that she had to polish.

All this while she was working and going to graduate school. And I have to say that I was not really much help to her.

I've said before that if I had known that I was going to be working here all these years later, I would have paid a lot better attention at the dinner table!

You seem at ease behind the circulation desk. How did you become interested in working in the Columbia library?

As I mentioned, I worked at the library in the summers.

In 1973 and 1974 (or maybe 1974 and 1975? can't really remember!) I had a job working with Harold Prince who was the long-time library director. I did a lot of the same things I do now—running the circulation desk, shelving books, and so on.

Add to the mix that my aunt Peggy Kline was an academic librarian (assistant library director at the Emory library) and my mother got her master's in library science at Atlanta University and was a librarian for the City of Decatur Schools. So, libraries were always in my blood, in a way.

Before I came here, I worked in the libraries at Georgia State, UGA and Georgia Tech, and the Dekalb County Public Library system. I tried being in the business world for a few years but realized that libraries were a much better fit for me. I like helping people and solving problems, and that's what I get to do every day.

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Learning from a Distance How our Students Are Connecting with Columbia

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olumbia Theological Seminary has a commitment to preparing students for a global ministry and as part of that commitment we welcome students from around the world each school year. In this pandemic-shaped year that welcome has looked very different. Instead of joining their fellow students in Decatur, they are connecting on computer screens via Zoom. We caught up with Noura R. Eid a first-year Master of Divinity student who is studying in Leuven, Belgium to find more about her experience learning from a distance.

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Q: What called you to Columbia Theological Seminary?

A: While completing a Bachelor of Theology B.Th. in Lebanon, I was increasingly interested in pursuing a Master of Divinity after finishing my Bachelor’s degree. I talked with my teachers and pastors who had completed studies abroad. One of the pastors whom I asked was Jack Baca, the pastor of the Village Church in Rancho Santa Fe, California. He advised me to apply to Columbia Seminary for graduate studies.

Later, I was also encouraged to consider Columbia Seminary by Tony Sundermeier, the pastor of the First Presbyterian church in Atlanta. In their perspective, and now in mine, Columbia Seminary is a great place to study, for several reasons. First, I have been told it is a warm, hospitable and diverse community.

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It welcomes international students and makes them feel as if they are in their own home. Second, on the academic level, Columbia is known for having high scholarly standards, and is respected and influential among other schools. Third, and most importantly, I chose to apply to Columbia Seminary because it prepares its students to be ministers, not just academics.

Where are you currently staying and studying?

I am currently staying in Leuven, Belgium, pursuing another master’s degree (MA) at Evangelische Theologische Faculteit along with my M.Div from Columbia.

Describe your school year so far? What have been some high points? Some low points?

My school year at Columbia has been more than great. I have grown academically and spiritually. I appreciate that Columbia aims to give holistic care for students in many different areas of their life and ministry.

I do wish to be exposed to more than just new ideas. I have been hoping to be confronted with new contexts that I can live in my daily life. But it has not been possible due to distant/ online learning.

How has being at a distance from your professors and classmates shaped your learning journey?

Professors have been amazingly responsive and helpful when I reach out. They have made the academics that they teach more attractive and challenging.

Sadly, in the Fall 2020 semester I was not in touch with my classmates. However, I hope to be more involved in the social life of Columbia students if the opportunity arises this spring.

What have been some unexpected joys or discoveries?

I did not expect to experience such innovative ways of ministry.

Columbia creatively equips students with the biblical knowledge as well as the pastoral and practical experience needed for ministry.

What are your hopes for this new Spring semester? For the Fall 2021 semester?

I hope to wrestle more with theology (firsthand) from new perspectives. While my training at Near East School of Theology in Lebanon was based upon western scholarly work, my experience has only been in the Middle Eastern context.

So, I hope to be exposed to new contexts.

Also, I hope to be more involved in Columbia (social) life. I believe that my wish might be fulfilled in Fall 2021 as I (if God wills) move to the U.S and am present on campus.

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Preparing Christian Leaders Faithfully, Together Both Annual Fund and planned gift supporters become a part of Columbia’s present, and its future.

“I give to the Seminary to promote the love of God and bring young people to the Seminary so they can help the Church to grow. I can no longer do many things, but I can do this.”

Emily Wood has been a faithful Annual Fund donor for at least 62 years and also a member of the J. McDowell Richards Society, having made a provision for Columbia’s future in her estate plan.

Give to the Annual Fund Donors who support the Annual Fund make an immediate and deep impact on Columbia. Gifts to the Annual Fund allow us to ensure that students can respond to their call to Columbia and experience a transformative theological education. This Fund allows us to provide robust financial support, instruction from world-class faculty, and an unforgettable experience that equips our students to be imaginative and resilient leaders in God's changing world.

Plan a Gift Annual Fund donors often say, “I wish I could do more.”

Making a gift through your will or other estate plan is a surprisingly simple way to do more. And, it’s a lot more approachable than many realize. People who support Columbia’s mission today naturally value the opportunity for it to flourish beyond their lifetimes.

“Giving to the annual fund contributes to the stream of resources which helps Columbia to continually produce theologically informed leaders who are pastoral and prophetic, wise and bold, grounded and agile, well-prepared and improvisational, prudent and risk takers.”

DR. JEFFERY L. TRIBBLE, Sr. Associate Dean of Advanced Professional Studies and Associate Professor of Ministry

If you have already included Columbia in your estate plans, please contact us so that your generosity can be recognized through the Richards Society and to ensure that your intent is forever honored.

VP for Advancement David Huffine can help. Call: 404-687-4568, or email: HuffineD@CTSnet.edu, or visit https://www. ctsnet.edu/support/ for more information.

