Windows summer fall 2015

In this Issue

Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary summer|fall2015

2015 Commencement | 5 The new strategic plan | 10 Honor Roll of Donors | center

Goals 2020

Substance.

Service.Scripture.

Preparingstrong,imaginativeleadersforthechurch.

To confirm your placeregister online at AustinSeminary.edu/falldiscovery

Find your own voice.

Discovery Weekend

November 6-8, 2015

PresidentTheodore J. Wardlaw

Board of TrusteesTom are Jr, Chair

James allisonKaren C. andersonWhit BodmanJanice Bryant (MDiv’01, DMin’11)Claudia D. CarrollElizabeth ChristianJoseph J. CliffordJames B. CrawleyKatherine Cummings (MDiv’05)Consuelo Donahue (MDiv’96)Jackson Farrow Jr.G. archer FriersonRichard D. GillhamWalter Harris Jr.John Hartmanann Herlin (MDiv’01)Rhashell HunterRoy M. KimJames H. lee (MDiv’00)lyndon l. olson Jr.B. W. PayneDavid PeeplesJeffrey Kyle Richardlana Russelllita simpsonanne Vickery stevensonKarl Brian TravisJohn l. Van osdallsallie sampsell Watson (MDiv’87)Carlton Wilde Jr.Elizabeth Currie WilliamsHugh H. Williamson III

Trustees Emeritistephen a. MatthewsJohn M. McCoy Jr. (MDiv’63)Max shermanlouis Zbinden

Austin Seminary Association (ASA) BoardDieter Heinzl (MDiv’98), PresidentKristy Vits (MDiv’98),Vice PresidentBarrett abernethy (MDiv’13), secretaryleanne Thompson (MDiv’06),

Past PresidentTimothy Blodgett (MDiv’07)Tony Chambless (MDiv’07)Jeff Cranton (MDiv’99)Jesus Gonzalez (MDiv’92)sandra Kern (MDiv’93)Matt Miles (MDiv’99)andrew Parnell (MDiv’05)stephen Plunkett (MDiv’80)Valerie sansing (MDiv’00)sheila sidberry-Thomas (MDiv’14)Michael Waschevski (DMin’03)

features

Goals 202011 Nurture young people with calls for

ministry & create a distinguished student fellowship

By Jack Barden

12 address the formation of students’ spiritual lives

By David Jensen

14 Engage latino/a constituencies as partners

By Paul Hooker

16 offer flexible, non-degree theological education to inform and inspire church practitioners

By Melissa Wiginton

Center: The 2014-15 Honor Roll of Donors

& departments

2 seminary & church

3 twenty-seventh & speedway

17 live & learn

18 faculty news & notes

20 alumni news & notes

21 teaching & ministry

Preparingstrong,imaginativeleadersforthechurch.

summer|fall2015 Volume 130 | Number 3

5

8

What’s in store for Austin Seminary’s future? The executive leadership offers a glimpse into the new strategic plan, pages 10-16.

AUSTIN

SEMINARY

PRESBYTERIANTHEOLOGICAL

AUSTIN PRESBYTERIANTHEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

Windows is published three times each year by austin Presbyterian Theological seminary.

austin seminary Windowsaustin Presbyterian Theological seminary100 E. 27th st.austin, TX 78705-5711

phone: 512-404-4808 e-mail: [email protected]: 512-479-0738austinseminary.edu

IssN 2056-0556; Non-profit bulk mail permit no. 2473

EditorRandal Whittington

Contributorslemuel GarciaGary MathewsClaire Mathias

sharon sandbergadam sweeneyRebekah TuckerDaniel Williams

18

10

2 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

President’s Schedulesept. 13 - Preach, First

PC, Kerrville, Texas

oct. 3-5 - Teach & Preach, First Central PC, abilene, Texas, annual Festival of Faith

oct. 8 - Host, Partner lunch, Dallas

oct. 11 - Preach, Central Christian Church, austin

Nov. 17 - Host, Partner lunch, Houston

Dec. 3 - Host, Evening with the President, shreveport, louisiana

Dec. 8 - Host, Evening with the President, little Rock, arkansas

Feb. 7 - Preach, First PC, Fort Worth, Texas

Mar. 1 - Host, Evening with the President, san antonio

Mar. 6 - Preach, Howard Memorial PC, Tarboro, North Carolina

fromthepresident|

Yesterday, as I write these words in the first full week of August, I was at home just after 8:00 a.m. when I heard a huge crash. It sounded like two cars had crashed head-on, and so I ran to a window to see what it was. Sprawled across the lawn

of the President’s Manse and into the entire width of the street just beyond was what had been the tallest oak tree in the yard. In a moment, Kay and I were outside survey-ing the wreckage of that majestic tree. Neighbors began stopping by to see it all for themselves. The police came. The Seminary’s Operations staff snapped into action. By the end of the afternoon, city crews had removed all limbs and leaves from the street and had stacked them up across the width of the yard—like a privacy hedge preventing a view of the two-story house. Today, all day, grounds crews fed limb after limb into a ferocious chipper, and John Everett, the director of the Seminary’s physical plant, told me to be thinking about the breed and size of the next tree that will soon occupy a now-sunwashed portion of the front yard. We don’t know yet how old the tree was: seventy, a hundred, two hundred years? We do know that the Seminary has lost a dear old friend. Near the end of yesterday, a neighbor said, “You two need to thank the tree.” Thank the tree? “Yes,” she said. “You need to thank it for the shade it provided; for its mas-sive beauty—limbs as wide as they were tall; for falling when and where it did so that no person, car, or other property was damaged. You need to thank the tree.” So we are thanking the tree; and, to be more precisely theological, we are thanking God for the tree. And we are starting to think about the new tree that will come next. Trees are forever falling, here or there, and new ones are forever rising up. And, with the memory of yesterday’s drama still very much in my mind, I’m thinking of how Austin Seminary reminds me of a tree. It is old and established, it is a thing of beauty, it provides shelter and shade for so many in its constituency, it is a source of comfort and inspiration. And in the days ahead, it is shooting out new branches and welcom-ing the planting of new growth. Much of what follows in this issue of Windows has to do with the newness represented in the Institutional Plan by which we will navigate toward 2020. We are looking toward a changing landscape—in theological education in general, and in the shifting demographics of the Southwest in particular—and we are boldly preparing for who and what we need to be to nourish the future, just as we have nourished the past. The transitions represented on every page of this issue are laced with hope and energy for what is emerging. Read on, and thank God for the new growth signaling what we will be. And thank God, too, for the tree that we have been.

Faithfully yours,

Theodore J. Wardlaw President

seminary church

summer | Fall 2015 | 3

twenty-seventh speedway

Austin Seminary and Westminster John Knox Press (WJK) have begun work on an ambitious new commentary series, Connections, that will follow the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL). Led by a stellar group of general editors,

Austin Seminary’s W.C. Professor of Theology Cynthia L. Rigby, homileticians Thomas Long of Candler School of Theology and Luke Powery of Duke University, and biblical scholar Joel Green of Fuller Theological Seminary, the series will begin publishing in 2019. “We are gratified to be working with Austin Seminary on this important resource,” said Marc Lewis, president and publisher of WJK’s parent, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. “Their strong history of preparing gifted preachers, teachers, and scholars for the church makes them an ideal partner.” Connections will distinguish itself in the market in three ways. First, Connections will start with only the readings from the RCL, which is used by the majority of preachers across mainline denominations. Second, its guiding principle will be to open up a conversation between discrete biblical passages, larger stories, biblical books, the gospel, and the lived experience of the hearer. Third, and most important, it will place the reader in contact with the best in theological scholarship, accessing new interpretive tools and strategies not only from biblical studies, but also theology, church history, practical theology, and more. Its central goal will be to strengthen worshipers’ own connections to the biblical text and to God’s work in the world. “As a school centered around the Bible, theology, preaching, and worship, we are honored to be doing what we can to enable interpreters of the Word to more effectively communicate it to a world hungry for its Good News,” said President Theodore J. Wardlaw. “Preachers, hearers, and people of faith will be the beneficiaries of this grand project!”

