Windows spring 2015

Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

spring 2015

In this Issue New faculty | 3

A conversation about race | 8

Alumni awards | 22

Substance.

Scripture.

Service.

Preparing strong, imaginative leaders for the church.

100 East 27th St. | Austin, TX 78705 | 512-404-4886 | AustinSeminary.edu

AUSTIN

AUSTIN PRESBYTERIAN

PRESBYTERIAN THEOLOGI C AL

THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

SEMINARY

spring 2015 President

features

Theodore J. Wardlaw

A Conversation about Race 9 Learning to see through others’ eyes

Board of Trustees Thomas L. Are Jr., Chair

James Allison Karen C. Anderson Whit Bodman Janice Bryant (MDiv’01, DMin’11) Claudia D. Carroll Elizabeth Christian Joseph J. Clifford James B. Crawley Katherine Cummings (MDiv’05) Consuelo Donahue (MDiv’96) Jackson Farrow Jr. G. Archer Frierson Richard D. Gillham Walter Harris Jr. John Hartman Ann Herlin (MDiv’01) Rhashell Hunter Roy M. Kim James H. Lee (MDiv’00) Lyndon L. Olson Jr. B. W. Payne David Peeples Jeffrey Kyle Richard Lana Russell 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

Trustees Emeriti

By Alex Hendrickson

10

Three types of racism

11

Practicing cultural humility

12

8 Cover: Illustration, and that on page 8, by Maria Fabrizio.

Visit her web site: http:// mariafabrizio.com/ where you can subscribe to her daily blog, Wordless News: “One headline per day, vowel and consonant free.”

Stephen A. Matthews John McCoy (MDiv’63) Max Sherman Louis Zbinden

By William Greenway

By Rhashell Hunter

A crusade for those without privilege of innocence

By Asante Todd

13

Slavery and the curse of Canaan

15

By Suzie Park

The role of clergy in a new civil rights movement A conversation with Anthea Butler and Steve Miller & departments

22

ASA Board

Dieter Heinzl (MDiv’98), President Kristy Vits (MDiv’98),Vice President Barrett Abernethy (MDiv’13), Secretary Leanne Thompson (MDiv’06), Past President Timothy Blodgett (MDiv’07) Tony Chambless (MDiv’07) Jeff Cranton (MDiv’99) Jesus Gonzalez (MDiv’92) Sandra Kern (MDiv’93) Matt Miles (MDiv’99) Andrew Parnell (MDiv’05) Stephen Plunkett (MDiv’80) Valerie Sansing (MDiv’00) Sheila Sidberry-Thomas (MDiv’14) Michael Waschevski (DMin’03)

Volume 130 | Number 2

Editor Randal Whittington

Contributors

Lemuel García-Arroyo Claire Mathias Alison Riemersma Sharon Sandberg Kristy Sorensen Adam Sweeney Daniel Williams

2

seminary & church

3

twenty-seventh & speedway

18

faculty news & notes

22

alumni news & notes

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 |

T

President’s Schedule April 21 – Host, Partner Lunch, Oklahoma City April 26 – Preach, First Presbyterian Church, Northport, New York May 5-6 – Preach, Sprunt Lectures, Union Presbyterian Seminary, Richmond June 4 – Host, Partner Luncheon, San Antonio September 13 – Preach, First Presbyterian Church, Kerrville, Texas October 3-5 – Preach, First Central Presbyterian Church’s Annual Festival of Faith, Abilene, Texas

his issue of Windows includes “A Conversation About Race.” I can think of nothing more difficult in this country, in this time, than this particular conversation. It requires, after all, patience, humility, courage, painful speaking, and painful, non-defensive hearing. It begs to be had, especially among people of faith, who have the capacity to employ our faith’s magnificent resources. These resources include such practices as confession and pardon, protest and reconciliation, testimony and contemplative silence, justice and mercy. In a time when Americans are now enmeshed in an almost-daily deluge of fresh evidence of the need for such conversation, we have a faith language that offers serious help. Nonetheless, such conversation is hard to have—very hard. In the pages ahead, in addition to much exciting news from our campus, there are some must-read pieces by alumna Alex Hendrickson; Professors Bill Greenway, Asante Todd, and Song-Mi Park; trustee Rhashell Hunter; Dr. Anthea Butler (who was our most recent Settles Lecturer); and student Steve Miller.

Because each of these pieces is rooted in biography, I have been doing some hard thinking about my own biography. A native South Carolinian, I was a child of some privilege, and benefitted from a system that, while ensuring that privilege, denied it to others. Beneficiaries of this system have often been slower to recognize its injustices than those who can remember vivid ways in which they have been dehumanized by it. All of this is often a source of shame for me, and anger for others; and reverent conversations about race are hard to initiate and maintain from either side of such a divide.

In the end, though, these different biographies need to be rehearsed if an unjust system is ever to be redeemed. “Ferguson”—now virtually a brand that describes an event that sparked enormous rage and guilt—demands such conversation; and now, so does “North Charleston.” Those words describe another event, just days old as I write these words, that has once again captured our national attention. Because of a courageous passerby with a cellphone, we now have the video evidence of a policeman, Officer Michael Slager—who had stopped an unarmed African-American man named Walter Scott for a broken taillight—shooting him eight times in the back as he tried to run from a scuffle. When Scott collapsed and died, Slager evidently planted the Taser over which they had been struggling next to the man’s body, and claimed that he shot Scott after the suspect seized the Taser. This narrative that might have otherwise gained traction was quickly rebutted by the facts of that video record. This compels us all to listen with fresh seriousness to that other narrative about prejudice that is hard—hard as Hell—for us to hear.

In fact, it is past time for this conversation. Are you ready for it? If so, for starters, I invite you to read on with a humble and teachable spirit. May we be encouraged to speak, and hear, with hope. After all, in Steve Miller’s words, “The hope is in Jesus Christ.”

Faithfully yours,

WebXtra:

Theodore J. Wardlaw President

On January 15, 2015, more than thirty African-American deans and presidents of theological schools signed an open letter regarding racial justice issues, in light of the current state of social justice in the United States of America; it was published on January 17 in the Huffington Post. In solidarity, PC(USA) seminary presidents responded shortly thereafter with their own letter. Find it here: AustinSeminary.edu/cf_news/view.cfm?newsid=1625

2 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

twenty-seventh speedway

Margaret Aymer, Philip Wingeier-Rayo, and Carolyn Browning Helsel to join faculty

A

fter an extensive search process, Austin Seminary filled three faculty positions this spring, calling The Reverend Dr. Margaret Aymer as associate professor of New Testament, Dr. Philip Wingeier-Rayo as associate professor of evangelism, mission, and Methodist studies, and The Reverend Dr. Carolyn Browning Helsel as assistant professor of homiletics. They will begin teaching in the fall.

Margaret Aymer Associate Professor of New Testament BA, Harvard University MDiv, Union Theological Seminary PhD, Union Theological Seminary

Margaret Aymer comes to Austin Seminary from The Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia, where she has been associate professor of New Testament since 2004. Active in the Society of Biblical Literature and American Academy of Religion, she is a frequent speaker at academic and church conferences across the United States, including the 2013 MidWinter Lectures at Austin Seminary. Aymer wrote Confessing the Beatitudes, the 2011-12 Horizons Bible Study (the annual Bible study resource for Presbyterian Women), for which she won the Award of Excellence by the Associated Church Press.

Aymer has also written James: Diaspora Rhetorics of a Friend of God (Sheffield Publishing, 2014) and First Pure, Then Peaceable: Frederick Douglass Reads James (T&T Clark, 2008), she was co-editor of Fortress Commentary on the Bible (Fortress Press, 2014) and has published numerous journal articles and book chapters. Her book, Islanders, Islands and the Bible: Ruminations, is due for release in 2015 (Society of Biblical Studies).

Dr. Aymer is an ordained teaching elder who has served the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) broadly. She has served on the Presbyteries’ Cooperative Committee on Examinations since 2010, moderating the six persons who write the denomination’s Bible Exegesis Ordination Examination. She served on the Committee on Preparation for Ministry of Greater Atlanta Presbytery from 2010-2011, training sessions (governing bodies) of local congregations on the ordination process and their responsibilities. Aymer was also a member of the General Assembly Task Force on Civil Unions and Marriage (2009-2010), and she served as a steering committee member for the Committee on Theological Education Consultation on Racism from 2004-2008.

“Austin Seminary is very pleased with the prospect of Margaret Aymer joining our community,” said Austin Seminary President Theodore J. Wardlaw. “An accomplished New Testament scholar; a prolific writer, preacher, and speaker; a committed Presbyterian pastor and lover of the church of Jesus Christ, Margaret will bring to the classroom her passion for both the Word and the enterprise of learning.

