The SEMI Fall 2013.2 by Fuller Office of Student Affairs

Semi-Coherent

Editor’s Notes

To modify a popular adage, there is no rest for those in the quarter system. And so we have to jump right in, into papers, sermons, practicums. The same thing is happening at the SEMI. I have been working as both production editor (in charge of layout and graphics) and editor (in charge of writing, content, editing) for the past two months as we looked for a new production editor. I’m pleased to let you know we finally got a new guy on the team: Jonathan Stoner, a new MAT student. I started training him today and put him to work on some stuff. He asked, “When does this need to go to print?” “Tomorrow.” “Oh. Alright then.” The “new guy” will not be new tomorrow night, because he will have an issue under his belt within 30 real hours of starting. I’m really stoked to have Jonathan on the team; he’s a great guy with some great talent when it comes to visuals, so you won’t have to rely on the guy who failed drawing in third grade (yours truly) to make the SEMI easy on the eyes. Speaking of such things, I need to thank Paul Weaver (MFT, formerly MAT) publicly and sing his praises forever for helping make our first issue of the year look acceptable. I started putting stuff together, but Paul came into the office and lent us his artistic sensibilities to really help the issue come alive visually. Thanks Paul! This issue, Jonathan and I are bringing you what we hope is a great deal of edifying material. We’ve reintroduced a regular column for the ASC, so you can find that on the last page. Jacob Cook, who works with Just Peacemaking Initiative, is bringing us some awesome material connecting conflict and physiological suffering. We have a brief article highlighting Domestic Violence Awareness Month and the Vital Connections student group, who will be hosting a panel on domestic violence next week (Oct. 22-25) in Travis. We also have a great conversation between Ken Fong and Daniel Lee discussing the launch of the Asian American Initiative, a new program at Fuller that will address the issues Asian Americans face in ministry settings. Last but certainly not least, we have a fantastic article by Randy VanDeventer that asks a question that all of us headed to the pulpit must wrestle with: how do we push our congregations out of their comfort zones to places that are awkward but more biblically sound, though we know we put ourselves in danger of losing our jobs? Check all this out, and our prayer is that, as iron sharpens iron, we may make each other better participants in God’s Kingdom. Reed Metcalf, Editor

The SEMI

Managing Editor Carmen Valdés Editor Reed Metcalf Production Editor Jonathan Stoner

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Turning Up the Heat on World Peace By Jacob Cook

I get hangry. At certain times of day, or in periods of bodily neglect, a notable edginess creeps into my temperament. Doing her best to support my commitment to peacemaking, my wife Abigail secretly slips snacks into my briefcase and often keeps something else on standby “just in case.”

han·ger (hæŋger) n. A strong feeling of displeasure or hostility as a result of hunger pangs. And hanger is only one physiological possibility for throwing me off balance. Graduate students know these phenomena all too well. For instance, students routinely deprive themselves of sleep, trying to burn the last drops of productivity out of the pre-deadline midnight oil. And how does that play out over the next few days? Dull or slow cognition for a day or two following a stress-filled energy binge,

at which point caffeine can scarcely sharpen the edge. Weather can mess with me too. I believed the fables about wonderful weather year-round in southern California for about one month after Abigail and I moved to Pasadena. By late-August that year, the temperature had climbed so high that LA’s official thermometer broke, and we had to buy our first-ever window air-conditioning unit. (I’m from the Midwest, where central air is ubiquitous.) Before that purchase, it had been so hard to sleep that I could hardly think straight. Far too regularly, I ignore my body’s basic needs, and rarely if ever does this lead to my benefit. Willing as the spirit may be, my flesh has a perilous degree of executive override authority. Perhaps this is why I struggle with the concept of fasting in the Lenten season. If I don’t really take care of myself throughout the year, giving up something simply does not carry the mean-

