Chimes Summer 2020 - San Francisco Theological Seminary at University of Redlands

News for Alumni & Friends of San Francisco Theological Seminary at the University of Redlands

SUMMER 2020

In the face of the pandemic, our community can be stronger

COMING TOGETHER from a DISTANCE

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE DEAN Dear Friends, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes,” I heard someone say recently. Immediately the memory of a 1918 SFTS photo came to mind. The picture, right, shows that year’s class, lined up in front of Montgomery Hall and dressed in the street clothes of the day. The photo is more than 100 years old, but the steps look the same.

Above the heads of the students, the iconic double doors look the same. And the white masks with their ties straggling down, snaking along the collars of the assembled, also look the same … exactly the same as the ones we have been struggling to get used to here for the last five months.

There’s a peculiar power in such resonances. As tropes go, a backward look is not always positive. Lot’s wife has all but ruined the metaphor. But it’s funny how often a look back can inspire a step forward. In the spark created when we put our own experiences on the table next to those of previous generations, we sometimes find something sustaining—something that helps us get hold of our gumption or faith. My mother always said that, shocked as she was by the pain of childbirth, the thought of the innumerable women who had gone down that road before got her though. In his years of campus, Professor of Evangelism and Mission Ben Weir often told how memorized scripture and hymn texts were instrumental to his surviving captivity in Lebanon. The thought that SFTS weathered the Spanish Flu, not to mention any number of heresy trials, fires, and historic floods, makes it easier to believe we can weather the challenges of our day. By the waters of Babylon, in the trenches, in extremis, in new and challenging situations, we look over our shoulder … and sometimes see something that rhymes.

Facing the crises of this spring and summer, faith in the God of the Ages not only sustained SFTS, but inspired us to move forward, and to do so with alacrity: • Here as elsewhere, COVID-19 disrupted virtually all of life as we know it. However, as campus residents hunkered down in their homes, the faculty turned on a dime and—in the space of just 24 hours—moved all classes online. It was a “build the plane while you’re flying it” moment, out of which has come proposals for seven new programs. Over the next two years, the faculty plans to build on our new appreciation for what technology offers to create innovative programs, new certificates, broader access to courses, and enhanced pedagogies.

facebook.com/sanfranseminary @sanfranseminary alumni@sfts.edu www.redlands.edu/gst/sfts

SFTS Librar y Archive photo

• During the national reckoning about race relations that followed the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and so many others, SFTS listened to the people of color in our community and denomination. We learned again how insidious racism is and how hard it is for those of us who benefit from a system that favors whiteness to be moved to change it. For many, reflection led to repentance, and repentance led to rededication and to a desire to help SFTS become the antiracist community it aspires to be.

• And when, after nearly 150 years of being “Proudly Presbyterian,” SFTS was notified that its membership in the Presbyterian Church (USA) was being questioned, the community came together in prayer. Alumni and former SFTS trustees rallied, organizing the effort to get the word out through social media and at General Assembly. Due largely to these efforts, SFTS is still Presbyterian and still in conversation with the PCUSA over the small legal issues associated with the merger that prompted the question in the first place.

For good and ill, our sense of continuity was disrupted this year. But since the same God who has been so faithful to us in the past holds the keys to the future—we look forward in confidence and hope!

May you know God’s every blessing,

Rev. Dr. Jana Childers Dean, Graduate School of Theology

Chimes is published by the University of Redlands, Graduate School of Theology, home of San Francisco Theological Seminary. Copyright 2020 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Chimes, University of Redlands, PO Box 3080, Redlands, CA 92373-0999 Please send comments and address changes to marin-alumni@redlands.edu.

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Chimes

President, University of Redlands

Ralph W. Kuncl Provost and Marin Campus Executive Director

Kathy Ogren Dean, Graduate School of Theology

Rev. Dr. Jana Childers

FEATURES

2

Vice President for Advancement

Tamara Michel Josserand Director of Development and Chimes Managing Editor

Molly Widdicombe

7

Director of Advancement Communications and Donor Relations

Laura Gallardo Editorial Assistant

Chandra Ramirez Graphic Designer and cover illustration

Dennis Bolt Contributors Michael J. Adee Lilledeshan Bose Jana Childers Wendy Farley Laura Gallardo Laurie Garrett-Cobbina Jeannie Kim Mika Elizabeth Ono Laila Weir Molly Widdicombe

SUMMER 2020

12

Life & Faith in Times of Transition

By Laila Weir 2

A Lasting Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 6

Coping by Caring

By Lilledeshan Bose and Mika Elizabeth Ono 7

2020 Commencement 12

16 20

DEPARTMENTS & UPDATES Faculty & Staff 8

Giving 10

Alumni 16

In Memoriam 20

O U R TO P -T I E R G R A D UAT E PROGR AMS IN MARIN E A R N YO U R M A S T E R ’S I N B U S I N E S S, E D U C AT I O N, O R T H E O LO GY. Learn more at www.redlands.edu/marin.

tran·​si·​tion (noun) passage from one state, stage, subject, or place to another … evolution

Drawing on the Past Interviews by Laila Weir

Life & Faith in Times of Transition A conversation with two visiting professors about how the old and new— tradition and innovation— collide to create wisdom we can draw on as we transition into our communal future.

Photo illustration by Dennis Bolt

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to Live into the Future >>>

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on L. Berquist spoke with Chimes about worship and pastoral care in a time of pandemic, how faith communities can look to the past to handle the future, and the ways churches can strive to meet the needs of the communities within which they exist.

Chimes: You’re teaching a D.Min. course, Biblical Images for the Emerging Church.

What is your context for teaching this class at this particular time?

Berquist: The course asks, “What are some ways we can think about the church in fresh ways that are still faithful to biblical texts?”

The Bible represents faith communities across multiple continents, over nearly 2,000 years, and covers a wide variety of different situations.

Sometimes we read the Bible as if it adds up into one right way to run the church that’s supposed to last forever. But the Bible is the story of change over time to fit into different situations.

Sometimes our best source of innovation is to see what has been tried in the past, particularly in our shared heritage. The book of Psalms is really a hymnal, and singing together is a powerful force, but that’s not as safe now so we turn to other settings. The book of Proverbs was handed down from one person to another, so we have models for shared wisdom among large groups, but also for spoken word that’s one-on-one. Many early New Testament churches were house churches with maybe as few as a dozen people involved, most of whom would be living together or living right next to each other. This becomes a model for a church that we can have in the pandemic environment.

The pandemic is certainly a health crisis, but at the same time, and probably longer lasting, a mental and spiritual health crisis, and we need the wisdom of our traditions to be part of that solution.

One of the lessons we should be taking from the pandemic is that health is not an individual concern; health is a public concern for our whole community, and that includes physical, mental, and spiritual health. There’s a very consistent biblical message that children, the elderly, women, and immigrants are particular groups that need our caring attention as part of protecting the health of the whole.

Chimes: You have a course in the fall, The Bible in an Age of Pandemic.

How will you approach its content?

Berquist: The connection between the Bible and health has interested me for years. There are parts of the book of Leviticus that describe people sharing details about their physical symptoms with their priest. It is not that long ago that health care was seen as something the religious community was responsible for providing. I certainly don’t think that pastors can replace our medical doctors, but we need to have a better sense of the health responsibilities of our communities and the healing potential of our scripture and faith.

Chimes: What do you look forward to for our communal future?

Berquist: We’re hearing from some experts that there is a spiritual resurgence because the pandemic is breaking some habits and giving us a chance to rethink what is really important in our lives. It’s an opportunity to focus on areas of enduring value, to recommit ourselves to very human needs and practices, to recommit to each other. It’s my hope that we look back at this era and view it not as such a divisive time, but as a time where we see that we are all in this together, and that we need an even stronger sense of community, faith, and commitment. >>>

Chimes: As we look into the future, how can we draw on the past for insights?

Berquist: For me, it’s important to remember that we’re not alone. It’s too easy to think that the pandemic or the challenges of today, however you define them, are challenges that nobody else has ever faced, and we have to figure it out on our own. There’s a responsibility to respond to the needs of the day in the particular ways that today requires, but we’re also part of a very long tradition that the Bible would call a “great cloud of witnesses,” people who have been innovating for their day and adapting to their specific contexts for thousands of years.

Jon L. Berquist has served as visiting professor of Old Testament at San Francisco Theological Seminary (SFTS) since 2014. He holds a Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible from Vanderbilt University.