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VA N T A G E

Together, Columbia supporters like these:

1,004

427

2,258

DONORS

SCHOLARSHIP ENDOWMENTS

GIFTS

make an incoming class like this possible!

Incoming class by denomination PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH(USA) • 37 NONDENOMINATIONAL • 10 BAPTIST • 9 UNITED METHODIST CHURCH • 8 PRESBYTERIAN, OTHER • 4

Incoming class by degree program

AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL • 4 KOREAN PRESBYTERIAN • 4 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN AMERICA • UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST • OTHER • PENTECOSTAL • 3 EACH CHRISTIAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL 2• AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL ZION • 2 EACH EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA • ANGLICAN •UNITARIAN UNIVERALIST • INDEPENDENT BAPTIST • CHURCH OF GOD IN CHRIST • LUTHERAN, OTHER • KOREAN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ABROAD • CHRISTIAN EVANGELICAL COVENANT CHURCH • CHURCH (DISCIPLES OF CHRIST) • CONFERENCE OF CONGREGATIONAL CHRISTIAN CHURCHES • INTER/MULTIDENOMINATIONAL • COOPERATIVE BAPTIST FELLOWSHIP • REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN • ORTHODOX PRESBYTERIAN • 1 EACH

14 16

DUAL MDIV/MAPT • 17 DMIN • 16

MDIV • 36

THM • 8 DEDMIN • 8 SPECIAL/EXCHANGE • 5

105 287

NATIONALITIES

NEW STUDENTS JOIN

U.S. STATES REPRESENTED

CONTINUING STUDENTS

You are used to seeing the Annual Report in Vantage, but we’ve evolved it into a standalone “Annual Impact Report” that went out in the fall. Check it out on the website to read more donor, student and faculty stories at www.ctsnet.edu/impact Winter 2021

MA(TS) 10

MAPT • 6

97%

RECEIVE FINANCIAL AID

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Center For Lifelong Learning

Grants Available for Churches to Plan, Strategize, Revitalize, Flourish The reKindle: Congregational Development in a Post COVID-19 Era Impact Grants look to the future of the Church

“Columbia Seminary is eager to serve congregations who are facing the challenges of ministry in a post-pandemic context.

Pastoral leaders know that even after the crisis itself has passed, there will still be significant impacts in the broader culture and in the congregations,” seminary president Leanne Van Dyk says. “We are eager to take up the task of resourcing these churches and are grateful to Lilly Endowment for their generous support.”

Columbia Theological Seminary has received a grant of $969,528 from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help establish the “reKindle: Congregational Development in a Post COVID-19 Era” program through its Center for Lifelong Learning.

The reKindle Impact Grant will help realize the goal of the Thriving Congregation initiative by helping congregations focus on an identified need and chosen priority for ministry and congregational vitality. The initiative will gather local pastors and

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The aim of the national initiative is to strengthen Christian congregations so they can help people deepen their relationships with God, build strong relationships with each other and contribute to the flourishing of local communities and the world.

church leaders to engage in a theologically informed strategy to reKindle their congregational vitality in a post-COVID-19 era. The reKindle program will resource them with a process to think theologically about their congregation, plan programs or strategies to initiate revitalization, and resource them with capacities and coaches to carry the projects through. The program will provide an Impact Grant to help congregations initiate and complete their programs.

Lilly Endowment is making nearly $93 million in grants through the initiative. The grants will support organizations as they work directly with congregations and help them gain clarity about their values and missions, explore and understand better the communities in which they serve, and draw upon their theological traditions as they adapt ministries to meet changing needs.

For more information on, or to apply for a re:Kindle Impact Grant, visit www.ctsnet.edu/rekindle/

The program is funded through Lilly Endowment’s Thriving Congregations Initiative. The aim of the national initiative is to strengthen Christian congregations so they can help people deepen their relationships with God, build strong relationships with each other and contribute to the flourishing of local communities and the world.

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Center For Lifelong Learning

Everyday Spiritual Practices While our daily journeys may have become much shorter (kitchen, mailbox, living room, neighborhood walk, repeat), our spiritual journeys continue, and they can lead us further than we may have thought.

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For more than 25 years, seekers of deeper spirituality have been coming to the Spirituality Program at Columbia Seminary to learn, grow, and connect with others. While remote learning may not seem ideal for spiritual formation, Debra Weir, Associate Director, Spirituality and Lifelong Learning, has several practices we can do wherever we are, so that we may continue deepening our connection with God.

Walk a Labyrinth The labyrinth is an ancient symbol and path found in many cultures. In our tradition it is used to represent the Christian journey, walked to deepen one’s relationship with God. The path in is the path out. Walking the labyrinth has been shown to slow the body and mind, and to facilitate equilibrium, healing and insight.

Remember Pause before entering the labyrinth.

Allow a little space and time to pray or consider a question to walk with. You may wish to begin with a gesture, offer a blessing or give thanks.

Release On entering the labyrinth and walking to the center, let go of active thought, attend to your breath, find a pace that feels right for this walk. You may wish to pause at the turns.

Receive The center of the labyrinth is a place to rest and pray. Linger here as long as you wish. Listen for the still small voice and have a conversation.

Return Walking the same path out is a time to integrate, taking the experience in and with into your life.

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When you finish walking the labyrinth you may wish to journal about your experience.

Where can I find a labyrinth?

The Labyrinth Society https:// labyrinthsociety.org/ Veriditas https://www.veriditas.org/ World-wide Labyrinth Locator: https:// labyrinthlocator.com/

Praying with your Body Including your body in your time of prayer can stimulate the deeper prayer within. Simple movement, even with just one hand, can express prayers offered to God. You may wish to explore this on your own in solitude. Praying the chalice prayer below may give you some ideas for other gestures to include in your prayer. Walking a labyrinth is also an embodied prayer.

