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Fall ConvocationTuesday, September 8, 2009
11:00 a.m.
Shelton Chapel
Faculty Address by
Rev. Dr. Allan Cole
Entering students - please stay in the
Chapel following convocation in order to
receive instructions for the signing of The
Declaration of Intent during the evening
worship service.
WorshipTuesday, September 8, 2009
7:00 p.m.
Shelton Chapel
Preaching
Rev. Dr. Ted Wardlaw
Worship, Sacrament of the Lords Supp
Signing of The Declaration of Intent
Reception following the service at Vicke
Atrium of McCord Center
For the glory of God and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ . . . APTS promotes andengages in critical theological thought and research; and strives to be a winsome andexemplary community of God's people. — Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary Mission Statement
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Mo Ranch SPM: Scorpions &
Spirituality ohn Leedy is a middler-senior MDiv student and Inquirer for
Minster of Word and Sacrament under care of Palo Duro Presbytery.He and his wife Krystal lived and worked at Mo Ranch Conference
Center in Hunt, Texas, for the summer.
After my first fewweeks as the SPM Intern
t Mo Ranch PresbyterianAssembly this summer, Iound that introducing
myself was becomingmore and more complex. Itarted off the summer
with a simple “Hi, I’mohn the Chaplaincyntern.” However, thend of my experience, Iound myself sayingHello, my name is John
Leedy. This summer I amerving Mo Ranch as theSeminary SPM Summer Camp Staff Coordinating Chaplaincy
Resident Assistant House Dad for the Development of ntentional Community Bible Curriculum Advisement of
Worship Leadership and Chief of Kayak Shuttlement.’” Whew.
Of the many great joys and challenges of theupervised Practice of Ministry program at APTS are thepportunities to traverse new fields of ministry, engage the
mountains and valleys of life in a worshipping community, andwim in the previously untested waters of pastoral identity. In
my case, my internship actually included fields, mountains,ivers, and yes, scorpions in my bathroom. Nestled along theanks of the Guadalupe River in the Hill Country of Texas, Mo
Ranch offers seminary students the opportunity to apply theoundations of their classroom education in a variety of unique
ways.
Among my various job responsibilities this summer, Ierved as the Summer Camp Chaplain, providing Bible studyurriculum training and pastoral care to college-aged campounselors. I also worked with forming intentional communitymong the summer staff residents at the Caleb Fletcher Housen the ranch.
I also had the opportunity to teach “Presbyterian 101”ntroduction classes to all the conference and small groupeadership as part of their training. I was also able to
participate as a rock-climbing guide and go camping in thewilderness with first time campers.!! All of these responsibilities contributed to anexperience that provided new challenges, personal spiritual
development, exploration of my pastoral identity, and uniquopportunities for Sabbath. This internship has deeplyinfluenced my theological education and is one of greatest
facets of my seminary experience.
Shane Webb completing a SPMShane Webb is a Senior, MDiv student and an Inquirer for Minis
Word and Sacrament under care of New Covenant Presbytery. Sh
spent his summer working at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church i
Houston, doing Supervised Practice of MinistryWhen I signed up for my internship, I honestly did not knowwhat I was getting myself into, which I am sure is the case fomost people. I never thought I would be faced with having woman pass out in the middle of my sermon and have to figout how to respond on the spot.
I also had the opportunity to do some over-the-phone pastocare to a random young lady who had called the churchwondering why God had not answered her prayers for healand why she was continuing to suffer. Then, I led a shortservice of healing in a hospital that included anointing a
woman with oil.
I was given the opportunity to preach, teach Sunday school,attend countless meetings, plan worship, make hospital visihelp with mission projects and much more. One of my learnobjectives was to try to implement some aspects of amulticultural church, which was achieved by both going to Big Tent gathering in Atlanta and meeting with the head of t“Multicultural Café”.
To say the least, my summer SPM at St. Andrew’s PresbyterChurch of Houston gave me a wide variety of experiences
including a few curve balls. Overall, I had a great experiencworking as a minister in training. It was an excellentopportunity to put many of the things I have learned fromseminary into practice. I was extremely thankful for this chato work side by side with some excellent mentors.
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Matt Falco is a Senior MDiv student and a Candidate for Minister of
he Word and Sacrament in Huntington Presbytery of Pennsylvania .
He spent a month in the Yukon Territory on a self-directed study.
The Yukon Territory is north of British Columbia and bordershe Alaskan Mountain Range. It is a place that grips themagination and for me became a place of transformation. I was
ortunate to spend one month with National OutdoorLeadership School (NOLS) on an Outdoor Educator course. Inhe course of a month we backpacked the Coast Range andanoed the McNeil and Nisutlin Rivers. We spent time learningrom our three instructors about expedition travel and teachingach other about how to be effective group leaders.