Students, faculty colleagues, church members—indeed, all whom she encounters—will be grateful that she is here! ” Continued on following page Spring 2015 | 3

twenty-seventh speedway Philip Wingeier-Rayo currently serves on the faculty of Perkins

School of Theology of Southern Methodist University (SMU) as professor of mission and intercultural studies and director of the Mexican American and Hispanic-Latino/a Church Ministries program. Previously he served on the faculty of Pfeiffer University in Misenheimer, North Carolina, for eleven years.

Professor Wingeier-Rayo is on the Steering Committee of the Wesley Studies Group of the American Academy of Religion, the International Association for Mission Studies, and the United Methodist Professors of Mission. Among his many publications are two books, Cuban Methodism: The Untold Story of Survival and Revival (Dolphins and Orchids, 2004) and Where Are the Poor? An Ethnographic Study of a Base Christian Community and a Pentecostal Church In Mexico (Pickwick Publications, 2011) as well as several entries in the Historical Dictionary on Methodism (Scarecrow, 2013). During his tenure at Pfeiffer, he was an active member of the Board of Global Ministries and the Committee on Justice and Reconciliation for the Western North Carolina Conference of the UMC. He also led student trips to Brazil, India, Nicaragua, Cuba, and Mexico.

“Philip Wingeier-Rayo brings to the Seminary a stunning range of international experience as a missionary in Nicaragua, the TexasMexico borderlands, and Cuba,” said Austin Seminary Academic Dean David H. Jensen. “He thinks creatively about the call to evangelism and mission, especially in Latino/a churches and communities. A seasoned teacher and scholar, Phil will also bring his personal warmth and integrity to his work at Austin Seminary. We are excited to welcome him as a colleague and teacher.”

Philip Wingeier-Rayo Associate Professor of Mission, Evangelism, and Methodist Studies BA, Earlham College MTh, Evangelical Theological Seminary (Cuba) MATS, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary PhD, Chicago Theological Seminary

Carolyn Browning Helsel has most recently served as tran-

Carolyn Helsel Assistant Professor of Homiletics BA, Whitworth University MDiv, Princeton Theological Seminary ThM, Princeton Theological Seminary PhD, Emory University 4 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

sitional pastor to The Presbyterian Church in Sudbury (Massachusetts). She also serves as visiting professor at both the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry and Wartburg Theological Seminary. Previously she was associate director of admissions at Princeton Theological Seminary (2007-2010).

Helsel is ordained to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and served as associate pastor at John Calvin Presbyterian Church (2005-2007) in San Antonio, Texas. She serves on the Synod Work Group on Race for the Synod of the Northeast and on the Committee on Preparation for Ministry in Boston Presbytery. Her academic interests have focused on issues of race and gender identity.

“We are pleased to welcome Carolyn into our midst,” said President Wardlaw. “She is a native of Texas, and her faith formation began at First Presbyterian Church of San Antonio. Her work in the area of the imperative of preaching on race is a timely concern. We are eager for her to bring that sensitivity to the enterprise of ministerial preparation at this particular moment in our history. We look forward to serving with her in this diverse community of learning.”

Five seniors receive fellowships in recognition of gifts At the finale of the Austin Seminary Association Banquet on February 4, five Master of Divinity students received fellowships, elected by the faculty to acknowledge their academic excellence and promise for ministry. Those honored were John Harrison, Sarah Macias, Ruth Elswood, Mark Horner, and Sarah de la Fuente.

John Harrison | Atlanta, Georgia David L. Stitt Fellowship $18,000

John Harrison earned a BA from Harvard College and is a Jean Brown Fellow at Austin Seminary. He has been a leader on campus in social justice ministries, most especially in raising the Seminary’s consciousness around issues related to the death penalty in Texas.

He served on the Student Life/Student Standing Committee. John completed a congregational internship at New Covenant Fellowship in Austin along with a concurrent internship at the Travis County Correctional Complex.

“Sarah was one of the best pastoral interns we’ve ever had. Her maturity, her flexibility, her intelligence and commitment were stellar. If I had a place on staff, I would hire her in an instant.”

The Rev. Dr. Larry Bethune Pastor, University Baptist Church, Austin

Sarah Macias, right, with Professor Jennifer Lord

Sarah Macias | Austin, Texas Pile-Mogan Fellowship $8,000

“John represents the best of our student body in terms of mind and spirit. After graduation he hopes to engage in multicultural ministry in the Saint Louis area and to make a positive impact on the city at the intersection of theology and public policy.”

Professor Asante Todd (MDiv’06)

Sarah holds a bachelor of science degree from Texas A&M University. She began as a Special Student and participated in the Certificate in Spiritual Formation program prior to entering the degree program. She served as a research assistant to Professor Kristin Saldine. A life-long lover of nature, Sarah is called to eco-justice and land ethics ministries. She plans to pursue ordination within the Alliance of Baptists where she has served on the denominational board since 2014.

Spring 2015 | 5

twenty-seventh speedway “Ruth is kind of like the perfect student.

She is always prepared. She understands everything, from the intricacies of Greek grammar to an incoherent comment from the professor. The rest of the room might be puzzled, but not Ruth. She speaks in class perhaps a bit too rarely, and when she speaks it is insightful, it shows how much she really understands, it is respectful of other students, it improves the room. Always. Her papers are thorough, competent, creative, and easy to grade. Another A. Oh, and she is a kind and generous soul.”

Professor Lewie Donelson

Mark Horner | Greenville, South Carolina Alsup-Frierson Fellowship for Excellence in Biblical Exegesis and Hermeneutics $3,500

A graduate of Furman University, Mark Horner was involved in youth ministry and politics prior to entering seminary. Passionate about inclusiveness in the church, he has been active on the Civil Discourse and LIQRE (library) committees and was the first male member of the Holy Spirit Squad (Polity Bowl cheerleaders)!

He chose Berkeley United Methodist Church for his supervised practice of ministry setting and feels called to teach in either secondary or post-secondary education.

He plans to pursue doctoral studies in the future.

Ruth Elswood | Gainesville, Florida Janie Maxwell Morris Fellowship $5,000

Ruth Elswood holds a bachelor in education degree from Cambridge University (UK) and is a Jean Brown Fellow. Prior to seminary she earned a masters degree and doctor of education from the University of Florida and had a long career in education, most recently assisting high-risk and migrant families to improve the school-readiness of their children. She is pursuing ordination in the PC(USA) and feels a call to hospice chaplaincy or pastoral ministry.

6 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

“Mark brought our church a combination of a pastoral heart and an incisive mind.

Not only did he share his gifts with us during his supervised practice of ministry; he also taught our leadership the current best practices in youth ministry and faith formation, which will guide us in our work into the future. While not planning on local church ministry, he excelled at pastoral care and worship; while not a United Methodist, he invested himself fully in our life here.”

Jeanne Devine Pastoral supervisor at Berkeley UMC, Austin

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“Sarah de la Fuente is a force to be reckoned with. You do not know her as much as you experience her … She has a way of connecting with the congregation through preaching, teaching, and in conversation, in such a way that she doesn’t have to pretend to be a pastor. She is, at her very core (and much to her horror) a pastor. Our church is better because she served here. It should be noted that she is smart and accessible and all of that.

But you should also know that at the staff Christmas party she was the first person to cheat at ‘Guess the Christmas Carol.’

So keep your eye on this one. For a lot of reasons ... mostly good ones.”

Student Kathy Lee’s photo from the Austin Kite Festival garnered third place in the Educational and Institutional Insurance Administrators’ Student Photo Contest. It will be featured in their annual report.

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Joseph Moore (MDiv’09) Pastoral supervisor at Central Presbyterian Church, Austin

The African American and Hispanic Student groups presented the second Hesed Lecture, March 27-28, with workshops and panel discussions on “Building Safe Neighborhoods.”

Sarah de la Fuente | Austin, Texas W. P. Newell Memorial Fellowship $3,000

Once again, Austin Seminary made the list of twenty-six “Seminaries that Change the World,” compiled

by The Center for Faith and Service. For more information, see: http://stctw.faith3.org/

{

Sarah de la Fuente has served as a deacon, ruling elder, and director of volunteer services at First Presbyterian Church, Austin. She holds a BA from the University of Texas at Austin and a master of public affairs degree from the LBJ School of Public Affairs. Sarah has been an active presence on campus, serving on the Holy Spirit Squad, the LIQRE (library) and bookstore committees, and as an instructional aide for the 2013 summer Greek course. Sarah completed a concurrent congregational internship at Central Presbyterian Church in Austin.

WebXtra:

Spring 2015 | 7

a conversation

about race 8 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

Learning to See Through Others’ Eyes

By Alex Hendrickson

“In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal.”