The Chalice prayer can be done sitting or standing. Make sure you have enough space around you to extend your arms out to your sides. As you begin feel your feet connected to the floor or ground.

The prayer has four gestures and intentions.

Begin with hands in prayer position in front of your chest (think ‘namaste’ as in Eastern practices) Breathe deeply three times in this position. Intention: Waiting or preparing the heart.

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Hands and arms move upward to open above you, forming the cup of the chalice. Allow your eyes to follow and gaze upward. Breathe deeply three times here. Intention: Receive a gift or allow God’s way with you.

Hands return to your body, placed over your heart or on your belly, acknowledging the stem of the chalice.

Breathe deeply three times here.

Intention: Taking the gift into yourself or accepting what God has for you, named or not.

Hands and arms move outward and extending forward then outward from your sides, describing the base of the chalice. Breathe deeply three times here. Intention: Share the gift with others and the world or to attend what is before you.

Repeat the prayer a few times in your own timing.

Reflect on your experience of praying with your body. What did you notice about bringing your physical self to prayer?

Want to learn more? Check out Praying with Body and Soul, by Jane E. Vennard.

Compassion and Sustaining Life Take time to reflect on the past year, the challenges and gifts, the unexpected joys and sorrows. Reflect on your rhythms of prayer and work, the ways they alternate, the ways they intersect.

Pray. How is pausing for prayer an act of service or justice? What are the elements of your daily/weekly/ monthly or annual rhythms that nourish your soul, refill your spiritual stores to continue serving your family and community? Are there activities you might simplify, adapt or let go of in the coming year?

Simplify. Take a media fast for a few days (no TV for example, or Facebook).

Choose one day a week to prepare a simple, nutritious dinner, like rice and beans. Reflect on the abundance in your life. Remember those in your community living with food insecurity.

Contribute food or money to a local food pantry. Or make a big pot of chili and share it with a neighbor.

Compost your vegetable cuttings.

Composting returns carbon to the earth and creates rich soil to nourish plant life sustaining the earth. Learn more about soil, carbon and sustainable living. Watch videos such as Kiss the Earth.

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Plant a seed or a cutting that will take a long time to grow. Watching things grow reminds us of what is to come and what is not-yet in the darkness. Reflect on what you are waiting and longing for that has not yet come to be.

Consider buying less. Remember the enormous energy and material resources required to mass produce consumer products. How else might you move toward a more meaningful and sustainable lifestyle?

Doodling with God: An Active Prayer Everyone can doodle! No skill required!

The movement of coloring and drawing can help you center see your unspoken prayers. Below are two simple ways to begin.

You will need a blank sheet of paper and something to write or draw with.

Crayons, colored pens, pencils or markers make this colorful.

Bring your full self to your prayer and rest for a moment. Invite God to direct your prayer.

1) Slowly draw a meandering line, let it wander all over the page. It will look like a big scribble.

Notice the spaces created by the line pattern. Add the names of people or places or situations that come to mind.

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Add color and patterns to decorate the spaces and ‘fill out’ your prayers. Allow your prayers to wander.

2) Start by writing the name of someone you’re praying for. Draw a shape around the name and doodle by adding other patterns or colors. Continue to add names and doodling your prayers.

Learn more at Praying in Color https://prayingincolor.com/

Remembering your Day with God: The Prayer of Examen Looking for God’s presence in your daily life is a simple and gentle way to pray.

The Prayer of Examen provides a flexible framework for this prayer for the end of the day. You may wish to pray this alone or with a friend or family members.

Simplify this prayer for the children in your life.

Ask two questions: What are you most grateful for? What are you least grateful for?

Or What gave you joy? What drained you?

Take note of these things. (You may wish to keep a daily examen journal to help you track the Spirit’s movements over time.)

Ask the Holy Spirit to direct you to one thing that God thinks is particularly important. Let this one element guide your prayer. Spend time in prayer.

Look toward tomorrow. Ask God to give you light for tomorrow’s challenges. Pay attention to the feelings that surface as you look ahead. Allow these feelings to become a prayer.

Learn more at Sleeping with Bread by Dinnis Linn, Sheila Fabricant Linn, Matthew Linn, or at https://www. ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/ the-examen/

Light a candle.

Take a few minutes to quiet your soul.

Rest and become aware of God’s presence. Ask for light to see and know.

Walk through your day in God’s presence focusing on the gifts of the day. Notice your work, the people you encountered, activities you engaged in, what you saw or touched. God is in the details!

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Center for Lifelong Learning Courses: Spring 2021 All Spring 2021 courses and programs are online

Leadership in Ministry Atlanta, GA March 8–10 and November 15–17 With: Israel Galindo, Michael Cook, James Lamkin, Skip Johnson, Dan Koger, Vanessa Ellison Kansas City, MO April 12–14 and October 4–6 With: Israel Galindo, Meg Hess, Keith Harder Lynchburg, VA April 19–21 and September 20–22 With: Israel Galindo, Elaine Boomer, Andrew Archie, Carla Toeniessen, Lance King, Bill Pyle Portland, OR May 17–19 and September 13–15 With: Israel Galindo, Margaret Marcuson, Julie Juston Boston, MA May 10–12 and September 27–29 With: Israel Galindo, Margaret Marcuson, Elaine Boomer, Rebecca Maccini, and Meg Hess

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The Return of the Prodigal March 1–April 2 With: Timothy Hartman Conflict Transformation March 1–31 With: Mindy McGarrah Sharp

Thompson Scholars The Disciple-Making Church: To Grow the Future We Visit the Past March 22–April 23 With: Ralph Basui Watkins, Albert Tate, and Rev. Dr, Lisa Weaver

Deep Calls to Deep: Psalms in Transformative Dialogue ONLINE Retreat April 5–18 With: Bill Brown The Church and People with Intellectual Disabilities April 11–May 14 With: Dr. Evelyn McMullen Sharing Our Stories: Tools for Renewing the Body of Christ May 17–June 11 With: Melissa Tidwell VA N T A G E

Seminary News Timeline Looks at Columbia’s Links to Slavery and Racism The C. Benton Kline, Jr. Special Collections created A Window into the Breach: Theology and the Economy of Slavery at Columbia Theological Seminary, 1824-1899, a timeline consisting of 41 slides looking at racism and the institution of slavery in the 19th century as it relates to the history of Columbia Theological Seminary.

