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WE HAVE A POPE!
Habemus Papam! BY KRISTEN
K
Kristen Strutner (MDiv, ‘14) is originally from Northern California. She has a passion for ecumenism, Church history, and
STRUTNER
systematic theology. Also, she loves a good cup of coffee, her family and friends, and the great outdoors.
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ne can hardly have missed the announcement. Since the election of Pope Francis I, a name that I will return to later, we have been barraged by a media frenzy with a story fit for the silver screen. The story goes as follows: The stage is set. The world is shocked by the news that the pope, Pope Benedict XVI, the leader of the Catholic Church, has resigned. His “retirement”—unprecedented; the last resignation was over 600 years ago and was in response to the Great Schism. Now, senior officials from around the world convene to elect a new leader.
The Cardinals, those who have been appointed to the special electing office for a time such as this, proceed into the Sistine Chapel. With a loud cry, extra omnes, Latin for “all out”, the massive doors are shut. Inside the centuries old building decorated with Fresco paintings by none
other than Michelangelo himself, the Cardinals are sworn to secrecy. Outside in St. Peter’s Square, a crowd of thousands waits in the rain. Will it there be white smoke? The suspense builds for two days until Habemus Papam! We have a pope! The man elected? Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires. Though a front-runner in the last papal conclave, he was not a speculated option. A Jesuit? From Latin America? A conservative, and taking the name Francis? What does all this mean? What kind of pope do we have?
The story has everything you need for a great Hollywood movie secrecy, an underdog, controversy, and anticipation. Yet, at the end of the day, this is not fairytale. This is history. Pope Francis I has been elected to be the 266th leader of Catholic Church. Habemus Papam! We have a pope! This we know;
but two questions loom: what kind of pope do we have? And who is this we? What the news portrays of this man as of late can be summed to one word- humility. He rides public transportation, pays his own hotel bill, cooks his own food, etc.. He seems committed to serving the poor so much that he has chosen the name after St. Francis of Assisi because he was a “man of poverty, a man of peace, and a man who loves and guards creation”. We also know Bergoglio was a Jesuit. Now that he is the Pope, he is no longer bound to any particular order, but his Jesuit spiritual formation may explain what seems to be his deep spirituality. Jesuits are known to be intellectually savvy. The Order was
Council, the Catholic Church had never really recovered from the Reformation. In response to the reformers disagreements, the Church underwent unprecedented redefinition. After the Reformation, came the Enlightenment and after that the rise of Modernism. The theology produced during these 400 years was largely in reaction to these external pressures as the Church’s self-understanding became authoritative, hierarchical, and monolithic. This became the dominant paradigm of the Church for over 400 years. It was to this Church that Pope John XXIII called the Second Vatican Council in 1962. Pope John XXIII looked at this and saw a need for a renewed selfunderstanding. It was time for the Church to articulate what it stood for, not just what
An unbelievably awesome pull quote that breaks up the flow and disarms the text block. founded during the Reformation and the Jesuits made their distinctive contribution theologically. They were proponents of counter-Reformational statements articulated in the Council of Trent, and are known as the enforcers of this council. This tells us a little about what the media has gravitated towards, but I want to look at some of the concrete steps that Pope Francis has made in the first few days and weeks of his papacy which tells us something about what we can expect to see. In order to do that, I will dare to give a brief history lesson. The Second Vatican Council (19621965) is landmark event in the life of the Church. It was a “bringing up to date” of the Church. Prior to the Second Vatican
it stood against. There were many changes and to discuss them would lead me far off course. Rather, one change in particular specifically affects Pope Francis I, the understanding of church leadership. Lumen Gentium, the dogmatic statement regarding ecclesiology, significantly bolsters the role of the bishop. A bishop is likened to the head pastor of a particular geographical portion of the Church. As such, the bishop is the head to that particular church (LG 23). Prior to the Council, the emphasis was on the papacy. In the First Vatican Council, the dogma surrounding papal infallibility was developed. Yet, that Council closed without clearly articulating the nature of the episcopacy. Nearly a hundred years later,
the Second Vatican Council pick up where the First Vatican Council had previously left off and “reinterpreted” the infallibility dogma. Now the infallibility does not rest in the papacy alone; rather, the infallibility of the Church is located within the college of bishops as a whole. Why this is important? The Church articulates a self-understanding that is not a single, monolithic institution, but a communion of churches. The bishop unifies the different churches throughout a
