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photo:  Keith  Kerber 


Princeton 
in  photos 

The  campus  seemed  quiet  this 
summer  as  students  and  their 
families  relaxed  under  the  trees. 
But  in  the  classrooms,  180  stu¬ 
dents  were  enrolled  in  twelve 
summer  school  courses  and  235 
people  attended  the  Seminary's 
two-week  Institute  of  Theology. 


summer  1996 


iSpire 

Theological  ■  Seminary 

Summer  1996 
Volume  2 
Number  1 

Editor 

Barbara  A.  Chaapel 

Associate  Editor 

Ingrid  Meyer 

Art  Director 

Kathleen  Whalen 

Assistant 

Susan  Molloy 

Staff  Photographers 

Elizabeth  Clark 
Keith  Kerber 
Chris  Moody 

InSpire  is  a  magazine 
for  alumni/ae  and  friends 
of  Princeton  Theological 
Seminary.  It  is  published 
four  times  a  year  by 
the  Princeton  Theological 
Seminary  Office 
of  Communications/ 

Publications,  P.O.  Box  821, 
Princeton,  NJ  08542-0803. 
Telephone:  609-497-7760 
Facsimile:  609-497-7870 
Internet: 

inspire@ptsmail.ptsem.edu 

The  magazine  has  a  circulation 
of  approximately  23,000  and 
is  printed  by  George  H. 

Buchanan  Co.  in  Philadelphia, 

PA.  Reproduction  in  whole 
or  in  part  without  permission 
is  prohibited.  Second-class 
postage  paid  at  Philadelphia, 

PA. 

On  the  Cover 

A  mosaic  of  loaves  and  fishes 
from  the  Byzantine  basilica  of 
the  Multiplying  of  the  Loaves 
in  the  Arabic  village  of  Tabgha 
provides  the  background  for 
photographs  of  the  Dome  of 
the  Rock  on  Jerusalem's 
Temple  Mount,  and  PTS  alum¬ 
ni/ae  at  the  entrance  to  one  of 
the  Qumran  caves.  The  photos 
are  by  Andy  Vaughn  ('91 
M.Div.,  '96  Ph.D.). 


50% 

IITit  IHTClfl  mil 

POST  CORSUKI  f  9EB 


in  this  issue 


Features 


10  •  Living  History 

Twenty-seven  alumni/ae  from 
the  Class  of  1991  traveled 
together  to  the  Holy  Land — 
and  gained  new  perspectives 
on  Scripture. 
by  R.  Elizabeth  Boone 


12  •  Mission  Possible! 

After  nearly  two  years  of  care¬ 
ful  labor  and  input  from  every 
part  of  the  Seminary  communi¬ 
ty,  PTS  has  a  new  mission 
statement — one  designed  to 
last  a  long,  long  time. 
by  Ingrid  Meyer 


14  •  Clear  to  Zaire 

PTS  professor  Elsie  McKee 
returned  to  the  land  of  her 
birth  for  a  fall  1995  sabbatical, 
where  she  taught  students 
in  a  seminary  where  her  father 
taught. 
by  Elsie  McKee 


Departments 


2 

• 

Letters 

26 

• 

Outstanding  in  the  Field 

3 

• 

On  &  Off  Campus 

28 

• 

Obituaries 

8 

• 

Student  Life 

31 

• 

Investing  in  Ministry 

17 

• 

Class  Notes 

32 

• 

End  Things 

25 

• 

On  the  Shelves 

33 

• 

Con  Ed  Calendar 

inSpire  •  1 


summer  1996 


i 


Stick  Ball  Memories 

You  can  imagine  my  surprise  at 
seeing  the  Princeton  Seminary  stick- 
ball  team  photo  pop  out  of  inSpire  in 
the  Winter  1996  issue.  So  many  years 

from  the 
president's  desk 

D  ear  Friends  and  Colleagues: 

Realtors  claim  that  there  are  three 
criteria  lor  buying  real  estate— location, 
location,  and  location.  Accrediting  asso¬ 
ciations  for  institutions  engaged  in 
higher  education  make  a  similar  claim. 
The  three  major  criteria  in  the  accredi¬ 
tation  process  are 
mission  statement, 
mission  statement, 
and  mission  state¬ 
ment. 

In  preparation 
for  its  ten-year  on¬ 
site  accreditation  vis¬ 
itation,  Princeton 
Seminary  has  reviewed  and  revised 
its  mission  statement.  That  story  is  fea¬ 
tured  in  this  edition  of  inSpire,  and  I 
commend  it  to  you. 

Here  let  me  emphasize  the  missional 
character  ot  this  school.  The  Plan  of  the 
Seminary  that  created  it  when  adopted 
by  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  1812  mandated 
the  new  institution  to  prepare  leader¬ 
ship  for  the  church.  This  leadership  was 
to  be  educated  in  a  manner  that  com¬ 
bined  “sound  learning"  with  genuine 
“piety  of  the  heart.” 

Our  mission  today  continues  this 
visionary  tradition.  We  seek  to  provide 
a  theological  education  that  will  enable 
believers  to  be  scholars  and  encourage 
scholars  to  be  believers  in  Jesus  Christ 
and  servants  of  his  church. 

Your  partnership  with  us  in  this 
mission  is  a  great  blessing. 

Faithfully  yours, 

Thomas  W.  Gillespie 


have  gone  by  since  the  photo  was 
taken  in  1962. 

The  “Calvin-Warfield  Club”  sign 
was  simply  on  the  wall  when  the  photo 
was  taken  and  has  nothing  to  do  with 
the  team  itself.  The  stickball  team  was 
an  ad  hoc  group  of  students  who 
thought  of  the  idea  and  had  sweat¬ 
shirts  made.  Lloyd  Evans,  holding  the 
papers  lor  the  presentation  we  made 
to  Karl  Barth,  started  the  team.  There 
was  no  small  amount  of  disapproval 
at  this  presentation  from  other  stu¬ 
dents  and  the  administration.  Quite 
a  few  felt  that  it  was  beneath  the  digni¬ 
ty  of  one  of  the  great  theologians  of 
the  twentieth  century. 

My  memory  of  the  time  is  that  Dr. 
Barth  was  delighted  to  receive  this  gift, 
as  we  made  him  our  honorary  third 
baseman.  He  told  us  that  he  would 
continue  to  write  the  final  volumes  of 
his  dogmatics  in  Switzerland,  proudly 
wearing  our  sweatshirt.  Whether  or 
not  that  actually  happened,  I  have  no 
way  of  knowing. 

William  L.  Flanagan  (’64B) 

Newport  Beach,  CA 

PTS  Internship  Program  Serves 

the  Church 

I  have  never  been  a  student  of 
PTS,  but  I  read  every  issue  of  inSpire 
hoping  to  hear  some  news  about  some 
people  who  are  very  dear  to  me... our 
former  summer  seminary  student 
interns.  Our  parish  has  had  an  intern 
program  since  1985  and  for  seven  of 
those  years,  the  interns  have  been  from 
PTS.  God  has  blessed  us  with  each  and 
every  one. 

In  1985,  H.  Bert  More  was  with 
us.  In  1986,  David  Florence  spent  his 
summer  with  us.  In  1987,  Robert 
McGaha  was  here.  1988  brought  Mark 
Koontz.  1990  saw  Christopher  Berg 
with  our  parish.  In  1991  John  V. 
Callahan  Jr.  was  with  us.  This  past 
summer  (1995)  we  had  Terry  Kukuk 
with  us.  Now,  I  am  anxiously  awaiting 
the  arrival  of  Ken  Locke  and  his  wife, 
Elizabeth;  another  wonderful  student 
from  PTS! 

We  want  to  thank  Princeton 
Theological  Seminary  lor  the  opportu¬ 
nity  to  work  and  study  side  by  side 


Please  write  —  we  love  to  hear  from  you! 

Letters  should  be  addressed  to: 

Editors,  inSpire 

Office  of  Communications/Publications 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary 
P.O.  Box  821 

Princeton,  NJ  08542-0803 
email:  inspire@ptsmail.ptsem.edu 
Letters  may  be  edited  for  length  or  clarity, 
and  should  include  the  writer's  name  and 
telephone  numbers,  so  that  we  may  verify 
authorship. 

with  your  students.  Our  prayer  is  that 
the  experience  has  been  as  wonderful 
for  them  as  it  has  been  for  us. 

Barb  Ault,  secretary 
Pembina  County  Larger  Parish 
Cavalier,  ND 

Alley  Adoption  Brings  Memories 

The  article  about  Jim  and  Joan 
Alley  brought  back  fond  memories  for 
me.  Twelve  years  ago  I  adopted  a 
Korean  orphan  and  brought  him  to 
this  country  in  much  the  same  way. 

I  have  never  married,  but  wanted  to 
share  my  home  and  love  with  a  needy 
child.  It’s  been  a  challenge  to  be  a  sin¬ 
gle  parent  by  choice,  but  the  rewards 
have  been  beyond  measure.  Thank  you 
for  sharing  Jim  and  Joan’s  story  with 
us. 

John  D.  Gibbs  (’77B) 

Westfield,  WI 

Eating  Clubs  Still  A  Hit 

In  the  fall  of  1940,  the  members 
of  Calvin  Club  took  a  lively  interest 
in  the  presidential  election.  Three  ol  us 
were  FDR  supporters,  and  the  remain¬ 
der  favored  Wilkie.  As  a  consequence 
of  the  Democratic  victory,  the  New 
Dealers  were  honored  by  having  to 
stand  the  club  to  an  ice  cream  dessert. 

For  the  benefit  of  James  C.  Leeper 
(’38B)  and  to  the  best  ol  my  octoge¬ 
narian  recollection,  here  are  the  words 
of  the  second  verse  of  the  club’s 
anthem: 

I  can  see  her  tonight  by  the  old  candlelight 
The  girl  that  left  me  flat. 

I  can  see  her  once  more  by  the  old  cabin  door 
As  she  tossed  me  my  derby  hat. 

And  she  kept  all  the  rings  and  the  presents 
and  things 

That  I  haven't  made  a  payment  on  as  yet. 

So  I’m  sad  and  I’m  broke  and  I’m  just  a  cheap 
joke 

To  the  girl  I  left  behind. 

Charles  P  Robshaw  (’42B) 

Pittsburgh,  PA 


2  •  inSpire 


summer  1996 


on&off  Campus 


Dead  Sea  Scrolls  Project  Wins 
Awards 

Princeton  Seminary's  Dead  Sea  Scrolls 
Project's  translation  of  the  Dead  Sea 
Scrolls  was  selected  as  a  co-winner  of  the 
Biblical  Archaeology  Society's  award  for 
the  best  scholarly  book  on  archaeology 
published  in  1995. 

The  project  is  directed  by  James  H. 
Charlesworth,  Princeton's  George  L. 
Collord  Professor  of  New  Testament 
Language  and  Literature.  He  has  also 
received  a  Distinguished  Achievement 
Citation  for  his  work  from  his  alma  mater, 
Ohio  Wesleyan  University. 


President  Gillespie  Receives 

Honorary  Degree 

The  oldest  university  in  Scotland  hon¬ 
ored  Princeton  Seminary  President 
Thomas  W.  Gillespie  in  June.  St.  Andrews 
University,  founded  in  1410,  granted 
Gillespie  the  honorary  Doctor  of  Divinity 
degree  at  its  June  21  graduation  ceremo¬ 
ny. 

In  the  Middle  Ages  St.  Andrews  devel¬ 
oped  three  colleges;  St.  Salvator's  and  St. 
Leonard's  were  later  amalgamated  into 
United  College,  specializing  in  arts  and  sci¬ 
ences.  The  third  college,  St.  Mary's,  has 
maintained  its  identity  as  the  college  of 
divinity. 


Accompanying  Gillespie  to  Scotland  for 
the  ceremony  were  his  wife,  Barbara;  his 
son,  William;  and  Fred  W.  Cassell,  the 
Seminary's  vice  president  for  Seminary 
relations  and  fellow  PTS  Class  of  1954 
graduate,  with  his  wife,  Jo  Anne. 

PTS  alumnus  Nigel  Robb  ('79M,  '89M), 
who  teaches  on  the  faculty  of  St.  Mary's 
College,  hosted  a  PTS  alumni/ae  dinner 
while  the  president  was  at  St.  Andrews. 
About  fifty  graduates  and  friends  of 
Princeton  Seminary  gathered  at  the  Scores 
Hotel,  overlooking  the  beach  and  the  "Old 
Course"  of  the  Royal  and  Ancient  Golf 
Club,  St.  Andrews,  to  hear  Gillespie  speak 
and  to  share  memories  of  Princeton. 


The  Incoming  Class! 

The  Seminary  admitted  233  students  to 
the  fall  1996  incoming  class.  According  to 
PTS  Director  of  Vocations  and  Admissions 
Jeffrey  O'Grady,  competition  was  heavy 
for  places  at  Princeton. 

"We  had  a  total  of  367  applicants  for 
this  fall's  entering  M.Div.  class,"  he  said, 
"and  of  those,  we  admitted  233.  That's  a 
63  percent  admission  rate,  which  is  lower 
than  many  other  institutions.  You  want  a 
low  rate  in  this  category,  because 
that  assures  you  can  keep 
the  quality  high." 

Of  the  candidates 
admitted  for  the  fall  M. 

Div.  class,  154  are  men 
and  79  are  women. 

Their  average  age  is 
twenty-nine  years.  One 
hundred  and  fifty-seven 
the  M.Div.  "admits"  are  sin¬ 
gle;  seventy-six  are  married. 

While  PTS's  students  come 
from  nearly  every  state  in  the 
country,  the  top  seven  states 
represented  in  the  new  class  are 
New  Jersey,  California,  New  York,  Texas, 
Washington,  Pennsylvania,  and  North 
Carolina. 


Of  the  fifty-one  students  admitted  from 
overseas,  most  of  whom  are  in  the  Th.  M. 
degree  program,  38  percent  come  from 
Korea,  India,  Ghana,  or  Taiwan. 

Fifty-three  percent  of  fall  M.  Div. 
"admits"  are  Presbyterian.  The  next  high¬ 
est  percentage  is  from  the  United 
Methodist  Church  (8  percent). 

Princeton  seminarians  graduate  from 

many  colleges  and  universities. 
Eight  institutions,  however, 
account  for  the  largest  num¬ 
ber  of  next  year's  students. 
These  include  private  institu¬ 
tions  (Westmont  College, 
Princeton  University, 
Davidson  College,  Wake 
Forest  University,  Duke 
University,  and  Eastern 
College)  and  public 
institutions  (the 
University  of  Texas 
and  the  University  of 
Washington). 

Admission  to  the 

Seminary's  Ph.D.  program  is  even  more 
competitive  than  admission  to  the  M.Div. 
program.  Nineteen  new  Ph.D.  candidates 
will  enter  in  the  fall;  they  were  chosen 
from  an  applicant  pool  of  211  people. 


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I 

r 


300 


:  •  -v  V  ,\^j  S 


MOKAAYVIC  i svm\ 


Revelation  Art  is  Gift  to  Seminary 

Some  retirees  spend  their  time  fishing  or 
playing  with  their  grandchildren.  Harold  M. 
Neufeld  C50B)  has  spent  his  in  building  an 
album  of  photographs  of  every  piece  of  art 
connected  with  John  of  Patmos,  author  of 
the  Book  of  Revelation.  This  winter,  Neufeld 
presented  the  Seminary  with  a  copy  of  his 
photo  album,  making  Princeton  one  of  only 
three  institutions  in  the  world  to  receive 
one. 

Neufeld,  who  retired  in  1987  after  seven¬ 
teen  years  as  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyter¬ 
ian  Church,  Leadville,  CO,  spends  much  of 
his  time  traveling  to  view  works  of  art  con¬ 
nected  with  the  author  of  Revelation.  His 
journey  has  often  taken  him  to  Patmos, 
the  island  in  Greece  where  John  wrote 
Revelation;  appropriately  enough,  he  has 
given  a  copy  of  the  album  to  the  Monastery 
of  St.  John  at  Patmos.  The  third  copy  was 
given  to  England's  Oxford  University. 

Neufeld  is  also  working  on  a  book  to  be 
titled  Pilgrimage  to  Patmos:  A  New 
Approach  to  the  Book  of  Revelation. 


summer  1996 


on&off  Campus 


tneir  iy4^  weaaing  as 


Wedding  Bells  Ring  at  Miller  Chapel 

It's  summertime  in  Princeton,  and  that  means  a  busy 
season  for  weddings  in  Miller  Chapel.  For  alumni/ae  and 
other  Seminary  community  members,  PTS's  historic 
chapel  is  a  popular  spot  for  marriage  ceremonies. 

"We  have  about  twelve  weddings  every  year,"  said 
chapel  secretary  Carol  Belles.  Miller  Chapel  is  available 
for  the  weddings  of  Seminary  community  members — stu¬ 
dents,  alumni/ae,  faculty,  staff,  and  administrators — as 
well  as  their  children.  Occasionally  a  person  not  con¬ 
nected  with  the  Seminary  gets  married  in  Miller,  Belles 
said,  but  that  is  rare,  and  requires  special  permission 
from  the  Seminary  president. 

So  far  this  year,  eighteen  couples  have  been  married 
in  Miller  Chapel,  including  President  Thomas  Gillespie's 
daughter,  Dayle  Gillespie  ('89B),  who  was  married  there 
over  the  Labor  Day  weekend.  The  elder  Gillespie  and 
Nancy  Lammers  Gross  ('81 B,  '92D)  performed  the  cere¬ 
mony. 

Of  course,  seminarians  have  been  holding  weddings  in 
Miller  Chapel  for  a  long  time.  Carl  ('36B,  '42M)  and  Alice 
Bogard,  for  instance,  were  married  there  on  July  3, 

1942. 

"Dr.  Andrew  Blackwood  was  one  of  Carl's  favorite  pro¬ 
fessors,"  Alice  Bogard  remembered,  "and  he  performed 
the  ceremony  at  10  a.m.  on  a  beautiful  day.  Since  none 
of  my  family  was  present,  Mrs.  Blackwood  invited  me  to 
stay  with  them  for  two  days  on  Mercer  Street  and 
brought  me  breakfast  in  bed  on  the  wedding  day.  After 
the  wedding  she  served  a  delightful  lunch  for  us  and  the 
professor.  What  a  lady  she  was!" 


PTS  Breaks  Ground 

for  New  Housing 

Second-career  students  and  con¬ 
tinuing  education  participants  will 
both  gain  new  places  to  live  and 
work  when  Princeton  Theological 
Seminary  begins  work  on  two  new 
campus  building  projects. 

The  first  project  will  be  to  build 
new  apartments  for  single  students 
at  the  Charlotte  Rachel  Wilson 
apartment  complex,  which  current¬ 
ly  contains  apartments  for  married 
students  and  families.  The  new 
apartment  building,  which  will  be 
located  directly  across  from  the 
Charlotte  Newcombe  Center,  will 
contain  thirty  one-bedroom  apart¬ 
ments  and  ten  two-bedroom  apart¬ 
ments.  A  total  of  fifty  students, 
most  of  them  older  or  in  their  sec¬ 
ond  careers,  will  eventually  live 
there. 

"We  have  people  coming  from 
homes  and  apartments  who  are 
used  to  living  on  their  own," 


Director  of  Housing  Stephen 
Cardone  said,  "and  up  until  now 
we've  had  to  put  them  into  dormi¬ 
tory  rooms.  At  any  other  institu¬ 
tion,  single  graduate  students  can 
move  into  apartments.  This  build¬ 
ing  will  meet  that  need  here." 

The  brick  building  will  have  two 
stories,  parking,  limited  storage, 
and  a  lounge,  "since  we  want  the 
building  to  have  a  community  feel 
to  it,"  Cardone  said.  It  will  also 
include  security,  cable  access,  and 
computer  access.  Cardone  hopes 
the  building  will  be  completed  by 
summer  1997.  As  students  move 
into  the  new  housing,  the  Center  of 
Continuing  Education  will  begin  to 
remodel  Erdman  Hall,  which  cur¬ 
rently  houses  students.  The  "new 
and  improved"  Erdman  Hall  will 
contain  new  office  space  for  center 
staff  and  new  rooms  for  continuing 
education  participants. 

"There  will  be  more  single  rooms 
with  private  baths,  some  rooms 
with  double  beds,  and  telephone 
and  computer  hookups,"  said 
David  Wall,  program  coordinator 
for  continuing  education.  If  all  goes 
according  to  plan,  Wall  added,  the 
Erdman  renovation  will  begin  in 
summer  1997  and  be  completed  in 
early  1998. 


British  Professor  Gives  Warfield 
Lectures 

Christina  A.  Baxter,  dean  of  St.  John's  College 
in  Nottingham,  England,  gave  the  Seminary's 
annual  Warfield  Lectures  from  March  18  to  21, 
1996. 

The  six  lectures  were 
on  the  theme  of  "Models 
for  Ministry:  Christian 
Ministry  Reconsidered  in 
the  Light  of  the 
Johannine  Narratives 
about  Women." 

The  lectures,  Baxter 
said,  grew  out  of  her 
experience  of  leading 
retreats  for  and  preach¬ 
ing  at  the  ordinations  of 
the  Church  of  England's 
first  women  clergy. 

"I  thought,  what  mod¬ 
els  of  womanly  ministry  would  be  appropriate 
for  these  women?  And  I  realized  that  the 
women  of  John's  ministry  offer  us  models 
which  are  positive  and  creative,"  she  said. 

Baxter,  who  was  a  guest  professor  of  theolo¬ 
gy  at  Princeton  Seminary  in  1990,  is  the  author 
of  Ready  for  the  Party?  She  has  also  written 
several  articles,  including  "Jesus  the  Man  and 
Women's  Salvation,"  "The  Cursed  Beloved:  A 
Reconsideration  of  Penal  Substitution,"  and 
"Barth:  A  Truly  Biblical  Theologian?" 


Christina  Baxter  gave  the 
Warfield  Lectures  last  spring. 


4  •  inSpire 


photo:  Keith  Kerber 


summer  1996 


on&off  Campus 


New  PTS  Videos  Available 

Settle  into  your  armchair  for  some  delight¬ 
ful  new  fall  videos  from  Princeton 
Theological  Seminary!  The  selection,  avail¬ 
able  from  Princeton's  Media  Services, 
includes: 

*  Building  Church  and  Community 
Ministries,  with  Carl  Geores,  assistant  for 
student  advisement  in  the  Office  of  Field 
Education; 

*  Temptation,  with  Stuart  Professor  of 
Philosophy  Diogenes  Allen; 

*  Teaching  for  Faith:  A  Guide  for  Teachers 
of  Adult  Classes,  with  Richard  R.  Osmer,  the 
Thomas  W.  Synnott  Associate  Professor  of 
Christian  Education  and  director  of 
Princeton's  School  of  Christian  Education; 
and 


*  Human  Sexuality  and  Christian 
Community,  with  Max  L.  Stackhouse, 
Princeton's  Stephen  Colwell  Professor  of 
Christian  Ethics. 


At  its  May  meeting, 
the  Seminary's  Board  of 
Trustees  elected  Robert 
M.  Adams,  former  vice 
chairperson  of  the  board,  as 
its  new  chairperson,  and  Ralph  M. 
Wyman  as  vice  chairperson.  Adams  suc¬ 
ceeds  Johannes  R.  Krahmer,  who  retired 
after  a  five-year  term  as  chairperson  and 
will  remain  on  the  board  as  an  active 
member. 

A  graduate  of  Princeton  Seminary, 
Princeton  University,  and  Cornell 
University,  Adams  is  a  professor  of  philos¬ 
ophy  at  Yale  University,  a  position  he 
began  in  1993  after  twenty  years  on  the 
faculty  of  the  University  of  California — 

Los  Angeles. 

Louise  Upchurch  Lawson,  associate  pas¬ 
tor  of  Germantown  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Germantown,  TN,  was  re-elected  as  the 
board's  secretary,  a  position  for  which 
there  is  no  term  limit. 

Two  new  trustees — Ginny  Thornburgh 
and  Julie  E.  Neraas — will  join  the  board 
at  its  October  meeting.  Thornburgh  is 
director  of  the  Religion  and  Disability 
Program  of  the  National  Organization  on 
Disability  in  Washington,  D.C.  (see  right). 
Neraas,  a  1979  M.Div.  graduate  of  PTS, 
is  an  assistant  professor  at  Hamline 
University  in  St.  Paul,  MN,  and  a  spiritual 
director  in  the  Twin  Cities  area.  She 
served  on  PTS's  Alumni/ae  Association 
Executive  Council  for  four  years,  and  was 
elected  by  the  alumni/ae  association  as  an 
alumni/ae  trustee. 


The  Seminary's  annual  Hunger  Run  (above) 
was  just  one  of  the  Stewardship  Committee's 
spring  fund-raising  projects,  which  together 
raised  nearly  $19,000.  The  Hunger  Run  itself 
raised  around  $3,500,  which  was  given  to 
Bread  for  the  World  and  the  Crisis  Ministry 
of  Trenton,  NJ.  The  Stuff  Auction,  where  semi¬ 
narians  bought  goods  and  services  donated 
by  other  community  members,  raised  approxi¬ 
mately  $2,000;  the  money  was  given  to  the 
PC(USA)  Peacemaking  Project  and  to  the  Heifer 
Project,  which  gives  livestock  to  poor  people 
around  the  world.  The  book  sale  raised  approx¬ 
imately  $12,000  for  eight  international  theologi¬ 
cal  colleges,  and  Theologiggle,  an  evening 
of  skits  and  silliness,  raised  $1,200  for 
WomanSpace,  a  shelter  for  battered  women. 


Sun  Hee  Kwak  ('65B),  a  Korean 
pastor  and  educator,  received  the 
1996  Distinguished  Alumnus  Award 
at  the  Alumni/ae  Reunion  banquet 
this  spring.  He  was  honored  for 
founding  and  pastoring  So-Mang 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Seoul,  South 
Korea,  which  is  one  of  the  three 
largest  Presbyterian  churches  in 
Korea,  as  well  as  for  establishing  and 
supporting  schools  in  China,  North 
Korea,  Brazil,  and  the  former  Soviet 
Union.  He  has  also  supported 
churches  in  China,  and  is  currently 
chairperson  of  the  boards  of  trustees 
of  Presbyterian  Theological  Seminary 
and  Soong  Sil  University,  both  in 
Seoul,  and  Yanbian  University  in 
Yanbian,  China.  Kwak  is  pictured 
above  shaking  hands  with  PTS 
President  Thomas  W.  Gillespie;  at  left 
is  Kwak's  son  Joseph,  who  graduated 
this  spring  with  a  Th.M. 


David  B.  Watermulder,  former  pastor 
of  Bryn  Mawr  Presbyterian  Church  in  Bryn 
Mawr,  PA,  and  a  trustee  since  1958,  retired 


to  trustee  emeritus  status  at  the  May 
board  meeting.  He  chaired  the  board 
from  1985  to  1991. 


New  Trustee  Champions  Rights 

of  People  with  Disabilities 

One  summer  night  in  1960,  four- 
month-old  Peter  Thornburgh,  son 
of  former  Pennsylvania  governor 
and  former  U.S.  attorney  general  Dick 
Thornburgh,  suffered  a  car  accident 
that  killed  his  mother  and  left  him  with 
a  severely  injured  brain.  The  problems 
of  Peter's  condition  have  inspired  the 
life  work  of  his  adoptive  mother,  new 
PTS  trustee  Ginny  Thornburgh,  who 
is  a  passionate  and  energetic  advocate 
for  the  rights  of  people  with  disabilities. 

Thornburgh,  who  is  a  Presbyterian 
layperson,  began  her  advocacy  career 
by  working  to  see  Peter  included  as  a 
full,  welcome  member  of  his  communi¬ 
ty  and  congregation.  Throughout  thirty 
years  of  work,  she  has  helped  reform 
Pennsylvania's  institutional  care,  been 
coordinator  of  programs  for  persons 
with  disabilities  at  Harvard  University, 
and  has  co-written  two  books:  the 
award-winning  That  All  May  Worship, 
now  in  its  fourth  printing,  and  From 
Barriers  to  Bridges,  a  guide  to  commu¬ 
nity  action.  She  also  edited  Loving 
Justice:  The  ADA  and  the  Religious 
Community,  and  has  helped  organize 


many  confer¬ 
ences  on  wel¬ 
coming  people 
with  disabilities 
into  faith  com¬ 
munities. 

Her  current 
job  is  as  director 
of  the  Religion 
and  Disability 
program  at  the  Ginny  Thornburgh 

National  Organization  on  Disability  in 
Washington,  D.C.,  where  she  has  served 
for  eight  years.  She  works  to  make  con¬ 
gregations  of  every  faith  and  denomina¬ 
tion  more  welcoming  and  accessible 
to  children  and  adults  with  disabilities, 
showing  how  faith  communities  can 
overcome  architectural  and  attitudinal 
barriers. 

At  PTS,  she  said,  she  hopes  to  extend 
that  mission. 

"If  I  had  a  theme  song,"  Thornburgh 
said,  "it  would  be  this:  People  with 
disabilities  have  gifts  to  bring  to  their 
congregations  and  faith  communities. 
Welcoming  people  with  disabilities  is 
more  than  an  obligation — it's  an  oppor¬ 
tunity.  I  want  Princeton  Theological 
Seminary  to  be  the  best  in  the  country 
at  welcome." 


photo:  The  Leigh  Photographic  Group 


summer  1996 


on&off  Campus 


Faculty  Changes 

Cleophus  J.  LaRue  Jr.  has  been  appoint¬ 
ed  assistant  professor  of  homiletics,  effec¬ 
tive  July  1,  1996.  LaRue,  a  minister  in  the 
National  Baptist  Convention  (U.S.A.)  and 
former  senior  pastor  of  Toliver  Chapel 
Missionary  Baptist  Church  in  Waco,  TX, 
will  not  be  a  new  face  on  the  Seminary 
campus;  he  received  his  Ph.D.  from  PTS 
in  May.  While  completing  his  dissertation, 
he  was  assistant  professor  of  preaching 
and  worship  from  1993  to  1996  at  New 
Brunswick  Theological  Seminary 
in  New  Brunswick,  NJ. 

The  Board  of  Trustees  has  also 
announced  three  faculty  promo¬ 
tions,  all  effective  July  1.  Leonora 
Tubbs  Tisdale  was  promoted 
to  associate  professor  of  preach¬ 
ing  and  worship,  with  tenure. 

Geddes  W.  Hanson  was  named 
the  Charlotte  W.  Newcombe 
Professor  of  Congregational 
Ministries.  Richard  R.  Osmer 
was  promoted  to  full  professor, 
and  continues  to  hold  the 
Thomas  W.  Synnott  Chair  of 
Christian  Education. 

Julie  A.  Duncan  has  resigned 
her  position  as  assistant  profes¬ 
sor  of  Old  Testament  to  accept 
a  teaching  position  at  Garrett- 
Evangelical  Theological  Seminary 
in  Evanston,  IL. 


Alan  Neely  Retires 

Alan  Neely,  an  ordained  Baptist  minister 
who  has  spent  the  past  eight  years  as 
Princeton's  Henry  Winters  Luce  Professor 
of  Ecumenics  and  Mission,  retired  in  May. 

Neely  joined  the  Princeton  faculty  in 
1988  after  a  career  that  took  him  to  Cali, 
Colombia,  where  he  taught  at  International 
Baptist  Theological  Seminary,  and  to  Wake 
Forest,  NC,  where  he  spent  thirteen  years 
on  the  faculty  of  Southeastern  Baptist 
Theological  Seminary. 

In  his  retire¬ 
ment  remarks, 
he  reflected  on 
the  fact  that  he 
had  been  born 
and  grown  up  in 
a  "very  provincial 
environment," 
but  through  his 
life  had  lived 
in  Arkansas, 
Texas,  Virginia, 
Colorado,  Costa 
Rica,  Colombia, 
Argentina,  North 
Carolina,  and 
New  Jersey. 

"I  feel  equally 
comfortable  in 
Princeton  and  in 
the  Philippines," 
he  said,  "and  in 


Cleophus  LaRue  Jr. 


a  Presbyterian  Church,  a  Methodist  church, 
or  a  Roman  Catholic  church.  I  consider  this 
a  manifestation  of  God's  friendship  and 
grace." 

He  told  his  Princeton  colleagues  that  he 
was  happy  to  have  come  to  a  Presbyterian 

school  in  the 
Northeast. 

"I  could  have 
lived  and 
died  with  a 
limited  and 
insular  per¬ 
spective 
were  it  not 
for  people 
like  you  who 
have  graced 
our  lives, 
accepted  us 
despite  our 
denomina¬ 
tional  histo¬ 
ry,  our  way 
Alan  Neely  retired  in  May.  of  pronounc. 

ing  words,  and  even  our  age.  And  for  this 
we  will  be  always  grateful  and  in  your 
debt." 

Neely  and  his  wife,  Virginia,  are  moving 
to  Raleigh,  NC,  where  they  have  a  home. 

In  retirement,  he  plans  to  write  and  to 
teach  in  local  congregations  throughout 
the  country. 


Looking  Ahead: 
Fall  Events  at  PTS 


Black  Alumni/ae  Conference 
Set  for  Fall 

A  conference  for  black  alumni/ae,  titled 
"The  Black  Church:  A  Sign  of  Hope?,"  will 
be  held  from  October  3  through  5  at  the 
Seminary.  While  the  conference  is  planned 
for  black  alumni/ae,  everyone  is  welcome 
to  attend. 

Gardner  Taylor,  pastor  emeritus  of 
Concord  Baptist  Church,  Brooklyn,  NY, 
will  be  the  conference's  keynote  speaker. 
Prathia  Hall  Wynn  ('82B,  '84M),  who  is 
dean  of  African  American  ministries  at 
United  Theological  Seminary  in  Dayton, 
OH,  will  be  the  preacher.  The  closing  ban¬ 
quet  speaker  will  be  M.  William  Howard 
('72B),  president  of  New  York  Theological 
Seminary.  Bible  study  will  be  led  by  PTS's 
own  Brian  Blount,  assistant  professor 
of  New  Testament,  and  Raquel  St.  Clair, 
a  Seminary  Ph.D.  student. 

For  more  information  about  this  confer¬ 
ence,  please  call  the  Chapel  Office  at 
609-497-7890. 


PTS  Plans  Ecumenical  Conference 

Catholic  and  Protestant  Christians  will  join 
forces  at  Princeton  Theological  Seminary 
this  fall  for  an  ecumenical  conference,  to  be 
held  September  29  and  30. 

The  convocation  is  co-sponsored  by 
Princeton  and  the  Commission  of 
Ecumenical  and  Interreligious  Affairs  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Diocese  of  Trenton,  NJ.  It  is 
designed  to  allow  all  participants  to  consid¬ 
er,  through  theological  and  biblical  reflec¬ 
tion,  the  state  of 
Christian  unity  as 
the  church  pre¬ 
pares  for  the 
beginning  of  the 
third  Christian  mil¬ 
lennium. 

Speakers  at  the 
conference  will 
include  Raymond 
E.  Brown,  S.S.,  the  Auburn  Distinguished 
Professor  Emeritus  of  Biblical  Studies  at 
Union  Theological  Seminary  in  New  York; 
Edward  Cardinal  Cassidy,  who  is  president 
of  the  Pontifical  Council  for  Promoting 
Christian  Unity  at  the  Vatican  in  Rome,  Italy; 
Jane  Dempsey  Douglass,  Princeton's  Hazel 
Thompson  McCord  Professor  of  Historical 
Theology  and  president  of  the  World 


Alliance  of  Reformed  Churches;  Beverly 
Roberts  Gaventa,  the  Seminary's  Helen  H.  P. 
Manson  Professor  of  New  Testament 
Literature  and  Exegesis;  and  Seminary 
President  Thomas  W.  Gillespie. 

For  more  information,  call  Princeton's 
Center  of  Continuing  Education  at 
609-497-7990. 

Atlanta  Professor  to  Give  Macleod 
Lectures 

Fred  B.  Craddock,  who  is  the  Bandy 
Professor  of  Preaching  and  New  Testament 
Emeritus  at  Emory  University's  Candler 
School  of  Theology  in  Atlanta,  GA,  will 
deliver  this  year's  Donald  Macleod/Short 
Hills  Community  Congregational  Church 
Preaching  Lecture  Series.  The  lectures  will 
be  given  in  the  Main  Lounge  of  Mackay 
Campus  Center  on  October  14  and  15. 

Craddock's  subject  will  be  "A  Sermon 
For  Those  Who  Are  Leaving." 

The  event  was  established  by  Community 
Congregational  Church  in  Short  Hills,  NJ, 
to  honor  Donald  Macleod,  the  Seminary's 
Francis  Landey  Patton  Professor  of 
Preaching  and  Worship  Emeritus.  Every 
two  or  three  years,  the  lecture  series  brings 
an  outstanding  preacher  or  preaching 
instructor  to  the  Seminary  campus. 


photo:  Elizabeth  Clark 


on&off  Campus 


Project  on  Public  Theology 
Formed  at  PTS 


Princeton  Seminary  has  estab¬ 
lished  the  Project  on  Public 
Theology,  a  program  that  helps 
Christians  address  issues  posed 
by  American  culture,  through 
the  insights  of  Christian  theolo¬ 
gy  and  ethics.  Directed  by  PTS 
professor  Max  L.  Stackhouse, 
the  Stephen  Colwell  Professor 
of  Christian  Ethics,  the  project 
will  show  how  biblical  and  theo¬ 
logical  resources  do  and  should 
shape  the  fabric  of  common  life. 

The  project  was  begun  in  the 
fall  of  1995,  in  cooperation  with 
the  Center  for  Christian  Social 
Ethics  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Bethlehem,  PA,  where 
Stackhouse  organized  an  adult 
education  program  on  ethical 
questions  in  economic  life. 

"Our  goal  is  to  develop  a  kind 
of  extension  seminary  for  the 
laity,"  Stackhouse  said.  "We 
bring  together  church  members 
with  seminary  faculty  and  other 


experts  to  talk  about  how  faith- 
oriented  disciplines  like  ethics 
and  theology  can  help  us  under¬ 
stand  more  secular  disciplines 
and  issues  in  public  life. 

"The  truths  of  the  Gospel 
are  public  truths,  truths  for  the 
world,  not  just  for  the  individual 
in  his  or  her  interior  life,"  he 
said.  "Christians  should  not  hide 
the  fact  that  they  are  speaking 
from  a  theological  point  of  view. 
We  want  to  foment  in  the  semi¬ 
nary,  the  church,  and  the  public 
discourse  an  awareness  of 
Christian  convictions." 

The  Project  on  Public 
Theology  offered  a  seminar  on 
human  sexuality  and  Christian 
community  at  the  Bethlehem 
church  last  spring,  and  plans  are 
underway  for  a  fall  1996  semi¬ 
nar  on  Christian  ethics  and  the 
professions  of  medicine  and 
law. 


When  the  police  are  called  to  campus,  it's  not  good  news — 
unless  the  police  are  forty  police  chaplains  from  the 
International  Conference  of  Police  Chaplains  (ICPC).  Area 
police  chaplains  met  to  discuss  and  learn  about  their  field  last 
May  at  a  conference  that  was  jointly  sponsored  by  the  Mid- 
Atlantic  and  North  Atlantic  Regions  of  the  ICPC,  and  by  the 
Princeton  Township  Police  Department. 

The  ICPC  emphasizes  education,  training,  and  credentials 
for  its  members,  who  hold  a  national  convention  every  year, 
as  well  as  many  local  area  training  programs.  The  Princeton 
program  included  a  full-day  seminar  for  ICPC  credit  on  critical 
incident  stress  debriefing,  or  how  police  chaplains  can  help 
officers  deal  with  shootings,  deaths,  serious  injuries,  and 
mass  disasters,  as  well  as  more  everyday  job  stresses. 

Speakers  stressed  the  necessity  of  following  a  careful 
debriefing  procedure  following  a  critical  incident.  They  also 
emphasized  that  it's  important  for  everyone,  but  particularly 
police  chaplains,  to  carefully  monitor  their  own  levels  of 
stress  in  order  to  take  care  of  their  own  health. 

"People  die  to  avoid  stress,"  said  Jackie  Dalrymple, 
a  speaker  who  works  in  the  FBI's  employee  assistance  pro¬ 
gram.  "We  had  five  suicides  in  the  FBI  last  year.  Now,  stress 
can  be  a  good  thing— the  idea  is  to  find  the  optimal  level, 
and  not  to  go  over  that."  Church  professionals  can  do  that, 
she  said,  through  noting  their  "storm  warnings,"  or  signs 
that  they're  under  too  much  stress;  by  maintaining  good 
attitudes;  by  getting  enough  nutrition,  rest,  and  exercise; 
by  not  abusing  alcohol,  tobacco,  or  drugs;  and  by  taking  the 
time  to  nurture  their  relationships  with  friends  and  family, 
and  to  do  nice  things  for  themselves. 

"A  little  healthy  hedonism  is  a  good  thing,"  Dalrymple  said. 
"It's  important  for  us  to  stay  grounded  as  men  and  women 
of  God." 


Seminary  Hosts  Police  Chaplains'  Conference 


Graduation  day  was  here 
again!  The  Seminary  graduat¬ 
ed  two  hundred  and  thirty-six 
students  in  May.  One  hundred 
and  forty-seven  received  M.Div. 
degrees,  including  Kirk  Nolan 
(left).  Of  these,  fifty-two  were 
called  as  associate  pastors  and 
pastors  in  churches  across  the 
country.  Many  more  will  com¬ 
plete  further  study  before  seek¬ 
ing  pastorates.  In  Presbyterian 
churches  in  the  United  States, 
18  percent  of  all  pastors  are 
Princeton  graduates. 


Princeton  faculty  and  students 
created  this  panel  of  the  AIDS 
quilt  in  memory  of  David  A. 
Weadon,  the  Seminary's  late  C.  F. 
Seabrook  Director  of  Music,  who 
died  in  December.  Andrew  K.  M. 
Adam,  assistant  professor  of  New 
Testament,  and  M.Div.  middler 
Sara  McCulloh  led  the  project. 


inSpire  •  7 


photo:  Elizabeth  Clark 


summer  1996 


Student  Life 


Career  Times  Two 

by  Barbara  Chaapel 

For  Princeton’s  growing  number  of  dual¬ 
career  couples,  coming  to  seminary  is  a  bit 
like  following  the  biblical  Abraham  and 
Sarah  into  an  unknown  country.  These  stu¬ 
dents  uproot  careers,  families,  and  house¬ 
holds  so  that  one  or  both  of  them  can  follow 
God’s  call  to  ministry. 

1996  M.  Div.  graduates  Duncan  and 
Emily  McColl  left  their  home  in  San  Diego 
to  come  to  seminary  after  the  death  of  their 
fifteen-month-old  son.  “I  had  always  wanted 
to  be  a  minister,’’  said  Duncan,  a  Stanford 
graduate  and  former  professional  football 
player  for  the  Washington  Redskins.  “I  took 
some  courses  part  time  at  Fuller  Theological 
Seminary,  but  was  working  full  time  in  real 
estate.  Then  when  Evan  died,  I  knew  that 
what  was  really  important  to  me  in  my  life 


was  serving  God.’ 


Emily,  on  the  other  hand,  had  never  con¬ 
sidered  ministry.  A  physical  therapy  major 
at  Stanford,  she 
was  a  full-time 
mother  and  led 
the  children’s  pro¬ 
gram  at  her 
church  as  a  vol¬ 
unteer.  “After 
Evan’s  death, 

I  wanted  to  help 
other  bereaved 
families,  and 
I  found  my  own 
call  to  ministry,” 
she  said. 

So  the  McColls  visited  Princeton  using 
frequent  flyer  airline  tickets  from  a  friend, 
rented  their  house,  and  headed  three  thou¬ 
sand  miles  east  as  “late  admits”  in  the  sum¬ 
mer  of  1993. 

Angela  Dienhart  Hancock  and  Trent 
Hancock,  also  members  of  the  Class  of 
1996,  entered  seminary  as  single  people. 
They  met  in  the  touring  choir  during  their 
first  semester,  and  married  the  summer 
after  their  middler  year. 

“  The  biggest  transition  at  seminary  for 
us  was  marriage  itself,”  Angela  said.  “Most 


of  our  friends  were  single  and  still  are. 

We  sort  of  lived  between  two  worlds. 

Our  apartment  at  Charlotte  Rachel  Wilson 
was  nice,  but  I  felt  isolated  from  both  mar¬ 
ried  and  single  students.  Our  real  communi¬ 
ty  was  the  touring  choir.” 

Community  is  a  key  issue  for  dual-career 
couples.  Laurena  Kerber  followed  her  hus¬ 
band,  Keith,  to  Princeton.  With  an  under¬ 
graduate  degree  in  international  trade, 
she  plans  a  career  in  international  business. 
But  coming  to  Princeton  postponed  her 
plans  temporarily.  During  her  husband’s  first 
year  at  PTS,  she  commuted  two  hours  a  day 
to  a  job  in  Newark,  NJ,  instead  of  beginning 
her  M.B.A. 

“I  knew  Laurena  was  not  fulfilled  that 
year,”  said  Keith,  who 
received  his  M.  Div. 
in  1996.  “We  were  at 
Princeton  for  me,  and 
she  did  what  it  took 
to  get  by.” 

“That  first  year  was 
really  hard,”  Laurena 
agreed.  “I  hadn't  been 


ing  a  baby  shower  for  another  spouse  and 
feeling  “like  I  was  on  a  different  planet 
in  the  discussion,”  she  said.  “Dual-career 
couples,  when  one  of  the  careers  is  not 
in  the  church,  are  unusual  at  PTS.  Many 
wives  work,  but  they  are  not  on  a  profession¬ 
al  career  track.  I  didn't  meet  any  other 
wives  who  wanted  to  work  in  the  corporate 
world.” 

Reinald  Yoder  knows  what  she  means. 

He  is  married  to  Christine  Yoder,  a  1994 
M.Div.  graduate  who  is  now  a  student  in 
the  Seminary’s  Ph.D.  program.  During  ori¬ 
entation  for  new  students,  he  was  one  of 
only  two  men  at  a  reception  for  spouses 
at  the  president’s  home. 

“I  felt  strange,  to  say  the  least,”  he 

laughed.  “It  was  an 
open  invitation,  but 
the  focus  of  the  dis¬ 
cussion  was  on 
women’s  Bible  stud¬ 


ies 


and 


womens 


accepted  into  an 
M.B.A.  program 
jj  yet,  so  it  felt  like 

k. 

*  my  career  was  on 
f  hold;  and  I  had 
o  to  drive  every  day 
throughout  that 
icy  winter  to 
work,  getting  home  late  and  having  little 
time  with  Keith.  Neighbors  at  CRW  got  me 
through  that  year.  On  the  day  I  found  out 
I  hadn’t  been  accepted  at  Wharton,  a  neigh¬ 
bor  brought  by  a  ‘care  basket’  of  tea  and  pot¬ 
pourri.  Another  day  some  friends  hung 
a  ‘support’  poster  on  our  door. 

A  participant  in  the  Seminary  choir, 
Laurena  also  credits  the  late  director  of 
music,  David  Weadon,  with  “reaching  out  to 
me  and  helping  me  feel  connected  to  PTS.” 

Laurena  describes  herself  as  a  non-tradi- 
tional  seminary  spouse.  She  recalled  attend¬ 


®  support  groups.  The 
a.  experience  felt  exclu- 
§*  sionary. 

|  Couples  like  the 
o>  Yoders  have  found 
„  that  good  friends, 
both  inside  and  out- 

O 

jj  side  the  Seminary 
community,  help 
abate  the  feeling  of  being  different  that  dual¬ 
career  couples  face.  “We  had  a  ‘blind  dinner 
date’  recently  with  a  Russian  couple  at 
Princeton  University,  and  I  know  they  will 
become  good  friends,”  Christine  said.  “The 
wife,  a  native  of  Germany,  is  a  full-time  stu¬ 
dent  in  Russian  literature,  and  the  husband 
is  studying  English  and  looking  for  work.” 

Support  comes  from  farther  away,  too.  The 
Kerbers  belong  to  a  support  group  of  friends 
from  their  church  in  California.  “We  are  six 
or  seven  couples  from  all  over  the  country 
who  meet  every  summer,”  Keith  explained. 
“We  have  committed  ourselves  to  be  an 
intentional  community  that  supports  and 
challenges  each  other.  We  talk  and  pray  with 
each  other  whenever  one  of  us  has  an  impor¬ 
tant  decision  to  make.” 

And  for  Emily  McColl,  long-distance  sup¬ 
port  was  as  tangible  and  as  tiny  as  a  recipe 
arriving  in  the  mail.  “Friends  sent  me  a  bak- 


8  •  inSpire 


summer  1996 

Student  Life 


But  Trent  was  resolute  about  who  preached 
first.  “Angela  preached  our  candidating  ser¬ 
mon,”  he  said.  “We  wanted  to  send  the  mes¬ 
sage  from  the  start  that  she  was  one  of  the 
pastors,  not  the  pastor’s  wife.” 

Who  looks  for  the  first  job  is  a  key  deci¬ 
sion  for  couples  where  one  partner  is  not 
a  minister.  With  Christine  at  least  two  years 
away  from  her  Ph.D.  and  Reinald  happily 
teaching  math  and  computer  science  at 
a  local  private  school,  the  Yoders  have  some 
time  to  think  about  it.  “We  made  the  deci¬ 
sion  to  come  to  Princeton  six  years  ago  for 
me,”  Christine  said,  “so  the  next  move 
should  be  his!” 

But  the  couple  is  realistic.  “I’m  more 
marketable  teaching  high  school  math  than 

Christine  will 
be  teaching  Old 
Testament,” 

Reinald  acknowl¬ 
edged.  “She’ll  have 
fewer  job  possibili¬ 
ties,  so  I’m  com¬ 
mitted  to  going 
where  she  gets 
a  position.” 


The  next  phase  began 
for  the  Kerbers  when 
Laurena  accepted  a 
position  as  an  interna- 
tional  procurement  | 

<D 

specialist  with  Allied  * 

Signal  Corporation 
in  Phoenix,  AZ.  2 

O 

“It  wasn’t  that  diffi-  a. 
cult  to  decide  who 
would  take  the  first  job,”  Keith  said. 
“Laurena  needs  to  get  good  solid  experience 
in  business  before  she  steps  out  of  her  career 
track  to  have  children,  especially  since  her 
goal  is  to  become  the  chief  executive  officer 
of  a  major  American  corporation.  I  want  to 
be  a  youth  pastor,  and  I’m  willing  to  wait.” 

He  didn’t  have  to  wait  long.  In  July  he 
was  called  as  associate  pastor  for  youth  and 
young  adults  at  Orangewood  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Phoenix.  “God  got  us  to 


Princeton,  and  through  Princeton,  so  I  had 
no  doubt  he  would  provide  for  us  in  the 
future,”  Keith  said.  “The  pastor  there  is 
Brian  Paulson  (PTS  Class  of  1987)  and 
he  is  also  half  of  a  dual-career  couple!” 

Winter-weary,  the  McColls  left  Princeton 
after  graduation,  California-bound.  “The 
beaches,  surfboards,  and  Grandma  were 
calling  the  kids  home,”  Duncan  laughed. 

He  and  Emily  wanted  to  work  at  the  same 
church  so  that  their  family  could  worship 
together,  but  there  were  few  churches  open 
to  a  clergy  couple  who  needed  two  positions. 

“When  we  interviewed  with  Point  Loma 
Community  Presbyterian  Church  in  San 
Diego,  that  congregation  didn’t  know 
it  wanted  two  associates,"  Emily  said  with 
a  twinkle.  But  the  McColls  looked  at  the 
“huge  job  description”  and  proposed  one  and 
a  half  positions;  the  church  agreed.  Duncan 
is  now  the  full-time  associate  pastor  for  out¬ 
reach,  evangelism,  and  mission;  Emily  minis¬ 
ters  half  time  in  pastoral  care  and  women’s 
ministries. 

Such  creativity  and  flexibility  are  musts 
for  dual-career  couples,  whose  lives  and  deci¬ 
sions  change  perceptions  of  ministry  and 

ministers. 

Christine  Yoder 
believes  the  church 
is  slowly  figuring  out 
what  to  expect  from 
two-career  couples. 
She  recounted  a  com¬ 
mittee  meeting  she 
led  in  a  church  where 
she  was  doing  field 
education. 

“It  was  1 1:00  p.m. 
and  the  committee 
was  trying  to  decide 
what  color  paper 
to  print  something  on.  I  finally  told  them 
politely  but  firmly  that  I  had  not  eaten  din¬ 
ner,  had  a  working  spouse  at  home,  and  had¬ 
n’t  seen  him  all  day.  Then  I  got  up  and  left. 

“They  were  shocked.  Yet  a  few  days  later 
one  of  the  members  told  me  I  had  helped 
them  see  the  problem  with  assuming  the 
church’s  business  was  the  only  important 
thing  in  my — and  their — lives.  It’s  impor¬ 
tant,  but  so  is  my  marriage.”  I 


ing  recipe  each  day  during  that  awful  snowy 
winter  our  first  year,”  she  said.  “When  you’re 
used  to  California  sun,  having  fifty-three 
days  that  year  without  seeing  the  sun  or 
moon  was  tough.” 

Managing  daily  schedules  poses  a  particu¬ 
lar  challenge  for  these  couples.  With  four 
schoolchildren  and  two  graduate  students 
doing  homework  and  writing  papers  every 
night  after  dinner,  both  study  space  and 
computer  time  were  at  a  premium  in  the 
McColls’  small  apartment  at  the  Seminary’s 
Whiteley  Gymnasium. 

“We  knew  it  was  time  to  get  two  comput¬ 
ers  when  both  Emily  and  I  were  writing 
papers  on  Jeremiah  for  ‘Orientation  to  Old 
Testament  Studies,”'  Duncan  recalled  wryly. 
“We  had  borh  labeled 
our  files  'Jeremiah'  and 
I  mistakenly  deleted 
Emily’s  paper  while 
working  on  mine.” 

Perhaps  the  biggest 
challenge  for  dual¬ 
career  couples  comes 
with  graduations  and 
job  searches. 

Angela  and  Trent 
Hancock  knew  they 
wanted  to  pastor 
together.  “We  wanted 
to  worship  together, 
hear  each  other  preach;  that  meant  being 
co-pastors,”  Angela  said.  Not  knowing  any 
co-pastors  or  how  hard  it  would  be  to  find 
a  call,  they  approached  the  call  process 
aggressively,  sending  out  178  copies  of  their 
Personal  Information  Form,  a  record  for 
this  senior  class,  Trent  believes.  “We  invested 
a  small  fortune  in  preaching  videos,”  he 
laughed. 

The  McConnellsburg  Presbyterian  Church 
in  central  Pennsylvania  was  the  first  to  con¬ 
tact  them,  and  was  the  church  whose  call 
they  finally  accepted.  That  congregation  had 
already  had  a  clergy  couple  on  staff,  and  the 
Hancocks  learned  that  it  had  been  a  positive 
experience  for  all  concerned.  They  plan  to 
share  all  aspects  of  their  ministry,  although 
“we  will  be  a  little  unpredictable  about 
preaching,  so  no  one  comes  to  church  just 
to  hear  one  or  the  other  of  us,”  Angela  said. 


inSpire  •  9 


summer  1996 


Living  History 

PTS  Pilgrims  Explore  the  Holy  Land 

and  planner,  who  is  Class  of  1991  (M.Div.) 
and  Class  of  1996  (Ph.D.).  Richard 
Whitaker,  information  specialist  and  lecturer 
in  Old  Testament,  also  helped  plan  and  lead 
the  trip,  as  did  Dean  of  Continuing 
Education  Joyce  C.  Tucker.  PTS  President 
Thomas  W.  Gillespie  and  his  wile,  Barbara, 
and  daughter,  Dayle,  also  went  on  the  trip. 

WORSHIP  IN  A  HOLY  LAND 

Each  day,  trip  participants  worshipped 
together,  with  devotions  led  by  group  mem¬ 
bers.  The  sanctuary  was  often  a  significant 
biblical  site.  On  the  group’s  first  Sunday 
in  Israel,  George  Wirth  preached  from  the 
Mount  of  Olives.  Behind  the  tiny  "congrega¬ 
tion”  was  the  noise  and  confusion  of  street 
vendors  and  cars;  in  front  of  them  was 
a  panoramic  view  of  the  Old  City  of 
Jerusalem.  Wirth  opened  his  Bible  to  Psalm 
122  and  began  to  read,  “Pray  for  the  peace 
of  Jerusalem.  ” 

The  peace  of  Jerusalem,  unfortunately, 
is  surrounded  by  bullet  holes  in  buildings, 
armed  soldiers  at  bus  stops  and  in  clumps 
around  the  country,  and  tight  airport  securi¬ 
ty.  Peace  is  not  a  word  generally  associated 
with  the  Middle  East.  The  day  the  group 
reported  to  the  PTS  campus  before  depart¬ 
ing,  the  second  terrorist  bombing  of 
a  Jerusalem  commuter  bus  occurred.  The 
day  participants  arrived  in  Tel  Aviv,  their  bus 
was  late  because  ol  a  bombing  in  the  shop¬ 
ping  district.  People  were  killed.  However, 
as  guest  expert  (and  Tel  Aviv  University 
Professor  of  Archaeology)  Gabriel  Barkay 
noted,  “Jerusalem  is  usually  peaceful.  You 
can’t  believe  everything  the  media  says.” 

STUDY  IN  A  HOLY  LAND 

The  group’s  extensive  and  intensive  itin¬ 
erary  covered  every  part  ol  Israel  except  the 
far  southern  wilderness  region,  and  filled 
their  days  from  before  breakfast  until  well 
into  the  evening. 

True  to  the  invitation,  the  trip  provided 
a  regional  understanding  of  biblical  history 


by  R.  Elizabeth  Boone 
All  photos  by  David  Carpenter 


At  top  is  the  Dome 
of  the  Rock  on 
the  Temple  Mount. 
In  the  middle  are 
elements  for  a 
communion  service 
on  the  Mount  of 
Olives,  overlooking 
the  old  Jewish 
cemetery.  At  bot¬ 
tom,  trip  partici¬ 
pant  Greg  Eubanks 
leads  a  devotional 
inside  the  ruins 
of  the  synagogue 
on  top  of  Masada, 
overlooking  the 
Dead  Sea. 


Jerusalem — fabled  city,  ancient 
stronghold,  birthplace  of  Christian¬ 
ity.  In  March  1996,  twenty-seven 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary 
alumni/te  from  the  Class  ol  1991 
travelled  to  the  Holy  Land  together 
for  a  two-week  trip  that  enriched 
their  fellowship,  their  historical 
understandings,  and  ultimately 
their  ministries. 

The  trip  was  made  possible 
by  Ann  and  Tom  Cousins, 

Seminary  benefactors  who  are 
members  and  elders  of  North 
Avenue  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Atlanta,  GA.  They  have  spon¬ 
sored  similar  trips  for  Columbia  Theological 
Seminary,  and  through  their  friendships 
with  PTS  trustee  George  Wirth  (’73B),  who 
is  also  pastor  of  Atlanta’s  Lirst  Presbyterian 
Church,  they  decided  to  extend  their  gen¬ 
erosity  to  Princeton. 

Only  members  of  the  Class  of  1991  who 
are  Presbyterian  pastors  or  associate  pastors 
in  local  congregations  were  eligible  to  go 
on  the  trip.  (Luture  trips  are  in  the  planning 
stages.)  Their  idea,  the  Cousins  said,  was  to 
help  ministers  who  were  still  at  the  beginning 
of  their  pastoral  careers  get  a  better  sense 
of  the  land  where  Jesus  lived. 

“Positive  changes  in  the  church  need  to 
happen  from  the  top  down.  We  need  strong 
pastoral  leadership  in  our  churches,”  Ann 
Cousins  said.  “Every  pastor  needs  the  chance 
to  go  to  the  Holy  Land.  We  decided  that 
such  a  trip  would  have  a  bigger  impact  on 
a  pastor’s  ministry  and  on  the  whole  church 
if  it  happened  early  in  the  pastor’s  career.” 
Many  pastors  cannot  afford  such  a  trip  until 
they  are  close  to  or  in  retirement,  she  added, 
and  while  a  trip  then  can  be  personally  sig¬ 
nificant,  it  often  comes  too  late  to  affect 
a  career. 

The  twenty-seven  alumni/te  were  joined 
by  various  Princeton  Seminary  administra¬ 
tors,  friends,  and  group  leaders.  These  in¬ 
cluded  Andrew  Vaughn,  the  trip  co-leader 


10  •  inSpire 


summer  1996 


and  geography.  Participants  spent  four  days 
visiting  the  Galilee  and  Golan  areas  of  Israel. 
They  visited  the  New  Testament  sites  of 
Caesarea,  Nazareth,  Bethsaida,  Capernaum, 
Tiberius,  Sephorris,  and  Beth  Shean.  The 
Old  Testament  highlights  included  Hazor, 
Dan,  and  Megiddo. 

The  group  employed  several  guest  lectur¬ 
ers,  including  Ann  Killebrew,  a  professor  at 
the  Rothberg  School  for  Overseas  Students 
at  the  Hebrew  University  of  Jerusalem  and 
an  expert  on  synagogues  and  villages  during 
the  time  of  Jesus.  She  introduced  partici¬ 
pants  to  a  reconstructed  village  in  the  Golan 
that  was  similar  to  those  during  the  time  of 
Jesus.  By  the  end  of  their  time  at  the  archae¬ 
ological  digs,  travellers  knew  the  difference 
between  storehouses  and  stables,  could  iden¬ 
tify  the  six  chambered  gates  of  Solomonic 
architecture,  and  had  walked  through  huge 
water  cisterns  and  down  well  shafts  to  the 
source  of  water. 

Gabriel  Barkay,  one  of  the  world’s  lead¬ 
ing  authorities  on  the  archaeology  and  histo¬ 
ry  of  Jerusalem,  was 
the  group’s  guide  in 
Jerusalem.  He  led  an 
exploration  of  the 
ancient  Jerusalem 
that  exists  under¬ 
neath  the  modern 
Jewish  Quarter  of 
the  Old  City.  The 
adventure  included 
walks  through  what 
is  believed  to  be 
Caiaphas’  palace,  and 
through  a  tunnel 
under  the  Old  City 
that  runs  alongside 
the  Western  Wall 
where  the  walls  and 
some  of  the  pavers 
date  back  to  the  time 
of  Jesus. 

The  final  leg  of 
the  journey  involved 
several  day-long 
study  trips.  A  day 
in  the  Judean  desert 
was  led  by  Dr.  Joseph  Zias,  curator  of  the 
Rockefeller  Museum  in  Jerusalem,  where 
most  of  the  Dead  Sea  Scrolls  are  kept. 
Indiana  Jones-style,  the  group  hiked  up  into 
the  hills  in  search  of  Qumran  caves,  finding 
and  entering  Cave  1 1 .  The  exhausting  day 
ended  with  the  group  floating  happily  in  the 
Dead  Sea. 


Oded  Borowski,  a  professor  of  archaeolo¬ 
gy  and  near-eastern  studies  at  Atlanta’s 
Emory  University,  took  the  group  through 
the  Negeb  region,  where  they  encountered 
their  first  camel  caravan  near  Beersheba  and 
saw  many  Bedouin  encampments.  They  also 
spent  a  day  at  Neot  Kedumin,  a  nature 
reserve  where  all  biblical  agricultural  tradi¬ 
tions  are  preserved  in  one  place.  And  in  the 
Shephelah  region,  Zvi  Lederman,  a  professor 
at  Ben-Gurion  University  in  Beersheba, 
showed  participants  the  battlefield  of  David 
and  Goliath. 

COMMUNITY  IN  A  HOLY  LAND 
Trip  participants  greatly  enjoyed  the 
sense  of  community  and  reunion  they  felt 
while  traveling  with  their  classmates  after 
the  commencement  diaspora. 

“Because  ministry  can  be  a  lonely  profes¬ 
sion,  the  chance  to  share  and  talk  with 
those  who  already  know  you  and  know  the 
language  of  ministry  made  the  trip  all 
the  better,”  said  Millie  Snyder,  pastor  of 
Morningstar 
Presbyterian  Church  in 
Matthews,  NC. 

Other  alumni/se  also 
appreciated  the  theolog¬ 
ical  diversity  within  the 
group. 

“Our  group  repre¬ 
sented  the  entire  theo¬ 
logical  spectrum,  ends 
of  the  spectrum  which 
are  often  at  odds  with 
each  other,  even  and 
especially  at  seminary,” 
said  John  Beddingfield, 
pastor  of  the  Presbyter¬ 
ian  Church  of  Havre 
de  Grace,  Havre  de 
Grace,  MD.  “And  yet 
we  were  one  cohesive 
group  because  we  had 
one  common  reason  for 
our  existence:  to  experi¬ 
ence  Israel  and  enrich 
our  ministry  in  the 
name  of  Jesus  Christ.  ” 

MISSION  ACCOMPLISHED: 

MINISTRY  BEYOND  THE  HOLY  LAND 
Just  as  Ann  and  Tom  Cousins  had 
hoped,  the  trip  to  Israel  had  a  profound 
effect  on  participants.  One  of  the  most 
important  gains,  group  members  said, 


is  the  newlound  ability  to  picture  the 
places  the  Bible  talks  about. 

“I  now  read  the  Bible  with  different 
eyes,”  said  Ann  Deibert,  associate  pastor 
of  Central  Presbyterian  Church,  Louisville, 
KY.  “When  I  read  about  Jesus  going  to 
Capernaum  to  preach,  I’ve  been  there. 

I  know  a  lot  more  about  physical  geography. 
Images  in  the  Bible  relate  to  that  geography 
and  landscape.  Lor  instance,  Psalm  125  says 
as  the  mountains  surround  Jerusalem,  so 
the  Lord  surrounds  the  people.  When  I  went 
there,  I  realized  that  the  mountains  wrap 
around  Jerusalem  like  an  arm.  That  went 
from  being  words  on  the  page  to  being 
a  physical  metaphor  for  me.” 

Beddingfield  agreed  with  his  classmate, 
adding  that  “when  I  talk  about  a  temple 
or  some  of  the  small  towns  where  Jesus 
preached,  I  have  a  new  depth  ol  understand¬ 
ing  because  I’ve  been  there  and  I  know  how 
it  looks  today,  which  in  some  cases  isn’t  very 
different  than  how  it  probably  looked  in 
Jesus’  time.”  Beddingfield  also  said  that  the 
trip  helped  him  recognize  more  biblical 
metaphors — “I  now  pay  attention  to  whether 
the  author  is  trying  to  tell  us  something  with 
that  choice  of  tree,  or  making  a  point  that 
would  have  been  obvious  to  the  audience  but 
isn’t  to  us  because  we  don’t  know  the  geogra¬ 
phy,”  he  said — -and  gave  him  a  new  apprecia¬ 
tion  ol  holy  places. 

“The  question  of  whether  this  was  the 
exact  place  where  Jesus  was  crucified  or 
buried  didn’t  matter  so  much  as  I  thought 
it  might,”  Beddingfield  said,  “knowing  that 
wherever  that  place  was,  it  wasn’t  far  away. 

I  found  the  holy  places  very  holy.  One  night 
I  worshipped  in  a  fourth-century  church 
called  Abu  Gosh,  a  church  rebuilt  by  the 
crusaders  and  now  occupied  by  Lrench 
Benedictines.  To  be  in  that  space  and  to  hear 
those  words  of  worship — it  really  did  tran¬ 
scend  history. 

“When  we  worshipped  in  St.  George’s 
Anglican  Church  in  Jerusalem,  the  Great 
Prayer  of  Thanksgiving  gave  thanks  for  Jesus, 
‘who  here  in  Jerusalem  gave  his  life.’  It  was 
amazing  to  realize  that  I  was  in  a  place  that 
was  the  center  of  all  that  has  been  so  impor¬ 
tant  in  my  life.”  I 

R.  Elizabeth  Boone  is  a  member  of  the 
Class  of  1 991  and  was  a  trip  participant. 

She  is  associate  pastor  of  mission  and  evange¬ 
lism  at  Preston  Hollow  Presbyterian  Church, 
Dallas,  TX. 


Children  play  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem's 
Old  City. 


inSpire  •  1 1 


by  Ingrid  Meyer 


What  is  a  seminary. 

What  role  should  it  play  in  th 
church?  What  should  its  graduate 
know  and  be  trained  to  do? 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary 
just  finished  two  years  of  hard 
thinking  about  exactly  those  ques¬ 
tions.  The  result  is  a  new  mission 
statement,  one  that  is  shorter, 
melodic,  and  more  focused. 

The  new  statement  also  comes 
just  in  time  for  Princeton's  ten-ye 
review  by  both  the  Middle  States 
Accrediting  Association  and  the 
Association  of  Theological  Schools  j 
(ATS).  As  of  fall  1997,  the  ATS  has  a 
new  standard — it  will  judge  theolog¬ 
ical  institutions  by  whether  or  not 
the  schools  fulfill  their  own  mission 
'statements.  The  Seminary's  need  for 
a  fresh  look  at  its  direction,  in  addi¬ 
tion  to  this  new  ATS  requirement, 
made  it  "a  good  time  to  take  a  long 
hard  look  at  our  mission  state¬ 
ment,"  PTS  President  Thom 
Gillespie  said. 


The  Seminary  has  had  two  other  mis¬ 
sion  statements.  One  was  written  as  part  of 
the  original  institutional  charter  in  1811. 
Although  it  did  an  excellent  job  of  summa¬ 
rizing  the  Seminary’s  purpose  and  design, 
and  was  published  in  catalogs  from  its  writ¬ 
ing  until  1986,  its  language  is  unsurprising¬ 
ly  antiquated.  It  is,  as  Dean  of  Academic 
Affairs  James  Armstrong  noted,  more  suited 
to  a  new,  frontier-oriented  country  than  to 
an  established,  post-Cold  War  democracy. 

“The  concerns  in  1811  were  the  open¬ 
ing  of  the  West  and  the  need  to  train  people 
for  ministry  who  couldn’t  go  to  Europe,” 
Armstrong  said.  “There  were  not  very  many 


pastors,  and  a  growing  nation  was  outdis¬ 
tancing  the  source  of  pastors.”  The  original 
mission  statement  notes  that  “so  rapid  has 
been  the  extension  of  this  church,  and  so 
disproportionate,  of  late,  has  been  the  num¬ 
ber  of  ministers  educated,  to  the  call  which 
has  been  made  for  ministerial  service,  that 
some  additional  and  vigorous  efforts  to 
increase  the  supply  are  loudly  and  affecting- 
ly  demanded.”  The  first  mission  statement 
is  also  concerned  with  the  conversion  of 
unevangelized  parts  of  the  globe,  noting 
that  part  of  the  Seminary’s  job  is  “to  found 
a  nursery  for  missionaries  to  the  heathen, 
and  to  such  as  are  destitute  of  the  stated 
preaching  of  the  Gospel;  in  which  youth 
may  receive  that  appropriate  training  which 
may  lay  a  foundation  for  their  ultimately 
becoming  eminently  qualified  for  mission¬ 
ary  work.” 

The  Seminary  waited  until  its  1987 
accreditation  to  write  another  mission  state¬ 
ment.  By  that  time,  both  the  country’s 
problems  and  Princeton’s  concerns  were 
very  different.  The  1987  mission  statement 
sought  to  catch  up  with  150  years  of  histo¬ 
ry,  dealing  with  making  facilities  available 
to  people  from  former  missionary  lands, 
addressing  the  ecumenical  movement,  and 
noting  changes  in  the  world.  It  was  written 
by  members  of  the  faculty,  and  covered  its 
various  points  at  much  greater  length  than 
the  new  mission  statement. 

The  new  mission  statement  attempts 
to  blend  the  good  qualities  of  its  predeces¬ 
sors.  In  order  to  get  the  best  ideas  from 
every  segment  of  the  campus  community — 
students,  alumni/as,  trustees,  faculty, 
and  administrators — Gillespie  appointed 
a  committee  of  representatives  from  all  of 
these  groups,  with  instructions  to  write  a 


summer  1996 


mission  statement  that  would  be  “visionary, 
confessional,  descriptive,  cogent,  durable, 
melodic,  and  short!” 

And  that,  from  their  summer  1994 
appointment  through  the  next  two  years,  is 
exactly  what  the  committee  wrote.  The  com¬ 
mittee  as  a  whole  was  composed  of  trustees 
Fred  R.  Anderson,  Thomas  K.  Tewell,  Louise 
Upchurch  Lawson,  Francisco  O.  Garcia- 
Treto,  and  Young  Pai.  Faculty  members 
included  Jane  Dempsey  Douglass,  Patrick 
D.  Miller,  Sang  H.  Lee,  and  Charles  L. 
Bartow.  Committee  administrators  were 
Armstrong,  Gillespie,  and  Joyce  C.  Tucker, 
dean  of  continuing  education.  The  commit¬ 
tee  was  completed  by  Otha  Gilyard,  then 
the  president-elect  of  the  Alumni/se 
Association  Executive  Council,  and  Eric  J. 
Laverentz,  a  1996  M.Div.  graduate  who  was 
co-moderator  of  the  Student  Government 
Association  during  his  middler  year. 
Anderson  chaired  the  committee,  with 
Anderson,  Tewell,  Douglass,  and  Armstrong 
forming  the  subcommittee  that  actually 
wrote  the  drafts  of  the  new  mission  state¬ 
ment. 

In  the  early  meetings,  Anderson  said, 
people  didn’t  know  each  other,  and  so  they 
worked  to  build  trust  and  recognition  of 
each  member’s  point  of  view.  It  was  crucial, 
in  both  the  committee  and  the  finished  doc¬ 
ument,  to  be  as  inclusive  as  possible  “with¬ 
out  falling  into  writing  laundry  lists.” 

“It  was  important  to  hear  professor  Sang 
Lee  talk  about  what  it  felt  like  to  be  in  this 
country  and  not  be  a  member  of  the  coun¬ 
try,  what  it  felt  like  to  be  an  alien,” 

Anderson  said.  “And  Francisco  Garcia-Treto, 
who  is  Hispanic,  could  say  to  us,  ‘You  think 
you’re  being  inclusive,  but  you’re  not.’  Each 
of  the  women  on  the  committee  brought 
their  unique  as  well  as  common  concerns, 
making  major  contributions  to  the  breadth 
and  strength  of  the  final  text.” 

In  the  end,  Tewell  added,  the  committee 
became  a  remarkably  harmonious  and  cohe¬ 
sive  unit.  While  there  were  times  of  dis¬ 
agreement,  he  said,  the  committee  took 
tremendous  care  to  incorporate  every  con¬ 
cern. 

“We  built  trust  and  became  a  communi¬ 
ty,”  Tewell  said.  “We  were  able  to  really  be 
honest  with  each  other.  Everybody  said, 

‘Let’s  keep  working  until  we  get  it  right.’  No 
one  pressed  for  agreement  for  agreement’s 
sake.  Everybody  sat  at  the  table  as  peers  and 
was  listened  to.” 


The  committee  also  solicited  input  from 
the  entire  campus  community.  They  asked 
the  Board  of  Trustees  what  five  qualities  they 
would  most  like  Princeton  graduates  to  pos¬ 
sess.  The  answers — integrity,  theological 
competence,  good  preaching,  good  pastoral 
skills,  vision,  business  and  administrative 
skills,  leadership,  good  judgment,  determina¬ 
tion,  personal  faith  in  Christ,  and  spiritual 


Princeton  Theological  Seminary  pre¬ 
pares  men  and  women  to  serve  Jesus 
Christ  in  ministries  marked  by  faith, 
integrity,  scholarship,  competence,  com¬ 
passion,  and  joy,  equipping  them  for 
leadership  worldwide  in  congregations 
and  the  larger  church,  in  classrooms  and 
the  academy,  and  in  the  public  arena. 

A  professional  and  graduate  school 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  (USA),  the 
Seminary  stands  within  the  Reformed 
tradition,  affirming  the  sovereignty  of 
the  triune  God  over  all  creation,  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  as  God's  saving 
Word  for  all  people,  the  renewing  power 
of  the  Word  and  Spirit  in  all  of  life,  and 
the  unity  of  Christ's  servant  church 
throughout  the  world.  This  tradition 
shapes  the  instruction,  research,  practi¬ 
cal  training,  and  continuing  education 
provided  by  the  Seminary,  as  well  as  the 
theological  scholarship  it  promotes. 

In  response  to  Christ's  call  for  the 
unity  of  the  church,  the  Seminary 
embraces  in  its  life  and  work  a  rich  racial 
and  ethnic  diversity  and  the  breadth  of 
communions  represented  in  the  world¬ 
wide  church.  In  response  to  the  trans¬ 
forming  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the 
Seminary  offers  its  theological  scholar¬ 
ship  in  service  to  God's  renewal  of  the 
church's  life  and  mission.  In  response  to 
God's  sovereign  claim  over  all  creation, 
the  Seminary  seeks  to  engage  Christian 
faith  with  intellectual,  political,  and  eco¬ 
nomic  life  in  pursuit  of  truth,  justice, 
compassion,  and  peace. 

To  these  ends,  the  Seminary  pro¬ 
vides  a  residential  community  of  wor¬ 
ship  and  learning  where  a  sense  of  call¬ 
ing  is  tested  and  defined,  where 
Scripture  and  the  Christian  tradition  are 
appropriated  critically,  where  faith  and 
intellect  mature  and  lifelong  friendships 
begin,  and  where  habits  of  discipleship 
are  so  nourished  that  members  of  the 
community  may  learn  to  proclaim  with 
conviction,  courage,  wisdom,  and  love 
the  good  news  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord. 


maturity,  to  name  a  few — were  incorporated 
into  the  first  of  many,  many  drafts.  After  the 
writing  committee  and  the  committee  as  a 
whole  had  worked  through  voluminous  ideas 
and  obstacles,  committee  members  showed 
the  work  in  progress  to  every  segment  of  the 
Seminary  community,  and  asked  for  their 
responses. 

Eric  Laverentz  was  responsible  for  get¬ 
ting  student  feedback;  Jane  Dempsey 
Douglass  for  faculty  response;  and  Otha 
Gilyard  for  thoughts  from  alumni/re.  All 
came  back  with  a  wide  variety  of  responses, 
from  “looks  good  to  me”  to  “incredibly  long, 
well-thought-out  letters  from  all  kinds  of 
people,”  Tewell  said.  “The  committee  really 
chewed  all  these  ideas  over.  Everyone  who 
wrote  in  should  know  that  we  took  them 
very,  very  seriously.  This  wasn’t  just  a  token 
effort.  In  that  way,  this  document’s  a  lot  big¬ 
ger  than  the  fifteen  people  of  the  commit- 

5> 

tee. 

The  statement,  everyone  eventually 
agreed,  needed  to  express  the  idea  that  learn¬ 
ing  and  piety  belong  together.  It  should 
emphasize  the  fact  that  PTS  is  an  institution 
with  global  presence,  express  PTS’s  status  as 
a  residential  campus,  and  underline  how 
Princeton  prepares  students  for  Christian 
leadership  in  the  church,  the  larger  church, 
the  public  arena,  and  the  academy. 

“How  do  you  find  theological  language 
that’s  true  to  our  confessional  heritage  and 
addresses  the  world  we  live  in  without  falling 
into  theological  jargon  or  sounding  dated 
very  quickly?”  asked  Anderson.  “We  also 
worried  a  lot  about  cadence  and  poetics.” 

Toward  the  end  of  the  process,  Anderson 
said,  “the  document  was  really  good,  but  it 
lacked  passion.  It  didn’t  sing.”  One  last 
meeting  fixed  that,  and  then  the  document 
was  ready  to  go  to  the  Board  of  Trustees  for 
its  approval. 

At  the  spring  1996  Princeton  Seminary 
Board  of  Trustees  meeting,  the  board  unani¬ 
mously  approved  the  new  mission  statement. 
Committee  members  were  pleased,  unsur¬ 
prised,  relieved,  and  ready  to  relax.  The  two- 
year  process  was  done. 

“The  fact  that  everyone  at  the  end  was 
unanimous  and  enthusiastic  is  a  miracle,” 
Tewell  said. 

“This  was  fun,  challenging,  and  daunt¬ 
ing,”  Anderson  agreed.  “We  weren’t  develop¬ 
ing  a  document  for  the  next  ten  years.  We 
were  setting  a  future  course  for  the 
Seminary.”  I 


inSpire  *13 


“1*3 


summer  1996 


Elsie  McKee,  Princeton's  Archibald 
Alexander  Professor  of  the  History 
of  Worship,  returned  to  Zaire  for  a 
1995  fall  sabbatical.  The  photographs 
accompanying  this  article  were  taken 
by  McKee's  brother-in-law,  Charles 
Sthreshley,  and  depict  Zairean  art 
from  the  collection  of  her  grand¬ 
father,  George  McKee. 


lear  to  Zaire 

A  Professor  Revisits  the  Land  of  Her  Birth 


by  Elsie  McKee 


A  Visit  with  Sisters  and  Brothers  in 
Zaire,  Autumn  1995 


It  is  6:00  a.m.  on  a  weekday  morning  in 
the  Kasai  province  of  the  Republique  of 
Zaire.  The  tropical  sun  is  rising  swiftly  and 
first  bell  for  chapel  is  ringing.  Chapel  at  the 
Faculte  de  Theologie  Reformee  au  Kasai 
(FTRK)  is  conducted  in  French,  with  hymns 
sung  in  the  local  language,  Tshiluba.  Third- 
year  students,  teaching  staff,  and  the  chaplain 
lead  worship:  prayers,  hymns,  Scripture,  and 
meditation.  Friday  chapels  are  devoted  to 
practicing  hymns,  to  prepare  ministers  to 
teach  congregational  singing,  especially  the 
correct  tunes,  in  churches  where  hymnbooks 
are  expensive  and  rarely  include  printed 
music. 

Chapel  time  also  serves  as  the  campus 
newsline;  just  before  the  benediction  there 
are  announcements,  touching  on  everything 
from  the  wider  world  to  the  daily  details  of 
community  life.  Current  events  jostle  for 
place  with  pastoral  and  practical  concerns: 
illness  or  death  in  the  community,  meetings 


of  prayer  cells  or  soccer  games,  and  academic 
notices. 

Classes  begin  at  8:00,  and  continue  until 
6:15  p.m.,  with  a  break  for  lunch.  In  the 
evening  the  diesel  generator  provides  three 
hours  of  electricity  in  the  library  and  class¬ 
rooms  for  study. .  .unless  it  is  broken  or  there 
is  an  electrical  storm  which  might  short-cir¬ 
cuit  the  motor.  During  the  rainy  season,  bril¬ 
liant  electrical  storms  happen  daily,  though 
only  evening  storms  interfere  with  the  gener¬ 
ator.  Then  students  use  kerosene  lamps  and 
hope  they  can  see  to  finish  their  homework! 

This  is  a  typical  day  at  this  major 
Reformed  theological  seminary  in  Ndesha, 
Zaire,  five  kilometers  from  the  provincial 
capital  of  Kananga.  There  is  a  long  history  of 
ministerial  education  in  the  Kasai,  beginning 
with  the  Morrison  Bible  School  at  Luebo  in 
1912.  The  present  institution  was  recognized 
as  a  university-level  center  ol  education  in 
1986.  There  are  two  programs:  a  three-year 
first  degree  called  graduat,  which  is  the  basic 
theological  training,  and  a  two-year  second 
degree  called  licence ,  which  presupposes  both 


fST 


14  •  inSpire 


summer  1996 


denominational  distinction.  This  loosely 
structured  union  lasted  until  about  1970, 
when  the  country  became  the  Republique 
of  Zaire  and  the  various  Protestant  denomi¬ 
nations,  under  government  pressure,  became 
a  more  tightly  structured  unity  through 
the  ECZ.  Within  this  national  Protestant 
church,  each  denominational  group  func¬ 
tions  as  a  community  with  a  strong  degree  of 
internal  autonomy,  but  the  whole  body 
works  together  at  the  national  level  as  one 
church.  Communities  may  have  different 
denominational  roots  or  simply  different 
geographic  locations;  the  four  Presbyterian 
communities  are  based  essentially  on  geogra¬ 
phy,  not  theological  diversity.  The  ECZ  is 
one  of  the  legal  religious  options  in  Zaire, 


66 


The  ECZ 
is  one  of 
the  legal 
religious 
options 
in  Zaire, 
which 
include 
traditional 
religion, 
Islam,  and 
Christianity.” 


the  first  degree  and  at  least  two  years  in 
parish  ministry.  Students  may  also  earn  a 
state-recognized  teaching  certificate,  since 
many  pastors  must  supplement  their  income 
with  tent-making  options. 

Instruction  is  in  French,  the  national  lan¬ 
guage  of  government  and  higher  education 
in  Zaire,  although  the  great  majority  of  the 
students  will  minister  in  their  own  languages 
and  must  translate  between  class  and  con¬ 
text.  Most  students  speak  Tshiluba  as  their 
first  language,  but  some  come  from  other 
language  groups.  Most  are  men,  with  the 
gradual  addition  of  a  few  women — some  of 
the  brighter  students,  often! — and  most  are 
married,  although  first-year  students  may  not 
bring  their  families,  since  married  housing  is 
very  limited.  Most  of  the 
sixty-six  students  at  FTRK 
are  members  or  (in  the 
case  of  licence  students) 
pastors  in  a  Presbyterian 
community  within  the 
national  Protestant 
Church  (Eglise  du  Christ 
au  Zaire,  or  ECZ),  though 
other  denominations  of 
the  ECZ  are  also  repre¬ 
sented. 

Christianity  in  Zaire 

Zaire  is  an  enormous 
central  African  nation, 
once  known  as  the  Congo 
Free  State  and  then  as  the 
Belgian  Congo.  It  became  independent  as 
the  Republique  of  Congo  in  1960.  Its  earli¬ 
est  Christians  were  converted  to  the  faith  by 
Portuguese  around  1500  A.D.,  but  the  mod¬ 
ern  Christian  history  of  Zaire,  and  the  first 
contact  of  the  interior  with  Christianity, 
came  through  Roman  Catholic  and 
Protestant  missionaries  in  the  late  nineteenth 
century. 

Protestants  cooperated  from  the  begin¬ 
ning  and  recognized  all  their  members  as 
“bana  ba  Nzambi,”  children  of  God,  without 


which  include  traditional  religion,  Islam,  and 
Christianity. 

Visiting  at  FTRK 

FTRK  is  a  seminary  in  which  my  father 
had  taught,  and  since  I  was  born,  baptized 
(with  the  name  Tshimunyi),  and  reared  in 
the  church  in  the  Kasai,  I  had  promised  that 
I  would  return  to  the  seminary  as  an  occa¬ 
sional  visiting  professor.  In  autumn  1995  the 


needs  of  the  FTRK  history  department  and 
my  sabbatical  coincided.  My  assignment  was 
to  teach  two  short  intensive  courses,  one,  on 
the  Reformation,  at  the  licence  level,  the 
other,  on  African  church  history,  for  second- 
year  graduat  students.  Communications 
between  Zaire  and  the  United  States  are 
always  difficult;  I  arrived  and  was  asked  to 
teach  two  courses  on  the  Reformation. 

From  the  students’  point  of  view,  here 
was  a  stranger,  a  different  color,  a  woman, 
and  not  even  ordained  as  a  pastor.  But  with 
some  persuasion,  they  gathered  up  their 
courage  and  were  good  sports.  They  grappled 
with  new  ideas,  plunging  into  historical  pri¬ 
mary  sources  for  the  first  time  and  trying  to 
see  how  historical  developments  led  to  the 

church  as  they  know  it, 
struggling  with  reform¬ 
ers’  faults  and 
strengths.  Their  begin¬ 
ning  was  hesitant,  but 
they  quickly  found  the 
printed  voices  exciting: 
“Was  Erasmus  really  a 
reformer?”  “Wow!  I 
never  imagined  that 
this  is  the  way  Luther 
sounded.’’  And  finding 
women  in  history  was 
a  new  experience,  wel¬ 
comed  by  the  women 
students  and  even 
some  of  the  men,  espe¬ 
cially  the  amazing  sto¬ 
ries  of  women  martyrs. 
But  life  in  a  semi¬ 
nary  is  always  more  than  study,  as  anyone 
who  has  been  there  knows.  There  were  also 
sad  days  and  glad  days.  I  remember  the 
death  of  a  student’s  only  child,  a  little  girl  of 
eighteen  months,  the  mother  wailing  and  the 
women  gathered  to  sit  with  her,  and  the 
community  gathered  the  next  day  to  praise 
God  for  the  life  of  the  child,  affirm  the  res¬ 
urrection,  and  try  to  help  the  family  make 
some  kind  of  peace  with  this  aching  loss. 

And  I  recall  the  day  of  student  government 


inSpire  *15 


summer  1996 


elections,  with  lively  expressions  of  opinion 
and  a  babble  of  happy  voices  after  chapel, 
pleased  to  have  made  their  own  choices. 

Worship  and  the  Parish  Churches 

Surrounding  FTRK  and  across  Zaire  are 
congregations,  churches  where  Christians 
gather  each  Sunday  for  worship  and  in 
homes  for  many  weekday  prayer  meetings. 

The  church  buildings  vary  a  great  deal 
but  most  are  simple,  with  walls  of  sun-dried 
brick,  concrete  block,  or  mud-and-stick, 
open  windows  (glass  is  expensive  and  cold  is 
not  a  problem),  and  roofs  of  corrugated  iron 
or  thatch.  Men  traditionally  sit  on  one  side 
of  the  church,  women  on  the  other;  some¬ 
times  there  is  a  third  section  for  young  peo¬ 
ple,  or  a  special  place  for  chil¬ 
dren.  Usually  there  are  bench¬ 
es,  but  sometimes  small  chil¬ 
dren  settle  on  mats  on  the 
floor.  Often  there  are  special 
seats  for  each  choir,  some¬ 
times  marked  with  their 
names  on  the  wall  behind 
them.  The  front  wall  may  be 
decorated  with  a  painted 
Bible  verse. 

Sunday  morning  worship 
lasts  at  least  two  hours,  with 
an  abundance  of  music.  At 
least  two  or  three  choirs,  or 
even  four,  sometimes  includ¬ 
ing  a  children’s  choir,  sing  at 
any  given  service,  with  each 
choir  giving  several  anthems. 

Singing  is  essentially  a  capella,  although 
choirs  sometimes  have  some  kind  of  tam¬ 
bourine  or  perhaps  a  guitar,  or  more  often 
big  or  little  drums,  hollowed  from  trees. 
These  are  played  especially  for  the  offering 
processions,  at  which  everyone  comes  for¬ 
ward  to  place  his  or  her  gift  (men  first,  then 
women,  or  men,  women,  and  then  youth)  in 
the  basket  on  the  central  table.  These  dance¬ 
like  processions,  accompanied  by  drums, 
clapping,  and  singing,  are  a  marvelous  sight 
and  sound. 

For  me,  singing  in  Tshiluba  again  was 
sheer  delight.  I  have  missed  my  “birth” 
speech,  though  I  have  also  forgotten  a  good 
bit.  Being  asked  unexpectedly  to  offer  a 
prayer  of  thanksgiving  in  the  Nsanga 
Nyembue  parish  was  a  challenge;  it  was  in 
Tshiluba  and  it  made  sense,  but  it  had  to  be 


one  of  the  shortest  prayers  on  record  in  that 
church! 

Kinshasa,  the  ECZ  Seminary,  and 
the  Kasonga  Family 

Though  most  of  my  time  was  spent  at 
FTRK  in  the  Kasai,  I  also  visited  the  nation¬ 
al  church  seminary,  the  Faculte  de  Theologie 
Protestante  of  the  ECZ  in  Kinshasa,  the 
country’s  capital.  My  hosts  were  Dr.  Kasonga 
wa  Kasonga  and  his  family.  Kasonga,  affec¬ 
tionately  known  to  many  PTS  people  as 
“Kas,”  completed  his  doctorate  in  Christian 
education  at  Princeton  in  1987  and  has  been 
teaching  in  Kinshasa  since  then.  He  is  acade¬ 
mic  dean  of  the  seminary,  which  has  been 
rebuilt  after  the  pillaging  and  damage  caused 


by  rioting  and  rampaging  soldiers  in  1993. 
The  library  collection  will  take  much  longer 
to  recover  from  the  destruction,  but  the 
community  is  at  work  rebuilding  bit  by  bit 
with  aid  from  other  churches. 

The  Kasonga  family  welcomed  me  for 
lunch,  and  all  four  children — now  in  col¬ 
lege — asked  eagerly  about  their  friends  at 
Witherspoon  Street  Presbyterian  Church, 
sent  messages  and  tapes  of  their  singing 
group  to  their  old  youth  group  in  Princeton, 
and  asked  for  pictures  and  news  of  everyone! 
They  have  not  forgotten  the  good  times  they 
had  here,  and  laughed  as  they  recalled  being 
photographed  playing  in  the  snow  for  news¬ 
papers  who  wanted  to  show  their  readers 
“the  first  snow  days”  of  African  visitors  to 
New  Jersey. 

Next  to  the  seminary  in  Kinshasa  is  the 
large  national  Protestant  cathedral,  built  for 


the  1978  centennial  celebration  of  the  arrival 
of  the  first  Protestants  in  Zaire.  Protestants, 
long  feeling  disadvantaged  in  the  face  of 
Roman  Catholic  cathedrals,  are  proud  of 
their  beautiful  central  church.  Spacious  and 
attractive,  the  cathedral  combines  aesthetics, 
practicality,  and  ecumenism:  a  remarkable 
airy  lightness  suited  to  the  tropics,  seating 
which  makes  large  national  church  gather¬ 
ings  possible,  and  a  striking  mosaic  of  the 
baptism  of  Jesus  that  includes  images  of  both 
immersion  and  sprinkling. 

Zaire:  Politics  and  Pain,  Courage 
and  Hope 

The  economic  and  political  world  of 
Zaire  is  a  source  of  great  suffering.  Most 
people  live  in  poverty, 
with  President  Sese  Seko 
Mobutu  and  his  cohorts 
as  the  glaring  exceptions. 
This  military  dictator,  in 
control  of  Zaire  since 
November  1963,  is  one  of 
the  wealthiest  men  in  the 
world,  and  one  of  the 
greediest.  He  has  stripped 
a  large  and  rich  country 
that  could  be  economical¬ 
ly  self-sufficient,  and 
opposes  all  democratic 
change,  even  to  the  point 
of  bloodshed.  In  one  inci¬ 
dent,  peaceful  Christians 
marching  for  democratic 
change  were  shot  down  in 
cold  blood  in  February  1992. 

Every  facet  of  public  life  has  been 
adversely  affected  by  Mobutu’s  exploitation 
of  the  people  and  resources  of  Zaire.  There 
are  thousands  of  internal  refugees.  Some,  just 
down  the  road  from  FTRK,  asked  for  food, 
which  I  could  not  supply.  I  worried  about 
them  as  I  heard  the  rain  at  night,  since  their 
tent  homes  could  not  stand  up  to  the  driving 
tropical  storms. 

And  yet  Zaire  has  courage,  Zaire  has 
faith,  and  Zaire  has  men  and  women  striving 
to  become  pastors  and  teachers,  doctors  and 
nurses.  The  Tshiluba  greeting  is  the  same  as 
the  word  for  life:  “Muoyo  wenu!”  means 
“Life  to  you!”  One  of  the  greatest  gifts  of  our 
life  together  as  Christians  is  remembering 
and  being  remembered  in  prayer,  in  letters 
and  love  across  the  miles,  and  in  joining  sis¬ 
ters  and  brothers  in  the  church  universal.  I 


16  •  inSpire 


Class  notes 


summer  1996 


Key  to  Abbreviations: 

Upper-case  letters  designate 
degrees  earned  at  PTS: 

M.Div.  B 

M.R.E.  E 

M.A.  E 

Th.M.  M 

D.Min.  P 

Th.D.  D 

Ph.D.  D 

Special  undergraduate  student  U 
Special  graduate  student  G 

When  an  alumnus/a  did  not 
receive  a  degree,  a  lower-case 
letter  corresponding  to  those 
above  designates  the  course 
of  study. 

1933  Bruce  D. 

Compton  (B)  is  retired 
and  lives  in  Phoenix,  AZ, 
where  he  is  still  an  active  speak¬ 
er,  teacher,  personal  evangelist, 
and  violinist. 

1935  Richard  M. 

Hadden (B)  and  his  wife, 
Frances,  who  have  presented 
duo  piano  recitals  around  the 
world,  have  recorded  a  new 
album,  which  Cambria  Records 
released  this  spring.  It  joins  their 
first  album,  Adventures  in  Music- 
Making,  which  was  released  in 
1992.  Richard  has  also  written 
a  piece  for  Mackinac  Island 
(MI)  State  Park’s  centennial 
celebration.  Called  “Centennial 
Celebration  March,”  the  piece 
was  written  for  the  piano  and 
will  also  be  arranged  for  military 
band,  so  that  all  bands  coming 
to  the  island  can  play  it  in 
parades  and  at  Fort  Mackinac. 
The  Haddens  lived  on 
Mackinac  Island  for  many  years, 
but  now  reside  in  St.  Ignace, 

MI. 

1936  William  T.  P. 

Rambo  (B),  who  lives  in 


Northport,  NY,  writes  that  he 
was  “looking  forward  to  our  six¬ 
tieth  class  reunion,”  which  was 
held  at  PTS  in  May  1996. 

1937  Allan  R.  Winn 

(B)  lives  in  Newtown,  PA,  and 
completed  two  years  as  pastor 
of  visitation  at  Flemington 
Presbyterian  Church  in 
Flemington,  NJ,  this  spring. 
“The  best  job  on  the  staff,” 
he  writes.  “Greater  joy  hath 
no  man  after  twenty-plus  years 
of  retirement.”  Winn  also  does 
occasional  pulpit  supply  preach¬ 
ing,  and  conducts  some  wed¬ 
dings  and  funerals. 

1938  In  June,  Bryant 
M.  Kirkland  (B)  completed 

a  term  as  interim  pastor  at  Great 
Valley  Presbyterian  Church, 
Malvern,  PA.  Fie  is  senior 
vice  president  of  Templeton 
Foundation,  Radnor,  PA.  His 
wife  of  fifty-nine  years,  Bernice, 
died  on  March  18,  1996. 

In  April  1995,  Bruce  M. 
Metzger  (B,  '39M)  gave  his 
presidential  address,  titled 
“Some  Curious  Bibles,”  at  the 
eighth  international  interdis¬ 
ciplinary  conference  of  the 
Society  for  Textual  Scholarship, 
held  at  the  graduate  school  of 
the  City  University  of  New 
York.  The  society  is  an  organiza¬ 
tion  devoted  to  interdisciplinary 
discussion  of  textual  theory  and 
practice. 

1941  W.  Dayton 

Roberts  (B)  has  retired  to 
Costa  Rica,  where  he  serves  on 
the  boards  of  Latin  American 
Mission  and  Hospital  Clinica 
Biblica.  He  is  also  the  chairper¬ 
son  of  the  board  of  Christ  for 
the  City. 


1942  Donald  B.  Bailey 

(M)  and  his  wife  moved  to  a 
Presbyterian  retirement  village 
in  Austell,  GA,  last  January. 


1947  Gervase  J. 

Zanotti  (B)  lives  in  DeForest, 
WI,  and  has  been  busily  retired 
since  1984,  serving  interim  pas¬ 
torates  and  acting  as  a  certified 
literacy  tutor.  He’s  also  been 
a  mentor  to  four  different  disad¬ 
vantaged  young  people  during 
the  last  five  years  through 
a  mentor  program  at  Christ 
Presbyterian  Church  in 
Madison,  WI,  where  he’s  an 
unofficial  staff  member  and 
performs  three  to  five  weddings 
each  summer.  He’s  active  in 
John  FCnox  Presbytery,  plays  golf 
one  to  three  times  a  week,  land¬ 
scapes  his  large  lawn,  and  says 
that  “at  age  seventy-seven,  I  find 
that  a  forty-five-minute  nap 
after  lunch  is  a  must — and  oh, 
how  enjoyable!” 

1948  William  H. 

Foster  Jr.  (M)  has  completed 
sixteen  years  of  ministry  at 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
Whitewright,  TX.  Last  October, 


that  church  celebrated  its  142nd 
anniversary. 

Bob  Kelley  (B,  '51 M)  has 

retired  from  his  teaching  career 


at  Fullerton  College,  Fullerton, 
CA.  He  helped  start  Interfaith 
Housing  Corporation,  which 
built  twenty-seven  apartments 
for  low-income  families  in 
Fullerton.  Last  December, 

Kelley  began  his  twelfth  interim 
ministry  position,  as  pastor 
of  the  Shepherd  of  the  Valley 
Presbyterian  Church  in 
Hacienda  Heights,  CA.  The 
church  has  active  Taiwanese  and 
Caucasian  congregations,  plus  a 
“nesting”  Korean  congregation. 

1950  Nathaniel  C. 

Roe  (B,  '55M)  has  retired, 
but  writes  that  he  preaches  fre¬ 
quently,  is  a  parish  visitor  for 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Washington,  PA,  and  travels 
to  visit  friends  and  family.  As 
a  hobby,  he  carves  exotic  woods 
and  sells  his  creations. 

