Vantage Winter 2015

Reconciling Love

Columbia Theologi c al Seminary

Vantage w i nter 2015

b e st o f t h e b l o g

A SPIRITUALIT Y READI NG L IST FOR 2015

By Israel Galindo, Associate Dean for Lifelong Learning January 12

A friend sent her annual list of the books she read during the year. I always find her list more interesting than mine, and I seem to blow half my book purchase budget soon after reading her list. I’ll send her my list soon, although I doubt she’ll add many from my list to her reading pile—mine leaning too much toward the technical and academic.

A Spirituality Reading List by Fives. Someone recently asked me for a reading list of books on spirituality. I’ll start by confessing that coming up with this list was harder than I thought. As is the case with list-making when it comes to books, there are too many good ones that get left out. The purpose of this list, however, is merely to prompt for some directed reading during the year. Here, without commentary, is a spirituality themed reading list for 2015. For full story, see www.columbiaconnections.org/.

KATHY DAWS ON H ONORED; UNVEILS NEW INITIATIVE

By Mashaun D. Simon, Program Coordinator for Advanced Professional Studies February 7

Kathy Dawson, Columbia’s Associate Professor of Christian Education and Director of the MAPT Program, was honored on February 5 as the 2015 recipient of the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators (APCE) Educator of the year award.

Dawson used her acceptance speech as a time of encouragement while also unveiling a web-based, multi-platform Christian Education resource. “Hope4ce.net is meant to be a place where innovative ideas and lesson plans can be shared for Christian education,” she said, adding that the idea was birth from discussions and questions presented her by students and other Christian educators. For full story, see www.columbiaconnections.org/.

COLUMB IA NAMED AMONG 2015 “SEM INARIES THAT CHANGE THE WO RLD” february 20

2

VANTAGE Winter 2015

The Center for Faith and Service today announced the 2015 list of Seminaries that Change the World. This year, Columbia Theological Seminary was one of twenty-six institutions named. The group of institutions is theologically, politically and geographically diverse, yet shares a common commitment to work together to strengthen and advance theological insight and leadership in a way that connects faith and service.

The selected seminaries and divinity schools demonstrate great innovation in theological education, in integration with classical approaches for learning, even as they navigate negative stereotypes about organized religion and work to expand narrow definitions of traditional ministry. Seminaries that Change the World is part of a movement to reclaim the important historical role that theological education has played in promoting community and justice while training and launching local and world leaders in all areas of society. For full story, see www.columbiaconnections.org/.

Va n tag e P o i n t

Becoming the Blessed Community

By Bill Scheu, Interim President L o o k i n g b a c k o n t h i s s e a s o n at Columbia Theological Seminary, it clearly has been a difficult and challenging time for our community. We have mourned the deaths of Charlie Cousar, Syngman Rhee, Steve Hayner and Joe Roberts in just a couple of short months.

And yet, they have been joy-filled months because of the witness that each of these saints represent in the life of the church and the life of Columbia Seminary. Their lives have been, and continue to be, poured out in a special way. All of them have had a part in moving us forward to be a place that embodies reconciling love. Their stories endure and inspire us to be more the beloved community that Christ calls us to be.

Reconciling love is God with us. Reconciling love recognizes that we are each, first and foremost, known by God as a blessed daughter or son. Reconciling love serves God and others faithfully even in the face of adversity. And, as we have been reminded over and over again in this season, it does so joyfully. Even in dying and death, there is joy.

On Ash Wednesday, we held our Second Annual Community Day. It represents a new tradition of joining together our hopes of becoming more like the beloved community of Jesus Christ. We had fun. We worshipped.

We did serious work of addressing the barriers that divide us. At the end, we collected suggestions from all of the small groups as to how we might better recognize systemic racism and transform our institution in the ways of love and justice.

And we worshipped some more!

These considerations, really aspirations, also figure heavily for the Presidential Search Committee as they continue to do the good work of remembering who we are, evaluating our needs as an organization, and meeting women and men who may be able to lead us to a new place on this journey.

These are not easy things to accomplish, and to root change deeply will take time. But we do know this…we have four more witnesses in Heaven cheering us on, encouraging our every step to go further and singing us along.

Thankfully,

Bill Scheu

Bill Scheu

VANTAGE Winter 2015

3

hyper–focus

V a n ta g e m a g a z i n e s at d ow n w i t h R e v . D r . K i m b e rly C l ay t o n ’ 8 4 / DM i n ’08, d i r e c t o r o f C o n t e x t u a l E d u c at i o n t o l e a r n m o r e a b o u t h ow h e r a r e a h a s d e v e l o p e d a n d t h e v i s i o n s h e h a s f o r t h e f u t u r e .

Vantage: Thank you for taking time to talk with us. Would you start with an overview of what you do with Contextual Education?

Kim Clayton: In 2009, just a few months before I became the director of Contextual

Education, there was an expansion in the vision for what used to be called Supervised Ministry. What is now called Contextual Education has expanded and changed on several fronts since then. All of our Contextual Education opportunities are designed to develop ministry skills, and to evaluate the context in which ministry is being done. However, students often find that these experiences are a time of deepening vocational discernment. Students explore the many forms ministry can take and begin to see their gifts and capacities for ministry in a variety of settings. Some may fall in love with hospital chaplaincy. Others are inspired to teach. But everyone learns something about themselves and how God is working through them.

All of our Contextual Education opportunities are designed to develop ministry skills, and to evaluate the context in which ministry is being done. . . . students often find that these experiences are a time of deepening vocational discernment.

4

VANTAGE Winter 2015

So what programs do you offer right now and what changes have you seen since you came to Columbia?

First, we increased the number of requirements for Supervised Ministry for MDiv students. We have always required Supervised Ministry in a congregation, and this remains a requirement for the MDiv degree. We added an additional Supervised Ministry requirement.

For many, Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) becomes their second Supervised Ministry experience. However, students may gain experience at a hospital, a non-profit, a school, a prison, a summer camp, a seminary classroom, or even a new church plant. It’s possible to do a third round, if a student is eager. (See “Certificate in Theological Studies” on p. 00 about the program at Arrendale Prison.)

Second, we have added an exciting new degree program in the last few years. The Masters of Arts in Practical Theology (MAPT) also requires a course of Supervised Ministry in one of four tracks: Christian Education, Worship, Pastoral Care, and Pastoral Leadership.

In both of these Basic Degree programs, we have an increasingly diverse student body, ethnically and denominationally. Some of our students are already pastors or missionaries within their tradition. Others are pursuing a second (or third or more) career. The variety of incoming experiences and educational needs requires us to be more flexible about what is offered.

Finally, our Exploration classes have long been a signature mark of a Columbia Seminary education, not always offered at other seminaries. Our students have the opportunity to participate in cross-cultural experiences in Central Europe, Kenya, Jamaica, Appalachia, and Atlanta. Through this course, our students gain deeper insight into a culture quite different from their own and increase their skills for cultural analysis.

(See “The Marketplace” by Millicent Thomson on p. 00 about our new Explorations India class.)

c o n t e x t u a l e d u c at i o n

In what ways do the students benefit from Contextual Education?

At Columbia, we talk a lot about “educating imaginative, resilient leaders for God’s changing world.”

Every part of that statement is in play when it comes to putting into practice all that our students are learning in the classroom here. As mentioned before, there is the development of skills, the deepening of call, and the integration of biblical, theological, and practical theology studies with ministry settings. Contextual Education gives you the opportunity to do this in a community that can be both supportive and challenging. The pastors and staff and other lay members of our teaching congregations join you on the journey. The growth in selfawareness is so much greater when others are speaking into your life.

. . . There is an amount of satisfaction that the congregation is serving the wider Church by investing in the next generation of leaders.

In what ways do the hosting sites or teaching congregations benefit from Contextual Education?

I tell everyone who wants to host a student, “This is work!” They are not getting an experienced minister, who will do everything exactly right. This is someone who is learning on the job and will need guidance and support. However, this is also someone coming in with a fresh set of eyes, who may bring new perspective and new ideas for the congregation.

Also, there is an amount of satisfaction that the congregation is serving the wider Church by investing in the next generation of leaders.

What is your vision for Contextual Education moving forward?

I love increasing the variety of contexts and vocational opportunities. Keeping the creativity alive engages my spirit and the students we serve. Some of the faculty integrate a component of contextual education into their teaching, but we will always need a program like this for students to immerse themselves in a more extensive way. I would like to see the creation of Travel Seminars in addition to the Explorations trips, with some of the same crosscultural experiences woven into them. There has been a lot of change in a few years, and we should anticipate much more!

So where might someone learn more about the opportunities?

Certainly there is some information on the website. For Supervised Ministry, you can go to www.ctsnet.edu/supervised-ministry. For any of these, you can look at our Academic Catalog at www.ctsnet.edu/academic-catalog. Or you can just contact me or Dominique Robinson at our office by phone 404.687.4519.

VANTAGE Winter 2015

5

hyper–focus

Certificate in Theological Studies at

A rr e n d a l e P r i s o n for Women

M u c h at t e n t i o n wa s d r aw n t o A rr e n d a l e S tat e P r i s o n f o r W o m e n in Georgia recently around the story of Kelly Renee Gissendaner, who was scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection. Her story was unusual, not only because she was the first woman scheduled to be executed in Georgia in decades, but also because of her participation in a little known program for theological studies. The story took on a whole new level of interest when she became pen pals with one of the world’s most prominent theologians, Jürgen Moltmann.

In 2010, Gissendaner enrolled in a theology studies program for prisoners, run by a consortium of Atlanta-area divinity schools, including Candler School of Theology, McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University, the Interdenominational Theological Center and Columbia Theological Seminary. While in the program, she became a passionate student of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Rowan Williams, and of course Jürgen Moltmann. This collaborative project of the Atlanta Theological Association (ATA) and Arrendale State Prison’s Chaplaincy Department offers a Certificate in Theological Studies (CTS) as a yearlong program for incarcerated women, with classes designed and taught by graduate students and faculty from the participating schools.

The CTS program has two primary goals: • T o prepare incarcerated women to serve as leaders and to develop their critical academic skills through a yearlong program of quality theological education.

• T o provide seminary and doctoral students at the four ATA schools with fulfilling teaching opportunities and formative experiences for ministry and discernment.

The CTS program began in 2009 at Metro State Prison outside Atlanta under the leadership of Candler’s Elizabeth Bounds, associate professor of Christian ethics, and Metro State Prison chaplain Rev. Susan Bishop. Metro State Prison closed in April 2011, but the program moved to Arrendale State Prison. Many of the women at Arrendale have experienced addiction problems or various forms of abuse. Most are mothers. The CTS program serves as a supportive learning community for 15-20 students each year.

6

VANTAGE Winter 2015

c o n t e x t u a l e d u c at i o n

Currently, few educational opportunities exist in U.S. prisons beyond GED or vocational education. This Certificate enables incarcerated women to practice and further develop academic skills, thus keeping them mentally active and preparing them for spiritual leadership and further education upon release. Several students have gone on to be leaders and develop ministries within the prison.

The curriculum is designed to help students cultivate leadership, interpretive and academic skills; articulate and understand their own theologies; and foster a supportive learning community. It requires students to successfully complete courses in Biblical foundations and theological foundations, three electives, and a capstone project. CTS maintains a theology library at Arrendale containing more than 2,000 books.

The electives, designed and taught by ATA graduate students, cover a wide variety of theological disciplines, such as Biblical studies, history, ethics, pastoral care, homiletics and feminist/womanist theology. The graduate students have the option of participating either on a volunteer basis or for course credit.

In addition, interactions between incarcerated persons and seminarians build awareness of issues surrounding criminal justice and incarceration, and contribute to God’s work of reconciliation in the world.

In the case of Kelly Renee Gissendaner, a considerable outcry was raised to grant her clemency. She demonstrates genuine remorse for her role in the murder of her husband.

However, it was also clear that her role was in the planning of the crime. The man who actually carried out the murder is serving a lesser sentence of life in prison. All executions have been temporarily postponed due to the drugs appearing “cloudy.” But it is likely only a matter of time before the State of Georgia resumes its practice of capital punishment.

The Marketplace by

M i ll i c e n t T h o m s o n , MD i v ’17

The curriculum is designed to help students cultivate leadership, interpretive and academic skills; articulate and understand their own theologies; and foster a supportive learning community.

