Columbia Theological Seminary Vantage, 80, number 3, Winter 1989

THEOLOGICAL
SEMI NARY

Vantage

WINTER 1989

Board of Directors
elects new chair

John Conant, member of Columbia
Seminary's Board of Directors since
1983 and its vice-chair since 1986,
was eleaed the new chair of the
seminary's Board of Directors during
its fall meetmg in October. He follows
William Adams, who chaired the
Board for six years.

A graduate of Yale University,
Mr. Conant serves as senior vice
president and director of the John H.
Harland Company in Atlanta. He is
an elder and trustee of Trmity
Ptesbyterian Church, Atlanta, and
particpates in the leadership of many
civic ofganizations. He is chairman of
the board of Atlanta Interfaith
Broadcasters, Inc., a trustee of Hillside
Treatment Center for Emotionally
Disturbed Adolescents, and a director
of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
League.

From 1979 to 1984 Mr. Conant
served as president of the board of
Metropohtan Atlanta Boys Club, Inc.
For Columbia, Mr. Conant chaired the
Toward 2000 Capital Campaign, and
led that campaign to its early
completion, going 10 percent over the
goal of six million dollars. The
Conants, John and his wife, Bimby,
were named Philanthropists of the
Year in Georgia for 1988 by the
National Society of Fund-Raising
Executives.

William Adams, outgoing chair.

is a graduate of Davidson College and
Columbia Seminary. He serves as
executive presbyter for Greater Atlanta
Presbytery and is chair of the
Presbyterian Center, Inc., Board of
Directors, Atlanta. He is married to
Shirley Ford Adams, also a Columbia
graduate.

President Douglas Oldenburg said,
"Columbia Seminary is fortunate to
have John Conant available and
willing to serve as the chair of our
board. His deep commitment to
Columbia has been demonstrated m
many ways, and 1 genuinely look
forward to working with him as we
move into an exciting future for our
seminary.

"I am deeply indebted to Bill
Adams for his marvelous support
during my first years at Columbia. He
has helped make the transition a
smooth one. His knowledge of the
Presbyterian Church in the Southeast,
his long experience with Columbia,
his skill as a moderator, and his
personal support and concern have
been invaluable to me. Thanks be to
God for raising up persons Uke Bill
Adams and John Conant!"

The fall meeting of the Board of
Directors was opened by Ptesident
Oldenburg, who gave an update on
Columbia since the board last met.
He reported on new staff members
and the work of the Search

CAMF
HA

John Conant, left, is now chair of Columbia's Board of Directors. He succeeds William
Adams, right.

Committee for a dean of the faculty
to succeed Oscar Hussel, who will
retire from this position June 30. Dr.
Oldenburg also reported on the John
I. Smith Scholarship Fund, a proposed
plan for the distribution of the one
percent theological education fund, the
progress of the construaion on the W.
Frank Harrington Center for
Continuing Education and Church
Growth, the status of the Center for
Asian Ministries, and the situation of
the United Theological College of the
West Indies after Hurricane Gilbert.
Board members heard an update
on the Toward 2000 Report, a

projeaion of needs and goals for the
seminary in the coming century.

The board approved or received
the following information:

Tuition for the 1989-90 academic
year will be increased by approxi-
mately 10 percent.

Gratitude was expressed to the
John I. Smith Charities of Greenville,
South Carolina, for its commitment of
one million dollars for scholarships.

Gratitude was expressed to Edith
Atkins, Frank Beall, and Roben
Douglass, members of the board

Continued on page 7

Plan to attend '89 Forum

Sarah Speed '87. Robert Smith '71. Frank Harrington '60, and Douglas Oldenburg
led one of the ivorship services during last year's Forum.

An outstanding slate of speakers
and ministers highlights the 1989
Columbia Forum, January 23-26. In
addition to lectures and worship
services, Forum is also the time for
alumni/ae reunions and aaivities.
This year's Smyth Leaurer is
Robert McAfee Brown, Professor
Emeritus of Theology and Ethics at
Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley.
The overall title of his leaures is
"The Christian Story; Theology as
Narrative, Author of numerous
books and articles, Dr. Brown has also
taught at Amherst and Macalester
Colleges, Union Theological Seminary,
and Stanford University. His lectures
will take place January 24 at 11 a.m.
and January 25 and 26 at 11:30 a.m.

The 1989 Guest Preacher is
Barbara Lundblad, pastor of Our

Saviour's Atonement Lutheran Church
in New York City. A cum laude
graduate of Yale Divinity School, Ms.
Lundblad also teaches homiletics, part-
time, at Union Theological Seminary.
For the past five years, she has been
preacher, along with Dr, John
Vannorsdall, of the Lutheran series of
The Protestant Hour, Worship services
will be held at Columbia Presbyterian
Church at 7:30 p.m. on January 23,
24, and 25.

The two Alumni/ae Lecturers for
1989 are Doug Marlette and Gustav
Niebuhr. Mr. Marlette is the 1988
Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial
canoonist at the Atlanta Constitution
and the only cartoonist to be awarded
a Nieman Fellowship to Harvard. He
is also the creator of the nationally

Continued on page 8

From the President

Douglas W. Oldenburg

"Althinative Contexts," That's the
name we give to the required, short-
term course in January that exposes
our M.Div, students (and faculty) to
an alternative cultural context for
ministry. Most of our students come
from white, middle-class homes and
churches and will spend their entire
ministries in such churches. In order
to help them break out of that
restricted mind-set, Columbia
Seminary requires each student to
have a brief immersion in an
alternative cultural context.

Almost three-fourths of our
M.Div. students will have that
experience in another country. We
have recently had students (and
faculty) in Central America, Jamaica,
Central Europe, and Hungary, talking
with lay people and pastors,
discovering how it feels to be a
Christian and a pastor in poor, strife-
torn countries (Central America), a
third world country (Jamaica), and
behind the Iron Curtain.

Those who do not experience an
international cultural context become
exposed to ministry to those in prison,

those in public housing, those who
walk the streets and sleep in night
shelters, or those who live in the
poverty of Appalachia, It's one of
those distinctive things about
Columbia Seminary.