–Galatians 3:28 - The Message

O

ne of the deacons from our church arrived

bearing a Texas sheet cake (my favorite!). Soon after we settled on the couch in the front room, she asked, “Can I hold him?” I gingerly placed my blanket-swaddled new son in her arms. She drew him onto her lap and began patting his hair. “I’ve never held a black baby before.”

And there it was. Some version of this interaction happens to our family on an almost-daily basis, and has for the past dozen years. As the white mother of three brown-skinned children, I’ve come to expect questions, stares, harsh criticism, and undeserved praise for the visible composition of my family. I admit that when my husband, Brett, and I decided to build our family via adoption, it was with no small measure of naïveté. We knew better than to claim to be “colorblind,” but we didn’t fully realize the conversion experience we’d undergo.

In my work as chaplain at Lafayette College, one of my tasks is to serve as adviser to a student organization called Kaleidoscope. My “Scopes” are a talented, thoughtful group of social-justice peer educators. They spend time giving workshops, leading discussion groups, and generally promoting values of peace, justice, and inclusivity. One of the frequent topics of discussion when these peer educators are working with a mostly white, affluent, nominally Christian population of students is the idea of privilege. As I listen to my justice-minded students attempt to convince their peers that, as football coach Barry Switzer once said, they “were born on third base” but “thought they had hit a triple,” my own children are never far from my mind. Both personally and professionally, issues of race and racial identity are part of my daily conversation.

Yes, I live both as a woman of privilege and as the mother of three children of color. A few years ago, I was asked to write an article similar to this one for my colleague the Reverend Mihee Kim-Kort’s blog, “First Day Walking.” In that piece, I wrote: “When our eldest son joined our family, I participated very enthusiastically in an online forum for transracial families. Over and over, I saw people with infants and young children brush aside concerns about how they would prepare their children for living in a world that still clings to racial bias. These well-meaning folks would say things like, “Love is enough.” But Continued on inside back cover

“

Both personally

and professionally, issues of race and racial identity are part of my daily conversation.”

Photograph by Chuck Zovko

The Reverend Alex Hendrickson (MDiv’01) is the college chaplain and director of religious and spiritual life at Lafayette College, where her spouse, Brett (MDiv’02), is on the religious studies faculty. They live in Easton, Pennsylvania, with their children David, Lily, and Thomas.

Spring 2015 | 9

Three Types of Racism

By William Greenway

M

y task is to add helpful complexity to our understanding of racism. To that end, I delineate three categories of racism—conscious, unconscious, structural—and run through a few of the many ways in which the categories may be usefully applied. These categories are useful, but they are not exhaustive, not absolute, not original, and not wholly discrete.

Categories Conscious racism operates at an individual level and is considered and intentional. Members of white supremacist groups would be examples of conscious racists. Conscious racism also operates powerfully behind the scenes, where it is exercised by people who are consciously racist but who hide their racism from mainstream society, where their prejudice would meet with swift condemnation.

Unconscious racism operates at an individual level, but beneath conscious awareness. Unconscious racism is unveiled in Harvard’s “Project Implicit” (you can take a diagnostic test online), which indicates, for instance, that, whatever their race, Americans will typically take a split second longer to associate positive ideas with black compared to white faces. We often become aware of unconscious racism when we say something within a context that makes an unconscious prejudice suddenly obvious.

Structural racism operates at a collective level; it names the way conscious and unconscious racism play out in society so as to create prejudice against some people and privilege for others. Because I am a tall, white male, in ambiguous situations most Americans are more likely to expect I am a safe, trustworthy figure, whereas the reaction would likely be different if I were a tall, black male. An example of structural discrimination in another context would be the enduring reality of women getting paid less than men for the same work.

Sample Applications In order to maximize potential for conscious awakening to unconscious racism, people who do not want to be racist should acknowledge that, insofar as they have been raised and formed in a racist society, while they are not consciously racist, it is virtually inevitable that they are in unimagined ways unconsciously racist.

In order to understand the need for structural redress, those who are majority/Caucasian should acknowledge that they have been and remain inescapably caught, to their advantage, within the dynamics of structural racism.

If someone who does not intend to be racist says something in a context wherein their unconscious racism is suddenly obvious—typically to their horContinued on inside back cover 10 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

“

In order to

understand the need for structural redress, those who are majority/ Caucasian should acknowledge that they have been and remain inescapably caught, to their advantage, within the dynamics of structural racism.”

Dr. William Greenway is associate professor of philosophical theology at Austin Seminary.

Dr. Greenway focuses upon contemporary conversations among theology and philosophy and church and society.

a conversation about race

Practicing Cultural Humility

by Rhashell D. Hunter

W

hen a presbytery decided to hold a work-

“

We are called

to ministry in an

increasingly pluralistic society. To be adaptive and transformational leaders, we will want to gain insight and understanding of cultural dynamics in diverse ministry settings.”

The Reverend Dr. Rhashell D. Hunter, who is an Austin Seminary Trustee, is director of Racial Ethnic & Women’s Ministries within the Presbyterian Mission Agency for the PC(USA).

shop on “Leading Churches in an Age of Change,” the planning team was intentionally focused on inviting new immigrants from Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations to the event, as they had seen the data showing that new immigrant worshiping communities in the PC(USA) are growing.

Aware of their personal limitations—not currently having the skill-set to create an agenda for this event or even know whom to invite as trainers or participants—they wisely sought the counsel of immigrant church leaders. They included immigrants from different backgrounds to serve on the planning team, as equal partners with equal voice in decision-making. These leaders then invited participants to what was shaping up to be a significant and exciting event.

The last day of the training, Lydia, a young, new immigrant woman from Cuba, spoke up to say that the examples given and opportunities described for church leadership seemed to favor European Americans and some 2ndgeneration immigrants (those who are U.S. born). Where were the opportunities for her, someone who speaks with an accent, who is not yet known in denominational circles, and is still becoming familiar with the ways of the culture and church in the U.S.?

After the training, the planning team evaluated the event and reflected on Lydia’s concern. While they had made some culturally competent decisions, they did not recognize how systemic racism in North America favors some individuals and groups and devalues others, even among new immigrant populations. Lydia made them aware that coming from a different country and cultural context, even the lightness or darkness of one’s skin color, impacts how successful a person may be in church leadership in the North American Presbyterian context.

This insight led the group toward practicing cultural humility—listening to their constituents and creating an awareness of privilege, revising policies, and providing opportunities for diverse church leaders to fully live out their calls in the PC(USA). For the next event, they decided to invite leaders from— and seek opportunities for—first generation and 1.5 generation (those born outside the country, who immigrated to the U.S. as children) leaders.

Cultural humility is the ability to understand, appreciate, communicate, and interact with persons from other cultures, races, genders, gender identities, and belief systems different from one’s own, in order to effectively engage in ministry with God’s diverse people.

So why is there a need for church leaders to learn and practice cultural humility? We are called to ministry in an increasingly pluralistic society. To be adaptive and transformational leaders, we will want to gain insight and Continued on inside back cover Spring 2015 | 11

A Crusade For Those Without Privilege of Innocence

By Asante Todd

A

lthough African Americans

make up roughly 13% of the U.S. population, they comprise 40% of US prison populations. Latinos are the second highest incarcerated group, making up ~17% of the US population and 20% of the incarcerated. In turn, the US prison system incarcerates a greater portion of its population than any other country on earth, about 1 out of every 100 adults. Legal scholar Michelle Alexander, whose The New Jim Crow (2010) stands as the definitive statement on the issue, argues that the primary function of the criminal justice system is not to punish crimes, but to enable social control. “By the time I left the ACLU,” she says, “I had come to suspect that I was wrong about the criminal justice system. It was not just another institution infected with racial bias but rather a different beast entirely … I came to see mass incarceration … as a stunningly comprehensive and well-disguised system of racialized social control that functions in a manner strikingly similar to Jim Crow.” Alexander shows the similarities between the old and new Jim Crow. There is legalized discrimination, political disenfranchisement, and racial segregation in both. There are differences between then and now: the degree of racial hostility present during Jim Crow has weakened in our day, whites have also been victims in the War on Drugs, and some blacks support the “get tough” policies of that war.

Nevertheless the strategies of the Drug War are the same as Jim Crow—to deny African Americans citizenship.

What can concerned Christians do? Alexander offers a suggestion when she recalls the twentieth-century civil rights movement. She shows how the movement declined and stalled as it transitioned from a moral to a legal crusade. “Throughout most of the nation’s history,” she says, “racial justice advocacy has generally revolved around grassroots organizing and the strategic mobilization of public opinion. In recent years … a bit of mythology has sprung up regarding the centrality of litigation to racial justice struggles.” For Alexander, mass incarceration can’t be solved by litigation. It also requires that moral leaders find the courage to be advocates for criminals through grassroots campaigns. This, in turn, is more likely to happen when moral leaders remain connected to criminals, supporting them in relationships of love and care.

