April 1998
Back Issues

Contents

• Cottages Committed for Student Housing
• From the President: From Emmanuel to Emanuel
• Summer School 1998
• New Scholarships Announced
• Record 39 Graduates Expected on May 1
• NACC Breakfast Scheduled
• Heritage of Excellence Update: Commitments Exceed $2,000,000

Cottages Committed for Student Housing

Emmanuel School of Religion is pleased to announce that commitments have been made thus far to construct 16 apartment cottages for on-campus student housing as part of the Heritage of Excellence campaign. While an initial goal of the campaign was to construct 16–20 cottages, response to the Heritage of Excellence has been so positive that a substantial increase in that number is anticipated.

The Emmanuel Village, as the student apartment development will be called, is to be constructed on 7.3 acres adjacent to the Emmanuel campus. In addition to cottages for student housing, Phase I of The Emmanuel Village will provide a community center with an indoor recreation center and a child care facility to accommodate children of students.

Proposed 4-Cottage Court

The Emmanuel Village will be built in the style of an English village and thus will feature “cottages” instead of apartment units and “courts” instead of apartment complexes. All cottages will have two or three bedrooms and will be housed in stone buildings with comfortable accommodations for families or single students. Amenities will include built-in bookshelves and desks, and each apartment will have a washer and dryer and other appliances.

Since Emmanuel’s founding, the Seminary has never had on-campus housing for students. The Emmanuel Village will promote development of a closer Christian community that could enhance the Emmanuel experience. On-campus student housing will provide more than a place to live; it will provide a forum for after-class discussions, inter-cultural and social interaction, relief from the concerns of quality child care, and, in most cases, better living conditions for less money. The shared experiences among students will strengthen their respective ministries and enrich the spiritual lives of spouses who play such an important role in the ministries of their partners.

Through the Emmanuel Village, a part of the Heritage of Excellence campaign, Emmanuel is endeavoring to build a “Heritage” for the Seminary’s future that will consist of the names and stories of the many friends who have sacrificed in order that Emmanuel’s mission may be accomplished. Therefore, each cottage, court, street, and building will carry the name of a donor and friend who has partnered with Emmanuel School of Religion over the years.

As of this writing, commitments have already been made to construct the following cottages and courts: The Keefauver Cottage, The Bledsoe Cottage, The Ellis Cottage, The Johnstone Cottage, The Kraemer Bott Cottage, The Newton Cottage, The Trinkle Cottage, The Chafin Cottage, The Robison Cottage, The Kraft Cottage, The Parish Cottage, The Bissett Cottage, The O’Neal Cottage, The “Pisgah” Cottage, The Holloway Cottage, the Vonhoff Cottage, The Bush Court, and the Stewart Court.

For those interested in funding portions of The Emmanuel Village, please contact Dan Lawson, Emmanuel’s Executive Director of Development and the coordinator of the Heritage of Excellence campaign. A brochure about The Emmanuel Village project is available for your information.

From the President
From Emmanuel to Emanuel

On March 20, I spent the night in Budapest, Hungary. I was in transit from Romania, where I had spent a week teaching and preaching. It was reported on the news that evening that the United States Senate had taken up the proposal to admit Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic to NATO. It dawned on me that in 1989 I was in Poland within 45 miles of the Czech border when the demonstrations in Wenceslas Square in Prague had brought down the Czech Communist government. All of this in just nine years!

Three years before (1986), I had experienced the darkness of one of the most oppressive Communist governments, Ceausescu’s Romania. There I was blessed by the faith and courage of a church under persecution. They sang in hope “Jesus Shall Reign.” Four years later a popular revolution brought down the government and Ceausescu was dead. Three months after the Revolution I returned to Romania once again to teach and carry in supplies, but this time to a free, albeit poor country. Jesus did reign!

In returning for a third mission in March 1998, it was clear that the country was struggling economically, but the evangelical churches were flourishing. The modest building of the Emanuel Baptist Church where we had taught and preached in earlier years was now superseded by a landmark structure on a major intersection of the city of Oradea. Its 3,000 seat auditorium is full for both morning and evening services. What started as an underground Bible college known as The School of the Prophets continues as a training program for lay leaders. But in addition, Emanuel Baptist Institute has now been built on the outskirts of town and enrolls over 400 students.

My host, Dr. Cornel Iova, explained to me that it was their concern to see evangelicals working together for the common cause of Christ. It was a Swedish Pentecostal group that built the modern family units for Comnul Felix, an orphanage for over 100 children. (I was reminded of the Cookson Hills Christian Home model.) Thanks to the efforts of TCM, many of us from the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ have had the opportunity to share in ministry with Romanian Christians. And on this occasion I was invited to address the Baptist Convention Congress on the theme of Christian unity.

I am grateful to TCM, especially to Bob Shannon and Tony Twist, who were responsible for introducing me to the churches of Eastern Europe. Surely the original vision of Gene Dulin has touched more lives on both sides of the Atlantic than even he could have imagined in the early days of the Toronto Christian Mission. Here at Emmanuel, our Dean, Eleanor Daniel, regularly goes on these teaching missions, and other members of the faculty have served as well.