In recent months, I have had two
brief experiences in an alternative
context. Last summer I was part of a
leadership team for a continuing
education travel seminar to the Soviet
Union. This is an exciting time to
visit that country as it undergoes such
monumental changes. We were there
to celebrate 1 ,000 years of Christianity
in the Soviet Union, and we were
thrilled with the increasing number of
people young and old who are
returning to their churches as they
experience greater religious freedom. It
was a special, unexpected joy to be
invited to preach m the Baptist
Church in Leningrad and to feel their
warmth and response. What a thrill
to see a young couple come forward
to give thanks to (jod for their new
baby and dedicate the infant to the
Lord!

In November, I participated in

the 450th anniversary of the
Reformed Theological Seminary in
Debrecen, Hungary. For the past
several years, Columbia has had a
special relationship with the Reformed
Church in Hungary as our students
have visited there, and a few of their
pastors and professors have spent time
with us. Again, it was a thrill to
preach in a church in Budapest,
pastored by Dr, Janos Pasztor, who,
with his wife, recendy spent a year on
our campus. Can you believe it?
About 100 souls gathered for worship
and singing robustly m an old
sanctuary without heat as the
temperature hovered around the
freezing point!

What do such experiences do for
us? As we reflect on them, they give
fiesh and blood to those phrases in
the Apostles' Creed; "holy catholic
church, communion of saints"; they
help shatter our limited world view
and broaden our perspective; they
enlarge our empathy with brothers
and sisters around the world and
expand our prayers of intercession;
ihey give us renewed hope and energy
in the awareness of Christians around
the world who join in the struggle for
justice and peace; and they vividly
remind us of our unity in Jesus Christ

that transcends all our differences!

I am proud that Columbia
Seminary provides an opportunity for
our students to have that kind of
experience.

With warmest regards.

V-cAAiAAAlM/lA

Hurricane Gilbert destroyed the rooj and damaged furnishings and equipment in the
students' common room at VTCWl.

United Theological College
hurt by Hurricane Gilbert

The Kingston. Jamaica, campus of
United Theological College of the
West Indies was left in shambles by
Hurricane Gilbert, which devastated
the island on September 12. UTCWI
is part of a consortium with Columbia
Seminary. The two institutions have
exchanged students and faculty, and a
joint Doaor of Ministry degree
program is now underway.

Ashley Smith, president of
UTCWI, sent Columbia a press
release stating the damage done to the
campus. Some of the areas badly
damaged were the library, the canteen
and dining room, most of the 30
students' cottages, four of the six
classrooms, the students' common
room, and the chapel. Ten of the 12

faculty houses had their roofs badly
damaged. The damage estimate was
one million dollars (US), with part of
that amount being paid by insurance.

The Rev. Henley Bernard, a
United Church pastor in Kingston and
a gradute of U'TC, is spending this
year studying at Columbia. He had
just arrived at Columbia for the
beginning of classes when Gilbert
struck. Columbia provided his airfare
to Jamaica so that he could attend to
the immediate needs of his church
and assess the damage.

After his return and report,
Columbia began collecting funds to be
sent to UTC. President Douglas
Oldenburg wrote alumni/ae, inviting
them and their churches to make

Support staff at Colinnbia. 1988-89. Front row. i-r: Jewel Kirkus. secretary,
admissions and financial aid; Carlene Bailey, secretary. Lay Institute of Faith and
Life; Diane Bodnar, secretary, continuing education: Ruth Shannon, secretary,
student life: Barbara Brooks, secretary, supervised ministry. Second row: Pat Mix,
secretary, advanced studies: Betsey Burgess, secretary, seminary relations: Judith
Wilkinson, processing assistant, library: Elsie Urie, registrar and secretary,
academic affairs. Third row: Nan Johnson, secretary, evangelism: Peggy Rowland,
secretary to the president: Ruthanne Strobel. technical services librarian: Maria
Badre. secretary, development: Ruth Matthews, assistant librarian for circulation.
Last row: Betty Beatty. receptionist; Ann Titshaw, secretary, pastoral care;
Barbara Poe. secretary, development; Gardner Neely, reclassification assistant,
library: Marilyn Ault, bookkeeper. Not pictured: Ira Lois Brown, reclassification
cataloger, library: Charlotte Mozingo, secretary, development.

contributions for the restoration of the
campus. Over $11,000 has been
collected from students, faculty, staff,
alumni/ae, and friends and sent to
UTC.

The college opened for the fall
term on November 14, two weeks
earUer than had been prediaed after
the hurricane hit.

Contributions for the restoration

are still being accepted at Columbia,
President Smith wrote, "We are all
overwhelmed by the responses to our
appeal for help from friends hke you
at Columbia and are certainly
buttressed by all of this. We are left
in no doubt whatever as to the
genuineness of the ties that bind
us."D

VANTAGE

A place for
the children

It startpd with an inability to sleep
at night. In the comforts of theit own
beds in their own homes, ni^ht shelter
voiunteets from North Decatur Pres-
byterian Church lay awake, wondering,
where will these children go-* Chris
had an ear mfection and fever.
Juanita's cough kept her awake most
of the night. The children, along with
their homeless parents, had to be put
out on the street at 5:30 m the
morning. The children had no place
to go,

'"It was time for North Decatur
Presbyterian to do something," the
Rev. Joanna Adams said, "This is a
roli-your-sleeves-up church whose
members had volunteered regularly in
family night shelters. When I first
came here, members immediately ap-
proached me with ideas about what to
do for the children of these shelters,"

Ms, Adams, a 1978 graduate of
Columbia and now a member of its
Board of Directors, had been minister
of community outreach at Central
Presbyterian Church, downtown
Atlanta, for eight years before
accepting a call to North Decatur in
1987. 'Homelessness has been my
passion, " she said. "It has shaped my
ministry and life for 10 years. '

In true Presbyterian form, a
committee was organized under the
leadership of North Decatur
Presbyterian Church. Representatives
from county and city governments,
night shelters, the Atlanta Homeless
Task Force, Save the Children, social
workers, and concerned volunteers
decided that DeKalb County needed a
day shelter modeled after The
Children's Shelter at North Avenue
Presbyterian Church, the only one of
its kind in metro-Atlanta,

Cal Horton, Decatur's assistant
city manager, was a member of this
committee and an elder at Columbia
Presbyterian Church, across Kirk Road
from Columbia Seminary, He
approached the Rev. Hugh Ward,
pastor of Columbia, one morning in
early 1987.

