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A U S T I N P R E S B Y T E R I A N T H E O LO G I C A L S E M I N A RY W I N T E R 2 0 0 1
AU S T I N PR E S B YT E R I A N TH E O LO G I C A L SE M I N A RY
W I N T E R 2 0 0 1
We have all heard it said many times, “You should never mixreligion and politics.” In other words, a person’s faith and a
person’s political involvement in society should always remain sepa-rate, never consciously interconnecting. But a friend of mine, aPresbyterian pastor, once remarked to me: “Anyone who thinks youcan separate politics and religion has never been seriously involvedwith either.” I am inclined to agree. Indeed, you can make the casethat politics is fundamental to any social group or organization. So,any leader in the church, whether laity or clergy, had best be politi-cally astute if she or he is to be an effective leader. In this regard, atopic worth exploring is what effect a person’s faith has (or shouldhave) on the way that individual participates in the politics in thechurch. Likewise, any political leader would be well advised tounderstand the power and influence which religious beliefs and con-victions (or anti-religious beliefs and convictions) exert upon peo-ple’s behavior and commitments.
Still, that hardly settles all issues related to religion and politics,for they are legion. Should one intermingle religion and politics?How do we determine or preserve appropriate goals, the commongood, and the rights of others who disagree with us? Gladstone, the
19th-century British statesman, is reported to have said: “Statesmanship isfinding out what God is doing in the next 100 years.” But what about thosein our society who believe there is no God? And how do you work in thepolitical arena with people whose God instructs them regarding the world inways quite different from the way the God we worship instructs or directs us?
This issue of Windows presents an unrehearsed conversation among sixof our professors on the topic of religion and politics. The discussion is moreopen-ended than definitive, more about exploring ideas than establishingprinciples. Related articles include a reflection by one of our administrators,David Miles, on his experiences of serving as pastor for New Jersey’s governor,and a condensed version of a Bible study on politics by Professor KathrynRoberts. Another article is authored by someone intimately acquainted withboth religion and politics, Max Sherman, former state senator and currenttrustee of Austin Seminary.
We trust that you will find these materials useful and thought-provokingas you seek to integrate faith and politics in your own life, church, and com-munity.
Robert M. SheltonPresident
LOOKING OUTWARD
2 - 1 3 Politics & Religion2 On speaking terms?
A dialogue among the faculty onissues of faith and politics
8 God’s politicsBY KATHRYN ROBERTS
9 Pastor to the elect(ed)BY DAVID MILES
12 The art of compromiseBY MAX SHERMAN
14 MidWinter LecturesStudent follows teacher into the pulpit
15 Librarian retires after thirty-two years
16 Faculty news
17 Community news
18 Development news
20 Alumni/ae news
21 Our corner of the century
Back cover Convocation 2000
CONTENTS
Publisher and Mailing Statement
Windows is the successor publication to the Austin Seminary Bulletin (newsletter edition). This issue ofWindows is Volume 116, Number 1, Winter 2001, ISSN 2056-0556. Windows is published three timeseach year by Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Editor: Randal Whittington; Writers: Barbara Augé,David Gambrell, Tasha Hofmann, Krissy Schwarz, and Randal Whittington; Photographers: Barbara Augéand Randal Whittington. Non-profit bulk mail permit no. 2473.
Postmaster: Address service requested. Send to Austin Seminary Windows, Austin PresbyterianTheological Seminary, 100 E. 27th St., Austin, TX 78705-5797.
phone: 512-472-6736 e-mail: [email protected]: 512-479-0738 www.austinseminary.edu
COVER: We can’t keep this issueof Windows under wraps anylonger! Everybody knows the topicsof religion and politics are off-limits in polite company. Therelationship between God andgovernment, Congress andcongregations, is complicated—sometimes brittle and fragile asglass, sometimes strong andflexible as a tightly woven fabric.Our cover image juxtaposessymbols of church and state;stained glass and Old Glory. Whathappens when we bring themunder one roof?
Photograph by David Gambrell.
www.austinseminary.edu
Theological Education Fund(1% Plan)
Got 1%?The theological schools of thePresbyterian Church (U.S.A.)no longer receive fundingfrom the basic mission budgetof the General Assembly.Churches are asked tocontribute 1% of theiroperating budgets to thefund, which is thendistributed to the seminaries.
Visit our new websiteJanuary 1, 2001
Iremember as a child being told that if you want to avoid
disagreement, you should avoid talking about politics and
religion. In my family that was always impossible advice
to follow. Our dinner conversations were generally seasoned
with lively critiques of all things political and faithful.
Christianity, in fact, has historically concerned itself with
politics and public affairs. Philosopher Charles Taylor sees the
modern democratic process as an outgrowth of Christian faith
and practice, observing that the “very term secular was origi-
nally part of the Christian vocabulary” And Nobel Prize lau-
reate Robert William Fogel, in his new study, The Fourth
Great Awakening and the Future of Egalitarianism, says
that American public policy is inevitably grounded in the
cycles of religious revival that punctuate our national history.
Maybe it is safer not to speak of politics and religion, but
Christianity seldom plays it safe.
—Michael Jinkins
OnSpeaking
2
Ismael García and Andy Dearman
Cindy Rigby
Michael Jinkins
Lewis Donelson and Kathryn Roberts
WINDOWS / Winter 2001 3
On the eve of this country’s most unusual presidential election
to date, Austin Se m i n a ry professors spoke about faith and
public life. Pa rticipants included: Kathryn Ro b e rts, assistant
p rofessor of Old Testament; Cynthia Rigby, associate professor of theol-
ogy; Ismael Ga rcía, professor of Christian ethics; Lewis Donelson, pro-
fessor of New Testament; and Andrew Dearman, academic dean and pro-
fessor of Old Testament. The conversation was moderated by Mi c h a e l
Jinkins, associate professor of pastoral theology.
Michael Jinkins: Some time ago, a well-known professional golfer responded inan interview to the question of whether he belonged to a political party with thestatement, “I’m a Christian, so of course I’m a Republican.” At one time it wassaid that the official policy positions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) weresimply an adaptation of the platform of the Democratic Party. What should be therelationship between Christian faith and politics? And what are God’s politics?
Kathryn Roberts: I think we must first ask how we picture ourselves as acommunity of faith. There’s a huge difference between thinking that we’resupposed to dominate, legislate, and correct the world around us and think-ing that we’re supposed to be an influence on the culture that changes thingsfrom within.
Cindy Rigby: Paul Lehmann has said that the politics of God are whereverthe Holy Spirit is present and active in the community—the koinonia—andas Christians our job is to be looking out for where God is at work and gothere, not to assume that God goes to wherever we are.
MJ: Can you give me an example of a biblical mandate for particular politicalpolicies?
CR: I would say there are some fundamentals, if you will, that are very spe-cific. We are to feed the hungry, clothe the naked. Those seem consistent inthe biblical witness.
KR: You could get everybody to agree to feed the hungry. It would be how todo it—that’s where the policies would come out of it, and those could be very,very different.
MJ: And who’s to do it, and who pays for it? And on what scale?KR: And who are the hungry?
Lewis Donelson: Jesus said, You’ll always have the poor with you. So quitworrying about that.CR: So there’s the biblical excuse.
I think we must first ask how
we picture ourselves as a
community of faith. There’s a
huge difference between
thinking that we’re supposed
to dominate, legislate, and
correct the world around us
and thinking that we’re
supposed to be an influence
on the culture that changes
things from within.
—Kathryn Roberts
politics&religion
4
It seems to me that a strong
theological argument for the
separation of church and
state begins with the Trinity.
If we believe we reflect the
image of the triune God
only as we exist in
relationship to those who are
different from us, we should
resist homogeneity. The
separation of church and
state helps to ensure that we
will not become
homogenous, because the
state cannot dictate our
religious practices, and the
church cannot determine
our politics.
—Cindy Rigby
LD: As we know, that little saying has often been used that way. But I thinkthat’s a very funny reading of it. Not just I, but almost anyone who’s ever doneany work on it thinks it’s a funny reading. It’s a lament, it’s not a release.