His scholarly expertise includes history and literature of the Persian period, embodiment and gender issues in the Hebrew Bible, and biblical interpretation using postcolonial methods, social-scientific approaches, and spatial theory. Berquist is the author or editor of more than a dozen books, as well as more than 100 articles, chapters, essays, and academic papers. In addition to his teaching work at SFTS, he has also taught at Claremont School of Theology, New Brunswick Theological Seminary, and Phillips Theological Seminary. He is an ordained minister with standing in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Photo courtesy Jon L. Berquist

Summer 2020 | 3

Drawing on the Past to Live into the Future >>>

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arcia McFee spoke with Chimes about ritualizing and making meaning in a time of pandemic and social upheaval, and drawing on the past as we innovate into the future.

Marcia McFee is a visiting professor of liturgical studies and the Ford Chair for Congregational Studies at SFTS, as well as the fellow of the Center for Innovation in Ministry. She has designed and led worship for regional, national, and international gatherings of several denominations over the last 20 years and is a sought-after keynote speaker and teacher, as well as a ritual artist in multimedia performance art (www.godeeporgohome. global). McFee is also the creator and visionary of the Worship Design Studio (www.worshipdesignstudio. com), an online experience of coaching, education, inspiration, and design application that currently serves more than 1,000 congregations.

Chimes: What do you mean when you describe yourself as a ritual artist?

McFee: Ritual studies is a field fascinated with how and why humans create patterns of making meaning that help them make sense of the world and symbolize who they are. “Ritual artists” is my phrase for worship leaders, but it’s more inclusive because I think ritual happens in many places. Protests are rituals—not just in a faith-based building, it can be in the streets. Symbol systems are made up of ancient symbols, but symbols also can be made spontaneously, for instance, taking a knee. Symbol systems are created both in the ancient and new related to current context, which is why we have controversy over symbols, because people interpret them in different ways.

Chimes: How do your courses more fully define rituals, even beyond a faith community?

McFee: My students, especially in my ritual studies course, came up with some very innovative ways to acknowledge rites of passage and to create some of those opportunities based on common human activities, such as eating together or a morning ritual that orients you, like meditation. It’s taking the ancient concept of ritual and applying it to current contexts, asking, “How can we take these ordinary occurrences and give a little bit more intention towards them to create this sense of the sacred?”

Chimes: Do you foresee a lasting effect from virtual worship during the pandemic?

McFee: Churches were initially reticent to embracing technology as a way of getting their message out but now have had to embrace it and see some of the benefits. We’re also aware that we have to communicate in many ways. I think that we’re not going to return to just one way of worship, and we will have to use a multiplicity of methods moving forward. I’m working

Photo courtesy Marcia McFee

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with a church, and we’re playing with idea of continuing with online pre-recorded worship on YouTube, then offering a timeframe for people to participate in “walk-through worship.” Congregants will come into their beloved sanctuary, the organist will play, people will be able to look around for a little bit, and then move on.

Chimes: How can people maintain that sense of the familiar and sacred when everything has to be different?

McFee: For some people, what “feels like church” is sitting in their beloved spot in their pew where they’ve sat for the last 50 years.

I’ve suggested that worshippers not just sit at their computers at home and watch online worship, but that congregational leaders offer moments that invite these worshippers to light a candle in their home space, break bread, and share that bread. I also encourage them to take some film of their sanctuary, of beloved windows or candles in familiar spots, and sprinkle that B-roll footage into their prerecorded worship. It activates the memories that give off the same feelings as if we were physically there.

Chimes: As we look forward into the future, what role do you see for drawing on the past?

McFee: People, especially in churches, when they’re complaining about innovation, will say, “But we’ve always done it this way,” which really is only one or two generations’ worth of memory. Some of the ways that people have gathered have been innovative in the past because they were oppressed and had to worship in secret or their circumstances created certain needs; so, we’re not the first ones in history to have undergone changes. Looking to historical evidence of what different communities have done in the past to adapt gives us hope that we will also be able to adapt … and find ways to meet these basic needs, which is to find connection, to find meaning and purpose in life, and to have hope. 9

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For more information, please contact Event Services at 415-451-2808, marin-events@redlands.edu, or visit www.redlands.edu/marin-events.

Once the pandemic is behind us, host your next conference, special event, or wedding at your alma mater!

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University of Redlands, Marin Campus—Home of San Francisco Theological Seminary 105 Seminary Road, San Anselmo, CA 94960 415-451-2843 | marin-events@redlands.edu | www.redlands.edu/marin-events

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Summer 2020 | 5

A lasting commitment to

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

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his summer, the President’s Cabinet at the University of Redlands reiterated its commitment to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive University community and introduced a host of new initiatives. This commitment, as well as details about the initiatives, was emailed to the University’s constituents, including those connected to the Graduate School of Theology. Here are some excerpts from this important communication:

“As members of a university, we believe in dialogue, interactive learning and teaching, and mutually respectful conversation. We will listen closely, speak from principles, and act to make the University of Redlands ever more inclusive ... and as inclusively diverse as it can possibly be.”

“We have heard from many constituencies— students, faculty, staff, alumni, trustees, friends of the University, and those with no affiliation to us—about the need for us to do

more in terms of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

We hear the current refrain as you do—Black Lives Matter. And we believe its truth.”

“Our commitment to have an equitable and inclusive University community for everyone will be expressed through a range of actions, informed by immediate, nearterm, and long-term strategies … We are committed to action, creating a University culture in which we all feel secure, heard, and respected.” 9

Visit www.redlands.edu/racialequityresources for information and resources on the University’s diversity and inclusion work or to send feedback.

Students, faculty, and staff on the main campus celebrate the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in January 2020.

Photo by William Vasta

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he University’s Advancement Division partnered with Senior Diversity and Inclusion Officer Christopher Jones to host a series of virtual events on topics of race, justice, spirituality, education, and diversity. On July 8, the University hosted the conversation “Race in America: Impact on Spirituality.” Leaders in the religious community were tapped for their thoughts on the cost of inequity, and below are excerpts of their remarks, edited for length and clarity: “One of the large crosses that the traditional Black church carries is its adherence to sexism and gender-assigned roles. It causes the work that’s done in local churches to become bogged down by other issues. In other words, you have to free women’s bodies if you’re going to free Black bodies.

Also, you have to free who people love. When you don’t, those ‘isms’ work together—they support one another. I’m glad to see some movement toward gender inclusivity in traditional Black churches because, if you’ve noticed, the Black Lives Matter movement was created by Black women, which has sometimes led to its delegitimization.

It’s Black women’s bodies that are running, creating, innovating, and sustaining that movement.”

—Laurie Garrett-Cobbina, director of the Graduate School of Theology Shaw Chaplaincy Institute and Shaw Family Associate Professor of Pastoral Care and Education

“The Bible has been used as a tool of oppression.

Enslaved people could not read the Bible—it was illegal at one time for them to do so. A white person had to be present when there was a Black preacher ... These ideas are in direct opposition to the overall message of liberation, and I’m grateful for African Americans who then reclaimed the Bible and pointed to Genesis, where it says that God created us in God’s own image—that means each one of us has the Divine presence within us and each person is to be treated with respect and dignity.”

— Jill Kirchner-Rose, Redlands United Church of Christ senior pastor

To add your voice to the continued conversation, visit www.redlands.edu/sftsalumni or call Molly Widdicombe at 415-451-2805 to get involved in the University’s social justice efforts.

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“Religion is a powerful instrument in our lives, but if we use it and abuse it we do great damage and evil to the world ... Today, more often than not, it is religious voices that are causing the pain. We must understand how race and religion can be brought together. We must understand how we affect each other.”

— John Walsh, University of Redlands Omer E. Robbins Chaplain

Coping by caring

By Lilledeshan Bose and Mika Elizabeth Ono

This excerpt was originally published as part of the story “Perspectives on the pandemic” in the summer 2020 issue of the University of Redlands magazine for alumni and friends, Och Tamale (www.redlands.edu/ochtamale).

Illustration by Juan Garcia

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ev. Laurie Garrett-Cobbina is the Shaw Family Chair for Clinical Pastoral Education and director of the Shaw Chaplaincy Institute at the Graduate School of Theology (GST). As a faculty member, she teaches spiritual-care providers to care for the infirm. As a pastor, she provides spiritual guidance to her congregation.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Garrett-Cobbina says she and many of her colleagues at the GST found new and vital ways to provide care and support through virtual classes and online services, such as those offered from the Marin campus. Apart from her work as a pastor and a teacher, Garrett-Cobbina, for example, is also working to provide a 24/7 spiritual hotline for marginalized African American communities hit hard by the virus.

“People have shown a tremendous capacity to care for their communities during this pandemic,” she says. “Although we are all affected, we also have an opportunity to create a new story of hope, survival, and resiliency. That is how people recover from a tragedy, from a catastrophic change in their lives.”

