Windows Summer | Fall 2014

Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

summer|fall 2014

In this Issue 2014 Graduates | 5

Sabbath | 10

Honor Roll of Donors | center

Substance.

Scripture.

Service.

Preparing strong, imaginative leaders for the church.

Find your own voice.

Discovery Weekend

October 24-26, 2014

To confirm your place register online at AustinSeminary.edu/ falldiscovery

AUSTIN

AUSTIN PRESBYTERIAN

PRESBYTERIAN THEOLOGI C AL

THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

SEMINARY

summer | fall 2014

Volume 129 | Number 3

President

Theodore J. Wardlaw

features

Board of Trustees Thomas L. Are Jr., Chair Karen C. Anderson Claudia Carroll Elizabeth Christian Joseph J. Clifford James G. Cooper Marvin L. Cooper James B. Crawley Katherine B. Cummings (MDiv’05) Consuelo Donahue (MDiv’96) Jackson Farrow Jr. G. Archer Frierson II Richard D. Gillham Walter Harris Jr. John Hartman Rhashell D. Hunter Roy M. Kim James H. Lee (MDiv’00) Michael L. Lindvall Jennifer L. Lord Lyndon L. Olson Jr. B. W. Payne David Peeples Jeffrey Kyle Richard Lana Russell James C. Shaw Lita Simpson Anne Vickery Stevenson Karl Brian Travis John L. Van Osdall Sallie Sampsell Watson (MDiv’87) Carlton Wilde Jr. Elizabeth Currie Williams Hugh H. Williamson III

Sabbath 10 Keeping Sabbath

By David F. White

14 Disconnect to Reconnect

10

By MaryAnn McKibben Dana

16 A Silent Sabbath

By San Williams (DMin’03)

“Sunset Day” Cover photograph—and all of the splendid photography in the feature section (pages 10-18)—taken by Austin Seminary 2014 Distinguished Alumnus James Dollar (MDiv’70). For a visual sabbatical, enjoy Jim’s work at www.jimdollarphotography. com

8

18 The Disquieting Good Gift of Slowing Down

By Mally Baum (MDiv’04)

Center: The 2013-14 Honor Roll of Donors

& departments

20

Trustees Emeriti Stephen A. Matthews John M. McCoy Jr. (MDiv’63) Max Sherman Louis Zbinden

seminary & church

3

twenty-seventh & speedway

19 live & learn 20 faculty news & notes 22 alumni news & notes

Austin Seminary Association (ASA) Board

Leanne Thompson (MDiv’06), President Dieter Heinzl (MDiv’98), Vice President Karen Greif (MDiv’92, DMin’06), Secretary Valerie Bridgeman (MDiv’90), Past President Barrett Abernethy (MDiv’13) Andy Blair (MDiv’89) Timothy Blodgett (MDiv’07) Jeff Cranton (MDiv’99) Ann Herlin (MDiv’01) Sandra Kern (MDiv’93) Andrew Parnell (MDiv’05) Matt Miles (MDiv’99) Tamara Strehli (MDiv’05) Kristy Vits (MDiv’98) Michael Waschevski (DMin’03)

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21 Editor Randal Whittington

Contributors

Deborah Butler Lemuel García Jacqueline Hefley Mona Santandrea Kimberly Rutherford Adam Sweeney

25 teaching & ministry

Windows is published three times each year by Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

Austin Seminary Windows Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary 100 E. 27th St. Austin, TX 78705-5711 phone: 512-404-4808 e-mail: windows@austinseminary.edu fax: 512-479-0738 austinseminary.edu ISSN 2056-0556; Non-profit bulk mail permit no. 2473

seminary church

from the president |

s I write these words, it is just barely August—the last third of summer. Summer is, for most of us, a time of re-setting. You slow down a bit, you go on vacation, you take advantage of the extra daylight to end the day by baiting a hook or firing up the grill or going for a run. At the Seminary, summer creates that liminal space which becomes a threshold between Commencement and Convocation; and, in between, we re-set.

In the pages that follow, in a series of essays on Sabbath, you will see different angles on the essential act of re-setting that is central to Sabbath-keeping. Even God, after the hard work of creating the universe, rested on the seventh day and beheld the theater of divine activity as being very good. It was the ultimate act of re-setting; and when we observe Sabbath in the myriad ways in which that is possible, we are entering into that kind of activity. In fact, Sabbath is not simply the end of creative activity; has to do instead with God’s very goal for creation—that of joining into God’s goodness.

I trust that, as August speeds toward the next season of busyness here—and certainly in your world, too—you will find that essential, holy time and space in which to be “sabbatical” in the truest sense of that experience. Maybe the Sabbath section in this issue of Windows will inspire you. Our own Professor David White, the C. Ellis and Nancy Gribble Nelson Professor of Christian Education, has written a splendid and intriguing lead article on this topic which critiques some of my own naïve attitudes toward the practice of Sabbath-keeping and thus makes me appropriately uncomfortable. His analysis is addressed and thickened in original ways by parish pastors—Mally Baum, MaryAnn McKibben Dana, and San Williams. Read every word of these offerings; they are absolutely worth your complete attention (something which, I believe, is a natural byproduct of faithful Sabbath-keeping!).

Elsewhere, note the news of upcoming events here, the celebration of our most recent class of graduating students, the arrivals and departures, the brief details of our upcoming MidWinter Lectures, and the center section which acknowledges with profound thanks and appreciation our donors across the past year. If it is tempting to take these regular rhythms for granted, then slow down and notice these pages more carefully. They bear the names, the stories, and the tangible evidence of selfless commitment on the part of a cloud of witnesses who—like countless others back and forth through time—have loved or will love this place and its mission in service to the church and the world.

Enjoy your own season of re-setting. And know of our deep thanks to you for your ongoing relationship with Austin Seminary!

A

President’s Schedule Sept. 10 -Host, Coffee with the President, First Presbyterian Church, San Antonio Sept. 21 - Preach, Idlewild Presbyterian Church, Memphis (Theological Education Sunday) Oct. 4-5 - Teach, Kirk in the Hills, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Oct. 9 - Host, Coffee with the President, Presbytery of New Covenant, Houston Oct. 28 - Host, Evening with the President, Dallas Nov. 13 - Host, Partner Lunch, Shreveport, Louisiana

Faithfully yours,

Theodore J. Wardlaw President

Nov. 16 - Preach, Preston Hollow Presbyterian, Dallas Nov. 23 - Preach, Covenant Presbyterian Church, Austin Feb. 12 - Host, Evening with the President, Fort Worth, Texas

2 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

twenty-seventh speedway

David Jensen becomes academic dean

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ustin Presbyterian Theological Seminary has named Dr. David H. Jensen, professor in the Clarence N. and Betty B. Frierson Distinguished Chair of Reformed Theology, as the eighth academic dean in the school’s history. He will be installed during opening worship for the fall semester on September 2, 2014. Jensen became dean on July 1 following the resignation of Allan H. Cole Jr. who is the new associate dean of the School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin.

“I am thrilled at the prospect of Dave Jensen’s deanship,” said President Theodore Wardlaw. “He is highly respected as a theologian, as a cherished colleague among faculty peers, as a churchman, as a husband and father, and as a friend to so many. The Office of Academic Dean at Austin Seminary has brought strength to strength for decades, and Dave Jensen will continue in that healthy pattern. It will be a pleasure to serve with him.”

Jensen earned the PhD in theology from Vanderbilt University in 1999. He earned a Master of Arts in religion from Yale Divinity School in 1994 and graduated with a BA (magna cum laude) from Carleton College in 1990. Professor Jensen joined the faculty of Austin Seminary in 2001 and was installed in the Frierson Chair this year. He has served as the associate dean since 2010; he also served as interim dean during the fall 2010 semester. Active in the Constructive Theology Workgroup, Jensen hosted the first Frierson Distinguished Scholars Conference this spring, bringing theologians from five continents to the Seminary campus.

“Austin Seminary is one of the most exciting places in the country to pursue a theological education. We have a superb faculty and engaging students who work with each other as we serve both church and world,” said Jensen. “We teach, learn, and study across the street from one of the largest universities in the nation and minutes away from the state capitol. The dynamic, creative, borderlands city of Austin helps focus our service to the church in a changing international context.

I look forward to drawing on the rich heritage of this seminary and working collaboratively with faculty, administrators, and our various constituencies as we face new challenges together in the years ahead. The future is bright for theological education at Austin Seminary.”

Jensen is author several books, including Flourishing Desire: A Theology of Human Sexuality (Westminster John Knox, 2012), Parenting (Fortress Press, 2011), and Living Hope: The Future and Christian Faith (WJK, 2010). He is currently writing a book on the history of Christian interpretations of Jesus and has just completed a theological commentary on 1 and 2 Samuel to be published by Westminster John Knox. He is also editor of a book series with Fortress Press, “Compass,” that encourages theological reflection on everyday practices such as eating, shopping, playing, and working.

Dean Jensen is married to Molly Hadley Jensen, and they are parents to two children, Hannah Grace and Finn. Read his ruminations on the life of a theologian in “The ordinary work of a Christian theologian,” page 25.

Hefley is assistant dean Jacqueline Hefley has been promoted to assistant dean for academic affairs and registrar, effective July 1, 2014.