MJ: Ismael, I have heard you remark that just saying something is biblical doesn’tsettle it—even for Christians.
Ismael García: Scripture sometimes gives us parameters under which we canwork. Two classic cases that come up consistently in political discourse areScripture’s attitude toward slavery and women. You can say that there’s beenwithin Scripture a kind of passive acceptance of the institution of slavery. Ourmoral sensibilities today would not allow for that.
KR: But there are places in Scripture—particularly in the wisdom literature—that critique, through experience, the common revelation or understanding ofhow the world works. And there are things in our own experience that comeup against that and force a reevaluation of Scripture.
IG: What I don’t want to fall into—what I think is a very dangerous politicaltrap—is, If it’s not in Scripture, or if Scripture does not justify it, we cannotdo it.
KR: Exactly.
MJ: Recently I heard a reporter make the statement that religious faith is, by verydefinition, a private matter and should not be brought into the public realm.What do you think?
Andy Dearman: I think that’s one of the biggest problems of our own socie-ty, because it traps religious people into arguing about values only in the pri-vate sphere, and that’s unhealthy.
KR: It’s also against the Bible, because the Bible is contextual and it’s verypolitical. Who you are means how you live.
CR: The question really is not, Should religion be private? but—given that itreally is public—What do we as religious people have to say publicly andpolitically? I recently read an editorial by Peter Steinfels about a conferencewhere religious journalists referred to the Christian Coalition as the 900-lb.gorilla. They said it’s about time mainline folks stood up and said somethingabout their religion and what impact it has in the public sphere.
MJ: How do we do that?
IG: I think we express it differently with different issues. For an issue likeapartheid, you had the Presbyterian Church making declarations against italong with the Roman Catholic Church. And that was proper, because therewas a consensus among an infinite number of Christians that apartheid waswrong, and it was safe to speak as a whole. In other issues we speak either asdenominations or as segments within denominations. Today we’re dealing
WINDOWS / Winter 2001 5
with questions of lifestyle and sexual preferences. Churches are split, so wecan’t speak as a whole there; instead we have sections within the church thatare saying there ought be a certain openness and others saying, no, we oughtto hold on to traditional values. In other issues it comes down to individualsspeaking alone as persons of faith.
LD: When I went to seminary in the early ’70s, I was more or less a memberof five Christian coalition groups working on various political causes. Wewould go up to the state capitol and knock on legislators’ doors, and there wasmoney for that, there was energy for that. Sometimes you had more peoplevolunteering than you had space for, and it’s interesting to me how all of thatjust dried up. But my hunch is, that seems to be a reemerging option. Forexample, I might put together a group on capital punishment. It’s going to beRoman Catholic, and Baptist, and Presbyterian, and Methodist, and we’regoing to be religious, we’ll give ourselves a religious name, and we’ll gatheraround this one cause.
MJ: And you might not unite on some other cause.
LD: We might not.
CR: The New York Times has full page ads now that are bought by groups thatsay, We don’t agree on everything, but we’re all right-to-life.
IG: Which tells us about the new way we are understanding politics. It’s nota melting pot but multi-issue questions, and you have alliances according towhat issues you can work with. And you press those politically in differentways.
MJ: One of the most divisive issues in recent years has surrounded the SupremeCourt’s decisions related to the sponsorship of prayer and other religious activitiesby government agencies. Is the separation of church and state a theological formu-la or a social contract?
CR: It seems to me that a strong theological argument for the separation ofchurch and state begins with reflection on the Trinity. If we believe we reflectthe image of the triune God only as we exist in relationship to those who aredifferent from us, we should resist homogeneity. The separation of church andstate helps to ensure that we will not become homogenous, because the statecannot dictate our religious practices, and the church cannot determine ourpolitics.
MJ: What could that mean for Christians?
CR: If we honor the diversity inherent in that separation—being in relation-ship with those who are different from ourselves—we are submitting to thepossibility that God is not automatically on our side or agrees with our poli-tics. We are recognizing that God, through the work of the Holy Spirit, ispresent and active elsewhere. So, diversity keeps us on our toes, if you will, inlooking for where God is at work and in what context.LD: I don’t think you can absolutize it. Christians love the argument that
[Keeping faith out of the
public realm is] one of the
biggest problems of our own
society, because it traps
religious people into arguing
about values only in the
private sphere, and that’s
unhealthy.
—Andy Dearman
T h e re is, in our tra d i t i o n ,
this notion that Go d’s going
to rule here, and it’s going to
be a ve ry, ve ry political
p resence. And if you are a
f o l l ower of this God you need
to be working for that. An d
so to say, I’m going to just
l e a ve this up to the state,
is a bit tricky.
—Lewis Do n e l s o n
what you need to do is just be a good Christian in whatever political situationyou find yourself. In other words—excuse me for stating it this way—What Ineed to be is an honest and true, hard-working and faithful and obedientNazi. And I’ve met my duty. But there are certain kinds of critiques that yourfaith offers to the system itself.
IG: John Courtney Murray was once asked, Do Roman Catholics abide bythe U.S. Constitution or by the church? And he answered, The importantthing for Catholics is that the Constitution abides by Catholic principles.And I think what he meant is that religious people cannot but say that. Andthat doesn’t show disloyalty. What it shows is that the state can never be ulti-mate. That the church ought not to be taken for granted. That there ought tobe an uneasy existence between the church and the state precisely because theyhave to talk to one another in truth, and both of them talk truth to power inways that are always uncomfortable. And in that sense, the separation ofchurch and state fits who we are as a people. The danger is not to emphasizethat, because then we might fall into different forms of idolatry.
MJ: Ah, that’s very interesting.
LD: Ten years ago I was at a Christian-Muslim conference and the Mu s l i m swe re talking about the incredible impossibility, almost, of being a Muslim in theUnited States. And the example they gave was that, to follow Islam, it meansthat you follow certain inheritance laws, which we re simply incompatible withthe United States federal inheritance laws. So, what do you do? They said, We’ret rying to change the laws—not the Muslim laws, but the gove r n m e n t’s .
IG: Well, that’s the right thing to do. Under our system of government, wehave always had religious exceptions built into the law because in our liberalsociety there is a recognition that the religious values could trump politicalvalues and laws.
AD: I think the same dynamic works in politics and government in ourdenomination. Think of the debate you have in the Presbyterian Church overpeople who do not want their contributions toward their medical insuranceto go also to pay for abortions. And so the General Assembly has worked veryhard to try to accommodate people in the governance of the church who don’twant their common contributions to go for something for which they are the-ologically opposed.
IG: What I like about your comment, Andy, is that it does help us see thatpolitical life takes place in different places and different ways. Churches arepolitical communities themselves that are parallel, as to questions of conflictand antagonism, to secular politics.
MJ: Where does the line between church and state blur?
IG: I cannot think of any period of North American history in which religiondidn’t have some role to play in the public sphere. It entered into the publicschool debate. It entered into civil rights. It entered into slavery issues and
6
WINDOWS / Winter 2001 7
issues of the right of women to vote.
AD: The so-called founding fathers made it very clear that was their view.Ethics and values cannot exist in the public realm apart from religious under-pinnings.
LD: For a lot of people I know, to put a line between Christian faith and poli-tics is almost an impossible thing, because for them the primary image they haveis of Go d’s Kingdom: Go d’s Kingdom is arriving, and my task in life is to par-ticipate in that, to anticipate that, to assist that. T h e re is, in our tradition, thisnotion that Go d’s going to rule here, and it’s going to be a ve ry, ve ry politicalp resence. And if you are a follower of this God you need to be working for that.And so to say, I’m going to just leave this up to the state, is a bit tricky.
IG: Well, if you go back to Cindy’s sense of Trinity, maybe you can make theclaim that even the sphere of the secular state—even in spite of itself—is aninstrument of God. Therefore the state could instruct the church in manyother things.
