Columbia Theological Seminary Vantage, 93, number 1, Summer 2001

COLUMBIA
THEOLOGICAL
SEMINARY

Vantage

SUMMER 2001

Columbia names dean of faculty

At its March meeting, Columbia
Theological Seminary's Board of
Trustees elected D. Cameron
Murchison, Jr. as dean of faculty and
executive vice president. He will begin
his new duties on July 1.

A pastor, church leader, and
teacher-scholar, Murchison came to
Columbia in 1996 as professor of
ministry. Prior to joining Columbia's
faculty, he was pastor of the Blacksburg,
Virginia, Presbyterian Church for eight
years. He has served as pastor of four
other Presbyterian churches in Virginia
and one in Tennessee.

His service to the Presbyterian
Church (USA) includes work as a
member of the General Assembly

Council and the Advisory Council on
Church and Society and as chair of
the Catholicity and Global Mission of
the Church Task Force. He also served
on the Committee on Nature and
Value of Human Life for the Council
on Theology and Culture for the
Presbyterian Church (US).

Murchison will continue to teach
on an occasional basis at Columbia.
He has been on the faculty of Union
Theological Seminary in Virginia as
professor of pastoral theology and
education and also director of continu-
ing education.

He holds the Ph.D. and M.Phil,
degrees from Yale University, the B.D.
from Union Theological Seminary in

Virginia, and the B.A. from Rhodes
College.

Commenting on his appointment,
Columbia's President Laura
Mendenhall said, "After a national
search, we found our dean within
our own faculty. Cam Murchison is
uniquely gifted to help us carry out
the vision of this seminary. His admin-
istrative gifts, his understanding of the
importance of teaching, his knowledge
of Columbia and other seminaries, his
trustworthiness and personal integrity,
and his commitment to the life and
mission of the church are among those
qualities which led the committee to
nominate Cam Murchison as dean of
faculty."

D. Cameron Murchison, Jr.

Emmanuel Lartey

Barbara Brown Taylor

Two distinguished
professors elected

Columbia's Board of Trustees has
elected two distinguished new profes-
sors Emmanuel Lartey in pastoral
care and counseling and Barbara
Brown Taylor in Christian spirituality.

Currently president of the Inter-
national Council on Pastoral Care and
Counseling, Emmanuel Lartey will
join the faculty this fall as professor.
He has most recently been senior lec-
turer in pastoral theology and pastoral
care and director of graduate studies,
Department of Theology at the
University of Birmingham, England.

A native of Ghana, Lartey received his
theological education at Trinity
Theological Seminary in Legon, Ghana.
After receiving his Ph.D. from the
University of Birmingham in 1984, he
returned to Ghana where he taught at
Trinity and at the University of Ghana.
In 1989 he joined the faculty of the
University of Birmingham, where he
became a senior lecturer in 1997. As a
pastor, he has been deeply involved in
the life of the church. Lartey has
served also as an external examiner in
theology for the universities of

Edinburgh, Oxford, and Manchester.

Lartey has published widely. His
most recent book, In Living Colour: An
Intercultural Approach to Pastoral Care
and Counselling, points to his special
interest in the church's pastoral care
of people living in a multicultural
world. Professor Rod Hunter of
Emory University, co-editor with
Columbia Professor Emeritus John
Parton of the Dictionary of Pastoral
Care and Counseling, says, "Emmanuel
Lartey is one of the world's leading
figures on intercultural pastoral care.
He is thoroughly conversant with the
issues of pastoral care and counseling
in the U.S. and is working on one of
the cutting edges of our field."

Lartey will be a great help to the
Columbia faculty as it seeks to pre-
pare and nurture ministers for the
early decades of the twenty-first cen-
tury ministers who will have
responsibility for pastoral care and
counseling of persons in the midst of
the great cultural and demographic
shifts taking place in the U.S. The
Board's election of Professor Lartey is
both a recognition of those challenges
before the ministry of the church and
a bold response to them.

Barbara Brown Taylor is well
known as one of the most distinguished
preachers in the U.S. and as an author
whose books address the spiritual
crisis that marks contemporary life.
Through an agreement with Piedmont
College in north Georgia where she
teaches, Taylor will serve at Columbia
in an adjunct capacity as distinguished
professor of Christian spirituality.

A graduate of Emory and Yale
universities, Taylor has for the last
decade been a preacher in great

demand. She has been a teacher of
preaching at a number of theological
schools and conferences and has
delivered, among other lectures, the
Lyman Beecher Lectures at Yale and
the Franklin S. Hickman Lectures at
Duke University. Her latest book,
Speaking of Sin: The Lost Language of
Salvation, addresses the spiritual
hunger of many people today. In the
book, she seeks to explore "sin,
damnation, repentance, penance, and
salvation" a "cluster of words that
seem to be hard for many people to
pronounce, especially in twenty-first
century North America." She is inter-
ested, however, in the human experi-
ences that underlie these words and
the ways they can lead us to the expe-
rience of God's grace.

Taylor's work at Columbia, begin-
ning in 2002, will focus on the Doctor
of Ministry program and continuing
education events for pastors. With a
teaching team of Columbia faculty,
she will address both the spiritual life
of pastors and the ways pastors nur-
ture the spiritual life of congregations.
Columbia's certificate program in
Christian Spirituality, under the lead-
ership of Julie Johnson (D.Min. '98),
will have new responsibilities for
Master of Divinity students. The
Board's call of Professor Taylor thus
represents a deepening commitment
to nurturing what earlier generations
called Christian piety.

Taylor will be building on the
pioneer work of Professor Emeritus
Ben Johnson, who founded Columbia's
Spirituality Program in 1995.

Erskine Clarke '66

Professor of American Religious History

and Acting Dean of the Faculty

Inaugural reflections

Laura S. Mendenhall, President

The president's family: Matt, Maury, Ijiura, and Chuck Mendenhall

Blowing across the bow of this strong
school of the church, the wind of
God's Spirit continues to fill the sails
of Columbia Theological Seminary as
it moves into the twenty-first century.
An inauguration is a time to watch
again for new breezes which may
encircle and carry us further into the
service of God's mission. The commu-
nity of Columbia Seminary prow I
itself open to the wind of the Spirit
this spring.

I knew we took a risk having the
inauguration outside. I wanted to
invite people to this campus because I
believe something special happens
here where we study and pray and
live together. Columbia Seminary nur-
tures leaders and pastors for the
church by teaching in the context of a
faith community. Our work is not con-
fined to the classroom nor to this cam-
pus. We teach in local congregations,
in hospitals, on Atlanta streets, in
housing developments, at the state
capital, and in countries around the
world. However, the impetus for such
learning comes from working and
worshipping and breaking bread
together here on this campus.
Therefore, I wanted to hold the inau-
guration in this place so that people
who had never before been to
Columbia might experience the kind
of nurturing for leadership which goes
on here. The only place big enough to
hold 500 people was the Oldenburg
Quadrangle. It was a risk, but white
chairs were set out on the green lawn
as the community prepared itself to
deal with the wind of the Spirit.