In her expanded role she will assist the dean in managing the Seminary’s four degree programs along with other academic concerns. A 1982 graduate of Austin College, Hefley brings a wealth of experience to the position, having served in the Seminary administration more than twenty-seven years, working closely alongside the last four academic deans.

New development officers Austin Seminary has two new development officers in Houston and Dallas charged with supporting the Seminary’s fundraising activities.

The Reverend Dr. Rose Niles, started in Houston January and Diane Pennington, in Dallas, began in July.

With degrees from Harvard University, Harvard Divinity School, and New York Theological Seminary, Niles served as Associate for Theological Education and Seminary Relations for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Pennington graduated from City University of New York and has served on the staff of Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Dallas. She also worked in the Development Office of Montreat.

Summer | Fall 2014| 3

twenty-seventh speedway

}

We cheered our friends good-bye this spring as Dean Allan Cole, maintenance chief Jim Many, and Homiletics Professor Kristin Saldine all headed to new adventures.

Photo by Ted Wardlaw

Dallas visitors Sue McCoy, Sue Maclay, Margot Perot, and John McCoy came to campus in June for lunch with President Wardlaw and students.

Photo by Allison Handal

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Practicing baptism in Barton Springs has become a springtime ritual for Professor Jen Lord’s worship class.

}

President Wardlaw was delighted when Trustee James Crawley donated a 300-year-old copy of Crisp’s Sermons for Stitt Library’s rare book collection.

Background: The Seminary’s Easter Vigil Service 4 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

The Class of 2014

Graduates look forward to ministry opportunities

Photos by James Cooper

A

Photo above: doctor of ministry graduates; below: master’s-degree graduates

2014 Graduate Awards Donald Capps Award in Pastoral Care: Lisa Rush Chalice Press Book Award: Joshua Kerr Chidester Preaching Award: Jo Kretzler Rachel Henderlite Award: Annanda Barclay Hendrick-Smith Award for Mission & Evangelism: Kristi Click Carl Kilborn Book Award: Elizabeth Walker Charles L. King Preaching Award: Joshua Kerr John B. Spragens Award: Sharolyn Browning Max Sherman & Barbara Jordan Fellowship: Alex Cornell

ustin Presbyterian Theological Seminary conferred degrees on forty-three masters and doctoral candidates on Sunday, May 25, at University Presbyterian Church in Austin. Board of Trustee Chair Tom Are Jr. presided over the ceremony, and the Reverend Katherine B. Cummings (MDiv’05), associate pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church in Houston, delivered the commencement address.

Thirty-three students received the Master of Divinity degree; two dualdegree students also received the Master of Science in Social Work from the University of Texas at Austin.

Four earned the Master of Arts (Theological Studies) and two, the Master of Arts in Ministry Practice; four earned the Doctor of Ministry degree.

A complete list of graduates and President Wardlaw’s Charge to the Graduates follows.

Summer | Fall 2014 | 5

The Class of 2014

twenty-seventh speedway

Master of Divinity Molly Elizabeth Atkinson

Louisville, Kentucky Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Completing a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), Baptist Health of Louisville, Kentucky

Annanda Gihan Barclay

Austin, Texas Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Completing a summer unit of CPE, Chicago, Illinois

Lindsey Le Walton Becker New Orleans, Louisiana Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Completing a chaplain residency at Memorial Hermann Hospital, Houston, Texas

Alexander Kerr Cornell

San Antonio, Texas Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Pastor, St. Stephens Presbyterian Church, Houston, Texas

Stephen Edward Cottingham Garland, Texas Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Seeking a non-ordained position

James Michael East Sapulpa, Oklahoma Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Summer CPE intern, Seton Hospital, Austin, Texas

Elizabeth J. Gleason

Shreveport, Louisiana Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Seeking a call in South Louisiana

Austin, Texas United Church of Christ Chief Operating Officer, St. Louise House, Austin, and Interim Minister, Community UCC, San Antonio, Texas, while seeking a call

David Pierce Boyd

Timothy James Gray

Gordon Neal Blackman Jr.

Ballwin, Missouri Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Co-pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Gothenburg, Nebraska

San Pedro, California Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Year-long internship, University Presbyterian Church, El Paso, Texas

Jill Renee Boyd

Sabrina Renee Jennings

Ballwin, Missouri Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Co-pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Gothenburg, Nebraska

Sharolyn Swenson Browning

Austin, Texas Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Intern / Vicar at Gethsemane Lutheran Church, Austin

Len Turbeville Carrell

New York City, New York Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Completing candidacy requirements

Kristi Michelle Click*

Dallas, Texas Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Designated Associate Pastor, Spring Branch Presbyterian Church, Houston, Texas 6 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

Lockhart, Texas United Church of Christ Seeking a call in the United Church of Christ in the area of church planting and / or hospice chaplaincy

Joshua Paul Kerr

Claremore, Oklahoma Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Perry, Oklahoma

Erica Ann Knisely

Austin, Texas Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) PRN chaplaincy with Hospice Austin while completing candidacy requirements

*Dual Degree with The University of Texas School of Social Work

Joanne Lois Kretzler

Austin, Texas The United Methodist Church completing candidacy requirements

Molly Shea McGinnis

Hot Springs, Arkansas Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Seeking a call

Jannette Angelica Miller

Killeen, Texas The United Methodist Church Associate Pastor, First United Methodist Church, Temple, Texas

Eileen Lianne O’Donnell

Austin, Texas The United Methodist Church Completing candidacy requirements in the United Methodist Church

JoAnne D. Ramsey

Colorado Springs, Colorado Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Seeking a call

Lisa Winnek Rush

San Antonio, Texas The United Methodist Church Director of Children and Family Ministry, First United Methodist Church, Corpus Christi, Texas

Charlie Sunyoon Shin

Austin, Texas Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Completing candidacy requirements

Sheila A. Sidberry

San Antonio, Texas African Methodist Episcopal Church Seeking an appointment in the African Methodist Episcopal Church

Jennifer Thomas Stuart

Austin, Texas The United Methodist Church Pastor, Ellensburg United Methodist Church, Ellensburg, Washington

MDiv graduates continued

The Class of 2014 Laureen Suba

Houston, Texas, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Completing a CPE / Hospital Chaplaincy at M.D. Anderson, Houston, Texas, while seeking a call in the Houston area

Holly Celeste Swift

Austin, Texas, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Year-long CPE residency, Seton Hospital, Austin, Texas

Elizabeth Marie Wallace*

Austin, Texas, Nondenominational Seeking a position in the field of Social Work

Emily Grace Wasser

Allentown, Pennsylvania, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Children’s Ministry Intern, Westlake Hills Presbyterian Church, Austin; seeking a call

Master of Arts (Theological Studies) Sarah Holland Holden

San Antonio, Texas The United Methodist Church Licensed Local Pastor, Chrysalis Ministries, San Antonio, Texas

Jessica Nicholle Newman

Austin, Texas Lutheran Church Parent Support Specialist, Rodriguez Elementary School, Austin, Texas

Hyangsook Oh

Layton Elizabeth Williams

Austin, Texas, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Pastoral Resident, Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago, Illinois

Seoul, South Korea Presbyterian Church in Korea Living in Seoul, South Korea

Amy Michelle Wilson-Stayton

Mario Gouvea Ransan

Seffner, Florida Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Youth Ministry Intern, Montreat Conference Center, Black Mountain, North Carolina

Waco, Texas Nondenominational Enlisting in the U.S. Navy

Joseph Parker Zimmerman

Spring, Texas, The United Methodist Church Director of Men’s Ministry, Mission, and Music, Faith United Methodist Church, Richmond, Texas

Doctor of Ministry Ralph William Hawkins

Pastor, New Wilmington Presbyterian Church, New Wilmington, Pennsylvania Doctoral Project: “How Academics Hear the Preached Word of God: A Study in Epistemology at New Wilmington Presbyterian Church”

Anne Marie Natoli

Rector, Grace Episcopal Church, Whiteville, North Carolina Doctoral Project: “What’s Left for Us—A Project Offering Benedictine Spirituality Practices to Equip Older Adult Females to See God in Their Past, Present, and Future”

Master of Arts in Ministry Practice John Fitzgerald McCormick Round Rock, Texas African Methodist Episcopal Church Pastor, CrossWork African Methodist Episcopal Church, Round Rock, Texas, and attorney in private practice

Cynthia Ann Walter Rauser

San Antonio, Texas The United Methodist Church Seeking an appointment in the United Methodist Church in the San Antonio, Texas, area

Lacy Starr Sellars Jr.

Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Hot Springs, Arkansas Doctoral Project: “Discovering The Faith-Formative Power of Worship Planning Using Lay Liturgy Teams”

Carol Ann Tate

Associate Pastor for Adult Ministry, Kirk in the Hills, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Doctoral Project: “Marion and Levinas: Postmodern Conversation Partners for the Church”

webXtra: See back cover for

commencement photos.

For even more, go to: austinseminary.edu/ mediagallery Summer | Fall 2014| 7

twenty-seventh speedway Charge to the Class of 2014

Turn your face toward Jerusalem

By President Theodore J. Wardlaw

I

t is my privilege every year to offer a Charge to the Seminary’s graduating class—some word of wisdom that, with any luck, you will remember, with which to frame, perhaps, the vocation you take on from this day. And this year I’m thinking about one particular text from the Gospel According to Jackie Saxon—our vice president for student affairs and vocation, our sister, our mother, our pastor, our friend. This is a text that, as you remember, she began teaching you as early as the first day of your orientation in your first year. Even on that first day, in that first year, she was already reminding you of this day; and she would say, “Soon enough, it will be time to turn your face toward Jerusalem, because in the name of peace, justice, love, and Jesus, you gotta go!”