T h e m o m e n t w e e x i t e d our tuk-tuk (a three-wheel auto rickshaw), we were placed right into the epicenter of all of the happenings of the marketplace. We exited the tuk-tuk in the center portion of the street. We were surrounded by fast moving traffic on three sides and vendors on the fourth side. We made the journey across the street while dodging other tuktuks, mopeds, and cars. After crossing the street we arrived at the gate of St. Mary’s Basilica.

Sitting outside of the gate were elderly women holding out their scarves and calling out to us hoping to receive a few rupees. Upon entering the gate, we were in awe of its beauty and surprised by the shift in the lack of sound inside of the gate. Behind the gate it was more quiet, serene, and reverent. We were warmly greeted by images of Mother Teresa outside of the church. We enjoyed the sights of the church and also took a few minutes to pray.

Then we exited the gates of the church and the journey through the marketplace began.

With the hustle, bustle, buzz, and hum of the marketplace, one would think they were inside of a beehive. It was amazing. What seemed like chaos to an outsider was actually an organized event. It seemed like there were people everywhere and noise and sound and movement all around us and we just had to push through and endure. However, upon closer inspection, there was a vegetable section, a flower section, a house wares section, an art section, a meat section, a clothing section, a jewelry section, and eateries along the way. Walking through the streets, we could feel the crunch of gravel below our feet. We snaked our way through leap-

VANTAGE Winter 2015

7

hyper–focus

As we experienced the marketplace, we also saw a Hindu temple, a mosque, and a church all within the same space. We saw some women wearing saris while others wore burkas. This marketplace wasn’t just a place to shop, it was a place where religion, culture, and life can combine and coexist together. This speaks to the ways in which people of different backgrounds can come together for mutual exchange—not just economic exchange, but exchange of life and culture.

frogging from one concrete block to the next. We hopped onto the sidewalk and back into the street. We could see the buzzards hovering above because they wanted the scraps of fresh meat from the meat section. We felt people moving purposefully through the streets negotiating a good price for their wares and goods. We felt cars and tuk-tuks whizzing by us in the streets as we walked alongside them. As we walked we could smell the spices and the fragrances of the flowers. We could also smell the decay of the meat scraps as we approached the meat section.

We heard the constant sound of horns that were the pulse of the street. Walking through the marketplace was a cacophony of sights, sounds, smells, and touches.

This experience in the marketplace really speaks to looking deeper into a situation and not making rash judgments based upon our initial encounter. As we experienced the marketplace, we also saw a Hindu temple, a mosque, and a church all within the same space. We saw some women wearing saris while others wore burkas. This marketplace wasn’t just a place to shop, it was a place where religion, culture, and life can combine and coexist together. This speaks to the ways in which people of different backgrounds can come together for mutual exchange— not just economic exchange, but exchange of life and culture. Using the marketplace as a metaphor for living out our Christian faith in the world makes me reflect upon the words of a lecture heard earlier in the day in which the lecturer spoke about Christian witness without trampling on the beliefs of others. Through the seemingly simple exchanges in the marketplace, Christians can provide a powerful witness and living testimony to our faith by exchanging our lives with others.

Rev. Millicent J. Thomson is a second year M.Div/MAPT student originally from El Sobrante, California. She is the daughter of Mildred and Richard White. She is an ordained minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and serves at Flat Rock AME Church in Fayetteville, GA. She is married to Minister Anthony Thomson, Sr. and has an older sister, three children, one new granddaughter, and a dog.

For more posts from the India Explorations trip, visit CTSExplorationsIndia.wordpress.com.

8

VANTAGE Winter 2015

reasonable service

Columb ia In T he N ews

January 17

february 2

The Huffington Post: An Open Letter to Presidents and Deans of Theological Schools in the United States

Dr. Deborah Flemister Mullen, Dean of Faculty and Executive Vice President was a co-author and signatory of this letter. In a follow up statement, she said, “Let the floodgates of truth be opened that justice might roll down like a mighty stream!”

Christianity Today: Following Jesus through Cancer: A Final Conversation with Steve Hayner

An interview Steve Hayner had with longtime friend Mark Labberton, president of Fuller Seminary. He spoke about the challenge of living faithfully through terminal illness: “If there was anything that following Jesus was about, it was preparing me for these kinds of events.”

MPR News: Minnesota Theologian Shaped by Historic Selma March

March 5

Barbara Holmes (MDiv ’95) remembers marching with Martin Luther King, Jr., 50 years ago. She is president of United Theological Seminary in New Brighton, MN, and marched from Selma to Montgomery, AL, in the third and final walk in 1965.

For links to these and more stories, visit www.ctsnet.edu/columbia-in-the-news.

New s Releases from Co l umbi a PC(USA) Presidents: Affirming the Call for Racial Justice

January 27

The Presidents of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) seminaries, including our Interim President Bill Scheu, wrote a response affirming this call “to arise from the embers of silence and speak up and speak out as the prophet of old, ‘let justice run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream’ (Amos 5:24).”

Columbia Named Among 2015 “Seminaries that Change the World”

February 20

The Center for Faith and Service today announced the 2015 list of Seminaries that Change the World. This year, Columbia Theological Seminary was one of twenty-six institutions named. The group of institutions is theologically, politically and geographically diverse, yet shares a common commitment to work together to strengthen and advance theological insight and leadership in a way that connects faith and service.

Columbia to Host Dean-Drummond for Science and Faith Lecture

february 25

Columbia Theological Seminary has invited Dr. Celia Dean-Drummond, Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame, as its next science lecturer on Wednesday, April 15 at 7:00 pm in the Harrington Center Chapel. Dean-Drummond’s lecture is entitled, “Evolution, Humans, and Other Animals: Engaging Theology and Anthropology.”

For links to these and more stories, visit www.ctsnet.edu/news-releases.

VANTAGE Winter 2015

9

reconciling love

Joy Made Complete

By Tim Hartman, Assistant Professor of Theology

In Memory of S te ve Hayner

Editor’s Note: This article is adapted from a sermon given on February 2, 2015 based on John 15:1–17, 26–27 after the death of president Steve Hayner.

. . . . Yet, the purpose of our abiding is not simply for ourselves. Our connection to God through Jesus Christ is the root, not the goal, of our way of being in the world.

Abiding is a starting point.

10

VANTAGE Winter 2015

“A b i d e i n m e a s I a b i d e i n y o u . ” Last Wednesday when I chose John 15 as the text for this sermon, I did not anticipate that these verses would be the last Scripture that Steve would hear before he died. On his last day on earth, Steve—whose mind was sharp to the end—requested to have scripture read aloud to him, including specifying the translation, the NRSV. After he had heard a number of Psalms, that he requested by number—and had heard the entire book of Colossians read in one sitting, he asked his son, Chip, to read John’s Gospel. After Chip had read from John 15, the family sang hymns with Steve until he breathed his last.

“Abide in me as I abide in you.” Abiding is our primary calling in the Christian life; to be connected to Jesus Christ, to rest in Christ. We belong to God. In life, in death, in life beyond death, we belong to God. We are to allow the words of Jesus to abide in us. We are to abide in the love of Christ. Being in Christ is the core of our being. Steve expressed the essence of abiding in his often-repeated phrase: “It’s not so important what the journey looks like as WHO leads the journey.” The call to abide in Christ provides the foundation and focus for the Christian life: we belong to God alone.

Yet, the purpose of our abiding is not simply for ourselves. Our connection to God through Jesus Christ is the root, not the goal, of our way of being in the world. Abiding is a starting point. We are to abide in Christ so that God may bear fruit through us—so that we may become disciples and followers of Jesus Christ. As disciples we follow our master’s commandment: to love one another. Verse 12 tells us: “‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” As we abide in Christ, God’s love overflows into the community around us. We must love one another, especially people different than ourselves. Steve believed in hosting a big table, loving across lines defined by race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, socio-economic class, or gender.

For him, abiding in Christ included loving one another. During the last week of his life, while he lay upstairs in bed, Steve enjoyed the sounds of his family and friends relating with one another around meals downstairs: Loving one another.

Again, the movement of God does not stop. The work of God in Jesus Christ is not for select individuals, nor only for the Church, Christ is at work in the world. Abiding in Christ overflows into love for others which testifies to the world. As we see in verses 26 and 27, we are “to testify”, to be witnesses, to proclaim in word and deed. Here, Steve would remind us that “we are the people of God before we do the work of God.”

reconciling love

“What goes deepest to the heart goes widest to the world.”

The work of Christ is transformative and ongoing. As branches attached to the vine, the spirit of God flows through us as we bear fruit in the world. This is our testimony as we continually respond to God’s initiative and point to the reconciling activity of God in Jesus Christ. Or, as Steve would say, “What goes deepest to the heart goes widest to the world.”

Abiding in Christ is lived out through participating in Christ’s work in the world. Steve worked at the level of systems by seeking strategic solutions (including while on the boards of World Vision and International Justice Mission as well as in his role as President here).

He also invested deeply in individuals, both here in the States and also through nurturing international scholars in the Majority World.

Steve’s approach to leadership embodied his understanding that “History turns on small hinges.” God has a history of using unlikely people in significant ways. Steve was not best-selling author, a sought-after speaker, nor a world-renown scholar. Steve did not leave a legacy of physical artifacts behind, these were never his focus. Instead, Steve was “Living to an audience of 1.” By continually seeking to faithfully respond to the grace of God in his life, Steve invested in people. These people are Steve’s legacy. As the countless tributes on social media attest, Steve had a significant impact of thousands of people and these people are having an impact on hundreds of thousands more.

All of us gathered here today, are part of the legacy of Steve Hayner. Personally, I consider myself a grandson of Steve’s. Not biologically, of course, but instead through a process of handing down a philosophy of ministry and a way of being in the world from one generation to the next. In way, you could call this “oral tradition.” Twenty years ago, my first mentor in ministry, James B. Notkin, taught me John 15 and the three priorities of the Christian Life that emerge from this text: the Growing Commitment to Christ, the Growing Commitment to the body of Christ, and the Growing Commitment to Christ’s work in the world. James B. had been mentored by Steve. These priorities have shaped not just youth or university ministries, but how I parent and who I am as a pastor and professor. Many of you have similar stories.

Steve’s approach to leadership embodied his understanding that “History turns on small hinges” . . . . Steve invested in people. These people are Steve’s legacy. As the countless tributes on social media attest, Steve had a significant impact of thousands of people and these people are having an impact on hundreds of thousands more.

“I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.”

“Abide in me as I abide in you.” defines what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

Included in this list of tasks, abiding, loving, and testifying, is a promise. A promise that was received, embodied, and lived out by Steve throughout his life. Verse 11 reads: “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.”

In John’s gospel, fulfillment and joy are related to the person of Jesus. Not only did Steve typically sign every email or letter: “Joyfully, Steve,” his entire being and countenance effused JOY. An abiding, loving, testifying, infectious JOY. Even while lying in bed in the last days of his life, Steve was offering benedictions and blessing those around him. In the completion of Steve’s earthly journey, we can confidently say that what we saw and knew in Steve was, ‘Joy Made Complete.’ This process of being filled with joy was one that Steve worked at—as those closest to him know best. Steve abided in Christ because he desired to be filled with joy!

The Greek word xara/, translated here as “JOY”, can be defined as to “extend favor, lean towards, [to] be favorably disposed.” Properly, xara& denotes the awareness of God’s grace and favor. JOY then is “grace recognized.” Steve’s life recognized and demonstrated the grace of VANTAGE Winter 2015

11

reconciling love

God that he had received. His life was lived as a response…to God leaning towards him. As a result Steve was favorably disposed to so many of us. We received the grace of God through him. We recognized the grace of God in Steve’s life. In Steve, Christ made JOY complete. The JOY of Christ is the awareness of God’s grace. The gift of JOY is itself grace.

We live in Christ, die in Christ, and are raised with Christ.

If we thought that Steve was joyful in life, how much more now in death?

The life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, overcomes death.

“Joy is the hearty echo of God’s great love for us,” writes Margaret Feinberg. The promise of these verses is that our joy is completed in the gift of Christ’s joy. Steve’s contagious joy was a gift from God while he was abiding in Christ, loving others, and testifying to the transformative work of Christ. As Christ’s joy fills us, our joy is made complete. All is done in Jesus Christ. All is complete in Jesus Christ. We are baptized “in Christ,” we live “in Christ”; in Christ we are crucified, reconciled, and resurrected. In Christ, joy is made complete. Not just for Steve, but for us all.

Joy has a profoundly eschatological foundation. The life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, overcomes death. We live in Christ, die in Christ, and are raised with Christ. If we thought that Steve was joyful in life, how much more now in death? Through the power of the resurrection, we may abide with Christ now and forever.