University of Redlands Professor of Religious Studies Fran Grace agrees that caring about others needs to be a central response to the challenges presented by the pandemic—and by life: “We live in a culture that is all about me, me, me. At this time, we’re learning that we survive because of other people who give us affection, attention, and love. Focusing on making [others] the centerpiece of life at the moment is so beautiful.”

In addition to self-care, perspective, acceptance, and reflection, Grace’s suggestions for coping during this time include reaching out by phone, letter, Zoom or Facetime, or online group. She suggests encouraging others, thanking them for their contribution to our lives, or just taking the time to talk, laugh, sing, or cry for a few minutes. Grace is putting these measures into practice in her own life, including offering virtual meditation sessions to the University community.

She also notes “social distancing” provides opportunities to forge a deeper connection with those we live with. As one humorous example, she tells the story of overhearing a mother saying to her children early in the lockdown period, “It’s going to be a long three weeks if we can’t learn to get along!”

“The gift of this shift is to experience that we are connected in ways we hadn’t even realized,” Grace says. “We have a profound influence on each other. We can either bring the spirit of peace to others, or we can transmit fear. Let’s choose peace, humor, hope, clarity, and kindness.” 9

Summer 2020 | 7

FACULTY & STAFF UPDATES Eugene Eung-Chun Park, David and Dana Dornsife Professor of New Testament, presented a paper, “Katallage as a new paradigm of Paul’s apostolic mission in 2 Corinthians,” at the August 2019 annual conference of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas at the University of Marburg in Germany.

He also presented a paper, “Debt easement measures in classical Athens and its counterparts in the Roman world,” at the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in November 2019.

Park also published an article, “Dialectic of alētheia and eleutheria in Galatians,” in Matthew, Paul, and Others (ed. by W. Loader, et al; University of Innsbruck Press, 2019). Shortly before the shelter-inplace order was given in March, he preached a sermon at San Francisco Korean Presbyterian Church.

Yolanda Norton, assistant professor of Hebrew Bible and the H. Eugene Farlough Professor of Black Church Studies, has been awarded a one-year appointment as the Crump Visiting Professor of Black Theology and Scholar-in-Residence at Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas. Says Dean Jana Childers, “This is a wonderful opportunity for Professor Norton to participate in a unique and powerful program—a product of the partnership of the Seminary of the Southwest and the Black Religious Scholars Group.”

With a focus on evangelism and racial reconciliation, and to address needs expressed by its students and graduates, the Seminary of the Southwest created the Crump Visiting Professor and Black Religious Scholars Group Scholar-inResidence position recognizing that communities are living in a time of racially motivated hostility creating a new urgency in addressing issues of race in its theological training.

“As our third Black Religious Scholars Group Crump Visiting Professor, Rev. Norton brings to us her expertise in the Hebrew Bible and her passion for forming students in service of the church. As part of her teaching, she will introduce our students to diverse hermeneutical approaches to scripture, including The Bible and Black Culture course,” says Seminary of the Southwest Dean Scott Bader-Saye.

Norton is a Ph.D. candidate in Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel and Theology and Practice Fellow at Vanderbilt University, and her current research interests include womanist interpretation, narrative and literary criticism, and the Persian period. In particular, her work focuses on the books of Genesis and Ruth, how each text treats foreign women, and the ways in which insider-outsider paradigms in Scripture influence constructions of identity and facilitate the vilification and/or oppression of women of color who encounter the biblical canon in the modern world. In addition to her work at SFTS, Norton is a visiting instructor at Moravian Theological Seminary and adjunct faculty at Wesley Theological Seminary. She is ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and has served in various ministerial capacities in the Washington, D.C., area and in Nashville, Tennessee. Norton is also creator/curator of the notable Beyoncé Mass, which evolved out of a chapel service developed by students in Norton’s class Beyoncé and the Hebrew Bible at SFTS. The class explored female-centric interpretations of the Bible and how Scripture

reflects Black female identity. Like the worship service, the class explored how Beyoncé’s personal life, career trajectory, music, and public persona reflects aspects of Black women’s stories.

Gregory Love, associate professor of Systematic Theology, is producing a series of short videos on God, COVID-19, and human suffering. The videos describe four different Christian answers concerning God’s relationship to the pandemic. An additional video lecture of Love speaking at a conference on the meaning of “abundant life” in John 10:10 will also be available soon. The lecture describes how Jesus brings that abundant life he promises.

Watch Love’s video series at www.redlands.edu/GST.

Kathy Ogren, provost of the University of Redlands, also has been appointed executive director for the Marin campus. Prior to serving as provost, Ogren was dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, director of the Johnston Center for Integrative Studies, and a faculty member in the history department and the Johnston Center.

Ogren graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor’s degree in American studies from Scripps College and earned a Ph.D. in history from Johns Hopkins University before embarking on a career in academia.

Ogren’s teaching and research spans two decades, with an emphasis on historical and cultural changes situated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Often combining history, literature, and music in her classes, Ogren regularly offered courses in American and African American history, women’s history, jazz and blues studies, and the modern American West. She regularly contributes to the University’s women’s and gender studies and race and ethnic studies programs, and has taught in the University’s Proudian Honors Program. She held the Virginia C. Hunsaker Chair in Distinguished Teaching at the University from 2005 to 2011.

Ogren is the author of The Jazz Revolution: Twenties America and the Meaning of Jazz; and with Bill McDonald, Hard Travelin’ and Still Havin’ a Good Time: Innovative Living and Learning in the Johnston Center 1979-2004. Most recently, Ogren published “Out of the Father’s House into a Community of Readers,” in Encountering Disgrace: Reading and Teaching Coetzee’s Novel. Selected as a LENS Fellow at the University in 2010, Ogren is at work on a GIS-enhanced project entitled “Roots/ Routes Music and Poetry in the North American West.”

In the past year, since the merger with SFTS, Ogren has been in Marin regularly and is a familiar, friendly face on campus. She will coordinate academic affairs leadership with Dean Jana Childers, the GST faculty, and the rest of the Marin campus. Additionally, she will aid faculty and deans as they grow program partnerships and pathways with the rest of the University. Drawing upon her growing depth of knowledge regarding the facilities and the relationships with the community, Ogren will be joined in this effort by collaborative work with Director of Facilities Roger Cellini, University Director of Planning Jordan Henk, and her Cabinet colleagues. 9

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Transgender Spiritual Care

Photo by Matthew Henry

Applied Wisdom Institute receives grant for conference

By Michael J. Adee

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he University of Redlands Graduate School of Theology received a $10,000 grant from the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This grant is designated for the creation and offering of a transgender spiritual care conference in Atlanta, Georgia, by the Applied Wisdom Institute.

This project was inspired by the “Beyond Pink & Blue: Transitions and Transgender Care” conference held in Charlottesville, Virginia, in October 2018.

This initial conference was organized by the Applied Wisdom Institute of San Francisco Theological Seminary, now part of the University’s Graduate School of Theology.

Michael Adee is the coordinator of this grant-funded project and will convene the conference planning team in Atlanta. Adee also directs the Global Faith and Justice Project affiliated with Provost and Marin Campus Executive Director Kathy Ogren and served on the design team for the new Certificate in LGBTQ Leadership, which

is offered online by the Applied Wisdom Institute through the University’s School of Continuing Studies. Amy Moff Hudec serves as coordinator of this certificate program.

“Gender, gender identity, and expression are so much more than being either male of female, pink or blue. Transgender, gender nonconforming, and non-binary people are part of our lives, families, schools, and faith communities. Unfortunately, lack of understanding has often led to injustice at every turn for transgender persons in our society, so we are grateful to be working with the transgender community in Atlanta on the creation of this conference,” says Adee.

Originally scheduled for August, the conference has been rescheduled to October due to the COVID-19 pandemic and will take place at Central Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. 9 For more information, visit www.redlands.edu/LGBTQcert, email info-scs@redlands.edu, or call 909-748-8868.

Summer 2020 | 9

GIVING

Bringing the heart and mind together

“I have thoroughly valued my relationship with SFTS. There is a deep sense of satisfaction in supporting what I think the world needs.”

— Sue Gibbons ’04 (DASD)

By Laura Gallardo

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of their sessions, much to her surprise, Saysette asked Gibbons if she ever considered becoming a spiritual director.

Gibbons initially rebuked this idea, but Saysette persisted. “She continued to see gifts in me, and I knew I had to explore it.”

Gibbons completed her Diploma in the Art of Spiritual Direction at SFTS in 2004.

She recalls the combination of academic work and practical application directed by “excellent faculty.” Commencement at SFTS was a special moment for Gibbons, who was not originally expecting to participate. “I was not getting ordained or earning a master’s degree, but our program was still able to cross the stage.”