M J : That can double back on us in really prophetic ways. A friend was recently vis-iting a church and they we re showing him the changes they’d made to the sanctuary.A member of the congregation was complaining that it had cost them a lot morebecause they had had to make it wheelchair accessible, in compliance with theAmericans with Disabilities Act. Now, that’s really interesting, because in many waysthis is a law that reflects Christian views and principles of access for all people, andyet the church felt pushed in the direction of doing this because of civil laws.
KR: But the church often responds as the taillight rather than the headlight.It lets the society make the decisions and then joins in.
CR: So then, are we the church if we’re the taillight? [Gustavo] Gutiérrez—inliberation theology—would say the church is where, as Lehmann says,humanization is occurring. We are presuming we know better, but really thechurch is wherever the Spirit is at work. So the church is in that law, not inwhat we’re doing as the taillight.
MJ: Any final thoughts?
IG: Politics is an essentially human activity in which people try to figure outwhat kind of risk they are willing to take in order to realize the possibilitiesthey aim at. Now religious people want to do that with the reference of whatwould be fitting with their convictions about God’s nature and purpose. Soone can say that there are elements in the Christian ethos—of love, compas-sion, inclusiveness, care for others—that ought to play a role in whatever pol-itics Christian people get involved in. No matter what political party youbelong to, those will be concerns that you will have to bring into the mix ofpolitical perspectives, because they are part of your underlying religious sen-sibilities. n
There are elements in the
Christian ethos—of love,
compassion, inclusiveness,
care for others—that ought to
play a role in whatever
politics Christian people get
involved in.
—Ismael García
8
The once-barren Ha n n a h’s grateful song in I Samuel 2 not only foreshadows what is to comein the books of Samuel, but encapsulates the bib-
lical ideal of God’s “politics.” Hannah is the barren wifeof a godly man, Elkanah, whose other wife provides himwith children. Though her husband loves her uncondi-tionally, she feels the societal pressure and lack in her lifeand prays to God at the shrine at Shiloh for a child. Godanswers her prayers, she is given ason, and she names him Samuel. Ingrateful response to God’s miracu-lous activities in her life, Hannahsings her song.
Hannah’s Song is more thanmerely the thankful outpourings ofa pious woman. It has great politi-cal implications. Her personalexperience with God is universal-ized as she assures the listener thathow God delivered in her life is buta microcosm of God’s interests inthe world at large. Sung at a timewhen Israel was in grave danger ofbeing annihilated by thePhilistines, it offers confidence inthe ultimate power and sovereignty of Israel’s God.Hannah’s religious claims about God in her personal lifeepitomize God’s political activities. For her they areinseparable, because they are an expression of the natureof God.
Though living in a world of competing powers, inwhich the gods of the nations—and especially themighty Philistines—seem to have the upper hand, thisyoung woman asserts that Israel’s God is the incompara-ble ruler of the political scene. “There is no Holy Onelike the Lord, no one besides you; there is no Rock likeour God” (v. 2). Because Israel’s God is unrivaled,Hannah goes on to profess that it is the Lord who raises
God’s PoliticsWhich side are you on?
BY KATHRYN ROBERTS
During the election season, Professor Kathryn Roberts taught a five-week adult Sunday school course on power and politics atTarrytown United Methodist Church in Austin, where Governor George W. Bush worships. The following is an excerpt fromthat series.
up the lowly and brings low the arrogant (v. 6-8). Thepersonal is political for her. She knows that what God hasdone in her life translates into the geopolitical sphere.The Lord honors the humbled of society and shames theproud, breaking the military weapons of the mighty, giv-ing strength to the weak.
Hannah’s Song does not merely echo the claim ofIsrael that God personally fights for them under any and
all circumstances. Israel’s experi-ence of God demonstrates thatGod does not play into Israel’s orany nation’s, person’s, or party’simperialistic program. T h ep rophetic claims of the 8tht h rough 7th centuries B.C.E.make it clear that the Lord can beIs r a e l’s enemy as readily as itsdefender. The warnings were clearthat when God’s people lapse intoinjustice and oppression of others,God moves against the unjust,even if they are the chosen people.Hannah knows this too, for sheaffirms that the Lord “will guardthe feet of his faithful ones, but the
wicked shall be cut off in darkness; for not by might doesone prevail” (v. 9). God judges the whole earth.
Over a thousand years later, another youngwoman sang a song remarkably similar to Hannah’s. Thisyoung woman wasn’t barren; she was an unmarried, preg-nant virgin (Luke 1:46-55). She had the confidence thatGod’s concern for the lowly and hungry and downtrod-den would be addressed once and for all in the birth ofher child. God’s politics were “filled full” in Jesus Christwho not only preached that the last would be first andthe lost would be found, but demonstrated this in his life,death, resurrection, and triumphal reign as the sovereignof this world and the world to come. n
WINDOWS / Winter 2001 9
Iremember the moment when I first under-
stood what it would mean for me to be the
pastor to the governor. There I was, sitting at
a table at the Inaugural Ball, wearing the tuxedo that
I had just purchased for the evening and all the
black-tie events that would follow, when the hus-
band of the governor’s best friend came and sat
down next to me. We had met previously on a few
occasions, and I knew that he was a lobbyist in
Washington and that he was also a person of faith.
As we sat there late in the evening, watching the gov-
ernor and her family on the dance floor, he leaned
over and said to me, “Well, David, you are going to
be a very important person to the governor.” I
looked at him and asked, “How so?” He replied,
“From now on, you are going to be the only person
in her life who is not lobbying her for something.”
Pastorto theElect(ed)
Parish ministry with parishioners in politics
BY DAVID D. MILES
David Miles is interim seminary pastor and dean of student life at Austin Seminary. Prior to his appointment, he served assenior pastor to Lamington Presbyterian Church in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he found himself at the center of New Jerseypolitical life, with Governor Christine Todd Whitman in the pew. He preached at both of the governor’s inaugural celebra-tions.
politics&religion
10
So many thoughts come to mind when one of yourparishioners suddenly becomes the highest-ranking polit-ical figure in the state. However, those simple words spo-ken to me that night helped bring into focus my sense ofcall and guided me as I served as Governor ChristineTodd Whitman’s pastor for the next seven years. Amid allthe challenges and responsibilities that came with thisunique opportunity, I tried always to remember thatChristie remained a person who needed someone whowould simply be her pastor and nothing else.
Ironically, my relationship with the governor beganwith an unneeded attempt at pastoral care. My first sixmonths as pastor of the Lamington Presbyterian Churchdid not provide much opportunity to get to know herpersonally, as they were the finalsix months of her campaign forgovernor. Though she had givenSenator Bill Bradley a surpris-ingly close race for his seat in theSenate a few years earlier, sheremained a clear underd o gagainst incumbent Gove r n o rJim Florio. In fact, she was dis-tinctly behind in the polls in thefinal days prior to the election.When election night camearound I felt that I should attendthe gathering as a show of sup-port for my parishioner who, itappeared, was going to lose.
My wife, Carol, and I foundo u r s e l ves wandering aimlesslyamong the hundreds of support-ers who had gathered at thePrinceton Marriott whenChristie’s cousin, another member of our congregation,spotted us and brought us upstairs to the governor’s suite.There I was, standing around with former Governor TomKean and future presidential candidate Steve Forbes(who was painfully shy), watching the results come inand wondering what my pastoral responsibilities were insuch a situation.
As the evening wore on, it became evident that therace was closer than expected. Suddenly, several seriouslooking men came into the room and took Christie andher husband aside. A few moments later the phone rang,the room went silent, and we all listened to Christiethank Governor Florio as he conceded the election to her.As soon as she hung up, the room erupted and we foundourselves being herded out of the suite, down service ele-vators, through the hotel kitchen, and onto the stage
where delirious supporters, blinding television lights, andpounding music welcomed the new governor-elect. Caroland I looked at each other wondering what in the worldwe had gotten ourselves into.