As guests arrived from far and
near, they were delighted with the
beauty of the campus and the southern
hospitality as the piper gathered them
for worship on Tuesday morning,
April 24. The service of worship was
led by two choirs and a brass ensemble.
The choir from Central Korean
Presbyterian Church in Chamblee
was accompanied by violinists. The

50-voice Interdenominational
Theological Center choir had the
i nwds moving with them as they sang
African- American spirituals, with
Columbia students singing with both
choirs. These voices of the church were
joined by others. Ashley Seaman '01,
member of the World Council of
Churches' Central Committee, read
scripture. Syngman Rhee, moderator
of the Presbyterian Church (USA),
preached God's Word of reconciliation.

Joanna Adams '79, Board of
Trustees chair, and Joe Harvard '66,
chair of the Presidential Search
Committee, conducted the installation.
Greetings were brought from Mary
Brown Bullock, president of Agnes
Scott College, on behalf of the academ-
ic community; from Harold Augustus,
resident of the Night Shelter at Central
Presbyterian Church, Atlanta, on
behalf of the city of Atlanta; from
Jeremy Senterfitt, 18-year-old elder
from First Presbyterian Church, Atlanta,
on behalf of the PC(USA) present and
future; from Dan Aleshire, executive
director of the Association of
Theological Schools, on behalf of
theological institutions; and from
David Gathanju (Th.M. '01), director of
theological education by extension at
Presbyterian College, Kikuyu, Kenya,
on behalf of the global community.
Former presidents Ben Kline, Davison
Philips '43, and Doug Oldenburg pre-
sented the symbols of office Bible,
chalice, bread as Columbia students
sang a hymn written for the occasion
by Professor Brian Wren. I was charged
by Joanna Adams for the Board of
Trustees, Erskine Clarke '66 for the
faculty, and Bobby Williamson '01 for
the students. This chorus of voices
from the whole church proclaimed
that Columbia seeks to nurture leaders
for the church in this new century
through shared leadership lay and
clergy, men and women, young and
old, a diversity of economic classes,
races, nations. And the wind of the

Spirit moved among us, unable to be
contained or controlled, knocking over
flowers, but welcomed by those open
to the new thing that God might be
doing in our midst.

Despite predictions of rain, the
sky was a clear blue and the sun shone
brilliantly. The winds held the rains
over Birmingham until we had finished
the service and enjoyed a bounteous
lunch on the lawn. It looked very
much like a family reunion with some
cousins meeting one another for the
first time. By 2:00 p.m. we were all
indoors at Columbia Presbyterian
Church when the winds brought the
blessing of rain from the heavens.
During the brief shower, Ofelia Ortega,
president of the Evangelical Theological
Seminary in Mantanzas, Cuba;
Robert Franklin, president of the
Interdenominational Theological Center;
Bill Arnold '66, former professor and
now pastor to senior adults at the Bryn
Mawr, Pennsylvania, Presbyterian
Church; and Dan Aleshire discussed
how the seminary might best nurture
church leaders for the church in this
century. The conversation was lively
and inspirational and led to smaller
workshops as we considered how to
engage congregations biblically, theo-
logically, and prophetically, proclaim-
ing the full extent of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ.

The whole church sharing the whole
Gospel in the whole world became the
message of the inaugural event, which
concluded the following day after a
magnificent production Tuesday night
by Columbia students on "Columbia
through the Years." Students wrote,
produced, and acted in this musical

drama which began with the words
of seminary leaders in the earliest
days in Columbia, South Carolina,
and ended with the words of the
Campbell Scholars from the fall of
2000, words calling us into "Mission
as Hope in Action."

After workshops Wednesday
morning, participants met for wor-
ship, led by the words of Professor
Walter Brueggemann, who preached
from I Kings 19:19-21, II Kings 2:9-15,
Luke 9:59-62. Walter preached out of
the work of the Campbell Scholars,
envisioning God's appointment of
Columbia Seminary for the coming
days of mission. As Elisha tested his
call with the mantle, embraced his
tradition with a kiss, lavished his
endowment on the future, he received
a double portion of Elijah's spirit,
which propelled him into mission with
a newness that the world had not yet
imagined. Since Jesus' word was even
more radical, Walter proclaimed that it
will be difficult to measure the gift of
the Spirit about to be given to us.
What we know is that we can expect
a double portion of God's Spirit and
that this will be more than enough to
nurture leaders for the twenty-first-
century church.

We saw at the inauguration a
community welcoming the wind of
the Holy Spirit, engaging in significant
issues regarding Christ's mission, and
committed to nurturing leaders for the
church that we might be faithful stew-
ards of God's mysteries and equip the
saints for ministry to the glory of
God's holy name. Thanks be to God
for vision and courage.

Shirley Guthrie, professor emeritus of theology, Margit Ernst, instructor of theology,
and Eberhard Busch were the teaching team for the spring semester course, "The Life
and Work of Karl Barth. " Busch is professor of Reformed theology at the University of
Gottingen, Germany, and author of the biography on Barth. For the past 15 years, he
has held the chair at Gottingen which Barth held in the 1920s.

VANTAGE

Degrees awarded to 108 students
at Columbia's commencement

Columbia's 108 graduates received a
standing ovation from the families and
well wishers who filled both levels of
Peachtree Presbyterian Church for the
seminary's commencement service on
May 19.

Celebrations the previous day
included a chapel service led by
graduating seniors, a picnic on the
quadrangle, and a Baccalaureate service
at Decatur Presbyterian Church which
was conducted by faculty, administra-
tion, and students.

Professor Emeritus Shirley Guthrie
preached the sermon, "The Alpha and
the Omega," based on Revelation 1:4-8.
Guthrie described the tension he has
experienced between the two types of
churches he has encountered in his
years as a teacher and minister: those
that rely on God and those that look
to themselves. "We have to decide
whether we want to serve God or if
our interest is in what God will do
for us." Quoting Karl Barth, Guthrie
concluded that the task of the church
is to discern what the living, triune
God is doing in our time.

On behalf of the Board of Trustees,
David Cozad, board secretary, wished
the graduates "God's richest blessings,"
and conferred 46 Doctor of Ministry
degrees, eight Master of Theology
degrees, 51 Master of Divinity degrees,
and three Master of Arts degrees.

Acting Dean of Faculty and
Professor of American Religious
History Erskine Clarke '66 presided
over the recognition of students foi
awards, honors, and fellowships

The Wilds Book Prize, for the
highest distinction in academic achieve
ment throughout the entire M.Di\
program, was awarded to Jane Fahey

Kate Foster Connors received the
Columbia Leadership Award, given
for outstanding skills in church leader-
ship. She and her husband, Andrew
jointly were awarded the Presbyterian
Women of the Presbytery of St. Andrew
Preaching Award.