amazing job at unifying the people and getting them on board with some of the large changes that affected them viscerally, such as the changes to the liturgy which radically altered their church experience. However, he did more to cement in the people’s mind a strong account of the papal office. After John Paul’s came Pope Benedict XVI. Benedict demonstrated a radically different type of papacy in that he resigned. His resignation is important
geographic region. Each individual bishop then gathers together in the college of bishops, expressing unity among the various regions. This is one of the most important changes to be articulated by the Council, shifting the focus from the papacy as the one sole position that guides the Church, towards a body of leaders who seek to find unity within the different regions where the Church is alive. Although the council was clear that a strong episcopacy was the direction of the Church going forward, however, we have yet to see that change in actuality. The first pope really tasked with implementing the changes made by the Second Vatican Council was Pope John Paul II. He did an
because it signals a change in the understanding of the papal office. Where for John Paul, he was less of a man and more of a pope, Benedict depicted the offices as something not intrinsic to him. His resignation demonstrated that the office was something that could be picked up and set down. This radically altered the unspoken yet common notion that the papal office was a “to death do us part” office. Pope Francis is the third man now to inherit a post Vatican II Church. And, from his first few hours of his papacy, his actions have signaled that he takes serious his role as a pope, but very much also as the new bishop of Rome. What are some of these
actions? From his first speech from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, he spoke of his new role in terms of being the elected as the new bishop of Rome. He stressed throughout this first speech his position as a bishop. He states his gratitude for being elected to the head pastor of the Roman dioceses. He also refers to the different Churches around the world which are united together. Instead of stressing his authority as the new Pope of the one Catholic Church, he accepts his role as the leader of the Roman Church which unites the local Churches worldwide. Furthermore, he has continually sought to minimize the papal office as distinct from the other bishops. He does not wear the typical papal red shoes, refers to the other bishops as
the following statement that not only is the Church to profess Christ, but more importantly, says Francis, the Church must confess Christ crucified. “When we walk without the Cross, when we build without the Cross, and when we profess Christ without the Cross, we are not disciples of the Lord. We are worldly, we are bishops, priests, cardinals, Popes, but not disciples of the Lord.” These are powerful words not only to the bishops, priests, cardinals, Pope, but also to us—if we lose our ability to profess Christ crucified, we are lost. Pope Francis, from the very start, is speaking to his senior leaders and saying this is the direction of the Church. The way of the cross is the way forward, the only way forward.
An unbelievably awesome pull quote that breaks up the flow and disarms the text block. brother, etc. Many people have used this to ascribe him as humble, but I also think these actions can be read theologically. He is a Jesuit, mind you. I believe these acts to be intentional and in line with asserting a strong account of the episcopal nature of the church. It goes to demonstrate an understanding of leadership which is less about one person, but about a group of leaders seeking unity. Another important characteristic of Pope Francis is his Christocentricity. His first homily (Catholic word for a sermon) asserts that the Church must confess Christ. If the Church does not have Christ at its core, the Church “will become a pitiful NGO, but not the Church”, say Francis. Those are some strong words. They are made stronger by
I have given two important theological answers to the question of what kind of pope do we have? Now I want to turn to the second question, who is this we? Well, the “we” is to some degree those who are Catholic. But, honestly, did you not at some level have an interest in the election? Did your ears not perk up when you heard that a decision had been made? Did you not, if only for a second, wonder where he was from or what he was all about? I mean, your reading this article. Although curious does not necessitate ownership, there is a pope. Whether you swear allegiance to him or not, it is undeniable that this man, the office that he hold, represents something. Questions surrounding the legitimacy of the papacy office aside, the pope is the leader of the
WHAT I MEAN BY FEMINIST
the f
word BY SALLIE
S
Sallie Carey (MDiv, ’14) is originally from Honolulu, HI. Back in Hawaii, she was a teacher who spent most of her time directing and acting
CAREY
in plays, sipping Mai Tais in the sand, or running trails in the rainforest. Now she spends most of her time in the library.