ing it should. Chronic abuse of one’s own body can create an environment that is not very conducive to growing the Spirit’s fruit. Not surprisingly, such problems do not diminish as they scale. Take the “Quantifying the influence of climate on human conflict” study 1 released over the summer by a team of researchers from UC Berkeley and Princeton. The piece in Science Magazine has been making waves for its bold claim of a strong correlation between violence and climate change. This claim does not proceed from a new theory; in fact, the researchers analyzed some 60 studies into the matter since 1986, re-crunching data from 10,000 BCE onward with updated methods and models. The researchers do not mean to overblow their claims, and are quick to note that climate change is not the only, or even the primary, cause of violence; rather, whatever sociopolitical or interpersonal tensions already exist are simply exacerbated by extreme weather conditions, namely heat waves and extreme rainfall events. Heat is directly linkable to agitation and increased risk for personal violence; whereas droughts and/or heavy rains are more likely to affect agricultural regions, messing up yields and creating (1) the need for cross-community assistance and/or (2) reason for cross-community conflict. All said, climate change is linkable to 1. My information on the “Quantifying the influence of climate on human conflict” study in Science Magazine came from two staff-written articles in the August 15, 2013, edition of Space Daily: “Cool heads likely won’t prevail in a hotter, wetter world” and “Climate strongly affects human conflict and violence worldwide.”

each three kinds of violence studied – personal violence and crime, intergroup violence and political instability, and institutional breakdowns – without regard to societal wealth, geography, or time in history. In an interview with staff from Space Daily, UC Berkeley professor Edward

Whatever sociopolitical or interpersonal tensions already exist are simply exacerbated by extreme weather conditions, namely heat waves and extreme rainfall events. Miguel, who was a part of the research team, concluded, “The climate appears to be a critical factor sustaining peace and wellbeing across human societies.” And the researchers all seemed to hope that policymakers would notice their data and grapple with the underlying issues. Following on the heels of this publication was last week’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, which indicates that the odds of human-caused climate change are 19:1 and that heat waves and extreme rainfall events are “very likely” to become more frequent. In a rather unscientific survey a couple of weeks ago, I asked a group of students from the local Peace and Justice

Academy, who were visiting the Just Peacemaking Initiative to prepare for the International Day of Peace, whether they felt more motivated and/or more content on sunny days or overcast/ rainy ones. Surprise: the students were pretty evenly split in their preferences. Following up, I tested on them my hypothesis, that such preferences and

perhaps it would be more in line with Michael Scott’s tactic (The Office): dress in layers under your suit, turn the temperature down in your office, and invite an ill-prepared adversary in to negotiate. The same convoluted species of logic funds support of torture: make someone suffer and they will give you the accurate information

If we want to take seriously embodied people as we know them in this world, then we must understand something about human physiology, affect and loyalties, engrained patterns of reasoning/justification. overall physical comfort would affect their motivation/capacity to make peace in a conflict situation. Half of them didn’t believe me, and it being a cloudy day, half of them contested it sharply.

you want. (Studies have yielded really mixed results on this score. “Enhanced interrogation” will often lead the victim to divulge bad/false data to make the torture stop.)

I’m mostly kidding. But I don’t think any of them believed me. Many Westerners are taught from an early age that moral reasoning leads to moral behavior, or poor reasoning leads to bad behavior. Human minds control human behaviors. Physiological and environmental factors, not to mention emotions and loyalties, are neglected for their influence on real-time decision-making.

If we want to take seriously embodied people as we know them in this world, then we must understand something about human physiology, affect and loyalties, engrained patterns of reasoning/justification. Conscious thought plays a significant role, sure. But so much of our day-in, day-out behavior is contingent upon our character formation and our physiological state, which is responsive to our physical environment.

Sometimes, and quite to the contrary, conventional wisdom has suggested that people who are uncomfortable tend to work faster toward a resolution. This could show up in Jack Donaghy’s hostile negotiation book (30 Rock), or

What does the Bible say about all of this? Well, have you ever wondered how the story might have gone had Jesus snacked on some delicious figs in Mark 11? Perhaps he could have shown a little more restraint in the Temple

that afternoon. Okay, maybe that is not really how I want to support my thesis. But it should be said that the Gospels are full of stories that demonstrate God’s concern for our physiological state, not the least of which being Jesus’ concern for the “least of these” in Matthew 25. He fed thousands of people on multiple occasions, gave them water and wine, healed them of diseases and injuries, and even raised some from the dead. We also read that he calmed storms (and nerves with them) and took time in solitude to commune with God and, I would argue, to preserve the kind of homeostasis that would sustain his way of nonviolence and peacemaking.

mote an ecological order that is hospitable to all human life. Meeting such basic needs can clear the pipelines for higher-level motivations, like a vision of God’s peace and justice in the world.