1951  Kenneth  J.  Dale 

(M)  retired  on  December  31, 
1995,  after  forty-five  years  as 


The  Class  of  1946  celebrated  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  their  gradua¬ 
tion  at  reunion  this  spring.  The  class  convener  was  Bill  Dupree. 


inSpire  •  17 


summer  1996 


Class  notes 


a  Lutheran  missionary  to  Japan. 
Dale  was  a  professor  at  Japan 
Lutheran  Theological  College 
and  Seminary  in  Tokyo,  Japan, 
and  served  as  the  director  of 
their  counseling  center. 

“Still  working  full  time  at 
Northampton,  MA,  Veterans 
Administration  Medical  Center, 
even  through  the  government 
shutdown,"  writes  Malcolm 
R.  Evans  (B),  who  lives  in 
Halifax  Centre,  VT. 

1953  Howard  W. 

McFall  Jr.  (B)  was  made 
pastor  emeritus  of  Red  Clay 
Creek  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Wilmington,  DE,  after  retiring 
from  that  church  on  July  1 , 
1992.  He  taught  for  three  weeks 
in  Xi’an,  China,  this  April, 
where  he  instructed  high  school 
and  college  students.  “They 
wanted  conversational  English, 
but  I  also  ended  up  teaching 
them  about  human  rights  and 
the  American  form  of  govern¬ 
ment,’’  said  McFall,  who  lives 
in  Cape  May,  NJ. 


David  W.  A.  Taylor  (M), 

former  executive  secretary  of  the 
Consultation  on  Church  Union, 


now  serves  as  chairperson  of 
the  Committee  on  Ministry 
in  Coastal  Carolina  Presbytery. 
He  and  his  wife,  Lillian  Taylor 
(’88B),  are  interim  part-time  co¬ 
pastors  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  Whiteville,  NC. 

1954  J.  Houston 

Hodges  (B),  the  recently 
retired  executive  of  North 
Alabama  Presbytery,  has  been 
named  editor  of  Monday 
Morning  magazine.  He  lives 
and  works  in  Huntsville,  AL. 

Virgil  Jones  (B)  retired  from 
thirty-five  years  as  a  university 
minister  at  Wayne  State  Univer¬ 
sity  in  Detroit,  MI,  in  October 
1994.  During  his  time  there, 
Jones  also  helped  found  the  uni¬ 
versity’s  Center  for  Academic 
Ethics  and  taught  occasional 
philosophy  courses.  “I’m  still 
asked  to  preach,  teach,  and  lec¬ 
ture  on  campus  and  in  the  larger 
community,’’  he  writes.  “I  am 
having  a  ball!” 


1955  Frank  Havens 

(B)  celebrated  the  fortieth  anni¬ 
versary  of  his  ordination  on 


November  13,  1995.  On  June 
30,  1995,  he  retired  from  his 
job  as  chaplain  and  coordinator 
of  pastoral  care  services  at  Glen’s 
Falls  Hospital  in  Glen’s  Falls, 
NY,  where  he  trained  more  than 
forty  local  clergy  as  adjunct 
chaplains,  and  many  laypeople 
as  volunteer  hospital  visitors. 

He  is  active  in  the  life  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church, 

Glen’s  Falls,  NY,  where  he  is 
a  parish  associate,  church  school 
teacher,  and  adult  educator. 

“I  was  elected  to  a  third  term 
as  moderator  of  the  town  of 
Newport,  VT,”  writes  James 
MacKellar  (B).  “I  reached  the 
thirteen-gallon  blood  donor 
level,  something  I  started  at 
PTS.  I  retired  in  June  1996.” 

1956  Last  November, 
Beverly  Fox  (E)  rode  in 
a  bicycle  trip  across  Israel  to 
raise  money  for  that  country’s 
Nazareth  Hospital,  which  she 
has  supported  since  1990.  The 
Biblical  Charity  Bike  Ride  is 
the  hospital’s  biggest  fundraiser. 
After  the  trip,  Fox  stayed  on  in 
Israel  for  six  weeks  to  develop 
a  volunteer  program  at  Naza¬ 


reth.  From  there  she  traveled  in 
Scotland,  on  the  island  of  Iona, 
and  in  Wales  before  returning 
to  the  United  States,  where  she 
lives  in  Walnut  Creek,  CA. 

David  Gill  (M)  and  his  wife, 
Helen,  spent  nine  weeks  last 
fall  living  in  Southampton, 
England.  “We  lived  in  the  New 
Forest  and  acquainted  ourselves 
with  the  local  culture  amidst 
Helen’s  duties  as  proctor  for 
student  teachers  from  Central 
Michigan  University,”  Gill 
writes.  The  Gills  are  now  home 
in  Mt.  Pleasant,  MI. 

Paul  G.  Palmer  (B)  retired 
on  April  30,  1995,  and  is  pastor 
emeritus  of  Community 
Presbyterian  Church,  Mt. 
Prospect,  IL. 

1957  Charles  T. 

Botkin  (M)  is  pastor 
emeritus  of  Cambria  Heights 
Community  Church  (Reformed 
Church  of  America)  in  Cambria 
Heights,  NY. 

Richard  A.  Hasler  (B)  is 

half-time  co-pastor  at  Fairmount 
Park  Presbyterian  Church  in 


Howard  W.  McFall  ('53B)  spent  three  weeks  teaching  students  in  China  last 
April. 


18  •  inSpire 


photo:  The  Leigh  Photographic  Group 


summer  1996 


Class  notes 


Canton,  OH.  He  worked  with 
the  congregation  in  1994  and 
1995  as  an  interim  pastor,  and  is 
now  helping  implement  a  rede¬ 
velopment  probe  grant  to  see  if 
the  congregation  can  relate  to  its 
immediate  neighborhood.  “The 
congregation  is  mostly  white 
and  older  people  of  retirement 
age,”  he  writes,  “and  the  neigh¬ 
borhood  has  changed,  consisting 
mostly  of  young  adults  and 
many  African  American  fami¬ 
lies.  As  you  can  imagine,  we 
have  quite  a  challenge.”  His  co¬ 
pastor  is  Allan  Jackson  (’83B), 
who  is  African  American.  Hasler 
has  also  completed  a  brief 
biography  of  Colonial  mission¬ 
ary  David  Brainerd  for  young 
readers,  and  is  working  on 
a  longer  biography  for  adults. 

James  Kesler 


Alumni/ae  Update 


Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Alumni/ae  Association  Executive  Council  members  have  all  been 
students  at  PTS,  but  beyond  that,  they  often  have  very  diverse  points  of  view.  Council  members  come 
from  all  over  the  United  States  and  the  world;  they  have  different  ethnicities,  genders,  ages,  and 
denominational  affiliations.  But  their  concern  to  work  together  as  alumni/ae  to  enhance  preparation 
for  ministry  in  the  church  makes  them  a  group  of  interested  friends,  using  diversity  toward  a  common 
goal. 

The  composition  of  the  council  is  constantly  changing,  which  is  good  and  bad.  Council  members  are 
elected  in  classes  to  represent  alumni/ae  in  twelve  regions  of  the  country,  serving  terms  of  four  years 
each.  The  council  also  includes  three  alumni/ae  trustees,  one  elected  each  year  to  serve  on  the 
Seminary's  Board  of  Trustees  for  a  three-year  term. 

As  new  members  are  added,  others  disappear.  This  year  we  lose  alumni/ae  trustee  and  past  council 
president  Audrey  Schindler  ('86B).  She's  the  "quiet  tiger"  who  lives  in  Melbourne,  Australia,  and  is 
finishing  her  doctoral  thesis  for  Emory  University  in  Atlanta,  GA. 

We're  also  losing  Bo  Scarborough  ('7 IB),  who  speaks  my  language,  since  his  Memphis  is  not  that  far 
from  my  Atlanta.  We'll  have  to  find  a  new  secretary  to  replace  him,  which  is  not  easily  done.  We  also 
bid  farewell  to  Joe  Ravenell  ('76B),  the  "good  humor  man,"  who  can  make  you  feel  ten  feet  tall  when 
you  think  you're  only  four  feet,  one  inch  tall.  And  Gerry  Mills  C56B),  the  "Christian  rabbi,"  who  makes 
us  all  enjoy  being  kept  on  our  toes,  is  leaving,  too. 

But  not  all  the  news  is  sad.  Julie  Neraas  ('79B)  was  elected  alumni/ae  trustee,  to  serve  with  Art  Sueltz 
C53B)  and  Barbara  Sterling-Willson  ('76B),  so  she'll  be  with  us  and  for  us  for  another  three  years. 

And  we  have  the  pleasure  of  meeting  the  representatives  from  Region  Three  (southern  New  Jersey 
and  Delaware),  Region  Six  (Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia),  and  Region  Nine 
(Missouri,  Iowa,  Minnesota,  Wisconsin,  and  Illinois),  who  make  up  the  Class  of  2000. 


(B,  '61M) 

is  pastor  of 
Peace  United 
Presbyterian 
Church  in  Clinton 
Township,  MI. 

On  January  7, 

1996,  the  church 
celebrated  the 
opening  of  Peace 
Presbyterian 
Village,  a  $13.8  million-dollar 
housing  project  that  stands  next 
to  the  church  and  offers  fifty- 
five  apartments  for  independent 
senior  living. 


Joanne  Martindale  ('88B),  the  new  Region  Three  representative,  is  the  chaplain  at  Trenton 
Psychiatric  Hospital  and  the  only  female  Army  National  Guard  chaplain  in  New  Jersey. 

She  also  serves  as  parish  associate  at  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Dayton,  NJ. 

Todd  B.  Jones  ('79B)  is  the  new  Region  Six  representative.  He  served  as  pastor  of 
Westminster  Presbyterian  Church  in  Columbia,  SC,  from  1984  to  1991,  and  from  1991 
until  now  as  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Spartanburg,  SC. 

Robert  C.  Reynolds  ('70B)  joins  the  council  from  Region  Nine.  He  has  pastored  Presbyterian 
Church  (USA)  congregations  in  Wisconsin  and  Minnesota,  has  been  associate  executive  of 
the  Synod  of  Lakes  and  Prairies,  and  currently  serves  as  executive  presbyter  of  Giddings- 
Lovejoy  Presbytery,  based  in  St.  Louis,  MO. 

So,  we  have  the  facts.  In  October  we  get  to  meet  the  people  and  say,  "Welcome  aboard!" 

Jim  Upshaw  ('50B)  is  retired  and  is  pastor  emeritus  of  El  Dorado  County  Federated  Church 
in  Placerville,  CA.  He  represents  Region  12  (northern  California,  Oregon,  Washington,  and 
Alaska)  on  the  Alumni/ae  Association  Executive  Council. 


Robert  Daniel  Simmons 

(M)  has  written  his  sixth  book, 
called  Prayers  for  Daily  Need, 
Adapted  from  Psalms.  He  is  the 
stated  supply  pastor  of  Hughes 
River  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Cairo,  WV,  and  the  founder 
of  Simmons  Theological  Library 
in  Williamstown,  WV. 


1958  Thomas  E. 

Fisher  (B)  is  pastor  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church,  Athens, 
OH.  He’s  a  contributor  to 
a  local  newspaper,  The  Athens 
Messenger,  and  serves  as  a  mem¬ 
ber  of  the  General  Assembly 
Council  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  (USA),  its  National 
Ministries  Division  Committee, 
and  the  Call  System  Advisory 
Group. 


Norma  Jean  Perkins  (E), 

a  tour  host  with  Educational 
Opportunities,  took  a  tour 
group  to  Israel  in  January  1996 
to  celebrate  the  3000th  anniver¬ 
sary  of  King  David's  designation 
of  Jerusalem  as  the  capital  city. 
After  the  ten-day  tour,  she  spent 
two  extra  days  in  Jerusalem 
and  another  three  days  at  an 
archaeological  dig  and  seminar 


inSpire  •  19 


summer  1996 

Class  notes 


^  take  a  bow 

John  C.  Shetler  ('48M)  received  the  1996  Marvin  J.  Lewis 
Community  Service  Award  from  the  board  of  directors  of  the 
Perkiomen  (PA)  Valley  Chamber  of  Commerce  in  April  1996. 

He  is  president  emeritus  and  conference  minister  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Southeast  Conference  of  the  United  Church 
of  Christ. 

Alumni/as  at  Korea's  Taejon  Presbyterian  Seminary  have  estab¬ 
lished  the  Timothy  Lee  Memorial  Scholarship  in  honor  of 
Timothy  Lee  ('61 B),  who  served  as  president  of  that  seminary 
for  sixteen  years.  Lee  retired  in  November  1995  after  twenty- 
nine  years  as  a  mission  co-worker  in  Korea  through  the 
Presbyterian  Church  (USA).  During  his  time  in  Korea,  he  also 
served  as  chaplain  of  the  Choong  Nam  National  University 
Hospital  chapel  program,  and  as  president  of  the  Korea  Hospital 
Chaplains'  Association. 

Abigail  Rian  Evans  ('68B)  was  named  a  distinguished  alumna 
by  her  alma  mater,  Jamestown  College.  Evans  is  associate 
professor  of  practical  theology,  director  of  the  field  education 
program,  and  coordinator  of  the  C.P.E.  program  at  Princeton 
Theological  Seminary. 

Last  February  George  Brown  Jr.  ('71M)  was  named  Reformed 
Church  in  America  Educator  of  the  Year  by  the  Christian 
Educators  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  America.  Brown  is  dean 
of  the  faculty  and  professor  of  Christian  education  at  Western 
Theological  Seminary,  Holland,  Ml. 

Steven  S.  Tuell  ('81 B)  received  a  Thomas  Branch  Award  for 
Excellence  in  Teaching  from  Randolph-Macon  College,  Ashland, 
VA,  in  April  1996.  He  is  an  assistant  professor  of  religious  stud¬ 
ies  at  Randolph-Macon. 

B.  Keith  Brewer  ('87M)  received  a  1996  Young  Leader  of  the 
Year  Award  from  the  Spring  Arbor  College  alumni/ae  board 
of  directors,  Spring  Arbor,  Ml.  He  was  also  selected  as  an 
outstanding  campus  leader  by  the  editors  of  the  1996  edition 
of  Who's  Who  in  American  Universities  and  Colleges.  Brewer 
is  a  Ph.D.  candidate  in  New  Testament  at  Drew  University, 
chaplain  of  the  Wesley  Foundation  at  Princeton  University, 
and  an  instructor  at  Zarephath  Bible  Institute. 


at  Bethsaida,  north  of  the 
Sea  of  Galilee. 

1959  Haruo  Saiki  (M) 

retired  from  his  work  at  Miyagi 
Gakuin  Girls’  College  in  Sendai, 
Japan,  in  March  1995.  As  pro¬ 
fessor  emeritus,  he  teaches  New 
Testament  at  the  school  for 
two  days  each  week,  and  is  also 
pastor  of  West  Sendai  United 
Church  of  Christ.  His  thirty- 
first  book,  The  Words  of  the 
Bible — Sounding  to  Everyone’s 


Heart,  was  recently  published. 

John  Staples  (B)  retired 
from  the  Presbytery  of  North 
Puget  Sound  on  September  1, 
1995.  He  is  director  of  Life 
Enrichment  Center,  Port  Town¬ 
send,  WA. 

Lawrence  W.  Thomas  (B), 

of  Tiffin,  OH,  retired  on 
February  28,  1995. 


The  New  Biographical  Catalog 
is  Coming! 

The  Seminary  is  creating  a  new  edition  of  the  Biographical 
Catalog,  the  book  that  contains  biographical  and  career  informa¬ 
tion  on  all  Seminary  alumni/ae.  Seminary  alumni/ae  have  received 
a  personal  data  form  to  fill  out  for  the  new  edition.  If  you  have 
not  yet  returned  your  personal  data  form,  please  do  so!  Alumni/ae 
who  have  already  submitted  their  forms  will  receive  proofs  for 
their  approval  by  early  December. 


1 960  p.  w. 

Hutchinson  (B)  is  in  his 

twenty-eighth  year  as  a  professor 
ol  theater  at  Rhode  Island 
College. 

Dick  (B)  and  Toshii  (E) 
Moore  retired  in  1994  after 
twenty-four  years  at  a  pastorate 
in  Riverton,  NJ.  They  now  live 
in  Hampton,  VA.  Together  with 
Toshii’s  family  in  Japan,  they  are 
building  two  churches,  one 
in  Vietnam  and  one  in  India, 
in  memory  of  Toshii’s  parents. 
The  project  is  being  done 
through  International 
Cooperating  Ministries,  and 
both  churches  will  be  dedicated 
this  year.  Dick  has  also  been 
invited  to  present  a  solo  exhibi¬ 
tion  of  his  marine  paintings, 
which  will  run  at  the  U.S.  Navy 
Memorial  Visitors’  Center  in 
Washington,  D.C.,  during 
September  1996. 


to  the  nearly  seven  hundred 
residents  of  Air  Force  Village  II 
outside  San  Antonio,  TX. 
“Living  history,  these  fascinating 
folks,  veterans,  and  patriots,” 
he  writes,  “most  all  of  them 
older  than  Geri  and  I.  Folks 
of  tested  faith,  too.” 

1962  Roger  L. 

Dunnavan  (B)  is  the  stated 
supply  pastor  for  Christ 
Presbyterian  Church  in 
Gibbstown,  NJ,  and  for  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church, 
Swedesboro,  NJ. 

1964  Dean  E.  Foose 
(B,  '65M,  '94P),  the 

Seminary’s  director  of  alumni/ae 
relations  and  senior  placement, 
wrote  an  article  called  “How 
Pastors  Come  and  Go”  for 
the  May/June  1996  issue  of 
Congregations,  an  Alban  Institute 
publication. 


Robert  M.  Paterson  (M) 

teaches  at  STT  Intim,  the  theo¬ 
logical  college  for  eastern 
Indonesia,  and  lives  in  Ujung 
Pandang,  Sulawesi  Selatan, 
Indonesia.  He  travels  frequently 
throughout  other  parts  of 
Indonesia,  visiting  congregations 
and  friends,  acting  as  a  guest 
lecturer  and  preacher,  and  par¬ 
ticipating  in  the  weddings  of  his 
former  students.  In  August  1996 
he  plans  to  begin  a  furlough 
year  in  his  native  New  Zealand. 

1961  Christian  H. 

Martin  Jr.  (B)  serves  as  pastor 


Richard  L.  Husfloen  (M) 

became  the  twelfth  president  of 
Augustana  University  College  in 
Camrose,  Alberta,  Canada,  on 
July  1.  He  had  been  director  of 
resource  development,  recruit¬ 
ment,  graduate,  and  public  rela¬ 
tions  at  Waterloo  Lutheran 
Seminary  in  Ontario,  Canada. 


1965  ‘In  addition  to  my 

psychotherapy  practice,”  writes 

Jerrold  D.  Paul  (B,  '68M), 


“I  am  working  as  a  part-time, 
interim  minister  at  Island 
Presbyterian  Church,  Grand 
Island,  NY.”  Paul  lives  in 
Orchard  Park,  NY. 


20  •  inSpire 


Class  notes 


summer  1996 


1966  Garnett  Foster 

(E)  was  vice  moderator  of  the 
Bills  and  Overtures  Committee 
of  this  summer’s  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  (USA). 

Dale  Schlafer  (B)  is  vice 
president  of  church  relations 
for  Promise  Keepers,  an  organi¬ 
zation  lor  Christian  men  head¬ 
quartered  in  Boulder,  CO. 

He  served  as  chairperson  of  the 
recent  Promise  Keepers  National 
Clergy  Conference  for  Men 
in  Atlanta,  GA. 

1967  Bill  Conrad  (B) 

is  a  family  therapist  employed 
by  Bucks  County,  PA.  Although 
he  was  elected  to  serve  on 
the  Ardmore,  Lower  Merion, 
and  Montgomery  County 
Democratic  committees  near 
his  home  of  Ardmore,  PA,  his 
civil  service  status  requires  him 
to  refrain  from  political  activity, 
so  he  has  resigned  his  local 
offices.  His  unfinished  terms 
would  have  ended  in  1996. 

1968  R.  Glenn  Brown 

(M)  retired  in  1991  after  four¬ 
teen  years  as  pastor  of  Faith 
Chapel,  an  Assembly  of  God 
church  in  Pleasanton,  CA. 

He  lives  in  Sequim,  WA,  and 
makes  frequent  trips  to  western 
Ukraine  in  the  former  Soviet 
Union,  where  he  serves  as 


a  chaplaincy  advisor  to  the 
Ukrainian  army,  sharing  his 
twenty-three  years  of  service  as 
a  chaplain  in  the  United  States 
Army,  Air  Force,  and  Navy. 

Joseph  L.  Roberts  Jr.  (M), 

pastor  of  Ebenezer  Baptist 
Church  in  Atlanta,  GA,  was  the 
commencement  speaker  at 
Columbia  Theological  Seminary 
on  May  19,  1996. 

1969  James  Roghair 

(B)  has  moved  from  Alaska 
and  is  writing  a  book  on  stew¬ 
ardship. 


Twenty-five  years  have  come  and  gone  for  the  Class  of  1971, 
who  celebrated  at  reunion  this  spring.  The  convener  was 
Paige  Maxwell  McRight. 


1970  Donald  G. 

Albert  (B)  is  director  ol 
employee  relations  in  the  corpo¬ 
rate  human  resources  division 
of  Abbott  Laboratories,  a  health 
care  products  manufacturer  in 
Abbott  Park,  IL.  He  began  the 
new  job  in  January  1996;  he 
had  been  a  manager  in  the  same 
division. 

J.  Paul  Cameron  (E) 

is  director  of  pastoral  care 
at  Presbyterian  Senior  Care, 
Washington,  PA.  He  dedicated 
the  new  Hillsview  Chapel 
and  multi-purpose  building 
at  the  facility  in  spring  1996. 
Cameron  also  serves  as  president 
of  the  western  region  of  the 
Pennsylvania  State  Society  of 
Chaplains. 

James  S.  Lawton  (B) 

lives  in  Syracuse,  NY,  and 
is  developing  a  practice  as 
a  liturgical  design  consultant. 

William  A.  McCleery  III 

(B)  is  council  executive  of 
the  Three  Rivers  Council 
of  the  Boy  Scouts  of  America 


in  Beaumont,  TX,  a  post  he 
has  held  since  July  1,  1994. 

Ralph  W.  Quere  (D)  writes 
that  he  is  “still  professor  of 
church  history  at  Wartburg 
Seminary  in  Dubuque,  LA.” 

1971  On  June  1,  1995, 

John  G.  "Jay"  Seabrook 

Jr.  (B)  accepted  a  call  to 
become  pastor  of  St.  Luke’s 
Presbyterian  Church  in 
Titusville,  FL. 

1972  Alan  Blatecky 

(B,  '73M)  is  responsible  for 
operating  the  Supercomputing 
Center  of  North  Carolina, 
where  he  runs  the  regional  high- 


performance  network  that  pro¬ 
vides  internet  service  to  every 
university,  college,  school,  and 
government  agency  in  North 
Carolina.  He  also  manages 
research  and  development 
groups  on  information  technol¬ 
ogy  applications,  and  has  been 
named  to  the  Federal 
Networking  Council  Advisory 
Committee.  He  has  also  taught 
a  Sunday  school  class  called 
Theological  Forum  for  the  past 
seven  years.  “It  is  a  little  unusual 
in  that  there  is  required  reading 
each  week,”  Blatecky  writes. 

“It’s  been  fascinating  and  useful, 
as  it  gives  adults  the  time  to 
challenge  their  intellects  and 
grow  in  faith.” 


The  Godless  Revival,  a  book 

by  William  D.  Spencer 
('B,  '75M)  and  Aida  B. 
Spencer  ('73B,  '75M), 

et  ah,  was  published  in 
1995  by  Baker  Books. 

The  Spencers  live  in  South 
Hamilton,  MA. 

James  M.  Van  Hecke  Jr. 

(b)  is  president  of  Vanford 
Communications,  a  market- 


inSpire  •  21 


photo:  The  Leigh  Photographic  Group 


summer  1996 


Class  notes 


ing  and  public  relations  business 
in  Greensboro,  NC.  He  is 
also  the  chairperson  of  Salem 
Presbytery’s  Higher  Education 
Committee,  and  is  active 
with  campus  ministry  at  the 
University  of  North  Carolina 
at  Greensboro. 


1974  Robert  Sheeran 

(M)  was  named  president  of 
Seton  Hall  University  in  South 
Orange,  NJ,  on  December  7, 
1995. 

1975  N.  Dean  Evans 

(E)  is  serving  as  interim  rector 
of  the  Episcopal  Church  of 
the  Advent,  Kennett  Square,  PA. 
This  is  his  ninth  interim  posi¬ 
tion  in  the  Diocese  of  Penn¬ 
sylvania,  where  he  serves  as 
an  interim  specialist. 

“I  was  a  commissioner  to  the 
1995  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  (USA) 
in  Cincinnati,  OH,  from  New 
Hope  Presbytery,”  writes  David 
C.  Huffman  (B).  He  serves 
as  pastor  of  Trinity  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Raleigh,  NC. 

On  April  16,  1996,  David 
P.  Moessner  (B)  was  inaugu¬ 
rated  as  professor  of  New 
Testament  language,  literature, 
and  exegesis  at  Columbia 


Theological  Seminary.  He  gave 
an  address  titled  “The  Acts 
of  the  Apostles  and  ‘the  Paths 
that  Lead  to  Life’:  A  Theology 
for  the  Church  Today.” 

1978  Robert  L. 

Brawley  (D)  is  the  author  of 
Text  to  Text  Pours  Forth  Speech: 
Voices  of  Scripture  in  Luke-Acts, 
which  was  published  in  January 
1996  by  Indiana  University 
Press.  Brawley  also  contributed 
to  a  book  called  Biblical  Ethics 
and  Homosexuality;  other  con¬ 
tributors  to  that  book  include 
PTS  professors  Elizabeth 
Gordon  Edwards,  Ulrich  W. 
Mauser,  and  Choon-Leong 
Seow.  Brawley  is  professor  of 
New  Testament  at  McCormick 
Theological  Seminary. 

On  March  1,  1996,  Reford  B. 
Nash  (M)  became  pastor  and 
head  of  staff  at  the  Presbyterian 
Church  of  the  Roses,  Santa 
Rosa,  CA.  Prior  to  that  move, 
he  spent  eight  years  as  pastor  of 
Federated  Community  Church, 
a  Methodist  Presbyterian  con¬ 
gregation  in  Flagstaff,  AZ. 

In  its  last  issue,  inSpire  reported 
that  Catherine  C.  Snyder 

(B)  was  a  campus  minister  at 
Virginia  Technical  Institute. 
Alas,  this  was  a  mistake!  Snyder 
is  a  Presbyterian  campus  minis¬ 
ter  at  Virginia  Polytechnic 
Institute  and  State  University. 
“Several  years  ago,”  she  writes, 
“my  undergraduate  alma 
mater — Duke — tried  to  do 
a  sex  change  on  me  by  listing 
me  as  a  clergyman.  Now  PTS  is 
changing  my  call.  Am  I  jinxed?” 

1979  Robert  J.  Faser 

(B)  received  a  Master  of 


Humanities  degree  from  the 
University  of  Tasmania.  His 
thesis  was  on  Christian-Jewish 
relations  in  seventeenth- 
century  England.  Faser  lives  in 
Claremont,  Tasmania,  Australia. 

George  J.  Kroupa  III  (B) 

is  assistant  professor  of  Christ¬ 
ian  education  at  Virginia 
Theological  Seminary  in 
Alexandria,  VA,  which  is  the 
largest  seminary  in  the  world¬ 
wide  Anglican  communion  and 
is  associated  with  the  Episcopal 
Church.  Kroupa,  one  of  three 
Presbyterians  on  the  faculty,  also 
serves  as  co-editor  and  co-pub¬ 
lisher  of  Episcopal  Teacher, 
a  national  Episcopal  Church 
education  newspaper.  He  is 
assistant  director  of  the  Center 
for  the  Ministry  of  Teaching. 

1980  Teresa  M.  Derr 

(B)  is  a  clinical  social  worker 
with  the  Christ  Child  Society’s 
school  counseling  program  in 
Washington,  D.C.  She  provides 
psychotherapy  to  children,  par¬ 
ents,  and  families  in  two  inner- 
city,  Roman  Catholic  elemen¬ 
tary  schools,  as  well  as  furnish¬ 
ing  information  on  mental 
health  issues  and  serving  as 
a  consultant  to  teachers  and 
principals.  Derr  also  received 
a  half-tuition  scholarship  to 
the  Washington  School  of 
Psychiatry’s  Infant/Young 
Child  Mental  Health  Training 
Program,  where  she  began 
a  two-year  program  in  1995. 

She  is  developing  a  specialty  in 
providing  assessments  and  psy¬ 
chotherapy  for  children  (birth 
to  four  years  old)  and  their  fam¬ 
ilies.  She  received  her  license  to 
practice  as  an  independent  social 
worker  in  February. 


Carol  Ann  Fleming  (B) 

received  her  D.Min.  in  June 
from  Columbia  Theological 
Seminary.  She  and  her  husband, 
Scott  Loomer  (B),  are  co-pastors 
of  Park  Central  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Syracuse,  NY. 

Donald  Lincoln  (B)  was 

resource  coordinator  for 
the  Pensions  and  Benefits 
Committee  of  this  summer’s 
General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  (USA). 

1982  Robert  D.  Curtis 

(B)  is  the  new  president  and 
chief  executive  officer  of  the 
board  of  directors  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  (USA) 
Investment  and  Loan  Program. 
Curtis  had  served  since  1990 
as  chief  executive  officer  of 
the  Church  Development 
Corporation,  a  $16  million  loan 
fund  that  serves  the  Synod  of 
Mid-America.  Before  getting 
his  new  job,  he  was  a  pastor  in 
Lexington,  NE,  and  Oklahoma 
City,  OK. 

Mark  I.  Wallace  (B)  is  associ¬ 
ate  professor  and  co-chairperson 
of  the  Swarthmore  College 
Department  of  Religion, 
Swarthmore,  PA.  He  recently 
published  the  book  Fragments 
of  the  Spirit:  Nature,  Violence, 
and  the  Renewal  of  Creation, 


22  •  inSpire 


summer  1996 


Class  notes 


which  proposes  a  new,  anti- 
violent,  earth-centered  model 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  relation 
to  recent  work  in  theology, 
philosophy,  critical  theory,  and 
environmental  studies.  He  is 
also  the  editor  of  Figuring  the 
Sacred:  Religion,  Narrative, 
and  Imagination,  which  was 
published  in  1995;  and  the 
editor  (with  Theophus  Smith) 
of  Curing  Violence:  Religion  and 
the  Thought  of  Rene  Girard, 
which  was  published  in  1994. 

1983  Stuart  D. 

Broberg  (B),  pastor  of 
Central  Presbyterian  Church, 
Des  Moines,  IA,  has  joined 
the  board  of  trustees  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  (USA) 
Foundation. 


Robert  D.  Cummings  (B) 

was  installed  as  the  new  pastor 
of  Covenant  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Ligonier,  PA,  on 
March  24,  1996.  He  had  previ¬ 
ously  spent  ten  years  as  pastor 
of  Good  Shepherd  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Oakdale,  PA. 


Kenneth  (B)  and  Susan  (B) 
Wonderland  are  on  the  staff 
of  the  Presbytery  of  Hudson 
River,  where  they  work  in 
youth  and  Christian  education. 
They  co-pastor  Webb-Horton 
Memorial  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Middletown,  NY. 


1984  After  seven 

years  as  pastor  of  Black 
Mountain  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Black  Mountain, 

NC,  John  McCall  (B) 


has  departed  for  Taiwan, 
where  he  will  spend  two 
years  studying  Mandarin 
and  then  be  assigned  a  spe¬ 
cific  ministry  by  the  Presby- 


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terian  Church  in  Taiwan.  He 
will  live  with  a  family  in  Taipei, 
who  will  help  him  adjust  to  the 
language.  McCall  received  his 
Doctor  of  Ministry  degree  from 
Columbia  Theological  Seminary 
in  1995. 

1987  Susan  Halcomb 

Craig  (B)f  former  associate 
director  of  women’s  ministries 
in  the  National  Ministries 


Division  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  (USA),  has  left  her  posi¬ 
tion  to  accept  a  call  as  pastor 
of  United  University  Church, 
Los  Angeles,  CA,  on  the  campus 
of  the  University  of  Southern 
California. 

Joseph  P.  Dunn  (M)  is 

in  his  ninth  year  as  pastor 
of  Ballston  Spa  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Ballston  Spa,  NY. 


The  church  has  begun  a  twice- 
weekly  television  evangelism 
program. 

“Having  just  completed 
HIV/AIDS  counseling  training 
with  the  State  of  New  Jersey 
Division  on  AIDS,”  writes 

Raynard  Daniel  Smith 

(B,  '88M)f  “I  look  forward 
to  expanding  my  role  as  a  staff 


African-American  Alums 
of  Princeton 


Freed  slave,  missionary,  trailblazer,  teacher,  church  leader,  community  matriarch.  Betsey  Stockton, 
the  first  woman  educated  at  Princeton  Theological  Seminary  (albeit  informally),  accomplished  much 
more  with  her  life  than  anyone  imagined  when  she  was  born  a  slave  of  uncertain  parentage  in  1798. 

Betsey's  mother  was  a  slave  in  the  household  of  Robert  Stockton,  a  prominent  Princeton  citizen. 

He  gave  Betsey  to  his  daughter  Elizabeth,  first  wife  of  Ashbel  Green,  who  was  later  president  of  the 
College  of  New  Jersey  (now  Princeton  University)  and  who  was  president  of  the  board  of  trustees 
that  started  Princeton  Theological  Seminary.  Though  Stockton  served  as  a  nurse,  cook,  and  seam¬ 
stress  in  the  Green  household,  Green's  son  James  and  PTS  students  Eliphalet  Gilbert  (1816b), 
Charles  Stewart  (1821b),  and  Michael  Osborn  (1822b)  tutored  her  and  taught  her  to  read.  She  was 
allowed  free  use  of  the  elder  Green's  library. 

After  the  Green  family  freed  Stockton  at  the  age  of  twenty,  she  joined  Stewart  and  his  wife,  Harriet, 
in  1822  as  a  missionary  to  the  Hawaiian  Islands.  Stockton  was  the  first  never-married  woman  ever 
to  serve  as  a  Presbyterian  missionary.  On  the  island  of  Maui,  she  established  schools  for  both  chil¬ 
dren  and  adults.  She  also  worked  as  a  medical  nurse,  and  was  credited  with  saving  the  lives  of  at 
least  two  children. 

Stockton  and  the  Stewarts  returned  to  New  York  in  1826,  where  Stockton  taught  and  cared  for  the 
Stewart  children.  She  also  organized  schools  for  Native  Americans  in  Canada  during  this  period. 

In  1830  she  returned  to  live  with  the  Stewarts  full  time,  as  Harriet  Stewart  had  lost  her  health. 
Stockton  became  a  full-time  surrogate  mother  to  the  two  Stewart  children  after  Harriet  Stewart  died. 

When  the  Stewart  children  were  grown,  Stockton  helped  start  several  institutions  that  stabilized  and 
enriched  Princeton's  free  black  community.  Beginning  in  1835  she  helped  start  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Colour  of  Princeton,  today  called  Witherspoon  Street  Presbyterian  Church,  and  taught 

at  its  Morning  Sabbath  School.  By  1837  she  was  teaching  black  children 
at  a  public  school  in  Princeton,  and  in  1847  was  registered  as  the 
only  teacher  of  the  single  public  school  for  black  children  in  Princeton 
Township.  Her  wooden  school  housed  an  average  of  forty  students, 
who  learned  spelling,  reading,  grammar,  geography,  and  arithmetic. 

Her  salary  for  one  year  was  $36,  while  a  Miss  Lockwood,  who  taught 
at  the  school  for  white  children  in  the  same  district,  earned  $42  for  the 
same  period. 

Stockton  also  helped  start  a  night  school  that  taught  young  black  adults 
history,  English  literature,  algebra,  and  Latin.  She  persuaded  PTS  facul¬ 
ty  to  donate  their  time  and  skills  as  teachers  in  the  school,  which  pre¬ 
pared  a  number  of  students  who  later  graduated  from  college.  Stockton 
continued  her  personal  study  throughout  her  life;  in  her  later  years  she 
read  Caesar's  Commentaries  on  the  Gallic  Wars  in  the  original  Latin. 

Stockton  died  in  1865  and  was  buried  in  the  Stewart  family  plot  in 
upstate  New  York,  as  she  had  requested.  Her  eulogist,  Lewis  Mudge, 
remembered  that  "among  her  own  people  she  moved  like  a  queen,  and 
her  word  was  law."  Stockton's  former  students  donated  a  stained  glass 
window  in  her  honor  to  the  Witherspoon  Street  Presbyterian  Church. 


summer  1996 


Class  notes 


chaplain  at  St.  Peter’s  Medical 
Center  in  New  Brunswick,  NJ.” 

1988  Thomas  Poetter 

(B)  will  publish  a  book,  Pro¬ 
spective  Teachers  and  their  Voices, 
in  fall  1996.  He  is  an  assistant 
professor  in  a  teacher  education 
program  at  Trinity  University 
in  San  Antonio,  TX. 

Lillian  Taylor  (B)  and  her 

husband,  David  Taylor  (’53M), 
are  interim  part-time  co-pastors 
of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  Whiteville,  NC. 

Steve  Yamaguchi  (B) 

was  committee  assistant  for 
the  Pensions  and  Benefits 
Committee  of  this  summer’s 
General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  (USA). 

1989  After  six  and  a  half 

years  as  pastor  of  a  small  church 
in  Burlington,  NJ,  Stephen 
P.  Fritz  (B)  has  been  called 
to  Keyser  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Keyser,  WV.  He  began  the 
call  in  January  of  this  year. 


Weddings 

&Births 

Weddings 


Ruth  E.  Hawley-Lowry  (B) 

is  studying  for  her  Doctor 
of  Ministry  degree  at  Western 
Theological  Seminary,  Holland, 

ML 

1990  Having  just  sub¬ 
mitted  his  doctoral  thesis, 
Thomas  K.  Carr  (B)  will 
be  leaving  England’s  Oxford 
University,  where  he  has  been 
junior  dean  of  Oriel  College 
and  a  philosophy  tutor,  to  take 
a  new  job  as  assistant  professor 
of  philosophy  and  religion 

at  Mt.  Union  College,  Alliance, 
OH.  His  first  book,  Newman 
and  Knowing,  will  be  published 
this  fall  by  Scholars  Press. 

In  January  1993,  Robert 
Rodriguez  (M)  transferred 
to  the  Naval  Reserve  and 
became  pastor  of  Eltingville 
Lutheran  Church  and  School 
in  Staten  Island,  NY. 

1991  Ann  Deibert  (B) 

has  moved  from  Bel  Air,  MD, 
where  she  was  interim  pastor 
at  Christ  Our  King  Presbyterian 
Church,  to  Louisville,  KY, 


where  she  is  associate  pastor  at 
Central  Presbyterian  Church. 

“I  also  had  a  great  time  in 
March  with  twenty-seven  of  my 
classmates  (and  assorted  PTS 
administrators)  on  a  two-week 


trip  to  Israel  lead  by  classmate 
Andy  Vaughn,  (B,  ’96D)”  she 


writes. 


1992  Yong  H.  Paik  (B) 

is  pastor  of  Young  Nak  Presby¬ 
terian  Church  in  Tacoma,  WA. 

1993  Carmen  S. 

Fowler  (B)  became  interim 
pastor  of  Christian  education 
at  Memorial  Drive  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Houston,  TX, 


Geraldine  Adams  to  Virgil  L.  Jones  ('54B),  July  29,  1995 

Sydni  A.  Craig  to  Michael  C.  R.  Nabors  ('85B,  '86M),  June  3,  1995. 

Alicia  Morton  to  Todd  A.  Collier  ('86B),  August  27,  1994 

Brenda  Rochelle  Callahan  to  Thomas  James  Edwards  ('94B),  December  30,  1995 


Births 


Jessica  Rae  to  Carol  S.  ('82B)  and  Mark  Wedell,  November  14,  1995 

John  Hartford  to  Marcia  and  George  R.  ('84B)  Wilcox,  April  8,  1996 

Amy  Elizabeth  Suyeko  to  Gretchen  and  Edward  Francis  ('85B)  Ezaki,  October  29,  1995 

Rachel  Meghan  to  Jennifer  and  lain  S.  ('85M)  Maclean,  July  28,  1995 

Madeline  Lee  to  Alicia  and  Todd  A.  ('86B)  Collier,  January  27,  1996 

Cooper  Marshall  to  Ann  Heil  McAnelly  ('9 1 B)  and  Stanley  M.  McAnelly  ('92B),  December  11,  1995 

Jonathan  David  to  Julie  and  David  R.  ('92B)  Brewer,  May  14,  1995 

Donald  Stuart  Lee  to  Lori  and  Albert  L.  ('92B)  Gillin,  June  21,  1995 

Henning  August  Daniel  to  Gertrud  and  Hans  E.  ('93M)  Andreasson,  October  25,  1995 

Lindsay  Geneil  to  Monica  ('94B)  and  Tony  ('94b)  Elvig,  February  21,  1996 


on  January  1,  1996.  She  had 
been  associate  pastor  at  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Victoria,  TX. 

Gary  Sallquist  (B)  is  a 

regional  development  manager 
for  Promise  Keepers,  an  organi¬ 
zation  for  Christian  men 
headquartered  in  Boulder,  CO. 
He  works  with  businesses  and 
foundations  that  support 
Promise  Keepers,  pastors  busi¬ 
ness  leaders,  and  preaches  in 
various  churches,  practicing 
what  he  calls  “theolobizz.”  His 
job  “is  a  good  fit  with  the  thirty 
years  I  spent  in  business  before 
coming  to  seminary,”  he  said. 
“I’m  hilly  challenged,  greatly 
blessed,  and  sprinting  to  keep 
up!” 

1994  “Now  that  I’m  back 

in  the  Princeton  area,”  writes 
Mary  Austin  (B),  “I’m  a 
little  worried  about  what  the 
Seminary  expects  from  its 
graduates.  I  ran  into  David  Wall 
(’80E)  recently  at  a  restaurant, 
and  he  immediately  exclaimed, 
‘Are  you  working  here?’  Luckily, 
the  answer  is  no!  I’m  working  as 
a  chaplain  for  a  hospice  in  New 
Jersey’s  Monmouth  and  Ocean 
Counties,  and  am  enjoying 
and  being  stretched  by  provid¬ 
ing  pastoral  care  to  people  who 
are  dying  and  their  families.” 
Austin  was  ordained  to  the  min¬ 
istry  on  June  22,  1996,  by 
National  Capital  Presbytery. 

Krystin  S.  Granberg  (B) 

was  ordained  by  New  York  City 
Presbytery  on  April  28,  1996. 
She  is  the  coordinator  of  the 
China  program  for  the  National 
Council  of  the  Churches  of 
Christ  (USA),  where  she  works 
in  partnership  with  the  China 


Class  notes 


summer  1996 


On  the  Shelves 


Have  you  ever  wished  that  you  could  ask  for  a  PTS  professor's 
recommendation  before  buying  a  book?  On  the  Shelves 
features  book  recommendations  from  a  variety  of  Princeton 
Seminary  faculty,  with  the  hope  that  these  suggestions  will 
help  alumni/ae  choose  books  that  will  facilitate  their  professional 
and  personal  growth. 

From  Paul  Rorem,  the  Benjamin  B.  Warfield  Associate 
Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History: 

The  Presence  of  God:  A  History  of  Western  Christian  Mysticism, 
by  Bernard  McGinn.  New  York:  Crossroad  Publishing  Co.,  1992 
and  1994.  This  book  is  divided  into  two  volumes:  volume  one, 
The  Foundations  of  Mysticism,  and  volume  two,  The  Growth 
of  Mysticism.  With  these  two  volumes,  Bernard  McGinn  has 
launched  the  definitive  English  overview  of  Western  Christian 
mysticism.  Using  the  broader  category  of  the  presence  of  God, 
rather  than  the  more  limited  notion  of  union  with  God,  McGinn 
offers  a  balanced  analysis,  copious  quotations  from  the  primary 
texts,  and  thorough  engagement  with  the  secondary  literature. 
The  first  volume  establishes  his  foundations  regarding  method¬ 
ology,  the  biblical  materials,  and  the  early  church.  Volume  two 
takes  readers  from  Gregory  the  Great  through  the  twelfth  centu¬ 
ry,  with  a  special  focus  on  Bernard  of  Clairvaux.  He  projects 
three  more  volumes. 


A  Morbid  Taste  for  Bones,  The  Heretic's  Apprentice,  and  The 
Confession  of  Brother  Cadfael,  all  part  of  the  Cadfael  series,  by 
Ellis  Peters,  and  produced  by  a  variety  of  publishers.  As  recently 
portrayed  on  public  television  by  Derek  Jacobi,  Brother  Cadfael 
is  the  literary  creation  of  Ellis  Peters  in  a  series  of  some  twenty 
detective  novels  set  in  and  around  a  twelfth-century  Benedictine 
monastery  in  England.  Unfailingly  literate,  humane,  and  histor¬ 
ically  well  grounded,  these  novels  are  delightful  reading.  One 
of  the  most  theologically  interesting  is  The  Heretic's  Apprentice, 
but  they  all  give  a  glimpse  of  medieval  England,  an  intriguing 
mystery,  and  a  sub-plot  involving  pure,  young  love. 

From  Bruce  M.  Metzger,  the  George  L.  Collord  Professor 
of  New  Testament  Language  and  Literature  Emeritus: 

Books  and  Readers  in  the  Early  Church:  A  History  of  Early 
Christian  Texts,  by  Harry  Y.  Gamble.  New  Haven:  Yale  University 
Press,  1995.  This  fascinating  book  provides  the  first  com¬ 
prehensive  discussion  of  the  production,  circulation,  and  use 
of  books  during  the  first  five  centuries  of  the  church.  The  author 
interweaves  practical  and  technical  dimensions  of  his  subject 
with  the  social  and  institutional  history  of  the  period. 


Christian  Council  and  the 
Amity  Foundation  to  send 
teachers  to  China  and  support 
Chinese  theological  students 
studying  in  the  United  States. 
She  also  does  advocacy  and 
education  on  issues  related 
to  China,  and  leads  study  tours 
to  China.  Granberg  recently 
wrote  the  youth  resource  that 
is  part  of  Friendship  Press’s 
Balancing  Act,  an  ecumenical 


study  on  China  and  Hong 
Kong.  Her  email  address  is 
krystin@ncccusa.org,  where 
she  would  “love  to  hear  from 
classmates!” 

Mark  Harding  (D)  was  com¬ 
missioned  as  the  seventh  dean 
of  the  Australian  College  of 
Theology  on  March  19,  1996. 
The  service  was  performed  by 
the  Primate  of  Australia, 


The  Real  Jesus:  The  Misguided  Quest  for  the  Historical  Jesus 
and  the  Truth  of  the  Historical  Gospels,  by  Luke  Timothy 
Johnson.  San  Francisco:  Harper,  1996.  As  indicated  by  the 
sub-title,  the  argument  of  this  book  is  in  two  parts.  In  the  first 
part,  the  author  exposes  the  Jesus  Seminar  for  what  it  is:  self¬ 
promotion  resting  on  tendentious  scholarship.  In  the  second 
part,  Johnson  argues  that  Christian  faith  is  based  not  merely 
on  recovering  a  historical  Jesus,  but  on  the  resurrected  Jesus 
found  in  the  converging  lines  of  evidence  preserved  throughout 
the  New  Testament. 

The  Year  of  the  Bible:  A  Comprehensive,  Congregation-wide 
Program  of  Bible  Reading,  by  James  E.  Davison.  Available  from 
the  author,  2040  Washington  Road,  Pittsburgh,  PA  15241.  Davi¬ 
son's  book  supplies  clear,  step-by-step  instructions  and  sample 
materials  for  developing  a  unified  and  comprehensive  program 
for  congregations  who  want  to  read  through  the  entire  Bible 
in  one  year.  The  program  provides  basic  biblical  knowledge 
for  beginners,  as  well  as  a  broader  picture  for  longtime  Bible 
readers.  This  is  a  good  book  that  will  do  good. 

From  Wayne  Whitelock,  director  of  educational  commu¬ 
nications  and  technology,  come  two  books  on  video 
technology  for  the  church: 

Befriending  the  Cyclops,  by  Barry  L.  Johnson.  Published  by 
the  United  Church  Board  for  Homeland  Ministries,  700  Prospect 
Avenue,  Cleveland,  OH  44115-1100.  Johnson  is  a  pioneer  in 
local  church  television  who  addresses  the  political,  program¬ 
matic,  practical,  and  spiritual  realities  of  church  television  with 
a  wit  and  humor  baptized  in  experience.  Good  advice,  true 
stories,  cartoons,  and  practical  data  are  all  there  for  the  reading. 
You  cannot  find  a  better  place  to  start. 

Media  Handbook  for  Churches,  by  Charles  Somervill  and  Kerry 
L.  Townson.  Westminster  Press,  1988.  This  book  presents  the 
experiences  of  a  local  church  media  committee  in  a  novel  and 
compelling  dialogue  format,  and  takes  the  reader  through  the 
entire  process  of  getting  "on  the  air."  Their  learning  about 
scripts,  editing,  microphones,  cameras,  and  a  thousand  other 
details  provides  an  effective  introduction  to  the  how-to's  and 
what-nots  of  local  television  production. 

These  books  are  not  for  everyone.  For  the  advanced,  the 
shelves  are  full  of  textbooks  and  technical  manuals.  For  those 
who  are  still  figuring  out  their  VCRs  and  digital  clocks  and  have 
just  been  asked  to  produce  church  television,  however,  these 
books  are  just  the  thing. 


Archbishop  of  Melbourne  Keith 
Rayner. 

1995  Thomas  M. 

Olson  (B)  is  an  intern  in 
directing  at  Theatre  de  la  Jeune 
Lune  in  Minneapolis,  MN. 

He  was  recently  the  assistant 
director  of  The  Hunchback  of 
Notre-Dame,  which  ran  through 
February  1 1,  1996,  and  was 
profiled  in  Kamikaze  magazine. 


We're  not 
ignoring  you! 

The  editorial  staff  of  inSpire 
receives  many  class  notes  every 
year,  and  tries  to  print  them  all. 
But  because  the  magazine  is 
published  quarterly,  it  some¬ 
times  doesn't  include  recently 
submitted  class  notes.  If  you 
don't  see  your  class  note  here, 
please  be  patient.  It  will  appear 
in  a  future  issue. 


inSpire  •  25 


summer  1996 


<|pj>jp  outstanding  in  the  field 


Wildfire  and  Wilderness: 

Meeting  God  in  the  Forests  of  Idaho 

Parachuting  from  a  small  plane  to  fight 
forest  fires  in  the  Idaho  wilderness  is  the 
closest  Stan  Tate  has  come  to  knowing  God. 

Although  he  is  both  a  Presbyterian  min¬ 
ister  and  an  Episcopal  priest,  it  is  as  a  smoke 
jumper  that  Tate  found  the  spirituality  that 
sustains  him.  He  learned  in  the  remoteness 
of  sky  and  forest  that  “spirituality  cannot 
be  manufactured,  but  it  can  be  a  gift  of  the 
wilderness.” 

A  1958  PTS  M.Div.  graduate  and  Idaho 
native,  Tate  was  accepted  for  smoke  jumping 
training  by  the  U.S.  Forest  Service  while  he 
was  still  a  student  at  Princeton.  After  gradua¬ 
tion,  he  combined  two  careers  for  the  next 
twelve  years.  While  pastoring  a  Presbyterian 
church  in  Hysham,  MT,  and  then  an 
Episcopal  church  in  McCall,  ID,  in  the 
1960s,  he  spent  summers  and  sabbaticals 
jumping  into  the  middle  of  forests  far  from 
civilization  as  a  member  of  the  McCall 
Smoke  Jumpers. 

Tate  made  his  last  jump  in  1970,  but 
continued  what  he  calls  a  “non-traditional 
ministry  of  spirituality”  that  led  him  to  hos¬ 
pital  chaplaincy  and  teaching.  In  1989  he 
earned  a  D.  Min.  in  medical  bioethics  from 
San  Franscisco  Theological  Seminary;  he  is 
now  a  bioethicist  and  consultant  at  Gritman 
Medical  Center  and  Latah  Health  Center 
in  Moscow,  ID,  and  a  part-time  instructor 
in  ethics  at  the  University  of  Idaho.  Last  year 
Tate  wrote  Jumping  Skyward,  a  work  of  fic¬ 
tion  that  combines  passages  of  Scripture  with 
his  memories  of  jumping  into  the  Idaho 
wilderness. 

“The  book  comes  100  percent  from 
experiences  I  recorded  in  my  journal,”  Tate 
said.  “I  wrote  it  to  motivate  Christians  to 
enjoy  and  cherish  God’s  creation.  Nature 


dwells  in  us,  and  we  in  nature,  when  we 
become  absorbed  in  wilderness.  Not  unlike 
poet  William  Wordsworth,  Eve  felt  a  spiritu¬ 
al  presence  in  the  wilderness  which  has 
elevated  my  being.” 

In  a  time  when,  for  many  people,  spiri¬ 
tuality  is  synonymous  with  the  New  Age 
movement’s  crystals  and  candles,  Tate  is  clear 
that  his  wilderness  spirituality  is  grounded 
in  a  Christian  understanding  of  God. 

“I  believe  Christians  ought  to  love  God’s 
natural  world  while  simultaneously  loving 
Christ,  the  Logos,  who  was  present  at  that 
world’s  beginning,”  he  said.  “While  I  admire 
the  many  people  who  love  nature,  I  find  that 
their  Christology  is  often  very  weak,  or  miss¬ 
ing  entirely.  The  word  ‘ecology’  basically 
means  ‘home.’  The  book  emphasizes  our 
real  home  or  spiritual  dwelling  as  being  in 
Christ.” 

Like  Christ’s  own  experience  of  suffering 
and  hardship  in  the  wilderness,  smoke 
jumping  can  bring  loss.  Jumping  Skyward 
chronicles  the  death  of  several  jumpers 
whose  planes  crash  into  mountainsides 
or  who  are  overcome  by  raging  fires  when 
they  reach  the  ground. 

“Every  Christian  experiences  suffering,” 
said  Tate.  “We  all  go  through  a  dark  night 
of  the  soul;  we  all  struggle  to  find  meaning 
in  a  hostile  environment.”  The  book’s  hero, 
Ken  Shuler,  is  based  on  Tate’s  best  friend, 
who  died  in  a  plane  crash  trying  to  save 
other  jumpers.  Tate  intends  Shuler  to  be 
a  kind  of  Christ  figure,  an  example  of  some¬ 
one  on  a  spiritual  journey  toward  God  who 
is  willing  to  sacrifice  himself  for  others. 

In  his  years  as  a  smoke  jumper,  Tate 
found  companions  for  his  own  spiritual  jour¬ 
ney  in  the  creatures  of  the  forest,  and  in  the 


forest  itself.  He  writes  of  encounters  with 
a  “moss-loving  moose”  he  met  on  a  trail,  red¬ 
tailed  hawks  soaring  above  giant  cedars,  and 
tiny  wildflowers  on  the  forest  floor.  Each 
was  a  sort  of  parable  or  meditation  for  Tate, 
pointing  him  to  communion  with  his  cre¬ 
ator. 

“Wild  things  extended  their  hands  to 
me,”  he  said.  “A  few  raindrops  fell  on  a  bed 
of  trilliums  on  the  forest  floor.  Each  leaf  held 
its  raindrop  momentarily,  then  relinquished 
it  to  the  next  leaf.  I  concentrated  on  one  tril- 
lium,  relishing  its  triune  petals.  I  learned  that 
all  living  things  ought  to  be  valued  for  their 
intrinsic  worth.” 

He  also  found  companionship  with  his 
fellow  smoke  jumpers,  the  men  of  the  Seven 
Squad.  They  left  families  and  homes  for 
weeks  at  a  time  to  live  in  camp,  ready  to 
respond  at  a  moment’s  notice  when  lightning 
struck  the  tinder-dry  forests.  For  this  com¬ 
munity  of  men,  the  mountains  and  timber- 
lands  became  what  Tate  calls  a  “bioscathe- 
dral,”  a  natural  sanctuary  not  unlike  the 
soaring  Gothic  marvels  of  Notre  Dame 
or  Chartres. 

“Many  of  these  men  had  never  been 
in  church,"  Tate  said.  “But  they  knew  God 
in  the  wilderness  and  through  the  communi¬ 
ty  we  forged  with  each  other.”  Tate  still  con¬ 
siders  himself  a  chaplain  to  the  men  with 
whom  he  jumped.  He  recently  conducted 
a  memorial  service  for  one  jumper,  and 
he  stays  in  touch  with  most  of  the  men  and 
their  families. 

Tate  hopes  his  book  will  teach  people 
that  the  future  of  the  earth  depends  on  peo¬ 
ple  protecting  God’s  creation,  and  that  it  will 
lead  readers  to  a  deeper  spiritual  life,  whether 


26  •  inSpire 


summer  1996 


|4  outstanding 


or  not  they  venture  into  a  physical  wilder¬ 
ness. 

That  has,  in  fact,  already  happened. 

One  reader,  the  pilot  of  a  747  for  United 
Airlines,  read  the  book  after  his  son  was 
killed  when  he  crashed  an  acrobatic  plane 
into  a  hillside  while  the  father  watched 
from  another  plane.  Tate  received  a  letter 
from  the  grateful  lather.  “He  told  me  that 
the  book’s  down-to-earth  Christian  spirituali¬ 
ty  had  given  him  new  hope  and  rejuvenated 
his  faith,”  Tate  said. 

More  information  about  the  book 
is  available  by  contacting  Tate  at  The 
Centering  Place,  1423  Alpowa  Drive, 
Moscow,  ID  83843-2401. 1 


Making  Haste  To  Be  Kind: 

Oregon  Pastor  Heads 
Ecumenical  Organization 

Growing  up  in  Pittsburgh  with  a  grand¬ 
father  who  volunteered  at  the  local  hospital 
and  a  father  who  contributed  many  hours 
to  the  Boy  Scouts  taught  John  Dennis  (’62B, 
’65M)  the  value  of  community  service.  As 
the  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Corvallis,  OR,  since  1969,  he  has  contin¬ 
ued  that  tradition,  involving  himself  and  his 
congregation  in  projects  ranging  from  HIV 
day  care  to  refugee  resettlement. 

Beginning  in  September,  Dennis  will 
serve  a  one-and-a-half  year  term  as  president 
of  the  board  of  directors  of  the  Ecumenical 
Ministries  of  Oregon  (EMO). 

EMO,  with  one  hundred  and  fifty-six 
full-time  employees  and  a  budget  of  almost 
six  million  dollars  for  mission,  works  on 
behalf  of  more  than  seventeen  denomina¬ 
tions  and  three  thousand  congregations  in 
ministries  of  justice  and  advocacy  through¬ 
out  Oregon.  (Two  other  PTS  alumni — 

Don  Purkey  (’61 B)  and  Bill  Creevey 
(’56B) — have  also  chaired  the  EMO  board.) 

Dennis’s  relationship  with  EMO  began 
when  he  ran  for  Congress  in  1988  and  lost 
in  the  primary.  “I  remember  a  journalist 
from  a  Portland  newspaper  sitting  me  down 
in  a  Sizzler  steak  house  and  asking  me  to  run 
as  an  alternative  to  a  candidate  who  opposed 
AIDS  education,”  Dennis  said.  “I  had  buried 
two  people  from  my  congregation  with 
AIDS  and  had  a  cousin  who  died  of  the 
disease,  and  I  couldn’t  say  no.” 


in  the  field 


Disappointed  by  his  loss  in  the  primary, 
Dennis  decided  to  follow  through  with  his 
commitment  to  people  with  HIV  and  AIDS. 
He  called  EMO,  an  organization  he  knew 
was  committed  to  advocacy  for  people  in 
need. 

“They  were  in  the  process  of  starting 
what  was  the  second  or  third  HIV  day-care 
center  in  the  country,”  he  said,  “so  the 
church  signed  on.  We  took  a  challenge  offer¬ 
ing  and  came  up  with  the  seed  money  for 
the  center.” 

Today  members  of  his  church  drive 
the  ninety  miles  from  Corvallis  to  Portland 
monthly  to  prepare  food  at  the  day-care 
center;  the  congregation  also  continues  to 
raise  funds  for  the  project  through  special 
offerings.  And  two  members  serve  on  the 
EMO  board  with  their  pastor. 

Dennis’s  work  with  EMO  will  also 
involve  him  in  refugee  resettlement  (the 
organization  is  the  largest  resettler  of  refugees 
in  the  state),  migrant  farm  workers’  rights, 
interracial  summer  camp  programs,  a  hos¬ 
pice  center,  and  several  addiction  and  reha¬ 
bilitation  centers.  He  believes  it  is  one  of 
the  most  effective  ecumenical  organizations 
in  the  country. 

“EMO  is  a  thriving  ecumenical  organiza¬ 
tion,”  Dennis  said.  “Ecumenism  is  alive 
and  well  in  Oregon,  which  is  something  of 
a  paradox  since  the  state  has  the  highest  per¬ 
centage  of  unchurched  people  in  the  nation.” 


Dennis’s  work 
will  include  re¬ 
structuring  the 
organization,  serv¬ 
ing  as  head  of  a  search  committee  to  find  a 
new  executive  director,  and  working  toward 
resolving  disputes  about  housing  conditions 
and  picking  rates  between  Oregon  growers 
and  migrant  farm  workers. 

While  providing  leadership  to  EMO, 
Dennis  will  also  travel  with  church  members 
to  Cambodia  next  year  to  visit  children  and 
adults  who  have  lost  limbs  from  the  thou¬ 
sands  of  active  land  mines  that  dot  the  coun¬ 
tryside.  He  made  his  first  trip  to  the  Asian 
nation  in  1994  to  visit  a  friend,  and  spent  an 
afternoon  in  a  children’s  hospital  full  of  tiny 
amputees. 

“I  didn’t  realize  until  I  was  in  that  hospi¬ 
tal  that  I  was  capable  of  rage,”  Dennis  said. 

“I  came  back  with  a  challenge  for  myself  and 
the  church.  We’ve  now  raised  money  for  116 
artificial  arms  and  legs  for  kids,  and  for  edu¬ 
cational  programs  in  mine  awareness  and 
emergency  first  aid  in  five  Cambodian  vil¬ 
lages.” 

For  Dennis,  it  comes  down  to  being 
kind.  “I  try  to  follow  the  words  of  a  Swiss 
writer,  Henri'  Amiel,  that  we  use  to  close  our 
worship  service:  ‘Life  is  short,  and  we  have 
not  too  much  time  to  gladden  the  hearts  of 
those  who  travel  the  way  with  us.  O  be  swift 
to  love,  and  make  haste  to  be  kind.  I 


summer  1996 


Obituaries 

•  Eugen  Zeleny,  1928M 

Eugen  Zeleny,  a  Czech  pastor  who 
survived  four  years  in  Nazi  Germany’s 
Dachau  concentration  camp,  died  on 
October  8,  1995.  He  was  ninety-two  years 
old.  Zeleny  was  an  assistant  pastor  and 
then  a  pastor  in  Trnovany,  Teplice,  Sanov, 
and  Pardubice  from  1929  to  1940.  He 
was  a  pastor  and  prisoner  at  Javornfk  in 
1940,  and  was  moved  to  Dachau  in  1941, 
where  he  remained  until  liberation  in 
1945.  From  1945  to  1950  he  was  director 
of  Czech  Diakony,  where  he  did  church 
social  work.  For  the  next  thirty  years, 
beginning  in  1951,  he  was  secretary  of  the 
synodal  council  of  the  Evangelical  Church 
of  Czech  Brethren,  and  was  an  advisor  and 
expert  library  worker  in  the  same  organiza¬ 
tion  from  1981  to  1991. 

•  Merlin  F.  Usner,  1930B 

Merlin  F.  Usner,  who  served  churches  in 
the  American  South,  died  on  August  20, 
1995.  He  was  ninety-two  years  old.  Usner 
pastored  Central  Presbyterian  Church, 
Miami,  FL,  from  1935  to  1943.  He  was 
pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
Louisville,  MS,  from  1948  to  1951;  pastor 
of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  East 
Lake  in  Birmingham,  AL,  from  1951 
to  1955;  pastor  of  Picayune  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Picayune,  MS,  from  1955  to 
1 962;  and  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Ocean  Springs,  MS,  from  1962 
until  his  retirement  in  1972.  Usner  also 
served  as  director  of  the  Cook  Christian 
Training  School  in  Phoenix,  AZ,  from 
1943  to  1945,  and  was  a  missionary 
and  stated  supply  pastor  in  the  Presbytery 
of  New  Orleans  from  1945  to  1948. 

•  Isaac  Moultrie  Bagnal,  1931M 

Isaac  Moultrie  Bagnal,  a  pastor  who 

served  churches  in  South  Carolina  for  thir¬ 
ty-two  years,  died  on  February  7,  1996. 

He  was  ninety  years  old.  Bagnal’s  first  call 
was  in  1931  as  pastor  of  Belton-Honea 
Path  Presbyterian  Churches  in  the  South 
Carolina  towns  of  the  same  names;  he 
continued  in  that  pastorate  until  1943. 

He  then  served  Easley  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Easley,  SC,  from  1943  to  1952, 
and  Bennettsville  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Bennettsville,  SC,  from  1952  to  1963. 
Bagnal  was  executive  secretary,  stated 


clerk,  and  treasurer  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Granville  in  Raleigh,  NC,  between 
1963  and  his  1971  retirement. 

•  James  R.  Gailey,  1933B 

James  R.  Gailey,  a  pastor  who  served  the 
Presbyterian  Church  (USA)  for  twenty-five 
years  as  a  leader  on  the  Board  of  Christian 
Education,  died  on  November  30,  1995. 
He  was  eighty-six  years  old.  Gailey  began 
his  pastoral  career  at  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Smyrna,  DE,  where  he  served 
from  1933  to  1937.  He  then  pastored  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Bristol,  PA, 
from  1937  to  1944.  In  1944  he  began 
his  work  with  the  Board  of  Christian 
Education’s  Division  of  Field  Services, 
beginning  as  field  director  of  Christian 
education  for  the  Presbytery  of  Phila¬ 
delphia,  where  he  served  from  1944  to 
1948.  He  was  associate  secretary  of  the 
Division  of  Field  Services  from  1948  to 
1950,  associate  secretary  of  the  Education 
in  Churches  Division  from  1950  to  1955, 
and  became  the  Field  Service  Division  sec¬ 
retary  in  1955,  a  post  he  held  until  1961. 
In  1961  he  was  made  associate  general 
secretary,  and  in  1970  he  became  general 
secretary.  He  retired  in  1973.  He  is  sur¬ 
vived  by  his  wife,  Clara  Maser  Gailey,  and 
their  two  children,  James  Jr.  and  Claire. 

•  Robert  J.  Laughlin,  1934G 

Robert  J.  Laughlin,  who  served  churches 
in  Northern  Ireland  and  Kentucky  for 
forty-two  years,  died  on  February  16, 

1996.  He  was  eighty-five  years  old.  He 
served  as  assistant  pastor  of  Cooke 
Centenary  Presbyterian  Church  in  Belfast, 
Northern  Ireland,  from  1934  to  1935, 
and  then  became  pastor  of  Shore  Street 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Donaghadee, 
Northern  Ireland,  where  he  stayed  until 
1952.  In  1952  he  moved  to  the  United 
States  and  became  pastor  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Frankfort,  KY. 

He  stayed  at  that  church  for  twenty-four 
years,  retiring  in  1976.  Laughlin  is  sur¬ 
vived  by  his  wife,  Mabel  Laughlin,  and 
by  their  four  children:  Roy,  Ian,  Avril, 
and  David. 

•  James  S.  Roe,  1935B 

James  S.  Roe,  who  served  twelve  church¬ 
es  in  Ontario  and  Nova  Scotia,  Canada, 
during  sixty  years  as  a  minister,  died  on 


November  27,  1995.  He  was  ninety  years 
old.  Roe’s  longest  pastorate  was  at  Knox 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Sudbury,  Ontario, 
where  he  served  from  1948  to  1959. 

He  also  served  Park  Lawn  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Toronto,  Ontario,  from  1959 
to  1965,  and  St.  Timothy’s  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Ajax,  Ontario,  from  1969  to 
1976.  He  is  survived  by  his  wife,  Mary- 
Evelyn  Roe,  and  their  five  children:  Helen 
Stringer,  Marilyn  Shobridge,  David  Roe, 
Jean  Byers,  and  Arlene  Gillis. 

•  Carlton  C.  Allen,  1936B 

Carlton  C.  Allen,  retired  pastor  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church,  Albuquerque, 
NM,  died  on  December  4,  1995.  He  was 
eighty-four  years  old.  Allen  pastored  the 
Albuquerque  church  from  1967  to  1974. 
He  also  served  Trinity  University  in  San 
Antonio,  TX,  as  university  chaplain  and 
assistant  professor  of  religion  from  1947 
to  1953,  and  served  as  pastor  of  the 
Presbyterian  church  in  Bound  Brook,  NJ, 
for  ten  years,  beginning  in  1953.  From 
1937  to  1939,  he  taught  at  Ewing 
Christian  College  in  Allahabad,  India. 

He  is  survived  by  his  wife,  Barbara  N. 
Allen,  and  their  two  sons,  Carlton  C. 

Allen  III  and  John  I.  Allen. 

•  Adam  W.  Craig,  1937B 

Adam  W.  Craig,  a  pastor  and  educator, 
died  on  December  28,  1995.  He  was 
eighty-three  years  old.  Craig’s  first  pas¬ 
torate  was  at  Irvington  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Irvington,  NJ,  where  he  served 
from  1939  to  1944.  Craig  was  pastor  of 
the  Lawrenceville  School  in  Lawrenceville, 
NJ,  from  1944  to  1949,  and  an  instructor 
at  Princeton  Theological  Seminary  from 
1945  to  1947.  He  was  pastor  of  Village 
Presbyterian  Chapel  in  Pinehurst,  NC, 
from  1950  to  1959,  and  headmaster  of  the 
Mount  Hermon  School  in  Northfield, 

MA,  from  1959  to  1963.  Craig  also  served 
as  pastor  of  Scarborough  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Scarborough,  NY,  beginning 
in  1964. 

•  Benjamin  F.  Ferguson,  1938B 

Benjamin  F.  Ferguson,  who  pastored 
churches  in  New  Jersey,  Maryland, 
Virginia,  South  Carolina,  and  North 
Carolina  during  thirty-seven  years  of 
ministry,  died  on  December  10,  1995. 


28  •  inSpire 


summer  1996 


Obituaries 

He  was  ninety  years  old.  Ferguson’s  first 
church  was  Greenwich  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Greenwich,  NJ,  where  he 
served  from  1938  to  1946.  From  1946 
to  1949  he  was  pastor  of  Darnestown 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Darnestown,  MD. 
From  1950  to  1961  he  pastored 
Presbyterian  Church  (US)  churches  in 
Virginia,  South  Carolina,  and  North 
Carolina,  including  Pageland  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Pageland,  SC;  Salem 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Salem,  SC;  and 
Beulah  Presbyterian  Church  in  Monroe, 
NC.  In  1961  he  was  called  to  Antioch 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Red  Springs,  NC, 
where  he  stayed  until  his  1975  retirement. 
He  is  survived  by  his  wife,  Katherine  M. 
Ferguson,  and  their  children,  Kathleen 
Dennis  and  Carl  Ferguson. 

•  Dayton  Castleman  Jr.,  1939G 
Dayton  Castleman  Jr.,  who  served 

Chinese  Americans  as  both  a  pastor  and 
a  missionary,  died  on  November  28,  1995. 
He  was  eighty-four  years  old.  Castleman 
was  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Higginsville,  MO,  from  1936 
to  1938,  and  then  served  as  a  home  mis¬ 
sionary  at  the  Chinese  Mission  in  New 
Orleans,  LA.  He  became  pastor  of  the 
Chinese  Presbyterian  Church  of  New 
Orleans  in  1957. 

•  Leon  A.  Haring  Jr.,  1939b 

Leon  A.  Haring  Jr.,  former  associate 
pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
Arlington  Heights,  WI,  died  on  November 
10,  1995.  He  was  eighty  years  old.  In 
addition  to  the  Arlington  Heights  church, 
which  he  began  serving  in  1966,  Haring 
pastored  churches  in  Kentucky,  New  York, 
and  Illinois.  He  was  associate  pastor 
of  Ravenswood  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Chicago,  IL,  from  1952  to  1957,  and 
was  co-pastor  of  Northshore  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Shorewood,  WI,  from  1957  to 
1965.  From  1942  to  1948  he  directed  the 
Westminster  Foundation  in  Philadelphia, 
PA. 

•  Frank  C.  Hughes,  1939B 

Frank  C.  Hughes,  who  served  the 
Presbyterian  Ministers’  Fund  in  Missouri, 
California,  and  Pennsylvania,  died  on 
December  13,  1995.  He  was  eighty-one 


years  old.  Hughes  served  as  assistant  pastor 
of  East  Liberty  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Pittsburgh,  PA,  for  four  years  beginning 
in  1939,  and  was  pastor  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church,  Lambertville,  NJ, 
from  1943  to  1946.  He  then  became 
assistant  secretary  of  the  Presbyterian 
Ministers’  Fund,  St.  Louis,  MO,  a  post 
he  held  for  five  years.  In  1951  he  became 
assistant  secretary  of  the  Presbyterian 
Ministers’  Fund  in  Los  Angeles,  CA,  stay¬ 
ing  until  1968.  From  1968  until  his  1976 
retirement,  he  was  assistant  secretary  of  the 
same  organization  in  Philadelphia,  PA.  He 
is  survived  by  his  wife,  Miriam  Hughes. 

•  Gilbert  J.  Kuyper,  1941M 

Gilbert  J.  Kuyper,  retired  pastor  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church,  Kasson,  MN, 
died  on  November  22,  1995.  He  was 
eighty-one  years  old.  Kuyper  pastored  the 
Kasson,  MN,  church  from  1977  until  his 
retirement  in  1980.  His  career  also  includ¬ 
ed  service  to  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Algona,  LA  (1946  to  1952);  Knox 
Presbyterian  Church  in  St.  Paul,  MN 
(1952  to  1965);  and  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  in  St.  James,  MN  (1965  to  1971). 
He  also  served  as  associate  and  co-pastor 
of  Hammond  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Superior,  WI,  from  1972  to  1976.  He 
received  numerous  awards  for  volunteer 
work  during  his  life.  The  Sertoma  Club 
of  Albert  Lea,  MN,  gave  him  its  Service 
to  Mankind  award  in  1991.  He  is  survived 
by  his  wife,  Mary  Elizabeth  Kuyper, 
and  their  children  John  and  Rena.  Their 
daughter  Helen  predeceased  her  father. 

•  Harold  K.  Wright,  1941M 

Harold  K.  Wright,  a  pastor  who  served 
the  United  Church  of  Canada  through 
thirty-nine  years  of  ministry,  died  on  June 
28,  1994.  He  was  eighty-one  years  old. 
Wright  served  churches  in  Lacadena, 
Saskatchewan;  Advocate  Harbor,  Nova 
Scotia;  and  Dartmouth,  Nova  Scotia. 

He  was  pastor  of  St.  Paul’s  United  Church 
in  Kent  Centre,  Ontario,  from  1947 
to  1951,  and  pastored  Norwood  United 
Church  in  Norwood,  Ontario,  from  1951 
to  1958.  For  thirteen  years,  beginning 
in  1958,  he  pastored  churches  in  Ancaster 
(1958  to  1963),  Uxbridge  (1963  to  1965), 


and  Cataraqui  (1966  to  1971),  Ontario. 
His  last  church  was  Enterprise  United 
Church,  where  he  served  from  1972 
until  his  1977  retirement.  Fie  is  survived 
by  his  wife,  Elizabeth  Wright. 

•  George  Hileman  Yount,  1942B 
George  Hileman  Yount,  former  pastor 

of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
Arlington,  VA,  died  on  December  1 1, 
1995.  He  was  eighty  years  old.  Yount 
was  also  assistant  pastor  at  the  Covenant- 
First  Presbyterian  Church  (now  National 
Presbyterian  Church)  in  Washington, 
D.C.,  from  1942  to  1944,  and  worked 
for  a  glass  company  in  Washington,  PA, 
before  he  entered  seminary.  He  is  survived 
by  his  wife,  Annette  Yount. 

•  Eugene  L.  Daniel  Jr.,  1948G 
Eugene  L.  Daniel  Jr.,  who  served  as 

a  chaplain  to  Allied  prisoners  in  three 
prisoner  of  war  camps  during  World  War 
II,  died  on  April  25,  1995.  He  was  eighty- 
four  years  old.  Daniel  served  as  an  army 
chaplain  during  World  War  II,  and  was 
awarded  a  Silver  Star  Medal  for  gallantry 
in  action.  During  the  Tunisian  campaign, 
Daniel  became  a  prisoner  of  war  when 
he  remained  behind  during  the  American 
withdrawal  to  minister  to  wounded 
German  soldiers,  an  action  which  earned 
him  a  Distinguished  Service  Cross  by 
order  of  General  Dwight  D.  Eisenhower. 
For  the  next  twenty-seven  months  he 
served  as  chaplain  to  Allied  prisoners  of 
war,  an  experience  recounted  in  his  mem¬ 
oirs,  In  the  Presence  of  Mine  Enemies. 

In  1 946  he  became  a  missionary  to  Korea. 
In  1951  he  was  elected  candidate  secretary 
of  the  Board  of  World  Missions  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  (US),  a  post  he 
served  for  thirteen  years.  In  1964  he  was 
called  as  associate  pastor  of  Myers  Park 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Charlotte,  NC; 
he  retired  from  that  church  in  1975, 
but  continued  to  preach  at  other  churches 
in  the  Charlotte  area.  He  was  a  member 
of  Alpha  Tau  Omega  fraternity,  the 
Goodfellows  Club,  the  Charlotte  Kiwanas 
Club,  and  Mecklenburg  Presbytery.  He  is 
survived  by  his  second  wife,  Rose  Daniel; 
his  first  wife,  Nancy  Daniel,  predeceased 
him.  Daniel  is  also  survived  by  his  chil- 


inSpire  •  29 


summer  1996 


Obituaries 

dren:  Eugene  L.  Daniel  III,  John  T. 

Daniel,  Sallie  Johnson,  and  Mary  Daniel- 
Yost. 

•  Blanche  Robertson,  1948E 

Blanche  Robertson,  who  was  a  Christian 
educator  for  thirty  years,  died  on 
December  12,  1995.  She  was  ninety-six 
years  old.  Robertson  was  director  of 
Christian  education  at  Central 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Kansas  City,  MO, 
from  1931  to  1945.  She  taught  Bible  and 
religious  education  at  Trinity  University 
in  San  Antonio,  TX,  from  1948  to  1951, 
and  was  director  of  Christian  education 
at  Wynnewood  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Dallas,  TX,  from  1958  to  1961.  Her 
career  also  included  time  as  a  pastoral 
assistant  at  the  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
Tulsa,  OK,  where  she  served  from  1924 
to  1931.  She  is  survived  by  two  nephews, 
James  Fredrick  and  John  A.  Fredrick. 

•  James  A.  Allison  Jr.,  1951B 

James  A.  Allison  Jr.,  who  pastored 

Raleigh  Court  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Roanoke,  VA,  for  thirty  years,  died  on 
January  17,  1996.  He  was  seventy-one 
years  old.  Allison  pastored  the  Roanoke 
church  from  1960  until  his  retirement  in 
1990.  He  was  also  pastor  ol  Augusta  Stone 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Fort  Defiance,  VA, 
from  1952  to  1959.  Allison  is  survived  by 
his  wife,  Margaret  Anderson  Allison,  who 
is  also  a  Class  of  1951  alumna. 

•  Donald  G.  Burt,  1951B 

Donald  G.  Burt,  retired  pastor  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church,  Independence, 
KS,  died  on  January  26,  1996.  He  was 
seventy-one  years  old.  Burt  served  that 
church  for  thirty-one  years,  beginning 
in  1962  and  ending  with  his  1993  retire¬ 
ment.  During  his  career  Burt  also  served 
Foley-Sartell  Presbyterian  Churches  in 
Foley,  MN,  from  1951  to  1954,  and 
Calvary  Presbyterian  Church  in  Florham 
Park,  NJ,  from  1954  to  1958.  He  was 
associate  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  Haddonfield,  NJ,  from  1958 
to  1962.  Burt  is  survived  by  his  wife, 
Dorothy  Burt. 

•  Robert  M.  Bradburn,  1952B 

Robert  M.  Bradburn,  a  pastor  and  mis¬ 
sion  worker,  died  on  February  15,  1996. 


He  was  seventy-one  years  old.  Bradburn 
was  a  Presbyterian  missionary  to  Thailand 
from  1954  to  1967,  and  was  director 
of  resource  development  for  American 
Leprosy  Missions  in  Bloomfield,  NJ,  from 
1974  to  1988.  The  king  of  Thailand  gave 
him  two  medals  for  his  work  for  the  social 
welfare  of  Thais  with  leprosy.  Bradburn 
also  pastored  Shawnee  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Shawnee-on-the-Delaware,  PA, 
Irom  1950  to  1953,  and  served  Overlake 
Park  Presbyterian  Church  in  Bellevue, 

WA,  from  1967  to  1973.  He  is  survived 
by  his  wife,  Dorce  A’Lee  Myron  Bradburn, 
and  their  children:  Pamela  Bradburn- 
Ochs,  Paul  Bradburn,  and  Robbin 
Bradburn. 

•  J.  Raymond  Holsey,  1953B 

J.  Raymond  Holsey,  retired  pastor 
ofMakemie  Memorial  Church,  Snow  Hill, 
MD,  died  on  March  3,  1996.  He  was  sev¬ 
enty-two  years  old.  Holsey  pastored  the 
Snow  Hill  church  lor  thirty-one  years, 
beginning  in  1953.  He  also  served  as 
moderator  of  New  Castle  Presbytery  from 
1962  to  1963.  He  is  survived  by  his  wife, 
June  Holsey. 

•  Paul  F.  Smith,  1954B 

Paul  F.  Smith,  who  served  both  the 
Presbyterian  and  Congregational  Churches 
and  helped  establish  drug  and  alcohol 
treatment  centers  in  Iowa,  Illinois,  and 
Rhode  Island,  died  on  January  22,  1996. 
He  was  sixty-seven  years  old.  Smith  served 
churches  in  both  denominations  in 
Minnesota  for  twenty  years.  In  1975 
he  trained  in  the  field  of  alcohol  and  drug 
rehabilitation  treatment  and  counseling, 
and  joined  the  staff  of  Minnesota’s 
Hazelden  Center.  He  helped  establish 
and  run  alcohol  and  drug  treatment  cen¬ 
ters  in  Council  Bluffs,  IA;  Granite  City, 

IL;  and  Newport,  RI.  In  1986  he  return¬ 
ed  to  parish  work,  and  was  pastor  of 
Georgiaville  Baptist  Church  in  Smithfield, 
RI,  from  1986  to  1988,  and  of  Pomfret 
Congregational  Church  in  Pomfret,  CT, 
from  1988  to  1990.  He  is  survived  by  his 
wife,  Meriel  Wilaby  Smith,  and  their  chil¬ 
dren:  Mark  F.  Smith,  Paul  T.  Smith,  and 
Priscilla  A.  Smith.  He  is  also  survived 
by  his  stepchildren,  Lane  W.  Ukura 


and  Shawn  A.  Dornseif. 

•  Carl  Russell  Johnson,  1957M 

Carl  Russell  Johnson,  who  spent  thirty- 
one  years  as  an  American  Lutheran 
Church  missionary  to  Madagascar,  died 
on  November  13,  1991.  He  was  seventy- 
nine  years  old.  Johnson  served  as  a  mis¬ 
sionary  to  Madagascar  from  1945  to  1976. 
From  1952  to  1976,  he  was  a  professor  of 
theology  in  Madagascar  at  Ivory  Lutheran 
Seminary  of  the  Malagasy  Lutheran 
Church.  Johnson’s  career  also  included 
time  as  a  pastor;  he  served  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Granite  Falls,  MN, 
from  1940  to  1943,  and  the  First  English 
Lutheran  Church  of  Stevens  Point,  WI, 
from  1943  to  1945.  He  is  survived 
by  his  wife,  Caroline  Johnson. 

In  addition  to  those  whose  obituaries 
appear  in  this  issue,  the  Seminary  has 
received  word  that  the  following  alum- 
ni/ae  have  died: 

John  R.  Kempers,  1925B 

Howard  C.  Blake,  1928b 

Gordon  Conning,  1928B 

George  Neff,  1928B 

Lowell  C.  Hine,  1929B 

Charles  H.  Haines,  1930b 

Peter  DeRuiter,  1931b 

Russell  W.  Annich,  1932B,  1933M 

Paul  R.  Abbott  Jr.,  1935B 

Edward  J.  Caldwell,  1938B 

Varre  A.  Cummins,  1942B 

James  L.  Price  Jr.,  1943M 

Theoderic  E.  Roberts  Jr.,  1943M 

Harlan  Foss,  1945M 

Alva  M.  Gregg,  1946M 

Bickford  Lang,  1948B 

David  Morsey,  1949b 

William  R.  Raborn,  1950B 

Margaret  Louise  Henry  Roberts,  1950e 

Malcolm  R.  Evans,  1951B 

Glen  E.  Mayhew,  1952B 

Horace  McMullen,  1953G 

Yoshiko  Watari,  1953e 

Maren  Gregory  Cragg,  1955U 

Elizabeth  Marvin,  1955U 

Donald  E.  Ardis,  1956b 

Leon  W.  Gibson,  1959D 

Robert  N.  McCleery,  1960B 

Edward  M.  Huenemann,  1961D 

William  F.  Nisi,  1962M 

Cecilio  Arrastia-Valdes,  1975P 

Pamela  G.  Kolderup,  1977E 

Carol  T.  Brandt,  1978e 

Ernest  Hutcherson,  1979M 

Leslie  Crotz,  1987M 

The  obituaries  of  many  of  these  alum- 
ni/ae  will  appear  in  future  issues. 


30  •  inSpire 


summer  1996 


investing  in  ministry 


Among  the  great  blessings  of  life  are  the  individuals  who  touch  our  lives  with  positive  and  lasting  effect:  par¬ 
ents,  perhaps,  who  nourished  and  helped  shape  us,  passing  along  values  and  sensitivities  that  continue  to  serve 
us  well;  pastors,  teachers,  or  mentors,  who  inspired  and  encouraged  us,  sharing  information  with  us,  helping  us 
see  new  possibilities  for  ourselves  and  gain  the  confidence  to  venture  out  into  the  deep;  business  partners  or  col¬ 
leagues  who  have  worked  with  us  through  the  years,  challenging  us  to  higher  accomplishment  by  both  word 
and  example;  or  our  spouses  or  dear  friends,  who  know  us  well  and  have  stood  with  us  through  the  good  and 
difficult  times  alike.  When  we  consider  what  they  have  meant  to  us  we  appreciate  them  all  the  more,  and  often 
long  for  a  way  to  express  the  feelings  we  have  for  them. 

Let  me  suggest  a  gift  to  Princeton  Seminary  in  honor  or  memory  of  these  special  people  in  your  life  as  an 
ideal  means  of  doing  so.  Friends  of  our  institution  who  have  made  such  gifts  in  the  past  have  found  it  deeply 
satisfying.  Not  only  do  they  experience  the  personal  pleasure  of  remembering  someone  in  this  way,  but  they 
have  the  further  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  their  gifts  will  advance  the  mission  of  the  Seminary  as  it  prepares 
men  and  women  for  service  to  the  church. 

While  these  gifts  can  be  made  outright  if  the  donor  so  desires,  the  life  income  arrangements  offered  through 
the  Seminary’s  planned  giving  program  are  a  convenient  alternative  that  can  also  be  beneficial  to  the  donor  from 
a  tax  and  estate  planning  standpoint. 

These  arrangements  typically  provide  income  for  the  donor  during  his  or  her  lifetime,  and  then  become  the 
property  of  the  Seminary,  either  for  its  general  purposes  or  for  a  purpose  specified  in  the  formal  agreement 
made  at  the  time  of  the  gift.  A  spouse  or  other  beneficiary  may  be  provided  for  as  well.  Depending  on  the  needs  and  desires  of  the 
donor,  income  can  be  fixed  or  variable;  the  gift  amount  may  range  from  one  thousand  dollars  to  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars. 
Such  gifts  can  provide  library  book  funds,  establish  continuing  education  seminars  or  chairs  of  instruction,  or  provide  for  scholarships, 
programmatic  needs,  or  capital  improvements  here  at  the  Seminary,  to  name  but  a  few  of  the  possibilities.  In  all  instances,  the  donor 
would  be  entitled  to  a  charitable  tax  deduction  and,  if  the  gift  were  funded  with  appreciated  property,  capital  gains  savings.  Imagine 
such  a  gift  honoring  someone  dear  to  you  or  holding  them  in  memory! 

If  such  a  possibility  appeals  to  you,  please  be  in  touch  with  me  at  your  earliest  convenience. 


The  Reverend 
Chase  S.  Hunt 
is  the  Seminary's 
director  of 
planned  giving. 
For  more  informa¬ 
tion,  call  him 
at  609-497-7756. 


Gifts 

This  list  includes  gifts  made  between  February  8,  1996, 
and  May  31,  1996. 

In  Memory  of _  _ 

Dr.  James  A.  Allison  Jr.  (’5 IB)  to  the  Scholarship  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Russell  W.  Annich  (’32B)  to  the  Scholarship 
Fund 

Dr.  Willis  A.  Baxter  (’38B)  to  the  Scholarship  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Alison  R.  Bryan  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  Charles  S.  Burgess  (’50B)  to  the  Alumni/se  Roll  Call 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Edward  J.  Caldwell  (’38B)  to  the  Alumni/ae  Roll 
Call  and  to  the  Annual  Fund 

The  Reverend  Dr.  Orion  C.  Flopper  (’22B)  to  the  Reverend  Dr. 

Orion  C.  Hopper  Memorial  Scholarship  Endowment  Fund 
Mrs.  Bernice  T.  Kirkland  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Mrs.  Pamela  A.  Gonder  Kolderup  (’77E)  to  the  Alumni/ae  Roll 
Call 

Mr.  David  Hugh  Jones  to  the  Touring  Choir  Fund 
Mr.  Kenneth  A.  Lawder  to  the  Kenneth  A.  Lawder  Memorial 
Scholarship  Endowment  Fund 
Ms.  Elizabeth  Newcomer  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Ms.  Ruth  Mason  Reaser  (’57E)  to  the  Alumni/ae  Roll  Call 
Mrs.  Elsie  H.  Root  to  the  Alumni/ae  Roll  Call 


The  Reverend  Allen  E.  Schoff  (’40B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Mrs.  Catherine  H.  Sulyok  (’5 IE)  to  the  Kalman  and  Catherine 
Sulyok  Memorial  Scholarship  Endowment  Fund 
Mr.  Charles  A.  Wagg  to  the  Alumni/ae  Roll  Call 
Dr.  David  A.  Weadon  to  the  David  A.  Weadon  Memorial 
Endowment  Fund,  the  Miller  Chapel  Renovation  Fund,  and 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary 

In  Honor  of  _ _ _ _  _ 

Mrs.  Margaret  A.  Allison  (’5 IE)  to  the  Scholarship  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  William  R.  Dupree  (’46B)  to  the  International 
Students  Scholarship  Endowment  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Geddes  W.  Hanson  (’72D)  to  the  Geddes  W. 

Hanson  Black  Resource  Library 
Mrs.  Bernice  T.  Kirkland  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Bryant  M.  Kirkland  (’38B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 

In  Appreciation  of 

Mrs.  Carol  A.  Belles  to  the  David  A.  Weadon  Prize 
Colleagues  all  over  the  country  who  have  responded  to  support 
victims  of  the  Oklahoma  City  bombing,  to  the  Alumni/ae  Roll 
Call 

The  Reverend  Robert  A.  Keeler  (’82B)  to  the  Scholarship  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Charles  T.  Rush  (’91  D)  to  the  Scholarship  Fund 


inSpire  *31 


summer  1996 


tGnd  things 


In  1993,  my  husband  arrived  at 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  to  begin 
work  on  his  M.Div.  degree.  Our  family 
moved  into  the  Charlotte  Rachel  Wilson 
married  student  apartments,  and  at  first, 

I  was  happy  to  be  there.  We  had  moved 
to  Princeton  from  the  more  urban 
Pennsauken,  NJ,  and  it  was  wonderful 
to  lie  in  bed  at  night  and  listen  to  crickets 
and  frogs  instead  of  cars,  trucks,  and 
buses.  The  relative  safety  of  a  smaller  town 
was  wonderful,  too.  I  could  watch  my  son, 
now  age  seven,  and  my  daughter,  now  age 
five,  play  in  the  little  playground  from 
my  front  balcony — no  longer  did  I  have 
to  hover  over  them  like  a  turkey  vulture. 

I  was  sure  that  I  would  be  able  to  find 
a  job — after  all,  my  husband  s  financial 
aid  had  been  partly  based  on  the  idea  that 
I  would  be  working.  I  was  certain  that 
I  would  find  day  care  for  my  children. 

If  the  first  year  was  Paradise  Gained,  then 
the  second  was  Dante’s  Inferno.  No  job 
had  materialized,  not  even  one  requiring 


basic  secretarial  skills.  We  couldn’t  afford 
day  care.  My  husband  took  a  job  as  a 
manager  at  a  local  movie  theater,  but  his 
schedule  meant  that  he  often  came  home 
at  five  on  a  weekend  morning,  and  left 
again  at  seven  for  a  field  education  place¬ 
ment.  I  was  nearly  the  sole  caretaker  of 
our  children.  Our  excitement  was  gone, 
lost  in  a  haze  of  exhaustion  and  financial 
worry. 

The  longer  I  lived  in  CRW,  the  more 
I  realized  that  daily  community  life  bore 
little  resemblance  to  the  Christian  ideals 
of  the  Princeton  campus.  Campus  com¬ 
munity  discussions  of  ordination  issues 
and  the  “he-ness”  or  “she-ness”  of  God 
seemed  to  have  little  bearing  on  the  CRW 
life  of  getting  dinner  on  the  table,  taking 
care  of  children,  doing  endless  loads  of 
laundry,  and  learning  from  some  neigh¬ 
bors  about  the  domestic  violence  that 
afflicts  some  couples  in  every  communi¬ 
ty — even  the  Seminary.  I  found  that  no 
one  was  interested  in  discussing  theologi¬ 
cal  matters  with  me,  though  I  am  at  least 
as  theologically  well  read  as  my  husband. 
While  seminary  refined  my  husband’s 
faith,  it  challenged  mine. 

While  my  husband  was  working  toward 
the  fulfillment  of  a  recognized  calling, 
my  free-lance  writing — I  had  just  begun 
to  be  published,  after  being  a  full-time 
mother — was  placed  in  a  state  of  suspend¬ 
ed  animation.  Instead  of  writing,  I  edited 
and  proofread  papers  for  foreign  students, 
an  enterprise  that  would  eventually  bless 
me  both  monetarily  and  spiritually.  I  was 
privileged  to  become  a  part  of  life  stories 
so  touching  that  the  very  idea  of  editing 
them  to  suit  English-speaking  professors 
was  a  humbling  experience.  The  discipline 
of  editing  other  people’s  writing  also 
helped  me  in  my  own  work — the  writing 
school  that  pays  you  to  attend.  And  now 
that  my  husband’s  seminary  requirements 


are  finished,  doors  have  suddenly  sprung 
open  in  my  career.  Even  the  assignment 
to  write  this  essay  seemed  to  be  a  message 
from  God:  “Don’t  worry,  I  haven’t  forgot¬ 
ten  about  your  calling.” 

As  I  look  back  over  these  three  years, 

I  see  God’s  presence  in  other  aspects  of  our 
lives  as  well.  Coming  to  Princeton  meant 
that  my  husband  could  become  a  pastor. 

It  also  meant  that  my  husband’s  dyslexia 
was  diagnosed,  and  that  we  had  a  head 
start  on  catching  my  son’s  learning  disabil¬ 
ity.  Our  children  have  had  more  of  their 
father’s  attention  than  they  might  have 
had  if  he  had  continued  with  a  nine-to- 
five  job;  his  time  was  tight,  but  he  was 
sometimes  able  to  attend  school  events, 
for  instance.  My  husband  and  I  learned 
how  to  truly  communicate — in  a  small 
apartment,  there’s  nowhere  to  run!  And 
our  new  church  in  West  Virginia  works 
to  house  battered  women,  a  subject  with 
which  I  now  have  some  familiarity. 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary,  I  see 
now,  merely  exists.  It  isn’t  inherently 
sacred,  but  God  can  use  it  to  reach 
people  in  all  kinds  of  ways — some  of 
them  painful  at  the  time.  If  we  are  open 
to  the  leading  of  the  spirit,  then  any 
circumstance  can  become  an  agent 
of  God’s  work  in  our  lives.  I 


Debra  Pugh  is  married  to  1996  M.Div.  grad¬ 
uate  Mikel  Pugh.  The  family  now  lives  in 
Union,  WV,  where  Mikel  is  the  new  pastor 
of  Union  Presbyterian  Church. 


32  •  inSpire 


con  ed 

calendar 


summer  1996 


September 

23 

27-28 

29-30 


30-Oct.  3 

October 

2 

5 

6-10 


14-16 

21-24 

21-25 

25 

28 

29- Nov.  1 

30- Nov.  1 


ft 

f 

A 


Areas 

Spiritual  Growth  and  Renewal 
Professional  Leadership  Development 
Congregational  Analysis  and  Development 


Hi  Theological  Studies 
Conferences 
A  Off-Campus  Events 


If  the  Apostle  Paul  Worked  for  Goldman  Sachs...  Thomas  K.  Tewell 
How  the  Bible  Came  to  Us  Bruce  M.  Metzger 


f 


A 


Ecumemical  Convocation  Raymond  E.  Brown,  S.S.,  Edward  Cardinal 
Cassidy,  Jane  Dempsey  Douglass,  Beverly  Roberts  Gaventa,  Thomas  W. 
Gillespie 

Ministering  to  Congregations'  Emotional  Needs  John  C.  Talbot 


I  Hate  You!  Let's  Talk!  Dealing  with  Conflict  in  Everyday  Life 

Carol  Windrum,  Tim  Fickenscher 

Seeing  Is  Believing:  Creating  Video  for  the  Church  Wayne  R. 
Whitelock,  Joicy  Becker-Richards,  Christopher  Floor,  Christopher  Panuzzo 


Off-Campus  Event  (Montreat,  NC): 

At-Risk  Youth,  At-Risk  Church:  What  Jesus  Christ  and  American 
Teenagers  are  Saying  to  the  Mainline  Protestant  Church 

Princeton  Forum  on  Youth  Ministry 


i!  ft 

m  f 
A 


The  Continuing  Conversion  of  the  Church:  Evangelism  as  the  Heart 
of  Ministry  Darrell  L.  Guder 

Gender  Issues  in  Pastoral  Care  Christie  Cozad  Neuger 

The  Time  Between:  Interim  Ministry  Basic  Education,  Week  One 

Edith  A.  Gause,  John  A.  Wilkerson 


Body  Building:  People  with  Disabilities  Enriching  the  Life  of  the 
Church  William  C.  Gaventa,  Norman  and  Muriel  Minard, 

Ginny  Thornburgh 


ft 


Anthology  or  Book?  New  Directions  in  Psalms  Study  Patrick  D.  Miller 

A  Master  of  Surprise:  Teaching  and  Preaching  from  Mark 

Donald  Juel 

The  Spiritual  Life  of  Spiritual  Leaders  Kent  I.  Groff 


For  more  information,  contact  the  Center  of  Continuing  Education, 

12  Library  Place,  Princeton,  NJ  08540,  609-497-7990  or  1-800-622-6767,  ext.  7990 


I 


ne;. 

any  Voices 

piritua/ity  at  RTS 


'■■■•  -.V..  •  .  V-.-. 


photo:  Erin  Roberts 


Princeton 
in  photos 

A  newly  constructed  ramp  allows 
community  members  who  can'tc 
climb  stairs  easy  access  to  Miller 
Chapel. 


fall  1996 


iSpire 

Theological  ■  Seminary 

Fall  1996 
Volume  2 
Number  2 

Editor 

Barbara  A.  Chaapel 

Associate  Editor 

Ingrid  Meyer 

Art  Director 

Kathleen  Whalen 

Assistant 

Susan  Molloy 

Staff  Photographers 

Elizabeth  Clark 
Carolyn  Herring 
Neal  Magee 
Chris  Moody 
Erin  Roberts 

InSpire  is  a  magazine 
for  alumni/ae  and  friends 
of  Princeton  Theological 
Seminary.  It  is  published 
four  times  a  year  by 
the  Princeton  Theological 
Seminary  Office 
of  Communications/ 

Publications,  P.O.  Box  821, 
Princeton,  NJ  08542-0803. 
Telephone:  609-497-7760 
Facsimile:  609-497-7870 
Internet: 

inspire@ptsmail.ptsem.edu 

The  magazine  has  a  circulation 
of  approximately  23,000  and 
is  printed  by  George  H. 

