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February 2002
Back Issues
Contents
Emmanuel
faces financial challenge this spring
By
Randy Matney, Director of Finance
The financial weather
report: the economic storm clouds are overhead and stretching beyond
the horizon. Following the September 11 terrorist attacks, financial
analysts and the Federal Reserve warned the nation about the
continued economic slowdown in the national economy. Corporate
America is garnering headlines for its cutbacks rather than growth.
Companies are actively reducing their workforce. Consumers are
avoiding big-ticket purchases for fear of being caught without a
job.
As a result, charities from
all over the nation are struggling to meet the financial challenges
brought on by a decline in contributions and lower investment income
from their endowments. For the current fiscal year, Emmanuel School
of Religion is facing a budget shortfall of approximately $478,000
as of the end of December 31, 2001, a much larger deficit in the
General Fund than this time last year. With only five months
remaining in the fiscal year, the magnitude of this shortfall puts
tremendous pressure on the School to meet its current financial
obligations. The administration is looking at ways to make serious
and strategic cuts while at the same time continuing to fulfill our
fundamental purpose of preparing men and women for ministry.
Your help is sorely needed!
Continue to remember Emmanuel in your prayers that God will
intervene in the financial challenges facing the School. n
Hull
named Academic Dean
Emmanuel School of Religion
has appointed Dr. Robert F. Hull Jr. as Dean of the seminary
beginning June 2002. Current dean Eleanor Daniel will then move to
part-time status with the school. Dr. Daniel will continue to teach
education classes at least one semester each year.
In addition to his duties as
Dean, Dr. Hull will continue as Professor of New Testament. Dr. Hull
is a graduate of Milligan College, Emmanuel School of Religion and
Princeton Theological Seminary. n
Meditation:
A
Memorial Feast: Forget It!
By
David Fulks, MAR ’70
We
know the Lord’s Supper is a memorial feast. We know we must
remember Him as we break the bread and drink of the cup. We know we
“do this in remembrance of Him.” The words engraved on the table
remind us to remember Him.
But
there is more to it than that! 1 Corinthians 11:23–32 is not the
only passage explaining the purpose of the Lord’s Supper. 1
Corinthians chapter 10 is in the book also. “The cup of blessing
which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?
The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the
body of Christ? Because
there is one bread, we who are many are one body for we all partake
of the one bread” (I Corinthians 10:16–17).
“Participation”
involves more than remembering. “Participation” involves an
encounter with the crucified, resurrected, glorified Lord Jesus
Christ. It involves a renewal of our relationship with Him. It is a
spiritual experience delivered in a concrete act.
This
is a mystery, yes. Can it be adequately explained? No, of course
not. That is what makes it a mystery. But the fact that
“participation in the blood and body of Christ” is a mystery
does not deny its reality.
So,
as we remember to remember Him as we break the bread and drink the
cup, let us remember not to forget that He is present at the
memorial feast and welcomes us to participate in His presence, the
presence of God. Let us participate fully in the encounter. n
Clipnotes
TIM
AHO (MDiv
’92) recently wrote a resource review of Martin Robinson’s, Why
the Cross?, for the January 13, 2002 issue of Christian
Standard. Tim currently serves as a missionary with CMF
in Solihull, England, with his wife, Tammy.
DAVID
BRUCE (MDiv ’83, DMin ’01) will conclude his ministry with First
Christian Church in Dayton, Wash., and begin ministry with
Enterprise Christian Church in Enterprise, Ore., in March. David and
his wife, Melody, currently live in Dayton.
BEN
CACHIARAS
(MDiv ’92) recently wrote an article for the October 14 issue of
Christian Standard titled, “My Jar Runneth Over.” Ben serves as
Senior Minister with Mountain Christian Church in Joppa, Maryland.
He and his wife, Karla, live in Joppa.
BOB
CAMPBELL
(MAR ’95) recently wrote an article for the October 21 issue of Christian
Standard titled, “Seeing God in Growing Things.” Bob
serves as Senior Minister with Culver Christian Church in Culver,
Ore. He and his wife, Emma, reside in Culver.
ADRIAN
FEHL
(MDiv ’96) and his wife, Jennifer, will begin furlough from their
CMF mission duties to Ethiopia from January to June of 2002, and
will reside in Lexington, Ky., during that time. They are also
pleased to announce they are awaiting the birth of their third
child.
RICK
GROVER (MDiv
’93, DMin ’98) wrote an article for the January 13, 2002, issue
of Christian Standard
titled, “Me, A Church Planter?” Rick is working with the new
church plant, Journey Christian Church, in Metairie, La., where he
lives with his wife, Laura, and family.