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hen I was five years old, my mother finally succeeded in leaving my father, a triumphant tragedy. “Triumphant” because she escaped years of physical and emotional abuse, “tragic” because it was the death of her dream. She boldly stepped out, free from the violence of his words and his fists, onto a lonely and unfamiliar road with me in tow. It was just the two of us for a while. I was her reason and she was my hero. It’s because of my mom that I’m a feminist. At this point in my life, feminism feels less like a political ideology and more like just a part of who I am. I’ve always thought of my mother as brave, bold, and strong. She isn’t perfect and she’s made a lot of mistakes, but I love that about her. Her body and her heart are marked with scars. In my eyes, her scars make her more beautiful because they tell so many stories - of a pain that has passed, of a brokenness made whole; they remind me of our miraculous capacity for healing. My mother has so many stories to tell, so many threads woven into the fabric of her life - adventures replete with twists and turns, and memories once so heavy with sorrow but now washed in light. The two of us were far from being a model family, but we had each other, and sometimes that felt like all we had. Back in those days, we talked a lot. According to me, mom and I were best friends. The more she told her story, the more vibrant she became in my sight. I saw that though she was imperfect and wounded, her wounds had healed beautifully, leaving behind
the scars that made her body and her story into a road map marking the pathways to follow toward newness. Roads that lead to second chances and new beginnings. Roads that make you strong because it takes so much courage to walk them and they often lead you far from home. My mother is strong, resilient, and bold; she was my first feminist role model. The funny thing is, my mother is not a feminist. She would never refer to herself using that word. In fact, she refers to feminism with disdain. This is surprising because so many of the ways in which she lives her life would never have been possible, nor respectable, without the various feminist movements that have changed history. But in her mind, feminism sounds like a dirty word, one she associates with the liberal politics and loose living. When I began embracing feminism and describing myself as a feminist, she, like many others, met me with opposition, imagining that I was taking up an offensive political identity, one in which I had a chip on my shoulder against men and God. But when my mother and I each talk about feminism, we are referring to different things. She associates feminism with a sensationalized caricature of the Second Wave Feminist Movement of the 60’s and 70’s. She thinks of hostile “man-hating,” bra-burnings, sexual “liberation”, and women who will never be happy because all they do is work and never have time for marriage and children. My mother is not alone in her
misunderstanding. For many, the word “feminist” sparks associations with rebellion against marriage and family, biblical teachings, and of course, men. But none of those things on the aforementioned lists are inherent tenets of feminism. Feminism has become an ugly word. It has been so misused and abused that hardly anyone really knows what it means anymore. It’s debatable as to whether the word even has a clear meaning at this point, as there are so many diverse offshoots of feminism that one almost has to speak of multiple feminisms rather than feminism itself. Being a feminist is only a single aspect of any person’s worldview. There are multiple other identity locations and ideologies that intersect with one’s feminist convictions,
Feminism is not a movement designed to empower only women, nor to pit women against men in a gender war. It is not antimale; it is anti-sexist. Feminism is a political movement and ethical ideology to end sexism and sexist oppression. Sexism is not a gender-war; it is a bias that ascribes inequality to people based on their sex and/or gender. Sexism tells us that certain people can and cannot, or should and should not, do certain things based on their sex and/or gender. In a patriarchal culture, sexism more obviously oppresses females, particularly through gender violence, limitations to civil rights, and sexual exploitation. But sexism can be sneaky. It also oppresses males by placing unequal expectations, limits, responsibilities and
An unbelievably awesome pull quote that breaks up the flow and disarms the text block. changing the way feminism manifests in political ideology and action from one person to another. We are a diverse bunch, and very few of us agree on everything, or even on most things. There are radical feminists, postfeminists, Third Wave feminists, LGBTQ feminists, postcolonial feminists, black feminists, and Christian feminists, just to name a few. The one thing we all have in common is that we seek an end to sexist oppression and exploitation. We do this by calling attention to the ways in which patriarchal culture is oppressive to all people, though the manifestation of this oppression varies according to cultural context. The idea that feminism is only for and about women is a misconception.
reputations on them. So feminism isn’t pro-female or anti-male, it’s pro-gender equality and anti-gender oppression. Let’s talk about gender equality. Equality does not mean sameness. It’s incorrect to say that feminists think that men and women are, or should be, the same. We are not the same. Complex interwoven biological and social influences have shaped us differently. But a sexist worldview overemphasizes sex and/or gender as a means of classifying people. Though men and women are biologically and anatomically different, we may also share many similarities, such as our talents, life experiences, skills, personality attributes, and interests. To classify people primarily according to sex and gender is
to say that sex and gender are the most important aspects of their identity – above all other cultural factors. It is to say to a woman, “You are first and foremost a woman, and everything else about you depends on how well you perform in that role.” Conversely, the same is said of being a man. In reality, I know several men with whom I share more common characteristics than I share with certain women. At times, people may exhibit
way we live our lives, once we recognize them for what they are.