The playground at Our House gives children a place to run, swing, slide, and cltmb.

or 50 people. It was also the first
building built for Columbia
Presbyterian Church after Columbia
Seminary gave the church its property
in 1940.

After discussion, the session
approved the measure to remodel the
building and lease it to the shelter,
called Our House, Inc., for one dollar
per year. The congregation voted
approval, and fund-raising began. By
January 1988, the committee had
raised about $300,000, enough to
renovate the building and to operate
the first year.

Another elder of the Columbia
church. Anne Branscome, who had
been a social worker, was hired by the
Development Committee to be the
part-time director of Our House.
Members of both congregations helped
with the renovation, the fund-raising,
and volunteered their time to help
care for the children.

On March 30, 1988, the doors of
Our House opened with space for 30

''Day care is the necessary ingredient for putting your life
back together.''

Hugh Ward, who graduated trom
Columbia in 1975, has served as
pastor of Columbia Presbyterian
Church since 1979. For two yeats, he
chaired PATH (Presbyterian Answer
to Hunger) for Greater Atlanta
Presbytery, during which time he led
a work team to Ghana to begin
construction on a medical clinic there.

"Cal came to me and said our
activities building would be a perfect
site for this day care center," Mr.
Ward said. "So we began to look at
the possibilities and talk up the idea
with the congregation. '

The activities building was the
social center of the church; it held
women's circle meetings, Boy Scout
meetings, church youth events, and
was a setting for any gathering of 40

children under the age of six. With a
staff of 11. Our House provides day
care from 7 a,m, until 6 p.m. Mon-
day through Friday. Breakfast, lunch,
and a snack are served.

"We try hard to keep this from
being just custodial care," Ms.
Branscome said, "Our emphasis is on
love, nurture, and understanding that
these children are in trying
circumstances and need all the positive
reinforcement we can give," A full-
time teacher position is shared by two
women who develop units of study
that children can easily pick up as
they come and go.

Children may stay as long as 90
days, even if they have moved into
housing. This gives parents a chance
to find affordable child care and

gradually move back into managing a
household, "Most night shelters
require that people be out m 30
days," Ms. Branscome said. "It's hard
to get your life together in 30 days
after being deep in a hole."

While some children come and go
in a few days, others stay 90 days.
'We really do see a difference in the
children, " Ms. Branscome noted. '"It's
most dramatic with infants because we
get children who have spent a lot of
time )ust strapped into strollers. Their
parents haven't had any time to spend
with them, moving from pillar to post
and in shelters at night. A couple of
months with us and the children's
complexions aren't pasty, their eyes
sparkle, and they're exploring the
world around them,"

Health cate is another focus of
the center, A nurse practitioner and a
public health nurse come weekly to
prescribe medications and to care for
the sick children, "There was nowhere
in Atlanta for a homeless, sick child
to go during the day," Ms, Brans-
come said, "When you take care of
health problems and you give the
children a safe place to come back to
everyday with a little stimulation,
room to move around, and good food,
you really can see a difference.
Sometimes it's hard to see them go,
because we aren't sure they'll have
that care in the future."

A third service provided by Our
House IS that of a part-time family
resource coordinator. The coordinator
helps the children's parents enter job
training, find a job, apply for public
assistance or public housing, arrange
after-school care for their school-age
children, or meet special health needs.

By September 30, 1988, the six-
month anniversary of Our House,
5,253 meals had been served to 206
children and their parents, representing
about 100 different families. Sixty-two
parents had entered training or
employment, and 24 families had
moved into housing.

"Day care is the necessary ingre-
dient for putting your life back to-
gether. If you have young children
and nowhere to take them during the
day, its very hard to find a job or to
continue to work," Ms. Branscome
said.

Our House faces a financial
crunch next year. Most of the
$300,000 committed fot the first year
came from one-time grants. 'We're
looking at a $20().()()() budget for
next year, " said Ms. Branscome, who
is now full-time director. "It sounds
like a lot, but when you'te running a
day-care operation for 30 children, I I
hours a day, you have to have a
minimum of paid staff" to maintain
educational programs. Constant care
takes money."

"I think we'll raise the money,"
Anne Branscome continued, "but it's
going to be challenging. There are
days when the challenge seems over-
whelming, and then 1 look at these
parents who have an incredible amount
of courage, and I wonder if I could
go through this and keep going. Most
of the parents are very religious, very
dependent upon their faith. They keep
going, and they do it. depressed at
times, but with a determination and
integrity that 1 admire. They're on the
cutting edge of where faith has to be. "

Hugh Ward, Joanna Adams, and
members of both congregations
continue to be sources of volunteer
help and financial support. "This has
been a great opportunity for the
church CO be renewed, and it
continues to grow in its understanding
of Christian mission, " Mr Ward said.
"It's a tremendous program right here
in our backyard."

Ms, Adams said, "We're trying to
work for a little peace and justice
right here. These children have pretty
rotten lives, but they're resting m a
secure place, the arms of God. All
children ought to be able to do that."
Nan Adams, the writer, is a first-year
student.

WINTER 1989

Continuing

Education

Calendar

For further information or to register for courses, call or write:
Sara Covin Juengst, Director of Continuing Education, or
Roben S. Smith, Director of the Lay Institute of Faith and Life
Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur. GA 30031 / 404-378-8821.

January 15-20 WEEK IN THE WINTER Woods Hiking in the beauty of
winter in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park; confrontation with a
hostile environment; a group experience of sharing, interdependency,
leadership, self-examination, and reflection. Leader: Doug Hix. Cost: $100.

