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Ralph
Sims receives
“Sims was one of those who gave an original founders gift for Emmanuel School of Religion, and his interest in the school has never flagged,” said friend and fellow Trustee Dr. E. Richard Crabtree, in a special citation presented to Sims at a banquet at Emmanuel on April 18. Although he stepped down as Chairman, Sims will continue to serve as a Trustee of Emmanuel. Sims served First Christian Church in Johnson City, Tenn., as senior minister for more than 24 years. He now enjoys retirement with his wife, Donna, by his side, and is a frequent volunteer in Emmanuel’s mailroom.
Emmanuel Inaugurates the Russell F. & Marian J. Blowers Chair of Christian Ministries
The Russell F. and Marian J. Blowers Chair of Christian Ministries was inaugurated in a special chapel service at Emmanuel School of Religion on April 18. This chair, named in honor of Dr. and Mrs. Russell Blowers of Indianapolis, Ind., provides funding for the position held by the senior member of Emmanuel’s Christian Ministries faculty. It was given as a gift to the seminary primarily through the efforts of the East 91st Street Christian Church in Indianapolis, where the Blowers served for more than 45 years. Dr. Bruce E. Shields, Professor of Preaching and Biblical Hermeneutics at Emmanuel, was installed as the Russell F. and Marian J. Blowers Professor of Christian Ministries during the service. Dr. Shields has served Emmanuel since 1983.
Volunteers
Needed! Emmanuel School of Religion will hold its first Campus Work Day on Saturday, June 9, allowing individuals, mission committees, youth groups, and church service teams to roll up their sleeves and help Emmanuel in its work of ministerial preparation. Work Day hours are 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Breakfast will be served at 7:30 a.m., and lunch will be provided as well. The Seminary can use 100 volunteers who can give a few hours of labor on tasks inside and outside the building. Please pass this information on to any church group or individual who might consider participating in such an event. To register, or for further information, please contact Danielle Booth, (423) 461-1532 or boothd@esr.edu, at Emmanuel School of Religion.
James Donovan to speak at commencement Dr. Donovan is a graduate of Atlanta Christian College (B.A., B.Th.), and Georgia State University (M.Ed, Ph.D.). A member of Southwest Christian Church since 1980, he has served as minister of the congregation for the past eight years. He also serves on the boards of the Georgia Tech Christian Campus Fellowship and Christian Missionary Fellowship, and is a member of the Standard Publishing Committee. He has also served on the East Point Business and Industrial Development Authority.
Lynn Pottinger is a remarkable young woman. She has already completed one term of service among the Turkana people in Kenya, and she is now about to return for a second term. Recently there was a joyous reception for her sponsored by two of her supporting congregations, the Downtown Christian Church and the Lone Oak Christian Church, both of Johnson City. Emmanuel School of Religion and the Christian Missionary Fellowship can rejoice in the mission ministry of this courageous young woman who has faced both danger and discouragement, but has persevered with a loving and joyous spirit. As we think of the many graduates of Emmanuel who are now serving around the world, some in extremely difficult situations, we both pray for them and we praise God because of their commitment. During my own mission experience, I often found myself reading and rereading II Corinthians. It is there that one can look into the deepest feelings of a missionary-minister. The Apostle Paul writes out of both his discouragement and yet his confidence in Christ’s power to redeem discouraging situations. He praises the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who is the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort. It is always a pleasure to write about those Emmanuel graduates who go from rewarding student ministries to growing and satisfying full-time ministries. And yet even those who seem to have gone from one happy experience to another have had to face discouragement at times. But I especially agonize for those who spend seven or eight years preparing for ministry only to find themselves in demoralizing ministry situations. In my recent travels I visited a growing congregation whose founding minister is an Emmanuel graduate. It was clear that the members of the church held him in high regard, and that they are about to follow his lead into another building program. Later that evening I was talking with him and his wife. I was surprised to discover that about 20 years earlier he had been fired from the church he was serving. I do not know the circumstances, but I do know that his confidence was so shattered that he considered leaving the ministry. Having known this minister from his undergraduate days, I will always be grateful for those who encouraged him to persevere and for his own deep commitment to Christ that sustained him during this dark night of the soul. It was during this same trip that I talked with another one of our graduates who had had a similar experience: fired from one church but now having a productive and fulfilling ministry in another congregation. He paid special tribute to Emmanuel’s Director of Development who counseled with him during his darkest moments. He said to me, “Had it not been for Dan Lawson I would still be loading trucks for UPS.” Yes, UPS trucks need to be loaded, but not by someone God has called to ministry and has invested seven years of his life preparing for that ministry. When the Apostle Paul had every reason to be discouraged with what was happening in the church at Corinth, he could still write, “Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.” It is so important for congregations to become encouragers to young ministers. It is so important for young ministers to be sensitive to the congregations they serve. And it is important for seminaries like Emmanuel School of Religion to prepare its students for what Calvin Phillips called in his memorable lectures, the Agony and the Ecstasy of Ministry.