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Remember that a call from God is something that stretches us beyond the bounds of what is reasonable and into the territory of what is necessary.

So for these next few moments, let us ponder together that the day has arrived—that day when you turn your face toward Jerusalem.

What in the world does that mean, really? Is it just a kind of pious code for going out and getting a job, going to graduate school, doing an internship or residency somewhere?

Taking a sabbatical before deciding the next chapter? What do Christians mean, what do servants of the church mean, exactly, when they talk about “turning their face toward Jerusalem?”

I have struggled with this all of my adult life, because I have been uneasy seeing my own vocation as a pastor in such demanding terms. What I have often tried to do, especially when I’m out in the larger world, is to interpret this life in more reasonable terms, because often, to this very day, I am frankly embarrassed by the utter unreasonableness of this vocation. When I was in college, I went when I was a junior to the Vocations Office and got some testing, and what one of the tests indicated—a test about what jobs I would be best 8 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

at—was that I could be a good lawyer, a good pastor, a good YMCA director, or a good Chamber of Commerce executive.

And so, when people would ask me, “How did you happen to decide to be a pastor?” I had a nicely reasoned answer. “I took this test, and I could have been a lawyer or a Chamber of Commerce executive, but I enjoy people, I’m a good listener, I like to be helpful,” things like that. There’s nothing unreasonable about that, is there? Sometimes they would press me, though, because, as secular as we often accuse the larger culture of being, I think sometimes that same culture has a greater desire than we professional Christians give it credit for, to probe and search and find the evidence of holiness.

So, for example, when I’m sitting on an airplane and the person next to me finally asks me, “What do you do for a living?” I’m generally dressed in a suit and so sometimes they will follow up, “Are you a judge? Are you a banker? Are you a surgeon?” And if I don’t try to con them by saying something like, “I’m in sales,” I’ll just tell them the truth: “I’m a pastor, and I serve a seminary.” “Well, what’s a seminary?” “Well, it’s a graduate school where people come to learn how to be ministers.” And then I wait for the great dismissive brush-off and for the eyes to glaze over and for the face to bury itself awkwardly into the magazine; so that I am always surprised that that piece of information reluctantly shared about who I am and what I do—something I shared only because the person sitting next to me kept pressing—always sparks a deeper conversation. Always!

Often what comes next is confession. Their eyes well with tears at their cautious unveiling of some portion of a steeled heart, some indication that their lives are missing something, maybe that they tried a church or two and it didn’t work, but all the same there is this yearning for a deeper relationship with God, a more profound encounter with holiness.

Is it possible, then, that at this moment of commencement, you are being called not just to get a job, not just to help people, not just to be what Stanley Hauerwas has called “a quivering mass of availability,” but, more importantly, to immerse yourself in such unreasonable, inexplicable holiness in order that you might represent it to a world which, when it is honest with itself, desires nothing more than that? What if your next step is, in all seriousness, “turning your face toward Jerusalem”? Not just getting credentialed by your denomination, just getting into graduate school, negotiating your salary package in your first congregation, but “turning your face toward Jerusalem.” And

remembering, in doing so, that a call from God is something that stretches us beyond the bounds of what is reasonable and into the territory of what is necessary.

In St. John’s gospel, there’s a moment when Jesus tells his disciples, “It is necessary that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you” (John 16: 7). He’s talking about setting his face toward Jerusalem: a topic that occupies more than 35 percent of the narrative in all four gospels. Read those gospels carefully, and you know that, long before Jesus actually gets to Jerusalem, the long shadow of the cross is already falling across the page. “It is necessary,” he says. He’s talking about his vocation. And ours.

I wish he hadn’t said “necessary.” I wish he hadn’t suggested that our vocational life is not conditioned upon utter, endless enjoyment, but rather upon necessity. Have we really signed up for that? Most of us, after all, have been reared on the principles of self-expression, self-fulfillment; so we recoil when we hear that word “necessary.” We would prefer words like “voluntary,” “enjoyable,” “conditional upon,” maybe even “lucrative;” but not “necessary.”

And yet the story that has compelled us is of people who, across time, gave their lives for a calling bigger than themselves. You’ve met a lot of these people in course work over these last years—work that has had you roaming across centuries and millennia of biblical and theological history— and it may well be that you are sitting near some others of them right now.

Fred Craddock once said, “Stop the Apostle Paul, if you can, for a brief interview. Converted as an adult, sick much of his life, imprisoned often, stoned, beaten, rejected, shipwrecked, exiled, chased in the country, and trapped in the city, and yet one who was able to say in his later years, ‘I have labored more abundantly than all of them.’ Stop him and ask him, ‘Isn’t missionary work just a piece of cake?’ and hear him

say, ‘If I preach the Gospel I have nothing to boast about for necessity is laid upon me.’”

And I would add: Stop Jesus, if you can, and ask him, “Jesus, with all that power and all the thrill of preaching to those huge large crowds, can you teach me how to be popular and successful like that?” And listen to his answer as he turns his face toward Jerusalem: “It is necessary that I go away …”

He goes on, though, to promise us the gift of the Spirit, so that his ongoing body—the church—will still bear his presence; which challenges us to see the church as necessary, too. I don’t know about you, but speaking for myself, it has been in that very church—broken, and so often timid, and so often wrong for so long before it is right—in that very ongoing body of Christ, I have nonetheless seen in some of the faces of its people the very face of Christ, and have heard in some of their voices his own accents and inflections. And not because they were the perfect ones.

In fact, because even they were finally imperfect, I charge you with maybe an impossible thing. I charge you to love the church: to love that body. To struggle with it, sure; to acknowledge that you will be exasperated by it from time to time, of course; but nonetheless to love it and its people— even the ones you don’t like—simply because Jesus did. While he was among us, he did an outrageous thing. He beheld that ragtag bunch of disciples—whom to lead was a bit like herding cats—and put his arm around one of them one day, an especially tormented, neurotic mess of a man, and said, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.”

I charge you to love that closest thing we have to the body of Christ.

And one more thing: I charge you, with fear and trembling, to turn your face toward Jerusalem. Because in the name of peace, justice, love, and Jesus, you gotta go. There is nothing in God’s wide world that is more necessary. v

New board members include two Austin Seminary alumnae

T

he Austin Seminary Board of Trustees has invited three new members who join the board in November along with a faculty colleague to be selected in late August.

James Allison is manager of Corporate Studies and Initiatives for ConocoPhillips in Houston, Texas. He has worked in the oil and gas industry for more than thirty years in strategic planning and risk management. Allison graduated from Princeton University and the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. He has

served New Covenant Presbytery on the Permanent Judicial Committee and was a commissioner to the 220th General Assembly. Allison is an elder at Pines James Allison Presbyterian Church, Houston, where he has taught an adult Sunday school class for two decades and plays trombone in the Pines Orchestra.

Continued on page 23

Rotating off the board at the conclusion of their terms were Michael Lindvall, Jennifer Lord, James Cooper, (above) and Mert Cooper.

Summer | Fall 2014| 9

Keeping Sabbath

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e live in an era in which space and time have been compressed and boundaries, blurred. Technology allows us to access a vast array of information, entertainment, food, communication, and at least some forms of companionship from across the globe, instantaneously. There are many benefits to this, but how are we to make sense of our own historical moment to construct a sense of identity? What resources besides sheer force of will and preference can guide us in finding a sense of purpose in a world unlimited by time and space? These are the questions facing people today, young and old alike. Multi-tasking has become the new virtue in a world of blurred boundaries. “Virtuality” describes not only our digitized online connections but also our fragmentary encounters with the world—microwavable food, central air conditioning and heat, television, and email have replaced focal practices that required that we know something about the world and called forth our skills. Today digital communication means that every space is infused with every other space and our attention is reduced to mere functionality; we risk not seeing each other, not tasting our food, not hearing the cry of the needy, and not feeling gratitude for the beauty and goodness surrounding us.

What practices can help us attend to God’s presence in the blessed and broken world?

Each semester in my introductory course to Christian education we rehearse the practices that form us as Christian individuals and communities; practices rooted in the biblical narrative that engage us in God’s activity for the life of the world, and which also enlarge our hearts, creating in us new capacities, virtues, and perspectives. I invite each

By David White

Three cohorts in the College of Pastoral Leaders are focusing on Sabbath during their time together. Some of their reflections and resources are included.

Photography for this section is by Austin Seminary alumnus Jim Dollar (MDiv’70).

10 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

student to choose one practice in which to engage with others—friends, family, church members, or other students—over the course of the semester. Students eagerly embrace such practices as hospitality to strangers, giving testimony, singing our lives, seeking justice, and forgiving others. Inevitably, someone will raise questions—whether from unfamiliarity, curiosity, or outright resistance—about the practice of keeping the Sabbath. It seems my students and I have learned well the lessons of our culture concerning the virtues of acting, accomplishing, and achieving. We have forgotten that for Christians doing exists in tension with being—resting in the goodness of God and God’s creation. Students and faculty colleagues often complain that the work before them simply cannot be done in six days. They need the seventh as well.