February 11-12 ENCOUNTERING THE Problems of the Homeless, An
experiential learning weekend in the shelters and soup kitchens of Atlanta,
with briefing and debriefing on the seminary campus. See article on this
page for more information. Leaders: Ed Loring, John Abercrombie, and
Bob Smith. Cost: $25.

February 16-17 MULTI-STAFF RELATIONSHIPS MALE/FEMALE DYNAMICS,
The aim of this seminar is to provide help in understanding causes of
stress on church staffs and discovering ways to improve working
relationships. See article on page 7 for more information.

February 17-18 LAY SCHOOL OF Bible and Theology at Charleston
Presbytery Charleston, S.C. Courses by Professors Catherine Gonzalez
and David Gunn.

February 26-March 3 A Week with the Dominicans A
Contemplative Week for Women A retreat for women at Springbank
Christian Center, Kingstree, South Carolina. A time to be apart, to pray,
to worship and meditate. Led by a community of Dominican sisters in a
beautiful retreat setting. Leader: Sara Juengst. Cost: $185.

March 3-4 Lay School of Bible and Theology at Presbytery of St
Augustine. Jacksonville. FL. Courses by Professors Benton Kline, Beverly
Gaventa, and Robert Smith.

March 26-April 3 A Week in Jamaica A pilgrimage following Lent
and Easter in a Third World country where the church is strong and
vibrant, A week spent in study of Jamaica at United Theolgoical College
in Kingston, seeing urban and rural parish work in Ocho Rios,
experiencing life in another culture. For lay persons and clergy. Leader:
Sara Juengst. Cost: $700 (includes travel, room, board).

April 10 Update in Theological Education with Louisville Seminary
An opportunity for clergy to meet with seleaed faculty members from
two seminaries to get information about new trends and resources in
various areas of theological education. Cost: $20.

April 14-15 Religion and the Arts #3 The Reformed Tradition
and the Arts This seminar for clergy, educators, and lay persons will
provide a theological framework for the use of the arts in the church from
the perspeaive of the Reformed faith. Workshops will be offered in
dance, visual arts, mime, and music. See article on this page for more
information.

April 23-27 Workable Wineskins Empowering Laity for Ministry
See article on this page for more information.

April 30-May 5 A Week with the Trappists, A Contemplative Week
for Men A retreat for men at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit, Conyers,
Georgia, for reformation, relaxation, and spiritual discipline. Leaders;
Doug Hix and Bob Smith. Cost: $100.

May 6 A DAY WITH DoN Griggs Building Religion and Nurturing
Faith A day-long seminar full of practical help and insight on effective
ways to nurture Chtistian faith, led by the authoi of Teaching Teachers to
Teach and Baste Skills for Church Teachers. Cost: $50.

May 15-June 1 CHINA Travel/Study Trip See article on this page for
more information.

1989 Forum January 23-26

"Workable
Wineskins''
at Montreat

"Workable Wineskins. The Ministry
of Empowered Laity" will focus on
this reality: as laity and clergy, we are
all called to participate in the one
ministry of the risen Christ. The April
23-27, 1989. denomination-wide
conference at Montreat is sponsored by
Columbia's Lay Institute of Faith and
Life in partnership with Montreat
Conference Center, Participants will
discover, equip, and affirm their daily
ministry in home, workplace, church,
local and global communities.

Leaders will include Mary Cosby,
lecturer, teacher, and co-founder and
leader of laity ministry at Church of
the Savior in Washington, DC; Bruce
Larson, pastor of University
Presbyterian Church in Seattle, which
offers 400 small-group opportunities
within the larger congregation in
which laity can pray and encourage
one another for their ministry in the
church and world, and Murphy Davis,
co-founder and partner in the Open
Door Community of Atlanta. Other
leaders from nine states will present
workshops in such areas as The Lay
Person as Social Change Agent,
Equipping Laity for Pastoral Ministry
in the Church, Family Members in
Ministry to One Another, Identifying
and Claiming Your Ministry in the
Workplace, and Ministry of the Laity
in Creative Retirement,

Registration fee for the five-day
event is $85 before March 24 and
$95 thereafter. For a brochure with
more information about this growth
and learning experience in the
springtime beauty of the mountains,
contact the Lay Institute of Faith and
Life at the seminary. Q

Travel to
China in May

This year's travel/study tour from
Columbia will take its participants on
an 18-day trip to China, leaving
Atlanta on Japan Air Lines on May
15 and returning June 1, The tour
group will visit Beijing, Xian,
Nanjing, Shanghai, Guilin, and wind
up in Hong Kong for rwo days of
shopping and sightseeing. Dr. and
Mrs. G.T. Brown and the Rev. Sara
Covin Juengst are tour leaders. Dr.
Brown, Associate Professor of World
Christianity at Columbia, was born
and grew up in China; Ms. Juengst is
Director of Continuing Education for
the seminary.

Cost of the tour is $2,850, which
includes round-trip air fare from
Atlanta, all hotels, transfers,
sightseeing tours, all meals in China,
and breakfasts in Hong Kong. For
more information or to register for the
trip, please write or call Dr, Brown or
Ms. Juengst at the seminary. G

Encountering
problems of
the homeless

Presbyterians from the greater
Adanta area will gather on the
Columbia campus on February 1 1 and
12 for both a classroom and a
"hands-on" exploration of ways in
which our faith should address the
plight of the homeless. Sponsored by
the seminary's Lay Institute of Faith
and Life and the Southwest Cluster of
Greater Atlanta Presbytery, the event
will include a presentation by
Professor Shirley Guthrie on the
Bibhcal, theological mandate which
defines a Christian's responsiblity on
this issue, discussions with leaders of
local ministries to the homeless (such
as the Open Door Community, Charis
Community Housing, and certain
involved Presbyterian churches), and
opportunities for work in local soup
kitchens and night shelters. The
hands-on experience will be followed
by a time of corporate reflection and
worship.