And while on this earth, we continue to abide in Christ, love others, and testify to God’s love for the world in word and deed.

Or, as Steve would remind us: “It’s not so important what the journey looks like as WHO leads the journey.”

“We are the people of God before we do the work of God.” “What goes deepest to the heart goes widest to the world.”

“History turns on small hinges.”

We are to “Live to an audience of 1” And so, JOY is made complete in Jesus Christ!

May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing, so that we may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15.13). Amen.

The full obituary for Steve Hayner may be found on our web site at www. ctsnet.edu/news-releases,

or on the Columbia Connections blog at columbiaconnections.org.

12

VANTAGE Winter 2015

reconciling love

Agents

of

C h r i s t ’ s R e c o n c i l i at i o n

and

Love:

Embracing the Margins

By William Yoo, Assistant Professor of American Religious and Cultural History Editor’s Note: This is a revised version of an essay originally published in The Presbyterian Outlook on November 3, 2014.

Recent

e n c o u n t e r s w i t h s t u d e n t s at o u r s e m i n a ry

remind me of Jesus’ two followers on their walk to Emmaus in Luke 24. After they witness the grisly crucifixion and hear perplexing rumblings about an empty tomb, the two left Jerusalem bewildered and profoundly disappointed. Some of our conversations are likewise marked by anguish and confusion over the current state of affairs in our churches.

For Presbyterians, we all bear wounds — regardless of our theological positions and geographic locations — from the disagreements and departures of the past several years. Remembering past schisms over revival, slavery and women’s ordination in the last three centuries, we know that divisive arguments are not a new development in our tradition. But because of our declining numbers and diminishing cultural influence in larger society, today’s PC(USA) is in unfamiliar territory. Like other mainline denominations, we are not accustomed to existing on the sidelines and margins of American religion and culture. a n d p a r i s h i o n e r s i n l o c a l c o n g r e g at i o n s

At the turn of the twentieth century, Robert Ellis Thompson, a Presbyterian minister and history professor at the University of Pennsylvania, observed that Presbyterianism occupied an important place in the national religious landscape because of its contributions to American theology, society and politics. It is hard for a church historian to argue with Thompson’s claim. 11 of the 56 signatories of the Declaration of Independence were Presbyterian, including John Witherspoon, then Princeton University president and the only Christian minister to sign the document. In the nineteenth century, college and seminary students across the nation fastidiously studied the works of Presbyterian thinkers like Charles Hodge and James Henley Thornwell. Pearl S. Buck, daughter of Presbyterian missionaries in China, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932 for her novel, The Good Earth, and emerged as an influential voice in American foreign mission policies. In the 1950s, Catherine Marshall, Agnes Scott College graduate and child of a Southern Presbyterian manse, rose to prominence as a nationally acclaimed bestselling author for her biography of her husband Peter, Columbia Theological Seminary graduate and chaplain of the U.S. Senate, and her own spiritual autobiography. Generations of Presbyterians before and after Thompson’s writing participated within the dominant centers of religious life, popular culture and political power.

As we move forward into a more uncertain future, it may be tempting to look back with nostalgic longing for the halcyon days of former renown. But I advise students in my church history classes to learn from the past but not dwell there. Rather than lament over what once was — the previous successes and failures of those who preceded us

. . . . because of our declining numbers and diminishing cultural influence in larger society, today’s PC(USA) is in unfamiliar territory.

Like other mainline denominations, we are not accustomed to existing on the sidelines and margins of American religion and culture.

VANTAGE Winter 2015

13

reconciling love

Like other Christian traditions, a multiplicity of diverse believers from within and outside the bounds of dominant culture shaped and enriched our denomination.

Presbyterians on the social and cultural margins have shown us how to become a more inclusive and just community in our local worship and global witness.

in the faith — I believe it is far more productive to utilize our past to faithfully interpret our present and guide our future steps. Like other Christian traditions, a multiplicity of diverse believers from within and outside the bounds of dominant culture shaped and enriched our denomination. Presbyterians on the social and cultural margins have shown us how to become a more inclusive and just community in our local worship and global witness.

Sang Hyun Lee, a Korean American theologian at Princeton Theological Seminary, incorporates the inherent creativity of his marginalized position as a racial-ethnic minority to envision new theological understandings of continuing Jesus’ ministry to the poor and the outcast. Katie Geneva Cannon, the first ordained African American woman in the United Presbyterian Church and professor of Christian ethics at Union Presbyterian Seminary, demonstrates the power of the black woman’s voice to resist the evil forces of discrimination and proclaim the good news affirming the dignity of all persons as beautiful children made in God’s image.

Lee and Cannon are two examples of how Presbyterians find strength and creativity in the margins to construct a Reformed vision of life that enlarges our response to God’s grace as agents of reconciliation and love among the weak and vulnerable. Throughout our history, from the modest origins of the first Scots-Irish Presbyterian colonists to our newest immigrant congregations from Africa, Asia and Latin America, our churches serve as sacred places for God’s beleaguered — but beloved — people to receive healing, restore joy and revive purpose.

Rather than yearning for past days of numerical abundance and cultural dominance, what would it look like if we embraced our marginality? How could we unite together to discern new possibilities and enact our deepest convictions with hopeful resilience and imagination?

In the midst of our division and weakness, God is calling us, as Cannon preaches, to be “prophets for a new day” who will not be tempted by the attractiveness of the way things have always been.

At Columbia Seminary, we behold the transformative power within God’s changing world every day. In 1884, 34 white Presbyterian males from nine U.S. states (Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia) studied at the seminary. Today, we welcome approximately 340 female and male students across 40 U.S. states, 20 nations and 40 denominations. Our increasing diversity presents a rich opportunity for students, staff and faculty to better understand the experiences of marginalized and racial-ethnic minority believers as all of us continue Christ’s work of reconciliation and love with empathetic global engagement and critically informed faith. The tensions in our multiracial and international community soberly remind us that reconciliation is necessary because of our human sinfulness. But joining together to study and worship we also see that reconciliation is possible when people of faith engage in open conversation and honest confession.

In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus, in the form of a stranger, accompanied the disciples on the road to Emmaus to converse and eat with them. After the stranger vanished from their sight, the disciples recognized he was the risen Christ and recalled how their hearts pounded with new life as Jesus walked alongside them in the marginal place between Jerusalem and Emmaus.

They rejoiced and embarked on a new mission to share the gospel of their resurrected Lord and Savior to the ends of the earth. As we continue in our journey of faith, we too may discover God’s revelation where we least expect.

14

VANTAGE Winter 2015

lifelong learning

Second LIM Cohort Scheduled Amidst Buzz About First Cohort T h e s e c o n d g at h e r i n g of the Leadership in Ministry (LIM) workshops had an atmosphere of a reunion of sorts.

Having previously met for the first time in November, the participants gathered as friends and peers in March. Between sessions participants applied what they learned about Bowen Family Systems Theory (BFST) to their ministry settings.

In March, the 23 LIM workshop participants continued to explore the applications of BFST as developed by Edwin Friedman, author of Generation to Generation and A Failure of Nerve, to ministerial and organizational leadership. The majority of time at the Center for Lifelong Learning (CLL) was spent in small group case studies led by participants and facilitated by experienced faculty coaches Skip Johnson, Bob Dibble, James Lamkin, Dan Koger, Betty Pugh Mills, and Israel Galindo.

Galindo, Associate Dean for Lifelong Learning says, “This is a great partnership. The Leadership in Ministry workshops match perfectly the mission and work of the Center for Lifelong Learning. I’ve long thought the model LIM utilizes is one of the most effective for continuing education available. It is grounded in solid theory, and uses peer learning and case study approaches for its methodology.”

Along with plenary theory presentations by the faculty, interpreting one’s own context from an emotional process

and systems lens is an important part of the experience. “The real transformative work comes in working with peers on our own personal growth and reflecting on our functioning as leaders in our contexts: work and family,” says Galindo.

Each annual workshop meets for two sessions (fall and spring), but the program is, by design, an ongoing leadership development program. Some participants have attended for several years at other LIM sites, with some participating for almost a decade, reaping the benefits of long-term commitment to personal and professional growth.

Additionally, monthly systems group sessions will be held at the CLL led by LIM faculty members Lamkin and Galindo. These monthly small groups will be open to those interested in “working the theory,” even if they have not attended the workshops. For information about meeting dates and location of the monthly small groups contact the CLL at lifelonglearning@ctsnet.edu.

The second cohort is already scheduled for the 2015–16 academic year. Registration will open in May, 2015, and the first session will take place November 16 through 19, 2015.

The second session is scheduled for March 7 through 9, 2016.

Leadership in Ministry is one of the Center for Lifelong Learning’s Pastoral Excellence Programs, which seek to strengthen clergy leadership formation and development.

VANTAGE Winter 2015

15

T a u ta P a n ta

tauta panta 16

VANTAGE Winter 2015

Unsubstitutable: A Tribute to George Stroup In Honor of His Retirement

by David Bartlett, professor emeritus of New Testament For

C o l u m b i a S e m i n a ry c ata l o g G e o rg e S t ro u p .

The note was officially anonymous but it was not hard to guess the author: “He is a seventeenth century Calvinist whose research interests are contemporary and constructive theology, including hermeneutics, Christology, and the role of narrative in theology.”

When I write an essay I am happiest if I have a text to interpret, and here is my interpretation of this blurb. When the author writes that George Stroup is a seventeenth century Calvinist, he writes somewhat tongue-in-cheek. George does not live in the seventeenth century, and the seventeenth century Calvinists were not known as the most imaginative or winsome interpreters of the great Reformer.

However what George does beautifully here is to own and honor history. The frequent temptation of bible teachers and Baptists (and I am both) is to jump immediately from the ancient text to the current crisis with no attention to the fact that wise and faithful folk have interpreted these texts not only before us but for our sakes.

George’s research interests in contemporary and constructive theology are grounded not only in scripture but in the great tradition of scriptural interpretation represented especially

by Calvin and his heirs. Karl Barth, one of those heirs, says that right preaching always involves explication (exegesis), meditation, and application (the sermon itself ). For Barth theology belongs to the meditative moment in that movement, and in that sense George has been a great mediator, bringing Scripture to bear on the present through a wise and generous attention to our fathers and mothers in the faith.

The allusion to Barth is a reminder that George is actually not nearly so much influenced by 17th century Calvinists as by a 20th century one. In part through the mediation of our teacher Julian Hartt, George I think is convinced that Barth’s theological failures are often more suggestive than other theologians’ triumphs.

The last phrase of the anonymous description is also worth interpreting. George has been concerned through his entire scholarly career with Christology and the role of narrative in theology, but if we were Germans we would turn that concern into one impressive word.

George is one of the most influential and subtle expositors of narrative theology for our time, but for him narrative is not primarily a narrative about ourselves (pace lots of sermons we have all heard and/or preached). The narrative that counts is above all the narrative of Jesus Christ Luther in another somewhat cryptic phrase says that the goal of preaching is to “drive, or push, or present Christ.” That is what George’s theology does.

He is a devoted enough Calvinist to believe that sin abounds, but not nearly so much as grace. He also believes that among the manifestations of sin pride ranks high, but surely that means pride in self.

Throughout his years he has shown two deep and manifest and entirely justifiable kinds of pride—price in his family and pride in his students. In each case the ties that bind hold fast unshakably.

And on a more obviously personal note, one of our theological mentors Hans Frei has written that the Gospel shows forth Jesus’ “unsubstitutable identity.” I’m not entirely sure what that means but I am entirely sure that for nearly fifty years George has been my unsubstitutable friend. some years the

included a description of

T a u t a P a n t a | Alumni/ae News & Notes

On December 13, 2014, Michael Morgan, Seminary Musician, was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters (Litt. D.), for his contributions to literature, and the creative and performing arts, at King College, Bristol,TN. Kimberly Bracken Long represented Columbia Theological Seminary.

In partnership with St. Augustine Presbytery (PCUSA), Columbia Seminary’s office of alumni/ae and church relations sponsored a seminary student preaching weekend March 14–15, 2015, in the greater Ocala, FL, area. Six CTS MDiv students participated in Sunday morning leadership roles in a half-dozen Presbyterian congregations. Many thanks to these churches of St. Augustine Presbytery for partnering with Columbia Seminary in theological education: Fort King PC, Countryside PC, Marion Oaks PC, Silver Springs Shores PC, Weirsdale PC, and Dunnellon PC.