Though pastoral care was not necessary that night inthe way I had expected, that was the first of many timesI found myself standing behind the governor of NewJersey, not so much as a political supporter, but as onewho would be there for her on the bad days as well as thegood. I came to see very quickly that living every day inthe scrutiny of the public eye would require much, notonly of Christie, but of her family as well. Not only didshe need a pastor who would provide a safe place for her,but her husband and two children would need someone
they could trust with their con-cerns, frustrations, and fears.
In many ways Christie wasjust another parishioner, and thechurch, for the most part, treat-ed her that way. Since she hadgrown up in the community,most of the older members stillthought of her as “little Christie”more than they thought of her asthe most powerful person in thestate. Likewise, the Se c re tSe rvice agents who attendedworship with her became a partof the church family. I remem-ber the deacons asking one ofthem to help take the offeringone morning when one of theushers did not show. We jokedabout how the collection alwaysimproved when the usher was
“packing a little heat.”One of the most challenging questions before me as
a preacher was whether or not I should intentionally aimmy sermons at her. While some of my parishioners andmany of my pastoral colleagues urged me to use the pul-pit to preach her a sermon about this issue or that, I triedmy best to resist the temptation. Those of us who preachalways have our congregation in mind when composinga sermon, and certainly particular people appear in ourmind’s eye as we imagine how they might react to a par-ticular thing we might say. While Christie often came tomind when I was preparing to preach, I would inevitablyzoom out in my imagination and remind myself that itwas my responsibility to preach to the entire congrega-tion.
I believe that the gospel itself is politically charged.
The pastor and the governor at a church function.
WINDOWS / Winter 2001
day of healing an endless line of sick and possessed peo-ple, Jesus rose early the next morning, went to a desert-ed place, and prayed. When the disciples eventuallyfound him they were in a panic because the sick back inCapernaum were looking for him. Then the shockingtwist comes as Jesus stands up and announces that he ismoving on to the next town.
People in political office always have so many peoplelined up at their door, so many voices to listen to. But I
b e l i e ve that there is no moreimportant voice for leaders to hearthan God’s, even though followingGod’s direction sometimes leads tosurprising, controversial, and evenunpopular positions. My charge toChristie that day was to keep thatimage of Christ before her—aleader, away from the crowds seek-ing his attention, down on hisknees listening for Go d’s vo i c e ,heading for a new place no one,not even his own party, expectedhim to go.
Finding yourself close to peo-ple in power can be dangerouslyintoxicating when you feel the pos-sibility of exerting influence overimportant decisions being made.While Christie did not regularlycall on me to advise her on policyissues, occasionally our conversa-tions would turn tow a rd some-thing going on in the state as shewould rehearse with me her per-spective on the issue and wouldeither ask for my opinion or watchfor my reaction.
While I felt honored when shewould provide an opportunity forme to express my opinion onissues, the words spoken to me onthe night of her inaugurationalways brought me back to theheart of my calling as her pastor.They would remind me thatregardless of the position a parish-
ioner holds in society, every member of the church needsa pastor. And of all people, those who occupy the oftenlonely position of chief executive may need, more thananyone else, a pastor: someone they know will not belobbying them for anything. n
11
My philosophy about preaching on political issues is thatone must begin, not with the political issue, but with thegospel. I know that if I am faithful to the gospel, it willinevitably lead to particular political issues relevant to theday. And given the generally conservative, affluent, andpolitically powe rful nature of my congregation atLamington, I know that my preaching—to the extentthat I remained faithful to the gospel—challenged theirsocial and political convictions, by and large.
When preaching with the gov-ernor in the pew there were timeswhen, out of deep theological con-viction, I found myself dire c t l yquestioning things like the deathpenalty, a topic on which she and Idisagree. But there were also manytimes when I chose not to take aclear side on an issue, but rather tolet the gospel lead us to the heart ofthe matter and then allow people towrestle with the ramifications forthemselves. My primary objectivewas to preach the gospel to thatparticular congregation, governorand all, and trust the Spirit of Godto speak to her as to everyone else.
There was one time, however,when I did preach a sermon direct-ed to her. It was on the occasion ofher second inauguration and, aswas the case four years earlier, sheasked me to preach at the interfaithworship service the morning of herswearing-in. While it was some-what intimidating to serve asp reacher among various bishopsand other religious dignitariesranking high enough to wear cleri-cal hats, having been through thelast four years with her, I knew thatmy task that morning was to chargeher as her pastor.
Like many pastors, I believethat the most valuable thing we cando for our parishioners is not tosimply tell them what to think, do,or believe, but to help them learn to listen for God’s voicein their own lives and then have the courage to put theirtrust in following that word they have heard. My text wasthe story of Jesus healing the masses in Capernaum foundin the first chapter of Mark’s Gospel. After a very long
David Miles was senior pastor at LamingtonPresbyterian Church in Bedminster, New Jersey,for seven years before moving to Austin.
12
In the early 1960s I was invitedto attend a United PresbyterianC h u rch synod-sponsore d
Impact Conference to discuss theexplosive, hot-button issues of thattime. Bob Nickles, another memberof my home church, attended theweekend event. Bob was a distin-guished Southerner who came toAmarillo to manage the Coca-Colaoperation in that region. Because ofhis deep roots in the South, Bob dis-agreed with many of the positionstaken by the General Assembly onthese issues.
Bob was in a small minority,often a minority of one, on most ofthe issues we debated for a fullweekend. When the meeting wasover and we were all preparing toreturn to our respective states, Bobasked us to wait for a moment. I donot remember all that he said, buthe acknowledged that he disagreedwith most of the positions taken bythe group and that we had had a vig-orous debate. He concluded by say-ing, “Where else but in the churchcan we disagree so strongly and yetleave as friends?”
For me, a good symbol of thec h u rch is an equilateral triangle:“We the people,” with all of our dif-ferences, are at the base; as we moveup the two axes toward the apex,which is God, the closer we come toeach other. My friend Bob Nicklespersonified that symbol.
If there is another arena where itis possible to have deep differencesof opinion on complex and emo-tional issues, it is the Americanpolitical system. Every four years weelect a president of the United Statesand every two years we elect gover-nors of our states. If a new person iselected, the mantle of leadership isexchanged, and for the next two tofour years we come together as one
As dean emeritus of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at TheUniversity of Texas at Austin and trustee of Austin Seminary, Max Shermanstands between church and state.
BY MAX SHERMAN
Ye May BeMistaken
Compromise in politics and polity
WINDOWS / Winter 2001 13
rural senators like me. We compromised on some issuesand achieved solutions to many of the problems fromboth of our districts. I am convinced that the people ofTexas are well served by this process.
Those in the political arena not only have to contendwith thorny issues, but must also deal with the “truebelievers” of society. In this regard, I think of one of myfavorite judges. Judge Learned Hand of the United StatesCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit was invited totestify before a committee of the United States Senate in1951 on the subject of public morals. Here is part ofwhat he said:
In legislation, often the best is that compromisebetween the two which will result in the least frictionin application and execution . . . . That approach topolitical thinking is very offensive to many people,but I can only answer that a number of accreditedheroes of the past seem to me to have agreed . . . . Letme give you, as an instance, one utterance of [OliverCromwell’s] which has always hung in my mind. Itwas just before the Battle of Dunbar . . . he beat theScots in the end, as you know, after a very toughfight; but he wrote them before the battle, trying toget them to accept a reasonable composition. Thesewere his words: “I beseech ye in the bowels of Christ,think that ye may be mistaken.” I should like to havethat written over the portals of every church, everyschool, and every court house, and, may I say, ofevery legislative body in the United States. I shouldlike to have every court begin, “I beseech ye in thebowels of Christ, think ye may be mistaken.”
Judge Hand concluded his testimony with his own state-ment of faith in our democratic process:
. . . when the men who met in 1787 to make aConstitution made the best political document evermade, they did it very largely because they were greatcompromisers. Do not forget that. They did put in aBill of Rights afterwards, but the thing that made itstick was that they were great compromisers as to theimmediate issues which were before them.
