Windows Winter 2013

Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

winter 2013

In this Issue MidWinters 2013 | 3

Forgiveness | 6

Todd to teach ethics | 18

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AUSTIN

AUSTIN PRESBYTERIAN

PRESBYTERIAN THEOLOGI C AL

THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

SEMINARY

winter 2013

Volume 128 | Number 1

President

Theodore J. Wardlaw

Board of Trustees

Cassandra C. Carr, Chair Karen C. Anderson Thomas L. Are Jr. Claudia D. Carroll Elizabeth Christian Joseph J. Clifford James G. Cooper Marvin L. Cooper James B. Crawley Consuelo Donahue (MDiv’96) Jackson Farrow Jr. Elizabeth Blanton Flowers G. Archer Frierson Richard D. Gillham Walter Harris Jr. John Hartman 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 Teresa Chávez Sauceda (MDiv’88) 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

Trustees Emeriti

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

Austin Seminary Association (ASA) Board

Timothy Blodgett (MDiv’07), President Valerie Bridgeman (MDiv’90), Vice President / President-Elect Karen Greif (MDiv’92, DMin’06), Secretary Richard Culp (MDiv’93, DMin’01), Past President J. Andrew Blair (MDiv’89) Alonzo Campbell (DMin’94) Katherine Cummings (MDiv’05) Dieter U. Heinzl(MDiv’98) Kathleen Hignight (MDiv’95) Ryan Kemp-Pappan (MDiv’08) Matthew C. Miles (MDiv’99) Andrew Parnell (MDiv’05) Tamara J. Strehli (MDiv’05) Nancy Taylor (MDiv’05) Leanne Thompson (MDiv’06) Michael A. Waschevski (DMin’03)

features

6 Cover: “mending the fracture,” mixed media, © carolyn manosevitz, 2008. All of the illustrations accompanying the essays on “Forgiveness” (pages 6-17) were created by manosevitz, an adjunct member of the Austin Seminary faculty. Her artist’s statement reads, in part: “For the past twelve years, my art has been inspired by the aftermath of the Holocaust: from conversations with children of survivors to the Judeo/Christian dialogue and reconciliation between Christians and Jews.”

Windows is indebted to her for this contribution.

6

... as we forgive our debtors

9

On Healing

10

Forgiveness and its Power to Impart Life

By Lewis Donelson

By carolyn manosevitz

By Hans-Richard Nevermann

13

Life Lessons on Forgiveness

By Karen Greif

14

After Forgiveness

An interview with Nico Koopman and Allan Boesak

17

Our Reluctance to Forgive

By Judy Skaggs

& departments

5

2

seminary & church

3

twenty-seventh & speedway

17 faculty news & notes 20 alumni news & notes 21 teaching & ministry back cover live & learn

Editor Randal Whittington

Contributors

Lemuel García Laura Harris Lisa Holleran Sandy Knott Gary Mathews Kathy Muenchow Nancy Reese Kimberly Rutherford Kristy Sorensen Melissa Wiginton

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

Winter 2013 | 1

seminary church

from the president |

I

President’s Schedule January 13—Preacher, Highland Presbyterian Church, Louisville, Kentucky February 22—Preacher, Tres Rios Presbytery Meeting, San Angelo, Texas February 23-25—Preacher, Lewis Preaching Series, First Presbyterian Church, Salisbury, North Carolina April 4—Host, Evening with the President, Shreveport, Louisiana April 18—Partner Lunch, Ft. Worth, Texas April 21—Preach, Northridge Presbyterian Church, Dallas April 23—Partner Lunch, Albuquerque, New Mexico May 5—Preacher, First Presbyterian Church, Albuquerque

t strikes me that our theme in this issue of Windows—that of “forgiveness”—could not be more timely. Whatever your political persuasion, for example, you’re likely to agree that we’ve lived through the most acrimonious election season in anybody’s memory. Moreover, almost like a churchly echo of our nation’s grumpy zeitgeist, we’ve been experiencing in every denominational tradition I know of, and certainly our Presbyterian communion, a similarly discouraging season of acrimony. And then there’s the global stage against which all sorts of regional conflicts are playing out, yielding enough heartache in every 24-hour news cycle to last for a lifetime.

“Forgive us our sins (or debts, or trespasses)” may be the most poignant prayer we can ever imagine uttering. Again, it is timely that we focus on forgiveness. Members of the Seminary community—Lewie Donelson, Carolyn Manosevitz, Hans-Richard Nevermann, Karen Greif, and Judy Skaggs—offer various angles on the work of forgiveness. They are joined by two recent visitors to our community—Nico Koopman and Allan Boesak—who offer reflections on forgiveness from the particular context of postapartheid South Africa. May it be that these pieces burrow deep into our consciences and hearts until we become vessels of mercy in an angry world.

Read on to discover anticipated noteworthy moments in the Seminary’s life—news of the upcoming MidWinters, of our recently-announced new Christian ethics professor, of faculty and alumni/ae and board happenings, and other events you may wish to put on your calendar. The Seminary exists to prepare pastors and other servants of the church for ministry in the future that beckons us … and we always look forward to welcoming them back!

Blessings to you in the Advent-Christmas-Epiphany season.

Faithfully yours,

Theodore J. Wardlaw President

MidWinters February 4-6 | AustinSeminary.edu/midwinters2013 Discovery Weekend for prospective students | February 15-17 |

AustinSeminary.edu/springdiscoveryweekend

The College of Pastoral Leaders applications due May 15 | AustinSeminary.edu/cpl 2 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

twenty-seventh speedway

MidWinters, February 4-6, to look at justice, church

Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty

A

Joseph Small

ustin Seminary’s 2013 MidWinters, February 4-6, features lecturers Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty, Joseph Small, and Margaret Aymer. Opening the 2013 MidWinters will be Karl Travis, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Fort Worth; he will lead the Monday and Tuesday evening worship services.

Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty will deliver the Thomas White Currie Lectures, “Grace-filled Economy: The Way Around the Ethic of Scarcity Toward the Ethic of Enough.” In this threepart lecture, she will discuss the unequal distribution of wealth, patterns of consumption, and ecological devastation.

Hinson-Hasty is chair of the Department of Theology at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky, and a teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Her research and work most recently focus on poverty and wealth inequalities.

Joseph Small is the 2013 E.C. Westervelt Lecturer. His two-part series is called “The Last Shall be First: Ecclesiology as Initial Theological Problem.” Small, who served as director for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Theology and Worship until 2011, will address the “theological afterthought” of ecclesiology and what it is to be one holy catholic and apostolic church.

Margaret Aymer will deliver the Robert F. Jones Lectures, “Sojourner’s Truths.” The first lecture is called “The New Testament as Migrant Writing,” and the second, “Migrant Writings as Scripture.” Aymer is the associate professor for New Testament at the Interdenominational Theological

Margaret Aymer

Karl Travis

Center, and the chair of Biblical Studies. She is the author of numerous books including First Pure, Then Peaceable: Frederick Douglass, Darkness and the Epistle of James and Confessing the Beatitudes.

A special lunch discussion on “Faith and Public Life,” featuring the Honorable David Peeples, a judge in the Fourth Administrative Judicial Region of Texas and an Austin Seminary Trustee, will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 5. He will speak briefly on the role faith has played in his career as a lawyer and judge. After a short Q&A, Austin Seminary Association (ASA) Board President Timothy Blodgett (MDiv’07) will lead a discussion among the attendees. The luncheon is free, but you must register in advance.

There will be a dinner on Monday evening for the decade classes (1953, ’63, ’73, ’83, and ’93) and a gathering later that night for those who graduated in the past decade. Closing out the MidWinters event is the ASA Banquet and Annual Meeting (tickets are $15 and reservations are required). The luncheon will feature President Theodore J. Wardlaw’s “State of the Seminary” address and will pay tribute to the 2013 Distinguished Service recipients: John McCoy (MDiv’63), Greg McDonnell (MDiv’81), and Helen Locklear (MDiv’89).