MARK
KRAUSE (MDiv ’83) will be a presenter at the first Stone-Campbell
Journal Bible and Theology Conference March 1 and 2 at
First Christian Church, in Florissant, Mo. Mark is the Academic Dean
for Puget Sound Christian College in Puget Sound, Wash. Mark and his
wife, Susan, reside in Edmonds, Wash.
BOB
LAVER (MDiv ’87) and his wife, Joni, recently began their 15th year of
ministry with First Christian Church in Myrtle Point, Ore., where
they live. Bob wrote an article for the January 27, 2002, issue of Christian
Standard titled, “Prayer Central.”
STAN
LAWHON
(MDiv ’78) concluded a ministry with Woodruff Road Christian
Church in Greenville, S.C., to pursue ministry with Eastside
Christian Church in Jeffersonville, Ind. Stan and his wife, Barbie,
live in Jeffersonville.
JOHN
LEFFLER
(MDiv ’86) wrote an article titled, “What Are You Going to Miss
This Christmas?” for the December 23, 2001, issue of Christian
Standard. John and his wife, Ruth, live in Castle Rock,
Wash., where John serves as minister with Castle Rock Christian
Church.
FRANK
LOYD Jr. (MDiv
’80) wrote an article for the January 13, 2002, issue of Christian
Standard titled, “What Do You Get From Church?” Frank
serves as senior minister with Astoria Christian Church in Astoria,
Ore., where he lives with his wife, Debbie.
WES
PATTON (MDiv ’88) is starting a ministry to unwed mothers in Kingsport,
Tenn. Wes and his wife, Trace, live in Kingsport.
FERNANDO
SOTO-DUPUY
(MAR ’91) taught a winter intersession class on Urban Ministry at
Ozark Christian College in January. Fernando and his wife, Nona,
reside in Downey, Calif., where they serve as missionaries with CMF
International. They have started Iglesia Christiana De Downey, a new
church plant, in Los Angeles County.
STEVE
WILHITE
(MDiv ’99) and his wife, Kari, celebrated the birth of a son,
Matthew Robert, born November 19, 2001. Steve is associate minister
at Lake Tapps Christian Church in Sumner, Wash. He and his family
reside in Bonney Lake, Wash.
SHANE
WOMACK
(MAR ’83) has been serving as Senior Pastor with Knott Avenue
Christian Church in Anaheim for the past three years. Shane and his
wife, Phyllis, live in Huntington Beach, Calif. n
Book
Review:
The
Smell of Sawdust:
What Evangelicals can learn from their Fundamentalist Heritage
By Richard J. Mouw
Zondervan Publishing House, 2000
Reviewed by
Dr. C. Robert Wetzel, President
This
little book (160 pages), by the president of Fuller Theological
Seminary, was designated reading for those of us who attended the
annual meeting of the Fellowship of Evangelical Seminary Presidents
in January 2002. In recounting his own spiritual and theological
pilgrimage, Dr. Mouw traces an important transition that has taken
place in what has arguably become the most representative form of
American Christianity.
The
sawdust trail is a metaphor drawn from the numerous tent revivals
that characterized so much of fundamentalism in the early and middle
20th century. In many respects it was a reaction to the advance of a
liberalized and romanticized view of Christian faith that had arisen
in the latter part of the 19th century. At a time when Christian
colleges and seminaries were increasingly committed to a modernist
agenda, fundamentalists championed the “old time Gospel.” And
just as modernism represented a broad spectrum of theological
beliefs, so fundamentalism took many different forms. As is often
the case in the history of theology, the adhesive force that gives
unity to a movement is best understood in what it opposed, not in
what it advocated.
Although
the anti-intellectualism of fundamentalism was understandable, it is
something that modern evangelicals have grown beyond. Both the
number and the vitality of seminaries that regard themselves as
being in the evangelical tradition have grown dramatically.
Furthermore, a healthy tension continues as seminaries attempt to
synthesize their commitment to ministerial preparation and
responsible Christian scholarship.
Mouw’s
contention is that modern evangelicalism would do well to look
beyond the caricatures that are often drawn of fundamentalism and
recognize our indebtedness to those who “kept the faith” when
many of the basic teachings of Scripture were being dismissed as
somehow “untenable to the modern mind.”
As
one whose ministry has always been within the Stone-Campbell
Movement, I read Mouw’s book with the ambiguity that has always
characterized our relationship with the fundamentalism-modernist
controversy. On the one hand we were very much a part of that
controversy. Although we could agree with fundamentalists on such
basics as the Lordship of Christ and the authority Scripture, there
were other “Fundamentals” that we either disagreed with or
thought should be left in the realm of opinion. But, we were
probably at one with the fundamentalists in that we knew who the
modernists were!