The George and Sally Telford
Award for congregational leadership
in the areas of social justice and church
vision was given to D.Min. graduate
Joseph Cordero.

The Harvard A. Anderson
Fellowship, honoring the graduate
who has demonstrated the greatest
academic promise for further graduate
study, went to Bobby Williamson, who
also received the Ludwig Richard Max
Dewitz Old Testament Studies Award
and the Paul T. Fuhrmann Book Prize
in Church History.

The Columbia Graduate
Fellowships, to assist students of
promise pursuing further study, were
given to Anne H.K. Apple and Tim
Reynolds. Ashley Seaman received the

GyeongMok Kim(ThM 95), pictured here xuith his family received the Doctoi o)
Ministry degree from Columbia on May 19. He is pastor of the Auburn, Alabama,
Korean Presbyterian Church.

Columbia Friendship Circle Graduate

Fellowship to aid in further study and
to recognize her superior academic
achievements I he l.mma Gaillard
Boyce Graduate Fellowship was
awarded to Amy Lehr.

The William Dudley Award Fund
was conferred jointly upon Adam
Flynt and Blaine Hill foi their demon-
strated commitment to church growth
and evangelism

Joe Albright received the I larol.l I
Riddle Memorial Book Award,
Columbia's highest honor in the field
of pastoral care

The James T. and ( eleste M. Boyd
Book Fund Award was given to Dorris

Barton, Bet \ I loiy and Barbara |ordan,

i onaidered to be good stew aids ol

(In ologil il libraries.

Graduates recessed t<> the ( olumbia
ii\ urn, "Praise Mb, Praise Ye the Lord
and gathered al the front steps ol the
i hun ii foi pit in"", and to greel friends
and family A Budden rain shower did
not dampen the joyful festh Idea oi
the celebration ol the lass ol 1001 but
merely hastened them Inside to the
re eption hosted foi the thirteenth

\<ir b) IV. i, htree Presbyter iaii ' bun b

A bill listing of graduates 1 dissei
tation topics and placements will

appear in the next Issue ol Vanillic. I I
Ihionl Ihiull (MAIS) II'

John H. Patton

Patton retires:
37-year career

In a career that has spanned four
decades and touched countless lives
and numerous institutions, John
Patton is among the world's foremost
leaders in pastoral theology. The life
arid work of John Hull Patton were
celebrated with a festive dinner at
Columbia on May 9. The evening was
highlighted by remarks from a number
of his colleagues, including long-time
associates Rod Hunter, professor of
pastoral theology at Emory University's

Candler School of Theology, and
Jasper Keith (STD 79), professor
emeritus and pastor of Decatur
Presbyterian Church. The high "note"
of the evening was Patton's response,
in which he played his saxophone in a
variation on a theme of "name that
tune." The event was full of laughter,
tributes, and heartfelt appreciation for
his years of service at Columbia.

Columbia's association with Patton
goes back to 1964, when he joined the
faculty as an adjunct professor. During
the next 25 years he was associated
with the Georgia Association for
Pastoral Care, serving as director of
pastoral counseling and, from 1970-
1989, as executive director. Patton
joined the faculty at Columbia full-time
in 1990, where he has directed the
Doctor of Theology program in pas-
toral counseling, jointly sponsored by
the Atlanta Theological Association.

The influence of Patton's life and
work is profound, and nowhere is this
more true than in Atlanta and the
Southeast. Patton, along with Tom
McDill, who taught at Columbia from
1951 to 1979, and Chuck Gerkin, was
responsible early on for Atlanta's
becoming perhaps the premier center
for training in clinical pastoral educa-
tion and counseling. Moreover,
through his written work, Patton
has produced a remarkably rich and
seminal oeuvre whose legacy has
been and continues to be far reach-
ing. As Rod Hunter said in his

remarks, "John has shown us, as much
or more than any other pastoral theolo-
gian, what it means to be a clinically
informed pastoral theologian in the
full theological sense of that term, as
originally proposed by his great
teacher... Seward Hiltner John thinks
theologically in the caregiving context."
Patton, along with Hunter, Liston
Mills, and Newton Maloney, edited
the Dictionary of Pastoral Care and
Counseling. The Dictionary arguably
represents the coming of age of pas-
toral theology and counseling as a
discipline in its own right.

Patton has clearly demonstrated
to two generations of specialists and
theologians that pastoral theology
can be a truly theological, reflective
discipline from within the context of
pastoral practice. Patton's conception
of pastoral counseling as a "meeting of
persons" through empathic, compas-
sionate, and accountable relationship,
rather than as primarily a solving of
problems, is both psychologically and
religiously profound. In this day and
age of managed care and the
marketplace of shallow, psychological
fix-it therapies, it is much needed and
prophetic. "The central act of caring,"
he writes, "is not problem solving. It is
hearing and remembering in relation-
ship... [that] human problems are the
contextual background for the more
important task of care." (Pastoral Care
in Context, p. 40).

Rod Hunter noted that this most

i< < ent book is already a wideb i [ted

i i.i isii in tin' Field in dei eloping the

n..ii. in ol the "communal on textual
paradigm," Patton has, I lunter sug-
gested, "outlined a shift from lndi\ Id

;i\ in)-, to communal prat h< <
of care, from clergy as spe< i.ih.i and
laity as general! .Is, to clergy .is genei
alists ,mt.\ laity as the true spei i.ilr.l ..
to a conception of ministry as a form
of peel i onsultation and empown
ment rathei than hieran hii al Bupi
sii .n and pow 1 1

I bankfully for those of us who
teach, see clients, and work in and
with churches, John will continue to
supervise, write, and teach. And so the
work of this most quintessential and
eminent of pastoral theologians will
( ontinue. Integrity and ore have been

the essential features of John Patton'

life and work. Indeed, these virtu
have been the context of care ou( ol
which he has engaged his students,
counseling (bents, and colleague
I he integrity and care of his work will
continue to stimulate and challenge
the field of pastoral theology for
generations to come, as has the work

ol in mentor Seward Hiltner, upon
whose legacy Patton has built. It is
now up to us to "hear" and to
"remember" his extraordinary legacy
to the church and to our ministry and
life together. Q

/. William Harkins
Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology

and Care

SUMMER 2001

Continuing Education
and Lay Institute
Calendar

Summer Lay Scholars meet

For further information or to register for courses, call or write:
The Office of Continuing Education, or

Richard S. Dietrich, Director of the Lay Institute of Faith and Life
Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, GA 30031 / 404-378-8821.

September 17-18 jAVAORjBSUS ["HE CHOICE FOR GENERATION X Focus on min-
istry to young adults. Leader: Rodger Nishioka. Cost: $100.

September 24-25 Conversations about the Missionai Chukc ii, Pari HI Third
in a series on understanding a theology of the church in our North American
context. Leaders: Lois Barrett and Darrell Guder. Cost: $160.

October 2, November 6, December 4, January 1, February 5, March 5

Theology and Lm kaiuki Leader: Kick Dietrich. Cost: $10 annual dues.