We hope you will make plans now to attend. Read more about the lectures, find information on reduced-rate lodging, and register online at AustinSeminary.edu/midwinters2013, or call 512-404-4886 for more information.

The Way of St. James: On the Pilgrimage Trail Austin Seminary Travel Seminar | May 30-June 16, 2013 | Cost: $4600 per person We may have room on this special travel seminar for alumni and other friends of Austin Seminary.

Carrying our backpacks an average of ten miles each day (some days more, some days, less) through the French countryside, we will be among the 10,000 persons who hike some portion of the Way of St. James each year. The remains of the apostle James (the elder) are entombed at the end of the trail, in Santiago, Spain. We will walk old paths, mindful of all who have traveled before us. Contact Professor Jennifer Lord (jlord@austinseminary.edu) if you wish to know more about the trip. Ultreia!

Winter 2013 | 3

twenty-seventh speedway

Our Heartfelt Gratitude to the family of

Peggy Cockrum Founding Editor of Windows magazine

which has established an endowment in her memory to support the publications and communications program at Austin Seminary

4 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

The regional Festival of Young Preachers, September 28-29, was covered by the local press. Above, participant Allie Utley (senior, New Orleans,) speaks to a television reporter about the event.

Library celebrates joint catalogue with SSW

T

his summer Stitt Library doubled the size of its collection without purchasing a single new book! The Joint Catalog of the Stitt and Booher Libraries is the product of a partnership with the Seminary of the Southwest (SSW), combining the two library collections into one easily searchable digital catalog with 320,000 indexed items. “Overnight we added 2,340 patrons and 153,998 items from SSW’s catalog,” says Lesley Caldwell, technical service librarian for The Stitt Library.

Though Austin Seminary and SSW students have had access to each other’s catalogs previously, this new endeavor streamlines the process. Instead of requiring separate searches of each catalog, resources from both libraries are now available in a single search; added filtering functionalities help narrow

the search parameters. Items are still physically located half a mile apart in their respective libraries, and each library still issues separate library cards, but both staffs have coordinated protocols and are prepared to assist all patrons.

This new joint catalog not only saves time but also offers cost savings for both institutions. Sharing the expense of hosting the digital catalog opens up additional resources for both. The site redesign was also a joint effort, with feedback solicited from library patrons. Working with the cataloging vendor, the library staffs customized the functionality of the catalog to best serve both constituencies. One such feature is showcasing course reserves for all classes at both seminaries. This allows students and faculty to see what resources are being used for each course.

Staff news

New year begins with an increase in enrollment

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ustin Seminary held opening convocation services for the 2012-13 academic year on September 4. Professor Monya Stubbs delivered the Convocation Address, “Subjection to God.” During the opening worship service, President Theodore J. Wardlaw preached and new members of the student body signed the Declaration of Intent, a covenant students have made with each other since the founding of the Seminary.

This fall Austin Seminary boasts a masters-level entering class of forty-three students, our first upward turn in enrollment since the recent economic downturn. Thirty-nine of the new students will work toward the Master of Divinity (MDiv) degree, including four who plan to matriculate in the Dual Degree program with the University of Texas School of Social Work.

One student enrolled in the MATS program, and three, in the new Master of Arts in Ministry Practice (MAMP) degree.

In its first year, the MAMP is designed to equip individuals for general pastoral leadership through two years of full-time study in biblical studies, theology and history, and the ministry arts (preaching, worship, pastoral care, Christian education, leadership and administration, and mission and evangelism).

Statistically speaking, 58% of the new class are single, 24% come from racial-ethnic minorities, 48% are PC(USA), 26% are United Methodists, and the rest come from six other denominations ranging from free-church traditions to Anglican. In addition to these, Austin Seminary provides educational opportunities for students (called special students) who are interested in seminary course work but are not enrolled in degree programs; there are fourteen such students attending classes this fall.

Austin Seminary offers financial assistance to more than 80% of its students, including merit and need-based support. Several merit awards were offered to the incoming class.

The recipients are: Jean Brown Fellows: Michael Chaddick (Santa Ana, California), John Harrison (Atlanta, Georgia), Erica Knisely (Austin), and Kathy Lee (New Orleans); Jean Brown Scholars: Kris Brown (Austin), Sarah Chancellor (Jenks, Oklahoma), and Michele Goff (Tulsa, Oklahoma); and James M. O’Leary Scholar: Sarah Lancaster (Austin).

Deborah Hamilton is the Learning Technologies Librarian, a newly created position in which she will assist with upcoming initiatives with technology and distance learning. She holds three master’s degree: in English Language and Literature, Education, and Library and Information Science. In her spare time, Deb enjoys cooking, knitting, skiing, and hiking.

Kurt Gabbard, vice president for Business Affairs, is the new treasurer for the Association for Theological Schools (ATS), the chief accrediting body for theological schools in the U.S.

webXtra Wynand Retief, professor of Old Testament on the faculty of Justo Mwale Theological College in Zambia, has spent several months at Austin Seminary as a visiting scholar. On October 11, he delivered the lecture, “African Culture-and-Theology: Life Through Death.”

Listen online here: AustinSeminary.edu/retief

At the conclusion of the Blessing of the Animals ceremony on October 4, student Sharolyn Browning, left, shares a mutual blessing with “Wink,” the dog who lives with Professor David White, right.

Winter 2013 | 5

… as we forgive

our debtors

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“reconstructing the story iv” © manosevitz, 2006

By Lewis Donelson

When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, Christians all over the world repeatedly negotiate the same deal with God. “Forgive us our debts,” we say, “as we forgive our debtors.” Or if we prefer the version in Luke, we offer “Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us” (Luke 11:4; Matt.

6:12). Of course, I doubt if we really think of these words as striking a deal with God when we pray them in the calm sequences of the Lord’s Prayer. Most people, I suspect, say these words thinking in a general way of the many obligations and transformations of forgiveness. We make a promise to God to forgive others, but we make the promise in the context of divine forgiveness. Nevertheless, the prayer itself sounds like we are making a deal with God about forgiveness.

The Reverend Dr. Lewis Donelson is the Ruth A. Campbell Professor of New Testament at Austin Seminary. He has written extensively on New Testament texts and led Bible-lands study tours. He is editor of Horizons in Biblical Theology.

6 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

In fact, until recent times, Christians typically understood this petition about forgiveness as meaning precisely what it appears to say, namely that divine forgiveness depends on us forgiving others first. And this seems to be how the petition is understood in Matthew. Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, makes only one direct comment on the content of the Lord’s Prayer: “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matt. 6:14-15; these verses may be the origin of the “trespasses” version of the prayer). The point seems clear enough. Furthermore, this saying connects to many similar Jesus sayings: e.g., “for with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you receive” (Matt.

7:2; cf., Mark 11:25; Luke 6:37-38). In these sayings and others, Jesus declares that God forgives us to the extent that we do and do not forgive others.

There is, of course, a problem here. Most people, these days at least, are troubled by anything that imposes a condition or limitation on God’s forgiveness. God’s grace should come to us out of God’s free choice independent of our deserving or of any human deed. However, these Jesus sayings seem to contradict that. The common theological response to this apparent conflict has been to distinguish forgiveness from justification (and both of them from grace). God justifies us, makes us righteous, as a free gift. Justification is God pronouncing someone righteous. No conditions can be attached. If forgiveness is involved in justification, it is involved only as forensic (legal) forgiveness, as the cancelling of the personal and theological debts accrued by sin. It is then argued that “debts” in the Lord’s Prayer are not this kind of debt and that the forgiveness invoked here involves something beyond this narrow legal reading.

Whatever might be the theological value of this sequence, most biblical scholars would insist that all these Jesus sayings about intertwined and conditional forgiveness should not be read as prelude to the doctrine of justification. Jesus is not calling us to forgive other people so that we can earn God’s grace. But if this is not what is going on, what is? What are we praying when we pray the Lord’s Prayer?

In order to discuss how we might read these petitions about forgiveness, it is usual to begin with the question of forgiveness itself. What is forgiveness? What does it mean to forgive? These are not easy questions to answer.