The general editors will be assisted by a twelve-person editorial board of scholars, preachers, and teachers, which will be appointed later this year; six of the members will be named from Austin Seminary faculty. The board will be diverse in denominational background and academic focus as well as race and gender makeup. “We are profoundly grateful to the outstanding group of scholars and preachers who have agreed to serve as general editors of Connections,” said Bob Ratcliff, WJK executive editor. “Their vision of the intersection between the biblical text and the contemporary world will make Connections an essential tool for anyone who preaches, teaches, or leads in the church’s encounter with Scripture.” Planning meetings begin in fall 2015, with editorial work beginning in 2016. Austin Seminary will house the series’ project offices and project manager. The first volume, for use in Year A, comes out in 2019; there will be nine volumes in total.

austin seminary to partner with WJK on new commentary series

Montgomerytobenewvicepresident

Karen Montgomery joins Austin Seminary as the new vice president

for finance and administration, effective August 10, 2015. Montgomery has been serving as vice president of administration and finance at Texas Wesleyan University, a post she has held since 2012. “Karen Montgomery’s finance and administrative experience, most recently at Texas Wesleyan, will be such a valuable asset in our environment,” said President Theodore J. Wardlaw. “In addition, her deep love for the church and her particular passion for theological education—coupled with her integrity and strong faithful character—will continue her office’s positive tones throughout and beyond the Austin Seminary community. We all look forward welcoming Karen to the Seminary family!” A certified public accountant, Montgomery received her bachelor of business administration from the University of Oklahoma and her master of public administration from the University of Colorado at Denver. She is currently pursuing a Master of Divinity

Continued on page 20

Theeditors’visionoftheintersectionbetweenthebiblicaltextandthecontemporaryworldwillmakeConnections anessentialtoolforanyonewhopreaches,teaches,orleadsinthechurch’sencounterwithScripture.

{

4 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary4 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary


Anannualevent,co-sponsoredbytheOfficeofStudentAffairsandVocation,EducationBeyondtheWalls,andAlumniRelations,“Threshold”onMay20gavegraduatingseniorstheopportunitytoreflectontheirtimeinSeminaryandlookforwardtonewministries.


TheYoungClergyWomenProjectmetoncampusJuly6-9.

}

OnJune16,TomO’Meara(center),anelderatShepherdoftheHillsPresbyterianChurch,

Austin,broughttworepresentativestocampusfromLivingstoniaSynodoftheChurchofCentralAfrica,Presbyterian(CCAP),Rev.

WilliamSimbeyeandRulingElderCharlesTheu,tovisitwithLemuelGarcia,DeanDavidJensen,

andPresidentTedWardlaw.

}

}

ParticipantsintheEBWevent“DiscoveringGod’s

Economy,”May19,lookedatissuesofmoneyandfaith.

}

TheAustin-areaalumgathering,April30,reunitedstudypalsRebeccaFoxNuelle(MDiv’97),JudySkaggs(MDiv’94),and

AmyIsbellHanschen(MDiv’98).}

I’m always humbled, year after year, by the opportunity as president to offer a charge to the

graduating class. And across this year, as I’ve been thinking about the inevitable arrival of this moment, it has struck me that this particular year in our culture has been marked by an increasing and profoundly palpable sense of anxiety. The waves of violence in Libya and Iraq and Afghanistan have not been confined simply to the faraway news stories we watch on television, for, as recently as our fall semester, one of our chapel beadles had to interrupt his studies here in order to be deployed back to that unhappy re-gion. The regular meltdowns in this country that, like a drumbeat, go by the names of Ferguson and Queens and North Charleston and Baltimore have exposed, across your academic tenure here, the reality of how the topic of “racial inequity” is still such a tragically unfinished and unspoken matter amongst us. The news a few weeks ago from the Pew Research Center reports that, just over the past eight years, the Christian population of this country has fallen from 78.4% to 70.6%, driven in large measure by declines among mainline Protestants and Catholics. The only popula-tion that is increasing, according to that survey, is that of the so-called “nones”—the people who look at the box marked “religious prefer-ence” and check “none.” The “nones” are not just young adults, but are also older adults—people who used to affiliate with a church but don’t anymore, people who are now called “dones.”

And it seems to me that all of this, and so much more—the econ-omy, the denominational squabbles, the political rhetoric, the weather, the whole groaning and travailing creation—is coming together in our time and threatening to form some horrible cocktail of emotional regression. Anxiety. Last year, after six years of service, I rolled off the board of directors of the Montreat Conference Center in Montreat, North Carolina—a national Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) center for continuing education and recreation and programs of all sorts in the mountains near Asheville. While I was on that board, we began thinking about a new long-range plan, and we hired this consulting firm from Charlotte, and, early on, one of the consultants came to speak to us. He said something like this: “I’m not a Presbyterian and so I didn’t know a whole lot about your denominational culture, so I decided to do a comparative study of your church’s national website with all of the other national websites of the rest of the mainline Protestants—the Methodists, the Episcopalians, the Lutherans, the United Church of Christ, all of them.” He said, “I discovered that no denominational website has more analysis about itself than yours.” He said, “You folks have mapped the programs and behaviors and opinions of every demographic subgroup in your whole communion. You’ve counted all the annual baptisms and confirmations and Republicans and Democrats, you’ve

added up all the numbers of deaths and departures, you’ve sliced and diced the patterns and thought processes of every age group and region and income level and zip code in your whole denomination, and the net result of all of that information about yourself is that it has only made you more anxious.” The late organizational authority Edwin Friedman calls it a “focus on pathology rather than strength.” And that’s not just a Presbyterian problem. All of our churches are anxious; it’s an anxious world. And yet, that’s where we’re sending you. We’re sending you out today into the church and the world. Or to put it more accurately, God is calling you there. And so I have a few verses that I’d like to remind you of today, before we’re finished. They come from St. Matthew’s Gospel, from a section in which Jesus is also mapping the contours of his world—talking about the challenges of living in such a world, about the problem with money, the problem with serving two masters: both God and wealth—all these issues that were weighing heavily on the minds of his audience. And finally he looks at them as if he’s reading their minds, and he tells them: “Do not be anxious about any-thing … strive first for the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness … do not worry about tomorrow, for to-morrow will bring worries of its own.

Charge to the Class of 2015

Be not anxiousBy President Theodore J. Wardlaw

President Wardlaw poses for post-graduation photos

with Steve Miller (MDiv’15) and his wife, Kim.