October 8-10 Resi rvoirs for Writing, PREACHING, and Liturc.y Think, imagine,
read, and write about prayer, praise, and preaching. Leader: Richard Ward.
Cost: $140.

October 15 The Power Connk nON: Gftiinc; Things Done in Political Systems
How can one be faithful and effective in political systems? Leader: Jim Watkins.
Cost: $65.

October 16, November 20, December 18, January 15, February 19, March 19

Faith and Film Leader: Frit/ Bogar. Cost: $10 annual dues.

October 22-26 Clergy Self-Assessment Lxplore and examine the strengths and
liabilities you bring to ministry. Leader: Roy Oswald. Cost: $275.

November 5 Advent Lectionary Study New ways to prepare texts of "watch-
fulness and waiting." Leaders: Charles Cousar and Christine Yoder. Cost: $65.

November 5-9 Guthrie SCHOLARS WEEK For pastors seeking a week of
independent study.

November 12 Called to Care: Older Adults, Their Families, and the Church
Third in the series on aging. Leader: Elizabeth Fairleigh. Cost: $65.

January 14-18 Religious Education: Theory and Practice (CE Certification)
A course on teaching and learning the faith. Leader: Ted Brelsford. Cost: $250.

February 7 Grief Through the Life Cycle Leader: Kenneth J. Doka. Cost: $65.

Mark your calendar for evening
and morning fall lay courses

Plans are underway for a diversity of
lay school courses this fall, designed
to appeal to a wide range of biblical
interests and daily life concerns.

Course topics for the first session
of evening lay school (Mondays,
September 17, 24, October 1, 8)
include: finding Christian truth in the
narrative imagination of C. S. Lewis'
children's literature; understanding
why we are called Christians; and
exploring what keeps Torah lively
and contemporary.

The second session of evening
lay school (Mondays, October 22, 29,
November 5, 12) will include how the
"end is near" theology of the New
Testament can shape our day-to-day
living, and the power of Christian

friendships, as well as a course topic
to be determined.

The first session of morning lay
school (Thursdays, September 20, 27,
October 4, 11, 18) will address the
Word behind the words, the authority
and interpretation of scripture.

The second session of morning
lay school (Thursdays, October 25,
November 1,8, 15) will explore how
scripture draws on our five senses to
enrich our relationships with God
and each other.

Brochures and registration forms
will be mailed in late summer. To be
added to the Lay Institute's mailing
list, call 404/687-4577, or visit
the Lay Institute's web page at
www.CTSnet.edu (Outreach
Programs/ Lay Institute).

Taste and See: An Introduction to the
Old Testament is the theme of this
year's Summer Lay Scholars program,
August 6-10, a time for immersion in
the literature, wisdom, and culture
(,l the Old Testament. The course
includes morning devotions and class
study, afternoon experiential forays,
evening activities, interaction with
faculty, opportunities to relax, and
time to explore Atlanta.

With Columbia faculty members
Kathleen O'Connor and Christine
Roy Yoder, students will explore the
theology and the historical and
cultural contexts of Old Testament

narratives. "We will consider how
these texts inform our Christian faith,
life, and mission," Yoder says, "that is,
how they may shape our day-to-day
living as individuals and communities
of faith."

Participants are encouraged to
stay in on-campus housing; use of the
seminary library is included. Tuition,
room, and board are $300; tuition only
is $200. Registration deadline is July 30.

For more information, call
404/687-4577, fax 404/687-4591,
email LayInstitute@CTSnet.edu, or
visit Columbia's web site at
www.CTSnet.edu. D

Worship and music events set

"Let everything that breathes praise
the Lord!" God's people have sung
praises throughout history, as the
psalmist did. This fall and winter, two
continuing education events focusing
on music offer opportunities to wor-
ship, learn, and enjoy.

Hear the gospel in fresh new ways
during "Jazz as Liturgy for the
Church." Dwight Andrews, professor
of music theory at Emory University
and senior minister at First
Congregational Church, Atlanta, will
lecture and present jazz vespers on
Tuesday, October 23, at 5:00 p.m.

Andrews, a graduate of Yale
University, has made his mark in
music and as pastor of a large African
American church. Andrews serves as
music director for August Wilson's
plays, including the Broadway pro-
ductions of Joe Turner's Come and
Gone and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.

Following the lecture and supper,
participants will join in jazz vespers.

This event offers an opportunity to
learn and grow in understanding of
this unique American music and to
worship with the psalmist, who said,
"Praise God with trumpet sound, with
strings and pipe."

A second music event, centered
on Mozart, is planned for March 5, at
5:00 p.m. Sue Mitchell-Wallace, choir
director and organist at St. Luke's
Presbyterian Church, Dunwoody,
Georgia, will lecture on "Mozart as
Liturgy for the Church." Mitchell-
Wallace is national councillor for
education of the American Guild of
Organists. At 7:30 p.m., Mitchell-
Wallace will conduct St. Luke's 50-
voice choir in Mozart's Solemn Vespers
and Coronation Mass.

Due to limited space, registration
for the jazz event will be on a first
come, first served basis. For more
information or to register, call
404/687-4562, or email
ConEd@CTSnet.edu.

January Seminars 2002 examines
ministry and mission

Mark your calendars now for a won-
derful mid-winter continuing educa-
tion event to be held January 28-31,
2002. Planned to help the church think
about ministry and mission in the
twenty-first century, Columbia's
annual January Seminars feature Tom
Long, Dennis McCann, Brian Wren,
and Walter Brueggemann. Preachers
are Laura Mendenhall, Marcia Riggs,
Elizabeth Mitchell Clement, and
Catherine Taylor; the liturgist is Anna
Carter Florence. Wren, Brueggemann,
Mendenhall, Riggs, and Florence are
members of Columbia's faculty.

McCann is Wallace M. Alston
Professor of Bible and Religion at
Agnes Scott College and executive
director of the Society of Christian
Ethics. His seminar is "Ethics and the
Twenty-First Century: Globalization
and Personal Responsibility."

Long, well known as a teacher
of preachers, will focus on Lenten
and Easter themes in his seminar,
"Preaching the Story of Suffering
Love." He is Bandy Professor of

Preaching at Candler School of
Theology, Emory University.

Wren will examine hymnody and
ways to recover a deeper sense of
worship in his seminar, "Fresh
Dimensions of Worship and Song."

Brueggemann's "Reading Again
from the Ground Up" will concentrate
on narratives of Israel's faith found in
the Pentateuch.

President Mendenhall was pastor
and head of staff at Westminster
Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas.
Riggs, an ordained African Methodist
Episcopal Zion Church minister, is
associate professor of Christian ethics.
Clement is associate director of
Atlanta's Faith and the City program.
Taylor '92 is pastor of Church of the
New Covenant in Doraville, Georgia.
Florence is assistant professor of
preaching and worship.

Cost is $65 per day or $225 for
the week. To register or for more
information, call 404/687-4562, email
ConEd@CTSnet.edu, or visit
www.CTSnet.edu.