Many of the slides focus on the earliest and largest donations that the seminary received prior to emancipation, as well as publications, events, and individuals associated with the seminary through this time, including Thomas Smyth, James Henley Thornwell, and John Lafayette Girardeau. Select post-Civil Winter 2021

War events and individuals are also highlighted as specifically related to racism and the seminary, memory of the Civil War, and Presbyterian churches throughout the South.

Enslaved Africans and African Americans contributed their lives while in bondage to the flourishing and growth of Columbia Theological Seminary in the Antebellum South and it is to this end that their names have been given when available.

(Please note that some of the slides contain information that may be sensitive to some viewers.)

TCI@CTS Is Virtual The Center for Lifelong Learning (CLL) at Columbia Theological Seminary implemented an all-virtual format for the 2021 Cohort of TCI@CTS, The Coaching Institute at Columbia Theological Seminary. This is the third year that the CLL has offered this certificate program and the first all-virtual format. Its instructors are accredited by the International Coach Federation.

“Based on the recommendations of our TCI@CTS leadership team, and in response to inquiries from potential participants, we made the decision to convert to an online format to assure the fullest possible participation and sufficient time to plan for an engaging, practice-oriented formal program,” said 27

Dr. Sarah Erickson, Director of Lifelong Learning. “The leadership team, with more than 13 years of experience leading this program, is hard at work making the necessary revisions in order to deliver another high-quality, effective coach training.”

“This coaching program has expanded our offerings to support the professional development of clergy and other church leaders in various contexts of ministry,” said Erickson. Coach Coordinator Laurie J. Ferguson added, “After twenty-one years of coaching, I remain excited about how these skills support and expand ministry. We are in a time when the gospel faces deep challenges, and leaders also see great opportunity. Coaching is uniquely poised to help leaders focus on their mission and create new ways to live out God’s mission particularly in this season of extended disruption such as the recent pandemic.”

The core training team is composed of Ferguson and colleagues Philip C. Bergey and Chris Holmes. Youngsook Kang and Jihyun Oh round out the TCI@CTS training team.

Complete details about TCI@CTScan be found at https://www.ctsnet.edu/ lifelong-learning/certificate-programs/ coaching-institute/.

For more information about the Center for Lifelong Learning and their other courses and certificate programs, visit www.ctsnet.edu/lifelong-learning or email the CLL at LifelongLearning@ ctsnet.edu.

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Historic Promotion of Dr. Ralph Basui Watkins to Full Professor The First African American Male Full Professor and Endowed Chair in Columbia Theological Seminary’s Nearly 200-Year History On June 15, 2020, the Columbia Seminary Board of Trustees unanimously approved the promotion of Dr. Ralph Basui Watkins, MFA, DMin, PhD to full professor. Previously, Dr. Watkins was the first African American male to be installed in an endowed chair when he was named the Peachtree Chair of Evangelism and Church Growth on October 2, 2019.

“Dr. Watkins is committed to leading the church into the future while not forgetting or abandoning its historical roots. He is committed to helping the church lead what he calls ‘fully digitally integrated lives’ that embrace both the old and the new,” says Dr. Love Sechrest, Dean of Academic Affairs.

“His writing and work have been focused on leading the church into the digital age with a focus on reaching young adults.”

“I am deeply honored be a part of this great faculty and I especially thank our President, Dr. Leanne Van Dyk, for her leadership,” Dr. Watkins says. “Dr. Van Dyk, along with the leadership of the school have supported me and my work from day one and were committed to supporting my promotion. With her leadership, it happened. I am honored to be a part of a world class faculty, and I am fortunate to serve with each of them”

Dr. Watkins is a regular preacher and workshop leader for churches, denomination bodies and presbyteries across the United States. He has over twenty-five years pastoral ministry experience, most recently serving as the Senior Pastor of the Historic Wheat Street Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dr. Watkins is considered a national leader in digital and online teaching and learning and has led national workshops on the topic of teaching in the visual age. Dr. Watkins’ forthcoming book from Judson Press is The Fully Digitally Integrated Ministry: Integrating the Old and the New. He was the executive producer and host of the television show Religion Roundtable with Dr. Ralph Basui Watkins on the Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasting Network where his show was the top-rated show on the network for five years.

He is also a leader with the Louisville Institute where he mentors doctoral students. He is on the board of the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion where he writes a monthly vlog / blog, leads workshops, and mentors junior faculty.

It was under the leadership of the late Columbia Seminary President Dr. Steve Hayner and retired Dean Deb Mullen that Dr. Watkins was brought to CTS from Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, California. While at Fuller Dr. Watkins was the Assistant Dean for African American Church Studies and Associate Professor for Society, Religion and Africana Studies.

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Committing to Repair the Breach Caused by White Supremacy Deepening Columbia’s Commitment to Black People and Their Flourishing Columbia has wrestled with its history and participation in the enslavement and oppression of Black people. On Monday, June 15, 2020, the Board of Trustees met via Zoom to continue wrestling with Columbia’s history and future.

The board meeting occurred in the midst of a national outcry for justice on behalf of the killings of Ahmaud Arbury, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Rayshard Brooks. Within this context, the Board of Trustees voted to unanimously affirm a commitment statement titled, “Repairing the Breach: Deepening Columbia’s Commitment to Black People and their Flourishing.”