Christian (and non-Christian) literature on forgiveness is both stunning and extensive. Without delving into the

wonderful complexity and exhausting insights of this literature, for our purposes I want to call upon the most common way this literature parses the term forgiveness.

Forgiveness is often divided into three types.

First, there is forensic forgiveness wherein the expected punishment for an offense is cancelled. The one who forgives foregoes the claims of justice and whatever punishments or restitutions justice might impose.

The primary (but not only) purpose of this mode of forgiveness is to give mercy to the forgiven. Second, there is forgiveness as an act of emotional release on the part of the offended. The person releases feelings of hurt, anger, and desire for revenge. The primary purpose of this mode of forgiveness is to begin the healing process of the person who forgives. Third, there is restorative forgiveness in which the offending party is reintegrated into the relationship(s) broken by the offending deed. This forgiveness involves the re-creation of community and the re-narrating of relationships. It does not suppose a return to original dynamics of a relationship but a transformation into something new.

These types are not depicted as sequential or as uniformly appropriate. One can be present without the other two. For example, in the literature of abuse, the forgoing of justice and the reintegration of the abuser into the original society is rarely possible or even desirable.

However, the possibility of the abused person releasing the hurt, anger, and hate is often seen as a good thing.

The abused begins to heal while the abuser is punished and excluded. In any case, all these forms of forgiveness are frequent in the Bible, although the first and third are the most common.

In this brief essay, I would like to offer a reading of these forgiveness petitions in the Lord’s Prayer. In this reading I will try to take account of both the literature on forgiveness and the complex teaching and deeds of Jesus that involve forgiveness. I do not think the reading offered here is a new reading. It is instead a restatement of one of the classic Christians readings of the Lord’s Prayer and its words about forgiveness.

This reading begins with the straightforward observation that the petition for and the promise of forgiveness in the Lord’s Prayer do not stand alone. They are not isolated sentences to be read or prayed on their own. They belong to the prayer, to the other sentences of Jesus, and to the story of Jesus. In the sequences of the prayer, the images of forgiveness follow upon the petition for the arrival of God’s kingdom. The prayer lists the fundamentals of the kingdom (or at least some of them): bread given Winter 2013 | 7

daily, forgiveness by us and God, and safety from both trespass against us, not only does forgiveness live in our temptation and evil. As people who read it and pray it recovering hearts, but we also receive forgiveness of our have long noted, the Lord’s Prayer is a kingdom prayer. trespasses from God and, I would argue, from others.

The petition for and promise of forgiveness are moments Furthermore, the third type of forgiveness must be inwithin the arriving kingdom. scribed here. The offending people themselves, of whom When we forgive we enter, perhaps even help to cre- we are one, are wandering about in this kingdom. The ate, the place of forgiveness. Thus, to forgive others is not doors to the kingdom are open. Enemies, friends who beto get credit in a divine accounting book wherein forgive- tray, and perhaps Judas himself are welcomed within this ness points are accumulated and cashed in at the very kingdom. end. Rather when we forgive we stand within the place All of these images of forgiveness will seem familiar that God is creating and to which God is inviting us. This to most readers of this article. These images are a classic place is not perhaps the final kingdom but the kingdom and persistent part of Christian thought. But it should that is here now, the kingdom of the arriving Messiah. be noted that every such pronouncement of forgiveness And we can say at least this much, this here-and-now is haunted by an equal cry for justice. Certainly, in the kingdom is a place filled with forgiveness. gospels, justice is depicted as a necessary and funda To grasp the force of this imagery we should not limit mental part of the kingdom. Persistent questions haunt the image of forgiveness this portrait of overflowing The people who live in this forgiveness. Can forgiveness to one of the three types kingdom are the people who can last without justice? Can the listed above, or even to just those three types. Instead, give and receive forgiveness. abuser really wander free we should read into these You cannot get into the kingdom among us? Can a heart really petitions all the images, release its pain without some without it … it takes the presence of imperatives, and parables accounting having occurred? of forgiveness that the gosforgiveness to create the place. And so on. pels attribute to Jesus. To

As is typically the case in evoke just a few: here we forgive not seven times, which the gospels, in the Jesus material, these tensions are not is already way too many, but seventy times seven (Matt. resolved. In fact, the sayings and stories of Jesus seem 18:22); here we forgive not only the family member who to intensify this conflict between justice and forgiveness. violates the family but the family member who resents Thus, without pretending to undo this conflict, I would that forgiveness (Luke 15:11-32); here we forgive not like to end with a classic image, albeit an inadequate one. only the one who kills us but the one who kills the one we The people who live in this kingdom are the people love (Luke 23:34). Every narrative of forgiveness is here. who can give and receive forgiveness. You cannot get into In this reading of the kingdom and forgiveness, many the kingdom without it. It is not that you are forbidden of Jesus’ sayings about forgiveness need reframing. For entry. There is no guard at the gate. Rather, it takes the example, Jesus’ beatitude “Blessed are the merciful, for presence of forgiveness to create the place. The unrethey will receive mercy” is no longer read as a promise pentant abuser is simply not there, even if he (or she) is about a distant heavenly future, wherein the merciful re- standing right next to the one forgiving him. ceive mercy from God on the day of judgment. Rather, Finally I want to return to where I began. It seems in this reading the future tense becomes a logical future to me that we are already praying the Lord’s Prayer as it not a temporal one. When we have mercy towards others, was intended to be prayed. In our praying, moving deep we enter the world of mercy. When we are merciful, we within the petitions of this prayer we say again and again, have mercy poured on us now, in this life, in this place. “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” As we The giving and receiving of mercy may even occur at the do so, we do not think of deals or contracts or of trying to same moment. Thus, it is perhaps better to elide the fu- force forgiveness from God. We think instead of the wonture tense and say, when we are merciful, we are in that ders of forgiveness. As we speak this prayer, we are— in very moment having mercy poured on us. the very speaking—entering the world of forgiveness, a We should imagine all three types of forgiveness be- forgiveness that involves us, our neighbors, our families, ing intertwined in this kingdom. Not only do we aban- our enemies, and God. This forgiveness moves among us don the need and desire for punishment of the ones who all, seemingly all at once, and it is endless. v

{

8 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

On Healing By carolyn h. manosevitz, mfa

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“a hole in the landscape” © manosevitz, 2012

n May, 2003, following my trip to Kremenets, Ukraine, my ancestral home, where close to forty family members are buried in a mass grave of 15,000 Jews, I delivered a Sunday morning sermon at Aspen Community Church. I spoke about memory and healing. After my talk, a congregant said, “Healing is fine, but you can’t have healing without forgiveness.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” I replied.

Later, I consulted my dear friend Rabbi Mendel Mintz. I have been quoting him ever since: “Sometimes, forgiveness is inappropriate,” he said.

In the Jewish tradition, it is forbidden to forgive a murderer because the perpetrator must ask forgiveness from his/her victim. Since that day in Aspen Community Church, I have spent considerable time pondering the phenomenon of forgiveness, particularly as it pertains to me and my family.

My father was the youngest and only survivor in a Jewish Ukrainian family of twelve children. Of more than 15,000 Jews targeted for extermination in Kremenets on 10 August, 1942, there were but fourteen survivors.

None were my relatives.

As I stood at the mass grave in Kremenets, reciting the Kaddish (Hebrew prayer for the dead) over and over again, forgiveness was the last thing on my mind.

But healing was. And it came in the form of my Christian brothers and sisters whose spirits I felt with me at that moment. I recalled words such as those of my former Austin Seminary student Rev. David Barker (MDiv’01): While our relationship, perhaps unavoidably, has been shaped by the fact that you are a Jew and I am a Christian, the most important thing to be said about the friendship we share—and, perhaps, the most important testimony I can make to the importance of supporting your interfaith work—is that when, to this day, you and I meet, we do so first and foremost as human beings who not only love and value one another, but who need one another. Indeed, this has been the most profound gift of my relationship with you: the recognition that healing, understanding, and peace in a post-Shoah world are not solitary pursuits but will come only through relationship, because only through relationship will we see one another first and foremost not as Jew and Gentile but as brother and sister, as precious, beloved children of G-d.