Those interested in participation
should contact the Lay Institute at the
seminary, n

The arts
in worship

What is the Reformed Church's
stance on the use of the arts in
worship and teaching the faith? Are
we too iconoclastic? Is the liturgical
renewal consistant with our tradition
and theological position?

Columbia's third annual
conference on Religion and the Arts,
April 14-15. will address these issues
and provide workshops in working
from scripture toward image in visual
art, in designing Hturgical vestments,
and in liturgical dance, all from a
Reformed Church perspective.

Keynote speakers will be
Catherine Gonzalez, professor of
church history at Columbia, and
Nancy Chinn, a Presbyterian liturgical
artist from San Francisco. Ms. Chinn
was the anist designet for the stage
set for the Women's Gathering at
Purdue in 1988, a member of the
task force on the design of the new
Presbyterian seal, and has given
leaures on worship and the arts at the
World Council of Churches, at San
Francisco Theological Seminary, the
Pacific School of Religion, and Wesley
Memorial Chapel in Oxford. England.
She has designed and installed 65
different tempotary environments for
worship in Presbyterian, Episcopal,
and Congregational churches, at
several seminaries, and at Montreat.

Both speakers explore the issue of
the relationship of faith and art from
the standpoint of Reformed theology.
This challenging opportunity is for
both clergy and lay people.

As part of the conference,
Columbia will host its second annual
exhibit of liturgical art, which will be
open to the public free of charge.
Cost of the conference is $35. D

VANTAGE

COLUMBIA
THEOLOGICAL
SEMI NARY

1988-1989

Faculty and Administrative Staff

Douglas Oldenburg Ose.ir Husstl Philip Gehman John Gilmore

President Dean of Fatuity and VP/Student Life VP/Business and

Prof/Christian ^nd Dean of Students Finance

Education

James Dickenson
V P/ Developmen t/
Seminary Relations

Frank Alexander
Field Representative

G.R. -Bud"
Brainerd
Development Asst.

4.

Lee Carroll
Dtt/Supervised
Ministry

Betty Cason
Assistant Treasurer

t

Bonneau Dickson
Field Representative

Jet Harper
Dir/Publications
and Publicity

Cecil Moore
Supt/Buildings
and Grounds

Martha Osborne
Assoc Dean
of Students

Rebecca Parker
Dir/ Admissions/
Financial Aid

Suanne SaucrBrun
Bookstore Mgr

Biblical Area

Historical/Doctrinal Area

Walter

Brueggemann
Prof/Old Testament

Charles Cousar Beverly Gaventa Frederick G. Thompson Brown Erskme Clarke

Prof/New Testament Prof/New Testament Bonkovsky Assoc Prof/World Prof/American

Prof/Christian Ethics Christianity Religious History

Catherine Gonzalez
Prof/Church History

Jiistu Guiuaie/
Ad) Prof/thurch
History

David Gunn
Prof/Old Testament

David Moessner
Assoc Prof/New
Testament

James Newsome
Prof/Old Testament

It

Shirley Guthrie

Prof/Systematic

Theology

James Overbeck
Librarian; Assoc
Prof/Church History

Robert Smith
Dir/Lay Institute
of Faith and Life

George Stroup
Prof/Theology

William Thurston
Asst Prof/F.ihics
and Society

Practical Theology Area

Brian Childs
Assoc Prof/ Pastoral
Theology and
Counseling

Barry Davies
Inst/Church Music

Douglas Hix
Assoc Prof/ Pastoral
Studies; Dir/
Advanced Studies

Wade Huie
Prof/ Horn iletics

Ben Johnson
Prof/Evangelism
and Church Growth

Sara Juengst

Dir/Continuing

Education

Jasper Keith
Prof/ Pastoral Care
and Counseling

M^

John Patton
Prof/ Pastoral
Theology

Robert Ramey
Prof/Ministry

Lucy Rose

Asst Prof/ Preaching

and Worship

Jeanne Stevenson-

Moessner

Adi Prof/Pastoral

Theology

Edward Trimmer
Assoc Prof/
Christian Education

Christine Wenderoth
Assoc Librarian

WINTER 1989

For the Record

If you have recent news you would like lo contribute to this section,
please send it to the editor.

Charles Cousar "58, Professor of
New Testament at Columbia, led an
officers* retreat for the Spring Valley
church in Columbia, SC, and taught
'"The History and Study of the Bible"
in the Lay Academy, for First church,
Adanta. He was a member of the
visting team for the Association of
Theological Schools, paying an
accreditmg visit to Weston School of
Theology, Cambridge, MA. Dr.
Cousar attended the meeting of
Society of Biblical Literature in

Chicago in November Jim Wooten

"84 is pastor of the Banlett church in

Bardert. TN Brian Childs,

Associate Professor of Pastoral
Theology and Counseling at
Columbia, taught a one-week course,
"Suffering and Hope: Exegetical
Studies on Job and Other Living
Human Documents," at Mo Ranch,
TX, in Oaober. He has been named
to the Advisory Committee. Georgia
Baptist Medical Center. Adanta, for
the clinical pastoral education
program.

Edward Trimmer, Associate
Professor of Christian Education at
Columbia, led a training event for
adult workers with youth and was the
speaker at the youth retreat for the
Congregational churches of Billings,
MT. He was a leader for the tenth
annual continuing education event for
youth ministry professionals, sponsored
by the PC(USA) m Kansas City. MO.
Dr. Trimmer delivered a paper and
participated in a Lilly Foundation
study on youth ministry and
theological education at Union
Seminary in Richmond. He also
delivered a paper at the Chicago
meeting of the Association of
Professors and Researchers in Religious

Education Taylor Phillips "85 is a

teacher in the Huntsville, AL.

schools Raymon White '63 has

been called as organizing minister of a
new church in Greenville,

SC Martha Osbome, Associate

Dean of Students at Columbia, was
speaker for the St. Lukes (Atlanta)
Presbyterian Women at their
Christmas dinner and worship service,