Buchanan  Co.  in  Philadelphia, 

PA.  Reproduction  in  whole 
or  in  part  without  permission 
is  prohibited.  Non-profit 
postage  paid  at  Philadelphia, 

PA. 

On  the  Cover 

Images  and  objects  suggest 
the  diverse  ways  Christians 
approach  their  spiritual  lives. 
Design:  Kathleen  Whalen 
Photo:  Carolyn  Herring 


50% 

uni  ncmti  mm 

20%  POST  COIttUMin  MIDI 


in  this  issue 


Features 


10  •  Helping  the  Spirit  When 
the  Mind  Is  Hurt 

Religious  support  can  be  just 
as  vital  as  psychotherapy  and 
medication  in  helping  the  men¬ 
tally  ill  recover,  as  seen  in  the 
work  done  by  Joanne 
Martindale  ('88B)  and  Kirk 
Berlenbach  ('94B). 
by  Ingrid  Meyer 


12  •  The  Life  of  the  Mind,  the 
Life  of  the  Heart 

Spirituality  is  a  popular  topic  in 
America.  What  is  Christian 
spirituality?  How  have  ideas 
about  it  grown  and  changed? 
And  what  is  PTS  doing  to  pre¬ 
pare  graduates  to  minister  in 
this  brave  new  world? 
by  Ingrid  Meyer 


Departments 


2 

• 

Letters 

27 

• 

Outstanding  in  the  Field 

4 

• 

On  &  Off  Campus 

29 

• 

Obituaries 

8 

• 

Student  Life 

31 

• 

Investing  in  Ministry 

16 

• 

Class  Notes 

32 

• 

End  Things 

25 

• 

On  the  Shelves 

33 

• 

Con  Ed  Calendar 

inSpire  •  1 


fall  1996 


from  the 
president's  desk 

D  ear  Friends  and  Colleagues: 

One  of  the  Seminary’s  trustees  com¬ 
mented  to  me  that  “Life  on  the  campus 
reminds  me  of  a  United  Nations  ses¬ 
sion.  The  racial,  ethnic,  and  gender 
diversity  of  our  students  is  amazing.” 
Denominational,  generational,  and  the¬ 
ological  differences  also 
characterize  our  dynamic 
campus  community. 

Feature  articles  in  this 
issue  of  inSpire  attest  to 
the  diversity  among  us 
that  finds  its  unity  in  our 
common  confession  of 
Jesus  Christ  as  Lord.  One  feature  story 
is  on  the  importance  of  spiritual  life  at 
Princeton.  And  while  many  of  our 
graduates  are  called  to  the  local  church, 
others  are  called  to  specialized  min¬ 
istries.  This  issue  features  two  such 
graduates  who  serve  the  mentally  ill. 

What  a  joy  it  was  to  welcome  so 
many  of  our  African  American  alum- 
ni/ae  back  to  the  campus  this  fall  for  an 
extraordinary  reunion  event. 

Equally  joyful  was  the  celebration  of 
the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  the 
Women’s  Center  at  the  Seminary. 

Ecumenically,  the  Seminary  joined 
with  the  Roman  Catholic  diocese  of 
Trenton  in  a  workshop  that  brought 
over  four  hundred  guests  to  the  campus 
for  Protestant-Catholic  conversations. 

In  addition,  a  record  number  of 
pastors  flocked  to  Miller  Chapel  in 
October  to  hear  Dr.  Fred  Craddock 
deliver  the  Macleod/Short  Elills 
Community  Congregational  Church 
Lectures. 

Through  these  pages  we  seek  to 
share  with  you  the  spiritual  life  that 
pulsates  through  this  school  of  theology. 
I  hope  you  can  feel  the  beat. 

With  every  good  wish  and  warmest 
regards,  I  remain 


Faithfully  yours, 


Thomas  W.  Gillespie 


2  •  inSpire 


Dual  Careers,  But  Still  Time 
to  Write 

Thank  you  for  another  good  issue 
of  the  goings-on  at  PTS.  I  particularly 
want  to  commend  you  on  your  excel¬ 
lent  “End  Things”  and  the  student 
life  article,  “Career  Times  Two,” 
that  appeared  in  the  summer  issue. 

It  was  great  to  read  about  “the 
other  halves”  of  the  Princeton  experi¬ 
ence.  As  a  former  PTS  spouse  who 
helped  put  hubby  through,  I  thank  you 
for  sharing  what  the  “significant  other” 
goes  through.  The  “End  Things”  essay 
by  Debbie  Pugh  hit  home,  in  that 
not  all  PTS  spouses  have  as  positive 
experiences  as  others,  and  some  have 
it  downright  hard. 

Keep  up  the  good  work.  I  read 
your  magazine  from  cover  to  cover. 
Sally  Braga 

(spouse  of  Henry  Braga,  ’77B) 

Naples,  FL 

Thank  you  for  your  story  “Career 
Times  Two,”  by  Barbara  Chaapel, 
in  the  summer  1 996  inSpire.  Dual¬ 
career  couples  make  up  such  a  small 
percentage  of  the  total  student  body 
of  Princeton,  yet  have  such  a  harried 
existence  that  it  was  great  to  see 
an  article  letting  people  know  what 
their  lives  are  like.  We  would  enjoy 
more  in-depth  coverage  of  couples 
such  as  these,  especially  ones  with 
kids  like  the  McColls. 

We  love  serving  as  co-pastors 
after  studying  at  PTS  together,  and 
are  glad  to  see  the  trend  continuing. 

We  encourage  clergy  couples  to  come 
to  Alaska!  It  is  a  wonderful  place  to 
minister  and  people  are  untraditional 
enough  that  a  clergy  couple  is  looked 
upon  as  an  asset.  Of  the  three  clergy 
couples  in  our  presbytery,  two  are  PTS 
grads.  (Rich  (’90B)  and  Annie  (DOE) 
Zimmerman  serve  in  Auke  Bay.) 

Thank  you  again  for  your  timely 
article  on  the  joys  and  challenges 
of  working  together  to  make  two 
careers  happen! 

Karen  and  Forrest  Claassen  (both  ’95B) 
Craig,  AK 


Editor’s  note:  The  article  titled 
“Career  Times  Two”  in  the  summer 
issue  y/inSpire  neglected  to  note  that 
Laurena  Ketzel-Kerber  received  her 
Master  of  Business  A  dm  i  n  is  tration 
degree  from  the  Stern  School  of 
Business  at  New  York  University  in 
May  1996.  Congratidations,  Laurena! 

Christian  or  Not? 

This  concerns  the  sentiment 
expressed  in  your  summer  issue  article 
called  “Mission  Possible.”  Presbyterian 
life  has  been  bombarded  by  people 
like  me  who  are  deeply  concerned  over 
the  section  in  the  Book  of  Order  that 
still  states  that  only  Christians  can 
be  “saved”  or  be  acceptable  to  God. 

As  an  elder,  I  have  left  churches 
that  said  I  was  no  longer  a  Christian 
because  I  stated  in  a  forum  that 
I  believed  a  just  and  loving  God 
would  accept  a  Mahatma  Ghandi. 

My  present  church  now  has  many 
members  who  believe  this  also. 

Re-read  the  statement  on  page 
thirteen  [of  the  summer  issue]. 

The  mission  statement  says,  “affirming 
the  sovereignty  of  the  triune  God  over 
all  creation....” 

I  have  many  friends  who  are  grad¬ 
uates  of  Princeton  Seminary,  wonderful 
people  who  would  like  this  issue 
explored. 

Grace  (Mrs.  Joseph  L.)  Hill  Hollander 
Havertown,  PA 

Life  in  the  Holy  Land 

I  couldn’t  agree  more  with  Pastor 
Habib  Badr’s  observations  in  “End 
Things”  in  the  spring  1996  issue. 

Please  know  that  I  enjoy  receiving 
and  reviewing  this  inSpirmg  source 
of  information  from  my  alma  mater. 
Kim  L.  Nelson  (’77B) 

Northminster  Presbyterian  Church 
Salinas,  CA 

The  interesting  article  titled 
“Living  History”  in  the  summer  1996 
inSpire  makes  no  mention  of  any  con¬ 
tact  between  the  Seminary  group  who 
visited  the  Holy  Land  and  the  congre- 


fall  1996 


gations  and  families  of  Arab  Christians 
who  are  still  there.  Many  thousands 
of  Christian  Palestinians  struggle 
to  survive  and  to  keep  the  native 
Christian  faith  from  vanishing  from 
the  land  in  which  that  faith  was  born. 

It  is  a  struggle  they  may  very  well  lose. 
Can  you  imagine  how  discouraging 
it  is  to  them  to  be  ignored  (as  though 
they  didn’t  exist)  by  their  western 
Christian  brothers  and  sisters  who 
come  on  their  Holy  Land  pilgrimages? 
Surely  a  group  of  Princeton  Seminary 
faculty  and  alumni/ae  did  not  go 
to  the  Holy  Land  to  study  its  geogra¬ 
phy  and  history,  and  to  walk  and  pray 
on  the  sacred  ground,  while  ignoring 
their  fellow  Christians,  who  would 
have  earnestly  welcomed  a  visit.  Surely 
it  was  just  an  omission  in  the  manu¬ 
script. 

I  do  think,  though,  that  mention 
of  visits  with  the  Palestinian  Christians 
would  have  been  a  very  good  reminder 
to  readers  that  the  early  church  is  still 
there  and  alive  among  the  tombs  and 
museums  of  the  Holy  Land,  and  that 
no  true  pilgrimage  should  ignore  it. 

It’s  where  Christ  lives  in  the  Holy 
Land. 

Paul  A.  Corcoran  (’55B) 

Cornwall,  PA 

Editor's  note:  PTS  trip  participants 
spent  one  night  in  the  Palestinian 
section  of  East  Jerusalem,  and  spent 
an  evening  in  conversation  with 
a  Palestinian  Christian  leader. 

However,  with  a  limited  amount 
of  time  available  for  travel,  the  trip 
donors  chose  to  emphasize  the  histori¬ 
cal,  biblical  sites  of  the  Holy  Land 
over  present-day  issues  there. 

Princeton  Ties 

I  enjoy  reading  inSpire  to  catch 
up  on  the  whereabouts  of  classmates, 
known  and  otherwise,  and  especially 
reading  the  summer  issue’s  “Student 
Life”  and  “End  Things.”  Thank  you 
for  producing  the  journal,  because 


it  makes  me  feel  connected  to  an  expe¬ 
rience  I  had  a  long  time  ago. 

Lynn  Elliott  (’88B) 

Rancho  Palos  Verdes,  CA 

I  thank  you  for  the  inSpire  maga¬ 
zine,  through  which  I  could  see  how 
the  school  and  alumni/ae  are  working 
out  and  feel  connected  to  PTS. 

In  Yang  (89M) 

Korean  Presbyterian  Church  of  Peoria 
Peoria,  IL 

Aww...  Shucks... 

Applause  for  inSpire 

I  was  the  first  one  to  the  mailbox 
on  the  afternoon  the  issue  arrived, 
and  read  through  the  entire  copy 
before  my  husband  [Alan  Blatecky, 
’72B,  73M]  arrived  home  from  work. 
The  layout  and  content  are  wonderful! 

Keep  up  the  terrific  job.  InSpire 
certainly  is  an  effective  communication 
tool  with  an  eye-catching  and  profes¬ 
sional  (yet  very  “user-friendly”!)  image. 
Gene  Blatecky 

interim  editor,  Sharing  New  Hope 
New  Hope  Presbytery 
Raleigh,  NC 

I  want  to  thank  you  for  two  pieces 
in  the  summer  inSpire.  “End  Things” 
by  Debra  Pugh  was  very  frank  and 
impressive  for  her  to  write.  The  piece 
by  Elsie  McKee  was  also  very  good — 
lifting  up  her  contribution  and  includ¬ 
ing  clear  reference  to  the  brutal  regime 
of  Mobutu. 

Chris  Iosso  (’79B) 

Scarborough,  NY 

The  current  issue  of  inSpire 
has  reached  me,  and  I  assure  you 
I’ve  read  it  from  page  one  to  thirty-two 
with  interest  and  much  admiration 
for  what  you  have  achieved  in  making 
an  alumni/ae  organ  into  what  is, 
in  my  opinion,  the  finest  of  its  type 
among  many  schools,  theological  and 
otherwise.  Since  I  attended  myself  four 
different  schools  of  higher  education, 


and  my  lour  siblings  attended  three 
different  prep  schools  and  four  univer¬ 
sities,  my  mailbox  contains  regularly 
a  well-stocked  batch  of  journals  and 
appeals. 

Donald  Macleod  (’46G) 

Francis  Landey  Patton  Professor  of 
Preaching  and  Worship  Emeritus, 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary 
Baltimore,  MD 

I  have  just  completed  reading 
the  summer  inSpire  and  found 
it  most  readable  and  brimming  with 
a  broad  coverage  of  subject  matter 
far  beyond  my  expectation!  Hopefully 
you  will  continue  this  fine  work, 
for  it  is  an  excellent  outreach  for 
Princeton  Seminary  and  a  golden 
tie  to  our  alma  mater. 

Otto  Gruber  (’43B,  ’45M) 

Irvine,  CA 


Correction:  In  the  summer  1996 
issue  of  inSpire,  a  class  note  about 
Garnett  Foster  ('66E)  was  printed 
below  a  photograph  of  Dale  Schlafer 
(’66B).  Our  apologies  to  both! 


Please  write  —  we  love  to  hear  from  you! 

We  welcome  correspondence  from  our 
readers,  and  enjoy  getting  feedback — both 
positive  and  negative! — on  the  content 
and  format  of  inSpire.  Letters  should  be 
addressed  to: 

Editors,  inSpire 

Office  of  Communications/Publications 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary 
P.0.  Box  821 

Princeton,  NJ  08542-0803 
email:  inspire@ptsmail.ptsem.edu 
Letters  may  be  edited  for  length  or  clarity, 
and  should  include  the  writer's  name  and 
telephone  numbers,  so  that  we  may  verify 
authorship. 


inSpire  •  3 


photo:  courtesy  of  Austin  Presbyterian  Theological  Seminary 


fall  1996 


on&off  Campus 


Women  are  Topic  of  Annual  Mission  Lectures 

"The  Mission  Theory  of  American  Women"  was  the  theme  for  this  year's  Students'  Lectures  on  Missions, 
which  were  given  by  Dana  L.  Robert,  associate  professor  of  international  mission  at  the  Boston  University 
School  of  Theology. 

Robert's  three  lectures,  given  on  November  11  and  12,  had  the  titles  "Women  in  Mission  in  the  Nineteenth 
Century,"  "Women  in  Independent  Evangelical  Missions,"  and  "Ecumenical  Women's  Missionary 
Movement." 

A  United  Methodist,  Robert  received  her  M.A.  and  Ph.D.  degrees  from  Yale  University.  She  is  interested  in 
missiology  and  "third  world"  church  history,  the  history  of  American  evangelicalism,  and  women's  studies, 
and  is  currently  writing  a  history  of  women  in  mission. 


EXIT 


"A  Sermon  for  Those  Who  Are  Leaving":  Macleod  Lectures  at  Princeton 

Fred  B.  Craddock,  who  is  widely  considered  one  of  the  best  teachers  of  preaching  in  the  United  States, 
delivered  the  1996  Donald  Macleod/Short  Hills  Community  Congregational  Church  Preaching  Lecture 
Series  on  October  14  and  15,  1996. 

Craddock's  topic  was  "A  Sermon  for  Those  Who  Are  Leaving."  His  individual  lecture  titles  were  "A  Rare 
Rhetorical  Performance,"  "In  the  Service  of  the  Gospel,"  and  "For  Those  Who  Need  to  Hear  It  Again." 
Craddock  is  a  minister  in  the  Disciples  of  Christ  Church  and  is  a  former  professor  of  preaching  at  the 
Candler  School  of  Theology  of  Emory  University  in  Atlanta,  GA. 

"Preaching,  as  you  know,  grows  out  of  the  conversation  between  the  book  and  the  community, 
between  the  church  and  the  sacred  text,"  he  said  in  his  first  lecture.  "The  relationship  between  church 
and  text  is  a  very  complex  one.  The  book  speaks  to  the  community,  the  community  interprets  the  book 
and  asks  it  questions.  What  did  you  say?  What  did  you  mean  by  that?  What  does  that  have  to  do  with  us? 
Because  much  of  the  book,  as  I'm  sure  you've  discovered,  is  not  self  evident.  It  has  to  be  interpreted." 

The  Macleod/Short  Hills  lecture  series  is  held  every  other  year  at  Princeton,  and  is  named  to  honor 
Donald  Macleod,  the  Seminary's  Francis  Landey  Patton  Professor  of  Preaching  and  Worship  Emeritus. 


McCord  Honored  with  Austin  Seminary  Building 

The  new  community  center  building  at  Austin  Presbyterian  Theological  Seminary 
is  named  after  former  Princeton  Theological  Seminary  President  James  I.  McCord 
and  his  wife.  Hazel  Thompson  McCord.  Dedicated  on  October  19,  1996,  the  McCord 
Community  Center  honors  McCord's  memory.  He  joined  Austin  Seminary's  faculty 
in  1944,  became  dean  in  1945,  and  stayed  until  1959,  when  he  was  elected  as  the 
fourth  president  of  Princeton  Seminary.  McCord  retired  in  1983  and  died  in  1990. 


New  Faculty  Books 

They're  at  it  again!  The  following  is  a  list 
of  new  books  by  some  of  Princeton 
Seminary's  finest. 

*  Preaching  as  a  Theological  Task:  Word, 
Gospel,  Scripture,  edited  by  Thomas  G. 

Long,  the  Francis  Landey  Patton  Professor  of 
Preaching  and  Worship.  Westminster/John 
Knox  Press. 

*  Ecclesiastes:  A  New  Translation  with 
Introduction  and  Commentary,  by  Choon- 
Leong  Seow,  the  Henry  Snyder  Gehman 
Professor  of  Old  Testament  Language  and 
Literature.  Doubleday/Anchor  Bible 
Commentary. 

*  Proclamation  6,  Series  B:  Interpreting  the 
Lessons  of  the  Church  Year:  Easter,  by 
Beverly  Roberts  Gaventa,  the  Helen  H.  P. 
Manson  Professor  of  New  Testament 
Literature  and  Exegesis.  Augsburg  Fortress 
Press. 


4  •  inSpire 


fall  1996 


on&off  Campus 


Hildegard  of  Bingen  visits  PTS — 
Eight  Centuries  Late 

The  twelfth-century  Benedictine  nun 
Hildegard  of  Bingen  was  alive  and  well 
this  fall  at  Princeton  in  the  person  of 
Ellen  Oak,  an  artist  and  faculty  member 
at  the  Institute  for  Theology  and  the  Arts 
at  Andover  Newton  Theological  School, 
who  performed  as  Hildegard  in  Miller 
Chapel  on  November  25. 

Oak  created  her  one-woman  show, 
called  "Sounding  the  Living  Light,"  to 
familiarize  modern  audiences  with  what 
she  called  "the  wisdom  and  passion  of 
this  woman,  and  to  invite  people  to 
make  connections  with  her  context,  her 
spirit,  and  our  own  time."  The  show  pre¬ 
sents  a  selection  of  the  music  and  writ¬ 
ings  created  in  the  course  of  Hildegard's 
life,  in  which  she  was  an  abbess,  preach¬ 
er,  counselor,  mystic,  prophet,  poet,  and 
musician. 


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Food  and  Fun  at  Seminary  Saturday 

Piles  of  sandwiches  set  the  scene  for  this  year's  Seminary  Saturday,  when  nearly  seven 
hundred  area  residents  visited  Princeton  to  find  out  what  life  at  a  seminary  is  like. 

Participants,  who  included  both  young  people  and  adults  and  represented  nearly  eighty 
churches,  took  a  campus  tour  and  heard  the  Princeton  Seminary  Touring  Choir  perform. 
Young  participants  saw  a  presentation  called  "Having  Fun  Preparing  for  Ministry,"  and 
adults  heard  President  Thomas  W.  Gillespie  and  professors  Beverly  Roberts  Gaventa, 
Deborah  Hunsinger,  Donald  Juel,  and  Sang  Lee  speak  on  "What  and  Who  It  Takes  to  Train 
the  Future  Ministers  of  the  Church."  Both  groups  ate  box  lunches  (prepared  by  Lonnie  Kirk, 
above,  and  other  food  service  workers)  and  then  attended  the  Princeton  vs.  Harvard  football 
game  at  Princeton's  Palmer  Stadium. 

The  turnout  was  the  second  highest  in  the  event's  history. 


Touring  Choir  Gets 
New  Director 

The  PTS  Touring  Choir  is  on 
the  road  again,  this  time 
under  the  direction  of  the  new 
C.  F.  Seabrook  Director  of 
Music,  Martin  Tel.  Tel  holds 
master's  degrees  from  the 
University  of  Notre  Dame  and 
Calvin  Theological  Seminary, 
and  is  in  the  Doctor  of  Musical 
Arts  in  Church  Music  program 
at  the  University  of  Kansas. 

He  has  been  a  music  director,  choir  director,  and  organist  at 
churches  in  Kansas,  Michigan,  and  Indiana,  and  spent  the  year 
before  his  PTS  appointment  as  a  Fulbright  scholar  in  the 
Netherlands. 

Under  Tel's  leadership,  the  touring  choir  will  sing  at  twenty- 
one  different  churches  throughout  the  academic  year. 
Performances  are  planned  at  churches  in  Pennsylvania,  New 
Jersey,  New  York,  and  Maryland  in  the  first  half  of  1997;  con¬ 
tact  the  Chapel  Office  at  609-497-7890  for  more  information. 


Attend  the  Forums  on  Youth  Ministry! 

"Oh,  no!  Not  another  pizza  party!" 

Stuck  for  new  youth  group  ideas  and  direction?  Consider 
attending  one  of  two  1997  Princeton  Forums  on  Youth  Ministry. 

The  forums  have  the  overarching  theme  of  "At-Risk  Youth, 
At-Risk  Church:  What  Jesus  Christ  and  American  Teenagers  are 
Saying  to  the  Mainline  Church."  At  the  forums,  participants 
hear  lectures  and  exchange  ideas  about  meeting  the  challenges 
of  youth  ministry. 

The  first  forum  will  be  held  from  February  2  through  5,  1997, 
in  San  Diego,  CA.  It  will  feature  the  1996-1997  Princeton 
Lectures  on  Youth,  Church,  and  Culture,  given  by  Mary 
Elizabeth  Mullino  Moore  and  Wade  Clark  Roof.  Conference 
preachers  will  include  Jana  Childers,  Arturo  P.  Lewis,  Cecil 
Williams,  and  Mike  Yaconelli. 

The  second  forum  will  take  place  in  Princeton,  from  April  27 
through  30,  1997.  It  will  also  feature  more  1996-1997  Lectures 
on  Youth,  Church,  and  Culture,  given  this  time  by  Sara  P.  Little, 
A.  G.  Miller,  and  Leonard  Sweet.  Earl  Palmer  will  be  the  confer¬ 
ence  preacher. 

In  addition  to  the  new  ideas  and  colleagues  to  be  found  at 
both  these  forums,  participants  may  also  enroll  in  the  Certificate 
in  Youth  and  Theology  program.  The  certificate  is  awarded  to 
those  who  concentrate  on  youth  ministry  by  attending  multiple 
forums  and  a  capstone  retreat. 

For  more  information  on  the  forums  and  certificate  program, 
please  contact  Kay  Vogen  in  the  Princeton  Theological 
Seminary  School  of  Christian  Education,  609-497-7914. 


photos:  Erin  Roberts 


fall  1996 


on&off  Campus 


Black  Alumni/ae  Conference  Draws  Record  Numbers 

This  fall's  black  alumni/ae  conference,  held  October  3  through 
5,  drew  seventy-five  registrants — a  figure  which  accounts  for 
nearly  one-quarter  of  all  living  black  alumni/ae. 

"We  had  a  terrific  number  of  people  registered,  plus  lots  more 
people  came  for  the  public  parts  of  the  events,"  said  Michael 
Livingston,  a  conference  organizer  who  is  also  director  of  the 
chapel  and  campus  pastor.  "We  had  nearly  two  hundred  or  so 
folks  attend  the  keynote  address." 

The  black  alumni/ae  conference,  titled  "The  Black  Church: 

A  Sign  of  Hope?,"  began  with  a  keynote  address  from  Gardner 
Taylor,  pastor  emeritus  of  Concord  Baptist  Church  of  Christ, 
Brooklyn,  NY.  Other  conference  speakers  included  PTS  Assistant 
Professor  of  New  Testament  Brian  Blount,  who  led  Bible  study, 
as  did  Renita  Weems,  who  is  associate  professor  of  Hebrew 
Bible  at  Vanderbilt  University  Divinity  School.  Prathia  Hall 
Wynn,  who  is  dean  of  African  American  Ministries  at  United 
Theological  Seminary,  preached  on  Friday  night,  and  the  clos¬ 
ing  banquet  speaker  was  M.  William  Howard,  the  president  of 
New  York  Theological  Seminary.  Blount,  Howard,  Weems,  and 
Wynn  are  all  Seminary  alumni/ae. 

"The  speakers  were  terrific,"  Livingston  said.  "It  started  out 
great  and  got  better,  and  when  you  start  with  Gardner  Taylor  it's 
hard  to  imagine  that  things  will  only  get  better.  At  seventy- 
eight,  he  is  still  peerless." 

In  addition  to  listening  to  conference  speakers,  attendees  also 
participated  in  roundtable  discussions  and  agreed  that  confer¬ 
ences  for  black  alumni/ae  should  happen  more  often — perhaps 
once  every  other  year.  (This  was  the  third  such  event  since 
1983.)  A  steering  committee  was  started,  and  an  endowment  for 
scholarships  and  lectures  may  also  be  formed. 

Audiotapes  of  speakers  from  this  event  are  available  by  con¬ 
tacting  Princeton  Seminary's  Department  of  Media  Services, 
609-497-7900. 


Women's  Center  Celebrates  a  Quarter  Century  of  Life 

The  Princeton  Women's  Center  held  a  birthday  party  and  slide 
show  in  the  Main  Lounge  of  Mackay  Campus  Center  this  fall  to  cel¬ 
ebrate  its  twenty-fifth  anniversary. 

The  party,  which  about  sixty  people  attended,  included  a  large 
cake,  various  desserts,  and  a  slide  show  organized  by  Mari  Kim 
Shin,  a  1995  M.Div.  graduate  (and  former  Women's  Center  board 
member)  who  outlined  the  history  of  women  at  Princeton.  The 
Women's  Center  offers  fellowship  and  support  to  Princeton  women, 
both  through  its  presence  and  through  formal  activities  like  coffee 
hours  with  female  faculty  members,  movie  screenings,  and  com¬ 
munity  gatherings. 

Other  attendees  offered  memories  and  stories  of  their  own,  and 
the  party  broke  up  to  laughter  and  the  sound  of  fireworks  going  off 
outside  the  windows — courtesy  of  Princeton  University's  250th 
anniversary  celebration. 


Ministers  in  Uniform 

For  twenty  years,  PTS 
has  celebrated  the  ministry 
of  military  chaplains  by 
hosting  a  Veterans  Day 
luncheon  for  local  chap¬ 
lains  and  for  students  inter¬ 
ested  in  military  chaplain¬ 
cy,  and  by  inviting  a  mili¬ 
tary  chaplain  to  preach 
in  Miller  Chapel.  This 
November,  the  Rev.  Charles 
E.  McMillan  ('58B),  director 
of  the  Presbyterian  Council 
for  Chaplains  to  Military  Personnel  and  himself  a  retired  U.S.  Army 
chaplain,  was  the  preacher. 

"Chaplains  are  not  gun-toting,  baby-killing  members  of  our 
society,"  McMillan  told  worshippers.  "They  never  carry  weapons. 
They  are  first,  last,  and  always  pastors."  Like  pastors  of  churches, 
McMillan  said,  military  chaplains  lead  worship,  teach  the  Bible, 
counsel,  and  perform  marriages,  baptisms,  and  funerals  for  people 
in  the  armed  services. 

"For  some  soldiers,  the  ministry  of  a  chaplain  represents  the  only 
time  someone  has  ever  prayed  with  and  for  them,"  McMillan  said. 

The  Presbyterian  Council  for  Chaplains  to  Military  Personnel 
works  with  five  hundred  Presbyterian  clergy  who  serve  as  full-  and 
part-time  chaplains  in  all  branches  of  the  service. 


Youngsters  at  the  PTS  Center  for  Children  learned  about  fire  safety  cour¬ 
tesy  of  South  Brunswick  (NJ)  Deputy  Fire  Marshall  Michael  E.  Whalen. 
Here,  Whalen  demonstrates  the  importance  of  staying  low  in  a  fire. 


6  •  inSpire 


photo:  Kathleen  Whalen  photo:  Elizabeth  Clark 


on&off  Campus 


fall  1996 


Religion  and  Science: 

Can  They  Mix? 

Can  religious  belief  and  scientific 
thinking  go  together?  That  was  the 
question  posed  by  a  special  edition  of 
the  BBC's  "Heart  of  the  Matter"  series, 
which  brought  together  five  experts  in 
September  to  debate  the  issue.  J. 
Wentzel  van  Huyssteen,  Princeton's 
James  I.  McCord 
Professor  of  Theology 
and  Science,  was  one 
of  those  experts. 

The  program  was 
taped  in  Brno  in  the 
Czech  Republic,  at  the 
monastery  where 
Gregor  Mendel  pio¬ 
neered  the  modern 
science  of  genetics. 
The  other  panel  mem¬ 
bers  included  philoso¬ 
pher  Mary  Warnock, 
historian  David  Starkey,  Catholic  priest 
and  scientist  Michael  Heller,  and  profes¬ 
sor  and  author  Richard  Dawkins. 
Participants  espoused  many  views  on 
the  subject,  from  those  who  argued 
that  religion  is  a  superstition  we  would 
be  better  off  without  (Dawkins)  to 
those,  like  van  Huyssteen,  who  said 
that  religion  and  science  can  each 
enrich  the  other's  views. 

"Science  and  theology  need  not  be  in 
conflict,"  he  said,  "for  they  very  often 
ask  different  kinds  of  questions.  Science 
is  about  understanding  our  empirical 
world.  Theology  asks  and  explains  dif¬ 
ferent  questions:  What  is  the  meaning 
of  life?  What  happens  when  we  die? 
How  can  we  be  happy?  The  two  sides 
ask  different  questions,  and  they  give 
complimentary  answers  that  we  hope 
will  make  a  fuller  picture." 


PTS  Helps  Princeton  University  Celebrate  Anniversary 

It's  not  every  day  that  you  help  a  neighbor  celebrate  a  250th 
birthday — but  that's  exactly  what  Princeton  Theological 
Seminary  did  this  year  when  Princeton  University  celebrated 
two-and-a-half  centuries  of  academic  life. 

The  celebration  included  many  events  throughout  the  year. 

At  two  of  these,  the  Seminary  formally  participated. 

On  September  21,  Seminary  President  Thomas  W.  Gillespie 
gave  the  homily  at  an  inter-religious  thanksgiving  service  at 
Princeton  University  Chapel;  area  clergy  also  participated. 

And  on  November  23,  the  Princeton  Theological  Seminary 
Choir,  singing  with  the  Nassau  Presbyterian  Church  Choir,  the 
Princeton  University  Chapel  Choir,  the  Westminster  Choir 
from  Westminster  Choir  College  of  Rider  University,  and  the 
Witherspoon  Street  Presbyterian  Church  Choir,  presented  a 
concert  celebrating  Princeton  University's  anniversary.  The 
choirs,  which  totalled  250  voices,  sang  Leonard  Bernstein's 
Chichester  Psalms  and  Anton  Bruckner's  Te  Deum.  The 
Concert  Soloists  of  Philadelphia  also  performed  Lyric  for 
Strings  by  New  Jersey  composer  and  Pulitzer  Prize  for  Music 
winner  George  Walker. 

"This  idea  began  about  two  years  ago  when  we  were  looking 
for  a  way  for  these  five  major  Presbyterian-connected  institutions  to  work  together,"  said 
Kenneth  Kelley,  Nassau  Presbyterian  Church's  music  director.  "What  better  project  than 
to  celebrate  the  birth  of  a  great  institution?" 


Catholics  and  Protestants  Discover  Common  Faith  at  Ecumenical  Conference 


Quoting  Pope  John  Paul  II  in  saying  that 
"if  we  will  pray  together,  we  will  see  that 
what  divides  us  is  nothing  compared  to 
what  unites  us,"  Edward  Cardinal  Cassidy 
(pictured  above)  preached  at  the  opening 
worship  service  at  a  PTS  ecumenical  con¬ 
vocation  this  fall.  Jointly  sponsored  by 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  and  the 
Catholic  Diocese  of  Trenton,  the  event  was 
organized  to  examine  the  relationship 
between  Catholics  and  Protestants. 

PTS  President  Thomas  W.  Gillespie  and 
professors  Jane  Dempsey  Douglass  and 
Beverly  Roberts  Gaventa  also  spoke,  as 
did  Raymond  Brown,  a  Sulpician  priest 
who  is  Auburn  Professor  Emeritus  at 
Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York, 


NY,  and  who  serves  as  the  sole  American 
representative  to  the  International 
Pontifical  Biblical  Commission  in  Rome. 
The  event  was  widely  attended,  with 
members  of  the  Seminary  community, 
as  well  as  visiting  scholars  and  local  resi¬ 
dents,  filling  Miller  Chapel  to  overflowing. 

Participants  focused  on  the  difficult  but 
necessary  task  of  examining  both  dis¬ 
agreement  and  common  ground  between 
the  Protestant  and  Catholic  branches 
of  Christianity. 

"There  are  times  when  difficulties  are 
so  great,  enthusiasm  so  weak,  and  the 
goal  so  distant,  that  one  could  easily  take 
up  another  activity,"  Cassidy  noted.  "But 
when  we  seek  to  carry  out  God's  will,  we 


are  not  to  be  overanxious  about  the  result. 
It  is  his  work,  and  he  will  give  the  growth 
in  his  way  and  his  time.  Our  responsibility 
is  to  do  our  part." 

PTS  Vice  President  for  Seminary 
Relations  Fred  W.  Cassell,  who  was  instru¬ 
mental  in  organizing  the  conference, 
agreed. 

"In  a  world  that  is  ever  more  fractional¬ 
ized,  the  holding  of  an  ecumenical  convo¬ 
cation  to  celebrate  the  oneness  of  the 
church  in  Jesus  Christ  may  not  be  head¬ 
line-making  news,  but  it  is  news,"  he  said. 
"It  emphasizes  to  the  world  that  despite 
our  differences  and  diversity,  we 
Christians  have  more  in  common  than 
anything  that  might  divide  us." 


inSpire  •  7 


photo:  Chris  Moody 


fall  1996 


Student  Life 


From  Broadcasting  to  Branding:  Second-Career 
Students  Bring  Rich  Experiences  to  Ministry 


Nebraska  home.  He  grew  up  on  a  ranch 
about  thirty-five  miles  from  Cody,  NE, 
where  his  parents  still  raise  beef  cattle. 

Ford  remembers  his  life  on  the  plains  as 
family  centered  (“my  aunts  and  uncles  and 
cousins  lived  nearby”)  and  attuned  to  the 
rhythms  of  nature  and  the  needs  of  the 
livestock. 

“I  loved  the  wide-open  spaces  and  the 
big  skies,”  he  remembers,  “and  the  excite¬ 
ment  of  rodeos  and  the  yearly  branding. 

I  went  to  a  two-room  country  schoolhouse 
through  the  sixth  grade,  and  the  only 
adults  I  knew  were  either  ranchers  or 
teachers.” 

Ford  left  home  for  the  University  of 
Nebraska  and  a  degree  in  animal  science 
and  journalism,  planning  a  career  in  mar¬ 
keting  and  advertising  with  agricultural 
companies.  He  worked  in  Iowa  and  then 
Minnesota,  where  he  got  involved  in  com¬ 
munity  theatre  and  met  the  local 
Presbyterian  minister  there.  They  became 
friends  and  Ford  began  attending  the  min¬ 
ister’s  church;  he  later  joined,  helped  lead 
worship,  and  was  surprised  when  the  pas¬ 
tor  suggested  he  consider  the  ministry. 

“My  first  response  was  to  laugh,”  Ford 
says.  “But  I  received  more  and  more  affir¬ 
mation  from  people  in  the  church.  It  took 
three  years  of  thinking  and  praying,  and 
here  I  am  at  Princeton.” 

And  Princeton  is  a  long  way  from 
Nebraska — in  both  miles  and  emotions. 

“It  feels  so  crowded  here,”  Ford  says. 
“There  are  people  and  trees  everywhere! 

I  never  see  the  sky  or  the  sun,  at  least  not 
the  way  you  see  them  in  the  West.” 


Socializing  has  been  different,  too. 

“There  are  so  many  different  kinds  of  peo¬ 
ple  here,”  Ford  explains.  “Where  I  grew  up 
there  was  only  a  tiny  minority  population. 

I  didn’t  see  a  black  person  until  a  black 
Methodist  bishop  came  to  say  a  prayer  at 
branding  when  I  was  six.  So  being  in  the 
East  is  expanding  my  horizons.  I  chose 
Princeton  in  part  because  of  its  diversity.” 

Easterners,  he’s  found,  have  their  blind 
spots,  too.  Because  he  often  wears  boots 
and  hat,  he’s  called  a  cowboy,  both  by  fel¬ 
low  students  and  by  small  boys  on  the 
streets  of  Princeton. 

“Folks  don’t  know  that  there  are  many 
kinds  of  cowboys,  and  that  the  word  goes 
far  deeper  than  apparel,”  he  says.  “I’m  a 
ranch  cowboy,  and  there  are  rodeo  cow¬ 
boys  and  horse  show  cowboys.  What  we 
have  in  common  is  a  strong  sense  of  iden¬ 
tity  with  livestock  and  with  the  outdoors.” 

Ford  is  the  first  member  of  his  family  to 
go  to  seminary,  although  he  says  his  par¬ 
ents  and  his  wife,  Kim,  see  ministry  as  a 
good  fit  for  him.  “My  grandmother  was  a 
very  spiritual  person  in  the  way  she  lived 
her  life.  I  spent  a  lot  of  time  with  her 
when  I  was  a  boy  on  the  ranch,”  he  says. 

Ford  remembers,  too,  a  minister  from 
Cody  who  led  church  services  in  a  com¬ 
munity  hall  near  the  Ford  family  ranch. 
“He  had  been  a  tractor  dealer,”  Ford 
recalls,  “and  then  he  went  to  seminary  and 
came  back  as  a  full-time  pastor.  Looking 
back,  I  think  this  man  had  a  big  influence 
on  me.  He  knew  how  to  relate  to  ranch- 
ers. 

Ford  sees  a  similar  ministry  for  himself. 
He’d  like  to  serve  a  small,  cattle-country 
church  in  Wyoming,  Montana,  or 
Nebraska.  “People  in  rural  areas  deserve 
ministers  who  are  as  well  trained  as  those 
in  the  cities,”  he  says.  “Good  preaching  is 
important  everywhere,  and  I  want  to  tell 
the  Bible’s  stories  in  language  people  can 
understand,  like  Jesus  did  in  the  parables.” 

That  may  mean  a  tent-making  ministry, 
where  he  leads  worship  services  on 
Sundays  at  rodeos  or  cattle  shows  and 


by  Barbara  Chaapel 

works  on  his  family’s  ranch  during  the 
week.  It  may  also  mean  serving  Native 
Americans  on  one  of  the  many  reserva¬ 
tions  in  the  West. 

“Native  Americans  and  ranchers  live  side 
by  side  but  seldom  talk  to  each  other,”  he 
explains,  “and  there  are  real  problems  on 
the  reservations.  One  of  them  near  my 
home  has  one  of  the  highest  suicide  rates 
in  the  nation. 

“I’m  hoping  God  will  call  me  back 
home,”  he  says,  smiling,  “but  with  God 
you  never  know.  I  just  hope  it  isn't  to  New 
York  City!” 

What  Ford  will  take  with  him  wherever 
he  is  called  is  a  strong  sense  of  the  value 
of  family.  American  culture,  he  believes, 
has  lost  a  sense  of  family  connections. 

“Families  don’t  help  each  other  as  much 
as  they  used  to;  people  are  isolated  in  their 
work  and  in  their  leisure,”  he  says,  adding 
that  he  thinks  the  church  could  be  a  new 
kind  of  family,  offering  people  the  connec¬ 
tion  and  community  that  traditional  fami¬ 
lies  once  did. 

And  Ford  will  continue  to  find  a  spiritu¬ 
al  connection  to  God  in  nature. 

“I  have  always  been  close  to  animals,” 
he  says.  “We  watched  calves  be  born, 
raised  them,  and  then  had  to  slaughter 
them.  Many  people  think  that  is  callous. 
It’s  true  that  killing  is  one  of  the  hardest 
things  ranchers  do.  But  I  think  ranchers 
understand  that  dying  is  a  natural  part 
of  living,  in  a  way  that  city  people  don’t. 
People  are  connected  to  nature,  not  sepa¬ 
rate  from  it.  Our  survival  depends  on 
something  else  dying. 

“When  you  pick  up  a  styrofoam  package 
of  meat  or  a  carton  of  milk  in  the  store, 
it’s  hard  to  connect  with  the  life  that  gave 
that  meat  or  milk,  or  with  the  God  who 
gave  that  life.  Seeing  things  die  on  a  regu¬ 
lar  basis  puts  you  closer  to  God.  For  me, 
that  is  assuring.  We  never  know  when 
we  will  die,  and  that  gives  me  a  reverence 
for  life  and  a  trust  in  the  God  who  created 
life.”  I 


8  •  inSpire 


fall  1996 


Student  Life 


From  News 

to  “G  ood  [\Jews” 

From  the  time  she  was  a  little  girl,  Marie 
Adam  wanted  to  be  a  television  journalist. 
“I  imagined  myself  at  forty  being  the  CBS 
anchor  in  Atlanta,”  she  says. 

Bright,  driven,  and  competitive,  she  pur¬ 
sued  that  goal  through  a  journalism  degree 
from  the  Missouri  School  of  Journalism 
to  a  job  with  Channel  8  TV  in  Columbia, 
MO,  as  a  general  assignment  reporter. 
“First  I  covered  stories  like  the  city  council 
and  the  fire  on  Elm  Street,”  she  remem¬ 
bers.  “Then  I  got  the  health  beat  and  put 
together  longer  stories  for  the  six  o’clock 
news.” 

For  a  while  the  excitement  and  even 
stress  of  the  job  was  all  she’d  dreamed 
of.  “I  loved  being  at  the  heart  of  things, 
bringing  people  the  truth,”  she  says.  But 
the  pressure  of  producers  to  blur  the  line 
between  entertainment  and  news  began 
to  tarnish  that  idealism,  and  she  found 
herself  often  catering  more  to  producers 
and  less  to  her  own  sense  of  the  story. 

“I  realized  I  was  viewing  people  as  sources, 
not  as  people.  I  was  trying  to  ‘one-up’ 
other  reporters.  Suddenly  that  successful 
picture  of  myself  at  forty  looked  bleak, 
empty,  and  startling.” 

So  Adam  took  a  six-month  leave,  travel¬ 
ing  and  working  in  Italy,  during  what  she 
calls  a  “soul-searching  time.”  When  she 
came  home,  it  was  not  to  her  job  in 
Missouri,  but  to  Bethesda,  MD,  to  help 
her  aunt  care  for  a  newborn  baby  and  con¬ 
sider  a  new  direction  for  herself. 
Surprisingly,  that  direction  brought  her 
to  Princeton  Seminary. 

“The  church  played  almost  no  role  in 
my  life  until  my  last  year  in  college,” 

Adam  says.  With  family  members  in  both 
the  Roman  Catholic  and  Protestant 
churches,  she  remembers  taking  her  first 


communion  in  a  Catholic  church  and 
attending  a  non-denominational  church 
as  a  teenager.  “Neither  experience  took 
hold,”  she  recalls. 

Then  one  Sunday  in  Columbia,  while 
working  on  a  story,  “I  just  decided  to 
attend  church,”  she  remembers.  “It  was 
1  1:00  o’clock,  I  came  to  a  Baptist  church, 
so  I  parked  the  car  and  went  in.  I  was  the 
only  white  person  there,  and  I  felt  imme¬ 
diately  welcomed  and  included.  I  went 
back  every  Sunday  until  I  left  Missouri. 

“I  had  been  interested  in  the  intellectual 
side  of  religion  before.  I  had  read 
Kierkegaard  and  Dostoyevsky,  trying  to 
understand  God.  But  worshiping  in  that 
Baptist  church  was  the  first  time  in  my 
life  I  had  really  felt  the  presence  of  God.” 

Back  in  Maryland,  Adam  visited  several 
churches  “collecting  information  about 
them,  like  the  journalist  in  me  always 
does,”  she  says,  smiling.  Much  of  what 
she  discovered  discouraged  her — the 
Baptist  pastor  didn’t  believe  in  the  ordina¬ 
tion  of  women;  many  sermons  were  bor¬ 
ing;  congregations  seemed  more  like  col¬ 
lections  of  individuals  than  communities; 
she  was  treated  as  a  stranger. 

“People  didn’t  know  what  to  make 
of  someone  who  didn’t  know  the  words 
of  the  Apostles’  Creed  or  the  tune  of  the 
Gloria  Patri she  says  wryly. 

Finally,  she  found  a  welcoming 
Presbyterian  church.  “I  loved  their  bell 
choir,”  she  says,  “and  the  congregation 
struck  a  good  balance  between  experiential 


faith  and  intellectual  faith,  between  struc¬ 
ture  and  freedom.  The  sermons  were  cre¬ 
ative  and  the  people  weren’t  afraid  to  be 
innovative  as  well  as  traditional.” 

Adam  joined  the  church  in  May  1994 
and  came  to  PTS  in  September. 

The  plunge  into  seminary  education  was 
invigorating.  “I  loved  Princeton  as  soon  as 
I  arrived,”  she  says.  “It  was  all  new — dis¬ 
cussing  theological  ideas,  having  permis¬ 
sion  to  ask  all  the  faith  questions  I  couldn’t 
ask  in  journalism.  I  was  truly  an  inquirer.” 

But  what  began  as  a  personal  quest  soon 
became  a  call  to  serve.  “I  started  to  care 
deeply  about  serving  God  and  God’s  peo¬ 
ple,”  she  says.  “I  also  realized  that  the 
seeds  of  my  calling  had  been  there  all 
along.  My  experience  as  a  journalist  had 
been  a  way  ol  leading  me  in.” 

Now  a  candidate  under  the  care  of 
National  Capital  Presbytery,  Adam  feels 
confirmed  in  a  call  to  ordained  ministry, 
although  she  is  not  yet  sure  what  shape 
that  call  will  take.  Married  over  a  year  ago, 
she  is  looking  forward  to  becoming  part 
of  a  worshiping  community  with  her  hus¬ 
band,  not  rushing  into  the  role  of  pastor. 

Working  part  time  in  the  Seminary’s 
media  department  this  year,  Adam  is  also 
cautiously  intrigued  by  the  partnership 
between  media  and  ministry.  “I  have  seen 
the  irresponsible  way  religion  is  treated  by 
the  media,”  she  says.  “They  tend  to  mostly 
cover  stories  like  Waco  or  the  World  Trade 
Center  bombing.  There  is  a  lot  of  sensa¬ 
tional  religious  journalism.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  debacles  of  televangelists  have 
undermined  Christianity’s  credibility  with 
serious  journalists.  Joining  religion  and  the 
media  is  risky  business,  because  both  TV 
and  religion  can  be  used  to  manipulate.” 

Whether  as  a  religious  journalist, 
a  teacher  (she  has  considered  a  Ph.D.  in 
theology),  or  a  pastor,  Adam  believes  God 
is  calling  her  to  serve  the  unchurched. 

“I  want  to  present  the  Gospel  story  so  it 
is  appealing  and  captivating  to  people  who 
don’t  know  much  about  Christianity,”  she 
says.  “I  believe  my  first  career  has  prepared 
me  to  do  this.  I  still  look  at  the  world  and 
see  stories.”  I 


inSpire  •  9 


fall  1996 


Helping  the  Spirit 
When  the  Mind  Is  Hurt 


by  Ingrid  Meyer 


The  Bible  urges  us  to  help  the  poor 
and  the  outcast — and  virtually  no  one 
is  more  outcast  than  the  mental  patients 
at  Trenton  Psychiatric  Hospital  in  Trenton, 
NJ,  to  whom  1988  M.Div.  graduate  Joanne 
Martindale  ministers  as  part  of  her  job 
as  chaplain  liaison. 

Ministry  to  mental  health  patients  is  a 
highly  specialized  field.  Just  how  specialized 
is  reflected  in  Martindale’s  lonely  status — she 
is  the  only  chaplain  liaison  employed  by  the 
state  of  New  Jersey.  Martindale  was  hired 
eight  years  ago  at  Trenton,  which  was  built 
in  1848  and  is  the  oldest  psychiatric  hospital 
in  New  Jersey,  as  the  first  chaplain  liaison 
in  a  program  designed  to  hire  more.  The 
program  was  organized  to  see  if  deliberately 
linking  patients  with  religious  communities 
before  discharge  would  help  them  stay  out 
of  the  hospital  longer,  and  thus  reduce  the 
hospital's  high  recidivism  rate.  The  program 
worked  well — yet  New  Jersey  has  not  bud¬ 


Trenton  Psychiatric  Hospital  Chaplain 
Liaison  Joanne  Martindale,  above,  works 
with  the  chronically  mentally  ill.  Left, 
Martindale  visits  with  Mary,  a  hospital 
patient. 


geted  the  money  to  hire  more  chaplain 
liaisons  for  the  state’s  other  psychiatric  hospi¬ 
tals. 

Martindale’s  job  is  to  link  patients  with 
congregations  and  religious  communities 
that  will  be  able  to  help  them  after  they  leave 
the  hospital.  Many  laypeople  and  clergy 
are  supportive  and  welcoming  toward  people 
with  mental  illnesses,  but  others  are  more 
nervous. 

“Lots  of  clergy  will  visit  at  a  local 
hospital,  but  not  at  a  psychiatric  hospital,” 
Martindale  said.  “I  gently  ask  them,  ‘Do 
you  visit  your  parishioner  in  the  local  hospi¬ 
tal?  How  is  that  different  from  visiting  your 
parishioner  here?’” 

Before  a  patient  leaves  the  hospital, 
if  they  would  like  a  religious  community, 
Martindale  helps  them  find  one.  She  calls 
ahead,  educates  congregations  if  they’re 
nervous  about  having  a  mentally  ill  person 
in  their  midst,  and  explains  how  they  might 
help  the  person  feel  comfortable.  She  then 
goes  to  worship  with  the  patient,  and  helps 
them  know  what  to  expect  from  the  worship 
experience. 

“Patients  often  struggle  with  simple 
things  that  others  take  for  granted,”  she  said. 
“For  instance,  getting  a  bulletin  or  picking 


up  a  hymnal  can  be  hard.  Passing  the  peace 
can  be  particularly  difficult  for  a  paranoid 
schizophrenic  who  is  afraid  of  people.” 
Martindale  also  encourages  the  patient  to 
attend  services  a  second  time  before  leaving 
the  hospital.  Though  many  of  her  clients 
are  Christian,  she  also  deals  with  Muslim 
and  Jewish  congregations. 

Martindale’s  responsibilities  don’t  stop 
there.  She  also  leads  seven  patient  groups 
at  the  hospital.  Two  of  these  are  faith  explo¬ 
ration  “for  higher-functioning  patients,” 
she  said,  in  which  patients  learn  about  each 
other’s  faiths — Buddhist,  Muslim,  Protestant, 
Catholic,  and  others. 

“These  groups  are  for  patients  who  want 
to  talk  about  their  faith  with  other  patients 
who  may  have  been  religiously  delusional 
at  one  time,”  Martindale  said. 

Another  two  groups  are  for  women 
who  want  to  explore  women’s  concerns  and 
their  importance  in  an  institutional  setting. 

In  these  groups,  Martindale  said,  “we  talk 
about  birth  control,  about  doctors  not  listen¬ 
ing  to  them  the  way  they  do  to  male 
patients,  about  whether  or  not  they  need 
to  wear  makeup,  about  dating,  and  about 
family  and  children,”  Martindale  said. 

The  other  groups  Martindale  leads 
are  Spirituality  for  Recovery  groups  with 
patients  whose  substance  abuse  has  compli¬ 
cated  their  mental  illnesses.  The  groups  focus 
on  the  method  developed  by  Alcoholics 
Anonymous,  with  special  attention  paid 
to  discovering  a  higher  power. 

Martindale  also  leads  religious  services 
in  the  hospital’s  small  chapel,  as  do  visiting 
clergy  from  other  faiths.  She  speaks  about 
mental  illness  to  churches,  synagogues, 
sessions,  and  other  groups,  attends  confer¬ 
ences,  and  coordinates  the  hospital’s  religious 
volunteers. 

As  if  Martindale’s  weeks  weren’t  already 
busy,  she  is  a  stalwart  supporter  of  Princeton 
Theological  Seminary,  supervising  field  edu¬ 
cation  students  at  the  hospital  through  each 
academic  year  and  summer.  The  Chaplain 
Intern  Training  Program  also  serves  students 


10  *  inSpire 


fall  1996 


from  Seton  Hall  University,  Eastern  Baptist 
Seminary,  Columbia  Theological  Seminary, 
and  various  rabbinical  schools.  In  it,  students 
are  paid  $2,200  for  either  one  academic  year, 
at  ten  hours  per  week,  or  $2,400  for  one 
summer  of  full-time  work.  She  supervises 
“at  least  thirteen  students  each  year,"  she 
said,  adding  that  Trenton  Psychiatric 
Hospital  is  “not  a  clinical  pastoral  education 
(CPE)  site  because  we  believe  that  people 
should  be  paid  for  their  work  and  time, 
and  that  the  state  should  pay  for  chaplains.” 
Between  herself  and  her  supervisor,  Director 
of  Pastoral  Services  Dwight  Sweezy, 
Martindale  estimates  that  they  have  super¬ 
vised  nearly  two  hundred  students. 

Despite  the  fact  that  the  hospital  is  not 
a  CPE  site,  Martindale  said,  the  program 
uses  an  action/reflection  model  of  training 
similar  to  that  used  in  CPE.  Students  go 
to  the  wards  as  chaplains  to  act,  listen,  and 
minister.  They  then  reflect  on  their  experi¬ 
ences  by  presenting  verbatim  conversations 
with  patients,  case  studies,  sermons,  book 
reports,  and  theological  reflections  to  the 
other  members  of  the  program. 

“In  this  program  you  learn  who  you 
are  as  a  minister,”  she  said.  “The  patients 
are  quick  to  give  you  feedback.  Much  of  the 
intern  program  is  learning  how  other  people 
truly  see  you.” 

Chaplains  must  also  deal  with  their 
own  personal  issues,  Martindale  added. 
“Ministers,  on  the  whole,  are  not  that  good 
at  confrontation,”  she  said.  “The  student 
interns  in  the  training  program  learn  how 
to  both  praise  and  confront  their  peers  hon¬ 
estly.  This  is  often  the  most  difficult  part 
of  the  training  program  for  students.  It’s  one 
thing  to  preach  a  sermon,  but  it’s  quite 
another  to  explore  how  your  own  personality 
stands  in  the  way  of  someone  else’s  learning 
or  development.  We  also  encourage  students 
to  see  the  gifts  they  bring  and  use  these  gifts 
more  fully.” 

Martindale  followed  a  circuitous  path 
to  her  current  calling.  Before  coming  to  sem¬ 
inary,  she  was  a  floral  designer  in  California, 
and  worked  on  the  annual  Rose  Bowl 
parade.  She  spent  three  years  taking  counsel¬ 
ing  classes  at  Fuller  Theological  Seminary 
before  coming  to  Princeton.  She  later  com¬ 
pleted  four  units  of  clinical  pastoral  educa¬ 
tion  at  Virginia  Mason  Hospital  in  Seattle, 
WA;  Delaware  State  Hospital;  and  Calvary 
Hospital  in  the  Bronx,  NY. 

Her  call  to  ministry,  she  said,  came  when 
she  was  an  undergraduate  at  California  State 


University.  Her  best  friend  was  a  police  offi¬ 
cer,  and  arranged  for  her  to  ride  along  with 
one  of  his  friends.  It  was  there  that  she  saw 
how  church  on  Sunday  stood  in  stark  con¬ 
trast  to  the  world  of  hourly  hotels,  bars, 
and  alleyways.  “My  call  came  from  wanting 
to  help  people  on  the  margins  feel  they  have 
a  welcome  in  the  religious  community,” 
Martindale  said.  She  has  also  worked  at 
Trenton  State  Prison,  and  was  the  Protestant 
chaplain  at  the  Lloyd  McCorkle  Training 
School  for  Boys  and  Girls,  a  juvenile  prison 
in  Skillman,  NJ. 

Martindale  says  that  she  finds  balance 
to  her  days  at  Trenton  Psychiatric  Hospital 
in  her  two  sons,  Quinn  (age  three)  and  Ryan 
(age  two). 

“They  bring  joy,  play,  balance,  and 
laughter  to  the  sometimes  strains  of  min¬ 
istry,”  she  said. 

While  many  of  Martindale’s  students 
go  into  the  local  parish  ministry,  as  is  typical 
of  Princeton  students,  at  least  one  has 
continued  in  the  mental  health  ministry 
he  first  learned  from  her.  Kirk  Berlenbach, 
a  1994  M.Div.  graduate  who  pursued  a  joint 
Master  of  Social  Work 
degree  from  Rutgers 
University,  is  a  clinical  case 
manager  for  Hunterdon 
Medical  Center.  He  helps 
chronically  mentally  ill 
patients  function  in  the 
community. 

“I  see  patients  who 
come  in  via  referral,”  he 
said.  “Some  refer  them¬ 
selves,  some  are  referred 
by  the  state  hospitals, 
some  are  dropouts  from 
Hunterdon’s  partial  hospi¬ 
talization  program.” 

Hunterdon,  he  noted, 
provides  all  mental  health 
services  except  supervised 
living  for  the  mentally  ill. 

In  his  work,  Berlenbach  serves  as  a  diag¬ 
nostician  and  a  helper  in  planning  life’s  daily 
tasks.  He  also  provides  a  listening  ear. 

“I’m  not  mommy,  and  I  won’t  clean  up 
their  room,”  he  said.  “I  won’t  do  basic  things 
that  they  are  capable  of,  though  I  will  help 
them  draw  up  a  plan  to  do  the  things  they 
need  to  do.  I  always  try  to  hold  direct  assis¬ 
tance  as  a  last  resort  between  my  clients  and 
disaster.” 

Berlenbach’s  first  field  education  intern¬ 
ship  was  with  Martindale. 


“It  was  terrific,”  he  said.  “There  was 
a  rigorous  affinity  toward  the  disenfran¬ 
chised.  I  was  intrigued.  I  liked  it  during 
the  year,  and  I  stayed  for  the  summer,  which 
was  a  much  more  intensive  forty  hours 
a  week  for  two  and  a  half  months.  I  focused 
on  psychology  courses  at  PTS,  applied  to 
an  MSW  program.  Things  fell  along  that 
line,  and  the  more  things  fell  that  way,  the 
more  it  made  sense  to  keep  going.” 

Berlenbach  says  that  he  would  like 
to  keep  working  with  the  mentally  ill,  but 
would  like  to  incorporate  more  deliberate 
spirituality  into  the  services  he  provides. 

“I’m  not  able,  within  my  job  description, 
to  focus  on  that  to  the  exclusion  of  other 
things,”  he  said.  He  hopes  to  be  ordained 
either  to  a  ministry  like  Martindale’s,  or 
to  a  self-designed  ministry  in  a  setting  like 
Hunterdon. 

Both  routes  are  difficult,  he  acknowl¬ 
edges.  There  is  a  dearth  of  positions  for 
mental  health  chaplains. 

“I  think  it’s  partly  because  of  an  overall 
disinterest  expressed  by  society  as  a  whole 
toward  the  chronically  mentally  ill.  If  you 

have  cash  or  good 
insurance,  you 
can  get  spiritually 
focused  therapy, 
but  if  you  have 
Medicaid  or  no 
insurance,  it’s 
another  matter,” 
he  said. 

Berlenbach 
also  noted  that 
“the  mental  health 
world  is  dominat¬ 
ed  by  the  medical 
model  of  treat¬ 
ment.  For  more 
affluent  echelons 
there’s  a  move 
toward  holism, 
but  the  chronics  are  lost  in  the  trickle-down. 
People  just  want  to  control  their  disruptive 
behavior.” 

The  church,  he  thinks,  could  help. 

“The  problems  are  not  just  systemic  on 
the  secular  side,”  he  said.  “We  need  church 
recognition  that  ministry  must  reach  beyond 
the  walls  of  the  parish.  While  parish  ministry 
may  be  central  and  normative,  it  hasn’t 
kept  the  church  from  shrinking  dramatically. 
If  the  white,  Protestant,  middle-class  church 
wants  to  save  itself,  it  needs  to  turn  to  the 
people  who  really  need  help.”  I 


Kirk  Berlenbach  |'94B)  helps  mentally  ill 
patients  function  in  the  community. 


inSpire  •  1 1 


fall  1996 


Spirituality 


by  Ingrid  Meyer 

Spirituality.  It’s  a  hot  topic  these  days, 
with  everyone  from  the  church  to  New  Age 
gurus  claiming  to  have  the  inside  track  on 
the  practices  and  attitudes  that  bring  the 
human  spirit  closer,  like  Adam  on  the  ceiling 
of  the  Sistine  Chapel,  to  touching  the  hand 
of  the  God  who  made  it. 

What  is  Christian  spirituality?  How 
is  it  expressed  differently  now  than  it  has 
been  in  years  past?  What  in  this  new  interest 
is  healthy,  and  what  activities  and  mind  sets 
support  a  healthy  spirituality?  And  perhaps 
most  importantly,  what  is  being  done  at 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary — and 
what  else  could  be  done — to  make  sure  that 
Christian  spirituality  at  the  Seminary,  and 
by  extension  the  church  of  the  future,  is 
as  vital  and  vibrant  as  it  possibly  can  be? 

The  term  “spirituality,”  said  PTS  Stuart 
Professor  of  Philosophy  Diogenes  Allen,  who 
teaches  a  course  on  spiritual  life,  was  coined 
by  Roman  Catholics  in  the  eighteenth  centu¬ 
ry,  with  many  Protestants  preferring  the  term 
“piety,”  Methodists  calling  it  “holiness,”  and 
Presbyterians  calling  it  “Christian  life.”  It’s 
a  tough  term  to  define,  because  it  means 
so  many  different  things  to  different  people. 
But  while  today’s  “spirituality”  can  encom¬ 
pass  “the  most  outlandish  New  Age  things, 
like  people  claiming  to  be  the  reincarnations 
of  Samurai  warriors  who  died  thousands  of 
years  ago,  to  electronic  machines  to  stimulate 
your  brain  to  put  you  in  harmony  with  the 
universe,”  Allen  said,  Christian  spirituality 
is  generally  seen  as  “having  a  life  in  accord 
with  Christian  teachings  and  doctrine,  and 
the  practices  that  encourage  this.  The  study 
of  spirituality  is  called  spiritual  theology. 

It  looks  at  theology  and  Christian  practices 
from  the  perspective  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
bringing  to  fullness  the  work  of  Christ 
in  our  lives  as  individuals  and  in  our  lives 
as  the  church.” 


In  years  past,  many  Christians  have  been 
largely  content  to  see  the  church  as  the  main 
wellspring  of  their  spiritual  lile  and  instruc¬ 
tion.  In  the  past  ten  years,  however,  the 
sources — or  the  perception  of  what  the 
sources  might  be — for  Christian  spirituality 
have  changed  a  great  deal. 

“We’re  in  a  period  of  public  discussion  of 
spirituality,”  said  Janet  Weathers,  an  assistant 
professor  of  speech  communication  in  min¬ 
istry  at  PTS.  She  observed  that  Americans 
are  feeling  more  comfortable  with  their  own 
ideas,  and  are  less  likely  to  see  the  church  as 
the  sole  source  of  spiritual  information.  They 
are  also  less  likely  to  maintain  strong  connec¬ 
tions  to  any  one  religious  tradition,  which 
Weathers  said  “is  one  of  the  things  that 
makes  people  at  seminary  the  most  nervous.” 

Why  the  changing  spiritual  landscape? 
Many  cultural  and  religious  changes  have 
played  a  part. 

•  Science  has  failed  to  completely  explain 
the  world.  Whereas  at  one  point  there  was 
a  publicly-held  hope  that  science  could  even¬ 
tually  explain  all  phenomena,  that  belief 
is  fading. 

“Many  scientists  today  realize  that  sci¬ 
ence  is  limited,”  commented  J.  Wentzel 
van  Huyssteen,  Princeton’s  James  I.  McCord 


Professor  of  Theology  and  Science.  “There 
are  some  issues  in  life  that  science  cannot 
answer,  such  as  the  meaning  of  life  and 
death,  and  the  meaning  of  evil.  To  find  these 
answers,  many  scientists  are  turning  to  reli¬ 
gion  and  becoming  more  metaphysical.  Even 
agnostic  scientists  such  as  Stephen  Hawking 
[author  of  A  Brief  History  of  Time]  are  writ¬ 
ing  books  that  go  beyond  science  and  talk 
about  a  final  theory.” 

•  Transportation  to  and  communication 
with  all  parts  of  the  globe  are  increasingly 
cheaper  and  easier,  particularly  with  the 
advent  ol  the  internet.  This  means  that  more 
Americans  than  ever  before  are  interested  in, 
and  know  more  about,  the  world,  seeing  it 
as  a  “global  village.”  They  borrow  spiritual 
ideas  from  other  traditions  and  cultures, 
both  Christian  and  non-Christian,  from 
around  the  world.  This  interest  is  reflected 
in  new  styles  ol  music,  dance,  and  other 
material  in  worship,  much  of  which  clearly 
reflects  other  cultures.  It  is  also  reflected  in 
the  new  interest  in  spiritual  practices  such 

as  meditation,  which  have  been  associated 
more  with  Eastern  spirituality  than  with 
Western  Christian  spirituality. 

•  Denominations,  particularly  Protestant 
denominations,  increasingly  celebrate  the 


12  •  inSpire 


fall  1996 


mystics  of  their  own  tradition.  Allen, 
for  example,  teaches  about  Calvinists  like 
George  Herbert,  whose  collection  of  poems, 
The  Temple,  was  published  in  1634,  as  well 
as  John  Bunyon’s  Pilgrims  Progress. 

“Paulist  Press  has  been  phenomenally 
successful  with  its  two-hundred-volume 
series  Classics  of  Western  Spirituality,”  Allen 
noted,  “and  commercial  publishers  like 
Penguin  publish  Blaise  Pascal’s  Pensees  and 
The  Cloud  of  Unknowing,  (a  book,  edited 
by  James  Walsh,  in  the  Classics  of  Western 
Spirituality  series).  What  we  are  seeing 
is  a  massive  revival  of  interest  in  Christian 
classical  books  that  Protestant  seminary 
teaching  had  largely  neglected.” 

•  Denominations  also  increasingly  bor¬ 
row  from  one  another,  with  many  Protestant 
Christians  more  and  more  interested  in 
Catholic  practices  like  lectio  divina,  which 
is  a  method  of  meditative  reading  of  the 
Bible  and  prayer.  Protestants  are  also  making 
use  of  spiritual  directors,  who  are  people 
trained  as  “spiritual  companions”  to  pray 
with  and  suggest  reading  and  meditation 
for  people  who  want  to  deepen  their  spiritual 
lives.  Many  Christians  are  also  interested  in 
the  mystical  writers  and  visionaries  of  a  vari¬ 
ety  of  traditions,  including  Thomas  Merton, 
Julian  of  Norwich,  Meister  Eckhardt, 


Hildegard  of  Bingen,  Teresa  of  Avila,  and 
Ignatius  of  Loyola. 

•  People,  both  Christian  and  non- 
Christian,  are  less  likely  to  see  the  church 
as  the  source  of  all  their  spiritual  resources. 
They  independently  read  books  on  their  own 
spiritual  traditions,  as  well  as  on  other  tradi¬ 
tions  and  viewpoints.  A  glance  at  recent 
New  York  Times  Bestseller  Lists  shows 
Thomas  Moore’s  The  Care  of  the  Soul, 

Deepak  Chopra’s  series  on  Eastern  philoso¬ 
phies,  and  Kathleen  Norris’s  The  Cloister 
Walk  as  just  a  few  examples  of  popular  books 
on  spirituality. 

•  Finally,  the  small  group  movement 
has  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  both  a  rising 
interest  in  spirituality,  and  the  longing 

for  a  connection  that  many  Americans  seem 
unable  to  satisfy  through  their  congregations 
or  denominations. 

“According  to  research  done  by 
Princeton  University  sociologist  Robert 
Wuthnow,  forty  percent  of  people  in  the 
United  States  belong  to  some  small  group, 
by  which  I  mean  a  group  which  meets  inten¬ 
tionally  on  a  regular  basis  to  somehow 
support  one  another,”  Weathers  said,  citing 
Alcoholics  Anonymous  as  one  example. 
“People  of  all  parts  of  the  United  States, 
races,  and  classes  belong  to  these  small 
groups.”  Small  groups  focus  on  the  accumu¬ 


lated  wisdom  of  group  members  as  one 
of  their  most  valuable  resources.  As  a  result 
of  this  emphasis,  American  Christians  have 
begun  to  take  responsibility  for  their  own 
spiritual  formation.  They  are  less  open 
to  guidance  from  clergy. 

Just  as  significantly,  these  small  groups 
avoid  judging  their  members.  They  some¬ 
times  see  God’s  judgment  as  “lessened 
or  missing,”  Wuthnow  believes. 

A  church  tradition  where  God  clearly 
says  that  some  things  are  not  allowed,  then, 
can  be  difficult  for  some  people  who  have 
grown  accustomed  to  the  “small  group  mind 
set.”  The  attitudes  fostered  by  small  groups, 
Weathers  noted,  “may  actually  increase  indi¬ 
vidualism.  People  can  move  to  a  different 
church  or  group  community,  and  it’s  difficult 
to  hold  people  to  standards  of  Christian 
behavior  which  may  be  very  helpful,  but 
with  which  they  may  not  want  to  deal.” 

And  an  unwillingness  to  work  through 
conflict  and  seriously  consider  other 
ideas  is  very  damaging  to  spiritual  health. 
Weathers  added. 

“Spirituality  involves  discipline  and 
accountability,”  Weathers  said.  “I  see  a  lack 
of  willingness  to  work  through  conflict  to 
find  what  is  really  valuable.  People  too  often 
end  up  with  groups  that  simply  reinforce 
the  cultural  values  with  which  they  feel  most 
comfortable.”  For  example,  she  said,  a  per¬ 
son  who  doesn’t  like  a  new  pastor’s  preaching 
may  just  go  to  a  different  church,  instead  of 
trying  to  think  about  what  might  be  valuable 
in  the  new  style  of  sermon  delivery.  People 
may  also  be  unwilling  to  hear  that  other 
church  members  disagree  with  them  on  reli¬ 
gious  or  cultural  issues. 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  gradu¬ 
ates  are  ministering  in  this  world,  one  where 
it’s  easy  for  congregants  to  leave  when  the 
going  gets  tough,  and  where  people  increas¬ 
ingly  feel  that  a  church  service  does  not 
completely  meet  their  spiritual  needs.  It’s 
important,  then,  for  the  Seminary  to  train 
its  graduates  in  how  to  deliver  spiritual 
resources  to  congregants  that  are  relevant 


The  Life 
of  the 


eart 


Spiritual  exploration  at 


Princeton 


inSpire  *13 


fall  1996 


to  current  needs  and  attitudes  about  the 
nature  of  spirituality.  Does  Princeton 
Theological  Seminary  successfully  do  this? 
There  are  at  least  as  many  answers  as  there 
are  people  in  the  Seminary  community. 

A  1994  survey  of  Seminary  alumni/ae 
revealed  that  only  15  percent  of  those  who 
answered  the  survey  remembered  Princeton 
as  a  spiritual  place,  a  shockingly  low  number 
for  an  institution  that  teaches  professional 
ministers. 

Since  those  alumni/ae  studied 
at  Princeton,  however,  many  professors, 
including  Allen,  Weathers,  Stephen 
Colwell  Professor  of  Christian  Ethics 
Max  Stackhouse,  Ralph  B.  and  Helen  S. 
Ashenfelter  Associate  Professor  of  Ministry 
and  Evangelism  John  W.  Stewart,  Associate 
Professor  of  Speech  Communication  in 
Ministry  G.  Robert  Jacks,  Charles  Hodge 
Professor  of  Systematic  Theology  David 
Willis,  Benjamin  B.  Warfield  Associate 
Professor  of  Medieval  Church  History  Paul 
Rorem,  and  others  have  developed  courses 
on  spiritual  disciplines  and  life — approxi¬ 
mately  ten  courses,  all  oversubscribed.  The 
Center  of  Continuing  Education’s  new  for¬ 
mat,  which  is  in  its  second  year,  also  incor¬ 
porates  a  number  of  courses  on  spiritual 
growth  and  development. 

General  Ministry  100  is  one  PTS  course, 
required  for  M.Div.  students,  that  encour¬ 
ages  students  to  focus  on  their  own  spiritual 
formation. 

“Eve  read  650  papers  from  GM  100 
courses  over  the  four  years  we’ve  had  the 
course,”  said  Abigail  Rian  Evans,  associate 
professor  of  practical  theology  (and  former 
director  of  field  education).  “The  consistent 
theme  is  that  spiritual  journeys  and  calls 
to  ministry  are  two  parts  of  one  whole  for 
most  students.  It’s  the  story  of  how  God 
is  active  in  their  lives.  I  have  been  moved 
and  impressed  by  their  deep  spirituality — 
they  never  trivialize  the  question  of  who  God 
is  and  what  God  means  in  their  lives.” 

And  it  is  difficult,  as  Campus  Pastor  and 
Director  of  the  Chapel  Michael  Livingston 
noted,  “to  study  Old  Testament  or  New 


Testament  or  theology  or  church  history 
without  strengthening  your  spiritual  life.” 

Still,  many  people  interviewed  for 
this  article  cited  Princeton  Theological 
Seminary’s  high  academic  workload  as  a  seri¬ 
ous  impediment  to  the  time  and  energy  true 
spiritual  development  requires. 

“The  workload  is  probably  the  greatest 
impediment  to  spirituality  on  campus,”  said 
Nancy  Schongalla-Bowman,  a  1979  M.Div. 
alumna  who  currently  works  at  Princeton  as 
a  pastoral  therapist.  Schongalla-Bowman  said 
that  few  people  see  academics  as  spiritually 
nurturing,  but  that  she  sees  many  students 
exercising  private  means  of  spiritual  growth. 

“Many  students  stay  very  focused 
on  their  relationship  with  God,  and  it  is 
a  resource  for  them,”  Schongalla-Bowman 
said,  “but  they  do  so  through  their  own  dis¬ 
ciplines.”  She  noted  that  some  students  keep 
journals,  pray  while  alone  or  while  running 
or  walking  in  nature,  or  read  devotional 
materials.  They  also  form  informal  prayer 
and  Bible  study  groups,  meeting  in  homes, 
apartments,  dorm  rooms,  and  in  locations 
around  campus  to  encourage  each  other. 
However,  many  students  report  feeling 
unhappily  distant  from  God,  Schongalla- 
Bowman  said,  and  do  not  experience  faith 
as  helpful  in  coping  with  their  own  perfec¬ 
tionism  or  the  stress  in  their  lives.  These  are 
typically  students  who  are  not  involved  in 
a  prayer  group  or  partnership,  or  do  not 
have  their  own  regular  devotional  practice. 

In  addition  to  these  spiritual  practices, 
spiritual  growth  at  Princeton  is  also  enriched 
by  relationships  with  other  community 
members — a  view  supported  by  M.Div.  mid- 
dler  James  Lynch. 

“PTS  is  a  spiritual  place  because  of  the 
people  who  are  here,”  Lynch  said.  “Seminary 
is  a  time  in  people’s  lives  that  is  filled  with 
questions,  and  students 
gain  support  from  con¬ 
versations  and  relation¬ 
ships  both  in  and  out 
of  class.  And  the  campus 
supports  that,  through 
informal  relationships 


and  also  through  daily  chapel  and  groups 
like  the  Association  of  Black  Seminarians, 
the  Church  for  Lesbian  and  Gay  Concerns, 
the  Women’s  Center.  Academics  are  not  usu¬ 
ally  spiritual.” 

“There  are  a  lot  of  people  around  here 
whose  whole  lives  are  centered  around  the 
practice  of  a  living  faith,”  Livingston  agreed. 
He  also  cited  daily  Miller  Chapel  services, 
which  are  held  every  day  that  school  is  in 
session,  as  an  important  part  of  Seminary  life 
for  many  people. 

“This  institution  in  a  sense  closes  at  ten 
o’clock  every  day  and  opens  a  spiritual  door 
for  the  whole  community,”  Livingston  said, 
noting  that  faculty,  staff,  administrators, 
students — essentially  everyone  on  campus — 
are  encouraged  to  attend  chapel.  “Chapel 
is  a  dramatic  and  visible  attempt  to  strength¬ 
en  spiritual  life  on  campus.” 

Other  groups,  including  Eriday  Night 
Fellowship,  Night  Watch  (an  informal  and 
deliberately  unstructured  worship  time  on 
Monday  evenings),  and  other  student-led 
worship  events,  as  well  as  events  organized 
by  the  Chapel  Council  (including  special 
Holy  Week  services  and  a  Paschal  Vigil),  also 
contribute  to  campus  spiritual  support.  Still, 
many  students  feel  that  the  Seminary  should 
do  more  to  support  their  spiritual  growth 
and  development. 

Those  concerns  led,  over  the  last  two 
years,  to  two  surveys  and  several  forums. 

The  Office  of  Seminary  Relations  sponsored 
a  survey  on  alumni/ae  perspectives  about 
Princeton  Seminary,  including  the  topic 
of  spirituality.  The  Office  of  the  Dean 
of  Student  Affairs  sponsored  a  campus-wide 
survey  and  led  an  on-campus  forum  on  spiri¬ 
tuality,  which  was  attended  by  many  stu¬ 
dents  and  members  of  the  faculty  and 
administration.  The  subject  of  spirituality 

was  discussed  at  a 
faculty  retreat.  And 
the  Alumni/ae 
Association  Executive 
Council  sponsored 
two  dinners — one 
for  faculty,  one  for 


This  institution 
in  a  sense  closes 
at  ten  o’clock 
every  day  and 
opens  a  spiritual 
door  for  the  whole 
community.” 


14  •  inSpire 


fall  1996 


students — on  spiritual¬ 
ity  at  Princeton,  and 
on  what  the  Seminary 
should  or  could  do 
to  encourage  spiritual 
growth. 

The  results  of  the 
on-campus  forums 
and  the  survey,  which 
was  sent  to  all  com¬ 
munity  members,  were 
mixed.  Respondents 
saw  personal  prayer, 
worshipping  in  a  con¬ 
gregation,  participation  in  the  Lord’s  Supper, 
seeking  to  discern  God’s  will  for  their  lives, 
and  striving  to  live  in  just  relationships  with 
others  as  important,  regular  parts  of  their 
spiritual  lives.  A  majority  also  noted  that 
seeking  to  deepen  one’s  relationship  with 
Christ,  personal  Bible  study,  and  devotional 
Bible  reading  are  important  parts  of  spiritu¬ 
ality.  Results  on  the  issue  of  social  justice 
were  less  uniform.  Many  people  said  that 
they  try  to  live  in  ways  that  help  those  who 
live  on  the  margins  of  society,  but  fewer  were 
convinced  that  this  is  part  of  spirituality. 

The  survey  and  forums,  Evans  said, 
showed  that  there  has  been  a  sea  change 
in  what  students  expect  the  Seminary  to 
do  to  support  their  spiritual  lives. 

“When  I  came  in  1991,  students  were 
saying  ‘let  us  do  this  on  our  own,’  without 
being  ‘programmed’  by  PTS,”  Evans  said. 
“The  April  1995  forum  showed  a  seventy 
degree  turn,  with  students  saying  that  PTS 
is  responsible  for  setting  up  a  spiritual  struc- 
ture. 

And  what  should  that  “spiritual  struc¬ 
ture”  look  like?  Again,  opinions  are  mixed. 
Some  students  called  for  the  establishment 
of  more  spiritual  directors  for  students.  That 
role  is  filled,  to  a  small  extent,  by  Livingston 
and  Schongalla-Bowman,  as  well  as  some 
professors  and  staff  members.  Both 
Livingston  and  Schongalla-Bowman,  howev¬ 
er,  agreed  that  there  is  a  need  for  more  delib¬ 
erate  spiritual  direction  for  students. 

And  by  being  more  deliberate  about 
students’  spiritual  direction,  the  Seminary 
would  be  supporting  the  church  leaders 


of  the  future,  many 
of  whom  feel  that 
Princeton  could  have 
given  them  a  better 
understanding  of  spiritu¬ 
al  issues. 

Karen  Brostrom- 
O’Brien  is  stated  supply 
pastor  of  Beattystown 
Presbyterian  Church 
in  Hackettstown,  NJ, 
a  1982  M.Div.  alumna 
of  the  Seminary,  and 
a  member  of  the 
Alumni/ae  Association  Executive  Council. 
Asked  if  she  received  training  in  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  spiritual  life,  she  replied  “not  for¬ 
mally.  I  had  informal  training  with  peers  and 
professors,  since  several  students  and  profes¬ 
sors  were  very  good  about  recommending 
books  and  reminding  us  that  we  had  to  sepa¬ 
rate  ourselves  from  the  study  and  other  busi¬ 
ness  of  being  a  student  to  be  alone  with 
God.  You  could  tell  that  this  made  a  differ¬ 
ence  in  their  lives,  and  it  was  a  good  model. 
But  formal  training  would  have  given  me 
a  little  more  support.” 

Many  members  of  the  Seminary  commu¬ 
nity  have  suggested  that  more  formal  train¬ 
ing  for  Seminary  graduates  in  spirituality  is 
in  order.  Still,  as  Schongalla-Bowman  noted, 
“an  additional  requirement  is  probably  the 
last  thing  we  need.”  And  other  Seminary 
community  members  have  expressed  reserva¬ 
tions  about  the  idea  of  there  being  one  “offi¬ 
cial”  Seminary  spirituality. 

“I  don’t  think  the  Seminary  is  a  church, 
and  I  don’t  think  it  should  be  a  church, 
said  Brigid  Boyle,  a  1996  M.Div.  graduate 
who  is  currently  associate  pastor  of  Penfield 
Presbyterian  Church,  Penfield,  NY.  Boyle 
sees  value  in  the  wide  diversity  of  opinions 
about  spirituality  on  campus. 

“There  seems  to  be  a  feeling  among 
some  parts  of  the  community  that  if  one 
was  not  part  oi  a  Bible  study  group,  or  did 
not  have  a  set  amount  of  ‘alone  time’  with 
God,  that  one  was  somehow  less  spiritual,” 
Boyle  said.  “I  think  it’s  good  that  there  were 
also  parts  of  the  community  that  didn’t  feel 
that  way.  We  need  to  expose  students 


Interested  in  the  subject  of  spirituali¬ 
ty?  The  following  bibliography, 
though  far  from  definitive,  may  help 
you  choose  some  books. 

Spiritual  Theology,  by  Diogenes 
Allen,  Princeton's  Stuart  Professor  of 
Philosophy.  Cowley  Publications, 

1997.  (This  book  will  be  available  at 
the  beginning  of  1997.) 

Pilgrim's  Progress,  by  John  Bunyon. 
Barbour  and  Co.,  1995. 

Classics  of  Western  Spirituality,  a 
series  published  by  Paulist  Press. 

Soul  Making,  by  Alan  Jones.  Harper 
San  Francisco,  1989. 

Contemplative  Prayer,  by  Thomas 
Merton.  Image  Books,  1989. 

The  Care  of  the  Soul,  by  Thomas 
Moore.  Harper  Collins,  1994. 

The  Cloister  Walk,  by  Kathleen 
Norris.  Riverhead  Books,  1996. 

Pensees,  by  Blaise  Pascal.  Viking 
Penguin,  1966. 

Space  for  God:  The  Study  and 
Practice  of  Prayer  and  Spirituality,  by 
Don  Postema.  Board  of  Publications 
of  the  Christian  Reformed  Church, 

1983. 

Soul  Feast,  by  Marjorie  Thompson. 
Westminster/John  Knox  Press,  1995. 

to  a  wide  variety  of  spiritual  practices,  cer¬ 
tainly  things  like  Bible  study  and  prayer 
groups,  but  also  things  like  soup  kitchens 
and  tutoring  programs.” 

In  the  end,  the  very  diversity  of  opinion 
at  Princeton  may  keep  spirituality,  in  all 
of  its  myriad  forms,  alive  and  well. 

“Princeton  is  a  very  spiritual  place 
because  there’s  hope  here,  hope  for  futures, 
hope  because  we’re  engaging  the  Gospel,” 
Lynch  observed.  “We  get  a  glimpse  of  how 
the  world  is  supposed  to  be  and  how  we 
are  becoming  equipped  to  help  humanity 
get  there.”  I 


We  need  to 
expose  students 
to  a  wide  variety 
of  spiritual  prac¬ 
tices,  certainly 
things  like  Bible 
study  and  prayer 
groups,  but  also 
things  like  soup 
kitchens  and  tutor¬ 
ing  programs.” 


inSpire  •  15 


fall  1996 


Class  notes 


Key  to  Abbreviations: 

Upper-case  letters  designate 
degrees  earned  at  PTS: 


M.Div. 

M.R.E. 

M.A. 

Th.M. 

D.Min. 

Th.D. 

Ph.D. 


B 

E 

E 

M 

P 

D 

D 


Special  undergraduate  student  U 
Special  graduate  student  G 

When  an  alumnus/a  did  not 
receive  a  degree,  a  lower-case 
letter  corresponding  to  those 
above  designates  the  course 
of  study. 

1928  Gordon  R. 

Conning  (B)  is  retired  and 
lives  in  West  Chester,  PA. 

1933  John  B. 

MacDonald  (M),  age  ninety, 
lives  in  Forest  Grove,  OR,  and 
is  “going  strong.” 

“I’m  retired  and  active  in  senior 
citizens’  activities  on  the  county 
and  area  levels.  I’m  also  involved 
in  lake  shore  protection — God 
gave  us  good  things  to  use,  not 
abuse,”  writes  Phillipp  H. 
Mergler  (B)  of  Grand  Rapids, 
MN. 

1935  C.  Donald  Close 

(b)  has  been  named  pastor  asso¬ 
ciate  at  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  Topeka,  KS.  Fie  writes 
that  he  is  still  an  active  volun¬ 
teer  and  supply  preacher. 

1936  George 

Borthwick  (b)  is  pastor  emer¬ 
itus  of  the  First  United  Presby¬ 
terian  Church,  Troy,  NY. 

“Just  returned  from  our  class’s 
sixtieth  reunion,”  says  William 

T.  P.  Rambo  (B),  adding  that 


he  is  “still  active  in  the 
Presbytery  of  Long  Island  and 
participating  in  the  life  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church, 
Northport,  NY.” 

1937  T  am  in  my  thir¬ 
teenth  year  of  service  as  a  minis¬ 
ter  of  visitation  at  the  Presby¬ 
terian  Church  of  Toms  River, 
NJ,”  writes  William  S. 
Ackerman  (B). 

Albert  G.  Karnell  (B, 

'39M),  a  retired  United  States 
Air  Force  chaplain  with  the  rank 
of  colonel,  lives  in  Flallandale, 
FL.  Fie  writes  that,  in  a  career 
that  spanned  twenty-five  years, 
he  preached  the  Gospel  in  South 
America,  North  America, 
Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa.  He 
was  chaplain  in  charge  of  the 
Tokyo  Chapel  Center  in  down¬ 
town  Tokyo,  Japan,  and  sent 
services  over  the  Far  East  Radio 
Network  throughout  Japan, 
Korea,  and  ships  at  sea.  He  has 
visited  military  personnel  in  all 
parts  of  the  world,  and  has  been 
around  the  globe  fourteen  times. 

John  L.  Reid  Jr.  (B,  '42M) 

writes  that,  at  eighty-eight,  he  is 
“still  upright,  meaning  vertical.” 
He  lives  in  Pasadena,  CA. 

“After  work  in  China  and  vari¬ 
ous  U.S.  pastorates,”  writes 
Francis  H.  Scott  (B,  '47M), 

“I  am  now  in  Westminster 
Gardens  [Duarte,  CA],  this 
beautiful  Presbyterian  retirement 
community  of  approximately 
1 80  Presbyterian  missionaries 
and  ministers.  Next  stop:  heav- 
en! 

“Some  of  us  are  still  around,” 
notes  E.  Aubrey  Young  (B), 


ol  Corvallis,  OR.  “Next  year 
will  be  our  sixtieth!” 

1939  Richard  B. 

Mather  (B)  is  professor  emeri¬ 
tus  of  Chinese  at  the  University 
of  Minnesota.  “Because  of  a 
shortage  of  manpower  in  the 
University  of  Minnesota’s 
Department  of  East  Asian 
Languages  and  Literature,  I  have 
been  teaching  again  for  the  last 
two  years.  It  has  been  exhilarat¬ 
ing  but  exhausting,”  he  writes. 

“Still  perking  along,”  writes 

William  F.  MacCalmont 
(B),  who  1  ives  in  Warwick,  NY. 

1940  Fred  M.  Corum 

(B,  '48M)  lives  in  Fresno,  CA, 
where  he  writes  that  “after  five 
years  as  a  mission  volunteer  in 
Presbyterian  college  libraries, 

I’m  trying  to  get  used  to  a  rock¬ 
ing  chair.  Toughest  job  I’ve  ever 
had.” 

1941  Norman  S. 

Kindt  (B)  is  pastor  emeritus 
of  the  Lawrence  Road  Presby¬ 
terian  Church,  Lawrenceville, 
NJ.  He  also  serves  as  chaplain 
at  the  Monroe  Village  Retire¬ 
ment  Center  in  Jamesburg,  NJ. 

W.  Dayton  Roberts  (B)  of 

Miami,  FL,  writes  that  he  has 
written  books  in  the  two  genres 
ol  missionary  biography  and 
ecology. 

David  D.  Robinson  (B) 

retired  in  1980  and  writes  that 
he  has  had  “good  years”  since 
then.  He  lives  in  Port  Arthur, 
TX. 


are 


1943  “Betty  and  I 

keeping  well  and  happy,” 
writes  James  R.  Bell  (B), 


of  Auburn,  PA.  “1  still  preach 
occasionally  at  nearby 
Presbyterian  and  Methodist 
churches  and  help  out  at 
a  Baptist  adult  Bible  class.” 

“I  have  served  ten  interim  pas¬ 
torates  so  far.  Ready  for  more!” 

says  John  R.  Bodo  (M, 

'52D),  of  San  Rafael,  CA. 

A  collection  of  essays  called 
Martin  Luther:  Theologian  of  the 
Church  was  published  in  honor 
of  the  seventy-fifth  birthday  ol 
author  George  W.  Forell 
(M),  who  lives  in  Iowa  City,  LA. 

William  J.  Larkin  (B)  is  min¬ 
ister  at  Chambers-Wylie 
Presbyterian  Church, 
Philadelphia,  PA. 

After  nearly  fifty  years  of  service 
in  Latin  America,  Frederick 
G.  TJnley  (B)  lives  in  Peachtree 
City,  GA. 

1944  Harold  W.  Kaser 

(B,  '47M)  writes  that  he  is 
director  of  church  relations  and 
of  the  Center  for  Church  Life  at 
Ohio’s  Muskingum  College.  His 
wife,  Winogene,  died  on  July 

28,  1995. 

Norman  Robinson  (B) 

spends  winters  in  Bonita 
Springs,  FL,  and  the  summers 
in  Wyalusing,  PA.  He  plays 
tennis  about  five  times  a  week. 

1945  Earl  A.  Loomis 

Jr.  (b)  is  a  retired  professor 
of  child  psychiatry  living  in 
Augusta,  GA,  though  he  made 
his  home  in  Greensport,  NY, 
from  September  through 
December  ol  this  year. 


16  •  inSpire 


fall  1996 


Class  notes 


Jack  H.  Prichard  (B)  is  chap¬ 
lain  at  the  six-hundred-member 
Royal  Oaks  Retirement 
Community  in  Sun  City,  AZ. 

“I  am  on  the  Committee  on 


Alumni/ae  Update 


Excitement  is  the  best  word  to  describe  the  October  meeting  of  the  Alumni/ae  Association  Executive 
Council!  Executive  Council  meetings  coincide  with  meetings  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  allowing  for  an 
immediate  update  from  the  two  council  representatives  who  also  sit  on  the  Board  of  Trustees.  I  am 
happy  to  report  that  both  groups  are  excited  these  days! 


Preparation  for  Ministry  of 
Louisville  Presbytery,”  writes 

John  R.  Rodman  (B), 

who  lives  in  Louisville,  KY. 

“I  conduct  worship  services  on 


While  many  wonderful  things  are  happening  at  PTS — the  proposed  four-million-dollar  renovation  of 
Miller  Chapel,  planned  new  housing  for  single  students,  a  totally  revamped  continuing  education  pro¬ 
gram,  and  the  new  publication  inSpire,  to  name  a  few — the  subject  that  caused  the  most  animated  and 
vigorous  discussion  in  October  was  the  Board  of  Trustees'  commitment  to  developing  a  communica¬ 
tions  strategy  that  uses  computer  technology  to  support  the  mission  of  the  Seminary. 


Sundays  at  two  local  nursing 
homes.” 

H.  Richard  Siciliano  (B) 

is  vice  president  of  the  Houston 
Interfaith  Housing  Corporation, 
which  provides  affordable  hous¬ 
ing  for  senior  citizens  and 
single-parent  families. 

Arthur  J.  Wartes  (B)  is 

a  retired  Navy  chaplain  and 


In  October  trustees  approved  a  resolution  to  begin  the  process  of  creating  a  home  page  for  PTS  on  the 
World  Wide  Web.  This  will  allow  prospective  students,  alumni/ae,  and  friends  of  the  Seminary  to  learn 
about  and  even  access  the  Seminary's  immense  resources.  What  a  wonderful  day  it  will  be  when 
Princeton  Seminary's  Internet  site  includes  all  of  its  publications,  its  daily  calendar,  its  course  syllabi, 
an  on-line  library  catalog,  class  reunion  information,  and  lots  more.  Prospective  students  will  discover 
all  they  need  to  know  about  Princeton  Seminary,  and  will  even  be  able  to  apply  for  admission  electron¬ 
ically! 

The  development  of  "distance  learning" — education  through  computers  and  video  hook-ups — is  also  in 
Princeton's  future.  Pilot  programs  are  currently  being  designed  to  link  the  Seminary  with  three  or  four 
locations  in  the  United  States;  participants  will  be  able  to  interact  with  one  another  through  computer 
and  video  link-ups.  Students  in  this  scattered  "class"  will  be  able  to  see  and  interact  with  one  another! 
And  since  the  Seminary  already  possesses  a  state-of-the-art  audio-video  facility,  the  essential  technolo¬ 
gy  is  already  in  place. 


lives  in  San 
Diego,  CA. 

1946 

Peter  J. 
Bakker  (B)  is 

a  retired  Navy 
chaplain  and 
pastor  who  lives 
in  Bremerton, 
WA. 


“I  recently  retired  for  the 
time,”  writes  William  R 


third 


Through  cyberspace,  PTS  will  also  be  able  to  provide  library  privileges  to  seminaries  and  theological 
schools  around  the  world  which  lack  their  own  basic  library  facilities.  As  core  books  in 
Speer  Library  become  digitalized,  a  computer  will  provide  instant  access  to  them  from  any 
computer  in  the  world.  International,  interactive  distance  learning  might  also  be  possible, 
linking  a  classroom  at  Princeton  Seminary  with  a  classroom  in  another  part  of  the  world. 

While  some  may  feel  that  all  this  Web  talk  and  computer  jargon  is  only  a  novelty  or  pass¬ 
ing  fad,  the  statistics  argue  otherwise.  In  a  survey  for  USA  Today  published  in  October 
1996,  IntelliQuest,  an  on-line  tracking  and  polling  company,  reports  that  current  Internet 
use  is  skyrocketing.  More  than  21  million  people  in  the  United  States  plan  to  go  on  line  in 
the  coming  year,  adding  to  the  estimated  35  million  currently  on  line.  International  Data 
Corporation  predicts  199  million  people  using  the  Internet  by  the  year  2000.  And  Morgan 
Stanley  forecasts  200  million  using  email  just  four  years  from  now! 

A  new  day  is  clearly  dawning,  and  while  much  remains  to  be  done  to  bring  all  this  to 
fruition  at  PTS,  I  am  proud  that  our  Seminary,  already  one  of  the  finest  theological  institu¬ 
tions  in  the  world,  is  on  its  way  to  becoming  a  virtual  global  seminary — one  day  bringing  the  Gospel  of 
Jesus  Christ  to  tens  of  thousands  of  students  and  friends  who  will  never  be  able  to  visit  the  campus. 


Dupree  (B),  who  until  recent¬ 
ly  was  parish  associate  at  Mount 
Washington  Presbyterian 


Robert  H.  Crilley  ('59B)  is  retired  and  lives  in  Waco,  TX.  Before  his  retirement  he  served  as 
pastor  of  Fort  Street  Presbyterian  Church  in  Detroit,  Ml.  He  represents  Region  8  (Illinois, 
Michigan,  and  Indiana)  on  the  Alumni/ae  Association  Executive  Council. 


Church  in  Cincinnati,  OH. 


He  can  claim  “fifty-five  years 
of  continuous  ministry,  begin¬ 
ning  with  serving  three  mission 
Presbyterian  churches  in  my 
junior  year  in  college  in  1941.” 
Dupree  lives  in  Loveland,  OH. 

Glen  M.  Johnson  (B) 

writes  that  he  is  a  part-time 
parish  associate  with  the  First 


Presbyterian  Church, 

Plant  City,  FL. 

“I’m  still  doing  workshops  and 
seminars  on  interpersonal  rela¬ 
tions  and  communications 
for  Quest  for  Excellence,” 
says  H.  August  Kuehl  (B), 
who  lives  in  Warren,  RI. 


Donald  Macleod  (G), 

Princeton’s  Francis  Landey 
Patton  Professor  of  Preaching 
and  Worship  Emeritus,  is 
now  living  at  the  Charlestown 
Community  in  Baltimore,  MD, 
where  he  is  minister  in  residence 
and  preaches  a  weekly  thirty- 
minute  sermon  over  the  in- 


house  television  system. 
Charlestown,  a  retirement 
community,  has  2500  residents 
on  the  1 10-acre  campus  of 
the  former  St.  Charles  Roman 
Catholic  University  and 
Seminary.  Two  Baltimore  news¬ 
papers  have  featured  articles 
on  Macleod’s  ministry. 


inSpire  •  1 7 


fall  1996 


Class  notes 

Richard  E.  Neumann  (B) 

is  still  on  the  staff  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church, 

Ft.  Lauderdale,  FL,  although  he 
retired  five  years  ago.  Fie  began 
working  at  the  church  in  1955. 

He  lives  in  Ft.  Lauderdale  but 
spends  summers  in  Waynesville, 
NC.  He  visited  Australia  and 
New  Zealand  in  October. 

Harry  P.  Phillips  Jr.  (B) 

helped  the  class  celebrate  its 
fiftieth  reunion  in  June  1996. 

“I  have  been  retired  for  nine 
years  but  continue  to  preach 
almost  every  Sunday.  Doris  and 
I  continue  to  enjoy  traveling,'’ 
writes  Arthur  H.  Rust  (B), 
of  Knoxville,  TN. 