For many of us then, one of the most substantive challenges that we can offer to the cultural forces of the new Jim Crow is to offer understandings of ourselves and our communities such that a fundamental link to the criminal is acknowledged and finds roots in life in the community. We need understandings of self that enable us to identify with those not afforded the privilege of being innocent until proven guilty; one that will give us the strength to engage in a moral crusade on their behalf. Perhaps one vision is found in Luke’s gospel, where, in the 23rd chapter, we find Jesus crucified, hanging between two thieves. Says one criminal to Jesus, “Save yourself and us!” Says the other, “We indeed are suffering justly … but this man has done nothing wrong.” v

12 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

“

The strategies of the Drug War are the same as Jim Crow—to deny

African Americans citizenship.”

Asante Todd is instructor of Christian ethics at Austin Seminary. A 2006 graduate of Austin Seminary, he is completing requirements for the PhD from Vanderbilt University.

a conversation about race

Slavery and the Curse of Canaan in Genesis 9

By Suzie Park

I

n an agonizing scene in the movie “12 Years a

“

Though the

contours of the story are rather mystifying, the one thing that is clear is that nowhere in this passage are those of African descent mentioned in connection with this curse.”

Dr. Suzie Park is assistant professor of Old Testament at Austin Seminary.

She is author of the new book, Hezekiah and the Dialogue of Memory (Fortress Press, 2015).

Slave,” the slave owner blames his slaves for the failed crops by charging that they are carriers of God’s curse. The idea that slavery is the result of a divine curse on blacks is sadly familiar, posited throughout the century as a justification for slavery and racism. One of the most frequently cited biblical passages in support of this idea is the story of the curse of Canaan in Genesis 9:18-29. The outline of this story is simple enough: Noah, after enduring the trauma of the flood, plants a vineyard after settling on dry land, gets drunk, passes out, and lays uncovered in his tent. One of his sons, Ham, witnesses the scene and looks upon the “nakedness of his father.” Ham’s more careful brothers, Shem and Japheth, cover up their father without gazing on his nudity. When Noah awakens and realizes what has happened, he curses—not Ham!—but Ham’s son Canaan with future slavery to his relatives (9:24-27).

Needless to say, this story is ambiguous and raises lots of questions— e.g. What does Ham do wrong? What does it mean to “look upon” someone’s “nakedness”? Why is Noah’s innocent grandson Canaan cursed for his father’s indiscretion?

As to the question of why Canaan and not Ham is cursed for Ham’s mysterious misdeed, many scholars argue that this narrative provides a theological sanction for Israel’s contentious interactions with the Canaanites. The point of this origin narrative is to show how the Canaanites were always destined to be destroyed and enslaved. As such, the conquest of the land of Canaan is presented as foreknown, divinely ordained, and thus justified. To put it simply, Canaan is cursed here because it is Canaan, not Ham, that is the ultimate target of the biblical writer.

Though the contours of the story are rather mystifying, the one thing that is clear is that nowhere in this passage are those of African descent mentioned in connection with this curse. So how then does Ham or Canaan come to represent those of African descent so much so that the idea of African Americans as descendants of Ham is used as a main justification for slavery among Southern white Christians in 19th-century America?

Biblically speaking, the transformation of Ham/Canaan into Africans, in part, is the result of a convenient translation (or mistranslation, some claim) of the word “Ham” as meaning dark, black, or heat. Aiding this reading was the additional idea that Ham’s descendants who are listed in Genesis 10, such as Egypt and Cush (perhaps modern day Ethiopia), were the ancestors of “darker” skinned groups. However, a better answer to the question of how Ham/Canaan comes to equal African Americans is to view this reading not as the cause but the effect. In other words, there is no obvious link between Ham/Canaan and African-Americans in the Bible. Rather, this reading is posited after the slavery of African-Africans is already in place in order to give a religious justification for slavery, which had become a rather profitable institution. Moreover, this reading also conveniently resonated with stereotypes Spring 2015 | 13

already held. Or as Stephen Haynes, author of Noah’s Curse: The Biblical Justification of American Slavery (Oxford University Press, 2007), said in a New York Times article, Ham acted as pro-slavery Southerns expected a black man to act.

Thankfully, this particular interpretation of the Genesis 9 has fallen out of favor. Nevertheless, the interpretative history of the passage serves as an important warning against the manipulation of the biblical text to justify and v support unethical institutions and ideas.

HELPFUL RESOURCES from the PC(USA) The Office of Gender and Racial Justice within Racial Ethnic & Women’s Ministries is continuously engaging with all levels of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to teach how injustice, power, and privilege impact society and church and how the church can be change agents by responding with compassionate action and prophetic witness.

The 221st General Assembly directed the Presbyterian Mission Agency to make available print and electronic resources on cultural competency, antiracism, and antisexism to mid-councils and the larger church. The office provides antiracism and cultural competency training materials, tools, and resources for Presbyterians who seek to continue the Presbyterian Church’s long-standing commitment to face and dismantle racism.

Below are resources (online and print) on cultural competency, antiracism, and antisexism. Access them all here: http:// oga.pcusa.org/site_media/media/uploads/oga/pdf/antiracism.pdf

Facing Racism: A Vision of the Beloved Community—In 1999, the General Assembly adopted a church-wide policy statement on antiracism, titled “Facing Racism: A Vision of the Beloved Community.” In response to actions of the General Assembly, the Initiative Team on Racism and Racial Violence examined the contemporary problem of racism in the light of biblical, theological, and ethical principles that will guide and inform a vision of “The Beloved Community” as the PC(USA) positions itself to carry on the struggle for racial justice in the next century. http://www.pcusa.org/resource/building-beloved-community-statement/

Resource for Hosting a Racial Justice Conversation—This resource is based on a staff-wide conversation on “What is the Church to do with #Ferguson, #MichaelBrown and #HandsUpDontShoot?” that took place at the Presbyterian Center. It includes the opening and closing prayers, framing for the conversation, and review of mutual invitation, forming small groups for discussion, and more to help Presbyterians engage in anti-racism work in congregations, mid-councils, and across the church. http://oga.pcusa.org/site_media/media/uploads/oga/pdf/revised_ferguson_conversation_guide.pdf Building the Beloved Community Assessment Tool—This tool is adapted from the antiracism facilitators’ training manual. It is designed to assist congregations in initiating conversations about race and cultural diversity in their own contexts. http://www.presbyterianmission.org/media/uploads/racialjustice/building_the_beloved_community_congregational_ self-assessment.pdf

Well Chosen Words—This is a guide to understanding and using inclusive language, developed by the Racial Ethnic & Women’s Ministries in consultation with the Advocacy Committee on Women’s Concerns. Inclusive language allows all God’s children to be one in Christ Jesus. The guide encourages language choices that proclaim the fullness of God, outlining traditional depictions as well as newer images to describe God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. http://www.pcusa.org/resource/well-chosen-words/ 14 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

a conversation about race

After Ferguson: The Role of Clergy in a New Civil Rights Movement

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The 2015 Settles Lectures, March 26-27, featured Dr. Anthea Butler, associate professor of religious and Africana studies at the University of Pennsylvania and graduate chair of religious studies. The lectures included an address by Dr. Butler, “Use Me Instead: Clergy and the New Civil Rights Movement,” and a panel presentation featuring Butler, Dr. Joseph Parker, pastor of David Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, Austin, and Chaplain Rick Randall, senior chaplain of the Austin Police Department. The conversation that follows took place between Dr. Butler and Steve Miller, an Austin Seminary student and community organizer who traveled to Ferguson, Missouri, during that city’s unrest in 2014.

What is it about Ferguson that made it a tipping point for the conversation about race in America?

ANTHEA BUTLER: I think there was so much structural injustice in Ferguson, the people there really had nothing to lose. They got out on the street early and they decided to stay there. Another reason I think this became a tipping point is that people who got this out in the open were very savvy with social media. And social media really was what put Ferguson on the map.

The church has been largely silent on issues of race. Dr. Butler has called for a new civil rights movement and a different kind of clergy. What would that look like?

BUTLER: I think that the type of clergy we need now for a different kind of civil rights movement is clergy who aren’t afraid to get out of their pulpits and take to the streets.

It’s really important that clergy are not simply bystanders, burying kids and so on. They need to be really engaged politically. They need to engage with local, state, and federal officials and do the advocacy work that needs to be done. I’d like to see clergy really start to make justice a cornerstone of all that they do. We have a lot of people who are more concerned with prosperity of the pocketbook rather than prosperity of the soul.