Simply forgiving the perpetrators who murdered the 15,000 Jews of Kremenets and millions more, falls short of achieving any kind of inner peace for me or for the collective Jewish community. What is the purpose of forgiving? Is it for healing? Seeking peace or closure? I have come to the conclusion that healing can take on many forms.

Each time I teach my course, Spirituality After the Holocaust, at Austin Seminary, I heal just a little bit more.

Borrowing thoughts from Emmanuel Levinas, I see myself in my students—in the “face of the other.” I see my own fears, my own vulnerability. Together my students and I are doing our part for tikkun olam: the mending of the world.

In July 2011, I attended the annual conference of the International Council for Christians and Jews in Crakow, Poland. I listened as the Archbishop of Poland said, “The absence of the Jews in Poland has left a hole in the heart of the landscape.” I thought to myself, My father never would have believed this. Certainly hearing those words, accepting them, and executing the painting “hole in the landscape” was most healing for me.

Reciting the Kaddish on the soil where my relatives took their last steps gave me closure. As for forgiveness— I leave that for the Almighty. v

Colorado artist Carolyn Manosevitz frequently lectures at Austin Seminary. Her work in the area of “Second Generation” Holocaust survivors led to her founding The Fund for Interfaith Understanding. Her works accompany these essays on forgiveness (pages 6-17).

Winter 2013 | 9

Forgiveness its Power to Impart

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“echo” © manosevitz, 2008

Life

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he duration of my service as a WWII soldier was brief. I was eighteen years old when I got drafted into the infantry in 1942. Following six months

By Hans-Richard Nevermann

training in a machine gun unit, I was sent as a

Translated by Professor John Alsup

combat officer candidate to the frontline position at Woronesh in the Soviet Union. It was, however,

10 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

but eighteen months later that I was given a medical dis- death, I dragged myself with my last bit of strength into a charge from the army having been severely wounded in lonely cabin in which I saw a light. I was ready to use my action. gun; yet, I was too weak. Just inside, behind the door, I While being transported initially to the Russian collapsed. front, I had an experience that turned my youthful ex- An elderly couple lived there in their poverty … citement about facing combat into skepnonetheless, strong enough to kill me ticism. In the train between Warsaw and with any weapon available to them as Brest, I saw hundreds of people— naked, enemy-intruder, as “fascist.” And yet, dead, or nearly dead—lying in the railway instead of killing me, the old man put trenches; some of them with an arm lifthis arm around me and with the touch ed upward with their last bit of strength, of tenderness he kept saying, “oh, moi begging for help. I asked a travel comsin” (in English “O, my son”). The elderpanion what this was about, wondering ly woman in the meantime, sobbing, should we try to help? What then would knelt before the icon in the corner of I want to do? this one wanted to know. I the room and prayed. Whatever it was replied, “Perhaps we could pull the emerthat the two of them were thinking gency-brake cord?” He said, “You foolish about—perhaps a son of their own on twerp! Do you want to be laid out alongthe front—I really don’t know. I was no side them? Those are just Russians, Jews, Christian; I didn’t want to be one, eiand Poles!” I said: “Aha?!?” … overcome ther. And yet, at that moment my final, with frustration! last surviving bit of strength was a I was in shock … afraid … so sad.

In the solitude of the prayer: “Help me, O God, and protect My enthusiasm and my pride about ice-chilled landscape of these wonderful people!” being a German soldier suffered for In my deepest crisis, in the soliRussia, two old people ever a huge collapse. And yet, it was to tude of the ice-chilled landscape became for me the of Russia, here in the warm cabin get much worse.

I arrived at the front in this frame life-giving power of of these two old people, this bright of mind. From there began the retreat forgiveness. moonlit night, became for me the on the 24th of January, 1943. Togethlife-giving power of forgiveness. er with several German and Soviet divisions, we were located in a huge circular valley. The Devastation & reconciliation front wasn’t clearly defined. On February 6, I sustained While initially I was protected and lovingly cared for by severe wounds to my left arm and both legs. My com- the two old Russians, the war continued on, of course, manding officer wanted to rescue me. Placed on a sled with ever-increasing intensity. Thus, it was also nothing together with another downed comrade, I was dispatched unusual when suddenly a terrible rumble shattered the in the direction of the city Tim. The circular valley was peaceful calm. A horse-drawn field kitchen came along. supposed to be open for about 30 kilometers, but we got Soldiers dressed in their white camouflaged outfits broke caught up in further battles and unexpected fighting … into the house with weapons drawn. They were German.

Even in my weakened state I, too, was prepared if neceshorses and sled were lost.

After the first night of this “rescue,” I stood there … sary to make use of my weapon. alone in the icy cold, armed with an automatic pistol and They took me with them and delivered me to the a map. Since I could find help nowhere, I sought to slug town of Gomel, a gathering place for the wounded. There, my way through by myself. I moved about only at night. people such as I were put together in a hospital transRations consisted of some potatoes I could dig up and port consisting of freight trucks destined for Warsaw. In snow for moisture. My wounds worsened. My strength Minsk, however, I was taken off because of high fever and drifted from me. I got weaker and weaker. After some severe pain and delivered to the military hospital there. days I was at the end of my rope. Exhausted nearly to It was here that—sixteen days since being wounded—I

{

Hans-Richard Nevermann was an ecumenical student at Austin Seminary during 1953-54. A pastor in the Church of the Union: Lutheran-Reformed; he received Austin Seminary’s Award for Service in 2006 honoring his work for reconciliation after World War II. Winter 2013 | 11

finally received medical attention. Though several surger- Seminary. I studied there and experienced a wonderful, ies were attempted to save my severely wounded left arm, unforgettable time. To this day my sense of connection to on March 24 it had to be amputated. this place continues and enduring friendships there have The war raged on another two years. On May 8, 1945, come to pass.

Germany surrendered unconditionally and was divided into four zones of occupation. On July 1, 1945, my own Forgiveness through repentance area fell to Soviet control as agreed upon at the Yalta and Action for the Signs of Reconciliation became an organiTeheran conferences and I was a prisoner of war until zation whose express goal is based on the German culpa1950. These were difficult years, but in this time I found bility for the Second World War and crimes against humanity. It seeks to establish mutually beneficial projects support in the Christian faith.

Germany lay in rubble and groaned under the weight for the sake of forgiveness. In the years 1958-1961 nuof its guilt. On October 18 and 19, 1945, the newly con- merous examples of such signs established themselves. I stituted conference of the Protestant Church of Germany myself headed up two restoration groups of this organiheld its first meeting in Stuttgart. It was there that a high- zation in Norway. The first group restored a commercial ranking Ecumenical Commission was appointed with the building in the vicinity of Narvik—a city brought under mandate of re-establishing contact with the German heavy assault during the war—and turned it into a therachurches and of exploring the options for relief efforts peutic center, a home for patients with mental disabilities. The other group built a church between the churches. In the course of for the primarily Lapplander popuan extensive discussion about develThe refusal to claim lation in Kokelv. This little town lies opments in Germany since 1933 and the situation of the German people self-justification and in the northernmost province of Norway called Finnmark, which was after the collapse, the Commission the genuine posture totally destroyed by German troops unanimously drew up a resolution of repentance enabled during the war and was left behind to which the decisive statement by Martin Niemoeller was appended: forgiveness and new life. as “scorched earth.” Such destruction was ordered by the German “To be sure, in the name of Jesus we military high command because fought these many years against the spirit that found its terrible expression in the despotic they feared an attack out of Finland by Soviet troops. regime of National Socialism; yet, we fault ourselves for Other examples, in which youth groups of the Action not having confessed more bravely, for not having prayed for Reconciliation offered prayers for forgiveness on bemore faithfully, for not having believed more joyfully, and half of the “guilt of their fathers,” included: in France a church for the “Brotherhood of Taize” and a synagogue for not having loved more fervently.”