1947  Herb  Anderson 

(B)  celebrated  his  eightieth 
birthday  this  year  by  getting 
on  a  bicycle  and  pedaling  with 
a  group  of  students  on  a  three- 
thousand-mile  trip  from  Salem, 
OR,  to  Washington,  D.C. 
Anderson,  who  has  been  leading 
bike  tours  for  twenty-five  years, 
rode  about  a  thousand  miles 
of  the  trip.  He  has  hiked  from 

18  •  inSpire 


Portland,  OR,  to  San  Francisco, 
CA;  from  Salem,  OR,  to  the 
San  Juan  Islands;  and  from 
Arizona  to  Oregon.  In  1982, 
the  adjunct  professor  at  Western 
Baptist  College  hiked  across 
the  country  with  students  from 
Judson  Baptist  College,  where 
he  was  then  president.  And  fit¬ 
ness  isn’t  an  occasional  thing 
with  Anderson.  Every  day  he 
does  at  least  fifty  pushups  and 
bikes  several  miles,  and  he  takes 
one  long  practice  ride  before 
each  long  trip.  “That’ll  prepare 
you  for  the  first  day,”  he  says. 
“The  first  day  will  prepare  you 
for  the  second  day.  But  nothing 
will  prepare  you  for  the  third 
day.  ” 

Wallace  E.  Easter  (B) 

is  retired  from  pastoring 
Westminster  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Lincoln,  NE,  and 
has  been  in  five  interim  posi¬ 
tions  at  churches  throughout 
Nebraska.  “Thanks  to  Princeton 
Seminary  in  preparing  me  for 
a  most  wonderful  life  of  service 
to  Christ  in  the  life  of  the 
Presbyterian  church!”  he  writes. 

Kathryn  Troupe  Healey  (E) 

is  a  substitute  teacher  and  sings 
in  the  choir  at  the  First  Presby¬ 
terian  Church,  Waynesville, 

NC,  where  her  husband,  John 
F.  Healey  (’49B)  is  a  parish  asso¬ 
ciate. 

James  J.  Heller  (B,  '55D) 

lives  in  Moravian  Hall  Square 
Retirement  Community  in 
Nazareth,  PA. 

“After  retirement  as  director 
of  financial  development  for 
the  University  of  Michigan 
medical  campus,  I  have  been 
active  in  fundraising  consulta¬ 


tion  and  management.  I  am 
presently  directing  a  capital 
campaign  for  a  Presbyterian 
church,”  says  John  R. 
Mecouch  Jr.  (B)  of  Ann 
Arbor,  MI. 

Roy  D.  Roth  (M)  is  retired 
and  lives  in  Eugene,  OR. 

1948 

Melvin  L.  Sohaper  (M) 

moved  to  Independence,  KS, 
in  July  1996  to  become  superin¬ 
tendent  of  Independence  Bible 
School.  “I  helped  in  founding 
this  school  in  1 949  and  served 
there  for  thirteen  years,  until 
1962,”  he  writes. 

1949 

In  April  1996,  Jeanne 
Bellerjeau  (E)  enjoyed  visits 
from  Sint  Kimhachandra,  who 
is  the  general  secretary  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  in  Thailand. 
Tiewtawat  Pantupong  (’64M), 
who  is  pastor  of  Wattana 
Church  in  Bangkok,  Thailand, 
and  his  wife,  Waranut  (’63M), 
who  is  chairperson  of  the  Asian 
Church  Women’s  Conference 
and  the  ecumenical  relations 
officer  of  the  Church  of  Christ 
in  Thailand,  also  visited. 
Bellerjeau  is  retired  and  lives 
in  Haddon  Heights,  NJ. 

“In  February  1997,  we  will 
be  in  India,”  writes  James  G. 
Emerson  Jr.  (B),  who  will 
give  the  Bible  study  lectures 
and  the  sermons  at  the  annual 
Evangelical  Conference  of  the 
Mar  Thoma  Church  in  Kerala, 
India.  Emerson  lives  in  San 
Francisco,  CA. 

John  F.  Healey  (B,  '56M) 

is  parish  associate  at  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church, 


Waynesville,  NC.  He  preaches 
twice  a  month  and  serves  as  pas¬ 
tor  of  visitation. 

Homer  W.  Roberts- 
Horsfield  (B)  is  parish  associ¬ 
ate  at  Kirkpatrick  Memorial 
Presbyterian  Church,  Ringoes, 
NJ.  He  also  helps  at  Hunterdon 
Hospice  “when  called  upon.” 

“We  are  completing  our  fourth 
interim  since  retiring  from 
the  active  pastorate  in  1989,” 
write  Donald  Swift  (B)  and 

his  wife,  Virginia  Wach  Swift 
(’50e).  “We  still  both  play  tennis 
at  seventy-two!  God  is  good!” 

1950  G.  G.  Johnson 

(M)  is  interim  pastor  of  Elim 
Baptist  Church,  Minneapolis, 
MN. 

1951  Alfred  J.  Gerdel 

Jr.  (B)  has  been  retired  since 
1987,  but  is  interim  pastor 
at  Odessa  Presbyterian  Church, 
Odessa,  MO.  He  is  also  an 
active  volunteer  in  John  Knox 
Village,  as  well  as  with  his  pres¬ 
bytery  and  synod. 

“In  August  1995,  I  resigned 
as  interim  director  of  the 
Richmond,  VA,  Peace  Education 
Center,  says  Adelaide  G. 

Folensbee  (B).  “All  my  activi¬ 
ties  now  are  voluntary.” 

Donald  E.  Meeder  (B) 

retired  from  Community 
Presbyterian  Church  in 
Lauderdale-by-the-Sea,  FL, 
in  1991.  He  does  supply 
preaching  and  teaches  church 
school  classes. 

Robert  Tappan  Osborn  (G) 

is  retired  from  Duke  University. 
He  lives  in  Durham,  NC. 


Class  notes 


fall  1996 


Warren  W.  Ost  (B),  the 

founding  chairperson  and  chief 
executive  officer  of  A  Christian 
Ministry  in  the  National  Parks, 
has  retired,  but  is  still  working 
part  time  until  a  successor 
is  chosen.  He  lives  in  New  York, 
NY. 

“In  retirement,  I  am  quietly 
visiting  a  small  number  of 
persons  who  do  not  regularly 
attend  church...  a  ministry 
of  encouragement  just  starting 
to  take  shape,”  writes  Ralph  A. 
Tamaccio  (B).  He  lives 
in  Cape  May,  NJ. 

1954  Charles  J. 

Dougherty  (B)  retired  on 
June  30,  1995.  He  leads  retreats 
and  has  speaking  engagements 
on  the  healing  power  of  humor, 
spiritual  healing,  and  prayer, 
as  well  as  serving  as  a  supply 
preacher  and  “enjoying  retire¬ 
ment.”  He  lives  in  Salem,  SC. 

R.  Donald  Elley  (M)  retired 
in  1991  and  is  currently  the 
part-time  interim  pastor  of 
Greenlane  Presbyterian  Church, 
Auckland,  New  Zealand. 

George  H.  Kehm  (B), 

the  first  James  Henry  Snowden 
Professor  of  Systematic 
Theology  at  Pittsburgh 
Theological  Seminary,  retired 
in  June  1996.  He  continues 
to  do  research  on  developing 
a  theology  of  nature  from 
a  Christian  perspective. 

1955  John  H.  "Jack" 

Visser  (B)  retired  on  August 
31,  1995.  He  now  lives  in 
Cadiz,  OH,  and  serves  as  stated 
supply  pastor  at  Ridge  and 
Scio  Presbyterian  Churches  in 
Upper  Ohio  Valley  Presbytery. 


1956  William  Mills  (B) 

is  the  interim  pastor  at 
Neshannock  Presbyterian 
Church,  New  Wilmington,  PA. 

Arthur  Nelson  (B)  is  retired 
but  serves  as  the  interim  pastor 
of  Thomas  Presbyterian  Church, 
Thomas,  PA. 

1957  Charles  K. 

Murray  Jr.  (B)  is  retired 
and  lives  in  Pinehurst,  NC. 

Hugh  G.  Nevin  Jr.  (b) 

of  Schenectady,  NY,  has  retired 
after  thirty-three  years  as  a  cam¬ 
pus  minister  and  thirty-six  years 
as  a  pastor,  interim  pastor,  and 
pulpit  supply  pastor. 

Clarence  L.  Reaser  (B, 
'65M)  is  retired  and  lives 
at  King’s  Grant  Presbyterian 
Retirement  Community 
in  Martinsville,  VA. 

David  J.  Welker  (B)  is 

retired  and  works  for  the  Rocky 
Mountain  Nature  Association 
with  Rocky  Mountain  National 
Park,  Estes  Park,  CO. 

1959  Patricia  Ann 

Welker  (e)  works  lor 
the  Rocky  Mountain  Nature 
Association  with  Rocky 
Mountain  National  Park,  Estes 
Park,  CO. 

1960  Zane  Alexander 

(G)  is  pastor  of  Jamestown 
Presbyterian  Church, 
Williamsburg,  VA,  a  historic 
church  in  Old  Williamsburg. 

“I  recently  retired  after  teaching 
U.S.  history  and  government 
for  thirty  years  at  Spring-Ford 
High  School  in  Royersford, 

PA,”  writes  Robert  F.  Lisi  (B). 


S.  Dunham  Wilson  (B) 

is  retired  and  lives  in  Sun  City 
West,  AZ. 

1961  Paul  Eppinger 

('B,  65M)  is  executive  director 
of  the  Arizona  Ecumenical 
Council. 

Rodman  L.  Fridlund  (B)  has 

been  interim  pastor  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church,  Petaluma, 
CA,  since  January  1996. 

“On  October  1,  1996,  I  began 
my  twenty-fifth  year  as  pastor 
of  the  First  Welsh  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Wilkes-Barre,  PA,” 
writes  George  B.  Johnson 
(B). 

Charles  W.  Marker  (M)  is 

a  retired  United  Methodist  min¬ 
ister.  He  lives  in  Penney  Farm, 
FL,  and  is  active  in  preaching; 
last  year  he  was  moderator  of 
Penney  Memorial  Church. 

1963  ‘Eve  been  pastor 
here  since  September  1994, 
and  will  stay  until  retirement,” 

says  Richard  B.  Anderson 
(B),  who  is  pastor  oi  Elmhurst 
Presbyterian  Church  in 
Elmhurst,  IL.  “The  church 
is  rebounding  and  rebuilding.” 

Charles  L.  Bartow  (B), 

who  is  Princeton’s  Carl  and 
Helen  Egner  Professor  of  Speech 
Communication  in  Ministry, 
gave  a  talk  at  the  eighty-second 
annual  meeting  of  the  Speech 
Communication  Association, 
held  November  23  to  26,  1996, 
in  San  Diego,  CA.  His  address 
was  titled  “Aimee  Semple 
McPherson’s  Performance  and 
Preaching  of  Jesus.  ” 


Donald  R.  Mitchell  (B, 

'72D)  is  interim  pastor  of 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
Gastonia,  NC. 

Henry  E.  Moore  (M) 

retired  in  January  1995 
and  lives  in  Franklin,  LA. 

“On  June  1,  I  completed  my 
first  year  of  retirement  from 
the  active  faculty  of  Greenville 
College,”  writes  Frank  H. 
Thompson  (M)  of  Greenville, 
IL.  “It  has  been  a  time  of  ‘rein¬ 
vention.’  Second  Isaiah,  with 
its  seventeen  references  to  barn 
(‘create’)  has  been  my  road  map 
to  a  new  life  out  of  my  ‘exodus’ 
from  the  old.  I  have  served 
as  pulpit  supply,  principally 
in  Presbyterian  churches,  and 
have  for  six  months  conducted 
courses  in  ethics  and  values  in 
a  unique  program  for  select  per¬ 
sons  in  the  local  federal  correc¬ 
tional  institution.  I  conduct  the 
inductive  Bible  study  correspon¬ 
dence  course  for  my  denomina¬ 
tion.  I  have  also  completed 
twenty  years  as  an  elected  mem¬ 
ber  of  the  Bond  County  Board 
of  Supervisors.” 

1964  John  H. 

McFarlane  (B)  has  returned 
from  four  years  of  pastoring 
the  Edinburgh  and  Dunfermline 
Seventh-Day  Adventist  churches 
in  Scotland.  He  is  now  pastor¬ 
ing  the  Houston  Gulfhaven, 
Friendswood,  and  Galveston 
Seventh-Day  Adventist  churches 
near  his  home  in  Dickinson, 

TX. 

Francis  L.  Strock  (B)  is 

a  part-time  chaplain  at  Presby¬ 
terian  Homes  in  southern  New 
Jersey,  and  serves  as  pulpit  sup- 


inSpire  *19 


fall  1996 


Class  notes 

ply  for  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  Belmar,  NJ. 

1965  Donald  M. 

Chappel  Jr.  (B)  serves  as 
an  interim  pastor  at  the  Church 
of  the  Mountains  in  Hoopa, 

CA,  on  a  Native  American  reser¬ 
vation. 

Lloyd  G.  Makool  (M)  does 
supply  preaching  and  attends 
Christ  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Madison,  WI.  “Their  four 
pastors  are  doing  a  great  job,” 
he  writes. 

Sharon  Mohler  (e)  is 

a  retired  educator  and  lives 
in  Burlingame,  CA. 

1967  On  May  1 5,  1995, 

David  P.  Gellert  (B)  became 
pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  Pontiac,  MI. 

James  E.  Layman  (E) 

became  associate  pastor  of 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
Champaign,  IL,  on  July  1, 

1996. 

Robert  L.  Unverzagt  (B) 

is  pastor  of  Penningtonville 
Presbyterian  Church  in  rural 
Atglen,  PA.  He  is  also  chairper¬ 
son  of  Donegal  Presbytery’s 
Christian  Education 
Committee. 

1968  During  1995, 

Richard  C.  Brand  (B)  had 

sermons  published  in  several 
publications,  including  The 
Expository  Times,  Preaching,  and 
The  Minister’s  Manual.  He  is 
pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  Henderson,  NC. 

J.  Sam  Park  (M)  has  a  one- 
year  sabbatical  between 


September  1 996  and  August 
1997  to  study  at  the  University 
of  North  Carolina’s  Department 
of  Social  Work.  He  will  also 
serve  as  an  exchange  professor. 
Park’s  usual  job  is  in  the 
Department  of  Social  Work 
at  Soong  Sil  University  in  Seoul, 
South  Korea. 

1969  i  n  August  1 996, 
Donald  O.  Maddox  (B) 

became  interim  pastor  of  the 
Church  of  the  Valley,  Apple 
Valley,  CA,  which  is  his  eighth 
interim  position.  In  July  1996 
one  of  his  sermons,  titled 
“When  Wishing  upon  a  Star 
Is  Not  Enough,”  was  published 
in  Lectionary  Homiletics. 

“I’m  having  a  great  time 
with  our  new  church,”  writes 
Robert  W.  Morrison  (B), 

pastor  of  the  newly  chartered 
Santa  Fe  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Edmond,  OK.  “We  chartered 
on  March  17,  1996,  with  150 
members.” 


Paul  E.  Mundschenk  (b) 

will  teach  a  course  during  sum¬ 
mer  1997  called  “Gifts  from 
the  East:  Exploring  the  Spiritual 
Journey  in  Hinduism  and 
Buddhism  within  a  Christian 
Context”  at  the  Graduate 
Theological  Union,  Berkeley, 
CA. 


1 970  i  have  agreed 

to  serve  as  general  coordinator 
for  a  tri-synodical  Evangelical 
Lutheran  Church  in  America 
spiritual  renewal  event,  to 
be  held  June  25  to  27,  1998, 
at  Susquehanna  University, 
Selinsgrove,  PA,”  writes 
Eugene  W.  Beutel  (M, 
'75P). 


Darryl  E.  Dech  (M)  is  pastor 
of  the  First  United  Church 
of  Christ,  Royersford,  PA. 

This  year  David  Randall  (M) 

celebrates  his  twenty-fifth  year 
as  minister  of  Macduff  Parish 
Church  in  Macduff,  Scotland. 
“The  congregation  is  marking 
the  occasion  by  sending  my  wife 
and  me  on  a  holiday/pastoral 
visit  to  Ekwendeni,  Malawi, 
where  one  of  our  members  is 
serving  as  a  Church  of  Scotland 
missionary,”  Randall  says. 

Thomas  A.  Sebben  (B) 

is  secretary  of  the  board 
of  directors  of  the  National 
Association  of  Endowed 
Presbyterian  Churches. 

He  lives  in  Sharon,  PA. 

A  second  novel  by  Kenneth 
A.  Wotherspoon  (M,  '78P), 

titled  The  Caretakers,  was 
published  in  February  1996 
by  Agassiz-Harrison  Press.  The 
story  is  about  a  United  Church 
of  Christ  minister,  as  perceived 
by  the  church  custodian. 
Wotherspoon,  who  is  retired 
from  the  pastorate,  lives 
in  Hope,  British  Columbia, 
Canada. 

1971  On  July  1,  1996, 

George  Brown  Jr.  (M) 

became  associate  dean  and  pro¬ 
fessor  of  Christian  education  at 
Western  Theological  Seminary, 
Holland,  MI. 

“In  addition  to  my  educational 
work  in  pastoral  care  and  coun¬ 
seling  at  Alberta  (Psychiatric) 
Hospital  at  Edmonton,  Alberta, 
Canada,  and  a  psychotherapy 
practice  in  the  community” 
writes  John  C.  Carr  (M), 

“I  facilitate  a  case  class  for 


a  master’s  program  in  marriage 
and  family  therapy  and  continue 
as  adjunct  faculty  in  the  D.Min. 
program  of  St.  Stephen’s 
College,  also  in  Edmonton.” 

Jack  W.  Cottrell  (D)  has 

completed  his  twenty-eighth 
year  ol  teaching  at  Cincinnati 
Bible  College  and  Seminary  in 
Cincinnati,  OH.  He  is  working 
on  his  fourteenth  book,  which 
will  be  volume  one  of  a  two-vol¬ 
ume  commentary  on  Romans. 

James  E.  Forsythe  (M) 

has  completed  twenty-five  years 
of  full-time  prison  ministry. 
Twenty-two  of  those  years  were 
spent  in  federal  prisons.  After 
retirement  from  the  federal 
system,  Forsythe  took  a  job 
with  the  New  York  state  prison 
system,  working  at  Clinton 
Correctional  Facility  in 
Dannemora,  NY,  for  the 
past  three  years. 

Robert  E.  Noble  Jr.  (M) 

is  retired  and  serves  as  the  stated 
supply  pastor  for  Cedar  Creek 
Presbyterian  Church, 

Greeneville,  TN. 

Samuel  Olson  (B)  writes 
from  Caracas,  Venezuela,  to  say 
that  the  Iglesia  Evangelica  Las 
Acacias  “is  growing  by  leaps  and 
bounds.  Close  to  four  thousand 
attend  regularly,  and  there  are 
six  daughter  churches.”  The 
seminary  Olson  helped  found 
fifteen  years  ago  has  two  hun¬ 
dred  students,  and  he  is  found¬ 
ing  a  new  church  in  Caracas. 
“Our  ministry  reaches  into  the 
whole  city,  with  family  min¬ 
istries,  rehabilitation,  and  com¬ 
munity  development  programs,” 
he  says. 


20  •  inSpire 


Class  notes 


fall  1996 


African  American  Alums 
of  Princeton 

Irvin  W.  Underhill  Jr.,  Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Class  of  1928,  had  a  life  filled  with  achieve¬ 
ment  in  many  endeavors  and  on  two  continents.  He  was  the  first  black  person  to  be  called  as  pastor 
to  an  all-white  Presbyterian  congregation,  and  he  was  a  missionary  to  Africa,  where  he  established  a 
school  for  Pygmy  tribes  who  had  never  seen  an  outsider  prior  to  his  arrival. 

Underhill  was  born  in  Galion,  OH,  on  April  8,  1896.  When  he  was  fourteen,  his  mother  died,  and  his 
blind  father  was  unable  to  support  the  family  in  Philadelphia,  PA,  where  they  lived  at  the  time.  At 
age  sixteen,  Underhill  became  a  church  lay  reader.  Determined  to  receive  an  education,  he  worked 
his  way  through  the  Wharton  School  of  Finance  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  He  became  a 
bank  cashier,  work  that  he  often  combined  with  lay  preaching.  He  went  on  to  work  as  a  hotel  waiter 
and  a  shipyard  worker,  but  he  felt  strongly  called  to  the  ministry.  Enrolling  at  Princeton  Theological 
Seminary  in  1926,  he  graduated  in  1928  with  his  Master  of  Divinity  degree.  He  was  the  only  black 
student  at  Princeton  at  the  time. 

Underhill  was  appointed  as  a  Presbyterian  missionary  to  Africa  on  March  23,  1928.  He  and  his  first 
wife,  Susan  Reynolds  Underhill,  went  to  Paris  for  nearly  a  year  and  learned  French,  in  preparation 
for  missionary  service  in  what  was  then  the  French  Camerouns  in  West  Africa.  (The  area  is  encom¬ 
passed  by  the  present-day  country  of  Cameroun.)  They  also  learned  Bulu,  the  language  of  the  Bantu 
natives  with  whom  they  worked,  and  for  the  next  eleven  years  served  congregations  in  West  Africa. 

During  Underhill's  mission  service,  he  was  the  first  outsider  to  contact  West  Africa's  Pygmy  tribes, 
and  established  the  first  Pygmy  school.  His  work  with  the  Pygmies  earned  him  a  lifetime  fellowship 
in  England's  Royal  Geographic  Society.  Underhill  also  spent  a  month  in  1935  working  with  Albert 
Schweitzer,  the  distinguished  missionary  doctor,  at  his  hospital  in  Lambarene  (as  pictured  below). 
The  time  in  Africa  saw  tragedy  as  well  as  success,  however,  as  Susan  Underhill  died  there  at  the  age 
of  thirty.  Underhill  later  gave  a  collection  of  nearly  seven  hundred  pieces  of  African  art  to  Lincoln 
University  in  her  memory. 

Underhill  returned  to  the  United  States  during  the  Second  World  War,  and  was  appointed  director  of 
the  Richard  Allen  Homes,  a  housing  project  in  Philadelphia,  PA.  The  pull  to  ministry  was  too  strong, 
however,  and  in  1957  Underhill  became  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Nunda,  NY.  He 
was  the  first  black  pastor  ever  appointed  to  lead  an  all-white  Presbyterian  congregation.  At  the  time 

Underhill  was  called,  the  head  of  Rochester  Presbytery  said  that  "we 
feel  Mr.  Underhill  was  chosen  as  a  minister  should  be  chosen,  on  the 
basis  of  ability,  not  race.  We  hope  it  will  be  the  normal  procedure  for  all 
Presbyterian  churches." 

Underhill  guided  the  Nunda  church  into  forming  a  federation  with  a 
local  Baptist  congregation;  the  resulting  congregation,  that  of  Trinity 
Church,  still  exists.  He  retired  in  1967,  shortly  after  the  federation  was 
formed.  He  spent  his  remaining  years  in  interim  pastorates  and  in 
spending  time  with  his  wife  and  two  dogs. 

"Now  that  I  am  an  octogenarian  I  find  that  it  is  a  far  better  period  of  life 
than  I  thought  it  would  be,"  he  wrote.  "My  experience  in  that  age  group 
has  been  filled  with  days  of  good  health,  great  joy,  and  near-perfect 
peace."  Underhill  died  on  June  21,  1982,  at  the  age  of  eighty-six. 


1972  Carole  Brennan 

(B)  is  a  therapist  for  delinquent 
teenage  boys.  She  lives  in 
Springdale,  PA. 

"I  am  now  director  of  develop¬ 
ment  for  Austin  Presbyterian 
Theological  Seminary,”  writes 

A.  Paul  DeMotte  Jr.  (B). 

Mark  Trechock  (B)  is  staff 
director  of  a  grassroots  commu¬ 
nity  group  in  western  North 
Dakota  that  works  on  natural 
resource  and  rural  justice  issues. 
“Dakota  Resource  Council 
formed  in  1978  around  citizens’ 
concerns  over  the  impact  of 
rapidly  expanding  fossil  fuel 
extraction,  and  has  been  causing 
trouble  for  exploitative  industry 
and  do-nothing  regulatory  agen¬ 
cies  ever  since,”  he  writes.  “It’s 
a  long  way  from  Princeton,  but 
the  hunger  and  thirst  for  right¬ 
eousness  I  encountered  there 
is  ever  present.” 

1973  Nymphas 

R.  Edwards  (E,  '75M) 

is  pastor  of  Elmhurst 
United  Methodist  Church 
in  Oakland,  CA. 

Helmuth  Egelkraut  (D) 

is  dean  of  the  German  exten¬ 
sion  site  and  professor  of 
Bible  and  mission,  Columbia 
Biblical  Seminary.  He  lives 
in  Weissach,  Germany. 

Roger  C.  Harp  (B)  is  the 

1996  moderator  of  both  the 
Synod  of  Lakes  and  Prairies’ 
Executive  Forum  and  the 
Western  Area  Staff  Conference 
Design  Team.  He  is  also  execu¬ 
tive  presbyter  of  Homestead 
Presbytery,  and  lives  in  Lincoln, 
NE. 


Robert  B.  Sloan  Jr.  (B) 

is  president  and  chief  executive 
officer  of  Texas’s  Baylor 
University. 

Dale  G.  Tremper  (B)  is 

pastoring  Penn  Avenue  United 


Methodist  Church  in  Oklahoma 
City,  OK.  This  inner-city 
congregation  is  establishing 
a  specialized,  discipleship-based 
ministry  with  and  to  ex-offend¬ 
ers.  In  1997  Tremper  will  earn 
a  D.Min.  from  Perkins 
Theological  Seminary. 


1974  Elisabeth  K. 

Fowler  Simpson  (B,  '88M) 

has  been  interim  pastor  of 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
Southold,  NY,  since  January  1, 
1996. 

1975  M.  E.  Bellinger 

(b)  is  adjunct  professor  of  law 


inSpire  •  21 


fall  1996 


Class  notes 

at  La  Verne  University  College 
of  Law,  La  Verne,  CA.  Bellinger 
is  also  a  full-time  judge  in 
Los  Angeles  Superior  Court. 

Ray  Smith  (B)  is  pastor  of 
Wedgwood  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Seattle,  WA. 

Through  the  Eyes  of  Women: 

Insights  for  Pastoral  Care,  a  book 

edited  by  Jeanne  M. 
Stevenson-Moessner  (E), 

has  been  published  by  Fortress 
Press.  The  book  is  a  sequel  to 
Women  in  Travail  and  Transition, 
of  which  Stevenson-Moessner 
was  co-editor.  She  is  a  professor 
at  Columbia  Theological 
Seminary. 

Kent  J.  Ulery  (B)  has  been 
elected  conference  minister 
for  the  Michigan  Conference 
United  Church  of  Christ. 

1976  Doug  Baker  (B) 

is  a  PC  (USA)  pastor  and  mis¬ 
sionary  to  Northern  Ireland 
who  works  with  the  Corrymeela 
Community  for  peace  and  rec¬ 
onciliation  between  Protestants 
and  Catholics. 

In  summer  1996  Robert  L. 
Richardson  (B),  a  lieutenant 
commander  in  the  U.S.  Navy, 
participated  in  a  NATO  exercise 
designed  to  test  the  Marine 
Corps’  ability  to  smoothly 
deploy  troops  from  the  United 
States  to  Norway. 

Eric  O.  Springsted  (B, 

'80D)  is  co-editor  of  The  Beauty 
That  Saves:  Essays  on  Aesthetics 
and  Language  in  Simone  Weil,  a 
book  that  focuses  on  the  impor¬ 
tance  of  beauty  in  the  thought 
of  twentieth-century  philoso¬ 
pher  Simone  Weil.  Springsted 


is  a  professor  of  philosophy 
and  religion  at  Illinois  College 
in  Jacksonville,  IL,  where  he  also 
serves  as  college  chaplain.  This 
is  his  sixth  book,  and  the  fourth 
on  Simone  Weil. 

1977  Sang  Chang  (D) 

has  been  elected  president 
of  Ewha  Woman’s  University 
in  Seoul,  South  Korea.  Ewha 
is  the  largest  women’s  university 
in  the  world. 


Steven  R.  Garstad  (B) 

is  interim  pastor  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church, 
Johnstown,  PA. 


“Preached  in  Philippi  and  fol¬ 
lowed  the  footsteps  of  the  apos¬ 
tle  Paul  last  summer  in  Greece,” 
writes  M.  Randall  Gill  (B), 

pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  Boynton  Beach,  FL. 


Roger  P.  Howard  (B)  is 

pastor  of  Sharon  Community 
Presbyterian  Church,  Moon 
Township,  PA. 


Stephen  Kliewer  (B) 

works  for  Oregon  Health 
Science  University  as  director 
of  research,  outreach,  and  devel¬ 
opment  in  the  Department 
of  Family  Medicine. 


1978  After  three  years 

serving  as  the  family  advocacy 
specialist  in  the  Family 
Advocacy  Program  of  the  Naval 
Air  Station,  Jacksonville,  FL, 

Peter  E.  Bauer  (B)  has 


become  the  family  program 
coordinator  for  the  Naval 
Alcohol  Rehabilitation  Center 
at  the  same  station.  “My  new 
position  will  have  me  as  the  resi¬ 
dent  family  therapist  for  the 
inpatient  and  outpatient  alcohol 


treatment  program  and  obesity 
program.  I  will  be  providing 
clinical  supervision,  clinical 
services,  education,  and  training. 
I  am  also  continuing  my 
private  practice  work  with 
The  Counseling  Group  P.A. 
in  Jacksonville.”  Bauer  is  also 
a  Navy  chaplain  in  the  Navy 
Reserves. 

Jeffrey  G.  Guild  (B)  is  in  his 

second  year  in  South  Korea,  and 
has  finished  his  fourteenth  year 
as  a  U.S.  Air  Force  chaplain. 

In  August  1995,  Miriam  C. 
Resch  (B) 

joined  the 
staff  of  the 
Samaritan 
Center, 

Elkhart,  IN, 
as  a  pastoral 
counselor. 

After  serving 
three  years  as 
a  chaplain  in  Hawaii  and  the 
Pacific,  Jeffrey  M.  Young 

(B)  started  a  new  ministry  at 
the  Chief  of  Chaplains  Office  in 
the  Pentagon  in  summer  1996. 

1979  Richard  D. 

Campbell  (B,  '76E)  is  pastor 
of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  Holland,  MI. 

Philip  M.  Jones  (B)  received 
a  D.Min.  degree  from 
McCormick  Theological 
Seminary  in  June  1996. 

He  ministers  at  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church,  Maumee, 
OH. 

Joon  Surh  Park  (D),  Seoul, 
South  Korea,  is  dean  of  the 
graduate  school  at  Yonsei 
University. 


Richard  A.  Sutton  (M), 

pastor  of  Spring  City  United 
Methodist  Church  in  Spring 
City,  PA,  celebrated  the  anniver¬ 
sary  ol  his  twenty-fifth  year 
in  ministry  on  June  23,  1996, 
with  a  special  church  service 
and  reception. 

Louis  D.  Venden  (D) 

has  joined  the  faculty  of  Loma 
Linda  University  in  Loma 
Linda,  CA,  as  a  professor 
of  relational  studies  on  the  reli¬ 
gion  faculty. 


1980  Harmut  Bergfeld 

(M),  who  has  been  pastor 
of  the  Evangelical  Free  Church 
in  Elmshorn,  Germany,  moved 
on  September  1,  1996,  to 
become  pastor  ol  the  Evangelical 
Free  Church  in  Hannover, 
Germany.  “The  congregation 
is  a  charismatic  and  growing 
missionary  church.  With  more 
than  nine  hundred  members,  it 
is  the  largest  of  the  Evangelical 
Free  Churches  (Baptists)  in 
Germany,”  Bergfeld  says.  The 
congregation  has  sponsored 
an  African,  French-speaking 
congregation,  and  plans  to  start 
an  English-speaking  congrega¬ 
tion  at  the  beginning  of  1997. 
“We  want  to  be  better  prepared 
for  the  Expo  2000,  when  people 
from  all  over  the  world  will 
be  in  Hannover,”  he  says. 


22  *  inSpire 


Class  notes 


fall  1996 


Randall  B.  Bosch  (P), 

Bayville,  NY,  retired  after 
forty  years  of  ministry  in  the 
Reiormed  Church  in  America. 
His  last  church  was  Locust 
Valley  Reformed  Church, 

Locust  Valley,  NY. 

Carol  Eichling  Lytch  (B) 

is  part  of  a  group  that  has 
received  a  grant  from  Lilly 
Endowment  Inc.  for  a  two-year 
study  of  faith,  families,  and 
congregations.  Lytch’s  part  of 
the  research  will  center  on  rela¬ 
tionships  among  older  adoles¬ 
cents,  parents,  and  clergy, 
to  attempt  to  determine  what 
religious  values  are  being  com¬ 
municated  from  one  generation 
to  another.  Lytch  is  a  Ph.D. 
candidate  at  Emory  University. 

David  H.  Wall  (E)  is  enjoying 
his  new  position  as  program 
coordinator  for  PTS’s  Center 
of  Continuing  Education. 

1981  Patricia  R. 

Briegs  (B)  received  her 
D.Min.  in  spring  1996  from 
Andover-Newton  Theological 


School.  She  is  in  private  practice 
as  a  pastoral  psychotherapist 
in  Woodbridge,  NJ,  and  is  a 
faculty  member  at  Blanton-Peale 
Graduate  Institute. 

“I  have  recently  assumed  the 
position  of  associate  pastor 
at  the  Suntree  United  Methodist 
Church  in  Milltown,  FL,”  writes 

Hoyt  A.  Byrum  (B),  who 

is  responsible  for  adult  disciple- 
ship  at  that  church. 

Mary  Ford-Grabowsky  (B, 
'85D)  is  vice  president  and 
academic  dean  at  the  University 
of  Creation  Spirituality  in 
Oakland,  CA.  She  has  written 
two  books:  Prayers  of  Love 
(1997,  forthcoming)  and  Prayers 
for  All  People  (1995). 

“Great  reunion,”  writes  Ed 
Hurley  (B),  “but  surely  was 
disappointed  that  only  two  of 
the  Class  ol  1981  showed  up.” 
Hurley  is  pastor  of  Bowling 
Green  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Bowling  Green,  KY. 


William  S.  Johnston  (b) 

earned  a  Doctor  of  Ministry 
degree  from  Vanderbilt  Divinity 
School  and  was  certified  as 
an  associate  CPE  supervisor  in 
November  1995.  He  is  pastor 
of  Ashland  Presbyterian  Church, 
Cockeysville,  MD. 

John  G.  McFayden  (B, 
'96P)  received  a  D.Min.  degree 
from  Princeton  on  May  20, 
1996.  He  is  pastor  and  head 
of  staff  at  the  First  United 
Presbyterian  Church,  Dale  City, 
VA. 

Douglas  M.  Strong  (B, 
'90D)  is  co-editor  of  Readings 
in  Christian  Ethics:  A  Historical 
Sourcebook.  He  is  associate 
professor  ol  the  history 
of  Christianity  at  Wesley 
Theological  Seminary, 
Washington,  D.C. 

“Still  teaching  philosophy  at  the 
University  of  New  Hampshire,” 
says  Thomas  P.  Sullivan  (B). 

“Sorry  to  have  missed 
the  reunion!” 


1982  Truman  T. 

Brooks  III  (B)  is  pastor 
of  Christ  United  Methodist 
Church  in  Lansdale,  PA. 

He  received  a  certificate  in  mar¬ 
riage,  family,  and  sex  therapy 
in  1993  from  the  Penn  Council 
on  Relationships. 

Kimble  Forrister  (B)  is  state 
coordinator  of  Alabama  Arise, 
a  coalition  of  ninety-nine  reli¬ 
gious  and  community  groups 
working  on  poverty  issues. 

He  has  also  been  appointed 
to  the  Governor’s  Commission 
on  Welfare  Reform. 

Beverly  J.  Jones  (B) 

received  a  Ph.D.  from  the 
Claremont  School  of  Theology 
in  1995,  and  is  director  of  reli¬ 
gious  life  at  Southwestern 
University,  Georgetown,  TX. 

Katherine  G.  Killebrew  (B) 

is  a  Synod  of  the  Northeast 
shared  ministry  consultant 
for  mission  and  stewardship, 
serving  Monmouth,  West  Jersey, 
and  Newton  Presbyteries. 

“A  German  translation  ol  my 
book  Diakonia  in  the  Classical 
Reformed  Tradition  and  Today 
was  published  in  1995,  and 
a  Japanese  translation  is  planned 
for  1996  or  1997,”  writes  Elsie 
Anne  McKee  (D),  who  is  the 
Seminary’s  Archibald  Alexander 
Professor  of  the  History  of 
Worship. 

On  July  1,  1996,  Cornelius 
Plantinga  Jr.  (D)  started  as 
the  first-ever  dean  ol  the  chapel 
at  Michigan’s  Calvin  College. 

Virginia  Berglund  Smith 

(B)  is  the  new  Jean  W.  and 
Frank  T.  Mohr  Professor 

inSpire  •  23 


Weddings 

T  &Births 

Weddings 

Mary  Jo  Dahlberg  ('89 B)  to  Tom  Holtey,  February  3,  1996 

Dayle  Gillespie  ('89B)  to  Stephen  Rounds,  September  1,  1996 

Adrienne  Spirt  to  Richard  G.  Jones  ('92B),  May  26,  1996 

Patricia  Morrison  Brubaker  ('93B)  to  James  G.  Kitchen  III,  May  17,  1996 

Lucia  L.  Kendall  ('93b)  to  Marshall  Lloyd,  June  29,  1996 

Marnie  Mullen  ('93B)  to  Mark  Crumpler,  August  31,  1996 

Paige  Baker  ('95E)  to  Mark  Mcllraith,  August  3,  1996 

Births 

Megan  Elizabeth  to  Debra  and  Robert  S.  ('79B,  '86M,  '95p)  Norris,  April  21,  1996 
Andrew  Damian  Avram  to  Lynne  Allen  and  Wesley  D.  Avram  ('84B),  February  15,  1996 
Samuel  John  to  Linda  Ann  Roberts-Baca  ('84B)  and  Michael  John  Baca,  May  1,  1996 
Samuel  Van  to  Sarah  and  John  ('87B)  Wilson,  April  3,  1996 

Alex  to  Liz  Floldeman  and  Dan  Wessner  ('90B),  born  August  17,  1994,  and  adopted  August  28,  1996 
Laura  Anna  to  Margery  Waugh  Schammel  ('92E)  and  William  Schammel,  August  6,  1996 
Brendan  Atlee  to  Lynn  ('93B)  and  Mark  ('93B)  Barger  Elliott,  August  31,  1996 


fall  1996 


Class  notes 


of  Ministry  at  McCormick 
Theological  Seminary.  She 
was  previously  associate  pastor 
at  the  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
New  York,  NY. 

1983  “Very  busy,  indeed,' 
writes  Shin  Chiba  (D). 

“But  praying  to  the  Lord  for 
his  grace  and  guidance  over 
our  human  endeavors,  includ¬ 
ing  PTS.”  Chiba  serves 
International  Christian 
University  in  Tokyo,  Japan. 

Robert  J.  Cromwell  (B) 

is  in  his  fifth  year  as  pastor  of 
St.  Mark’s  Presbyterian  Church, 
Haysville,  KS.  He  is  also  the 
volunteer  president  of  the 
Autism  Society  of  Wichita,  KS. 

Kermit  Kyle  Kneen  (B) 

has  received  a  Master  of 
Social  Work  degree  from  the 
University  of  Maryland  and 
his  D.Min.  degree  from  Drew 
University.  He  is  still  a  minister 
in  Baltimore,  MD,  and  serves 
as  pastor  of  Bethany  United 
Church  of  Christ,  adjunct  chap¬ 
lain  at  Johns  Hopkins  Hospital, 
child  therapist  at  the  Awele 
Treatment  and  Rehabilitation 
Clinic,  and  instructor  in  pas¬ 
toral  care  at  the  McKendree 
School  of  Religion.  He  can  be 
seen  scrambling  from  setting  to 
setting  on  his  Harley-Davidson 
motorcycle,  christened  “Pilgrim 
One.” 

Carl  E.  Zylstra  (D)  is  the 

new  president  of  Dordt  College, 
Sioux  Center,  IA. 

1984  Wes  Avram  (B) 

is  the  new  pastor  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church,  Willmette, 
IL,  just  north  of  Chicago. 

His  last  job  was  as  chaplain  at 


Bates  College,  Lewiston,  ME. 

In  April  1994  he  successfully 
defended  his  Ph.D.  dissertation, 
“Rhetorical  Theology  through 
the  Thought  of  Emmanuel 
Levinas  and  Mikhail  Bakhtin,” 
at  Northwestern  University. 

Sally  J.  Dixon  (B)  has  retired 
and  moved  to  Dover,  NH. 

She  and  her  husband,  Norman 
Dixon,  attend  St.  Andrews 
Fellowship  in  Kennebunk,  ME. 

Jill  Hartwell  Geoffrion  (B) 

earned  a  1996  Ph.D.  in  women’s 
studies  and  Christian  spirituali¬ 
ties  from  Union  Institute, 
Cincinnati,  OH.  She  lives 
in  Eden  Prairie,  MN. 

Marcia  J.  Thomas  (B) 

is  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyter¬ 
ian  Church,  Kiel,  WI. 

John  Vissers  (M)  became 
pastor  of  Knox  Presbyterian 
Church,  Toronto,  Canada, 
in  April  1995. 

1985  J.  Wesley 

Brown  II  (B)  is  completing 
a  clinical  psychology  internship 
at  Trenton  Psychiatric  Hospital, 
Princeton  Medical  Center,  and 
Mercer  Medical  Center.  He 
specializes  in  neuropsychology, 
addictive  disorders,  and  dissocia¬ 
tive  trauma  disorders. 

William  P.  Brown  (B), 

who  is  associate  professor 
of  Old  Testament  at  Union 
Theological  Seminary  in 
Virginia,  has  written  a  book 
called  Character  in  Crisis: 

A  Fresh  Approach  to  the  Wisdom 
Literature  in  the  Old  Testament. 

In  July  1996  he  also  became 
co-editor  of  Interpretation: 


A  Journal  of  Bible  and  Theology, 
published  by  Union. 

Richard  Buller  (B),  pastor 
of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  Waterloo,  IA,  writes 
“I  have  received  many  com¬ 
ments  on  our  Iowa  family 
picture  in  the  spring  issue 
of  inSpire — the  one  with  me 
holding  a  pig.  Allow  me  to 
clarify.  Yes,  we  have  moved 
to  Iowa.  Yes,  there  are  pig  farms 
around  Waterloo  (population 
10,000).  Yes,  that  is  me  holding 
a  pig.  But  my  call  has  been 
a  blessing  to  me.  The  needs  of 
the  city  and  a  racially  diverse 
community  are  still  around  me. 
New  challenges  await." 


of  the  Korean  Presbyterian 
Church  Association  in  northern 
California. 

lain  S.  Maclean  (M) 

received  his  Ph.D.  in  religion 
and  society  on  June  6,  1996, 
from  Harvard  University.  His 
dissertation  was  on  the  church 
and  democracy  in  Latin 
America,  particularly  Brazil. 

He  now  lives  in  Roanoke,  VA. 

1986  Brendan  P. 

Dempsey  (B)  is  pastor  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church, 

Cape  Girardeau,  MO,  a  position 
he  started  in  July  1996. 


Bill  Carter  (B) 

has  published  two 
books  of  sermons: 

Water  Won’t 
Quench  the  Fire 
and  No  Box  Seats 
in  the  Kingdom. 

His  article  “Words 
We  Can  Hear" 
was  published 
in  the  summer 
1996  issue  of 
In  Trust  magazine, 
and  his  jazz  quar¬ 
tet  will  play  on  the  opening 
night  of  the  1997  Institute 
of  Theology  at  PTS. 

Bruce  D.  Ervin  (B)  is  in  pri¬ 
vate  practice  as  a  licensed  mar¬ 
riage,  family,  and  child  coun¬ 
selor,  with  offices  in  Pasadena 
and  Van  Nuys,  CA.  He  attends 
La  Canada  Presbyterian  Church 
in  La  Canada,  CA. 

David  Kwang  Kim  (B) 

is  pastor  of  the  Korean  West 
Valley  Presbyterian  Church, 

San  Jose,  CA.  He  is  also  head 


Margaret  Grun  Kibben  (B) 

hiked  across  Pennsylvania 
last  summer  with  her  father, 
William  A.  Grun,  a  retired  pub¬ 
lic  school  teacher  who  audited 
courses  at  Princeton  from  1981 
to  1990.  Kibben,  a  navy  chap¬ 
lain  with  the  rank  of  lieutenant 
commander,  is  now  back  in 
Norfolk,  VA,  after  completing 
the  Naval  War  College  in 
Newport,  RI.  In  January  she 
will  go  to  Camp  Lejeune,  NC, 
with  the  Marine  Corps. 


24  •  inSpire 


Class  notes 


fall  1996 


On  the  Shelves 

Have  you  ever  wished  that  you  could  ask  for  a  PTS  professor's 
recommendation  before  buying  a  book?  On  the  Shelves 
features  book  recommendations  from  a  variety  of  Princeton 
Seminary  faculty,  with  the  hope  that  these  suggestions  will 
help  aiumni/ae  choose  books  that  will  facilitate  their  profession¬ 
al  and  personal  growth. 

from  Richard  Stoll  Armstrong,  the  Ralph  B.  and  Helen  S. 
Ashenfelter  Professor  of  Ministry  and  Evangelism 
Emeritus: 

Empowering  Ministry:  Ways  to  Grow  in  Effectiveness,  by 
Donald  P.  Smith.  Louisville,  KY:  Westminster/John  Knox  Press, 
1996.  Drawing  on  data  collected  from  a  massive  survey  of 
Presbyterian  pastors  and  selected  lay  leaders,  Smith  argues  that 
pastoral  effectiveness  is  best  measured  by  a  pastor's  ability  to 
empower  others.  This  hypothesis  is  thoroughly  developed  and 
applied  to  all  aspects  of  parish  ministry.  Writing  with  sensitivity, 
empathy,  and  a  keen  awareness  of  the  pressures  and  demands 
of  parish  life,  the  author  provides  a  useful  criterion  for  assess¬ 
ing  pastoral  effectiveness,  as  well  as  many  helpful  ideas  on 
ways  to  increase  it. 

95  Theses  for  the  Church:  Finding  Direction  Today,  by  Ben 
Johnson.  Decatur,  GA:  CTS  Press,  1995.  Johnson  states  and 
then  elaborates  upon  ninety-five  (a  la  Martin  Luther)  theses  that 
challenge  the  church  to  consider  seriously  its  future  in  the 
rapidly  changing  world  in  which  we  live.  The  book  is  intended 
primarily  for  pastors,  church  leaders,  and  seminarians.  Its 
propositions  define  the  crisis  of  our  times  and  its  implications 
for  the  church's  ministry  and  mission.  Calling  for  new  modes  of 
church  life,  faith,  and  witness,  Johnson  hopes  his  theses — some 
are  provocative,  while  others  echo  what  other  world-scene 
observers  have  said — will  stimulate  conversation  and  reflection. 

from  Donald  Macleod,  the  Francis  Landey  Patton 
Professor  of  Preaching  and  Worship  Emeritus: 

Christianity:  Essence,  History,  and  Future,  by  Hans  Kung.  New 
York:  Continuum  Publishing,  1995.  This  monograph  requires 


months  of  slow  reading,  but  it  provides  a  comprehensive  pre¬ 
sentation  of  the  development  of  Christian  thought  over  the  cen¬ 
turies.  In  a  sense  this  is  a  continuation  of  the  discussion  Kung 
began  in  On  Being  a  Christian,  but  it  embraces  a  critical  survey 
of  church  tradition  in  its  varied  confessional  expressions,  and 
fuses  history  and  systematic  theology  as  only  Kiing  can.  We 
have  here  a  rare  ecumenical  treatise  in  the  best  sense  of  the 
word.  Kung  defines  and  forecasts  the  only  kind  of  ecumenicity 
that  will  guarantee  Christianity's  viability  in  the  third  millenni¬ 
um. 

Reaching  Out  without  Dumbing  Down,  by  Marva  J.  Dawn. 

Grand  Rapids,  Ml:  William  B.  Eerdmans,  1995.  This  monograph 
will  be  helpful  to  every  parish  minister  who  is  confronted  with  a 
multiplicity  of  opinions  about  how  the  church  should  worship. 
Dawn  has  a  creditable  grasp  of  the  problems  of  contemporary 
liturgical  experiments,  including  those  that  can  easily  and 
unwittingly  become  a  surrender  to  and  compromise  with  mod¬ 
ern  culture.  Preachers  and  those  who  teach  preachers  will  find 
in  Dawn  an  informed  mentor  who  objectively  analyzes  trends 
and  prescribes  possible  remedial  antidotes.  Good  reading! 

from  Mark  McClain-Taylor,  associate  professor  of  theolo¬ 
gy  and  culture: 

American  Holocaust:  The  Conquest  of  the  New  World,  by  David 
E.  Stannard.  New  York  and  London:  Oxford  University  Press, 
1992.  This  is  a  much-needed  historical  study  of  the  tapestry  of 
horror  woven  by  the  Spanish  and  British  devastation  of  the 
Americas.  Read  here  why  the  Iroquois  referred  to  George 
Washington  as  the  "Town  Destroyer,"  and  of  Thomas 
Jefferson's  admonition  to  pursue  Indians  "to  extermination." 
What  of  clergy  and  businessmen's  roles?  Is  this  "holocaust"  to 
be  put  beside  the  1930s  Tremendum  suffered  by  the  Jews? 

Engaging  the  Powers:  Discernment  and  Resistance  in  a  World  of 
Domination,  by  Walter  Wink.  Minneapolis:  Fortress  Press,  1992. 
The  "great  communicator"  among  biblical  scholars  lays  bare 
the  meanings  of  the  Bible  for  challenging  the  seemingly  intran¬ 
sigent  imperial  powers  of  today.  Read  about  "spiritual  warfare," 
the  powers  of  God,  just  war  and  pacifism,  nonviolent  engage¬ 
ment,  "inner  violence,"  and  prayer — all  presented  with  a  dis¬ 
cerning  eye  to  the  systemic  suffering  of  the  world  today. 


Heup  Young  Kim  (B,  '87M) 

is  the  author  of  Wang  Yang-Ming 
and  Karl  Barth:  A  Confucian- 
Christian  Dialogue.  He  is  assis¬ 
tant  professor  of  systematic  the¬ 
ology  at  Kangnam  University, 
South  Korea. 

Linda  Mercadante  (D) 

is  the  author  of  Victims  and 
Sinners:  The  Spiritual  Roots 
of  Addiction  and  Recovery. 

She  is  the  B.  Robert  Straker 
Professor  of  Historical  Theology 
at  Ohio’s  Methodist  Theological 
School,  and  spent  summer  1996 


participating  in  the  Wabash 
Center  Theology  Program. 

Robert  L.  Morris  (B) 

received  his  D.Min.  degree  from 
Gordon-Conwell  Seminary  on 
May  10,  1996.  He  is  pastor  of 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
Washington,  NC. 

P.  Wayne  Osborne  (B) 

is  an  elder  at  the  First  Presby¬ 
terian  Church,  Stamford,  CT, 
and  executive  administrator 
at  Joseph  E.  Brooks  and 
Associates  in  Greenwich,  CT. 


“Bruce  and  I  are  living  in 
Melbourne,  Australia,  now, 
and  would  welcome  visitors!” 
writes  Audrey  Schindler  (B). 

1987  Elizabeth  B. 

Affsprung  (B)  is  stated  supply 
pastor  at  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  Watsontown,  PA. 

Paul  A.  Becker  Jr.  (B), 

pastor  of  Hanover  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Clinton,  PA,  reports 
that  his  wife,  Ada,  died  on  July 
24,  1995,  after  a  three-year 
battle  with  cancer.  “It  has  been 
a  year  of  sorrow,  remembrances, 


and  opportunities  to  experience 
the  overwhelming  power 
of  God’s  healing  mercy,  grace, 
peace,  hope,  and  love,”  he  says. 
“The  Hanover  folks  were  and 
continue  to  be  means  by  which 
God  ministers  to  me  as  their 
pastor  and  brother  in  Christ.” 

Jim  Burkley  (B),  Princeton, 
NJ,  is  chairperson  of  New 
Brunswick  Presbytery’s  Work 
Group  on  Higher  Education. 
He  recently  received  an  Ed.S. 
degree  from  Rutgers  University 
in  the  social  and  philosophical 
foundations  of  education. 


inSpire  •  25 


fall  1996 


Class  notes 

Raymond  Scott  Herr  (B) 

reports  that  he  and  his  family 
will  spend  another  three  years 
in  Zurich,  Switzerland,  where 
he  serves  the  International 
Protestant  Church  of  Zurich. 
“Visitors  welcome!”  he  writes. 


Robert  Bruce  Johnson  (b) 

began  pastoring  two  United 
Methodist  churches  near 
Roanoke,  VA,  on  June  30, 

1996.  He  is  a  Ph.D.  candidate 
in  theology  at  Emory  University. 


1988  ‘I  continue  to  serve 

as  associate  pastor  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church,  Grand 
Junction,  CO,”  writes  Mary 
Hammond  Atkinson  (B). 


Tim  Sahr  (B,  '89M)  is  the 

director  of  research  and  policy 
at  Ohio’s  Franklin  County 
Board  of  Health.  “I  have  one 
more  year  of  graduate  school 
at  the  Ohio  State  University 
School  of  Public  Health  until 
I’m  finished,”  he  says. 

1989  Steven  Chase 

(B),  who  is  an  assistant  profes¬ 
sor  of  spirituality  and  historical 
theology  at  the  Graduate 
Theological  Union,  Berkeley, 
CA,  and  a  Fellow  at  the  Center 
of  Theological  Inquiry  in 
Princeton,  NJ,  has  written 
a  book  titled  Angelic  Wisdom: 
The  Cherubim  and  the  Grace 
of  Contemplation  in  Richard 
of  St.  Victor. 

1990  Dan  Wessner 

(B),  a  doctoral  student  at  the 
University  of  Denver’s  Graduate 
School  of  International  Studies, 
has  received  a  MacArthur 
Foundation  Fellowship  on  Peace 
and  Security  in  a  Changing 
World.  He  is  in  Vietnam  for 

26  •  inSpire 


1991  “I  am  serving  my 

fifth  year  as  associate  for  youth 
and  families  at  Westminster 
Presbyterian  Church,  Westlake 
Village,  CA,”  writes  David  G. 
Carpenter  (B). 


Creed,  which  has  been  favorably 
reviewed  by  Publisher’s  Weekly 
Religion  Bookline,  The  Anglican 
Theological  Review,  and 
The  National  Catholic  Reporter. 
Her  previous  book,  Entertaining 
Angels:  Hospitality  Programs  for 
the  Caring  Church,  is  in  its  sec¬ 
ond  printing. 


In  May  1996,  Gordon 
Zerbe  (D)  began  a  two-year 
Mennonite  Central  Committee 
assignment  as  a  professor 
of  New  Testament  at  Silliman 
University  Divinity  School 
in  Dumaguete  City,  Philippines. 
The  Mennonite  Central 
Committee  is  the  service,  devel¬ 
opment,  and  relief  agency 
of  the  Mennonite  and  Brethren 
in  Christ  Churches. 


two  years,  where  he  will  write 
a  dissertation  on  how  the  coun¬ 
try’s  citizens  travel  along  various 
paths  to  political  participation 
either  formally,  through  the 
socialist  party  system,  or  infor¬ 
mally,  through  spiritual  and 
entrepreneurial  actions  based 
in  Asian  culture.  He  will  also 
work  on  his  Vietnamese  lan¬ 
guage  skills  through  a  Petry 
Foundation  grant, 
and  will  teach  at 
various  political 
institutions  on  the 
genealogy  of  how 
Western  societies 
interpret  politics. 

Wessner  and  his 
wife,  Elizabeth  o> 

Holdeman,  visited  * 

Vietnam  from  Z 

O 

1990  to  1993;  1 

Q. 

they  were  the  first 
North  Americans  since  the  end 
of  the  Vietnam  War  to  be  grant¬ 
ed  residency  visas  for  living  and 
working  in  the  southern  part 
of  the  country. 


“I  will  be  serving  as  a  mission- 
ary-in-residence  in  my  pres¬ 
bytery,”  says  Cheryl  Ann 
Elfond  (B),  “sharing  from 
experiences  in  El  Salvador  and 
Costa  Rica  in  this  year  of 
emphasis  on  Latin  America.” 
Elfond  lives  in  Hastings,  NE, 
where  she  is  associate  pastor 
at  the  First  Presbyterian  Church. 


1992  Hyungsuk 
Samuel  Lee  (B,  '93M) 

is  pastor  of  Christian  education 
at  Korean  Central  Presbyterian 
Church  in  northern  Virginia. 

He  lives  in  Fairfax,  VA. 

“I  have  moved  to  California  and 
am  unemployed,”  writes  Amy 

McCormick  (B). 


Elizabeth  Rankin  Geitz  (b) 

is  an  Episcopal  priest  and  the 
author  of  Gender  and  the  Nicene 


David  M.  Whitford  (B) 

was  ordained  as  an  elder  in 
the  United  Methodist  Church’s 


New  England  Conference 
in  June  1996.  He  is  pastor 
of  Bryantville  United  Methodist 
Church  in  Bryantville,  MA. 

1993  Cameron 

Bell  (B)  is  associate  pastor 
of  California’s  San  Marino 
Community  Presbyterian 
Church. 

“I  resigned  my  church,  and 
I  ll  move  my  house  soon,”  writes 

Hui  Dae  Tark  (B,  '95M) 

of  North  Arlington,  NJ.  “I  am 
looking  for  a  church.  Pray  for 

M 

me. 

1994  Robert  K. 

Bronkema  (B)  and  Stacy 
Bronkema  (B)  are  pastors  at 
three  small  Waldensian  churches 
in  southern  Italy,  and  serve  as 
chaplains  at  a  children’s  home. 

1995  “I  have  just  been 

appointed  to  serve  a  three- 
church  parish  in  a  rural  area 
ofTexas,”  says  Maryann 
McFadden  Meador  (B), 
who  is  a  minister  in  the  United 
Methodist  Church. 

“People  here  find  the  Gospel 
a  scandal,”  writes  James  R. 
Wilken  (B)  Irom  Silver  Creek, 
NY.  “As  far  as  I  can  tell,  it  hasn’t 
been  preached  in  these  parts  for 
quite  a  spell!” 

We're  not 
ignoring  you! 

The  editorial  staff  of  inSpire 
receives  many  class  notes  every 
year,  and  tries  to  print  them  all. 
But  because  the  magazine  is 
published  quarterly,  it  some¬ 
times  doesn't  include  recently 
submitted  class  notes.  If  you 
don't  see  your  class  note  here, 
please  be  patient.  It  will  appear 
in  a  future  issue. 


photo:  Carolyn  Herring 


fall  1996 


outstanding 


in  the  field 


A  Good  and  Lasting  Fit 

Pastors  often  spend  many  years  at  one 
church  during  a  ministerial  career.  Few,  how¬ 
ever,  can  make  the  same  claim  as  Robert  H. 
Crawford,  a  1956  M.Div.  graduate  who 
spent  exactly  forty  years — his  entire  career — 
pastoring  the  Second  English  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Amwell,  located  in  Lambertville, 
NJ. 

When  Crawford  graduated  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary,  the  Amwell 
congregation  had  around  120  members.  (It 
is  still  approximately  the  same  size.)  The 
church  received  mission  aid,  and  had  had  a 
series  of  student  pastors  who  stayed  an  aver¬ 
age  of  one  or  two  years.  The  congregation 
was  looking  for  a  pastor  who  would  stay  a 
while  and  give  them  some  stability,  and 
Crawford  wanted  to  serve  a  mission  church. 

The  match,  he  said,  was  made  when  he 
attended  a  church  family  picnic  in  Runkle’s 
Meadow. 

“It  was  a  true  meadow,”  Crawford 
remembered.  “You  had  to  watch  where  you 
stepped.”  But  the  congregation  liked 
Crawford,  and  the  feeling  was  mutual,  so  the 
young  pastor  and  his  wife,  Barbara,  accepted 
the  call  and  moved  into  the  white  Cape 
Cod-style  manse,  located  just  on  the  other 
side  of  the  church’s  small,  historic  cemetery. 


Now  the  Crawfords  are  moving  out  of 
that  house,  boxing  up  lorty  years  of  memo¬ 
ries.  They  retired  from  the  pastorate  on 
November  1,  1996,  forty  years  to  the  day 
after  their  arrival.  They  are  leaving,  Crawford 
said,  for  a  house  in  Harmony,  NJ,  where 
they  intend  to  enjoy  their  retirement.  The 
goodbye,  he  said,  is  bittersweet — sad,  lor 
leaving  a  community,  but  happy,  for  all  the 
good  times  he  shared  with  his  ever-changing 
church. 

“People  ask  me,  didn’t  you  want  to 
change  churches?  Well,  I  did,  but  a  new  con¬ 
gregation  came  to  me!”  he  said.  “There  were 
many  changes  in  the  congregation  over  the 
years,  as  well  as  in  personnel  and  programs. 
The  congregation  was  very  willing  to  try  new 
things.” 

Those  “new  things”  included  a  music 
and  choir  program;  Sunday  and  summer 
vacation  church  school;  a  camping  program 
for  children;  a  learn-to-swim  program, 
taught  by  Crawford,  which  used  a  local  lake; 
a  Crop  Walk;  and  a  junior-high  camp  at 
Johnsonburg  Presbyterian  Camp  and 
Conference  Center  in  northern  New  Jersey. 

For  Crawford,  pastoring  a  church  in  a 
small  town  has  meant  being  deeply  involved 
with  the  whole  community.  In  addition  to 
his  church  activities,  Crawford  drove  a 
school  bus  for  thirty-one  years,  and  served  as 
a  volunteer  fire  fighter  with  the  West  Amwell 
Fire  Company,  and  as  a  first  aid  and  safety 


officer,  as  well  as  chaplain,  with  the 
Tambertville  Rescue  Squad.  He  has  also  been 
a  photographer  for  an  area  newspaper,  the 
Lambertville  Beacon.  Barbara  Crawford  was 
the  church  secretary,  de  facto  pastoral  assis¬ 
tant  in  a  church  that  Crawford  describes  as 
“essentially  a  mom  and  pop  operation,”  and 
ran  the  Delaware  Valley  Council  of 
Churches  Food  Pantry  for  the  past  eight 
years. 

Indeed,  Crawford  said,  the  highlight  of 
his  ministry  was  “not  one  event,  but  the  con¬ 
stancy  and  difference  in  the  life  of  the  com¬ 
munity.”  It’s  a  place  and  group  of  people  that 
he  will  miss  when  he  moves,  he  said,  noting 
that  “you  can’t  be  in  one  town  for  forty  years 
and  not  become  attached  to  many,  many 
people.”  He  noted  that  he  and  Barbara  “will 
stay  in  touch  to  a  limited  extent.  We  can’t 
come  back  to  influence  the  life  of  the  con¬ 
gregation,  but  we  will  keep  up  personal 
friendships.  We  want  to  give  whoever  comes 
after  us  a  chance  to  do  what  they  want  to  do 
without  living  in  our  shadow.” 

The  question  of  who  will  be  called  to  be 
the  next  pastor  of  the  Amwell  church  is  still 
open.  The  congregation  is  in  the  early  stages 
of  deciding  what  they  want  in  a  new  minis¬ 
ter.  They  have  arranged  for  supply  preachers, 
but  have  not  yet  decided  whether  or  not  they 
would  like  an  interim  pastor. 

“I’m  really  pleased  to  see  how  our  elders 
and  others  in  the  congregation  have  really 
gotten  a  grip  on  things,”  Crawford  said, 
adding  that  the  congregation  is  very  orga¬ 
nized  and  careful  in  beginning  to  choose  his 
successor.  “I’m  trying  to  pave  the  way,  trying 
to  help  them  begin  to  detach,  though  there 
are  a  lot  of  strong  feelings. 

“The  new  person  will  be  different,”  he 
added.  “They  can’t  be  making  comparisons 
between  the  way  things  were  and  the  way 
things  are.” 

In  retirement,  Crawford  plans  to  buy  a 
house  and  put  it  in  order,  do  supply  preach¬ 
ing  and  some  photojournalism,  and  also  pos¬ 
sibly  be  part  of  the  nature  program  at  Merrill 
Creek  Reservoir,  near  his  new  home.  He  will 
also  look  back  on  what  he  called  “a  good  and 
lasting  fit”  in  his  ministry. 

“The  congregation  wanted  someone  who 
would  come  and  stay  a  while,”  he  remem¬ 
bered,  thinking  back  forty  years.  “I  think  we 
fulfilled  that  expectation!”  | 


inSpire  •  27 


fall  1996 


|j|  outstanding  in  the  field 


came  out  with  a  line  of  goose 
down  yarmulkes." 


Friday  Prayers, 

Saturday  Jokes 

The  Double  Life  of  Rabbi/Comedian 
Bob  Alper 

Being  one  of  Princeton’s  few  Jewish 
Doctor  of  Ministry  graduates  wasn’t  enough 
individuality  for  Bob  Alper  (’84P).  Since 
1986,  he  has  been  both  a  rabbi  and  a  stand- 
up  comic — the  only  person  in  the  world  to 
do  both  intentionally,  he  says  with  a 
smile. 

The  Vermont-based  Alper  has 
spent  twenty-five  years  as  a  rabbi. 

Though  he’s  currently  just  a  part-time 
clergyman,  he  still  leads  High  Holy 
Days  services  at  Temple  Micah  in 
Philadelphia,  PA.  Most  Saturdays  and 
Sundays  find  him  traveling  to  one  of 
his  many  engagements  at  synogogues, 

Jewish  organizations,  and  comedy 
clubs. 

While  Alper  tells  lots  of  jokes 
about  Israel,  food,  rituals,  holidays 
and  rabbis,  he  doesn’t 
tell  jokes 
about 


comic  of  the  year.”  He  came  in  third  in  the 
final  round  of  competition  but,  as  he  says, 
“the  guy  who  won  is  still  a  chiropractor,  and 
the  guy  who  came  in  second  is  still  a  lawyer, 
but  here  I  am.”  He  cites  as  his  influences 
comedian  and  filmmaker  Mel  Brooks — ”1 
was  raised  on  him,  and  I  think  he’s  hysteri¬ 
cal,”  Alper  said — and  comic  Bob 
Newhart. 


“Newhart’s  work  is  endur-  ...  ,  , 

I  never  realized  how  many 

Jews  there  were  in  northern 
New  England  until  L.  L.  Bean 


ingly  funny,  unhurtful,  posi- 


" Living  in  a  rural  area,  we  don't 
have  cable.  We  have  a  satellite 
dish.  Of  course,  our  Orthodox 
neighbors  down  the  street  have 
two  dishes. " 


Jewish 
American 


princesses,  inter¬ 
marriage,  or  other  sensitive  or  offensive  top¬ 
ics.  Most  of  his  act  discusses  the  life  and 
times  of  his  own  Jewish  family— and  that’s  a 
topic  to  which  most  listeners  can  relate. 

“The  act  is  the  same,  whether  I’m  in  a 
comedy  club,  a  corporate  setting,  or  doing  a 
Jewish  function,”  Alper  said.  “Ninety-five 
percent  of  my  humor  is  universal.  And  even 
if  I  were  just  Bob  Alper  [he’s  billed  as  Rabbi 
Bob  Alper],  I  would  still  be  a  clean  comedi¬ 
an.  That  helps  me  a  lot,  because  I’m  a  safe 
comedian.  Any  group  can  hire  me  and  know 
that  my  material  will  be  appropriate  for 
them.” 

Alper’s  life  as  a  comic  began  with  a 
Philadelphia-area  contest  to  find  “the  Jewish 


tive,  gentle,  and  affable,”  Alper  said.  “I 
used  to  memorize  his  routines  as  a  teenager. 
Also,  he  genuinely  has  a  good  time  during 
his  act,  which  was  an  important  performance 
technique  for  me  to  learn.” 

Alper’s  comedic  education  happened  by 
listening  and  doing,  but  his  rabbinical  edu¬ 
cation  came  from  Hebrew  Union  College- 
Jewish  Institute  of  Religion  in  Cincinnati, 
OH.  He  will  receive  a  Doctor  of  Divinity 
degree  from  the  same  school  this  year.  He 
came  to  Princeton  for  a  Doctor  of  Ministry 
degree,  he  said,  “because  I  was  living  in 
Philadelphia  at  the  time,  and  Princeton 
offered  the  best  program  in  the  area.  I  loved 
coming  to  Princeton.  I  really  liked  the  ‘case 
study’  method  of  the  program,  as  well  as  the 
opportunity  to  attack  the  practical  aspects  of 
ministry.” 


He  added  that  he  was  “impressed  with 
the  way  people  of  different  backgrounds 
could  share  their  views  on  issues  without  sur¬ 
rendering  their  individuality.  I  remember  a 
Catholic  priest  explaining  the  Catholic 
Church’s  position  on  abortion,  and  after  a 

few  people  explained  why  they 
disagreed,  the  dis¬ 
cussion  turned 
to  the  sub¬ 
ject  of 
how  to 
impart 
church 
doctrine  to 
young  people. 
Everyone  could 
relate  to  that.” 

Though  Alper  was  worried  that 
being  Jewish  would  present  a  prob¬ 
lem  at  PTS,  he  found  that  his  unique 
viewpoint  was  valued.  In  fact,  he 
said,  “Someone  at  Princeton  once 
even  told  me  that  I  should  be  more 
Jewish.  They  felt  I  wasn’t  using  my 
unique  viewpoint  to  its  best  advan¬ 
tage.” 

In  addition  to  his  work  as  a  rabbi 
|  and  comic,  Alper  has  written  two 
S  books:  A  Rabbi  Confesses,  which  is  a 
*  1995  cartoon  book  written  by  Alper 
and  drawn  by  Minneapolis,  MN- 
based  artist  Jack  Lindstrom,  and  Life 
Doesn’t  Get  Any  Better  Than  This,  a 

1996  collection  of  essays  on  life’s  most  spiri¬ 
tual  moments.  The  title  essay  from  the  sec¬ 
ond  book  will  be  printed  in  the  January  7, 

1997  issue  of  Family  Circle  magazine. 

His  books,  he  said,  underline  the  con¬ 
nection  and  affinity  he  sees  between  religion 
and  humor. 

“I  believe  that  faith  and  comedy  are  nat¬ 
ural  allies,”  he  said.  “When  I  deliver  a  ser¬ 
mon,  I  hope  that  people  are  having  a  posi¬ 
tive  religious  experience.  When  I  make  peo¬ 
ple  laugh,  I  know  they’re  having  a  positive 
religious  experience. 

“Humor  is  not  just  a  fun  thing,”  he 
added.  “It’s  absolutely  essential  to  the  rab¬ 
binic  technique.  If  you  get  an  audience 
laughing  and  wiping  their  eyes,  it  brings  a 
community  together  in  ways  an  art  auction 
could  never  do.'  I 


28  •  inSpire 


fall  1996 


\  Obituaries 

•  J.  Harold  Gwynne,  1927B 

J.  Harold  Gwynne,  who  pastored  con¬ 
gregations  in  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio,  died 
on  May  20,  1996.  He  was  ninety-six  years 
old.  Gwynne  was  ordained  by  the 
Presbytery  of  Blairsville  on  June  14,  1927. 
He  served  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Windber,  PA,  from  1927  to  1938,  and  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Martins 
Ferry,  OH,  from  1938  to  1952.  His  last 
church  was  Grace  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Lakewood,  OH,  where  he  served  from 
1952  until  his  1966  retirement.  He  wrote 
books,  articles,  and  poems,  and  was  presi¬ 
dent  of  the  Lakewood,  OH,  Ministerial 
Association.  He  is  survived  by  a  daughter 
and  two  sons. 

•  Howard  Carson  Blake,  1928b 

Howard  Carson  Blake,  who  spent  thirty- 
two  years  working  with  the  Moral  Re- 
Armament  Movement  (MRA),  died  on 
May  20,  1996.  He  was  ninety-two  years 
old.  Blake  met  Frank  Buchman,  founder 
of  the  Oxford  Group  (which  later  became 
the  MRA),  when  he  was  a  student  at 
Princeton  University.  After  studying  for 
the  ministry,  Blake  began  thirty-two  years 
of  work  with  Buchman’s  international 
team,  concentrating  on  Scandanavia.  In 
Denmark  he  was  instrumental  in  building 
a  team  that  later  played  a  key  role  in  that 
country’s  resistance  to  Hitler.  He  set  up 
the  MRA  conference  center  on  Mackinac 
Island,  MI,  and  helped  run  MRA  confer¬ 
ences  of  reconciliation  after  World  War  II 
in  Caux,  Switzerland.  In  I960  he  became 
pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
Weslaco,  TX,  and  then  served  as  stated 
clerk  of  South  Texas  Presbytery.  In  1965 
he  was  named  Man  of  the  Year  for  pio¬ 
neering  a  literacy  program  in  the  Rio 
Grande  Valley.  Blake  was  executive  direc¬ 
tor  of  the  Celebration  of  Evangelism  in 
Cincinnati,  OH,  in  1971,  organized  lay 
leadership  and  ecumenical  conferences, 
and  led  a  group  of  forty  evangelical 
Protestants  to  Rome  for  meetings  with 
Catholic  leaders  during  the  Holy  Year  of 
1975.  He  is  survived  by  his  children,  Alice 
Blake  Chaffee  and  Peter  Carson  Blake,  and 
by  his  second  wife,  Margaret  Rickert 
Blake.  His  first  wife,  Margaret  Stewardson 


Blake,  and  one  son,  John  Howard  Blake, 
predeceased  him. 

•  J.  Hayden  Laster,  1933B 

J.  Hayden  Laster,  a  pastor  who  served 
churches  in  Maryland,  Alabama, 
Mississippi,  and  Tennessee  during  nearly 
forty  years  of  ministry,  died  on  July  20, 
1996.  He  was  ninety-five  years  old.  Laster 
was  ordained  by  Alabama’s  Leeds 
Presbytery  in  June  1933,  and  was  called  to 
Grove  Presbyterian  Church  in  Aberdeen, 
MD,  where  he  served  from  1934  to  1938. 
He  then  pastored  Edgewood  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Birmingham,  AL,  from  1938  to 
1945;  Union  Larger  Parish  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Union,  MS,  from  1945  to 
1948;  the  First  Presbyterian  Church, 

Milan,  TN,  from  1950  to  1952;  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church,  Harriman,  TN,  from 
1952  to  1959;  Lakeview  Presbyterian 
Church  in  New  Johnsonville,  TN,  where 
he  was  the  organizing  pastor,  from  1959 
to  1961;  the  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
McMinnville,  from  1961  to  19 66;  and 
Clover  Hill  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Maryville,  TN,  from  1966  until  his  1972 
retirement.  Laster  was  also  a  longtime 
member  of  the  Maryville  College  board  of 
directors.  He  is  survived  by  his  wife,  Willie 
Harold  Laster,  and  by  their  two  children, 
James  Hayden  Laster  Jr.  and  William 
Harold  Laster. 

•  Robert  Roland  ("Army")  Armstrong, 

1936b 

Robert  Roland  (“Army”)  Armstrong, 
who  was  a  minister  and  educator  in  Alaska 
for  twenty-six  years,  died  on  December 
16,  1995.  He  was  eighty-five  years  old. 
Armstrong  was  ordained  by  Buckhorn 
Presbytery  on  September  18,  1937.  He 
served  as  a  stated  supply  pastor  for  the 
Presbyterian  Board  of  National  Missions 
until  1940,  and  was  then  called  to  pastor 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Fairbanks, 
AK,  where  he  served  until  1942.  He  pas¬ 
tored  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Anchorage,  AK,  from  1942  to  1950,  and 
then  became  a  field  representative  and 
then  assistant  secretary  for  the  Presbyterian 
Board  of  National  Missions,  working  in 
Alaska  and  the  Yukon.  In  1956  he  became 
president  of  Sheldon  Jackson  College  in 


Sitka,  AK,  a  post  he  held  for  ten  years. 

In  1966  he  became  a  field  administrator 
for  the  Synod  of  Arizona  and  Northern 
Arizona  Presbytery;  he  was  associate  execu¬ 
tive  of  the  Synod  of  the  Southwest  and 
Sierra  Blanca  Presbytery  from  1972  until 
his  1976  retirement.  Armstrong  is  survived 
by  his  daughters,  Allison  Keef  and 
Charlene  Frederick. 

•  William  McLeister  II,  1943B 
William  McLeister  II,  who  pastored 

Beverly  Heights  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Mt.  Lebanon  in  Pittsburgh,  PA,  for  seven¬ 
teen  years  (from  1947  to  1964),  died  on 
July  12,  1996.  He  was  eighty  years  old. 
McLeister  was  ordained  by  West  Jersey 
Presbytery  on  September  22,  1942.  He 
also  served  Woodstown  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Woodstown,  NJ,  from  1942 
to  1 947,  and  was  pastor  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church,  Jackson,  MI,  from 
1965  to  1970.  He  was  executive  secretary 
of  the  Presbyterian  Lay  Committee,  New 
York,  NY,  from  1970  to  1971,  and  spent 
his  retirement  years  on  Hilton  Head 
Island,  SC,  and  in  Duarte,  CA.  He  is  sur¬ 
vived  by  his  wife,  Lee  Wilson  McLeister, 
and  his  three  children:  William  McLeister 
III,  Jane  Opperman,  and  Ruth  Anan. 

•  Paulos  Mar  Gregorios,  1954B 
Paulos  Mar  Gregorios,  who  was  metro¬ 
politan  ol  the  Delhi  Diocese  of  the 
Malankara  Orthodox  Syrian  Church, 
patriarch  of  the  Syrian  Orthodox  Church 
in  India,  and  principal  of  Orthodox 
Theological  Seminary,  Kottayam,  India, 
died  on  November  24,  1996.  He  was  sev¬ 
enty-four  years  old.  Listed  in  the  interna¬ 
tional  edition  of  Who’s  Who ,  Gregorios 
had  already  served  as  a  journalist,  business¬ 
man,  teacher,  secretary  of  the  Mar 
Gregorios  Student  Movement  of  India, 
and  advisor  to  Ethiopian  Emperor  Haile 
Selassie  when  he  was  ordained  as  a  priest 
in  1961  with  the  name  Father  Paul 
Varghese.  He  was  associate  general  secre¬ 
tary  of  the  World  Council  of  Churches 
from  1962  to  1967,  and  was  also  a  mem¬ 
ber  of  many  of  that  organization’s  commit¬ 
tees,  as  well  as  serving  as  moderator  of 
the  World  Council  of  Churches’  Church 
and  Society  division.  He  led  the  World 


inSpire  •  29 


fall  1996 


Obituaries _ 

Council  of  Churches’  delegation  to  the 
United  Nations  General  Assembly’s  Special 
Session  on  Disarmament.  Varghese  became 
principal  of  Orthodox  Theological 
Seminary  in  1967.  He  was  consecrated 
bishop  as  Paulos  Mar  Gregorios  and 
appointed  first  metropolitan  of  the  newly 
formed  Delhi  Diocese  in  1976.  He  chaired 
the  World  Conference  on  Faith,  Science, 
and  the  Future  at  the  Massachusetts 
Institute  of  Technology  in  1979,  and 
was  general  president  of  the  Indian 
Philosophical  Congress  in  1990.  Widely 
revered  for  his  learning,  his  piety,  and  his 
compassion  toward  people  from  all  walks 
of  life,  he  was  the  author  of  many  books, 
including  Joy  of  Freedom,  The  Gospel  of  the 
Kingdom,  The  Freedom  of  Man,  Freedom 
and  Authority,  Truth  and  Tradition,  Science 
for  Sane  Societies,  Cosmic  Man,  Human 
Presence,  Tnlightenment,  A  Light  Too  Bright, 
A  Human  God,  and  Be  Still  and  Know. 

He  also  wrote  numerous  periodical  arti¬ 
cles,  symposia,  lectures,  and  encyclopedic 
contributions.  He  was  chief  editor 
of  the  Indian  quarterlies  Star  of  the  Fast 
and  Purohithan.  He  received  honorary 
Doctorate  of  Theology  degrees  from  insti¬ 
tutions  in  Leningrad,  Budapest,  and 
Prague,  as  well  as  the  American  Hall 
of  Fame  Award  for  extraordinary  service 
to  peace  and  unity,  the  German  Otto 
Nuschke  Prize  for  peace,  the  Oskar  Pfister 
Award  of  the  American  Psychiatric 
Association,  the  Man  of  the  Year  Award 
in  1990  and  1995,  and  the  Distinguished 
Alumnus  Award  from  Princeton 
Theological  Seminary. 

•  Arthur  J.  S.  Curry,  1958b 
Arthur  J.  S.  Curry,  who  spent  thirty- 
seven  years  as  a  pastor  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Ireland,  died  on  February  20, 
1996.  He  was  sixty-two  years  old.  Curry 
was  ordained  in  Omagh  Presbytery 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Ireland 
on  October  28,  1959.  He  was  a  pastor 
in  Ballygawley  and  Ballyreagh,  Ireland, 
from  1959  to  1973,  and  in  Millisle, 

Ireland,  from  1973  to  1976.  He  began 
serving  in  Cavanaleck  and  Aughentaine, 
Ireland,  in  1976. 


•  Lyle  B.  Gangsei,  1959M 

Lyle  B.  Gangsei,  a  pastor,  church 
founder,  and  educator,  died  on  July  23, 

1 996.  He  was  seventy-five  years  old. 
Gangsei  was  ordained  in  the  American 
Lutheran  Church  in  January  1945. 

He  was  a  chaplain  in  the  U.S.  Navy 
from  1945  to  1946,  and  was  associate 
pastor  of  Bethel  Lutheran  Church 
in  Madison,  WI,  from  1946  to  1947. 

He  was  the  founding  pastor  of  the 
Lutheran  Church  of  the  Good  Shepherd 
in  Rockford,  IL,  where  he  served  from 
1947  to  1951,  and  was  founding  pastor 
of  the  Lutheran  Church  of  the 
Resurrection  in  Redondo  Beach,  CA, 
where  he  served  from  1951  to  1957.  He 
pastored  Our  Saviour’s  Lutheran  Church 
in  Perth  Amboy,  NJ,  from  1957  to  1963, 
when  he  became  chaplain  of  California 
Lutheran  College  in  Thousand  Oaks,  CA. 
He  held  that  post  from  1963  to  1969,  and 
was  dean  of  students  at  the  same  college 
from  1963  to  1972.  He  also  served  the 
college  as  head  of  interim  studies.  Gangsei 
then  established  Education  Enrichment 
Inc.,  where  he  designed  and  carried  out 
a  world-study  program  for  educators; 
he  counseled  and  taught  seminars  in 
industry,  hospitals,  churches,  and  schools. 
After  retirement,  he  served  as  an  interim 
pastor  and  joined  his  wife  in  her  antiques 
business.  Gangsei  is  survived  by  his  wife, 
Virginia  Peterson  Gangsei,  and  their  chil¬ 
dren:  David,  Paul,  Peter,  Karthia,  and 
Stephen. 

•  Edward  M.  Huenemann,  1961D 

Edward  M.  Huenemann,  a  professor 
and  theologian  who  also  pastored  churches 
in  Wisconsin  and  New  Jersey,  died  on 
June  14,  1996.  He  was  seventy-six  years 
old.  Huenemann  was  ordained  by 
Milwaukee  Presbytery  on  October  23, 
1946.  He  pastored  Dousman-Ottawa 
Parish  in  Dousman,  WI,  from  1946 
to  1948,  and  served  Cedar  Grove 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Cedar  Grove,  WI, 
from  1948  to  1952.  He  was  pastor  of  East 
Trenton  Presbyterian  Church  in  Trenton, 
NJ,  from  1952  to  1956,  and  was  minister 
of  education  at  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  Trenton,  NJ,  from  1956  to  1958. 


In  1958  he  became  a  professor  of  theologi¬ 
cal  studies  at  Hanover  College  in  Hanover, 
IN,  a  post  he  held  until  1967,  when 
he  became  associate  for  theological  studies 
for  the  Board  of  National  Missions 
and  Program  Agency  of  the  United 
Presbyterian  Church  (USA)  in  New  York, 
NY.  He  was  on  the  World  Council  of 
Churches’  joint  project  with  the  Vatican, 
called  the  Humanum  Studies  Project,  as 
well  as  the  World  Council  of  Churches’ 
Task  Group  on  Christians  in  Changing 
Institutions.  He  was  also  a  part  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church’s  General  Assembly 
Task  Force  on  Peacemaking  and  U.S. 
Foreign  Policy,  as  well  as  the  General 
Assembly  Theology  of  Liberation 
Committee.  Huenemann  was  a  seminar 
leader;  represented  the  Presbyterian 
Church  at  international  church  gatherings 
in  the  former  Soviet  Union,  South  Africa, 
and  Kenya;  and  had  reviews  and  articles 
published  in  Presbyterian  Life,  The 
Presbyterian  Outlook,  Theology  Today, 
Church  and  Society,  and  Crossroads,  among 
other  publications.  Most  recently  he 
was  director  of  the  Theology  in  Global 
Context  Association  and  the  Foundation 
for  Peace  and  Justice.  He  is  survived  by  his 
wife,  G.  Frances  Oesau  Huenemann,  and 
their  children:  Kathryn  Habib,  Joan  E. 
Michie,  and  Jonathan  E.  Huenemann. 

In  addition  to  those  whose  obituaries 
appear  in  this  issue,  the  Seminary 
has  received  word  that  the  following 
alumni/ae  have  died: 

Robert  L.  Vining,  1929b 

William  J.  Duvall,  1932B 

Shirley  E.  Greene,  1935b 

Bernard  Munger,  1941b 

Joseph  J.  ("Jack")  Myerscough,  1943B 

Darrell  Parker,  1943b 

Richard  H.  Ackley,  1947b 

Chulin  Toktaeng,  1952G 

Gustav-Adolph  Kriener,  1953M 

Joseph  S.  Rigell,  1956G 

John  B.  Shaw,  1956B 

Theodore  Sieh,  1957b 

Derrell  K.  Smith,  1962M 

Robert  B.  Wardrop,  1975M 

John  L.  Rice,  1978B 

The  obituaries  of  many  of  these 
alumni/ae  will  appear  in  future  issues. 


30  *  inSpire 


fall  1996 


investing  in  ministry 


Gifts 

T  his  list  includes  gifts  made  between  June  1,  1996  and 
October  21,  1996. 

In  Memory  of _ 

The  Reverend  Dr.  Russell  W.  Annich  (’32B)  to  the  Scholarship 
Fund 

Mr.  John  Assenheimer  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Ms.  Alice  M.  Baird  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Mr.  Fiarold  B.  Baird  to  the  Annual  Fund 

The  Reverend  Dr.  Willis  A.  Baxter  (’38B)  to  the  Scholarship  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  David  J.  Beale  (1865B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Wilson  T.M.  Beale  (’02B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Captain  Marshall  Beebe,  USN,  to  the  Alumni/ae  Roll  Call 
The  Reverend  Don  Bert  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Mr.  Goss  Blackstone  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Mrs.  Lena  Blackstone  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Mrs.  Celia  Boden  to  the  International  Students  Scholarship 
Endowment  Fund 

Mr.  Louis  Vanden  Bosch  to  the  Charles  J.  Reller  Abiding 
Memorial  Fund  Award 

The  Reverend  Dr.  Harry  L.  Bowlby  (’04B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Henry  Seymour  Brown  (1900B)  to  the  Annual 
Fund 

The  Reverend  Dr.  Edward  J.  Caldwell  (’38B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Mr.  John  Chancellor  to  the  Alumni/ae  Roll  Call 
Class  of  1957  Departed  Members  to  the  Alumni/ae  Roll  Call 
The  Reverend  Alfred  H.  Davies  (’44B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Harold  C.  DeWindt  (’36B)  to  the  Harold  C. 

DeWindt  Memorial  Scholarship  Endowment  Fund 
Dr.  Paul  L.  Diefenbacher  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Mr.  James  E.  Dingman  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Mr.  John  L.  Felmeth,  Jr.  to  the  Reverend  John  Lowe  Felmeth 
Scholarship  Endowment  Fund 

The  Reverend  Dr.  William  H.  Felmeth  (’42B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  James  L.  Getaz,  Jr.  (’49B)  to  the  Alumni/ae  Roll 
Call 

Mr.  Charles  Littleton  Groom  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Harry  W.  Haring  (1893B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Ms.  Cristabel  S.  Hill  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Ms.  Myrtle  L.  Hogg  to  the  Annual  Fund 

Dr.  Norman  Victor  Hope  to  the  Norman  Victor  Hope  Memorial 
Scholarship  Endowment  Fund 

The  Reverend  Dr.  Merle  S.  Irwin  (’43B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  Richard  Lee  Jacobson  (’57B)  to  the  Alumni/ae  Roll 
Call 

The  Reverend  Dr.  Edward  J.  Jurji  (’42B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 

The  Reverend  Llewellyn  Kemmerle  (’43B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 

Mr.  James  A.  Kerr  to  the  Annual  Fund 

Mrs.  Bernice  T.  Kirkland  to  the  Annual  Fund 

Mr.  John  Knox  to  the  Annual  Fund 

Mr.  Richard  H.  Lackey,  Jr.  to  the  Richard  H.  Lackey,  Jr.  Memorial 
Scholarship  Endowment  Fund 


Mr.  Kenneth  A.  Lawder  to  the  Lawder  Scholarship  Endowment 
Fund 

The  Reverend  J.  Arthur  Lazell  (’37B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 

Mr.  John  S.  Linen  to  the  Annual  Fund 

Mrs.  Mary  B.  Linen  to  the  Annual  Fund 

Mr.  J.  Keith  Louden  to  the  Annual  Fund 

Loved  Ones  to  the  Annual  Fund 

The  Reverend  David  S.  Maclnnes  (’23B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Mrs.  Norma  Macleod  to  the  Mrs.  Norma  Macleod  Memorial 
Scholarship  Endowment  Fund 
Mr.  Frank  Marsh  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Mr.  J.  Andrew  Marsh  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Mr.  George  V.N.  Morin  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Thomas  S.  Mutch  to  the  Morristown 
Presbyterian  Church- Reverend  Dr.  Thomas  S.  Mutch 
Scholarship  Endowment  Fund 
The  Reverend  W.  Dayalan  Niles  (’66M)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Edwin  H.  Rian  (’27B)  to  the  Reverend  Dr. 

Edwin  H.  Rian  Memorial  Scholarship  Endowment  Fund 
The  Reverend  Parke  Richards  (  05B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  John  F.  Ruben  (’57B)  to  the  Alumni/ae  Roll  Call 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Robert  W.  Scott  (’38B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Carlton  J.  Sieber  (’4 IB)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  William  M.  Sparks  (’63B)  to  the  Alumni/ae  Roll 
Call 

Mr.  James  B.  Stuart  to  the  Annual  Fund 

The  Reverend  Dr.  George  E.  Sweazey  (’30B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Mrs.  Martha  L.  Sykes  to  the  Annual  Fund 

Dr.  David  A.  Weadon  to  the  David  A.  Weadon  Prize,  the  David  A. 
Weadon  Memorial  Endowment  Fund,  and  the  Touring  Choir 
Fund 

Mrs.  Marian  Lawder  Whitman  to  the  Lawder  Scholarship 
Endowment  Fund 

In  Honor  of _ 

The  Reverend  Richard  C.  Brand  (’68B)  to  the  Scholarship  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  William  R.  Dupree  (’46B)  to  the  International 
Students  Scholarship  Endowment  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Elizabeth  G.  Edwards  (’62B)  to  the  Annual 
Fund 

Dr.  Donald  Juel  to  the  Scholarship  Fund 

The  Reverend  Dr.  Bryant  M.  Kirkland  (’38B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Raymond  I.  Lindquist  (’33B)  to  the  Lawder 
Scholarship  Endowment  Fund 

The  Reverend  Kristin  Saldine  to  the  David  A.  Weadon  Memorial 
Endowment  Fund 

The  Reverend  Maria  Alene  Stroup  (’96B)  to  the  Scholarship  Fund 

In  Appreciation  of _ _ 

The  Reverend  Ronald  K.T.  Bulbs’  (’79B)  Years  in  Seminary  and 
many  others  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Ministry  to  the  Annual  Fund 

The  Reverend  Chips  C.  Paulson  (’86B)  to  the  Scholarship  Fund 
The  Reverend  Amy  Scott  Vaughn  (’93B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 


inSpire  •  31 


fall  1996 


CGnd  things 


As  the  year  celebrating  the  fortieth  anniversary  of  the  ordination  of  women  to  the  ministry  of  the  Word  and  Sacrament  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church  (USA)  comes  to  an  end ,  inSpire  is  pleased  to  reprint  this  essay  by  James  E.  Roghair  (’69B).  It  first  appeared  in  The  Presbyterian 
Outlook  in  January  1995,  and  it  is  reprinted  with  their  permission. 


Tribute  to  a  Torn  Diploma 

In  Memory  of  Willa  Baechlin  Roghair  ('70B) 
June  4,  1943-May  12,  1994 


In  November  1994,  six  months  after 
her  death,  I  carefully  took  down  Willa’s 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  diploma 
from  the  wall  of  Utqiagvik  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Barrow,  AK.  Ripped  into  four 
large  pieces,  taped  back  together,  it  had 
hung  prominently  on  Willa’s  office  wall 
for  many  years,  a  silent  reminder  of  many 
struggles.  The  unobservant  never  noticed. 
The  prudent  didn’t  ask.  But  now  and 
then  Willa  would  tell  the  story. 

Recruited  to  Princeton  by  then-President 
James  I.  McCord  while  serving  as  a 
Volunteer  in  Mission  at  Sheldon  Jackson 
College,  Willa  entered  seminary  with  high 
hopes.  She  worked  hard  and  distinguished 
herself  as  a  scholar.  After  a  year  out  when 
we  were  married  on  the  campus  of  Boggs 
Academy  in  Georgia,  Willa  graduated  in 
the  spring  of  1970,  one  of  the  top  gradu¬ 
ates  in  her  class. 

Willa  and  I  boldly  began  looking  for 
small  churches  near  one  another.  It  didn’t 
work.  Willa  wasn’t  interested  in  pouring 
tea  for  my  congregation!  We  finally  real¬ 
ized  I  had  to  find  a  place  where  I  could 
work.  We  moved  into  the  manse  in  Union 
City,  IN.  I  began  to  learn  to  be  a  pastor. 
Willa’s  energy  raged. 

Through  much  negotiation — rejected 
by  the  presbytery  in  which  we  lived, 
accepted  by  the  presbytery  two  blocks 
away  in  Ohio — Willa  was  ordained  by 
the  Presbytery  of  Newark  for  a  marginal 
position  as  director  of  church  relations 
for  the  Darke  County  (Ohio)  Migrant 
Ministry. 


But  Willa  really  wanted  to  serve  a  con¬ 
gregation.  Struggling  very  much  alone  in 
one  oi  the  bedrooms  of  the  manse  which 
she  used  as  an  office,  Willa  ripped  up  her 
finely  worded  Latin  diploma  Rom  Scholae 
Theologicae  Princetoniensis,  intending 
to  send  it  back  to  President  McCord. 

I  intervened,  hiding  the  destroyed 
diploma  from  her  for  a  time  and  encour¬ 
aging  her  instead  to  write  up  her  experi¬ 
ences.  She  did.  “My  Search  for  a  Pulpit” 
appeared  in  Presbyterian  Life  (February  15, 
1971).  A  response  from  McCord  said, 

“...I  appreciate  the  problem  which  you 
have  illumined  for  the  whole  church, 
and  I  look  forward  to  working  with  you 
in  producing  a  different  climate,  even 
though  it  will  take  some  doing.” 

The  article  launched  Willa  into  the 
public  spotlight.  With  the  help  of  Maggie 
Kuhn,  veteran  organizer,  Willa  called 
together  the  first  meeting  ol  Presbyterian 
Clergywomen  (which  became  Church 
Employed  Women).  They  met  during  the 
General  Assembly  meeting  in  Rochester, 
NY,  in  the  spring  of  1971.  During  that 
Assembly  Willa  suffered  a  miscarriage, 
which  poignantly  stood  for  many  of  the 
women  as  a  sign  of  their  dilemma.  Church 
Employed  Women  was  launched.  Willa 
was  gently  removed  Rom  the  leadership. 
And  Willa  went  on  to  continue  her  leader¬ 
ship  in  other  settings. 

The  torn  diploma  hung  for  many  years 
as  a  sign  of  Willa’s  struggles  for  fulfillment 
of  her  call,  both  to  pastoral  service  and 
to  leadership  on  behalf  of  other  women. 
The  patched  diploma  hung  as  a  reminder 


of  Willa’s  commitment,  made  in  the 
conclusion  ol  the  Presbyterian  Life  article: 
“I  continue  to  regret  that  women  incur 
so  much  resistance  in  their  desires  to  serve 
as  pastors  of  congregations,  and  I  consider 
as  part  of  my  ministry  making  sure  that 
other  women  do  not  have  to  go  through 
this  same  kind  of  experience.  Part  of  my 
time  will  be  spent  in  counseling,  speaking, 
writing,  and  serving  on  committees.  This, 
too,  is  a  mission.” 

Willa’s  mission  is  complete,  but  others 
who  have  benefited  from  and  who  contin¬ 
ue  this  mission  should  never  forget  the 
symbol  of  Willa’s  torn  and  patched  diplo¬ 
ma.  I 


James  Roghair  |'69B)  is  stated  supply  pas¬ 
tor  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Chicago,  IL.  He  married  Elizabeth  Byers 
Roghair  in  June  1995. 


32  *  inSpire 


con  ed 

calendar 


fall  1996 


February 

2-5 


3 


3-6 


3-6 

10-11 

14 

17-19 

17-20 

24-26 

28 

March 

3 


3-6 


4-7 

10-12 

13-14 

14 

17 

17-19 

21 


0 

f 

A 


Areas 

Spiritual  Growth  and  Renewal 
Professional  Leadership  Development 
Congregational  Analysis  and  Development 


Theological  Studies 
Conferences 
Off-Campus  Events 


Off-Campus  Event  (San  Diego,  CA): 

Princeton  Forum  on  Youth  Ministry 

At-Risk  Youth,  At-Risk  Church:  What  Jesus  Christ  and  American 
Teenagers  Are  Saying  to  the  Mainline  Church 

The  Church  as  a  Partner  in  Health  Care  Reform  Abigail  Rian  Evans 

Parenting  Is  for  Everyone:  Living  Out  Our  Baptismal  Covenant 

Janet  Fishburn 

Building  Leadership  Momentum  John  C.  Talbot 

Soul  Stories:  African  American  Christian  Education 

Anne  Streaty  Wimberly 

Spirituality  and  America's  Crisis  Today  Mark  McClain-Taylor 

The  "Historical  Jesus"  Controversy  E.  Elizabeth  Johnson 

Treasure  in  Earthen  Vessels:  A  Theology  of  Dust  Sasha  Makovkin 

Inheriting  the  Promise:  And  Then...  Women  in  Church  and  Ministry 
Conference 

The  Dead  Sea  Scrolls  and  Spirituality  James  H.  Charlesworth 


Off-Campus  Event  (Trenton,  NJ): 

Cultural  Interpretation  and  the  New  Testament  Brian  K.  Blount 

Not  Just  an  Apprentice:  Thriving  as  an  Associate  Pastor 

David  R.  Van  Dyke,  Frances  Unsell 

Parish  Pastoral  Counseling  Brian  H.  Childs 

Contemporary  Issues  in  Bioethics  Nancy  J.  Duff,  J.  Brandt  McCabe 

Worship  Space:  Redoing  the  Living  Room  James  S.  Lawton 

Come  Unto  Me:  Rethinking  the  Sacraments  with  Children  in 
Households  of  Faith  Elizabeth  Francis  Caldwell 

Essentials  of  African  American  Preaching  Cleophus  J.  LaRue  Jr. 

What  the  Sages  Knew:  Wisdom  Literature  and  Pastoral  Care 

Donald  Capps,  Choon-Leong  Seow 

Finding  the  Holy  in  Everyday  Life  Anne  Bateman  Noss 


For  more  information,  contact  the  Center  of  Continuing  Education, 

12  Library  Place,  Princeton,  NJ  08540,  609-497-7990  or  1-800-622-6767,  ext.  7990 


spring 


Princeton  Theological 


Women  at  P 

No  Longer  Silent 
in  the  Churches 


photo:  Princeton  Seminary  Archives 


Princeton 
in  photos 

Women  students  at  Princeton 
Seminary  in  the  1949-1950  acade¬ 
mic  year  pose  for  a  group  portrait 
on  the  steps  of  Tennent  Hall,  the 
only  place  women  were  housed 
on  campus.  This  photograph  was 
given  to  the  Seminary  archives 
by  PTS  alumna  Elizabeth  Bulger 
Burgess,  Class  of  1951.  She 
labeled  it  "the  Tennent  Hall  Girls." 


spring  1997 


jinSpire 


\ 


Spring  1997 
Volume  2 
Number  3 

Editor 

Barbara  A.  Chaapel 

Associate  Editor 

Ingrid  Meyer 

Art  Director 

Kathleen  Whalen 

Assistant 

Susan  Molloy 


Staff  Photographers 

Elizabeth  Clark 
Carolyn  Herring 
Chrissy  Knight 
Neal  Magee 
Chris  Moody 

InSpire  is  a  magazine 
for  alumni/ae  and  friends 
of  Princeton  Theological 
Seminary.  It  is  published 
four  times  a  year  by 
the  Princeton  Theological 
Seminary  Office 
of  Communications/ 
Publications,  P.O.  Box  821, 
Princeton,  NJ  08542-0803. 
Telephone:  609-497-7760 
Facsimile:  609-497-7870 
Internet: 

inspire@ptsmail.ptsem.edu 

The  magazine  has  a  circulation 
of  approximately  23,000  and 
is  printed  by  George  H. 
Buchanan  Co.  in  Philadelphia, 
PA.  Reproduction  in  whole 
or  in  part  without  permission 
is  prohibited.  Non-profit 
postage  paid  at  Philadelphia, 
PA. 