STEVE MILLER: It is a very violent notion for the church to

be segregated. Choosing to go to a church with those who are only like ourselves is choosing not to go with those who are not. This theology lends itself to a personal relationship with Jesus that’s private, one that focuses in on the death and resurrection of Jesus—which is important, but it’s not the whole equation. I think the life of Jesus is something that people need to pay attention to as well. And during his life, Jesus worked to overturn systems of oppression. When we live separate lives, we don’t experience each other’s experiences, and that leads to a lack of compassion. Right now there’s a huge lack of compassion concerning this issue. The day following the riots in Ferguson, I don’t remember a single religious head doing an interview on TV. Not blaming people, but just acknowledging the fact that this is not good.

What are the obstacles for ministers and people of faith to a sustained conversation about race?

BUTLER: Clergy don’t get a lot of respect in today’s world.

The fact is, the media don’t come to them until there are a lot of big problems. Some people don’t think [protesting] is a respectable thing to do. People may think, Do I want to consort with these people who don’t look like me and don’t have the same sort of financial resources that I have? And then there is the fact that there are clergy in towns who don’t even talk to each other. Black, white, Asian, Latino—these people are not connected. And their congregations aren’t connected. They are so busy dealing with their own issues that they don’t see the other problems around the community.

Spring 2015 | 15

What role does anger play?

MILLER: James Cone says that anger is a love emotion because it’s letting you know that something’s wrong in the relationship.

When people are being oppressed, you have to expect anger. You have to expect to see it or hear it. You can’t cut it off. You need to let those emotions be expressed. Suppressing or holding in of these emotions are positively correlated with violence.

BUTLER: Anger’s a great motivator. If honed properly, anger can help you focus in on the real problems. Anger is sometimes thought of as an emotion that people shouldn’t have, but I think it’s an emotion that allows you to be a lot more centered on whatever it is that you’re actually fighting for.

In Ferguson, the excessive force was not just about subjugating people, it was about, “We don’t want you to get angry. We’re afraid of your anger. And we’re afraid that we know you need to be this angry.” And I have to be honest, and I know this is a radical thing to say, that sometimes when we have this vision of the previous civil rights movement, with “turn the other cheek,” that’s not where we are today. Too many people are being shot and killed. So I’m not quite sure that’s a proper response. I’m not advocating violence, but I don’t know that you can expect anyone in today’s world to continued to be called the “n” word, to be shot at, or to have tear gas thrown at them, I don’t know that we can expect them to remain peaceful in the face of people who are being violent toward them.

In the panel discussion, Rev. Joseph Parker alluded to a two-fold approach: protest and advocacy.

How can clergy lead in these areas? What kind of skills found in a congregation can be useful in the struggle?

BUTLER: People think about protest as being out in the streets. You can protest in different ways. You can protest by withholding your money. You can protest by motivating people to say we’re not going to do X anymore, we’re not going to support this particular structure. You can protest with your

“

vote. Part of the problem with churches right now is that they will lobby for moral issues but they won’t lobby for justice issues.

MILLER: I’ll give you a real salient example of how my family protested a couple of weeks ago. We had the Rodney Reed situation in Bastrop, a guy on death row for whom they have evidence to test that might clear him, but they won’t test the evidence. And so he was scheduled to die on March 5, but the Court of Appeals stayed his execution to have a hearing to decide whether they were going to test the evidence. I told this story to my children and I said, Hey, this is what we’re going to do. I want you guys to write a letter to the DA. And I’m going to write a letter to the DA. At the end of your letter I want you to draw a picture.

My daughter drew a picture of a person holding an outsized needle with a teardrop suspended in the middle of the air. There was a crowd of people and the text bubble above them said, “Oh no, he’s innocent.” My son drew a picture of a jail wall with him standing outside the wall praying. I put them in their own envelopes, we wrote our names on them, and we all three went to the district attorney’s office. We went to the secretary and asked for a meeting with him. We didn’t get it. We left our letters and our names.

That’s a form of advocacy. I wish I could take credit for that, but I got that from Cesar Chavez. When they were advocating, they took the talents of the people in the community. If you liked to pray, you could pray. If you liked to make bouquets of flowers, they brought bouquets to the city council members or had them sent to their wives, which might serve to soften their hearts. If you like to sing, sing. If you like to babysit, babysit for the people going to the meetings. There are all sorts of ways to get involved and there’s something everybody can do that’s within their comfort level.

What kind of change will likely need to take place in congregations that want to make a difference?

BUTLER: Part of the change is congregations have to be open. One church in Ferguson simply opened its doors as a place to meet.

That’s one way to say, “We might not agree

Part of the problem with churches right now is that they will lobby for moral issues but they won’t lobby for justice issues.”

16 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

a conversation about race

“

If you like to pray, pray. If you like to babysit,

babysit for the people going to the meetings. There are all sorts of ways to get involved and there’s something everybody can do that’s within their comfort level.”

with everything you say but if you need a place to meet, you can do that here. That changes everything.”

MILLER: We need to be willing to be vulnerable to each other.

We don’t know how to communicate with each other. We protect turf, but we also need to be able to share power. I think that’s a fear for white Americans. Demographically the US is changing, and that has to be unnerving. But if we serve a loving God, there’s nothing to be afraid of. We also have to be willing to be led by people of color. One of my biggest fears is that I will always only preach to black people and I don’t want to do that. To me that would be sad. Our society is built on segregation. When there are no experiences of people of other races and creeds, it’s hard to be compassionate.

Rev. Parker said that people of color sometimes have to endure “stupid questions” and unpleasant conversations. What are the stupid questions?

MILLER: This happened to me a lot when I was at A&M. I’d be in a casual conversation with a white American, and the first question out of their mouth would be, “Do you play on the football team?” When I graduated from high school I weighed 135 pounds. So, I was skinny as a rail! Now when I go on the UT campus, even today, I will randomly stop a black male and say, “This used to happen to me in the ’80s. Does it happen to you?” And they’ll say, “Yes, apparently I’m a Big 12 basketball player!” There is still a disbelief that black people are smart enough to attend college, and if we’re there, we’re there to play football or basketball or we’re there because somehow they have to meet this quota to bring black students in.

BUTLER: I don’t know where I want to start. Why are you angry? Why do you have to talk about race all the time? Why does it matter to you—can’t we just forget about all this stuff?

Why is your hair that way? [laughs] Can you sing?

that would help me think about this in a better way? How can I have a good conversation with my black friend or my Asian friend or my Latino friend? How can I engender a more welcoming environment for people who are not like me in my church? How can I have more friends who don’t look like me?

MILLER: Any question that’s honest with a sincere desire to help is a good question. I have a friend, and if you heard us talking you would think that I’m a racist and he’s a racist.

When we talk we ask very difficult questions, but I know his heart and he knows my heart. When we leave those conversations, I come away with a deeper understanding of what I need to do as a civil rights leader and my best friend, who’s white, comes away with a better understanding of what he needs to do as a white American to bridge this gap.

An attendee at the panel, citing the book The New Jim Crow says that “we have taken the idea of racism and woven it into the idea of crime.” What can the church do to unravel those ideas?

BUTLER: I think I would rephrase that question to, What can the church do to unravel Christianity from racism? It’s not about crime.

A lot of Christianity that’s being preached in America is racialized Christianity. That’s not going to change by some nice platitudes or racial reconciliation events that are one-offs.

People need to get a better theological sense of what the gospel is really saying about “others.” If everyone in America decided that they would call out someone for calling [our president] a Muslim, or a Kenyan—and realize that Romans says you’re supposed to pray for the people who are in authority over you—if they would just spend time praying for the black president like they pray for a white president, we’d be all right.

Where’s the hope?

What are the right ones?

BUTLER: I think the clergy and people who have mobilized since Ferguson.

BUTLER: What can I read about the history of race in America

MILLER: The hope is in Jesus Christ.

v Spring 2015 | 17

faculty news notes

Reunions of Memory Initial Perspectives: They say that you know you’ve been down the road and back when the children—perhaps even the grandchildren—of former students show up in your classes! Well, that has happened with some frequency over the last decade or so. “Reunions of memory” is like browsing an album of family photos. When it comes to the personal faces in that family album, the chief perspective is that while change is inevitable, it’s also relative.

Reflecting on nearly forty years of service in this place is like rediscovering who you are through re-encountering who you/we were! I like to think of it in terms of theological reflection on a personal and an institutional history. I connect the two because how Austin Seminary has practiced theological education throughout its history and how I personally have sought to practice my calling in this context can best be described as house-holding. Being and serving the church as household of God have always been the locus of our common-cause raison d’e-tre.