The Class of 2015



Today’s trouble is enough for today.” He tells them, “Do not be anx-ious about anything.” He tells them that—he tells you that—because he knows, I think, that if you strive first for the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness, if you position your-self inside that larger ecology—that amazing, redemptive, upending proj-ect that God has been about since before the beginning of time, and that is bigger than you are—then chances are that you will remember more easily where you stand within that whole project. That it’s a matter

of you being God’s agent rather than God being your agent. I was in Richmond a few weeks ago, serving as the preacher at the annual lecture series of my theo-logical alma mater; and I went to the alumni banquet where that seminary’s wonderful president, my dear friend and colleague Brian Blount, gave the address. He be-gan that address by observing that Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond had just been named as one of the twenty-six “Seminaries That Change The World.” Which sent me off on a private little reverie, because, as you know, we, too, are one of those twenty-six seminaries named by the Bonner Foundation in Princeton, New Jersey, as “Seminar-ies That Change The World.” We’ve been named two years in a row, by the way. We made the Huffington

Post, and we put it on our website; it was a moment of great pride—this whole notion that the world has observed that we play a special role in changing it. It got me to thinking about how Austin Seminary needs to plan more about how exactly we’re going to go about changing the world. When I get back to Austin, I said to myself, I’ll have to remem-ber to appoint a committee called the “Changing the World Commit-tee,” get Professor Whit Bodman to chair it. Figure out some targets and objectives on how we’re going to

change the world… and just about that time, my little thought cloud was penetrated by the rest of Brian Blount’s

ongoing words, to the effect that the notion of our changing the world is a preposterous claim. “In fact,” he said, “I would argue that … we are talking [instead] about God creating, God changing … and humans chang-ing themselves, their school, and their world in response.” He said, “The question is, will we do our part? While God is bending the arc of all history, we Christians had better be twisting the shape of our time.” It’s a matter of you being God’s agent, rather than God being your agent. “Strive first for the Kingdom of God and God’s righteousness,” says Jesus, “and all these things will be given to you as well.” Would you please remember that? I believe that it will keep you from just drinking the anxiety Kool-aid of our culture until it renders you useless.

Speaking once more of my alma mater, President Blount’s address quoted from a book celebrating Union’s two hundredth anniversary that traces its history from its sleepy origins in rural, backwater Virginia to its prominent role in a modern, urban location now. One of the key moments in that transition was its move in the late nineteenth century to Richmond, where students and faculty, influenced by the Social Gospel movement, began getting involved in relating faith to culture. In this soon-to-be-published book, there is an account of this seg-regated neighborhood in Richmond known as “Hell’s Bottom.” It was near a railroad yard, and there was this creek that was little more than an open sewer, and along that creek there were these modest little shacks that served as homes for seven hundred former slaves and descen-dants of slaves. “There within range of a church bell,” so the history tells it, “there were eight hundred chil-dren who played and fought in the streets all Sunday afternoon because they had nowhere else to play and nothing else to do.” Some seminary students rented an abandoned chapel in that neighborhood and opened a Sunday school which, over time, attracted thirty or so pupils. Some time went by, and on one occa-sion, on a weekday, one of the pupils was arrested on the suspicion by a shopkeeper that he had been raiding a fruit stand. The judge asked the boy point blank whether or not he had taken the fruit. “Before God, Boss,” he said, “I didn’t do it.” “What do you know about God?” was the judge’s next question. The boy braced himself with a

twenty-seventh speedwaytwenty-seventh speedway

Ifyoupositionyourselfinsidethatamazing,redemptive,upendingprojectthatGodhasbeenabout

sincebeforethebeginningoftime,chancesareyouwillremembermoreeasilythatyouareGod’sagent.

{

Continued on page 9


Forty-four graduate in late May ceremony

The Class of 2015

2015GraduateAwardsDonald Capps award in Pastoral Care: JacquelineWilliams

Chidester Preaching award: SarahMacias

Rachel Henderlite award: SteveMiller

Hendrick-smith award for Mission & Evangelism:SteveMiller

Carl Kilborn Book award: ChadLawson

Charles l. King Preaching award: DarylHorton

John B. spragens award: DarylHorton

Max sherman & Barbara Jordan Fellowship: JDHerrera

Left:2015DoctorofMinistrygraduates;below:2015MDiv,MATS,andMAMPgraduates

Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary held its commencement

ceremony at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 24, at University Presbyterian Church, Austin. The Commencement Address, delivered by The Reverend Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, director of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness in Washington, DC., was titled “How Do You Understand Your Authority?” The class of 2015 consists of forty-four students in four degree programs: thirty-one received the Master of Divinity degree, including two dual-degree students who also received the Master of Science in Social Work from the University of Texas at Austin; six, the Master of Arts (Theological Studies); two, the Master of Arts in Ministry Practice, and five, the Doctor of Ministry degree. Commencement exercises included the granting of special awards to graduating seniors who have distinguished themselves during their seminary experience. On the eve of commencement, Saturday, May 23, at 6:00 p.m., Austin Seminary held a baccalaureate service, also hosted by University Presbyterian Church. Professor Asante Todd (MDiv’06) delivered the sermon and the Reverend Dr. Gregory Cuéllar presided at the Lord’s Table. v


MasterofDivinity

Gregory Dean Allen-PickettDenver, Colorado (PCUsa)

Director of Global Mission, First Presbyterian Church, atlanta, beginning in

November

Dawn Denise Bairdsan antonio, Texas; UMC

Pastor, Cimarron Praise United Methodist Church, Converse, Texas

Emily Kathryn Béghinscottsdale, arizona (PCUsa)

Pastoral Resident, First Presbyterian Church, ann arbor, Michigan

Jeannine Caraccioloaustin, Texas (PCUsa)

CPE residency program, seton Hospital, austin, through august 2015; seeking a

hospital chaplain position

Ricky Eugene Carlsonaustin, Texas (PCUsa)

Completing candidacy requirements

Charles Hanson Drozdykaustin, Texas (PCUsa)

CPE residency program, seton Hospital, austin

Ruth Anne ElswoodGainesville, Florida (PCUsa)

Part-time chaplain, Palm Healthcare Management, Palm Garden of Gainesville

and Jacksonville, Florida

Cindy Eschliman ‡ Hutchinson, Kansas (PCUsa)

summer CPE Internship, Bellevue Hospital, New York City

Clifford Almer FrederickTucson, arizona (PCUsa)

seeking a teaching position in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, area

Sarah C. de la Fuenteaustin, Texas (PCUsa)

launching 1001 Worshipping Community in austin

Michele Renee GoffTulsa, oklahoma (PCUsa)

Designated pastor, aztec PresbyterianChurch, aztec, New Mexico

John Philips Harrison IIIatlanta, Georgia (PCUsa)

seeking a call in the st. louis, Missouri, area

Mary H. Hatchellaustin, Texas (PCUsa)

summer Externship, Westminster Presbyterian Church, austin, through Jan. 2016; completing candidacy requirements

Jorge Daniel HerreraMiami, Florida (UMC)

Pastor, Manor United Methodist Church, Manor, Texas

Nancy Gail Hinsonaustin, Texas; Ecumenical Catholic Church

International spanish teacher, Corrigan High school,

Corrigan, Texas

Mark Byron HornerGreenville, south Carolina (PCUsa)

Director of students for United Campus Ministry of Greater Houston

Daryl Lee Hortonaustin, Texas; Missionary Baptist

associate Pastor, Mt. Zion Baptist Church, austin

Chad Aaron Lawsonaustin, Texas (PCUsa)


Sarah Frances Wells Maciasaustin, Texas; alliance of Baptists

Pursuing a Master of sacred Theology degree at Drew Theological school,

Madison, New Jersey

Hailey Virginia Malcolm ‡Richardson, Texas (PCUsa)

CPE residency program, Children’s Hospital, Dallas

Steven Glenn MillerBastrop, Texas; Nondenominational

Pursuing career opportunities in social justice and advocacy

Samuel Okyere Mirekuaustin, Texas (PCUsa)

Completing candidacy requirements

Roberta Marie Parrillo san antonio, Texas; UMC

Pastor, Poteet United Methodist Church, Poteet, Texas

Eric Aldor Petersonaustin, Texas (PCUsa)