I cannot imagine my friends hatching plans to violate the other commandments: “I’m planning to take God’s name in vain”; “I think I will commit adultery”; “Maybe I will steal something.” Nevertheless, we commonly boast about the amount of work we face—viewing it as a sign of our irreplaceable value. We have become so captivated by our work and its demands upon us that we imagine we are indispensable and Sabbath, quaint, if not antiquated.

The Sabbath has its roots, of course, in the Genesis account (1:1-2:4) in which God created in six days, called creation good, and on the seventh rested. By resting, God declares as fully as possible just how very good creation is; it is finished, no regrets, no need for a better design. Those who keep the Sabbath remember that it is not we, ourselves, who have created, but God alone who is the source of all that is. Keeping the Sabbath reminds us that we are the recipients of God’s gracious, good gifts and of the commandments; to imagine we are essential is idolatry.

Yet, in Deuteronomy 5:12-15 we are told to keep

the Sabbath for another reason: “Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm,” it says. “Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.” Here God appears not as Creator but as Deliverer; and the admonition to keep the Sabbath resonates with Miriam’s song “Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; horse and rider he has thrown into the sea” (Exodus 15:6, 21). Centuries later, African-American slaves, longing for their own freedom, evoked imagery of Moses’ vanquishing the Egyptian army. To keep the Sabbath is to boldly declare that the call of humans is neither as a tool to be employed nor a beast to be burdened. To keep the Sabbath is to remember one’s freedom and to recall the One from whom that freedom comes afresh each day.

In these two biblical evocations Sabbath is the generous creator who sanctifies time and the liberator who requires that human beings deal mercifully with each other—emphasizing both the goodness and justice of God. For the Jewish people, observing the Sabbath arises from the covenant God made with the Israelites at Sinai, establishing the holy day as “a sign between me and you throughout your generations (Exodus 31:13). No one sings the songs of Sabbath more beautifully than the Jewish people. As Dorothy Bass (Receiving the Day: Christian Practices of Opening the Gift of Time), observes: Shabbat begins on Friday evening at sundown. In observant Jewish homes, a woman lights the candles and says a blessing, welcoming the day that is personified in hymns and prayers as the Bride and Queen of the people, a loving spouse who brings inner delight and a beautiful ruler who gives order and peace. The meal is a time of special festivity; families gather, and guests are often welcomed. Some families dress up, set out the

“Since we live in a culture that often confuses busyness with productivity, it is easy to sacrifice Sabbath rest in order to check one more thing off of the to-do list. Unfortunately, many congregations do not practice healthy boundaries and pastors have a difficult time modeling holistic health. I am learning that through engaging in self-care and honoring my Sabbath time, I am being pastoral and responsible for my congregation and myself.”

{

—The Reverend Susan Steinberg Well Women Cohort Summer | Fall 2014 | 11

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“The Sabbath practice that is most meaningful to me is yoga. Combining yoga and prayer allows me to connect with my body and God in restorative and informative ways. During this time, I am able to pay attention to my breath, where my body aches, and the thoughts that are racing through my mind. Sabbath yoga gives me a much needed time-out.”

best china, and insist on lighting the candles precisely eighteen minutes before sunset, while others are more casual. But in either case the evening is a relaxed one, a time to linger in the candlelight, enjoying food and conversation. On the following evening, at the end of the daylight hours of rest and worship, many families will mark the end of the holy day with another meal and ritual. Parents bless their children at this time and give them something sweet to eat so that the taste of Sabbath peace will linger on their tongues.

It is easy to see in this example how such a practice can be, as Abraham Joshua Heschel suggests in The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man, “a palace in time.” The Bible, Heschel argues, is far more concerned with time than with space. Judaism is about holiness in time, beginning with the celebration of God’s deeds and historic acts and culminating in the Sabbath. The practice of keeping Sabbath changes the very nature of our relationship with time and space, as we set aside the work of the body for the nurture of the soul. The Sabbath is an “example of the world to come,” and a seed of eternal life planted within us. When we keep Sabbath, we connect with that world to come and the power of eternal life.

Lately, Sabbath has become shorthand for almost any time we can get to refresh ourselves: vacations, Morning Prayer, or soccer game with the kids. While these activities are wonderful in themselves, Sabbath is a day, a certain day that shapes a weekly pattern. If we fail to take this seriously, we miss much of the wisdom these traditions offer to a society where time is out of kilter.

Certainly Sabbath begins in the rhythms of worship, but spills over into the hours of a day and into all the days of the week.

Contemporary Christians have unwittingly adopted a gnostic version of Christian faith that privileges ideas, understandings, and intentions over material practices.

We tell ourselves that God knows that our hearts are good and so it does not matter so much whether we adhere to rituals, and of course to some degree that is certainly true. However, Christian practices—whether hospitality, forgiveness, testimony, or keeping Sabbath—impose 12 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

—The Reverend Theresa Thames Soulful Seasons, City Living Cohort

rhythms that make demands upon us, that break us out of zones of comfort and familiarity, and that enlarge our hearts. Even as hospitality demands that we learn to feel the pain of others, and testimony demands that we attend closely to how God is at work in our midst, so keeping the Sabbath makes demands on us. As we restrict the striving and commerce from the Sabbath day, we learn that only God is the source of providence, not we, ourselves. We learn the unhurried grace of blessed friends and family gathered for meals. We learn the true beauty of creation untrammeled by expectations that all things should be commodities. We learn to care for the poor as we share our bounty with those without. And we catch fleeting glimpses of the Kingdom that is to come as it appears even now in Sabbath sightings.

Throughout history Christian communities have engaged the practice of keeping Sabbath in diverse ways, but two things remain consistent.

Rest from work. If keeping the Sabbath means anything, it means not working. In honesty, this presents an enormous difficulty for many people for whom the necessity of feeding their families dictates that they seek work any time they can get it. Wage earners in production and sales are lured or forced into long hours of overtime work. People who work in church, healthcare, or other service professions find it hard to set limits on their exertions. Many of the rest of us feel the pressure of living in an economy that thrives on competition, and we feel constantly behind someone as things pile up on our desks and workbenches. We blame ourselves and our incompetence, but in reality the vast majority of people have been swept into this situation by large social forces. Even as the problem is social, so the remedy needs to be social.

Instead of allowing ourselves to be entangled in competition for grades, promotions, salaries, or other achievements, we need to share our work, needs, and vulnerability with others around us. Instead of viewing others as

See “Sabbath Practices,” continued on page 13 after the Honor Roll of Donors

Sabbath practices Continued from page 12 competitors, we need to embrace them as God’s beloved and hold them and ourselves accountable for keeping a Sabbath.

Rest from commerce. We should acknowledge the impact of our not keeping the Sabbath; if we do not keep the Sabbath, we create a demand which will be filled by laborers, shop keepers, and salespeople, forcing them to forego rest themselves. As Dorothy Bass notes: Just as the boundaries between day and night are disappearing in the unnatural light of the World Wide Web, so the distinctions between one day and another are on their way to vanishing in places of work and business. Sunday mall openings respond to the same consumer needs, real or imagined, that keep stores open around the clock. And why not, from a strictly business point of view? Nothing in nature hints that weeks even exist, much less that they consist of seven days rather than, say, six or ten. As far as nature is concerned, days might as well follow one another in an unbroken chain, without names that recur after seven have passed. As a society that is thoroughly commercial, intent on buying and selling, might assess the days of the week in just the same way.

According to the economist Juliet Schor, the average worker added 164 hours—an extra month of work—to the work year between 1968 and 1988, primarily due to changes in the structure of work inside and outside the home. In addition, cor-

porate downsizing and the multiplication of low-paying jobs that need to be patched together to provide a living wage exacerbate the problem for the working poor. Today, there are millions of people in the United States who cannot take a day off because they cannot afford to. This reality breaks the heart of anyone who loves the Sabbath.

Beyond the weekly refreshment it provides, Sabbath time also nourishes an alternate vision of how things could be. It sows the seeds of resistance to the unjust arrangements that deny freedom both to those who must work without respite and to those who choose to do so. It lets us see that things could be otherwise than they are.

In keeping the Sabbath, Christians can deepen the possibilities for a life enlarged by faith. In a world in which we are paralyzed by information and choices from over the globe, and abstracted by technological devices from the people and place in which we live, or distracted by the ever-present temptation to toggle across many spheres—work, play, politics, near, far—at once, the practice of Sabbath keeping helps us be present to God, the goodness of the earth and the people before us, and to the goodness of our own gifts. For these represent sightings of God’s present and coming Kingdom. Moreover, they remind us that we are not creatures of our own making; we are God’s. We are not merely egos that toggle and manipulate, but creatures that participate with God by enjoying and being grateful for these gifts of God. By keeping the Sabbath, this knowledge seeps deep into our bones and outward into the expanding, competing, manipulating, toggling, virtual world, a world that hungers for a “palace in time.” v

David White is The C. Ellis and Nancy Gribble Nelson Professor of Christian Education and professor in Methodist Studies at Austin Seminary. His most recent book is Dreamcare: A Theology of Youth, Spirit, and Vocation (Cascade, 2013).