Antecedents of an Educational Journey: Upon graduation from seminary (Princeton 1966), I began doctoral studies in New Testament under Prof. Dr. Leonhard Goppelt, first at the University of Hamburg and later at the University of Munich. Our time in Germany, and the work throughout my career translating into English the work of Goppelt and others, continues to be one of the great blessings of my life. In 1984 I was honored that, following the wishes of the Theological Faculty at The University of Erlangen, the Ministry of Education bestowed on me the rank of Full Professor to fill the position of New Testament Chair during Professor Jüergen Roloff’s sabbatical leave. This appointment of a non-German without an “Habilitation” (second Doctor’s degree) was without precedent within the annals of German academic history and remains a special connection between our two schools.

First Impressions of Austin Seminary: Carole and I, along with 10-year-old son, Daniel, and a Bassett Hound named Leo arrived in Austin knowing no one. That did not For further reading, see Insights, Spring 2015, “Honoring Professor John Alsup.”

18 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

last long. A smiling face greeted me as I ascended the stairs of the McMillan building. His welcome was—as I was to learn over the years of our friendship—an expression of a pastoral style that I would always equate with the remark in our Mission Statement that “we are a winsome community.” It was Rev. Fred Morgan’s winsomeness— his way of being family to one another—that became my first and most enduring impression of this new home of forty years. Reinforcing this embrace not thirty minutes later, we were greeted by Jack Hodges and Ruth and Ken Metcalf as we moved into temporary housing at “Mission Ranch.” Jack Hodges, head of building maintenance and grounds, was always there when you needed help. A true Texan, Jack came up with practical advice: “John, remember, in Texas you always shake out your boots before you put them on!” And Ruth was not only chief cook at the refectory but “resident Mom” to all students. Ken mirrored Jack’s easy, likeable manner and “can-do” attitude. These first impressions are lodged in my bones and in my heart because of the way in which my memory of faculty, administration, and board walks my feet back through the pathways of gratitude.

The Photo Album: The wideness of the specter of appreciation constrains me when it comes to naming special people. Colleagues all … our lives so intertwined. Today, there you appear with that unforgettable laugh … then suddenly another you as we ride bikes again in the morning hours … and then, aha, there you are out at the ranch helping to haul the hay and enjoying Blue Bell ice cream on the porch at midnight … and then you appear again as we offer service to God side by side at church in Sunrise Beach!

And so, on it goes with recall … valued members in an album of indebtedness. And yet, I am compelled to note the huge influence of certain colleagues on me as scholar and member of the Seminary household. I owe such a debt of gratitude to the late Prescott Williams, then president of the Seminary, for his early support. He (and Herman Harren) vouched for Carole and me, after a decade in Germany, as loan-worthy so that we could purchase our first home in Austin. Prescott was also a

vigorous supporter of my early ventures into the methodologically refined practice of biblical exegesis, designed to help pastors and Christian educators in their calling of pastor-scholar. It was a computer savvy assistant, Arch Baker (MDiv’88, MA’94), who “birthed” the website that highlighted this fruit of Prescott’s support, still available to students in its current Seminary-sponsored iteration: “encounterscripture.net.”

Similar gratitude to others during this period of great change at Austin Seminary from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s belongs to teaching colleagues, staff members, and special friends, like Catherine Sauter, Dorothy Andrews, Jack and Shirley Howard, Ida Forbes, Peggy Cockrum, Eugene March, John Jansen, Robert Shelton, Cal Klemt, Dick Junkin, Ross Dunn, George Heyer, Robert Paul, C.D. Weaver, Carl Siegenthaler, Andy Dearman (marvelous travel seminars together and discovery of the figurine at Jericho), and my wonderful New Testament colleague Lewie Donelson. Close by always is the memory of my dear friend and esteemed colleague, Prof. Dr. Alan Lewis, with whose family we share deep ties; his ashes are buried here at the ranch. In faith’s memory and resurrection hope, the circle is unbroken. I am also reminded each day of my indebtedness to members of the board of trustees whose love of the Seminary has been a true inspiration to me. I hear in memory the affection for this school (and the University of Texas) in the voices of Ed Vickery and family.

And I cannot even begin to express my appreciative recall of Clarence and Betty Frierson and their whole family in Shreveport, Louisiana. We are bound now in perpetuity through a fellowship that bears the names of our two families, granted each year to a graduating senior having excelled in biblical studies. It was also the influence of Clarence and Betty that led to the establishment of the D. Thomason endowed chair of New Testament, which I occupied since 1992.

Postscript: As I continue to turn the album’s pages (pictorial phone directories and community publications—I kept them all!), I realize that even with these two decades, I have but scratched the surface of memory! After all, the

circle of indebtedness grows exponentially when the faces include that expansive company of co-workers/co-learners mentioned earlier, especially the “legion” of students, who were under my care and from whom I learned so much in the process! Our current alumni association president and my former teaching assistant, Rev. Dr. Dieter Heinzl (MDiv’98), helped me to grasp this moment. In a recent interview he mentions his own gratitude to the Seminary for its “DNA heritage” of having provided teachers who help students develop the basic skills of biblical interpretation and theological reflection and who instill in them a lasting love for the church.

You remind me, Dieter, of those student colleagues with whom I shared preaching/pastoral care responsibility in the teaching-church context over the past thirty years at the Sunrise Beach Federated Church. Faculty members and staff have joined us in this common-cause relationship, too. Special occasions bring special memories: President Ted Wardlaw preached a wonderful sermon to celebrate with us the dedication of the new sanctuary, and then ten years later Dean Allen Cole preached another on the occasion of our church’s fifty years of ministry. Other moments born of this “DNA heritage” underscore that Austin Seminary continues to enjoy a revivified calling with each new generation of truly great servant-leaders. If I were to be queried about potential worries for the future, I would move in the direction of the dangers of a future that seeks to apply, with confidence, the promises of a “technological response.” The latter holds so much potential—the availability of vast resources for biblical studies come to mind, and yet there is something of the “looking through a glass darkly,” akin to the warnings about the loss of critical thinking.

Faster is not always better … less can be more! With students like Dieter, and that legion of others pictured in my memory photo album, I am more sanguine about a hopeful posture that, while things will change, the good things will also stay the same.

—Dr. John Alsup New Testament Professor, 1975-2014 Spring 2015 | 19

faculty news notes

faculty notes | Whit Bodman, associate professor of comparative religion, spoke at a rally of more than 200 people at the Texas Capitol on January 29 to honor the seventh annual Texas Muslim Capitol Day. The event was hosted by the Houston chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Bodman was interviewed by the Houston Chronicle and was featured on a local television news story.

Professor William Greenway was elected to an international, interdisciplinary group of scholars as a Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics.

Paul Hooker, associate dean for ministerial formation and advanced studies, led the allchurch retreat at Mo-Ranch for University Presbyterian Church, Austin, on April 10-12.

He will lead a workshop on “The Foundations of Presbyterian Polity” at the Big Tent Event, July 31, in Knoxville, Tennessee.

On May 31, Zbinden Distinguished Professor Blair Monie will preach at the 35th anniversary service for The Presbyterian Village North in Dallas.

Cynthia Rigby, The W.C. Brown Professor of Theology, preached at First Presbyterian Church in Sarasota, Florida, in February and lectured at Independent Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, Alabama, in March. You can read her regular commentary on the religion blog of the Dallas Morning News: religionblog.dallasnews.com The mother of Professor Kristin Saldine died on December 23. Saldine resigned from her position last year to be near her parents.

Melissa Wiginton, research professor in Methodist studies, led a lenten luncheon series for St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in San Marcos, Texas.

Professor Suzie Park’s new book, Hezekiah and the Dialogue of Memory, published by Fortress Press

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he faculty gathered to celebrate one of their own as the first book by Old Testament scholar Suzie Park rolled off the press in March. Based on her dissertation completed in the Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations Department at Harvard University, Hezekiah and the Dialogue of Memory (Fortress Press, 2015) is part of the Fortress’s Emerging Scholars series.

According to the publisher, Hezekiah is a critical figure in the Hebrew Bible, which credits him with major political, social, and religious reforms in Judah’s history and the weathering of a major crisis in the invasion of the Assyrians under their emperor, Sennacherib. Examining the different accounts of Hezekiah’s reign in 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, and Isaiah, Suzie Park describes a “Hezekiah complex” that developed over a long time, in which the figure of Hezekiah served as a symbol for the vicissitudes of Judah’s history. The king could be understood as a positive reformer of the “pagan” ways of the country, or as a sinner, at least partly responsible for the threats and disasters that befell Judah, from Sennacherib’s invasion through the Babylonian exile more than a century later. By showing how the stories about Hezekiah developed over time through a process of response and counterresponse, forming at the end a dialogue of memory, Park elucidates the ways in which biblical stories in general function as loci of continual dialogue, dispute, and discussion.

