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Twenty-five students received degrees during Emmanuel School of Religion’s 37th Commencement on May 27. Master of Divinity degrees were conferred on ten students, ten students received the Master of Arts in Religion degree, and five students received the Doctor of Ministry.

Dr. Myron J. Taylor, Adjunct Professor of Preaching at Emmanuel and former minister of Westwood Hills Christian Church in Los Angeles, Calif., delivered the commencement address. Taylor was awarded Emmanuel School of Religion’s Distinguished Service Award for his service to the Seminary over the years.

Justice Nathan L. Hecht of the Texas Supreme Court was awarded the Seminary’s James A. Garfield Award for his noteworthy service to the Stone-Campbell Movement.

The following students received degrees from Emmanuel School of Religion in 2003:

Jack Edward Clevinger, Kingsport, Tennessee; B.A., Milligan College; M.A., East Tennessee State University; Ed.D., University of Tennessee, Knoxville; Thesis: The Implications of the Trinitarian “Perichoresis” for a Missional Ecclesiology: Lesslie Newbegin’s Call for Renewing the Church’s Missional Vocation in a Postmodern World

Karolyn Louise Dickson, Eagle Point, Oregon; B.A., Northwest Christian College; Thesis: A Comparison of Life on the Vine and The Imitation of Christ

Erin Michelle Edwards, Powder Springs, Georgia; B.S. in Industrial Design, Georgia Institute of Technology; Thesis: Engaging Campus Ministry Fundamentals With Urban Ministry Needs

Lance Hale Halverson, Willamina, Oregon; B.A., Boise Bible College; Thesis: Addiction and the Gospel

Dana Yvonne Hill, Lincolnton, Georgia; B.S., Georgia Institute of Technology; Thesis: A Study of Three Women in the Pauline Mission: Phoebe, Priscilla and Junia

Clayton Andrew Hining, Douglasville, Georgia; B.S., Georgia Institute of Technology; Thesis: Engaging Postmodern Youth With the Book of Philippians

Jennifer Kate Morrow, Jacksonville, Florida; B.A., Milligan College; Thesis: Benedictine Spirituality: Thoughts on God, Us, and God With Us

Bryan Christopher Orchard, Gray, Tennessee; B.S., Kutztown University; Thesis: The Church’s Debate on Homosexuality: A Review of the Literature from 1983–2001

Alisa Miriam Roadcup, Louisville, Colorado; B.A., Atlanta Christian College; Thesis: Thomas Merton’s Theology of the Self as Influenced By Christian Mysticism and Zen Buddhism

Laura Anne Buffington, Columbus, Ohio; B.A., Milligan College; Senior Project: Towards a Doctrine of Becoming: The Stories of Young Adults and the Church; Concentration: Christian Doctrine

David Aaron Chapman, Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina; B.A., Milligan College; Senior Project: The Christology of Colossians

John Chesney Emmert, Jefferson City, Tennessee; B.A., Carson-Newman College; Senior Project: A Postmodern Situation: Globalization, Gentrification and A Historically-Influenced Response From the Church

Douglas Jay Foltz, Tuscola, Illinois; B.A., Lincoln Christian College; Senior Project: Holistic Development; Concentration: Christian Ministries

Nicole Elizabeth Hunt, Johnson City, Tennessee; B.A., East Tennessee State University; Senior Project: As a Children’s Ministry Changes: Reshaping a Children’s Ministry as It Expands from Twenty Kids to One Hundred Kids and Beyond; Concentration: Christian Education

Jason Mark Hutchcraft, Joplin, Missouri; B.B.L., Ozark Christian College; Senior Project: Clearing Our Vision: Sermons On the Book of Revelation

William Frederic Lester, Selah, Washington; B.A., Puget Sound Christian College; Senior Project: Pouring New Wine Into Old Wineskins: The Rejuvenation of Weber City Christian Church

José Jobanny Martínez, San Juan dela Maguana, Dominican Republic; B.A., State University of New York at Plattsburgh; B.S., Clarkson University; Senior Project: A Study on the Mexican American; Concentration: Christian Ministries