more differences within a particular gender than across gender lines. That being said, though men and women may share some similarities, I do not mean to say that gender is unimportant. It is a highly influential cultural construct. From the moment we are born, we are given a role to enact that is largely based on our gender. Our hopes, fears, interests, aspirations, emotional responses, and even our spirituality are all shaped by genderbased scripts that inform our thoughts and actions. We can’t toss gender differences out the window because we find them frustrating or limiting; we can’t deny that we are different. But we can stop buying into oppressive gender norms that dictate the
and conservative, or liberal and edgy. It doesn’t make sense to counter one mold of feminine identity with another; I can’t replace the 1950’s era housewife mold with one that glamorizes career success and an independent lifestyle. Forcing anyone to inhabit an identity that limits God’s calling on her or his life is fundamentally oppressive.
For me, being a Christian feminist means heeding direction from God instead of direction from culture. It means silencing the voices around me from various sources telling me that in order to be a successful, valuable, lovable person, I must fit myself into a culturally fabricated mold dictated by my gender, whether that mold is traditional
As a feminist, I want to get rid of the mold. I want to be seen first and foremost as a disciple of Christ, whose identity is shaped by God instead of cultural expectations, and whose worth is determined by the fact that I am a child of God, rather than how well I measure up according to culturally-
determined gender ideals. This liberation isn’t just for women. Because patriarchy and sexism exploit and oppress both men and women, feminism is for men too. Systems of oppression are complex; there is never a clear distinction between the oppressor and the oppressed. Instead, one finds that the system of oppression prevents all people from living freely and fully. While patriarchy seems to serve the interests of men, it actually undermines and dehumanizes them just as it does to women. So even though “feminism” sounds like it’s just for females, it’s not. Feminism is for everyone who desires
misrepresented that it is more harmful than useful. In conversations with my mother, she often refers to my “feminist ideas” as something entirely unfathomable to her, which doesn’t make sense to me because in my eyes, she is a classic feminist: a woman who is willing to gather up all of the strength, courage, and faith to live up to God’s purpose for her life, regardless of anyone or anything who tries to hold her back. She’s a feminist because she refused to submit to a system of violence perpetuated by patriarchal dominance and control. She’s a feminist because she insisted on being treated like a fellow human being, not a sexual object or slave
An unbelievably awesome pull quote that breaks up the flow and disarms the text block. freedom from the culturally dictated gender roles that prevent us from fully embodying our God-given identity and calling. But for most people, the word feminist still makes them uncomfortable, which is why so many of my discussions about feminism begin with, “I’m a feminist, but it’s not what you think.” I hate how non-committal and wishy-washy that line sounds, but I also hate the F-word because it provokes automatic self-conscious qualification. The feeling of having to explain myself is so urgent it’s almost like defending the term, evangelical. Touché? I thought so. Perhaps the term feminism, much like evangelical, has become so misused and
or piece of property. I’m a feminist because regardless of whether or not she knows it, my mom taught me to be that way. Like my mom, I am defined by my identity in Christ, not my gender. And that’s a pretty feminist statement.
A POETIC RENDITION
dis robe STEPHANIE
S
Sallie Carey (MDiv, ’14) is originally from Honolulu, HI. Back in Hawaii, she was a teacher who spent most of her time directing and acting
OBAD
in plays, sipping Mai Tais in the sand, or running trails in the rainforest. Now she spends most of her time in the library.
Nakedness, it used to be the modus ope randi. But now, it’s illegal. Sometimes I sit in a coffee shop and I see all us naked. I’m ashamed. A problem ages old, that makes me want to hide behind the bushes once again. Squirm, please. Body lying broken on the ground. Alanis. , Our bodies move with grace and efficiency – excreting digesting, synthesizing, converting energy to energy. Respiration.
Our skin keeping all this a mystery, our cl othes doing the same. Why are the things un derneath so tantaliz ing? So prone to make our minds wand er and to jump imag inations. Walking pornography. Tangled limbs and he avy breathing, makin g chaste hearts blush. Clouded purity. What to do? Where to go? Shame encased in shame. Guilt for days on end. Disrobe it. Liberate me.