Having participated in commencement ceremonies at previous institutions, this one was different for Gibbons. “I was completing something that was aligned with who I was supposed to be and what I was supposed to do with my life. It meant so much to me that my family could witness that impactful event.”

Since then, Gibbons has practiced spiritual direction throughout the Berkeley

area. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, she and her husband recently reviewed their estate plans, including a bequest for SFTS and its Endowment for Christian Spirituality. “I have such deep gratitude, and I wanted to return that gratitude in this way,” shares Gibbons, who is the first individual to be inducted into the Montgomery Legacy Society since SFTS became part of the University of Redlands Graduate School of Theology in July 2019.

“I have thoroughly valued my relationship with SFTS,” she says. “There is a deep sense of satisfaction in supporting what I think the world needs.” 9

If you have included SFTS in a bequest or in your estate plans like Gibbons has, please let us know!

Contact Molly Widdicombe, director of development, at 415-451-2805 or molly_widdicombe@redlands.edu.

IN THESE CHALLENGING TIMES ...

YOUR GIFT CAN STILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Building upon more than 250 combined years of history between San Francisco Theological Seminary and University of Redlands, your tax-deductible gift prepares students for theological engagement, transformational impact, and active leadership in communities and public life.

To make a gift, visit www.redlands.edu/supportgst or use the envelope provided. All gifts directed to SFTS/GST will only be used to support SFTS/GST students and programs.

E D U C AT I N G S T U D E N T S . A D V A N C I N G S C H O L A R S H I P. C E L E B R AT I N G S E R V I C E .

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Photo courtesy Sue Gibbons

hen Sue Gibbons ’04 (DASD) attended a contemplative retreat at the Pacific Center for Spiritual Formation in the late 1990s, her life was forever changed. Introduced to the value of contemplative retreats by Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian Church, Gibbons loved all of its offerings, which she described as “bringing my heart and mind together.” The retreat was led by Spiritual Director Rev. Carol Saysette ’80 (M.Div.), ’95 (D.Min.).

“I had never heard of a spiritual director,” recalls Gibbons, who worked with nonnative English speakers as a speech pathologist until her retirement in 2014.

“It’s somewhat of a misnomer. You’re not telling someone what to do, but noticing the threads where God’s spirit might be involved in one’s life.”

Gibbons described Saysette as a “booster shot” to her faith. “It was transformative, incorporating my deeper emotional and spiritual self,” shares Gibbons, who met with Saysette for years at the San Francisco Theological Seminary (SFTS) counseling center. During one

A wade

in the water

By Rev. Dr. Laurie Garrett-Cobbina

G

rounded in the awareness of the historical relationship of distrust between African Americans and mental-health providers, Project Trust’s research proved prophetic.

The emotional trauma and existential threat ushered in by the COVID-19 pandemic, paired with the transgenerational racism that jeopardizes the health and well-being of African Americans, underscored the importance of developing new strategies to connect Black communities to mental-health providers. Project Trust, a program led by Rev. Floyd Thompkins Jr., was funded by a Community Benefits Grant from Kaiser Permanente of Northern California. “The aim of the research and subsequent conference was to explore ways to close the gap between spiritual communities, historically marginalized groups, and mental-health providers,”says Thompkins.

Project Trust created a research team that generated dialogue between African American spiritual leaders and mental-health care providers, facilitated the development and training of mental-health ministries in Black congregations, and documented the collaborative trust-building process. Rev. Dr. Donna Allen participated in the research, training, and conference. “In each gathering, I felt like I was in a community of caregivers across a variety of disciplines, with an unapologetic common goal of acting as healing agents in the African American community,” says Allen of sharing her experience. “In our collective work, we are declaring that Black Lives Matter. As such, we are the village that rises up daily to wade in the water and do the work that will ultimately heal the world.”

On April 23, more than 100 attendees from across the nation explored issues vital to health and healing in Black life, including trauma care, family/intimate relationships, child safety, food sovereignty, fair and affordable housing, environmental justice, and bridging the technology divide. Spiritual and mental-health leaders also examined their need for self-care. Janice Habarth says, “I hope participants find ways to refuel themselves as they offer ministry, health care, and education to community members who are grappling with the power and perilousness of this moment. I hope that we all continue in our efforts to build cultural humility, understanding, and competence, and be active anti-racist contributors in our many different roles as we continue caring for the caregivers who carry the burden of secondary traumatic exposure.”

The multidisciplinary participants discussed challenges and best practices for supporting African Americans’ access to mental-health care services. Stressors magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the pandemic of systemic racism, emphasized the urgency to develop collaborative ways to connect and care.

“I’m wondering how we might connect the dots between the trauma and tragedy of Black lives lost to COVID-19 to the trauma and tragedy of Black lives lost to police violence … to chronic illness linked to chronic exposure to racism,” says Habarth.

In the small group discussion led by Allen, participants acknowledged Rev. Floyd Thompkins Jr., that “growing up in an CEO, Justice & Peace Foundation environment hostile toward and consultant to the Black bodies is at the root Applied Wisdom Institute of many of the mentalhealth issues in the Black community.” Another attendee noted “built-in barriers to accessing mental-health care services,” starting with a lack of trust that mental-health care providers will link racism to emotional health, understanding the importance of spirituality to healing, and the lack of relationships that help bridge the access divide. Mental-health providers too often failed to recognize the important role that the church plays in the African American community, says Allen. “We need a way for spiritual leaders in our community to be listened to, respected, and become referral sources.”

Rev. Kathy Patton-Thompkins and Rev. Dr. Laurie GarrettCobbina led a small group dealing with the subjects of death, dying, and toxic theology. During the presentation, one of the participants received news of the death of a close friend from COVID-19. Patton-Thompkins described this powerful moment: “We immediately paused to provide spiritual and emotional care, putting into practice our discussion of ritual care, community wisdom, restorative theology, human kindness, framing mental-health care within faith resources, and staying present to emotional and spiritual distress. We responded to the best practice identified during the conference—the need to know somebody cares,” says Garrett-Cobbina, who serves as the Shaw Family Associate Professor of Pastoral Care and Education.

After much lively, interactive, and experiential dialogue, several conference participants commented that they had not been in a professional space where white care providers listened with such humility to Black care providers and spiritual leaders. Treating the “whole” person while using a bio-psychosocial-spiritual model and using the church as a trusted place to build trust with mental-health providers was cited as an important point of collaboration for innovative care. Health care professionals learned tools they could incorporate into their practice to the benefit of clients. Project Trust called for collaboration across disciplines, culture, and social spaces, showing that when the need for spiritually grounded emotional support arises, there indeed are many “somebodies” who care.

Habarth concluded, “I am grateful for being invited into this powerful discussion between religious, health care, research, and community leaders. Inspiring commitments were made to show up for African American communities in this challenging time. Onward!” 9

Summer 2020 | 11

Faculty and graduates from the SFTS Class of 2020 celebrate their virtual commencement.

Congratulations!

CLASS OF 2020 T

he Graduate School of Theology held a virtual celebration of its first graduating class since U of R merged with San Francisco Theological Seminary (SFTS) last July. The virtual ceremony included video remarks from President Ralph W. Kuncl, Provost and Marin Campus Executive Director Kathy Ogren, and Dean Jana Childers. Also addressing the graduates was Trustee Rev. Jeannie Kim ’01 (M.Div.), SFTS 2020 distinguished alumna, who shared the moving story of her life and words of inspiration. This year’s SFTS graduates are also invited to attend a double graduation for the Classes of 2020 and 2021 in May 2021. 9

Provost and Marin Campus Executive Director Kathy Ogren

Dean Jana Childers

President Ralph W. Kuncl

MASTER OF DIVINITY Carolyn Johnetta Anderson San Diego, California Will Capps San Francisco, California Lynn S. Chittick San Anselmo, California Sharika Gregory (fall 2020) Bay Area, California Jeremiah Darius Jenkins (fall 2020) Orlando, Florida Heather Johnston San Diego, California I-Re Jung San Diego, California Hye Ryung Kim Orangevale, California

VIEW THE CEREMONY!

GTU MASTER OF ARTS/ MASTER OF DIVINITY

www.redlands.edu/commencement/gst

Bran Stigile-Wright

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San Anselmo, California

COMMENCEMENT 2020 Rev. Dr. Laurie GarrettCobbina, director of the Shaw Chaplaincy Institute and Shaw Family Associate Professor of Pastoral Care and Education

Wendy Farley, PhD, director of the program in Christian spirituality and Rice Family Professor of Spirituality

Carolyn Johnetta Anderson ‘20 (M.Div.)