Kathy Leigh Plunkett, Lexington, Kentucky; B.T., University of North Florida; Senior Project: In Remembrance of Me: A Narrative Approach to Strategic Planning; Concentration: Christian Ministries

Gary William Knapp, Andover, Ohio; B.A., Cincinnati Bible College, M.Div., Emmanuel School of Religion; Project: A Christian Approach to Alzheimer’s Disease

Bruce Alan Martin, Piqua, Ohio; A.B., Lincoln Christian College, M.Div., Lincoln Christian Seminary, Th.M., Princeton Theological Seminary; Project: Understanding and Ministering to Military Families During Times of Separation Due to Deployment: A Guide for Civilian Clergy

Gregory Jones Oliver, Eden, North Carolina; B.A., Kentucky Christian College, M.Div., Emmanuel School of Religion; Project: Faithful in Death: Applying Principles of Christian Living to Preparing for Death

Jody Lamar Owens, Knoxville, Tennessee; B.A., Armstrong Atlantic University, M.A., Johnson Bible College, M.Div., Emmanuel School of Religion; Project: Navigating the Narrow Way: Spiritual Formation for the Church

Due to continuing budget concerns, Emmanuel School of Religion is trying to collect as many friends’ email addresses as possible in order to stay in touch electronically. In the future we will experiment with delivering some of our newsletter content via the Internet only.

Please email your address to us at DevOffice@esr.edu so you can be added to our email database and stay in touch.

Thank you!

Arizona businessman John Eversole sat listening to a sermon by his minister, Dr. William Boice. Eversole became fascinated at Dr. Boice’s description of the coins Jesus saw being given at the temple by a poor widow. The “widow’s mite,” as the King James Version translates it, has become a part of our language to describe a small but sacrificial gift. Later translations say “two copper coins” (Mark 12:42; Luke 21:2), but most people would understand the meaning of the expression “widow’s mite” even if they did not know what a mite was.

In any event, John Eversole went looking for the widow’s mite and found one. This quest proved to be the beginning of a hobby collecting coins from the New Testament era. He soon found himself taking his collection to both church and civic groups as he gave talks about their origin and significance. One of his goals was to identify and then collect the kind of coin that is described in Matthew 26:15 as the thirty pieces of silver paid to Judas for betraying Jesus. John had hoped to collect thirty of these coins. He managed to find twelve, but he also managed to find an extensive collection of other coins with biblical significance.

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An assemblage of Roman coins.

Two widow’s mites.

Mrs. Lois Eversole has now given the John H. Eversole Collection of Coins of the New Testament Era to Emmanuel School of Religion. The next step will be to develop appropriate display cases so that the coins can be on permanent exhibition in the Emmanuel Library. Once again the School has received a gift that will benefit students for generations to come. At the same time, it is a gift that brings satisfaction to the donor that something important to them has been invested in the future of the Kingdom of God.

Mrs. Eversole’s gift could hardly be called “the widow’s mite.” But it is a gift in honor of the memory of her husband and in her concern for the preparation of men and women for Christian service.

The 2002–2003 fiscal year came to an end on May 31. As this issue of the Envoy goes to print, the Business Office is working on closing the books. It will probably be mid-July before we have the final figures for the year.

During the year our appeal to Emmanuel’s friends has been for General Fund gifts that would enable the School to deal with decline in income from the endowment as well as the overall impact of the recession. These friends have been generous in a time when they themselves were having to deal with a difficult financial climate. At the same time, faculty, administrators and staff of Emmanuel have demonstrated a determination to maintain the quality of what we give our students in their preparation for ministry even in view of reduced resources. We are currently in the second year in a row in which no salary raises were given, but neither have we had to lay off any personnel.

We will make an announcement about the 2002–2003 General Fund as soon as I have those figures. In the meantime we seek your prayers as we carry on with the ministry of Emmanuel School of Religion. The School will emerge from these lean years stronger than ever because its mission is so important for the future of the church.

The winners of the 2003 Alexander Campbell Scholarship competition have been announced by Emmanuel School of Religion.

These 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 School of Religion’s competitive 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.