Photo, left to right: William Ratcliff ’14, Brandon Perkins ’16, Brian Schrott (spouse), Lisa Schrott ’16 ,Tamira Wimbish ’15, Katelyn Nutter ’17, Micah Dowling ’16, and the Rev. Andrew Gans ’05, host-pastor of the Fort King Presbyterian Church, Ocala Florida.

VANTAGE Winter 2015

17

T a u t a P a n t a | Alumni/ae News & Notes

The alumni/ae, faculty, staff, administration, and students of Columbia Theological Seminary are part of a living tradition that reaches back to the earliest days of God’s people reflecting on their world, their experience of God, and their sense of God’s calling. The title of this section of Vantage reminds our readers of our common connection to this venerable and ever-changing stream of witness. Tauta Panta refers to “all these things,” as in “Seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6.33).

About Our Alums 1960s Cecil Moore ’62 and wife Sadera are leaving Decatur and moving to the Presbyterian Village in Austell, GA . . . . . Ed Loring ’66 and Murphy Davis ’74 were awarded the Debs/Douglass Award for radical socialist action in Atlanta and Georgia by the Democratic Socialists of America . . . . . Doug Blair ’68 is stated supply at Central Presbyterian Church, Owensboro, KY . . . . . Robert Griffin ’68 has been awarded Diplomate status in the American Psychotherapy Association.

1970s Patrick J. Willson ’71 is an adjunct lecturer in homiletics and liturgics at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary . . . . . Harry Barrow ’74 celebrated his 30th anniversary as pastor of Newnan Presbyterian Church and was honored by the church with a low country boil luncheon August 17, 2014. Speakers included the Newnan mayor, Harry’s children and several church members . . . . . Harrell Lamar Cobb ’77 retired as temporary pastor of Cedar Creek Presbyterian Church, Greeneville, TN . . . . . Jap Keith ’79 is interim pastor at First Presbyterian Church, Gainesville, GA.

1980s G. Sidney Gunter ’81 retired from Heritage Presbyterian Church, Acworth, GA . . . . . Steve Vance ’81 is interim pastor of St. Luke’s Presbyterian Church, Dunwoody, GA . . . . . Jesse Hegler ’82 retired from First Presbyterian Church, Kershaw, SC . . . . . Dan McMillan ’84 retired from Green Hill Presbyterian Church, Enterprise, AL . . . . . Jim Wooten ’84 is a staff reporter for the Mexico Ledger in Mexico, MO . . . . . Coile Estes ’86 is interim pastor of Oakland Avenue Presbyterian Church, Rock Hill, SC . . . . . Edward Forsyth ’85 retired from New Hope Presbyterian Church, Gastonia, NC . . . . . Ted Smith ’86 retired from First Presbyterian Church, Cartersville, GA after nearly 19 years as pastor. He has begun training for his professional coach certification . . . . . Joey Byrd ’87 is operations chaplain for the Third Army stationed at Shaw Air Force Base, Sumter, SC . . . . .

Gail Perkins ’87 is now a member of Greater Atlanta Presbytery’s pastoral team . . . . . Lynn Stall ’87 is pastor of Milner Memorial Presbyterian Church, Raleigh, NC . . . . . James Burton ’87 retired

18

VANTAGE Winter 2015

as pastor of United Presbyterian Church, Belle Center, OH, and has relocated to Manning SC . . . . . Richard Hill ’87 is interim pastor of Macland Presbyterian Church, Powder Springs, GA . . . . . Carol Byrd ’88 is interim pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Columbia, SC.

1990s Todd Jenkins ’90 has completed almost 19 years as pastor at First Presbyterian Church, Fayetteville, TN. The church voted to accept his request to dissolve their relationship and give him the opportunity to begin a thorough process of discernment. He is seeking an opportunity for ministry where his particular gifts and skills can be best utilized and appreciated . . . . . Huw Christopher ’91(DMin) and his wife Rachel have moved into Monte Vista Grove Homes in Pasadena, CA. Huw says they would be happy to show their new home and community to any friends from Columbia who may be visiting the Pasadena area. . . . . . Jonathan Wallace ’91 is pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Foley, AL . . . . . Nan Adams ’92 was installed on March 8 as pastor at Memorial Presbyterian Church, Montgomery, AL. Hugh Hamilton ’80 preached at the service . . . . . Joseph Dorociak ’92 (DMin) is pastor of Barrington Presbyterian Church, Barrington, IL . . . . .

Susan Moorefield ’92 received her Doctor of Ministry degree May 18, 2014, from Louisville Theological Seminary. She continues to serve as associate pastor of Second Presbyterian Church, Louisville, KY . . . . . Barbara Holmes ’95 was featured on Minnesota Public Radio March 5, 2015. She is president of United Theological Seminary in New Brighton, MN and marched in the third and final walk from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 . . . . . David Shelor ’96 was married last December to Merry Lynn Morris. He continues as pastor of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church,Tampa, FL . . . . . Paula Buford ’97 (ThD) has been invited to serve as a visiting professor of pastoral care and counseling during the fall quarter, 2015, at United Theological College, Bangalore, India.

She will also be preaching in local churches . . . . . Todd Green ’98 was recently granted tenure at Luther College, Decorah, IA. He teaches in the area of European and American religious history and has taught at Luther since 2008. Todd recently edited Islam, Immigration and Identity and is leading a study abroad course on Islam in Europe with 25 college students . . . . . Laury Larson ’99 retired from Church of the Covenant, Cleveland, OH . . . . . Timothy Mallard ’99 (ThM) was promoted to Chaplain (Colonel) U.S. Army in March 2014 and graduated from the U.S. Army War College with an M.S.S.T. in Strategic Leadership in June 2014. He is the first chaplain selected as an Eisenhower Fellow in the history of the War College. Timothy is now assigned as the command chaplain, U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence in Fort Gordon, GA, and is scheduled to graduate with his PhD in Christian Ethics from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, Lampeter, Wales in July 2015 . . . . . Erin Sharp ’99 and husband, David Bailey, are proud parents of William Thomas “Liam” Bailey born February 13, 2015 weighing 8 lbs. 15 ozs.

2000s Laurie Armstrong ’00 retired as pastor of Calvary Presbyterian Church, St. Clairsville, OH . . . . . Jonathan Carroll ’00 is clinical director/lead therapist at The Clinic @ The Montgomery in Owensboro, KY. He resigned from First Presbyterian Church after ten years to work in full-time ministry of pastoral psychotherapy . . . . . Rachel Anderson ’01 is stated supply at Mt. Horeb Presbyterian Church in Lexington, KY. She is also program assistant for itineration support with World Mission in Louisville . . . . . Ruth Lovell Bradham ’01 is pastor at Cordova Presbyterian Church, Cordova, TN . . . . . Amy Lehr Camp ’01 was the first woman ever to speak for the Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration on the plaza in St. Augustine, FL in January. Amy is pastor at Flagler Memorial Presbyterian Church . . . . . Susan Verbrugge ’01 is part-time pastor at Glade Church (UCC) in Blacksburg, VA . . . . . Jaina Anderson ’05 was installed on March 8 as pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Sheffield, AL . . . . . Cindy Benz ’03 is interim/head of staff at First Presbyterian Church, Lake City, FL . . . . . Pen Peery ’03 is the featured preacher December 21, 2014 on “Day 1,” the nationally broadcast ecumenical radio program . . . . . Paula Hoffman ’04 has been named chair of the Board of Directors of GenOn Ministries, one of the leading voices in intergenerational ministries . . . . . Kendal Land ’04 is pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Longview, TX . . . . . Leah Hrachovec ’05 is pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Stillwater, OK . . . . .

Matt Schlageter ’05 is now a Board Certified Chaplain with the Association for Professional Chaplains. He continues his work at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando, FL . . . . .

Davis Hankins ’05 had his first book published. The Book of Job and the Immanent Genesis of Transcendence revives the enduring philosophical relevance and political urgency of the book of Job and thus contributes to the recent “turn toward religion” among philosophers such as Slavoj Žižek and Alain Badiou . . . . . Jerry Long ’06 is pastor of Batesville Presbyterian Church, Batesville, MS . . . . . Kate McGregor Mosley ’06 will lead environmentalism initiatives as executive director of Georgia Interfaith Power & Light in Atlanta . . . . . Sarah Cooper Searight ’06 is interim associate pastor at Swarthmore Presbyterian Church, Swarthmore, PA . . . . .

Danny Loffredo ’07 is pastor of Gulf Breeze Presbyterian Church, Gulf Breeze, FL . . . . . April Love-Fordham ’06 recently had a book published. James in the Suburbs, A Disorderly Parable of the Epistle of James is far more than your ordinary Bible commentary.

It is also a parable, an energizing story of the lives of six men and women-that wraps itself around the Epistle of James, making its teachings immediately applicable to modern life . . . . . Michael Woods ’06 is Hospice Chaplain at Greystone Hospice and Palliative Care in Columbus, OH . . . . . Scott Tucker ’07 and wife Lauren are proud parents of Clare Cross Tucker, born February 20, 2015 . . . . . Bill Davis ’07 and wife Katie are proud parents of Coulter John Davis born November 21, 2014 . . . . . Monica Wedlock Kilpatrick ’07, ’13 (ThM) is director of Disciples Care Exchange and Affinity Group Ministries. Monica served over 7 years as Columbia’s director of Admissions and Recruitment . . . . . Collin Adams ’08 and wife Blair are proud parents of twin boys.

Knox Alan Adams and MacInnes Blair Adams were born December 24, 2014 . . . . . Claudia Aguilar Rubalcava ’08 (MATS) ’11 (MDiv) wrote the article for the benedictory page in the March 16, 2015, issue of Presbyterian Outlook. She is serving as Columbia’s associate dean of Student Services . . . . . Karen Ware Jackson ’08 was installed October 26, 2014, as pastor of Faith Presbyterian

Church, Greensboro, NC . . . . . Kate Giguere Morris ’08 and husband Daniel are proud parents of Anderson Wynn Morris born September 9, 2014 . . . . . Brian Coulter ’09 has written a book recently published by Chalice Press titled Be Holy: Find Identity, Find Belonging, Find Purpose. It was reviewed in the March 16, 2015, issue of Presbyterian Outlook . . . . . Kari Pellegrino ’09 and Steven Andrews ’10 are proud parents of Malcolm Alexander Andrews born February 23, 2015 weighing 9 lbs. 4 ozs . . . . .

Adam Copeland ’09 is Director of Faith and Life and Leadership Instructor at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN. His new book, Kissing in the Chapel, Praying in the Frat house: Wrestling with Faith and College, was the no. 1 new release in Amazon’s college and university student life category Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014 . . . . . Kari Pellegrino ’09 MATS, ’12 MDiv was ordained October 5, 2014, at Parkville Presbyterian Church, Parkville, MD. She is a chaplain at Research Medical Center, Kansas City, MO . . . . .

Betsy Turner ’09 and husband, Ian, are proud parents of William McLarty Turner, born October 27, 2014.