VANTAGE

Frank L.Arnold (D.Min.'84) and Calvin W. Kropp '62 (ThM '67, S.T.D. '85)

Distinguished Service Awards
presented to Columbia alumni

At its annual Alumni /ae Association
meeting in April, Columbia presented
its Distinguished Service Award to
Frank L. Arnold '84 (D.Min.) and
Calvin W. Kropp '62 (Th.M '67, S.T.D.
'85). These awards are presented to
two Columbia graduates who have
shown outstanding Christian service in
ministry throughout their lives.

For 33 years, Frank Arnold served
as a Presbyterian missionary in Brazil.
Before going to the mission field, he
was pastor of the Ashburn, Virginia,
Presbyterian Church and a volunteer
prison chaplain.

In Brazil, he served as a technical
advisor, an organizing pastor in the
Presbytery of the Amazon, and direc-
tor for organizing churches in Ceara
Presbytery. He taught church history,
church growth, and missions at
Fortaleza Theological Seminary, was
chair of the Executive Committee of
the Brazil Mission, staff associate for
Latin America and the Caribbean of
the Presbyterian Church (US), and
field secretary for Brazil for the
Presbyterian Church (USA).

In retirement, Arnold is serving as
parish associate of Clairmont

Presbyterian Church in Decatur,
Georgia, and as a member of the
Association of Presbyterians for Cross
Cultural Mission.

Calvin W. Kropp was instrumental
in the building of a new counseling
center for the Georgia Association for
Pastoral Care (GAPC), where he
served as business manager, clinical
director, and interim executive director.
As director of pastoral counseling
training for GAPC, he has been a
regional and national leader in the
field of pastoral counseling and has
trained pastoral counselors from
around the globe. In 1995, under his
leadership, GAPC received the
American Association of Pastoral
Counselors' Distinguished Program
Leadership Award.

A former chaplain at Grady
Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Kropp
served as pastor of Forest Park
Presbyterian Church, Atlanta. A diplo-
mate in the American Association of
Pastoral Counselors, he is the author
of articles in Journal of Supervision and
Training in Ministry and Dictionary of
Pastoral Care and Counseling.

Representing a total of 86 years of service, four members the < 'olumbia community
were honored by President Mcndenhall at the fat ulty/staff luncheon in May

Charles Cousar '58 (top), Cartledge Professoi oj New Testaments joined the fat ulty in
I960. (L-r), George Stwup, Green Professoi oj Theology, Diane Thome, gifl records

coordinator in the ncvebpnient ( )///'<<-, and Waller Brueggemann, McPheeteTS ProftssOl
of Old Testament, arrived in 1986.

Fall D.Min. courses announced

A nkw Bible elective course,
"Relinquishing and Receiving: A
Study in Jeremiah," taught by Walter
Brueggemann is the initial offering
of an experimental fall term option
scheduled October 22-November 2.
The course is open to currently
enrolled Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.)
students. For entering D.Min. stu-
dents, this year's required seminar on
ministry is "The Church Reaching out
in Mission: Biblical, Theological, and
Contemporary Foundations." That
class meets in four monthly sessions,
September through December.

"The Jeremiah course will trace
the ways in which that ancient
community of faith faced the loss of
its known world and found amidst
the loss grounds for hope," says
Brueggemann, McPheeters Professor
of Old Testament. "We will keep one
eye on the contemporary reality that
we are losing the 'world' we tun e
long trusted and watch for new
grounds for hope in that loss."

Previous D.Min. courses have

PW Bible study: Explore Esther's story this summer

Come discover richness, irony, comedy,
and ethical satisfactions in the story of
Esther through the course "Esther's
Feast: A Study of the Book of Esther,"
offered four times this summer on
the seminary campus. Patricia Tull,
associate professor of Old Testament
at Louisville Presbyterian Theological
Seminary, is author of the study and
one of the three instructors. "Esther's
Feast" will be used in Presbyterian
Women's circles in the coming year.

The Lay Institute offers the
course four times: weekday mornings,
June 25-29 and August 6-10; or

Friday evening/Saturday morning,
August 10-11 and August 24-25. The
weekend courses will offer an optional
extended session, including lunch, to
allow in-depth discussion. "Esther's
Feast," which includes practical
ideas for teaching this series, is open
to everyone. Also teaching are Linda
Momingstar, associate director of the
Lay Institute of Faith and Life, and
Rebecca Parker, Presbyterian minister
and associate director of Mary &
Martha's Place in Atlanta.

For a brochure and a registration
form, call 404/687-4577.

been scheduled only during the
January term and the summer. Charles
Raynal, director of advanced studies
and associate professor of theology,
says, "This new fall option in. ikes
Walter Brueggemann, a very popular
professor, more available to D.Min.
students. It also provides opportunities
for more interaction with other faculty
members while Columbia is running
at full tilt." Raynal adds, "We hope
this time frame proves convenient
for pastors, coming as it does after
stewardship season and before
Thanksgiving and Advent."

The introductory required
course, "The Church Reaching out
in Mission," is taught jointly with
Interdenominational Theologii .ii
' 'uter (1TC), with every session
f< during faculty members from each
institution. Course leaders are
Stephen Racer of ITC and Raynal, who
says, "Partnership with ITC is impor-
tant for this flagship course because
we unite an ethnically diverse group
of students and faculty from both
seminaries."

The September and October
classes will be held at Columbia; the
November and December classes at
ITC. Topics include Christian perspec-
tives on family; witnessing faith in a
pluralistic world; tasks and forms of
ministry in a post-modern age; and
spirituality for pastors.

Columbia D.Min. students
who wish to register for the Bible
elective course may call 404/687-4576;
fax 404/377-9696; or email
SaboL@CTSnet.edu. To apply for
admission to the D.Min. program, or
for other questions, call 404/687-4534,
email MedfordM@CTSnet.edu, or visit
www.CTSnet.edu. Laura Bordeaux

SUMMER 2001

For the Record

If you have recent news to contribute to this section, please mail it to
the editor, or you may e-mail it to harperj@CTSnet.edu.

Laura Mendenhall, president, attend-
ed the Committee on Theological
Education meeting in San Franc u
was keynote speaker at the Sequoyah
Hills church, Knoxville, TN, and at
Presbyterian Women's Night Out,
First church, Marietta, GA. She moder-
ated the meeting of the Presbyterian
Judicial Council, Orlando, FL, and
preached at Central, First, Peachtree,
and Trinity churches, Atlanta, First
(Scots), Charleston; First church,
Nashville, TN; Vanderbilt church,
Naples, FL; the Collegiate Conference
2001, Montreat, NC; and at Gener.il
Assembly in Louisville, KY. She
spoke at the Flint River Presbytery
meeting, Valdosta, GA, and to Florida

Presbytery in Tallahassee Tom

Watkins '94 is pastor of Covenant

church, Wendell, NC Albert

Masters '76 (DMin '91) received a
study grant from the Louisville
Institute for his project, "Reconnecting
the Mainline Church and Young
Adults in a Postmodern
Context. "....Darrell Guder, professor
of evangelism and church growth, has
received the Book of the Year award
from the Academy of Parish Clergy
for his book, The Continuing Conversion
of the Church . He received a Louisville
Institute grant award for Toward
Missional Presbyteries. Guder preached
for mission season, Rcid Memorial
church, Augusta, GA; at First churches,
Colorado Springs, Gallatin and
Hendersonville, TN. He spoke at the
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
Graduate and Faculty Ministries annu-
al staff conference, Mundelheim, IL.
Guder was a worship leader for work-
shops at Coastal Carolina Presbytery
and for commissioned lay preachers,
Flint River Presbytery. He was the
Brady Lecturer, North American
Baptist Seminary.