Director of Youth and Young adult Ministries, First Presbyterian Church,

Bryan, Texas

George Anthony Spearsaustin Texas; Metropolitan Community

Church; seeking a chaplaincy position while completing ordination requirements

Adam Kristopher ThorntonDripping springs, Texas; UMC

associate Pastor, Dripping springs United Methodist Church, Dripping spring, Texas

Suzette Marie Thorpe Johnson

Buda, Texas; UMC associate Pastor of Multigenerational

Ministries, Buda United Methodist Church, Buda, Texas

Michelle Jacquelynn Vernonesan antonio, Texas; UMC

Pastor, Bethany United Methodist Church, san antonio, Texas

William David Watson Jr.Charlotte, North Carolina (PCUsa)


Jacqueline Vitalien Williamslive oak, Texas; Nondenominational

CPE residency program, Baptist Health system, san antonio

Thomas John WilliamsMillsboro, Delaware; (PCUsa)


The Class of 2014twenty-seventh speedway

‡ Recipient of a Dual Degree with The University of Texas school of social Work


DoctorofMinistry

Jacqueline Baker Hammett senior Minister, Hyde Park Christian Church, austin

Doctoral Project: “Claim the Name: Christian Church (Disciples of Christ): a Program of Religious Identity and spiritual Renewal for

Individuals and Congregations”

Rita Louise Sims Pastor, First United Methodist Church Kosse and Reagan, Kosse, Texas

Doctoral Project: “Preaching sermons/Hearing sermons: The Role(s) of Perspectives and Personalities”

Gerald J. Mendoza Doctoral Project: “Employing Cognitive Behaviors Theory (CBT) in Pastoral Counseling

with Parishoners in short-term Therapy for anxiety”

Susan Maria Schnelle Pastor, Gethsemane lutheran Church, austin,Texas

Doctoral Project: “The Elephant in the Pew: Menopause, Baptism & Vocation”

Joshua Stewart associate Pastor for Youth, First Presbyterian Church of Fort Worth, Texas

Doctoral Project: “In Jesus’ Name, We Play: a Theological Playbook for Youth: Towards a Play-Full approach to Christian Discipleship

through a Theology of Vocation”

MasterofArtsinMinistryPractice

Allison Anna Handalseventh Day adventist

CPE residency program; Texas Health Huguley Hospital, Fort Worth, Texas

Charles Michael St. JohnElCa; Business administrator,

University Baptist Church, austin

The Class of 2015

MasterofArts(TheologicalStudies)

William Richard Chuch IITeacher and lacrosse Coach, st. Francis High school, Mountain View, California

Amy Elizabeth LitzingerUMC; Public Policy specialist, Texas Parent to Parent (through February 2016); seeking

certification to teach mixed-ability dance

Michael C. MatthewsYoga Therapist, The Interdisciplinary Pain Management Clinic, Madigan army Hospital,

Joint Base lewis McChord, Tacoma, Washington

Donna Marie NeilsonUnited Church of Christ; Relocating to the Cumberland Plateau area of Tennessee with

plans to pursue writing and teaching

Ruth Noemi Ortizassemblies of God; Program Coordinator, Division of Diversity and Community

Engagement, The University of Texas at austin

Christopher Jose ReyesUMC; Director of small Groups, Community outreach, and Youth Ministries, Good News

United Methodist Church, Cedar Park, Texas

ChargeContinued from page 6


long breath, and replied: “God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and un-changeable, in His Being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.” It was the catechism! “Where did you learn that?” the magistrate asked. He stated that he had learned about God in that Sunday school. His case was promptly dismissed. Friends, I don’t tell this story to glorify what was finally paternalistic, even if well-meaning, on the part of those late-nineteenth-century devotees to the Social Gospel. I tell it instead to suggest that God is calling you into a world that could aptly be named Hell’s Bottom—cyni-cal, rigged, dominating, frightening, frightened, and neutralizing—hell-bent on either dividing us or silenc-ing us. And in such a world, you will need to remember that your calling is to speak, to testify to the truth. It’s the truth about who God is and who we are as treasures in God’s sight. And if you remember who you are in that redemptive ecology, your words will not fall to the ground in vain. Therefore, do not be anxious about anything. v


In May 2015, following months of research and reflection

on the future of Austin Seminary, the board adopted

a new strategic plan. The administrative leadership, in

consultation with the Long-Range Planning Committee

of the board, had tested their perceptions about the

Seminary’s external environment, internal environment,

potential for new partnerships and constituencies, and

financial well being. What follows are summaries of

some of the sixteen objectives detailed in the new plan.

See “Goals 2020,” continued on page 11 after the Honor Roll of Donors

In 2020 austin Presbyterian Theological seminary welcomes people of diverse identities and heritages who come to be educated for leadership in the church and Christian service. some learners live in residence on campus; some immerse themselves here for a short period of time; some learn online. In classes, future pastors sit next to future leaders for God’s work in the world that we cannot yet imagine. Rooted in tradition, students are formed by our faculty for bold leadership to grow into the future. We are known for providing an excellent Master of Divinity education for pastoral ministry.

The seminary celebrates robust relationships with congregations and campuses as we partner with them to call forth new leaders. We welcome new friends from Hispanic congregations and communities and implement new ways of making theological education accessible for students.

austin seminary is alive, healthy, and filled with people carrying the hope of Christ for the world.

— Vision StatementInstitutional Plan 2020

Goals2020


Goals2020

Goals: Nurtu

re young people

with ca

lls for m

inistry &

create a

distinguish

ed student fe

llowship.

A

n important part of preparing for the church’s future, as out-lined in Institutional Plan 2020, entails iden-tifying young people (18-20 years of age) with an interest in ministry and then creating special-ized learning and practice

opportunities for Master of Divinity students who pos-sess exceptional gifts for church leadership.

The Threads of Promise and Practice cohort will launch in 2016. It is designed for young people who have shown nascent gifts for ministry and leadership through their involvement in local congregations and judicatory ministries. The Threads Cohort will consist of twelve individuals in their late teens, nominated by their pastor, a judicatory leader, or another church leader. These twelve young people will be invited to the Austin Seminary campus for an initial winter weekend retreat to explore issues of vocation and ministry with Seminary faculty and staff, and to learn spiritual practices to guide their reflection throughout the year. A week-long summer immersion experience will come next, in which the cohort members take mini-courses with our faculty here on campus, learning about the breadth and depth of theological education. A final retreat will be held at the end of the year, in which dreams and plans for the future will be woven together. In this way, we hope that the members of the Threads Cohort will discover ways in which God is calling them to live out their baptism in ministry and service to the church and the world.

The Distinguished Student Fellowship program is scheduled to launch in 2019. This cohort of Master of Divinity students will be selected from students who have good minds, outstanding interpersonal skills, hearts for ministry, demonstrated leadership, and spiritual character. Members of the cohort will receive a fellowship that covers full tuition, on-campus housing, books, and a living stipend, during their three years in the Master of Divinity degree program. In addition, they will be mentored by the Zbinden Distinguished Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Leadership through weekly conversa-tions, occasional retreats, annual consultations, and an integrative seminar. They will be exposed to best practices of pastoral ministry throughout their degree program. Fol-lowing graduation, cohort members will be placed in pastoral externships for two years. These externships will provide training and mentorship in best-practice congregations, both large, multi-staff and small, solo pastorates. These externships may be ordainable positions, and they will provide full salary and benefits for these “first-call” pastors.

