Issue 191 2009 10.23

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T H E V O I C E O F T H E C O M M U N I T Y

kairojA Weekly Newspaper Issue 191, Oct. 26 - Oct. 30, 2

The Fourth I love you:ella Burkhalter is a Senior MDiv student completing a directed studya Methodist Church in Austin.

snuck up on me, for it was so unexpected. I had justone something deliberately silly at the church dinner and

n response, one of the teenagers laughed and said, I loveou, Stella! Just like that. Matter of fact. She barelynows me. Plus, what I had done wasnt all that funny. Iad spent most of that day in the depths of a pity party,nd that I love you from such an unlikely source finallyrred me out of it.

thought about it for a minute and I realized that wasnthe first time that day someone had said, I love you to

me. Earlier I had gone to campus to meet my spiritualirection group and I hung around afterwards, reluctant

o leave my indispensable source of strength. As I walkedway, Lisa called out, I love you!

My daughter thinks its weird that we say I love youeach other in seminary. She heard me say it as I hun

the phone with a classmate once, and it caughtattention. I didnt know you were talking to Dad,had said. I wasnt, was my reply. When I realizedwanted an explanation, I said, Thats just the way wewith each other in seminary. I had forgotten countercultural that is.

When I remembered Lisas farewell, I remembered thhad seen Shane on campus and he had noticed that I having a rough day. He had changed course and vefrom the sidewalk, deciding a wave from afar was

sufficient. I love you, he had said as he hugged me, we had been best friends forever instead of people had had one class together last year. I was grateful foperson he is.

Thats three I love yous in one day, not countingones from my husband and kids, I thought to myAnd then I remembered there had been another. drama of the day had prompted a phone call to the pa

2009 Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

Invite to Write

Stella Burkhalter

hares a reflection fromer directed study.

Page 1-2

Reason to Celebrate

Roy Cotton, spouse of

Karen Cotton ishonored for his work at

Manos de Cristo

Page 2

Extensions of an OliveBranch

Editor Mary Elizabeth

Prentice reflects onpeace, unity,community andidentity.

Page 2 & 3

Corpus Christi

Student Group Corpus

Christi issues achallenge to thecommunity.

Page 4

Capital CampaignCampus Improvements

Vice President forBusiness Affairspresents improvementsmade to the campus .

Page 5

Listening Proje

Unfortunately TheListening Project hbeen cancelled.

Page 6

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I S S U E 1 9 1 W W W . A U S T I N S E M I N A R Y. T Y P E P A D . P O R TA L / K A I R O S . H T

who had been my SPM supervisor. I had called to ask forher advice, and as usual, she had ended the call byaying, I love you. Coupled with Lisa, Shane and my

SPM supervisor, the young woman from church madeour I love yous. I had been hearing I love you all

day long.

dont know what it was about that fourth I love you,

but when I heard it from that young woman, I finally gott. God had been loving me all day long, carrying mehrough the whatever thing I had blown up and madebigger than it should have been, sustaining me throughelf-doubt and anxiety, faithfully grounding me as I

moved through the day unaware. The unbelievable loveof God is radiated to us through the slightly morebelievable love of our fellow human beings and throughall of creation, and we are rarely awake enough to receivet.

m working on a directed study project this semesterexamining the theology of evangelism in the MethodistChurch. Ive been trying to understand how we are tobring others to Christ in our postmodern era, and Imconcluding that we do that best by inviting others intoChristian community. At first I had wondered why weretarting new churches when the current ones arent full,

and I questioned the point of evangelism as simplynviting people to church as if it were just another club.

As I read and think and pray and watch, I see thatnviting people into community is everything. Because I

am enmeshed in Christian community, I am surroundedby people who are living instruments of grace. Because Ipend my days in Christian community, I got to hear Goday I love you out loud four times today.

How blessed we are to be in these kinds of communities.How blessed we are to be called to build them.

-Stella Burkhalter

Congratulations

Roy Cotton, supporting spouse of Junior-Middler

Karen Cotton was named Volunteer of the Year forhe Education Program for his work at Manos de

Cristo.

Roy has been teaching with Manos twice a weeksince the beginning of the year and also generously

donated his time to help configure the computersprior to the start of classes, as well as volunteer athe Back to School program in August.

Roy will be recognized on October 25, 2009 at thZilker Clubhouse from 4-7 p.m.