I-Re Jung ’20 (M.Div.)

DIPLOMA IN THE ART OF SPIRITUAL DIRECTION Molly Bolton Cleveland, Ohio Karen Gordon Monteverde de Puntarenas, Costa Rica Lorraine McNeal Oakland, California Eric Sarensen Lakeview, Oregon Joanne Whitt Corte Madera, California DOCTOR OF MINISTRY Louisville, Kentucky Will Our Children Have Faith?

Supporting Families as Incubators of Spiritual Life

Ann Deibert

Rita Dollard-O’Malley Oakland, California Faculty Spiritual Formation Programs in Jesuit Secondary Schools: Examining and Identifying Future Directions for the 21st Century Elizabeth Alene Griswold Davis, California In Other Good News: Progressive Christian Evangelism for a New Era Albert Wayne Johnson Mitchellville, Maryland Effective Workload Management for Pastors Kevin Albert Johnson Palm Springs, California Making the Covenant Work: A Web-based Resource for Welcoming Gay Pastors (www.gaypastorwelcome.com)

Silvana Krogsrud Pasco, Washington Pastoral Care for Detained Young Latinos: Equipping Pastoral Care Providers with the Tools Necessary to Offer Comprehensive Pastoral Care Isabella Wai-Fun Liu Hong Kong The Spirituality and Personal Competency of Chinese Cross-cultural Missionaries from Hong Kong— Implications for Training Douglas Blake Olds Mill Valley, California Praxis for Care of the Atmosphere in Times of Climate Change: Analysis, Quantitative Methods, and Ecclesial Development John Stearns San Leandro, California “Deliver Me, O Lord!” An Exploratory Study into the Nature and Effectiveness of Pastoral Counseling When Combined with Healing Prayer Grace Kaori Suzuki San Francisco, California Leading in the Postmodern Wilderness: Relevant and Effective Processes and Resources for Executive Religious Leaders (A Prototype for a Manual of Ordination for the Presbytery of San Francisco) DIPLOMA IN ADVANCED PASTORAL STUDIES Thomas Czeck Byungwoo Oh

Castro Valley, California San Anselmo, California Summer 2020 | 13

COMMENCEMENT 2020: Distinguished Alumna

Transition and transformation

By Rev. Jeannie Kim ’01 (M.Div.)

T

he Graduate School of Theology held a virtual celebration of its first graduating class since University of Redlands merged with San Francisco Theological Seminary (SFTS) last July. At the ceremony, Kim was recognized as the SFTS 2020 distinguished alumna, and shared the following remarks:

I am deeply touched and honored to be this year’s distinguished alumna. I want to thank the SFTS Alumni Council, Rev. Dr. Jana Childers, and President Ralph W. Kuncl. Transition and transformation are not only the themes of our proceeding, but the conditions we are facing in today’s world. They are not new—in fact, I feel like they have always been a part of my life. My transition and transformation began at age 12, when we moved from Seoul, Korea, to San Francisco. With only a week’s notice, everything I had ever known was removed by a 16-hour plane ride. New country, new language, new culture, new identity. It was tough, but I learned since I did not create the world in which I live, I need to live in the world that’s been given to me.

When I had reached high school, my desire was to become a church leader or a missionary. I looked at many schools, but SFTS seemed to be the right fit. Many questioned why a woman would want to go to seminary and discouraged me from attending. “Too liberal,” “too progressive,” “Surely you will lose your faith,” they said.

I was not hindered—I was challenged, and I applied myself diligently. SFTS was a safe place to ponder ideas, and I was certain I would be applying these lessons in a traditional pastoral environment.

There is an old saying, “If you want to hear God laugh, just talk about your plans.” How true this was! Parish ministry was wonderful at first, but tumultuous change followed. My faith, education, and relationships formed at SFTS help me face the darkest times of uncertainty. I became a single mother with three young children, running a failed restaurant in a run-down section of San Francisco with a mountain of family debt. Lacking experience and

“My faith, education, and relationships formed at SFTS help me face the darkest times of uncertainty.”

— Rev. Jeannie Kim ’01 (M.Div.)

resources, I leaned on God, my family, and friends to help. Later, I faced a battle with cancer, but throughout, I was comforted and strengthened by my favorite scripture, Romans 8:28: “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to God’s purpose.” By internalizing this verse, I was able to embrace the transition from parish ministry to my new calling.

John 21:15-17 was my ordination exam and installation passage, where Jesus speaks to Peter after a breakfast by the sea and charges him to feed and care for his sheep. The beautiful image of sharing wisdom from scripture was transformed in this new calling. Now, I found myself doing the ordinary work of cooking, cleaning, and washing dishes, and have found joy, gratitude, and the chance to connect others to God’s grace in these tasks.

I now understand that Jesus did not ask Peter to become the head of the church or do something extraordinary. He simply told Peter to feed and care for his sheep.

It’s basic, it’s ordinary, but as Mother Teresa said, “Not all of us can do great things. But

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we can do small things with great love.”

This is my calling now. Doing small, ordinary work with great love.

Yes, all leaders and our influence affect the trajectory of people’s lives. Therefore, tread carefully, and never stop learning.

While you may not face deadlines for completing a paper or taking an exam, the new deadline is much more important— being ready to step into the path God creates for you.

While you are graduating from SFTS, you will never truly leave. The experience and people will always be a part of you, and you need to remain a part of it. Find a place to serve SFTS in the future so others may have the same valuable experience. Be faithful and persevere, wherever you are, and do the ordinary with the greatest love and grace.

Congratulations on being a part of the first graduating class of SFTS through the University of Redlands Graduate School of Theology. This is a historic opportunity, as the marriage of two institutions come together, to fulfill the extraordinary call to be a witness in this time of uncertainty. 9

COMMENCEMENT 2020

Reinvigorating hope through individual ministry: a reflection on SFTS graduates

By Professor Wendy Farley

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SFTS photo

his has been a tough semester, and our graduating seniors have not been untouched. They have experienced death in their families, illness, financial worries, anxieties about jobs and vocation, solitude, home-schooling children, and the gnawing concerns we all share for the fate of our country and planet. As teacher of the SFTS senior capstone class, I am moved as I watch students navigate these difficulties. I have been inspired as they begin to articulate their vision for ministry.

They dream of a church and a world invested with radical compassion, nurture for the needy, hope for our assaulted ecosystems, celebration of diversity, and justice that is not conditioned by race, gender, sexuality, income, religion, ethnicity, or anything else. Their passion to alleviate suffering and quell inequities reinvigorates hope in our dark times.

Each of our seniors has a unique angle on what ministry can look like. They are not cookies, fresh from the cookie cutter. From their different perspectives, many share a sense that models of ministry they have inherited may not be enough to inspire their own work or the transformation of the church for the next generation. They may or may not seek ordination. They may or may not become a senior pastor.

But wherever their vocations take them, they will provide a hospitable and loving presence to those they encounter—in churches and choirs, but also in hospitals and fledgling schools in Pakistan. They will be found on street corners, among LGBTQ+ youth, and working beside environmental activists. They will engage interfaith conversations and practices of hospitality. They bring many gifts to their ministry: a genius for music or a beautiful voice, disciplines of contemplative practice, preaching, a loving presence to young people who have known little but rejection, community building here and abroad. They are weaving the sacred and the mundane, committing themselves to churches but also bringing their faithfulness into the world in its beauty, tragedy, and infinite variety.

While the pandemic rages and the economy wobbles, our students are choosing to bring hope into difficult places. They are rooted in traditions that have held up well over millennia and through worldending disasters. Steadied by these deep roots, they are envisioning Christian practice, love, and justice for the 21st century. Churches are transfiguring themselves for technological and social changes we are now only beginning to perceive. It has been inspiring to work with our graduating seniors as they envision what their ministry will look like in these times. It gives me hope, not that everything will magically work out fine, but that our students will be among those serving the spirit of goodness wherever it is found. 9

Summer 2020 | 15

Glenn C. Carlson ’55 (M.Div.) skydiving in his 90s.

Photos courtesy of alumni

1950s R. Dixon Jennings ‘53 (M.Div.) and Shirley Jennings ‘53 (M.Div.) will soon be celebrating their 68th wedding anniversary. Each year, they remember the seminary at this time. Their wedding, the first event to take place in the new Stewart Chapel, was officiated by SFTS President Jesse Baird. The wedding reception was the first event ever held in Alexander Hall.