2010s Craig McDonald ’10 is interim pastor of First Christian Church, Rome, GA . . . . . Anna Brown ’10 (DEdMin) has moved to Bar Harbor, ME where she and her husband have purchased the Coach Stop Inn, a bed and breakfast . . . . . Jenny Sumner Carswell ’10 and husband Brian are proud parents of Marshall Conner Carswell born January 17, 2015 weighing 9 lbs. 10 oz. Jenny will begin a year-long chaplaincy residency at Tampa General, Tampa, FL in September . . . . . Sara Dorrien ’11 is pastor of Pine Island Presbyterian Church, Kalamazoo, MI . . . . . Elizabeth Meador ’11 married Charles H. Strobel November 8, 2014, in Atlanta . . . . . Kathryn Salmons Collins ’11 is interim associate pastor of Manhattan Presbyterian Church, Manhattan, KS . . . . . Duncan Meadows ’11 is director of children’s and youth ministry at James Island Presbyterian Church, Charleston, SC . . . . . Lauren Scharstein ’11 wrote an article which appeared in the March 16, 2015, issue of the Presbyterian Outlook. It was titled Prayer for the Hyperconnected . . . . . Andrew Whaley ’11 and wife Rebecca are proud parents of Joanna Frances Whaley born January 30, 2015 weighing 7 lbs 13 oz . . . . . Stephanie Crumpton ’12 (ThD) is assistant professor of practical theology at Lancaster Theological Seminary, Lancaster, PA, and recently presented to the Psychology, Culture and Religion Group at the American Academy of Religion on using a self psychological lens to understand experiences of intimate, cultural and ecclesial violence toward African American women . . . . . Lucy Strong ’13 is UKirk director at Agnes Scott College and the Greater North Decatur area . . . . . Will Norman ’13 was ordained December 28, 2014 at Roswell Presbyterian Church. His ordination commission included Christin Johnson Norman ’12, Drew Stockstill ’12, Penny Hill ’86, and Professor Emeritus George Stroup. Will is pastor of St. John’s United Church of Christ in Woodland, CA . . . . . Lelar Kay (L.K.) Pendleton ’13 (DMin) is pastor of St. Mary’s Road United Methodist Church, Columbus, GA and also runs LK Ministries, an international charitable organization . . . . . Elinor Dale ’14 is associate pastor for youth and family outreach at First Presbyterian Church, Muncie, IN. . . . . Maggie Alsup ’14 will continue her

VANTAGE Winter 2015

19

T a u t a P a n t a | Alumni/ae News & Notes

Va n tag e Vol. 106, No. 2, Winter 2015 E d i t o r

Michael Thompson D es i gn

Lucy Ke

internship for another year at Ft. Hill Presbyterian Church, Clemson, SC. She is excited for another year in campus ministry . . . . . Jody Andrade ’14 was ordained December 7, 2014 and is associate pastor for congregational care at Pleasant Hill Presbyterian Church, Duluth, GA . . . . . Betsy Lyles ’14 is serving as Columbia’s interim director of Admissions and Recruitment . . . . . Chris Peters ’14 and Lauren Van Wicklen ’14 were married June 20, 2014, in Roswell, GA. Chris is associate pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church, Fairhope, AL and was ordained October 12, 2014 . . . . . Jeanne Simpson ’14 is director of older adult ministries at Eastminster Presbyterian Church, Stone Mountain, GA.

P h o t o graph y

Myung Jin Chae ’15 Ralph Basui Watkins

In M em o r i am

C o ntr i b u t o rs

David Bartlett Randy Calvo, Jr. ’81 Kimberly Clayton ’84/DMin ’08 Pam Cottrell Corie Cox Mary Lynn Darden Sarah Erickson ’03/DEdMin ’10 Israel Galindo Tim Hartman Barbara Poe William Scheu Mashaun D. Simon Doug Taylor Sandra Taylor Millicent Thomson ’16 Diane Thorne William Yoo This issue of Vantage

Gabriel E. Abdullah ’47 . . . . . . . . . . July 29, 2014 Marcus R. Barber ’88 . . . . . . . . . . March 9, 2015 Teddis H. Beasley ’54 . . . . . . . . . January 4, 2015 L. Harry Brazell ’90 . . . . . . . . December 22, 2013 Charles Cousar ’58 . . . . . . . . . December 10, 2014 SherylLynn Frazier ’95 . . . . . . . November 20, 2014 Ervin R. Joslin ’70 . . . . . . . . . . January 13, 2015 Robert W. Lawrence ’63 . . . . . . . . January 28, 2014 David Moorefield ’51 . . . . . . . December 29, 2014 Archie C. Reed ’60 . . . . . . . . . . . . . July 7, 2014 Faye Rivers ’08 . . . . . . . . . . . December 25, 2014 R. Mickey Shealy ’99 . . . . . . . . . October 30, 2014 Carl Smith ’61 . . . . . . . . . . . . . January 2, 2015 Eldon Wadsworth ’58 . . . . . . . December 11, 2014 W. Phillip West ’88 (DMin) . . . . November 13, 2014

is available online at

www.ctsnet.edu. Go to News & Publications, then Vantage.

rec y cle P lease this issue of After you read g to a friend it alon ur Vantage, pass or take it to yo . , ue ag lle co er or nt ce g in recycl neighborhood

20

VANTAGE Winter 2015

The American Theological Library Association Serials (ATLAS) research database is available to Columbia alumni/ae.

The database provides online access to more than 150,000 articles and citations, and to the full text of hundreds of peerreviewed journals.

Columbia’s library provides funding for this valuable resource for alumni/ae. It is a key tool for lifelong research, study, and sermon preparation.

For more information — and a login ID and password — contact Erica Durham (404-687-4661 or durhame@ctsnet.edu).

T a u t a P a n t a | Faculty & Staff

D e c e m b e r 10, 2 0 1 4

Charlie Cousar P ro f e s s o r Emeritus of N e w T e s ta m e n t (1933–2014)

Charlie Cousar, the Samuel A. Cartledge Professor Emeritus of New Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary from 1966 to 2003, died on December 10, 2014. He leaves behind his wife Betty and three sons. Services were held at Decatur Presbyterian Church on Monday, December 15.

Charles Cousar was born in 1933 and grew up in Charlottesville, VA. He continued his education at Davidson College where he graduated with a BA in 1955. He proceeded to Columbia Theological Seminary where he earned a BD in 1958. In addition to studying at several other institutions around the world, he went on to earn a PhD from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland in 1960.

Throughout his career he published a number of books that had a great impact on the churches of the Presbyterian Church USA. After earning his PhD, he returned to Columbia Theological Seminary and served as an Assistant Professor and an Associate Professor until 1966. After this time he was honored with the position of the Samuel A. Cartledge Professor of New Testament, in which he served until 2003. While in this position, he served a number of different roles for Columbia Theological Seminary. He was the Dean of Academic Affairs, twice an Interim Dean of Faculty, and Interim President twice as well. From 1962–1968 he was a visiting professor at Agnes Scott College and in 1969 he was a visiting professor at Union Theological Seminary.

His breakthrough work and publications earned him several awards throughout his career. These include the Alumni Distinguished Service Award from Columbia Theological Seminary, the Faculty Research Fellowship from the Association of Theological Schools multiple times, and the McCallie School Alumni Achievement Award. Since 1960 he was a member of the Society of Biblical Literature, helping develop new ideas and breakthroughs of the New Testament.

Cousar is best known for his extensive work on New Testament research and his publications of commentaries that are used widely as scholarly teaching tools for preaching and study. One of the most well known series he was involved with was Texts for Preaching, which he co-authored with a number of people including Walter Brueggemann.

In M em o r i am Charlie Cousar

Professor Emeritus of New Testament

December 10, 2014

page 21

Steve Hayner

President Emeritus

January 31, 2015

page 10

Syngman Rhee

Former Moderator and Professor

January 14, 2015

page 22

February 15, 2015

page 23

Joseph Roberts, Jr. Pastor and Preacher

VANTAGE Winter 2015

21

T a u t a P a n t a | Faculty & Staff

J a n u a ry 14, 201 5

Syngman Rhee F o r m e r M o d e r at o r a n d P ro f e s s o r (1932–2015)

22

VANTAGE Winter 2015

Dr. Syngman Rhee, who last September came to Columbia Theological Seminary as our Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Practice of Global Leadership Development, died at the age of 83. There was a private funeral for the family and a memorial service on the Columbia Seminary campus.

Syngman Rhee was a Presbyterian minister who served as the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 2000.

Rhee and a younger brother fled North Korea in 1950, leaving behind his mother and four sisters. His family was hoping they would return in two or three weeks. Rhee’s father had been a Christian minister and died in prison under the communists. For Rhee, it turned into decades of separation, finally ended in 1978.

As a refugee in South Korea, Rhee recalled that “Church World Service came with food, blankets, most of all hope in the hopeless situation for the people who were struggling. The ministry of compassion touched me very, very deeply. That’s one of the reasons why I was very active in National Council of Churches and Church World Service.”

Rhee joined the Republic of Korea Marine Corps and in 1953 was sent to the United States for special training at the U.S. Marine School in Quantico, Virginia. He said he struck up close friendships with Christian Marine officers and that they continued to correspond after he went back to South Korea.

His friends from Quantico sponsored him as a student at Davis and Elkins College in West Virginia, where Rhee majored in English and religion. From there, he went to Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, graduating in 1960. He was ordained in Louisville and a week later married to Haesun Rhee, a long-time friend and medical doctor in South Korea.

Rhee’s first call was to serve two small congregations near Louisville. “That was a wonderful experience for me,” he said. “I found what it means to be one in Jesus Christ.”

Rhee next served for 13 years as Presbyterian campus minister at the University of Louisville. He began his campus ministry in the early 1960s and recalls that Martin Luther King made several visits to the campus. “I remember marching with him and the black students in Louisville,” Rhee said. “That experience taught me what it is to be engaged in the ministry of racial justice.”

In 1978, Rhee left the University of Louisville and to become coordinator for Middle East Missions for what was then the United Presbyterian Church. He was with that agency for seven years.

After moving to Richmond, Virginia in 1998 Rhee attended RKCPC (Richmond Korean Central Presbyterian Church). He served as the Director of the Asian-American Study Center at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, Virginia before he moved to Atlanta in late 2014. There he served as distinguished visiting professor for global leadership development at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur Georgia. He passed away after a brief illness on January 14, 2015.

T a u t a P a n t a | Faculty & Staff

F e b r u a ry 15, 20 1 5

Joseph Roberts, Jr. Pastor and Preacher (1935–2015)

Photo courtesy of Dr. Ralph Basui Watkins, Associate Professor of Evangelism and Church Growth.

The Rev. Dr. Joseph L. Roberts, well known pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, died on Sunday, February 15 at his home. Dr. Roberts was also the Wade Huie Professor of Homiletics and the Director of the New Center of Preaching at Columbia Theological Seminary from 2009 to 2012.

“As the first person to hold the Huie Chair in Homiletics, Rev. Dr. Joseph Roberts exemplified everything we hope our students will grow to be,” said Dr. Anna Carter Florence, Peter Marshall Associate Professor of Preaching. “What Joe brought to our campus, what he offered to us of his storehouse of wisdom and experience, will remain. I think particularly of his deep conviction that theological education must be available and accessible to all who minister, whatever their level of education, and his determination that Columbia can be a place of hospitality and mutual learning.”

He was born Joseph Lawrence Roberts, Jr. to Reverend Joseph L. Roberts, Sr. and Marguerite Reed Roberts on February 17, 1935 in Chicago, IL. He met his wife Esther Jean Wortham at Bethel AME, and the two were married in Detroit, MI, on June 7, 1959.

Dr. Roberts studied at Knoxville College where he graduated cum laude and was a member of the Gamma Omicron Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. He received his Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York City and his Master of Theology degree from Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey. Dr. Roberts was the recipient of five honorary Doctor of Divinity degrees. He was the 2004 recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Awards of both Union Theological Seminary and Princeton Theological Seminary.

Dr. Roberts was Pastor of Weequahic Presbyterian Church and Elwood United Presbyterian Church in New Jersey. He worked in various administrative positions including as director of Corporate and Social Mission for the Presbyterian Church, U.S. “We’ve been friends for 40 years,” recalled Rev. Dr. Joanna Adams, MDiv alumna (’79) and former Board Chair of Columbia Theological Seminary. “Like his friend Martin Luther King, Jr., Dr. Roberts wanted the religious community not to be the caboose, but the moral engine that showed society the way forward.”

In 1975, Dr. Roberts was called to serve as the fourth Senior Pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA, where he served for 30 years. “He was wonderful human being who opened the eyes of people to see the suffering of others. He had a prophetic voice and the kindest heart which is a rare combination,” said Dr. Adams. “He didn’t want Ebenezer Baptist Church to be just a shrine to Dr. King, but a living, breathing church serving those in need.”

When Dr. Roberts started at Ebenezer, he launched an expansive community outreach program that included the Teenage Mother’s Ministry, a tutoring program, counseling, a food co-op and an adult day care center. He was an energetic orator, an accomplished musician, and a gifted administrator who negotiated successfully bank financing for Ebenezer’s 32,000 square-foot Horizon Sanctuary. continued on following page VANTAGE Winter 2015

23

T a u t a P a n t a | Faculty & Staff

Joseph Roberts, Jr. continued

Recognized as a great teacher and accomplished author, in 2006, Rev. Roberts published Sideswiped by Eternity: Sermons from Ebenezer Baptist Church, demonstrating his commitment to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the lives of his parishioners, and the message of Jesus Christ. Most recently, he served on the Grady Memorial Hospital Corporation Board of Directors (2008-2014), was honored by the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference (2014), and was a founder of the Higher Ground Group (2010-2015), an interdenominational group of Atlanta faith leaders dedicated to raising awareness and inspiring action on key issues affecting the greater Atlanta community.

lifelong learning

The Next Step in the Journey Begins Back Where You Began “For people in the pulpit and in the pew, for people of all denominations and stages of life, we offer an exploration of community-grounded Christian Spirituality rooted in scripture, theology, tradition, reading in the spiritual classics, prayer, and meditation.”