“Sabbath is the peace I find when I connect with my friends and loved ones in the midst of the quiet of gazing at the stars, hearing the monk’s chants of praise and gratitude in the midst of a prayer service at Christ in the Desert Monastery, hearing the rabbis and cantor recite blessing over the candles, wine, and bread at Temple Emanuel. Sabbath is exhaling in the silence of God’s mystery walking along a river in my aloneness, but not lonely. It is sharing food, stories, laughter, tears, and life held so sacredly in the trust of a community of love.”

—The Reverend Stacey Merlin Flying by the Seat of our Pants Cohort

}

Summer | Fall 2014 | 13

Disconnect to Reconnect When I speak to groups about our family’s experiment with Sabbath-keeping—taking a day for rest and

recreation every week for a year—people often ask me about technology. What about the Internet? they ask. What about social media, especially Facebook?

At the beginning of our Sabbath project, we didn’t put a lot of restrictions on so-called “recreational” use of our computers, tablets, and smartphones. Of course, work email was a no-no. But with family and friends around the country and globe, Facebook connected us with our community across the miles, so we used it freely.

That all changed one fateful day in January, about midway through our experiment. The following excerpt from Sabbath in the Suburbs describes the moment when things shifted. After the events described here, we began to limit our access to the Internet during our Sabbath time, to the point that I try to take a weekend-long “Tech Sabbath” to this day.

I

t’s early evening on a Sabbath when I learn about Tucson. A congresswoman and several people have been shot, some fatally. I get the news through Facebook, which I’ve logged into at an idle moment. Through the tributes, links, laments, and predictable anti- and pro-gun sentiments that get voiced during events like this, I piece together what has happened. As I click from article to article, I feel strange that while I was in my own little world, terrible events were transpiring.

14 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

I think back to the 9/11 attacks, which happened while I was in seminary in Atlanta. We were told about the planes hitting the Twin Towers in the middle of Hebrew class. Afterward, someone had wheeled a television into the hallway, and many of us saw the towers fall. These days, during the course of my life, I’m rarely very far from e-mail, the radio, or an Internet newsfeed. So to have a tragedy like Tucson unfold over several hours while I was blithely knitting a Harry Potter scarf for Caroline is bizarre.

}

It’s bizarre but also liberating. I’m heartbroken for the victims and their families, but after a while, I decide to turn off the computer. All year, Sabbath has been reminding me that I am not indispensable. I can do nothing to change what has happened. I cannot alter the trajectory of this story as it moves forward either, and sitting at my computer, combing news sites for additional bits of information about the shooter, does nobody any good.

The world has gotten a lot smaller, thanks in part to the 24-7 news cycle. I am grateful for many aspects of our hyperconnected world. But I’m feeling a little frayed around the edges from all this togetherness.Within hours, we know all kinds of details about the gunman, Jared Lee Loughner, and the theories spread like wildfire as to his motives and alleged political leanings. Many of these theories will turn out to be false, but by then it will be too late. These snatches of information, fed to a hungry public, will only confirm what people are already inclined to believe. We hear what we want to hear. We become more entrenched, stony, and immobile in our views.

We become more polarized.

Time will tell us what we need to know. I believe this.

Sabbath is so much deeper than a weekly rest and renewal. Sabbath fosters perspective and clarity. Through Sabbath, perhaps, we can learn the difference between urgent and important. We can learn that reading or commenting on news articles is not the same thing as working for the healing of the world—it only gives us the illusion of doing something useful.

As I watch my laptop screen flash into darkness, I feel a sense of relief. Yes, the world falls apart, even on the Sabbath. Tomorrow I will do my small part to put it back together again, whatever that might be. But today, taking this time to cherish family, self, and God is the most faithful way I can think of to begin. v

“I normally take my Sabbath on Mondays, since Sundays are work days. I take time to sit with God, either in meditation on a Buddhist sitting pillow or by drawing or writing poetry or by connecting with my inner child in God’s presence. Sometimes my Sabbath is reading a book on the exercise bike or while soaking in the bathtub.

Or it might be lunch or a glass of wine with a friend. The weeks when I have to work at the hospital on Mondays, I try to grab at least a half day of Sabbath somewhere.

Sabbath may come in a 3-4 hour chunk, or it may come in 5-minute increments, the point is to rest in God’s presence and to take care of self.”

—The Reverend Ellen Ditmann Flying by the Seat of our Pants Cohort

*** Suggested Resources: Into the Silent Land by Martin Laird

MaryAnn McKibben Dana is pastor of Idylwood Presbyterian Church in Falls Church, Virginia. She is author of Sabbath in the Suburbs and a forthcoming book, Spirituality for the Smartphone Age, the focus of her Education Beyond the Wall workshop, “Links, Likes, and Follows” (October 20-22).

MaryAnn is co-chair of NEXT Church, a movement within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) that seeks to call forth vital ministry for our changing cultural context. Connect with her at her website, The Blue Room.

Soul Wilderness, A Desert Spirituality by Kerry Walters The Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom by Christine Valters Paintner Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus, and Sharpen Your Creative Mind by Jocelyn K. Glei

Summer | Fall 2014 | 15

A Silent Sabbath

By San Williams (DMin’03)

I

t’s the Monday morning after Easter Day, and I’m driving south on U.S. Highway 77 through Kingsville, Texas. South of Kingsville, at the blinking light in Sarita, I make a left turn onto a sparsely traveled ranch road. Once there, I instinctively slow down, turn off the AC, roll down the windows, and drive slowly along the five miles that lead to Lebh Shomea House of Prayer. Along the way, I notice scissor-tailed flycatchers on the wires, and hawks circling overhead. Indian paintbrush, purple wine-cups and other wildflowers line the narrow road. With each passing mile, I sense that I’m entering a silence-filled place, a place far removed from routine activities and responsibilities.

I’m on my way to a four-day sabbatical at Lebh Shomea House of Prayer. I’ve been going to Lebh Shomea once or twice a year since 1983.

Lebh Shomea is owned by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

Sarita Kenedy East was the last heir of the south Texas Kenedy Ranch family, and upon her death in 1961, the Big House and 1,100 surrounding acres of the ranch were willed to the Oblates. For more than forty years, this small Catholic community at Lebh Shomea has welcomed guests who are seeking solitude and prayer.

I arrive, check in, and settle into my dwelling—which consists of a small screened-in porch, a simple room with bed and desk, a prayer room to one side, and a bathroom. In that space I become ever more mindful of the silence, attentive to the sound of the wind, and aware of the brightly colored hooded orioles flitting about the mesquite trees near my dwelling. I unpack the few books I’ve brought: Silent Compassion: Finding God in Contemplation by Richard Rohr; a work of fiction titled The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce; and Scott Berg’s new biography of Woodrow Wilson. Part, but only part, of my time will be spent reading on my porch, or on the large veranda of the Big House, another favorite reading spot.

At 6:00 p.m. a bell rings to announce dinner. Meals are taken in silence in a dining room located in the basement of the Big House. If you like gourmet fare, this is not your place. Menus are repetitive and unimaginative—cereal and fruit in the morning; beans, rice, and a meat for lunch; cold cuts for sandwiches set out for the evening meal.

At night, a breeze blows through open windows in my dwelling. I hear a gaggle of wild turkeys passing nearby.

Later that night I listen to coyotes howling in the distance. Without any outdoor lighting, the darkness here is unlike darkness in the city. It’s really, really dark!

Six thirty a.m. arrives and a bell rings. Mass will begin in the Chapel of the Little Children at 7:00. The contemplative Mass lasts only thirty minutes. Everyone present—typically there are anywhere from six to fifteen guests at any one time—is invited to share in the Eucharist.

The rest of my day is free. No distractions, no schedule, no talking. On my first walk, I spy a vermillion flycatcher, only the second one I’ve seen at Lebh Shomea. Once, a few years ago, I was hiking along one of the sandy trails through the wilderness area when I came upon a flock of green jays. The beauty of their vivid black, green, yellow, and

16 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

blue feathers stopped me in my tracks. Every day, I take walks, read, and find quiet places to rest.

While silence permeates Lebh Shomea, some places on the grounds are quieter than others. My favorite “quiet place” is the porch on the south corner of the Big House.

The stillness in this spot is thick, almost palpable. Sitting there, I experience silence not as an absence of noise, but as a primordial presence that is both restorative and creative.

“In the beginning,” the writer of Genesis declares,

there is only a silent void. Then, out of the silence, creation is born. Later, God goes back into silence to rest, calling it the Sabbath Day. Such is the rhythm of God, the rhythm of creation.

Why not, then, the rhythm of pastoral ministry? v San Williams (DMin’03) is pastor of University Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas.

Summer | Fall 2014 | 17

The Disquieting, Good Gift of Slowing Down

By Mally Baum (MDiv’04)

T

he church where I have served as the associate pastor for almost a decade recently instituted a sabbatical policy (every seven years, whether we need it or not), and this is my summer to get away from it all. The session worked with me to fashion an audacious proposal for a Lilly Endowed Clergy Renewal Grant. Aware that our jam-packed, fast-paced lives gradually erode our ability to truly be present and to listen to one another, let alone to the nudgings of the Spirit, we crafted a three-month odyssey designed for rest and for the restoration of these vital connections. To my surprise and delight, “An Adventure in Learning to Listen” was accepted. I awaited the arrival of my summer Sabbath with all the eagerness of a wiggly, desk-weary fourth grader ...