Extensions of an Olive

Branch:Reflections on Peace, Unity, Identity

Community

Mary Elizabeth Prentice is a Senior MDiv student under caGrace Presbytery and Editor of Kairos.

I got beat up by my olive branch last week - in more wthan one, but I will only share this one story.

Monday, October 12, I was privileged enough to attthe U2 360 tour at the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium. had general admission tickets, which meant we stoothe longest line, but we were able to get within spitdistance of the outer stage.
http://www.austinseminary.typepad.portal/kairos.htmlhttp://www.austinseminary.typepad.portal/kairos.html

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I S S U E 1 9 1 W W W . A U S T I N S E M I N A R Y. T Y P E P A D . P O R TA L / K A I R O S . H

The circular center stage was set up at one end of thetadium and a circular multimedia cone was suspendedbove which descended and captured the camera angles

of The Edge, Bono, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.From the center stage two silver bridges extended over to

n outer ring of stage. The first 1,500 people in the doorhad the privilege of standing in the inner ring. The outering was 360 degrees around the stage and the band

members would cross the bridge and come and play onhe outer ring. It was a pretty ingenious set up.

was actually four people deep from the stage and had Ihad go-go gadget arms surgically installed, instead ofepairing my old arms, I would have been able to wipe toweat off of Bonos brow. I have to say that I am noteally much for famous people, but there are exceptions.

As for example Bono, because:

A. He is from Ireland.

B. He sings a song about The Troubles in NorthernIreland (Bloody Sunday). Im a big fan of educatingpeople about The Troubles!

C. He is the son of an Anglican mother and RomanCatholic father in Ireland (almost unheard of in the late60s early 70s). It is like he is an olive branch himself.

D. He has an Irish accent thus is pretty dreamy! (Nooffense to my boyfriend)

am not going to shove and push people about to getloser to a famous person, but I am intrigued when our

paths nearly intersect. I have never been to a concert likehis before, much less been 4 people deep to the band.

Needless to say, it was amazing.

During one part of the concert, as Bono sang City ofBlinding Lights, he pulled a 14-year-old NapoleonDynamite looking kid from the inner pit. Hand in handhe kid walked and ran around the outer circle and wasntranced by his 10 minutes of fame.

The teenager wearing a hooded sweatshirt and glasses,tuffed his hands in the pockets of the sweatshirt andooked bewildered as Bono sang, You are so beautifulonight. In the end the kid walked off gifted with Bonoignature sunglasses.

This was all a part of the theme What time is it? I thinkunderstood what Bono was trying to get at Now is the

ime. Bono has been politically active in helping to stopmounting debt to Africa, promoting AIDS education,

advocating freedom to all people, and the list goes on.has also had affairs and lives the life of a rock star, buthe is human after all.

This tour in part is dedicated to Aung San Suu whose only crime, was being the democratically eleleader of Burma, for which she has served 20 yearprison, Bono proclaimed before he sang Walk O

This was he message of the night.

Bono went on to boldly congratulate an unpopformer President for his work in preventing the spreaMalaria and increasing Humanitarian Aide to Africapre-taped message from Archbishop Desmond Tuti played before the song One was sung. Clearlymessage was meant to draw out our commonalities find unity. (Unity in the sense that we may be differ but we are all broken human beings. Unity in the sthat diversity is respected, celebrated and proclaimed.

Throughout the concert, I was struck by the abilitypeople around me that found commonalities amothemselves. There was a sense of unity during concert (olive branches abounding), I just wonder whdidnt make it out to the parking lot.

After standing for nearly 7 hours my knees were swoand my body ached. So before I got into the car I decto stretch. Granted my stretching techniques are aidiosyncratic they are, however, extremely helpfuloosening up these old joints and getting blood flowin

As I was doing what I called the Sumo-wrestler str(Imagine legs-out, knees-bent, squatted and stretchinggluteus maximus, minimus and anterior pelvic joTwo girls walked by pointed and loudly exclaimed: MY GOD! SHE LOOKS HILARIOUS! The friends I with directed my attention to them and I called out least I can walk when Im 30 because I am doing thexercises! I know - it didnt make sense, but I feltsaying something!

Needless to say the peace, love and unity I was feefrom the concert was briefly interrupted, but what csay Im broken in so many ways.

But Now is the time and I am trying to find unity love in the midst of being beat up by an olive branch.