For twenty years this has been, and continues to be, the Spirituality Program’s invitation for seekers looking for opportunities to develop their spiritual gifts.

Many have joined us through the years. Since 1995, more than 180 Certificates in Christian Spiritual Formation have been awarded. They journaled, meditated, listened, worshipped, pilgrimaged, discussed, contemplated and developed spiritually throughout the requirements of the program. And in the end, they learned that completing the program was not the end of their journey, but the beginning.

The rest of the journey and where it leads is different for everyone. For many, the “next step” is learning to help others discern the ways God is speaking to them in their own lives.

The Spirituality Program in the Center for Lifelong Learning is pleased to announce the new Certificate in Spiritual Direction program. Grounded in the tradition of Christian Spirituality, the curriculum includes four one week-long residencies on the campus of Columbia Theological Seminary. Components of the program 24

VANTAGE Winter 2015

include individual reading and reflection, and supervised practice in the art of spiritual direction. Organized on the cohort model, the certificate is intended to be completed in two and a half years.

Spiritual Direction, often called spiritual companioning or spiritual friendship, is an intentional relationship between a person seeking spiritual guidance and a trained individual (the spiritual director). Together with the Holy Spirit, they listen for and explore the workings of God in the directee’s life.

Associate Director of Spirituality Debra Weir says of this new venture, “I sense this program will fully open the contemplative dimension of the Spirituality Program and support growing depth in the CTS community at large.”

She looks forward to meeting and working with program participants and course leaders during the first program cycle. The first residential session will be in the fall of 2015.

Applicants to the CSD program should have completed a minimum of one year receiving spiritual direction with a trained spiritual director and agree to continue spiritual direction during CSD studies.

Completion of the Certificate in Spiritual Formation or equivalent preparation preferred, and preference will be given to graduates of the CLL’s Certificate in Spiritual Formation or the equivalent.

The Spirituality Program at the Center for Lifelong Learning offers courses and events as a resource for church professionals and lay people. For a complete list of classes offered by the Center for Lifelong Learning, visit www.ctsnet.edu/lifelong-courses-and-events.

T a u t a P a n t a | Faculty & Staff

Brennan Breed, Assistant Professor of Old Testament, led a morning session on January 21 of the Lectionary Studies seminar for the Center for Lifelong Learning, in which they reflected on 1-2 Samuel, the OT lectionary texts for this coming summer. On January 28, he led a daylong staff retreat for the Williamsburg Community Chapel focusing on the Psalms. Brennan taught a class on Prophetic Literature at Trinity Presbyterian Church on February 8. His reflection on 2 Samuel 7 titled “The Self-Righteous System and the Prophetic Task” appeared in On Scripture and was featured at the Huffington Post on December 16, and his essay “Are There Really Three Worlds of the Text? A Proposal for Biblical Studies,” appeared in January.

Brennan’s “Author Response” for @thispoint appeared in February. Coming up: On April 8, he will deliver a lecture at the University of Virginia’s colloquium for Judaism and Christianity in Antiquity, titled “Daniel’s Four Kingdoms: A History of Re-writing World History.” In May, his essay titled “What Can a Text Do?: Reception History as an Ethology of the Biblical Text” will be published in the collected volume Reception History and Biblical Studies: Theory and Practice (ed. E. England and W. J. Lyons; London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2015).

William Brown, William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament, presented two papers at the Society of Biblical Literature meeting in San Diego on November 24: “The Cosmic Temple” with Stanley Saunders and “Reading Psalms Sapientially.” He led an adult Sunday School class at Trinity Presbyterian Church on the “Spirituality of the Old Testament” on January 11. Bill continues to serve as Board member of Ring Lake Ranch, whose meeting was in Denver on January 22-26. He hosted a “site visit” on February 6-7 for representatives of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to review and plan the grant-funded “Science for Seminarians” program at Columbia Seminary. He also taught Sunday School at Northminster Presbyterian Church on the “other” creation traditions of the Bible on March 1.

Pamela Cooper-White, Ben G. and Nancye Clapp Gautier Professor of Pastoral Theology, Care and Counseling, Co-Director of the ThD Program, will present a paper in March from her Fulbright research entitled “‘Dirty Old Gods’: Religion and Freud’s Wednesday Night Psychological Society from Habsburg Vienna to the Holocaust,” Psychology of Religion/Religion of Psychology Conference, sponsored by the Divinity School, the Martin Marty Center, the Wisdom Research Project, and the departments of Anthropology and Comparative Human Development, University of Chicago, Mar. 6, 2016. Pamela co-authored a book with Michael Cooper-White: Exploring Practices of Ministry. Foundations for Learning Series, Fortress Press, December 2014. She contributed a chapter “Violence and Justice,” in The Oxford Handbook of Theology, Sexuality, and Gender, ed. Adrian Thatcher, just published

by Oxford University Press. Pamela wrote a book review essay on Psychoanalysis, Monotheism and Morality: The Sigmund Freud Museum Symposia 2009-2011 just published in the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association. She published an article “A Tale of Two Houses: Küsnacht and Bollingen,” Parts I & II, C.G. Jung Society of Atlanta Quarterly News, published in September & December 2014. Coming up: On June 2, Pamela will present “Recognizing the Other: Intersubjectivity and Justice” to the International Conference on Intercultural

VANTAGE Winter 2015

25

T a u t a P a n t a | Faculty & Staff

Spiritual Care and Counseling: Pastoral and Spiritual Care across Disciplines, Universität Bern, Switzerland. There will be an online colloquium on her book The Cry of Tamar and the role of women in the church, sponsored by the Society for Relational Theory and Theology on February 20-22. In February, it was announced that Pamela will join the faculty of Union Theological Seminary in New York City on July 1 as Professor of Psychology and Religion.

Kathy Dawson, Associate Professor of Christian Education, Director of the MAPT Program, was honored on February 5 as the 2015 recipient of the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators (APCE) Educator of the year award. She used her acceptance speech to unveil a web-based, multi-platform Christian Education resource at Hope4ce.net.

Mark Douglas, Professor of Christian Ethics, Director of MDiv Program, published the Spring 2015 edition of @thispoint. He led a class on faith and the environment as part of a Lifelong Learning event which included sea kayaking in the Bahamas. Mark co-taught a 5 week class with his wife, Lindsay Armstrong, on five social trends shaping the 21st Century church at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. In January, he presented a paper on just war and climate change at the Dean’s Lunch. Mark facilitated an international book conversation between the faculty at Stellenbosch University in South Africa and faculty at Columbia Seminary. He participated in the grants retreat associated with Columbia Seminary’s grant from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Mark taught a class on religion in the public sphere at First Presbyterian Church of Covington, GA. He taught a weekend retreat on the New Testament for Presbyterian youth in southern Alabama. In March, Mark hosted visiting Hungarian scholar Andras Nagy. He served as MC for Georgia Interfaith Power and Light’s annual “GIPPY Awards.” Mark presented a paper on rethinking the Just War tradition to a group of scholars at Yale Divinity School.

Sarah Erickson, Director of Lifelong Learning, participated in worship and assisted in the baptism of her grandson at North Avenue Presbyterian on December 28, and led worship at St. Andrews Presbyterian in Tucker, GA on January 4. She is teaching an adult church school class based on “Reconciling Paul: A Contemporary Study of 2 Corinthians,” (Horizons Bible Study) at N. Decatur Presbyterian in February and March. On February 27-28, Sarah attended the meeting of the Presbytery of South Alabama. She is currently serving as CPM liaison to a first-year student at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond. Sarah coordinates the Columbia Connections blog contributors for the “Along the Journey” section representing Lifelong Learning, enlisting a number of alums and friends in the effort. The S3 (Sabbath, Study and Service) Program, for which she served as coordinator since its inception in 2003, concluded with a final gathering on February 9-11 at the seminary.

Israel Galindo, Associate Dean for Lifelong Learning, presented at the Leadership in Ministry Workshops, Atlanta in November. In December, he taught the Advent series, “An Advent Journey In Poetry and Art,” at First Baptist Church of Tucker, GA. In October, Israel co-taught “Money and Your Ministry” with author Margaret Marcuson, an online course at the Center for Lifelong Learning. He published “Getting Good at It” on the Digital Flipchart blog. In November, Israel wrote “Four Freaking Awesome Things About Being Dean,” in the

26

VANTAGE Winter 2015

T a u t a P a n t a | Faculty & Staff

Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning blog for Theological School Deans. He posted “Make Your Course More Effective Using IRA and the Ws,” in Digital Flipchart blog. In December, Israel wrote “Starting a new degree program is the last thing a dean should do,” in the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning blog for Theological School Deans. He published “The Two Questions You Fail to Ask When Using a Teaching Method,” in Digital Flipchart blog. Israel wrote “Do You Know What You’re Doing?” in the Digital Flipchart blog.

He posted “The Persistent Power of the Past,” in the Digital Flipchart blog. Israel wrote “The number of the Beast,” in the Digital Flipchart blog. In January, he wrote “On church growth and rural churches,” in the Digital Flipchart blog. Israel published “Fixing the Problems of Theological Education,” in the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning blog for Theological School Deans. He wrote “Using Design Elements on Your Online Course Site,” in the Digital Flipchart blog. Israel posted “Do you want to be great?” in the Perspectives on Congregational Leadership blog. He wrote morning and evening devotionals and prayers for Casa: An experiment in doing church online. Israel did a review of Visible Learning and the Science of How We Learn, in the Reflective Teaching, The Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion, a review of Teaching Applied Creative Thinking: A New Pedagogy for the 21st Century (ACT Creativity Series) (Volume 2) in the Reflective Teaching, The Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion, and a review of A Toolkit for Deans n the Reflective Teaching, The Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion. In February, Israel attended the Leadership Development Conference for Savannah Presbytery, St. Simons Island. He presented “Learning for the Journey” for the S3 Program and “The Seven Concepts that Will Change Your Teaching,” at The Center for Lifelong Learning. Israel consulted with the Board of Healthy Congregations in Columbus, OH. He published “The Dean Needs the Big Picture” in the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning blog for Theological School Deans. Israel led two workshops at the Leadership Development Conference for Savannah Presbytery, St. Simons Island. He presented “Learning for the Journey” for the S3 Program at The Center for Lifelong Learning. Israel posted “What makes for an effective leadership team?” in The Digital Flipchart. He did a review of A Toolkit for Deans n the Reflective Teaching, The Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion. Israel consulted with the Board of Healthy Congregations, Columbus, OH. He wrote “Your Mother Was Right: Life’s Not Fair (and you shouldn’t try to be)” in Perspectives on Congregational Ministry blog. Israel presented “The Seven Concepts that Will Change Your Teaching,” at The Center for Lifelong Learning. In March, he presented “The Seven Concepts that Inform My Teaching at Mid-Career” at the ATS Roundtable Seminar for Mid-Career Faculty. Israel presented “The Hidden Lives of Congregations,” as guest lecturer for the McAfee School of Theology in Atlanta. He presented for the Leadership in Ministry Workshops at Center for Lifelong Learning, and was a consultation participant at the “Theological Education Between the Times” Lilly funded project for Emory’s Candler School of Theology. Israel participated in the Wabash Center Advisory Committee meeting.

On the Columbia Connections blog, Israel has published “Helping Church Members Grow Spiritually,” “For the Bookshelf: Authentic Spirituality,” “Growth from the Outside In,” “For the Bookshelf: Personality and Religious Leadership,” “Six Educational Principles from St. Augustine of Hippo,” “For the Bookshelf: Learning the Way,” “Family Life Cycle Programming in the Church,” “A Spirituality Reading List for 2015,” “Growing into

VANTAGE Winter 2015

27

T a u t a P a n t a | Faculty & Staff

Ministry: Advice from a Veteran,” “For the Bookshelf: The Gospel According to Tolkien,” “What’s Your Story?,” “For the bookshelf: Universal Salvation?,” “The Last Thing You Should Do Is Buy Church Curriculum,” “For the Bookshelf: Ancient-Future Evangelism,” and “The Leader and Imaginative Gridlock.” Coming up: In April, Israel will consult with Faculty of Phillips Theological Seminary, Tulsa OK and with the administration of Fresno Theological Seminary, Fresno, CA. Bill Harkins, Senior Lecturer of Pastoral Theology and Care, Co-Director of ThD Program, was the guest homilist and leader for Consecration Sunday at Holy Family Episcopal Church in Jasper, Georgia. In January, he presented a workshop on Family Systems Theory for the Community of Hope, a group of Lay Pastoral Care Givers at St. Anne’s Episcopal Church in Atlanta. Bill was a guest presenter for the Lenten Wednesday Night Series at St. Benedict’s Episcopal Church, speaking on the practical theology of Richard Rohr.