The effect of this Stuttgart Confession of Guilt was in Villeurbann; in England a “Center for Encounter” in a stirring in its depth, above all in the ecumenical context. cathedral destroyed by German bombs; in Holland a SoThe refusal to claim self-justification and the genuine pos- cial Academy; in Poland in the vicinity of the concentrature of repentance enabled forgiveness and new life. This tion camp at Auschwitz an “International Center for Endeclaration of guilt called to remembrance as exhortation counter.” These building projects stopped in August 1961 that people before God’s countenance cannot settle ac- due to the construction of the Wall in Berlin and were counts against one another, but only confess their own replaced by attention to the social services. Individual guilt. From this posture of repentance by the German volunteers continued to work in Jewish homes for the elchurches and the posture of forgiveness of the Ecumeni- derly in the concentration camp memorials in Auschwitz, cal churches blossomed a new ecclesial life that became a Stutthof, Maidanek, and in the various Kibbuzim in Israel, with a new focus and mission: To seek forgiveness benefit for all the people; above all, for the youth.

I myself—especially because of my painful prior-his- through the voluntary labor wherever the Germany of tory through injury and imprisonment—had the great National Socialism has left its marks of criminality. Jesus fortune of profiting from this circumstance. Following gave to Christendom everywhere and for all time as spiriup on a proposal from my seminary in Berlin—after tual provision for the journey this request in the prayer requisite examination by a representative of the World he taught his disciples: “Forgive us our trespasses as we v Council in Geneva—I received a scholarship from Austin also forgive those who trespass against us!”

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12 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

The Healing Power of Forgiveness

By Karen Greif

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n 1990, I was one of nine seminarians enrolled in the summer Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) program at Seton Hospital.

As we gathered for our first day, there was tension in the air. Our required text, When Bad Things Happen To Good People, by Harold Kushner, had left us feeling unprepared. We were expecting a text that provided answers, not one that posed questions instead. But there “healing” © manosevitz, 2009 we were, six Presbyterians and three Episcopalians, with a text by a Rabbi, about to begin chaplaincy training in a Catholic hospital.

Since that summer twenty-two years ago, I have been no stranger to hospitals. Over the years my role has changed from chaplain to pastor to patient to volunteer.

From each unique perspective, I have learned much about the healing power of forgiveness.

As chaplain intern, I learned to forgive the world for being less than perfect. Rabbi Kushner’s book, written after his son’s death, wrestles with the tangible presence of suffering in human life. That visceral reality was our first abiding lesson of the summer. To abandon “theological answers” to the “why question of suffering” was the second. We were taught the humility to respond, “I do not know why, but I will be present with and for you in this time of pain.”

In 1992, I accepted a call to Hope Presbyterian Church in Austin. Now I entered hospital rooms, not as a stranger, but as pastor and friend. This relationship of trust provided a safe environment, where the innermost fears and longings of our hearts were openly shared. The importance of our liturgical assurance of pardon was un-

derscored in these visits, and I discovered the profound sense of comfort it provides in times of crisis.

My next hospital experience was as a cancer patient. The bodily assaults of three surgeries and twelve rounds of chemotherapy seemed much like an attack by the Assyrian army. Battle losses included body parts, all my hair, and twenty pounds. Seeking consolation, I turned to the prophet who spoke words of comfort to the besieged. In Isaiah I found the solace I sought, and also discovered a new lens of scriptural interpretation.

In Isaiah’s mandate to care for the poor, homeless, and hungry, I had always applied a literal interpretation.

The poor lacked money; the homeless, shelter; the hungry, food. But having cancer added another level of meaning. I learned first hand from this disease how hunger can also apply to hope; how poverty can apply to health; and how little shelter is offered in the face of the unknown.

Through cancer I learned to forgive my body for being mortal. And with the acceptance of my mortality I learned to number my days and to treasure each one as a gift.

My present role in hospitals is as a volunteer for Cancer Connection Austin, a validated ministry within Mission Presbytery, whose mission is to provide support to cancer patients and their families. Using a training model similar to Stephen Ministries, Cancer Connection has equipped 400 survivors to serve as mentors to those currently fighting this disease. To all who seek our assistance, we offer listening ears, caring hearts, and all the insights we have gained from our own hard-fought battles with cancer. v

Karen Greif (MDiv’92, DMin’06) served as associate pastor of Hope Presbyterian Church, Austin. In 2004, as a four-year survivor of breast cancer, she founded Cancer Connection Austin (www.thecancerconnection.org).

Winter 2013 | 13

After

Forgiveness “the trees are witness” © manosevitz, 2008

South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission provided a course for healing … but what about justice?

This year Austin Seminary was privileged to have two visitors from South Africa on its campus. Windows spoke with them about the forgiveness offered by victims of apartheid.

Portions of our interview with Nico Koopman, theology faculty at Stellenbosch University, and Allan Boesak, co-founder of the United Democratic Front, follows.

Nico Koopman South Africans had our first inclusive democratic elections on the 27th of April 1994 … after centuries of exclusion from colonialism and decades of exclusion from apartheid. The question that we had to deal with was: What do we do with the wrongs of the past? One option was just to stay quiet and say, Now we have a democracy. Let’s go ahead and forget about the past. The other option was to say, No, no, no. We must have Nuremberg-type trials. But as South Africans we opted for a third way. We said, We cannot keep quiet about the past. People were hurt and the past will haunt us if we don’t talk about it. On the other hand, we cannot go for revenge. We need to create a forum where people who committed wrongs Photography of Allan Boesak (left) and Nico Koopman (right) by Jody Horton (jodyhorton.com).

14 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

can come and confess, where we can enhance reconciliation and healing and forgiveness.

Against that background, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission [TRC] was established. It was the collective idea of political leaders, leaders in civil society, and not surprisingly, church leaders played a crucial role in the commission.

At the TRC, and even before the TRC, we were overwhelmed by the gift of forgiveness of South Africans … and that forgiveness paved the way for our peaceful political transition … We saw a lot of the Christian logic [that] forgiveness is the first word. Forgiveness opens the door for repentance, remorse, confession of sin, and for reconciliation and justice.

Allan Boesak I really do believe that in 1994 we had a miracle … I know where we were in the 1980s. I was there. I saw the blood. I held those kids in my arms as they died. I had to speak to their fathers and their mothers … And so, when we could do [the transition] without a civil war and without more bloodshed, I thought, This is a miracle …

Desmond Tutu wrote that wonderful book with the title: No Future Without Forgiveness. There are many people who are angry at him now because of that, but I think he’s absolutely right.

I really do not think that South Africans would have been able to overcome that period if there had not been a willingness to forgive.

Koopman But when the Lord in the Bible says, “You have been forgiven. Go and sin no more. Make it right,” that’s what we’re waiting for in South Africa.

That yes, the forgiveness paved the way for political liberation. The outstanding question is: Does the same forgiveness pave the way for economic liberation, for bread on the table, for employment, for health care, for shelter, for education, for the chance to actualize all your potentialities, your talents, for meaningful life, a life of dignity?

Boesak South Africa today is the most unequal society in the world. The heartache that we suffer now, and the political consequences that we are beginning to suffer now, is because South Africans thought that they could get away with a cheap reconciliation that would include forgiveness for whites, but not social justice. Forgiveness but not restitution. Forgiveness but not the restoration of dignity.

Koopman If our forgiveness doesn’t also lead to a life of dignity in the socioeconomic sense, then the accusation will stand that you’re making our forgiveness cheap. You’re talking cheap grace, cheap forgiveness, cheap reconciliation. No future without forgiveness, also in this sense that this forgiveness that South Africans have witnessed should really also help us with getting a life of dignity for all.

Winter 2013 | 15

Boesak So, when we were asked to forgive, but were not offered justice and dignity and restoration, that’s when the gospel became the yardstick as it was for apartheid. So, if the theology of apartheid was our theological heresy, the denial of social justice and restoration of human dignity and restitution is our political heresy. And that is the problem.