Ben Johnson, Professor of
Evangelism and Church Growth at
Columbia, is interim pastor at the
North Avenue church, Atlanta. He
was keynote speaker for Concord
Presbytery's Bicentennial Celebration at
Davidson College and has led
evangelism workshops for Eastern
Oklahoma Presbytery, Presbytery of
San Jose, Presbystery of Western
Reserve, and Homestead Presbytery.
Dr- Johnson led a ministers' retreat
for Presbytery of the Pines and a
Christian growth seminar for First

Presbyterian, Edmond, OK Joey

Byrd "87 is co-pastor, along with his
wife, Carol "88, of the Morning Sun
and Reily churches in Camden and
Oxford, OH

Richard Scoggins '44 (ThM
'45) was honorably retired from First
church, Cornelia, GA, in August

Beverly Gaventa, Professor of
New Testament at Columbia,
addressed the Michigan Baptist
Convention on 'The Constancy of
Christ in a Changing America," and
delivered the Divinity Day Lectures at
McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton,
Ontario, on the topic, "By What
Authority? Gospel and Apostle in
Galatians. She has been appointed to
the Scholars Press Board of Trustees as
a representative for the Society of
Biblical Literature. At the SBL
meeting in November, Dr. Gaventa
presented a paper, "The Singularity of
the Gospel: A Reading of Galatians,"
participated in a discussion of Larry
Hurtado's book, One God. One Lord:
Early Christian Devotion and Ancient
Jewish Monotheism, and served as a
panelist in the general session on
"Reporting Religion: A New/s
Story."

John Payne "69 has been called
as stated supply of Black Jack church

in Batesville, MS Lucy Rose,

Assistant Professor of Preaching and
Worship at Columbia, is a resource
person for Decatur Cooperative
Ministry. She served as a leader in a
continuing education workshop for
Cherokee Presbytery lay preachers. Dr.
Rose was a participant in recent
meetings of Presbyterian Women
Faculty in Theological Education and

the Academy of Homiletics Robert

Ramey, Professor of Ministry at
Columbia, has preached at the Church
of the Redeemer, Lithonia, GA. He
taught a continuing educaction course
on the small church in Oxford, MS,
for ministers of St. Andrews
Presbytery and a conflia management
class at the Eastside Officer Training
Event, Monroe, GA.

Walter Brueggemann, Professor
of Old Testament at Columbia, was
the speaker at the formal dedication
activities of the PC(USA) General
Assembly Headquarters in Louisville
in Oaober. He lectured at the World
Council of Churches Conference in
Madison, Wl, at the College of St,
Thomas, and at the Roger Williams
Symposium in Pullman, WA. He
gave the Collins Leaures, Ecumenical
Ministries, in Portland, OR, and the
Zabriske Leaures at Protestant
Episcopal Theological Seminary, from
which he received an honorary degree.

BIRTHS

To Tom '83 and Lynn '84 Bagley, a

son, Thomas Owen III, Oa. 26

1988.

To Lawrence '83 and Ann Peebles, a

daughter, Laurie Fraser, May 20,

1988.

To Kevin '90 and Kim Dorsert, a

daughter, Christine Shawn, Oct 25

1988.

Bei'er/y Gaventa was inaugurated as Professor of New Testament at Columbia on
October 18. She spoke on "The Maternity of Paul: Exegetical Reflections on
Galatians 4:19." Dr. Fred Craddock. Professor of Preaching and New Testament
at Candler School of Theology, introduced Dr. Gaventa.

DEATHS

Wythe M. Peyton '65, Nov. 1, 1988.

Dr. Brueggemann led a clergy retreat
for Bethel Presbytery and a workshop
for Central Florida Presbytery. His
articles have appeared in Interpretation
and Catholic Biblical Quarterly.
John Patton, Professor of
Pastoral Theology at Columbia, led a
clergy seminar at Hamilton Memorial
Medical Center in Dalton, GA, in

Oaober Benton KJine, President

Emeritus and Visiting Professor at
Columbia, has spoken at Faculty
Forums at Agnes Scott, Oglethorpe,
and Emory on "Development in
Contemporary Theology." He
addressed the Committee on
Theological Education and the Task
Force on Ordination on 'Ordination
in Recent Presbyterian Theology and
History" in Louisville, Dr. Kline
taught "Providence and Predestina-
tion" at the School of the Laity, First
church, Gainesville, GA. He met with
the editorial board of Reformed Liturgy
and Music to plan an issue on the
new Directory for Worship.

Rick Harrod '88 has been called
as associate pastor of the First church,

Jefferson City, MO Richard

Paddon '65 is pastor of First church,

Carbondale, IL Frederick O.

Bonkovsky, Professor of Christian
Ethics at Columbia, was one of five
U.S. physicians and ethicists partici-
pating in a three-day Southeast Bio-
ethics Consultation with four senior
representatives of the People's
Republic of China, "Ethics in an
Election Year" was the topic of his
lectures at the Newnan and
CartersviUe, GA, churches. He
participated in the American Academy
of Religion annual meeting in
Chicago, speaking on "Religion and
Ideology," His article on the ethics of
AIDS treatment appeared in the
winter '88 Journal of the Georgia
Medical Association. Dr. Bonkovsky
has participated in the Presbyterian
Church's national consultation on
peacemaking and theological
education.

Robert Smith 71. Director of
the Lay Institute of Faith and Life at
Columbia, taught the opening five
sessions of the newly established Lay
Academy at First church, Atlanta, He

spoke to the congregations of First
church, Aiken, SC, First church.
Huntsville, and Bethesda church,
Walterboro, SC. Dr. Smith met with
Christian lairy of Chicago and with
Charleston-area pastors regarding

ministry by laity James Reaves *52

IS interim supply pastor of First

church, Cornelia, GA Robert

McGehee (DMin x86) is a pastoral
counselor with the Interfaith Coun-
seling Service in Decatur. AL, and is
interim pastor of the Old Brick

church near Sheffield, AL Rebecca

Parker. Director of Admissions and
Financial Aid at Columbia, preached
at the McRae, GA, church in October
and taught the new PC(USA)
Celebrate series, Advent to Easter, at
First church, Atlanta.