John Leith '43 has published
Pilgrimage of a Presbyterian: Collected
Shorter Writings, co-edited by Charles
Raynal, director of advanced stud ies
and associate professor of theology.
....Ashley Seaman '01 is serving
on the Central Committee of the
World Council of Churches, the
Programme Committee, and the
Commission for International Affairs.
She helped conduct the Martin Luther
King, Jr. Service Summit at the
Interdenominational Theological
Center and delivered a paper on
Reformed Church polity to Pope John

Paul II Wade Huie '46, professor

emeritus, preached at First church,
Nashville, TN; Eastminster church,
Stone Mountain, GA; and at Second
church, Little Rock, AR. He led a
workshop for lay preachers of East
Tennessee Presbytery and led Doctor
of Ministry students in preaching at

Columbia Stephen Haynes '88,

associate professor of religious studies
at Rhodes College, received the
Clarence Day Award for Outstanding

Teaching at the Rhodes' awards con-
vocation Martha Jane Petersen

(DMin '87, ThM '91) is stated supply
at Siloam church, Old Fort, NC, and
honorably retired from Atlanta
Presbytery... Ronald Cram, associate
professor of Christian education,
let lured on inter-religious dialogue
lot the Aquinas Institute; led the
I'rvsbytery of Atlanta educators on
"Children of Different Faiths in the
Christian Preschool"; attended the
Inter-Faith Network meeting in New
York, led the Religious Education
Association's annual board meeting
and the session's discussion on
preschool religious education at
Trinity church, Columbia, SC. He has
published four articles in Journal of
I ihcral Religion, Religious Education,
journal of './//'/ ! aon and Darning and

a book review Eunice Yang '00 is

associate pastor of the Latrobe, PA,

church Robert Gamble (DMin '82)

has an article, "On the Beach," in
Double Take and The Other Side.

Kathleen O'Connor, professor of
Old Testament, gave the keynote
address for the Spirituality for Mission
conference; spoke to a Bible study
group at the Church of Christ, Tucker,
GA; responded to a paper at the Old
Testament Colloquium, Conception
Abbey, MO; and served on the selec-
tion committee for the Hispanic
Theological Initiative, Princeton, NJ.
...Ed Petrus '89 (DMin '99) is pastor

of the Princeton, WV, church Doug

Mar '94 and Jennifer McGee '98 were
married March 31 in Melbourne, FL.
...Cameron Murchison, professor of

BIRTHS

To Sam '92 and Kathryn McGregor,
a son, James Mitchell, Mar. 5, 2001.
To David '95 and Robin Palmer '96,
a daughter, Leslie Hamilton,
Dec. 6, 2000.

To Anna '99 and Bryan McArthur, a
daughter, Caroline Hinton, Jan. 19, 2001.
To Blaine '01 and Laura Hill, a son,
John, Apr. 23, 2001.
To Mark '01 and Ashley '01 Wright,
a son, Eliort John, Mar. 19, 2001.
To Art '02 and Carolyn Robin, a
daughter, Isabela Christiane,
Apr. 30, 2001.

To Richard, vice president for devel-
opment and seminary relations, and
Jeannie DuBose, a son, William
Manning, Mar. 25, 2001.
To Angus, director of development
services, and Lisa McQueen, a daugh-
ter, Grace Elizabeth, Mar. 6, 2001.

DEATHS

John Dickson '34, Mar. 24, 2001.
Clyde Pratt '43, Nov. 28, 2000.
William Hatcher '53, Oct. 18, 2000.
William McNeill '55, Mar. 9, 2001.

ministry, led programs on "The
Mission of the Church in North
America," "Worship in the
Presbyterian Family," and
"Presbyterian Diversity," at Emory
church, Atlanta; taught the
Brotherhood Class at Central church,
Atlanta; and led an officers' retreat for
Independent church, Birmingham, AL.

Mitchell Walker (DMin '96) is pas-
tor of Church Street Cumberland

Presbyterian, Huntsville, AL Chuck

Campbell, associate professor of
homiletics, preached and led worship
each Wednesday in the front yard of
the Open Door Community; led a
workshop for Methodist pastors and
delivered the Steel Hendrix Lecture at
Hendrix College. He gave the Foote
lectures at First church, Savannah, GA,
and led two workshops and taught a
course at the biennial congress of the
Seminary Consortium for Urban

Pastoral Education, Chicago Sherry

Edwards '00 is pastor of Midway

Community Parish, Gilby, ND

Don Brown '01 is on the Board of
Directors of The Pilgrims of Ibillin, a
group of U.S. supporters of Mar Elias

Educational Institutions in Israel

Harry Petersen '58 is stated supply
of Walnut and Dorland Memorial
church in Western North Carolina
Presbytery ...Phil Gehman '68, dean
of students and vice president for
student life, attended a meeting of
Deans of Students, PC(USA) theologi-
cal institutions; served on the leader-
ship team for the Synod of Lakes and
Prairies' Committee on Ministry/
Committee on Preparation for
Ministry Conference; participated in
Maryville College's Exploratory
Summit on "Preparing Thinking
Christians for Leadership in the
Twenty-First Century"; and as chair,
made the final report of the Entrance
into Pastoral Ministry Work Group to
the 213th PC(USA) General

Assembly John Gleason (DMin '87)

is director of the eastern region for the
Association for Clinical Pastoral

Education Michael Carey '86 (ThM

'94) has written "Becoming Purpose-
Driven Presbyterians," published

in the May issue of Net Results

C. Benton Kline, president emeritus
and adjunct professor of theology,
taught a series of classes in Atlanta
churches: "God's Will and Our Will,"
Northwest church, "John Calvin and
Geneva," Trinity church; "Eighth
Century Prophets," North Avenue
church. He preached at the North

Decatur church Jim Watkins '71

(DMin '77), director of Faith and the
City Project, preached and taught at
the Shannon church, Charlotte, NC,
and was elected to the governing body

of Common Cause Bob Pettit '62

received the Salvation Army's highest
award in recognition for his work with
that organization from 1966 to 1999.