First stop on the adventure was a sustainable farm on Ometepe Island in Nicaragua. Though daily we awoke before dawn, courtesy of the chattering howler monkeys, the pace of our lives there was deliciously slow. My girlfriends and I roasted and ground coffee and peanut butter by hand and made chocolate starting from raw cocoa beans. We lay in hammocks and read for fun. After a week there, we set off for an eco-friendly wellness resort perched in the jungle canopy next to Redonda Beach. We were lulled to sleep at night by the gentle sound of the waves and awakened by the cries of the ever-present monkeys. We practiced yoga on a platform overlooking the Pacific, we snorkeled and even went deep-sea fishing. And we shared ideas, frustrations, and fears.

The next leg of the adventure took my husband and me to Northern Ireland for a retreat fashioned around story telling, music, art, and peace. Fortified by our daily “full Irish breakfasts” we walked (and walked some more), listening to our fellow travelers’ remarkable journeys—a Canadian poet whose faith was at a crossroads, a talented young actress seeking discernment, a philanthropist wondering what new endeavor was his to undertake. Most evenings we heard from Northern Irish poets and peacemakers working to bring insight and healing to their beautiful, deeply divided nation. The pace of our lives together was deliberate, with time and space for reflection upon all we saw and experienced. And then there was the daily musical medicine that soothed our souls.

What can possibly be “disquieting” about all of this, you might ask? As I slowed down, the lessons of my surroundings were able to penetrate more deeply somehow. Nicaragua, the poorest of the Central and South American nations (with almost half the population falling below the poverty line), challenged my comfortable lifestyle. Northern Ireland’s persistent “Troubles” helped me see the fear-driven divisions in my own nation with new eyes. Old “stuffed” emotions now had time to catch up with me and to surface. I became aware of the chatter in my head that’s as incessant as the Nicaraguan monkeys ... the comparisons, the assumptions, the judgments, the voracious hunger to have others think well of me. This chatter—apparently always present, distracting, and driving me—until now, unnoticed. I sense an invitation to live with more integrity, depth, and generosity.

My next destination is a hermitage in a Benedictine Monastery in Wisconsin. The pace there will move from a crawl to a standstill. The hard, good gift continues. I am learning to listen. v

A 2004 graduate of Austin Seminary, Mally Baum is associate pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church in McKinney, Texas.

18 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

live learn

upcoming from education beyond the walls | Drawn In | Sept. 17 | Rev. Troy Bronsink | This day of contemplative experience and

integrated right- and left-brained learning will rejuvenate you for your life and ministry— and help you discover a process for refreshing those with whom you serve. | For ministers, program directors, small group leaders, worship leaders. | 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. | Cost: $75/ person

Life as Art | Sept. 18-19 | Rev. Troy Bronsink | How do we balance risk, rest, and

listening? How do we create culture while allowing space to be created and to learn from the margins? Learn a process to help you design your work in ways that more fully integrate with your callings to faith and creativity. | For social entrepreneurs, church planters, artisans, creatives. | Cost: $140

The Law of Someday | Sept. 23 | Rev. Karl Travis | Learn the tools of generational

theory and grow your capacity for dealing with money, generosity, and organizational life in a multi-generational community of faith. | For pastors, stewardship committees, church leaders.| Cost: $75/person

The Heyer Lecture: “Undocumented, Unaccompanied, and Citizen: The Children of America’s Migration” | Sept. 25| Dr. Luis Zayas | Dr. Zayas is dean of U.T.’s School of Social Work. | Noon | FREE (lunch included, registration required)

The Power and Practice of Personal Storytelling | Oct. 6-8 | Author Mark Yaconelli | Discover how the story of your life connects with God’s story and learn ways to lead other people toward the same discovery. | For pastors, educators, leaders, and anyone searching for ways to build connections with and among others.| Cost: $275/person (meals included)

2015 MidWinter Lectures February 2-4 Currie Lecturer

Beverly Roberts Gaventa Distinguished Professor of New Testament, Baylor University Jones Lecturer

Kimberly B. Long Associate Professor of Worship, Columbia Theological Seminary Westervelt Lecturer

Preparing for Advent: Speaking a Living Word| Oct. 10 |Dr. Suzie Park & The Rev. Dr. Jack Barden|Spend an afternoon digging into the lectionary texts for the season with Seminary faculty and fellow preachers and worship leaders. | For preachers and church leaders.| 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.| Cost: $35/person

Jack H. Haberer

Finishing With Vitality| Oct. 13-14 | Rev. David Rich | Think through the process of

Preacher

Links, Likes, and Follows: Spirituality in the Smartphone Age| Oct. 20-

President and Dean, Johnson C. Smith Seminary

ending full-time ministry and plan for retirement in a constructive, forward-thinking way. For congregational pastors who anticipate retiring in the next five years. | Cost: $150 (housing included) / $125 commuters

22| Rev. MaryAnn McKibben Dana | Learn how to guide congregations toward faithful, lifegiving ways of engaging with technology. For clergy, Christian educators, non-clergy church leaders. In partnership with SCRAPCE and UMC CPCE | Cost: $125 / person ($75 for APCE members and UMC CPCE) See MaryAnn McKibben Dana’s essay on page 16.

Ministry in a Changing Church| Oct. 31-Nov. 2 | Learn from practicing

tentmakers and institutional leaders effective models of ministry to meet the challenges facing many churches. For tentmakers, bi-vocational ministers, seminary students, and church leaders interested in the evolving structures of pastoral ministry. |Cost: varies; see AustinSeminary.edu/changing

Cruzando La Frontera: Ministerior Juvenil | Nov. 15 | Dr. Elizabeth Tamez

Editor, The Presbyterian Outlook

Paul T. Roberts

Reunions for the Classes of 1955, 1965, 1975, 1985, 1995 & 2005-2014

AustinSeminary. edu/midwin15

Mendez, Rev. Al Rodríguez | For pastors and lay people; workshop conducted in Spanish. In partnership with Lutheran Seminary Program in the Southwest and Seminary of the Southwest.| Cost: $35 for pastors, $15 for their guests (lunch included)

AustinSeminary.edu/ebwworkshops Summer | Fall 2014 | 19

faculty news notes

Blair Monie to bring pastoral skills to Zbinden chair board action |

T

he Reverend Dr. Blair R. Monie joins the Austin Seminary faculty this fall as holder of The Louis H. and Katherine S. Zbinden Distinguished Chair of Pastoral Ministry and Leadership. Established in 2002 by a gift from the congregation of First Presbyterian Church, San Antonio, the purpose of the chair is to invite “distinguished and experienced pastors to teach in the broad area of ministry, including: church administration, stewardship, worship, preaching, Christian education, pastoral care, and church programming.” Previous holders of the chair have included The Reverend Dr. Louis Zbinden and the Reverend Dr. K.C. Ptomey Jr. Monie retired in June as senior pastor of Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church in Dallas, where he served for nineteen years. In honor of his webXtra: Professor Monie expounds upon ministry, Preston Hollow his ministry and life in the August edition of the parishioners Robert and REED newsletter: AustinSeminary.edu/TheREED Mary Wright established the Blair R. Monie Distinguished Chair in Homiletics at Austin Seminary in 2013.

Professor Monie holds a BA in English from Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania, a Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry from Princeton Theological Seminary, where his doctoral thesis focused on the supervision of seminarians in field education. Monie served churches in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Texas.

Consistently committed to theological education, he supervised students in Princeton’s “Teaching Church” program and was a reader of Princeton’s DMin qualifying examinations for nine years. As a member of the General Assembly Council of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), he chaired the Congregational Ministries Division and served on the Committee on Theological Education. In 2006, Monie chaired the Ecclesiology Committee of the 217th General Assembly with responsibility for the Report of the Peace, Unity, and Purity Task Force of the denomination. For four years at Preston Hollow, he mentored new seminary graduates in the Lilly Pastoral Residency program.

Monie served for nine years as a trustee of Austin Seminary (2003-2012). He and Cyndy Monie are parents to two grown daughters and grandparents to four grandsons.

“The Seminary is very excited to welcome Blair and Cyndy Monie,” said President Theodore J. Wardlaw. “Blair will bring to the Zbinden Chair and our student body his intellectual rigor and curiosity, his ‘best practices’ experiences across a lifetime of ministry, and his joyful and generous spirit. We look forward to welcoming him into our midst.” v

faculty notes | Associate Dean Timothy Lincoln presented at a workshop at the annual conference of the American Theological Library Association in June. He also was a parliamentarian at the biennial meeting of the Association of

Theological Schools. He has written an article “A Few Words of Advice: Linking Ministry, Research on Ministry, and Theological Education” for The journal Theological Education.

Jennifer Lord, The Dorothy B.

20 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

Vickery Professor of Liturgical Studies, began her year-long sabbatical by hiking 745 miles on the Way of St. James (France, Spain). She plans to write/ publish a Lenten Pilgrimage Devotional informed by the experience. v

W

ith respect to faculty, the board of trustees took the following action in its May 2014 meeting: • Appointed David H. Jensen as Academic Dean for a five-year term, effective July 1, 2014.

• Accepted the retirement of John E. Alsup and named him The First Presbyterian Church Shreveport D. Thomason Professor Emeritus in New Testament Studies, effective July 1, 2014.