During the rest of the 1952-53 school year, a copy of their wedding invitation was on display. Shirley lived in Baird Hall and Dick lived in Montgomery Hall. He remembers looking out his window to see Geneva Hall during construction. He could also see the huge chimes being brought down from the Montgomery Tower to be placed in Geneva Hall. Dick served as part of a human chain, as the books from the Scott Hall library were passed, hand over hand, to the new library. Dick also recalls when the pulpit in Stewart Chapel was installed and President Baird jumped up into it and said that he was going to preach his first sermon from that pulpit. The

construction foreman turned over a bucket, sat on it, and said for him to go ahead.

Glenn C. Carlson ’55 (M.Div.) and his wife, Madelyn, were married in 1953, theirs being the second wedding in the Stewart Chapel. While waiting in a side room, he said he heard the organ begin to play the wedding march and and President Jesse Baird stood up, smiled, and said, “Well, there goes the battle cry.” After returning from Scotland, Glenn received a phone call from St. James Presbyterian Church in Bellingham, Washington, asking him to consider being their new pastor. When he said no repeatedly, they finally told him that their interim pastor, Baird, had highly recommended him. A few years later, they visited Baird after hearing that he was not well. He greeted them with his arms widely extended and said with a smile, “Glenn ...

Madelyn.” Baird died a few months later. In his life, Glenn has served as a pilot in World War II, a local radio announcer, a program supervisor for NBC, a teaching fellow at seminary, and went skydiving at age 91

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and 94. Glenn considers being a pastor, preacher, and teacher his true life. All the other things have been fun, but nothing can compare with sharing the news of what God did in a young man who lived in a little place called Nazareth and what He continues to do today through His Holy Spirit.

1960s Tom Rickert ’69 (Th.M.) is in his 30th year of full-time work as executive director of Access Exchange International, based in San Francisco and promoting accessible public transportation for persons with disabilities in developing countries and regions. His current work is focused on promotion of inclusive school transport for Hispanic children and youth with special needs in America and Mexico. The need to get children with disabilities to school is of special concern due to the pandemic.

ALUMNI He has written a guide, titled “Bridging the gap: Your role in transporting children with disabilities to school in developing countries,” that was published in Chinese by an agency in Taiwan in April. It joins versions in English, Spanish, Hindi, and Japanese. The guide includes case studies from 14 countries around the world.

1970s Roger Brown ’73 (M.Div.) recently found the 2019 summer issue of Chimes and was moved to learn of the passing of Don Schilling ’58 (M.Div.).

Roger was a member of the Fremont Presbyterian Church while working and attending Sacramento State University on the GI Bill. He volunteered to work with Don at the outreach center mentioned in his tribute. It was Roger’s first experience in that kind of work and admits it was a bit “scary,” but Don was calm and reassuring. Roger notes that Don went in 1964 to register African American voters in Mississippi, remarking that would have also been the time that Bob Ferguson and others went to Selma. Later, Roger and Don took kids on an overnight river rafting trip down the Sacramento River, which was also an event he has never forgotten. When Roger graduated in 1969 and left for Jerusalem on a study abroad program at Hebrew University, he lost track of Don but never forgot their ministry together. He has fond memories of Don and would have loved to recall those days with him.

Thomas Norton ‘69 (B.Div.), ‘70 (M.Div.) speaks in South Korea.

Thomas Norton ’69 (B.Div.), ’70 (M.Div.) pastored in South Korea in a mission and in two churches until 2012, after pastoring in Switzerland 30 years and retiring in 2005. He has spoken in churches and events throughout South Korea and authored a book, South Korea: My Adventures and Sermons. Thomas also produced a DVD depicting its country, mission, and Asian medicine.

1980s David C. Emery ’81 (M.Div.) serves as the interim senior pastor at Ashburn Presbyterian Church in Ashburn, Virginia.

Before that, he was the appointed pastor at Fern Prairie United Methodist Church in Camas, Washington. Joyce M. Emery ’81 (M.Div.) serves as the interim associate pastor for care at the National Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. Before that, she was the appointed senior pastor at Salmon Creek United Methodist Church in Vancouver, Washington.

David and Joyce both appreciated the chance to sojourn in the land of United Methodists for five years learning the polity, enjoying the colleagues, and teaching and preaching in the Wesleyan way. They enjoy being back in the Presbyterian family and serving at a time in the nation when the challenges of diplomacy, race, sexism, immigration, and criminal justice issues are hotter than ever, in need of true wisdom and the values of the Kingdom of God. Their four children and eight grandchildren all live in Washington and Oregon.

Cynthia Wuts ’82 (M.Div.) is a Presbyterian Church (USA) pastor in Madera, California.

She has also served in Washington at Reardan Presbyterian in Reardan; Northwood Presbyterian in Spokane; Oakesdale Presbyterian in Oakesdale; Millwood Presbyterian in Spokane; and at Harrington and Rocklyn Zion United Methodist Churches as director of rural ministry resources. Cynthia was honorably retired from the Presbytery of the Inland Northwest in February 2016. Her husband is also retired from commercial architecture. Their home is near wheat farms in Reardan, and they spend their time traveling, fly-fishing, gardening, woodworking, and biking. They are also actively involved in the life of the Colbert Presbyterian Church near Spokane.

Cynthia Cochran-Carney ’88 (M.Div.) is the pastor of an inclusive, progressive congregation in Marin County that is committed to social justice, contemplative spirituality, community partnerships, and the arts. She and her husband were featured in an article about transitioning to online worship and preaching at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic shelter-in-place (https://www.marinij.com/ 2020/03/21/marin-congregationsconnect-online-during-virus-pandemic).

1990s

Donors give contributions of socks and underwear for Open Door Mission through collection efforts led by Suzanne Gorhau ‘96 (M.Div.).

Suzanne Gorhau ’96 (M.Div.) leads the Carson & Oakland Sharon Presbyterian Churches, where they have done an “underwear throw” two times to collect socks and underwear for Open Door Mission in Omaha, Nebraska. A video was made to share the story, help people understand why socks and underwear are such needed items, and encourage other churches to do the same (https://vimeo.com/277916048).

Marjorie Hoyer Smith ’98 (DASD) reflects on her time at SFTS (more than 20 years ago) and the program in the Art of Spiritual Direction. She finds that she is incredibly grateful for what she received—knowledge, new awareness, and insight. She entered the program as a proactive doer always on the go. Today Marjorie tries to live each day from a contemplative stance—a process that slows her down enough to notice and see, be present in the world and to others in a way that builds care, kindness, and compassion, a different way of doing. Out of that early rigor of training, formation, and praxis, she became a spiritual director, supervisor, and retreat leader at the Bread of Life Center in Sacramento, eventually to become a mentor and trainer in their internship program in spiritual direction. While she is now retired, the skills she received at SFTS set her on a path of transformation to deepen her trust in God and develop sensibilities to see and lift up God’s grace amid life’s pleasures and troubles. In today’s world where troubles abound, the capacity to notice graces among difficulties is a gift, and a legacy of the Diploma in the Art of Spiritual Direction program.

Summer 2020 | 17

ALUMNI 2000s Jean Kim ’06 (D.Min.) was born in North Korea in 1935 and took refuge in South Korea with her family at age 11. She immigrated to the U.S. in 1970, earned a master’s in social work in 1977 and a doctorate in ministry in 2006 from SFTS. Jean has served in the Presbyterian ministry over the last 10 years and has been a servant to the homeless community for more than 50 years. She founded or cofounded many humanitarian organizations, has received 25 community service awards, and authored more than a dozen books. Her most recent works, Messages of Grace: Sermons to public and homeless churches; Marching with the Homeless: The whole Biblical position on the poor/homeless; and Jubilee Handbook: Reality and root causes of homelessness in the U.S. are now available at Amazon. Hope in Color Purple is Jean’s autobiography, telling how God and Jesus picked her up from the valley of dead bones to a new life. Her hope is that her story can be a reference to the women’s departments in colleges, as well as provide hope to many women of the world experiencing pains and troubles. All proceeds from these book sales benefit homeless missions.

2010s Ashley Pogue ’19 (M.Div.) graduated last May and then married her fiancée, Andrew Quick, in July! After working in ministry for more than a decade at Valley Presbyterian Church (Portola Valley, California); Ashley now works for U of R, Marin Campus (SFTS) as the event sales manager pursuing her professional aspirations in event management.

Though COVID-19 is putting a damper on the events industry, Ashley enjoys working with her colleagues, wedding couples, and nonprofit organizations to schedule (and reschedule) their special events on this beautiful campus.

And don’t worry, you will occasionally find Ashley in the pulpit, putting her A+ seminary education to work.

Ashley Pogue ‘19 (M.Div.) and Andrew P. Quick ‘19 (M.Div.) enjoy life as newlyweds.