The commitment statement explicitly outlines steps Columbia as implemented to begin directly addressing the harm that slavery and its aftermath have done to Black people and communities. New commitments included: • F ull tuition and fees for all Black students who apply and are admitted to masters-level degree programs; • N aming Columbia’s signature residence hall Marcia Y. Riggs Hall (Riggs Commons) in public recognition of her groundbreaking research, teaching, and dedication to this seminary that has often failed to fully appreciate and celebrate her contributions and the those of other Black scholars; • I mplementation of new policies to develop external partnerships with and support for others who are actively working to combat police brutality and anti-Black racism.

Columbia’s board, leadership, faculty, staff, and student body have collectively acknowledged that these new commitments represent one step toward dismantling systems of oppression.

Therefore, the Board also reaffirmed a commitment to long-term processes that work to disrupt global cycles of oppression and create new realities at Columbia and beyond.

Reflecting on this new commitment, Columbia President Van Dyk stated, “Columbia is more diverse than it has ever been. We work together and challenge one another to put our faith into action. Now is a time for us to move beyond conversations and toward concrete actions that decenter whiteness, center Black and brown people, and transform the structure of this seminary. We are committed to the long journey — and, we are committed to doing this tough work together.”

The full text of “Repairing the Breach,” as well as additional information about other Columbia commitments to equity, diversity, and inclusion, can be found at https://www.ctsnet. edu/home/repairing-the-breach/.

REFRESH, RESEARCH, and REDISCOVER re:source is a unique gift for all CTS Alumni A 24/7 online access to a collection of religious and theological books and articles specially designed for CTS alumni Lifetime access to resources sent directly to you Contact Bob Craigmile at CraigmileB@ctsnet.edu for login credentials or help!

Winter 2021

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Columbia Archives to Receive Dr. J. Phillips Noble Papers The C. Benton Kline, Jr. Special Collections and Archives is pleased to be the future home of the J. Phillips Noble papers.

A 1945 graduate of Columbia Theological Seminary, Noble served on the CTS Board of Trustees for twenty-four years and worked alongside Reverend William B. McClain and Reverend Nimrod Q. Reynolds to help peacefully bring about desegregation in 1960s Anniston, Alabama. In 2020, Noble celebrated the release of his fourth book of poetry and his 99th birthday.

After graduating from CTS, Noble served congregations in Georgia and South Carolina before becoming the pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Anniston. During this time, he was introduced to Reverend McClain and Reverend Nimrod, and the three ministers met regularly as the Anniston Ministerial Association. The organization supported worship and conversations across racial lines and was instrumental in integrating the local library, a gesture that engendered the unraveling of segregation across the city.

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Noble brought his experience with racial justice to his twentyfour years on the CTS Board of Trustees. Throughout this time, he was acting Chairman in 1966 and Chairman from 197983. He served on the Committees of Laws and Regulations, Toward 2000, Nominations, the Joint Committee of Faculty and Trustees, Mission Haven, Business Management, and the Executive Committee.

The anticipated papers include sermons, correspondence, and material that documents his tenure on the Board of Trustees and his leadership in Anniston, which Noble has written about in his book, Beyond the Burning Bus: The Civil Rights Revolution in a Southern Town. It has been a pleasure working with the Noble family, and the archives thank them for their generous gift. It is our hope that engaging with Noble’s papers will allow new narratives to emerge in the CTS community.

VA N T A G E

Remembering Elizabeth Anne “Betsey” Burgess The Columbia community mourns the loss of Betsey Burgess, long-serving former staff associate and namesake of the Betsey Burgess Award, established “for one who has demonstrated faithfulness, dedicated service, and Christian character upholding the seminary’s purpose and mission.”

Betsey was the only child of John and Clara Bulger. She graduated from the University of Buffalo (1948) and Princeton Theological Seminary (1951), in one of the first classes to include women (Master of Religious Education). She served in National Ministries of the United Presbyterian Church in Booneville, KY (1951-53), and on May 2, 1953, married Charles S. Burgess, a classmate at Princeton Seminary.

From 1953-1974, she served with her husband in ministries in: Denver, CO; El Paso, TX; San Antonio, TX; and Atlanta, GA. After her husband's sudden death from a heart attack (1974), she faithfully raised their four children (John, David, Mark, and Grace) and served as staff associate at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia.

formed Church of the New Covenant, a merger of Christ Church and Northwoods Presbyterian Church (PCUS) in Doraville. She was active in all parts of the life of the church prior to her retirement.

Upon her retirement, she moved to Monte Vista Grove Homes in Pasadena, CA (1999), where she found dear friends and a vibrant faith community. She touched others through her warm hospitality, delicious cookies, and thoughtful notes and gifts.

“Betsey was a dedicated employee of Columbia, caring deeply for the faculty, staff, and students. Her commitment showed in the numerous ways as she dedicated her life to the seminary’s life, work and worship,” says Clark Simmons, Senior Consultant for Southeastern United States Board of Pensions.

“She was a quiet person but, oh, so feisty.”

Betsey is survived by her four children and eight grandchildren: Riley (Hannah), Luisa, Rachel, Jordan, Charles, Maggie, Krista, and Cara. Due to the pandemic, a memorial service will be scheduled later in 2021 at Monte Vista Grove

She was a founding member of the Christ Presbyterian Church (UPC) in Dunwoody and served as an elder there for several years. Following reunion, she was an active elder in the newly

Winter 2021

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Alumni Updates 1980s David Chadwick DMin ’80, authored a new book, Moving Beyond Anxiety: 12 Practical Strategies to Renew Your Mind (April 2020, Harvest House Publishers).