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Justice Challenge

Fair Trade

Corpus Christi, a student group focused on exploring issues

hreatening the unity and/or the efficacy of the church, is issuing a

challenge to the Seminary community for each of us to begin

finding ways to practice social justice in our everyday lives. Members

f Corpus Christi will be publishing articles in Kairos each week that

ighlight a particular issue and offers practical suggestions on how

we can make a difference. The challenge is for members of the

ommunity to pick just one suggestion and put it into practice, AND,

f you so desire, to write about your experience and submit it to Mike

Clawson ([email protected]). The best stories will be printed

n Kairos and one will be selected at the end of the semester for a

pecial prize.

This weeks focus is on Fair Trade. The following is adapted

from Julie Clawsons Everyday Justice: The Global Impact

of Our Daily Choices (available at amazon.com):

f we are to attempt to live justly in the everyday, how we

hop is one of the most basic habits we can alter. Where

we choose to spend our money affects not just us or the

arge corporations, but everyday people around the

globe. Making sure workers around the world receive fairwages for their work through programs like fair trade is

one way to put love into action. Here are a few ways you

an support fair trade:

1. Educate yourself. Find out more about fair trade

online at www.transfairusa.org,

www.tradejusticeusa.org, and

www.maketradefair.com.

2. Buy fair trade. Obviously. By purchasing fairly

traded items, we not only ensure the producers

were paid fair wages for their work, but we also

send a message to corporate entities that we care

about how people are treated. Next time you buy

coffee (or tea, sugar, spices, vanilla, rice, fruit or

nuts) look for the fair-trade label and choose to

consume ethically. Visit www.equalexchange.com

or www.fairtradefederation.org to shop online

to find a fair trade business near you.

3. Ask your local stores to carry fairly traded ite

If you dont ask they will never know there

local demand. Get your friends to ask as w

more voices mean greater demand. And of cou

if they start carrying the items you asked for,

sure to buy them there.

4. Get your church to serve fairly traded coffee

tea. Check out Equal Exchanges Interf

Program (http://interfaith.equalexchange.c

that helps churches extend their fellowship

coffee farmers by providing churches w

educational resources, information regarding h

to promote fair trade and opportunities purchase fairly traded goods in bulk.

5. Raise awareness. Talk about fair trade with y

friends and family. Write about it for your lo

newspaper or church newsletter. Post informat

on your website, blog, or Facebook profile. W

to the major coffee companies and tell them t

your support fair trade practices. Write to y

government representatives and let them kn

that their constituents care about how tr

policies affect the lives of real people.

And, dont forget,

you try any of th

things above, write

Corpus Christi abou

and let us know how

went!

Mission Statement of Corpus Christi: To be inclusive and

supportive of the APTS community and to serve the APTS commu

by creating a safe place where we can discuss and explore issue

threatening the unity and/or the efficacy of the church. Our missio

its broadest sense includes increasing awareness of and dialogu

related to Social and Ecological Justice issues.

Look for the Fair Trade Logo when

shopping.
http://www.equalexchange.com/http://www.maketradefair.com/http://www.tradejusticeusa.org/http://www.tradejusticeusa.org/http://www.transfairusa.org/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://interfaith.equalexchange.com/http://interfaith.equalexchange.com/http://interfaith.equalexchange.com/http://www.fairtradefederation.org/http://www.fairtradefederation.org/http://www.equalexchange.com/http://www.equalexchange.com/http://www.maketradefair.com/http://www.maketradefair.com/http://www.tradejusticeusa.org/http://www.tradejusticeusa.org/http://www.transfairusa.org/http://www.transfairusa.org/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.austinseminary.typepad.portal/kairos.htmlhttp://www.austinseminary.typepad.portal/kairos.html

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Safety and Security

Installed card access control system Currie Hall on allexterior doors, residents rooms and guest room doors.

Purchased 2 way radios for emergency communicationsin event phone system goes down.

Safety & security tree trimming and bamboo thinningalong creek.

Installed new fire alarm panel and system in StittLibrary.

Installed fence at W.30th apartment playground.

Installed security gates at 402 East 30th apartments.

Classrooms

Purchased new chairs for all remaining McMillanclassrooms & common area furniture.

Installed new a/v equipment in McMillan classrooms &McCord meeting rooms.

Installed additional electrical outlets in all McMillanclassrooms and other locations.