Koopman When we read the Heidelberg catechism we describe the Christian life as a life of gratitude, gratitude for what I have received.

I think in South Africa we should also talk about the public gratitude amongst the forgiven.

Boesak Public confession and public forgiveness would’ve been a marvelous symbolic thing. That never happened, because [Former President F.W.] de Klerk was never sorry, we now know, about apartheid. And, his people were mostly never sorry.

One of the few white people who genuinely asked for forgiveness, and got it, too, was probably one of the most terrible persons in our apartheid history.

His name is Eugene de Kock, and he was the commander of the infamous C1 unit of the South African police. That is the unit that tortured and imprisoned and killed more activists than any other. … The things he told Truth Commission were so shocking and so numbing, people dubbed him “Prime Evil” and said, “There is no one so evil in this country as this man.” But, they now have hung him on that cross, and they keep him there, because they don’t want even to talk about it. They don’t want to forgive him. They don’t want him out of that prison—white people don’t. The black people whose families and children he helped to murder and did the most horrific things to, he went to them, and he told them, “This is what I did,” and he asked for their forgiveness. He was so genuine; his remorse was so true, so pure, that all of those black families had actually forgiven him.

… He wrote me a letter, which I have, and I will keep, which is one of the most moving letters I have ever received in my life. That man is closer to the heart of God than all those Christians who profess that their hands are clean and they have never done anything.

Koopman I think the commission succeeded in the sense that it provided … a paradigm for a process that should be continued in South African public life … We need those spaces of exposure, of talking openly, spaces where people experience forgiveness, where there’s repentance, and where there’s a commitment to reparation. So, for me, the challenge the TRC leaves us South Africans with, especially the churches, is to create the spaces where the process of bringing people together can continue, and the second one is to work for reparation. v

16 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

Our Reluctance to Forgive

By Judy Skaggs

“children of abraham” © manosevitz, 2012

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n the center of the model prayer Jesus gave his disciples (Matt. 6:9-15) is a phrase about forgiveness— “forgive us our debts (sins) as we forgive our debtors (those who sin against us).” And this is the only phrase that Jesus comments on. So was Jesus emphasizing the importance of forgiveness or did he know how difficult forgiveness would be for his disciples? Several times throughout the four gospels, Jesus connects our forgiving others with God forgiving us.

Perhaps the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matt.

18:23-35) is the most graphic example of the connection between God’s forgiveness and our own. The master forgives his servant a huge debt that he would never

be able to repay, and yet as the servant is leaving the master’s presence, he will not forgive a fellow servant a very small debt owed to him. We might wonder why this servant did not understand how much the master had forgiven him so that he would also show mercy to another.

Could this be at the heart of our own reluctance to forgive? Do we truly understand how much God loves us and is willing to forgive us? Every Sunday in worship we respond to the assurance of pardon, “In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.” Even though we hear these words again and again, we have a hard time really believing in God’s forgiving nature.

Fr. Richard Rohr describes forgiveness in this way: “Jesus did not seem to teach that one size fits all, but instead that his God adjusts to the vagaries and failures of the moment. This ability to adjust to human disorder and failure is named God’s providence or compassion. Every time God forgives us, God is saying that God’s own rules do not matter as much as the relationship that God wants to create with us.”

The thing that strikes me about Rohr’s way of thinking is that forgiveness has nothing to do with how the other person acts. God’s forgiveness is absolute, unconditional, and free. But when we humans try to forgive, we often get caught up in what the person who has hurt us will do or how they will respond. We want assurances that hurts will never happen again, that they are truly sorry.

But because God’s forgiveness does not require assurances of anything, why should ours?

In Henri Nouwen’s book on the parable of the Prodigal Son, he describes how we might identify with both the younger and the older brothers, but he concludes that the parable is teaching us to be more like the father—open, loving, and forgiving.

So friends, let us live completely toward the forgiveness offered to us so freely in Jesus Christ. May our prayer be that we trust in this completely forgiving and loving God who wants a relationship with us above all else. Once we can trust in that, perhaps our hearts will be open to forgiving others. Amen. v

Judy Skaggs (MDiv’94) served First Presbyterian in Smithville, Texas—Poiema Presbyterian Community—and University Presbyterian Church, Austin. Retired in 2012, she is a grandmother, musician, and minister.

Winter 2012 | 17

faculty news notes Asante Todd to fill faculty position in ethics

faculty notes |

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Academic Dean Allan Cole was a leader for the annual gathering in Vail, Colorado, of the Rocky Mountain Forum of the World Presidents’ Organization, a global organization of more than 4,600 business leaders who are or have been chief executive officers of major companies. While in Colorado, he preached and taught a class on “Parenthood and a Christian Life” at Central Presbyterian Church in Denver, Colorado.

ustin Presbyterian Theological Seminary has called one of its graduates Asante Uzuri Todd (MDiv’06) to serve as instructor in Christian ethics, effective July 1, 2013.

Todd served the Seminary as a visiting lecturer in Christian ethics during the 2011-2012 academic year through a partnership with the Theology and Practice program at Vanderbilt Divinity School.

He is currently completing requirements for the PhD from Vanderbilt University; his dissertation is “Political Sovereignty and Its Theologically Cultured Despisers: Prospects for an African American Political Theology.” Todd will advance to the rank of assistant professor upon completion of his degree.

“Asante Todd will be a magnificent addition to our faculty in the years ahead,” President Ted Wardlaw said. “He brings a deep formation in the Christian faith, the life of the church, and the field of ethics to our community, and he will bless his colleagues and students with the capacity to inspire—both in and out of the classroom. He was a wonderful MDiv student here; he now comes back with the promise of being an equally wonderful teacher. Austin Seminary is fortunate, indeed!”

Todd earned his undergraduate degree from The University of Texas at Austin in 2002 and his Master of Divinity degree from Austin Seminary in 2006, serving as president of the student body and receiving the Rachel Henderlite Award, given to a graduating student “who has made a significant contribution to cross-cultural and interracial relationships while at Austin Seminary.” Prior to attending Austin Seminary, he worked for the Austin Area Urban League and served as youth minister at St. James Missionary Baptist Church in Austin.

He was the recipient of the 2011-2012 Fund for Theological Education Dissertation Fellowship. His essay “Thomas Hobbes on Human Nature,” was included in Beyond the Pale: Reading Ethics from the Margins (Westminster John Knox Press, 2011).

Academic Dean Allan Cole said, “Asante Todd’s appointment to this position in Christian ethics makes an excellent faculty even more so. Though just beginning his career, he has already demonstrated the ability for effective teaching and he has tremendous promise as a scholar. His scholarly interests and commitments to theological education will help further Austin Seminary’s mission. We look forward to welcoming him back to this community.”

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Timothy D. Lincoln, associate dean for seminary effectiveness and director of the library, took part in an Association of Theological Schools (ATS) accreditation

visit in October and a joint ATS and Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges off-site review cluster in November. He also attended a meeting of the Board of Directors of the American Theological Library Association in October.

K.C. Ptomey, professor in the Zbinden Distinguished Chair of Pastoral Ministry, preached twice at Fourth Presbyterian, Chicago, during September. In October he conducted a seminar, “Leadership Over the Long Haul,” at the Western National Leadership Training conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Austin Seminary receives two grants totaling $725,000 Addressing Economic Challenges Facing Future Ministers: A $225,000 grant will support a three-year program to address the economic challenges facing Austin Seminary’s Master of Divinity (MDiv) graduates.

Three primary objectives are: working with students to encourage lower levels of borrowing while in school; exploring alternate models for delivering theological education that entail lower costs to students; working to broaden the Seminary’s base of support. Grant funds will enable the Seminary to build its capacities to monitor student debt, counsel students about debt, and routinize a culture that clearly attends to the economic welfare of future ministers.

