alumni news notes Left: John Leedy (MDiv’11) played the pipes for Polity Bowl. Right: Lydia Hernandez (MDiv’93) brought her perspective to the “Day of Memory and Hope: Austin Seminary and the Education of Hispanic Pastors” event.
Hold the date! A symposium for pastors
class notes | 1950s
“To Hear & Obey: What Karl Barth Teaches Us About Discerning and Following the Word of God”
The 2015 Karl Barth Symposium April 13–15, 2015 Speakers: David W. Johnson Associate Professor of Church History and Christian Spirituality
Serene Jones
President of Union Theological Seminary in New York
Cynthia L. Rigby
The W.C. Brown Professor of Theology
George Stroup
Polebridge Press has published a collection of essays by William O. Walker (MDiv’57) in the book, Paul and His Legacy: Collected Essays. Walker is the Jennie Farris Railey King Professor Emeritus of Religion at Trinity University.
1970s Jim Currie (MDiv’79, ThM’89) has edited Doing Justice, Loving Kindness, and Walking Humbly: The Witness of Some Southern Presbyterian Pastors for the Cause of Racial Harmony in the 1950s and 1960s, published by the Presbyterian Historical Society of the Southwest.
1980s Candasu Vernon (MDiv’89) married Brian Cubbage June 28, 2014.
1990s Valerie Bridgeman (MDiv’90) was appointed associate professor of homiletics and Hebrew Bible at Methodist Theological School in Ohio, effective July 1, 2015.
The J.B. Green Professor of Theology, Columbia Seminary
Jesus J. (Jesse) Gonzalez (MDiv’92) became a United States Citizen on September 26, 2014, in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
For more information on schedule and cost, go to:
Thea A. McKee (MDiv’95) was installed as pastor of United Presbyterian Church, Riverton, Wyoming, November 9, 2014.
austinseminary.edu/ barthsymposium Event made posisble by
The Shirl P. Butler Endowed Fund for Barth Studies
2000s John R. Gage (MDiv’00) was installed as senior pastor at United Christian Church of Austin on October 11, 2014. Ashley Lyon and Matthew Morse (MDiv’03) welcomed their son, Ethan Bennett Morse,
20 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
born September 16, 2014. He is the great-grandson of Jack K. Bennett (ThM’58). Tanya M. Eustace (MDiv’04) has completed the PhD program at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary.
2010s Joshua Gahr (MDiv’08) has published the article “Evangelicals and Emergent Moral Protest” in the journal Mobilization: An International Quarterly (Volume 19, Number 2 / June 2014). Eric Gates (MDiv’12) became the senior pastor of Central Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Austin, June 16. Laureen Suba (MDiv’14) has been called to be the executive director ad-interim for the United Campus Ministry of Greater Houston. Jen Stuart (MDiv’14) has been appointed the pastor of Ellensburg United Methodist Church in Ellensburg, Washington.
ordinations | Barbara (Babs) Miller (MDiv’90) was ordained to a validated ministry for chaplaincy with Austin Hospice on November 16, 2014. Michael P. Lauziere (MDiv’09) was ordained as pastor of First Baptist Church, Springvale Maine, October 19, 2014.
Karen Black (MDiv’13) was ordained as stated supply of First Presbyterian, Taylor, Texas, November 2, 2014. Gordon N. Blackman Jr. (MDiv’14) was ordained and installed as pastor of Alpine Presbyterian Church, Longview Texas, October 26. James Michael East (MDiv’14) was ordained on November 2, 2014. He has been called to be associate pastor at Forest Lake Presbyterian Church, Columbia, South Carolina. Sheila Sidberry-Thomas (MDiv’14) was ordained as an itinerant elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, October 10. Layton Williams (MDiv’14) was ordained at Central Presbyterian Church, Austin, Texas, and installed as pastoral resident for Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago, Illinois, November 15, 2014.
in memoriam | Henry A. Grubbs (MDiv’50), Southlake, Texas, August 11, 2014 Joseph T. Sheeler (MDiv’65), Ruston, Louisiana, October 8, 2014 Ellen Tabler Lemen (DMin’89), Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, September 5, 2014 Carrol J. Blevins (MDiv’94), Las Cruces, New Mexico, August 27, 2014
A convergence of alums on the chapel lawn included James Lee (MDiv’00), Jeff Cranton (MDiv’99) and Ted Foote (MDiv’79).