Elections and legislation are compromises. Votersand politicians (legislators) bring issues to decision. Myfaith in the church and in our democratic institutionsmakes me believe that we can have our differences andstill be friends. n
people. For the most part, those who take opposing viewson the candidates remain friends and often sit down overa cup of coffee to discuss their differences—until the nextelection. Politics has been defined as “a way of ruling individed societies without undue violence.”
Most of the issues that come to legislative bodies arethose that do not have easy answers, and they are issuesupon which “we the people” seldom agree. The electedofficials can debate at length, and even postpone, buteventually the roll will be called and a “yea” or “nay” willbe cast. Even if the division is only by one vote, the mat-ter will be decided for the moment.
Lincoln well described such a political dilemma in aspeech of October 15, 1858, when he set out to definethe position of the new Republican Party on the questionof slavery:
The real issue in this controversy—the one pressingupon every mind—is the sentiment on the part ofone class that looks upon the institution of slavery asa wrong, and of another class that does not lookupon it as a wrong . . . . The Republican Party . . .look upon it as being a moral, social, and politicalwrong, and while they contemplate it as such, theynevertheless have due regard for its actual existenceamong us, and the difficulties of getting rid of it inany satisfactory way, and to all the constitutionalobligations thrown about it . . . . I repeat it here, thatif there be a man amongst us who does not think thatthe institution of slavery is wrong in any one of theaspects of which I have spoken, he is misplaced, andought not to be with us. And if there be a manamongst us who is so impatient of it as a wrong as todisregard its actual presence among us and the diffi-culty of getting rid of it suddenly in a satisfactoryway, and to disregard the constitutional obligationsthrown about it, that man is misplaced if he is on ourplatform. We disclaim sympathy with him in practi-cal action.
During my years in the Texas Senate, I representedthe Panhandle and South Plains. Barbara Jordan repre-sented the Fifth Ward in Houston. My people probablydid not understand and appreciate the problems of theFifth Ward; Barbara’s people probably did not under-stand and appreciate the problems of a rural area largerthan forty of the states. But I could not solve the prob-lems of my district without the help of Barbara and otherurban senators. Barbara and her urban colleagues couldnot solve the problems of the city without the help of
politics&religion
Awise person once said that ifyou truly want to know a per-
son you should walk a mile in theirshoes. If this is true, Debra Latture( M Di v’00) is getting to knowPrescott Williams, professor emeri-tus of Old Testament languagesand archaeology, more and moreeach day.
On September 17, 2000, shewas installed as pastor of MakemieMemorial Presbyterian Church inSn owhill, Ma ryland; the samec h u rch that—fifty years ago—became Wi l l i a m s’s first pastorate.He was a recent seminary graduatewho had been married for juste l e ven days when he and Ja n ea r r i ved at Makemie Churc h .T h roughout the following twoyears, Williams believes the congre-gation taught him more than hecould have ever taught them.
Perhaps most importantly, heremembers that they showed himwhat a gift it is to be a pastor. “If youtruly listen to people and go wherethey are,” he explains, “you are veryprivileged in the way you can be intheir lives.”
Though the Williams family hasbeen away from Sn owhill and
Makemie for many years now, theplace and the people are never farfrom their minds. In fact, whenWilliams learned that the MakemieChurch was searching for a pastorhe immediately recommended theopportunity to Latture. Though shehad not considered the Marylandarea, she had heard of the historicMakemie Church and even taughtclasses on its founder, Fr a n c i sMakemie, this country’s firstordained Presbyterian minister.
When Latture arrived to meetthe people of Makemie she immedi-ately felt called to the place. “I hadlooked at other churches but theyjust hadn’t seemed right,” she says.“So I flew to Snowhill and I had thisamazing feeling that this was whereI was supposed to be. I just knewthat it was right.”
Upon her installation, Lat-ture—the church’s forty-eighth pas-tor and the first woman—became aparticipant in a long and deep histo-ry spanning more than three hun-dred years. Heralding Williams asone of her mentors and heroes, Lat-ture knows that she has some bigshoes to fill . . . and is thrilled at theopportunity.
14
Fifty years later, Seminary gradfollows professor into the pulpit
Prescott Williams preachedfor Debra Latture’s installa-tion at Makemie MemorialPresbyterian Church inSnowhill, Maryland.
MidWinter Lectures
January 29-31, 2001
▲ Dr. Dorothy Bass, Professorof Theology and Director of theVa l p a raiso Project on theEducation and Fo rmation ofPeople of Faith, Va l p a ra i s oUn i ve r s i t y, and author ofPracticing Our Faith.
▲ Dr. James F. Childress,Kyle Professor of Religious Studiesand Professor of Me d i c a lEducation, University of Virginia.
▲ Dr. Robert W. Jenson,Senior Scholar for Research, Centerfor Theological Inquiry, Princeton,New Jersey.
Reunion events for members ofthe Classes of 1951 and 1961are being planned. The annualAustin Se m i n a ry As s o c i a t i o n(ASA) Ba n q u e t will be heldWednesday, January 31, at noon,in Stotts Fe l l owship Ha l l .Reservations are required; ticketscost $10. Call Georgia Smith,512-472-6736, for more infor-mation.
ContinuingEducationJan. 2-5 Religious Education
Theory & Practice
Feb. 1-4 Immersion Weekend
Feb. 8 Lenten Lessons
Feb. 11-16 Immersion Week
Mar. 4-9 Daniel: Spiritualityfor the FieryFurnace and the Lion’s Den
Mar. 22 Stewardship: The Art of Asking
Apr. 2-4 Faithful Worship,Faithful Living
Apr. 16-18 Intertextuality: TheBible is Full of Itself
Apr. 26-29 Spiritual Theology
For more than thirty ye a r s ,Ge n e v i e ve Lu n a has beenStitt Library’s face and voice,
the front line for dispensing infor-mation to inquiring seminary stu-dents, pastors, pro f e s-sors, and others. Whenshe retired at the end ofthe 1999-2000 term asassistant librarian for cir-culation and reader serv-ices, Gene left with theappreciation of hundredsof library patrons whomshe has guided tow a rdthe re s o u rces of thelibrary.
When Gene washired as the Stitt Librarysecretary in February of1968 she joined a staff offour. The library houseda p p roximately 50,000volumes. There was nosecurity system nor copymachines for the students. But therewere row after row of card catalogs.Now, thirty-two years later, the staffof six oversees a collection of160,000. There is tighter securityand copy machines aplenty. As forthat monolith of ye s t e rye a r — t h ecard catalog—it has been replacedby computer search engines.
When Gene reminisces on all ofthe positive changes, she begins tosmile. “As the school grew,” sheexplains, “I felt like its grow t hallowed me to develop professional-ly as well.”
And grow she did. Throughouther three decades with the Seminaryshe worked with three differe n tlibrary directors and, when the StittLibrary was between directors, sheand the rest of the staff took thereins and led the library throughthose transitions.
Gene’s help has been invaluableto anyone in search of that hard-to-find periodical, and she has been abeacon of hope for those procrasti-nating students frantically seeking
resources for their next class. What-ever the need, Gene saw the high-light of her job as that momentwhen someone finds the materialthey have been seeking and she hasbeen able to assist them in theirsearch.
“Ms. Luna has been a vital partof the Seminary and particularlyStitt Library for these many years,”said President Shelton. “Students,f a c u l t y, pastors, and others havebenefitted from her commitment toserve and her eagerness to help.Many students over the years haveexpressed their appreciation for thevariety of ways she has helped themand contributed to their lives, notonly as a librarian but as a caringperson.” Symbolic of that apprecia-tion, the alumni/ae association gaveher its Award for Service in 1989.
As she prepared to leave the
Stitt Library, Gene recognized thatshe was leaving some of her bestfriends and one of her favo r i t eplaces: the library’s reference room.“I just love to go in there and sit,”
she admitted. “It is sobeautiful and peaceful.”The room does exude asense of peace and time-lessness with its cal-ligraphed ceiling, stonewalls, and handlessclock.