Please don’t read me as promoting some kind of hedonism. I am simply proposing that we do our best to meet our own basic needs (spiritual ones too) and those of our neighbors so that we are all as sharp as possible for the tasks put before us. During the winter of the year that the city’s thermometer broke, Abigail and I were packing our bags to visit family for Christmas. By that time, it had rained so much that the ceiling in our Ford Place apartment was falling in on us. Our neighbors came through for us in a huge way while we were gone, checking in on our place each night and emptying the buckets that we had catching water. They made sure we would not return to a huge mess. Part of meeting our neighbors’ needs (and our own) is rethinking our way of inhabiting the world so that we pro-

Jacob Cook is a Kansas native, born and raised just a stone’s throw from the Yellow Brick Road. Some of his and Abigail’s favorite things are playing with Apollo Creed (their puppy), good conversation around a well-made cup of coffee, and rolling up their sleeves to make their corner of the world a better place. He currently serves as associate director of the Just Peacemaking Initiative at Fuller (justpeacemaking.org).

How We Heal:

Recovery Ministry at Fuller By Kaye Schneider

Recently, Dale Ryan, Director of the Fuller Institute for Recovery Ministry spoke to a campus group. He said, “People in Recovery are bi-cultural. They have one foot in their Recovery community and one foot in their church. When they go to a Recovery meeting, they are asked, ‘How are you?’ And they feel safe to respond with the truth. When they go to church, they are asked, ‘How are you?’ And they feel safe to respond with, ‘fine, thanks’.”

support for family systems through preventative and restorative education. Vital Connections’ purposes are to educate and equip those training to be church leaders, pastors, chaplains or therapists as well as empower families struggling with addictive or abusive behaviors. Vital Connections will sponsor seminars, speakers and small groups for those whose professions or lives are impacted by abuse/addiction in society.

We believe Fuller Seminary is called to lead the embrace of these exceptional challenges by being a beacon of acceptance and action in the area of Recovery Ministry. This statement is in direct opposition to what a therapist on campus conveyed to me shortly thereafter, stating, “Jesus was about relationships.” She explained, “That is how we heal—in relationship.” As Jesus used relationships to heal individuals, one would assume the church would do the same. Yet too often abuse and addiction ensnare individuals; isolating them in a web of shame and secrecy. The last place they feel they can share their secrets is the church. Vital Connections, a new student–led resource group, desires to promote healthy relationships and provide

Abuse and addiction lure individuals away from intimacy and into shame, guilt, fear, secrecy, and isolation. Victims of abuse don’t ask for their beatings. Individuals saddled with cravings do not desire to be addicts. Social labels identify these individuals as moral failures or weaklings. The cycles of abuse and addiction are so destructive, the sufferers rarely recognize the signals until it is too late. Or worse, individuals come from a home in which these behaviors were considered “normal”. As a community, Vital Connections

seeks to remedy misconceptions about abuse and addiction, educate the Fuller population on signs of abuse/addiction and equip those who seek more knowledge by providing helpful tools to combat these issues in their roles as pastor, missionary, lay leader, or therapist. Most importantly, Vital Connections seeks to support those affected by abuse and/or addiction with compassionate community. We believe Fuller Seminary is called to lead the embrace of these daily and exceptionally human challenges by being a beacon of acceptance and action in the area of Recovery Ministry. Vital Connections is responding to this call by hosting a series of discussions during October, which is National Domestic Violence Awareness month. Gatherings will raise awareness about domestic violence and provide sensitivity training for students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Jesus transformed lives through the process of relationship and community. Those who had a spiritual awakening were sent back into the community to affect more healing. Vital Connections

seeks to create a safe community for those seeking recovery and educational opportunities for those working with sufferers of addiction/ abuse. For more information, please visit www.fullerinstitute. org or email us at fullervitalconnections@gmail.com.