On  the  Cover 

Archival  photographs  of 
women  graduates  of  Princeton 
Seminary  are  displayed 
against  the  background  of 
a  quilt  made  by  Jane  Ayres 
Barndt,  a  member  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Pottstown,  PA.  She  displayed 
her  quilt,  called  "The  Rose 
Window  Quilt,"  at  this  year's 
Women  in  Ministry 
Conference  at  the 
Seminary. 


50% 

iitii  iicmti  mu 

tOMWCttttKlWBI 


in  this  issue 


Features 


10  0  Telling  the  Nations 

Churches  across  the  globe  are 
thinking  seriously  about  how 
to  do  evangelism  as  a  new 
century  begins.  How  can 
Christians  share  the  Gospel 
responsibly  and  compellingly 
in  a  pluralistic  world? 
by  John  W.  Stewart 


12  •  50  Years  of  Courage 

The  first  class  of  women  to 
receive  the  M.R.E.  degree  from 
Princeton  Seminary  graduated 
in  1947 — fifty  years  ago.  Since 
then,  many  other  women  have 
followed  them.  How  do  these 
female  graduates  and  faculty 
members  assess  the  progress 
women  have  made  in  the 
church  and  at  the  Seminary? 
by  Ingrid  Meyer 
and  Barbara  A.  Chaapel 


Departments 


2 

• 

Letters 

26 

• 

Outstanding  in  the  Field 

4 

• 

On  &  Off  Campus 

28 

• 

Obituaries 

8 

• 

Student  Life 

30 

• 

Investing  in  Ministry 

17 

• 

Class  Notes 

32 

• 

End  Things 

25 

• 

On  the  Shelves 

33 

• 

Con  Ed  Calendar 

inSpire  •  1 


spring  1997 


€ 


A  Letters 


from  the 
president's  desk 

D  ear  Friends  and  Colleagues: 

During  this  academic  year  the 
Seminary  is  celebrating  the  fiftieth 
anniversary  of  the  graduation  of  the 
first  class  in  the  Master  of  Religious 
Education  (MRE)  degree  program,  the 

fortieth  anniver¬ 
sary  of  the  ordi¬ 
nation  of 
women  to  the 
ministry  of  the 
Word  and 
Sacrament  in 
the  Presbyterian 
Church  (USA), 
and  the  twenty- 
fifth  anniversary 
of  the  Women’s 
Center  on  the 
campus. 

This  issue  of  inSpire  highlights  this 
history  of  women  in  ministry.  It  is  a 
remarkable  tale,  and  its  significance  for 
the  Seminary  and  the  church  is  great. 

As  one  wag  observed,  “  The  music  in 
Miller  Chapel  has  definitely  improved 
since  we  began  singing  in  all  four 
parts.”  Even  so  has  the  church’s  min¬ 
istry  been  strengthened  by  including 
both  genders. 

Over  these  years,  the  composition 
of  the  Seminary  has  changed.  Our  fac¬ 
ulty  includes  fourteen  women,  the  stu¬ 
dent  body  fluctuates  between  34  and  40 
percent  female  in  the  basic  M.Div.  pro¬ 
gram,  and  there  are  twenty  women  in 
the  administration.  All  of  this  is  occa¬ 
sion  to  celebrate. 

With  every  good  wish  and  warmest 
regards,  I  remain 

Faithfully  yours, 


Thomas  W.  Gillespie 


Palestinians  Neglected  in  Holy 
Land  Tour 

Having  been  disturbed  by  reading 
the  “Living  History”  story  [summer 
1996  inSpire],  I  am  glad  to  see  the  let¬ 
ter  from  Paul  Corcoran  on  the  virtual 
neglect  of  the  Palestinians  in  that  arti¬ 
cle.  However,  the  editorial  note  in 
reply— mentioning  one  night  in  East 
Jerusalem  and  one  conversation  with 
one  Palestinian  Christian,  and  the 
donors’  emphasis  on  the  historical  and 
biblical  over  present-day  issues— 
demands  a  response. 

There  is  no  “Holy  Land.”  That  is, 
the  land  is  not  holy,  though  it  has  been 
the  locus  of  holy  people  and  events: 
the  land  is  the  land.  Today  it  is  a  piece 
of  territory  ruled  by  a  modern  political 
state  engaged  for  many  years  in  the 
stark  mistreatment  and  impoverish¬ 
ment  of  a  gigantic  segment  of  the  pop¬ 
ulation. 

Everything  that  takes  place  there 
has  political  ramifications,  including 
a  decision  not  to  consider  present-day 
issues.  Avoidance  of  current  political 
matters  is  a  decision  in  support  of 
Israel’s  oppression  of  the  Palestinians, 
because  it  implies  that  all  is  well  when 
it  most  certainly  is  not. 

The  term  “Holy  Land”  is  pushed 
very  hard  by  the  Israeli  government 
in  inviting  Christian  clergy  to  visit 
and  to  lead  tours.  Every  visitor  who 
shines  up  the  museum  image  of  a  land 
of  spiritual  nostalgia  helps  to  direct 
the  focus  away  from  the  responsibility 
of  that  government  to  provide  and  pro¬ 
tect  human  rights. 

I  feel  constrained  to  emphasize 
what  Mr.  Corcoran  mentioned: 
Christians  are  vanishing  from  the  land 
where  their  faith — our  faith — was 
born.  Their  numbers  now  constitute 
a  very  small  fraction  of  what  they  were 
just  a  few  years  ago.  Some  of  their  fam¬ 
ilies  may  have  embraced  Christianity  at 
the  very  time  that  holy  history  was  tak¬ 
ing  place.  They  are  not  the  strangers, 
the  outsiders;  they  are  the  natives,  and 


more  truly  a  part  of  that  land  than 
those  who  rule  them  now. 

Thomas  F  Kepler  (’58B) 

Arlington,  Massachusetts 

Editor’s  note:  The  Class  of  1992 
recently  returned  from  PTS’s  second 
alumni/ae  trip  to  the  Middle  East.  On 
this  trip,  participants  met  with  a  pastor 
of  a  Palestinian  Christian  church  in 
Bethlehem,  who  spoke  with  the  group 
about  the  situation  of  Palestianian 
Christians  both  historically  and  in  pre¬ 
sent-day  Israel.  They  also  visited  a 
Scottish  hospice  crafi  shop  in  Jerusalem, 
where  they  were  able  to  buy  crafis  from 
Palestinian  self-help  groups  located  on 
the  West  Bank  and  Gaza,  areas  which 
are  still  not  accessible  despite  the  peace 
process. 

In  Memory  of  Willa  Baechlin 
Roghair 

I  appreciate  the  reprint  of  the  trib¬ 
ute  in  memory  of  Willa  Baechlin 
Roghair  in  the  fall  1996  inSpire.  The 
copy  landed  on  my  desk  while  I  was 
writing  a  paper  to  present  at  Columbia 
Seminary  in  Atlanta,  Georgia,  during 
a  consultation  on  Partnership  of 
Women  and  Men  in  God’s  Mission, 
jointly  sponsored  by  WARC  [World 
Alliance  of  Reformed  Churches]  and 
CANAAC  [Caribbean  and  North 
American  Area  Council]. 

I  joined  WARC  as  the  staff  person 
on  Women  and  Men  in  Partnership 
(a  new  WARC  program)  after  graduat¬ 
ing  from  PTS  in  1992.  Jane  Dempsey 
Douglass  is  the  moderator  of  this  com¬ 
mittee.  During  the  last  four  and  a  half 
years  I  have  been  in  this  position, 

I  have  encountered  many  women  who 
have  “torn  their  diplomas,”  if  I  can 
use  these  words  metaphorically,  myself 
included!  I  plan  to  use  this  article  in 
the  consultation  as  an  illustration. 

In  light  of  women’s  experiences 
of  rejection  and  frustration  in  the  min¬ 
istry,  WARC’s  Twenty-third  General 
Council  theme,  “Break  the  Chains  of 


2  •  inSpire 


spring  1997 


Injustice”  (Isaiah  58:6),  has  given  me 
many  sleepless  nights!  The  chains  are 
just  too  many,  especially  in  the  South 
(two  thirds  of  WARC  member  church¬ 
es  are  in  the  South,  the  region  formerly 
referred  to  as  the  Third  World),  where 
women  do  not  have  opportunities 
for  rigorous  theological  and  biblical 
reflections.  I  greatly  appreciate  that 
Princeton  gave  me  the  opportunity 
to  undertake  my  theological  studies. 

Today  I  struggle  day  and  night  to 
see  that  more  women  in  the  ministry 
in  the  South  have  similar  opportuni¬ 
ties.  It  is  my  prayer  and  hope  that  suc¬ 
ceeding  generations  in  the  ordained 
ministry  will  carry  on  the  pioneering 
work  of  women  so  committed  despite 
the  frustrations. 

Many  thanks  for  your  good  work 
of  keeping  us  updated  on  the  life  and 
mission  of  Princeton  Seminary. 
Nyambura  J.  Njoroge  C92D) 

World  Alliance  of  Reformed  Churches 
Geneva,  Switzerland 

On  Science  and  Religion 

Reading  the  article  on  J.  Wentzel 
van  Huyssteen’s  BBC  interview  on 
religious  belief  and  scientific  thinking 
called  to  mind  an  anecdote. 

Robert  Oppenheimer  (Albert 
Einstein’s  successor  at  the  Institute 
for  Advanced  Study  in  Princeton)  gave 
a  lecture.  Following  the  lecture,  he  was 
asked  a  question  to  the  effect  of  what 
the  relation  of  science  and  Christianity 
is.  He,  being  of  the  Jewish  faith, 
answered  to  the  effect  that  he  could 
not  conceive  of  science  without 
Europe,  and  could  not  conceive  of 
Europe  without  the  influence  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

Donald  T.  Jackson  (’60B) 

Fairfax,  Virginia 

Models  of  Faithfulness 

Thank  you  for  your  story  on  the 
life  and  work  of  the  Reverend  Robert 
Crawford  and  of  his  wife,  Barbara. 

My  last  year  at  PTS  I  had  the  privilege 


In  celebration  of  the  fiftieth 
anniversary  of  the  graduation  ol  the 
first  class  of  women  to  receive  the 
Master  of  Religious  Education  degree 
from  Princeton  Seminary,  the  twenty- 
fifth  anniversary  ol  the  Seminary’s 
Women’s  Center,  and  the  fortieth 
anniversary  of  the  ordination  of 
women  to  the  ministry  of  the  Word 
and  Sacrament  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church  (USA),  this  issue  of  inSpire 
features  a  cover  story  on  the  history 
of  women  at  PTS.  In  addition,  many 
of  the  regular  sections  also  highlight 
women  in  ministry. 


of  serving  at  the  Second  English 
Presbyterian  Church  as  my  field  educa¬ 
tion  placement,  where  I  learned  from 
Bob  and  Barbara  a  great  deal  about 
faithfulness  and  ministry,  not  just  to 
the  church  but  to  the  entire  communi¬ 
ty.  They  welcomed  me  into  their  home 
every  Sunday  as  though  I  were  part  of 
the  family,  and  I  discovered  during 
the  course  of  the  year  that  the  warmth 
of  that  welcome  extended  far  beyond 
hungry  seminary  students!  To  my 
mind  they  model  the  faithful  Christian 
life,  for  they  are  bearers  of  the  light 
of  Christ  to  all  whom  they  encounter. 
Jacqueline  Lapsley  (’94B) 

Decatur,  Georgia 

Seeking  Spiritual  Guidance 

The  fall  1996  issue  of  inSpire 
features  Ingrid  Meyer’s  fine  “The 
Life  of  the  Mind,  the  Life  of  the 
Heart,”  under  the  categorical  title 
“Spirituality,”  and  states  that  “many 
students  report  feeling  unhappily 
distant  from  God.” 

It  was  very  much  that  feeling 
which  haunted  me  into  leaving  my 
PTS  studies  during  my  middler  year’s 
Yuletide  exams  (1958)  and  spending 
the  next  twenty-five  years  trying 
to  find  out  how  to  close  the  gap. 

I  finally  did  that  in  1983  by  fol¬ 
lowing  the  simple  instructions  found 


in  a  small  book  written  by  a  minister. 
While  serving  in  the  Korean  War,  he’d 
discovered  an  ancient  and  easy  way 
to  at  least  attempt  to  contact,  and 
ask  feedback  from,  one’s  spirit  guides. 
Sit  alone  in  a  darkened  place;  pray 
for  God’s  protection.  Then  with  eyes 
open,  request  spirit-guide  contact. 

Be  quietly  expectant  and  patient.  You 
may  make  contact  that  leads  to  any  of 
a  variety  of  manifestations:  semblances 
of  familiar  objects,  sounds,  voices,  a 
flashing  light  (such  as  I  experienced), 
or  even  partial  or  full  appearances  by 
guides  or  others.  “Answer”  or  no,  give 
thanks. 

That  book  was  borrowed  from  me 
and  lost.  And  I’ve  forgotten  both  title 
and  author’s  name.  I  suppose  it  should 
be  in  some  library  computer  files. 

A  woman  of  faith  who,  pondering 
whether  to  abandon  her  problematical 
but  terminally  ill  husband,  slipped  into 
an  asking  mode  and,  having  the  pres¬ 
ence  of  the  Lord  himself  on  her  mind, 
suddenly  was  visited  by  Jesus.  He  sim¬ 
ply  walked  in  (seemingly  in  the  flesh) 
and  sat  down  and  asked  her  to  stay 
on.  She  did.  We  can’t  all  expect  the 
Lord  to  visit  personally,  but  God  does 
allow  us  spirit  guides. 

I  have  in  mind  the  importance 
of  inSpire  seeking  and  accepting  mater¬ 
ial  by  “dropouts”  of  all  sorts.  Future 
plans  are  best  laid  when  they  are  based 
on  all  the  wisdom  of  the  past. 

George  Rowland  (’60b) 

Park  Ridge,  New  Jersey 

Please  write  —  we  love  to  hear  from  you! 

We  welcome  correspondence  from  our 
readers,  and  enjoy  getting  feedback — both 
positive  and  negative! — on  the  content 
and  format  of  inSpire.  Letters  should  be 
addressed  to: 

Editors,  inSpire 

Office  of  Communications/Publications 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary 
P.O.  Box  821 

Princeton,  NJ  08542-0803 
email:  inspire@ptsmail.ptsem.edu 
Letters  may  be  edited  for  length  or  clarity, 
and  should  include  the  writer's  name  and 
telephone  numbers,  so  that  we  may  verify 
authorship. 


inSpire  •  3 


spring  1997 


on&off  Campus 


David  M.  Carlson,  a  PTS  middler,  designed  the  cover  of  the  concert 
program  for  the  Weadon  Memorial  Concert.  He  won  a  juried  art  exhibit 
of  works  created  by  members  of  the  Seminary  community  to  illustrate 
the  concert's  theme — "Out  of  the  Depths." 


Concert  Honors  David  A.  Weadon 

On  a  spring  evening  in  April,  the  Seminary  community  gathered 
in  Miller  Chapel  for  a  memorial  concert,  "Out  of  the  Depths: 

Songs  of  Grace,  Songs  of  Woe,"  honoring  David  A.  Weadon,  the 
late  C.F.  Seabrook  Director  of  Music  and  organist  at  PTS.  More  than 
250  people  heard  the  Seminary  choirs,  directed  by  Martin  Tel,  the 
current  director  of  music  and  organist,  sing  John  Rutter's  Requiem 
and  J.S.  Bach's  Cantata  #38,  Aus  defer  Not. 

Weadon,  who  died  in  December  1995,  had  conducted  the  Rutter 
Requiem  at  Brick  Presbyterian  Church  in  New  York  City  in  1989  for 
the  benefit  of  the  AIDS  Child  Center,  a  home  for  abandoned  AIDS 
babies.  "Knowing  how  important  the  work  of  the  AIDS  Child  Center 
was  to  David,"  said  Tel,  "it  seemed  a  very  fitting  tribute  to  feature 
this  work  in  the  first  memorial  concert." 

Angela  Dienhart  Hancock,  a  1996  M.Div.  graduate  of  PTS  and 
the  recipient  of  the  first  David  A.  Weadon  Prize  in  Sacred  Music, 
sang  the  soprano  solos  in  the  Requiem.  Both  she  and  her  husband, 
Trent  (with  whom  she  is  co-pastor  of  the  McConnellsburg  Presby¬ 
terian  Church  in  central  Pennsylvania),  had  been  members  of  the 
Touring  Choir  while  students. 

The  concert  was  made  possible  by  a  fund  established  by 
Dr.  David  A.  MacPeek  in  cooperation  with  Princeton  Seminary 
to  provide  for  an  annual  concert  of  sacred  music  in  memory  of 
David  Weadon.  Those  interested  in  contributing  to  the  fund  should 
contact  Vice  President  for  Seminary  Relations  Fred  W.  Cassell. 


Rare  Book,  Hodge  Letters,  and  Eating  Club  Cup  Are  Archive  Gifts 


Princeton  Seminary's  archives  were  enriched  recently  by  gifts 
from  PTS  alumna  Jean  MacDonald  Rea  ('79B)  and  Mrs.  Wistar 
MacLaren,  a  descendent  of  Hugh  Lenox  Hodge,  Charles  Hodge's 
brother. 

Rea  gave  the  Seminary  a  1910  Friar's  Club  drinking  mug 
and  a  copy  of  The  Missionary  Labors  of  William  and  Mary  Ann 
Alexander  in  Hawaii,  1831,  both  of  which  belonged  to  her  grandfa¬ 
ther,  Raymond  Chester  Walker  ('10B).  The  gifts  were  made  on 
behalf  of  Tillie  Walker  MacDonald  of  Brewster,  MA,  who  was  Rea's 
mother  (and  Walker's  daughter). 

MacLaren  gave  the  Seminary  a  shoebox  full  of  letters  written 
to  Charles  Hodge  between  1830  and  1877,  the  year  of  his  death. 
Hodge  was  the  Seminary's  third  professor  and  an  important  nine¬ 
teenth-century  Reformed  theologian  in  America. 

The  mug  bears  the  Princeton  Seminary  shield,  and  is  the  first 
item  of  its  kind  to  be  owned  by  the  Seminary  archives,  Director 
of  Archives  and  Special  Collections  William  O.  Harris  said.  "I  have 
never  even  seen  anything  like  this  before,"  he  added.  Walker  was 
a  member  of  the  Friar  Club,  one  of  several  eating  clubs  for 
Princeton  students,  during  his  seminary  years. 

The  book  about  the  Alexanders  was  given  to  Walker  at  its  1934 
publishing  because  he  was  the  pastor  of  Market  Square  Presbyter¬ 
ian  Church  in  Harrisburg,  PA.  That  church  supported  the  Alexanders 
through  their  missionary  service. 

"That  book  is  a  very  valuable  record  of  early  Presbyterian  mis¬ 
sionaries  to  Hawaii.  It  is  quite  rare,  because  the  family's  descen- 
dents  only  printed  one  hundred  copies  of  this  diary,  for  the  use 
of  the  family,"  Harris  said.  "Because  of  Mrs.  MacDonald's  gift  of 
her  father's  copy,  the  Seminary  library  is  one  of  the  few  libraries 
anywhere  which  now  has  a  copy." 

Among  the  Hodge  letters  donated  by  Mrs.  MacLaren  is  one 
from  his  son  Alexander  written  from  India  where  he  was  a  mission¬ 
ary.  Another  came  from  his  brother  in  Philadelphia,  a  physician 
who  was  one  of  the  first  gynecologists  in  the  United  States. 


Jean  MacDonald  Rea  ('79B)  holds  the  book  and  mug  she  recently 
gave  the  Seminary  archives. 


4  •  inSpire 


photo:  Carolyn  Herring 


spring  1997 


on&off  Campus 


Visitors  from  the  West 

PTS  welcomed  two  alumni-in-residence 
from  the  western  half  of  the  country  this 
spring.  In  March,  Gary  F.  Skinner,  Class  of 
1962  (M.Div.),  returned  to  campus  to  talk 
with  students  about  his  work  in  church 
administration.  He  serves  as  synod  execu¬ 
tive  in  the  Synod  of  Alaska-Northwest,  and 
was  previously  an  executive  in  Chicago 
Presbytery  and  in  the  Synod  of  the 
Southwest. 

Floyd  Thompkins,  Class  of  1987  (M.Div.), 
spent  a  week  in  April  with  Princeton  semi¬ 
narians,  sharing  his  work  as  a  campus 
chaplain,  first  at  Princeton  University  and 
then  at  Stanford.  Thompkins  has  recently 
left  Stanford  to  become  pastor  of  Antioch 
Baptist  Church  in  San  Jose,  CA. 


The  Alumni/ae-in-Residence  Program 
brings  alums  to  campus  every  year  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Alumni/ae  Association 
Executive  Council  to  talk  with  students 
about  various  ministries  in  the  church. 


Faculty  Accolades 

David  Willis  ('57B),  the  Charles  Hodge  Professor  of  System¬ 
atic  Theology,  received  an  honorary  doctorate  from  Karoli 
Gaspar  Reformed  University  of  Budapest,  Hungary,  last 
November.  Willis  has  been  a  member  of  the  "College  of 
Theologians"  of  the  Debregen  (Hungary)  Theological  Faculty 
since  1978,  and  is,  he  says,  "happy  to  be  honored  as  a  further 
recognition  of  the  special  ties  between  Princeton  and  Reformed 
Hungarian  theological  education." 

Associate  Professor  of  Medieval  Church  History  Paul  Rorem 
('73b,  80D)  has  been  named  editor  of  Lutheran  Quarterly, 
a  research  journal  of  Lutheran  history  and  theology  with  one 
thousand  subscribers.  The  journal's  goal,  according  to  Rorem, 
is  "to  provide  a  forum  for  the  discussion  of  Christian  faith 
and  life  on  the  basis  of  the  Lutheran  confession."  As  the  new 
editor,  Rorem  plans  an  upcoming  series  of  brief  articles  on 
hymns  by  Martin  Luther.  Alumni/ae  and  others  may  subscribe 
to  the  journal  by  calling  1-800-555-3813. 

The  Society  of  Biblical  Literature  (SBL),  an  organization  of 
approximately  6500  scholars  committed  to  the  academic  study 
of  the  Bible,  named  Princeton's  Pat  Miller  as  president-elect 
at  its  fall  meeting  in  New  Orleans,  LA.  Miller,  the  Charles 
T.  Haley  Professor  of  Old  Testament  Theology  at  PTS,  will 
become  president  of  SBL  in  1998.  While  he  affirms  SBL's  con¬ 
tinuing  commitment  to  broad  scholarship  and  the  development 
of  interest  groups  on  many  topics,  Miller  considers  especially 
significant  "the  movement  of  Hispanic,  Asian  American,  and 
African  American  scholars  to  the  front  ranks  of  the  society, 
and  their  creation  of  groups  that  will  focus  on  the  relation  of 
the  study  of  Scripture  to  their  experience."  He  also  hopes  the 
SBL  will  be  increasingly  attentive  to  the  ways  biblical  scholar¬ 
ship  contributes  to  the  life  of  the  church  and  the  larger  society. 

At  last  fall's  meeting  of  the  American  Academy  of  Religion 
(AAR),  which  meets  in  conjunction  with  the  SBL,  another 
Princeton  professor  was  honored.  Peter  Paris,  the  Seminary's 
Elmer  G.  Homrighausen  Professor  of  Christian  Social  Ethics, 
who  was  unable  to  give  his  presidential  address  in  1995 
(when  he  was  AAR's  president)  because  of  the  death  of  his 
wife,  gave  a  special  plenary  lecture  on  "The  Soul  of  Black 
Religion:  A  Lesson  for  the  Academy."  His  words  were  received 
with  a  standing  ovation  from  his  colleagues. 

Nancy  J.  Duff,  associate  professor  of  theological  ethics, 
testified  in  Washington,  D.C.,  in  March  on  the  subject  of  human 
cloning  before  President  Clinton's  National  Bioethics  Advisory 
Commission.  Clinton  created  the  commission,  chaired  by 
Princeton  University  president  Harold  Shapiro,  after  a  Scottish 
researcher  successfully  cloned  an  adult  sheep.  Duff  called 


for  a  moratorium  on  human  cloning  research,  warning  that  "society 
has  yet  to  come  to  a  consensus  on  how  to  deal  with  the  moral 
and  ethical  issues  of  adoption,  let  alone  something  as  complicated 
as  cloning."  Duff  also  wrote  an  editorial  on  cloning  titled  "We 
Should  Guard  against  Playing  God"  for  The  Washington  Post. 

PTS  Associate  Professor  of  Homiletics  and  Liturgies  James  F. 

Kay  is  just  back  from  Scotland,  where  he  delivered  the  Forrester- 
Warrack  Lecture  on  Preaching  at  St.  Andrews  University  and 
preached  from  John  Knox's  pulpit  in  St.  Salvator's  Chapel. 

James  H.  Moorhead  ('7 1 B),  Princeton's  Mary  McIntosh  Bridge 
Professor  of  American  Church  History,  has  been  named  editor 
of  the  Journal  of  American  History,  the  journal  of  the  Department 
of  History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  (USA).  The  periodical,  which 
began  publication  in  1901,  is  the  oldest  denominational  historical 
journal  in  the  country.  It  has  a  circulation  of  2,500. 

Charles  A.  Ryerson  spent  the  summer  of  1996  in  India,  where 
he  supervised  two  PTS  students  in  their  field  work  and  gave  the 
keynote  address  at  a  conference  on  the  influence  of  theological 
education  on  new  patterns  of  mission  and  evangelism  in  India. 

He  was  also  awarded  an  honorary  doctorate  by  the  Academy 
of  Ecumenical  Christian  Theology  centered  in  Madras,  India,  and 
traveled  to  Thailand,  where  he  visited  a  Buddhist/Christian  joint 
program  in  AIDS  counseling. 

Sang  Hyun  Lee,  Princeton's  Kyung-Chik  Han  Professor 
of  Systematic  Theology,  has  been  invited  to  be  a  member  of  the 
editorial  board  of  the  Yale  edition  of  the  works  of  Jonathan 
Edwards.  The  board  is  a  group  of  fifteen  scholars  from  around 
the  country  that  oversees  the  publication  of  Yale  University  Press's 
critical  edition  of  the  entire  works  of  Edwards.  Thirteen  volumes 
are  already  in  print.  Lee  was  also  recently  commissioned  by  the 
board  to  edit  the  volume  of  Edwards's  shorter  theological  writings, 
including  essays  on  the  Trinity,  grace,  and  faith. 

And  finally,  Choon-Leong  Seow  ('80B),  Princeton's  Henry 
Snyder  Gehman  Professor  of  Old  Testament  Language  and 
Literature,  has  received  two  coveted  awards  that  will  support 
his  work  on  two  books  during  a  1997-1998  sabbatical  year.  He  was 
selected  as  one  of  eight  national  Henry  Luce  III  Fellows  in  Theology 
by  the  Association  of  Theological  Schools  in  the  United  States 
and  Canada,  and  he  was  named  a  member  of  the  Institute  for 
Advanced  Study,  the  School  of  Social  Sciences,  in  Princeton. 

These  grants  will  allow  Seow  to  devote  an  entire  year  to  research 
and  study  on  the  Book  of  Ecclesiastes,  looking  at  both  its  social 
and  its  historical  contexts.  He  says  he  hopes  to  "rehabilitate 
'the  Preacher'  in  Ecclesiastes,  offering  a  fresh  look  at  one  of  the 
most  marginalized  books  in  the  Bible,  placing  it  in  the  mainstream 
of  biblical  theology,  and  making  it  a  resource  for  the  church." 


inSpire  •  5 


'‘POOj 


photo:  The  Leigh  Photographic  Group 


spring  1997 


on&off  Campus 

Local  Hotel  Names  Ballroom  for  PTS  Founder 


Nineteenth-century  Scottish  Presbyterians  weren't  exactly 
known  for  their  funloving  natures.  But  hotel  guests  at  the 
Forrestal  at  Princeton  will  be  dancing  the  nights  away  in  a  ball¬ 
room  named  for  Archibald  Alexander,  who  founded  and  was 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary's  first  professor. 

The  newly  renovated  ballroom  comes  at  a  time  when  the 
hotel  has  just  finished  a  major  renovation,  changing  their 
decoration  style  from  spare  Scandinavian  to  the  more  cozy 
Arts  and  Crafts.  The  ballroom  is  one  of  several  rooms  named 
to  honor  historic  Princeton  residents, 

Alexander,  who  lived  from  1772  to  1851,  organized  the 
Seminary  and  taught  its  full  course  of  instruction.  He  spent 
thirty-nine  years  there  and,  Forrestal  noted,  "put  the  stamp 
of  his  scholarly  attainments  and  his  fervent  piety  upon  the 
whole  life  of  the  Seminary,  an  influence  that  guides  the 
Seminary  to  this  day." 


PTS  Receives  Lilly  Grant  To  Explore  Use  of  Technology 
in  Teaching  and  Learning 

The  Lilly  Endowment  has  selected  Princeton  Theological  Semi¬ 
nary  as  one  of  thirty  theological  schools  to  participate  in  a  $6.8 
million  program  to  increase  and  maximize  their  technological  capa¬ 
bilities  for  teaching  and  learning.  Princeton  received  a  $10,000  plan¬ 
ning  grant  to  prepare  a  proposal  for  consideration  for  a  $200,000 
implementation  grant  later  this  year. 

The  Lilly-funded  program  aims  to  encourage  cooperation  among 
librarians,  faculty  members,  computer  technicians,  media  special¬ 
ists,  and  administrators  to  develop  new  ways  to  enhance  theologi¬ 
cal  education.  Craig  Dykstra,  Lilly's  vice  president  for  religion 
and  1973  PTS  M.  Div.  graduate,  acknowledged  that  many  schools 
have  the  technology  in  place,  but  must  learn  "how  to  integrate 
this  new  technology  to  serve  the  central  mission  of  the  seminary — 
namely,  teaching  and  learning." 


PTS  To  Host  Major  Symposiums  in  1997-1998 

The  1997-1998  academic  year  will  bring  theologians, 
biblical  scholars,  and  historians  from  around  the  world 
to  the  campus  for  three  major  symposiums. 

•  Charles  Hodge  Revisited:  A  Critical  Appraisal — a  sym¬ 
posium  on  the  two-hundredth  anniversary  of  Hodge's 
birth,  co-sponsored  by  the  Seminary  and  the  Center 
for  the  Study  of  American  Religions  at  Princeton 
University 

October  22-24,  1997 

•  Dead  Sea  Scrolls  Jubilee  Symposium — a  symposium 
celebrating  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  discovery 
of  Qumran  Cave  I,  sponsored  by  the  Seminary's 
Department  of  Biblical  Studies 

November  9-12.  1997 

•  A  Consultation  on  Abraham  Kuyper — a  consultation 
to  evaluate  the  life  and  thought  of  Dutch  theologian 
and  statesman  Abraham  Kuyper,  co-sponsored  by 
the  Seminary,  the  Free  University  of  Amsterdam, 
and  the  Center  for  Public  Justice  in  Washington,  D.C. 
February  25-28,  1998 


A  Sweet  Role  Reversal! 

In  1970,  several  male  students  at  PTS  (including  now-PTS- 
professor  Paul  Rorem)  began  what  they  called  the  Women's 
Center  Men's  Auxiliary  Annual  Bake  Sale  to  help  support 
the  Women's  Center.  This  year,  continuing  in  that  fine  tradi¬ 
tion,  male  students,  including  Charles  Franklin  Tate,  shown 
here  with  his  homemade  pie,  sold  baked  goods  on  Valentine's 
Day  to  raise  money  for  the  no-longer-silent-in-the-churches 
gender! 


6  *  inSpire 


photo:  Chris  Floor 


spring  1997 


on&off  Campus 


Princeton  Alum  Interviewed  on  NBC  Dateline 

NBC  Dateline,  a  primetime  tv  news  journal  program,  filmed  a  segment 
on  the  Princeton  Seminary  campus  this  spring.  Above,  Dateline  corre¬ 
spondent  Len  Cannon  (left)  interviews  PTS  alumnus  Jim  McCloskey 
about  his  work  freeing  innocent  prisoners  through  Centurion  Ministries. 
The  program  will  air  in  May  or  June. 


The  presses  are  rolling,  and  books  by  Princeton  Seminary  faculty 
are  at  your  local  bookstore.  They  include: 

Ecclesiastes:  A  Commentary,  by  Choon-Leong  Seow,  the  Henry 
Snyder  Gehman  Professor  Old  Testament  Language  and  Literature. 
Doubleday. 

Covenant  and  Commitments:  Faith,  Family,  and  Economic  Life, 
by  Max  Stackhouse,  the  Stephen  Colwell  Professor  of 
Christian  Ethics.  Westminster/John  Knox  Press. 

Preaching  As  Local  Theology,  by 
Leonora  Tubbs  Tisdale,  associate  profes¬ 
sor  of  preaching  and  worship.  Augsburg 
Fortress  Press. 

Women,  Gender,  and  Christian 
Community,  edited  by  Jane  Dempsey 
Douglass,  the  Hazel  Thompson  McCord 
Professor  of  Historical  Theology,  and  James 
F.  Kay,  associate  professor  of  homiletics  and 
liturgies.  Westminster/John  Knox  Press. 

These  books  are  also  available  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary's  Theological 
Book  Agency  (TBA). 


PCUSA  Moderator  Visits  Campus 

The  Rev.  Dr.  John  M. 

Buchanan,  moderator  of  the 
208th  General  Assembly  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  (USA), 
visited  the  Seminary  campus 
on  March  25  to  preach  in  chapel 
and  speak  with  Presbyterian 
students  and  members  of  the 
faculty  and  administrative  staff. 

He  called  the  faculty,  and  their 
colleagues  who  teach  at  the 
other  Presbyterian  seminaries, 
"treasures  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church"  who  provide  an  impor¬ 
tant  theological  resource  in 
the  way  they  model  discourse 
and  address  controversy. 

"I  have  enormous  confidence 
in  the  seminaries'  ability  to  help  people  in  the  church  learn  to  love 
one  another  and  stay  together  while  disagreeing  and  holding  stren¬ 
uous  theological  debate,"  he  said. 

Along  this  line,  Buchanan  proposed  that  a  panel  of  scholars  meet 
in  conjunction  with  the  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  for  a  peri¬ 
od  of  theological  reflection  on  the  Assembly  itself.  He  also  suggest¬ 
ed  that  local  churches  might  invite  seminary  professors  to  be  schol- 
ars-in-residence.  "Professors  on  sabbatical  could  actually  live  in 
a  church  community,"  he  explained,  "be  auxiliary  members  of  the 
staff,  and  teach  classes  in  adult  education." 


Princeton  Faculty  Join  in  Second  Book  on  Issues 
Facing  the  Church 

PTS  faculty  members  have  joined  in  the  second  volume  of 
essays  in  as  many  years  to  address  issues  in  the  wider  church 
community.  Women,  Gender,  and  Christian  Community,  edited 
by  Jane  Dempsey  Douglass  and  James  F.  Kay  and  published 
in  March  by  Westminster/John  Knox  Press,  includes  essays 
by  thirteen  Princeton  scholars  about  gender  issues  as  they 
relate  to  faith.  It's  format  is  similar  to  Choon-Leong  Seow's 
Homosexuality  and  Christian  Community,  published  last  year. 

The  book  intends  to  encourage  conversation  between 
women  and  men  about  key  gender  issues  in  the  church. 

It  addresses  questions  like  these:  Does  the  Bible  truly  speak 
good  news  to  women?  If  God  is  spirit,  and  neither  male  nor 
female,  why  has  the  church  insisted  on  referring  to  God  with 
male  pronouns  and  male  images?  Does  the  Bible  use  female 
images  for  God?  Can  a  spirituality  developed 
by  men  out  of  their  experience  nourish  the  lives 
of  women? 

Seminary  faculty  who  have  written  essays 
for  the  book  are  Patrick  Miller,  Katharine  Doob 
Sakenfeld,  Kathleen  McVey,  Paul  Rorem,  Choon- 
Leong  Seow,  Nancy  Duff,  David  Willis,  Leonora 
Tubbs  Tisdale,  Janet  Weathers,  Carol  Lakey 
Hess,  Donald  Capps,  Douglass,  and  Kay. 

"The  authors  reflect  differing  approaches 
to  theology  and  to  gender  questions,"  says 
Kay.  "But  we  all  share  a  commitment  to 
a  vision  of  the  church  where  women  as  well 
as  men  can  be  full  participants.  We  also  offer 
these  essays  as  an  expression  of  solidarity 
with  women  around  the  globe." 


inSpire  •  7 


photo:  Elizabeth  Clark 


spring  1997 


Student  Life 


As  if  starting  seminary  weren’t  enough 
work,  two  months  after  La  Verne  Gill 
began  the  PTS  M.Div.  program  in  1994, 
Rutgers  University  Press  contracted  with 
her  to  write  a  book  on  the  African 
American  women  of  the  U.S.  Congress. 

“I  had  finally  found  the  courage  to  fol¬ 
low  my  call  to  ministry  back  into  school, 
twenty-five  years  after  I  graduated  from 
Howard  University,”  she  laughs.  “I  was  an 
M.  Div.  junior  at  Princeton  writing  five 
papers  a  week  and  I  felt  about  a  million 
years  old,  and  they  wanted  me  to  write 
a  book!” 

But  because  her  career  as  a  print  and 
radio  journalist  in  Washington,  D.C.,  and 
as  a  Senate  staff  person  on  Capitol  Hill 
had  introduced  her  to  most  of  the  fifteen 
black  congresswomen,  Gill  seemed  to  be 
a  natural  choice  to  chronicle  their  careers. 
“I  decided  the  book  was  a  calling,  too, 
so  1  started  writing  during  my  second 
semester  at  PTS,”  she  says. 

She  didn’t  have  to  start  from  scratch. 
While  in  Washington,  she  had  produced 

8  •  inSpire 


a  public  radio  special  titled  “The  Talented 
Ten:  African  American  Women  in  the 
103rd  Congress.” 

“I  remember  being  up  on  the  Hill  one 
day  and  I  saw  all  of  these  black  women 
coming  into  the  chamber,”  she  recalls. 
“There  was  no  play  in  the  media,  no 
attention  paid  to  them.  So  I  went  home 
and  wrote  a  proposal  to  do  the  public 
radio  piece.  In  1994  it  was  picked  up 
and  aired  on  more  than  120  stations 
nationwide.” 

That  program  provided  the  seeds  for 
the  book.  During  the  spring  of  1994  and 
through  1993,  Gill  listened  to  her  taped 
interviews,  visited  some  of  the  women 
again,  and  interviewed  Sheila  Jackson- 
Lee,  who  had  been  elected  in  1995  to 
the  104th  Congress  from  Texas,  too  late 
to  be  featured  on  the  radio  program. She 
began  writing  in  the  summer  of  1995. 

“1  was  fortunate  to  be  able  to  accompany 
my  husband,  who  is  a  mathematician  and 
a  physicist,  to  Kiev  in  the  Ukraine,  and 
to  southern  Italy  that  summer,”  she  says. 


While  he  did  research  and  fulfilled 
speaking  engagements,  she  holed  up  in 
hotel  rooms  with  her  computer,  including 
a  several-week  writing  interlude  in  a 
castle  room  with  a  view  near  Naples. 

After  months  of  editing  and  revising 
back  in  Princeton,  Gill  received  the 
author’s  copy  of  African  American  Women 
in  Congress:  Forming  and  Transforming 
History  in  January  1997. 

“When  I  got  the  first  copy,  my  main 
feeling  was  relief,”  she  says.  “Then  I  began 
to  enjoy  the  feeling  of  being  an  author 
and  making  a  contribution  to  African 
American  history  and  to  the  political  his¬ 
tory  of  this  country.” 

The  fifteen  women  Gill  profiled,  begin¬ 
ning  with  Shirley  Chisholm  of  New  York 
(who  was  sworn  in  as  the  nation’s  first 
black  congresswoman  in  1969)  and  ending 
with  Jackson-Lee,  represent  for  Gill  the 
“heirs  apparent  to  the  struggle  waged 
by  black  women  for  almost  four  hundred 
years.”  African  American  women  played 
an  integral  part  in  the  abolitionist,  suf¬ 
frage,  and  civil  rights  movements,  and  yet 
remained  largely  invisible.  That  invisibility, 
Gill  believes,  resulted  from  an  American 
assumption  that  understood  African 
American  progress  as  male  and  feminist 
progress  as  white.  Up  until  1996  (the 
104th  Congress),  of  the  172  women  who 
have  served  in  Congress,  only  fifteen  have 
been  African  American.  Three  additional 
black  women  were  elected  to  the  105th 
Congress. 

Though  few  in  number,  the  women 
in  Gill’s  book  represent  a  rich  palette 
of  diverse  talents  and  backgrounds.  A  third 
of  them  are  lawyers;  one  had  been  a  nurse, 
two  were  college  administrators,  and  the 
rest  were  school  teachers  or  social  workers. 
Their  ages  when  they  began  their  first 
terms  ranged  from  thirty-six  to  sixty-six. 

All  were  Democrats  whom  Gill  describes 
as  “womanist  politicians  with  interests 
in  the  eradication  of  sexism,  racism,  and 
classism.” 

But  it  was  the  religious  and  spiritual 
grounding  of  these  leaders  that  interested 
Gill  most. 


Student  Life 


spring  1997 


“Many  of  the  women  acknowledged 
their  spiritual  grounding  when  I  inter¬ 
viewed  them,”  she  says.  “Shirley 
Chisholm,  raised  witih  a  strict  religious 
background,  described  her  religious 
background  as  part  of  her  decision  to 
enter  politics.  Eva  McPherson  Clayton 
[elected  to  the  House  in  1993  from  North 
Carolina]  started  out  wanting  to  be  a  mis¬ 
sionary  doctor  for  the  Methodist  Church; 
she  later  became  a  Presbyterian.  Barbara 
Jordan  of  Texas  [elected  to  House  in  1973] 
was  brought  up  in  a  strict  Baptist  home. 
But  she  acknowledged  in  her  autobiogra¬ 
phy  that  the  first  time  she  actually  felt  that 
Scripture  could  be  liberating  was  when  she 
heard  Howard  Thurman  speak  while  she 
was  in  law  school  at  Boston  University.” 

This  strand  of  spirituality  within  social 
and  political  ethics  is  easy  for  Gill  to  relate 
to.  “Social  justice  is  part  of  my  call  to 
ministry,”  she  says,  “as  faith  was  part  of 
theirs  to  politics.  I  want  to  help  change 
the  way  people  see  the  church,  as  they 
changed  the  way  people  saw  political  dia¬ 
logue.  Maybe  a  good  way  to  describe  it 
is  that  we  want  to  pull  people  out  of  the 
comfort  zone.” 

African  American  Women  in  Congress 
will  not  be  Gill’s  last  book.  She  is  already 
researching  a  second  one,  on  images 
of  African  women  in  the  Bible,  theology, 
and  the  pulpit. 

But  writing,  while  satisfying,  is  not 
her  primary  calling.  She  wants  to  take 
up  a  ministry  of  helping  people  who  have 
left  the  church  find  their  way  back. 

“I’ve  thought  of  starting  a  ‘Gospel  cafe,”’ 
she  says,  “a  place  where  people  can  meet, 
have  a  cup  of  coffee,  ask  questions,  and 
talk  about  issues  of  faith.  It  would  be  sort 
of  a  way  station  for  spiritual  travelers.” 

Although  her  own  spiritual  travels 
have  taken  her  from  the  halls  of  Congress 
to  the  set  of  a  radio  talk  show,  Gill  is  sure 
that  God  has  always  wanted  her  to  end 
up  in  ministry.  Now  a  candidate  for  ordi¬ 
nation  in  the  United  Church  of  Christ 
and  a  brand-new  Princeton  graduate,  she 
is  poised  for  the  next  turn  in  the  road.  I 


Not  every  student  is  recognized  by 
a  queen — but  that’s  exactly  what  happened 
to  Princeton  Theological  Seminary  student 
Camilla  Slok  last  year  when  she  entered 
a  contest  sponsored  by  the  University 
of  Copenhagen  in  her  native  Denmark. 

In  the  annual  contest,  each  university 
department  assigns  a  topic  on  which  its 
students  may  write,  with  each  essay  taking 
approximately  a  year  to  research  and  write. 
All  of  the  entrants,  or  none,  may  win 
medals,  depending  on  the  quality  of  their 
work.  Those  who  choose  to  participate  get 
thesis  credit  if  their  work  wins  a  medal, 
but  if  their  work  is  not  recognized  they 
must  spend  another  year  writing  a  new 
thesis  to  satisfy  their  departments’  require¬ 
ments. 

“That  makes  it  a  big  risk,”  Slok  noted. 
She  chose  to  write  an  essay  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  pages  on  the  religious 
philosophical  perspectives  and  conse¬ 
quences  of  German  philosopher  Niklaus 
Luhmann’s  system  theory.  With  the  title 
“Cascades  of  Difference,”  her  paper 
explored  the  meaning  of  the  doctrines 
of  postmodernism,  among  them  how  the 
concept  of  the  Trinity  gives  the  possibility 
for  many  points  of  view,  instead  of  seeing 
the  world  through  a  lens  of  dualism. 

“Kant  criticized  the  idea  that  a  certain 
knowledge  of  God  is  possible,  and  put 


forth  the  idea  of  a  thing,  versus  the  thing 
itself,  which  led  to  the  idea  of  relativism,” 
Slok  said.  “Luhmann  said  that  maybe  rela¬ 
tivism  shouldn’t  be  seen  as  a  problem,  that 
we  can  accept  that  there  are  many  ways 
to  look  at  things.  He  sees  the  concept  of 
the  Trinity  as  a  way  of  seeing  the  world.” 

After  a  year  of  writing,  Slok  received 
word  that  her  essay  had  won  first  prize. 

In  a  ceremony  at  the  University  of 
Copenhagen’s  main  convocation,  Queen 
Margarethe  II  awarded  her  a  solid  gold 
medal.  The  medal  is  embossed  with  an 
image  of  the  Greek  goddess  of  wisdom, 
Athena,  pouring  water  into  a  fountain 
while  accompanied  by  her  favorite  bird, 
the  owl. 

A  Th.M.  student  at  PTS,  Slok  is  study¬ 
ing  pastoral  couseling.  She  plans  to  go 
back  to  Denmark  this  coming  August, 
to  begin  earning  a  Ph.D.  in  the  Lutheran 
theology  of  counseling  at  the  University 
of  Copenhagen.  She  ultimately  plans 
to  become  a  pastor  in  the  Danish  National 
Lutheran  Church. 

“The  Danish  church  has  an  interest 
in  counseling,  and  many  people  are  inter¬ 
ested  in  being  counseled  by  the  church, 
but  counseling  is  not  part  of  clergy’s  edu¬ 
cation.  I  want  to  see  how  theology  can 
be  used  to  help  people,”  Slok  said.  I 


inSpire  •  9 


spring  1997 


Telling  the  Nations 

A  PTS  Professor's  Thoughts  on  Evangelism  for  a  New  Century 


by  John  W.  Stewart 

Salvador,  a  seacoast  town  in  northeast 
Brazil,  shimmers  with  voices  and  colors  and 
smells.  A  scene  of  almost  infinite  variety, 
it  was  the  ideal  setting  for  last  November’s 
Conference  on  World  Mission  and 
Evangelism,  sponsored  by  the  World  Council 
of  Churches  (WCC)  and  titled  “Called 
to  One  Hope:  The  Gospel  in  Diverse 
Cultures.” 

As  a  PTS  professor  concerned  with  con¬ 
gregational  life  and  witness,  I  left  the  confer¬ 
ence  wondering  how  mainstream  American 
congregations  can  become  wiser  and  more 
effective  in  their  witness  to  the  Gospel.  What 
should  be  the  meaning,  intent,  and  style  of 
evangelism  as  the  century  winds  down? 

The  word  “evangelism”  carries  enough 
baggage  to  intimidate  many  contemporary 
Christians,  with  memories  and  myths  of 
aggressive,  “in  your  face”  confrontations, 
rote  recitations,  and  whining  and  perspiring 
characters  on  television.  There  are  many 
terms  in  the  Christian  tradition  that  don’t 
fit  in  contemporary  society — try  “sin,”  or 
“repentance,”  or  “second  coming.”  Beyond 
troublesome  terms,  however,  what  are 
responsible  expressions  and  programs  of 
evangelism  in  a  pluralistic  world?  The 
question  poses  deep  dilemmas  within  North 
American  Protestantism.  I  suggest  three  chal¬ 
lenges  for  today’s  church. 

The  first  challenge  addresses  the  experi¬ 
ence  of  religion  in  contemporary  American 
culture.  Religions  are  sometimes  said  to 
divide  more  than  unify  a  multicultural  soci¬ 
ety  like  America.  The  politically  correct  and 
pragmatic  resolution  to  this  civil  threat  is 
to  isolate  all  religious  experiences.  For  many, 
this  “privatization”  of  religion  is  now  the 
American  norm.  Just  as  the  “privatization” 
of  personal  income  is  now  the  social  norm, 
the  American  religious  experience  might 
best  be  summarized  as  “don’t  ask,  don’t  tell.” 

A  second  and  perhaps  even  deeper  cul¬ 
tural  convention  is  that  of  postmodernism, 
and  it  poses  a  hindrance  to  the  best  anci 
most  sensitive  of  the  church’s  evangelistic 
efforts.  A  darling  of  academic  thought, 


the  philosophy  of  postmodernism  enforces 
a  virulent  relativism,  where  nothing  is 
absolutely  true.  This  means  that  there  are 
no  neutral  vantage  points  from  which  people 
can  decide  ultimate  questions  about  life’s 
meaning.  As  musician  Leonard  Cohen  sings, 
“Things  are  going  to  slide  in  all  direc¬ 
tions/ Wo  n’t  be  nothing  you  can  measure 
anymore.”  The  phrase  “different  strokes 
for  different  folks”  captures  this  ethos,  as 
does  storyteller  Garrison  Keillor’s  remark 
that  “for  liberals  there  are  no  right  answers, 
just  points  for  sensitivity.” 

In  such  a  secularized  and  suspicious 
milieu,  evangelism  is  more  than  just  intru¬ 
sive  or  arrogant — many  consider  it  danger¬ 
ous.  Many  marginalized  people,  with  long, 
historically  inclined  memories,  fear  linking 
God  with  political  and  social  agendas,  and 
contend  that  evangelization  is  little  more 
than  a  ploy  to  justify  racial,  gender-based, 
political,  and  economic  privilege.  In  the  light 
of  postmodern  assumptions  and  political 
concerns,  many  relegate  religion  to  the 
private  sector  of  human  experience. 

A  third  reason  for  the  dis-ease  asso¬ 
ciated  with  evangelism  is  rooted  in 
America’s  culture  of  professionalization. 

In  Western  society,  many  complex 
questions  are  referred  to  professionals 
lor  answers.  Legal  questions  require 
lawyers,  medical  problems  require  doc¬ 
tors,  and  computer  glitches  require 
technicians.  Similarly,  questions  about 
religious  faith  are  best  referred  to  pro¬ 
fessionals:  the  clergy.  The  great  Roman 
Catholic  scholar  Yves  Congar  remarked 
that,  by  the  late  seventeenth  century, 
the  word  “laity”  had  become  equivalent 
to  the  word  “ignorant.” 

Lurking  beneath  this  professional¬ 
ism  is  the  idea  that  the  church  and  its 
clergy  are  one  and  the  same.  Despite  a 
theological  heritage  that  values  the 
priesthood  of  all  believers  in  Protestant 
circles,  and  despite  the  emphasis  on 
the  church  as  the  people  of  God  in  the 
decrees  of  Vatican  II,  the  dictim  of  “the 


church  is  in  the  bishop”  still  reigns.  A  culture 
of  professionalism  reinforces  this  ancient 
heresy.  When  professional  clergy  and  special¬ 
ized  theologians  are  designated  as  the  sole 
interpreters  and  arbitrators  in  matters  of 
faith,  evangelism  often  becomes  the  job 
of  priests  and  presbyters.  (The  Presbyterian 
Church  (USA)  was  surprised  to  learn 
through  a  survey  that  nearly  two-thirds 
of  its  members  encountered  their  “faith¬ 
forming”  experiences  outside  the  church.) 

Mainline  congregations  must  confront 
these  three  challenges  if  the  church  is  to 
respond  faithfully  to  its  divine  mandate 
to  “go  into  all  the  world  and  make  disciples.” 
How  best  can  the  church  confront  these 
challenges? 

First,  mainline  Protestant  denominations 
must  clarify  their  own  basic,  indispensible 
convictions.  Study  after  study  points  to  an 
erosion  of  confidence  in  Protestant  churches. 
At  the  WCC  conference  in  Brazil,  the  distin¬ 
guished  missionary  Lesslie  Newbigin  chal- 


10  •  inSpire 


spring  1997 


Go  therefore 
and  make 
disciples  of 
all  nations....” 

— Matthew  28:19 


pose  for  them,  we  must  speak 
not  as  their  opponents,  but  as 
their  advocates.”  At  its  1975 
meeting  in  Nairobi,  Kenya, 
the  WCC  declared  that  “the 
Gospel  always  includes  the 
announcement  of  God’s  king¬ 
dom  and  love  through  Jesus 
Christ,  the  offer  of  grace  and 
forgiveness  of  sins,  the  invita¬ 
tion  to  repentance  and  faith 
in  him,  the  summons  to  fel¬ 
lowship  in  God’s  church,  the 
command  to  witness  to  God's 
saving  words  and  deeds,  the 
responsibility  to  participate 
in  the  struggle  for  justice  and 
human  dignity,  the  obligation 
to  denounce  all  that  hinders 


lenged  delegates  to  declare  openly 
that  “the  Gospel  is  certainly  the 
most  important  fact  in  the  world, 
and  one  which  we  cannot  keep 
to  ourselves.”  He  noted  that, 
while  the  Gospel  is  never  culture- 
Iree  in  its  expression,  ir  will  always 
first  appear  to  be  “foolishness” 
to  any  culture,  including  our  own. 

My  own  travels  around  mainline 
American  congregations  suggest 
that  the  Gospel  is  one  of  our  best- 
kepr  secrets.  A  congregation’s  con¬ 
victions  must  come  before  any 
of  its  ideas  about  mission. 

And  mission  can  best  be 
carried  out  by  Christians  who 
are  confident  in  their  own  beliefs. 

The  Gospel  requires  a  radical 
incarnation.  God,  in  unpre¬ 
dictable  mystery,  usually  comes  c 

to  people  through  other  people.  J 
Most  of  us  came  into  the  o 

O 

Christian  faith  when  some  other  ■§. 
person  demonstrated  the  trans¬ 
forming  reality  ol  Jesus  Christ.  Even  that  old 
stalwart  Princetonian  Charles  Hodge  con¬ 
cluded  that  “the  exhibition  of  genuine 
Christian  experience  carries  with  it  a  convict¬ 
ing  power  so  much  higher  than  that  which 
belongs  to  external  testimony  or  logical  argu¬ 
ment.” 

The  only  serious  counterpoint  to  a  con¬ 
temporary  culture  of  privatization,  I  believe, 
is  to  link  conviction  with  advocacy.  As  James 
Ayers,  an  evangelism  consultant  for  the 
Presbyterian  Church  (USA),  once  wrote, 
“When  we  talk  with  people  about  God’s  pur- 


human  wholeness,  and  a  commitment  to  risk 
life  itself.”  They  deemed  this  “the  whole 
Gospel,”  and  I  agree. 

Who  benefits  from  a  congregation’s  min¬ 
istries?  Ministries  that  are  “in  house”  and 
self-preserving  rarely  have  evangelism  and 
mission  high  on  their  agendas.  By  contrast, 
one  of  the  most  evangelical  Presbyterian  con¬ 
gregations  I  know  sends  small  cadres  of  its 
members  ro  live  and  witness  in  the  same 
inner-city  housing  units  that  the  congrega¬ 
tion  purchased  and  rehabilitated.  Not  sur¬ 
prisingly,  a  satellite,  fledgling  congregation, 


a  fair-housing  lobby,  and  tough-minded 
parental  scrutiny  of  the  local  elementary 
school  began  to  emerge.  This  was  a  sterling 
example  of  linking  Christian  witness  and 
advocacy. 

Finally,  in  light  of  our  culture’s  drive 
toward  professionalism,  we  need  an  evange¬ 
lism  strategy  with  a  workable  plan  to  equip 
the  laity.  We  must  find  ways  to  cut  through 
the  very  deep,  culture-based,  ecclesiastically 
blessed  delineation  between  clergy  and  laity. 
As  Newbigen  noted  at  this  conference, 

“the  missionary  encounter  with  our  culture 
requires  the  energetic  fostering  of  a  decleri- 
calized,  lay  theology.  It  is  much  more  impor¬ 
tant  that  lay  members  be  prepared  and 
equipped  to  think  out  the  relationship  of 
their  faith  to  their  secular  work.  Only  thus 
shall  we  bring  together  what  the  culture  has 
divided — the  public  and 
the  private.” 

An  evangelism  strate¬ 
gy  that  reserves  the  articu¬ 
lation  of  the  Gospel  for 
professional  clergy  is  both 
irresponsible  and  doomed 
from  the  start.  Clergy  are 
not  shamans,  oracles,  nor 
experts  about  Christian 
witness  in  the  market¬ 
place.  Lay  ministry  is 
vital,  as  shown  by  a  group 
of  lay  women  and  men  in 
a  Presbyterian  congrega¬ 
tion  in  Pittsburgh,  PA, 
who  began  a  ministry 
of  support  and  witness 
for  people  who  had  lost 
their  jobs  through  local 
corporate  downsizing. 
Over  the  last  decade, 
this  lay-led  ministry  has 
helped  more  than  three 
thousand  people.  It  is 
no  accident  that  the  con¬ 
gregation  has  seen  a  steady  growth  in  mem¬ 
bership. 

The  famed  Oxford  historian  T  R.  Glover 
concluded  that  the  early  Christian  church 
succeeded  because  it  “out-thought,  out-lived, 
and  out-loved"  its  adversaries  in  the  pluralis¬ 
tic  Roman  empire.  That  trinity  remains 
a  worthy  vision  for  mainline  Protestants 
in  our  own  day.  I 

John  W.  Stewart  is  Princeton’s  Ralph  B. 
and  Helen  S.  Ashenfelter  Associate  Professor 
of  Ministry  and  Evangelism. 


inSpire  •  1 1 


spring  1997 


olA-jOorage 

Looking  Back— and  Forward— 
to  Women  at  Princeton 


by  Ingrid  Meyer  and 
Barbara  A.  Chaapel 


1798 


1798 —  Betsey  Stockton,  a  slave,  is 
born  in  Princeton,  New  Jersey.  Stockton 
was  later  owned  in  the  household  of 
Ashbel  Green,  president  of  the  board 
of  directors  that  started  Princeton 
Theological  Seminary.  She  was  educat¬ 
ed  by  Green's  sons  and  other  Seminary 
students,  and  after  gaining  her  freedom, 
became  the  first  never-married  woman 
to  work  as  a  Presbyterian  missionary. 
She  was  a  nurse  and  teacher  on  the 
Hawaiian  island  of  Maui. 


Dime  was,  a  woman’s  place  was  in  the 
home.  While  she  was  welcome — and 
expected — to  attend  church,  she  was  certain¬ 
ly  not  considered  a  candidate  for  leading 
a  congregation. 

Times  have  changed.  Today,  thousands 
of  women  are  religious  leaders,  either  as 
pastors  or  as  educators.  Women  teach  in  the 
nation’s  seminaries.  They  are  church  deacons, 
elders,  and  executives. 

The  road  from  congregant  to  leader  has 
been  filled  with  hard  work,  good  times,  sup¬ 
port  from  the  faith  community,  and  times 
of  outright  prejudice  and  doubt.  The 
path  has  also  included  times  of  celebration, 
as  with  this  year’s  multiple  anniversaries 
celebrating  the  important  role  Princeton 
Theological  Seminary  has  played  in  the  edu¬ 
cation  of  many  female  religious  leaders.  This 
academic  year  sees  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of 
the  graduation  of  the  first  group  of  women 
who  received  degrees  from  Princeton.  It  is 
also  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  the 
founding  of  the  Seminary’s  Women’s  Center, 
and  the  fortieth  anniversary  of  the  ordina¬ 
tion  of  the  first  Presbyterian  women  to 
the  ministry  of  the  Word  and  Sacrament. 

The  stories  of  the  women  who  have 
passed  through  these  doors,  to  a  large  extent, 
mirror  the  experiences  of  women  in  the 
church  as  a  whole,  both  bitter  and  sweet. 
Through  the  years,  both  their  legacies  and 
their  living  contributions  enrich  Princeton, 
as  they  enrich  the  church  as  a  whole. 

The  first  woman  educated  at  Princeton, 
though  she  did  not  graduate,  was  a  slave. 
Betsey  Stockton  was  born  in  1798  into  the 
household  of  Robert  Stockton,  a  prominent 


Princeton  citizen.  He  gave  Betsey  to 
his  daughter  Elizabeth,  first  wife  of  Ashbel 
Green,  who  was  president  of  the  board  of 
trustees  that  founded  Princeton  Seminary. 
Though  Betsey  served  as  a  nurse,  cook, 
and  seamstress  in  the  Green  household, 
Green’s  son  James  and  PTS  students 
Eliphalet  Gilbert  (1816b),  Charles  Stewart 
(1821b),  and  Michael  Osborn  (1822b) 
tutored  her  and  taught  her  to  read. 

After  the  Green  family  freed  Betsey 
at  the  age  of  twenty,  she  joined  Stewart  and 
his  wife,  Harriet,  in  1 822  as  a  missionary 
to  the  Hawaiian  Islands.  Stockton  was 
the  first  never-married  woman  to  serve  as 
a  Presbyterian  missionary.  On  the  island  of 
Maui,  she  established  schools  for  both  chil¬ 
dren  and  adults,  and  was  a  nurse,  credited 
with  saving  the  lives  of  at  least  two  children. 

More  than  one  hundred  years  elapsed 
between  Betsey  Stockton’s  education  and 
the  arrival  of  Muriel  Van  Orden  Jennings, 
the  first  woman  to  earn  an  M.Div.  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary.  She  arrived 
at  Princeton  in  1928,  planning  to  take 
the  Greek  and  Hebrew  courses  necessary 
to  teach  college-level  biblical  studies.  T  he 
only  other  women  studying  at  the  Seminary 
were  students’  wives  who  audited  classes, 
since  the  Seminary’s  charter  stated  that 
no  degree  could  be  given  to  a  woman. 

Jennings,  however,  wanted  to  take  exams. 
The  board  of  trustees  approved  her  request 
on  the  conditions  that  she  did  not  disturb 
the  men,  that  she  carried  a  full  schedule 
of  courses,  and  that  her  grades  matched 
those  of  the  men.  She  could  also  not  expect 
to  receive  credit  lor  her  courses  and  graduate 


without  the  unanimous  agreement  of  the 
faculty  and  board  of  trustees.  This  did  not 
seem  likely,  as  one  member  of  the  faculty 
consistently  opposed  her  graduation. 

Jennings  was  undeterred.  She  finished 
third  in  her  class,  with  an  average  in  the  high 
nineties.  Her  academic  work  surprised  some 
of  the  Seminary’s  faculty. 

“They  didn’t  think  it  was  humanly 
possible  for  a  woman  to  match  the  grades 
of  men,”  she  said.  “But  I  said  to  myself, 

‘I  will  match  the  young  gentlemen’s  grades 
or  die  in  the  attempt.  ” 

During  her  time  at  Princeton,  Jennings 
felt  little  prejudice  from  professors  or  other 
students.  She  did,  however,  have  to  work 
with  the  social  conventions  of  the  day. 
Campus  housing  was  not  an  option,  so  she 
lived  across  the  street  from  Brown  Hall  dur¬ 
ing  her  first  year,  in  a  house  where  rooms 
were  rented  to  “young  ladies  of  unquestion¬ 
able  character.”  While  she  was  invited 
to  dinner  at  one  of  the  eating  clubs  every 
Thursday  night,  she  normally  ate  dinner 
at  the  Peacock  Inn,  which  is  now  Princeton’s 
only  five-star  restaurant.  The  weekly  five-dol- 
lar  meal  ticket  was  a  considerable  expense. 

Jennings  decided  to  pursue  Th.M.  work 
after  finishing  three  years  ol  M.Div.  study. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  1931-1932  school 
year,  she  discovered  that  the  professor 
who  had  opposed  her  graduation  had  left 
the  school  for  medical  reasons,  and  that 
she  would  thus  receive  credit  for  her  work. 
Jennings  graduated  in  1932  with  both  a 
bachelor’s  and  a  master’s  degree  in  theology, 
and  went  on  to  teach  for  nearly  sixty  years. 

Jennings’s  experience  was  that  of  a  lone 


12  •  inSpire 


1  820  —  Harriet  Tubman  and  Susan  B. 
Anthony  are  born  and  later  become 
leaders  in  the  women's  suffrage  move¬ 
ment  in  America. 


1895 —  The  Women's  Bible,  a  feminist 
reevaluation  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments,  is  published  by  Elizabeth 
Cady  Stanton. 


1 920  —  The  Nineteenth  Amendment  to 
the  U.S.  Constitution  is  passed,  guaran¬ 
teeing  the  right  of  women's  suffrage. 


1930  —  Women  are  first  ordained  as 
elders  in  the  United  Presbyterian  Church 
(USA). 


1932 —  Muriel  Van  Orden  Jennings, 
the  first  woman  to  graduate  from  PTS, 
receives  her  degree.  Jennings  is  award¬ 
ed  the  Th.B.,  which  would  become  the 
M.Div.  degree,  as  well  as  the  Th.M. 


1932 


1945 —  Eileen  Bergsten  Remington 
receives  the  Th.B.  degree. 


Photos  in  the  timeline  are  from  the  Princeton  Seminary  Archives. 


woman  on  campus,  as  was  that  of  Eileen 
Bergsten  Remington,  who  received  a  Th.B. 
in  1945.  The  first  group  of  between  thirty 
and  forty  women  arrived  on  the  Princeton 
campus  in  1944,  when  the  Seminary  merged 
with  the  Tennent  School  of  Christian  Edu¬ 
cation,  which  had  previously  been  located 
in  Philadelphia,  PA.  Women  moved  with  the 
school,  and  lived  in  Tennent  Hall,  for  many 
years  the  only  place  on  campus  that  women 
were  housed. 

Almost  without  exception,  the  women 
who  lived  and  studied  at  Princeton  in  the 
1940s  and  1950s  were  working  toward 
Master  of  Religious  Education  degrees.  They 
planned  to  work  in  the  teaching  ministry  of 
the  church.  In  1947,  the  first  class  of  M.R.E. 
students  graduated.  That  first  class  included 
Ethel  Cassel  Driskill,  Ruth  Gittel  Gard, 
Evelyn  Lytle,  Anne  Marie  Melrose,  Marion 
Stout  Wilson,  and  Mary  Kathryn  Troupe 
Healey. 

“It  wasn't  hard  to  be  a  woman  at 
Princeton,”  Lytle  recalled.  “We  didn’t  think 
of  ourselves  as  pioneers.  We  had  a  lovely 
time,  and  the  people  here  were  very  nice  and 
friendly  and  helpful.  We  didn’t  consciously 
think  of  ourselves  as  the  first  women  here.” 

Lytle  and  other  women  of  her  era 
praised  Princeton’s  academics.  Jean  Cassat 
Christman,  who  graduated  with  an  M.R.E. 
in  1950,  said  that  “for  me,  Princeton 
was  wonderful.  It  had  the  best  courses 
for  women,  who  at  that  time  could  not 
be  ordained.  I  was  getting  what  I  wanted.” 

In  fact,  many  women  pushed  the  acade¬ 
mic  pace,  moving  the  Seminary  to  a  higher 
level  of  classroom  challenge. 


“The  academic  level  went  up,  though 
many  of  the  fellows  wouldn’t  admit  that,” 
remembered  1950  M.R.E.  graduate  Virginia 
Carle  Haaland.  “I  think  the  education 
was  excellent.  It  certainly  stood  up  against 
my  undergraduate  work." 

That  education,  however,  came  with 
a  price  tag. 

“The  girls  here  were  treated  sometimes 
poorly,”  Christman  noted.  “This  was  a  male 
institution,  let  me  tell  you.  Women  made 
their  way  very  well  in  terms  of  becoming 
part  of  the  community,  but  we  were  second- 
class  citizens  in  the  eyes  of  some  of  the  male 
students  and  some  of  the  faculty  members.” 

Living  all  in  a  group  in  Tennent  Hall, 
women  formed  close  friendships  with  one 
another,  but  often  felt  socially  isolated  from 
the  rest  of  the  campus,  particularly  since 
they  could  not  join  the  eating  clubs  as  full 
members.  Princeton’s  first  African  American 
woman  graduate,  Jane  Molden  (’52M), 
remembered  that  the  Seminary  “was  a  little 
short  on  establishing  a  spirit  of  fellowship.” 
Still,  the  women  worked  to  form  their  own 
social  group.  They  also  became  a  social  force 
on  a  campus  full  of  male  students  who  had 
had  very  little  female  contact  before  the 
women’s  arrival.  The  women  organized 
dinners,  concerts,  sings,  and  parties.  Many 
students  married  other  students,  a  trend 
which  has  continued  over  the  years. 

Women  from  these  early  years  agreed 
that  while  some  things  are  harder  for  today’s 
female  students,  many  things  have  gotten 
easier.  They  cited  the  increased  acceptance 
of  women  in  church  leadership  roles,  along 
with  the  feminist  movement,  as  having  made 


women’s  lives  easier.  But  they  also  recognized 
that  the  huge  number  of  choices  available 
to  women,  and  the  increased  complexity 
of  women’s  lives  as  they  attempt  to  balance 
work  and  family,  contribute  to  making  semi¬ 
nary  harder  today  than  it  was  forty  years  ago. 

“I  think  it’s  easier  now  that  you  have  the 
feminist  movement  behind  you,”  Haaland 
said.  “You  don’t  have  to  plow  your  way 
through.  You  already  have  an  identity,  clout, 
power,  and  recognition.  The  era  is  different, 
and  the  scales  are  equalized  between  men 
and  women.”  On  the  other  hand,  she  noted, 
few  women  in  the  1940s  and  1950s  balanced 
seminary  work  with  family  and  children. 

Molden  said  that  today’s  women,  in  her 
view,  find  it  easier  to  receive  equal  pay  for 
equal  work  than  did  women  of  her  genera¬ 
tion. 

“There  were  some  things  we  had  to  work 
through,”  she  said.  “I  remember  when  I  was 
the  campus  minister  at  Iowa  State  University. 
There  was  a  man  at  the  State  University  of 
Iowa  who  was  paid  more.  My  pay  increased 
greatly  after  I  protested.  It  was  just  a  tradi¬ 
tion  to  pay  women  less,  and  they  hadn’t  real¬ 
ly  thought  it  through.  It’s  much  better  now.” 

Other  early  women  graduates  noted  the 
“complicated  tradeoffs,”  in  the  words  of 
1966  M.R.E.  graduate  Eleanor  Kirkland 
Hite,  in  the  lives  of  many  of  today’s  female 
students.  More  choices  have  meant  more 
roles,  more  responsibilities.  In  some  ways, 
1955  M.R.E.  graduate  Eileen  Flower  Moffett- 
said,  having  fewer  boundaries  has  been 
a  problem  for  contemporary  female  students. 

“There  are  a  lot  of  pressures  toward 
conformity  on  women  students,”  she  said. 


inSpire  *13 


1  947  —  Ruth  Kolthoff  Kirkman  receives 
a  B.D.  degree,  and  Ethel  Cassel  Driskill, 
Ruth  Gittel  Gard,  Evelyn  Lytle,  Anne 
Marie  Melrose,  Marion  Stout  Wilson, 
and  Mary  Kathryn  Troupe  Healey  all 
receive  M.R.E.  degrees.  This  is  the  first 
class  of  women  to  graduate  from  the 
Seminary. 


1947 


“One  young  woman  told  me  a  story  of  a  man 
bothering  her,  stopping  by  her  room,  asking 
her  out,  and  she  didn’t  feel  comfortable 
telling  him  to  go  away.  When  I  was  a  stu¬ 
dent,  there  were  more  rules,  and  that  made  it 
easier  to  say,  ‘This  is  off  bounds.’  There  is  a 
subtle  pressure  to  conform  to  ultra-secular 
feminism,  and  to  be  politically  correct.” 

In  the  1950s,  women  began  to  serve 
as  PTS  educators.  Jean  Cassat  Christman  was 
one  of  the  first  women  hired  as  an  instructor 
in  Christian  education.  She  was  followed  by 
Harriet  Prichard,  a  1954  M.R.E.  graduate 
who  was  the  first  woman  to  hold  the  title  of 
professor  at  Princeton  Theological  Seminary. 

“As  a  student,  I  learned  that  women  were 
the  minority,”  she  said.  “Dr.  Mackay  [PTS’s 
third  president]  came  to  speak  to  the  women 
in  Tennent  and  basically  asked  us  all  to 
become  ‘courageous  spinsters.’  Some  women 
were  incensed,  since  he  had  implied  that 
we  came  to  seminary  to  find  a  husband,  but 
we  forgave  him.  He  was  a  great  man.” 

Being  on  the  faculty,  she  said,  involved 
moments  of  invisibility. 

“I  was  asked  to  be  the  token  woman 
on  committees,  but  they  didn’t  really  accept 
much  that  I  brought  to  them.  I  had  to  re¬ 
main  in  the  background.  I  remember  having 
meetings  to  evaluate  essays  for  the  Temple¬ 
ton  Prize,  and  I  was  just  never  heard.” 

Prichard  left  the  faculty  after  four  years, 
two  as  an  assistant  professor.  Freda  Gardner, 
the  Thomas  W.  Synnott  Professor  of 
Christian  Education,  and  Katharine  Doob 
Sakenfeld,  the  W.  A.  Eisenberger  Professor 
of  Old  Testament  Literature  and  Exegesis, 
were  the  first  two  female  faculty  members 


1949 —  Princeton's  first  female  trustee, 
Mary  Elizabeth  White  Miller,  is  appoint¬ 
ed.  She  serves  until  1957. 


1951  —  Jean  Cassat  Christman  is 
appointed  instructor  in  Christian  educa¬ 
tion,  and  serves  until  1953. 

1 952 1 - 

1952  —  A.  Jane  Molden  receives  an 
M.R.E.  and  becomes  the  first  African 
American  woman  to  graduate  from  the 
Seminary. 


to  be  hired,  receive  tenure,  and  go  on  to 
have  long  PTS  careers. 

Gardner  was  invited  to  join  the  faculty 
in  1961,  as  an  instructor  in  Christian  educa¬ 
tion. 

“The  men  were  all  very  respectful  of 
me,”  she  recalled,  “but  I  always  felt  as  if  they 
were  extending  me  a  privilege  to  be  there, 
to  let  me  play  on  their  team.  I  felt  that  way, 
too. 

“They  didn’t  really  know  what  to  do 
with  women.  The  first  year  I  remember  get¬ 
ting  a  form  announcing  the  faculty  retreat 
in  the  fall  at  the  Jersey  shore.  It  asked  me 
who  I  wanted  to  room  with!  I  thought  that 
Princeton  must  be  a  more  swinging  place 
than  I  had  realized! 

“When  I  came,  Christian  education 
was  a  required  course  in  the  middler  year. 

I  taught  some  of  the  sections,  and  most 
of  the  students  did  not  want  to  be  there. 
That  course  was  not  a  welcoming  experience. 
Since  then,  some  of  the  men  who  were 
in  those  classes  have  apologized  to  me  for 
how  they  approached  me  and  the  course.” 

If  the  male  students  were  unenthusiastic, 
however,  female  students  regarded  Gardner 
as  mentor,  inspiration,  and  friend.  She  lived 
in  Tennent  Hall  with  the  women  students, 
and  has  stayed  in  touch  with  many  of  them. 

“I  think  they  appreciated  that  I  was 
a  woman  and  a  layperson  who  claimed 
a  ministry,”  she  said.  “That  helped  tell  them 
that  their  ministries  were  valid.  There  weren’t 
many  roles  for  women  on  the  campus. 

No  women  elders  served  communion  in  the 
chapel;  none  were  even  asked.” 

In  addition  to  serving  as  a  professional 


1953  —  Dorothy  Kirkwood  Mooney  is 
appointed  instructor  in  Christian  educa¬ 
tion,  and  serves  until  1956. 


support  system,  the  women  also  built  a  social 
life  together,  Gardner  said. 

“Many  of  the  women  would  come 
to  my  apartment  and  watch  TV  and  talk. 

We  socialized  together— I  was  only  six  or 
seven  years  older  than  most  of  them,”  she 
said.  “I  remember  the  night  before  gradua¬ 
tion,  when  we  all  put  on  our  caps  and  gowns 
and  went  out  to  the  Princeton  Battlefield 
and  played  hide  and  seek!  Befriending  the 
women  students  socially  helped  me  survive.” 

Some  of  that  sense  of  professional  and 
personal  isolation  abated  when  Katharine 
Doob  Sakenfeld  arrived  in  1970.  Fresh  from 
earning  her  Ph.D.  at  Harvard,  Sakenfeld 
“had  never  heard  of  feminism,”  but  had 
already  faced  a  United  Church  of  Christ 
congregation  refusing  to  interview  her 
for  field  work  in  her  second  year  of  divinity 
school.  She  was  very  likely  the  first  woman 
to  celebrate  communion  in  Miller  Chapel. 
She  and  Gardner  became  fast  friends  and 
colleagues,  joining  forces  from  their  disci¬ 
plines  of  Christian  education  and  Bible 
to  teach  PTS’s  first  women’s  studies  course. 

“There  were  about  twenty  students 
in  the  class,  and  it  was  so  exciting  to  be 
team  teaching  with  Freda  on  this  subject,” 
Sakenfeld  said.  “It  was  wonderful  to  have 
these  moments  of  naming  the  issue  and 
treating  it  formally.” 

Sakenfeld,  Gardner,  and  the  few  female 
students  at  Princeton  at  the  time  also  met 
outside  of  class,  to  discuss  their  common 
goals  and  problems.  From  those  meetings, 
the  PTS  Women’s  Center  was  born. 

“By  the  time  the  Women’s  Center  came 
into  being,  we  were  beginning  to  talk  about 


14  •  inSpire 


1966 


1956 —  Margaret  Towner  is  ordained 
as  the  first  minister  of  the  Word  and 
Sacrament  in  the  United  Presbyterian 
Church  (USA). 


1957  —  Harriet  Prichard  is  appointed 
instructor  in  Christian  education,  and  in 
1959  is  promoted  to  assistant  professor 
of  Christian  education,  becoming  the 
Seminary's  first  female  professor.  She 
serves  until  1961. 


1 970  —  The  PTS  Women's  Center, 
a  place  for  the  women  of  the  community 
to  discuss  common  goals  and  concerns, 
is  founded. 


1966  —  The  National  Organization 
for  Women,  America's  most  visible 
women's  rights  organization,  is  founded. 
At  Princeton  Seminary,  Elinor  Kirkland 
Hite  graduates  with  the  M.R.E.  class  and 
receives  a  congratulatory  kiss  from  her 
father,  Bryant  Kirkland. 


1967  —  Freda  Gardner  is  promoted 
from  assistant  professor  of  Christian 
education  to  assistant  professor  of 
Christian  education  with  tenure,  becom¬ 
ing  the  first  tenured  female  professor. 


the  place  of  women  in  society  and  in  the 
church,”  Gardner  said.  “Most  women 
coming  to  PTS  had  never  met  a  woman 
clergyperson,  so  they  had  no  role  models. 

The  opening  of  the  Women’s  Center  was 
the  culmination  of  a  lot  of  conversation 
about  what  it  means  to  be  a  woman  in 
a  male  profession  and  a  male  institution, 
the  church.  It  marked  a  real  change,  as  if  the 
women  at  Princeton  said  we  were  no  longer 
going  to  be  satisfied  with  second-class  citi¬ 
zenship.  The  center  gave  public  voice  to  our 
concerns.  Also,  the  culture  was  beginning  to 
support  this  voice  as  the  women’s  movement 
took  hold  in  America.” 

The  Women’s  Center  took  hold  as  well. 
In  the  1970s  it  received  permanent  space 
and  funding;  PTS  community  members, 
both  male  and  female,  celebrated  its  twenty- 
fifth  anniversary  this  academic  year. 

In  1955,  just  before  Gardner  joined 
the  PTS  faculty,  the  United  Presbyterian 
Church  (USA)  had  voted  to  ordain  women 
as  ministers.  On  October  24,  1956, 

Margaret  E.  Towner  became  the  first  woman 
to  be  ordained  to  the  ministry  of  the  Word 
and  Sacrament. 

Towner’s  ordination  opened  the  door  to 
careers  as  pastors  for  women.  They  were  still, 
however,  a  minority  within  the  ranks  of  cler¬ 
gy.  Sreadily  increasing  numbers  of  women 
have  enrolled  and  graduated  from  Princeton, 
from  one — Jennings — in  1932,  to  more  than 
sixty  female  graduates  in  the  Class  of  1991. 
Other  seminaries  have  seen  similar  increases. 
Still,  women  found  some  prejudice — and 
difficulty  in  getting  jobs  after  graduation. 

“When  I  began  seminary  at  PTS,” 


remembered  1970  M.Div.  graduate  Cherry 
Watson  Marshall,  pastor  of  Hope  Presbyter¬ 
ian  Church  in  Baltimore,  MD,  “I  started 
with  summer  Greek.  I  was  the  only  woman 
in  the  class.  The  first  day  I  walked  into  class 
I  sat  beside  a  male  student,  and  he  turned 
to  me  and  said,  ‘What  are  you  doing  here?’ 
Those  were  among  the  first  words  I  heard 
at  Princeton.” 

Other  women  noted  that  the  Seminary 
had  not  necessarily  found  ways  to  treat 
women  as  equal  and  valuable.  1973  M.Div. 
graduate  Wendy  Bagnal  Boer,  pastor  of 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Janvier 
in  Franklinville,  NJ,  for  instance,  said  that 
“women  today  don’t  have  to  endure  the  overt 
kinds  of  things  that  we  did,  like  maids  who 
changed  the  bed  linens  in  the  men’s  rooms, 
but  not  the  women’s.  And  now  women  have 
inclusive  language  in  classes  and  chapel;  we 
hadn’t  even  thought  of  inclusive  language.” 

Though  women  emphasized  that  their 
academic  experiences  at  Princeton  had  been 
excellent,  there  were  some  problems  in  the 
classrooms,  too.  Boer  remembered  that  she 
read  Barth  in  a  theology  class  and  was  dis¬ 
mayed  by  his  views  on  the  roles  of  men  and 
women.  “I  wrote  a  paper  disagreeing  with 
Barth  and  giving  the  reasons  why,”  she  re¬ 
called,  “and  the  professor  didn’t  understand 
why  I  disagreed.” 

Ann  Philbrick,  a  1982  alumna,  said  that 
her  academic  education  was  “wonderful,” 
but  that  other  things  had  been  harder. 

Now  an  associate  executive  in  National 
Capital  Presbytery,  she  remembered  churches 
“that  wouldn’t  hire  a  woman  student  to  be 
their  field  education  intern  because  they 


already  had  a  woman  associate  pastor  on 
staff  and  they  needed  to  ‘keep  the  staff  bal¬ 
anced.’  But  why  didn’t  churches  even  raise 
the  question  of  balance  when  there  were 
more  men  than  women?,”  she  said.  “There’s 
more  emphasis  on  affirmative  action  and 
equal  opportunity  in  the  church  today,  but 
that  also  leads  to  tokenism,  churches  inter¬ 
viewing  women  just  to  say  they  interviewed 
women,  with  no  expectation  of  hiring  us.” 

And  the  problems  didn’t  stop  with  grad¬ 
uation.  Alumnae  almost  universally  said  that 
finding  a  job  had  been  harder  for  them  than 
it  had  been  for  their  male  colleagues.  “The 
hardest  part  for  the  women  came  when  we 
looked  for  jobs,”  Marshall  said.  “I  signed 
up  and  went  to  many  interviews  where  the 
pastor  or  the  committee  said  ‘we  don’t  want 
a  woman’  and  that  would  be  the  end  of  it, 
and  I  would  get  up  and  leave  the  room. 

It  was  terrible.  I  lost  one  job  because  I  was 
single.  They  told  me  they  wouldn’t  hire  me 
because  they  were  afraid  I’d  get  married  and 
stop  working.  That’s  what  everyone  thought 
women  did  in  those  times.” 

Still,  women  persevered.  Marshall  found 
a  call  as  assistant  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Hagerstown,  MD,  where  the  head 
of  staff,  Russell  Butcher  (PTS  Class  of  1939) 
“was  so  supportive  of  me,”  she  said.  “I  was 
the  first  woman  minister  in  Baltimore  Pres¬ 
bytery.  I  remember  presbytery  meetings 
where  there  were  only  a  handful  of  women 
elders  and  me.  At  the  breaks,  there  was 
always  a  long  line  to  the  men’s  room  and 
no  line  to  the  women’s  room.  Today  there 
are  long  lines  to  the  women’s  room.  I  stand 
in  line  and  think  how  wonderful  it  is!” 


inSpire  *15 


]  982  —  Gail  Anderson  Ricciuti  is  the 
first  clergywoman  to  speak  at  a  PTS 
commencement. 


1972  —  Joyce  Bailey  and  Elizabeth 
Gordon  Edwards  are  the  first  women 
to  receive  Th.D.  degrees,  which  later 
became  the  Ph.D.  Edwards  is  currently 
assistant  professor  of  New  Testament. 


1981  — Virginia  S.  Sullivan  becomes 
the  first  woman  to  receive  a  D.  Min. 
from  Princeton. 


1982 


1984  —  Geraldine  Ferraro  becomes  the 
first  woman  to  receive  the  nomination  of 
a  major  political  party  as  vice  president 
of  the  United  States. 

1990 

> 

1  990  —  Phyllis  Trible,  professor  of 
Old  Testament  at  Union  Theological 
Seminary  in  New  York,  delivers  the  inau¬ 
gural  Women  in  Church  and  Ministry 
(WICAM)  lecture.  She  returns  to  PTS 
as  a  visiting  lecturer  in  Old  Testament 
next  fall. 

1 996  —  The  United  Nations  holds 
its  Fourth  World  Conference  on  Women, 
in  Beijing,  China. 


Marshall  will  always  be  thankful  to 
Princeton  Seminary  for  “getting  me  started.” 
She  and  other  women  found  support  at  PTS 
in  each  other,  in  female  (and  some  male) 
faculty  members,  and  in  their  faith. 

“I  found  at  Princeton  a  wonderful  group 
of  women  and  men  who  gave  me  support 
and  a  community,”  said  Jacqui  Lewis 
Melsness,  a  1992  M.Div.  graduate  who 
pastors  the  Imani  Community  Church 
in  Trenton,  NJ.  “As  a  black  woman  coming 
to  seminary,  I  didn’t  expect  to  be  a  feminist. 
However,  I  was  a  womanist,  although  I  did¬ 
n’t  have  that  word  for  it  then.  I  did  find 
people  at  PTS  working  for  liberation.  And 
as  a  black  woman  I  had  access  to  both  the 
Women’s  Center  and  to  the  black  communi¬ 
ty  through  the  Association  of  Black  Seminar¬ 
ians,  and  both  were  very  important  to  me.” 

Another  black  alumna  from  the  Class 
of  1976,  Joan  Martin,  remembers  faculty 
members  Guy  Hanson  (the  Charlotte 
W.  Newcombe  Professor  of  Congregational 
Ministries)  and  Sakenfeld  as  crucially  impor¬ 
tant  to  her  growth  at  the  Seminary. 

“I  also  remember  Ed  Dowey  [PTS’s 
Archibald  Alexander  Professor  of  the  History 
of  Christian  Doctrine  Emeritus]  telling  me 
once  that  there  would  be  plenty  of  years  for 
me  to  deal  with  tokenism  in  the  church,  that 
my  job  in  seminary  was  to  be  a  student  and 
learn  all  that  I  could.  I’ve  told  that  to  a  lot 
of  the  students  I  teach  now,”  she  said. 

Martin  is  an  assistant  professor  of  Christ¬ 
ian  social  ethics  at  Episcopal  Divinity  School 
in  Cambridge,  MA.  She  was  one  of  only 
three  black  women  at  PTS  during  her  stu¬ 
dent  days.  “It  was  lonely,’’  she  said.  “And  it 


was  exciting.  The  Seminary  community 
hardly  knew  what  to  do  with  me.  I  served  on 
the  Women’s  Center  board,  and  we  struggled 
with  what  courses  to  organize  in  the  bur¬ 
geoning  field  of  feminist  theology,  and  how 
to  study  women  in  the  Bible  from  a  scholarly 
perspective.  ‘Womanist’  was  not  even  a  term 
in  the  literature  yet.  I  felt  that  I  made  a  way 
out  of  no  way  in  seminary.  I  had  a  variety 
of  communities,  but  no  place  that  really  felt 
like  home.” 

Despite  the  progress  that  women  have 
made,  there  has  been  a  somewhat  discourag¬ 
ing  decrease  in  the  percentage  of  women 
accepted  to  Princeton  who  actually  enroll. 
Though  the  percentage  of  women  admitted 
remains  constant  with  previous  years,  fewer 
have  chosen  to  attend  Princeton.  In  1992, 
women  formed  41.2  percent  of  the  entering 
junior  class  —  the  largest  percentage  ever. 

In  1996,  that  percentage  had  dropped  to  29 
percent  of  the  entering  junior  class.  Director 
ol  Admissions  Jeffrey  V.  O’Grady  (PTS  Class 
of  1988,  M.  Div.)  and  the  admissions  com¬ 
mittee  are  working  to  reverse  this  trend. 

“The  figures  last  year  raised  a  number  of 
questions  for  us,”  O’Grady  said.  “For  exam¬ 
ple,  do  our  figures  reflect  a  national  trend? 
Are  fewer  women  preparing  for  the  ministry, 
or  is  there  greater  discouragement  about  job 
opportunities?  Is  Princeton  perceived  as  less 
hospitable  to  women  than  other  schools,  or 
perhaps  less  welcoming  to  non-Presbyterians? 
Will  the  presence  of  new  apartments  for  sin¬ 
gle,  second-career  students  have  an  impact 
on  the  enrollment  of  women? 

“Our  figures  for  this  year  are  encourag¬ 
ing.  The  applicant  pool  for  the  Class  of  1997 


is  large,  and  57  percent  of  those  admitted 
are  women,  and  38  percent  of  those  con¬ 
firmed.  It  is  too  early  to  tell  if  last  year’s  fig¬ 
ures  were  an  anomaly  or  signify  that  the 
winds  of  change  are  blowing.  ” 

The  number  of  women  in  the  ministry 
is  steadily  increasing.  In  1980,  there  were 
569  ordained  women  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church  (USA);  by  1989,  that  number  had 
quadrupled  to  2,098.  Comparatively  few 
women  serve  as  heads  of  staff,  or  are  pastors 
of  churches  with  more  than  one  thousand 
members,  but  those  barriers  are  also  gradual¬ 
ly  falling.  Women  continue  to  seek  out  new 
ground  and  new  challenges,  building  on  the 
work  of  the  women  who  went  before  them. 

“I  greatly  benefitted  from  the  women 
who  came  before  me  at  Princeton,  and  in  the 
ministry,”  1985  M.Div.  graduate  Victoria 
“Tory”  Penman  Pruner,  associate  pastor  of 
The  Presbyterian  Church  of  Toms  River,  NJ, 
said.  “In  the  same  way,  I  hope  I’m  making  a 
positive  difference  to  women  coming  after 
me.  I  hope  Princeton  is  more  supportive  of 
women  now.  I  know  there  are  women  teach¬ 
ing  and  preaching,  and  that’s  good.  But  there 
is  still  a  long  way  to  go.  When  women  start¬ 
ed  preaching  in  churches,  people  probably 
didn’t  think  they’d  last.  But  they  did.  Now 
there  are  women  preaching  every  Sunday  in 
small  churches  all  across  the  country,  and 
thank  God  they  are!  Why  shouldn’t  they  be 
preaching  in  our  large  congregations  as  well? 
Equality  for  women  is  still  slower  in  coming 
in  the  church  than  in  other  parts  of  society, 
it  seems  to  me.  If  the  number  of  women  in 
head-of-staff  positions  is  a  barometer,  then 
we  have  a  long  way  to  go.”  I 


16  •  inSpire 


Class  notes 


spring  1997 


Key  to  Abbreviations: 

Upper-case  letters  designate 
degrees  earned  at  PTS: 

M.Div.  B 

M.R.E.  E 

M.A.  E 

Th.M.  M 

D.Min.  P 

Th.D.  D 

Ph.D.  D 

Special  undergraduate  student  U 
Special  graduate  student  G 

When  an  alumnus/a  did  not 
receive  a  degree,  a  lower-case 
letter  corresponding  to  those 
above  designates  the  course 
of  study. 


1924  ‘I’m  ninety-seven 

and  still  enjoying  life  every  day,” 
writes  John  E.  Johnson  (B), 

of  Birmingham,  AL.  “It’s  a 
pleasure  to  punch  on  my  sixty- 
year-old  Remington  portable 
typewriter.  I’ve  been  a  reader 
of  Reader’s  Digest  [with  which 
he  corresponds]  since  the  mid¬ 
twenties.” 


1935  Richard  Hadden 

(B)  and  his  wife,  Frances  Roots 
Hadden,  who  are  composers 
and  pianists,  helped  celebrate 
the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the 
Moral  Re-Armament  (MRA) 
International  Conference  Center 
in  Caux,  Switzerland,  last  sum¬ 
mer.  More  than  seven  hundred 
delegates  and  diplomats  from 
twenty-seven  countries  attended 
the  ceremonies.  The  MRA 
was  launched  in  1 946  by 
American  Lutheran  pastor  Frank 
Buchman,  whom  Hadden 
admired.  The  Haddens  were 
also  married  at  Caux  in  1947; 
they  now  live  in  St.  Ignace,  MI. 

1938  In  September  1996, 

Bruce  Metzger  (B,  '39M) 

participated  in  an  international 


Don't  Be  Left  Out! 

Don't  forget  to  mail  in  your  questionnaire 
for  the  new  Alumni/ae  Biographical  Catalog, 
the  book  that  will  contain  biographical  and 
career  information  about  all  Seminary  alum¬ 
ni/ae,  The  final  date  for  receiving  information 
is  July  31,  1997. 


symposium  on  the  interpreta¬ 
tion  on  the  Bible,  held  in 
Ljubljana,  Slovenia,  where 
he  presented  a  paper  titled 
“The  First  Translation  of 
the  New  Testament  into 
Pennsylvania  Dutch.”  He  was 
also  invited  to  make  remarks 
on  the  occasion  of  the  publica¬ 
tion  of  the  newly  completed 
Slovenian  version  of  the  Bible, 
which  was  translated  by  a 
committee  of  Roman  Catholic 
and  Protestant  scholars. 

1939  E.  Emanuel 

Burkman  (G)  retired  from 
pastoral  ministry  in  the  United 
Methodist  Church  on  June  13, 
1996,  from  the  Southern  New 
Jersey  Annual  Conference.  All 
told,  he  served  a  total  of  thirteen 
southern  New  Jersey  churches 
for  sixty-four  years.  Burkman 
has  also  been  a  director  of  the 
Delanco  Camp  Meeting 
Association  for  fifty-five  years. 
He  lives  in  Ocean  City,  NJ. 

J.  Russell  Butcher  (B, 

'47  M)  is  parish  associate 
at  Frederick  Presbyterian 
Church,  Frederick,  MD. 

James  M.  Crothers  (B)  has 

moved  to  Green  Ridge  Village 
retirement  center,  Newville,  PA, 
where  he  found  classmate  Elwyn 
E.  Tilden  (’39B,  ’40M,  ’45D), 
as  well  as  John  Buyer  (’29b), 
Abram  Kurtz  (’35B),  and  J. 
Stuart  Dickson  (’43B),  who 
is  president  of  the  residents’ 
association. 

Richard  B.  Mather  (B) 

is  the  first  Chinese  scholar 
to  become  president  of  the 
American  Oriental  Society. 

He  teaches  part  time  at  the 


University  of  Minnesota,  where 
he  is  also  professor  emeritus. 

1940  Robert  Philips 

(B)  writes  that  he  has  served 
Mt.  Pleasant  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Aliquippa,  PA,  for 
the  last  five  years.  “I  still  play 
tennis  every  day  and  read  four 
hours  every  day,”  he  says. 

1942  James  R.  Carroll 
(B)  and  son  John  T.  Carroll 
('79B,  '86D)  are  co-authors 

of  a  book  titled  Preaching  the 
Hard  Sayings  of  Jesus. 

1943  Otto  Gruber  (B, 

'45M)  writes  from  Irvine,  CA, 
that  “in  1993  we  drove  east 
to  attend  our  fiftieth  reunion, 
and  what  a  wonderful  fellowship 
it  became  for  all  of  us!  Included 
in  this  reunion  were  the  very 
fine  visits  we  had  with  Tom 
and  Barbara  Gillespie.  We  have 
been  friends  a  number  of  years, 
going  back  to  the  days  when 
Tom  served  churches  here 
in  California.  If  all  goes  well, 
we  hope  to  be  at  Princeton  for 
our  fifty-fifth. 

“Enjoying  retirement  in 
Coronado,  CA,  and  serving 
the  Lord  in  Graham  Memorial 
Presbyterian  Church  and  San 
Diego  Presbytery,”  writes 
C.  Virgil  Zirbel  (B). 


1945  On  July  1,  1996, 

Wilson  H.  Yost  (B)  retired 
from  being  chaplain  at  Royal 
Oaks  Life  Care  Center  in  Sun 
City,  AZ.  He  had  served  there 
for  seven  years,  after  retiring 
from  full-time  ministry  in  1986. 

1948  Edward  C. 

Gartrell  Sr.  (B)  is  pastor 
emeritus  of  Central  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Huntsville,  AL, 
where  he  was  pastor  for  twenty- 
nine  years.  Shortly  before  his 
retirement,  the  church  started 
Hawthorne  Conservatory, 
which  provides  instruments 
and  instruction  to  musically 
talented  but  underprivileged 
children  and  adults. 

John  H.  Scott  (B)  serves 
as  minister  of  visitation  for 
the  2400-member  Fox  Chapel 
Presbyterian  Church, 

Pittsburgh,  PA. 

1950  E.  Bradford 

Davis  (M,  '61D)  writes  that 
“although  retired,  I  still  preach 
almost  every  Sunday  on  a 
pulpit-supply  basis,  and  teach 
a  mid-week  Bible  class  for  senior 
citizens  in  Media,  PA." 

Robert  T.  Deming  Jr.  (B) 

of  Fredericksburg,  TX,  reports 
the  death  of  his  wife,  Alice, 
in  an  accident.  “Always  glad 
for  prayers,”  he  says. 


inSpire  •  17 


spring  1997 


Class  notes 


Benjamin  M.  Weir  (B) 

was  a  senior  mission  scholar 
and  taught  at  the  Overseas 
Ministries  Study  Center  in 
New  Haven,  CT,  during  the 
1996  fall  semester. 

1951  Harry  E.  Chase 

(B)  of  Westwood,  NJ,  is  self- 
employed  as  a  licensed  family 
therapist.  He  teaches  parenting 


skills  twice  a  month  to  parents 
of  children  in  the  Head  Start 
program  in  Newark,  NJ. 

He  also  serves  on  the  Goldberg 
Child  Care  Center  board  of 
directors  and  attended  a  three- 
day  current  strategy  forum 
at  the  Naval  War  College  in 
Newport,  RI,  in  June  1996. 


^take  a  bow 

Gerald  A.  Foster  ('45M)  received  a  Resolution  of  Honor  from 
American  Leprosy  Missions  on  May  4,  1996.  At  the  time  of  the 
award,  he  had  led  the  Wilmington,  DE,  auxiliary  of  American 
Leprosy  Missions  for  thirty-six  years. 

Roland  Mushat  Frye  {'53b),  the  Schelling  Professor  of 
English  Literature  Emeritus  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
received  the  American  Philosophical  Society's  Thomas 
Jefferson  Medal  for  Distinguished  Achievement  in  the 
Humanities  in  April.  The  American  Philosophical  Society  is  the 
nation's  oldest  learned  society  and  the  award  is  the  society's 
highest  honor  in  the  humanities.  Frye  is  a  member  of  the  board 
of  trustees  of  the  Center  of  Theological  Inquiry  in  Princeton. 