Though she isentering a new phase ofher life, she will alwaysremember the years shespent among the highstacks of Stitt. “I lovedmy work here and willmiss what I’ve beendoing,” she says. As shelooks forward to a timewhen she can trave lmore and perhaps even
get back to her gardening, the com-munity looks back at Gene’s con-stancy through the many changesand offers her its gratitude and goodwishes.
WINDOWS / Winter 2001 15
After thirty-two years, respite for librarian overdue
Lila Parrish, new public services librarian, receives the “torch”—well, actu-ally, the library policy manual, from Gene Luna, right.
Speakingof information . . .
Be sure to visit Au s t i nSe m i n a ry’s revised website atw w w. a u s t i n s e m i n a ry.edu, fea-turing occasional discussionswith faculty; links to lec-t i o n a ry re s o u rces; and onlineversions of the academicCatalogue, Wi n d ow s, andIn s i g h t s. Coming to a com-puter near you, Ja n u a ry 1!
On the occasion of University ofErlangen Professor Juergen Roloff ’s70th birt h d a y, John Alsup, D.Thomason Professor of New Testa-ment Studies, presented a “Resolu-tion of Recognition” on behalf ofAustin Seminary and its board oftrustees. The highlight of the occa-sion was the presentation of a“ Fe s t s c h r i f t”( c o l l e c t e dessays writtenby colleagues)on the themeof “t h echurch,” whichincluded anessay on “TheC h u rch asOikos (House-hold)” byA l s u p. Nostranger to ourcampus, Dr.Roloff deliv-ered lectures atAustin Se m i-n a ry in 1977and 1987,helping to cultivate a relationshipwith the University of Erlangen thatAustin Seminary has enjoyed forseveral decades. And, yes, the timingfor the celebration was perfect—enabling Alsup to enjoy Oktober-fest!
Associate Professor of Mission andEvangelism Sherron George was ap l e n a ry speaker at the We s t e r nNational Leadership Training Eventin Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Octo-ber 4-6. George traveled to moret ropical climes in November toteach a course on “Gospel, Culture,and Mission” at the seminary of theIndependent Pre s byterian Churc hof Brazil. This past summer shetaught a three-week introduction tothe New Testament in Lithuania atLithuanian Christian College. Addi-
t i o n a l l y, the Pre s byterian Churc h(U.S.A.) has recently publishedGeorge’s book, Meeting Your Neigh-bor: Multiculturalism in Luke andActs.
Garnering growing re n own as aleader in Christian approaches ton a t u re and the ecology, AssistantProfessor of Philosophical T h e o l o g y
Bill Gre e n w a yhas re c e n t l ypublished art i-cles in the Ho u s-ton Chro n i c l eand C h r i s t i a nCe n t u ry. T h eC h ronicle art i-cle, co-authore dwith Ho u s t o nU n i t e dMethodist pas-tor Milton Jo r-dan, exhort e dTexas voters toreconsider theserious enviro n-mental thre a t sassociated with
global warming. In his C h r i s t i a nCe n t u ry contribution, Gre e n w a ye x p l o red the place of animals in thec reated ord e r, and humankind’sresponsibility to care for them.
Michael Ji n k i n s, associate pro f e s s o rof pastoral theology, presented thep a p e r, “Mutuality and Di f f e re n c e :Tr i n i t y, Creation, and the T h e o l o g i-cal Ground of the Churc h’s Un i t y, ”for the session, “Theology for thePre s byterian Church (U.S.A.)” atthe American Academy of Re l i g i o n(A.A.R.) meeting in Nove m b e r.Jinkins will discuss his work on thePsalms of lament in an upcomingAbingdon Press Disciple Bible St u d yvideocassette. And in his continuingtradition of writing books fasterthan most people can read them,Jinkins has completed Invitation toT h e o l o gy: A Guide to St u d y, Conve r-
sation, and Practice, a vailable fro mIn t e r Varsity Press in Fe b ru a ry 2001.
Timothy Lincoln, in addition tohis responsibilities as director of theDavid and Jane Stitt Library, hasrecently become the new director ofinstitutional effectiveness for AustinSeminary.
Assistant Professor of Ho m i l e t i c sCarol Miles preached at the Octo-ber 13 meeting of the Presbytery ofthe Pines in Mo n roe, Louisiana.Later that month Austin Seminary’snewest professor attended the Asso-ciation of Theological Schools con-ference for recently appointed facul-ty in Pittsburgh, Pe n n s y l va n i a .Additionally, Miles had a sermonpublished in a new book by MarkBarger Elliott, Cre a t i ve Styles ofPre a c h i n g (We s t m i n s t e r / Jo h n K n oxPress); her sermon illustrates thechapter on biblical preaching.
Michael Miller, research professorin the church and higher education,has been appointed to the Ta s kForce on Higher Education of thePC(USA). As director of the Semi-nary’s Center for the Church andHigher Education, Miller coordi-nated the annual meeting of presi-dents and chaplains of the Synod ofthe Sun’s seven institutions of high-er education, in October at the Uni-versity of Tulsa.
Last spring, Cynthia Rigby, associ-ate professor of theology, deliveredlectures at three institutions in Den-mark, developing relationships withtheologians from two Danish uni-versities and the Un i versity ofLundt, in Sweden. She also servedon the faculty of the Omaha Presby-terian Seminary Foundation’s PastorSchool, held annually at HastingsCollege. This ye a r’s school wasattended by ninety-four pastorsfrom throughout the nation.
16
FACULTY NEWS
On the way to Oktoberfest: John Alsup (center)and colleagues Paul Kuebel and Hans Bald.
Coming and going
Se veral new employees havejoined the staff and others are
completing extended lengths ofservice to Austin Seminary:
Hannah Beck, giftre c o rds assistant,and her husband,Chad, moved toAustin this fallf rom In d i a n a .Hannah has a B.A.
from Indiana University and enjoyscamping, reading, and listening tomusic.
“If you would liketo speak to a realperson, press: 512-472-6736.” RachelGoree, call director,will cheerfully assistyou. She would liketo study someday in the medicalfield and specialize in geriatrics.
Hilda Harnden, secretary to theSPM office, graduated from the
Un i versity ofHouston with adegree in history.She pre v i o u s l yserved as an officemanager in a daycare center. Hildaand her husband,
David, have a 16-year old son,Clint.
Terri Howe, assistant to the directorof vocation andadmissions, hasworked in the areaof financial aid andplacement forTexas A&M-Cor-pus Christi andAustin CommunityCollege. She and her husband, Bob,have two sons, Max and Spencer.
Lila Parrish, public services librari-an, moved to Austin from Minneso-ta, where she lived for fifteen years.She has a degree inlibrary science andan M.A. in humandevelopment withan emphasis onSpirituality in theEx p re s s i ve Art s .Lila has taughtsacred circle dance for ten years andhas her own labyrinth.
Kris To m a, librarya rchivist andre c o rds manager,has a B.S. in pho-tography and anM.L.I.S. in libraryand informationsciences from T h e
Un i ve r s ity of Texas, with a special-
WINDOWS / Winter 2001 17
COMMUNITY NEWSization in archives and records m a n-agement. Her timely arrival coincideswith the Se m i n a ry’s preparation forits approaching Centennial.
James Lee (MDiv’00) has joinedthe Office of Vocation andAdmissions as interim student serv-ices assistant.
Alison Riemersma, having success-fully organized the SPM Of f i c e ,now takes on the rest of the faculty!She replaces Jeanne French as facul-ty secretary. Jeanne has been onextended medical leave since earlys u m m e r. She plans to re t i re inDecember after seventeen years onthe Seminary staff.
Elizabeth St i n s o n, accountingassistant, retired in November aftert h i rteen years in the Office ofBusiness Affairs.