Hey, Fuller! Check this out! • FREE COUPLES THERAPY! The School of Psychology is once again offering up

to 15 free couples therapy sessions on a first-come-first-served basis for qualified adults. This opportunity will be available during the Fall, Winter and Spring quarters of the 2013-2014 school year. (Couples will see a therapist during one of these quarters). All therapy will be conducted by MSMFT masters students under the direct supervision of Dr. James Furrow and Dr. Terry Hargrave. Each session will be conducted under direct video supervision. Please contact Amy Drennan in the School of Psychology at (626) 204-2009, (amydrennan@fuller.edu), to set up a brief phone intake.

• MONDAY WORSHIP! The Office of Presbyterian Ministries at Fuller hosts week

ly worship in the Catalyst at 10am. Upcoming speakers include: Sept. 30th- Rev. Chris Murphy Oct. 7th- President Mark Labberton Oct. 14th- Clementina Chacon and Veronica Castaneda Oct. 21st- Dr. Joy Moore Oct. 28th- Rev. Dana Allin

• FULLER HARVEST FESTIVAL IN THE QUAD! October 25, enjoy FREE games, candy, petting zoo, face painting, and hayrides. $4 Ride Pass: giant slide, bounce house, pony ride. $5 Snack Pass: nachos, hot dogs, roasted corn, popcorn. $8 Meal Pass (includes Snack Pass): Korean BBQ or Zanku chicken. Pre-sale tickets can be bought Oct. 21-24 in the Residential Community Office.

• WRITING CENTER WORKSHOPS! The Fuller Writing Center exists to help students improve their writing for academic and professional success. We are available to assist students in all three schools during any stage of the writing process for any level of work. The Writing Center is a service offered through the Office of Student Affairs. The Writing Center offers workshops on a variety of topics, and this quarter we have the following seminars coming up: Writing Academic Papers at Seminary Saturday October 19th (10-12PM in Payton 304) The Library & The Research Process Saturday October 26th (10-12PM in the Library Computer Lab) Understanding Citations Saturday November 2nd (10-12PM in Payton 304) Reading and Reviewing Books Saturday November 9th (10-12PM in Payton 304)

Down with Your Fuller’s Asian American Initiative The other day, I had the opportunity to talk with Ken Fong and Daniel Lee, the Executive Director and Associate Director of Fuller’s new Asian American Initiative. I thought—and planned—on conducting an interview, the first of my editorial career. If every interview is the same as this one, I could really get used to this gig. I asked one question and received a forty-five minute answer. It was phenomenal, because these gents are bursting with passion and knowledge about the Asian American experience and its intersection with the Church.

Our “interview” was much more a conversation than anything else—though I sort of felt guilty of voyeurism as Ken and Daniel did most of the talking. They were constantly playing off each other’s thoughts and tangents, but always stayed close to the heart of the matter: equipping the body of Christ to address the Asian American experience well for the sake of the Kingdom. Below is part one of the conversation. The material was so good that I was reluctant to cut any of it, so we’ll bring you the second half in the next issue of the SEMI. -Reed Metcalf, Editor Reed: To start off with, can you guys give me the brief overview of what the Asian American Initiative is?

Ken: Alright, the first step: the historical context is that Fuller, for the first time, is aiming to equip in relevant ways their Asian American students. We have always attracted Asian students, but there has never really been a dedicated way of saying, “Okay, if you feel called to an Asian American context, you need to understand and appreciate these things.” Let me put it this way: if I were an African American student coming through Fuller and never had the chance to take a course on the black church, I would turn

Own Instrument around and say, “You didn’t really equip me for my context.” To be fair to Fuller, though, historically Asian American students haven’t even asked these sorts of questions, so part of our challenge is to convince them that these [issues specific to Asian American culture] need to be taken seriously. Our mission is to raise up competent leaders to reach a new generation of Asian Americans in changing contexts. For instance, it used to be that the immigrant churches run by first-generation pastors were a sort of an oasis, a safe zone for Asian Americans. Now, though, we are assimilating at an unprecedented rate, so many young people don’t need that; they’re saying, “Why do I need to go to church? I don’t need that oasis. This actually feels like going backwards for me.” So the question was asked, “Will getting an MDiv or an MAT at Fuller be enough to deal with this?” We’re here to give you more than just that degree.

is funny because Asian Americans have been around for so long. I mean, Ken’s grandfather— K: My grandfather came over when Abraham Lincoln was president.

