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Yale’s David Bartlett to lecture at Emmanuel March 11–14 Emmanuel School Bartlett’s areas of research include homiletics, biblical exegesis, interpretation for preaching, and New Testament theology. He has contributed articles to such journals as Interpretation, The Christian Century, Journal for Preachers, and Lectionary Homiletics, among others. An ordained minister of the American Baptist Churches, U.S.A., Professor Bartlett has served congregations in Minnesota, Illinois, and California, and taught at Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia; the Pacific School of Religion; the Divinity School of the University of Chicago; the United Seminary of the Twin Cities; the American Baptist Seminary of the West; and the Graduate Theological Union. Lectures will take place at 10:45 a.m. each day in the Seminary’s Mildred Welshimer Phillips Memorial Chapel. The public is invited to attend. Wednesday, July 9 at 7:30 a.m. North American Christian Convention
Several years ago in the waning days of Communism, I was invited to teach a class in Poland. Michal Weremiejewicz had arranged for me to be with the Christian Bible Institute in Warsaw to teach a one-week course in Apologetics. During the second week we did a tour of churches during which I preached at a different congregation each evening. Since Michal would be translating for me, he suggested that I use the same sermon each evening. Thus I had brought with me a sermon that I had preached several times in the States. It was one of those sermons that seemed to work, and with which I had grown confident and perhaps too comfortable. It was entitled, “Is the Church Worth the Suffering?” The kind of suffering I had in mind was the anxiety, frustration and heartache that occur when there is internal conflict in the church. Scripture, history, and experience bear witness to the universality of this theme. Hence I felt that my sermon would speak to Polish Christians as well as American Christians. All seemed to be going well until the night we were at a church near the Russian border. In attendance that night were some Russian Christians who had crossed the border to secure some Christian literature available in Poland but not in Russia. As was the custom, the leader of the group was invited to “bring greetings” to the congregation. As he spoke with some passion, I turned to Michal and asked for a translation. “He is telling about the eight years he spent in a prison camp in Siberia because he defied the law against public preaching.” My heart sank. Although inspired by the brother’s testimonial, I thought, “And I am going to preach a sermon about suffering?!” I remembered the old story about the man who survived the Johnstown Flood and spent the rest of his life wearing people out with the telling of his experience. When he died and went to heaven he was asked if there was anything he might particularly enjoy doing. He said, “There is. Please gather the hosts of heaven together and let me tell them about the Johnstown Flood.” His wish was granted. The hosts of heaven were gathered and he ascended the podium. But before he could begin speaking he was told that there would be a speaker before him: Noah. That night in Poland I knew how the man must have felt. And yet those who have attempted to offer ministry in a congregation — be they preachers, elders, teachers, musicians, whatever — will have their stories of frustration and heartache. Those of us at Emmanuel find it particularly distressing when we see one of our graduates who has spent seven or more years preparing for ministry, only to be demoralized by conflict. Of course, conflict in the church is hardly new. Read 2 Corinthians! Notice how many times Paul has to say, “We do not lose heart.” Certainly there were many problems in the Corinthian Church that would have caused one to lose heart. It is hard to imagine a congregation that had any more problems than the Corinthian Church. And these problems were dividing the Body of Christ! There are surely times when Christians are tempted to lose heart because of conflict in the church. I can imagine a person thinking, “A good, clean martyrdom would be preferable to this!” But obviously this is only thought by people who have never been under the serious threat of martyrdom. In any event, when we serve the church we are serving the Body of Christ. And the Body of Christ is worth the suffering because it was Christ’s body that was crucified for us. We see some wonderful growth taking place in many congregations today. One of the reasons for this growth is that congregations have worked diligently to meet the needs of people. May these congregations continue to flourish! What we must guard against is a “shopping mentality” whereby people simply choose a church because it meets “my needs.” Because when the congregation ceases to meet my perceived needs then I feel free to go some place else. Somewhere in all of this there must be a commitment to Christ and His church wherein we are prepared to suffer for the Body of Christ. The church is worth the suffering because the church is the Body of Christ. Emmanuel partners with ETSU in the classroom to explore bioethical questions
Cloning. Organ transplantation. Physician assisted dying. Stem cell
research. Genetic therapy. Impressive technological advances are raising important theological questions about the beginning and ending of life, about love and justice, and about the very hope of immortality. While these issues are important concerns for theologians, their voices are rarely heard in bioethical conversations. Hospitals, though often founded by religious movements, have gradually evolved into scientific research centers. As technology moved into health care, the focus shifted to the causes of disease and the discovery of cure. Meanwhile, religion in American culture became an individualized and privatized activity of the family. As a result, the priest, the pastor, and the chaplain are often relegated to the role of “provider of spiritual comfort,” called upon only when the best efforts of medical technology fail. Today, however, increasingly complicated and previously unknown bioethical issues are providing new opportunities for the theological voice to be heard. Ethics committees in hospitals throughout the country traditionally include doctors, nurses, administrators, and