Jay  A.  Miller  ('54B)  was  inducted  into  the  Honeoye  Falls-Lima 
High  School  Hall  of  Fame,  Honeoye  Falls,  NY,  in  October  1995. 
He  is  a  1945  graduate  of  that  school,  and  lives  in  Marion,  IA. 

Donald  F.  Flemer  ('57E)  was  honored  by  the  National 
Conference  of  Christians  and  Jews  for  twenty-three  years  of 
service  to  that  organization,  where  he  is  director  of  the 
Southern  Ohio  Region.  The  commendation  notes  that  he 
"strives  always  to  eliminate  bigotry  and  discrimination  and  to 
strengthen  our  pluralistic  society."  He  lives  in  Cincinnati,  OH. 

Peter  E.  Bauer  ('78B)  was  selected  as  one  of  the  finalists  for 
the  1995  Department  of  the  Navy  Social  Worker  of  the  Year 
Award.  He  is  the  family  program  coordinator  for  the  Naval 
Alcohol  Rehabilitation  Center  at  the  Naval  Air  Station, 
Jacksonville,  FL. 


Albert  G.  Butzer  III  ('80B,  '85M),  who  is  pastor  of 
Providence  Presbyterian  Church  in  Fairfax,  VA,  received  the 


Al  Butzer  and  his  wife,  Betsy. 


1996  Alfred  P  Klausler  Sermon 
Award-Honorable  Mention 
from  The  Christian  Ministry 
magazine.  His  sermon  "By  the 
Charcoal  Fire"  was  chosen 
from  nearly  two  hundred 
entries,  and  was  published  in 
the  September-October  issue  of 
The  Christian  Ministry.  The  cri¬ 
teria  for  this  sermon  competi¬ 
tion  included  soundness  of  bib¬ 
lical  interpretation,  appropriate¬ 
ness  for  audience  and  occa¬ 
sion,  originality,  clarity  of 
expression,  and  organization. 


Genevieve  Kozinski 
Jacobs  (E)  lives  in  Costa 
Mesa,  CA,  and  is  writing  a  book 
titled  Senior  Diversion  Programs 
for  First-time  Elderly  Offenders. 

Ward  Murray  (B)  is  retired 
from  the  ministry  in  West 
Virginia  Presbytery  and  now 
serves  as  a  non-stipendary  pastor 
of  a  United  Reformed  church 
in  Harleston,  Norfolk,  England. 

Charles  F.  Stratton 
(B,  '80P)  is  parish  associate 
at  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Glens  Falls,  NY, 
and  pastor  emeritus  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Youngstown,  NY,  as  well 
as  being  “class  steward  with 
enthusiasm,”  he  writes. 


1952  Jerry  W.  Bohn 

(B)  is  a  volunteer  at  St.  Mark’s 
Presbyterian  Church,  Hudson, 
FL,  where  Kenneth  Gruebel 
(’72B,  ’95p)  is  the  pastor.  “I 
teach  adult  Bible  class  and  serve 
on  the  Evangelism  Committee,” 
Bohn  writes.  He  retired  from 
full-time  pastoring  in  1988. 

Nelson  O.  Horne  (B,  '84P) 

lives  in  Chautauqua,  NY,  and 
enjoys  his  retirement,  especially 
using  his  computer. 

Marisa  G.  Keeney  (E) 

is  a  retired  psychologist  and  lives 
in  Taylors,  SC.  She  teaches  class¬ 
es  on  facing  evil  and  Jungian 
dream  interpretation  at 
Furman  University’s  Division 
of  Continuing  Education  and 
Learning  in  Retirement 
Institute. 

“I  have  been  retired  since 
October  1,  1992,”  writes 

Charles  L.  Sorg  (B)  of 


Lakewood,  NJ.  “I  have  done 
much  traveling,  and  am  enjoy¬ 
ing  my  new  life  enormously!” 

Robert  E.  Stover  (B) 

is  a  parish  associate  at  St.  John’s 
Presbyterian  Church  and 
a  part-time  chaplain  at  Washoe 
Medical  Center,  both  in  Reno, 
NV. 


Richard  L.  Van  Deusen  (B) 

of  Mystic,  CT,  writes  that 
he  is  an  active  member  of  his 
presbytery,  where  he  serves  on 
the  Committee  on  Preparation 
for  Ministry. 


1953 


After  his  retirement, 


W.  Edmund  Carver  (B) 


accepted  an  interim  pastor 
position  in  February  1996 
at  Faith  Presbyterian  Church, 
Cape  Coral,  FL. 


Richard  D.  Miller  (B,  '60M) 

of  Fort  Thomas,  KY,  recently 
had  a  reunion  with  Charles 
Dowell  (B)  and  his  wife,  Pat, 
as  well  as  with  Dale  Dickey 
(B)  and  his  wife,  Kerry. 


James  N.  Urquhart  (B) 

served  as  an  interim  pas¬ 
tor  (1995—1996)  at  Lafayette 
Presbyterian  Church, 
Tallahassee,  FL. 


“Honorably  retired,  I  am 
presently  parish  associate  at 
Highland  Presbyterian  Church, 
Lancaster,  PA,  and  interim 
pastor  at  Memorial  Presbyterian 
Church,  Lancaster,  PA,”  says 
James  S.  Weaver  (B). 

1954  Robert  L. 

Blackwell  (B,  '63M) 

will  retire  in  May  1997  from 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Arlington,  NJ. 


spring  1997 


Class  notes 


“I  was  glad  to  see  Fred  Cassell, 
Dean  Foose,  and  others 
at  the  Philadelphia  alumni/ae 
meeting,”  says  Robert  E. 
Blade  (B). 

“Greetings  to  all  my  friends 
and  classmates  at  PTS,”  writes 

James  F.  Clark  (B),  who  lives 
in  Cheyenne,  WY. 

Richard  E.  Dunham  Jr.  (B) 

is  a  parish  visitor  at  Highland 
Presbyterian  Church,  Lancaster, 
PA. 

“I  serve  as  part-time  minister 
for  adult  ministries  at  the  grow¬ 
ing  Traverse  City  Presbyterian 
Church,  Traverse  City,  MI,” 
writes  Walter  A.  Fitton 
(B,  '57M). 

“An  exciting, 
good  time.” 

Joseph  C. 

Fowler  (B) 

writes  that  “four 
years  into  retire- 

0) 

ment,  I’m  enjoy-  S’ 
ing  guest  teach-  ® 
ing  and  preach-  b 

.  .  o 

mg,  singing  ■§. 
in  the  choir 
at  United  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Plainfield,  NJ,  and  learning 
to  play  the  valve  trombone  with 
the  church’s  thirteen-piece 
band.” 

Henry  W.  Heaps  (B,  '57M) 

retired  in  1990  from  his  call  as 
pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  Dunellen,  NJ.  He  lives 
in  Street,  MD,  and  has  served 
three  interim  pastorates  since 
his  retirement,  the  most  recent 
at  Elkton  Presbyterian  Church, 
Elkton,  MD. 


John  Hunn (B) 

retired  in  July 
1994,  and  serves  as  interim  pas¬ 
tor  ol  Rouses  Point  Presbyterian 
Church,  Rouses  Point,  NY. 

Conrad  H.  Massa  (B,  '60D) 

lives  in  Fort  Myers,  FL. 

Alice  M.  Meloy  (B) 

of  Doylesburg,  PA,  says  that 
she  does  pulpit  supply,  serves 
on  presbytery  committees 
and  the  board  of  Habitat 
for  Humanity,  among  others, 
and  continues  to  write. 

Girard  Siegwalt  (M)  teaches 
systematic  theology  at 


Strasbourg  University  in  France, 
and  has  published  five  volumes 
of  a  dogmatics  for  evangelical 
catholicity. 

1955  In  September  1995, 
Dorothea  Nill  Bowers  (e) 

began  a  new  job  as  associate 
professor  of  education  and 
director  of  the  early  childhood 
program  at  Grove  City  College, 
Grove  City,  PA. 

Leonard  T.  Grant  (B) 

is  interim  associate  minister 
of  The  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Westfield,  NJ. 


Alan  H.  Hamilton  (G) 

of  Costa  Rica  writes  that 
his  wife,  Claire,  died  on 
September  17,  1995. 

W.  Donald  Pendell  Jr.  (B) 

began  his  forty-second  interim 
pastorate  on  February  15,  1996, 
at  Forest  Lawn  Presbyterian 
Church,  Marion,  OH. 

“I  retired  from  full-time,  active 
service  on  March  1,  1995, 
and  am  enjoying  retirement 
immensely!”  says  Joseph  J. 
Skelly  (B)  of  Tucson,  AZ. 

1956  John  Chironna 

Jr.  (B)  is  a  part-time  therapist 

inSpire  •  19 


Alumni/ae  Update 


In  May  I  will  complete  my  term  on  the  Alumni/ae  Association  Executive  Council,  as  well  as  my  tenure 
as  its  president.  Membership  on  the  council  has  provided  me  the  opportunity  to  serve  the  Seminary  on 
behalf  of  you,  its  graduates.  I  have  been  able  to  give  back  to  the  institution  that  prepared  me  —  and 
each  of  you  —  for  ministry  in  the  church  of  Jesus  Christ. 

One  of  the  highlights  of  the  council's  work  is  meeting  and  talking  with  students.  When  we  come  to  the 
campus  for  our  meetings  three  times  each  year,  we  often  invite  students  to  join  us  for  dinner,  or  talk 
with  them  informally  in  the  Mackay  Campus  Center  or  after  chapel.  Sometimes  we  ask  representatives 
of  student  groups,  like  the  Student  Government  Association,  to  meet  with  us.  It  is  particularly  reward¬ 
ing  to  visit  with  students  from  the  regions  of  the  country  where  we  live,  from  our  presbyteries,  or  even 
our  churches.  Our  conversations  provide  valuable  exchanges,  where  students  can  share  their  excite¬ 
ment  and  their  frustrations  as  seminarians  with  alumni/ae  who  have  traveled  the  same  path  before 
them. 

We  meet,  too,  with  President  Gillespie  and  other  members  of  the  administration  and  the  faculty  to  hear 
about  Princeton's  programs  and  people,  and  to  ask  questions  about  the  institution's  future  directions. 

The  council  has  made  two  very  specific  contributions  to  the  Seminary  in  the  past  few  years.  We 
dreamed  of  both  a  child  care  center  at  Princeton,  and  of  a  program  to  bring  alumni/ae  back  to  campus 
to  share  their  experiences  and  insights  in  ministry  with  students.  Our  initiative  in  these  areas  resulted 
in  the  opening  of  the  new  Center  for  Children  last  year,  and  in  the  annual  alumni/ae-in-residence  pro¬ 
gram.  The  latter  brings  two  or  three  graduates  each  year  back  to  Princeton  for  a  week.  During  the  week 
they  preach  in  chapel  and  meet  formally  and  informally  with  students  to  talk  about  their  ministries. 

The  privilege  of  serving  on  the  Alumni/ae  Association  Executive  Council  is  one  I  wish  all 
graduates  could  have.  If  you  are  called  by  a  nominating  committee  from  your  region,  I 
hope  you  will  accept  this  opportunity  to  give  your  time  and  resources  to  support  the  facul¬ 
ty  and  administrators  who  are  preparing  the  future  leaders  of  the  church. 

It  has  been  exciting,  rewarding,  and  challenging  for  me  to  serve  the  Seminary  I  love.  I 
thank  Dean  Foose,  director  of  alumni/ae  relations  and  placement,  the  executive  council, 
and  you,  my  fellow  graduates,  for  this  opportunity. 

Otha  Gilyard  ('74B)  is  pastor  of  Shiloh  Baptist  Church  in  Columbus,  OH.  He  has 
served  on  the  Alumni/ae  Association  Executive  Council  for  six  years,  two  of 
them  as  president. 


spring  1997 


Class  notes 

at  Charter  Hospital,  Terre 
Haute,  IN. 

On  August  3,  1996,  Edward 
R.  Danks  (B,  '88p)  retired  as 
pastor  of  Noroton  Presbyterian 
Church,  Darien,  CT. 

C.  Frederick  Horbach  (B) 

retired  after  twenty-eight  years 
at  Cumberland  County  College, 
where  he  had  been  dean  of  stu¬ 
dents  and  professor  of  humani¬ 
ties,  on  June  30,  1996.  He  lives 
in  Pittsgrove,  NJ. 

1957  Robert  J. 

Armstrong  (B)  of  Columbus, 
OH,  retired  on  May  31,  1996, 
after  eight  and  a  half  years 
as  chaplain  at  Westminster 
Thurber  Retirement 
Community.  He  is  a  part- 
time  pastoral  care  minister  at 
Boulevard  Presbyterian  Church 
and  works  with  his  wife,  Laura, 
in  her  career  counseling 
and  consulting  business. 

J.  Lawrence  Driskill  (M) 

published  his  fifth  book,  titled 
Worldwide  Mission  Stories  for 
Young  People,  in  January  1996. 

The  Duarte,  CA-based  retiree 
has  also  published  Japan  Diary 
(1993)  and  Cross-Cultural 
Marriages  and  the  Church 
(1995).  He  works  part  time 
with  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  Altadena,  CA,  which 
is  a  Japanese  American  congre¬ 
gation. 

Kayton  R.  Palmer  (B)  fin¬ 
ished  an  interim  position  at  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church,  Pine 
City,  MN,  in  January  1996. 

Terrence  N.  Tice  (B,  '61 D), 

a  professor  at  the  University 
of  Michigan,  has  published 


a  translation  of  Schleiermacher’s 
Dialectic:  On  the  Art  of  Doing 
Philosophy.  “This  is  the  first 
translation  of  any  of  his  notes 
and  lectures  on  dialectic,  and 
is  accompanied  by  an  introduc¬ 
tion  and  editorial  commentary 
for  this  study  edition,”  he  says. 

1958  Frank  G.  Carver 

(M)  retired  from  Point  Loma 
Nazarene  College,  San  Diego, 
CA,  after  thirty-five  years  of 
teaching.  He  recently  published 
When  Jesus  Said  Goodbye:  John’s 
Witness  to  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  began  a  two-year  teaching 
engagement  at  European 
Nazarene  Bible  College  in 
Buesingen,  Germany,  in  July 
1996. 

Frederick  V.  Mills  Sr.  (M) 

is  a  visiting  scholar  at  Episcopal 
Divinity  School,  Cambridge, 
MA,  for  the  1996-1997  acade¬ 
mic  year. 

1959  Donald  F. 

Chatfield  (B)  teaches  preach¬ 
ing  at  Garrett-Evangelical 
Theological  Seminary  and 
is  a  part-time,  “contracted” 
pastor  to  the  United  Church 
of  Christ  of  Spring  Valley,  IL. 

“I  am  a  chaplain  at  Spring  Lake 
Village,  an  Episcopal  retirement 
home  and  one  of  the  few  places 
where  people  are  older  than  I 
am,”  writes  Robert  V.  Jones 
(B,  '62M)  of  Guerneville,  CA. 

Edward  O.  Poole  (M)  retired 
on  June  1,  1996,  after  a  thir¬ 
teen-month  interim  pastorate 
at  Greenwood  Presbyterian 
Church,  Warwick,  RI.  He 
now  lives  in  Swarthmore,  PA. 


Ronald  Thane  Roberts  (B) 

is  associate  pastor  of  the 
Second  Presbyterian  Church, 
Lee’s  Summit,  MO. 

In  1994,  Walter  D.  Wagoner 

(M)  of  Greenwich,  CT,  retired 
as  one  of  the  directors  of  the 
American  Summer  Institutes. 

1960  Richard  Nygren 
(B,  '81P)  retired  from  the 
Church  of  the  Palms,  Sarasota, 
FL,  in  April  1996,  and  is 
now  chaplain  of  Bay  Village, 
a  Presbyterian  continuing  care 
facility  in  the  same  town. 


1961  Paul  Eppinger 

(B,  '65M)  is  executive  director 
of  the  Arizona  Ecumenical 
Council,  a  group  of  approxi¬ 
mately  seven  hundred  churches 
(and  one  million  Christians) 
in  Arizona.  The  bishops  and 
executive  ministers  of  this  group 
traveled  to  Israel  and  Rome  last 
fall,  and  had  a  private  audience 
with  Pope  John  Paul  II. 

Richard  C.  Hughes  (B)  lives 
in  Berlin,  MD,  and  enjoys  regu¬ 


lar  supply  preaching,  though 
he  is  retired. 

1962  Richard  V. 

Anderson  (B)  reports 
that  he  was  recently  elected 
to  the  vestry  of  the  R.  E.  Lee 
Memorial  Episcopal  Church  in 
Lexington,  VA.  “Episcopalians 
continue  to  name  their  churches 
only  after  saints,”  Anderson 
writes.  “I  am  retired  from  the 
federal  government  and  have 
published  a  number  of  articles 
on  the  Civil  War.  I  sporadically 
labor  on  a  book  on  the  ‘Late 
Great  Unpleasantness,’  which 


Donald  Erickson  (E)  retired 
at  the  end  of  1996,  after  forty- 
two  years  of  parish  ministry. 

He  still  lives  in  Canberra,  ACT, 
Australia,  and  visited  Princeton 
for  the  Institute  of  Theology 
in  1990.  He  recently  visited 
with  Ron  Legg  {'63B),  when 
Legg  was  in  Canberra. 

On  September  1,  1996,  C. 

James  Hinch  (B)  became 
interim  pastor  of  Westminster 


Pope  John  Paul  II  greets  PTS  alum  Paul  Eppinger  in  Rome. 


promises  to  rival  elephants 
in  its  gestation.” 


20  *  inSpire 


spring  1997 


Class  notes 


Presbyterian  Church,  Buffalo, 
NY. 

1963  John  R. 

Powers  (B)  has  been  asked 
to  serve  as  executive  director 
of  the  President’s  Commission 
on  Critical  Infrastructure 
Protection,  which  will  look 
at  ways  to  protect  the  nation’s 
telecommunications,  electric 
power,  banking  and  finance, 
and  other  critical  systems. 

Fredric  T.  Walls  (B) 

is  director  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  (USA)’s  Committee  on 
the  Self-Development  of  People. 

1964  Charles  E. 

Stenner  (B)  is  part-time 
interim  pastor  at  Old  Stone 
Presbyterian  Church,  Delaware, 
OH,  which  is  his  fourth  such 
position  since  retiring  in  1991. 

1965  Bey  Gates 

Grunder  (M)  is  retired 
and  lives  in  Charlotte,  NC. 

He  reports  that  his  wife, 

Peggy  M.  Blythe  Grunder, 
died  on  February  13,  1996. 

Alan  G.  Reutter  (B) 

has  been  pastor  of  Fowler 
Presbyterian  Church,  Fowler, 
CA,  since  August  1,  1996. 

1966  William  P. 

Findlay  (B)  is  interim  pastor 
of  Utqiagvik  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Barrow,  AK,  which 
he  notes  “is  the  northernmost 
community  in  the  United 
States,  three  hundred  miles 
above  the  Arctic  Circle, 
and  on  the  Arctic  Ocean.” 

Sharon  Daloz  Parks  (E) 

has  co-authored  and  published 
a  book,  titled  Common  Fire: 


Lives  of  Commitment  in 
a  Complex  World.  She  lives 
in  Cambridge,  MA. 

“After  sixteen  years  as  pastor  of 
Manassas  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Manassas,  VA,  I  began  work 
on  August  1,  1996,  as  pastor  of 
Westmont  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Johnstown,  PA,”  writes 
David  R.  Snyder  (B). 

David  Stout  (M,  '76P) 

has  been  elected  to  the  board 
of  trustees  of  Cornell  College, 
Mount  Vernon,  IA.  He  has  been 
a  pastor  in  Iowa  since  1966. 

1967  Elizabeth  Drake 

Beck  (B)  began  serving 
as  interim  pastor  at  Delta 
Presbyterian  Church,  Lansing, 
MI,  on  July  1,  1996. 

James  D.  Brown  (B), 

former  executive  director  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  (USA)’s 
General  Assembly  Council, 
has  accepted  a  call  to  be  pastor 
of  Market  Square  Presbyterian 
Church,  Harrisburg,  PA.  He 
began  work  on  February  15, 
1997. 


1968  John  R. 

"Pete"  Richardson  (B) 

was  appointed  Maryland  Health 
Care  System’s  chief  of  pastoral 
care  in  October  1996.  He 
is  responsible  for  the  overall 
management  of  the  pastoral 
care  service  at  the  Baltimore, 
Perry  Point,  and  Fort  Howard 
Medical  Centers,  providing 
for  the  religious  and  spiritual 
needs  of  hospitalized  veterans. 
He  is  the  first  African  American 
to  be  appointed  to  this  post. 

1969  Robert  L.  Muse 

(B,  '71M)  has  been  pastor  of 
The  King’s  Community  Baptist 
Church,  Cherry  Hill,  NJ,  since 
1988.  He  serves  as  an  adjunct 
faculty  member  at  Eastern 
College,  Wayne,  PA;  and  at 
Eastern  Baptist  Theological 
Seminary,  Philadelphia,  PA. 

He  has  chaired  a  new  church 
start  steering  committee  for  his 
denomination  in  Medford,  NJ, 
and  in  March  1996  published 
The  Book  of  Revelation: 

An  Annotated  Bibliography. 

Arthur  M.  Smith  (B),  who 

lives  in  Chicago,  IL,  is  a  new 
member  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  (USA)’s  Committee  on 
the  Self-Development  of  People. 

1970  Ernest  Shaw 

Lyght  (M,  '79P)  has  been 
elected  to  the  office  of  bishop 
in  the  United  Methodist 
Church.  On  September  1, 

1996,  Lyght  began  leading  the 
New  York  Annual  Conference, 
which  encompasses  New  York 
City  and  western  Connecticut. 

1975  A  1 996  alumni/ae 

gathering  in  Okinawa,  Japan, 

included  Bob  Phillips 


(M,  '88P),  who  is  a  United 
Methodist,  a  captain  in  the 
United  States  Navy  Chaplain 
Corps,  and  senior  chaplain  for 
the  Third  Marine  Expeditionary 
Force  on  Okinawa.  His  wife, 
Christy  Erway  Phillips  (B), 
is  an  American  Baptist  cler- 
gyperson  and  active  in  local 
chapels  and  spouse  groups. 

The  gathering  also  included 
Ed  Fedor  ('79B)  and  Bob 
Crall  ('79B),  both  Presbyterian 
chaplains.  “If  any  other  fugitives 
from  Princeton  are  in  this  area, 
we  would  love  to  hear  about  it,” 
Phillips  writes. 

1977  Robert  R.  Kopp 

(B)  was  featured  in  the  1995, 
1996,  and  1997  Abingdon 
Preaching  Annual.  He  lives 
in  New  Kensington,  PA, 
where  he  pastors  Logans  Ferry 
Presbyterian  Church. 

1978  Raymond  A. 

Meester  (B)  is  pastor 
of  Lincoln-Heritage  Presbyter¬ 
ian  Church,  Lincoln,  NE. 


1979  John  W.  Auxier 

(B)  is  associate  professor 
of  counseling  at  Trinity  Western 
Seminary  in  Langley,  British 
Columbia,  Canada.  He  is 
also  director  of  the  Master 
of  Counseling  program 
for  Associated  Canadian 
Theological  Schools,  a  consor¬ 
tium  of  theological  seminaries 
headquartered  at  Trinity. 

He  recently  led  an  evaluation 
and  reorganization  of  the  con¬ 
sortium’s  counseling  program. 

John  T.  Carroll  (B,  '86D) 

and  his  father,  James  R. 
Carroll  |'42B),  are  co-authors 
of  a  book  titled  Preaching 
the  Hard  Sayings  of  Jesus.  The 


inSpire  •  21 


spring  1997 


Class  notes 


younger  Carroll  is  associate 
professor  of  New  Testament 
at  Union  Theological  Seminary 
in  Virginia,  Richmond,  VA. 


John  Salmon  (M)  teaches 
systematic  theology  and  ethics 
as  a  Wesley  Lecturer  at  Trinity 
Methodist  Theological  College, 


From  left:  Ed  Fedor  {'78B),  Christy  Erway  Phillips  (’75B),  Bob  Phillips 
('75M,  '88P),  and  Bob  Crall  |'79B). 


Bob  Crall  (B)  is  a  lieutenant 
commander  in  the  Chaplain 
Corps  of  the  United  States 
Navy,  serving  with  the  First 
Marine  Air  Wing  in  Okinawa, 
Japan. 

Ed  Fedor  (B)  is  chaplain  with 
the  rank  of  lieutenant  colonel  in 
the  United  States  Air  Force,  and 
is  senior  pastor  and  coordinator 
for  the  Protestant  and  Catholic 
congregations  at  Kadena  Air 
Force  Base,  Okinawa,  Japan. 


Auckland,  New  Zealand. 

He  recently  published  (with 
Susan  Adams)  a  book  called  The 
Mouth  of  the  Dragon:  Theology 
for  Postmodern  Christians. 

Peter  A.  Sulyok  (B,  '81M) 

is  the  coordinator  of  the 
Advisory  Committee  on  Social 
Witness  Policy,  which  is  an 
agency  of  the  PC(USA)  General 
Assembly  Council.  He  lives 
in  Louisville,  KY,  and  began  his 
duties  on  September  1,  1996. 


1980  Kathy  J.  Nelson 
(B,  '86M,  '92P)  is  an  adjunct 
PTS  faculty  member,  and 
is  serving  a  four-year  term 
on  the  Presbyteries’  Cooperative 
Committee  for  Ordination 
Examinations.  She  lives  in 
Dayton,  NJ,  where  she  is  pastor 
of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church. 


In  1996,  Susan  Carol 
Thomas  (B)  gave  the  invoca¬ 
tion  at  the  investiture  of  her 
brother  as  a  judge  on  the  Ninth 
Circuit  Court  of  Appeals,  and 
also  served  as  a  chaplain  at  the 
Atlanta  Olympics. 

1981  Daniel  R. 

Erdman  (B)  writes  that 
“as  of  July  1,  1996,  1  am  pastor 


(on  a  semi-volunteer  basis) 
to  a  small,  Spanish-speaking 
United  Church  of  Christ  con¬ 
gregation,  and  a  growing  United 
Methodist  new  church  develop¬ 
ment  for  latino  immigrants.’’ 

He  is  a  member  of  Santa  Fe 
Presbytery. 


Holly  Ross  Noble  (B) 

has  accepted  a  call  to  Topsham 
United  Presbyterian  Church  and 
East  Corinth  Congregational 
Church,  two  yoked  churches  in 
Vermont,  beginning  September 
1,  1996. 


1982 


On  September  1, 


1996,  Scott  D.  Anderson 

(B)  became  executive  director 
of  the  California  Council  of 
Churches. 


Virginia  Berglund  Smith 

(B)  is  in  her  first  academic  year 
as  the  Jean  W.  and  Frank  T. 
Mohr  Professor  of  Ministry 
at  McCormick  Theological 
Seminary,  Chicago,  IL.  Her 
appointment  is  for  a  two-year 
term,  beginning  in  September 
1996,  and  may  be  renewed 
for  a  third  year. 


population.  It  was  a  dream  of 
mine  in  seminary  to  go  serve  in 
a  church  in  an  integrated  com¬ 
munity  where  I  could  do  my 
small  part  in  promoting  recon¬ 
ciliation  among  all  races  and 
peoples.  That  I  now  have  the 
opportunity  to  do  so  in  my  own 
hometown  is  quite  amazing!’’ 

1985  Lucille  E. 

Abernathy  (B)  writes  that 
she  is  involved  with  “a  ministry 
ol  dolls  and  spirituality — 
spiritual  development  through 
porcelain  doll  making  and 
healing  associated  with  dolls. ” 
She  lives  in  Cleveland,  OH. 

Susan  DePuy  Kershaw  (M) 

is  pastor  of  the  Congregational 
Church  in  Nelson,  NH,  and  is 
also  interim  area  minister  for  the 
American  Baptist  churches  in 
Vermont  and  New  Hampshire. 

1986  In  1996  Bob 
Jystad  (B)  received  a  law 
degree  from  the  University  of 
California-Los  Angeles,  which 
joins  the  Master  of  International 
Affairs  degree  he  received  from 
Columbia  University  in  1993. 


1983  Robert  J. 

Cromwell  (B)  became  pastor 
of  Ruskin  Heights  Presbyterian 
Church  in  his  hometown  of 
Kansas  City,  MO,  on  March  1, 
1997.  He  spent  the  past  five 
years  as  pastor  of  St.  Mark’s 
Presbyterian  Church,  Haysville, 
KS.  “Ruskin  Heights  has  a  suc¬ 
cessful  ‘Logos’  program,  an 
inspirational  choir,  and  willing 
workers,”  Cromwell  says.  “The 
old  suburban  neighborhood  is 
becoming  more  urbanized.  The 
church  is  seeking  to  reach  out  to 
the  growing  African  American 


Mary  Newbern-Williams 
(E,  '88B)  beg  an  a  new  call  last 
October  as  associate  for  racial- 
ethnic  schools  and  colleges  in 
the  Higher  Education  Program 
Area  of  the  National  Ministries 
Division  of  the  PC(USA). 

James  S.  Rauch  (B) 

began  a  new  position  as  pastor 
of  Westminster  Presbyterian 
Church,  Escondido,  CA, 
in  September  1996.  He  served 
as  a  1996  Presbyterian  Church 
(USA)  General  Assembly  com¬ 
missioner. 


22  •  inSpire 


Class  notes 


spring  1997 


African  American  Alums 
of  Princeton 

Matthew  Anderson,  a  graduate  of  Princeton's  Class  of  1877,  cared  for  both  the  spiritual  and  the  eco¬ 
nomic  lives  of  black  Philadelphians.  A  dedicated  pastor,  he  founded  north  Philadelphia's  Berean 
Presbyterian  Church.  And  only  twenty-five  years  after  the  abolition  of  slavery,  Anderson  founded 
two  institutions  to  help  African  Americans  lead  independent,  productive  lives:  Berean  Savings 
Association,  an  institution  which  supported  the  audacious  idea  that  free  black  people  deserved  a 
chance  to  own  their  own  homes;  and  Berean  Institute,  which  trained  former  slaves  in  carpentry, 
dressmaking,  and  other  employable  skills. 

Born  in  Franklin  County,  PA,  to  farmer  parents  in  1848,  Anderson  was  raised  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church  and  was  educated  first  at  Ohio's  Iberia  College  and  then  at  Oberlin  College  in  Oberlin,  OH, 
where  he  graduated  in  1874.  He  spent  a  brief  period  at  Western  Theological  Seminary  in  Pittsburgh, 
PA,  and  then  transferred  to  Princeton.  After  a  short  argument  with  administrators  he  was  issued  a 
room  in  Alexander  Hall,  and  became  the  first  black  student  to  live  in  Princeton's  dormitories. 

After  graduation,  Anderson  spent  two  years  as  a  student  at  Yale  Divinity  School,  and  served  as  the 
stated  supply  pastor  of  Temple  Street  Congregational  Church  in  New  Haven,  CT.  He  left  New  Haven 
with  the  intention  of  doing  mission  work  in  the  American  South,  but  a  stopover  in  Philadelphia  con¬ 
vinced  him  to  take  charge  of  the  Gloucester  Mission  in  the  northern  part  of  that  city.  The  mission 
became  Berean  Presbyterian  Church  in  1880  and  was  named  for  Berea,  the  city  mentioned  in  Acts 
17:10  where  Paul  and  Silas  taught. 

In  1888  Anderson  and  his  congregation  founded  Berean  Savings  Association  and  issued  its  first 
mortgage,  a  $1000  loan  that  made  possible  the  purchase  of  a  home  in  the  900  block  of  North  Adler 
Street.  The  association,  which  still  exists,  made  money  through  both  world  wars,  the  Great 
Depression,  and  lesser  economic  downturns. 

"We've  never  lost  a  dime,"  said  Maximilian  Martin,  who  was  Berean's  president  from  1970  until  his 
death  in  1990.  "When  other  banks  and  savings  and  loans  were  going  out  of  business,  Berean  paid 
its  depositors  every  penny  and  still  made  money." 

In  the  past  thirty  years,  Berean  has  helped  more  than  fourteen  thousand  people  buy  homes,  primari¬ 
ly  in  West  Philadelphia  but  also  in  Germantown,  Mount  Airy,  and  North  and  South  Philadelphia. 
While  the  savings  and  loan  was  founded  because  discrimination  kept  black  people  from  getting 
loans  from  other  sources,  it  now  serves  customers  of  every  background. 

"The  only  color  we  know  is  green,"  Martin  said. 

In  1899  Anderson  helped  found  Berean  Institute,  a  school  devoted  to 
teaching  newly  freed  slaves  the  skills  they  would  need  to  make  a  living  in 
the  "new  world"  of  the  North.  Berean  Institute  is  still  active,  and  offers 
programs  in  accounting,  business  administration,  computer  science,  cos¬ 
metology,  electronics,  secretarial  and  general  clerical  skills,  court  and  con¬ 
vention  reporting,  and  data  processing  for  approximately  two  hundred 
full-  and  part-time  students. 

Anderson  died  in  1928,  two  weeks  shy  of  his  eightieth  birthday.  He  was 
eulogized  by  classmate  Francis  Grimke  as  "the  soul  of  generosity,  of  kind¬ 
ness,  of  hospitality.. ..He  has  left  behind  him  institutions  and  influences 
that  will  go  on  making  themselves  felt  for  good.. ..I  am  sure  we  will  not 
forget  him,  or  forget  the  many  years  of  patient  toil  that  he  has  bestowed 
upon  this  work  which  was  ever  near  to  his  heart." 


1987  B.  Keith  Brewer 

(M)  travelled  to  the  former 
Soviet  Union  from  November 
15  to  22,  1996.  The  trip 
was  sponsored  by  the  Board 
of  Higher  Education  and 
Ministry  of  the  United 
Methodist  Church,  in  order 
to  explore  partnership  and 
mission  opportunities  in  Russia 
for  colleges,  chaplaincies,  and 
campus  ministries.  Brewer  is  in 
his  fifth  year  as  chaplain  of  the 
Wesley  Foundation  at  Princeton 
University,  Princeton,  NJ. 

Gary  (B)  and  Rosalind  (B) 
Ziccardi  live  in  Italy,  where 
Gary  is  in  his  third  year  as  chap¬ 
lain  at  Aviano  Air  Base.  He 
pastors  the  general  Protestant 
congregation,  does  a  lot  of  crisis 
counselling  and  flightline  visita¬ 
tion,  leads  the  Christian  educa¬ 
tion  program,  and  coaches 
a  children’s  baseball  team  called 
the  Angels.  Rosalind  leads  the 
singles’  outreach,  preaches  occa¬ 
sionally,  and  is  writing  a  series 
of  Christ-based  chil¬ 
dren’s  stories. 

1  988  Lynn 

Elliott  (B)  is  residency  f 

O 

coordinator  and  regis-  w 

trar  for  the  University  -g 

of  California-Los  J 

Angeles  School  of 

Medicine.  “It’s  perfect  >• 

</> 

for  me,”  she  says.  uIt’s  £ 

pastoring,  but  in  a  dif-  ® 

</> 

ferent  way — helping  c 
the  genius  element  of  ° 

o 

society  tie  their  shoes  ° 

a 

and  get  across  the 
street.”  She  and  her  husband, 

Bob  Jystad  ('86B),  are 

also  part-time  foster  parents. 

In  February  1996,  Janet  Tuck 
Hilley  (B)  became  pastor 


of  Eastminster  Presbyterian 
Church;  John  Hilley  (B, 

'92M),  her  husband,  is  pastor 
of  Downtown  Presbyterian 
Church.  Both  churches  are 
in  Nashville,  TN. 


1989  Daisy  N.  U.  Obi 

(M)  received  a  1995  D.Min. 
in  African  and  African  American 
spirituality  from  Episcopal 
Divinity  School,  Cambridge, 
MA. 


In  Yang  (M)  is  pastor  of 
the  Korean  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Peoria,  IL,  and  in  1996 
served  as  moderator  of  the 
Synod  of  Lincoln  Trails. 


inSpire  •  23 


spring  1997 


Class  notes 


1990  Fran  Hayes 

(B)  has  served  as  pastor  of 
Congruity  Presbyterian  Church, 
New  Alexandria,  PA,  for  the 
past  five  years,  and  participated 
in  the  Synod  of  the  Trinity’s 
TAS^TE  of  Ministry  (Transition 
and  Survival  Skills  Training 
Experience)  new-pastor  develop¬ 
ment  event  during  her  first, 
second,  and  fourth  summers 
in  ministry.  She  has  served 
as  part  of  that  program’s  leader¬ 
ship  team  for  two  years.  The 
TAS^TE  program  helps  pastors 
reflect  on  and  improve  their 
commitments  to  ministry,  exam¬ 
ining  joys,  frustrations,  conflict 
management,  leadership,  and 
fresh  perspectives  on  calls  to 
ministry. 

Gerald  R.  Voie  (B)  is  on  the 

Northeast  Community  Action 
Corporation  and  Rotary  Club 
International  boards  of  direc¬ 
tors.  He  is  also  his  presbytery’s 
Interpretation  and  Stewardship 


Committee  moderator.  He  lives 
in  Bowling  Green,  MO. 

1991  In  April  1996, 

Steven  Y.  S.  Jhu  (B)  became 
pastor  of  Korean  Christian 
Church,  Honolulu,  HI. 

William  Lee  Kinney  (B) 

has  been  elected  to  the  boards 
of  directors  of  Lyon  College 
(Batesville,  AR)  and  Vera  Loyd 
Home  (Little  Rock,  AR). 

He  also  serves  on  the  design 
team  for  a  new  series  of  books 
for  laypeople  to  be  produced 
by  the  PC(USA)  General 
Assembly’s  Office  of  Theology 
and  Worship. 

1994  Nathan  Byrd  (B) 

is  the  stated  supply  pastor  of 
Jethro  Memorial  Presbyterian 
Church,  Atlantic  City,  NJ,  and 
associate  for  church  redevelop¬ 
ment  with  the  Atlantic  City 
Presbyterian  Mission  Council. 


Allan  H.  Cole  Jr.  (B)  is  pur¬ 
suing  a  Master  of  Social  Work 
degree  at  Columbia  University. 

Patricia  E.  Fisher  (B) 

of  Randolph,  NJ,  was  ordained 
on  June  2,  1996. 

Caroline  Lee  (B)  is  working 
toward  a  Ph.D.  in  clinical 
psychology  at  Fuller  Theological 
Seminary’s  School  of 
Psychology. 

Since  February  1,  1996,  David 
E.  Lovelace  (B)  has  been 
interim  pastor  of  Green  Hill 
Presbyterian  Church  near 
Wilmington,  DE. 

1995  Geri  Lyon- 

Grande  (B)  is  director  of 
pastoral  care  at  AIDS  Family 
Services  and  unit  leader  for 
pastoral  care  at  the  AIDS 
Designated  Center,  State 
University  of  New  York, 

Buffalo,  NY. 


As  of  December  1,  1996, 

Barbara  McGowan  (B) 

is  pastor  of  Holmesburg 
Presbyterian  Church  and 
Mayfair  Presbyterian  Church 
(both  in  Philadelphia,  PA), 
the  first  yoked  congregations 
in  the  Presbytery  of 
Philadelphia.  “These  are  two 
small  congregations,  one  mile 
apart,  looking  for  revitalization 
and  redevelopment,”  she  writes. 
“I’ve  found  that  you  need  to 
watch  what  you  pray  for — 
you  might  just  get  it.  My  desire 
was  to  be  a  solo  pastor  in  a 
small  congregation,  and  now 
I’ve  got  two!” 

Jeannine  M.  Frenzel 
Sulyok  (B)  is  the  resource 
person  for  the  Societal  Violence 
Initiative  Team  of  the  PC(USA) 
General  Assembly  Council, 
and  lives  in  Louisville,  KY. 

Frances  K.  Troup  (B)  is  in 

a  one-year  CPE  residency  at  St. 
Luke’s  Hospital,  Bethlehem,  PA. 


1996  After  his  1996 

graduation,  Keith  Kerber  (B) 

and  his  wife,  Laurena  Ketzel- 
Kerber,  moved  to  Phoenix,  AZ, 
where  Laurena  has  a  job  with 
AlliedSignal,  Inc.  Keith  accepted 


Weddings 


Miwet 

1 


irths 


Weddings 


Carol  Anne  Pino  to  Kenneth  Sprang  ('74b),  August  10,  1996 

Sandra  Larson  ('77B)  to  John  C.  Asbury,  June  22,  1996 

Amy  Beth  Hankins  to  Guy  Griffith  ('86B),  October  5,  1996 

Janet  Rea  ('88B)  to  Dwayne  M.  Doyle,  May  8,  1996 

Laurel  Vand  to  David  Whitford  ('92B),  October  5,  1996 

Denise  Bartlett  (currently  enrolled)  to  Kevin  Brent  Fournier,  June  29,  1996 

Births 


Sarah  Grace  Palmerton  Binau  to  Ann  R.  Palmerton  ('86B)  and  Brad  Binau  ('82M,  '87D), 

September  26,  1996 

Andrew  Damian  to  Lynne  and  Wesley  D.  Avram  ('84B),  February  15,  1996 

Susannah  Mary  Jean  to  Mary  Robinson  Mohr  ('84B)  and  Randy  Mohr,  October  28,  1996 

David  Frederick  Goodher  Mendez  to  Marg  Goodher  and  Frederick  J.  Mendez  ('86B), 

February  24,  1993 

Andrew  Curtis  to  Nancy  Jo  Clendenin  Dederer  ('91 B)  and  C.  Christian  Dederer,  September  20,  1996 
Brendan  Atlee  to  Lynn  ('93B)  and  Mark  ('93B)  Barger  Elliott,  August  31,  1996 
Rachel  Dianne  to  Stacy  ('94B)  and  Bob  ('94B)  Bronkema,  June  8,  1996 


24  •  inSpire 


spring  1997 


Class  notes 


On  the  Shelves 

Have  you  ever  wished  that  you  could  ask  for  a  PTS  professor's 
recommendation  before  buying  a  book?  On  the  Shelves 
features  book  recommendations  from  a  variety  of  Princeton 
Seminary  faculty,  with  the  hope  that  these  suggestions  will 
help  alumni/ae  choose  books  that  will  facilitate  their  profession¬ 
al  and  personal  growth. 

From  Charles  L.  Bartow,  the  Carl  and  Helen  Egner 
Professor  of  Speech  Communication  in  Ministry: 

The  Body  in  the  Mind:  The  Bodily  Basis  of  Meaning, 

Imagination,  and  Reason,  by  Mark  Johnson.  Chicago:  University 
of  Chicago  Press,  1987.  Those  of  us  who  surmise  that  emotion, 
thought,  physical  experience,  and  abstract  conceptualization 
cannot  be  separated  have  a  scholarly  advocate  in  Johnson,  who 
is  a  professor  of  philosophy  at  Southern  Illinois  University.  His 
book  is  based  on  a  critical  reading  of  current  research  in  cogni¬ 
tive  science,  and  argues  that  imagination  links  cognitive  and 
bodily  structures.  He  demonstrates  how  basic  concepts  like  bal¬ 
ance,  scale,  force,  and  cycles  emerge  from  our  earliest  physical 
experiences  and  are  metaphorically  extended  by  us  to  express 
abstract  meaning. 

The  Language  Instinct:  How  the  Mind  Creates  Language,  by 
Steven  Pinker.  New  York:  William  Morrow  and  Co.,  1994. 
Combined  with  the  previous  book,  this  is  a  serious  challenge  to 
the  notion  that  language  determines  perception,  and  that  the 
only  worlds  we  can  know  are  our  own  strictly  word-created 
worlds.  The  author  is  a  professor  and  director  of  the  Center  for 
Cognitive  Neuroscience  at  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of 
Technology. 

Standing  by  Words,  by  Wendell  Berry.  Farrar,  Straus,  and 
Giroux,  1983.  Berry  connects  language  and  the  world  we  inhab¬ 
it,  arguing  for  a  use  of  words  that  is  worth  "standing  by."  Do 
you  mean  what  you  say,  and  will  you  be  held  accountable  for 
what  you  say?  Our  own  well-being,  as  well  as  that  of  the  land 
we  live  on,  depends  on  our  being  able  to  answer  "yes."  Berry 
adds  that  poetry  should  forge  connections  and  imply  a  lived 
story,  instead  of  being  merely  self-referential.  Its  meanings 
"must  resonate  and  accumulate  within  and  among  and  in 
response  to  the  meanings  of  other  things."  Surely  there  is  a 
thought  worth  a  preacher's  attention.  It  is  worth  a  professor's 
attention,  too. 


From  Harry  A.  Freebairn,  director  of  field  education: 

Vital  Signs,  by  Milton  J.  Coalter,  et.  al.  Grand  Rapids:  Eerdmans 
Publishing  Co.,  1996.  Subtitled  The  Promise  of  Mainstream 
Protestantism,  this  book  sees  the  trio  of  Coalter,  Mulder,  and 
Weeks  turn  their  findings  from  the  seven-volume  Presbyterian 
Presence  series  into  a  song  of  hope  for  those  of  us  who  live  in 
and  love  the  mainline,  sideline,  or  oldline  church.  More  than 
just  whistling  in  the  dark,  Vital  Signs  talks  about  what  we  can 
do,  and  celebrates  what  we  are  doing  well.  The  final  chapter 
makes  the  book. 

Listening  Woman,  by  Tony  Hillerman.  New  York:  HarperCollins, 
1990.  Most  of  Hillerman's  mysteries  weave  Navajo  rituals  and 
desert  topography  into  a  blanket  of  suspense  and  intrigue.  This 
one  features  Lieutenant  Joe  Leaphorn,  whose  rule  of  thinking 
like  his  adversaries  and  paying  attention  to  their  tracks  suggests 
strategies  for  pastors  who  are  baffled  by  behavior  in  their 
parishes.  Often,  we  simply  need  to  pay  attention. 

From  Katharine  Doob  Sakenfeld,  the  W.  A.  Eisenberger 
Professor  of  Old  Testament  Literature  and  Exegesis,  and 
director  of  Ph.D.  studies: 

Island  of  Tears,  Island  of  Hope:  Living  the  Gospel  in  a 
Revolutionary  Situation,  by  Niall  O'Brien.  Maryknoli,  NY:  Orbis 
Books,  1993.  Writing  out  of  decades  of  experience  as  a  local 
priest  serving  in  the  Philippines,  O'Brien  makes  the  case  for 
"active  nonviolence"  as  a  viable  mode  of  Christian  response  to 
the  violence  of  systemic  injustice.  Winner  of  the  Pax  Christi 
peace  award,  this  book  puts  a  human  face  on  the  struggle  for 
land  reform  in  one  local  setting,  while  challenging  readers  in 
every  community  to  break  out  of  the  complicity  of  silence  that 
perpetuates  injustice. 

The  Women's  Bible  Commentary,  edited  by  Carol  A.  Newsom 
and  Sharon  H.  Ringe.  Louisville,  KY:  Westminster  John  Knox 
Press,  1992.  More  than  forty  women  biblical  scholars  have  con¬ 
tributed  to  this  volume,  which  presents,  for  each  biblical  book, 

1)  a  brief  introduction  to  critical  interpretive  issues,  and  2)  com¬ 
ments  focused  on  passages  and  themes  of  special  significance 
for  the  situation  of  women.  This  is  thought-provoking  general 
reading  and  a  "must"  for  the  reference  shelf  of  pastors  and 
Bible  teachers  in  this  era  of  increasing  concern  for  gender 
issues. 


a  call  in  July  1996  to  become 
the  associate  pastor  for  youth 
and  families  at  Orangewood 
Presbyterian  Church,  also 
in  Phoenix.  He  was  ordained 
in  September  in  his  hometown 
of  Santa  Barbara,  CA.  He  is 
involved  in  leading  church 
services  every  week,  and  will 
eventually  preach  about  once 
a  month.  In  November  the 
Kerbers  went  on  a  mission  trip 


with  the  church  to  Puerto 
Penasco,  Mexico,  where  they 
helped  build  two  homes  and 
laid  the  foundation  for  a  third. 
The  pair  have  purchased  a  home 
in  north  central  Phoenix  “and 
are  trying  to  adjust  to  being 
grownups,”  they  write.  “Lest 
you  fear  we  have  sold  out,  be 
assured  that  Keith  still  has  his 
’66  VW  MicroBus  and  is  cur¬ 
rently  driving  a  convertible  VW 


Bug  until  the  bus  is  rebuilt  and 
reliable  (don’t  hold  your  breath). 
Although  we  are  hoping  for 
an  overseas  assignment  in 
a  few  years,  we  are  enjoying 
this  respite  from  our  transient 
lifestyle.  One  of  our  greatest 
fears  is  to  become  too  ‘comfort¬ 
able’  and  not  hear  the  Lord’s 
call,  so  we  continue  to  keep  our 
ears  and  eyes  open  for  addition¬ 
al  missions  opportunities.” 


We're  not 
ignoring  you! 

The  editorial  staff  of  inSpire 
receives  many  class  notes  every 
year,  and  tries  to  print  them  all. 
But  because  the  magazine  is 
published  quarterly,  it  some¬ 
times  doesn't  include  recently 
submitted  class  notes.  If  you 
don't  see  your  class  note  here, 
please  be  patient.  It  will  appear 
in  a  future  issue. 


inSpire  •  25 


spring  1997 


|||  outstanding  in  the  field 


A  Career  with  Latin  America 

PTS  Alums  Support  Pastors  in  Guatemala  and  Costa  Rica 


The  Presbyterian  Church  (USA)  is 
celebrating  a  “Year  with  Latin  America”; 
for  Ross  and  Gloria  Kinsler,  it’s  been  more 
like  a  career.  Both  I960  PTS  graduates,  the 
Kinslers  have  blended  education  and  mis¬ 
sion — first  in  Guatemala,  and  now  in  Costa 
Rica.  As  a  result,  Latin  American  Christians 
find  it  easier  to  attend  seminary,  and  North 
American  Christians  have  learned  about  their 
neighbors  to  the  south. 

The  pair  began  their  career  with  thirteen 
years  of  service  in  Guatemala.  They  then 
moved  Geneva,  Switzerland,  where  they 
served  the  World  Council  of  Churches 
(WCC)  for  six  years. 

They  have  been  in  San  Jose,  Costa  Rica, 
for  ten  years  now.  Both  are  professors  at 
Latin  American  Biblical  Seminary,  where 
Ross  helps  design  theological  education  pro¬ 
grams,  particularly  “alternative”  patterns  of 
seminary  education. 

“The  traditional  school  model  brings 
students  to  a  central  place,”  Ross  explained. 
“An  alternative  is  to  decentralize  the  model 
and  let  people  stay  in  their  own  milieu.” 

The  seminarians  of  Latin  America  often  find 
it  financially  difficult  to  leave  their  jobs  and 
family  responsibilities  to  attend  seminary  for 
three  to  four  years,  so  Latin  American 
Biblical  Seminary  has  invented  ways  to  bring 
the  seminary  to  the  students.  By  developing 
study  centers  and  sister  schools  throughout 
Latin  America,  it  has  made  it  possible 
for  seminary  students  to  attend  the  central 
school  for  between  two  months  and  one  year 
and  accomplish  the  rest  of  their  studies  near 
their  home  towns. 


“Professors  travel  from  place  to  place; 
students  study  individually  and  in  study 
groups  and  centers,”  Ross  said.  The  combi¬ 
nation  makes  possible  much  more  theologi¬ 
cal  education  than  would  otherwise  be  a  real¬ 
ity  lor  these  students.  All  students  need 
scholarships. 

The  program  is  funded  by  churches  in 
North  America  and  Europe.  The  seminary 
is  also  building  up  its  own  resources,  with 
a  goal  of  endowing  the  John  A.  Mackay 
Chair  in  Christian  Thought  and  Ecume¬ 
nism.  The  chair  will  honor  the  former 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  president, 
who  was  known  (among  other  things)  for  his 
love  of  both  Latin  America  and  ecumenism. 

As  the  child  of  missionaries — his  parents 
served  in  Korea — Ross  wanted  to  “follow 
that  tradition  in  another  part  of  the  world, 
and  Latin  America  seemed  to  be  opening 
up.”  He  sees  the  decentralized  education 
approach  of  Latin  American  Biblical 
Seminary  as  an  example  of  how  the  very 
nature  of  ministry  is  changing. 

“We  are  turning  toward  ministry  by  the 
whole  faith  community,”  he  said,  “and  mov¬ 
ing  away  from  professionalization.  Church 
leaders  all  have  equal  access  to  the  seminary. 
And  this  is  not  simply  a  matter  of  education 
design.  Theology  is  not  an  academic  con¬ 
struct.  This  model  leads  away  from  the 
polarizing  of  rich  and  poor.  It  has  to  do 
with  the  foundations  of  our  faith.” 

Of  course,  education  for  laypeople  is 
an  important  part  ol  the  church’s  mission. 
Gloria  Kinsler  leads  study  delegations 
throughout  Central  America,  particularly 


Guatemala,  since  there  is  a  Presbyterian 
Church  there.  The  groups,  which  are  mainly 
from  Presbyterian  Church  (USA)  churches, 
presbyteries,  synods,  and  seminaries,  come 
to  “see  what  is  happening  in  the  Third 
World  and  what  it  has  to  do  with  them,” 
Gloria  said.  “It’s  a  situation  of  increasing 
poverty  and  difficulty.” 

Still,  Gloria  said,  North  American 
Christians  learn  about  much  more  than 
the  poverty  and  hardship  of  life  in  Latin 
America. 

“One  ol  the  wonderful  things  about 
my  work  is  seeing  how  people  are  evange¬ 
lized  by  the  Central  American  Christians, 
in  the  sense  of  life-changing  experiences  that 
make  us  look  at  who  we  are  as  Christians 
and  as  North  Americans,”  Gloria  said.  “To 
see  God’s  spirit  at  work  here  over  and  over 
again  is  what  has  given  my  life  meaning.”  I 

Amazing  "Grace" 

A  Church  Builds  Confidence  and 
Common  Ground _ 

When  Steve  Yamaguchi  first  walked 
through  the  sanctuary  of  Grace  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Paramount,  California,  at  the 
beginning  of  his  pastorate  there  nine  years 
ago,  he  noticed  there  was  no  baptismal  font. 
“Where  would  we  baptize  someone?”  he 
asked  an  elder.  “We  don’t  baptize  people,” 
came  the  response. 

In  fact,  those  thirty  worshippers — whose 
average  age  was  over  seventy — had  not  bap¬ 
tized  anyone  for  five  years,  Yamaguchi 
recalls.  But  he  found  the  font  under  a  pile  of 
discarded,  broken  lurniture,  and  returned  it 
to  the  sanctuary. 

That  was  the  beginning  of  what  he  has 
likened  to  “turning  around  the  Titanic” — the 
redevelopment  of  that  eighty-year-old,  dis¬ 
heartened  Japanese  American  congregation 
established  by  the  Presbytery  ol  Los  Angeles 
in  the  early  1920s  for  Japanese  immigrants. 

“When  I  arrived  right  from  seminary 
in  1988,  the  church  wondered  seriously, 
if  not  openly,  ‘Will  we  survive?”’  Yamaguchi 
remembers.  “Today  we  expect  to  survive. 
Now  our  question  is:  Where  are  we  going 
and  how  faithfully  will  we  do  our  work  of 
ministry?” 

The  past  nine  years  have  brought  vision 
and  hope — and  lots  ol  new  people.  “Our 
membership  is  now  128;  last  Easter  in  our 


26  •  inSpire 


spring  1997 


H|  outstanding 


in  the  field 


last  class  of  twenty-five  new  members,  eigh¬ 
teen  joined  by  profession  of  faith  and  five  by 
reaffirmation  of  faith,”  Yamaguchi  reports. 
“We  re  welcoming  people  who  have  not  gone 
to  church  before.  They’re  new  Christians  and 
new  Presbyterians. 

“Grace  might  not  look  like  your  typical 
Presbyterian  congregation,”  he  reflects.  “We 
offer  you  good  news  and  hope  if  you've  been 
wounded  and  oppressed.  We  try  hard  to  wel¬ 
come  all  people,  regardless  of  background  or 
condition.  Our  people  have  included  the 
homeless  and  the  very  privileged,  those  with 
little  formal  education  and  college  professors, 
people  from  one  to  one 
hundred  years  old. 

We  include  people  of 
Japanese,  Korean, 

Chinese,  and  other  Asian 
ancestries,  Caucasians, 

Hispanics,  and  African 
Americans  in  lots  of 
blended  families.  Some 
people  drive  an  hour 
to  get  here,  some  walk 
across  the  street.” 

The  eclectic  mix  is 
not  surprising  for  a 
church  that  began  on 
the  fringe  of  mainstream 
America.  Its  first  congre¬ 
gants  were  mostly  people 
from  rural  or  depressed  areas  of  Japan, 
according  to  Yamaguchi,  a  third  generation 
(sansei)  Japanese  American  who  grew  up  in 
South  Central  Los  Angeles.  Church  growth 
was  stemmed  by  the  Immigration  Act  of 
1924  which  completely  halted  Japanese 
immigration.  Then  during  World  War  II, 
Japanese  Americans  in  the  Western  states 
were  incarcerated  in  concentration  camps; 
three-fourths  of  the  church  members  active 
back  in  1988  had  been  imprisoned  or  dis¬ 
placed  during  World  War  II  by  the  incarcera¬ 
tion  orders. 

Yamaguchi’s  own  grandparents  could  not 
be  naturalized  until  the  1954  passage  of  anti¬ 
exclusion  legislation.  His  parents  and  all  of 
their  families  were  incarcerated  in  the  camps. 

“People  in  our  congregation  have  experi¬ 
enced  exclusion,”  he  says.  But  he  is  cautious 
about  using  the  word  “inclusive”  to  describe 
the  church’s  present  ministry. 


“Our  work  at  Grace  seems  more  like  an 
'uncovering’  or  making  manifest  what  is 
already  the  reality  of  God’s  household,”  he 
says.  “We  try  in  our  ministry  to  realize  what 
is  already  true — that  God’s  vision  for  the 
holy  catholic  church  includes  the  whole 
world’s  outcasts.” 

To  help  keep  the  congregation’s  worship 
and  self-concept  from  becoming  too 
parochial,  Yamaguchi  chooses  hymns  and 
music  from  around  the  world.  “We  learn, 
really  learn,  Spanish  hymns,  Japanese  hymns, 
African  hymns,"  he  says.  “I  remind  the  con¬ 
gregation  that  as  we  sing  these  hymns,  peo¬ 


ple  all  around  the  world  are  singing  them 
to  the  same  God,  on  this  very  same  day, 
and  that  we  are  all  part  of  the  one  church 
of  Jesus  Christ.  It  means  a  lot  to  us,  a  small 
urban  congregation  in  an  overwhelming 
metropolis,  to  remember  that  we’re  not 
alone.” 

Overcoming  loneliness  and  lack  of  confi¬ 
dence  has  been  a  challenge  for  the  congrega¬ 
tion.  Their  first  building,  in  Long  Beach, 
California,  was  frequently  vandalized,  and 
worshippers  were  mugged  on  the  way  from 
the  curb  to  the  front  steps  of  the  church. 
Many  quit  coming  to  church  by  the  time 
the  congregation  moved  to  its  present  site. 

“In  1987  they  moved  into  a  building 
in  which  another  congregation  had  died,” 
he  says.  “When  I  was  called  in  1988,  the 
building  was  in  terrible  shape.  There  was 
gum  on  the  pews,  the  pew  Bibles  and  hym¬ 
nals  were  torn  and  scribbled  with  graffiti, 


the  lawn  was  just  dead  grass,  and  we  found 
three  dead  kittens  beneath  some  broken  fur¬ 
niture  in  an  unused  Sunday  School  class¬ 
room.  But  we  started  cleaning  it  up,  and  the 
church  began  to  change.  We  believed  people 
would  come,  and  they  did  come.” 

Growing  membership  has  led  the  congre¬ 
gation  to  add  staff.  PTS  senior  Gerald  Arata 
was  an  intern  there  last  year,  and  this  year 
the  church  will  call  its  first  associate  pastor. 

Grace  is  a  member  of  the  fellowship  of 
the  eighteen  Japanese  American  Churches 
(the  JPC)  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  (USA) 
who  meet  annually  to  support  each  other. 

“We’re  more  blended 
than  some  of  the 
other  JPC  churches,” 
Yamaguchi  says.  “About 
80  percent  of  our  mem¬ 
bers  have  some  Japanese 
ancestry,  but  many 
Japanese  Americans  do 
not  marry  other  Japanese 
Americans.  We  want  to 
remain  sensitive  to  both 
the  older  people  who  are 
more  influenced  by 
Japanese  culture  and 
the  younger  people  who 
are  much  more 
Americanized.  Our  wor¬ 
ship  service  is  in  English, 
but  I  do  a  few  rubrics  in  Japanese.  My 
Japanese  is  moderately  functional:  I  can  con¬ 
duct  a  bilingual  funeral  service,  but  I  could¬ 
n’t  order  computer  parts  in  Tokyo.” 

Yamaguchi  admits  that  the  work  of 
church  redevelopment  has  been  hard.  “This 
little  church  was  so  beat  up  and  discouraged 
when  I  came  that  many  doubted  we’d  make 
it.  But  I  believed  we  would,  and  felt  deeply 
called  to  work  for  it.  I  remember  Ed  Dowey 
[PTS’s  Archibald  Alexander  Professor  of  the 
History  of  Christian  Doctrine  Emeritus]  pas¬ 
sionately  sharing  with  my  senior  class  Dr. 
Mackay’s  words:  ‘While  you  are  young  and 
while  you  are  able,  go  to  the  hard  places  and 
do  the  hard  things.’  When  I  was  seeking 
a  call  as  a  senior,  lots  of  folks  were  lined 
up  hoping  to  go  to  the  other  ministries  I  was 
considering.  No  one  was  in  Grace’s  line. 

In  the  quiet  emptiness  of  that  line,  I  heard 
God’s  call.”  I 


A  smiling  Steve  Yamaguchi  is  surrounded  by  members  of  his  congregation,  aptly  named 
Grace  Presbyterian  Church. 


inSpire  •  27 


spring  1997 


^  Obituaries 


•  Madathiparampil  Mammen  (M.  M.)  Thomas 

M.  M.  Thomas,  a  major  force  in  the  Indian  church  as  well  as 
in  the  worldwide  ecumenical  movement,  died  on  December  3, 
1996.  He  was  eighty  years  old.  Between  1980  and  1987,  Thomas 
was  a  guest  professor  of  ethics,  mission,  and  ecumenics  at 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  for  one  semester  in  each  of  six 
years,  teaching  such  courses  as  The  Gospel  in  a  Pluralistic  World, 
The  Church  in  Mission  and  Unity,  Christian  Social  Ethics  in 
Asian  Perspective,  and  The  Ecumenical  Movement.  Indeed, 
according  to  his  friend  and  colleague  Charles  West,  who  is 
Princeton’s  Stephen  Colwell  Professor  of  Christian  Ethics 
Emeritus,  “to  say  he  taught  these  subjects  is  hardly  adequate. 

He  was  the  ecumenical  movement  in  our  midst.  He  embodied 
the  world  church  in  mission  and  through  his  teaching  presence 
made  us  a  part  of  it.”  Thomas  was  born  into  a  devout  Mar 
Thoma  Christian  family  in  Kerala,  India.  He  was  the  first  secre¬ 
tary  of  the  Youth  Christian  Council  of  Action  in  Kerala,  and  was 
then  secretary  of  the  Student  Christian  Movement  in  Madras, 
India.  From  there  he  became  youth  secretary  of  the  Mar  Thoma 
Church.  From  1947  to  1952  he  served  on  the  staff  of  the  World 
Student  Christian  Federation  in  Geneva,  Switzerland,  with  a  spe¬ 
cial  emphasis  on  Christian  political  witness.  He  helped  plan  the 
first  assembly  of  the  World  Council  of  Churches  in  1948,  and 
was  active  in  the  formation  of  the  council’s  Department  of 
Church  and  Society,  of  which  he  became  an  active  member  and 
served  as  chairperson  from  1961  to  1968.  He  also  chaired  the 
World  Conference  on  Church  and  Society  in  Geneva  in  19 66. 


From  1968  to  1975  he  was  chairperson  of  the  Central 
Committee  of  the  World  Council  of  Churches  itself,  guiding 
it  through  some  of  the  stormiest  years  of  its  history.  He  received 
an  honorary  doctorate  from  the  University  of  Uppsala  in  1978. 
From  1952  until  his  retirement  in  1976,  he  was  director  of  the 
Christian  Institute  for  the  Study  of  Religion  and  Society  in 
India,  where  he  helped  to  create  literature  for  the  guidance  of  the 
church  and  society  of  India  on  social  policy,  Christian-Hindu 
relations,  political  analysis,  family  problems,  and  ecumenical 
affairs.  He  also  wrote  a  large  and  diverse  number  of  books  of  his 
own  in  English  and  his  native  Malayalam,  including  Man  in  the 
Universe  of  Faiths,  Secular  Ideologies  and  the  Secular  Meaning 
of  Christ,  The  Christian  Response  to  the  Asian  Revolution,  The 
Realization  of  the  Cross,  and  a  series  of  Bible  studies  for  the 
church  in  Kerala.  At  the  risk  of  imprisonment  he  opposed  Indira 
Gandhi’s  suspension  of  democracy  in  1976,  a  position  which  led 
indirectly  to  his  appointment  as  governor  of  the  largely  Christian 
province  of  Nagaland,  where  he  served  from  1991  to  1993. 

At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  actively  promoting  a  three-year 
research  project  on  mission  and  evangelism  for  India,  to  which 
he  had  recruited  two  PTS  faculty  members  as  advisors.  As  West 
noted,  “through  the  power  of  his  thought,  the  breadth  of  his 
vision,  and  the  genius  of  his  diplomacy,  he  has  influenced  the 
mind  and  policy  of  the  ecumenical  movement  more  than  any 
other  person  save  its  architect,  W.  A.  Visser’t  Hooft.  He  was  for 
a  while  our  teacher  and  our  friend.  He  remains  our  inspiration 
and  our  challenge.” 


•  William  J.  Duvall,  1932B 

William  J.  Duvall,  a  Methodist 
Episcopal  minister  who  served  churches 
in  New  Jersey,  died  on  October  7,  1996. 
He  was  eighty-nine  years  old.  Duvall  was 
ordained  on  March  6,  1932.  He  pastored 
Hedding  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in 
Bellmawr,  NJ,  from  1930  to  1932,  and 
churches  in  Barnsboro  and  New  Sharon, 
NJ,  from  1932  to  1934.  He  also  served 
churches  in  English  Creek  and  Bethel,  NJ, 
from  1934  to  1936.  Other  churches  in  his 
ministry  included  Billingsport  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  in  Paulsboro,  NJ,  where 
he  was  called  in  1936;  Trinity  Methodist 
Church  in  Clayton,  NJ;  and  the  First 
Methodist  Church  in  Salem,  NJ,  where 
he  was  called  in  1958.  He  was  a  Civil 
War  historian  and  for  several  years  hosted 
a  weekly  television  program  in  the 
Philadelphia  area  on  Abraham  Lincoln. 

He  loved  to  travel  and  visited  thirty-four 
countries  on  six  continents.  He  is  survived 
by  his  wife,  Mildred  Duvall,  and  by  their 


daughters,  Elinor  D.  Heermans  and  Carol 
D.  Garrett. 

•  Galbraith  Hall  Todd,  1938B,  1939M 

Galbraith  Hall  Todd,  who  spent  fifty 
years  as  pastor  of  Arch  Street  Presbyterian 
Church,  Philadelphia,  PA,  died  on  January 
28,  1997.  He  was  eighty-two  years  old. 
Ordained  by  Erie  Presbytery  on  June  7, 
1938,  Todd  received  his  first  call  as  pastor 
of  Pierce  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Niagara  Falls,  NY,  where  he  served  from 
1940  to  1944.  He  became  pastor  at  Arch 
Street  Presbyterian  Church  in  1944,  and 
retired  from  that  church  in  1994.  From 
1948  to  1968,  he  was  a  lecturer  in 
homiletics  at  Reformed  Episcopal 
Seminary.  He  was  the  author  of  several 
religious  books,  including  The  Gamblers 
at  Golgotha,  which  was  based  on  fourteen 
of  his  Lenten  sermons.  In  1964,  he  deliv¬ 
ered  the  opening  prayer  of  the  U.S. 

Senate.  He  was  the  chaplain  of  several 
fraternal  organizations,  and  enjoyed  histo¬ 
ry  and  genealogy. 


•  James  L.  Ewalt,  1940B 

James  L.  Ewalt,  former  pastor  of 
Eastminster  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Hyattsville,  MD,  died  on  January  18, 

1 997.  He  was  eighty-one  years  old.  Ewalt 
was  ordained  on  June  17,  1940,  by  Erie 
Presbytery.  He  was  the  associate  pastor 
of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church, 
Elizabeth,  NJ,  from  1940  to  1941,  and 
was  then  called  to  pastor  Linden 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Linden,  NJ,  where 
he  stayed  from  1941  to  1943.  He  then 
served  a  three-year  stint  in  the  United 
States  Army.  From  1946  to  1960  he  was 
pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
Crafton,  PA,  and  in  1960  became  associate 
pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Red  Bank,  NJ,  where  he  stayed  until 
1963.  In  that  year  he  was  called  as  pastor 
of  Eastminster  Presbyterian  Church, 
Hyattsville,  MD.  He  is  survived  by  his 
wife,  Anna,  and  by  their  children,  John 
Ewalt  and  Martha  Grant. 


28  •  inSpire 


spring  1997 


^  Obituaries _ 

•  William  R.  Johnston,  1942B 

William  R.  Johnston,  former  pastor 
of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Murrysville,  PA,  died  on  December  22, 
1996.  He  was  seventy-nine  years  old. 
Johnston  was  ordained  by  Redstone 
Presbytery  on  June  4,  1942.  He  was  pastor 
of  Round  Hill  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Elizabeth,  PA,  from  1942  to  1946;  and 
pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
Scottdale,  PA,  from  1946  to  1951.  In 
1951  he  became  executive  of  Redstone 
Presbytery  in  Uniontown,  PA,  a  post  he 
held  until  1954.  In  that  year  he  was  called 
as  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
Uniontown,  PA,  where  he  stayed  until 
1961,  when  he  was  called  as  pastor  of 
the  Murrysville  church.  He  served  in  the 
United  States  Marine  Corps  from  1937 
to  1941.  Johnston  is  survived  by  his  wife, 
Barbara  Johnston,  as  well  as  by  their  chil¬ 
dren:  William  Nevin  Johnston,  Elizabeth 
Johnston,  Susanne  Leggett,  Mary  Jacob, 
Nancy  Shannon,  and  Sarah  Kolcun. 

He  is  also  survived  by  four  stepchildren: 
Christopher,  Amy,  David,  and  Timothy 
Volk. 

•  George  F.  Mace,  1943B 

George  F.  Mace,  a  pastor  and  presbytery 
executive  who  served  the  church  in  Ohio 
and  Missouri,  died  on  October  14,  1996. 
He  was  eighty  years  old.  Mace  was 
ordained  in  May  1 943  by  the  Presbytery 
of  Philadelphia.  His  first  call  was  as  pastor 
of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
Perrysburg,  OH,  where  he  stayed  until 
1949.  In  that  year  he  was  called  as  pastor 
of  Mifflin  Presbyterian  Church,  Gahanna, 
OH,  where  he  served  for  eleven  years. 

From  I960  to  1967  he  was  associate  pas¬ 
tor  of  Forest  Hill  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Cleveland  Heights,  OH,  and  in  1967 
he  became  a  member  of  the  urban  staff 
of  St.  Louis  Presbytery,  St.  Louis,  MO. 

He  became  associate  executive  of  Elijah 
Parish  Lovejoy  Presbytery,  also  in  St. 

Louis,  in  1970.  Mace  is  survived  by  his 
wife,  Maxine  Mace. 

•  Robert  D.  Baynum,  1954B,  1966M 
Robert  D.  Baynum,  a  teacher  and  social 

worker  who  served  churches  in  Tennessee, 
Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  Missouri,  and 
Michigan,  died  on  December  10,  1996. 


He  was  seventy  years  old.  Baynum  was 
ordained  by  Morris  and  Orange  Presbytery 
on  June  15,  1954.  He  was  called  to  be  the 
assistant  pastor  at  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church,  Butler,  PA,  where  he  served  from 

1954  to  1955.  He  was  pastor  of  Manassas 
Presbyterian  Church,  Manassas,  VA,  from 

1955  to  1961,  and  minister  of  education 
at  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church, 

Kansas  City,  MO,  from  1961  to  1962. 
From  1962  to  1965  he  was  the  minister 
of  parish  life  at  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  Birmingham,  MI.  In  1973 

he  became  a  counselor  at  the  State 
Correctional  Institution  at  Graterford,  PA, 
as  well  as  a  caseworker  and  human  services 
aid  for  the  Philadelphia  County  Board  of 
Assistance.  He  is  survived  by  his  wife,  Jane 
Baynum,  and  his  children:  Bruce,  Beth, 
Robert,  and  Paul. 

•  C.  Fred  Mathias,  1957B 

C.  Fred  Mathias,  pastor  of  Northminster 
Presbyterian  Church,  Indianapolis,  IN, 
died  on  December  15,  1996.  He  was 
sixty-four  years  old.  Mathias,  who  had 
been  pastor  of  that  church  lor  the  past 
eleven  years  (since  1985),  was  murdered 
in  his  home.  His  wife,  Cleta  Mathias,  was 
also  killed.  The  killer  or  killers  have  not 
been  caught.  Mathias  was  ordained  by 
Northumberland  Presbytery  on  June  6, 
1957.  His  first  call  was  as  associate  pastor 
of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  York, 
PA,  where  he  served  from  1957  to  1960. 
He  was  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  West  Chester,  PA,  from  1960 
to  1965.  In  1965  he  was  called  as  pastor 
of  Westminster  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Wilmington,  DE.  The  Mathiases  are  sur¬ 
vived  by  their  children:  Mark  Mathias, 
Garth  Mathias,  and  Anne  O’Neil. 

•  Theodore  Sieh,  1957b 

Theodore  Sieh,  the  founder  and  artistic 
director  of  New  York  City’s  Bel  Canto 
Opera  Company,  died  on  September  22, 

1 996.  He  was  seventy-one  years  old. 

Born  in  Hainan,  China,  he  studied  both 
theology  and  music  before  immigrating 
to  the  United  States  in  1955  to  study 
at  Princeton  Seminary  and  at  the  Juilliard 
School  of  Music.  Sieh  learned  the  bel 
canto  operatic  tradition  from  the  Italian 
tenor  Tito  Schipa,  one  of  its  great  expo¬ 


nents.  He  founded  Bel  Canto  Opera  in 
1969  to  produce  older,  little-known  operas 
and  to  give  young  singers  a  start,  and 
presented  modestly  staged  performances 
in  the  meeting  hall  of  Madison  Avenue 
Baptist  Church,  New  York,  NY.  In  1979 
the  company  moved  to  Martin  Luther 
King  High  School,  on  the  upper  west  side 
of  Manhattan.  The  company’s  highlights 
included  productions  of  Auber’s  Manon 
Lescaut,  Paisiello’s  Barbiere  di  Siviglia,  and 
the  world  premier  of  Tao  Yuan,  a  fantasy 
play  combining  music  and  dance  by  the 
Chinese  composer  Sung  Fu  Yuan.  He  left 
Bel  Canto  Opera  in  1985,  but  came  out 
of  retirement  to  direct  Lakme  in  1991. 

He  is  survived  by  his  wife,  Eleanor  Sieh, 
and  their  children,  Peter  Sieh  and 
Catherine  Birchard. 

•  Mac  C.  Wells,  1969B,  1970M 
Mac  C.  Wells,  a  pastor  who  served 
churches  in  New  Jersey  and  Indiana,  died 
on  November  21,  1996.  He  was  seventy- 
eight  years  old.  Wells  had  a  long  career 
in  the  United  States  Air  Force,  where 
he  served  from  1947  to  1965,  before 
coming  to  seminary.  He  was  ordained  by 
Washington  City  Presbytery  on  May  1 1, 
1969.  From  1966  to  1969  he  was  the 
business  administrator  ol  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church,  Princeton,  NJ.  In 
1 969  he  was  called  first  as  the  assistant 
pastor  and  then  the  associate  pastor 
of  Nassau  Street  Presbyterian  Church, 
Princeton,  NJ,  which  was  a  church 
formed  from  the  union  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  and  St.  Andrew’s 
Presbyterian  Church.  In  1975  he  became 
associate  pastor  of  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church,  Indianapolis,  IN.  Wells  is  sur¬ 
vived  by  his  wife,  Mauveleene  Wells. 

In  addition  to  those  whose  obituaries 
appear  in  this  issue,  the  Seminary 
has  received  word  that  the  following 
alumni/ae  have  died: 

Henry  Little  Jr.,  1923B 
Harry  H.  Bryan,  1939G 
A.  Walker  Hepler,  1939B 
Shinnosuke  Miyamoto,  1950b 
Michael  Samartha,  1968M 
Lucy  Poba,  1983E 

The  obituaries  of  many  of  these 
alumni/ae  will  appear  in  future  issues. 


inSpire  •  29 


spring  1997 


investing  in  ministry 


Gifts 

This  list  includes  gifts  made  between  October  22,  1996,  and 
January  23,  1997. 

In  Memory  of _ 

The  Reverend  James  A.  Allison  Jr.  (  5  IB)  to  the  Scholarship  Fund 
The  Reverend  Frederick  J.  Allsup  (’42B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Russell  W.  Annich  (’32B)  to  the  Scholarship 
Fund 

Ms.  Lorna  M.  Armstrong  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Ms.  Mar)'  Armstrong  to  the  Mary  Armstrong  Memorial  Book 
Fund 

Ms.  Lily  Stall  Bauernschmidt  to  the  Flarwood  and  Willa  Childs 
Memorial  Scholarship  Endowment  Fund  (gift  given  2/14/96) 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Samuel  W.  Blizzard  Jr.  ('39B)  to  the  Samuel 
Wilson  Blizzard  Award 

The  Reverend  John  R.  Booker  (’55B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Mr.  Clement  A.  Bowie  to  the  Clement  A.  Bowie  Family  Memorial 
Scholarship  Endowment  Fund 

The  Reverend  George  Chalmers  Browne  (’40B)  to  the  Alumni/ae 
Roll  Call 

Mrs.  Betty  C.  Bryant  to  the  Newton  W.  and  Betty  C.  Bryant 
Scholarship  Endowment  Fund 

The  Reverend  Dr.  Edward  J.  Caldwell  Jr.  (’38B)  to  the  Annual 
Fund 

The  Reverend  Dr.  Arthur  F.  Ewert  (’47M)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  William  FL  Felmeth  (’42B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  John  D.  Flikkema  (’34B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Allan  M.  Frew  (’35B)  to  the  Scholarship  Fund 
Mr.  Raymond  FL  Gould  to  the  Alumni/ae  Roll  Call 
Mrs.  Matilda  Hahn  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  H.  Halsey  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  A.  Walker  Hepler  Jr.  (’39B)  to  the  Alumni/ae  Roll 
Call 

The  Reverend  Dr.  James  Holmes  (1826b)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Reuel  E.  Johnson  (’48B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Dr.  Edward  J.  Jurji  (’42B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Miss  Elsie  M.  Knodel  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Howard  T.  Kuist  to  the  Scholarship  Fund 
Mr.  Richard  H.  Lackey  Jr.  to  the  Richard  H.  Lackey  Jr.  Memorial 
Scholarship  Endowment  Fund 
The  Reverend  Joseph  J.  Lemen  (’50B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Mr.  John  S.  Linen  to  the  John  S.  and  Mary  B.  Linen  Memorial 
Scholarship  Endowment  Fund 

Mrs.  Mary  B.  Linen  to  the  John  S.  and  Mary  B.  Linen  Memorial 
Scholarship  Endowment  Fund 
Dr.  J.  Scott  Maclennan  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Mrs.  Alexandra  Marshall  to  the  Guilford  C.  Babcock  Seminars  in 
Practical  Theology 

Dr.  James  I.  McCord  to  the  Annual  Fund 

The  Reverend  Lewis  McNeely  (1848b)  to  the  Annual  Fund 

Ms.  Irene  Elizabeth  Miller  to  the  Annual  Fund 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  David  J.  Morrison  to  the  Annual  Fund 


Mrs.  Elizabeth  D.  Newcomer  to  the  Alumni/ae  Roll  Call  (gift 
given  2/14/96) 

Mr.  William  F.  Nordt  to  the  Annual  Fund 

The  Reverend  Howard  A.  Northacker  (’  1 5B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Clifford  G.  Pollock  (’37B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  Howard  E.  Pusey  (’52B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  William  Robert  Raborn  (’ 50B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Ms.  Edith  D.  Rambo  to  the  Alumni/ae  Roll  Call 
Ms.  Roberta  Emmons  Ross  to  the  Peter  K.  and  Helen  Emmons 
Scholarship  Endowment  Fund 

The  Reverend  Dr.  Michael  P.  Samartha  (’68M)  to  the  Scholarship 
Fund 

Mrs.  Santina  M.  Schlotter  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Alan  E.  Schoff  (’40B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  John  S.  Shew  (’54B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Alvin  Duane  Smith  (’45B,  ’47M)  to  the  Annual 
Fund 

The  Reverend  Dr.  J.  Ross  Stevenson  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Mr.  Hugh  M.  Sullivan  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Mrs.  Catherine  H.  Sulyok  (’51 E)  to  the  Kalman  L.  and  Catherine 
H.  Sulyok  Scholarship  Endowment  Fund 
Dr.  Kalman  L.  Sulyok  (’56D)  to  the  Kalman  L.  and  Catherine  H. 

Sulyok  Scholarship  Endowment  Fund 
Mr.  Gavin  A.  Taylor  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  Donald  K.  Theobald  (’43B)  to  the  Scholarship 
Fund 

The  Reverend  Reinhardt  Van  Dyke  (’38b)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Raymond  C.  Walker  (TOB)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Dr.  David  A.  Weadon  to  the  David  A.  Weadon  Memorial 
Endowment  Fund 

The  Reverend  Mac  C.  Wells  (’69B)  to  the  Alumni/ae  Roll  Call 
Ms.  Marian  Lawder  O’Brien  Whitman  to  the  Lawder  Scholarship 
Endowment  Fund 

In  Honor  of _ 

The  Reverend  Dr.  Robert  W.  Battles  Jr.  (’64M)  to  the  Scholarship 
Fund 

Mrs.  Ruth  Battles  to  the  Scholarship  Fund 
James  Bell,  Esq.,  to  the  Annual  Fund 

Mr.  Newton  W.  Bryant  to  the  Newton  W.  and  Betty  C.  Bryant 
Scholarship  Endowment  Fund 

The  Reverend  Fergus  Cochran  (TOB)  to  the  Annual  Fund  (gift 
given  2/16/96) 

Ms.  Dorisanne  Cooper  (’96B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Geddes  W.  Hanson  (’72D)  to  the  Edler  G. 
Hawkins  Prize 

The  Reverend  William  O.  Harris  (’54B)  to  the  Speer  Library  Fund 
The  Reverend  Henry  F.  Jonas  (’52B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  Margaret  Grim  Kibben  (’86B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Nancy  E.  Muth  (’79B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  Ann  R.  Palmerton  (’86B)  to  the  Scholarship  Fund 
Mrs.  H.  Whitney  Gillis  Steinhauser  to  the  Scholarship  Fund 
Mr.  Ralph  M.  Wyman  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  Otto  M.  Zingg  (’62B)  to  the  Scholarship  Fund 


30  •  inSpire 


spring  1997 


investing  in  ministry 


In  Appreciation  of _ 

The  Reverend  Dr.  Charles  L.  Bartow  (’63B)  to  the  Alumni/ae 
Roll  Call 

Mrs.  R.  Paula  Bartow  to  the  Alumni/ae  Roll  Call 
The  Reverend  Charles  L.  Cureton  III  (’60B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Kenneth  Glassman  (Robyn)  and  Family  to  the 
Annual  Fund 

The  Reverend  Henry  F.  Jonas  (’52B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Lending  Library  to  the  Center  of  Continuing  Education 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Hugh  M.  Miller  (’42B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Ms.  Melinda  Nichols  to  the  Scholarship  Fund 
The  Presbyterian  Church  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  to  the  Arthur  Paul  Rech 
Memorial  Prize  in  Theology  and  Pastoral  Ministry 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary’s  “help”  with  Dr.  Robert  W. 

Morrison  (’69B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Touring  Choir  to  the  Touring 
Choir  Fund 

Seminary  work  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Speer  Library  to  the  Annual  Fund 

Speer  Library  “for  many  pleasureful  hours”  to  the  Annual  Fund 


Did  You  Know  That...? 

the  average  debt  of  the  entering  PTS  Class  of  1996 
(M.Div.  students  who  will  graduate  in  1999)  at  the  time 
of  matriculation  was  $13,169 

40  per  cent  of  this  class  began  their  seminary  education 
in  debt 

of  the  144  M.Div.  students  who  graduated  from 
Princeton  in  1996,  eighty  one  graduated  with  student 
loan  debt,  an  average  of  $14,680  per  student 

PTS  students  spend  an  average  of  $1,030  for  books 
each  year 

the  maximum  need-based  grant  to  PTS  students  is 
$7,285  (full  tuition  and  comprehensive  fees,  but  not 
room  and  board) 

PTS  scholarship  aid  pays  full  tuition  for  many  students, 
but  many  other  expenses  must  be  met  by  other  income 
sources 

of  the  1 15  M.  Div.  students  that  began  seminary  in  the 
fall  of  1996,  105  are  receiving  grant  and  scholarship  aid 


The  Reverend 
Chase  S.  Hunt 
is  the  Seminary's 
director  of 
planned  giving. 
For  more  informa¬ 
tion,  call  him 
at  609-497-7756. 


Kay  Ledward  made  a  discovery. 

That  was  nearly  twenty  years  ago.  Recently  widowed,  she  elected  to  take  on  the  investment  and 
management  of  her  financial  resources  herself,  quite  a  challenge.  Devout  in  her  faith,  Kay  has  always 
taken  seriously  the  responsibility  of  Christian  stewardship  and  its  influence  on  her  priorities  and  the 
decisions  she  makes  in  the  course  of  her  daily  living.  A  faithful  and  longtime  member  of  her  local 
church,  Kay  has  also  been  a  friend  of  the  Seminary  through  the  years.  The  discovery  she  made  was  the 
Princeton  Seminary  Fund,  our  pooled  income  fund.  It  is  one  of  the  life  income  plans  we  offer  through 
our  planned  giving  program. 

Kay  discovered  that  an  investment  in  that  fund  of  $1,000  or  more  would  both  advance  the  cause  of 
the  Seminary  and  pay  her  income  on  a  quarterly  basis.  She  liked  the  idea  that  this  income  was  variable 
according  to  the  fortunes  of  the  market,  and  could  grow  in  a  growing  economy.  She  was  also  interested 
to  learn  that  a  gift  to  the  Princeton  Seminary  Fund  would  entitle  her  to  a  charitable  deduction  for 
income  tax  purposes.  Over  the  ensuing  dozen  years,  she  made  several  such  gifts  to  that  fund.  At  her 
death,  these  monies  will  establish  an  endowed  memorial  fund  bearing  the  names  of  Kay  and  her  hus¬ 
band,  Robert. 

More  recently,  Kay  Ledward  made  another  discovery!  This  was  of  a  life  income  plan  called  a  chari¬ 
table  gift  annuity.  Some  years  older  now,  Kay  found  it  appealing  that  such  an  annuity  pays  her  a  fixed 
amount  based  on  her  age  at  the  time  the  agreement  is  established,  and  that  a  portion  of  the  quarterly 
payment  she  receives  comes  to  her  tax  free.  This  arrangement  also  entitles  her  to  an  income  tax  charita¬ 
ble  deduction.  Since  this  discovery,  Kay  has  made  a  number  of  gifts  to  the  Seminary  by  way  of  these 
annuities,  which  will  ultimately  become  a  part  of  the  same  memorial  fund  as  her  pooled  income  fund 
gifts  mentioned  earlier. 

If  you  would  like  to  make  the  discoveries  Kay  Ledward  made  for  yourself,  or  learn  of  other  oppor¬ 
tunities  offered  through  our  planned  giving  program,  I  invite  you  to  contact  me  by  mail  or  by  calling 
me  at  609-497-7756. 


inSpire  •  31 


spring  1997 


tend  things 


When  I  graduated  from  seminary,  I  had 
everything  planned.  Like  so  many  of  my 
classmates,  I  would  serve  a  few  years  as  an 
assistant  or  associate  pastor.  Then  I  would 
move  to  a  small  church  as  solo  pastor,  fol¬ 
lowed  by  an  assortment  of  larger  churches. 
Hopefully,  I  would  “peak"  with  a  head-of- 
staff  position. 

I  started  off  right  on  schedule.  The 
First  Presbyterian  Church  in  Stillwater, 
Oklahoma,  called  me  as  assistant  pastor. 
Soon  they  changed  the  call  to  associate 
pastor.  My  path  was  set. 

Things  were  going  just  as  I  planned. 

I  was  just  doing  my  job  when  a  member 
of  my  congregation  asked  me  to  lead  a 
worship  service  for  his  Army  Reserve  unit. 
It  was  early  enough  in  the  morning  that 
it  did  not  interfere  with  the  Sunday  service 
in  my  congregation.  [A  little  service  to 
the  community  never  hurt  anybody,  I  told 
myself.]  They  asked  me  to  come  back 
again.  Then  they  asked  me  to  become 
their  chaplain.  [Wait  a  minute!  This  wasn’t 
in  my  plans.  In  fact,  I  had  protested 
against  the  military  in  seminary!]  But  the 
unit  had  no  one  to  be  a  pastor.  I  discov¬ 
ered  that  many  of  the  unit  members  had 
no  civilian  church  contact.  When  faced 
with  ethical  dilemmas,  the  reservists  had 
no  one  to  advise  them.  When  struggling 
with  marriage  problems,  they  had  no  con¬ 
tact  for  counseling.  Something  tugged 
at  me.  Before  I  knew  it,  I  was  attending 
Chaplain  Officer  Basic  Course  at  Fort 
Monmouth,  New  Jersey. 

My  plans  were  slightly  altered,  but  I  was 
not  too  far  off  track.  I  was  still  working 
in  the  local  church.  I  only  met  one  week¬ 
end  a  month  with  my  reserve  unit.  That 
would  not  affect  the  course  of  my  career. 

I  he  plan  changed  when  another  Presby¬ 
terian  chaplain  suggested  I  apply  for  active 


military  duty.  The  Army  did  not  have 
many  female  chaplains.  They  needed  me. 
[But  I  owned  a  house.  I  had  two  dogs. 

I  had  a  plan.]  I  felt  a  pull.  Before  I  knew 
it,  I  had  orders  for  active  duty.  I  was  pack¬ 
ing  up  everything  I  owned  and  heading 
to  Fort  Lewis,  Washington. 

Now  what?  Could  I  salvage  any  part 
of  the  plan?  Counseling  soldiers  and  their 
families  about  personal  issues  was  not 
so  different  from  my  civilian  ministry. 
Granted,  the  multicultural  aspect  of  chap¬ 
laincy  added  an  interesting  dimension, 
but  the  hurts  and  hopes  of  the  people 
were  the  same.  Perhaps  I  could  still  get 
back  on  track. 

I  was  learning  the  ropes  of  ministry  in 
the  military  community  when  my  medical 
unit  got  orders  to  head  for  Somalia. 

[But  I  hadn’t  figured  things  out  yet.  I  had 
only  been  on  active  duty  for  three  weeks!] 
Before  I  knew  it,  I  was  in  Mogadishu. 

I  was  leading  worship  while  automatic 
weapons  were  fired  from  the  roof  of  the 
building.  I  was  sitting  in  the  office  of 
the  Pakistani  liaison  officer  arranging  for 
my  Muslim  soldiers  to  attend  mosque 
on  Fridays.  This  certainly  was  not  in 
my  plans.  I  was  so  far  from  my  path 
I  would  never  get  back! 

Another  Princeton  Seminary  alumna, 
Gail  Anderson  Ricciuti  (’73B),  co-pastor 
of  the  Downtown  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Rochester,  New  York,  was  the  com¬ 
mencement  speaker  for  the  class  of  1982. 

I  still  remember  what  she  said.  She  sug¬ 
gested  that  we  embrace  a  “knapsack  theol¬ 
ogy."  We  should  not  get  so  rooted  in 
one  place  that  we  could  not  pick  up  and 
go  on  a  moment’s  notice.  What  she  called 
a  “knapsack,”  we  call  “rucksacks"  in  the 
army.  A  good  soldier  will  keep  a  rucksack 


packed  at  all  times,  ready  to  pick  up  and 
go  when  the  call  comes. 

I  never  imagined  how  important  “knap¬ 
sack  theology”  would  become  in  my  min¬ 
istry.  I  would  have  missed  so  much  had 
I  been  firmly  planted  in  one  place — travel 
to  many  exciting  places,  working  side 
by  side  with  ministers  from  a  wide  variety 
of  denominations  and  faith  groups,  cele¬ 
brating  Passover  with  Jews  and  Christians 
while  deployed  to  a  Muslim  country,  lead¬ 
ing  worship  for  people  who  had  never  met 
a  woman  in  uniform,  facing  a  greater  vari¬ 
ety  of  counseling  issues  in  one  month  than 
I  might  see  in  an  entire  year  in  a  civilian 
parish.  If  I  had  not  followed  that  call, 

I  would  have  missed  an  incredible  oppor¬ 
tunity. 

My  career  plans  have  certainly  changed. 
Actually,  I  have  stopped  planning.  My 
rucksack  is  packed.  I  am  ready  to  go!  I 


Chaplain  Barbara  K.  Sherer  (’82B)  is  a  cap¬ 
tain  in  the  United  States  Army.  She  works 
at  the  United  States  Army  Chaplaincy 
Services  Support  Agency  at  the  Pentagon. 


32  •  inSpire 


spring  1997 


June 

con  ed 

calendar 

2-13 

Institute  of  Theology  (St.  Andrews,  Scotland) 

22-27 

56th  Annual  Institute  of  Theology  (Princeton,  NJ) 

Singing  a  New  Song 

For  more  information,  contact  the  Center  of  Continuing  Education, 

12  Library  Place,  Princeton,  NJ  08540,  609-497-7990  or  1-800-622-6767,  ext.  7990 

Summer  School  1 997 

calendar 

July  2-August  22 

Biblical  Hebrew  (six  credits) 

J.  J.  M.  Roberts 

New  Testament  Greek  (six  credits) 

Brian  K.  Blount 

July  7-11 

Theology  and  the  Arts  One  week  on  campus  followed  by  two  off-campus  weekends, 
to  be  announced,  and  directed  study. 

Max  Stackhouse 

July  7-25 

Exegesis  of  the  Book  of  Jonah  (Hebrew  text) 

Robert  B.  Salters 

Literary  Criticism  of  the  New  Testament 

Andrew  K.M.  Adam 

Doing  Dogmatics  Today  (afternoon  sessions) 

Christopher  L.  Morse 

Mobilizing  Congregations  for  Ministry  and  Witness  (afternoon  sessions) 

John  W.  Stewart 

July  28-August  15 

The  Christian  Mission  in  a  Pluralistic  Culture 

Alan  P.  Neely 

Basics  of  Pastoral  Care  and  Counseling  (afternoon  sessions) 

James  W.  Ellis  Jr. 

Urban  Ministry  and  Youth  Crisis 

Michael  J.  Christensen 

From  Text  to  Sermon 

Nancy  Lammers  Gross 

August  18-22 

Presbyterian  Church  Polity  (one  credit) 

H.  Dana  Fearon  III 

For  more  information  about  summer  school  or  to  register,  please  call  609-497-7820 

photo:  Chrissie  Knight 


Princeton 
in  photos 

Happy  graduates  Clif  Johnson  (B), 
Neal  Magee  (B),  and  Diana 
Brawley  (Th.M.)  pose  together 
on  the  Seminary's  one  hundred 
eighty-fifth  annual  commence¬ 
ment.  Magee  will  stay  on  at 
PTS  for  one  year  as  webmaster 
of  the  Seminary's  new  web  site. 
Visit  us  at  www.ptsem.edu. 


summer  1997 


inSpire 

Princeton  Theological  ■  Seminary 

Summer  1997 
Volume  2 
Number  4 

Editor 

Barbara  A.  Chaapel 

Associate  Editor 

Hope  Andersen 

Art  Director 

Kathleen  Whalen 

Assistant 

Susan  Molloy 

Staff  Photographer 

Chrissie  Knight 

InSpire  is  a  magazine 
for  alumni/ae  and  friends 
of  Princeton  Theological 
Seminary.  It  is  published 
four  times  a  year  by 
the  Princeton  Theological 
Seminary  Office 
of  Communications/ 

Publications,  P.O.  Box  821, 
Princeton,  NJ  08542-0803. 
Telephone:  609-497-7760 
Fax:  609-497-7870 
Email: 

inspire@ptsmail.ptsem.edu 

The  magazine  has  a  circulation 
of  approximately  23,000  and 
is  printed  by  George  H. 

Buchanan  Co.  in  Philadelphia, 

PA.  Reproduction  in  whole 
or  in  part  without  permission 
is  prohibited.  Non-profit 
postage  paid  at  Philadelphia, 

PA. 

On  the  Cover 

The  flavor  of  the  clinical 
pastoral  education  experience 
is  conveyed  in  images  caught 
by  student  photographer 
Chrissie  Knight  at  St.  Mary 
Medical  Center  in  Langhorne, 

PA,  where  senior  Leslie  Mott 
and  Lisa  Hess  ('96B  and 
a  Ph.D.  candidate)  did  their 
CPE  unit  this  summer. 


mat  itcmti  mt» 
HNWTctmaiKima 


in  this  issue 


Features 


8  •  Communicating  with  Care 

Janet  E.  Weathers,  Princeton's 
assistant  professor  of  speech 
communication  in  ministry, 
settles  in  to  her  new  life  at 
PTS. 

by  Hope  Andersen 


10  •  Ministry — A  Work 
in  Progress 

Is  there  life  after  seminary? 
Graduates  from  the  Class 
of  1996  return  for  PTS's 
annual  continuing  education 
workshop  focusing  on  the 
transition  from  academia 
to  the  'real'  world. 
by  Julie  E.  Browning 


12  •  Shaping  the  Pastoral  Role 

Through  intense,  hands-on 
experience,  clinical  pastoral 
education  (CPE)  enables 
participants  to  examine  how 
the  "self"  both  contributes 
to  and  detracts  from  their 
ministry. 
by  Hope  Andersen 


Departments 


2 

• 

Letters 

28 

•  Obituaries 

3 

• 

On  &  Off  Campus 

31 

•  Investing  in  Ministry 

15 

• 

Class  Notes 

32 

•  End  Things 

24 

• 

On  the  Shelves 

33 

•  Con  Ed  Calendar 

25 

• 

Outstanding  in  the  Field 

inSpire  •  1 


summer  1997 


from  the 
president's  desk 


Dear  Friends  and  Colleagues: 


Summer  at  Princeton  Seminary 
provides  a  change  of  gears,  but  certainly 
not  a  cessation  of  activities.  This  sum¬ 
mer,  more  than  120  students  are  on 
campus  studying  Greek  and  Hebrew 
in  the  Summer 
Language  Program, 
and  78  students 
are  taking  one 
of  ten  courses 
offered  in  preach¬ 
ing,  exegesis,  theol¬ 
ogy,  and  pastoral 
care. 


In  addition,  we  had  two  very  successful 
summer  Institutes  of  Theology  in 
June,  one  in  Princeton  and  one  in  St. 
Andrews,  Scotland,  jointly  sponsored 
with  St.  Mary’s  College.  There  are  excit¬ 
ing  plans  underway  to  make  the  part¬ 
nership  with  St.  Andrews  an  ongoing 
part  of  our  continuing  education 
program.  You’ll  hear  more  about  those 
plans  in  the  fall  issue  of  inSpire. 


As  we  prepare  for  the  opening  of  the 
new  academic  year,  we  await  with  antic¬ 
ipation  the  arrival  of  three  new  faculty 
members,  a  new  librarian,  and  three 
new  administrators  (about  whom  you 
will  read  in  the  issue);  the  opening 
of  the  Witherspoon  Apartments,  a  new 
housing  complex  for  second-career 
single  students;  and  the  debut  of  the 
PTS  web  site! 


i 


A  Letters 


Enjoying  the  Journey 

Thanks  for  inSpire.  It  is  good 
in  retirement  to  hear  a  little  of  what 
is  being  done  at  Princeton  to  continue 
the  struggle. 

I  particularly  enjoyed  the  article 
on  spirituality  that  appeared  in  the  fall 
1 996  issue  that  stressed  the  plurality 
of  means  but  the  unity  of  goal  in  our 
common  spiritual  quest. 