WHAT I MEAN BY FEMINIST
the f
word BY SALLIE
S
Sallie Carey (MDiv, ’14) is originally from Honolulu, HI. Back in Hawaii, she was a teacher who spent most of her time directing and acting
H
er tears swell and spill down when reflecting on her past abuse, and I offer a tissue and warm, empathic words. A village thirsts for clean water, and I partner with the community to build wells. He exhales his last dying wish, and I stand alongside him, ushering him home in prayer.
CAREY
in plays, sipping Mai Tais in the sand, or running trails in the rainforest. Now she spends most of her time in the library.
Stroke by stroke, our yellow mixes with their blue, our polka dots intertwine in their stripes. My creation and their creation becomes our creation.
This is us- we are a community of helpers, of doers. We are therapists, missionaries, pastors, chaplains, non-profit workers, and educators. We yearn to see the unseen, hear the unheard, and touch the untouchables.
When I began studying in the Intercultural Studies program in 2008, I thought my ministry, my work, and, basically, my entire life was going to be spent hearing, helping, and healing. With every gripping tale of injustice and abuse, I became more incessant that my life would be spent showcasing other’s art. Because, really, who was I anyway?
On paper, these professions appear idyllic and pure, not encapsulating the beautiful, messy art that is created when one wounded helps another wounded.
That’s a great question, isn’t it? As seminarians, we often answer with clever answers such as, “I am Imago Dei,” or “I’m a part of Missio Dei.” However, I knew these
“Englatin” (English-Latin) answers and any answer I were to give would simply cover over the real question, my real pain. Yet this is exactly what I did in the name of compassion. I’m now studying to be a therapist in the MFT program, and we are wrestling with clinical virtues like humility, hope, peacemaking, and compassion. Ah. Compassion: “to suffer with.” A virtue I love because I believe it is my calling, and, well, I believe I do it well. I sat with Swazi men and women dying of AIDS, listening, laughing, and crying with them. I’ve comforted South African teenage girls as they revealed horrifying experiences of sexual abuse. As a resident assistant at an eating disorder home, I was a safe place for women to express their fear and anxiety around food and their bodies. I’ve even studied children at risk populations in depth, including girlchildren, child soldiers, and street children, learning how to show my compassion by creating ministry programs and development goals. Now, I’m studying how to be present with my clients, which oftentimes means suffering with them through pain, anger, sorrow, and grief. At first glance, I appeared to be overflowing with compassion. But do not be deceived. In my good-natured desire to help, I was hiding. I was burying my issues deeper, so I could help others dig theirs up. Each shovel of sand I scooped up for others, I plopped on top of my pile, pushing my issues deeper into the earth. This seemed to work for a while, until I began noticing that each scoop revealed their baggage, which looked, to my dismay, a lot like mine. Essentially, I was using my compassion for others to hide from myself. I had no idea how to “suffer with” myself. When I
realized this, I feverishly began scooping the sand off my baggage. Who am I? Scoop. Am I enough? Scoop. Am I lovable? Scoop. Do I love myself? Scoop. In my digging, I gave space and time to help myself, crying, raging, and grieving what was and what should have been and what will never be. By being authentic with myself, I then found it easier to be authentic with God, crying, raging, and grieving at God, with God. This was not a pity-party, nor was this self-centeredness. This was a way of living that embraced my trials and tribulations with the same patient understanding I was extending to everyone else around me. I was giving myself grace to see and experience my own pain instead of belittling it, not to belittle another’s pain. In my digging, I discovered what it meant to have compassion for myself. Through this experience, I re-learned the essence of Mark 12:31: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” We often emphasize loving our neighbors, especially studying in seminary, but we glaze over a vital component of the verse: loving yourself. We cannot truly and fully love our neighbors until we have figured out what it means to love ourselves. And this is exactly my point. I could not love others and have compassion for others until I knew what it meant to love myself and to have compassion for myself. Henri Nouwen actually believes that our connection to our own pain can be a source of healing for others and ourselves. In his book The Wounded Healer, he writes, “For a deep understanding of our own pain makes it possible for us to convert our weakness into strength and to offer our own experience as a source of healing to those who are often lost in the darkness of
their own misunderstood sufferings (1972, p. 93).” Our pain, then, becomes strength in connecting with others’ pain. Healing occurs when we understand pain as part of the shared human experience, bringing light and understanding through solidarity of pain. Conjoined healing ensues when I allow my pain to connect with your pain and your pain to connect with my pain. Not only does this type of connection protect us from developing a Godcomplex while in a helping role, it also points towards hope and healing. Nouwen explains the power of this shared experience with these words, “…A shared pain is no longer paralyzing, but mobilizing, when it is understood to be a way to liberation. When we become aware that we do not have to escape our pains, but that we can mobilize them into a common search for life, those very pains are transformed from expressions of despair into signs of hope. (1972, p. 100).” So maybe we can’t fully have compassion on others until we first have compassion on ourselves. Maybe it’s when we first see our own issues in the sand that we are able to truly lend a shoveling hand. The true messy beauty is when our compassion for ourselves meets with our compassion for others, which then points back to our own need for compassion from ourselves, others, and ultimately God. Yellow and blue collide to make green. Polka dots and stripes intermingle to create a new pattern. Messy. Unique. Authentic. Masterpiece.