In these ways, Austin Seminary hopes to build on our commitment “to educate and equip individuals for the ordained Christian ministry and other forms of Christian ser-vice and leadership,” for the church of today and the church of tomorrow.

—Jack Barden (MDiv’88), Vice President for Admissions

Goal: address the formation of students’

spiritual lives to include devotional,

financial, and vocational health in

community life, curriculum, and advising.


Goals2020

Poll any Austin Seminary student and you will hear that seminary is a lot of work They spend hours in the class-room, of course: listening to lectures, debating contempo-rary ethical issues, and discussing Augustine’s Confessions or Elizabeth Johnson’s She Who Is. But much of the work of seminary occurs outside the classroom: reading, writing, studying, preparing. An Austin Seminary education is rigor-ous. It summons all of the academic skills of any graduate school. But this rigor is not simply for the sake of academic excellence. It is for the sake of the church. We believe that

the cultivation of an astute theological mind is an essential gift for ministry. In the face of the complex ethical questions of our time, as pastors face acute budgetary decisions and pastoral needs, the church needs pastors who think and reflect. The Presbyterian-Reformed tradition has continually emphasized this dimension of ministry: that the life of the mind is one aspect of God’s glory.

Yet ministry involves more than the mind. It is equally—and sometimes even more—about the heart. Seminary is not simply about education; it is also steeped in formation. Institutional Plan 2020 emphasizes the importance of spiritual for-mation in a seminary education: how students cultivate a life of prayer and study, of learning and service. Excellent pastors not only preach and teach well; they lead their congregations in prayer, cultivating their spiritual lives and assisting them as they attend to their own spiritual growth. Over the years, this is an aspect of min-istry that the Presbyterian-Reformed tradition has not always consistently empha-sized. But it is deeply embedded in that tradition. For all the jokes about Calvin being a bookish man content to live in his study, he is also known as a theologian “of the Spirit,” intensely concerned with spiritual growth and how that growth was not only reflected in individual and ecclesial life, but in the life of the wider culture (such as its schools, hospitals, and orphanages).

Now and in the years ahead, we at Austin Seminary are becoming more intentional about spiritual formation, not as an add-on to the “academic” aspects of the curricu-lum, but as part and parcel of that curriculum. We will provide more opportunities for students to pursue spiritual direction with experienced practitioners; we will of-fer more venues for the theological exploration of vocation. This is because we see the life of prayer and the life of study as inherently interrelated. And, perhaps most importantly, this focus on spiritual formation recognizes that the spiritual life is not devoid of the material. As the Genesis creation story so beautifully describes it, as God breathes the spirit of life into a human being: body and spirit are bound together. Prayer is tied to action. This focus on the spiritual at Austin Seminary in-tentionally includes financial, devotional, and vocational health. Pastors, after all, are not just called to attend to spiritual life apart from the physical needs of their congregations. They are called to attend to whole persons. At Austin Seminary we recognize the broad spectrum of Christian ministry, offering a theological education that affects and embraces the whole person.

—David Jensen, Academic Dean


Goal: address the formation of students’

spiritual lives to include devotional,

financial, and vocational health in

community life, curriculum, and advising.

MinistersFacingMoney

“We want you to get financial counseling.” a few months before I began seminary, my church council shared with me their concern about my tenuous relationship with money. Their concern was well-founded: not only was I heading into graduate school with $100,000 in education debt, but when I had solicited their help to purchase plane tickets for seminary visits that spring, it was clear that I had no solid plan to pay for several hundred dollars’ worth of airfare. When an invitation arrived to join the 2014-15 MinistersFacingMoney(MFM) cohort, it seemed as much a providential sign as I would likely ever receive.

still, as MFM got rolling—a retreat, meetings, Financial Peace University—I dug in my heels. all my disassociation with money made me afraid to look at it. I would rather pile on Band-aids than reveal the ugliness of that financial, emotional, and spiritual wound. Those initial MFM gatherings felt like an offer to squeeze lemon juice into the wound. It took time to peel back the Band-aids and assent—yet it was hydrogen peroxide, not lemon juice, that I received. It stung, for sure, but it jump-started my healing.

That’s how the spirit moved in my MFM journey: in the slow Band-aid peeling; in the deep-down stirrings that maybe—no, yes—yes, I am a beloved child of God and worthy of a future full of hope. Carefully, with my hands cupped, I held up my experiences of shame for me and my peers to look for God: neglecting to file loan deferment paperwork, enduring the embarrassment of “insufficient funds” at the grocery story, making and breaking budget after budget. I have rarely felt moved to accept and extend such compassion as I did during our meetings. Through MFM, I began to understand something about living by grace alone.

as I prepare for my partner to join me at austin seminary next fall, I think of the vision that MFM held before in september: a hopeful future. We are building a budget, making a plan to tackle debt, and opening up a joint savings account to fund our life together. as I prepare for a vocation in pastoral ministry, I think about my church council and their wisdom: working on finances is not simply about increasing the odds on sustainability in ministry. This work is about growing in discipleship to the one in whom neither depths of shame, nor systems of predatory economic practices, nor fears of the future will be able to separate us from the love of God.

—Ben Masters, middler student from Minneapolis


Goals2020

Goal: Engage latino/a

constituencies as partners. T

hroughout its history, Austin Seminary has looked for ways to offer theological education to Latino/a com-munities in Texas and the Southwest. The Seminary graduated Latino pastors among its first classes, and for many years offered a certificate in ministry to Spanish-speaking students, many of whom were already engaged in ministry. Though the Seminary’s history is not untar-nished by the racism and classism of its times, at its best it has sought to reach out beyond the boundaries of lan-guage and culture to offer quality theological education to students who might not otherwise have access to it.

Institutional Plan 2020 calls for a recommitment to the task of theological edu-cation among, with, and by Latino/a communities. We are committed not only to teaching, but also to learning from the Latino church in our midst, sharing together the disciplines of the Christian faith.

Hispanic Presbyterian pastors, leaders, and congregations are in short supply within the Synod of the Sun. Their numbers have been dwindling even as the population of Latino/a people has significantly increased. Without leadership development, this trend will likely continue until the PC(USA) disappears from Hispanic religious life. We believe the Reformed tradition, as lived out in the PC(USA), needs to thrive, for the sake of the faithful members and for the sake of the world.

In 2013, with support from Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church (Houston), Aus-tin Seminary began new conversations with Latino/a Presbyterian leaders which led to the Hispanic Ministries Network at Austin Seminary. It was formed to provide a center point for Hispanic pastors and church leaders to gather for mu-tual support, for ongoing learning and professional development, and for taking action to strengthen Hispanic congregations and leaders.

Austin Seminary will begin to offer a new all-Spanish language, online, non-degree program in January 2016. The Certificado en Ministerio en Español (CEM) is designed to address the interests of adult Christian learners in classical theological subject areas. Some who seek to be lay pastors in PC(USA), United Methodist, or other mainline churches may find that these courses satisfy educa-tion requirements. All courses will be designed by Spanish-speaking instructors, leaders in their fields, and all will be taught in Spanish (see side bar for details).

With these two initiatives, we hope that the Spirit might bring about a new gen-eration of Hispanic/Latino/a leaders who will strengthen churches, experience healing and reconciliation of past wounds, and attract new Christians drawn by the beauty of fellowship and love.

—Paul Hooker, Associate Dean for Ministerial Formation & Advanced Studies


TheCertificadoenMinisterioenEspañol(CEM)

austin seminary will begin an online, spanish-language certificate program in January of 2016. To earn the certificate, students must satisfactorily complete a total of seven courses (six required and one elective). students may also register for courses on an individual basis even if they decide not to pursue the certificate.