community representatives. Now, with growing regularity, they are beginning also to include members of the clergy. The course “An Interdisciplinary Approach to Bioethics” is an attempt to model this pattern. Hosted by the College of Nursing in the Graduate School of East Tennessee State University, this course is taught by a team of professors including Dr. Lois Lowry of ETSU, Dr. Calvin Ross, Chaplain at Johnson City Medical Center, and Dr. Jack Holland of Emmanuel. Now in its fourth year, this class brings Emmanuel students together with nursing students, medical students, and students of various other disciplines. “The bottom line,” said Emmanuel student Cory Thomas, “is that ministers and theologians must be prepared to discuss these issues because they will fundamentally affect the social reality of our time. The opportunity to engage persons from the other disciplines represented in this course served to enhance my experience and my awareness of these concerns.” Myron Taylor to deliver graduation address Dr. Myron J. Taylor, Adjunct Professor of Preaching and former minister of Westwood Hills Christian Church in Los Angeles, will deliver the message at Emmanuel’s 37th Commencement on May 25, 2003. The venue of this year’s commencement has been changed to Milligan College’s Seeger Chapel in order to accommodate the friends and family of Emmanuel’s graduates better. The annual Graduation Communion Service will to be held in Emmanuel’s Mildred Welshimer Phillips Memorial Chapel. Basics
of Ministry: An interview with Dr. Calvin L. Phillips, Chancellor ENVOY: Why is church administration an important aspect of ministry? PHILLIPS: Note words “administration” and “ministry”; the heart of administration is ministry. Have you ever listened to an orchestra warm up before the conductor arrived? The total effect is one of energized chaos. There are a lot of things going on, but without unity or direction. That is like a church without a well-administered program ENVOY: What makes a good church administrator? PHILLIPS: As in every ministry, a good administrator must be a “people person.” Administration is not about shuffling papers or drawing organizational charts; it’s about people, about getting people involved, about meeting people’s needs. ENVOY: How does Emmanuel prepare students to be better administrators? PHILLIPS: The Supervised Ministerial Experience program makes sure that every Master of Divinity student is exposed to administrative issues that will enable the student to lead a local church with competency. Each student is also required to serve in some kind of hands-on ministry where he/she gets necessary experience. In addition, there is an administrative component in other Christian Ministries courses such as Educational Administration, Small Group Leadership, and Introduction to Church Growth. ENVOY: How has church administration changed in recent years? PHILLIPS: Of course there are some churches that haven’t changed in 50 years and in those neither has administration. But over-all there have been enormous changes. Let me mention three: 1) Leadership and management, which together make up administration, have become a science. Countless books have been written and scores of seminars are held. Resources are abundant. 2) Many churches are larger now and many more programs are offered. They require greater expertise in leadership, else there will be chaos and failure. 3) Churches have more people on staff and they tend to be more specialized. Staff relationships must have attention and oversight must be given. Special fund-raising initiated to help Emmanuel meet 2003 budget
While Emmanuel has in recent years been abundantly blessed by the generosity of its donors, the present national recession has caused financial challenges for the seminary. After finishing the fiscal year in the black for 15 straight years, Emmanuel is facing the prospect of not meeting the general fund budget for the second year in a row. Emmanuel’s generous donors have provided over $3.8 million since 1998 to fund the construction of the Emmanuel Village and other campus improvements as part of the seminary’s Heritage of Excellence campaign. During this same period the School added a substantial amount to its endowment. In addition to regular general fund gifts and bequests for endowed scholarships, Emmanuel received one particular bequest of $2.5 million. However, the current instability of the stock market and the national recession have taken their toll on both the school’s general fund income and endowment income. The financial uncertainty surrounding the personal stock portfolios of the institution’s donor-base has a direct impact on gift income. Also, the decrease in the value of the school’s endowment funds has substantially reduced the amount of endowment income received by the school. With a general fund shortfall of $300,000 at the end of the 2001–2002 fiscal year, the Seminary’s budget for 2002–2003 was reduced below the previous year’s budget in order to control costs. Many other cost-saving initiatives were instituted throughout the school. No salary increases were given, and certain staff positions were not filled when they became vacant. At the December mid-point of the current fiscal year, approximately $1 million was needed to finish the year in the black on May 31, 2003. As a result of this financial pressure on the general fund, development personnel are refocusing their attention from capital development fund-raising to meeting the demands of the general fund. This fund-raising plan is being implemented by President Wetzel and Emmanuel’s three full-time development personnel. Special gift requests are being made of many close friends of the School. In addition, Emmanuel’s board members are being encouraged to raise $3,000 each. We are receiving very positive support from across our donor base. We have every reason for confidence that God will provide for our needs. |
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Religion is pleased to welcome Dr. David L. Bartlett, Dean of Academic
Affairs at Yale University, to campus March 11–14 for the Myron
Taylor Lectures in Preaching and Pastoral Ministry.
Managed
care. In vitro fertilization. Cryogenics. Advanced directives. The
Human Genome Project.
By
Dan R. Lawson, Executive Director of Development
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