Nouwen, H. The Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society. New York: Random House, Inc. (1972)
Ashley McCleery (MFT, ‘14) is a southern girl, but after living in Pasadena for five years, she’s proud to call SoCal home. She spreads her time between school, work at Fuller admissions, and practicum at La Vie Counseling Center. Dancing, guttural laughter, friends, fruit, polka dots, blue, writing, and coffee give her immense joy in life.
PAYTON LECTURES 2013
ELLEN DAVIS DR. PAMELA Pam Scalise is associate professor of Old Testament at Fuller in Seattle, Washington, where she has taught since 1994. She was
P
SCALISE
elected president of the National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion for 2007, and serves on the editorial board of the Association’s
O
n April 24-25, Dr. Ellen Davis will be the keynote speaker for the 2013 Spring Payton Lectures. We at The SEMI are privy to the same news crawls as every other Fullerite, and instead of reprinting another dry press release, we wanted to push for an interview with Dr. Davis. Once you’ve been around Fuller for a few months, you’ll come to know there are popular writers, theologians, and then the superstar scholars. A lay Episcopalian, Dr. Davis is one of the elite members of this last class - the superstars. Most of your theology professors will drop her name, or quote her. She is a professor at Duke Univ. Divinity School, the author of eight books and numerous articles, and a specialist in how biblical interpretation plays out in religious communities with regard to agriculture, the environment, and interfaith dialogue. To this end, She has worked with the Episcopal Church of Sudan to develop theological curriculum. Her current work, however, is concerned with prophecy and prophetic understanding in contemporary society, issues which she will be discussing at this year’s Payton Lectures. Lecture 1: The Covenantal Triangle: Prophetic Perspectives on the Created Order. April 24, 2013 - Travis Auditorium - 10 am Faculty Response with Dr. Rob Johnston Lecture 2: Abraham and the Origin of Intercessory Prayer April 25, 2013 - Travis Auditorium - 10 am Faculty Response and Q&A with Drs. John Goldingay and Marianne Meye Thompson Dr. Pamela Scalise: Your sermons,
lectures and other published works are about reading scripture “in a spiritually engaged way.” How will your lectures address spirituality and ministry formation and practice? Dr. Ellen Davis: They ask serious theological questions that go to the heart of our human experience with God. The lectures will become chapters in the book I am writing, which is aimed at people who have serious theological questions, but I don’t presuppose a technical theological background. “The Covenant Triangle: Prophetic Perspectives on the Created Order” (Tues. April 24) focuses on how the classical prophets see the created order and the human place in it. Six related theses (Jer. 12, 14; Hosea 2; Joel 1-3; Amos; Jonah) govern the prophetic understandings of God and the world. Those theses form the basis for understanding the current ecological crisis as well as a hope that is both godly and realistic. The other lecture, “Abraham and the Origin of Intercessory Prayer” (Wed., April 25) will attend to the uniquely biblical representation of the prophet as God’s intimate friend, which is especially pronounced in the depiction of Abraham. This notion is important for understanding Abraham as bearer of divine blessing and as intercessor on behalf of Israel and others, but it is an intimacy which is also costly to the prophet, as indicated by texts such as Gen. 22. In contrast, Jonah will be treated as a humorous foil for such a representation. Scalise: Art has been always important to your work, and you were at Fuller recently (Nov. ‘11) as part of the Brehm lectures to speak to that side of your work. Are there particular works of art in mind as you prepare your Payton Lectures?