Park has served on the Austin Seminary faculty since 2011. Her primary research interest centers on the literary and theological interpretations of the Old Testament; in particular, she is concerned with the ways in which biblical literature reflects historical, ideological, and theological struggles, especially as they relate to the politics of identity. (See her analysis of Genesis 9 on page 14 of this issue of Windows.)

A review of the book on Amazon.com by Jon Levenson, The Albert A. List Professor of Jewish Studies at Harvard Divinity School, says, “This exceptionally clear and careful study sheds valuable light not only on the history of ancient Israel but also on the evolution of its theological thinking. It has much to offer to a wide range of readers—lay people interested in the Bible, members of the clergy (Jewish or Christian), and scholars of the Hebrew Bible alike.”

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good reads |

I

am delighted to start this eclectic list of books with The Lord of the Psalms (WJKP, 2013), by Patrick Miller, Old Testament Professor Emeritus at Princeton Theological Seminary. Miller takes a lifetime of technical learning and combines it with personal experience in order to weave together an eminently readable and wise set of reflections on the Psalms (great for pastors and Bible studies). Second is an insightful collection of poems and short essays by the celebrated evangelical nature writer John Leax, Out Walking (Baker, 2000) which includes “a prayer for order,” I have used to open classes for more than a decade (usually substituting “Mother” for “Father”).

For those who share a hunch that “progressive evangelical” may be a significant descriptor in the 21st century, read the revised and expanded classic, Rediscovering an Evangelical Heritage: A Tradition and Trajectory of Integrating Piety and Justice (Baker, 2014),

by Donald Dayton and Douglas Strong. Turns out 19th-century evangelicals were critical players in the abolitionist, feminist, and free-church (i.e., against requiring people to pay for pew seating) movements. To see a prominent, 21stcentury atheist discover a similar connection between piety and social action, see Jeffery Stout’s Blessed Are the Organized: Grassroots Democracy in America (Princeton, 2010).

Stout is surprised to conclude that without churches there would be no grassroots democracy movement in America.

On the theological front, check out Christine Helmer, Theology and the End of Doctrine (WJKP, 2014). Helmer’s goal is to reinvigorate Christian doctrine for the 21st century, and towards this end she traces theological tendencies variously likely to end (ruin) or to reinvigorate doctrine. There are some overly dense sections (the beginning), but ample creative and very helpful work on major 19th- and 20th-century theological trajectories. Also, see Ian McFarland, From Nothing: A Theology of Creation (WJKP, 2014), a first-rate—pretty much a standard

bearer for doctrinal theology—all-inclusive historical/theological study of the doctrine of creation from nothing (spoiler alert: it’s not a bad interpretation of Genesis 1). Finally, see Victor Anderson, Creative Exchange: A Constructive Theology of African American Religious Experience (Fortress, 2008).

Anderson offers a philosophically rigorous glimpse into the diversity of 21st-century black philosophies and theologies.

On the “things every Christian should know” front, two readable, responsible, and socially significant books are, Lochbaum, et. al., Fukushima: The Story of a Nuclear Disaster (The New Press, 2014) and Wendell Potter’s Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company

The College of Pastoral Leaders at Austin Seminary

Photo by John Leedy (MDiv’11), Stone Rings Cohort, Ghost Ranch

80%

Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans (Bloomsbury Press, 2010).

Finally, for a poignant look at two preeminent modern atheists desperately trying to recover lost spiritual resources, see Ronald Dworkin, Religion Without God (Harvard, 2013) and Simon Critchley, The Faith of the Faithless (Verso, 2012), and for a sense of the fragility of a modern metaphysic hostile to faith, see preeminent philosopher Thomas Nagel, Mind and Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature Is Almost Certainly False (Oxford, 2012).

Happy reading!

More than of College of Pastoral Leaders cohort members said their peer groups made them better listeners, were , gave them new for ministry, and

fun energy

stretched them in many ways.

Application Deadline

May 15, 2015 austinseminary.edu/ CPL

—Written by William Greenway, associate professor of philosophical theology at Austin Seminary Spring 2015 | 21

alumni news notes

Cheryl Kirk-Duggan, John Williams, and Mike Cole receive 2015 The Reverend Dr. Cheryl A. Kirk-Duggan (MDiv’87) is professor of religion at Shaw University Divinity School in Raleigh, North Carolina. She earned the BA (voice and piano), magna cum laude, from the University of Southwestern Louisiana, the Master of Music (voice) from the University of Texas at Austin, the MDiv from Austin Seminary, and the PhD in religion (theology and ethics) from Baylor University.

Cheryl has written more than twenty books including: Soul Pearls: Worship Resources for the African American Congregation (Abingdon, 2003) and Wake Up!: Hip Hop, Christianity and the Black Church (Abingdon, 2011, co-written). In 2001 Cheryl was named the “2001 Quintessential Womanist Scholar of the Year” by the Womanist Approaches to Religion and Society in the American Academy of Religion. She received the Excellence in Academic Research Award (2009 and 2011) and was named the National Alumni Association Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year (2013-14) at Shaw University.

Cheryl is an ordained elder in full connection in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. She was a 2013 Bishop’s Empowerment Awardee for the Seventh Episcopal District and was a CME Representative to the General Assembly of the National Council of Churches.

Valerie Bridgeman (MDiv’90) and Cheryl Kirk-Duggan (MDiv’87)

The Reverend John D. Williams (MDiv’87)

is chaplain and director of Church Relations at Austin College in Sherman, Texas. He received a BA in history and philosophy from Austin College with Honors in History in 1984. He earned the PhD in religious studies from Southern Methodist University in 2004; his dissertation title was Between the Labyrinth and the Abyss: Presbyterians and Schism, 1837-1861. He was a contributor to the 2012 issue of Insights, “The Church Faces Schism.”

John has led hundreds of Presbyterian youth and adult events and published several articles about ministry with college students, youth, and young adults. He is founder and director of the Austin College ACtivators.

Since 1995, the ACtivators program has involved 519 Austin College students who have traveled over 160,000 total miles to plan and lead 597 ministry events in thirteen states involving over 48,000 youth, children, college students, and adults. Fifty-three former ACtivators have attended seminary and thirty-five former ACtivators serve as full-time clergy or educators in PC(USA) congregations or specialized ministries.

John is married to Linnea, a Head Start teacher and former PCUSA children’s curriculum writer, and they are Nancy Chester McCranie (MDiv87) and John Williams (MDiv’87) the parents of Emily and Joseph.

22 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

then & now

Distinguished Alumni Awards

The Easter or Paschal Vigil has been celebrated at Austin Seminary since 1987. Based on ancient liturgies of the early church, they are long and elaborate services involving hymns, drama, dance, and visual arts.

Mike Cole (MDiv’75) and Sallie Sampsell Watson (MDiv’87)

The Reverend Michael J. Cole (MDiv’75) is the general presbyter of

the Presbytery of New Covenant. A native of Southeast Texas, Mike came under the care of Brazos Presbytery, graduated from the University of Houston, and completed his theological education at Austin Seminary in 1975.

Mike Cole has served churches across the country, including Saratoga, Wyoming, Daly City, California, and Roseburg, Oregon, before returning to Texas to serve in Port Arthur. He has served the Committee on Ministry in four presbyteries, chairing the committee in two. He was vice-moderator of San Francisco Presbytery and served as moderator of New Covenant Presbytery before being called to serve as general presbyter there in 2003. In February, 2008, the presbytery extended Mike’s call as general presbyter for an indefinite term.

He and his wife, Ellie, have one son, Colin, and they are grandparents to Jacquelynn (13) Katelynn (11), Zane (6), Keziah (4) and Jillian (17 months). Colin currently works as a driller on an oil rig in Papua, New Guinea.

Professors Fred Holper, above, and Stan Hall, right, were instrumental in making the Easter Vigil integral to the Seminary’s worship life.

President Wardlaw, below, takes great joy in continuing that tradition.

webXtra: to nominate someone for the 2016 ASA Award, go to:

AustinSeminary.edu/nominate or you can contact Lemuel García, director of alumni and church relations, (lgarcia@austinseminary. edu; 512-404-4809) for more information.

Spring 2015 | 23

alumni news notes

class notes | 1960s Warner Bailey (MDiv’64) is the principal editor of The Theologically Formed Heart, Essays in Honor of David J. Gouwens (Wipf & Stock, 2014).

He contributed the essay, “The Aesthetics of Persuasion, Rhetoric in Calvin’s The Golden Book of the True Christian Life [Institutes 3.6-10].”