Public Leaders, Public Life: A $500,000 grant will support a five-year program to engage pastors in the first five to ten years of ministry with leaders in issues of significance for public life in the State of Texas. The goal is to help ministers grow in vision, competence, and confidence as leaders themselves. Public Leaders, Public Life will rely on the discipline of practical theology to broaden pastor’s visions and shape the experiences which will lead to increased competencies relative to public life.

good reads | Feasting on the Word: Worship Companion Liturgies for Year C, Volume 1, Advent Through Pentecost Kimberly Bracken Long, editor (Westminster John Knox Press, 2012, 218 pages, $40)

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uthentic, faithful praying can happen with or without the aid of written prayers. Yet we perpetuate a false dichotomy if we think of book prayers as the opposite of free prayers. Both forms of praying are only possible by the Spirit of God, through our disciplined attention to God’s work in us and in the world, through compassion, and by our care for language through which the Word continues to work. Both ways of praying can be shaped by scripture, ecclesial communities, and the wisdom of the great cloud of witnesses. In light of these claims and mindful of all of the requests I receive from worship leaders for prayer resources, I recommend Feasting on the Word: Worship Companion. It is a book of prayers for all people in their Sunday and daily devotion to God in prayer.

This volume, the first of six to be published in the Feasting on the Word series, includes prayers and liturgical texts for Sundays: Call to Worship, Call to Confession, Prayer of Confession, Declaration of Forgiveness, Prayer of the Day, Prayer for Illumination, Prayers of Intercession, Invitation to Offering, Prayer of Thanksgiving/Dedication, Charge, and Blessing. The prayers and texts were prepared for use with the Revised Common Lectionary Sunday texts and were created by liturgical scholars and pastors from five ecclesial bodies. Following the arrangement of the church year, this volume includes the Sundays from Advent I to the Day of Pentecost.

The resource concludes with supplementary Greetings, two prayers of Thanksgiving for Baptism, one Eucharistic prayer for general use and seven additional Eucharistic prayers (Advent, Christmas Day, Epiphany, Palm/Passion Sunday, Holy Thursday, Easter Sunday, and Pentecost).

The inclusion of these specific Eucharistic prayers encourages congregations to celebrate the Lord’s Supper on these days. The prayers of Thanksgiving for Baptism, perhaps a newer prayer category for some, give us words for the beginning of our gatherings.

These prayers recount scripture’s witness to the triune God’s creating, nourishing, and liberating ways with water; they thank God for claiming us in the waters of baptism which in turn is always a claim about confession of sin and forgiveness; and they admonish us to responsibility for good care of all the waters of the earth.

Each Sunday resource includes questions for reflection on the texts of the day and a Household Prayer for morning and evening. These may be reproduced in the Sunday bulletin for weekday use at home. A CD-ROM is included for this purpose. Regarding good leadership with book prayers: prepare to lead written prayers through internalization, which means that the one leading prayers has considered the experiences, emotions, and memories elicited by the words, as well as what they ask of God and of the gathered community. Pray these prayers honestly, in all their lament and praise, and your community will be well served.

—Written by Jennifer Lord, Acting Associate Dean for Academic Programs and The Dorothy B. Vickery Associate Professor of Homiletics and Liturgical Studies

board actions | Austin Seminary Board of Trustees took the following actions at its fall meeting: Promoted David F. White to professor in the C. Ellis and Nancy Gribble Nelson Chair of Christian Education, effective July 1, 2013.

Elected Mr. Asante U. Todd as instructor in Christian ethics for a three-year, renewable term, effective July 1, 2013.

The board received: Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary Endowment for the College of Pastoral Leaders, established in September 2012 by the Robert T. and Ruby N. Priddy Fund of the Communities Foundation of Texas for the purpose of endowing the College of Pastoral Leaders.

The Edward D. Vickery Distinguished Chair of Christian Ethics, established in April 2012 by Anne Vickery Stevenson of Sugar Land, Texas, for a faculty member devoted to the study and teaching of Christian Ethics.

The Peggy L. Cockrum Memorial Endowed Communication Fund and The Peggy L .Cockrum Memorial Endowed Publication Fund, established in September 2012 by Mr. James L. Cockrum of Austin, Texas, to support communications and underwrite the cost of publications at Austin Seminary.

The Reverend Gaylord Howard Dodgen Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund, established in September 2012 by Mrs. Lanez B. Scarborough-Dodgen of Lafayette, Louisiana, for the purpose of providing needbased scholarship assistance to male, Presbyterian students.

Winter 2013 | 19

alumni news notes

then & now The Theolog was a semiregular publication of Austin Seminary from 1925-1968. It was part yearbook, part venue for student essays, casual photographs, and an overview of campus life.

These important and entertaining publications have all been digitized by the Austin Seminary Archives and made available online at http://goo.gl/ T8Fk2.

Visitors to the site can view individual issues online, download PDF copies, or search through the name indices to find information on Austin Seminary alumni.

The Theolog was originally published with hopes that, “prospective candidates for the Gospel Ministry may have their interest in this Seminary kindled through the perusal of this modest effort. It is the hope that the memories of bygone days shall be refreshed in the minds of the Alumni of the Seminary as they look on familiar scenes; and it is further trusted, that the men and women of the Presbyterian Church may be led to the feeling of definite responsibility to this institution and its efforts to train worthy leaders for the spiritual life of men in this and coming generations.” We hope that the original mission of The Theolog can still hold true today.

class notes | 1980s Katherine Norvell (MDiv’86) was appointed moderator for Grace Presbyterian Church, El Paso, a newly constituted congregation in El Paso, Texas, from the merger of Highland, Manhattan, and Trinity Presbyterian churches.

Rebecca Whitaker (MDiv’86) was named “Pastor Emerita” of Highland Presbyterian Church, El Paso, Texas.

Randolph Nolen (MDiv’87) has been pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Roswell, New Mexico, since January. He has just been appointed to the Permanent Judicial Commission of Synod of the Southwest.

John D. Williams (MDiv’87) received the Cindy Curtis Bean Service to Alumni Award, created to honor one who has demonstrated extraordinary commitment to the support and education of Austin College alumni around the world.

1990s Yak-Hwee Tan (MA ’92) has completed her four years of missionary service as a New Testament professor teaching at Taiwan Theological College and Service. Currently, she is the Programme Secretary for Reflect and Research at the Council for World Mission based in Singapore.

Robert “Doug” Dalglish (MDiv’93 & DMin’05) was inaugurated on September 28 as the new president of Presbyterian Pan American School in Kingsville, Texas.

Newsweek about Jesus’s wife.

2000s Caryn L. Thurman (MDiv ’07) was installed November 11 as pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Marfa, Texas.

Sharon Risher (MDiv ’07) has become staff chaplain at Parkland Hospital in Dallas.

Pepa Paniagua (MDiv’08) married Scott Cislo on September 22, 2012.

Lisa Marie and Mitchell Holley MDiv’08) had a baby girl, Sydney Lorelei, on November 9.

Kovana Shine, daughter of Karolina Wright Williams (MDiv’09) and Destiny Wright Williams, was born May 1, 2012.

Megan Dosher Hansen (MDiv’09) married Rev. David L. Hansen on September 16.

Melissa R. Koerner Lopez (MDiv’09) and Jose Lopez (MDiv’10) had a son, Noah Austin Lopez Koerner, born August 23. Jose is the new Transitional Director of Youth and Family Ministry at the Presbyterian Church in Traverse City, Michigan.

Allen Noah (MATS’10) has been appointed to full pastorate at Barnett Chapel United Methodist Church, Kerrville, Texas.

Richard Wright (DMin’10) has published a book, Help, I’m Lost!

A Wanderer’s Guide to Salvation, that takes readers through an examination of why salvation is necessary and what takes place in each step of the salvation process (www.drrichardmwright. com or www.westbowpress.com).

Tricia Tedrow (MDiv’98) is now pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Port Lavaca, Texas.

Brian Merritt (MDiv’99) is starting a new church in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Carol Howard Merritt (MDiv ’98) is now writing and speaking full time. She contributed to Homilies for the Homeless with Fr. Richard Rohr and was quoted in

20 | Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

President Dalglish visits with some Pan American School students after his inauguration ceremony on September 28.

ordinations | Alexandra Knott (MDiv’09) was ordained and installed November 18 at First Presbyterian Church, Parsons, Kansas.