• Authorized a search for a faculty position in New Testament studies.

• Changed David F. White’s title to Professor in the C. Ellis and Nancy Gribble Nelson Chair of Christian Education and Professor in Methodist Studies, effective July 1, 2014.

• Granted faculty status to Melissa Wiginton and changed her title to Vice President for Education Beyond the Walls and Research Professor in Methodist Studies, effective July 1, 2014.

• Approved a 12-month sabbatical leave for Cynthia L. Rigby, beginning August 1, 2015.

Professor Alsup hangs up the teaching saddle

J

ohn E. Alsup, The First Presbyterian Church of Shreveport D. Thomason Professor in New Testament Studies at Austin Seminary, who has served on the faculty since 1975—second only to Dr. Robert Gribble in length of service—retired on July 1, 2014. He was named an emeritus professor by the board of trustees and will continue to teach through the 2014-15 academic year.

“Across his time at the Seminary, John Alsup has inspired students, colleagues, and constituents with his intellectual rigor, for sure; but, more importantly, with his love for the gospel generally considered, and its centrality in the life of the church and in the hearts of believers everywhere,” said President Theodore J. Wardlaw.

“John has also been a superb mentor, a committed citizen of the Seminary, and the epitome of the scholar/pastor.

He has made a difference here, and his witness will live on.”

Alsup has played a central role

in the preparation of generations of aspiring pastors. Over some thirty-nine years, Professor Alsup has enlivened the classroom with his expertise in exegetical methodology, New Testament theology, and Greek and German language studies.

Professor Alsup implemented those skills in translating several of the works of his mentor, the German New Testament scholar Leonhard Goppelt.

He has also written The Post-Resurrection Appearance Stories of the Gospel Tradition (Wipf and Stock, 2007), “Resurrection,” in the Encyclopedia of Christianity (Eerdmans, 2005), commentaries on I Peter and Revelation, and articles in the New Harper’s Bible Dictionary.

He is currently working on a creative treatment of a commentary on the Gospel of Mark.

Among Alsup’s passions are a website (www.encounterscripture.net) offering pastors a place for dialogue about sermon preparation, to polish Greek skills, and to share responses to

the common lectionary; the cultivation of Austin Seminary students into pastors through a shared ministry with Sunrise Beach Federated Church; and, of course, his horses.

In retirement, Alsup plans to continue writing fiction from a theological perspective and spending even more time with his four-legged friends. Windows has invited Professor Alsup to reflect on his years at Austin Seminary for a subsequent issue.

“John Alsup knows how to be a friend,” says his New Testament colleague Lewie Donelson. “In my years at the Seminary no person on the faculty has formed more friendships than has John. He is friends with faculty, staff, students, and with the families of all of them. He is more than a teacher, more than a colleague. He is a good friend. To all of us. The good news is that, even in retirement, all those friendships are still there.” v

Students celebrate their professor on the last day of Greek summer camp by “tying one on”—bandana-style!

Summer | Fall 2014| 21

alumni news notes

Residencies offer lessons in “best practices” to seminary graduates

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Photo courtesy of Fourth Presbyterian Church

teachers to walk alongside me.” his spring we saw

Residencies help students another group of eager define their calling and are graduates head out designed to extend beyond the into the world to proclaim the initial ministry experience. love of God and express their As Caitlin notes, “Folks often callings through service in the misunderstand residencies church. Over the past dozen as just another internship or years, a number of students not a real first call because of have had the opportunity to their limited time frame. In serve residencies at various fact residency programs are “best-practices” Presbyterian designed to be very real, very churches. Austin Seminary is meaningful ministry. They gratified that our graduates also intentionally provide have been chosen from a opportunities for newly very competitive field of ordained pastors to continue applicants. learning and be guided by

Most recently, Layton mentors in their first years of Williams (MDiv’14) headed ministry.” out to begin her two-year

This real-world application residency in Chicago at of their seminary studies Fourth Presbyterian Church, strengthens their ability to one of the largest in the effectively minister to others. denomination and the largest

“One thing that I think with a female head of staff.

Layton Williams (MDiv’14) is introduced to her new was unique to my residency Residencies are a superb congregation, Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago, on August 4. at Arch Street Presbyterian opportunity for our graduating Church [ASPC] is that I learned the value of entrepreneurial students to move forward and increase their experience in ministry,” says Sudie Niesen Thompson (MDiv’12). “Since congregational ministry. Many residencies are made possible it was in a season of revitalization, ASPC couldn’t rely on through foundations committed to enhancing Christian the same ways of ‘being church.’ In order to flourish in the ministry. heart of Philadelphia’s business district, this congregation

In 1999, The Lilly Endowment Inc. began supporting needed to be creative, and it needed to take risks. During my selected leadership congregations which were natural settings residency—thanks largely to the guidance of Bill Golderer—I for assisting new pastors in making the critical transitions was able to acquire skills for leading God’s church in a from seminary student to full-time service. Through changing world. These skills have come in handy in my current these residencies, new pastors spend time in a teaching position as the pastoral associate for mission at Wayne congregation before assuming leadership roles as pastors Presbyterian Church [in Wayne, Pennsylvania]. Through or in other forms of service. This initiative was designed to strengthen the preparation of pastoral leaders (see Transition- this position, I am part of the pastoral team charged with organizing The Common Place—a faith-based educational into-Ministry Programs, http://lillyendowment.org/religion_ outreach center in Southwest Philadelphia.” tim.html). There The Endowment thus far has invested $38

Layton Williams looks toward a fruitful year ahead. “In million making grants to thirty-one institutions, a number of my residency, I’ll have two years to work as part of a pastoral them PC(USA) congregations. staff of eight at a 5200-member church,” she says. “Among

Caitlin Deyerle (MDiv’11) completed a year-long other things, I will be pastoral liaison to the adult education residency at Second Presbyterian Church, Indianapolis. She department, helping plan the classes and teaching classes says, “I always think of the goal of seminary as learning to of my own. I will sometimes preach and sometimes help think theologically about the world, while the goal of the lead worship. I will pastor the young adult community. I will residency is to put those concepts into action in a context participate in Fourth’s various missional efforts. I will meet where there is built-in support. Residency allowed me to people from all walks of life. I will walk with people through continue to develop and hone those skills in the context of crisis and joy. I will pray. A lot.” a particular church with the invaluable help of mentors and 22 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

Other Austin Seminary alums who have been chosen for pastoral residencies—supported by Lilly and other funding sources—include Andy Odom (MDiv’01) and Sarah Powers (MDiv’01), who also served at Second Presbyterian Church, Indianapolis; Adan Mairena (MDiv’03), who served at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church in Pennsylvania; Andrew Parnell (MDiv’05), Lindsay Conrad (MDiv’13), and Mary Elizabeth Prentice Hyers (MDiv’11), who served at First Presbyterian Church, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Martha Langford (MDiv’01), who also served at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago; Mari Lynn Jones (MDiv’11), who served at First United Presbyterian Church, Paola, Kansas; Ben Shultz (MDiv’12), who served at First Presbyterian Church, Corpus Christi, Texas; and Melissa Koerner Lopez (MDiv’11), who was a pastoral resident at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Dallas.

Residencies have proven to be been powerful instruments of transition from seminary to service. As Williams says, “Even though this isn’t at all where I thought I’d end up, I can’t imagine any job or future that I could be more excited about. In fact, now when I look back, it seems like the road was always leading here, and my time at Austin Seminary seems to have especially prepared me for where I ended up.”

We are grateful for the opportunities our graduates have to serve, and the beautiful symmetry they experience from seminary to residency and beyond, all in God’s name and for God’s glory. v —Nettie Reynolds Middler student

Alums to serve on Seminary Board Continued from page 9 Janice Bryant (MDiv’01, DMin’11) has been minister of Christian education at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Austin, since 2001. The first female pastor in the church’s history, Bryant is involved in leadership, communication, and educational outreach for the church. She came to the ministry from the field Janice Bryant of education, having been a teacher and public school administrator, specializing in the area of gifted education, for twenty years. She earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Jackson State University and the University of Southern Mississippi in addition to Austin Seminary. She loves to make music.

Ann Herlin (MDiv’01) has been associate pastor of The Old Presbyterian Meeting House in Alexandria, Virginia, for thirteen years. She serves on the Church Development Committee of National Capital Presbytery. A graduate of Yale University and Austin Seminary, she was recipient of the Stitt Fellowship and attended a six-week clergy study program at Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Jerusalem in 2009. She is the daughter of Bruce Herlin, an Austin Seminary Trustee for more than thirty years. Herlin and husband Terrance Staley are parents to two young children. v Ann Herlin

Ministry Selfies!

Summer | Fall 2014 | 23

alumni news notes

Please say YES! Alumni Phonathon September 22-25 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!

class notes | 1980s On May 17, Sallie S. Watson (MDiv’87) preached the Baccalaureate service at Austin College. The next day Austin College bestowed on her an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree.

Candasu Vernon (MDiv’89) married Brian Cubbage on June 28, 2014.

1990s Jeff Baxter (DMin’92) has a new call, as designated pastor for Union Presbyterian Church Powell, Wyoming, effective May 18, 2014.

Jesús Juan “Jesse” González (MDiv’92) became the pastor of First Presbyterian Church, McAllen, Texas, in July.

