THE MINISTRY OF HOPE President’s Inaugural Address, 1966 E d m u n d P. C l o w n e y
Dr. Edmund P. Clowney was installed as the first President of Westminster Theological Seminary on October 24 with the Rev. LeRoy B. Oliver, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, presiding. Professor Cornelius Van Til gave the invocation, Scripture was read by the Rev. John P. Clelland of Troy, Alabama, and the inaugural prayer was offered by Professor John Murray. A seminary choir sang under the direction of Mr. William Viss. Professor Paul Woolley, Dean of the Faculty, presented Dr. Clowney to Mr. Oliver, who asked the constitutional questions and delivered a charge to the new President. —B. Mclean Smith
M
r. Oliver, members of the Board and of the faculty, friends, your kindness brings a glow of cheer to this occasion. It’s a quiet glow, and I’m glad for that. Westminster has certain scruples
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about adopting the props of “show biz.” We have had no frugging in the aisles, and the men of the choir sang without drums, guitars, or slap bass. The only pageantry apparent is the medieval mummery of gowns and hoods, and these, I take it, are symbols of decorum, not festivity. This restraint is most commendable. Westminster has never had a president and I have never been president of anything but a college literary society. My best friend has her misgivings about my new role. Some of you know me as ex-Eutychus, and others have noticed a certain resemblance to Charlie Brown. As I take these new responsibilities on my shoulders you are ready to ask with Lucy, “What shoulders?” Well, all of you may take comfort that the theme of this address is the ministry of hope. You will realize that the humor of the situation is not