Courses will be offered in each of the three CEM terms during the academic year: Winter (January 4–March 11, 2016), spring (March 28–June 3, 2016), and Fall (september 6–November 14, 2016).

The first two courses in the CEM program are:

“Plantación de Iglesias y Evangelismo” taught by Professor Philip Wingeier-Rayo

“El antiguo Testamento y la Exegesis” taught by Professor Gregory Cuéllar

application deadline is october 30, 2015; registration for the Winter CEM term opens November 16, 2015, and closes December 2, 2015.

Por favor, consulte el sitio Web, austinseminary.edu/CEM, para obtener una descripción en español.

For additional information: austinseminary.edu/CEM

Goal: Engage latino/a

constituencies as partners.


Goal: offer fl

exible non-degree

theological education to inform

and inspire church practitioners.

Goals2020

Stewardship and innovation are hallmarks of Austin Seminary’s new long-range plan. The Seminary stewards abundant resources for theological education: a strong faculty committed to the church, a beautiful and well-maintained campus, a library full of materials, dedicated leadership, and a solid financial foundation. Jesus taught that “from everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded” (Luke 12:48). Institutional Plan 2020 takes this truth seriously. We maintain staunch commitments to the Master of Divin-ity, the Doctor of Ministry, residential community, and formation practices. However, fewer people are participating in traditional forms of religious life

and future church structures are under negotiation. The times call for additional commitments to flexible, non-degree theological education to meet the emerging needs of the church.

Practicing clergy stand at the core of this commitment. Living churches require pastors who are courageous, active learners, continuously replenished with new knowledge and invigorated by chal-lenging practices. Education Beyond the Walls at Austin Seminary offers both short-term oppor-tunities for clergy continuing education and peer-group learning over an extended period of time. The College of Pastoral Leaders provides two-year grants for groups of clergy to engage their own agendas for learning and renewal for ministry. Two other long-term, cohort-based programs invite pastors to grow in focused dimensions of leadership: Fellowships for Pastoral Leader-ship in Public Life engages pastors at the intersection of the Gospel and the public square. Re-valuing Money extends the master’s-level, student-oriented Ministers Facing Money project

to clergy in the first ten years of ministry to help pastors become responsible, non-anxious

handlers of their own money and to be able to lead congregations in transformed relationships

with money as a gift from God.

Yet congregations rely on many leaders other than the seminary-trained pastor. Living churches

thrive with robust communities of theologically aware leaders. Education Beyond the Walls consis-

tently creates learning opportunities for Christian educators, lay caregivers, and people in a variety of

other ministries. In addition, the (English and Span-ish) Certificates in Ministry’s comprehensive courses

make theological education available to individual learners not able to be present on the Seminary campus.

Each of the programs named here are poised for expansion as the Seminary stretches its reach into new communities of learners and leaders—and the ideas keep growing! As a steward for the church, we must always be asking which leaders are underserved, who is missing, and what is going on in the world for which leaders need theological education. During the next five years, Education Beyond the Walls plans to build on the work-in-progress but also to grow. Look for new initia-tives giving increased attention to ongoing education for pastors credentialed through alternative paths, for congregational resources, and for a trajectory toward developing the art and practice of story for the mission of the church. v

—Melissa Wiginton, Vice President for Education Beyond the Walls


live learn

February1-3

Currie LecturerThomasLynchFuneral director and poet, author of The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade

Jones LecturerCraigHellaJohnsonGrammy Award-winning choral director of Conspirare

Westervelt LecturerCherylKirk-DugganProfessor of Theology and Ethics, Shaw University

PreacherMegPeeryMcLaughlinPastor, Burke (Virginia) Presbyterian Church

Reunions for the Classes of 1956, 1966, 1976, 1986, 1996 & 2006-2015

AustinSeminary.edu/midwin16

2016 MidWinters

upcomingfromeducationbeyondthewalls|

Come to the Waters | Sept. 12 | Rev.JudyFletcher|This year’s Presbyterian Women’s Horizons Bible Study explores the many appearances of water in our scriptures. Join the author of the Bible study as you prepare to lead or take this course.|ForleadersoftheHorizon’s Bible Study|Cost: $60/person; $25/person in groups

Caregiving: Tending to Those Who Care | Sept. 19 | Rev.RemingtonJohnson| People who take care of others often don’t ask for care themselves. Find out what caretakers need to stay spiritually whole and soulfully healthy and how you can tend to those in your world—including yourself.|Forcaregiversofallkinds|Cost: $25; $15 each in groups

The Heyer Lecture: Two Guys on Your Head | Sept. 24| Dr.BobDuke&Dr.ArtMarkman| Two University of Texas professors explain how our brains work. Duke is professor of music and human learning at the Butler school of Music, and Markman is The annabel Irion Worsham Centennial Professor of Psychology and Marketing | Noon | FREE(lunch included, registration required)

Preparing for Advent| Oct. 15 | RabbiNeilBlumofe&ProfessorDavidJensen|Come and read the advent texts anew with close attention to Jewish interpretations and how they have shaped Christian understandings of Jesus the Jew. | Forclergyandallpersonsoffaith | Cost: $40/person (lunch included)

Hospitality: Where it all begins! | Oct. 19-21 | ProfessorCynthiaRigby&ProfessorMargaretAymer|led by austin seminary’s own biblical and theological scholars, this workshop focuses on the critical role played by hospitality and relationships in the process of faith formation. |Forclergy,educators,youthworkers,children’sministers,andvolunteers| Cost: $150/person (meals included) / $75 each for APCE members

Cruzando La Frontera: Alabad al Señor | Nov. 7 |Dr.ClaudioCarvalhaes&Dr.DianaSanchez-Bushong| Come and learn the many faces of latino/a worship. We will consider ethnic groups, gender, class, and level of education. But other crucial distinctions also influence latino/a worship: cultural roots, generational differences, language (English versus spanish), and denominational loyalties. Despite the many faces of latino/a worship, a sense of commonality links the various latino/a worship expressions together. We are united by latino/a worship as fiesta, the celebration of the mighty acts of God.|ForHispanicpastorsandlaypeople;workshopconductedinSpanish.In partnership with Lutheran Seminary Program in the Southwest and Seminary of the Southwest.| Cost: $35 for pastors, $15 for their guests (lunch included) Por favor, consulte el sitio Web para obtener una descripción en español.

Engaging Religious Difference| Nov. 20-21 |Dr.TiffanyPuett&Dr.ChristineHong|Religious identity, like race, carries a host of assumptions about the way of the world. Christianity, like whiteness, dominates in america. How do Christians begin to see how such a central position impacts relations with people of other religions? How can they move to greater mutuality?|Forclergy,religiousleaders,andallthosecommittedtointerfaithengagement.|Cost: $150/person (including lodging and meals)

AustinSeminary.edu/ebwworkshops

webXtra: Communitas,thejournalofEducationBeyondtheWalls,isacollectionofvoicesfromourprogrammingthispastyear.Curatedalongthemesof“TheArtofStory,”“PracticesofKnowingourNeighbor,”and“EmergingTheologicalVoices,”eachessayinvitesthereadertoexploreissuesoffaithandlife. AustinSeminary.edu/Communitas


September will see the publication of two new books by Austin Seminary

Associate Professor of Philosophical Theology William Greenway, For the Love of All Creatures: The Story of Grace in Genesis (Eerdmans) and A Reasonable Belief: Why God and Faith Make Sense (WestminsterJohnKnox). The publisher describes For the Love of All Creatures as a “broad-ranging, groundbreaking book that unfolds a biblical spirituality centering on love for all creation and all creatures. Greenway rereads the creation and flood narratives in Genesis from an overtly creature-loving perspective that not only inspires care for creation but also reveals sophisticated understandings of faith, grace, and evil vital for twenty-first-century spirituality.” Standing at the intersection of animal rights, “green” biblical studies, and philosophical theology, Greenway’s For the Love of All Creatures will interest and inform a wide range of readers.