D: But when I first came to Fuller, my teachers were confused at the distinctions I was making in the various Asian American communities. They just didn’t know what to do with us. When talk about an Asian American program here first started, someone asked, “Well, what language would the program use?” Most of us can’t speak our traditional languages! I mean, I can order food at a restaurant—

Daniel: Fuller has tried to address this issue at different times as different waves of Asians—Japanese Americans, Chinese Americans, Korean Americans—have flowed into campus, but nothing has stuck before, mainly because we did not have the faculty to support such an effort. We got a reboot with the Korean program, but people still saw—and still see—just “Koreans” instead of Chinese Americans or Japanese Americans or whatever. But we are a huge percentage of Fuller, so we have to address our various issues. We haven’t really known how to do that, which

K: —I can’t do that— D: —But I can’t pick up a textbook or a Bible and read it. K: Now to be fair to Fuller, now the time is right. Whatever was attempted in the past, though well intentioned, was not done at the right time. When we tried it in the 80s, we only had 8 students show up, because the Chinese American churches were sending their kids to more conservative seminaries. Since students weren’t showing up, we could not sustain it; it made no sense to invest resources when the students themselves were not motivated to engage these issues. The program folded until Daniel showed up and resurrected it.

This spot is so unique that other people groups who may have experienced one of these areas—Irish Americans, African Americans, Latin Americans, whoever—just can’t relate to us in all areas. What’s weird is that each type of racism is unique, so each type has to be uniquely answered. One that Asian Americans have is what is known as “The Perpetual Foreigner.” People still ask Ken where he is “actually” from… his family has been here since Lincoln! K: Well, and some minorities have become so well established that they are now considered the standard in some fields—like African Americans in sports. Jeremy Lin comes along, and people tell him he doesn’t belong, he

What’s weird is that each type of racism is unique, so each type has to be uniquely answered. D: When I came here 7 years ago to start my ThM, I asked, “Where is the Asian American Group?” There was nothing, and I thought to myself, “But this is Fuller!” So I made some noise, and the next thing I know I am representing all the Asian Americans on campus with a two-person student group, Asian American Theological Fellowship. That somehow connected me with Howard Loewen (Dean of SOT), and he asked me to write a proposal for an Asian American program. I put it together, and it came out with this at its core: we live at the intersection of four academic areas of study: Asian heritage; immigration experience; American culture; and marginality.

does not get an offer from a PAC 12 school even though he was the top performer his senior year of high school for all of California. That wouldn’t be the case if he were African American or even white. That is this Perpetual Foreigner concept: you meet the standards that are acceptable for other races and ethnicities but you are still rejected. What’s interesting, though, is that Asian Americans have just sort of quietly reestablished themselves after each set of discriminations. You’re going to take everything away from me and send me to an internment camp? I’ll come back and take up gardening. Why? Because I like plants? No! Because with very little

capital outlay, I can be my own boss. Some people look on and say, “Oh, the Japanese must really love gardening!” No, it’s the only job we could get after all our other property was taken from us! So the Japanese Americans worked hard, sent their kids to college for an education that couldn’t be taken away from them. And then, we’re suddenly used as a foil against other minorities— D: —“The Model Minority”— K: —And people say, “Oh, why don’t you work hard like the Asians,” right? And a lot of times we end up drinking that Kool-aid too. For those of us who are Christians, it’s made the Model Minority thing even worse. Instead of just being afraid of bringing shame on the family or the community, you are now bringing shame on God when you mess up. We now feel that we have to be more morally upright than anyone else. Churches of other ethnicities and

once and forever. This Model Minority thing is probably our biggest issue, because many students are still drinking that Kool-aid and don’t even know it. What we want to say is, “No, this does not affect how God loves us.” D: So we live at this odd intersection, right, of these 4 spheres that cause so many obstacles. We understand that many of our Asian American students will not be returning to immigrant churches, but they still need to understand the external and internal pressures that are working on them. We say that we need AAI for two reasons: to help people minister to Asian Americans well, and to help people understand “multi-ethnic” in its fullest sense. Even if your church is only 25% Asian American, you still need to understand how to address those people in that context.