Tammy Gregory Brown (MDiv’94) began a new call July 1 as the executive presbyter and stated clerk of the North Alabama Presbytery.

2000s Steven Barnes (MA’00) became senior pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Newton, North Carolina, in November.

… or send your gift of support today.

Thank you!

AustinSeminary.edu/ alum14

On June 6 Kerry Knox Westerwick (MDiv’06) received the Doctor of Ministry degree in Reformed Christian Spirituality from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Her doctoral project is titled “Trinity and Covenant: Rebuilding the Temple.”

Anna Rosales Salazar (MDiv’07) and her husband, Alejandro Salazar-Hinojosa, welcomed Valentina Anabelle Salazar-Rosales on May 28th.

Reagan Sofia was born to Paul and Alice P. Hernandez (MDiv’08), May 7, 2014.

Henry and Emily R. Owen (MDiv’08) welcomed Ross Reynolds Owen, born December 9, 2013.

Ross Owen 24 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

Meredith Kemp-Pappan (MDiv’08) and Ryan KempPappan (MDiv’08) have a son, Henry Grant, born April 6, 2014 Brandon Miles (MDiv’10) married Sarah Foust, July 12 in Birmingham.

2010s Finlay Scott, son of David B. and Mary Elizabeth PrenticeHyers (MDiv’11), arrived April 27, 2014.

Sarah and Shane K. Webb (MDiv’11), welcomed their son, Daniel Kermitt, July 9, 2014.

John Russell Stanger (MDiv’12) will become executive director of Presbyterian Welcome on December 31, 2014.

Jessica Espinoza (MATS’13) married Adam Glasebrook on May 17, 2014.

Carter Matthew, son of Jordan and Andrew R. Keyes (MDiv’13), arrived June 17, 2014.

On June 29, Joe Tognetti (MDiv’13) became the associate pastor at Colonial Hills United Methodist Church in San Antonio.

ordinations | Karen A. Wagner (MDiv’07), ordained and installed as interim pastor on June 1, 2014, at Southminster Presbyterian Church, Prairie Village, Kansas Kristin M. Austin (MDiv’11), ordained as a teaching elder on May 31, 2014; she is serving as a chaplain at Kansas City Hospice and Palliative Care Kelly B. Staples (MDiv’11), ordained and installed on March 16, 2014, as designated associate pastor at NorthPark Presbyterian Church, Dallas, Texas Martin P. Garrison (MDiv’11), ordained on July 27, 2014, and installed as pastor of St. Peter’s Church, Coupland, Texas, on August 1 Naomi Ingrim (MDiv’12),

ordained and installed as a teaching elder, stated supply on April 6, 2014, at First Presbyterian Church, Copperas Cove, Texas David P. Boyd (MDiv’14) ordained on June 29, 2014; to be installed as co-pastor at First Presbyterian Church, Gothenburg, Nebraska Jill R. Boyd (MDiv’14), ordained on June 29, 2014; to be installed as co-pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Gothenburg, Nebraska Kristi Click (MDiv’14), ordained August 10, 2014, as designated pastor of Spring Branch Presbyterian Church, Houston Alexander K. Cornell (MDiv’14), ordained and installed June 8, 2014, as pastor of St. Stephen Presbyterian Church, Houston Joshua P. Kerr (MDiv’14), ordained as a teaching elder of First Presbyterian Church, Perry, Oklahoma, on July 13, 2014

in memoriam | Ronald M. Guinn (MDiv’59, ThM’71), Austin, Texas, July 2, 2014 Patricia M. Pabst (MDiv’82), Franklin, Texas, May 14, 2014

Each year the Alumni Association honors graduates of Austin Seminary for their contributions to the church. Please send your nominations by

September 1, 2014 AustinSeminary. edu/nominate

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The ordinary work of a Christian theologian

By David H. Jensen, academic dean and professor in the Clarence N. and Betty B. Frierson Distinguished Chair of Reformed Theology

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heology sometimes gets a bad rap. A common caricature of Christian theology depicts it as an arcane and abstract discipline, inaccessible to average readers, remote from everyday concerns. According to this depiction, theologians probe the minutiae of doctrine (such as the pneumatological implications of medieval angelology), researching and writing primarily for other theologians.

Most Christians probably will never read—or even hear—of such treatises.

This is not to say that such work is unimportant. As long as Christian faith seeks deeper understanding, there is no question of faith that should be

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body. As the Gospel of John reminds us, we believe that Word has become flesh and dwells among us. This is what incarnation means: God’s beloved Son comes in body, for the sake of our salvation, blessing the bodies he touches. Here, the ordinary body of a first-century Jewish carpenter and itinerant preacher becomes the extraordinary revelation of God, a body whose life, death, and resurrection summon us as disciples to gather as his body in the Christian church. Without the body, there is no life; in his risen body, Jesus gives us new life.

Another ordinary thing at the center of faith is bread, the basic staple food across cultures. In the Lord’s Supper, our daily bread becomes extraordinary, as we receive it as the Body of Christ, broken and given for the world. Gathered around the Lord’s Table week after week, we share this basic food endowed with an extraordinary promise of life eternal.

One additional example of Christianity’s embrace of the ordinary is the bath of baptism. Here we uplift water, the most basic element of life (which composes approximately 65% of our bodies). Without water, we will die within days. Yet Christians know baptism as the water of life not only because water is essential to life, but because living waters incorporate us into Jesus’ death and resurrection, washing away our sin and granting us new life. In Christian worship, baptism is more than an ordinary bath.

As I go about my daily tasks of reading, writing, and teaching Christian theology, I continually try to connect

As I go about my daily tasks of reading, writing, and teaching Christian theology, I continually try to connect that work to

these basic themes of Christian faith: bodies, bread, and bath.

unexplored. The church will always need theologians to speak with and ask questions of one another, even if those ways of speaking remain somewhat remote from ordinary Christian speech.

But the primary work of Christian theology should never be content with conversations and treatises intended for limited audiences. Why? One reason is that theology is meant for the service of the church, for edifying, clarifying, instructing, and questioning. But the more compelling reason that Christian theologians need to aim for a broad audience is that, at its most basic level, Christian faith focuses on ordinary things, celebrating the extraordinary in the midst of the ordinary.

Perhaps the most ordinary thing at the center of Christian faith is the

that work to these basic themes of Christian faith: bodies, bread, and bath. Christian theology reflects on the extraordinary in the midst of the ordinary, the new life that comes amid seemingly mundane things: a Savior who comes in a body like ours, a reconciled and fractured community called the church, in sacraments that point to the risen Christ’s presence in bread and water, and in human words of preaching that direct us to the living Word. For me, this means that there is not a cordoned-off series of subjects that are theological to the exclusion of others. Christian doctrine does not concern simply religious themes but the whole of human life lived under God’s grace. Much of my research, writing, and teaching concerns ordinary matters that many would consider outside the realm of traditional theology: family and parenting, work and labor, sexuality, marriage, and friendship. I try to attend to the realities and commitments that constitute the bulk of our time, the things we spend most of our days doing.

All of our lives are theological because our faith offers the stunning claim that God, in Christ, becomes flesh and dwells among us, claiming our entire lives as God’s very own.

If the caricature of a Christian theologian is a loner in an isolated study, churning out inaccessible tracts, I prefer an image of the theologian in community, going about daily tasks with others, and reflecting on them in light of the new life given in Jesus Christ. This doubtless requires time alone, in front of a computer screen or with pen in hand. But it also requires continual engagement of the ordinary things that sustain life, sensing the Spirit that animates them, and sharing conversation with others so that we might sense the extraordinary in the midst of the ordinary. v Summer Summer || Fall Fall 2013 2014| 25

Commencement

By Paul Hooker

The cry lifted my attention From pavement to rooftop.

Beginning in self assertion, Trailing into doubt, A question, plaintive, unsure.

A fledgling hawk perched on the cornice, Toeing the terminus between Solid structure and empty air.

Reddish breast thrust forward— Raptoral dignity, evolution’s masterpiece, as yet Unsupported by confident experience.

windows

Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary 100 East 27th Street, Austin, Texas 78705-5711 Address Correction Requested

2014

Commencement

How long have we watched From classroom and library window The mating pair of redshoulders Rearing their replacements to stand Their parents’ post on branch and wing?

How long observed The slow discipleship of hunt and flight?

Lessons done, the fledgling Stands on the border between learning and living.

Two mockingbirds, grey-coated, nettlesome, Trill and squawk their challenge: What right have you to be here?

No match for beak and talon, Nonetheless they swoop and dive, Ruffling russet feathers in their attack.

Go back, go back. You are not ready.

Perhaps persuaded, or insecure, The fledgling neither retreats nor advances.

From high atop the chapel steeple Comes the maternal command.

She does not soar to rescue, Nor circle in hovering defense, But only summons up lessons learned, Promises made. You are ready.

You will be hungry, you will be lonely, But you are neither empty nor alone.

Go, fly, and remember who you are.

The fledgling cocks his head, Attentive to this last lecture.

Then, deciding at length to rely On instinct or instruction, Unfurls majestic wings, darkshrouded— As though a black gown Billowed by a freshening breeze— And flies, soaring Where no mocking bird has will or wing to reach.

The classroom is empty now.

The lessons are in the wind.

Photo of baby hawks by Jacqueline Hefley

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