In August, President Shelton led the community in welcomingA.E.T.H., the Asociación para la Educación Teológica Hispana,which has moved its headquarters from Atlanta to the AustinSeminary campus. Founded in 1991, A.E.T.H. has a number ofprograms supporting Hispanic theological education, including theHispanic Summer Program, of which Ismael García, AustinSeminary professor of Christian ethics, is associate director.
¡Bienvenidos A.E.T.H.!
The Austin Seminary CentennialCampaign, the Seminary’s first
m u l t i - year fund-raising effort toencompass endowments, capitalp rojects, and general operations,received a green light in November.
Austin Seminary trustees votedat their fall meeting to approve asteering committee and an operat-ing budget for a five-year compre-hensive campaign as part of theSeminary’s Centennial observation.Trustees Diane Buchanan and JimMi l l e r will co-chair the steeringcommittee, which is charged withplanning the campaign and securingleadership gifts toward a $15 millionworking goal.
Buchanan, who has served onthe board since 1996, is an elder atPreston Ho l l ow Pre s by t e r i a nChurch, Dallas, Texas. She chairsthe board’s Educational Policies andPersonnel Committee. Miller, seniorpastor of First Presbyterian Church,Tulsa, Oklahoma, has been a boardmember since 1993 and currentlyserves as vice chair of the board.
“I’m thrilled to be involved withAustin Se m i n a ry at this criticalpoint in its history,” said Buchanan,“and I’m honored to have theopportunity to serve the institutionthrough the Centennial Campaign.It’s important to me that theSeminary continue to provide anexcellent education to people whowill devote their lives and careers to
the church, and this campaign willhelp ensure that we build upon thestrengths of our first century as wemove into the next.”
Others who have agreed to serveon the Campaign St e e r i n gCommittee include: Bessie LouDo e l l i n g, First Pre s by t e r i a nC h u rch, Odessa, Texas; Ju d yeHa rt m a n, Memorial Dr i vePre s byterian Church, Ho u s t o n ,Texas; Bruce He r l i n, Fi r s tPre s byterian Church, Pa l a c i o s ,Texas; Je r ry Hi l t o n, Fi r s tPre s byterian Church, Mi d l a n d ,Texas; Jack Lancaster, Fi r s tPre s byterian Church, Ho u s t o n ;Giles McCrary, First Presbyterian
Church, Post, Texas; Max Sherman,Un i versity Pre s byterian Churc h ,Austin, Texas; Je r ry Jay Sm i t h,Southwest Texas Conference of theUnited Methodist Church, CanyonLake, Texas; Hugh Wi l l i a m s o n,Central Pre s byterian Churc h ,De n ve r, Colorado; and L o u i sZ b i n d e n, First Pre s by t e r i a nChurch, San Antonio, Texas.
Funding priorities identified forthe campaign include: new endowedfaculty chairs, endowed scholar-ships, additional on-campus studenthousing, an endowed center forpreaching and worship, new child-care facilities, computer technologyfor students and for distance learn-ing, and general operations.
“Austin Presbyterian Theologi-cal Seminary is well positioned toaddress the current needs of thechurch,” said Louis Zbinden, chairof the board of trustees. “Gifts to theCentennial Campaign will have animmediate impact on the church bystrengthening our ability to trainm o re intelligent, winsome candi-dates for ministry and church lead-ership.”
18
DEVELOPMENT NEWS
CentennialCampaign
on thehorizon
Seminary trustee Lee Power, right, enjoys dessert and a chat with students DarinSanders (senior from Austin), Nolipher Moyo (ecumenical student from Zambia),and Patty Schaller (junior from Virginia, Illinois) after the trustee’s fall meeting.
What subject besides religionand politics isn’t fit for polite
c o n versation? W h y, money, ofcourse! But putting our moneyw h e re our commitments are canspeak volumes.
The film Pay It Forward, high-lights the profound impact a fewsignificant acts of kindness canhave—a geometric progression,really—on the lives of manypeople. The young protagonistis shouted down when he pres-ents his idea. Too corny. Tooidealistic. Too scary. The playon words has me thinkingabout not only the impact ofour giving but how we talkabout it.
What phrases do you usewhen you think about giving?Do you give money a w a y? Doyou give t o something? Do yo ug i ve b a c k? Maybe you give u p(think about the theologicalimplications of that phrase!) Inall cases, I think the ripple effectin Pay It Fo rw a rd occurs with allt rue giving.
There is a wonderful recentexample of generosity at AustinSeminary. Students with fami-lies have had a tough time find-ing affordable, dependablesupervision near campus for theirchildren. An alumnus who struggledwith the issue during his family’sfour years here provided a solution:a very significant anonymous gift tofund a pilot program for on-campusafter-school care. The donor’s intentwas to help seminary studentsdevote full attention to afternoonclasses instead of worrying about
s u p e rvision for their school-agedkids.
The gift has done that, andmore. Parents of pre-school childrenalso jumped at the opportunity foron-campus care. The pro g r a mquickly reached capacity. It also pro-vides the perfect opportunity forLeslie Little—spouse of Trey, whoenrolled as an M.Div. student thisfall—to use her time and consider-
able skills in early childhood educa-tion to direct the program.
So, this anonymous gift hass o l ved the after-school dilemma,eased the time crunch for parents ofpre-schoolers, and made good use oftalent that was close at hand. It maygenerate additional gifts, as others(who sometimes wait for re s u l t sbefore buying into an idea) chip in.But the largest ripple in this geo-
metric pro g ression of givingcomes when these pare n t sbecome pastors, and begin theirimportant work ministering toall of us. They will touch count-less lives.
This is giving that deservesto be talked up. It is giving thatmakes a difference, that changeslives, and that takes the giveroutside of him- or herself andwarms the heart. Someone hascalled it charismatic giving.Charismatic giving changesboth the re c i p i e n t’s and thegiver’s lives.
Housing, child care, ande xc e s s i ve debt from studentloans are mundane issues thathave the potential to keep peo-ple from answering a call toministry. It is both a privilegeand an important responsibilityto work to make sure that this isnot the case at Austin Seminary.I hope you feel the same way!
In future issues of Windows,we will focus on a variety of priori-ties determined through care f u llong-range planning at Au s t i nSeminary. These funding opportu-nities will enable the Seminary toaddress critical needs of the church,especially through the developmentof caring and intelligent leadership.
—Timothy Kubatzky
WINDOWS / Winter 2001 19
Tim Kubatzky joined the Seminary in July as vice president for institutional advancement, taking over much of the work pre-viously done by the Rev. John R. Evans (MDiv’68). This is his introductory message to the Austin Seminary community.
Money talks
Tim Kubatzky and friends check out the play equipmentat the Seminary’s new after-school program.
CHARISMATIC GIVING IS
GIVING THAT DESERVES TO
BE TALKED UP. IT IS GIVING
THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE,THAT CHANGES BOTH THE
RECIPIENT’S AND THE
GIVER’S LIVES.
Phonathon phigures
Members of the Au s t i nSeminary Association Board
lead the charge September 18 toanother successful Phonathon cam-paign. On six evenings this fall,middler and senior students joinedalumni/ae, faculty, and staff to callon former students across the nationin support of the Annual Fund.Combined with the proceeds fromthe pre-Phonathon brochure and afollow-up appeal to former studentsnot contacted during the campaign,alumni/ae have pledged gifts total-ing $76,144, exceeding this year’sgoal of $71,000.
Alumni/ae support helps tosubsidize the cost of current stu-dents’ seminary education by pro-viding the critical resources for theoperating budget. Gifts are used forscholarships, faculty salaries, libraryresources, and new classroom tech-nology, among other needs.
Once again our outstandingalumni/ae have shown their supportin record numbers!
CLASS NOTES
1970sRay A. King (ThM’71) has beennamed professor emeritus at ErskineTheological Seminary in Due West,South Carolina, having served onthat faculty for thirty-eight years.
Ernest S. De a n ( M Di v’78) waselected Association Minister forBrazos Association South CoastalC o n f e rence, United Church ofChrist.