For those of us who are Christians, it’s made the Model Minority thing even worse. Instead of just being afraid of bringing shame on the family or the community, you are now bringing shame on God when you mess up. backgrounds look at us and say things like, “Wow, you guys really know how to do things right,” to which we say, [flattered], “Why thank you.” But that just feeds the problem, a problem AAI is going to be seriously addressing: that we can’t add to or subtract from our worth. No, Jesus established our worth

K: And part of this falls on us. If we come unexamined, we have no idea what we are bringing to the table. We can think of this like a church potluck. If the church is historically white, when you have a few Asian faces show up, people are like, “Yay, we’re ethnically diverse!” But what did those Asian

Americans bring? Spaghetti-Os. People are getting too excited because they are either too ashamed to bring their traditional food—they think it has no place at the table—or when they brought it, no one touched it because no one understood it. See, part of this falls on us too. When we are too fast to glom onto everything Western and not examine or explain our own culture…. Well, that’s what this slogan is on the wall. This is a picture of the first jazz fusion band formed by Asian Americans, named Hiroshima.

One of the founders was the whole hippie-in-the-park-playing-the-flute thing. During the Black Power and Brown Power movement, he said, “Our Asian American demographic is so diverse with so many different languages and backgrounds, how can we unite? The other groups all have a soundtrack…. So we’ll make our soundtrack!” So this hippie creates this jazz fusion band using traditional Japanese instruments, and soon they’re playing with all these different groups in all these different places. This guy now goes to my church, and I asked him, “How did you make this happen? How did you start with a taiko drum and make it part of the American jazz scene?” And he told me, “First, you have to be down with your

own instrument before you can jam with everyone else. You have to make peace with the fact that this is part of your heritage, this instrument is part of your culture; that doesn’t make it the best in the world, but it has a unique sound, a unique history, and you need to get good at playing it! Then when you show up to the jam session and the other guy has a saxophone, you’re not apologizing the whole time for your instrument. Because musicians don’t

...There is a place for your instrument to be played—not to the exclusion of everybody else, but with everybody else.

really care, they are so into the music— they want to know what the instrument sounds like and if you can play it.” And so that is our kind of mantra here, that there is a place for your instrument to be played—not to the exclusion of everybody else, but with everybody else. You learn to master your instrument on your own so that when you come back to the group, you are able to make a contribution to the whole sound that would otherwise be completely missing. Thanks to Ken and Daniel, and remember to catch the second half of the interview in the next issue of the SEMI. In the meantime, you can contact Ken and Daniel at aai@fuller.edu.

Fuller, Come Meet the

Evangelical Covenant Church 2

Meet leaders of the Evangelical Covenant Church at an open house and a dinner on Monday, October 28. The Evangelical Covenant Church has earned a reputation for being the premier church planting denomination in North America, and it is one of the few American denominations that continues to grow. Two leaders of the Covenant will be in Pasadena on Monday October 28. The first is Mark Novak, a veteran church planter, superintendent of the Covenant churches in the Pacific Northwest. Mark now serves as executive minister for the Ordered Ministry, overseeing the training, credentialing, and care of all Covenant clergy. The other is John Teter, Senior Pastor, Fountain of Life Covenant Church in Long Beach, and Church Planting Team Leader for the Evangelical Covenant Church . Mark and John are eager to meet with Fuller students to discuss becoming connected with the Covenant. They will share with you opportunities for church planting through Covenant, as well as ministry opportunities in established congregations. You are welcome at either or both events! 1. Open House in the Catalyst from 3:30-5:00 2. Dinner hosted at Pasadena Covenant Church from 6:00-7:30 539 N Lake Ave, Pasadena, CA 91101 (626) 795-9381

No cost for dinner, so please RSVP by emailing alumni@fuller.edu or calling 626-5845498. Sponsored by Alumni and Church Relations, the Center for Lifelong Learning, Pasadena.V Covenant Church, and the Evangelical Covenant Church.