Mark Jumper MDiv ’82, is co-editor of The Holy Spirit and the Reformation Legacy, featuring academic presentations made at Regent University's Reformation 500 conference in 2017.

The book addresses the Holy Spirit's role and ministry in various streams of the Reformation, up to the present. The book is sold on Amazon.

Dan Graham MDiv ’87, recently published a novella, Quality Control: Flying and Crashing. The ebook and paperback are available through Amazon. Dan and Judith Ann live in St. Augustine, Florida.

Barbara Flynt MAYM ’89 serves as Director of Christian Education since January 2017 at The Brandermill Church in Midlothian, Virginia.

1990s Sid Burgess MDiv ’90, has a new noncommercial, non-political blog, http:// storytimerevisited.com, featuring autobiographical stories; stories about his imaginary friend, "The Rev Ralph, Snakehandler Extraordinaire;" and a lighter side of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Karen Rogers MDiv ’92, completed a year of CPE at Ochsners Medical Center, New Orleans, in August 2019, and accepted a call as pastor to the First Presbyterian Church in Woodward, Oklahoma, in October 2019. Karen thanks her classmates, especially for their compassionate support during the years at Columbia Theological Seminary.

2000s David Dault MATS ’02 has been appointed assistant professor of Christian Spirituality at the Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola University Chicago this fall. He continues his work as a radio and podcast producer. "The Roots and Fruits of U.S. Exploitation of Immigrant Labor," which he helped produce, received the Wilbur Award from the Religion Communicators Council for best audio documentary series of 2019.

Dan Stephens MDiv ’04 is named the Executive Director of the Rotary Club of Birmingham, AL as of July 1, 2020.

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Julie Jensen Higbee MDiv ’05, was married to Dr. James Higbee on September 5, 2020 in Fernandina

Beach, FL. Julie serves as Associate Pastor for First Presbyterian Church, Fernandina Beach. James is a Pharmacist and Pharmacy Manager for Walgreens in Fernandina Beach.

Andrew Wing MDiv ’08 began serving as a US Air Force Chaplain, Active Duty in January 2020 stationed at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Va. Erin Kobs MDiv ’09, serves as the Pastor & Head of Staff at Punxsutawney Presbyterian Church in Punxsutawney, PA. since October 11, 2020.

2010s Jenny Sumner Carswell ’10, was selected as one of the four employees from Tampa General Hospital to represent the Tampa Bucaneers at the Super Bowl this Sunday.

Each NFL team selected 4 vaccinated local healthcare workers.

Daniel Vanek MDiv ’13, installed as Chaplain and Pastor, Albany Hungarian Presbyterian Church since October 2019, the first full-time Installed pastor at AHPC since 1970s. Adopted sons Samuel October 2019 and Jesse October 2018.

Joseph W. Taber, IV ’14 accepted a new call as Pastor of Culpeper Presbyterian Church, Culpeper, VA, in the summer of 2020.

Chris Peters MDiv ’14, accepted a call as Head of Staff of Westminster Presbyterian Church, Lincoln, NE, beginning September 14, 2020.

VA N T A G E

Mary Kate Brearley Buckley ’14 was ordained on October 25, 2020, by Savannah presbytery. She has recently published her first book, Bless It: reflections from a pandemic, available on Amzon.

Betsy Lyles Swetenburg ’14 serves as Senior Pastor at Northridge Presbyterian Church, Dallas, TX since 2020.

Matthew Benz-Whittington MDiv ’15, accepted a new call as Pastor, Highland Presbyterian Church, Maryville, TN, since May 2020.

Robert Newman MDiv ’15, graduated from Duke University’s Master of Theology program in May 2020 where he developed the thesis “A New Confession: How a Letter from Jail can Reform the Reformed”. The work interprets The Rev. Dr. King’s “Letter from a Birmingham City Jail” by placing it in conversation with Reformed theology and the current ten confessions comprising The Book of Confessions.

The jail epistle awaits a potential vote among presbyteries for its inclusion into the BOC. Bobby relocated to Bethlehem, PA where he serves as a pastor of The Presbyterian Church of Catasauqua, in Lehigh Presbytery starting in 2021.

Sarah Wolf ’15, Associate Pastor, Covenant Presbyterian Church, Staunton, VA, was disappointed not to have snow this season. She is also hangry. Please send food via grub hub.

For those who said they would donate if we ran this alumni update, donations can be made at www.ctsnet.edu/support Winter 2021

Melissa Tidwell ’15, serves as Pastor, Trinity Presbyterian Church, Stockton, CA since November 2020.

state. She now serves Selwyn Avenue Presbyterian Church as the Director for Youth and Young Adults.

Frederick E. “Tripp” Brogdon III, MDiv ’18 serves as Pastor at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, Decatur, AL, since January 13, 2020.

2020s

Rachel Breyer MDiv ’19, serves as Chaplain for Calvin and Phillips Towers, Presbyterian Homes of Georgia, since July 2020.

Kris “Bubba” Brammer DEdMin ’19, is the Director of Christian Education at First Presbyterian Church, Lincoln, NE since 2017. Kris is excited about working with congregations in discerning God’s call for the future educational ministries of FPC. Margo Richardson ’19 studied as the PCUSA Eugene Carson Blake Scholar at the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Institute in Geneva, Switzerland, following graduation. Margo received a certificate in Ecumenical Studies before returning to her home

Lucas Jones MDiv ’20, was nominated as new Associate Pastor, Downtown Church, Columbia, SC, as of July 12, 2020.

Alexandra Hutson MDiv ’20, serves as Associate Pastor, Children and Youth, at Government Street Presbyterian Church, Mobile, AL, as of July 20, 2020.

Vincent Jones MDiv ’20 is Servant Pastor for Executive Ministries and Vision Realization at Wheat Street Baptist Church, Atlanta, GA since July, 2019.