Judy Record Fletcher (MDiv’69) is the author of the 2015-2016 Presbyterian Women Horizons Bible Study Come to the Waters.

1990s Steve Buchele (MDiv’99) writes that he and his wife, Suzanne, have finished their first year of service in Ghana (www.

ServingInGhana.org). Suzanne is associate provost of Ashesi University where Steve teaches leadership and does ministry with the student population.

He’s planning to teach a world religions course based on one he took with Professor Terry Muck.

Former admissions director Eleanor Cherryholmes (DMin’95) married John Wright on March 14 in Denton, Texas; Shelby Miller (MDiv’97) conducted the service.

D.N. Rodowick’s Elegy for Theory and Philosophy’s Artful Conversations” for Senses of Cinema (online film journal) Issue 74 (March 2015). He has written the book, Synergy and Control: Life in the Age of the Screen, to be published by Fortress Press in 2016.

Alex Knott (MDiv’09) married Keenan Rodgers on November 15, 2014. The wedding, held in Shelton Chapel, was officiated by Andy Odom (MDiv’01), Clara Ruth Lopez was born to Melissa Koerner Lopez (MDiv’09) and José Lopez (MDiv’10) on April 17, 2015.

Welcome to Oliver Guthrie Morris, son of Brittany Harvey (MATS’12) and Russell Morris, born on January 15, 2015.

Welcome to Parker William Dunn, son of Alisha and Chris Dunn (MDiv’13), born March 6, 2015.

Rebecca Longino (MDiv’13) and her husband, J.T., welcomed Abigail Iris Longino, born April 13th in Austin, Texas.

Molly E. Atkinson (MDiv’14) married Mario G. Ransan (MDiv’14) on August 8, 2014.

Patrick and Erica Knisely (MDiv’14) welcomed Magnus David into their family on December 11, 2014.

ordinations | Holly Clark-Porter, (MDiv’12) ordained at First & Central Presbyterian Church, Wilmington, Delaware, March 22, 2015.

2000s Michael Waschevski (DMin’03) co-authored Rhythms of Worship: The Planning and Purpose of Liturgy, published by WJK Press.

Reno Lauro (MDiv’05) wrote a book review, “The Sinuous Line of World and Screen: On

Kaci Clark-Porter (MDiv’12), ordained at First & Central Presbyterian Church, Wilmington, Delaware, March 22, 2015.

Chris Dunn (MDiv’13), ordained at First Presbyterian Church, Annapolis, Maryland, December 7, 2014.

Sabrina Jennings (MDiv’14), ordained and installed on March 28, 2015, at Community United

24 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

First class receives the Certificate in Ministry

Chris, Declan, and Alisha Dunn welcome baby Parker.

Church of Christ, San Antonio, Texas.

Remington Johnson (MDiv’12), ordained as chaplain at The Heart Hospital, Austin, Texas, December 23, 2013.

Crystal E. Silva-McCormick (MDiv’10), ordained as a minister on December 7, 2014, at the United Christian Church, Austin, Texas. She has been called as associate pastor of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Austin.

JoAnne Ramsey (MDiv’14), ordained and installed on March 22, 2015, as pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Hillsboro, Texas.

S

even students have earned the Seminary’s first Certificates in Ministry, completing the seven required courses.Receiving their certificates in March were Mike Austin, Austin, Texas; Mary Boyd, Knoxville, Tennessee; Rebecca Caldwell, Georgetown, Texas; Jane Davis, San Antonio, Texas; Martha Evans, Alva, Oklahoma; Jim Farrar, Eastland, Texas; and Ann Ditty, Lee Summit, Missouri. Welcome to these newest alumni of Austin Seminary!

Stephen C. Robinson (MDiv’13), ordained and installed as associate pastor of education and evangelism at Hyde Park Christian Church, Austin, Texas, March 8, 2015.

Laureen Suba (MDiv’14), ordained on February 1, 2015, at St. Philip Presbyterian Church, Houston, Texas. She is executive director of United Campus Ministry of Greater Houston.

Past and present ASA presidents Leanne Thompson and Dieter Heinzl.

in memoriam |

New ASA Board

John E. Toppins (MDiv’50, ThM’57), Tuscaloosa, Alabama, February 11, 2015

During the ASA Banquet and Annual Meeting on February 4, 2015, the following alumni were elected to serve on the ASA Board: Dieter Heinzl (MDiv’98), president; Kristy Vits (MDiv’98), vice-president; Barrett Abernethy (MDiv’13), secretary; Leanne Thompson (MDiv’06), past president; Class of 2017: Jesus Gonzalez (MDiv’92), Dieter Heinzl (MDiv’98), Matthew Miles (MDiv’99), Valerie Sansing (MDiv’00), and Sheila Sidberry-Thomas (MDiv’14).v

C. Keith Wright (MDiv’56, DMin’86), Austin, Texas, January 8, 2015 Douglas B. Finch (MDiv’62), Seguin, Texas, December 8, 2014 Owen McGarity Jr. (ThM’62), Austin, Texas, February 23, 2015 Chuck Gibbs (MDiv’63), San Antonio, Texas, January 18, 2015

a conversation about race

Others’ Eyes Continued from page 9

Continued from page 11

Types of Racism

Cultural Humility

the more seasoned parents debunked that idea. Love isn’t always enough.

I won’t always be present to help my children navigate the world. Evil exists. Misunderstanding and fear are powerful and seductive. This stuff is hard and my experience is limited.

My own experience of being white has changed as I strain to see things through the eyes of my children. I don’t believe we live in a post-racial society. So Brett and I talk candidly with our kids about skin color. We live in a neighborhood where white folks are the minorities.

We seek out schools and situations where our children see people of color in diverse professional and personal settings. We engage in conversations about race and adoption and family that sometimes make others a little uncomfortable. Love means doing the hard work of approaching these issues head-on. Love means saying or doing the wrong things and trying to learn from those mistakes. Love means leaning into the troubling and less-than-perfect reality that is our family.

As a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, my ongoing process of conversion and my ordination vows bind me to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, love my neighbors, and work for the reconciliation of the world.

What better place to start than withv in my own family?

ror—they should not be judged as if they were intentionally racist.

Ferguson should not be understood wholly in terms of conscious racism, as if the issue turned wholly upon the intentional racism, or lack thereof, of one officer. Especially with regard to institutions (e.g., police, corporations, schools, government, churches), interpretation of the problem and discrete measures should be developed vis-à-vis conscious, unconscious, and structural racism.

Measures necessary to address structural racism may be unfair to individuals. For instance, measures necessary to address structural racism may exacerbate the plight of individual impoverished Caucasians. Such imperfections do not invalidate structural remedies. Because of our legacy of prejudice, perfect solutions bringing perfect justice to all are beyond reach for the foreseeable future. It is critical to keep track of relative justices and injustices so that essential structural remedies that create injustices for some individuals can be understood to be necessary and justifiable on the whole, and so that any injustices they create can be minimized/mitigated. If we are to continue to make progress in our struggle against the evil of racism, however, we need to interpret and address racism at conscious, unconv scious, and structural levels.

understanding of cultural dynamics in diverse ministry settings. Recently Matthew Freeman, a consultant who facilitates dialogues on race, said, “Diversity without authentic inclusion is harmful.”

Failed efforts at inclusion, and even successful efforts, highlight the challenge to Presbyterians to learn how to share the gospel in an increasingly intercultural church. Cultural humility offers a greater chance of living out the biblical vision of a world where the humanity of everyone is valued and where God’s love is spread to every race and class, culture and people.

It is not possible to learn or know enough to fully understand racial and cultural backgrounds and experiences different from our own. Practicing cultural humility is a lifelong journey, a work in progress. Yet, those who work at appreciating diversity and eliminating systemic racism may just be the visionaries who will, with God’s help, build the beloved comv munity of God.

Join the Austin Seminary Book Club The book for May, Dreamcare: A Theology of Youth, Spirit, and Vocation by David F. White, will be moderated by the author.

Continued from page 12

For inspiring stories from new multicultural worshiping communities of the PC(USA), follow these links: http://www.onethousandone.org/ Inspire/Stories/(enter the following) The-Fellowship-Place.aspx 4-Pointes-Church.aspx New-Faith.aspx New-Hope.aspx El-Buen-Pastor.aspx Thien-An.aspx

AustinSeminary.edu/bookclub Spring 2015 | 25

Windows

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WebXtra:

2015 MidWinters | February 2-4

MidWinters this year offered conversation, fellowship, and not a few smiles. Download or stream the lectures and sermons from our Web site: AustinSeminary.edu (look under “featured media”)

Class of 1965

Class of 2005

Class of 1955 Class of 1975, ’85 & ’95