Student Housing

Painted & caulked exterior of all student housingbuildings.

Painted & caulked exterior of Hicks Community House.

Purchased patio furniture for Anderson House.

Purchased bike racks for Currie Hall and AndersonHouse.

Cleaned exterior windows on all student housingbuildings.

Replaced all mattresses in Currie Hall.

Guest Housing

Replaced all mattresses McCord, Currie & Smoot.

Installed new Eco carpet in common area lower floorMcCord

Painted & caulked exterior of Smoot Center & Cottage

Buildings & Grounds

- Chapel Roof repair.

- Seal-coat & stripe Hicks parking lot.

- New furniture for Student Affairs office.

- New exercise equipment, flooring, lighting, mirrors iMcMillan gym.

- Painted gutters & power washed exterior walls at Tru

- Installed approximately 40 lighting occupancy sensoin several buildings across upper campus (carbonfootprint reduction & energy conservation measures)

- Installed variable frequency drive on chilled water

pump in Physical Plant (carbon footprint reduction &energy conservation measures).

- New furniture Trull atrium.

- Installed new combination code entry lock to upperfloor exterior door in McMillan.

- Installed decomposed granite in front of Currie Hall.

Office Moves

Office of Ministerial Formation from McCord toMcMillan

Student Affairs from top floor McCord to middle flooMcCord

Christian Leadership Education/College of PastoralLeaders from middle floor McCord to top floor McCo

Most of these projects were accomplished under directof the Physical Plant and Information Technology

Departments and the Deans Office and with cooperatof many, many others on campus. I would like to lift ufor particular recognition Julie Newton, Jim Many, andAlison Riemersma for their hard work, resourcefulnesand creativity. The majority of the funding came fromSeminarys Capital Expenditures Reserve Fund.

Kurt A. Gabbard

Vice President for Business Affairs

2009 Summer Campus Capital Projects

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The Listening Project

Wednesday, October 28, 2009, Austin PresbyterianSeminary will participate in the Interfaith Listening

Project organized by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).The Listening Project provides opportunities to engage inMuslim-Christian dialogue and learn about newdevelopments in Muslim-Christian relations.

APTS will host Mary Mikhael, President of the Near EastSchool of Theology in Beirut, Lebanon, as well as,Muhammad Sammak, a political analyst, journalist and

dvisor to the Mufti of Lebanon.

Dr. Mary Mikhael has served as president of the NearEast School of Theology since 1994. She was director ofhe Womens Program of the Middle East Council of

Churches, and has been a university lecturer onheological education, womens issues, and churches inhe United States, Europe,nd the Middle East.

Mikhael received her EdDrom Columbia Universitynd Union Theological

Seminary in New York, aMaster of Education fromhe Teachers College at

Columbia, a Master of Art inChristian Education fromhe Presbyterian School of

Christian Education inRichmond, Virginia, and a Bachelor of Education fromHaigazian University. Mikhael is the first woman tobecome the president of a seminary in the Middle East.

Dr. Muhammad Sammak is a journalist and polianalyst for the Ahram newspaper in Cairo, the Ittinewspaper in Abu Dhabi, and the Al-Mustanewspaper in Beirut. He served as counselor to the Prime Minister Rafic Hariri andnow serves as Counselor to his

son, Saad Hariri, leader ofAlmustaqbal ParliamentaryGroup. He also serves asCounselor to the Mufti of theLebanese republic, SheikhMohammad Rashid Qabbani.The Mufti is the chief authorityon religious law for Muslims inL e b a n o n , a n d t h e i rrepresentative to official agenciesin Lebanon and abroad. Dr.Sammak studied political sciences in Islamic Thought has served in dozens of positions including SecreGeneral of the Christian-Muslim Committee for Dialog

Due to heart conditions Dr. Muhammad Sammak was

unable to travel from Beirut. Dr. Mary Mikhael did start

trip and attended several schedule events, but It becam

increasingly uncomfortable for her as she tried to spea

a Christian about Muslim-Christian relations without he

Muslim partner. The Listening Project is premised on thprinciple that people from each tradition must speak fo

themselves and not for the other.

Dr. Whit Bodman hopes that some future opportunity w

arise, or can be organized, so that the energy and intere

invested in this program can be reinvested in somethin

equally worthwhile for all of us.