It  occurred  to  me  that  the 
Seminary  should  not  be  too  overly 
concerned  that  alumni/ae  think  their 
seminary  didn’t  do  a  very  complete  job 
in  preparing  them  for  the  whole  of 
their  ministry.  How  could  it  possibly? 

The  best  any  seminary  can  do  is 
to  set  disciples  on  a  course  of  discovery, 
giving  them  tools  to  continue  the  jour¬ 
ney,  a  compass  and  a  sextant  if  you 
like,  and  the  knowledge  of  how  to  use 
them  effectively!  It  is  up  to  the  individ¬ 
uals  to  continue  their  own  journeys 
of  exploration,  hewing  jewels  from  the 
rocks  along  the  way  and  gaining  suste¬ 
nance  from  the  continuing  fruits  to  be 
found  in  the  countryside  explored. 

A  seminary  graduate  who  “knows  it 
all”  is  a  menace!  Those  who  know  they 
are  committed  to  a  lifelong  exploration 
of  what  the  Spirit  is  doing  in  them, 
in  the  church,  and  in  the  world  will 
go  far  in  their  service  of  the  Kingdom 
and  of  their  fellow  human  beings. 

Continue  to  box  the  compass 
then  Princeton,  and  may  you  all  learn 
to  take  a  fix  on  the  Son! 

Edward  A.  Johnston(’64M,  '9 ID) 
Canterbury,  New  Zealand 


As  always,  we  welcome  your  participa¬ 
tion  with  us  in  the  exciting  venture 
of  theological  education. 

With  every  good  wish  and  warmest 
regards,  I  remain 

Faithfully  yours, 


CCCoMaS  Cl)  "TSiCiespi' 

Thomas  W.  Gillespie 


Thanks  for  Stewart's  Views  on 
Evangelism 

I  write  to  congratulate  you  on 
the  spring  issue  of  inSpire — especially 
for  John  Stewart’s  essay  on  the  thorny 
thicket  of  contemporary  evangelism. 

It  is  clear,  concise,  and  aware  of  both 
the  religious  pluralism  of  the  global 
village  and  of  the  enduring  singular 
verities  of  the  Gospel.  My  compliments 
to  him.  His  thinking  nourishes  mine. 
Bennett  J.  Sims  (’49b) 

Hendersonville,  NC 


Correction:  We  incorrectly  reported 
that  PTS  professor  James  Moorhead 
was  the  editor  of  The  Journal  of 
American  History.  The  journal  he 
edits  is  The  Journal  of  Presbyterian 
History.  We  regret  the  error. 


Lost,  Then  Found 

This  is  a  story  out  of  the  past. 

I  write  this  letter  at  the  urging  of  the 
Reverend  Dr.  Alexander  Biro  (’36M) 
of  Budapest,  Hungary. 

Alexander  arrived  at  the  seminary 
in  1933  and  occasionally  assisted 
my  father,  Alexander  Daroczy  (’23M), 
in  his  parish  in  Carteret,  NJ.  With 
World  War  II  on  the  horizon,  father 
pleaded  with  Alexander  not  to  return 
to  Hungary,  but  he  felt  duty  bound 
to  his  country  to  return.  We  never 
heard  from,  or  of,  Alexander  Biro  again 
and  thought  him  dead.  A  news  item 
in  an  early  1990s  inSpire  alerted  me 
to  his  whereabouts,  and  in  calling 
the  Seminary,  I  received  Alexander’s 
address. 

This  began  a  six-year  correspon¬ 
dence  with  an  old  friend  that  culmi¬ 
nated  with  a  reunion  in  Hungary 
in  1996. 

Irene  C.  D.  Hutton,  widow 
of  Lewis  J.  Hutton  (’44B) 

Kingston,  Rl 

What  about  Women? 

I  want  to  thank  you  for  the 
“Women  in  Ministry”  issue  of  inSpire. 
In  the  pastorate,  I  am  finding  ministry 
to  be  challenging,  filled  with  blessings, 
and  a  lot  of  work.  I  grow  more  and 
more  thankful  for  the  solid  rheological 
education  I  received  at  Princeton. 
However,  I  have  recently  been  told 
the  dismaying  news  that  the  percentage 
of  women  students  has  dropped  from 
approximately  forty-two  percent  in 
1992  to  twenty-seven  percent  today. 
According  to  Hartford  Seminary,  over¬ 
all  numbers  for  both  women  clergy 
and  students  is  and  has  been  increas¬ 
ing.  Something  therefore  is  seriously 
wrong,  and  I  would  like  to  see  this 
issue  addressed  in  future  publications. 
Janet  L.  Abel  (’95B) 

Endwell,  NY 


2  •  inSpire 


,e  Kn'9ht 


summer  1997 


On  May  14,  PTS  bid  a  fond  farewell  to 
Tim  Richards,  who  has  been  in  charge  of 
feeding  the  Seminary's  students,  staff,  and 
guests  for  the  past  eight  years  as  director 
of  food  service.  (He  was  assigned  to  PTS 
as  assistant  director  of  food  service  in  1988 
by  Aramark,  with  whom  the  Seminary 
contracts,  and  was  promoted  to  director 
in  1988.)  Richards  left  to  head  up  food  ser¬ 
vices  at  Drew  University  in  Madison,  NJ. 

"I  will  miss  PTS  and  the  sense  of  com¬ 
munity  I  felt  here,"  said  Richards.  "My 
staff  and  I  always  tried  to  give  the  commu¬ 
nity  not  just  a  product,  but  food  served 


with  caring,  given  as  a  gift.  And  I'm 
leaving  you  in  good  hands  with  Amy." 

Amy  Ehlin,  Richards's  assistant  director, 
succeeds  him  as  director. 

Among  speakers  at  Richards's  farewell 
luncheon,  which  was  attended  by  a  dining 
hall-full  of  students,  faculty,  and  staff  as 
well  as  Richards's  parents,  Janet  and  Jim, 
and  his  wife,  Joicy  Becker-Richards  (direc¬ 
tor  of  media  services  at  the  Seminary), 
was  PTS  associate  professor  Nora  Tisdale. 
"Under  your  leadership,"  she  said,  "the 
food  service  at  this  institution  has  become 
a  genuine  ministry  of  compassion  and  care 


for  the  community — a  way  in  which  gra¬ 
cious  hospitality  is  extended  to  all  who 
pass  through  this  place.  You  have  a  special 
gift  for  making  celebrations  truly  celebrato¬ 
ry,  and  for  enabling  the  community  to 
forge  bonds  around  well-laden  and  artfully 
decorated  tables. ...Your  ministry  has  been 
highly  sacramental." 

To  express  their  gratitude,  PTS  presented 
Richards  with  goodbye  gifts:  a  rocking 
chair,  a  PTS  umbrella,  and  a  PTS  sweat¬ 
shirt.  Ehlin,  representing  the  food  service 
staff,  gave  him  a  leather  briefcase. 


on&off  Campus 


PTS  Alumnus  Beaten  during  Violence  in  Nairobi 


Along  with  the  rest  of  the  world, 
Princetonians  were  alarmed  to  read  in  the 
July  8  New  York  Times  that  Timothy  Njoya, 
a  pastor  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  East 
Africa  and  a  PTS  graduate  in  the  Class  of 
1971,  was  beaten  by  police  during  a  pro¬ 
democracy  rally  in  Nairobi,  Kenya,  the  day 
before.  The  police  crackdown,  in  which  at 
least  nine  people  were  killed,  came  after 
weeks  of  sporadic  student  protests  against 
Kenyan  president  Daniel  Moi's  one-party 
system. 

Njoya,  who  has  pushed  for  reforms  from 
his  pulpit  throughout  Moi's  presidency, 
took  refuge  with  other  demonstrators  in 
the  Anglican  All  Saints  Cathedral.  Police 
wielding  clubs  forced  their  way  into  the 
church  and  launched  tear-gas  canisters  at 
the  demonstrators.  In  a  related  news  story 
in  the  Philadelphia  Inquirer,  Njoya  reported 
that  he  spent  the  next  hour  negotiating 
with  the  local  police  and  that  things  were 
peaceful  until  Moi's  presidential  guard 
arrived  with  lights  flashing  and  sirens  blar¬ 
ing.  They  took  over  command  from  the 


locals,  shouting  "Who  is  Njoya?  Who 
is  this  non-entity?" 

They  then  beat  Njoya  with  ax  handles; 
he  reported  that  he  would  have  been  killed 
were  it  not  for  three  Kenyan  journalists 
who  threw  themselves  on  his  body  as  he 
lay  on  the  ground. 

Njoya  was  hospitalized  for  several  days 
with  broken  bones  and  severe  lacerations 
and  then  returned  to  his  home.  He  said  the 
police  commander  later  apologized  for  the 
attack,  and  Njoya  accepted  the  apology, 
saying  that  talking  was  what  the  protesters 
were  looking  for. 

Njoya  plans  to  travel  to  Canada  in  mid- 
August  to  teach  there  for  the  next  nine 
months.  PTS  alumna  Nyambura  Njorge 
(on  the  staff  of  the  World  Council  of 
Churches  and  a  good  friend  of  Njoya's) 
said  he  was  grateful  for  the  prayers  and 
concern  of  members  of  the  Seminary 
community  who  contacted  him  after  the 
violence. 


Hot  Off  the  Press  from  the  Faculty 

Finished  all 
of  your  summer 
reading?  Pick  up 
one  of  these  titles 
recently  written 
by  a  member 
of  the  Seminary's 
faculty. 

God's  Human 
Speech:  A  Practical 
Theology  of  Proclamation,  by  Charles 
L.  Bartow,  the  Carl  and  Helen  Egner 
Professor  of  Speech  Communication 
in  Ministry.  Eerdmans,  1997. 

Men,  Religion,  and  Melancholia:  James, 
Otto,  Jung,  and  Erikson,  by  Donald  Capps, 
the  William  Harte  Felmeth  Professor  of 
Pastoral  Theology.  Yale  University  Press, 
1997. 

Essays  in  Postfoundationalist  Theology, 
by  J.  Wentzel  van  Huyssteen,  the  James 
I.  McCord  Professor  of  Theology  and 
Science.  Eerdmans,  1997. 


These  books  are  available  through 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary's 
Theological  Book  Agency  (TBA).  To  place 
an  order  by  phone,  call  609-497-7735.  To 
fax  an  order,  use  fax  number  609-279-9195 
and  include  a  VISA  or  MasterCard  number 
with  expiration  date. 


inSpire  •  3 


summer  1997 


on&off  Campus 

New  Faculty  and  Staff  Join  PTS  Community 


Seven  new  faculty  members  and  admin¬ 
istrators  joined  the  Princeton  Seminary 
community  this  summer. 

Ellen  T.  Charry  is  the  Margaret  W. 
Harmon  Associate  Professor  of  Systematic 
Theology.  She  comes  to  PTS  from  a  posi¬ 
tion  as  assistant  professor  at  the  Perkins 
School  of  Theology  in  Dallas.  A  Ph.D.  grad¬ 
uate  of  Temple  University  in  Philadelphia 
and  an  Episcopalian,  she  teaches  in  the 
fields  of  systematic  and  historical  theology 
and  has  a  special  interest  in  bringing  the 
pre-modern  doctrinal  heritage  of  the  church 
into  conversation  with  contemporary  femi¬ 
nist  insights. 

Robert  C.  Dykstra  has  been  appointed 
as  assistant  professor  of  pastoral  theology. 
He  earned  both  his  M.  Div.  and  his  Ph.D. 
from  Princeton  Seminary.  Before  returning 
to  join  the  PTS  faculty,  he  taught  theology 
at  the  University  of  Dubuque  Theological 
Seminary.  An  ordained  Presbyterian  minis¬ 
ter,  Dykstra  has  special  interest  in  pastoral 
care  and  counseling  and  developmental 
theory. 

Kenda  Creasy  Dean,  a  United 
Methodist  pastor  who  has  worked  in  con¬ 
gregational  settings  with  both  youth  and 
college  students,  joins  the  faculty  as  assis¬ 
tant  professor  of  youth,  church,  and  cul¬ 
ture.  She  served  as  a  consultant  to  PTS's 
School  of  Christian  Education  and  to  its 


new  Youth  Ministry  Institute  while  she  was 
completing  her  Ph.D.  at  the  Seminary.  She 
is  interested  in  the  relationship  between 
culture,  adolescence,  and  mainline 
Protestant  churches. 

Stephen  D.  Crocco,  the  new  James 
Lenox  Librarian,  was  director  of  the  library 
at  Pittsburgh  Theological  Seminary  from 
1987  until  he  came  to  Princeton  this  sum¬ 
mer.  He  is  trained  in  religious  ethics, 
having  earned  his  Ph.D.  from  Princeton 
University's  Religion  Department,  and 
is  currently  the  archivist  of  the  Society 
of  Christian  Ethics. 

R.  Scott  Sheldon,  an  M.  Div.  graduate 
of  the  Seminary,  returned  in  July  to  begin 
a  new  position  in  the  Center  of  Continuing 
Education  as  coordinating  director  of  con¬ 
gregational  life.  He  just  completed  four 
years  as  executive  presbyter  of  Cayuga- 
Syracuse  Presbytery  in  New  York  State; 
prior  to  that  he  served  as  an  associate 
pastor  at  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Northport,  NY. 

Adrian  Backus  began  his  new  position 
as  director  of  research,  planning,  and  spe¬ 
cial  projects  for  the  Seminary  in  July. 

An  attorney,  he  received  his  M.  Div.  degree 
from  PTS  last  spring.  Before  entering  semi¬ 
nary,  he  was  responsible  for  the  overall 
administration  of  Africare,  a  ten  million 
dollar,  USAID-funded,  private-sector  agro¬ 


business  and  family  planning  program 
for  several  African  nations.  While  doing 
this  work,  he  lived  in  Rwanda  and  Burundi 
in  Central  Africa  and  in  various  countries 
in  West  Africa. 

Chester  Polk  Jr.,  also  a  PTS  graduate, 
will  be  the  Seminary's  assistant  director  of 
field  education.  A  minister  in  the  Southern 
Baptist  Convention,  he  was  a  church  starter 
strategist  and  consultant  for  his  denomina¬ 
tion  in  Fresno,  CA,  before  returning  to 
Princeton.  He  has  also  served  as  an  associ¬ 
ate  minister  of  Shiloh  Baptist  Church  in 
Trenton,  NJ,  and  as  senior  pastor  of  Mount 
Salem  Baptist  Church  in  Victoria,  TX.  He 
will  work  with  churches  and  students  with 
a  congregational-based  system  of  polity. 

In  other  faculty  and  staff  changes 
announced  by  the  Seminary's  Board  of 
Trustees,  James  F.  Armstrong  retired 
as  the  James  Lenox  Librarian  and  was 
given  emeritus  status.  He  continues  as 
the  Seminary's  academic  dean.  Ellen  L. 
Myers  retired  as  assistant  for  academic 
affairs  and  was  given  emeritus  status. 

James  F.  Kay  was  assigned  to  the  Joe 
R.  Engle  Chair  of  Homiletics  and  Liturgies. 
Paul  E.  Rorem,  a  medieval  church  histori¬ 
an,  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  professor. 

Joicy  Becker-Richards  was  promoted 
to  the  position  of  director  of  media  ser¬ 
vices. 


Sam  Moffett:  Man  on  a  Mission 

Dr.  Samuel  H.  Moffett,  PTS  alumnus  ('42B)  and  the  Seminary's 
Henry  Winters  Luce  Professor  of  Ecumenics  and  Mission 
Emeritus,  returned  to  his  birthplace  of  Pyongyang,  North  Korea, 
on  January  25,  1997,  exactly  107  years  after  his  father,  Samuel 
A.  Moffett,  first  set  foot  on  Korean  soil.  This  was  his  first  visit 
to  northern  Korea  in  sixty-two  years. 

Moffett  and  his  wife,  Eileen,  were  members  of  a  delegation  on 
a  humanitarian  mission  to  deliver  medical  supplies,  including 
an  ambulance  funded  by  the  Eugene  Bell  Foundation,  to  the 
North.  They  were  responding  to  an  acknowledged  desperate 
food  shortage  following  two  years  of  floods  and  drought  in  the 
North.  Most  members  of  the  group  were,  like  Moffett,  alumni 
of  the  Pyongyang  Foreign  School.  Others  were  medical  doctors 
and  members  or  relatives  of  the  Bell  family. 

Since  the  division  of  Korea  in  1948  into  two  republics,  the  North 
Koreans  have  turned  to  their  close  allies,  the  Russians  and  the 
Chinese,  for  support.  Recently,  however,  the  climate  has  changed, 
and  the  North  is  increasingly  open  to  receiving  much-needed 
assistance  from  other  sources.  Hence,  the  humanitarian  effort 
in  January. 

The  religious  climate,  too,  is  changing.  According  to  statistics 
provided  by  officials  in  the  government,  there  are  three  open 
churches  in  Pyongyang — two  Protestant  and  one  Catholic. 

In  addition,  officials  in  the  North  acknowledge  ten  semi-public 
meeting  places  and  an  estimated  five  hundred  unregistered 
house  churches. 

Members  of  the  Pyongyang  delegation  returned  to  North  Korea 
in  May  with  a  twenty-seven-car  train  filled  with  grain  and  rice 
seed,  as  well  as  ten  portable  greenhouses  intended  to  serve 
as  models  for  the  Koreans  to  reproduce  and  use  in  growing  food. 


were  not  permitted  to  leave  Pyongyang,  the  second  group  trav¬ 
eled  outside  the  city  and  into  more  rural  areas.  A  third  group  is 
scheduled  to  take  additional  food  into  the  country  later  this  year. 

Moffett,  who  hopes  to  be  among  those  to  return  to  Pyongyang 
in  the  near  future,  served  as  a  missionary  in  South  Korea  from 
1955  to  1981.  In  addition,  he  taught  at  the  Presbyterian 
Theological  Seminary  in  Seoul,  which  was  founded  by  Samuel 
A.  Moffett  in  1901  and  is  now  the  largest  Presbyterian  seminary 
in  the  world,  for  twenty-two  years.  From  1966  to  1977,  he  served 
as  the  dean  of  the  graduate  school  there  and  acted  as  its  associ¬ 
ate  president  from  1974  into  the  1980s.  While  in  Seoul,  he 
served  as  co-founder  and  first  director  of  the  Asian  Center  for 
Theological  Studies  and  Missions  from  1974  to  1981. 

Currently  working  on  the  second  volume  of  A  History  of 
Christianity  in  Asia,  Moffett  will  return  to  Seoul  in  October  to 
receive  an  honorary  degree  from  Soongsil  University,  founded 
one  hundred  years  ago  by  his  father. 


4  •  inSpire 


photo:  Chrissie  Knight 


summer  1997 


on&off  Campus 

Princeton's  Bricks  and  Mortar  Shine 


Hodge  Hall  Puts  a  New  Face  Forward 

This  summer  Hodge  Hall  was  given  a  major  facelift.  Under 
the  supervision  of  Karen  Sargent,  the  architect  from  Ford, 
Farewell,  Mills,  and  Gatsch  who  had  been  involved  in  the 
Lenox  House  restoration,  core  samples  of  stone  were  taken 
from  Hodge  and  a  compatible  red  mortar  was  determined. 
David  Poinsett,  the  Seminary's  director  of  facilities,  then  hired 
E.  J.  Conti,  a  mason  who  specializes  in  historic  preservation 
and  who  did  the  pointing  for  both  Alexander  and  Brown  Halls, 
to  complete  the  project.  A  genuine  craftsman,  Conti  had  a  tool 
especially  ground  to  achieve  the  small,  rounded  "bull's  nose" 
effect  in  the  narrow  mortar  bead. 


“Diamond  in  the  Rough"  Receives 
Architectural  Award 

Since  1993,  the  Seminary  has  restored 
a  number  of  architecturally  significant 
buildings,  including  Brown  Hall,  Alexander 
Hall,  and  Lenox  House.  Last  year,  both 
the  New  Jersey  State  Historic  Preservation 
Society  and  the  Historical  Society  of 
Princeton  acknowledged  the  Seminary's 
efforts  by  bestowing  PTS  with  awards  for 
"preservation,  adaptive  reuse,  and  mainte¬ 
nance  in  context." 

This  year,  PTS  received  a  third  award, 
from  the  Historical  Society  of  Princeton, 
for  the  renovation  of  102  Mercer  Street — 
also  known  as  "the  Carriage  House" — 
which  is  currently  the  residence  of  Janet 
Weathers,  assistant  professor  of  speech 
communication  in  ministry. 

Originally  built  as  the  carriage  house 
to  the  Victorian  mansion  located  at  104 
Mercer  Street,  102  Mercer  had  subsequent¬ 
ly  been  used  by  its  previous  owner  as 
an  artist's  studio  because  of  its  wonderful 
natural  light.  However,  by  the  time  Michael 


Schnoering,  the  architectural  associate 
at  Ford,  Farewell,  Mills,  and  Gatsch  who 
worked  on  the  project,  entered  the  house, 
it  had  been  vacant  for  about  eight  years 
and  was  in  complete  disrepair. 

"The  roof  leaked,  the  floor  was  buckled, 
the  wood  was  rotted,  and  birds  had  nested 
inside,"  recalls  Schnoering,  whose  first  task 
was  to  assess  whether  or  not  the  building 
could  be  brought  back  to  life.  Schnoering's 
second  task  was  to  convert  the  diminuitive 
space  into  housing  for  a  couple  or  a  single 
faculty  member  while  maintaining  its  his¬ 
toric  integrity. 

Because  of  the  severe  water  damage, 
the  main  floor  had  to  be  removed  com¬ 
pletely  and  a  whole  corner  of  the  structure 
had  to  be  rebuilt.  However,  most  of  what 
remains  is  the  original  post  and  beam 
structure  with  one  obvious  discrepency:  the 
half-moon  addition  at  the  rear  of  the  house. 

Whenever  he  could,  Schnoering  integrat¬ 
ed  original  materials  into  the  design.  The 
mantlepiece  over  the  triangular  brick  fire¬ 
place  is  constructed  from  a  piece  of  old 
beam.  One  of  the  black  cast-iron  heating 
grates  is  an  original;  the  others  throughout 


the  house  are  exact  replicas  of  the  original 
design.  The  exterior  of  the  house  reflects 
the  original  colors  based  on  analysis  of  the 
deteriorated  paint. 

Schnoering  also  added  his  own  touch. 
"The  idea  was  to  play  off  the  simple  design 
idea  of  the  house,"  he  comments.  In  this 
spirit,  he  transformed  the  upper  area  walk¬ 
way  into  a  loft  that  is  now  used  as  a  study. 
The  hourglass-shaped  brackets  in  the  loft 
railing  are  Schnoering's  own  design,  as 
are  the  flower-like  details  in  the  corner  trim 
blocks  of  each  window. 

The  Seminary's  own  Rick  Lansill,  vice 
president  for  financial  affairs,  supervised 
the  renovation  from  its  initiation  and  chose 
the  distinctive  lighting  fixtures  throughout 
the  house. 

The  Carriage  House  today  has  been 
restored  not  to  its  true  purpose  but  to 
a  new  purpose.  "It's  always  light,  private, 
peaceful,"  observes  Weathers.  "It's  a  heal¬ 
ing  space." 


A  Little  Light 

The  Seminary's  new  Witherspoon  Apartments,  a  forty-unit 
building  in  West  Windsor  Township  designed  for  second- 
career  students  and  scheduled  to  open  in  the  fall,  has  been 
recognized  by  Public  Service  Electric  and  Gas  Company's 
(PSE&G)  Energy  Efficient  Home  Program.  The  program  recog¬ 
nizes  single-family,  townhome,  condominium,  and  individual¬ 
ly-metered  apartment  communities  that  meet  high  standards 
of  energy  efficiency,  often  exceeding  the  State  of  New 
Jersey's  building  codes. 


inSpire  •  5 


summer  1997 


on&off  Campus 


Alumni/ae  Association  Executive 
Council  Adds  Three  New  Reps 

In  May,  three  members  of  the 
Alumni/ae  Association  Executive  Council 
completed  their  four-year  terms:  in 
Region  Four,  William  G.  Carter  ('85B); 
in  Region  Eight,  Robert  Crilley  ('59B); 
and  in  Region  Twelve,  Jim  Upshaw  ('50B). 
Their  service  over  the  past  four  years 
has  been  appreciated. 

The  new  representatives  for  these 
regions  continue  the  tradition  of  diversity 
which  has  characterized  the  council. 

Deborah  Ann  McKinley  ('82B),  represen¬ 
tative  for  Region  Four,  is  pastor  at  Old 
Pine  Street  Church  in  Philadelphia.  She 
is  also  a  member  of  the  executive  board 
of  the  Presbyterian  Association  of 


Musicians  and  of  the  Committee  on 
Ministry  of  Philadelphia  Presbytery. 

In  addition,  she  sits  on  the  Metropolitan 
Christian  Council  (an  ecumenical  gather¬ 
ing  of  denominations  in  the  Philadelphia 
metropolitan  area). 

Ann  R.  Palmerton  ('86B),  elected  from 
Region  Eight,  serves  as  associate  pastor 
for  outreach  and  pastoral  care  at  Broad 
Street  Presbyterian  Church  in  Columbus, 
OPI.  She  is  also  a  member  of  the 
Committee  on  Preparation  for  Ministry 
and  the  Committee  on  Ministry  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Scioto  Valley.  In  addition, 
she  is  active  on  the  Justice  for  Women 
Committee  in  the  Synod  of  the  Covenant. 
From  1988  to  1993,  she  served  on  the 
denomination's  Justice  for  Women 
Committee  and,  in  1990,  represented  that 
committee  in  Australia  as  part  of  the 


Presbyterian  Women's  Global  Exchange. 

John  E.  Turpin  ('52B),  who  pastored  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Oakland,  CA, 
for  twenty  years  before  he  retired,  now 
serves  on  the  board  of  a  Presbyterian 
campus  ministry  at  the  University  of 
California,  Berkeley,  and  represents 
Region  Twelve.  Fie  is  also  directing  efforts 
to  organize  and  implement  a  conference 
on  genetics  and  ethics  for  pastors  and  lay 
leaders  of  congregations  in  San 
Francisco's  East  Bay  area. 

Each  of  these  newly  elected  representa¬ 
tives  has  expressed  appreciation  for  the 
efforts  PTS  makes  in  preparing  ministers 
to  serve  in  an  increasingly  complex 
world;  each  has  also  made  a  commitment 
to  contribute  energy  and  experience  to 
further  the  effectiveness  of  the 
Seminary's  mission. 


Faculty  Accolades 

Freda  A.  Gardner,  PTS's 
Thomas  W.  Synnott  Professor 
of  Christian  Education 
Emerita,  was  named 
a  Distinguished  Alumna 
of  the  Presbyterian  School 
of  Christian  Education  (PSCE) 
in  Richmond,  VA,  during 
that  institution's  Alumni/ae 
Weekend  last  April.  Herself 
a  graduate  of  PSCE,  she 
served  on  its  board  of 
trustees  and  co-chaired  the 
board's  joint  committee  with 
Union  Theological  Seminary 
in  Richmond  that  recom¬ 
mended  the  federation  of  the 
two  schools.  In  the  citation 
honoring  Gardner,  Katherine 
Paterson,  an  award-winning 


children's  author  and  PSCE  former  board 
member  and  alumna,  wrote:  "Perhaps 
no  other  graduate  of  PSCE  has  given 
more  service  to  the  wider  church.  Her 
role  as  advocate  for  educational  ministry 
and  church  educators  has  been  ongoing 
for  forty  years....  Freda  sits  at  many 
tables— tables  of  consultation,  deliberation, 
negotiation,  and  decision-making,  as  well 
as  tables  of  happy  fellowship  and  holy 
communion.  Whatever  the  table,  she  brings 
to  her  place  the  wisdom  and  humor  that 
are  her  distinguishing  characteristics.  It  is 
with  great  joy  that  we  say  thanks  to  God  for 
her  fruitful  witness  and  celebrate  her  con¬ 
tinuing  ministry  to  the  church  and  world." 

Kathleen  E.  McVey,  Princeton's 
Joseph  Ross  Stevenson  Professor  of 
Church  History,  attended  the  Third  Syriac 
Consultation  for  Dialogue  within  the  Syriac 


Tradition,  an  ecumenical  conference  held 
in  Chicago  in  July  sponsored  by  the  PRO 
ORIENTE  Foundation.  PRO  ORIENTE  is 
an  ecclesial  foundation  of  the  Archdiocese 
of  Vienna  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
that  is  committed  to  promoting  ecumenical 
relations  between  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  and  the  Eastern  Orthodox,  Oriental 
Orthodox,  and  Assyrian  Churches.  McVey 
was  one  of  only  fifty  participants  invited 
to  attend,  and  the  only  Roman  Catholic 
lay  woman  scholar. 

Abigail  Rian  Evans  was  honored 
by  her  alma  mater,  Jamestown  College 
in  Jamestown,  ND,  when  it  awarded  her 
an  honorary  Doctor  of  Humane  Letters 
degree  in  May.  Evans  is  associate  professor 
of  practical  theology  and  academic  coordi¬ 
nator  of  field  education  at  the  Seminary. 


Eileen  Moffett  Accepts  Distinguished  Alumna  Award 


6  •  inSpire 


When  Eileen  Flower  Moffett  ('55E) 
accepted  the  Distinguished  Alumna 
Award  at  the  Alumni/ae  Reunion 
Gathering  in  May,  she  and  her  husband, 
Samuel  H.  Moffett  ('42B),  who  had 
received  the  same  award  exactly  twenty 
years  earlier,  became  the  first  couple 
in  the  history  of  the  Seminary  to  have 
both  been  awarded  the  prize. 

Despite  her  humble  claims  that  she 
"didn't  deserve  it,"  Moffett  has  had  a  dis¬ 
tinguished  ministry  in  Christian  education 
and  in  missionary  work.  She  taught  at 
Beirut  College  for  Women  in  Lebanon 
between  her  middler  and  senior  years  at 
seminary  and  later  served  as  an  assistant 
professor  at  the  Presbyterian  College  and 
Theological  Seminary  in  Seoul,  Korea, 
the  largest  Presbyterian  seminary  in  the 
world.  She  also  worked  with  colleagues 


and  seminary  students  in  the 
slums  in  Seoul,  helping  men  and 
women  to  earn  and  save  their 
money  to  purchase  their  own 
homes.  By  the  time  she  left,  five 
hundred  families  had  saved 
enough  to  become  homeowners. 

The  aspect  of  her  career  of 
which  she  is  most  proud,  howev¬ 
er,  is  her  involvement  with  the 
Bible  Club  Movement  in  Korea. 

Since  it  was  started  in  1929  by 
PTS  alum  Francis  Kinsler  ('28B),  the 
movement  has  helped  more  than  a  mil¬ 
lion  underprivileged  children  receive  a 
Christian-based  education  they  would  oth¬ 
erwise  have  been  denied.  During  Moffett's 
six-year  tenure  as  director,  about  50,000 
children  and  youth  were  served  annually. 


photos:  Chrissie  Knight 


summer  1997 


on&off  Campus 


(above)  Professor  Charlesworth 
views  fragments  of  the  Dead 
Sea  Scrolls  with  Brent  Laymon, 
director  of  public  relations  for 
the  Xerox  Corporation; 

(right)  previously  hidden  text 
as  it  appeared  on  the  monitor. 


Find  Your  Way  into  Our  Web! 

As  of  September,  the  Seminary  will 
have  a  new  address!  The  PTS  web  site 
will  be  live  at  www.ptsem.edu.  We  hope 
you'll  visit  it  early  and  often. 

During  the  past  year,  a  small  commit¬ 
tee  of  faculty,  administrators,  and  stu¬ 
dents  has  been  working  to  plan  and 
design  the  web  site.  Neal  Magee,  a  1997 
PTS  graduate,  is  serving  as  webmaster 
for  the  coming  academic  year  and  is 
working  with  the  Office  of  Commun¬ 


ications/Publications  to  design  the  site 
and  gather  information  about  how  it  can 
be  useful  to  users  both  on  and  off  cam¬ 
pus. 

The  site  will  be  organized  into  eight 
sub-sections  under  the  home  page: 
Academic  Programs  (containing  degree 
and  course  information  as  well  as  the 
program  guide  for  the  Center  of 
Continuing  Education  and  information 
about  the  Institute  for  Youth  Ministry), 
Admissions  (including  on-line  application 
materials),  Educational  Resources 
(including  information  about  the  library, 
the  bookstore,  and  media  services),  PTS 
People  (including  a  staff,  faculty,  and  stu¬ 
dent  directory),  Alumni/ae  (offering  on¬ 
line  discussion  and  dialogue  for  gradu¬ 
ates),  Publications  (including  an  on-line 
version  of  inSpire  and  indexes  to  the 
Princeton  Seminary  Bulletin,  Theology 
Today,  and  Koinonia),  and  News  and 
Information  (including  current  news 
releases  and  information  about  campus 
events). 

If  you  have  questions  or  suggestions, 
you  can  reach  the  webmaster  via  email 
at  webmaster@ptsmail.ptsem.edu. 

Or  call  the  Office  of  Communica¬ 
tions/Publications  at  1-800-622-6767 
ext.  7760. 


Dead  Sea  Scrolls  Star  in  BBC  Special 


What  do  a  Syrian  Orthodox  co-episco- 
pus,  a  New  Testament  professor,  a  Xerox 
scientist,  and  a  filmmaker  have  in  com¬ 
mon?  They  were  among  the  privileged 
few  who,  on  Tuesday,  June  17,  gathered 
in  a  room  in  Princeton  Seminary's  Luce 
Library  to  witness  an  amazing  event: 
lines  of  the  Dead  Sea  Scrolls  text  that 
for  2,000  years  have  been  invisible  to  the 
unaided  eye  were  revealed.  Fragments 
of  the  Dead  Sea  Scrolls  that  belonged  to 
His  Eminence  Mar  Athanasius  Y.  Samuel, 
Syrian  Archbishop-Metropolitan  in 
Jerusalem  and  the  Hashemite  Kingdom 
of  Jordan,  were  brought  to 

Princeton  by  the  Very 
Reverend  John 
Meno, 


co-episcopus  at  St.  Mark's  Syrian 
Orthodox  Cathedral  in  Teaneck,  NY. 

Using  a  state-of-the-art  digital  camera 
developed  and  operated  by  Dr.  Keith  T. 
Knox,  principal  scientist  at  Xerox,  and  Dr. 
Roger  L.  Easton  Jr.,  assistant  professor 
at  the  Rochester  Institute  of  Technology, 
scientists  and  theologians  became  part¬ 
ners  in  revealing  and  translating  lines 
of  text  that  have  never  been  seen  before. 
It  was,  as  James  H.  Charlesworth,  PTS's 
George  L.  Collard  Professor  of  New 
Testament  Language  and  Literature, 
exclaimed,  "Unbelievable!"  Under  the 
direction  of  Graham  Judd,  a  crew  from 
the  British  Broadcasting  Company  (BBC) 
shot  footage  of  the  event  for  a  documen¬ 
tary  titled  Scrollhunters,  to  be  aired  on 
October  26  on  BBC1.  This  year  marks 
the  50th  anniversary  of  the  discovery  of 
the  Dead  Sea  Scrolls,  and  the  Seminary 
will  commemorate  the  event  by  hosting 
a  symposium  on  the  scrolls  in  the  fall. 


Pilot  Program  in  Congregational 
Spirituality 

At  a  time  when  congregations  are  voicing 
a  hunger  for  deeper  spiritual  experience, 
Princeton's  Center  of  Continuing  Education 
has  joined  with  Auburn  Theological 
Seminary  and  the  Christian  Faith  and  Life 
Program  Area  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
(USA)  to  establish  the  Project  on  Congre¬ 
gational  Spirituality.  Funded  by  the 
Indianapolis-based  Lilly  Foundation  Inc., 
the  project  involves  eight  Presbyterian  con¬ 
gregations.  Each  church  will  send  a  team 
of  participants,  including  a  pastor  and  at 
least  one  member  of  the  session,  to  a  series 
of  workshops  at  Stony  Point  Center  in 
New  York. 

The  workshops  will  focus  on  disciplines 
of  the  Christian  life  such  as  prayer,  reading 
of  Scripture,  life  in  the  world,  discernment, 
and  sabbath-keeping.  They  are  designed 
not  only  to  further  the  participants'  growth 
in  faith  and  discipleship,  but  also  to  encour¬ 
age  them  to  model  and  share  their  learnings 
in  order  to  foster  the  spiritual  maturity  of 
their  congregations. 

Joyce  Tucker,  PTS's  dean  of  continuing 
education,  hopes  the  project  "will  support 
congregations  and  help  them  make  a  differ¬ 
ence  in  the  lives  of  their  members  and  com¬ 
munities." 

The  eight  participating  congregations 
are  the  Fifth  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church 
in  New  York  City;  South  Salem  Presbyterian 
Church  in  South  Salem,  NY;  West  Delhi 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Delhi,  NY;  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Englishtown,  NJ;  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church  in  Ramsey,  NJ;  the 
Second  Presbyterian  Church  in  Rahway,  NJ; 
the  True  Light  Korean  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Ridgefield,  NJ;  and  Christ's  First  Church 
in  Hempstead,  NY. 


inSpire  •  7 


by  Hope  Andersen 
Photos  by  Chrissie  Knight 


ou  can  tell  a  lot  about  people 

Yby  looking  at  the  spaces  in  which 
they  live.  This  seems  particularly 
true  in  the  case  of  Janet  Weathers, 
assistant  professor  of  speech  communica¬ 
tion  in  ministry,  who  joined  the  Princeton 
Seminary  faculty  in  1994.  Her  dining  room 
is  occupied  by  a  shiny  black  baby  grand 
piano;  her  windows  are  framed  in  soft, 
translucent  drapes;  and  everywhere  books 
and  fragile  momentos  co-exist.  Beauty  mat¬ 
ters  to  her. 

“Beauty  is  spiritually  powerful,”  she 
explains.  “It  is  one  of  the  ways  that  God 
feeds  us.  I  am  always  inspired  and  humbled 
by  creation.  Flowers,  art,  music,  light — they 
are  all  lifegiving.” 

Weathers  is  the  fortunate  occupant 
of  102  Mercer  Street,  also  known  as  the 
Carriage  House,  which  was  recently  reno¬ 
vated  by  the  Seminary  and  which  received 
a  Princeton  Historical  Society  Award  for 
“adaptive  use  of  a  historical  space.” 

For  Weathers,  who  has  been  on  sabbati¬ 
cal  since  September  1996,  the  house  has 
provided  her  not  only  with  a  sanctuary  but 
also  with  a  space  for  many  phases  of  her  life 
to  be  on  display. 

And  Weathers  has  had  many  phases 
in  her  life.  Born  and  raised  in  Oklahoma 
and  Kansas,  she  attended  Oklahoma  State 
University  and  began  exploring  her  interest 
in  the  dynamics  of  human  communication. 
Having  earned  her  B.A.,  she  then  went 


on  to  Ohio  State  University  to  pursue 
her  masters  degree  in  literature. 

It  was  during  her  college  years  that 
she  experienced  her  first  spiritual  upheaval. 
Active  on  the  university  debate  team,  she 
often  took  her  spiritual  questions  to  her 
debate  coach,  Dale  Stockton,  who  was  also 
a  pastor.  He  helped  her  wrestle  with  the 
challenges  of  analytic  philosophy  and  athe¬ 
istic  existentialism.  The  year  after  she  grad¬ 
uated  from  Oklahoma  State,  Stockton, 
a  young  man  dedicated  to  causes  of  justice 
and  peace  and  a  father  of  two  small  chil¬ 
dren  and  another  one  on  the  way,  was 
randomly  and  brutally  murdered.  For 
Weathers,  who  was  only  twenty-one  at  the 
time,  the  trauma  of  this  event  shattered  the 
still  fragile  scaffolding  he  had  been  helping 
her  build  to  sustain  her  faith  in  the  face 
of  intellectual  challenges  and  the  reality 
of  immense  evil  in  the  world. 

For  most  of  the  next  decade,  Weathers 
was  estranged  from  the  church,  yet  many 
of  her  close  friends  were  deeply  religious 
people.  “I  never  wanted  to  talk  about  God,” 
she  recalls,  “but  I  always  kept  them  close.” 

One  of  these  friends  was  Dr.  Francis 
Hayward,  the  pastor  who  had  baptized 
her  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Winfield,  KS,  when  she  was  a  child. 

He  took  a  pastorate  in  another  state 
when  she  was  in  the  fourth  grade,  and  her 
family  returned  to  Oklahoma,  yet  they  have 
maintained  contact  ever  since.  He  remains 
for  her  a  powerful  model  of  faithful  min¬ 


istry.  Although  she  was  just  a  child  when 
he  was  her  pastor,  she  knew  that  he  deeply 
loved,  enjoyed,  and  respected  the  children 
in  the  church. 

Weathers  learned  during  a  recent  visit 
with  Hayward  that  while  in  Winfield  in 
the  ’50s,  he  started  a  local  chapter  of  the 
NAACP.  She  believes  that  many  of  her 
deepest  theological  convictions  about  the 
power  of  God’s  love  for  all  and  God’s 
demand  that  we  live  just  lives  comes  from 
hearing  him  preach  during  those  early 
years.  “Children  stayed  in  church  for  the 
sermon  in  those  years,”  she  says,  “and 
I  never  remember  wanting  to  be  excused.” 
She  credits  him  with  giving  her  strong  roots 
in  the  faith  that  never  quit  influencing  her, 
even  during  the  years  she  turned  her  back 
on  God. 

After  completing  an  M.A.  at  Ohio 
State,  she  began  teaching  in  1970,  first 
at  the  National  College  of  Education  in 
Evanston,  IL,  and  then  at  a  junior  high 
school  in  Arcadia,  CA.  During  this  period, 
she  explored  secular  humanism  and  existen¬ 
tialism  and  tried,  as  she  says,  to  live  a  con¬ 
structive  life  within  that  mindset.  But 
always  there  was  a  deeper  yearning,  and 
as  she  neared  thirty,  she  began  to  re-explore 
her  faith  life,  though  not  without  an  unusu¬ 
al  prod. 

A  pivotal  event  occurred  on  Weathers’s 
thirtieth  birthday.  She  recalls  that  she  went 
to  see  a  secular  psychologist  to  help  her 
work  through  the  residue  of  the  trauma 


summer  1997 


of  her  mentor’s  death.  The  woman 
observed  that  Weathers  didn’t  seem 
to  have  her  relationship  with  God 
right,  to  which  Weathers  replied, 

“I’m  not  sure  there  is  a  God.”  “Ah,” 
remarked  the  psychologist,  “so  there’s 
the  problem.” 

At  first  shocked  by  the  thera¬ 
pist’s  comment,  Weathers  found 
herself  sitting  in  church  again  on 
Christmas  Sunday  a  few  weeks  later 
and  joining  the  church  on  Easter. 

She  chose  a  non-denominational 
church  that  provided  her  with 
wide-ranging,  open  discussions 
of  Christianity.  “I  was  not  yet  ready 
to  tackle  the  confessional  statements 
of  the  church  of  my  youth,”  she 
reflects.  A  couple  of  years  later  she 
began  to  study  with  a  Christian  yogi, 
Graham  Ledgerwood.  It  was  through 
his  guidance  that  she  began  to  return  to 
an  understanding  of  Jesus  as  the  incarnation 
of  God  rather  than  thinking  of  him  only 
as  a  good  model  for  human  life.  It  was 
also  from  Ledgerwood  that  she  learned  to 
approach  the  Bible  through  contemplation 
and  meditation  rather  than  only  with  the 
critical  tools  of  analysis. 

“I  did  not  start  studying  with  him 
because  of  the  depth  and  devotion  of  his 
commitment  to  Christ,  but  as  I  look  back 
on  that  time  seventeen  years  ago,  it  seems 
to  me  that  God  used  this  man  to  teach 
me  many  things  about  God  and  about  Jesus 
Christ  that  I  would  not  have  been  willing 
to  hear  from  the  pulpit  of  a  Presbyterian 
church,”  she  says.  “I  marvel  at  the  wonderful 
and  diverse  ways  God  works  with  our  pain 
and  confusion  to  offer  us  the  loving  truth 
of  the  Gospel.” 

Over  the  next  ten  years 
Ledgerwood  contributed 
significantly  to  Weathers’s 
spiritual  development  and 
strongly  encouraged  her 
to  respond  to  the  call  to 
ministry  and  enter  seminary. 

“I  might  never  have  been 
able  to  return  to  the  Presby¬ 
terian  church  without 
his  guidance  and  teaching,” 
she  says. 

Despite  the  skepticism 
of  many  of  her  academic 
colleagues,  Weathers  enrolled 
in  Claremont  School  of 
Theology.  “My  initial  years 


of  study  culminated  in  the  realization  that 
to  do  what  I  felt  called  to  do,  I  would  need 
to  complete  a  second  Ph.D.,”  she  recalls. 
Weathers  earned  her  first  Ph.D.  in  speech 
communication  from  the  University 
of  Southern  California  in  1979  and  then 
taught  at  a  variety  of  institutions,  including 
ten  years  at  the  University  of  California,  Los 
Angeles,  and  several  years  at  the  University 
of  Southern  California.  She  is  currently  fin¬ 
ishing  her  dissertation  for  a  Ph.D.  in  theolo¬ 
gy  and  personality  from  Claremont  where, 
in  1992,  she  received  an  M.A.  in  theology. 

Weathers’s  work  at  Princeton  is  con¬ 
cerned  with  bringing  the  disciplines  of 
communication,  education,  and  theology 
together.  How  can  she  help  people  to  better 
communicate  the  Word?  How  can  she  help 
people  to  appreciate  the  theological  signifi¬ 
cance  of  their  daily  interactions?  How  can 
she  help  people  to  better  communicate  with 
one  another  and  avoid  creating  unnecessary 


problems  through  their  communica¬ 
tion? 

“It  is  not  that  we  can  eliminate 
problems  and  conflicts  if  we  com¬ 
municate  effectively,”  Weathers 
observes.  “We  will  always  have  the 
pain  of  real  conflict  to  challenge  us, 
but  there  is  so  much  unnecessary 
pain  and  suffering  created  because 
of  communication  problems  that 
could  have  been  avoided.  Such 
problems  erode  trust  and  eat  away 
at  the  fabric  of  our  communities, 
in  our  churches,  in  our  seminaries, 
and  throughout  our  society.” 

In  reflecting  on  her  situation 
at  Princeton,  Weathers  acknowledges 
that  she  is  being  presented  with 
an  extraordinary  opportunity.  “PTS 
is  special,”  she  says,  “because  no 
other  seminary  has  a  communication  area 
as  fully  developed  as  this.  No  other  seminary 
could  provide  this  growing  edge.” 

She  is  finding  that  she  is  able  to  integrate 
her  love  of  music,  poetry,  and  art  not  only 
into  her  teaching,  where  she  uses  poetry  to 
help  students  to  understand  the  experiences 
of  others  and  to  instruct  students  in  reflect¬ 
ing  on  and  communicating  Scripture,  but 
also  in  her  personal  life.  An  accomplished 
pianist  who  has  played  since  she  was  five 
years  old,  Weathers  has  recently  started 
taking  lessons  again.  “I  love  music,”  she  says. 
“I  find  it  relaxing  and  inspiring.  I  also  think 
we  can  gain  insights  into  life  by  experiencing 
the  ways  composers  explore  and  share 
harmony,  dissonance,  and  rhythm  in  their 
music.” 

She  loves,  too,  the  yellow  color  on  the 
walls  in  the  Carriage  House,  a  color  that 
she  feels  is  both  comforting  and  energizing. 

“I  would  never  have 
known  to  choose  it,” 
she  says.  “I  would  have 
settled  for  white.”  But 
Weathers,  who  gives  care¬ 
ful  thought  to  all  aspects 
of  her  life,  whether  she 
is  working  on  her  disserta¬ 
tion  or  deciding  which 
perennials  to  plant  in 
her  backyard,  doesn’t  seem 
like  someone  who  settles 
for  anything.  Rather, 
she  seems  to  bring  to  life 
a  grace  that  enables  her 
to  thrive  on  whatever  life 
gives  her.  I 


inSpire  •  9 


summer  1997 


Ministry — A  Work  in  Progress 

1996  Grads  Reflect  on  the  First  Year  Out 


From  April  8  to  11,  1997,  thirty-eight 
graduates  from  the  Class  of  1996  returned 
to  Princeton  to  participate  in  the 
Seminary's  annual  continuing  education 
event  designed  to  assist  recent  M.  Div. 
and  M.A.  graduates  with  issues  of  transi¬ 
tion  from  life  in  an  academic  community 
to  roles  in  other  settings,  especially 
pastoral  leadership.  James  Cushman,  an 
ordained  Presbyterian  pastor  and  a  special¬ 
ist  in  understanding  transition  issues,  pre¬ 
sented  workshops  on  pastoral  role  adjust¬ 
ment.  Donald  Juel,  the  Seminary's  Richard 
J.  Dearborn  Professor  of  New  Testament 
Theology,  was  chosen  by  the  class  to  give 
the  faculty  lectures.  Other  event  leaders 
included  Brian  Blount,  an  assistant  profes¬ 
sor  of  New  Testament  at  PTS;  Dean  Foose, 
the  director  of  alumni/ae  relations  at  PTS; 
and  R.  Scott  Sheldon,  program  director 
for  congregational  life  in  the  Seminary's 
Center  of  Continuing  Education.  Among 
those  attending  were  five  alums  who 
shared  with  Julie  E.  Browning  their  experi¬ 
ences — the  highs,  the  lows,  and  much  in- 
between — of  the  first  year  in  ministry. 

Learning  does  not  stop  with  graduation 
or  ordination.  According  to  a  handful 
of  recent  PTS  graduates,  that  is  when  the 
real  learning  begins,  and  it  is  this  situational 
learning  that  the  graduates  most  value,  even 
if  they  don’t  always  fully  understand  how 
their  experiences  will  benefit  others. 

“I  realized  that  I  don’t  know  everything,” 
said  Andy  Rausch,  who  has  spent  a  year 
working  as  associate  pastor  at  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Marion,  IA.  But 
there  were  some  moments  when  the  theoreti¬ 
cal  and  the  practical  came  together.  “Like  the 
first  time  I  opened  my  Greek  New  Testament 
to  look  at  a  passage  I  was  actually  preaching 
on,”  he  said,  “I  thought,  wow,  this  is  why 
I  took  Greek!” 

Last  fall  Hey  Young  Nam  began  working 
as  associate  pastor  at  a  United  Methodist 
Church,  comprising  both  a  Korean  and 
an  American  congregation,  in  Eatontown, 

NJ.  Nam  said  that  although  she  does  not 
always  feel  confident  in  handling  new 
situations  and  her  impact  is  not  always  felt 


in  the  way  she  initially  anticipates,  it  is  clear 
to  her  that  she  is  helping  others.  To  illustrate 
her  point,  she  told  of  a  Korean  congregation 
member  whose  wife  was  ill  and  would 
not  leave  her  home.  When  Nam  visited 
the  woman  at  home  to  support  and  encour¬ 
age  her,  she  realized  that  the  woman  needed 
medical  attention.  Nam  found  herself 
accompanying  the  woman  to  the  hospital. 

“I  think  God  asked  you  to  be  here,” 
the  woman’s  husband  later  told  Nam. 

“You  were  here  at  the  right  time  for  us.” 

Likewise,  Mary  McKey  was  impressed 
by  the  “fit”  of  her  position  as  pastor  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church  in  Lincolnton, 

NC,  a  350-member  congregation  that  had 
not  previously  considered  hiring  a  female 
pastor.  Reflecting  on  the  past  year,  she  noted, 
“For  me  the  high  point  was  having  my  gifts 
and  experience  match  so  closely  with  what 
the  congregation  needed.  It  was  amazing 
the  way  that  God  brought  us  together.” 

McKey’s  ministry  has  been  aided  by 
he  classwork,  particularly  the  courses  she 
took  in  preaching  and  in  the  theology  of 
small  groups,  from  which  she  constantly 
draws.  In  addition,  she  refers  back  to  her 
clinical  pastoral  education  (CPE)  experience, 
which  taught  her  that  she  could  not  “fix" 
other  people’s  problems.  “The  important 
thing  is  to  sit  with  them  in  their  pain  and 
to  walk  the  walk  with  them,”  she  said. 

Nam  agreed,  saying  that  while  she 
had  focused  on  theology  and  Bible  during 
her  academic  career,  these  had  not  proved 
to  be  the  most  practical  for  her  professional 
role.  Recounting  her  visit  to  a  dying  man, 
she  said,  “It’s  hard  to  know  what  to  say 
to  a  man  with  a  terminal  diagnosis.”  The 
man  spoke  with  her  at  length  about  his  fear 
ol  dying,  the  places  he  wanted  to  go,  and  his 
concerns  for  his  wife.  “God  will  be  with  you 
in  another  stage,”  Nam  told  him  as  they 
prayed  together,  holding  hands.  Within 
a  week,  the  man  had  died.  In  asking  God 
to  help  her  talk  with  the  man,  she  realized 
that  her  role  was  to  be  a  listener,  a  presence. 
“I  need  to  let  them  talk,”  she  said. 

“People  in  the  hospital  need  a  person 
at  the  moment,  and  it  happens  to  be  me  they 
see.  It  is  not  really  me;  it  is  God  working 


summer  1997 


through  me,”  she  said.  “The  more  I  experi¬ 
ence  this,  the  more  empowered  I  feel.” 

Cathy  Bunting,  associate  pastor  of  Oak 
Hill  Presbyterian  Church  in  Akron,  OH, 
agreed  with  the  need  for  ministers  to  listen. 
“You  have  to  really  listen  to  people  with 
all  your  heart,”  she  said.  “You  pray  for 
and  with  people,  and  you  really  listen.” 

An  important  experience  for  Bunting  during 
her  seminary  days  was  her  field  education 
work  in  the  oncology  unit  at  The  Medical 
Center  at  Princeton.  “I  felt  as  if  I  was  stand¬ 
ing  on  holy  ground,”  she  recalled.  “People 
allowed  themselves  to  be  vulnerable  with 
me.”  The  lessons  she  learned  there,  she 
has  carried  with  her  into  her  ministry. 

In  retrospect,  several  of  the  graduates 
noted,  given  the  opportunity  to  do  it  again, 
they  would  make  changes  in  their  course- 
work  to  better  prepare  them  for  the  situa¬ 
tions  they  face.  Nam  said  she  wished  that 
she  had  spent  more  time  studying  preaching. 
“In  the  field,  preaching  is  the  main  thing,” 
she  noted,  adding,  “But  I’m  still  glad  I  took 
other  courses  because  everything  I  learned 
is  helpful.” 

Bunting  said,  “I  would  have  liked  to 
have  had  one  semester  of  Greek  and  one 
semester  of  Hebrew,  as  well  as  information 
about  tools  for  translation,”  in  order  to  read 
texts  in  their  original  languages. 

“I  would  have  taken  more  counseling 
courses,”  said  Frank  Schaefer,  pastor  of  Zion 
United  Methodist  Church  in  Lebanon,  PA, 
who  acknowledged  that  he  refers  back  to 
his  PTS  coursework  to  guide  him  in  his 
ministry.  Other  areas  in  which  some  of  the 
graduates  felt  that  they  needed  more  educa¬ 
tion  were  in  the  practical  areas  of  budgeting 
and  business  administration. 

In  reflecting  on  their  years  at  Princeton, 
the  graduates  felt  both  appreciation  and 
nostalgia.  For  Bunting,  seminary  taught 
her  how  to  think  both  logically  and  theologi¬ 
cally.  “It  is  all  coalescing,”  she  said. 

Schaefer  misses  the  Seminary’s  academic 
setting  and  finds  that  structured  learning 
is  difficult  in  his  work.  “It  helps  to  go  back 
and  reread  some  of  the  things  I  did  at  the 
Seminary,”  he  said.  “It  affirms  that  the  intel¬ 
lectual  stimulation  that  I  had  at  Princeton 
continues  to  be  with  me,  and  I  get  away 
from  the  nitty-gritty  of  ministry.”  Looking 
around  the  empty  classroom,  he  reflected, 

“It  is  nice  to  return  here.  Outside  it  is  hard 
to  be  disciplined  and  to  continue  to  study.” 

The  transition  from  the  academic  to  the 
working  world  brought  significant  changes 


6  6  You  have  to 
really  listen 
to  people  with 
all  your  heart. 

You  pray  for 
and  with  peo¬ 
ple,  and  you 
really  listen.” 

in  lifestyle — some  positive,  some  negative — 
the  graduates  said.  On  the  one  hand, 
several  noted  that  their  living  conditions 
had  improved.  “I  am  so  blessed  to  live 
in  a  house  ten  times  the  size  of  my  dorm 
room!”  Rausch  said  with  a  laugh.  “And 
to  have  privacy!” 

On  the  other  hand,  for  Schaefer  and 
his  family,  living  in  the  manse  has  meant  less 
privacy.  “I  cannot  get  away  from  work.  I  am 
always  there,  and  people  are  always  coming 
by,”  he  said.  “I  am  always  mentally  at  work.” 
In  addition,  the  living  situation  has  brought 
stress  for  the  rest  of  his  family.  “We  have 
four  children,”  he  said  with  a  smile.  “The 
house  does  not  always  look  spic  and  span, 
so  my  wife  worries  when  people  feel  they 
can  drop  by  anytime.” 

Just  as  Schaefer  feels  he  is  always 
“on  call,”  others  said  that  their  communities 
have  trouble  seeing  them  in  roles  other  than 
ministry. 

“I  found  it  very  hard  to  worship  on 
Sundays,”  Rausch  said,  noting  that  he  had 
difficulty  in  being  a  member  of  his  congrega¬ 
tion.  “You  need  a  place  where  you  can  go 
and  just  be  a  member  of  the  congregation. 
You  are  going  to  dry  up  if  you  don’t.” 

Schaefer  said  that  he  occasionally  feels 
pressured  by  expectations.  “One  thing 
I  am  noticing  is  that  I  am  being  put  up 
on  a  pedestal,”  he  said.  “I  still  have  problems 
and  challenges,  but  I  don’t  feel  that  I  can 
share  them  with  my  congregation.  They 
come  to  me  with  their  problems,  but  they 
don’t  expect  me  to  have  any.” 

For  Bunting,  one  particular  sermon 
revealed  just  how  seriously  her  congregation 
takes  her.  “There  was  a  reference  in  my 
sermon  to  chocolate,”  she  recalled.  “I  added, 
‘Boy,  do  I  love  chocolate!  ”  Within  days, 
she  was  inundated  with  chocolate-flavored 


gifts  from  congregation  members.  Although 
she  appreciated  the  kind  offerings,  Bunting 
said  the  experience  made  her  stop  and  think 
about  how  the  public  perceives  ministers 
and  about  the  difference  between  work 
and  school. 

“It’s  different,”  she  reflected.  “In  the 
church  you  are  not  surrounded  by  a  commu¬ 
nity  of  people  who  are  striving  for  common 
careers,  so  the  bonding  is  not  there.  At  the 
same  time,  you  must  maintain  a  professional 
distance,  and  there  is  less  diversity  among 
the  community.  My  church  members  are 
very  similar,  very  homogeneous.  I  miss  the 
diversity  at  PTS.” 

Rausch  said  that  he  has  been  both 
challenged  and  encouraged  by  his  work 
with  young  people.  “What  is  so  exciting 
about  youth  work  is  that  kids  are  so  busy,” 
he  said  with  enthusiasm.  “Yet  some  pick 
church  over  all  their  other  activities.”  During 
his  youth,  it  was  not  uncommon  for  youth 
groups  to  number  1 50  to  200  members. 
“Now  we’re  talking  about  a  dozen  members,” 
he  said.  “But  a  newcomer’s  presence  is  really 
felt,  and  we  get  to  know  them  well.” 

Since  today’s  youths  are  so  busy,  Rausch 
said  that  he  must  sometimes  go  to  them. 

“I’ll  go  to  the  places  where  they  work  and 
say  hello  as  I’m  buying  something,”  he  said. 
“I  bought  a  lot  of  ice  cream  this  past  year,” 
he  added  with  a  laugh.  “But  it  gave  me 
a  chance  to  see  them  in  a  ‘real  life’  setting, 
to  remind  them  that  I’m  interested,  and 
it  allowed  them  to  tell  their  friends  and 
coworkers  who  I  am.” 

It  is  this  ability  to  be  human  that  is  most 
important,  the  graduates  agree.  They  urged 
the  Class  of  1997  to  be  true  to  themselves 
and  to  recognize  that  there  are  many  things 
that  can’t  be  learned  in  a  textbook. 

“It’s  important  to  be  yourself,  be 
relaxed,”  Schaefer  said.  “Don’t  try  to  be  the 
best  theologian  in  the  congregation.  When 
I  started  here  [at  PTS] ,  I  was  very  confused. 
But  toward  the  end,  I  really  had  defined  my 
theology,  and  that  has  given  me  a  tremen¬ 
dous  source  of  confidence.  Now  I  can  help 
my  congregation,  which  is  so  different  from 
where  I  am  theologically,  by  giving  them 
my  support." 

“You  learn  more  out  of  class  than  you 
do  in  class,”  Rausch  mused.  “You  have  to 
respond  to  people.  And  sometimes  you  just 
have  to  throw  out  the  plan  and  wing  it."  3 

Julie  E.  Browning  is  a  freelance  writer 
who  lives  in  Trenton,  NJ. 


inSpire  •  1 1 


summer  1997 


A  familiar  cartoon  depicts  a  man 
banging  his  head  against  the 
wall. "Why  are  you  doing  that?" 
a  passer-by  asks.  To  which  he  replies, 
"Because  it  feels  so  good  when 
I  stop."  There  are  those  who  would 
say  the  same  about  the  Clinical 
Pastoral  Education  (CPE)  experience: 
"It  felt  so  good  when  I  stopped." 

And  yet  most  CPE  veterans  recognize 
that  pain  is  a  necessary  part  of  spiritu¬ 
al  growth. 

As  Leslie  Mott,  a  PTS  senior  enrolled 
in  CPE  this  summer  at  St.  Mary  Medical 
Center  in  Langhorne,  PA,  says,  “I  knew 
it  was  going  to  be  hard.  Everybody 
said  it  would  be  tough,  but  worthwhile.” 

What  makes  the  CPE  experience  simul¬ 
taneously  “tough”  and  “worthwhile”? 

According  to  the  Reverend  Denise  G. 
Haines,  regional  director  of  the  Association 
for  Clinical  Pastoral  Education  (ACPE) 
Eastern  Region,  it  is  the  pedagogical  method 
that  the  program  uses  that  makes  it  so 
challenging.  Unlike  traditional  academic 
programs,  which  are  based  on  a  more  objec¬ 
tive  approach,  the  CPE  method  of  learning 
is  grounded  in  action  and  reflection.  Initially 
conceived  as  a  method  of  learning  pastoral 
practice  in  a  supervised  clinical  setting, 
the  concept  of  the  program  was  expanded 
in  the  1920s  to  include  the  study  of  “the 
living  human  document.” 

Over  the  years,  the  program  has  evolved 
and  expanded,  integrating  knowledge  of 
medicine,  psychology,  and  other  behavioral 
sciences  into  its  approach.  Most  recently, 


Shaping 

the  v 
Pastoral 

Role 


supervisors  have  come  to  appreciate  the  sig¬ 
nificance  of  personal  awareness,  behavioral 
theory  and  method,  and  spiritual  develop¬ 
ment  in  the  formation  of  healthy  pastoral 
relationships.  “Because  we  minister  out  of 
who  we  are,”  Haines  says,  “we  need  to  know 
who  we  are.”  CPE  provides  participants  with 
the  opportunity  to  explore  themselves,  their 
vocations,  theologies,  attitudes,  and  fears, 
and  to  examine  how  the  “self”  both  con¬ 
tributes  to  and  detracts  from  their  ministry. 

For  David  Carlson,  a  PTS  senior  who 
spent  the  summer  of  1996  at  the  University 
of  Louisville  Health  Science  Center, 
a  level  one  trauma  unit  in  Louisville,  KY, 
the  lessons  began  immediately.  “It  made  ‘ER’ 
look  like  child’s  play,”  he  says.  Everyone  who 
takes  CPE  seriously  gets  pushed  out  of  his 
or  her  comfort  zone. 

“I  thought  that  I  was  afraid  of  blood,” 
continues  Carlson.  “My  very  first  patient 
was  a  fourteen-year-old  boy  who  had  been 
run  over  by  a  tractor.  His  face  was  raw,  and 
they  had  to  use  leech  therapy  to  keep  the 
circulation  going  so  the  skin  would  remain 
viable.  But  I  was  OK.  I  talked  to  the  fami¬ 
ly — his  mother,  his  aunt,  him.” 

By  the  end  of  the  summer,  Carlson’s  fear 
of  blood  was  gone.  It  had  been  replaced  by 
a  deep  appreciation  for  the  here  and  now. 

“I  saw  all  these  people  in  freak  accidents. 

It  made  me  feel  that  what  we  have  is  a  gift. 
Life  is  a  fragile  thing,  and  yet  so  important.” 

Carlson  recalls  that  the  first  weeks  of 
the  program  were  uncomfortable.  He  didn’t 
know  what  to  say  and  didn’t  feel  as  though 
he  had  anything  to  offer.  “At  the  beginning, 

I  was  trying  to  do  too  much,”  he  remembers. 


And  yet  he  was  required  to  take  on  a  pas¬ 
toral  identity  immediately.  Fortunately 
for  Carlson,  he  had  a  good  supervisor 
who  encouraged  him  to  visit  patients  and 
to  become  known  on  the  floors. 

Carlson’s  supervisor  compared  the  CPE 
experience  to  the  Chinese  word  for  “crisis,” 
which  is  made  up  of  two  characters:  “danger” 
and  “opportunity.”  Carlson’s  experience  min¬ 
istering  to  people  in  crisis  affirmed  that 
comparison.  “When  people  are  going 
through  terrible  things,  they  find  out  that 
they  need  God,”  he  says.  The  opportunity, 
as  Carlson  understands  it,  is  “to  let  people 
tell  their  own  stories.  We  are  called  to  listen, 
particularly  when  people  are  suffering.” 

Though  much  of  the  CPE  experience 
does  take  place  on  the  floors,  an  equally 
significant  portion  of  the  program  occurs 
in  group  and  individual  sessions  with  the 
CPE  supervisor,  and  a  typical  day  devotes 
time  to  both  ministry  and  education.  Since 
CPE  is  based  on  action  and  reflection,  most 
days  include  IPR  (interpersonal  relations), 
a  clinical  seminar  in  which  one  student 
in  the  group  presents  a  verbatim  (a  highly 
structured  written  description  of  a  pastoral 
visit)  to  the  other  members  of  the  group  and 
the  supervisor  for  discussion  and  feedback. 

Mott  recalls  her  first  verbatim  at  St. 
Mary’s.  “I  thought  it  was  a  great  visit,  but 
my  supervisor  pointed  out  that  the  patient 
controlled  the  visit  very  well.”  A  later 
encounter,  which  Mott  assumed  had  gone 
badly  because  the  patient  had  been  unre¬ 
sponsive  and  in  denial  of  his  condition, 
received  positive  feedback  from  her  supervi¬ 
sor  and  peers.  “My  experience  is  very  differ- 


by  Hope  Andersen 


12  •  inSpire 


summer  1997 


ent  from  what  my  peers  see,”  Mott  con¬ 
cludes.  “Everything  is  through  my  filter.” 

For  Mott,  the  writing  and  discussing 
of  verbatims  provides  an  opportunity 
to  examine  theological,  sociological,  and 
psychological  assumptions  that  she  was  not 
aware  of  holding.  Such  self-awareness  is  one 
of  the  primary  objectives  of  CPE.  According 
to  the  Reverend  Frederick  G.  A.  Sickert 
(’71M),  CPE  supervisor  at  Legacy  Fiealth 
Systems  in  Portland,  OR,  the  action/reflec- 
tion  experience  is  an  effective  way  to  “help 
students  begin  to  look  at  themselves  and 
what  they  are  about.  Through  individual 
work  and  work  with  peers,  students  discern 
their  identity.  They  learn  what  it  means 
to  be  a  good  pastor.” 

In  addition  to  group  sessions,  students 
meet  with  their  supervisors  for  individual 
guidance.  These  meetings  can  be  as  signifi¬ 
cant  for  the  supervisor  as  for  the  student. 
Sickert  recalls  an  experience  in  which 
a  Catholic  student  from  St.  Paul  School 
of  Theology  in  Kansas  City,  MO,  was 
struggling  with  how  to  minister  to  people 
who  had  no  religious  upbringing.  “Elis 
challenge,”  Sickert  said,  “was  how  to  build 
a  bridge.”  By  week  three  of  the  program, 
the  student  had  come  up  with  his  own  reso¬ 
lution.  Pie  told  his  patients  that  his  lifestyle 
was  to  pray  often,  and  that  he  would  pray 
for  them.  Even  if  they  didn’t  believe  in  God, 
he  would  believe  in  God  for  them.  Fie  prac¬ 
ticed  wearing  his  clericals  one  day  and  casual 
clothes  the  next,  as  a  way  to  illustrate  both 
his  vocation  and  his  humanness.  To  Sickert, 
these  were  creative  solutions  and  important 
steps  in  one  student’s  journey  toward  a  better 
understanding  of  himself  and  his  role  as 
minister. 

Students  benefit  from  good  supervisors. 
PTS  senior  Matt  Stith  made  a  point  of 
applying  to  and  interviewing  for  basic  CPE 
at  Somerset  Medical  Center  in  Somerville, 
NJ,  because  he  had  heard  such  positive 
things  about  the  supervisor,  the  Reverend 
Cynthia  Strickler  (’86B),  and  some  pretty 
gruesome  accounts  of  how  difficult  the  CPE 
experience  can  be  with  a  bad  supervisor. 

Stith,  who  admits  that  he  went  into  CPE 
kicking  and  screaming  and  only  because 
his  presbytery  required  it  for  ordination, 
was  pleased  with  his  choice. 

“Cindy  is  a  tremendous  chaplain,”  he 
explains.  “She  has  a  lot  of  experience,  and 
she  really  knows  her  stuff.  She  can  direct  IPR 
without  dominating  it,  without  being  over¬ 
bearing,  and  she  has  a  way  of  making  you 


realize  exactly  what  was  going  on  [in  a  pas¬ 
toral  visit]  that  you  didn’t  even  know.” 

A  third  facet  of  CPE  is  the  didactic, 
or  teaching  seminar,  in  which  supervisors 
or  visiting  lecturers  address  topics  relevant 
to  pastoral  care.  These  can  range  from 
presentations  on  active  listening  skills  and 
the  power  of  story  to  day-long  presentations 
on  focusing  (a  technique  of  internal  exami¬ 
nation),  healing  massage,  or  observation 
of  surgery.  Sickert  uses  his  early  didactics, 
when  students  are  experiencing  the  anxiety 
and  experimentation  common  to  the  early 
weeks  of  CPE,  to  tell  his  own  story.  By  mak¬ 
ing  himself  vulnerable  in  sharing  something 
of  himself,  he  hopes  to  promote  trust  among 
the  group  and  to  facilitate  communication. 

Like  any  situation  in  which  one  partici¬ 
pates  as  a  member  of  a  group  under  supervi¬ 
sion,  the  CPE  experience  is  colored  by  the 
group  dynamic.  Thus,  in  order  to  create 
the  best  possible  combination  of  individuals, 
supervisors  are  highly  selective  in  the  screen¬ 
ing  process.  At  Legacy  Fiealth  Systems, 
applications  are  reviewed  by  an  experienced, 
ecumenical,  gender-balanced  team  consisting 
of  a  Lutheran  pastor  with  a  Ph.D.  in  clinical 
psychology,  a  former  Episcopal  bishop 
and  CPE  supervisor,  a  Methodist  pastor, 
a  Presbyterian  pastor,  and  nurse  managers. 
The  screening  team’s  goal  is  to  bring  together 
a  strong,  diverse  group  capable  of  supporting 
one  another  on  the  journey. 

Not  all  programs  have  such  a  rigorous 
screening  process,  but  all  CPE  applicants  are 
required  to  complete  an  application  that  asks 
personal  questions.  Candidates  are  asked 
to  write  “a  reasonably  full  account  of  your 
life. .  .describe  your  family  of  origin,  your 
current  family  relationships,  and  your  educa¬ 
tional  growth  dynamics.”  In  addition,  they 
must  describe  the  development  of  both  their 
religious  and  work  lives  and  recount  an  inci¬ 
dent  in  which  they  were  called  to  help  some¬ 
one,  assess  the  problem,  include  the  solution, 
and  evaluate  the  experience.  Subsequent 
to  submitting  an  application,  all  candidates 
must  be  interviewed,  either  at  an  ACPE 
site  or  by  an  ACPE  supervisor. 

PTS  is  among  the  seminaries  that 
streamline  this  process  by  bringing  two 
dozen  or  more  CPE  supervisors  to  prospec¬ 
tive  students.  Every  year  in  January,  supervi¬ 
sors  are  invited  to  a  PTS  healthcare-related 
continuing  education  event  and  a  dinner 
at  the  Seminary,  which  is  followed  by  “Meet 
the  Supervisors”  evening,  sponsored  by  the 
Office  of  Field  Education.  This  provides 


students  with  an  opportunity  to  speak  with 
supervisors  from  a  variety  of  sites,  to  shop 
for  an  interviewer  and  register  for  an  inter¬ 
view,  and  to  enjoy  dessert!  Some  particularly 
organized  students  see  this  as  a  time  to  com¬ 
plete  the  application  process;  they  arrange 
to  interview  with  a  supervisor  during  the 
afternoon  and  be  done  with  it.  Others,  like 
Mott,  prefer  to  interview  on  site  in  order 
to  see  the  facility. 

What  are  supervisors  interviewing  for? 
What  makes  a  successful  CPE  candidate? 
According  to  Elaines,  “the  best  students  are 
people  who  have  had  successful  adult  experi¬ 
ences.”  They  are  the  ones  who,  she  believes, 
are  equipped  to  handle  the  “very  personal 
nature  of  the  training  process,  which  is  both 
an  intimate  and  a  threatening  experience.” 
Sickert  agrees.  “We’re  a  pretty  confrontive 
group,”  he  says.  “The  candidates  who  will 
both  contribute  the  most  to  and  receive  the 
most  from  the  training  are  those  who  have 
already  worked  hard  on  themselves.”  For 
Sickert,  the  bottom  line  is  that  if  the  peer 
group  is  good,  the  experience  will  be  good. 
Not  fun,  not  easy,  not  relaxing,  but  good. 

“The  people  who  didn’t  have  a  good 
experience  are  those  who  didn’t  want  to  deal 
with  the  things  they  were  going  through," 
says  Carlson.  Fie  admits  that  the  peer  groups 
were  tough,  especially  in  the  beginning. 
“People  would  break  down,"  he  recalls. 

“Your  supervisor  definitely  finds  out  where 
you  are  and  pushes  you  to  the  edge.  But 
I  found  that  I  could  learn  a  lot  if  I  took  what 
was  said  and  considered  it.  Group  taught 


inSpire  *13 


summer  1997 


me  a  lot,  too,  about  how  people  receive 
criticism.  We  had  some  pretty  heated  discus¬ 
sions.” 

Group  experiences  are  as  diverse 
as  the  individuals  in  them.  Mott’s  group 
includes  PTS  alumna  Lisa  Hess  (’96B), 
who  is  enrolled  in  the  Ph.D.  program  at 
the  Seminary,  one  male  Presbyterian  from 
New  Brunswick  Theological  Seminary,  two 
nuns,  and  one  Catholic  laywoman,  in 
addition  to  herself.  Stith’s  group  is  slightly 
smaller,  but  three  of  the  four  members  are 
Presbyterians  affiliated  with  PTS;  in  addition 
to  Stith,  Heather  Christensen  (’97B)  and 
Chris  Hammond,  a  PTS  middler,  are  doing 
CPE  at  Somerset.  This  summer,  Sickert’s 


group  comprises  five  theological  students, 
all  of  whom  have  left  the  business  world, 
including  a  CPA,  a  music  teacher,  an  advo¬ 
cate  for  the  poor,  a  member  of  the  military, 
and  an  administrative  assistant. 

For  Mott,  the  group  experience  has 
been  good,  though  she  admits  that  it  is  still 
early  in  the  process.  Through  both  group 
and  individual  supervision,  she  is  learning 
a  lot  about  herself.  “The  group  and  my 
supervisor  have  recognized  things  in  me  that 
I  hadn’t  seen.  I  am  nurturing  and  talented, 
and  I  have  a  good  sense  of  presence.” 

In  addition,  her  work  in  group  and 
individual  supervision  has  given  her  a  signifi¬ 
cant  insight:  her  greatest  asset  and  greatest 
hindrance  are  one  and  the  same.  “I  have 
a  deep,  abiding  empathy  for  people,”  she 
says,  “and  if  I  am  not  aware  of  it,  I  can 
overstep  boundaries.” 

Like  Mott’s,  Stith’s  perception  of  himself 
and  his  ministry  has  changed  since  begin¬ 
ning  CPE.  He  has  learned,  he  says,  that 


he  has  a  tendency  to  want  to  fix  situations, 
to  solve  them  intellectually.  “But,”  he 
admits,  “there  are  some  situations  that 
can’t  be  fixed,  that  can’t  be  solved.” 

He  also  learned  very  early  on  that  the 
chaplain  is  not  the  only  one  who  ministers 
to  those  in  crisis.  During  his  first  “on  call,” 
which  took  place  on  the  third  day  of  the 
program,  Stith  had  to  accompany  a  family 
to  the  morgue  to  see  the  body  of  their  twen¬ 
ty-two-year-old  son  who  had  been  killed 
in  a  motorcycle  accident.  Stith  recalls  that 
the  emergency  room  technician,  the  nurses, 
even  the  security  guards  were  all  extremely 
pastoral  in  their  dealings  with  the  family. 
“The  best  that  can  be  said  for  my  perfor¬ 
mance,”  he  recalls, 

“is  that  I  didn’t  faint 
or  throw  up.” 

The  CPE  program 
has  expanded  over  the 
years.  Today,  the  pro¬ 
gram  accepts  theologi¬ 
cal  students,  ordained 
clergy,  members  of 
religious  orders,  and 
qualified  laypeople. 

It  offers  a  variety  of 
sites  in  which  to  “prac¬ 
tice  pastoral  care  with 
qualified  supervision 
and  peer  group  reflec¬ 
tion,”  including  hospi¬ 
tals;  correctional 
centers;  hospice;  geri¬ 
atric  and  rehabilitation  centers;  and  parishes. 
There  are  over  three  hundred  accredited 
CPE  centers  in  the  United  States,  including 
Alaska  and  Hawaii,  from  which  to  choose. 
There  is  even  a  new  CPE  center  in  Puerto 
Rico! 

In  recent  years,  an  increasing  number 
of  denominations  have  required  that 
candidates  for  ordination  complete  CPE. 
Lutherans,  Episcopalians,  and  many 
Catholics  are  required  to  complete  the 
program  before  being  ordained.  Many 
presbyteries  in  the  PC(USA)  require  CPE 
of  their  candidates  for  ministry.  And  even 
if  it  is  not  required,  most  churches  strongly 
suggest  that  prospective  pastors  complete 
the  program. 

PTS  students  have  the  option  of  doing 
CPE  as  an  elective  or  to  satisfy  one  of  the 
two  required  field  education  internships. 
Abigail  Rian  Evans,  PTS’s  associate  professor 
of  practical  theology  and  academic  coordina¬ 
tor  of  field  education,  says  that  “awarding 


academic  credit  for  CPE  reflects  Princeton’s 
commitment  to  its  importance.”  Though  the 
Seminary  does  not  require  CPE  for  all  of  its 
students,  about  thirty-five  students  per  year, 
mostly  in  the  summer,  complete  a  basic  400- 
hour  unit.  Those  students  who  are  required 
to  do  CPE  by  their  denominations  generally 
elect  to  complete  the  summer  field  education 
unit  and  their  denominational  requirement 
at  the  same  time. 

The  most  compelling  advocates  for  CPE, 
however,  are  those  who  have  completed  the 
program.  Stith,  who  entered  the  program 
reluctantly,  says  emphatically,  “I  really  love 
CPE.  I’m  a  convert.  I  admit  that  my  pres¬ 
bytery  was  right,  and  I  think  CPE  should 
be  required  of  everybody.  ” 

And  Mott  adds,  “I  would  highly  recom¬ 
mend  CPE  to  anyone  going  into  parish 
ministry.  CPE  provides  a  ready-made  crisis 
for  you  to  walk  into.  Our  patients  are  our 
teachers....  If  you’re  interested  in  taking 
an  interior  journey,  CPE  will  do  it  for  you. 
It’s  like  professional  therapy.” 

Similar  sentiments  are  expressed  by 
Carlson  as  he  reflects  on  his  summer  of  basic 
CPE:  “If  you  look  seriously  at  the  way  that 
you  have  been  changed,  the  way  that  God 
has  touched  you  and  ministered  to  you 
in  CPE,  you  don’t  do  things  the  same  ever 
again.  You’ll  be  looking  at  ways  to  minister. 
That’s  the  way  that  it  helps  you.  And  when 
a  crisis  comes  in  later  life,  you’ll  be  equipped 
because  you’ve  had  experience.  You’ll  be 
confident  that  God  will  give  you  exactly 
what  you  need.” 

Despite  rave  reviews  from  most  every¬ 
one  connected  with  CPE,  not  all  PTS 
students  are  able  to  take  advantage  of  the 
program.  Regrettably,  there  is  no  PTS 
funding  for  the  program,  a  fact  that  presents 
problems  for  a  number  of  students  because 
not  only  must  the  student  pay  a  site  fee 
of  $250  to  $600,  but  also,  of  course,  the 
student  earns  no  money  that  summer  and 
must  usually  pay  for  room  and  board 
besides.  Stipended  CPE  positions  are  scarce. 

“We  encourage  churches  and  judicatories 
that  require  CPE  to  assist  students  with  the 
costs,”  says  Kate  Bilis-Bastos,  assistant  for 
specialized  ministry  internships  in  the  Office 
of  Field  Education  at  PTS.  “It’s  a  shame,” 
she  says,  “to  reserve  CPE  for  an  elite  few 
when  every  future  pastor,  not  just  future 
chaplain,  can  benefit  from  it.” 

Having  listened  to  the  stories  of  current 
and  past  CPE  students,  that  is  a  statement 
that  is  difficult  to  dispute.  1 


14  *  inSpire 


summer  1997 


Class  notes 


Key  to  Abbreviations: 

Upper-case  letters  designate 
degrees  earned  at  PTS: 

M.Div.  B 

M.R.E.  E 

M.A.  E 

Th.M.  M 

D.Min.  P 

Th.D.  D 

Ph.D.  D 

Special  undergraduate  student  U 
Special  graduate  student  G 

When  an  alumnus/a  did  not 
receive  a  degree,  a  lower-case 
letter  corresponding  to  those 
above  designates  the  course 
of  study. 

1924  John  E. 

Johnson  (B),  reportedly  the 
oldest  living  alumnus  of  PTS, 
celebrated  his  98th  birthday 
on  May  2.  Many  happy  returns! 

1933  John  B. 

MacDonald  (M)  is  recuperat¬ 
ing  and  “doing  well”  after 
having  fractured  his  hip  as 
chaplain  at  the  reunion  of  the 
89th  Infantry  Division  (World 
War  II)  in  St.  Louis. 

1934  Thanks  to 

Frederick  E.  Christian  (B) 

for  contacting  members  of  the 
Class  of  ’34  and  procuring  news 
about  their  lives.  He  reports 
that  Henry  Bucher  (B)  took 
“an  extensive  trip  to  China,  the 
Philippines,  and  (other)  points 
of  interest”  and  has  written 
a  fascinating  manuscript  detail¬ 
ing  impressions,  especially  from 
the  Santa  Tomas  prison  where 
he  had  spent  some  time  during 
World  War  II.”  He  also  writes 
that  Robert  C.  Grady  (B), 
of  Hendersonville,  NC,  has 
been  somewhat  limited  by 
recent  eye  surgery,  but  otherwise 
keeps  reasonably  well.  Christian 


himself  has  prepared  a  book 
of  meditations  and  prayers 
for  the  board  of  directors  of 
The  Swarthmore  Rotary  Club. 

1939  Robert  E 

Graham  (B)  writes  that,  at 
eighty-one,  he  is  “still  preaching 
now  and  then — when  asked!” 

T.  Murdock  Hale  (B)  and  his 

wife,  Miriam,  celebrated  their 
fifty-seventh  wedding  anniver¬ 
sary  in  March.  He  writes, 

“I  am  actively  managing  our 
280-acre  tree  farm  of  Northern 
hardwood,  spruce,  and  fir.” 


book  on  worship  for  use  in  the 
congregation. 

Harold  W.  Kaser  (B,  '47M) 

is  serving  as  director  of  church 
relations  and  of  the  Center  for 
Church  Life  at  Muskingum 
College  in  New  Concord,  OH. 

1945  Walter  L.  Dosch 

II  (B,  '48M)  writes  that  he 
is  “enjoying  the  challenge  and 
opportunity  of  my  seventh 
interim  at  Olivet-Covenant 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
historic  Fairmount  section 
of  Philadelphia.” 


time  for  the  conference  serving 
as  executive  secretary  for  the 
conference  board  of  trustees 
and  managing  our  Minnesota 
United  Methodist  Federal 
Credit  Union.” 

Richard  W.  Irwin  (B), 

a  resident  of  Campinas,  Brazil, 
is  pastor  of  the  Primeira  Igreja 
Presbiteriana  Independente 
de  Sao  Paulo  and  a  professor 
at  the  Seminario  Teologico 
Presbiteriano  Independente 
de  Sao  Paulo. 

1948  Martin  E. 


1944 

Paul  T. 
Dahlstrom 

(B)  recently 
published 
Worshiping — 
Present  and 
Future  Hope 
(Fairway  Press, 
1996),  a  study 


Celebrating  their  fiftieth  reunion  year  are  (left  to  right):  (front  row)  Walter  Baldwin,  Wallace 
Easter,  Leroy  Dillener,  Jiri  Carda,  James  Heller  (middle  row)  Gervase  Zanotti,  John  Sinclair 
(back  row)  Marie  Melrose,  Betty  Gibson,  Donald  Meisel,  Howard  Redmond. 


Lehmann  (D)  recently  pub¬ 
lished  his  book  A  Biographical 
Study  of  Ingiver  Ludwig 
Hommensen  (1834—1918): 
Pioneer  Missionary  to  the  Bataks 
of  Sumatra  (Edwin  Mellen 
Press). 

D.  MacNab  Morrison 

(M)  is  the  stated  supply  for 
Wedgefield  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Wedgefield,  SC,  which 
was  honored  by  the  General 
Assembly  for  its  stewardship 
program. 

1949  John  Butosi  (M), 

who  served  as  president  of  the 
Hungarian  Reformed  World 
Federation  from  1991  to  1996, 


Kemper  Y.  Taylor  (B), 

now  legally  blind,  continues 
“to  officiate  at  the  Lord’s  Supper 
once  a  month  at  a  home  for 
assisted  living.” 


1940  They  Sought 

a  Land,  written  by  William 
O.  Ragsdale  (B,  '46M), 

is  scheduled  to  be  published 
in  the  fall  by  the  University 
of  Arkansas  Press. 


1943  On  a  very  up-beat 
note,  James  R.  Bell  (B) 

writes  that  he  is  “still  alive 
and  thankful,  still  kicking  and 
thankful,  still  volunteering  and 
thankful,  and  with  my  wonder¬ 
ful  wife  still 
having  fun  and 
thankful!" 


1946  Glen  M. 

Johnson  (B)  of  Lakeland,  FL, 
is  serving  as  part-time  parish 
associate  pastor  for  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Plant 
City,  FL. 


1947  Previous  commit¬ 
ments  kept  J.  Carlton 
Forshee  (M)  from  attending 
the  50th  reunion;  however, 
he  sends  greetings  and  news 
to  his  former  classmates: 

“I  have  been  retired  from  active 
ministry  in  the  Minnesota 
Annual  Conference  ol  the 
United  Methodist  Church 
since  June  of  ’86,”  he  writes. 

“In  retirement,  I  work  part 


inSpire  •  15 


photo:  Chrissie  Knight 


summer  1997 


Class  notes 


currently  teaches  missiol- 
ogy  at  the  Reformed 
Theological  Academy  in 
Debrecen,  Hungary. 

Kyung  Yun  Chun 

(M)  is  professor  emeritus 
at  Han  Shin  University 
in  Seoul,  South  Korea. 

1950  Now  in  her 

sixth  year  in  Sitka,  AK, 

Virginia  C.  Haaland 

(E)  writes  that  she  keeps 
“in  daily  touch  by  re-lis¬ 
tening  to  PTS  Institute  of 
Theology  taped  lectures  by  J.C. 
Beker  on  “Romans,”  Choon- 
Leong  Seow’s  “Spirited 
Conversations,”  and  James  A. 


Sanders’s  ’88  Convocation  lec¬ 
tures  on  Luke.”  She  further 
exclaims,  “Long  live  taped  lec¬ 
tures  by  such  a  pantheon  of 
scholars!!!’’ 


John  C.  Purdy  (B)  of  Santa 
Fe,  NM,  co-conducted  the 
Men’s  Bible  Study  series  at  the 
1997  Spring  Men’s  Assembly 
held  in  April  in  Seattle,  WA. 

Among  other  activities  which 
keep  him  busy,  Nathaniel  C. 
Roe  (B,  '55M)  notes  that  his 
“woodshop  produces  many 
different  commissions  of  furni¬ 
ture,”  and  that  he  serves  on  the 
board  of  Habitat  for  Humanity 
and  preaches  when  asked. 

John  W.  Sheibley  (B) 

and  his  wife  are  doing 
promotion  for  Bacone  College, 
a  Native  American  college 
in  Muskogee,  OK. 

1951  After  forty-five 

years  as  a  missionary  in  Japan, 

Kenneth  J.  Dale  (M) 

has  retired  to  Pilgrim  Place 
in  Claremont,  CA. 

1952  Ruth  Grob  (B) 

moved  back  to  the  United 
States  from  Switzerland  in 
August  1996,  and  is  now  living 
in  Duarte,  CA. 

Marisa  G.  Keeney  (E) 

of  Taylors,  SC,  is  “enjoying 
teaching  courses...  for  the 
Furman  University  Learning 
in  Retirement  Program  to 
retirees  from  all  over  the  U.S.A., 
which  is  a  great  way  to  continue 
to  be  creative.” 

Clinton  E.  Kinney  (B) 

recently  attended  the  90th 
reunion  celebration  ol  the 
Wheaton  College  Men’s  Glee 
Club,  of  which  he  was  business 
manager  in  1947  and  president 
in  1948. 


^take  a  bow 

Richard  M.  Hadden  ('35B)  premiered  his  commissioned  work 
"Centennial  Celebration  March,"  played  at  Fort  Mackinac  by  the 
126th  Army  Band,  at  the  100th  anniversary  of  Mackinac  Island 
State  Park  in  Michigan  in  August  1996. 

Robert  Beringer  ('61 B,  '70M),  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Metuchen,  NJ,  received  the  ninth  annual  Charles  S. 
Edgar  Award  from  the  Metuchen-Edison  YMCA.  The  award  was 
bestowed  "on  the  basis  of  his  outstanding  leadership  qualities 
and  personal  integrity." 

Doug  Baker  ('76B)  is  a  staff  member  of  the  Corrymeela 
Community,  a  community  working  for  reconciliation  in 
Northern  Ireland,  which  received  the  14th  Annual  Niwano  Peace 
Prize  from  the  Niwano  Peace  Foundation  of  Japan. 

Patricia  H.  Davis  ('84B,  '92D)  has  been  named  a  Flenry  Luce 
III  Fellow  in  Theology  for  1997-98.  Her  project,  "Spiritualities  in 
Adolescent  Girls,"  explores  the  role  of  spirituality  in  girls'  daily 
lives  and  examines  the  contribution  their  spirituality  makes 
toward  their  understanding  of  themselves  and  their  world. 

Gaston  E.  Espinosa  ('92B)  has  been  awarded  the  1997-98 
Cesar  E.  Chavez  Dissertation  Year  Fellowship  for  U.S.  Latina/o 
Scholars  at  Dartmouth  College  in  New  Hampshire. 

Angelina  Van  Hise  ('93B),  who  is  chaplain  at  the  Kimball 
Medical  Center  in  Monmouth  County,  NJ,  received  the 
Monmouth  County  4-H  Alumni/ae  of  the  Year  Award. 

Lisa  Kristine  Nichols  ('97B)  was  one  of  four  finalists  for  the 
1997  David  H.  C.  Read  Preacher/Scholar  Award,  given  by 
Madison  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church  in  New  York  City  to  a 
-aduating  seminary  student  who  "demonstrates  special  dis¬ 
tinction  in  both  preaching  and  scholarship  and  is  committed  to 
the  parish  pulpit." 


John  B.  Smiley  (B)  has 

completed  his  interim  ministry 
in  Hammonton,  NJ,  and  is 
now  “back  to  comfortably 
retired  status.” 

1953  Howard  W. 

McFall  Jr.  (B),  who  taught 
in  Xian,  China,  in  the  spring  of 
1996,  has  been  actively  involved 
in  Amnesty  International, 
Habitat  for  Humanity,  hospice 
ministry,  men’s  study  groups, 
and  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Cape  May,  in  Cape 
May,  NJ.  McFall  also  serves 
as  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Education  in  Cape  May  and 
a  member  of  the  Oratorio 
Society  of  Stockton  College. 

“After  fifteen  glorious  sun-filled 
months  at  the  Desert  Palms 
Church  in  Sun  City  West, 
Arizona,  we  moved  to  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Bartlesville,  Oklahoma.... 

It’s  a  downtown  congregation 
of  wonderfully  friendly  people 
from  throughout  the  communi¬ 
ty.  We  ll  be  here  till  sometime 
in  1997,”  writes  Robert  E. 
Palmer  (B).  He  has  been 
doing  interim  ministry  for  the 
past  five  years. 

1954  John  P.  Crossley 

Jr.  (B)  has  been  appointed 
director  of  the  School  of 
Religion  at  the  University  of 
Southern  California  for  a  third 
three-year  term,  1997—2000. 

Bryan  H.  F.  Ernst  (b),  who 

retired  from  full-time  ministry 
in  1990,  now  serves  part  time 
in  the  Uniting  Church  in 
Australia.  He  is  also  a  part-time 
organist  and  a  member  of  the 
male  choir  at  St.  Paul’s  Uniting 
Church  in  Deepdene,  Victoria. 


summer  1997 


Class  notes 

Retired  in  1995,  Ronald 
V.  Fleming  (B)  has  had 

an  interim  position  with 
two  Presbyterian  churches 
in  Ohio  since  January  1997: 
Westminster  Presbyterian 
Church  in  New  Concord  and 
Norwich  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Norwich.  He  plans  to  travel 
to  Italy  and  Greece  with  his 
daughter  Rebecca  this  summer. 

John  E.  Hunn 

(B)  is  now  interim 
pastor  at  the 
First  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Rouses 
Point,  NY. 

Paul  E.  Pierson 
(B,  '71D)  writes 
that  he  completed 
a  two-year  stint 
as  interim  pastor  of 
Bel  Air  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Bel  Air,  CA,  in  1995  and 
is  currently  in  his  last  year  as 
professor  of  history  of  mission 
and  Latin  American  studies 
in  the  School  of  World  Mission 
at  Fuller  Theological  Seminary. 

“I  will  go  to  senior  status  and 
continue  to  teach  part  time  and 
mentor  doctoral  students  during 
the  next  academic  year,”  he  says. 

In  November  his  faculty  col¬ 
leagues  presented  him  with 
a  festschrift  titled  Missiological 
Education  for  the  21st  Century 
published  by  Orbis  Books, 
a  collection  of  essays  by  men 
and  women  involved  in  missio¬ 
logical  education  from  all  five 
continents  and  from  various 
theological  traditions  ranging 
from  Roman  Catholic  to 
Pentecostal. 

Bradley  F.  Rohwer  (B) 

is  moderator  of  the  Highland 
Camp  and  Retreat  Center 


Alumni/ae  Update 


When  I  was  fourteen,  I  lost  the  preaching  contest  at  the  regional  Christian  Endeavor  convention.  I  had 
entered  the  contest  thinking  that  I  might  be  cut  out  for  the  ministry.  But  after  losing  the  event,  I  walked 
dejectedly  up  the  church  aisle  wondering  about  a  career  in  architecture  instead.  Just  then  one  of  the 
judges  caught  up  with  me,  put  his  arm  around  my  shoulder,  and  told  me  that  if  I  hadn't  used  notes,  I 
might  have  won  the  contest  (the  first  place  finisher  had  memorized  his  talk).  And  then  he  said,  "You 
really  ought  to  consider  going  into  the  ministry." 

Of  the  many  nudges,  signs,  and  signals  that  coalesced  in  my  call  to  the  ministry,  that  single  sentence 
stands  out  as  the  most  memorable.  His  unsolicited  opinion  served  as  an  early  but  important  confirma¬ 
tion  of  God's  summons,  so  that  while  there  continued  to  be  occasional  glances  at  the  drafting  table,  I 
thereafter  set  my  sights  on  the  ministry  of  the  Gospel. 

You  know  young  adults  and  others  who  would  make  splendid  servants  of  Christ  in  the 
church.  Their  faith  is  rooted  and  growing.  They  are  insightful  and  expressive.  They  enjoy 
working  with  people  and  have  a  heart  for  others.  Who  knows?  They  may  even  have  cast  a 
wistful  eye  toward  the  pulpit  at  one  time  or  another.  Well,  then,  take  them  to  lunch.  Share 
your  enthusiasm  for  ministry  and  ask  them  to  consider  the  possibility  of  God's  call  on  their 
life.  If  there  is  a  flickering  interest,  offer  to  help  clarify  their  sense  of  vocation.  When  appro¬ 
priate,  suggest  that  they  make  a  trip  to  Princeton  to  see  first-hand  what  seminary  educa¬ 
tion  is  all  about. 

Don't  wait  for  them  to  speak  to  you;  speak  to  them.  You  may  help  them  hear  another 
voice,  and  have  the  joy  of  hearing  them  reply,  "Here  am  I;  send  me." 


Tom  Erickson  ('61 M)  is  pastor  of  Valley  Presbyterian  Church  in  Scottsdale,  AZ. 
He  has  served  on  the  Alumni/ae  Association  Executive  Council  since  1994. 


Committee  in  the  Presbytery 
of  Plains  and  Peaks,  which 
is  currently  in  a  multi-million- 
dollar  fund  drive. 

Gayle  W.  Threlkeld  (B) 

continues  to  enjoy  retirement 
and  to  participate  in  presbytery 
work,  particularly  his  assign¬ 
ment  as  coach/mentor  with  the 
Redevelopment  Pastors’  Cluster. 

1955  James  M. 

MacKellar  (B)  retired  in  June 
1996  after  twenty-one  years 
as  stated  clerk  of  the  Synod  of 
the  Northeast  and  then  enjoyed 
a  four-week  trip  to  China. 

W.  Donald  Pendell  (B), 

who  is  Communications  Chair 
of  the  Columbus  (OH)  Church 
Council,  represented  the 
Presbyterian  Synod  of  the 
Covenant  and  the  Columbus 
Church  Council  at  a  week-long 
broadcast  seminar  sponsored  by 


the  World  Council  of  Churches 
in  December  in  Miami,  FL. 

1956  John  Chironna 

Jr.  (B),  who  retired  in  1996, 
is  currently  working  part  time 
as  a  therapist  at  Charter 
Hospital  in  Terra  Haute,  IN. 

Having  retired  in  1991, 

Kenneth  B.  Cragg  (B) 

is  now  the  parish  associate 
at  the  Presbyterian  Community 
Church  of  Massapequa,  NY. 

Edward  Danks  (B,  '88p) 

reports  that  his  wife,  Barbara, 
died  on  December  21,  1996. 

Since  March  1997,  William 
J.  Mills  (B)  has  been  serving 
as  interim  pastor  at  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Oil  City, 
PA. 

Robert  C.  Sackmann  (B) 

writes  that  his  wife,  Helene, 


died  in  April  1995,  and  that 
he  retired  as  executive  presbyter 
of  the  Presbytery  of  Ohio  Valley 
in  January  1996. 

Donald  M.  Stine  (B,  '59D, 
'64M)  writes  that  he  “remained 
retired  for  about  a  year  and  then 
founded  the  Markham  Woods 
Counseling  Center  at  Markham 
Woods  Presbyterian  Church, 
Lake  Mary,  FL,  to  serve  this 
growing  suburb  of  Orlando.” 

Frederick  E.  Stock  (M) 

and  his  wife,  Margie,  retired 
from  the  Christian  Hospital 
in  Sindh,  Pakistan,  in  May 

1997. 

John  G.  Truitt  Jr.  (b)  sends 
the  following  update:  “When 
retired  Air  Force  Chaplain  John 
Truitt  swings  onto  his  motor¬ 
cycle,  he  is  known  as  ‘The 
Sermonator.  ”  He  is  a  member 
of  the  Gold  Wing  Road  Riders 

inSpire  •  17 


summer  1997 


Class  notes 

Association  of  Phoenix,  AZ, 
and  the  Tar  Heel  Wings  in 
North  Carolina. 