Some
time ago I wrote an article for the Christian
Standard entitled “Knowing Where Your Umbilical Cord is
Buried.” The title was inspired by an African saying that
Emmanuel’s Kip Elolia had shared with us: “The person who does
not know where his umbilical cord is buried, does not know who he
is.” Mouw’s account of his pilgrimage to that burial site will
be instructive for those of us who have made parallel journeys. n
Mission
of the Church Lectures
scheduled for March 5–8
Dr.
Moonjang Lee of Trinity Theological College in Singapore will bring
the 2002 Mission of the Church Lectures March 5–8 at Emmanuel
School of Religion. The topic of the lecture series will be
“Transforming Mission in Asia.”
Dr.
Lee will deliver four lectures: Mission as translation of culture,
Re-forming Christianity as Asian religion, Mission and religious
pluralism, and Biblical studies in Asian context.
Born
in Seoul, Korea, Dr. Lee graduated from Korea University with the
B.A. in English Language and Literature. He received the M.Div. from
Chongshin Theological Seminary in Seoul, and earned the Th.M. from
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in the United States. He
received the S.T.M. from Yale University Divinity School, and the
Ph.D. in Non-Western Christianity from Edinburgh University in
Scotland.
Dr.
Lee served as lecturer in Asian theology at Edinburgh University
from 1997–2000, and in September 2001 joined the Centre for the
Study of Christianity in Asia at Trinity Theological College in
Singapore.
The
Mission of the Church Lectures, which are sponsored by the Fig Tree
Fellowship of Emmanuel, will be held daily at 10:45 a.m. in
Emmanuel’s Mildred Welshimer Phillips Memorial Chapel. They are
free and the public is invited to attend. n
DMin
Quote of the Month
By
Jeff McNabb (MDiv ’90)
“Like many, I wondered if
more ‘classwork’ would really be any help to me at this stage of
the game. I have been encouraged, as I reach the halfway point in my
classwork, to find that ‘book learning’ is only one com-ponent
of the program. The relationships with other ministers from a wide
geographic setting, the realization that they too struggle to
maintain a Godly life while ministering in an ever more complex
world, and the opportunity for extended study and prayer have made
my time in the DMin program an enriching experience.”
For
information about Emmanuel’s Doctor of Ministry degree program
contact Melissa Noble at 1-800-933-3771. n
Faculty
News
JACK
B. HOLLAND will teach a Medical Bioethics Class at East
Tennessee State University during Spring 2002 as a member of an
interdisciplinary teaching team.
CALVIN
L. PHILLIPS is serving as interim minister at First
Christian Church in Zanesville, Ohio. He and his wife, Sally, will
be living in Zanesville for the next several months.
ROLLIN
A. RAMSARAN will be teaching two sessions on Old
Testament Apocryphal books for the Koinonia Sunday School class at
Grandview Christian Church, Johnson City, Tenn. Dr. Ramsaran will be
a table parent during the spring semester at Grandview Christian
Church’s “2 for 2” Wednesday evening youth program. He will be
attending the Association of Theological Schools Workshop on
Diversity in Pittsburgh March 1–3 and then will deliver a paper,
“In the Steps of the Moralists: Paul’s Rhetorical Argumentation
in Philippians 4,” at the Southeast Commission for the Study of
Religion for the Society of Biblical Literature New Testament
Section on March 10.
BRUCE
E. SHIELDS preached at Oak Grove Christian Church in
Johnson City, Tenn., December 30. Dr. Shields will also be teaching
a class on the book of Romans for the S.A.L.T. Sunday School Class,
in January and February, at Grandview Christian Church in Johnson
City, Tenn. n
Development
& Recruitment on the Road
DAVID
FULKS to Hope International University, San Jose
Christian College, Johnson Bible College, Kentucky Christian
College, Franklin Christian Church and University of Tennessee in
February; to Bluefield College of Evangelism, Appalachian State
University, Murray State, Manhattan Christian College, Kansas
University, Central Christian College of the Bible, and St. Louis
Christian College in March.
DAN
LAWSON will be in the Austin and Houston, Texas, areas in
February; in Southern California in February and March; and will
travel to Kansas in April.
JEFF
McNABB will tour Tennessee, Virginia, and Alabama in
February, and will attend the Alabama State Christian Convention
February 15 and 16. In March he will be in Memphis and Nashville,
Tenn., as well as Mississippi.
JERRY
RUDBERG to Northwestern Idaho, Oregon and to Washington
in January and February.
C.
ROBERT WETZEL to First Christian Church, Morristown,
Tenn., on February 17; to Ozark Christian College in Joplin,
Missouri, on February 19; to First Christian Church in Dodge City,
Kansas, on February 24; to Remsen Christian Church and Bailey Road
Christian Church, both in Ohio, on March 10. n
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