Rodger Nishioka, associate
professor of Christian education,
preached at the annual missions con-
ferences at St. Simon's Island church
and Covenant church, Albany, GA.
He led a consultation with the staff
of Idlewild church, Memphis, TN,
and was keynote speaker for a youth
leader spirituality retreat, North

Georgia Presbytery, and a church rede-
velopment conference, Synod of Lakes
and Prairies. He delivered a Lenten
lecture series for First church,
McKinney, TX, and preached and
keynoted an Eastminster Presbytery
event. Nishioka has a chapter in
Starting Right Thinking TJieologically
about Youth Ministry, a textbook for
youth ministry undergraduate stu-
dents Robert Dendy '57 has retired

from the Seneca, SC, church. He
served as chaplain on the Nordam
Holland America for a Carribean

cruise Joe Hinds '99 is pastor of the

Pelzer, SC, church Jake Marshall '93

is interim pastor, BeLAir church,

Augusta, GA Brian Wren, professor

of worship, taught adult church school
sessions on "Worship, Music, and the
Life of Faith," Trinity church, Atlanta;
delivered the second annual Blackard
Lecture, Brevard College; held a con-
sultation on worship space and arts,
Eastminster church, Simpsonville, SC;
and led a workshop and gave a lecture
at the Canada Hymn Society in the US

and Canada meeting in Toronto

Thomas Atkins '77 is Navy chaplain
for the Seabees operating in the Pacific

and Europe Anna Carter Florence,

assistant professor of preaching and
worship, preached at the "That All
May Freely Serve" national confer-
ence, North Decatur, GA, church, and
the More Light Presbyterians National
Conference, Austin, TX. She preached
and lectured for the Montreat
Preaching and Bible Conference and
preached for the Montreat West Youth

Conference, Fort Collins, CO

William Kelly '80 is pastor of Upper

Octorara church, Parkesburg, PA

Susannah Hager '99 and John Cook
'99 were married March 3 in

Oklahoma City Kevin Conley '98

is pastor of Covenant church,
Winston-Salem, NC.

Beth Johnson, professor of New
Testament, preached at Cherokee
Presbytery's Presbyterian Women
annual meeting and attended a meet-
ing of the Presbyteries' Cooperative

Continued on page 7

Vantage

Volume 93, No. 1, Summer 2001
Published quarterly by
Columbia Theological Seminary
Circulation: 27,000

The Office of Development and
Seminary Relations

Editor: Juliette Harper
Director of Publications
and Publicity

Postmaster: Send address

changes to Vantage

Columbia Theological Seminary

P.O. Box 520

Decatur, GA 30031-0520

VANTAGE

For the Record
continued from page 6

Committee at First Presbyterian,
Atlanta Sweetie Francis '00 is chap-
lain at the Lower Cape Fear Hospice,

Wilmington, NC David Dault

(MATS '02) presented "The Fatherland
and the Mother Tongue: Martin
Heidegger and the Rhetoric of
Silence" to a colloquium at Emory
University and led a course on sacra-
mentality in the Quaker tradition at
Friends General Conference in

Virginia Beth Hoskins '91 is pastor

of First church, Woodruff, SC Stan

Wood, director of the Center of New
Church Development, organized and
hosted the Synod of the Mid-Atlantic
New Church Development Pastor/
Spouse retreat and hosted the Korean
Lilly grant meeting in Las Vegas. He
taught at the Cartersville, GA, church.
He attended the National Church
Growth Prayer Covenant Group meet-
ing, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, the meeting of
the Worldwide Ministries and
American Society of Missiology, and
arranged and attended the Lilly Grant
Steering Committee meeting in San
Francisco. He assisted in the
Commissioned Lay Pastors graduation

and led the Executive Committee,
Commissioned Lay Pastors training

meeting, Glendale, CA Susie

(Johnson) Cashion '94 is pastor of
First church, Lawton, OK. She
preached the baccalaureate sermon for
her daughter's graduation from Eckerd
College in May... ..Mark Douglas,
assistant professor of Christian ethics,
preached at the Dorchester church,
Charleston, SC, and taught a class on
theology and sexuality for Charleston
Atlantic Presbytery. He joined a panel
of academics, jurists, and politicians
who will monitor the application of

the death penalty in Georgia

Stephen Robertson '95 is pastor of
Eastminster church, East Lansing,
MI ChangBok Chung (ThM '74),
director of the Center for Church
Communication at the Presbyterian
College and Theological Seminary in
Korea, has written The Dictionary of

Christian Worship Steve Rhodes '82

is pastor of Second church,
Spartanburg, SC.

Bill Harkins, assistant professor
of pastoral care and theology, received
the Ph.D. with honors from Vanderbilt
University and was ordained by the
Episcopal diocese of Atlanta. He is
associate pastor of St. James Episcopal
church, Marietta. Harkins was a panel

From the Bookstore

No. of
copies

New titles by Columbia faculty members:

Reading Galatians, Philippians, and
I Thessalonians: A Literary and
Theological Commentary
by Charles Cousar

Retail
price

24.00

Columbia
price

24.00

, Face to Face: Meditations on the Life Everlasting
by G. Thompson Brown

Beyond the Ordinary

by Ben Campbell Johnson

Pilgrimage of a Presbyterian

by John Leith '43; Charles Raynal, editor

13.00 11.05

16.00

30.00

13.60

25.50

Total amount for books

Shipping and handling: orders under $20.00, add $4.50;
from $20.00 to $49.99, add $6.00; $50.00 and over, add $7.50.
Add $1.00 for residential deliveries.
All books shipped via United Parcel Service.

Georgia residents: add 7% sales tax on books and shipping
Total

Method of payment (please check one):

check payable to CTS Bookstore (included with order)

VISA MasterCard Nov us

(please print information below):

Visa/ MasterCard /Novus #

Exp. date

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Street address for UPS delivery:

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Zip.

Phone

Prices subject to change as determined by publishers.

Please send this completed order form to: CTS Bookstore, P.O. Box 520,

Decatur, GA 30031; fax 404/687-4658; e-mail: Bookstore@CTSnet.edu

moderator at the American
Association of Pastoral l ounselors
national convention and the State
Association ot Pastoral Counselors
and spoke on developmental chal-
lenges of entering high school at

Westminster Schools Atlanta Rick

Baggett '84 (DMin '99) is pastOJ ol

First church, Anderson, SC Ho Chin

'88 is pastor of the Richmond, V \

Korean church Patrick Perryman '97

is assoi [ate pastor, first chun h

Gastonia, NC Walter Brueggemann,

professor of Old Testament, published
articles in Christian Century, Post
Modern Interpretation of the Bible, Calvin
Theological Journal, Wdcun, Union
Seminary Quarterly Review, God Who
Creates, and }avs, Christians, and tin-
Theology of Hebrew Scriptures. He

lectured at Bangor Seminary tiemple

Beth Israel in Fresno, Trevei > a
Nazarene University, Wake Forest
Divinity School, Agnes Scot t i < .1 1< ,
Bethany College, and gave the Stone
Lectures at Princeton Seminary. He
preached at the Roswell, GA, church;
Memorial church, St. Augustine;
Trinity church, Charlotte; and St.
Charles Avenue church, New Orleans.
Ok-Kee Kim '99 is pastor of the