The NOLS student mixture was of eight Canadian, sixAmerican, and one German each with a broad range of skill setsncluding a flight paramedic, a writer, a teacher, and a camp
director. Cold nights with little darkness, dramatic tundravistas, and whitewater rapids provided an incredible backdropo the storytelling and story making that developed on thisxploratory route that had previously been undone in anyocal's memory. Traveling the unknown added uncertainty that
made for an epic experience.
Would we find water that we could canoe on? Would the rapidse too large or even too small for us to run? Would we make ito our pick up on the exit date?
No, I won't have to ask these questions in the church setting,ut the pressures are no less and knowing how to respond and
work together in those situations is vital to the journey that weovenant upon entering church work. NOLS instructors work hard to provide a holistic skill set that is as effective in the
ackcountry as at home and work. I look forward to sharingmore about my experience in the future and also to the return of he luxury of sleeping in my own bed and being only a fewteps from a warm bathroom.
Laurel Dixon is a Middler MDiv Student and under care of a Non
denominal church here in Austin, Texas. She spent her summer in
depths of many hospitals doing Clinical Pastoral Education.
I recently came across a word I have never seen before. Theword, susurrus (pronounced soo-sur-uhs), means a soft
murmuring, rustling sound, or whisper.
The imprint of one’s summertime hospital internship story, known as CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education), is unique andindelible on one’s ministerial path in the life-altering way thonly God could susurringly do. It’s the same rustling of Godthat confirms that life will never quite be the same again because of the experience attained.
Toward the end of CPE, a fellow intern and I joked that the we graduated from CPE was the day we meet Jesus, theEschaton itself. This same friend even went so far to call the
CPE experience, Priest Boot Camp. Although arduous, for mthe blessed triumphs far out weighed those moments of des
I discovered new capabilities within myself through CPE. Ilearned what it meant to inhibit a growing sense of pastoralidentity and authority. I learned how the pastoral role couldas a team player with interdisciplinary hospital and medicalsupport staffs. I learned how to minister one-on-one withpeople with different demographics and of different religionand to those in crisis; and in those breathtaking moments of honor, whether that was being with a woman that delivered baby unexpectedly on the way to the hospital, or grandchild
telling their grandmother, recently taken off life support,detailed stories of how she enriched each of their lives in lov
CPE also meant dealing with vulnerability head-on. It wasthrough becoming aware of my blind sides that I was able totake this newly bred honesty and allow an emergingrelationship to form in acceptance of myself, and how I can better relate to others. Finally, CPE gave way to God’ssusuration to trust for a future and a hope.
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I N V I T E T O W R I T E !
t is my goal to invite every student,ncluding special students, to writeor Kairos throughout the year. I amurrently working on a method tonvite students to write.
The invitation will be extended onriday and you will have 12 days toespond. Articles are due Wednesdayt 5:00 p.m. Write an essay on
whatever the Spirit leads you to writebout.
would love to have repeatontributors, but understand that
writing a weekly column is adaunting commitment, so I wantpeople to know that writing once isgreat!
will begin to invite Juniors to writefter Fall Break, so that you all can
get into the swing of the communitynd not feel overwhelmed.
Lunch with the President
President Ted Wardlaw would like to have lunch with students once a mon
throughout this academic year.! There is no agenda for these lunch visits, no preparais needed, and no quizzes will be given." The intent i
getting to know us and spending a little fun andinformal time with us. """Listed below are the dates fLunch with the President. Sign up at the McCord Dand you will receive an email from Nancy Reese, Teassistant, to remind you of your commitment." Join Tin the Knox Dining Room at noon with a BYOL (BrinYour Own Lunch) and have a chance to get to knowPresident Ted and to voice your joys and your conceas students of Austin Seminary. Sign up now!
Dates of Lunch with the President
! ! September 22! ! ! January 20! ! October 13! ! ! February 24! ! November 11! ! ! March 24! ! December 16 ! ! ! April 20! ! ! ! ! ! May 11
Getting to know the Cabinet
Austin Seminary has an administrative Cabinet that seeks to better theseminary community in every way possible.
Over the course of the fall semester, Kairos will feature interviews ofthe cabinet members to introduce them to the community on a more
personal basis. If you have questions you want to know from Cabin
Rev. Jackie Saxon, Vice President of Student Affairs and Vocation
Rev. Dr. Jack Barden, Vice President of Admissions
Donna Scott, Vice President for Institutional Advancement
Kurt Gabbard, Vice President for Business Affairs
S H A R E Y O U R S U M M E R
A D V E N T U R E S !
Do you have pictures? Randomtories? Fun adventures? from yourummer away from school or at
Greek Camp? Please send pictures,hort stories or artwork in digitalorm to [email protected]
Volunteer Opportunity
A volunteer is needed to work 2-3ours a month updating a new webite for the Jeremiah Project. Theaunch date for the web site is mid-
eptember.
Austin Seminary graduate LindaReinhart (MDiv'96), started Jeremiah
roject to build a community of faithor those living in isolation due tohronic illness caused bynvironmental toxins. Call Linda at30-935-4618 and leave a message if ou are interested in helping.