In an early review of A Reasonable Belief, Ian McFarland, Regius Professor of Divinity, University of Cambridge, writes, “Through a clear, concise, and compelling analysis of the ‘secular condition,’ Greenway embraces the discoveries of modern science while offering a forceful challenge to purely naturalistic accounts of reality.” Vanderbilt Divinity School Professor Victor Anderson adds: “Surprisingly, what begins as a strictly philosophical defense of Christian

faith, movingly invites patient readers to travel from the languages of apology, evidences, and warrants to languages of the spiritual sphere where Christians and non-Christians alike may reasonably affirm that ‘God is Love and love is God.’ Greenway offers an insightful, constructive, and passionate journey into such a faith.” “These books are the result of years of careful scholarship, honed in both seminary classroom and church adult education settings,” said Academic Dean David H. Jensen. “Anyone who has taken a course with Bill can attest to his passion for all God’s creatures and his commitment to articulating a reasonable defense of Christian faith. I am thrilled that Austin Seminary has Bill Greenway on its faculty: for the sake of our students and for the sake of the church’s future. You will not think of Christian faith in quite the same way after reading these excellent books.” v

faculty news notes

boardaction|

With respect to faculty, the board of trustees took the following action in its May 2015 meeting:

• Appointed The Reverend Dr. Margaret Aymer as associate professor of New Testament, effective July 1, 2015;

• Appointed The Reverend Dr. Carolyn Browning Helsel as assistant professor of homiletics, effective July 1, 2015;

• Appointed The Reverend Dr. Philip Wingeier-Rayo as associate professor of evangelism, mission and Methodist studies, effective August 1, 2015;

• Reappointed Asante Todd as instructor in Christian ethics for a three-year term, effective July 1, 2015;

• Reappointed The Reverend Dr. David W. Johnson as associate professor of church history and Christian spirituality, effective July 1, 2015;

• Reappointed The Reverend Dr. Paul Hooker as associate dean for ministerial formation and advanced studies, effective July 1, 2015;

• Approved the sabbatical proposals for Dr. David Johnson (for a sabbatical to be taken from January 1, 2016, to June 30, 2016) and The Reverend Dr. Whitney Bodman (for a sabbatical to be taken from February 1, 2016, to June 30, 2016);

• Approved a search for a faculty position in pastoral care.

webXtra: Find our faculty writings here.

CynthiaRigby “stepping into the Madness: on Being sceptical, Doing Justice, and Hoping against Hope” http://sce.sagepub.com/content/current

BillGreenway on the Pope’s environmental encyclical http://eerdword.com/2015/07/13/care-for-our-common-home-william-greenway-on-laudato-si/

PhilipWingeier-Rayo blogs regularly here:http://wingeier-rayo.blogspot.com/Philip Wingeier-Rayo

Two new books from Professor William Greenway

Eric Wall called to sacred music positionAt press time, Austin Seminary received word that Eric Wall, director of music at First Presbyterian Church, Asheville, North Carolina, and Montreat Conference Center musician, has accepted the position of assistant professor of sacred music and dean of the chapel, effective January 1, 2016. For details about his appointment, see our web site: AustinSeminary.edu/press and look for more information in the Winter issue of Windows. v

Breaking News


facultynotes|Whit Bodman, associate professor of comparative religion, attended a conference on “Multiple Belonging” in Cleveland sponsored by the United Church of Christ and the World Council of Churches. In early May he was a panel member for a session on religious violence at the Christian Unity Gathering in Washington, D.C. (Annual Meeting of the National Council of Churches). He gave presentations on the general phenomenon of religious violence and on Islam at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Austin.

Gregory Cuéllar, assistant professor of Old Testament, received a $2,500 2015 Libraries Research Award from Columbia University Libraries/Information Services. His research project is titled “Samuel Rolles Driver’s Portrayal of the East.” Professor Cuéllar gave a paper at the International Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) Conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina, this summer.

This summer Cynthia Rigby, The W.C. Brown Professor of Theology, preached and taught at Epworth Conference Center in Ludington, Michigan, and preached at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Dallas, and Central Presbyterian and Tarrytown United Methodist Churches in Austin. She will deliver the keynote at the Covenant Network of Presbyterians national gathering, November 5-7, in Denver. v

In his role as president of the religious advocacy group Texas Impact, Professor Whit Bodman fields media questions about bills being proposed by the Texas Legislature this spring.

goodreads|

Jesus was a Jew, a Rabbi even. Everybody knows that but, even knowing that, we keep

treating him as if he were a Christian, which he wasn’t.Amy-Jill Levine, an Orthodox Jew who teaches New Testament at Vanderbilt Divinity School (pause, think about that) has spent much of her life trying to teach Christians to understand Jesus as a Jew. She also has a great sense of humor, which makes The Misunderstood Jew a delight to read. This is clear from the very first line of the Introduction, “When I was a child, my ambition was to be Pope.” Clearly this is a Jew with some Christian sympathies. The central issue that Levine engages is the paradox and tension between, on the one hand, a modern Christian rapprochement with Jews and Judaism, and, on the other hand, the anti-Jewish passages in the New Testament and the continuing mischaracterization of Judaism in modern Christian interpretation and preaching. Mainline denominations—the Presbyterian Church included—have rejected replacement theology, the idea that the Christian faith has rendered Judaism invalid and anachronistic. We have rejected classical anti-Semitic stereotypes of Jews. We see Jews as fellow travelers in the way of a common God. On the other hand, in preaching and teaching the New Testament, we continue to represent Jews at the time of Jesus as cursed by a burdensome law, consumed with issues of purity, anti-woman, anti-Gentile, worshipping in a Temple that exacerbated social divisions, and, in a multitude of ways, clannish and xenophobic. And Jesus came to undo all of that. It is not so simple. Levine argues that Jesus needs to be seen in continuity with the history of Jewish prophets and teachers. The New Testament is a text written during

a period of religious competition and debate both within Judaism and between Jews and Gentiles. Such struggle to define the essence and practice of the faith is nothing new, and in fact continues today within Christianity

and even within denominations (Need I cite examples?). Ultimately, Levine writes to help Jews and Christians living in the modern world treat each other in ways that do not cause pain, but rather engender respect and even love. She writes, “if we are to get past the forced politeness that often marks interreligious conversation and take back the risk of engaging and honest

communication, we must make every effort to see through each other’s eyes, hear with each other’s ears, and interpret with the consciousness of each other’s sensitivities . . . To engage in interfaith conversation means to understand that what is dogma to one participant is danger to another, that what is profound may also be painful” (p. 117). Readers of The Misunderstood Jew will learn to preach more responsibly and hear more acutely. We will find a detailed examination of the Gospels, a closer understanding of Jesus, and a bridge to knowledgeable conversation with our contemporary Jewish companions on the road of godly faith and practice. v

—Written by Whit Bodman, associate professor of comparative religion

webXtra: sound interesting? The Misunderstood Jew is the october selection for theAustinSeminaryBookClub. Pick up the book and join the online discussion—led by

Professor Bodman—this fall.

austinseminary.edu/bookclub


classnotes|1970sThe Thin Place, the tenth book and first novel by Robert D. Lively (MDiv’73, DMin’79), was published this summer (Treaty Oak Publishers, 2015).

