2 minute read
The special contribution of long-time friends
The picture is of Liz Williams, taken in Shelton Chapel where she was baptized. The Currie family story has been interwoven into Austin Seminary’s for generations.
By Donna Scott
Relationships are what make Austin Seminary a community, and the number and depth of relationships the school has developed and nurtured over its 118 years are overwhelming. Our R circle of friends and supporters is not just wide—it is deep—and some relationships span generations: the Herlin family, the Frierson family, and of course, the Currie family, just to name a few. Liz Currie
Williams demonstrated the depth of her relationship with Austin Seminary by supporting multiple priorities of the Weaving Promise and Practice into Ministry campaign. Early on in the campaign, Williams established an endowed student fellowship; her love of John McCoy was memorialized with a gift to The John and Sue McCoy House; and there will be a space in the Wright Learning and Information Center that bears witness to her ongoing and generous support of that project. The Currie family has contributed to Austin Seminary in so many ways and Liz Williams continues the legacy through her gifts of leadership as a trustee and her financial support toward the mission and future of the school.
“I have been involved with Austin Seminary for a big chunk of my adult life,” she says. “My connections, in fact, go back to my infancy when I was baptized in the chapel when it was brand new. My family ties to Austin
Seminary pulled at me when I was asked to join the board of trustees in the mid-1990s. As I have come to know the Seminary over the years, my involvement and commit
ment has deepened. I strongly believe that Christ’s church will require thoughtful, intelligent, winsome leaders for years to come, and by supporting Austin Seminary, I hope to help fill that great need beyond my own lifetime.”
The Mabee family, through the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation, has also supported the Seminary over multiple generations and projects. In addition to health and humanitarian concerns, the foundation focuses its grant making to support “bricks and mortar” projects in the fields of education and religion in several states including Texas. The Mabee Foundation has been instrumental in helping Austin Seminary complete the funding of several buildings around campus with challenge grants that inspired others to give. Look around and you will notice plaques of acknowledgement and gratitude for the Mabee Foundation on McCord Community Center, the John and Nancy Anderson House, the John and Sue McCoy House, and the soon to be Mary and Robert J. Wright Learning and Information Center.
“Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary represents many characteristics that are important to the Mabee Foundation,” says Executive Director Mike Goeke, “including an important mission, a committed and growing support base, and fine, capable leadership. It has been our pleasure to partner with Austin Seminary and, we hope, to help it continue to thrive for years to come.” v
Donna Scott is vice president in the Office of Institutional Advancement at Austin Seminary and campaign director for Weaving Promise and Practice into Ministry: The Campaign for Austin Seminary. The picture is of Liz Williams, taken in Shelton Chapel where she was baptized. The Currie family story has been interwoven into Austin Seminary’s for generations. To see a complete list of donors to the Weaving Promise and Practice into Ministry campaign, see the Honor Roll of Donors in the center section of this magazine.
Donna Scott is vice president in the Office of Institutional Advancement at Austin Seminary and campaign director for Weaving Promise and Practice into Ministry: The Campaign for Austin Seminary.