1980sKaren H. Stocks (MDiv’85) hasbeen promoted to Chaplain,Lieutenant Colonel in the UnitedStates Air Force, Office of the Chiefof the Chaplain Service.
1990sDennis K. Kitterman (DMin’92)has been promoted to LieutenantColonel in the United States AirForce.
Shannon L. Dill (MDiv’92) hasbeen elected to the Board ofDirectors of Honduras Outreach,Inc., a multi-denominational mis-sion organization serving the people
of Honduras. She is the firstPre s byterian re p re s e n t a t i ve to theboard.
Susan I. Abold ( M Di v’97) willserve as a delegate to the W orldMethodist Council in Br i g h t o n ,England, in July 2001.
David Ga m b re l l ( M Di v’98) hasp roduced a CD, The Psalms ofDavid, composed of fifteen originalsongs inspired by the Book ofPsalms. Another CD on the Book ofGenesis is in the final stages of pro-duction.
20
ALUMNI/AE NEWS
Read what’s new? ONLINE!
Share your news with otherAustin Seminary alumni/aeby sending an e-mail [email protected] Notes will be posted onwww.austinseminary.edubeginning January 1, 2001.
BIRTHS
To Brenda and Robert G. Spratt (MDiv’89) a daughter, Piper Rane,May 15, 2000.
To Pat Felter (MDiv’94) and Shane Whisler (MDiv’95) a daughter,Mattie, February 1, 2000. They plan to travel to China to adopt herbefore the end of the year.
To Krisztine and Elöd Takats (Ecum’96) a daughter, Mirjam, January 24,2000.
To Amy and Stephen D. Phillips (MDiv’98) a daughter, Kaylene Sidney,June 10, 2000.
To Bai and W. Stephen Beatty (MDiv’99) a daughter, Elizabeth MaeLee,September 30, 2000.
To Amy and Joshua M. Rowley (MDiv’00) a daughter, Sydney Nicole,October 5, 2000.
NECROLOGY
Roy L. McCown (MDiv’46)Sulfur, Louisiana, September 1,2000.
Henry E. Acklen (Diploma’48)Orange Grove, Texas, May 23,2000.
Harry L. Johnson (MDiv’55)Tyler, Texas, July 28, 2000.
Arthur Hughes (Diploma’60)Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,May 8, 2000.
Maurice A. Weed (MDiv’74)Austin, Texas, August 21, 2000.
Robert W. Graham (MDiv’82)Little Rock, Arkansas,September 17, 2000.
recalled . . .There was a student from east Tennessee who had this little commuterbicycle. It was lavender and he named her Petunia. We managed to keepPetunia hidden for most of the year. She’d just appear in strange places andat strange times. One time he was giving a library tour and there wasPetunia in the stacks. —Margaret Hill (MDiv’88)
One of the students sent a fake letter to Norman Dow, the librarian, aboutsome books a family had given to the library in memory of their father. T h eletter said the family was coming into Austin so they could see what thel i b r a ry had done with the collection they’d given. Of course there we re nobooks, but Dow didn’t know that and he searched that entire library! Fi n a l l ythe day came when the family was supposed to arrive, and there we reNorman Dow and President Stitt out in the front of the library with theirsuits on, pacing back and forth waiting for the family so they could apolo-g i ze for the missing books. By this time I think all of the faculty and staffk n ew about it and we re all standing at the windows of Sampson Hall watch-ing these two men sweat it out. The family, of course, never came. I don’tthink they ever knew what had happened. —Ed Robertson (MDiv’52)
Dean McCord was in Scotland at the time of the great theft of the “Stoneof Scone,” thought to have been taken by Scottish nationalists. Soon there-after, I surreptitiously put a large rock in the foyer of the dorm with a notesigned by McCord that said, “I thought this rightfully belonged at AustinSeminary.” —Pete Hendrick (MDiv’52)
Bill Hedrick’s dorm room was a few doors down from the pay phone so hewould always answer it. A few of us came in late one night and called him,pretending to be [business manager] John Smiley and said that the housemother from Scottish Rite dorm had called to say the male students weredisturbing the girls with their behavior. Bill apologized and said he didn’tknow anything about it. We demanded that he wake everyone up and havethem sit on the front steps because John Smiley and David Stitt were com-ing over to get to the bottom of this. So Bill went through the whole dormand woke everyone up. It was probably about 2:30 a.m. by then. We wereall sitting on the front steps of the dorm and, when Smiley didn’t come, Itold Bill I thought he must be playing a trick on us and I wanted to hear itwith my own ears that John Smiley was coming over. So we went up to myroom and got on the speaker phone and had Bill call Smiley. Of courseSmiley had no idea why he was being called in the middle of the night!
—Joe Sheeler (MDiv’65)
WINDOWS / Winter 2001 21
Our corner
Graduates leadchurch institutions
Two Austin Seminary Doctor ofMinistry graduates have recent-
ly been called to serve in distin-guished church positions.
Laura S. Mendenhall ( D Mi n’ 9 7 )became the eighth president ofColumbia Theological Seminary inAtlanta, on August 22. Mendenhall,who served on Austin Seminary’sCentennial Committee prior to herappointment, has been senior pastorand head of staff of WestminsterPresbyterian Church, Austin, since1991. “She connects very well withyoung people and enables them tobe open to the possibility that Godis calling them,” said CatherineGonzalez, a member of Columbia’ssearch committee.
Carlos Emilio Ha m ( D Mi n’ 9 9 )has been elected to the Wo r l dCouncil of Churches (W. C . C . )Executive Committee as secretaryfor evangelism, beginning January2001. Ham, General Secretary ofthe Presbyterian Reformed Churchin Cuba, has been serving on theW.C.C. Joint Consultative Gro u pwith Pentecostals. He is also vicep resident of the Caribbean andNo rth America Council for Mi s s i o nand president of the Caribbean Con-f e rence of Churches. Konrad Raiser,general secre t a ry of the W. C . C . ,praises Ha m’s appointment, sayinghe will “introduce some of the exc i t-ing dynamics of the ‘e vangelical cel-e b r a t i o n’ that are presently takingplace among the W.C.C. memberc h u rches in Cuba into the W. C . C .’sw o rk on evangelism.”
prankLaura Mendenhall Carlos Ham
WINDOWSAustin Presbyterian Theological Seminary100 East 27th Street, Austin, Texas 78705-5797
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Permit No. 2473
Winter 2001
With temperatures outsidesoaring toward 112°, Austin,
Texas, was the hottest place on earthduring Austin Seminary’s OpeningC o n vocation, Tu e s d a y, Se p t e m b e r3, 2000. Was it merely coincidentalthat Dr. Scott Black Jo h n s t o nchose that occasion to invoke fireand brimstone imagery in his con-vocation address, “As it is inHeaven”?
Preparing for a new academicyear were forty new students andtwo ecumenical scholars fro mRumania and Zambia. The ages ofnew students range from twenty-two to sixty-one; sixty-five percentare married; and sixty-three percentare Presbyterian.
Black Johnston, associate pro-fessor of homiletics, is re t u r n i n gf rom a ye a r’s sabbatical duringwhich he served First PresbyterianC h u rch, Dallas, as theologian-in-residence and worked on thre ebooks: Preaching Time, Sp e a k i n gC h r i s t with Professor Stan Ha l l;Preaching and the Gospel of John with
Professor Lewis Do n e l s o n; andProclamation Postmortem: ChristianPreaching on the Afterlife. A graduateof St. Olaf College, Yale DivinitySchool, and Princeton TheologicalSeminary, Black Johnston has beena member of the faculty of AustinSeminary since 1993.
In his academic announce-ments, President Robert Sheltonwelcomed returning students, facul-ty, and staff, and introduced newmembers of the community. A fallbanquet, followed by a service ofworship including the ritual Signingof the Declaration of Intent, washeld Tuesday evening.
Convocation 2000
It was hotter than(well, you know) . . .and they showed upsmiling!
Discovery Weekend
February 23-25, 2001
Explore your call to
ministry with an
on-campus visit.