Listening Project comes to

Campus

Canc

elled

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Editorial Guidelines

1. Kairos is the voice of students at Austin Seminary.

2.Kairos generally carries no advertisements for sale of goodsor services by individuals. An exception is the sale of astudent or professors library or other study aids.

3.It is not possible to make all program announcements whichare submitted by individual church. Kairos is more likely tobe able to run announcements which apply to ecumenical orinterfaith groups or groups of churches.

4.No letters which attack individuals or groups will be run inKairos. This is to be distinguished from letter which mightcriticize the actions of individuals or groups.

5.Kairos will publish letter to the editor that contribute toChristian conversation on the APTS campus. All letters mustbe signed.

Submission Guidelines:

Email submissions to the editor, Mary Elizabeth Prentice, [email protected]. Editorial decisions are based onurgency, availability of space and editorial guidelines.Deadline is Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. Submissions made afterthe deadline must be accompanied by a bribe.

Boxes neededWere collecting shipping boxes of various

sizes for the bulk Advent devotional orders.

Please bring your boxes, flattened, to the

Institutional Advancement office by Friday,

October 23. Contact Sandy Wilder

(404-4806) with questions.

Reformation RoastThursday, October 29, 2009

5:30 p.m. Chapel Green

Bring a lawn chair and enjoy the grilled

burgers provided by Senate.

Saturday October 31st, 6:00 p.m.

Set up 5:30 p.m.

Hick's House Parking Lot

We are expanding our annual Trunk or Treat

event to include a Fall carnival! Teams of

individual students or APTS student groups a

encouraged to "sponsor" a Halloween themed

carnival game or booth. (Think ring toss, bean

bag toss, fishing booth, face painting, crafts,

etc...). Each group will be responsible for the

construction of the booth, people to run the

booth, and small prizes or candy to hand out

the kids. Awards for "Best in Show" and "Most

Creative" will be presented.

Families with children are requested to bring

canned goods for tickets to play the games &

participate in the booths. Each canned good

gets you 2 tickets. All canned goods will be

donated to the Micah 6 Coalition and Manos d

Cristo of Austin.

All students, families, faculty, and staff are

invited to attend! We are also inviting the

families of our friends at Seminary of the

Southwest.

Happy Haunting!Contact John Leedy or Lauren Falco for mo

info.

Baptist Student Group

Tuesday, October 27, 2009, 79 p.m.APTS, Stotts Dining Hall

Baptists students and current Baptist leaders are invited to egood conversation, snacks and make connections for the fu

Please feel free to come and go as you choose.Contact: Amy Wiles

Kairos GuidelinesAPTS Trunk or Treat & Fall

Carnival
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Chapel

ScheduleMonday, October 26:

11 a.m. Nikki Stahl

Senior Sermon

Tuesday, October 27:

11 a.m. Rev. Dr. Cynthia Rigby

The Lords Supper & a

Reflection on the Psalms

Wednesday, October 28:

Manna

Thursday, October 29:

11 a.m. Doug Fritzsche

Senior Sermon

Friday, October 30:

11 a.m. Service of Healing

and Wholeness led by Still

Small Voice

Campus Happenings

Twas A Dark

and StormyNightHalloween music concert

When: Monday, Oct. 26

Where: Shelton Chapel, APTS

Time: 7:00 p.m.

Cost: Free

This long-time Austin tradition

features organist Kevin

McClure / Count Dracula and

numerous hilariously ghoulish

friends playing to a costumed

audience of all ages.

Ghost artists include

trumpeter Bob Cannon, the

Dead Tenors, and the Horns of

Doom. The hour of creepiness

will end with of course! J.S.

Bach's beloved Toccata in D

Minor.

Mark Your

CalendarsFriday & Saturday Octob

30-31, 2009

Discovery Weekend

Thursday, October 29, 20

Reformation Roast

Saturday, October 31, 20

Fall Carnival and Trunk or Tre

see page 7 for more informat

Friday, November 13, 20

Come join the staff, faculty astudents in roasting Dr. Elle

Babinsky, our recently retire

Church History Professor.

6:30 p.m. Stotts

Bring a side dish for a potluc

and be prepared for lots of

laughs and great fun.

Saturday, December 5

2009

Polity Bowl - Football game

against our sister seminary

2:00 p.m. More info to com

TobeRe

sche

dule

d

Look

hereform

oredetails

later!

Documents

Issue 191 2009 10.23