T R A P P ED : Stuck between keeping our jobs and preaching what needs to be heard

By Randy VanDeventer

Just as I began writing, it happened again. Another straw heaped upon the camel’s back in the form of yet another story about a pastor needing to choose between their job and their integrity. This particular episode came from Christian Piatt, author and blogger from Portland. He tells about a friend who lost her job as a pastor after exploring the role of doubt in the life of faith publicly with her church. Alarmed, her elders sat her down to press her about “what she really believed.” Here is a piece of her story: “I had a choice... I could continue collecting a paycheck and doing ‘ministry’ to people who wanted me to pretend to

with which I am most familiar, this is seeming less and less like a scattering of unfortunate incidents and more like an unhealthy trend. Last year, when Fuller hosted the Talk of God, Talk of Science conference here in Pasadena, this was constantly at the fore. At a conference geared toward a more constructive engagement with science in the faith community, and particularly from the pulpit, there were constant concerns being raised to the tune of: “Everything we’ve talked about here is great, and I think it would be helpful to talk about, but if I admit that to my congregation I will lose my job.” This makes becoming a pastor sound like an effective shutting down of all critical thought processes.

“Everything we’ve talked about here is great, and I think it would be helpful to talk about, but if I admit that to my congregation I will lose my job.” be something I was not. Or I could free myself from that dishonesty to explore what it is that I really believe...” The more stories I hear, the more it seems like “pretending to be something you are not” is a basic part of the pastoral job description. Lately, I feel as though I’m hearing stories like this everywhere I turn. Of course, I realize that they do not represent the whole of pastoral experience. But especially in the Evangelical waters

As though taking a job in a congregation means you have to promise never to introduce anything new or challenging. The church does not want its feathers ruffled, especially not from those it considers called to be beacons of static, unshakeable faith. I was once a part of a “teaching team” at a large evangelical church, where a small group of pastors and volunteers met to plan out sermons and outline teaching content. It was a common occurrence, in considering what to communicate from the pulpit, to hear the phrase, “Well, that’s true, but

we can never say it.” I could frequently sense palpable fear that certain good ideas were a little too good. The type of wrestling common to the human experience- and especially the journey of Christian faith- seems to be rather undesirable in pastors. Outlooks for those among us looking towards a future in academia might not be all that different. Many readers will be aware of stories like that of Howard Van Till, a scientist whose ideas concerning evolution effectively ended his career at Calvin College; or Peter Enns, a biblical scholar who was kicked out of Westminster Seminary after publishing a book that questioned modern views on Biblical inerrancy. Enns talks about this atmosphere in Christian academia often

vided you come to predetermined conclusions.” People like Enns and Van Till have had their credibility, and their faith, deeply questioned because their conclusions challenged what some consider to be theologically non-negotiable. Because challenging the status quo is not for Christians. Can I get an Amen? These academic horror stories mirror something very similar that is going on in the American church. Excellence in pastoral duties is expected and mostly rewarded, until one disrupts the pre-conceived ideas that a community has about what a pastor ought to be and do. In a recent interview with the Homebrewed Christianity podcast entitled “10 Dirty Secrets About Being

“Degrees, books, papers, and other marks of prestige are valued-provided you come to predetermined conclusions.” in his blog for Patheos.com. One such pieced is called, “If They Only Knew What I Thought,” in which he talks specifically about the pervasive reality of professors at Christian institutions who have to choose every day between academic integrity and putting food on the table [It is by far his most read post. I do not suppose this is a coincidence]. Enns sees the evangelical academic climate as one largely built around defending rather than critically exploring. Elsewhere, Enns says that in Evangelical academia, “...degrees, books, papers, and other marks of prestige are valued- pro-

a Minister”, writer and ex-pastor Greg Horton spoke about the idea of those in full-time ministry being a prop. The good side of this is the opportunity to be there for people, to prop them up, to help them. The bad side is being treated as though one’s only function is to serve whatever presupposed role people decide you ought to serve. You become a tool rather than a person, and the second you deviate from that perceived function and show yourself to be a [gasp] normal human being, you’re out of the job.