Frederick Widmer '44 is
adjuna professor at the new divinity
school, Samford University, and
pastoral assistant at Independent

church. Birmingham, AL Wade

Huie '46, Professor of Homiletics at
Columbia, has led spiritual renewal
services and preached in churches in
Georgia and neighboring states. In
December he participated in the
annual meeting of the Academy of

Homiletics at Drew Seminary G.

Thompson Brown, Associate
Professor of World Christianity at
Columbia, was the speaker at the
annual meeting of the Geneva Forum
in Philadelphia and at mission
conferences sponsored by Trinity

Presbytery David Moessner,

Associate Professor of New Testament
at Columbia, had an article on the
nature of our canonical gospels
published, "And Once Again, What
Sort of Essence'? A Response to
Chades Talbert," in Semeia 43
(1988). He read a paper, "The
Testament of Moses and Luke-Acts: A
Shared End in Sight," at the annual
meeting of the American Academy of
Religion and the Society of Biblical
Literature in the Pseudepigrapha
seaion and presided at the Synoptic
Gospels section. Dr. Moessner has
been accepted as a member of
Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas,

Continued on page 7

VANTAGE

Columbia installs
computer system

Columbia Seminary has purchased a
new computer sysrem which will
enable the seminary to update its
capacity for electronic storage of
information and data processing.
Utilizing the latest IBM micro-
processing hardware, the system of
microcomputers will provide both
networkmg capabilites and the
flexibility to expand information-
processing abilities as future needs
demand.

After extensive research by a
committee of administrators and
faculty members, Blackbaud, Inc., was
selected to supply the software for the
entire system. The campus-wide
system includes the Business Office,
the Dean of Students/ Admissions
Office, Academic Affairs Office, the
Development/Seminary Relations
Office, the Advanced Studies Offices,
the library, and faculty offices. The
four buildings to be connected by the
system are Campbell Hall, the
Richards Campus Center, the John
Bulow Campbell Library, and the W.
Frank Harrington Center for
Continuing Education and Church
Growth, currently under construction.

Plans call for 35 to 40 terminals
on campus, including a desktop
publishing work station, by January
1989. At the request of the faculty, a
word processing program with a
capacity for both Greek and Hebrew
is part of the software package.

Blackbaud, Inc. will supply the
software and ongoing training and
support. The $175,000 expense of the
the system also includes hardware and
installation. One of Columbia's
supporters has provided more than
half of the cost.

Vice President of Development
and Seminary Relations Jim
Dickenson, who chaired the Computer
Committee, says. "This new system
will give us the much-needed ability
to exchange and retrieve information
among offices, enabling us to exceed
our current capacity to manage
information. "D

Vantage

Vol, 80. No. 5. Winter 1989
Published quarterly by
Columbia Theological Seminary
Circulation: 38.000

The Department of Development/
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

Development I Seminary Relations

By James F. Dickenson

Vice President, Development/Seminary Relations

As Its gift to Columbia, the Class of
'87 nave funds for the purchase of trees
to replace those damaged by the last
droughts. Class funds are handled by
Gail Perkins. Robert Reno and Martha
Jane Petersen admire one of their class'
purchases, a Bartlett Callery pear tree.

For the Record
Continued from page 6

the international society of New
Testament scholars.

Vladimir Doule (ThM 72) has
served a rural church for 21 years and
another one in a large city for 14

years, both in Czechoslovakia Sara

C. Juengst "83, Director of Contin-
uing Education at Columbia, was
speaker and worship leader at a North
Alabama Presbytery Leadership
Traming Event. She spoke four times
on "The Church in the USSR"' at
Methodist and Presbyterian churches,
addressed the DeKalb County Church
Women United on World
Community Day, and spoke to the
Presbytery of Greater Atlanta
educators on 'Recruitment and
Training of Volunteers, " She led
worship at the annual gathering of
women faculty members in Presby-
terian seminaries in Chicago Steve

Price "86 is associate pastor of the
Fort Hill church, Clemson, SC, and
Presbyterian university minister at
Clemson University.

Marvin Randolph '61 is stated
supply at Westminster church,

Natchez, MS Tom Long, former

professor of preaching at Columbia
and now professor at Princeton
Seminary, has had The Senses of
Preaching published by John Knox
Press. Much of the material for the
book was developed for Columbia's
1987 Forum, for which he was the

Smyth Lecturer Jeanne Stevenson-

Moessner, Adjunct Professor of
Pastoral Theology at Columbia, was
elected to the national steering
committee of the Presbyterian Women
Faculty and Administtaiors in
Theological Education. At the annual
conference in November she was co-
leader of a panel discussion Chris

Curvin '86 is pastor of First church,
Jacksonville, AL.D

What is the annual fund?

Columbia Seminary could not long
survive without the activity and
success of the annual fund, sometimes
referred to as living endowment. Yet
many people do not understand how
It works or how its various
components fit.

The seminary's budget for fiscal
year 1988-89 is approximately 4.4
million dollars. Of this amount,
$625,000 is raised through the annual
fund, This is accomplished primarily
through a mailing program which
operates on a 12-month basis.
Included in the mailing program are
alumni/ae, elders, deacons, members
of congregations, members of the
Board of Directors, President's
Advisory Council members, Columbia
Friendship Circle members, faculty,
administratofs, staff, foundations, and
businesses. Churches are excluded
from the annual mailing program.

Practically all educational
institutions have some kind of annual
fund program in operation. The larger
universities raise many millions of
dollars every year and have a larger
context in which to function.
Seminaries and small libetal arts
colleges opeiate on a smaller scale. Yet
all institutions need the annual fund
to keep from falling into a deficit in
the current operating budget. A deficit
in institutional operations is
undesirable because foundations and
others do not want to give to debt.
Fortunately, the seminary watches this
very carefully and makes every effort
to stay within budget.