Lexington, KY, Korean church

Todd Collier (DMin '00) is pastor of
the Brentwood Trail church, Dallas, TX.
....Shirley Guthrie, professor emeritus,
preached and taught in churches in
Jacksonville, FL; Philadelphia, PA;
Mayfield, KY; Perkins, SC; and
Cleveland, OH. He lectured for the
Board of the General Assembly Council,
taught church school at Trinity chun h.
Atlanta, and served as a consultant for
Princeton's Center for Theological
Inquiry's Pastor -Theology Program

in Portland, OR Lori Pistor '92 and

Terry Allebaugh were married in June

in Durham, NC Pamela King '85 is

organizing pastor of the Wakulla, FL,

church Ernestine Cole, associate

dean of students, attended the planning
team meeting for Presbyterian Women
Monrreat 2002; served as the Women's
Day preacher, Hillside church,
Decatur, ( ,A, conducted a I lealth
Ministries consultation for Austin
Seminary; and attended the Advice
and Counsel meeting of the Advisory
Committee of Women's Concerns
Group and represented that group
at the General Assembly. ...Pemberton
Cooley '88 is associate pastor, Woods
Memorial church, Severna Park, MD.
...Charles Cousar, professor of New
Testament, taught a class at Northwest
church, Atlanta; gave the Bible Hour
at the Princeton Theological Seminary
Institute of Theology, and published
Reading Galatians, Philippians, and I
Thessalonians: A Literary and Theological
Commentary in the "Reading the New

Testament" series Stuart Wilson '78

is pastor of First church, Selma, AL

John Patton, professor of pastoral
theology, was a principal speaker at
the Association for Clinical Pastoral
Education annual conference, Vail,
CO. His title was "The Evolving
Nature of Pastoral Supervision."....
John Hall '79 is pastor of Oak Hill,
Horeb, Bethel, Moriah, and Sardis
Welsh churches, Oak Hill, OH.
Christine Roy Yoder, assistant

/ ostei Connors i'i

Read Award to
Columbia grad

Andrew Fosn r
Connors '01

has been

awarded the
prestigious
David H.<
Ke.nl Preacher/

Scholar Award
fo] >001 I he

$10,000 award
is given by
Madison
\\ enue
Presbyterian
I inirch. New v>tk, and recognizes
and era ourages excellence among
dusting MmiiMi \ ".indents who
show promise oi special distinction
Andrew I ostei I lonnors was nominal

..I In i ohm. 1. 1. 1 professors Anna

Cartel Florence, preaching and woi
ship, and Christine Roy Yoder, Old
testament.

The award, named after Read,

pastor oi the Madison Avenue

Presbytei Ian ( hnreh for 33 years, is

intended loi |>ie.i, hei s.holars who

are committed t<> the parish pulpit.
Faculty members from 21 Bemixutries

lepresenliii); seven denominations

>" rosa ili>' I nited States and ( .mada
nominated 29 candidates Students are
judged on the basis of then -.emni.n \
"'' <"<!. hioj'.raphu ,il statement,
recommendations of two |>m> lessors,
sermons on ( >U lestament and New
lestament texts, and briel e\<

papers in support of each sermon.
Andrew Fostci I onners I ld
Testament sermon, based on Daniel
I I 17, was "You Are What Von I ,,i
His New Testament topic was t.il en
from Mark 6:7-13 and tOUi lied mi
themes i .1 In >s(>italit\ I lis sei mini title
I he I iirty Work of I >i ,< ipleshlp."
I le is hi associate pastor at Idlewild
I 'ie, luiei i, m Church in Memphis,
Tennessee. Professor Florence said,

"Andrew is one <f the finest preai hers

not student preai her., |ue.u hers

I have ever heard He is the kind of
student for which a preaching prod .

sor hopes. His knowledge ol and love
ini the church are deep."

I " ter Connors is the second

< olumbia student to receive the Read

id in its 11 -year history. In 1995,
1 1 in. .thy Slemmons '95 (ThM ' I! 1 1
received this ecumenical honor. Q

professor of Old Testament, has pub-
lished Wl dom a^ <a Woman of Substanie
A 'uii loroonornu Rending of Proverbs 1-9
and ''110-31 and written a chapter in
New Proclamation, 2001-2002, Year A,
Advent through Holy Week. She attended
the annual Southeastern Commission
on the Study of Religion meeting;
Charlotte, and taught at the North
Decatur church and St. Martin's

Episcopal church, Atlanta Richard

Lawther (DMin '01) is pastor of

First church, Fairgrove, PA Tommy

Brown, professor emeritus, has writ-
ten Face to Face: Meditations on the Life
Continued on page 8

SUMMER 2001

For the Record
continued from page 7

Everlasting Ashley Beaty '98 and

John Perry were married December 26

in Indiana Sharon Mook, assistant

professor of pastoral theology and
care, attended the Georgia Association
for Pastoral Counseling program and
meetings of the American Association
of Pastoral Counselors and Society for
Pastoral Theology. She is teaching
clinical pastoral education didactics at
Northside hospital, Atlanta, and is a
member of the Clergy Task Force for
the Georgia Network to End Sexual
Assault. She preached at St. Thomas

Indian Orthodox church, Atlanta

Denise Hall (DMin '93) is acting stat-
ed clerk, West Virginia Presbytery.....
Daniel McMillan '84 is pastor of the

Rockmart, GA, church Ann Clay

Adams, director of admissions,
preached for Celebrate the Gifts of
Women Sunday, First church,
Somerset, KY; led a workshop at the
Montreat Collegiate Conference; and,
as senior friend to the Presbyterian
Student Strategy Team, preached and
provided leadership at the first
Presbyterian Collegiate Caucus held
prior to General Assembly..... Ernest
Thompson III (DMin '95) is pastor of
First church, Wilmington, NC.

Brian Wren was inaugurated as the first holder of the Conant Chair of
Worship during the March meeting of Columbia's Board of Trustees.
The chair, funded with gifts from Trinity Presbyterian Church, Atlanta,
was established in honor of Miriam and John Conant, pictured here with
Professor Wren.

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Vantage

Periodicals
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Publication No. 124160

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CONTENTS

Columbia names dean of faculty 1

Faculty appointments announced 1

Inaugural reflections 2

Commencement 2001 3

John Patton retires 3

Continuing Education, Lay Institute calendar 4

Continuing Education, Lay Institute offerings .... 4, 5

Distinguished Service Awards to two alumni 5

Eighty-six years of service 5

Doctor of Ministry fall courses scheduled 5

For the Record 6

Read Award to Foster Connors '01 7

From the Bookstore 7

Professor Wren inaugurated 8

COLUMBIA
THEOLOGICAL
SEMINARY