Andrew P. Quick ’19 (M.Div.) graduated last May and married his redheaded fiancée, Ashley Pogue! In the fall, Andrew entered the Shaw Chaplaincy Institute’s Clinical Pastoral Education program to blend his chaplaincy skills with his first love, clowning, with the Medical Clown Project in hospitals in San Francisco. Andrew and Ashley led and created an Advent series for Broadmoor Presbyterian Church (Daly City, California). He also jumped in as the interim pastor at Broadmoor for 2020. He spends his time pastoring, clowning with the Medical Clown Project and Circus of Smiles, and searching for delicious pale ales. 9

Envisioning the future of SFTS alumni engagement Molly Widdicombe joined the San Francisco Theological Seminary (SFTS) staff as director of development in January. In this capacity, she will lead all fundraising efforts for the Graduate School of Theology and SFTS, including major giving, annual giving, and alumni relations. Widdicombe has served on the development team at the University of Redlands since 2013, successfully leading a growing annual fund that included the President’s Circle leadership giving, reunion giving, crowdfunding, and the University’s first-ever Giving Day. “I am thrilled to join the team at SFTS and work with the University’s newest graduate school, especially given its nearly 150-year history prior to the merger with Redlands,” says Widdicombe. “I also look forward to more fully engaging our alumni and raising the necessary funds for students, faculty, and programs at the Seminary.”

To welcome Widdicombe, give her advice, or learn how you can get involved, email molly_widdicombe@redlands.edu or call 415-451-2805.

Welcome to our new Alumni Council President Bear Ride! A native Californian and cradle Presbyterian, Ride was raised in Los Angeles. She received her B.A. in religious studies at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, and her M.Div. and D.Min. degrees from San Francisco Theological Seminary (SFTS). She has served churches in Southern California, was the director of the women in ministry project for the synod of Southern California and Hawaii, and held the position of dean of students at the southern campus of SFTS. Ride also directed the Peace Center at United University Church, and later became the “intergalactic field organizer” with her sister Sally Ride’s outreach to middle school girls through Sally Ride Science. Ride continues to be actively involved in the work of the Presbyterian Church, USA, having served as co-moderator of More Light Presbyterians and a variety of boards and agencies of the Church. Since her retirement, Ride has served as interim/transitional pastor in La Jolla (UCC) and First Presbyterian Church, Palo Alto. She loves to travel with her wife, Susan Craig, frolic with their beloved Tibetan terrier Laika, read, enjoy a good meal and good music, and generally spend time with family, especially their grandchildren. To learn more about how you can get involved in the Alumni Council, email Ride at alumni@sfts.edu.

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Photos courtesy of alumni

ALUMNI

One robe, two stories

By Laura Gallardo

I

n spring 2019, the family of Donald Keuper ’54 (M.Div.) honored his life by gifting his pastoral robe to San Francisco Theological Seminary (SFTS), with “the sincere hope that this robe might be used by young pastors at the Seminary, or at your discretion, perhaps given to a deserving student.”

Donald’s wife, Betty, and her family shared his history in a letter to SFTS, and in turn, the eventual recipient of the robe, Heather Johnston ’20 (M.Div.), wrote the family to share her gratitude for such a special gift. Below are excerpts of these letters.

Prior to matriculating at the Seminary, Donald E. Keuper graduated from Carroll College in Wisconsin and spent four years in the Army Medical Corps during World War II. During this time in his life, e clear. After his path into serving the church and his Lord becam in Gruver, was ed pastor he church first graduating from SFTS, the churches in him found also e servic church of Iowa, and his career church that Don in San Diego and San Jose, California. The final h in Los had the joy of serving was Skyland Community Churc Gatos, California. , All who knew Rev. Keuper knew him to be a warm God, his loved who compassionate, and deeply caring man, churches he family, friends, and those fortunate people in the —a man who pulpit the in er preach served. He was a charismatic that not n sermo a into re scriptu and life, could infuse humor, wrapped also but es, church his in s gation congre only taught the and from ngs them in a warmth that comes from the Bible’s teachi in God er believ a belonging to a community of believers. He was and the goodness of his fellow man. wife, Betty, Don was a wonderful husband for 50 years to his ah, and Debor , Carol ters, daugh and an amazing father to three family loving a left he 2000, in Janet. When he passed away , Holland, that included grandchildren Brett, Kaitlyn, Hilary .” His sixth “Papa their miss and love all who and Cassandra, has learned to but , death his after born was y, Hayle grandchild, love Papa thru the stories her family has told. his life that Rev. Donald E. Keuper exemplified everything in can be justly e colleg Your ts. the SFTS strives to instill in its studen it is his And r.

Keupe Rev. in ced proud of the graduate they produ help will robe his of ion donat small this family’s sincere hope that church of path same the along ts studen ary other young Semin service that he chose.

—The Keuper Family

It is an honor to receive this robe. My time at SFTS has been three and a half of the most growth-filled years of my life. Circumstances at the school, in the community, and in the world have provided a breadth of hardship, but out of it birthed a multitude of opportunities for applied ministry.

How different the world must be now compared to 1954 when Rev. Keuper attended SFTS. I picture a thriving seminary, set in a sparse town surrounded by redwoods. I wonder about the hard issues they tackled back then, still somewhat fresh from World War II. Everyone probably knew someone who went to war. They were living in a time when life had begun to teem, children were being born, men were home and re-entering the workforce. With the physical war behind them, it was time to deal with the mental repercussions and ask the hard questions about God. Where did God fit into the horrors of the war? How did the Gospel speak to its atroci ties? The expansion of the seminary during this time, and the expansion of mainline churches across the U.S. in the 1950s , was a testament to how people clung to God to seek comfo rt after tragedy.

SFTS was a welcoming institution for women; theref ore I imagine the conversations around the role of wome n were always progressive as students at the seminary discus sed tensions between men coming home from the war and taking back jobs usually considered suited for men that wome n had been doing during the war. The discussions aroun d Gospel stories, and how Jesus spoke to these issues, must have been as transformative then as they are now.

I think of Rev. Keuper’s time at the seminary as I reflect back on my own experience. There are so many thread s that connect us. As we experience a time of extreme polari zation, police brutality, systemic racism, and our treatment of the poor, we are faced with the same hard questions about God. We are seeing how far we have come, and how far we have yet to go to become a people reflected in the kingdom of heave n. The students attending seminaries across the U.S. are clinging onto God to guide us through current tragedies, looking to Jesus for answers on how to live through these times.

Receiving this robe in the midst of a pandemic is a profound gesture. It is a reminder of how far I have come to be worthy of such a gift. It is a testament bestowed upon me that others see me worthy to own and wear a pastor’s unifor m. It is with great humility that I receive this wonderful gift. When I wear it in future churches that I serve, I will bring Rev. Keuper’s charisma and wisdom with me, and I will be wrapped in his love for God. This robe is a reminder that there is still purpose and relevancy in the scriptures. It is proof that people are still searching for God and craving the kingdom of which Jesus spoke. I believe all clergy at times live in doubt. They wonder if their work has purpose, if anyone is listening, if Christianity has become futile. However, I would like the Keupe r family to know that a gift such as this is an act of God, a messa ge that I needed to hear to again affirm my calling—thank you.

—Heather Johnston ’20 (M.Div.) SFTS Archive photo and courtesy of Heather Johnston

Summer 2020 | 19

IN MEMORIAM JULY 10, 1929–JUNE 23, 2020

Rev. Dr. John F. Shaw: a commitment to service, prophetic vision, and generosity of spirit

By Rev. Dr. Laurie Garrett-Cobbina

I

am only one of many who loved and students learn how to care more admired Rev. Dr. John Shaw ’54 deeply and grow in ways they (M.Div.). He had a profound impact never imagined. on theological education, and his Whenever Rev. Dr. Shaw legacy will continue for students and and his wife, Julia, visited SFTS, educators. Not only did he mentor, a palpable love infused the encourage, and care for many, he campus. With more gregarious opened the door of consciousness, generosity, the Shaws funded competence, and rigor in the discipline renovations to Warren Landon of pastoral care.