Laura Beth Walters (MDiv’11) was ordained and installed November 4 as associate pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church, Austin.

Scott Spence (MDiv’12) was ordained October 6 and installed November 11 as pastor of St. John United Church of Christ, in Robinson, Texas.

in memoriam | Edwin Walthall (MDiv’48), San Antonio, Texas, October 16, 2012 James A. Wharton (MDiv’51), Black Mountain, North Carolina, October 19, 2012 Bob R. Moon (BD’61), Hillsboro, Texas, August 10, 2012 L. Robert Frere (MDiv’62), Helotes, Texas, August 7, 2012 David C. Duncan (MDiv’64), Austin, Texas, October 7, 2012 William Andrew McWeeny (MDiv’65, DMin’94), Little Rock, Arkansas, October 10, 2012.

Frederick B. Elliott III (MDiv’73), Houston, Texas, July 20, 2012 Charles A. Siburt Jr. (DMin’78), Abilene, Texas, July 12, 2012 Elizabeth Anne Caughran (MDiv’92), Los Alamos, New Mexico, July 18, 2012

teaching ministry

Advantages of e-reading

By Timothy D. Lincoln, director of the Stitt Library

F

or decades, visiting the campus bookstore has been on the to-do list of students each term. The reason is straightforward: the bookstore stocks the books that professors want their students to read. Of course, the process of reading involves not only processing sentences in one’s mind but highlighting or underlining key passages, writing question marks or notes in the margins, and all manner of individually created systems for wrestling with the meanings discovered in a book. As Austin Seminary professors frequently point out, good theological reading is a conversation.

What happens to that conversation when books lose their physical pages (and that distinctive book-scent) and become e-books? Specifically, what happens when a student is reading an e-book not just for fun

curve involved in getting an e-reader to connect to one’s computer or wireless network. Highlighting and making notes requires the right level of finger pressure on the screen and the use of an onscreen keyboard. At the same time, students have reported positively that they can find their way around an e-book. Some of them like that their notes and highlighted passages are searchable. Several students reported that they appreciate the portability of the e-reader, which allows multiple textbooks and versions of the Bible to be loaded on a single device.

“My back really likes it!” one student said.

Elsewhere on campus, several professors regularly use e-readers or tablet computers.

Professor Lewis Donelson reports reading the New Testament in Greek on his Kindle e-reader. Alumna Dana

E-books are harbingers of a larger change in our society’s understanding of education and what it means to be connected with others. at the beach but as part of serious academic reading? To find out, associate library director Kristy Sorensen and I are conducting a pilot study with students in a master’s-level Christian education course this term. With the agreement of Professor David White, students in the course are reading significant chunks of assigned readings on a Nook Simple Touch e-reader or another e-reader. We are giving students a Nook to keep as a thank you for taking part in the study. (We chose the Nook because, at the price we were willing to pay, the Nook did not display advertising.)

At this point in our study, students are getting used to their new devices. Already, though, students have begun to reflect on the differences and similarities between reading printed books and reading e-books.

E-books are different, students report, in several respects. Sometimes it is difficult to get a sense of “where I am” in the book, because a single screen is displayed at a time. That screen of text may not match a page in a printed book. There is a learning

Mayfield introduced Professor Whit Bodman to the practice of using a tablet computer when preaching. He says he likes to be able to edit his sermon manuscript right up until he steps into the pulpit. Dean Allan Cole uses his Kindle when preaching and lecturing because he appreciates the ability of the device to store a lot of data in one place.

E-readers and e-books are harbingers of a larger change in our society’s understanding of education and what it means to be connected with others. In 2012, the Seminary created the position of learning technologies librarian to assist faculty in teaching courses online and in person. Our students carry on serious conversations about faith and class work on Facebook as well as in Stotts Dining Hall. They will carry these sensibilities for virtual community with them as they lead congregations. It is a privilege to hear students explain what new skills and resources they need to thrive in seminary today and in ministry after graduation; increasingly it will involve e-reading.

Many popular resources for students and pastors are now available in e-book versions. For instance, the commentary series Feasting on the Word is available in Kindle format (from Amazon) and Nook format (from Barnes and Noble). Travelers often load devotional resources like Sistergirl Devotions (Baker, 2010) or The Cloud of Unknowing (available in several versions) on their phones or tablets so that they can pray and reflect in airports or while riding the bus. Below are a few of the multitude of e-resources: Sermon Helps Sermons: Biblical Wisdom for Daily Living (Peter Gomes) Sermons of Meister Eckhart Bread of Angels (Barbara Brown Taylor) Birthing the Sermon (Jana Childers, ed.)

Sermons on the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ (John Calvin) Devotional The Reformed Pastor (Richard Baxter) I and Thou (Martin Buber) Complete Poetry and Selected Prose of John Donne Poems of Gerard Manly Hopkins Emerging Church A Generous Orthodoxy (Brian McLaren) Adventures in Missing the Point (Brian McLaren & Tony Compolo) Tribal Church (Carol Howard Merritt)

Winter 2012 | 21

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upcoming from education beyond the walls | Spring 2013 Caregiving: Pastoral Care with Aging Populations | January 26, 8:30-noon; $25 | Ministry with older adults can be a rich and rewarding experience. Informed pastoral care providers are in a better position to facilitate conversations that offer opportunities for mutual blessing and intimate connection. Join us for a skill-enhancing program. | In partnership with Seton Family Healthcare | Recommended for clergy, chaplains, lay caregivers Biblical Storytelling 101 | March 2, 10:00-3:00; $35 | Learning sacred stories by heart is a spiritual discipline that takes us deeper into the word of God and opens up ways for God’s story to connect with our story. Biblical storytelling is also a multi-sensory way to share the good news. This workshop is basic instruction for learning and performing biblical stories for worship, devotion, or education. | Recommended for everyone Growing into Tomorrow … Today | March 4-5; FREE | Planning for retirement can be challenging. Explore steps to take today to prepare for the best retirement tomorrow. | Presented by the Board of Pensions (BoP) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) | Recommended for mid- to late-career clergy and lay BoP Plan members and their guest Interim and Transitional Ministry Education | March 11-15 | Offered for those engaged in Interim/ Transitional Ministry and those who want to learn about churches in transition. |Sponsored by the Synod of the Sun Comfort Those Who Mourn | April 2, noon-2:00; FREE | On occasions of death, congregations quickly and compassionately reach out to bereft family members, but they may find it more difficult to support persons over months and years of grief. Participants will learn about the Faith & Grief model and consider whether their congregations might be called to offer this ministry. | Presented by Faith & Grief Ministries | Recommended for clergy, Christian educators, lay caregivers Becoming a Cross-Generational Church | April 15-17; $75 (APCE Members); $125 (Non-APCE) | Congregations have the potential to bring all the generations together to practice and pass on faith. Yet too often congregations divide people into age-segregated programs and activities. Participants will learn why it’s essential to gather the generations together and ten strategies for tapping into the gifts and wisdom of all generations. | In partnership with SCRAPCE | Recommended for Christian educators, clergy Crossing the Border: Themes of Resurrection | April 27| In partnership with the Lutheran Seminary Program in the Southwest and the Seminary of the Southwest Preparing for Pentecost: Fuego, Viento y Culto (Fire, Wind, and Worship) | May 4, 9:00-4:00; $60 | This highly interactive event will equip participants to return to their congregations with tried and true resources, new ideas, new insights, and new skills for enlivening the worship experience, by the power of the Spirit, through the music and liturgy of Latin America. | Recommended for music directors, clergy, worship teams Women, Voice, and Preaching with Jennifer Lord | May 12-15; $350 (inc. housing and meals) | In this intensive workshop and retreat, women who preach will focus on speech communication, voice, and creativity as core elements of preaching which enlivens and revives. Each day includes time for learning in community and for working (or resting) in solitude. | Recommended for mid-career clergy women

Learn more and register for all events at AustinSeminary.edu/beyondthewalls