In March, he presented on practical applications of Family Systems Theory for CPE residents at the Training and Counseling Center of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Atlanta. Coming up: In April, Bill will attend the Georgia Association of Marriage and Family Therapy conference at Jekyll Island, where he will present a supervisory case to fellow AAMFT Approved Supervisors. In early May, he will serve as Psychological Health Faculty for CREDO for Recently Ordained Clergy at Trinity Episcopal Conference Center on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, May 12-19.

Kimberly Bracken Long, Associate Professor of Worship, preached at the installation of Leigh Campbell-Taylor at Newnan Presbyterian Church, Newnan, GA on November 9. On November 22, she presided at the marriage of Lucy Strong and Sarah Helwig in Cambridge, MD. On December 13, Kimberly represented Columbia Theological Seminary at King College, Bristol, TN when an honorary doctorate was awarded to Michael Morgan, seminary musician. She delivered lectures, led workshops, preached, and led worship for the Church Musicians’ Network conference in Dallas, TX during January 16-17. Kimberly delivered the Jones Lectures at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary on February 3-4. She gave the Rogers Lectures and preached at First Presbyterian Church, Bennettsville, SC during February 8-9. On February 22, Kimberly participated in the ordination service of Lucy Strong at Idlewild Presbyterian Church in Memphis, TN. She led a retreat for Central Presbyterian Church in Atlanta at the Calvin Center, during February 20-22. Kimberly is the editor of the six-volume Feasting on the Word Worship Companion. The final volume (Year B, Vol. 2) was published in February of 2015. She also published two articles: a review of “Liturgy as a Way of Life: Embodying the Arts in Christian Worship,” Interpretation, Vol. 69, No. 1 (January 2015), 117-118 and “Feasting at the Table of the Word: The Liturgical Generativity of the Lectionary,” Liturgy, Vol. 29, No. 4 (2014), 18-26. Coming up: Kimberly will co-preside at the holy union service of Lucy Strong and Sarah Helwig at Central Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, on April 18; and co-preside at the wedding of Stephen Fearing and Tricia Garrett at Central Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, on April 25. On May 8, she will serve as leader of a consultation on the Book of Common Worship at Columbia Seminary.

28

VANTAGE Winter 2015

T a u t a P a n t a | Faculty & Staff

Martha Moore-Keish, Associate Professor of Theology, contributed chapters to two recently published books: “Eucharist: The Table that Unites and Divides the Church.” In What Does it Mean to “Do This”? Supper, Mass, Eucharist, edited by Michael Root and James J. Buckley. Pro Ecclesia series. Wipf and Stock, 2014; and “The One, Wounded, Baptized Body: A Memoir of Participation in the U.S. Reformed-Roman Catholic Dialogue (20032010),” in Worship and Culture: Foreign Country or Homeland? edited by Glaucia Vasconcelos Wilkey. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2014. Over the Winter Break, Martha and Raj Nadella took 10 students on an Explorations trip to India. She also participated in the final meeting of the international ecumenical dialogue between the Vataican’s ecumenical office (the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity) and the World Communion of Reformed Churches, in Ghent, Belgium February 22-28. She serves as Reformed co-chair of that dialogue, which is addressing issues of justification, sacramentality, and justice. On March 6-8, she led a congregational retreat for First Presbyterian Church Sumter, SC and on Palm Sunday, taught at Northwest Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. Coming up: On April 19, Martha is preaching at the mission conference for Waverly Presbyterian Church in Kingsport, TN. On April 23, she will teach at Central Presbyterian Church, Atlanta, on encountering God in the sacraments.

Cam Murchison, Professor Emeritus of Ministry, is teaching a class with Dr. Carolyn Crowder at First Presbyterian Church, Asheville, NC on Sundays, April 12 through May 3. Titled “Ask the Animals,” it takes a fresh look at the way Scripture invites us to rethink our relationship to other species, reminding us that we are “creatures of the same God.” He is preaching at First Presbyterian Church, Asheville, NC, on Sunday, April 19 for a service focusing on our stewardship of God’s gift of creation.

Michael Morgan, Seminary Musician, was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters (Litt. D.), for his contributions to literature, and the creative and performing arts, at King College, Bristol, TN, in December (see photo on page 17). He presented a lecture and book exhibit on Handel’s “Messiah” at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Roswell. In January, Michael attended the PAM Professional Musicians’ conference in Louisville, and began an interim term as Organist at Northside Drive Baptist Church in Atlanta, where he presented an exhibit and lectured on the English Bible. In February, he presented workshops on “Music and the Art of Worship” and “Singing Our Lives Through the Psalms” for the Northwest Arkansas Chapter, American Guild of Organists, and Bible exhibits and lectures at First Presbyterian Church in Fayetteville, AR and First Presbyterian Church of Prairie Grove, AR. In March, Michael led a program on hymnody at Christian City Retirement Center in Union City.

Coming up: In April, Michael is teaching two Wednesday evening sessions on Congregational Song at Fayette Presbyterian Church in Fayetteville, GA, and presenting a lecture and an exhibit of Bibles and Prayer Books entitled “The Beauty of Holiness: Word and Worship in the English Church” at St. James’ Cathedral in Chicago.

Raj Nadella, Assistant Professor of New Testament, Director of the MATS Program, took 10 students on an Explorations trip to India over the Winter Break along with Martha Moore-Keish.

VANTAGE Winter 2015

29

T a u t a P a n t a | Faculty & Staff

Rodger Nishioka, Benton Family Associate Professor of Christian Education, preached at the ordination and installation service of the Rev. Erin Gaston at the South Aiken Presbyterian Church in Aiken, SC. He was the keynote speaker and preacher at the Alabama/Tennessee Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Winter Youth Summit in Huntsville, AL. Rodger was keynote speaker and preacher at the First Metropolitan United Church Epiphany Conference for the United Church of Canada in Victoria, B.C. He was keynote speaker and preacher at the First Presbyterian Church of Aiken, SC. Rodger was preacher and presenter at the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta meeting in Atlanta. He lectured and preached at the First Presbyterian Church of Quincy, FL and at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Greenville, SC. Rodger was keynote speaker at the New Covenant Presbytery meeting in Houston, TX. He preached at Spring Branch Presbyterian Church in Houston, TX. Coming up: Rodger will lecture and preach at the Sequoyah Hills Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, TN. He will be keynote speaker at the Northeast Region conference of the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators in Rochester, NY. Rodger will preach at the Mid-South Presbytery meeting in Memphis, TN, and at the Idlewild Presbyterian Church in Memphis, TN. Marcia Riggs, J. Erskine Love Professor of Christian Ethics, led a three-part series at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta on Religiously Motivated Violence on March 1, 8, and 15.

Dominique A. Robinson, Staff Associate for Contextual Education, had a busy November as the keynote speaker for the Sister to Sister Women’s Ministry Retreat at Simpsonwood Retreat Center, Norcross, GA; preached at New Life Presbyterian Church, College Park, GA; preached and taught for the annual Young Adult Y.E.S. weekend at Green Memorial AME Zion Church, Portland, ME; preached for the Young Adult Missionary Society Day at Metropolitan AME Zion Church, St. Louis, MO; and preached the 5th Sunday Youth Day at St. Luke AME Zion Church, Birmingham, AL. Additionally, Rev. Robinson guest lectured on “Preaching to Black Millennials: Social Media Linguistics” for Khalia Williams’ course African American Worship and Preaching at Columbia Seminary. In December, Dominique hosted a successful Christmas toy drive to assist soldiers stationed in Savannah, GA who had not received their December salary. In January, Dominique preached a sermonette at New Life Presbyterian Church, College Park, GA for the Watch Night worship experience.

She also preached for the MLK Observance worship experience at St. Stephen AME Zion Church, Asbury Park, NJ. She closed the Spiritual Renewal New Year’s Revival at Ray of Hope Christian Church. In February, Dominique attended the AME Zion Board of Bishop’s Preaching Institute Salisbury, NC and the Candler School of Theology Black Church Studies Anniversary Conference, Atlanta, GA. In March, Dominique closed out the Women’s Week Celebration at Faith AME Zion Church, Atlanta, GA. She also traveled to Guyana, South America to attend the Guyana-Suriname Centennial Annual Conference and to complete mission work. Coming up: In April, Dominique will preach at New Life Presbyterian Church, College Park. She will also share a public presentation on her Doctorate of Ministry research which focuses on determining the socio-cultural identities of Black Millennials and how their identities may or may not impact how they experience and hear the preached Gospel in their contexts. She will preach at the AME Zion Southeastern Region Christian Education Conference and at Trinity AME Zion Church both in Greensboro, NC. In May, Dominique will attend the AME Zion New Jersey Annual Conference, Newark, NJ and will preach at New Life Presbyterian Church, College Park, GA. 30

VANTAGE Winter 2015

T a u t a P a n t a | Faculty & Staff

Michael Thompson, Director of Communications, was ordained as a Ruling Elder and elected Clerk of Session at First Presbyterian Church, Covington, GA. He attended the February meeting of the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta. Michael wrote “Supporting Listening for Support” on the Columbia Connections blog.

Haruko Nawata Ward, Associate Professor of Church History, presented her paper entitled “Adaptation of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises for the Jesuit Japan Mission in the Text of Spiritval xugvio (Nagasaki 1607),” for the panel Theology in the Reformation I, organized by Kenneth G. Appold, at the annual meeting of the Sixteenth Century Society and Conference in New Orleans, on October 18. On March 12, she spoke as a Roundtable panelist on “Transformative Journeys with PANAAWTM: 30 Years and Beyond” for the annual conference of the Pacific Asian North American Asian Women in Theology and Ministry at Garret-Evangelical Theological School, Evanston, IL. Coming up: On April 9, she will give a public lecture, entitled “Naito Julia and the Miyaco no bicuni; once a Jodo nun, now a Jesuit catechist,” at University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA. William Yoo, Assistant Professor of American Religious and Cultural History, presented research papers on the evolution of the American Protestant mission in South Korea in the mid-twentieth century at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion in San Diego, CA on November 22 and at the Winter Meeting of the American Society of Church History in New York City, NY on January 2. At the Winter Meeting of the American Society of Church History, he accepted a nomination to become a Council member of the Society for a three-year term beginning in 2016. He is presenting a paper on teaching pluralism and Protestantism in American religious history at the Southeastern Commission for the Study of Religion in Nashville, TN on March 7. He wrote two essays on seeking insights from Presbyterian history in the United States for The Presbyterian Outlook, the first was published on September 29, and the second was published on November 3. He completed four encyclopedia entries, including “Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)” and “Protestant Theological Seminaries,” for the forthcoming Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States (2016). He will participate in the Wabash Center’s Pre-Tenure Workshop for Theological Faculty for the 2015-2016 academic year. He preached at Ray-Thomas Memorial Presbyterian Church in Marietta, GA on September 28, Siloam Korean Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Norcross, GA, on November 9, and John Knox Presbyterian Church in Marietta, GA, on November 16. He taught a Sunday School class on slavery and women’s preaching in nineteenth-century American Christian history at First Presbyterian Church in Cartersville, GA, on January 11.

He preached and taught at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Albany, GA, for a Presbytery Meeting of the Flint River Presbytery on February 14. He preached at First Presbyterian Church in Cartersville on March 29. Coming up: William will teach Sunday School classes on the histories of immigration, foreign mission, and American religion at First Presbyterian Church in Atlanta on April 12 and April 19.

VANTAGE Winter 2015

31

lifelong learning

U pc o m i n g C lasses off ered by the C e n t e r f o r Li felong Learning

August 2–4 | WEEKDAY COURSE Come to the Waters: Horizons Bible Study

Each year, more than 2,000 people take courses or attend special events offered by Columbia Theological Seminary’s Center for Lifelong Learning. Both pastors and lay persons are drawn to the Center’s calendar of vibrant learning and cohort opportunities specifically created to build and enhance skills in church leadership, Christian education and formation, spiritual formation and spiritual direction.