Hall, the dormitory in which the Photo courtesy of Shaw Family After a stellar career as a parish couple lived and started their pastor, pastoral counselor, and director of family. Rev. Dr. Shaw also enabled the hiring of a pastoral care in hospital settings, Rev. Dr. Shaw clinical pastoral educator (CPE) fellow to pursue continued to support the expansion of pastoral certification and increase the program’s student care by generously endowing a faculty chair in capacity. The Shaw Fellowship represented this area at San Francisco Theological Seminary SFTS’s commitment to educate future religious (SFTS). As the only endowed chair of its kind, I leaders in the field of pastoral care through am immensely fortunate to have been the first the educator vocational process. In 2015, Rev. person to occupy the Shaw Chair, a position I Dr. Shaw’s support aided our CPE program have been honored to hold since 2006. to receive an innovative programming grant Rev. Dr. Shaw had an ongoing vision of the that allowed students from SFTS and Spiritan study of pastoral care, and through another University College to participate in an eightsubstantial gift, established the Shaw Chaplaincy week intercultural, ecumenical, and international Institute for Spiritual Care and Compassionate learning experience in Ghana, West Africa.

Leadership. On April 12, 2019, we celebrated What I will remember most about Rev. Dr. the launch of the Shaw Chaplaincy Institute Shaw was his integrity, clarity of thought, and with SFTS students, alumni, faculty, and a wide sense of humor. In his presence, I felt free to range of caring professionals from the wider allow my passion for providing and teaching community. Juliann Shaw Phillips and Jennifer pastoral care to soar and take flight. He was an Shaw were pleased to witness their father’s innovative thinker with prophetic vision, but vision coming to life that day. Juliann said, “SFTS also prophetic implementation. He challenged is where my parents met, and he is delighted theological education curriculum and influenced with what the Shaw Chaplaincy Institute is how people preparing for religious leadership doing.” were taught. He was a visionary leader for Today, the Shaw Chaplaincy Institute is an theological studies. educational beacon of the rich and luminous Both Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Shaw had an spiritual forces that permeate the lives of extraordinary sense of imagination, mission, and millions. Partnering with Rev. Dr. Shaw to love. Future generations of theological students, educate and nurture the spiritual formation religious leaders, and caring professionals across and compassionate practice of leaders across disciplines are indebted to them, as we are at disciplines and traditions has been a gift.

SFTS. Personally, Rev. Dr. Shaw has been an Teaching how to engage people’s myriad needs enormous blessing to my vocational life. Through is like teaching while wading in a fountain of him, my life and the lives of my students were youth—invigorating, restorative, and meaningful. changed for the better, and I am inspired by the I have the immense privilege of witnessing life and example of Rev. Dr. John Shaw. 9 20 | CHIMES | San Francisco Theological Seminary | www.redlands.edu/gst/sfts

Photo by Liz Huntington

Above, John Shaw, Laurie GarrettCobbina, and Juliann Shaw Phillips in 2017.

Many have written letters to Rev. Dr. Shaw to demonstrate their gratitude over the years, and here are just a few excerpts that speak to his lasting legacy: “CPE has been essential in my growth and development as a clergyperson … The service-learning process of self-reflection and group learning fed my soul and deepened my ministry … it grew me in ways that I could never have grown by myself.”

“My affiliate servicelearning site presented all the challenges and joys of learning for my own growth and for job exploration, but the class time truly made a difference in my life and my ability to serve … The program that you created through your vision has been a blessing to me—and hopefully to the people I have served and will serve in the future.“ “The CPE classroom opened a deep place of learning within me, giving me the capacity and capability to minister with skill to those who are marginalized and suffering. To say this learning experience was awe-inspiring is an understatement.”

IN MEMORIAM This section reflects passings from January 1, 2019 - July 31, 2020.

1950s Robert Fung ’50, March 10

Paul E. Bodine ’60, Aug. 4, 2019.

Paul was a professor, campus minister, pastor, and executive presbyter.

Walter Robert Link ’51, March 4.

Walter was a SFTS graduate and founding pastor of Faith Presbyterian Church in Sacramento.

John K. Sharp ’60, June 2. John was a Presbyterian minister to many congregations across the U.S. as well as a community builder.

Earl Harvey ’52, April 2. Earl was called to create a new church in Albuquerque, New Mexico, St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, founded in 1959.

John (Jack) Chinchen ’62, Feb. 26, 2019. Along with his wife, Nell, Jack established three Bible colleges in Africa, as well as multiple Bible-focused radio stations across the continent.

Ivan Rymes ’53, ’86, May 11. Ivan was a minister in churches in Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Oklahoma.

John Bonner ’54, March 29, 2019. John entered SFTS in 1951. For eight years, he taught history, civics, math, and English to inmates at San Quentin Prison. He later wrote a book, Hang Tough, with lessons learned from the inmates he encountered. He became an ordained minister in 1954 and became pastor of the San Geronimo Community Presbyterian Church.

Iris Elinor Weber Martin ’54, ’55 Jan. 5. Iris graduated from SFTS as the only woman in her class of 53 men.

She earned a Master of Divinity in 1954 and a Master of Arts in Christian education in 1955. Iris was the first woman to be ordained by Olympia Presbytery, and was ordained to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament on Oct. 5, 1975. Iris’s’ daughter, Rev. Joyce M. Emery ’81 (M.Div.), was born during Iris’s time at SFTS. Lloyd Auchard ’56, Oct. 6, 2019.

Lloyd lived in Midhurst, England.

David Grimm ’56, June 13 Robert Slusher ’57, Sept. 2, 2019. Robert was an SFTS graduate and a lifelong minister, educator, and scientist.

Charles Orr ’58, March 23. Charles was a longtime pastor of Westwood Presbyterian Church and a community activist.

1960s Haywood (Woody) Bagwell ’60 August 12, 2019. Woody earned his M.Div. at SFTS and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in January 1960. He was a missionary in Pakistan and an educator in the Bakersfield City School District.

Lee Hicks ’62, July 5, 2019. Lee earned both his M.Div. and doctorate in divinity from SFTS and was a lifelong pastor.

Harvey Oster ’63, Dec. 16, 2019 Harry Eberts ’68, ’70, July 12

1970s Douglas Parrott ’70, Sept. 7, 2019 Frank Pinkard Jr. ‘70, July 26 Loma Shoemaker ’73 (date of death not available).

Lester L. Westling Jr. ’73, (date of death not available). Lester earned a Master of Arts in pastoral psychology and Doctor of Ministry degrees. He was an ordained Episcopal priest as well as a marriage and family therapist.

Bradley Pope ’74, April 8. Bradley was a pastor and licensed professional counselor in Clinton, Mississippi.

Barbara Louise Battin ’76, ’94, May 6, 2019. Barbara was ordained in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in 1979. She served six churches in Ohio, Illinois, and Minnesota, and served as interfaith campus minister at the College of Wooster and Sinclair Community College.

Leonard Confar ’77, July 11 Darrel E. Berg ’78, Aug. 15, 2019.

Darrel earned a Doctor of Ministry from SFTS in 1978 and was a United Methodist minister.

Charles Phillip Huckaby Jr. ’78, Dec. 21, 2019 Richard Symes ’78, April 3

1980s Cornelius Patrick O’Leary ’80, Feb. 14 Donald Heinrich ‘84, July 18 Richard Paul Gantenbein ’85 April 27, 2019. After earning his Doctor of Ministry, Richard

became a Presbyterian pastor in Granada Hills and Sonoma.

Louise Keeler Nelson ’85, Dec. 30, 2019 Bruce Moyer ’87, May 11, 2019 Robert Hillard Rigstad ’87, June 30, 2019.

Robert was a graduate of both Dubuque Theological Seminary and SFTS. He was a pastor and chief executive of the Presbytery of Utah and the executive presbyter in Seattle and Philadelphia.

He also presented the case for the ordination of openly gay and lesbian pastors at the 1977 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia.

Richard Woodard ’87, Jan. 9

1990s Anne Taylor Whitson ’92, June 1, 2019 James Smith ’95, Feb. 11. James served churches in Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico, and retired as the senior pastor at First Christian Church in Ruidoso, New Mexico in 2009.

Former Students Donald Roy Davis, April 23, 2019.

Donald was a Navy officer and Army chaplain. He attended both Nazarene Theological Seminary and SFTS. Mary Jean Leber, Jan. 4, 2019 Bonnie Jean Bell, Dec. 17, 2019. After Bonnie completed Master of Arts in values coursework at SFTS, she graduated with a Master of Divinity from Pacific Theological Seminary in Berkeley.

Harold Arthur Wylie, June 19, 2019.

Harold was an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church.

Marie J. Clark, Dec. 30, 2019. Marie studied church music and became a music teacher and music director for several congregations.

Friends Alice Augusta Lindquist Crouch June 6, 2019. Alice was the wife of Rev. Dr. Arthur E. “Ted” Crouch, and the mother of Rev. Bob Crouch ’86, pastor of the Pismo Beach Presbyterian Church, and Peter Crouch ’89, former vice president of advancement at SFTS. Peter is currently the vice president of advancement at Presbyterian Children’s Homes and Services. 9 Summer 2020 | 21

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