Emily Mooneyhan MDiv ’20 has accepted new calls to serve two faithful congregations in Saluda, SC, Mt Pleasant Lutheran Church and Saluda Presbyterian Church, since January 2020.

In Memoriam Robert Samuel Busey MDiv ’54 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . May 14, 2020 David Kwon MDiv ’01 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . July 8, 2020 E. Perry Mobley B.D. ’54 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . December 3, 2020 Robert Sumter (Bobbie) Link MDiv ’59 . . . . . . . . . . . . . July 17, 2020 Herman Gudger Nichols Jr. BD ’67 . . . . . . . . . . . September 23, 2020 Jey John Deifell B.D ’66 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . November 5, 2020 John Calvin Chesnutt B.D. ’51 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .January 2, 2021

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Murphy Davis Remembered Columbia Seminary alumni are known to make a difference, whatever their context in ministry.

The calling of Murphy Davis is a fine example.

Murphy Davis ’74 and her husband, Ed Loring ’66, founded the Open Door Community, which housed and fed Atlanta’s homeless persons for decades. She advocated for Atlanta’s homeless community until their voices were heard at the capitol.

She visited and befriended inmates on death row. Her faith in God and her love for humanity was an inspiration far and wide.

“Anyone who travelled with Murphy Davis to Hardwick Prison could see that Murphy practiced lovingkindness as fiercely as she pursued justice. These monthly trips provided transportation and hospitality for people visiting their loved ones incarcerated at Hardwick. Murphy’s love of Christ was poured out to the Hardwick travelers with a warm greeting, much-needed transportation, and good food courtesy of the Presbyterian Church in Milledgeville. In between trips to Hardwick, Murphy was a fierce advocate for justice and the abolishment of the death penalty. I am a friend, and former resident volunteer of the Open Door Community. I am grateful for the friendship of Murphy and Ed who welcomed me into that ministry of service, advocacy, worship, and hospitality. My wife, Kazy, and I moved into the Septima Clark rooms at The Open Door right after we got married. On movein day, Murphy laughed when I carried our vacuum cleaner in.

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She said, “Joe, I guess somebody told you cleanliness is next to godliness.” I don’t think we ever used that vacuum cleaner, but every day spent with Murphy was surely a day spent next to lovingkindness and justice. Rest in power, Murphy.”

— Joe B. Hinds, ’99 “My husband and I met while serving breakfast at the Open Door Community. We jokingly say that "we courted over the grit line." We were frequent weekly volunteers there, worshipped with the community often, and after we were married, while I completed my last year in seminary, moved into the Open Door Community as Resident Volunteers.

When I think of Murphy, I think of her beautiful smile and the amazing amount of grace she bestowed on those she encountered. Murphy had a huge heart for the "least of these" in our midst; and she spent a lifetime dedicated to a ministry that included the love, care and compassion for ALL of God's children.”

— Kazy Blocher Hinds ’00 “Murphy Davis was my friend and a beloved mentor, who had a profound influence on me as a young seminarian. Her ministry among those who are poor, those in prison, and those on death row, was as critical to my Christian formation as any seminary course I ever took, and I took some great courses in seminary! Though my heart is broken as I struggle to imagine a world without her physically in it, I know her spirit lives on in all the people whose lives she touched and in the work that she accomplished. l will continue to strive to follow her example until we finally end the death penalty for good.” ­— Stacy Rector ’96 VA N T A G E

Our Faculty DR. JEFFERY L. TRIBBLE, Sr. Associate Dean of Advanced Professional Studies and Associate Professor of Ministry Speaker for the 60th Emancipation Proclamation Service of Freedom by the Interfaith Clergy Council of Gary (Indiana) and Vicinity.

Preacher for morning worship at Cross Street A.M.E. Zion Church in Middletown, CT on Sunday January 10, 2021.

Preacher for the Martin Luther King Service celebration of Faith A.M.E. Zion Church, Atlanta, GA.

DR. BRENNAN BREED, Associate Professor of Old Testament Co-edited Reading Other Peoples’ Texts: Identity Formation and the Reception of Authoritative Traditions. Edited by Ken Brown, Alison Joseph, and Brennan Breed. London: T&T Clark, 2020. Also contributed the following pieces as co-author or author: • Ken Brown and Brennan Breed, “Social Identity and Scriptural Interpretation: An Introduction.”

• Brennan Breed, “Biblical Scholarship’s Ethos of Respect: Original Meanings, Original Texts, and the Reception History of Ecclesiastes.”

Winter 2021

Contributed an essay to Four Kingdoms Motifs Before and Beyond the Book of Daniel. Edited by Andrew Perrin and Loren Stuckenbruck. Themes in Biblical Narrative Series. Leiden: Brill, 2020.

• Brennan Breed, “The Politics of Time: Epistemic Shifts and the Reception History of the Four Kingdoms Schema.” Pages 300-328.

Keynote lecture in October 2020 at the annual “Authoritative Texts and Their Reception” (ATTR) Research Seminar in Oslo, Norway. The topic was “Aerosol Transmission: Theorizing Reception History during a Global Pandemic with Ecclesiastes 1:2.”

Biblical studies seminar leader at the University of Birmingham in England on November 18, titled “The Gap between Words and Deeds: Ecclesiastes 4:17-5:6 in Text and Tradition.”

Study leader on “Healing and Wholeness in the Old Testament” at Kirk in the Hills Presbyterian Church in Detroit in September and October.

Co-presenter of the annual Kyes Lecture at Kirk in the Hills with Dr. Karoline Lewis, a professor of Homiletics at Luther Seminary. The lecture was titled: “Be Well: Texts of Healing in the Old and New Testaments.”

