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 \ 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 \ "'' <"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