1990sAlonzo J. Campbell (DMin’94) received an award in May for valuable service and leadership as a site coordinator/instructor to the Certificate in Theology program through the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

After twelve years as pastor of Korean Presbyterian Church in Salisbury, Maryland, Dong Yung (MDiv’95) is now pastor of Korean Community Presbyterian Church in Columbia, South Carolina.

GIA Music has released “Breathing Spirit into Dust,” a collection of original hymn texts by David Gambrell (MDiv’98). Included are fifty new hymns on a wide range of themes (including creation, healing, lament, sacraments), with extensive scriptural and lectionary indexes, plus a few “behind the music” notes on each hymn.

Carol Howard Merritt (MDiv’98) will be teaching a doctor of ministry course as an adjunct faculty member for Dubuque Theological Seminary.

Carlos Emilio Ham-Stanard (DMin’99) was elected president of the Seminario Evangélico de Teología de Matanzas, Cuba, on February 10, 2015.

2000sHelen T. Boursier (MDiv’07) has been named an adjunct professor for online religious studies in the Department of Arts and Sciences at University of the Southwest in Hobbs, New Mexico.

Stacey and Juan I. Herrera Ortegon (MDiv’07) welcomed a

son, Sebastian, on May 25, 2015.

Matthew Calvert (MDiv’08), has been named director of pastoral care at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas.

2010sJamye D. Cook (MDiv’10) began work as a chaplain at VNA Hospice in McKinney, Texas, on August 3, 2015.

Lindsay R. Conrad (MDiv’13) has been called as associate pastor of mission, young adults, and congregational care at First Presbyterian Church, in Burlington, North Carolina.

Leigh Ann and Joseph Tognetti (MDiv’13) welcomed their daughter, Elizabeth Ann, on June 23, 2015.

Amy M. Wilson-Stayton (MDiv’14) and William R. Chuch (MATS’15) married after Will’s graduation on May 24, 2015.

Abigail and J.D. Herrera (MDiv’15) welcomed their daughter, Cora, born June 23, 2015.

ordinations|At the Rio Texas Conference in June 2015, (Tina) Wynn Stenftenagel (MDiv’07) and Rosemary Grattan (MDiv’11) were ordained as full elders; Brian Edward Fitzgerald (MATS’04) was ordained as a full deacon.

inmemoriam|1978 ASA Award recipient John Rayner Blue (MDiv’71) died July 11, 2015, in Tulsa, Oklahoma

alumni news notes

WedependuponYOU!

AlumniPhonathonSept. 29 - Oct. 1

soon students and alumni will be making calls in support of the annual Fund which provides the resources for faculty salaries, groundskeeping, student support, lifelong learning opportunities, and more. Mark your calendar for

their call!

…orsendyourgiftofsupporttoday.

https://giving.austinseminary.edu/alum15

Thankyou! 2016 Austin Seminary Association Distinguished Service Award

Send your nominations by September 15, 2015.

AustinSeminary.edu/nominate

Connectwithus!

from Brite Divinity School. In addition to her work at Texas Wesleyan University, Montgomery has enjoyed a distinguished career in the public sector, serving municipalities and counties in Texas, Oklahoma, and Colorado. An elder at First Presbyterian Church in Fort Worth, she is active in her church and serves on several non-profit boards. She also enjoys reading, swimming, and spending time with family. She has two grown daughters, one of whom is in the second year of her medical residency in California. Her other daughter and son-in-law are attorneys in Dallas where they are expecting their first child—Montgomery’s first grandchild—in September. v

MontgomeryContinued from page

FridayOct.9AlumniGathering

atArkansasPresbytery

inRussellville

summer | Fall 2015| 21

teaching ministry

Almost two years ago, when I received an unexpected phone call from President

Ted Wardlaw asking me to consider taking the Zbinden Chair, the ground shifted under my feet and the shape of my upcoming retirement morphed substantially. I was familiar with the position, having known the first two excellent pastors who held it. I also knew that it was a rather unique concept among seminaries—a real, live, career-long pastor, who would join the faculty to teach the practical aspects of best-practice ministry. After a few sleepless nights, I thought, How could I not do this? As with some other chapters of my life, the call came, clear and compelling. However, I was seriously daunted. What would it be like, moving from almost twenty years in a parish I dearly loved, into the halls of academe? What would I teach, and how would I teach it? For guidance, I picked up a book by Mark Edmundson, University Professor at the University of Virginia. The title was relevant: Why Teach? Exactly, I thought. That was my question. Right up front in the Introduction, the challenge was laid down. Edmundson pulls no punches in his critique of modern higher education, claiming that “schools now educate the mind and not the heart,” neglecting “what Keats called ‘soul-making.’” He won the attention of this would-be seminary professor, for isn’t that precisely our task—the making and forming of souls? Edmundson goes on,

“I encourage people who teach in universities—and especially in hu-manities departments—to stop thinking of themselves as creators of so-called new knowledge (or ‘fresh paradigms,’ as the current jargon has it) and start thinking of themselves as teachers. I’d like them to imagine themselves as po-

tential liberators, not only of the students in their classes but of the people outside of school who might attend their lectures or read what they write. I urge them to stop the professional posturing and prestige chasing and liberate themselves and others into the fields of joy and salu-tary change that the liberal arts pro-vide. I’d like them to step-up and op-pose the commercialization of their universities. I’d like them to think less about their careers and more about the hopes that brought them to the study of great books to begin with. I’d like some of them to cut the &*%# [he used a word that isn’t fit for a seminary publication]. I’d like all of us to have a little more fun.”

Then Edmundson takes on university presidents “so afraid of offending a potential donor that they won’t raise a word on behalf of social justice or political sanity, or trustees more attuned to the methods of Walmart than liberal education” (Here

I gave thanks that we have neither). He obviously takes no prisoners and gives no quarter, but his challenge to those of us who teach rings true and clear. Teach not only to the mind, but to the heart of both the student and the society to which our students are sent. I welcome the challenge, as I know my faculty colleagues do. As for me, when I teach the practicalities of stewardship, pastoral life and practice, and other daily aspects of day-to-day ministry, my goal is to keep the heart

in mind, as well as keeping the mind at heart. Layton E. Williams (MDiv’14), one of our recent graduates, recently posted an unusually honest and helpful blog in which she admits that “the first year of ministry is really tough.” Many of us know what she means. It’s tough, putting together your sense of self with the role of a pastor. It’s tough, managing a personal life as well as a professional life. It’s tough, trying to respond to the myriad expectations. However, what caught my eye and inspired me was this (a statement of faith, really): “The real miracle isn’t that we show up to work everyday. It’s that God shows up every single day, sometimes lifting us up and sometimes dragging us along.” I see my job, as a seasoned pastor, as trying my best to give my students whatever tools I can in order to see that ministry is as much about the heart as it is about the mind, so that even the tough times are illuminated by the

presence and grace of God. Lord knows, if it had not been for good portions of that same presence and grace, I never could have lived—or loved—forty-one years of pastoral service. Ministry is more art than science, more grace than law. Why teach? Because teaching is the best way I know of believing in the future. And our students at Austin Seminary are, for me, constant reminders that God is not yet done with any of us. v


Teaching to the heart as well as the mindBy Blair Monie, DMin, The Louis H. and Katherine S. Zbinden Distinguished Professor of Pastoral Ministry & Leadership

TheZbindenchairisaratheruniqueconceptamongseminaries—areal,live,

career-longpastor,whojoinsthefacultytoteachthepracticalaspectsofbest-practiceministry.

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