Basically, there are only five
sources of revenue for the seminary.
They are tuition and fees, the annual
fund, monies from governing bodies,
income from the endowment, and
auxiliary enterprises. Obviously we
need to keep tuition and fees at
reasonable levels. At the same time,
the annual fund needs to grow at a

steady rate. Governing bodies (presby-
teries, synods. General Assembly)
project a steady flow of funds at about
the same level as in past years. Their
contributions amount to about four to
five percent of the budget.

Income from the endowment is
where the greatest growth can occut
for the seminary over the next 10
years, but that means the endowment
must double, from almost 30 million
dollars to 60 million dollars. Income
from endowment represents
appfoximately 35 percent of the
budget. Some seminaries pull as much
as 45 percent of theit budgets ftom
the endowment, but theit endowments
are much larger than Columbia's.

Auxiliary enterprises room,
board, bookstore, etc. do litde
more than keep up with inflation and
therefore do not add significandy to
the seminary's income.

Therefore, we are back to the
annual fund, sometimes called the
living endowment. The reason for
calling it living endowment is that,
should Columbia succeed in raising
the fuU $625,000 for the current
operating budget, it would be the
same as teceiving the income from
more than 10 million dollars
endowment at apptoximately six
percent. Of course, that particular
endowment does not exist, but
because the annual fund comes in
from all kinds of gifts (ftom five
dollars to many thousands of dollars),
it has a life of its own thus, living
endowment.

This brings us finally to you. You
support the seminary in so many
ways, and for your interest and loyalty
we are deeply grateful. We cannot
exist without you and your generous
support. Thank you.

The annual fund is very
important to the life of this
institutioniO

Board Report
Continued from page I

whose terms have expired, for theit
yeats of service,

Reports on the sabbatic leaves of
Professors Charles Cousar, Catherine
Gonzalez, and Shirley Guthrie were
approved. Professor Beverly Gaventa's
request for sabbatic leave for fall
semester 1989 was apptoved, as was
Professor Oscar Hussel's request for a
sabbatic leave for the 1989-90
academic year.

Appreciation was extended to Tim
Fostet, a first year student whose
undergraduate degree was in
horticulture, for his work in
beautifying the campus.

The following slate of officers for
1989 was unanimously elected: John
Conant. chair; William Bryant of
Nashville, vice-chair; Mary Virginia
Allen of Decatur, secretary. O

Multi-stafF
relationships

On February 16-17, Columbia will
offer a continuing education seminar
for clergy who are intentional about
finding solutions for improving
working relationships on church staffs.
Help will be provided in
understanding the causes of stress and
suggestions offered for increasing
harmony and true coUegiality between
male and female staff members.
Caroline Hughes, a consultant for
Alban Institute, will lead the two-day
seminar. It will be especially helpful if
all members of a church staff partici-
pate in the seminar. Tlie cost for each
participant is $75 plus housing. For
more information, contact Sara Juengst
at the seminary. D

WINTER 1989

Come See
Columbia Day

April 7

April is a time of dazzling beauty on
the cannpus of Columbia Theological
Seminary. It is also a time of
inspiration and fellowship for the
members and friends of the Columbia
Friendship Circle. We look forward to
several hundred of you coming as our
guests to inspea the changes in the
campus and to meet and talk with
the professors, students, and staff
members who live and work in the
seminary community.

We hope you will make plans to
come and be with us on Thursday,
April 7. for Come See Columbia Day.
For more information, call or write
the CFC office at the seminary. D

Forum 1989
Continued from page I

syndicated comic strip, Kudzu, whose
characters include Preacher WiU B.
Dunn. Mr. Marlette will give the first
two Alumni/ae Leaures, entitled
"The Scandalous Cartoons of Doug
Marlette," at 9 a.m. on January 24
and 25.

Gustav Niebuhr, religion writer
for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
will give the third Alumni/ae Lecture

at 9 a.m. on January 26. A grandson
of the theologian, the late H. Richard
Niebuhr, Mr. Niebuhr was one of
three reporters selected as Reporter of
the Year by the Rehgion Newswriters
Association for 1988. His title for
Forum is "Walking the Finest Line:
Reporting on ReUgion in the 1980s."

Alumni/ae activities will run
throughout Forum. On Tuesday,
January 24, Dr. Shirley Guthrie, who
has taught at Columbia since 1958,
will speak on "How Columbia
Seminary Has Changed and 1
Haven't" at the Alumni/ae Luncheon
and Association Meeting at 12:30.

Alumni/ae and their spouses in
reunion classes will hold their
luncheon on Wednesday, January 25,
at 12:30. The following alumni/ae
serve as reunion chairs:

1929 - Burns Gibbs

1934 - Walter Sessions

1939 - Arch McNair

1944 - Frank Alexander

1949 - Frederick Woodward

1954 - Archie Davis

1959 - Ralph McCaskill

1964 - Stuart Nickles

1969 - WiUiam Dudley

1974 - Harry Barrow

1979 - Lib McGregor Simmons

1984 - Walter Jones

1988 - Chip Hatcher.

Women students and alumnae
will join for a supper on Wednesday
evening at 6 p.m.

Join Preacher Will B. Dunn for foriitii! See story, page 1.

in addition, times have been set
aside for informal questions and
conversation with Dr. Brown, Ms.
Lundblad, and Mr. Marlette,

All alumni/ae and all friends of
the seminary, both lay and clergy, are

invited to the campus for this full
week of lectures, worship, and
reunions. For more information or to
register, please call the seminary at
404/378-8821.0

Vantage

P.O. Box 520 sO-'S vv'^^ -/*/5

Decatur, Georgia 30031

Second Class
Postage
Paid at
Decatur, GA
Publication No. 124160

CONTENTS

New Board of Directors chair 1

Forum 1989 1

From the President 2

UTCWl and Hurricane Gilbert 2

Support staff 2

A place for the children 3

Continuing education calendar 4

"Wineskins" at Montreat 4

Travel/study tour to China 4

Encountering the problems of the homeless 4

The arts in worship 4

Faculty and administration 5

For the Recurd 6

What is the annual fund? 7

New computer system 7

Multi-staff relationships 7

Come See Columbia Day 8

COLUMBIA
THEOLOGICAL
S E M I NARY