Davis: Art has often been part of my preparation, but not in this case. The work I did for the Brehm Lectures and the Payton Lectures all relate to my – God willing – forthcoming book Biblical Prophecy: Perspectives for Contemporary Ministry. I think that art of various kinds has always been part of the work of prophets, and I think that art can give us a perspective on our world and our activity that can be prophetic. Scalise: You work regularly in the Sudan. What do you do there?
Davis: In 2009, the Archbishop of Canterbury allowed me to convene a roundtable in London for the Episcopal Church of Sudan. We launched what we call a “holistic model of theological education” that includes traditional theological subjects, as well as community health and community agriculture. In South Sudan, the Church is the primary provider of social services and it provides the primary infrastructure. In the wake of 50 years of war there isn’t much else, other than the Church, that is stable and that is dispersed throughout the country. We have been working to encourage community-
based agriculture. This is a decentralized mode of agriculture which still offers them opportunities to use innovative methods that are compatible with traditional methods in ways that the industrial agricultural model is not. At the end of Feb. at Duke, we had the ambassador from South Sudan for a symposium called “Food Security in Africa: The Case for South Sudan” and focused on capacity building in the villages, particularly with a high protein drought resistant and pest resistant maize that has been developed by Mary Eubanks, adjunct professor of biology at Duke.
The first time I went there, it was because the present archbishop of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul Yak, is a former student of mine from Virginia Theological Seminary. I had promised him that when peace came to Sudan, I would visit Sudan and so that’s what I did in 2004. He had asked me if I would teach, and also if I would help them develop competency in biblical languages. So some of my advanced students, colleagues, and I, went there to teach until we were able to certify teachers in both Greek and Hebrew. I realized that we could help them in intensive programs in other theological subjects, so we did
that, too. We have sent three of our most promising students, with whom we had worked over a period of several years, to university in Kenya. They have just completed their university degrees in Kenya and they have returned to South Sudan to work at the theological college where I first met them. So they are now there as teaching staff and administrative staff. Scalise: Biblical languages is a subject that some seminaries are reconsidering as part of their curriculum. Why was the archbishop so interested in biblical languages?
something about which the theological tradition, especially the biblical tradition, are centrally concerned. Scalise: Do you think that this is another colonial/post-colonial issue? Davis: The situation in South Sudan is really complex with respect to the colonial/ postcolonial issue, so I don’t want to reduce it to simple terms. What I would say is that land is a really crucial issue in South Sudan because almost all of the arable land is in Darfur and in South Sudan.
Davis: Because they had the Bible only in the languages of colonizers, English and Arabic, and they didn’t have it in their tribal languages, especially the Old Testament. Most of the students speak Arabic, in addition to another language, and several dialects. They understand, better than most of us, how much can be added or lost in translation and felt that they should not be dependent upon the translations of people from cultures more distant from the Bible than their own.
The most populous part of the Republic of Sudan is at the very edge of the Sahara. There is almost no arable land in and around Khartoum, and it has a large population. So you have the situation of a disproportion between density of population and availability of arable land and that is a very volatile situation.
Scalise: Have they published translations in any of the African languages?
Davis: I’m a Californian, originally from the Bay Area, and so I am attuned to my physical environment. I realized that the trajectory we are on with respect to our care for the land or our use of the land is not sustainable.
Davis: The New Testament is available in many tribal languages, though not all of them because there are so many, but the Old Testament has been a more difficult translation project. They are slowly making progress with that. Scalise: How did you move from theological education to agriculture? Davis: When I would go to Sudan, I noticed that they kept introducing me to people with farming projects, so I began to see what the need was. Since I had spent 20 years working on issues of farming in North America, it wasn’t all that difficult for me to at least get some sense of what kinds of things might be useful to them. The Sudanis are an agrarian people, so they were more sensitive to the issue than we were. It was a relatively easy thing to get them engaged with the question theologically. How we care for the land is
Scalise: How did you become involved in theology and land?
One of my doctoral students pointed out to me that I kept speaking about land in my Old Testament lectures - something of which I was not aware - but of course the Bible talks about it all the time; it wasn’t a discrete topic for me, I was just talking about what the Bible was talking about. It was about 20 years ago, I began thinking about what, at that time, I called a biblical theology of land. Within a few years it became obvious to me that the center of gravity had to do with agriculture in the Bible. I learned that agriculture is a critical issue in our modern world, something of which I was completely unaware at that time.