Emmanuel announces scholarship honoring Beauford & Dorothy Bryant Emmanuel is pleased to
announce that an endowed scholarship bearing the names of Dr. Bryant, Professor of New Testament emeritus at Emmanuel, passed away in September 1997. His family and friends from all over the country established a memorial fund to begin a scholarship at Downtown Christian Church in Johnson City for students attending Emmanuel School of Religion. This year the fund was transferred to Emmanuel in order to establish the Beauford H. and Dorothy J. Bryant Scholarship, the purpose of which is to assist worthy students at Emmanuel in their effort to obtain a graduate level theological education. The family has asked that first consideration for the scholarship be given to a student preparing for the preaching ministry. Dr. Beauford Bryant was part of Emmanuel’s original faculty when classes began in 1965. As Professor of New Testament, he taught at Emmanuel until his retirement in 1997. Dr. Bryant will always be remembered at Emmanuel for his contributions in the classroom, for his contributions to our Library, for his scholarship, and for his faith, and also for this gift each year to a worthy student. We are pleased that Mrs. Dorothy Bryant continues to live near the campus and is a regular volunteer at the seminary.
Student Profile: Danny Johnson Although Danny Johnson
was brought up in a Christian home in California, he strayed from the But as he and his wife, Patricia, started their family, Danny felt the need of a church home to help in raising the children. As he became more involved in his church, Danny was asked to work with the youth. But as he felt inadequate for the responsibility, he decided to take a class in youth counseling at San Jose Christian College. Danny said that the class changed the course of his life, awakening a desire to learn and to study God’s Word. One class led to another, and then another, and Danny eventually received his baccalaureate degree from San Jose. Danny and Pat moved their family to Tennessee in 1991 so that he could enroll at Emmanuel School of Religion. Now, ten years later, Danny is preparing to receive the master of divinity degree with a concentration in Christian doctrine this May. Studying at Emmanuel has been a long process for Danny, mostly because he has been the pastor at Thankful Baptist Church in Johnson City for the past seven years. The church has grown in many ways, Danny said. It has grown in numbers and in the types of ministry in which the congregation participates. Danny’s ministry style has attracted people from the professional world, as well as those who are at other levels of the economic and social ladder. Danny has also made a contribution to the Johnson City community by serving on the boards of several organizations. Danny said that the most important thing he has learned during his time at Emmanuel is the ability to reason things through on his own and not to be dependant on another’s interpretation. Being able to read the original Biblical languages, research questions that arise, and determine his own outcome are very important to Danny. Being God-reliant, and self-reliant in the best sense, gives him a great peace. Looking back on his years at Emmanuel, Danny said that he especially enjoyed the teaching style of Dr. Fred Norris and his great spirit of compassion and passion for the church. Dr. Kip Elolia also influenced his thinking regarding the African-American experience and the development of the African-American church. And, he has found great encouragement from Dr. Paul Blowers’ passion for history and its relevance to current ministry. Danny and Pat are very proud of their three children. Their oldest son is completing the Ph.D. in Africana Studies and Philosophy at Claremont University in preparation for teaching. Their daughter is working on a masters in literature at New York University. Their youngest son attends middle school in Johnson City.
Students
chosen to participate in
Chosen for the 2001 trip were Josh Jeffers of Florissant, Mo., Brett Martin of Fort Scott, Kan., and Lauren Webb of Stone Mountain, Ga. Under the guidance of Dr. Gerald Mattingly, Professor of Old Testament at Johnson Bible College in Knoxville, Tenn., and Dr. Max Miller of Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta, the students joined others from Duke University Divinity School, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Mercer University, Candler School of Theology, Columbia Theological Seminary, and Union Theological Seminary for a three-week tour of Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Israel, and Greece in May. Candidates for the tour were nominated by the Emmanuel faculty and chosen by an interviewing committee from the foundation on the basis of their potential for leadership and their promise of contributing to the overall experience of everyone on the tour. Congratulations to the participants of the 2001 Middle East Travel Seminar! Emmanuel students Brady Augustine, Tabitha Travis, Michael Claar, and Cal Hultgren visit Crac des Chevaliers in Syria during the 2000 Middle East Travel Seminar.
Alexander Campbell Scholarship Recipients Announced Emmanuel School of Religion’s Alexander Campbell Scholarship Program is named for one of the leaders of the Nineteenth Century Restoration Movement who demonstrated in his ministry a combination of leadership, scholarship, and effective communication of the Gospel. The scholarships cover full tuition for up to 90 hours of course work at Emmanuel. They are intended to serve as an encouragement for those with outstanding potential for ministerial leadership to continue their educational preparation for ministry at the graduate level. Emmanuel is pleased to announce the recipients and finalists for the Alexander Campbell Scholarship in 2001: Alexander Campbell Scholarship Recipients
Scholarship Finalists
• The Emmanuel Breakfast: Wednesday, June 27, at 7:30 a.m., at the Marriott Waterside Hotel in Tampa in the Grand Ballroom Salon. Cost: $15 per person. • The Emmanuel Booth: During the convention visit Emmanuel staff and alumni at booth 701–703 in the Main Exhibit Hall. Here you can catch up on the latest news and talk to a recruiter about earning a masters or doctoral degree from Emmanuel. |
James
C. Donovan, minister of Southwest Christian Church in Atlanta, Ga.,
and formerly president of Atlanta Christian College, will bring the
message to the graduates at Emmanuel’s 35th Commencement on Sunday,
May 27.
Beauford
and Dorothy Bryant has been established at the Seminary.
church
during his teen years and early adulthood. Like many young people, he
says he was preoccupied with pursuing the “good” life. He put
all his energy into acquiring material wealth.
For
the tenth year, students from Emmanuel School of Religion have been
selected for participation in the Middle East Travel Seminar,
sponsored by the Parker and Pittulloch Foundations of Atlanta.
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