Keynote lecture on The Challenge of Rebuilding: Lessons from the Post-Exilic Period for our Changing Church” at Tapestry, the annual regional PCUSA gathering co-sponsored by the St. Andrews and MidSouth Presbyteries.”

DR. MARK DOUGLAS Professor of Christian Ethics and Director of ThM Program to his title Organized the “Talking Politics During Turbulent Times” online conference with the Center for Lifelong Learning.

Helped organize a public lecture on faith and science offered by the Presbyterian Association for Science, Technology, and the Christian Faith.

Helped organize and lead the “New Directions in Social Witness Policy” consultation for the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Panelist for a webinar on faith and sustainability hosted by the Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development.

Publication of essay, “Scientific Illiteracy and the Politics of Public Life,” in the December edition of Sci†Tech.

DR. ISRAEL GALINDO, Associate Dean for Lifelong Learning Blog for Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion — “Applying Robert Gagné’s Conditions of Learning in Your Online Course,” “Students Learn What THEY Do, Not What WE Do,” and “The Formula for Effective Learning: Retetion.”

Webinar for Leadership in Ministry, “Homeostasis, Change, and Conflict.”

Author of the book, Academic Leadership: Practical Wisdom for Deans and Administrators (published in 2020).

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DR. MINDY MCGARRAH SHARP, PhD Associate Professor of Practical Theology and Pastoral Care Director, Master of Arts in Practical Theology (MAPT) Program Blog for Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion— Accounting for Courage: Four Course Design Recalibrations, November 18, 2020.

Contributing author to “Phoenix Poetry in a Flammable World,” in Postcolonial Images of Spiritual Care: Challenges of Care in a Neoliberal Age, edited by Emmanuel Y. Lartey and Hellena Moon Contributing author on an article about comparative pastoral theologies for a forthcoming Journal of Pastoral Theology.

DR. MITZI J. SMITH, J Davison Philips Professor of New Testament Blog for Wabash Center Social Justice and Civic Engagement “Teaching Before the White Gaze in the Biblical Studies Classroom as a Black Woman."

Co-editor and contributor (with Jin Young Choi) of Minoritized Women Reading Race and Ethnicity: Intersectional Approaches to Constructed Identity and Early Christianity.

Interview on CBC radio with Sean Foley on the topic “Render Unto Caesar.”

Webinar with the Wabash Center webinar on “Privileging Blackness Among Predominantly White Students.”

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Virtual panel on behalf of Society of Biblical Literature Committee on Underrepresented Minorities in the Profession (SBL-CUREMP for students of color considering a Ph.D. in biblical studies.

Interview with Dr. Rick Jordan of Great Bible Teachers on the topic “Jesus, Race and the Bible.”

DR. WONCHUL SHIN, Visiting Assistant Professor of Christian Ethics and Theology Elected to serve as a co-convener of the Asian/Asian-American Working Group, the Society of Christian Ethics. This two-year appointment began January 2020.

Panel discussion for the Society of Biblical Literature Korean Biblical Colloquium that included black feminist scholars Patricia Hill Collins and Monica Coleman.

Panel presentation and discussion with the Asian and Asian American biblical hermeneutics section of the Society of Biblical Literature to review and discuss the book, Minoritized Women Reading Race and Ethnicity: Intersectional Approaches to Constructed Identity and Early Christianity, co-edited by Mitzi Smith and Jin Young Choi.

Fellowship awards panel member for the American Association of University Women for a second year.

Voted into the MLKJr Collegium of Scholars at Morehouse College.

Invited and appointed to serve on the Council of Elders of the Sankofa Institute for African American Pastoral Leadership, Oblate School of Theology, Dallas, TX. This is a three-year appointment beginning January 2020.

Served on the Selection Panel of the American Association of University Women for 2020 scholarship application awards.

Served on the Editorial Board of the Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus.

VA N T A G E

Final Word with Dr. Haruko Nawata Ward We’re giving Dr. Ward, Professor of Church History, the last word!

Beyond the classroom or campus, we wanted to learn more about Dr. Ward. And she was kind enough to answer our (silly) questions.

Dr. Haruko Ward joined the Columbia faculty in 2002 as a Professor of Church History. Her research interests include the Age of Reformations, encounters of cultures and religions, women and religious vocation, and history of Christianity in Asia, just to name a few.

If you had to choose another job, what would your dream job be?

My fantasy job would be a nighttime guard at a small park or zoo with water and a bird habitat.

What are you reading these days?

Student papers—grading time. (The season went and passed but it’s coming back soon.)

For my research, I am reading João Rodrigues Giram’s annual letter of 1627 to the Superior General Muzio Vitelleschi, March 26, 1627, sent from Macau to Rome, Japonica Sinica document 61, folios 133-65, The Archives of the Society of Jesus in Rome.

I like “reading” Eric Carle’s books with my granddaughter.

Winter 2021

Do you use emojis, and what is the one you use the most? 絵文字？ Hearts?

If you had to choose a theme song to play every time you walked in to a room, what would it be?

John Cage, 4'33".

What is your favorite spot on campus?

Sky over my head with birds flying over.

If you could take a class on anything, what would you want to learn?

Early modern languages and paleography.

What is your favorite scripture?

“By the grace of God I am what I am” — contextually applied.

When did you first hear the call to the ministry?

In my ancestors’ womb. I discovered my new vocation as a professional historian around age 40.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A balloon so that I can float around, or a tall person.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

Recycle everything--including your botched writings.

What’s your favorite place to go in Atlanta or Decatur?

Imaginary worlds.

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Colloquium ’21 March 1–2 JOIN US ONLINE! Until we can gather safely on campus, we will gather online! Join your colleagues for Columbia’s annual alumni gathering.

Please go to www.ctsnet.edu/colloquium for more information on the program schedule and registration.