What does all of this say about the Christian community in America? In the same interview, Horton noted the fact that he and many of his contemporaries constantly had to deal with the reality that those members of a church who donate the most money get a clear privilege over everybody else, especially when it comes to hiring (or firing) a pastor. The same is true for large donors at Christian academic institutions. Many of these schools would love to talk more and fund more research about certain topics, but fear what kind of financial ramifications it would have on the school. Ah, the golden rule. Whoever has the gold, makes the rules. Christian Community 101, am I right? I am happy to say that Fuller does not strike me as such a place, although I’m certain that our school’s history contains more than one episode of faith leaders straining to toe this dubious line between being honest and being employed. Historical accounts of Fuller legend Carl F.H. Henry suggest that the suspicious absence of pieces in Christianity Today in support of civil rights was due in large part to fear of losing the support of the publication’s earliest financier, an oil tycoon called J. Howard Pew. Henry’s biography is riddled with stories of having to toe the line, and find ways to be true to his faith without losing the support of his community. I want to say clearly that I don’t have much by way of a constructive solution. I also realize that my tone might come off as that of a spoiled seminarian whining that people in his field of interest cannot simply do whatever they

please. I have recently been in conversation with people who I feel would offer valuable criticism to my thoughts, and I hope they will do so publicly. My primary goal in all of this is to try to bring these issues to the surface. In the Peter Enns blog post mentioned above, Enns laments that he could formulate a hefty list of scholars and leaders that feel trapped beneath a dishonest façade, ever terrified that they might disturb the waters just enough to ruin their careers. I fear I could make a similar list of pastors and faith leaders who feel that the only way to be the person they feel called to be is to vacate positions of pastoral leadership. I find this trend disturbing, and I think it points to some of the current church’s systemic problems. A community of people looking ahead to [or already in] similar positions ought to consider these problems more openly, as letting them fester will only rob our communities of the dynamic journey that should resemble the life of faith.

Randy VanDeventer is an MDiv student from New Hampshire. His favorite theologians are Abraham Joshua Heschel and George Carlin. He deals craps on the weekend and enjoys a good pair of sweatpants.

Semi-Responsible

The All-Seminary Council Column

Welcome to Semi-Responsible! This is a space for you to get to know your All-Seminary Council and for us to keep you in the loop of all the amazing things happening on campus. For this issue, we wanted you to know some of the things we offer you as students. I have heard many of you ask, “What is the ASC?” or “Why should I care?” or even “Why am I being charged $36?” We understand and know that these are valid questions. To ease some of your worry, I’ve included some of the benefits below: • • •

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Costco card rental: The ASC pays for a Costco card for students to check out when they need to make a Costco run. Just go to the Office of Student Affairs (located on the 2nd floor of the Catalyst) for check out and details. Emergency Stipends: Find yourself in a bind? You may be eligible for an emergency stipend. Emergency stipends are reserved for extraordinary and unforeseeable financial circumstances and cannot exceed $500 per student per year. Conference stipend: Have your heart set on attending or presenting at a conference this year? The ASC has conference stipends available; up to $100 for those who simply want to attend and up to $200 for those who are presenting a paper or project. Cram Jam: Each quarter during finals week, ASC hosts a cram jam as a way for students to take a break, grab a snack, and catch up with friends before heading back to the books.

These are just some of the direct ways that you can benefit from the ASC. For more details on these services please visit our website: www.fuller.edu/osa/campus-life/ asc.

Another thing to note this year is our restructure. I won’t bore you with the details but suffice it to say that we restructured the ASC to put more money and power back into the hands of students. This includes cutting back on labor and setting more funds aside to support the work of our student groups (led by you of course). The result is a more efficient council that focuses on empowering, representing, and advocating for a diverse body of students in a variety of contexts. It is our pleasure to do this as best we can, and we look forward to engaging with you throughout the school year. Feel free to stop by the office on Wednesdays and Thursdays when we are open. You can also let us know your questions and concerns by either contacting your school representatives or emailing us at ASC-admin@fuller.edu. There is a lot in store for this space so be sure to check us out at the end of each issue. Until then, may your journeys be filled with adventure.

In love and service, Tamisha Tyler

ASC President

3 ALL-SEMINARY CHAPEL 10:00am-11:00am Payton Hall Bobette Buster

FILM SCREENING:

2:30-5:00pm Travis Auditorium

DESSERT RECEPTION 6:30pm

LECTURES: OCTOBER 30 24

7:00-9:30pm Travis Auditorium