1957  Charles 

T.  Botkin  (M)  is  presently 
contract  pastor  for  Forest  Park 
Reformed  Church  and  the 
Christ  Congregational  Church 
ofWoodhaven  in  Queens,  NY. 

The  Paulist  Press  has  recently 
published  The  Religion  of  Israel: 

A  Short  History  by  William 
J.  Doorly  (M). 

James  R.  Eakin  (B)  writes 
that  he  and  his  first  wife 
remarried  in  February  and 
moved  from  San  Pablo,  CA, 
to  Indianapolis,  IN. 

The  University  of  Oklahoma 
Press  has  recently  republished 
The  Black  Infantry  in  the  West 

byArlen  L.  Fowler  (B). 

James  W.  Kesler  (B,  '61 M) 

returned  to  work  in  May 
as  pastor  of  Peace  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Clinton  Township, 

MI,  after  having  recovered  from 
a  heart  attack  in  early  March. 

In  February,  Daniel  W.  Reid 

(B)  completed  twenty-five 
years  of  service  at  Lenape  Valley 
Presbyterian  Church,  New 
Britain,  PA. 

Terrence  N.  Tice  (B,  '61 D) 

has  published  two  translations 
of  works  by  Schleiermacher: 

On  What  Gives  Value  to  Life 
(Edwin  Mellen  Press)  and 
Dialectic,  or  the  Art  of  Doing 
Philosophy  (Scholars  Press). 

1958  William  E. 

Chapman  (B,  '62E,  '69D) 

is  a  member  of  the  Synod 


of  the  Northeast  Permanent 
Judicial  Commission  and  of  the 
General  Assembly  Council  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  (USA). 

Earl  W.  Kennedy  (M, 

'68D)  writes  that  he  plans 
to  retire  this  summer  after 
thirty-four  years  teaching 
religion  at  Northwestern 
College  in  Orange  City,  IA. 

1959  Gordon  T. 

Cramer  (B)  currently  serves 
as  stated  clerk  of  the  Synod 
of  Alaska-Northwest. 

Y.  Carl  Furuya  (D)  has  retired 
from  International  Christian 
University  in  Tokyo,  Japan, 
where  he  served  for  thirty-seven 
years  as  professor  of  theology, 
university  minister,  and  univer¬ 
sity  church  pastor.  During  those 
years  he  was  invited  back 
to  PTS  four  times  as  a  visiting 
lecturer  in  ecumenics  and 
theology.  His  book  A  History 
of  Japanese  Theology  has  recently 
been  published  by  Eerdmans. 

Robert  L.  Kelley  Jr.  (M) 

retired  in  May  after  forty- 
two  years  on  the  faculty 
of  Pittsburgh  Theological 
Seminary  in  Pittsburgh,  PA. 

1960  J.  Daniel  Brown 

(M),  a  professor  of  religion  and 
philosophy  at  Catawba  College 
in  Salisbury,  NC,  is  the  author 
of  Masks  of  Mystery:  Explorations 
in  Christian  Faith  and  Arts, 
recently  published  by  the 
University  Press  of  America. 

P.  William  Hutchinson  Jr. 

(B)  is  currently  assistant 
chair  of  the  Department  of 
Performing  Arts  at  Rhode  Island 
College  in  Providence,  RI. 


Kermit  D.  Johnson  (B) 

is  the  author  of  Ethics  and 
Counterrevolution:  American 
Involvement  in  Internal  Wars, 
to  be  published  this  year  by 
the  University  Press  of  America. 

Barbara  A.  Roche  (E), 

founding  editor  of  Horizons 
magazine  and  Bible  study,  has 
resigned,  effective  September  1 , 

1 997.  She  has  served  as  editor 
since  Horizons  founding  nine 
years  ago. 

Kenneth  B.  Yerkes  (B) 

is  “really  enjoying  both  interim 
ministry  and  the  Episcopal 
Church.”  He  is  interim  rector 
at  Christ  Episcopal  Church 
in  Rolla,  MO. 

1961  David  H.  Koss 

(M)  was  awarded  a  professional 
development  grant  from  Illinois 
College  in  Jacksonville,  IL, 
where  he  has  taught  religion 
since  1972. 

Thomas  E.  Terrill  (B) 

was  the  leading  consultant 
for  “The  Uprising  of ’34,” 
a  nationally  televised  documen¬ 
tary.  A  second  edition  of 
his  book  The  American  South: 

A  History  has  recently  been 
published.  Terrill  teaches  history 
at  the  University  of  South 
Carolina. 

1962  Harry  A. 

Freebairn  (B,  '84P)  became 
director  of  field  education 
at  PTS  in  July  1996,  and 
published  his  sermon  “Got 
a  Date  with  an  Angel”  in  the 
Journal  for  Preachers  (Advent 
1996). 

C.  James  Hinch  (B)  is 

now  serving  as  interim  pastor 


at  Westminster  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Buffalo,  NY. 

John  H.  Maltby  (B)  is 

serving  on  the  Evangelism 
and  Congregational  Ministry 
Committee  of  New  Brunswick 
Presbytery.  He  also  served  for 
two  years  as  master  of  Pioneer 
Grange  #1  of  Dayton,  NJ, 
which  recently  celebrated  its 
125th  anniversary. 

Richard  L.  Stephan  (B)  has 

left  the  ministry,  resigning  his 
membership  in  National  Capital 
Presbytery  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church  (USA).  He  offers  this 
explanation  to  his  classmates: 
“On  many  occasions  over 
my  past  thirty-five  years  as 
a  Presbyterian  minister  I  have 
disagreed  with  stances  the 
church  has  taken.  However, 

I  always  felt  welcome  in  the 
fellowship  of  the  denomination 
and  that  I  could  speak  openly 
and  honestly  without  fear 
of  reprisals.  The  denomination 
has  now  turned  its  back 
on  its  tradition  of  inclusiveness 
and  tolerance  of  differences 
of  opinion.  With  the  approval 
of  Amendment  B,  I  find  that 
I  can  no  longer  in  good  con¬ 
science  maintain  an  identity 
as  a  representative  of  this 
denomination.” 

1963  Richard  B. 

Anderson  (B),  pastor 
of  Elmhurst  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Elmhurst,  IL,  writes, 
“Continuing  on  in  Elmhurst 
until  2000  and  my  retirement. 
Just  opened  a  PADS  homeless 
shelter  in  the  church.  A  great 
miracle!” 

Thomas  M.  Johnston  Jr. 

(M)  is  chair  of  the  Synod 


18  •  inSpire 


summer  1997 


Class  notes 

of  the  Trinity’s  Executive 
Forum  in  1997  and  completes 
his  two-year  term  as  president 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Council 
of  Churches. 

1964  Donald  W. 

Shaner (M)  is  now  senior 
pastor  at  Calvary  Baptist 
Church  in  Clifton,  NJ,  and 
an  adjunct  professor  in  sociolo¬ 
gy  at  Bloomfield  College 
in  Bloomfield,  NJ. 


♦ 

1  1965  Wallace  Alcorn 

(M)  read  the  Emancipation 
Proclamation  on  New  Year’s 
Day  in  Beaufort,  SC,  at  the 
third  annual  re-enactment 
of  its  initial  reading  in  1863. 

He  is  the  great,  great  grandson 
of  the  Rev.  Dr.  William  Henry 
Brisbane,  the  first  reader, 
whose  biography  he  is  currently 
writing. 

Nancy  Chapman  Burcher 

(e)  of  Tallahassee,  FL,  writes, 
“Brewster  (a  blonde  thirty- five- 
pound  Cocker  Spaniel)  and 
I  visit  the  elderly  and  the  termi¬ 
nally  ill  either  in  their  homes 
or  in  local  private  nursing 
homes....  My  ministry  to  the 
elderly  first  began  with  daily 
telephone  calls  wherever  they 
lived.  Although  I  am  trained 
in  early  childhood  education, 


I  believe  the  basic  principles 
thereof  often  apply  to  meeting 
the  needs  of  the  elderly  and 
the  terminally  ill....” 

1966  William  A. 

Polkowski  (B)  has  been  active 
as  a  chaplain,  counselor,  and 
psychotherapist  in  Ann  Arbor, 
MI.  He  writes,  “I  am  seeking 
a  pastorate  in  the  Presbyterian 
church.  Hopefully  I  will 
be  able  to  do  private  practice 
(psychotherapy)  as  well." 

S  T  Kimbrough  Jr.  (D) 

is  the  author  of  the  recently 
published  book  A  Heart  to 
Praise  Thy  God,  (Abingdon 
Press).  He  has  also  released 
these  new  recordings:  “Classics 
from  Hollywood  to  Broadway,” 
“Kurt  Weill  on  Broadway,” 
and  “Spirituals:  Songs  from 
the  American  Experience.” 

1967  Elizabeth  D. 

Beck  (B)  is  serving  as  interim 
pastor  at  Delta  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Lansing,  MI. 

Earl  S.  Johnson  Jr.  (B) 

took  a  group  from  his  church, 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Pittsford,  NY,  on  a  trip  to  Israel 
at  the  end  of  January  1997. 

Jocelyn  Konigsmark  (B) 

is  running  an  antiquarian 
book  business  out  of  her  home 
in  Wayne,  PA. 

Robert  C.  Murphy  (B) 

recently  earned  an  M.S. 
in  counseling  from  Villanova 
University  in  Villanova,  PA. 

He  is  also  a  full-time  psy¬ 
chotherapist  for  Life  Counseling 
Services,  a  Minirth-Meier  facili¬ 
ty  for  Christian  counseling. 


1968  Earl  W.  Kennedy 

('58M,  D)  writes,  “I  am  cur¬ 
rently  the  Marvin  and  Jerene 
DeWitt  Professor  of  Religion 
at  Northwestern  College  in 
Orange  City,  IA.  I  plan  to  retire 
in  May  after  thirty-four  years 
at  NWC.” 

1969  Thomas  F. 

Johnson  (M)  is  “moving  from 
the  presidency  of  the  University 
of  Sioux  Falls  (SD)  to  professor 
of  biblical  studies  at  George  Fox 
University  in  Newberg,  OR!” 

James  E.  Roghair  (B)  is 

pastor  (stated  supply)  at  the 
Second  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Chicago,  IL. 

Kenneth  W.  Smith 
(B/72M)  is  now  headmaster 
of  the  Sandy  Spring  Friends 
School  in  Sandy  Spring,  MD. 

1970  Jackson  W. 

Carroll  (D)  is  the  Ruth  W.  and 
A.  Morris  Williams  Jr.  Professor 
of  Religion  and  Society  at  Duke 
Divinity  School,  Durham,  NC. 
In  January,  he  gave  the  Sprunt 
Lectures  at  Union  Theological 
Seminary  in  Richmond,  VA,  on 
“The  Church  in  Post-traditional 
Society.” 

Irene  Getz  (E)  is  an  adjunct 
instructor  in  adult  education 
at  Luther  Seminary  in  St.  Paul, 
MN.  She  and  her  husband, 

Ed  Fastner,  live  in  Eagan,  MN. 

1971  Jim  Forsythe 

(M),  who  retired  from  the 
Federal  Bureau  of  Prisons  and 
is  now  director  of  New  York 
State  prisons,  writes,  “[There 
are]  70,000  inmates  in  New 
York,  a  terrible  indication  that 


we  are  losing  drug  battles  and 
[the]  next  generation  of  Blacks.” 

Paige  M.  McRight  (B)  is 

beginning  to  work  on  a  D.Min. 
at  Columbia  Seminary  in 
Decatur,  GA,  “focusing  on  faith 
development  in  college  students 
in  today’s  culture.” 

Frederick  G.  Sickert  (M), 

director  and  CPE  supervisor 
for  Legacy  Health  Systems 
in  Portland,  OR,  is  “looking 
for  resident  CPE  students.” 

1972  William  R. 

Forbes  (B)  pastor  of 
Westfield  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Westfield,  NJ,  has  been 
elected  to  the  board  of  trustees 
of  Bloomfield  College  in 
Bloomfield,  NJ. 


1973  Martha  Harp, 
wife  of  Roger  Harp  (B),  died 
on  March  10,  1997,  in  Lincoln, 
NE,  after  a  brief  illness. 

Andrew  J.  Schatkin  (B) 

has  his  own  law  firm  with 
offices  in  Long  Island  and 
Bayside,  NY.  He  obtained 
a  diploma  in  international 
law  and  human  rights  from 
the  University  of  Strasbourg 
in  France,  and  a  certificate 
in  international  law  from  the 
Hague  in  the  Netherlands. 


inSpire  •  19 


photo:  Chrissie  Knight 


summer  1997 


Class  notes 


Celebrating  their  twenty-fifth  reunion  year  are  (left  to  right):  (front  row)  Bill  Forbes, 
Mary  Thies,  Jean  Anne  Swope,  David  Heneger,  Art  Sundstrom,  Wade  Epps  (back  row) 
Jon  Black,  Peter  Maier,  Bruce  Boak,  Bruce  Schundler,  Cory  Loder,  Jack  Van  Ens. 


cal  alternative  to 
Howard  Stern.” 

Richard  Miles 

(B)  received  his 
D.Min.  from  San 
Francisco 
Theological 
Seminary  in  May. 

1978 

Stephen 
Jacobsen  (B), 


Dianna  Pohlman  (B)  is 

pastor  of  rhe  First  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Rutherford,  NJ. 

1974  Stephen  D. 

Glazier  (B)  is  the  author 
of  Anthropology  of  Religion: 

A  Handbook,  published  in 
January  by  Greenwood  Press. 

Steve  Melamed  (B)  received 
his  Ph.D.  from  Florida  State 
University  in  April  1997. 

His  thesis  topic  is  “The  African 
Sermons  of  Albert  Schweitzer, 
1913-14,  1930.” 

Joseph  Stanley  (B)  writes, 
“...having  recovered  from 
a  drive-by  shooting  in  Vidor, 
Texas,  seven  years  ago,  I  now 
personally  counsel  victims 
of  crime.” 

1975  N.  Dean  Evans 

(E)  is  currently  interim  rector 
at  the  Episcopal  Church  of  the 
Advent  in  Ken  nett  Square,  PA. 

Karl  Karpa  (M)  retired  after 
thirty-two  years  of  missionary 
service  in  Japan  and  has  relocat¬ 
ed  to  Palm  Bay,  FL. 

Thomas  E.  "Buzz" 
Mattingly  III  (B)  is  now 

chaplain  for  the  245th  Support 


Battalion  in  Fort  Clayton, 
Panama. 

1976  Robert  J. 

Brown  (M)  is  minister  of 
the  Deepdene  Uniting  Church 
Parish  in  Victoria,  Australia. 

After  nine  years  as  associate 
rector  at  St.  Paul’s  Episcopal 
Church  in  Richmond,  VA, 

Shanda  Carignan  (B)  has 

accepted  a  position  as  spiritual 
services  coordinator  for  Hospice 
of  Central  Virginia. 

1977  John  D.  Gibbs 

(B)  has  been  appointed  to 
the  bio-ethics  committee  of 
St.  Mary’s  Medical  Center  in 
Duluth,  MN,  where  he  serves  as 
director  of  chaplaincy  services. 

Rebecca  Knight  Giusti  (B) 

has  relocated  to  Lawrence,  KS, 
where  she  is  employed  as  a  pro¬ 
duction  editor  at  the  University 
Press  of  Kansas.  She  and  her 
daughter  Rosa  are  members 
of  St.  John  the  Evangelist  parish 
in  Lawrence. 

Robert  R.  Kopp  (B)  and 

Rus  Howard  host  “Howard 
and  Kopp  with  Real  People,” 
on  cablevision  7  in  Pittsburgh. 
Kopp  writes,  “It  is  the  theologi- 


pastor  of  Goleta 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Santa 
Barbara,  CA,  has  recently  writ¬ 
ten  the  book  Hearts  to  God, 

Hands  to  Work:  Connecting 
Spirituality  and  Work  (Alban 
Institute). 

The  Ribbon  around  the  Pentagon, 

written  by  Linda  Pershing 

(B),  has  been  published  by  the 
University  of  Tennessee  Press. 

It  tells  the  story  of  women  and 
men  who  created  fabric  panels 
to  wrap  around  the  Pentagon 
in  1985  in  social  protest  against 
the  arms  race.  Pershing,  a  folk¬ 
lorist  and  a  feminist  theorist, 
is  an  assistant  professor  of 
women’s  studies  at  the  State 
University  of  New  York,  Albany. 

Jeffrey  M.  Young  (B)  writes, 

“I  am  enjoying  my  ministry  as 
the  personnel  actions  officer  for 

<- 


the  Army  Chief  of  Chaplains. 
Come  visit  us  at  the  Pentagon.” 

1979  William  D. 

Eisenhower  (M)  continues 
to  teach  part  time  at  Fuller 
Theological  Seminary.  His 
article  “Discerning  the  Signs 
of  the  Times:  Responding 
As  a  Confessional  Church  to  the 
Culture”  appeared  in  Theology 
Matters  (Jan/Feb  1997). 

Shin-Hwa  Park  (B)  resigned 
her  position  as  women’s  min¬ 
istries  associate  for  the  Synods 
of  the  Pacific  and  Southern 
California  and  Hawaii. 

1980  Sung  Man 

Chung  (M)  is  serving  as  pastor 
of  Bethel  United  Methodist 
Church  in  Cresskill,  NJ. 

George  Cladis  (B)  has  signed 
a  contract  with  Jossey-Bass 
Publishers  to  write  a  book  on 
building  and  leading  a  church 
staff  team.  In  March,  he  was 
one  of  a  group  of  twenty-five 
pastors  who  met  in  Hollywood 
with  producer  Jeffrey 
Katzenberg  (The  Lion  King, 

The  Little  Mermaid)  to  reflect 
on  a  new  film  based  on  the  life 
of  Moses.  The  title  of  the  movie, 
which  is  scheduled  for  release  in 
1998,  will  be  The  Prince  of 
Egypt. 

Robert  A.  Garwig  (B), 

who  is  head  of  staff  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Pasadena,  TX,  ran  in  the  25th 
annual  Methodist  Health  Care 
Houston  Marathon  on  January 
12,  1997.  Placing  1,170th 
out  of  4,364  finishers,  he  raised 
over  $550  for  his  Sr.  High  youth 
fellowship’s  June  mission  trip 
to  Washington,  D.C. 


20  •  inSpire 


summer  1997 


Class  notes 


African  American  Alums 
of  Princeton 

Two  hundred  years  ago,  in  April,  a  child  was  born  who  was  des¬ 
tined  to  achieve  renown  as  "one  of  the  most  prominent 
Negroes  of  that  time"  for  his  work  in  the  abolitionist  movement. 
That  child  was  Theodore  Sedgwick  Wright. 

Wright,  who  attended  Princeton  Theological  Seminary  from 
1825  to  1828,  claims  a  special  place  in  Princeton's  history  as  the 
first  black  person  to  graduate  from  the  Seminary.  (The  first 
black  to  graduate  from  an  institution  of  higher  education  is 
believed  to  have  been  Alexander  Lucius  Twilight,  who  received 
a  B.A.  from  Middlebury  College  in  1823.) 

It  is  to  the  Seminary's  credit  that  when  the  Board  of  Directors 
received  Wright's  application  for  admission,  there  was  no 
debate  about  his  color.  Rather,  the  minutes  of  the  meeting  held 
on  May  16,  1825,  state  that  when  "Dr.  McAuley,  on  behalf  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Albany,  applied  to  the  board  to  have  Theodore 
Wright,  a  fine  young  man  of  color,  admitted  into  the  Seminary 
(the  Board)  resolved  that  his  color  shall  form  no  obstacle  in  the 
way  of  his  reception." 

In  1828,  Wright  received  his  Certificate  of  Graduation,  the  stan¬ 
dard  degree  issued  by  the  Seminary  at  that  time.  He  was 
ordained  by  the  Presbytery  of  Albany  on  February  5,  1829,  and 
in  1830  succeeded  Samuel  E.  Cornish,  his  former  teacher,  as 
pastor  of  the  First  Colored  Presbyterian  Church  (also  known  as 
the  "Swamp  Church")  in  New  York  City,  where  he  was  pastor 
until  1847. 

During  Wright's  seventeen-year  tenure  there,  the  church  devel¬ 
oped  into  the  second-largest  African  American  congregation  in 
New  York  City  as  people  responded  to  Wright's  devotion  to 
moral  reform.  He  formed  a  temperance  society  as  part  of  his 
church's  outreach  program.  Recognizing  the  need  for  both  spiri¬ 
tual  and  practical  guidance,  he  established  the  Phoenix  Society, 
a  group  committed  to  "morals,  literature,  and  the  mechanical 
arts."  Working  with  the  Phoenix  High  School  for  Colored  Youth, 
he  fought  for  the  education  of  blacks  and  urged  his  people  to 
examine  their  attitudes  and  actions: 

There  is  a  remissness  —  a  criminality  in  our 
people,  in  not  supporting  learned  professional 
men,  enterprises,  and  institutions  among  us,  not 
longer  to  be  tolerated.  The  little  petty  jealousies, 
the  human  prejudices,  and  the  contracted  benevolence 
which  characterize  and  ruin  us,  would  disgrace  the 
darkest  ages  and  dumbest  people  that  ever  cursed 
the  world.  What  are  we  waiting  for?  Do  we  expect  or 
wish  our  white  brethren  to  drag  us  from  our  poverty, 
ignorance,  and  degradation,  as  the  mule  carries 
his  burden,  without  effort  on  our  part? 


Wright's  fervor  for  reform  extended  beyond  his  church  commu¬ 
nity  and  led  him  into  a  number  of  black  organizations  as  well  as 
into  a  position  of  prominence  in  the  culture  of  the  time.  Like  his 
father  Richard  P.  G.  Wright,  who  took  a  strong  stand  against  col¬ 
onization  and  voiced  his  opposition  to  slavery,  Wright  became 
deeply  involved  in  the  antislavery  movement.  In  a  characteristi¬ 
cally  moving  address  delivered  before  the  Convention  of  the 
New  York  State  Antislavery  Society  on  September  20,  1837,  he 
observed,  "It  is  an  easy  thing  to  ask  about  the  vileness  of  slav¬ 
ery  in  the  South,  but  to  call  the  dark  man  a  brother,  to  treat  all 
men  according  to  their  moral  worth,  to  treat  the  man  of  color  in 
all  circumstances  as  a  man  and  a  brother  —  that  is  the  test." 

As  a  result  of  his  commitment  to  abolitionism,  he  participated  in 
the  New  York  Committee  of  Vigilance  in  the  mid-1830s.  In  1838, 
he  co-founded  the  New  York  Association  for  the  Political 
Elevation  and  Improvement  of  People  of  Color  and  attended  the 
black  state  convention  at  Albany  in  1840.  In  addition,  Wright 
founded  the  American  Anti-Slavery  Society  (AASS)  and  held  a 
seat  on  the  society's  executive  committee;  he  was  also  active  in 
the  New  York  State  Anti-Slavery  Society. 

In  working  with  these  organizations  Wright  became  aware  of 
the  insidious  nature  of  prejudice  and  questioned  the  integrity  of 
many  of  the  abolitionist  societies: 

Our  hearts  have  recently  been  gladdened  by  an  address  of  the 
annual  meeting  of  the  Friends'  Society  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
in  which  they  insist  upon  the  doctrine  of  immediate  emancipa¬ 
tion.  But  that  very  good  man  who  signed  the  document  as 
the  organ  of  that  society  within  the  past  year  received  a  man 
of  color,  a  Presbyterian  minister,  into  his  house,  gave  him  his 
meals  alone  in  the  kitchen,  and  did  not  introduce  him  to  his 
family.  What  can  the  friends  of  emancipation  effect  while  the 
spirit  of  slavery  is  so  fearfully  prevalent? 

Writer  and  educator  Walter  Merrill,  in  his  contribution  to  the 
Encyclopedia  Britannica's  Dictionary  of  American  Negro 
Biographies,  said  of  Wright,  "except  for  Frederick  Douglass,  few 
American  Negroes  of  his  generation  labored  more  effectively 
for  the  freedom  and  equality  of  his  race  than  Theodore  S. 
Wright."  The  price  of  that  labor  was  an  early  death  at  the  age  of 
fifty,  apparently  caused  by  overwork.  And  yet,  Wright  would  not 
have  been  able  to  live  his  life  more  moderately.  He  was  a  pas¬ 
sionate  man  whose  words  and  actions  resonated  with  convic¬ 
tion  and  roused  others  from  apathy.  "Let  every  man  take  his 
stand,"  he  wrote,  "burn  out  this  prejudice,  live  it  down,  talk  it 
down,  everywhere  consider  the  colored  man  as  a  man,  in  the 
church,  the  stage,  the  steamboat,  the  public  house,  in  all  places, 
and  the  death-blow  to  slavery  will  be  struck." 


Keith  H.  Poppen  (B)  writes 
that  he’s  passed  all  nine  of 
his  ordination  exams,  is  about 
writing  his  credo,  and  is  enjoy¬ 
ing  his  role  as  pastoral  counselor 
at  Christ  Community  Church 
in  Carmichael,  CA. 


1981  Duane  Hix  (B) 

has  moved  to  a  new  call  at 
Kenwood  Park  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Cedar  Rapids,  IA. 

Hugh  Matlock  (B,  '84M) 

was  installed  as  the  new  pastor 


at  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Stanhope,  NJ,  in  February. 

1982  Gavin  Kerr 

(B)  was  recently  promoted 
to  vice  president  for  human 
resources  for  the  University 


of  Pennsylvania  Health  System. 

Joyce  Ann  Rife  (B)  retired 
at  the  end  of  January  and 
reports  that  she  is  “having  fun 
traveling.” 


inSpire  •  21 


summer  1997 


Class  notes 


John  C.  R.  Silbert  (B) 

has  two  new  positions: 
interim  pastor  for  membership 
and  evangelism  at  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  in 
Greensburg,  PA,  and  consultant 
for  church  and  public  media 
for  the  Presbyterian  Media 
Mission  in  Pittsburgh,  PA. 

1983  Kathleen 

Bostrom  (B,  '80E)  has  had 

two  children’s  picture  books 
accepted  for  publication  by 
Tyndale  House,  and  is  anticipat¬ 
ing  publication  of  her  book  of 
biographies  of  children’s  authors. 
In  addition,  she  has  published 
articles  on  clergy  couples  and 
the  children  of  clergy  couples 
in  The  Christian  Ministry. 

She  is  currently  writing  a  book 
on  teaching  values  to  children. 

Robert  J.  Cromwell  (B) 

became  pastor  of  Ruskin 


Heights  Presbyterian  Church 
in  his  hometown  of  Kansas 
City,  MO,  on  March  1,  1997. 
Concerning  his  new  call, 

Rob  states:  “Ruskin  Heights 
has  a  successful  ‘Logos’  program, 
an  inspirational  choir,  and  will¬ 
ing  workers.  The  old  suburban 
neighborhood  is  becoming  more 
urbanized.’  The  church  is  seek¬ 
ing  to  reach  out  to  the  growing 
African  American  population. 

It  was  a  dream  of  mine  in  semi¬ 
nary  to  go  serve  in  a  church  in 
an  integrated  community  where 
I  could  do  my  small  part  in 
promoting  reconciliation  among 
all  races  and  people.  That  I  now 
have  the  opportunity  to  do  so 
in  my  own  hometown  is  quite 
amazing!” 

J.  Nelson  Kraybill  (B) 

was  inaugurated  as  president 
of  Associated  Mennonite 
Biblical  Seminary  in  Elkhart, 


IN,  on  March  16,  1997.  He 
had  spent  the  six  years  prior  as 
program  director  of  the  London 
Mennonite  Centre  in  England. 

Michael  S.  Moore  (M) 

was  appointed  associate  director 
of  Fuller  Theological  Seminary 
Southwest  in  Phoenix,  AZ, 
beginning  June  1,  1997. 

Brett  Webb-Mitchell  (B) 

has  had  a  book  published 
by  the  United  Church  Press 
titled  Dancing  with  Disabilities: 
Opening  the  Church  to  All 
God’s  Children. 

1984  Robert  W. 

Gustafson  (P)  is  an  adjunct 
professor  in  pastoral  care  at 
Bangor  Theological  Seminary 
in  Bangor,  ME. 

On  April  1,  Sally  Willis- 


female  pastor  and  head  of  staff 
of  Flemington  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Flemington,  NJ, 
in  its  205-year  history. 

1985  William  A. 

Evertsberg  (B)  has  accepted 
a  call  as  pastor  and  head  of 
staff  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Greenwich,  CT. 

Kurt  T.  Gaubatz  (B) 

is  on  leave  from  his  teaching 
duties  to  serve  as  a  national 
fellow  at  the  Hoover  Institute 
at  Stanford  University. 

Marion  A.  Jackson  (B, 
'86M)  has  been  appointed 
superintendent  of  the  Southwest 
District  of  the  New  Jersey 
Area  for  the  United  Methodist 
Church. 

Susan  dePuy  Kershaw  (M) 

writes,  “In  addition  to  serving  as 
pastor  of  Nelson  Congregational 
Church  in  Nelson,  NH,  I  am 
serving  as  interim  western  area 
minister  of  the  American  Baptist 
Churches  of  Vermont  and  New 
Hampshire.” 

David  Kwang  Kim  (B) 

is  now  chairman  ol  the  Board 
of  Directors  of  the  Korean 
Christian  Television  Station 
(KCTS)  in  northern  California. 

1986  Stuart  C.  Lord 

(B,  '87M),  a  DePauw 
University  adminstrator  who 
coordinates  student  volunteer 
programs  and  teaches  ethics, 
leadership,  and  social  justice, 
served  as  executive  director 
of  “The  President’s  Summit  for 
America’s  Future,”  which  took 
place  from  April  27  through 
April  29  in  Philadelphia. 


Watkins  (B)  became  the  first 


“  Weddings 
irths 


Weddings 


Joanne  B.  Scott  ('84B)  to  Paul  Miller,  May  24,  1997 
Lisa  A.  Larsen  ('88B)  to  Craig  Henderson,  March  22,  1997 
Amy  Schneider  to  L.  Robert  Nelson  ('89M),  January  19,  1997 
Donna  Anderson  to  Douglas  B.  Hoffman  ('92B),  September  14,  1996 
Kathryn  K.  Bowers  ('94B)  to  Mike  Pettersen,  March  1,  1997 
Heather  Finck  ('96B)  to  W.  Jim  Soha  ('96B),  July  6,  1996 

Births 


Madelena  Hedwig  Collins  to  Mary  Anne  Collins-Stauffer  ('80B)  and  John  Jeffrey  Collins  ('81b), 
August  11,  1996 

Aubrey  Nicole  to  Darlene  J.  and  Matthew  J.  Blanzy  ('82B),  April  12,  1997 
William  Rouner  to  Kristen  Rouner  Jeide  ('82B)  and  Bruce  R.  Jeide,  March  29,  1996 
Lydia  Marie  to  Diane  M.  Hagewood  Smith  ('84B)  and  Joe  M.  Smith,  born  March  15,  1995, 
and  adopted  August  12,  1996 

Lindsay  Elizabeth  to  Margaret  Kibben  ('86B)  and  Timothy  Kibben,  May  13,  1997 

Laura  Anne  to  Lynn  and  Thomas  L.  Blackstone  ('87B),  May  4,  1997 

Nathan  to  Debra  A.  Ebling  ('87B)  and  J.  Patrick  Vaughn  ('87B),  February  11,  1997 

Christian  Visco  Jae-Young  Na  to  Amy  L.  Na  ('89B)  and  Kang-Yup  Na  ('89B),  August  6,  1996 

Caitlin  Grace  to  Susan  J.  and  Jonathan  Bunker  ('93B),  April  18,  1996 

Emily  Anne  to  Lois  C.  and  Timothy  J.  Smith  ('93B),  July  1995 

Jordan  Theodore  Robert  to  Carolyn  I.  and  Maurice  Wright  III  ('93B),  August  23,  1996 
T.J.  to  Brenda  and  Thomas  J.  Edwards  ('94B),  November  6,  1996 

Emily  Anne  to  Kathleen  (Katie)  Loughman  ('94E)  and  Peter  Loughman  ('93B,  '94E),  April  14,  1997 


Class  notes 


summer  1997 


In  May,  Audrey  L.  Schindler 

(B)  beg  an  a  call  as  pastor  of 
the  Leighmoor  Parish  of  the 
Uniting  Church  in  Australia, 
in  Melbourne. 

1987  Joseph  P.  Dunn 

(M),  now  in  his  tenth  year 
as  pastor  of  Ballston  Spa 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Ballston 
Spa,  NY,  began  a  television 
series  titled  Miracles  and  More 
Miracles  last  November.  He  is 
also  vice  president  of  the  board 
of  trustees  of  Albany  Presbytery. 

Richard  C.  Nevius  (P) 

has  retired  as  rector  of  St.  Paul’s 
Church  in  the  art  colony  of  San 
Miguel  de  Allende,  Guanajuato, 
Mexico.  Since  then,  he  and 
his  wife  have  built  a  home 
in  San  Miguel  and  have  done 
extensive  international  traveling 
to  conferences  and  congresses. 
He  has  recently  returned  to 
Mexico  after  spending  a  term 
as  visiting  professor  of  Greek 
and  New  Testament  at  St. 
Andrew’s  Theological  Seminary, 
Manila,  the  Philippines,  where 
he  will  be  teaching  part  of  each 
year  for  the  forseeable  future. 

Charles  Rowins  (P) 

writes,  “After  many  years  in 
Episcopal  schools,  I  now  work 
for  Johns  Hopkins  University 
in  a  program  for  academically 
talented  pre-collegiate  young 
people.  On  Sundays,  I  officiate 
at  a  community  chapel 
(St.  Christopher’s-by-the-Sea) 
on  Gibson  Island,  just  north 
of  Annapolis.” 

1988  Ann  Fitzgerald 
Aichinger  (B)  earned 

her  Th.M.  from  Columbia 
Theological  Seminary 
in  Decatur,  GA,  in  May. 


Methodist  pastor  Barbara  D. 
Burrus  (B)  is  chair  of  her 
conference’s  Health  and  Welfare 
Committee  and  the  AIDS 
Action  Team. 

1989  Victor  Aloyo  Jr. 

(B)  writes,  “The  Presbyterian 
Church  of  the  Redeemer 
of  East  Brooklyn  [the  church 
he  pastors]  is  attempting  to 
combat  the  issues  of  racism  and 
discrimination  which  are  sorely 
plaguing  our  society.  We  have 
opened  the  doors  for  a  full 
multi-cultural,  multi-lingual 
ministry  that  includes  twenty- 
nine  countries  and  four  different 
languages.  We  worship  God 
in  English,  Spanish,  Hindi- 
Punjabi,  and  Korean....” 

Cathy  Ann  Ludwig  (M) 

has  accepted  a  call  to  become 
pastor  of  Christ  Evangelical 
Lutheran  Church  in  Union,  NJ. 

Dana  B.  Martin  (P)  has 

been  named  acting  director 
of  the  library  for  the  American 
Baptist  Historical  Society. 

Kennedy  M.  McGowan  (B) 

is  now  first  vice  moderator 
of  Long  Island  Presbytery  and 
is  also  president  of  Pronto, 
a  local  social  service  mission. 

1990  Deborah 

Blanks  (M)  was  appointed 
assistant  dean  of  religious  life 
at  Princeton  University. 

J.  Paul  Davis  (B)  was 

ordained  at  Tabernacle  United 
Church,  a  UCC  congregation 
in  Philadelphia,  on  March  23, 
1997.  He  will  minister  at  the 
First  Congregational  Church 
(UCC)  in  Portland,  OR. 


Anabel  C.  Proffitt  (D)  has 

been  named  dean  of  Lancaster 
Theological  Seminary  in 
Lancaster,  PA,  where  she  has 
been  on  the  faculty  since  1989. 

Chandra  S.  Soans  (M) 

is  pastor  at  Grace-Trinity 
(UCC)  Church  in  Philadelphia, 
PA,  and  an  adjunct  assistant 
professor  at  New  Brunswick 
Theological  Seminary  in  New 
Brunswick,  NJ. 

Kristen  Will  (B)  is  living 
in  Boston,  MA,  where  she 
continues  to  work  as  a  clinical 
social  worker  with  the  elderly 
mentally  ill. 

1991  Dale  P.  Andrews 

(B),  a  Ph.D.  candidate  at 
Vanderbilt  University,  has  been 
called  to  serve  as  assistant  pro¬ 
fessor  of  homiletics  and  practical 
theology  at  Louisville  Presbyter¬ 
ian  Theological  Seminary  in 
Louisville,  KY,  starting  in  the 
fall  semester  of  1998,  pending 
the  completion  of  his  disserta¬ 
tion.  He  is  currently  a  teaching 
fellow  at  Vanderbilt  specializing 
in  black  preaching,  homiletics, 
and  the  theological  foundations 
of  pastoral  care. 

Eun  Joo  Kim  (B,  '96D) 

is  youth  pastor  at  the  Korean 
Central  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Queens,  NY,  which  has 
begun  construction  of  a  new 
sanctuary  and  gym/multi¬ 
purpose  room. 

Stephen  M.  LaSor  (B) 

writes  that  he  is  district  chair¬ 
person  in  a  new  configuration 
for  Redstone  Presbytery  and 
a  grateful  participant  in  PTS’s 
group  trip  to  Israel  in  March 
1996. 


Since  April  13,  Angela  L. 

Ying  (B)  has  been  associate 
presbytery  executive  for  mission 
and  program  for  the  Presbytery 
of  Seattle. 

1992  David  R.  Brewer 

(B)  is  “enjoying  serving  as  inter¬ 
im  pastor  while  also  preparing 
for  law  school.” 

Gaston  E.  Espinosa  (B), 

a  Ph.D.  candidate  in 
Chicano/Latino  history 
at  the  University  of  California 
at  Santa  Barbara,  is  co-editor 
of  the  forthcoming  volume 
Chicano  Religions  to  be  pub¬ 
lished  this  fall.  He  was  a  visiting 
lecturer  in  religion  at  Westmont 
College  in  Santa  Barbara  during 
the  1996-97  academic  year. 

Doug  Hoffman  (B) 

is  pastor  at  St.  Matthew’s 
United  Methodist  Church  and 
the  director  of  the  St.  Paul’s 
Christian  Center,  both  in  East 
Baltimore,  MD. 

Clara  E.  Thomas  (B)  was 

ordained  a  deacon  in  the  United 
Methodist  Church  in  June.  She 
has  been  minister  of  discipleship 
at  the  First  United  Methodist 
Church  in  Hightstown,  NJ, 
since  February. 

1993  James  A. 

Glasscock  (M)  writes  that 
he  received  a  diploma  in 
jurisprudence  and  human  rights 
from  Strasbourg  in  August 
1996,  and  defended  a  thesis  on 
“The  Eastern  Orthodox  Church 
and  Human  Rights.”  He  is 
a  member  of  Grace  Presbytery 
and  accepts  interim  pastorates. 


inSpire  •  23 


summer  1997 


Class  notes 


On  the  Shelves 


Have  you  finished  all  the  books  on  your  summer  reading  list? 
On  the  Shelves  features  book  recommendations  from  a  vari¬ 
ety  of  Princeton  Seminary  faculty  and  staff,  with  the  hope  that 
these  suggestions  will  help  alumni/ae  choose  books  that  will 
contribute  to  their  personal  and  professional  growth. 


From  Carol  Lakey  Hess,  assistant  professor  of  Christian 
education 


Religion,  Feminism,  and  the  Family,  by  Anne  Carr  and  Mary 
Stewart  VanLeeuwen,  eds.  Louisville,  KY:  Westminster/John 
Knox, 1996;  Families  in  the  New  Testament  World:  Flousehold 
and  Flouse  Churches,  by  Carolyn  Osiek  and  David  L.  Balch. 
Louisville,  KY:  Westminster/John  Knox, 1996.  These  are  two 
books  in  the  comprehensive  series  The  Family,  Religion,  and 
Culture,  edited  by  Don  Browning  and  Ian  Evison.  Focused  to 
raise  important  issues  surrounding  the  North  American  debate 
about  family,  the  series  advances  no  single  point  of  view  and 
gives  no  one  solution.  It  does,  however,  attempt  to  create 
opportunities  for  a  middle  way  between  neo-conservative  and 
neo-liberal  extremes.  Religion,  Feminism,  and  the  Family 
includes  a  range  of  authors  and  viewpoints  (excluding  extreme 
viewpoints  on  either  end),  and  it  delves  into  historical  back¬ 
ground  as  well  as  raises  current  issues.  It  is  a  readable,  informa¬ 
tive,  and  provocative  collection.  Families  in  the  New  Testament 
World  builds  on  and  extends  the  work  that  Osiek  and  Balch 
have  done  before.  The  result  is  an  interesting  and  helpful 
archaeology  of  early  Christian  households.  The  consideration  of 
social  patterns  oriented  around  honor,  shame,  and  gender  roles 
is  especially  illuminating.  There  are  other  books  to  follow  in  this 
series,  including  a  summary  of  the  debate  and  a  handbook  with 
a  practical  emphasis. 

The  Color  of  Water:  A  Black  Man's  Tribute  to  Flis  White  Mother, 
by  James  McBride.  New  York,  NY:  Riverhead  Books,  1997.  This 
inspiring  and  vibrant  story  of  a  real-life  family  gives  flesh  and 
blood  to  discussions  on  the  family  in  the  US.  Raised  by  a 
Jewish  mother  whose  family  fled  pogroms  in  Poland,  and  who 
herself  fled  an  abusive  father  and  found  refuge,  love,  and  life  in 
the  black  community,  the  author  tells  of  his  family's  triumphs 
over  an  inordinate  number  of  hardships  and  ills:  anti-semitism, 
racism,  death,  and  poverty.  McBride  was  told  by  his  mother  that 


God  is  neither  black  nor  white  but  rather  the  color  of  water;  the 
book  traces  this  remarkable  young  man's  odyssey  to  under¬ 
stand  his  rich  and  complicated  heritages. 

From  Michael  E.  Livingston,  campus  pastor  and  director 
of  the  chapel: 

Fatheralong:  A  Meditation  on  Fathers  and  Sons,  Race  and 
Society,  by  John  Edgar  Wideman.  New  York,  NY:  Pantheon 
Press,  1994.  In  Fatheralong,  author  J.E.  Wideman  combines  a 
trenchant  social  analysis  of  race  and  society  and  a  revealing 
personal  narrative.  Wideman's  earlier  book  Brothers  and 
Keepers  introduced  his  siblings. 

Here  he  acquaints  the  reader  with  his  parents:  "My  first  rule  of 
my  father's  world  is  that  you  stand  alone.  Alone,  alone,  alone.... 
My  mother's  first  rule  was  love."  He  travels  from  Amherst,  MA, 
to  the  harsh  inner  city  of  Pittsburgh,  to  a  town  called  Promised 
Land  on  the  wrong  side  of  the  tracks  in  rural  South  Carolina. 
Wideman's  insights  into  the  development  and  misuse  of  the 
concept  of  race  are  rendered  in  piercing  and  lyrical  prose.  "The 
word  'race'  evokes  a  paradigm,"  he  writes,  "  a  system,  network, 
or  pattern  of  assumptions,  relationships,  a  model  of  reality...  of 
history  and  causation  as  complete,  closed,  and  pervasive  as  reli¬ 
gion."  This  book  is  both  a  a  strong  social  commentary  and  a 
sensitive  autobiography. 

A  Fire  in  the  Bones:  Reflections  on  African  American  Religious 
History,  by  Albert  J.  Raboteau.  Boston:  Beacon  Press,  1995.  This 
collection  of  essays  provides  a  fresh  perspective  and  rich  histor¬ 
ical  detail  on  a  wide  range  of  issues  in  African  American  reli¬ 
gious  history.  Believing  the  Gospel  to  be  "of  necessity,  universal 
in  a  particular  way,"  Raboteau  shares  diverse  stories  of  individ¬ 
uals  and  groups  prominent  in  the  African  American  religious 
experience  in  the  United  States.  Among  topics  included  are 
Richard  Allen  and  the  AME  church,  an  exploration  of  black 
Catholicism,  a  comparison  of  Thomas  Merton  and  Martin  Luther 
King  Jr.,  and  black  destiny  in  nineteenth-century  America.  The 
book  is  further  enriched  by  Raboteau's  search  for  further  knowl¬ 
edge  about  the  circumstances  of  his  father's  death,  and  his 
meeting  with  the  son  of  the  man  who  killed  him. 


1994  Patricia  Fisher 

(B)  was  ordained  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church  (USA) 
in  June  1996. 

YoHan  John  Kim  (B, 

'95M)  is  college  pastor  at  the 
Torrance  First  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Torrance,  CA. 

Scott  McKee  (B)  was 

ordained  on  March  23  at  the 
Kirk  in  the  Hills  Presbyterian 

24  *  inSpire 


Church  in  Bloomfield,  MI, 
by  Detroit  Presbytery.  He  has 
accepted  a  call  as  associate 
pastor  of  the  International 
Community  Church  in  Surrey, 
England. 

1995  Dustin  W. 

Ellington  (B)  is  in  his  third 

year  as  associate  pastor  for  youth 
and  young  adults  at  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Visalia, 
CA. 


1996  Heather 

Finck  (B)  is  now  serving 
as  pastor  at  Fewsmith  Memorial 
Presbyterian  Church  in 
Belleville,  OH. 

Paul  Lasley  (M)  is  now 

a  U.S.  Army  chaplain  in  the 
Second  Squadron  ol  the  Second 
Armored  Cavalry  Regiment 
in  Fort  Polk,  LA. 


We're  not 
ignoring  you! 

The  editorial  staff  of  inSpire 
receives  many  class  notes  every 
year  and  tries  to  print  them  all. 
But  because  the  magazine  is 
published  quarterly,  it  some¬ 
times  doesn't  include  recently 
submitted  class  notes.  If  you 
don't  see  your  class  note  here, 
please  be  patient.  It  will  appear 
in  a  future  issue. 


summer  1997 


Hi  outstanding 


in  the  field 


Digging  into  Diaspora 


discovered  a  menorah  in  secondary  use  in  the 
rubble  at  the  base  of  a  sixth-century  basilica. 


A  Pastor  Probes  the  Past 

If  you  are  looking  for  Robert 
MacLennan,  you  may  well  find  him  quite 
literally  out  standing  in  the  field,  or  more 
accurately  on  the  north  shore  of  the  Black 
Sea.  Since  1993,  MacLennan,  a  Presbyterian 
pastor  for  over  thirty  years  and  PTS  M.Div. 
Class  of  1966,  has  been  involved  in  an  inter¬ 
national  archeological  venture  involving  the 
United  States  and  the  Ukraine.  It  is  known 
as  “The  Black  Sea  Project.”  Unpacking 
MacLennan’s  involvement  in  the  project 
is  an  archeological  event  in  itself,  because 
the  road  which  led  him  to  Chersonesus 
is  richly  layered  terrain. 

To  begin  at  the  end,  which  is  what 
archeologists  seem  to  do,  MacLennan 
will  return  to  Chersonesus,  an  ancient  port 
city  at  the  southwestern  tip  of  the  Crimean 
peninsula,  in  mid-August  to  continue  search¬ 
ing  for  evidence  of  a  Jewish  community 
which  flourished  in  the  Crimea  about  2,000 
years  ago,  a  time  when  that  area  was  a  part 
of  both  the  Roman  Empire  and  the  Bosporos 
kingdom.  He  will  dig  with  colleagues  from 
Macalester  College  in  St.  Paul,  MN,  the 
University  of  Puget  Sound  in  Tacoma,  WA, 
and  other  universities  in  the  United  States, 
as  well  as  with  Ukrainian  archeologists,  pro¬ 
fessors,  and  students  from  Zaporozhye  State 
University,  in  Zaporozhye;  the  Chersonesus 
Museum  Preserve,  in  Chersonesus;  and  the 
Ukranian  Academy  of  Science,  all  in  the 
Ukraine. 

MacLennan  first  visted  the  area  in  1993 
when  he  and  colleagues  J.  Andrew  Overman 
and  Douglas  Edwards,  under  the  patronage 
of  Macalester  College  and  a  private  benefac¬ 
tor,  made  a  research  trip  to  the  area  north 
of  the  Black  Sea  in  search  of  Jewish  Diaspora 
communities.  The  trip  made  both  academic 
and  geographical  sense,  based  on  the  history 
of  the  area,  but  had  been  impossible  prior  to 
the  dissolution  of  the  former  Soviet  Union. 
For  eighty  years  the  Crimean  military  city 
of  Sevastopol  had  been  closed  to  Westerners; 
internally,  during  Stalin’s  years  in  power, 
any  studies  of  ethnicity  had  been  prohibited. 

What  MacLennan  and  his  colleagues 
discovered  upon  arrival  in  Chersonesus  was 
that  excavations  carried  out  in  the  ’50s, 


as  well  as  others  from  the  nineteenth  centu¬ 
ry,  verified  not  only  the  presence  of  a  Jewish 
public  space  in  Chersonesus  and  in  the  east¬ 
ern  city  of  ancient  Panticapaeum  (modern 
Kerch),  but  also  that  the  Jewish  community 
participated  in  and  was  respected  by  the  larg¬ 
er  community.  Nevertheless,  from  an  archeo¬ 
logical  perspective,  the  site  remained  largely 
unexplored  as  far  as  the  Jewish  presence 
was  concerned.  Thus,  it  was  determined  that 
further  excavations  should  be  carried  out 
by  a  joint  American,  Russian,  and  Ukranian 
team. 

The  project’s  first  season  was  in  July 
1994  and  involved  fifty-five  staff  members 
and  volunteers.  By  the  beginning  of  the 
second  season  in  June  1995,  the  group  had 
grown  to  sixty-two  members.  During  these 
digs,  which  focused  on  excavations  of  a  fifth- 
and  sixth-century  C.E.  basilica,  MacLennan 
says  he  and  his  colleagues  “discovered  much 
evidence  for  a  synagogue  in  ancient 
Chersonesus,  [including]  two  menorahs, 
several  fragments  inscribed  in  Hebrew  and 
Greek,  and  inscriptions  from  various  places 
in  the  Crimea  indicating  a  Jewish  presence 
from  at  least  the  first  century  C.E.”  Over 
the  next  few  years,  they  hope  to  accumulate 
more  information  about  “the  various  peoples 
that  lived  in  Chersonesus.” 

How  did  MacLennan,  whose  grandfa¬ 
ther,  Stuart  MacLennan,  built  the  First 


Presbyterian  Church  of  Hollywood  in  the 
early  ’20s  and  who  grew  up  in  that  West 
Coast  Christian  community,  end  up  digging 
for  shofars  and  menorahs  in  the  Ukraine? 

It  has  all  been  part  of  a  natural  progression, 
he  says.  His  passion  for  history  was  nurtured 
by  his  biblical  background;  the  study  of 
ancient  languages  and  primary  texts  was 
a  part  of  his  early  theological  training. 

While  at  PTS  in  the  ’60s,  he  pursued 
his  fascination  with  “origins,  primary 
sources,  beginnings,  first  causes,”  he  says, 
and  seriously  studied  languages  and  primary 
texts  in  biblical  studies,  ancient  history,  and 
psychology.  But  studying  the  Bible  and  other 
texts  was  not  sufficient.  In  that  turbulent  era, 
he  began  to  examine  his  own  attitudes  and 
beliefs.  He  questioned  his  tradition  and  was 
troubled  by  its  exclusivity.  “I  came  to  see 
myself  as  wanting  to  be  a  pastor  of  a  church 
in  the  world...  to  be  a  part  of  making  our 
society  work,”  he  explains.  And  so  began  his 
commitment  to  creating  a  climate  of  open¬ 
ness  in  his  ministry. 

MacLennan’s  ministry,  whether  as  asso¬ 
ciate  minister  of  education  in  Lincoln,  NE, 
teaching  pastor  in  Edina,  MN,  or  pastor 
in  Scarsdale,  NY,  has  always  concerned  itself 
with  dispelling  myths  about  “the  strangers 
in  our  midst.”  He  has  been  an  advocate 
for  diverse  “underdogs,”  including  women, 
Japanese  Americans,  and  Jews. 


inSpire  •  25 


summer  1997 


outstanding  in  the  field 


(above)  A  menorah  found  as  part  of  a  wall  of  an  early 
Roman  cistern  is  now  part  of  the  collection  of  the 
Chersonesus  Museum. 

(left)  In  a  photo  taken  in  1996,  Zherebtsov  shows  the 
Black  Sea  Project  directors  where  he  found  the  meno¬ 
rah  in  1957. 


ber  of  years  he  taught  a  class 
with  Rabbi  Jack  Stern  of  the 
Westchester  Reform  Temple 
in  Scarsdale  in  which  parti¬ 
cipants  explored  Christian 
anti-Judaism  and  Jewish 
anti-Christianism. 

A  pivotal  experience  in  his  journey 
occurred  when,  in  reading  R.  H.  Charles’s 
1913  two-volume  translation  of  the 
Apocrypha  and  Pseudepigrapha,  he  came 
across  the  rabbinic  writings  Pirke  Aboth 
(the  Sayings  of  the  Fathers ).  These  writings 
gave  him  a  new  appreciation  for  and  under¬ 
standing  of  emerging  Judaism.  “Judaism 


has  its  own  unique  histo¬ 
ry,”  says  MacLennan. 
“What  I  discovered  is  that 
Judaism  is  not  the  back¬ 
ground  for  Christianity. 
Judaism  has  a  parallel 
growth  to  emerging 
Christianity  in  the  first 
three  or  four  centuries 
C.E.” 

In  1988,  MacLennan 
wrote  his  Ph.D.  disserta¬ 
tion  at  the  University 
of  Minnesota  on  “Early 
Second-Century  Texts 
on  Jews  and  Judaism.” 

Soon  he  began  to  lecture 
at  synagogues  on  such 
topics  as  why  a  Christian  would  study  the 
Mishnah  (the  core  of  the  later  Talmuds)  and 
on  the  problem  and  origin  of  anti-semitism. 
He  started  to  look  at  what  went  wrong  in 
twentieth-century  Germany  and  got  involved 
in  Holocaust  studies. 

In  his  studies  of  Jewish  culture,  he  was 
drawn  to  the  issue  of  what  it  means  to 
be  in  diaspora,  an  issue  with  which  he  had 
concerned  himself  in  a  more  ecumenical  way 
throughout  his  ministry.  He  decided  to  study 
the  Jewish  Diaspora  communities  in  the 
Black  Sea  region,  an  interest  shared  by  his 
colleague  Overman.  The  rest,  as  they  say, 
is  history.  I 


MacLennan  has  continually  sought 
through  his  ministry  to  “look  at  real  issues 
and  to  try  to  find  a  way  to  bring  people 
together.”  While  serving  in  Scarsdale  he  sup¬ 
ported  the  Japanese  ministry  there  and  held 
joint  services  with  the  Japanese  congregation 
on  Hiroshima  Day  and  Pearl  Harbor  Day 
to  celebrate  a  shared  humanity.  For  a  num- 


Where  the  Bible  Meets  the  Ehlues 

Bill  Carter  Joins  Theology  and  Jazz 

ing  the  various  pieces  of  my  life,” 


The  first  time  Bill  Carter  tried  using 
his  talents  as  a  jazz  musician  in  worship 
at  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  Clarks 
Summit,  PA,  (the  congregation  he  has 
pastored  for  the  past  seven  years)  was  on 
a  Sunday  in  Lent.  The  lectionary  psalm  for 
the  day  (Psalm  137)  gruesomely  lamented 
Israel’s  Babylonian  captivity  by  asking  God 
to  dash  the  captors’  children’s  heads  against 
a  rock. 

It  was  also  Girl  Scout  Sunday. 

With  that  bizarre  juxtaposition  and  his 
admittedly  devilish  sense  of  humor,  Carter 
decided  to  present  the  psalm  as  a  blues  piece. 


“The  text  was  about  being  a  long  way 
from  home,”  he  says,  “and  the  psalmist 
chose  to  sing  in  the  language  of  oppression. 
For  us  in  America,  that’s  the  blues.” 

So  Carter,  a  professional  jazz  pianist 
before  he  enrolled  at  Princeton  Seminary 
in  1982,  arranged  a  blues  rendition  of  the 
text  for  a  tenor  in  his  choir  and  accompanied 
him  on  piano.  “After  he  sang,  I  talked  about 
what  it  meant  to  feel  far  from  home,  but  the 
music  was  really  the  sermon.” 

Joining  jazz  and  theology  is  now  com¬ 
monplace  in  Carter’s  ministry;  in  a  sense, 
it  furnishes  a  defining  paradigm  for  his  faith. 
“I’ve  always  been  concerned  about  integrat- 


he  says,  “especially  since  I  was  called 
to  ministry.  The  Reformed  tradition 
speaks  strongly  to  the  head,  the  intel¬ 
lectual  part  of  who  I  am.  It’s  very  text- 
oriented.  But  when  we  smashed  our  stat¬ 
ues  and  took  the  arts  out  of  our  churches 
during  the  Reformation,  we  lost  something. 
Theoretical  truth  must  also  be  embodied.” 

For  Carter,  jazz  is  the  tune  that  incar¬ 
nates  the  text.  “Jazz  and  other  new,  non-tra 
ditional  forms  of  liturgical  music  join  the 
text  of  the  Scripture  and  the  church’s  his¬ 
toric  confessions  with  the  tune  of  human 
experience,”  he  explains. 


26  *  inSpire 


summer  1997 


outstanding  in  the  field 


He  thinks  good  preaching  should  do  the 
same  thing.  “I’ve  learned  how  to  preach  good 
sermons  by  tuning  in  to  other  preachers 
who  tell  stories  from  human  experience,  like 
Fred  Craddock  [former  professor  of  preach¬ 
ing  and  New  Testament  at  Candler  School 
of  Theology].  I  listen  to  his  tapes  and  try  out 


his  sermon  tunes  in  my  voice.  That’s  how 
you  learn  to  play  jazz,  too.  You  listen  to 
Coltrane  or  Brubeck  and  put  your  fingers 
where  they  did  on  the  piano  or  saxophone 
keys  and  hear  how  their  music  sounds 
in  your  voice,  your  style.” 

Carter  heard  lots  of  jazz  growing  up 

in  Owego,  NY.  His 
mother  played  the 
clarinet,  and  he 
remembers  many 
evenings  spent  listen¬ 
ing  to  Benny 
Goodman  and  Count 
Basie  records.  His 
own  piano  lessons 
took  him  from  two- 
part-inventions  by 
Bach  to  the  blues. 

He  played  his  way 
through  college  at 
SUNY  Binghamton 
(“I  think  I  played 
at  more  wedding 
receptions  and  parties 
in  my  last  year  of 
high  school  and 
my  four  years  of  college  than  I’ve  attended 
in  twelve  years  of  ministry,”  he  says). 

The  Christian  faith  was  a  mainstay  in 
his  home,  too.  He  describes  a  nurturing 
Presbyterian  family  that  “went  to 
church  [the  First  Presbyterian 
Union  Church  of  Owego] 
every  Sunday,  attended 
Sunday  School,  stayed  for 
coffee  hour  after  service, 
and  talked  about  the  sermon 
over  Sunday  dinner.  We  even 
made  every  member  canvass 
calls!”  he  remembers. 

So  it  seemed  natural 
to  Carter  to  find  himself 
in  seminary.  He  “put  music 
on  ice”  while  at  PTS,  and  while 
pastoring  his  first  congregation 
(the  Catasauqua  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Catasauqua,  PA).  “I  felt 
for  a  time  as  if  I  had  to  leave  the 
music  behind,  as  if  this  new  calling 
was  very  different,  and  my  jazz  was, 
in  a  sense,  a  lesser  gift,"  he  says. 


But  the  Clarks  Summit  congregation 
wasn’t  satisfied  with  that  reasoning.  “This 
congregation  celebrates  and  cultivates  peo¬ 
ple’s  gifts,  including  their  pastor’s,”  he  says. 
“And  their  understanding  of  spiritual  gifts 
goes  far  beyond  the  traditional  ones.” 

Now  Carter  plays  regularly  in  a  jazz 
quartet,  with  “gigs’  in  churches,  nightclubs, 
and  colleges.  In  1996  he  returned  to  his 
undergraduate  alma  mater  to  perform  and 
lecture  as  a  jazz  pianist  in  residence.  And  this 
summer  he  and  his  quartet  were  featured  at 
the  Seminary’s  annual  Institute  of  Theology 
in  an  evening  of  jazz.  Carter  also  teamed 
with  his  friend,  fellow-pastor  and  poet  Bill 
Leety,  to  lead  an  Institute  workshop  on  litur¬ 
gy  and  the  arts. 

Interested  in  expanding  the  range 
of  music  that  is  used  in  worship,  Carter 
urges  pastors  to  learn  to  work  with  the 
musicians  in  their  churches  and  to  trust 
them.  “Ministers  should  teach  their  musi¬ 
cians  theology,  and  learn  music  theory 
themselves  in  return,”  he  says.  “Together 
pastors  and  musicians  must  dig  deeply  into 
the  bedrock  of  the  church’s  liturgy — its  texts 
and  its  music — and  their  own  experiences 
of  God’s  presence.” 

Ultimately,  Carter  believes  faith  thrives 
when  people  integrate  what  they  confess 
and  what  they  experience  about  God. 

“Jazz  has  done  that  for  me,”  he  says. 

And  he  hopes  to  share  that  insight 
with  his  newest  community  of  faith — 
the  Princeton  Seminary  Board  of  Trustees. 
Elected  as  an  alumni/ae  trustee  this  past 
May,  Carter  will  serve  a  three-year  term 
on  the  board. 

He  muses  about  the  board  working 
as  “more  of  a  collaborative  jazz  group  than 
as  a  traditionally  structured  organization.” 

“I  hope  we  can  talk  together  about  the 
whole  business  of  integration  between  tradi¬ 
tion  and  innovation,  between  Scripture  and 
experience,  between  text  and  tune,”  he  says. 
“I  hope  we  can  be  flexible,  and  I  hope  we 
can  even  have  fun!  For  me,  jazz  is  a  model 
of  how  to  do  that.  I  thought  for  so  long  that 
there  was  a  clear  line  between  the  secular 
and  the  sacred;  but  now  I  believe  that  if  the 
whole  earth  is  really  the  Lord’s,  no  experi¬ 
ence  is  outside  the  sacred.”  I 


inSpire  •  27 


summer  1997 


^  Obituaries 


•  Clarence  E.  Reed 
Clarence  E.  Reed,  an  emeritus 
member  of  the  Seminary's  administra¬ 
tion,  died  on  April  8,  1997,  in  Fort 
Myers,  FL,  from  injuries  sustained 
in  a  fall.  He  was  eighty  years  old.  From 
1 934  to  1 966,  Reed  was  employed 
in  the  Business  Office.  In  1966,  he 
was  appointed  director  of  housing  and 
student  employment;  he  then  served 
as  director  of  housing  from  1971 
until  his  retirement  in  1981.  A  lifelong 
resident  of  West  Windsor,  NJ,  Reed 
was  an  elder  and  trustee  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Dutch  Neck. 

He  was  also  a  former  president,  vice 
president,  and  secretary  of  the  West 
Windsor  Township  School  Board. 

Reed  is  survived  by  his  wife,  Marie; 
a  daughter,  Shirley  R.  Cortelyou;  two 
sons,  Kenneth  and  William;  and  five 
grandchildren. 

•  William  A.  Parke,  1933b 

William  A.  Parke,  a  native  of  Northern 
Ireland  and  pastor  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Ireland,  died  on  August  12, 
1996.  He  was  eighty-seven  years  old. 

Parke  was  ordained  by  the  Presbytery  of 
Dungannon  in  the  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Ireland  on  October  15,  1935.  His  first 
call  was  as  assistant  pastor  of  Ulsterville 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Belfast  from  1933 
to  1935.  He  was  installed  as  pastor  of 
Castlecaulfield  Presbyterian  Church  in 
County  Tyrone  in  1935  and  served  there 
until  1941.  Most  of  his  career  was  spent  as 
pastor  of  Orangefield  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Belfast,  where  he  served  from  1941 
until  his  retirement  in  September  1975. 
Parke  is  survived  by  his  wife,  Margaret. 

•  Grant  INI.  Miller,  1935B 

Grant.  N.  Miller,  who  pastored  several 
United  Brethren  congregations  in 
Pennsylvania  during  his  career,  died  on 
January  5,  1997.  He  was  ninety-one  years 
old.  He  was  ordained  by  the  United 
Brethren  in  Christ  Church,  Eastern 
Pennsylvania  Conference,  in  September 
1935.  Miller  began  his  career  as  pastor 
of  the  Hillsdale  Circuit  in  Middletown, 
PA,  from  1935  to  1936.  He  served  the 
Powl’s  Valley  Circuit  in  Halifax  from  1936 


to  1937  and  again  from  1963  to  1967. 
From  1940  to  1949,  he  pastored  the 
Kochenderfer’s  Church,  then  moved 
on  to  pastor  Steelton  Evangelical  United 
Brethren  Church  from  1949  to  1952. 

From  1952  to  1963,  he  was  with  the 
Ironville  Church  in  Columbia,  PA, 
and  from  1967  to  1970,  he  pastored 
the  Jonestown-Fredricksburg  Church 
in  Jonestown,  PA.  He  also  served  the 
Safe  Harbor-Colemanville  Church 
in  Conestoga  from  1971  until  his  retire¬ 
ment  in  1982.  He  is  survived  by  his 
wife,  Ruth  Essick  Miller;  his  brother, 

John;  and  his  sisters,  Mable  M.  Price, 

Dora  Lambert,  and  Sylvia  Naslund. 

•  Robert  B.  Boell,  1938B 

Robert  B.  Boell,  who  was  pastor 

of  Westminster  Presbyterian  Church  in 
West  Chester,  PA,  from  1945  to  1964, 
died  at  his  home  on  February  22,  1997. 

He  was  eighty-four  years  old.  Ordained 
by  the  Presbytery  ol  George  in  Iowa  in 
June  1938,  Boell  primarily  served  churches 
in  the  East.  From  1938  to  1943,  he 
pastored  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Montgomery,  NY,  and  from  1943 
to  1944,  he  was  assistant  pastor  at 
Central  Presbyterian  Church  in  Rochester, 
NY.  In  1964,  after  a  successful  twenty- 
year  tenure  as  pastor  of  Westminster 
Presbyterian  Church  during  which  he 
doubled  the  size  of  the  congregation, 
hired  the  first  associate  pastor,  and  initiat¬ 
ed  three  building  programs,  Boell  returned 
to  Iowa  where  he  pastored  the  Lakeside 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Storm  Lake.  Boell 
was  the  widower  of  Lillian  Passmore  Boell, 
who  died  in  1970.  He  is  survived  by  his 
wife  of  twenty-five  years,  Emily;  his  son, 
Robert;  his  daughter,  Lillian  B.  Klein; 
two  grandsons;  one  step-son,  Richard 
G.  Potter;  and  five  step-grandchildren. 

•  Robert  L.  Mclntire,  1939B,  1946M, 

1959D 

Robert  L.  Mclntire,  a  pastor,  missionary, 
and  educator,  died  on  November  21, 

1996,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two.  Mclntire, 
who  was  ordained  by  the  Presbytery 
of  Wichita  in  May  1939,  served  as  pastor 
of  the  Parish  of  the  Folded  Hills  in 
Woodsfield,  OH,  from  1939  to  1943 
before  beginning  his  thirty-year  career 


as  a  missionary  in  Brazil  and  Latin 
America.  During  that  time  he  also  served 
on  the  faculties  of  Lincoln  University 
Seminary  in  Pennsylvania,  the  College 
of  Emporia  in  Kansas,  the  Presbyterian 
Seminary  in  Campinas,  Brazil,  and  the 
United  Theological  College  of  the  West 
Indies.  From  1974  to  1977,  he  was  an 
administrator  at  the  Presbyterian  Manor 
in  Clay  Center,  KS.  Mclntire  is  survived 
by  his  wife,  Esther. 

•  John  A.  McConomy,  1942G 
John  A.  McConomy,  who  pastored 

Augustus  Lutheran  Church  in  Trappe, 

PA,  for  twenty-five  years,  died  at  his 
home  in  April  1997.  He  was  eighty  years 
old.  Ordained  by  the  Lutheran  Church 
of  America  on  November  2,  1941, 
McConomy  also  served  as  pastor  of 
churches  in  Hightstown,  NJ,  from  1941 
to  1943;  Weissport,  PA,  from  1944  to 
1949;  and  Philadelphia,  PA,  from  1949 
to  1956.  In  1979,  McConomy  was  award¬ 
ed  a  doctorate  in  ministry  to  the  aging 
by  Lutheran  Theological  Seminary 
in  Philadelphia,  where  he  had  earned 
a  Master  of  Divinity  degree  in  1941. 
During  his  retirement,  McConomy 
was  the  visitation  pastor  at  Holy  Trinity 
Lutheran  Church  in  Wildwood,  NJ, 
where  he  was  a  member.  He  was  also 
a  member  of  the  New  Jersey  Synod  of  the 
Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in  America, 
the  Lower  Township  (NJ)  Kiwanis  Club, 
and  the  Lower  Township  Garden  Club. 
McConomy  is  survived  by  his  wife 
ol  fifty-five  years,  Lillian  E.  Giersch 
McConomy;  four  children,  Lillian  M. 
Ferrard,  Deborah  C.  McConomy- Wallace, 
John  W.  McConomy,  and  Stephen  M. 
McConomy;  and  eight  grandchildren. 

•  Richard  C.  Redfield,  1946B 
Richard  C.  Redfield,  former  pastor 

of  Lake  Burien  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Seattle,  WA,  died  on  February  1,  1997, 
as  a  result  of  injuries  incurred  as  a  pedes¬ 
trian  in  a  pedestrian-vehicular  accident 
that  took  place  in  Burien,  WA,  on 
December  13,  1996.  He  was  eighty  years 
old.  He  died  at  Harborview  Medical 
Center  where  he  had  been  volunteer 
chaplain  in  the  trauma  and  critical  care 
units  since  his  retirement  from  the 


28  *  inSpire 


summer  1997 


^  Obituaries  _ 

pastorate.  Redfield  was  ordained  by  the 
Presbytery  of  Los  Angeles  in  November 
1946.  He  served  as  pastor  of  Manitou 
Park  Presbyterian  Church  in  Tacoma,  WA, 
from  1946  to  1950.  For  the  succeeding 
fourteen  years,  he  was  pastor  at  Emmanuel 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Spokane,  WA.  In 
1966  he  went  to  Lake  Burien  Presbyterian 
Church  where  he  served  as  pastor  until  he 
retired  in  1983.  Redfield  is  survived  by  his 
wife  of  fifty  years,  Virginia;  his  daughters, 
Katherine  Meeks,  Betsy  Messerschmitt, 
and  Susan  Gossman;  and  two  grandchil¬ 
dren,  David  and  Elizabeth  Meeks. 

•  Donald  L.  Barker,  1947B 

Donald  L.  Barker,  former  pastor  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church  in  Vincennes, 

IN,  died  on  November  7,  1996.  He 
was  seventy-two  years  old.  Barker,  who 
was  ordained  by  the  Presbytery  of  Cairo 
in  Illinois  on  July  10,  1947,  also  pastored 
a  number  of  churches  in  Illinois,  including 
Union  Ridge  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Union  Ridge  from  1947  to  1952.  For  the 
next  six  years,  Barker  was  parish  director 
and  pastor  of  the  Sharon  larger  parish 
in  White  Pine,  TN.  From  1959  to  1967, 
he  pastored  North  Hills  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Knoxville,  TN.  Barker  is  sur¬ 
vived  by  his  wife,  Eleanor. 

•  Thomas  G.  Northcott,  1949B 

Thomas  G.  Northcott,  who  pastored 

churches  in  Washington,  D.C.,  New 
Jersey,  and  on  Staten  Island,  NY,  died  on 
February  22,  1997.  He  was  seventy-seven 
years  old.  Ordained  by  the  Presbytery  of 
Newton  on  April  13,  1948,  Northcott  was 
a  native  of  Canada  and  had  served  in  the 
Royal  Canadian  Air  Force  during  World 
War  II.  In  1949,  he  became  pastor  of 
Kenilworth  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Washington,  D.C.  The  following  year 
he  accepted  a  call  as  pastor  of  the  Fourth 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Trenton,  NJ, 
where  he  served  for  four  years.  From 
1954  to  1957,  he  was  pastor  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  on  Staten  Island,  NY. 
During  the  1960s,  he  opened  a  real  estate 
office,  but  continued  to  serve  as  interim 
pastor  and  guest  preacher  at  various 
churches  in  Connecticut.  In  addition, 
for  thirty  years  he  led  Bible  study  groups. 
Northcott  is  survived  by  his  wife,  Zeneida; 


two  sons,  Graham  and  Marshall;  a  daugh¬ 
ter,  Jennifer  E.  Twyford;  two  step-sons, 
Philip  C.  Peck  and  John  H.  Peck;  and 
several  grandchildren. 

•  Raymond  C.  Provost  Jr.,  1953B 
Raymond  C.  Provost,  retired  Presby¬ 
terian  pastor  and  missionary,  died  on 
February  18,  1997.  He  was  seventy-seven 
years  old.  Ordained  by  the  Presbytery 

of  Philadelphia  on  June  24,  1953, 
he  served  as  a  missionary  in  Korea 
from  1948  to  1965.  There  he  founded 
Moon  Wha  Junior/Senior  High  School 
in  Kyongju  and  established  the  Korea 
Scholarship  Fund  for  students  in  need. 
Recently,  when  the  new  campus  of  Moon 
Wha  was  dedicated,  he  was  honored  for 
his  contributions  to  the  school.  When 
he  returned  to  the  United  States  in  1  965, 
he  accepted  a  call  as  pastor  of  the  Church 
of  the  Straits  in  Mackinaw  City,  MI, 
where  he  served  until  his  retirement  in 
1984.  He  is  survived  by  his  wife,  Mariella; 
two  sons,  David  and  Jonathan;  two  daugh¬ 
ters,  Elizabeth  Anne  Drummond  and 
Janet  Cummings;  and  five  grandsons 
and  one  granddaughter. 

•  George  S.  Stephanides,  1958M 
George  S.  Stephanides,  pastor  of  St. 

Paul’s  Church  in  Irvine,  CA,  for  twenty 
years,  died  on  December  17,  1996.  He 
was  sixty-three  years  old.  He  was  ordained 
in  the  Greek  Orthodox  Church  of  North 
and  South  America  on  July  31,1 960.  In 
addition  to  serving  parishes  in  California, 
New  Jersey,  and  Massachusetts,  he  was 
very  active  in  both  church  and  lay  activi¬ 
ties.  He  held  offices  in  the  Clergy 
Brotherhood,  the  St.  Nicholas  Ranch  and 
Retreat  Center,  Guadalupe  Manor,  United 
Way  of  Orange  County,  and  the  National 
Conference  of  Christians  and  Jews,  among 
other  organizations.  He  also  served  on  the 
Archdiocesan  Council,  the  San  Francisco 
Diocese  Council,  and  the  Hellenic 
College/Holy  Cross  Board  of  Trustees. 

He  was  a  recipient  of  the  church  offices 
of  Confessor,  Sakellion,  Economos 
of  the  Ecumenical  Patriarchate,  and 
Protopresbyter.  He  is  survived  by  his  wife 
of  thirty-five  years,  Elaine;  a  daughter, 
Mary  Brown;  a  son,  Steven;  and  a  grand¬ 
daughter. 


•  Peter  W.  Macky,  1963B,  1970D 

Peter  W.  Macky,  professor  of  religion 
and  chair  of  the  Religion  and  Philosophy 
Department  at  Westminster  College  in 
New  Wilmington,  PA,  died  on  April  10, 
1997,  of  mesothelioma,  an  untreatable 
cancer  of  the  lining  of  the  lung,  caused 
by  prolonged  exposure  to  asbestos  (proba¬ 
bly  from  the  ceiling  of  the  college  chapel). 
He  was  fifty-nine  years  old.  A  Rhodes 
Scholar  and  a  Rockefeller  Doctoral  Fellow, 
Macky  earned  an  A.B.  in  engineering  from 
Harvard  University  (at  the  age  of  nine¬ 
teen)  and  B.A.,  M.A.,  and  D.Phil.  degrees 
from  Oxford  University.  In  addition 
to  his  studies  at  PTS,  he  did  work  at  Duke 
University,  the  University  of  Illinois,  and 
Fuller  Theological  Seminary.  From  1966 
to  1967,  he  was  an  instructor  in  biblical 
studies  at  PTS.  In  1967,  he  was  ordained 
by  the  Presbytery  of  Los  Angeles  South 
West.  He  then  served  as  associate  pastor 
at  Pacific  Palisades  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Pacific  Palisades,  CA,  from  1967  to 
1970.  In  1970,  he  joined  the  faculty 
of  Westminster  College,  where  he  taught 
until  his  death.  He  was  Westminster’s  first 
Joseph  Henderson  Lectureship  winner; 
in  1990,  he  received  the  Sears  Roebuck 
Foundation  “Teaching  Excellence  and 
Campus  Leadership  Award.”  Macky  was 
the  author  of  many  books,  including 
The  Bible  in  Dialogue  with  Modern  Man; 
Violence:  Right  or  Wrong;  Pursuit  of  the 
Divine  Snowman;  Candles  in  the  Dark: 
Modern  Parable;  The  Centrality  of  Metaphor 
in  Biblical  Thought:  A  Theory  of 
Interpretation;  St.  Paul’s  Cosmic  Myth: 

A  Military  Version  of  the  Gospel;  and 
The  Island  of  the  Sun,  a  fantasy  novel, 
along  with  numerous  articles.  A  gifted 
athlete,  Macky  was  a  two-time  All- 
American  swimmer  at  Harvard.  In  1977, 
he  founded  the  New  Wilmington  Area 
Soccer  Club,  introducing  youths  in  the 
area  to  soccer.  In  addition,  he  developed 
New  Wilmington  High  School’s  soccer 
team  and  coached  the  Westminster  men’s 
varsity  soccer  team  from  1990  to  1996. 

A  devoted  and  beloved  teacher,  Macky 
touched  many  lives.  He  is  survived  by 
his  wife,  Nancy;  and  two  sons,  Cameron 
and  Christopher. 


inSpire  •  29 


summer  1997 


^  Obituaries  _ 

•  Patrick  A.  Dowd,  1972M 

Patrick  A.  Dowd,  a  retired  Roman 
Catholic  priest  and  officer  in  the  United 
States  Navy,  died  on  March  5,  1997. 

He  was  sixty-nine  years  old.  Ordained  by 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church’s  Archdiocese 
of  Milwaukee  on  May  30,  1939,  he  then 
dedicated  his  life  to  serving  the  church 
and  the  Navy,  where  he  rose  to  the  rank 
of  captain.  From  1939  to  1964,  he  was 
assistant  priest  at  St.  Robert’s  Church 
in  Milwaukee,  Wl.  From  1964  to  1965, 
he  was  a  chaplain  for  the  United  States 
Navy  in  San  Diego,  CA.  The  following 
year  he  served  as  chaplain  for  the  Third 
Marine  Division.  From  19 66  to  1968,  he 
served  as  a  chaplain  at  the  Naval  Training 
Center  in  San  Diego;  then,  from  1968  to 
1971,  he  served  as  a  chaplain  aboard  the 
USS  America.  In  1972,  he  began  a  three- 
year  call  as  chaplain  in  Virginia  Beach,  VA. 
During  his  naval  chaplaincy,  he  served  two 
tours  in  Vietnam  and  as  fleet  chaplain  of 
the  seventh  fleet.  He  was  the  only  chaplain 
entitled  to  wear  the  “Silver  Dolphin,’’ 
reflecting  his  initial  service  in  the  Navy 
as  an  enlisted  submariner.  He  was  selected 
Chaplain  of  the  Year  in  1975.  After  retir¬ 
ing  from  the  Navy,  he  was  a  chaplain 
for  Sharp  Memorial  Hospital  for  three 
years  and  then  served  San  Rafael  Parish 
in  Rancho  Bernardo,  CA,  for  more  than 
seven  years.  He  is  survived  by  two  sisters, 
Sally  D.  Lyons  and  Helen  D.  Maasch;  two 
brothers,  James  and  John;  thirty  nieces 
and  nephews;  and  sixty  grandnieces  and 
grandnephews. 

•  Richard  Lee  Henrickson,  1973B 

Richard  Lee  Henrickson,  an  ordained 
Lutheran  pastor,  died  on  March  19,  1995. 
He  was  forty-seven  years  old.  Henrickson 
was  ordained  by  the  Lutheran  Church 
of  America,  the  Metropolitan  New  York 
Synod,  on  May  11,  1975.  Prior  to  his 
ordination,  he  was  the  assistant  director 
of  Christian  Ministry  in  the  National 
Parks  in  New  York  City.  In  1975,  he 
accepted  a  call  as  pastor  of  Christ  Church, 
also  in  New  York  City.  The  following  year 
he  became  dean  of  the  Manhattan  District 
for  the  Lutheran  Church  of  America. 

He  has  no  known  living  relatives. 


•  Mary  Margaret  Thiel,  1975B 

Mary  Margaret  Thiel,  women’s  ministries 
associate  for  the  Synods  of  the  Trinity  and 
the  Covenant,  died  suddenly  of  a  massive 
heart  attack  at  her  home  in  Punxsutawney, 
PA,  on  March  9,  1997.  She  was  sixty  years 
old.  Thiel  was  ordained  by  the  Presbytery 
of  New  Brunswick  on  September  21, 

1975.  That  year  she  also  served  as  assistant 
director  of  field  education  at  PTS.  In 
addition  to  her  work  with  Presbyterian 
women,  Thiel  also  pastored  several 
churches  in  Pennsylvania,  including 
Anita  Presbyterian  Church  in  Anita, 
Pleasant  Grove  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Punxsutawney,  and  Zion  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Reynoldsville.  She  is  survived 
by  two  daughters,  Elizabeth  and 
Katherine. 

•  Michael  L.  Hicks,  1979M 

Michael  L.  Hicks,  assistant  director 
ol  pastoral  service  at  Community/Kimball 
Health  Care  System  in  Toms  River,  NJ, 
died  on  April  9,  1997.  He  was  fifty-four 
years  old.  A  member  of  the  Association  for 
Clinical  Pastoral  Education,  Inc.  (ACPE), 
Hicks  held  a  number  of  hospital  chaplain¬ 
cy  positions  in  Pennsylvania,  New  York, 
Georgia,  and  New  Jersey.  Prior  to  that 
he  served  as  a  parish  minister  in  Butler, 

NJ.  He  is  survived  by  his  wife,  Barbara 
Kalehoff  Hicks;  three  sons,  Stuart, 

Gregory,  and  Christopher;  two  daughters, 
Deanna  Moyer  and  Emily;  and  six  grand¬ 
children. 

•  David  J.  Templeton,  1984B 

David  J.  Templeton,  former  pastor 
of  Trinity  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Greyabbey,  Ireland,  died  on  March  24, 
1997,  as  “a  direct  consequence  of  injuries 
received  in  a  para-military  style  assault” 
on  February  7,  1997.  At  that  time, 
a  group  ol  men,  armed  with  nail-embed¬ 
ded  baseball  bats,  broke  into  his  home 
and  beat  him  severely.  Seven  weeks  later, 
he  died.  He  was  forty-two  years  old. 
Templeton  was  ordained  in  1986  and 
served  for  one  year  as  assistant  pastor 
in  Duncairn  and  St.  Enoch’s  Presbyterian 
Church  in  north  Belfast;  in  1987  he  was 
installed  as  pastor  of  Trinity  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Greyabbey,  where  he  served 
until  1996.  He  resigned  soon  after  the 


Belfast  newspaper  Sunday  Life  published 
a  front-page  feature  disclosing  his  previ¬ 
ously  “very  private  sexuality.”  A  committed 
pastor  and  scholar,  he  served  as  assistant 
editor  of  Irish  Biblical  Studies,  lectured  as 
an  adjunct  professor  at  local  universities 
and  theological  colleges,  and  wrote  a  doc¬ 
toral  dissertation  on  “the  theological  impli¬ 
cations  of  artificial  intelligence.”  In  addi¬ 
tion,  he  was  a  regular  broadcaster  for  both 
BBC  and  Downtown  Radio  religious  pro¬ 
grams.  Northern  Ireland’s  longest-surviv¬ 
ing  kidney  transplant  patient,  he  suffered 
acute  kidney  failure  two  decades  ago  and 
was  given  about  a  month  to  live.  After 
receiving  a  kidney  from  his  mother,  he 
lived  a  rich,  productive  life.  He  is  survived 
by  his  mother,  Meta,  and  his  sister,  Lorna. 

•  Kirsten  E.  Lunde,  1986B 
Kirsten  E.  Lunde,  executive  director 
of  Christian  Churches  United  (CCU) 
of  the  Tri-County  Area  in  Harrisburg,  PA, 
died  on  March  26,  1997,  after  a  year-long 
battle  with  cancer.  She  was  thirty-six  years 
old.  An  ordained  Presbyterian  pastor 
who  also  held  a  master’s  degree  in  social 
work  from  Rutgers  University  Graduate 
School  of  Social  Work,  Lunde  had  served 
as  an  associate  pastor  of  Kreutz  Creek 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Hellam,  PA,  and 
director  of  community  affairs  for  Planned 
Parenthood  of  Central  Pennsylvania. 

She  became  executive  director  of  CCU, 
an  ecumenical  federation  of  churches  in 
Cumberland,  Dauphin,  and  Perry  counties 
in  Pennsylvania,  in  January  1995.  She  is 
survived  by  her  husband,  Patrick  Walker 
(’86B);  a  daughter,  Anna,  and  a  son, 
Robert;  her  mother,  Joan  Warren  Sullivan; 
her  father  and  step-mother,  Robert  and 
Lyn  Lunde;  and  a  sister,  Karin. 

In  addition  to  those  whose  obituaries 
appear  in  this  issue,  the  Seminary 
has  received  word  that  the  following 
alumni/ae  have  died: 

James  W.  Butler  1927B 

Henry  C.  Banks  1930B 

J.  Charles  McKirachan  1933B 

Lawrence  E.  Fisher  1937B 

Hugh  F.  Ash  1941 B 

Theodore  P.  Valenti  1944B/1949M 

J.  Edward  Paul  1945B 

The  obituaries  of  many  of  these 

alumni/ae  will  appear  in  future  issues. 


30  •  inSpire 


summer  1997 


investing  in  ministry 


The  Seminary’s  Planned  Giving  Program  offers  outstanding  life  income  plans  that  complement  retirement 
issues  and  consider  important  financial  and  tax  concerns. 

To  illustrate  this,  let  me  share  with  you  the  experience  of  two  friends  of  the  Seminary,  Pixie  Biggs  and  her 
late  husband,  Richard.  Years  ago,  Richard  Biggs  established  a  Charitable  Remainder  Unitrust  with  our  institu¬ 
tion.  This  arrangement  allowed  him  to  make  a  generous  gift  to  the  Seminary,  receive  a  sizeable  income  tax 
charitable  deduction,  and  receive  income  for  life  that  would  continue  to  be  paid  to  Pixie  if  she  were  to  survive 
him.  An  attractive  feature  of  this  unitrust  arrangement  was  that  the  trust  assets  would  be  revalued  each  year; 
the  percentage  of  payout  to  him,  determined  when  the  trust  was  established,  would  be  based  on  that  new  valua¬ 
tion.  Thus,  as  the  trust  prospered  in  a  growing  economy,  Richard’s  income  from  it  would  also  grow.  That  was 
an  important  consideration  for  him  in  his  retirement  years  and  in  his  provision  for  Pixie.  I  can  still  recall  the 
Biggses’  delight  with  this  arrangement,  and  Richard’s  great  satisfaction  as  he  signed  the  trust  document.  “This 
is  something  I  have  been  planning  to  do  for  more  than  fifteen  years,’’  he  said.  “This  is  a  happy  day  for  us!” 

Some  time  later,  Richard  and  Pixie  made  two  other  life  income  arrangements  with  the  Seminary  in  succes¬ 
sive  years  by  way  of  the  Deferred  Payment  Gift  Annuity,  an  ideal  retirement  vehicle.  Both  annuities  provided 
an  income  tax  charitable  deduction  for  the  year  in  which  they  were  established  and  called  for  income  payments  to  the  Biggses  to 
begin  several  years  later,  in  1993.  These  payments,  which  now  continue  to  be  paid  to  Pixie,  provide  her  with  fixed  income,  some  of 
which  is  tax-free.  In  addition,  the  capital  gain  impact  on  one  of  those  annuities  that  they  funded  in  part  with  appreciated  securities 
is  reduced  and  spread  over  the  years  of  their  life  expectancy,  as  determined  when  that  annuity  was  established.  As  with  the  earlier 
unitrust  arrangement,  these  annuity  agreements  brought  great  pleasure  to  the  Biggses  in  accomplishing  a  charitable  objective  that 
was  important  to  them  and  expressing  their  affection  for  and  support  of  the  Seminary. 

If  in  your  retirement  planning  you  wish  to  explore  these  gift  plans  that  have  served  the  Biggses  so  well  and  continue  to  provide 
for  Pixie,  or  if  you  are  interested  in  learning  about  the  other  life  income  plans  offered  by  the  Seminary,  please  let  me  know. 


The  Reverend 
Chase  S.  Hunt 
is  the  Seminary's 
director  of 
planned  giving. 


Gifts 

This  list  includes  many  of  the  gifts  made  between  January  24, 
1997,  and  fune  9,  1997.  Others  will  appear  in  later  issues. 

In  Memory  of 

Dr.  Willis  A.  Baxter  (’38B)  to  the  Scholarship  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Alison  R.  Bryan  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Mr.  John  H.  Born  Jr.  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Mr.  Flarwood  Childs  to  the  Harwood  and  Willa  Childs 
Scholarship  Endowment  Fund 

Mrs.  Willa  Childs  to  the  Harwood  and  Willa  Childs  Scholarship 
Endowment  Fund 

Mr.  Charles  R.  Craig  to  the  Alumni/ae  Roll  Call 
Mrs.  Beatrice  Childs  Dyment  to  the  Harwood  and  Willa  Childs 
Scholarship  Endowment  Fund 
Mr.  James  E.  Dingman  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Mr.  Charles  R.  Erdman  Jr.  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Lawrence  E.  Fisher  (’37B)  to  the  Scholarship 
Fund 

Ms.  Elizabeth  R.  Gary  to  the  Elizabeth  R.  and  Tom  C.  Gary 
Scholarship  Endowment  Fund 
Mr.  Tom  C.  Gary  to  the  Elizabeth  R.  and  Tom  C.  Gary 
Scholarship  Endowment  Fund 
Mr.  Bruce  E.  Haddad  to  the  Alumni/ae  Roll  Call 
Mrs.  Dorothy  Haddad  to  the  Alumni/ae  Roll  Call 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Harry  W.  Haring  (1893B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Mr.  Norman  I.  Holpp  to  the  Annual  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Merle  Scott  Irwin  (’43B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 


Mr.  John  S.  Linen  to  the  John  S.  and  Mary  B.  Linen  Scholarship 
Endowment  Fund 

Mrs.  Mary  B.  Linen  to  the  John  S.  and  Mary  B.  Linen  Scholarship 
Endowment  Fund 

Mrs.  Esther  Loos  to  the  Scholarship  Fund 

Ms.  Alexandra  B.  Marshall  to  the  Guilford  C.  Babcock  Seminar  in 
Practical  Theology 

The  Reverend  Dr.  C.  Frederick  Mathias  (’57B)  to  the  C.  Frederick 
and  Cleta  R.  Mathias  Memorial  Scholarship  Endowment  Fund 
Mrs.  Cleta  R.  Mathias  to  the  C.  Frederick  and  Cleta  R.  Mathias 
Memorial  Scholarship  Endowment  Fund 
The  Reverend  Thomas  A.  McGregor  (’33B)  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Ms.  Martha  King  Wagner  McKeon  to  the  Speer  Library  Fund 
The  Reverend  Dr.  Seth  C.  Morrow  (’38B)  to  the  Alumni/ae 
Roll  Call 

The  Reverend  Shinnosuke  Miyamoto  (’50b)  to  the  Scholarship 
Fund 

The  Reverend  Dr.  Thomas  S.  Mutch  to  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Morristown — The  Reverend  Dr.  Thomas  S.  Mutch 
Scholarship  Endowment  Fund 
Mrs.  Louise  Schaefer  Newell  to  establish  the  Louise  Schaefer 
Newell  Scholarship  Endowment  Fund 
Mr.  Clarence  E.  Reed  to  the  Clarence  E.  Reed  Memorial 
Scholarship  Endowment  Fund  for  Continuing  Education 
The  Reverend  Richard  C.  Redfield  (’46B)  to  the  Alumni/ae 
Roll  Call 

The  Reverend  Parke  Richards  to  the  Annual  Fund 
Mrs.  Santina  Schlotter  to  the  Annual  Fund 


inSpire  *31 


summer  1997 


CGnd  things 


The  Church  and  the  World  of  Genetic  Research:  Enemies  or  Partners  in  Conversation? 


After  publishing  a  brief  response  to 
the  success  of  the  Scottish  embryologist 
Ian  Wilmut  in  cloning  an  adult  sheep 
(see  The  Washington  Post,  Sunday,  March 
2,  1997,  Cl),  I  received  several  letters 
expressing  opposition  to  my  article.  Some 
were  from  biologists  criticizing  me  for  pro¬ 
hibiting  research  into  human  cloning  and 
promoting  the  superstitions  oi  religious 
belief.  Others  spoke  on  behalf  of  the 
church,  upbraiding  me  for  reckless  support 
of  research  into  human  cloning  and  pro¬ 
moting  the  interest  of  science  over  revela¬ 
tion.  Although  these  letters  clearly  reflect¬ 
ed  the  bias  of  their  authors,  I  assume 
responsibility  for  some  of  their  contradic¬ 
tory  interpretations  of  my  article.  Because 
the  possibility  of  human  cloning  presents 
a  true  moral  dilemma,  my  position 
sounded  somewhat  ambiguous.  I  found 
that  I  could  neither  take  a  stand  firmly 
opposed  to  all  research  into  human 
cloning  nor  could  I  support  such  research 
without  serious  reservations. 

While  I  neither  justify  equivocation  on 
this  issue  nor  promote  a  deliberately  vague 
or  evasive  stance  on  the  part  of  the  church, 
I  welcome  the  opportunity  to  analyze 
the  complex  moral  challenges  provided 
by  recent  advances  in  genetic  research  and 
hope  the  church  will  as  well.  Before  we  are 
too  quick  to  condemn  all  scientific  efforts 
at  cloning  (“God  above  will  not  tolerate 
cloning  of  any  kind,’’  wrote  one  corre¬ 
spondent),  we  ought  to  take  this  opportu¬ 
nity  to  learn  about  the  incredible  advances 
in  science  and  marvel  at  the  makeup 
of  human  biology  and  human  ingenuity. 
Far  from  challenging  Christian  faith,  such 
an  exploration  can  lead  to  a  further  appre¬ 
ciation  of  the  mysteries  and  wonders 
of  God’s  creation. 

On  the  other  hand,  before  we  are  too 
quick  to  support  the  advances  in  science 


without  qualification  (“Science  is  always 
a  positive  influence  in  the  long  run,” 
claimed  another  correspondent),  we  must 
demonstrate  the  ability  to  face  honestly 
the  potential  for  harm  that  inevitably 
accompanies  the  potential  for  good  in 
scientific  advances.  Rather  than  becoming 
blindly  enamored  with  exciting  scientific 
discoveries,  we  cannot  lose  sight  of  other 
seemingly  mundane  problems  that  lead 
to  human  suffering  (such  as  the  lack 
of  fundamental  health  care  experienced 
by  millions  of  children  and  adults  in  this 
country  and  abroad).  The  church  does 
not  have  to  assume  the  stance  of  enemy 
in  relation  to  science  (or  the  business 
industry  which  accompanies  scientific 
discoveries  in  biotechnology)  as  it  has 
so  often  in  the  past,  nor  does  the  church 
have  to  be  a  naive  or  uncritical  ally  of 
science  and  business. 

The  recent  recommendations  of  the 
National  Bioethics  Advisory  Commission 
(chaired  by  the  president  of  Princeton 
University,  Harold  Shapiro)  leave  room 
for  further  reflection,  study,  conversation, 
and  moral  contemplation  regarding  the 
issues  surrounding  human  cloning.  In  its 
recommendations  to  President  Clinton, 
the  NBAC  concluded  that  “at  this  time  it 
is  morally  unacceptable”  for  anyone  “to 
attempt  to  create  a  child  using  somatic  cell 
nuclear  transfer  cloning.”  Consequently, 
the  commission  recommended  legislation 
that  would  prohibit  anyone  from  attempt¬ 
ing  to  create  a  child  in  this  manner.  They 
also  recommended  that  a  “sunset  clause" 
be  included  in  any  such  legislation  to 
ensure  a  review  of  the  issue  in  a  few  years. 
Furthermore,  they  did  not  recommend 
a  ban  on  animal  cloning  or  the  cloning 
of  human  DNA  sequencing,  “since  neither 
activity  raises  the  scientific  and  ethical 
issues  that  arise  from  the  attempt  to  create 


children  through  somatic  cell  nuclear 
transfer,  and  these  fields  of  research  have 
already  provided  important  scientific  and 
biomedical  advances.”  (The  report  does 
acknowledge  the  importance  of  humane 
treatment  of  animals  in  all  research  that 
involves  the  use  of  animals.) 

As  the  church  enters  and  continues  to 
participate  in  the  conversation  and  debate 
over  the  moral  issues  involved  in  human 
genetic  research  (as  well  as  in  plant  and 
animal  genetic  research),  we  cannot 
assume  that  all  scientists  or  leaders  in  the 
biotechnology  industry  are  devoid  of 
moral  concerns,  nor  can  we  simply  let 
science  and  business  regulate  themselves. 
We  have  the  opportunity  for  genuine  and 
fruitful  conversation  with  the  scientific 
and  business  worlds  involved  in  genetic 
research.  We  can  maintain  our  own  dis¬ 
tinct  identity  as  the  church  while  avoiding 
moral  pronouncements  that  are  devoid 
of  scientific  knowledge.  I 


Nancy  J.  Duff  is  associate  professor  of 
theological  ethics  at  Princeton  Theological 
Seminary. 


32  •  inSpire 


con  ed 

calendar 


summer  1997 


Areas 


$  Spiritual  Growth  and  Renewal 

aa 

Theological  Studies 

^  Professional  Leadership  Development 

■ 

Conferences 

^  Congregational  Analysis  and  Development 

A 

Off-Campus  Events 

X 

International  Programs 

September 

22 

October 


6-7 


9 

10 


Cosmos  and  Community:  Creation  and  Moral  Imagination 
in  the  Old  Testament  William  P.  Brown 


"Shall  We  Gather  at  the  River?":  Evolving  Forms  of  Worship 

in  the  Old  Testament  J.  J.  M.  Roberts,  Kathryn  L.  Roberts 

Contemporary  Voices  in  Christology  Doris  K.  Donnelly 
Contemporary  Issues  in  Christology  Doris  K.  Donnelly 


13-14 

17 

20-22 

27-29 

27- 31 

28- 29 

31 

November 

3 

5 

6-7 

12-13 


A 

t 

X 


t 


f 


Launching  Leaders  for  Small  Group  Ministry  David  Stark 
The  Pain  of  Christmas:  Ideas  for  Preaching  Thomas  K.  Tewell 

Making  History:  Biblical  Stories  and  the  Creation  of  Identity 

Patricia  Dutcher-Walls,  Donald  Juel 

Kitchener,  Ontario,  Canada 

Speaking  the  Text  and  Preaching  the  Sermon  Charles  L.  Bartow, 
Michael  G.  Hegeman,  Kristin  E.  Saldine 

The  Time  Between:  Interim  Ministry  Basic  Education,  Week  One 

Robert  C.  Anderson,  Edith  A.  Gause 

Stony  Point,  l\IY 

Teaching  the  Bible  in  Small  Groups  Richard  R.  Osmer 
Nashville,  TN 

Are  There  Rattlesnakes  in  the  Pews?:  Church,  Clergy,  and  Lawsuits 

Eric  J.  Graninger,  Elizabeth  Haynes,  Julie  Slinger,  Thomas  F.  Taylor 


t 

t 

f 


Confirmation  and  Catechism  Richard  R.  Osmer 
Many  Voices — One  Lord  Nancy  Lammers  Gross 
Pastor  As  Spiritual  Director  Julie  Neraas 

The  Role  of  the  Church  in  Times  of  Catastrophe  Gerald  C.  Moule 


For  more  information,  contact  the  Center  of  Continuing  Education, 

12  Library  Place,  Princeton,  NJ  08540.  Main  phone  number:  609-497-7990. 
Toll-free  number:  800-622-6767,  ext.  7990.  Fax:  609-497-0709. 

Email:  coned@ptsmail.ptsem.edu 


ADDRESS  CORRECTION  REQUESTED 


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