Ministry
Enrichment UNDERSTANDING HOSPITAL CHAPLAINCY: HOW TO PREPARE FOR CPE Rev. Cheri Coleman, Chaplain Tuesday, February 19th, 2013 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM Conference 220 (Second Floor, 490 E. Walnut St)
Rev Cheri Coleman, a Fuller graduate and a current CPE supervisor at Arcadia Methodist Hospital, will be sharing important tips on how you can best prepare for your CPE experience. This seminar fulfills the requirement for interns applying for CPE and also fulfills a general Ministry Enrichment Seminar requirement for FE1. For more information on CPE, please access the CPE packet which can be found on the Field Education website.
ORIENTATION TO THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION Dr. Scott Cormode Friday, April 5, 2013 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM Payton 102
Participation in Field Education’s Orientation to Theological Reflection is required for those enrolled in their first quarter of the FE501 Parttime Church Internship (FE501A), FE533 Full-time Church Internship (FE533A), or FE500 Ministry and Leadership Practicum, for the Spring Quarter 2013. Contact the Office of Field Education at 626.584.5387 or fielded@fuller.edu to sign up.
classifieds COMMUNITY COORDINATOR JOB AVAILABLE Residential Community is hiring individuals who desire to encourage residents to actively nurture Christ-centered, living and learning, intergenerational and intercultural communities through sharing their unique identity, culture, and personal history. Serving God and our neighbors as a Community Coordinator is one avenue for this type of intentional community development. Weekly hours worked vary between communities: 8 – 13 along with monthly rent credit ranging from $300 - $500.
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Application process is open, visit Fuller’s Human Resource site to apply To access full job description go to Fuller Theological Seminary website www.fuller. edu and click on Work at Fuller and follow link to Staff Positions. Apply by 11:59 pm, Monday, March 28, 2013. Decisions by Friday, May 3, 2013.
April
April
6pm
6:30pm
5
ANNUAL INTERCOLLEGIATE CHALLENGE
7
CHILDREN WITHOUT A SHADOW FILM SCREENING
Rose Bowl Compete against CalTech, Le Cordon Bleu, Art Center College of Design, PCC, Fuller in unique physical challenges. Win two free tickets to the upcoming Justin Timberlake/ Jay-Z concert! And there’s an afterparty.
April
13 7pm
IT’S A GIRL SCREENING Travis Aud Panel to follow with Dr. Desiree Segura-April and others who have experience working with girls who are at risk. Topics in the movie are female intanticide, female feticide, illegally pregnant, forced abortion & sterilization, child trafficking, and abandonment.
Loyola Marymount University The documentary follows the story of Shaul Harel, a hidden child in who became a renowned Israeli professor, and honors Madame GeulenHerscovici, who rescued 4,000 Jewish children.
April
18 12pm
April
10 7pm
April
10
details soon
ROB BELL
MISSION FAIR
First Baptist Church Pasadena
Visit bit.ly/
Rob Bell will be talking about his new book What We Talk About When We Talk About God.
missionweek2013 for schedule details!
April
11 7pm
WORD MADE FLESH: CHRIS AND PHILEENA HUERTZ Pasadena Campus Join Word Made Flesh founders Chris and Phileena Huertz as they speak about social justice on Fuller’s campus. Sponsored by the Center for Lifelong Learning.
April
18 6:30pm
PUBLIC THEOLOGY AND ACTIVISM IN A LIFE OF MINISTRY
PUBLIC THEOLOGY AND THE SACREDNESS OF HUMAN LIFE
Payton 101
Travis Aud
A Brown Bag Lunch Conversation. Part of the JPI mini-conference on public theology and the sacredness of human life.
A Panel Discussion. Part of the JPI mini-conference on public theology and the sacredness of human life.
April
20 8:30am
April
30 10am
EMPOWERED BY GRACE PRAYER RETREAT
CREATION CARE MINICONFERENCE
Meet at Catalyst
Garth
Come enjoy a morning of rest and renewal in the beauty of God’s creation with the Fuller Prayer Retreats at the Los Angeles Arboretum. Retreats are led by Chris Murphy. For more information please contact the Office of Student Affairs.
Dr. Matthew Sleeth, MD. A former emergency room physician, who resigned from his position as chief of the medical staff and director of the ER to teach, preach, and write about faith and the environment.
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