The Center for Lifelong Learning’s courses are taught by top-notch seminary faculty as well as instructors who are nationally recognized as experts in their fields.

These continuing education courses and events serve as opportunities to learn with and from others throughout a lifetime of ministry and service. We invite you to explore, discover, and grow as faithful disciples engaged in God’s transforming work.

For more information, or updated class info, please visit www.ctsnet.edu/lifelong-courses-and-events.

August 14–15 | WEEKEND COURSE Come to the Waters: Horizons Bible Study

July 30–August 1 Blessed at the Broken Places Certificate in Spiritual Formation

Led by Marshall Jenkins We will consider the impact of mental health stigmas on the spiritual lives of individuals and the church, reflecting on the beatitudes as prophetic critique of an often apathetic culture. Through discussion and writing, we will examine the beatitudes in light of biblical and spiritual traditions.

This course is designed for pastoral caregivers, counselors and therapists, spirituality certificate program participants, and people of faith who seek biblical study and dialogue for insight and renewal amid grief and other forms of emotional suffering.

32

VANTAGE Winter 2015

Led by Judy Record Fletcher

Led by Linda Morningstar The rich imagery of water throughout the Bible helps us understand and articulate our faith. Just as water nourishes our bodies, so the scriptures on water nourish our souls.

Come to the Waters promises leaders of Presbyterian Women Circles and church school study groups alike nine lessons exploring key references to water in our Scriptures.

August 10–14 Colloquy for Mid-Career Clergy Pastoral Excellence Program

Co-facilitators: Dr. Betty Pugh Mills and Rev. Jonathan W. Ball.

This cohort-based course addresses common experiences and issues of mid-career (ten to twenty years into full time ministry) clergy: facing either a normative or unanticipated career transition, standing at a vocational crossroads of some sort, engaging in reflective self-assessment, and finding support among peers. It is designed for those who are seeking to participate in a professional formative conversation or to reflect on their vocational experience, and assess their ability to meet the leadership demands/needs of their organization.

This event is by application only. The application deadline: April 15, 2015.

September 4–5 Writing for Publication with a Religious Voice

Led by Beth Waltemath This one-day seminar is designed for anyone who wants to understand and contribute to the conversations about spirituality and religious topics happening in print and on new media. An optional writing workshop is offered the following morning. This seminar and workshop are intended to gather a community of pastors, theologians, and lay people who are drawn to writing as a part of their vocation.

lifelong learning

September 1–30 | ONLINE COURSE Using Dialogical Learning in Bible Study

Led by Israel Galindo and Steve Booth This program is for congregational teachers, clergy, or Bible teachers in other contexts. This online study will guide the participant through the process of learning about and developing the dialogical learning method based on the book by Israel Galindo, Associate Dean for Lifelong Learning, How To Be The Best Christian Study Group Leader (Judson). The dialogical method will help teachers change their approach to teaching from teacher-centered to studentfocused.

September 13–19 Compass Points Camp and Conference Certification Articulating Our Mission, Role and Value

Led by Randy Youngquist-Thurow of Agape/Kure Beach Ministries, Fuquay-Varina, NC; and Cat Holbert of Lazy W Ranch, San Juan Capistrano, CA. Personnel and Leadership

Led by Gary Batty of Run River Enterprises, and Bill Bourdon of Blowing Rock Conference Center, Blowing Rock, NC. Location: Life Enrichment Center, United Methodist Center, Fruitland Park, FL September 14–October 9 | ONLINE COURSE Life is a Sacred Story: Honoring the Past, Embracing the Future with Sacred Journaling Certificate in Spiritual Formation

Led by Israel Galindo and Carl McColman Keeping a journal can be an integral part of a daily prayer practice; it can also be a tool for discernment and for seeking God’s will in our lives. This course will explore journaling from a variety of perspectives including writing memoir, using writing as a form of prayer, writing for healing and discernment, and writing to share with others.

October 8–11 Immersion Experience: An Invitation to a Deeper Spiritual Life Certificate in Spiritual Formation

During this Thursday-Sunday Spirituality Immersion Experience, you will explore the origins of the Christian spiritual tradition, while learning the formative elements of Biblical, monastic, and Reformed spirituality. Our schedule includes time for personal reflection through guided

meditative journaling — an exercise for exploring your own unique journey with the living God. This course is the initial program for the Certificate in Spiritual Formation, and is required for the completion of the Certificate. You may participate in the Immersion, however, even if you are not currently enrolled in the Certificate program.

September 18–20 Spirituality Program 20th Anniversary Celebration Certificate in Spiritual Formation

Keynote Speaker: Rodger Nishioka Join is as we celebrate the past 20 years and look to the future of the Spirituality program. Re-connect with friends, share stories from the program, and enjoy an array of workshops by well-known teachers.

September 21–25 Guthrie Scholars

The Guthrie Scholars Program is a learning opportunity offered in the fall on an application basis. Selected applicants are invited to campus to pursue their topic of choice focusing on a pressing issue of the church from a Reformed perspective.

September 27–October 2 Spiritual Direction in Context Certificate in Spiritual Direction

Led by Jane Vennard.

October 5–30 | ONLINE COURSE Contemporary Readings in Christian Education: Children’s Ministry in the Church

Led by Israel Galindo This course is part the Contemporary Readings Series, and is for persons interested in developing their understanding of contemporary issues in Christian Education. Through selected readings in the literature, studies, and writings of contemporary writers and researchers in the field of Christian Education, participants will review current topics and trends that impact and inform ministry practice. This year’s focus is on children, faith formation, and children’s ministries.

VANTAGE Winter 2015

33

lifelong learning

October 22–25 Landscapes of Renewal Certificate in Spiritual Formation

Led by Bill Brown Location: Montreat Conference Center Program details coming soon!

October 27–28 Board of Pensions: Growing Into Tomorrow…Today

Planning for retirement can be challenging. Look beyond finances to inform, educate, and inspire a journey toward wholeness in retirement.

October 29 Board of Pensions: Render Unto Caesar

Terms of call and clergy taxes can be complicated. This one-day seminar addresses how to structure terms of call to be more cost-effective and to clarify clergy tax issues.

It’s designed for church treasurers, business administrators, active clergy, and session or mid council leaders. Registration for both seminars will open in July 2015. Seating for both seminars is limited. For questions, please contact Board University at education@pensions.org or 800-773-7752, extension 7223.

November 2–4 Small Church Seminars

Featuring John Wimberly, Dan Hotchkiss and Sarai Rice of the Congregational Consulting Group.

Participants will be able to register for one, two or all three days. Registration will open April 2015.

November 9–13 Ignatian Spirituality Certificate in Spiritual Formation

Led by Jim Dant.

Program details coming soon!

November 16–19 Leadership In Ministry: Session I Pastoral Excellence Program

Facilitated and led by Robert Dibble, Israel Galindo, Ron Richardson and others.

The Center for Lifelong Learning will host a second cohort for Leadership in Ministry (LIM) workshops. Participants will learn how the concepts of family emotional process can

34

VANTAGE Winter 2015

be applied to their own ministry contexts and explore the theological implications of these concepts. This program is comprised of two three-day sessions (fall and spring; spring dates are March 7-9, 2016). Each session follows the themes of Dr. Edwin Friedman’s book, Generation to Generation, with one day devoted to each of the minister’s three interlocking families: the minister’s own personal family (nuclear and extended), congregation member families and the congregation as a family.

November 18–20 Flint River Presbytery III: Our Stories, Ourselves (Bowen Family Systems in Literature and Life)

Led by Ronald Richardson This is the third in a series of partnership events between the CLL and the Flint River Presbytery.

B e yo n d 2 0 1 5 | E a r ly 2 0 1 6 January 11–13 Colloquy for Mid- Career Clergy January 19–21 January Seminars with Diana Butler Bass and others January 28–31 Metaphors, Imagination, and the Art of the Psalms Certificate in Spiritual Formation February 1– March 11 | ONLINE COURSE Finance for Churches February 16–18 Spirituality in the Smartphone Age with MaryAnn

McKibben Dana February 25–28 Immersion Experience Certificate in Spiritual Formation February 29–March 5 Biblical and Theological Foundations Program Design and Implementation Compass Points Camp and Conference Certification

c a n d l e l i g h ts

He drew a circle that drew me out, heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But love and I had the wit to win, we drew a circle that took him in.

— Edwin Markham, poet Given the scale of trauma caused by the genocide, Rwanda has indicated that however thin the hope of a community can be, a hero always emerges. Although no one can dare claim that it is now a perfect state, and that no more work is needed, Rwanda has risen from the ashes as a model of truth and reconciliation.

— Akinwande Oluwole “Wole” Soyinka, playwright and poet True security is based on people’s welfare — on a thriving economy, on strong public health and education programmes, and on fundamental respect for our common humanity.

Development, peace, disarmament, reconciliation and justice are not separate from security; they help to underpin it.

— Ban Ki-Moon, secretary-general of the United Nations Reconciliation should be accompanied by justice, otherwise it will not last. While we all hope for peace it shouldn’t be peace at any cost but peace based on principle, on justice.

— Corazon Aquino, president of the Philippines The work of community, love, reconciliation, restoration is the work we cannot leave up to politicians. This is the work we are all called to do.

— Shane Clairborne, activist and author When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.

— Jimi Hendrix, musician The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies: probably because they are generally the same people.

— G.K. Chesterton

To love someone means to see him as God intended him.

— Fyodor Dostoevsky, author Without community, there is no liberation...but community must not mean a shedding of our differences, nor the pathetic pretense that these differences do not exist.

— Audre Lorde, writer and activist Cast off all bonds of prejudice and custom, and let the love of Christ, which is in you, have free course to run out in all conceivable schemes and methods of labor for the souls of men.

— Catherine Booth, “Mother of the Salvation Army” In the religious community, we think in generations and that’s the way to think because that’s how real change happens. Legislation is just the tip of the iceberg—there’s deeper thing going on under the surface.

— Rev. Alexia Salvatierra, pastor and activist To love is to make of one’s heart a swinging door.

— Howard Thurman, theologian Stepping back and connecting reconciliation to God’s story also helps us move away from dramatic visions of fixing the world, as if our job were to provide solutions to problems outside us. If Christians believe anything, it is that no one—including ourselves and the church—is separate from the brokenness as an untainted solution to the problems of our world. The new creation contends with the old. The dividing line between good and evil runs straight through each one of us. So the journey of reconciliation begins with a transformation of the human person.

— Chris Rice, senior fellow at Duke Divinity School Knotted with love / the quilts sing on.

—Teresa Acosta, poet VANTAGE Winter 2015

35

VANTAGE

Winter 2015

NonProfit Organization U. S. Postage PAID Permit No. 40 Decatur, GA

P.O. Box 520

Decatur, GA 30031 404-378-8821 www.ctsnet.edu Contents Best of the Blog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Vantage Point: President’s Message. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Hyper-Focus: Contextual Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Reasonable Service (News). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Reconciling Love. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Joy Made Complete: In Memory of Steve Hayner. . . . . . . . 10 Embracing the Margins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Tauta Panta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16–31 A Tribute to George Stroup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Alumni/ae News and Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Save the Date! Colloquium 2015. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 In Memoriam: Charlie Cousar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 In Memoriam: Syngman Rhee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 In Memoriam: Joseph Roberts, Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Faculty/Staff. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Lifelong Learning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15, 24, 32 Candlelights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Look inside for our “Candlelights” section! Each issue, we will highlight inspirational quotes and artwork reflective of our theme.

Our next issue will be about “Transforming Justice.” Feel free to submit your own ideas to ThompsonM@ctsnet.edu.

Follow US

CTSeminary

The Center for Lifelong Learning began the new year with Cardboard Chronicles:The Biblical Art of Rudolph Bostic.The exhibit included 23 paintings from one of America’s most amazing self-taught artists. His vibrant images, rendered in enamel and house paint with a shimmering glossy finish on cardboard and his flamboyant use of color put him in a category all his own.

Rudolph, who lives in Savannah, Georgia, says that his inspirations come from many sources, “especially the Bible and reproductions of the works of the masters such as Rembrandt, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.”

Bostic’s work was featured in the 2005 inaugural exhibition of the Hurn Museum of Contemporary Folk Art in Savannah, GA, and his art is in the permanent collection of the High Museum in Atlanta, GA. Some of the most prestigious southern galleries of folk art represent Bostic’s paintings.

Last Supper (24 x 42.5) “And as they were eating, he took bread, and blessed, and broke

it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I shall not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” Mark 14:22-25