My experience in Europe is but a microcosm of the sense of globalization that exists at Emmanuel School of Religion. Today Emmanuel graduates serve in approximately thirty different countries. Half of our faculty have served as missionaries. International students broaden our understanding of the church universal.

Furthermore the understanding of missions at Emmanuel is not limited to cross-cultural mission work. We have taken to heart the words of General Simatoupong of Indonesia who Lesslie Newbigin overheard at a world missions conference. The General had listened to Westerners discussing the global missionary situation. He responded wryly, “The number one question is: Can the West be converted?”

Many years ago those marvelous women of the Fig Tree Fellowship created a lectureship at Emmanuel called, “The Mission of the Church.” A survey of the lecturers and their topics over the years reveals that “mission” is understood in its broad biblical sense, i.e., going into all the world. Thus it is our goal here at Emmanuel to infuse all of our students with a sense of mission, whether they represent that 75% who will be led to ministries in congregations here in the United States or whether they are called to serve in cross-cultural missions, campus ministries, chaplaincies or other forms of Christian service.

“From Emmanuel to Emanuel.” Yes, there is a slight difference in the spelling. But we are still talking about the same Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ who prayed fervently for the oneness of his followers in order that the world might be saved.

—Dr. C. Robert Wetzel, President

Summer School 1998

Seminar in Church History: Pietism and Enlightenment in the 18th Century
Instructor: Dr. James O. Duke, Professor of the History of Christianity and Historical Theology, Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University

This course studies the turbulent “middle years” between Reformation theology and Modern Protestant religious thought. Three movements—orthodoxy, pietism, and the Enlightenment—competed for attention during this era. Their concerns, conflicts, and slogans have left visible marks on Protestant life and thought ever since.

Lectures orient students to the main currents of thought during this era. Reading and discussion will offer opportunity to explore the historical impact and (disputed) long-lasting significance of the three movements. CH 793. 3 hours. June 2–12.

Seminar in Preaching
Instructor: Dr. Myron Taylor, Adjunct Professor of Preaching, Emmanuel School of Religion

A basic graduate-level course in the principles and practice of preaching, focusing on the priority, nature, content, theology, structure, style, and delivery through in-depth study and individual evaluation. CMP 794. 3 hours. June 30–July 10.

Ministry to the Aging
Instructor: Barbara Helm, Information Coordinator, Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, University of Kentucky

A general overview of normal physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual aging is the focus of this course, which will include, but not be limited to, topics such as changes in health and functioning, changes in roles and social status, changes in lifestyles, and changes in relationships. Stereotypes about aging will also be discussed. How individuals minister and are ministered to as they move through middle and old age will be presented. Communication techniques with the healthy older adult, the frail and dependent, the demented and the dying will be an important component of the course. Students will have the opportunity to view a Scriptural perspective on aging and the responsibilities of the church and the older adult. CMC/CME 601/791. 3 hours. July 14–24.

Seminar in New Testament: Speeches in the Book of Acts
Instructor: Dr. David Matson, Assistant Professor of Bible, Milligan College

Speeches comprise nearly one-third of the material in the Book of Acts. Peter, Stephen, Paul, and James are just some of the orators that Luke employs to speak the word with power and conviction at key moments in the narrative, interpreting the gospel and furthering its progress to the “ends of the earth.” This course examines many of those speeches, giving particular attention. To their content, themes, compositional style, and rhetorical form. Most important is the way that the speeches function in both their immediate and “global” contexts in Acts to serve Luke’s wider theological and literary goals. The interplay of audience situation and rhetorical strategy should post interesting questions for contemporary preaching in a variety of contexts. NT 791. 3 hours. July 28–August 7.

New Scholarships Announced

Esther Matthews Mossbarger Memorial Scholarship
The Esther Matthews Mossbarger Memorial Scholarship was established in 1989 by Mr. and Mrs. James Mossbarger of Lucasville, Ohio, to honor Mr. Mossbarger’s mother. At that time the scholarship was funded annually by Mr. and Mrs. Mossbarger using the matching gift benefit from their employer. In this way the Mossbargers have helped thirteen students prepare for ministry since 1989.

This year the Mossbargers have taken steps to endow their scholarship at Emmanuel so that the tribute to Esther and the help students receive will be continued long after Mr. and Mrs. Mossbarger are gone. Each year the scholarship will be awarded from the income earned by the endowed funds. The principal monies in the endowed scholarship fund will not be used and will continue to build as Mr. and Mrs. Mossbarger are able, along with the help of employer matching gifts.

James Mossbarger is a graduate of Emmanuel, having earned the Master of Arts in Religion degree in 1976. Mr. and Mrs. Mossbarger’s desire is to help students at Emmanuel preparing for the pulpit ministry.

Christian Church of Hillsboro, Oregon, Scholarship
Emmanuel School of Religion has received a generous gift from the estate of Robert D. Fitzgerald of Hillsboro, Oregon, designated to help students at Emmanuel with tuition expenses. Mr. Fitzgerald had served as school teacher and guidance counselor for the Portland school system until his retirement. He had been a faithful member of the Christian Church of Hillsboro, Oregon where Emmanuel Trustee, James Huckaba, ministers.

Mr. Fitzgerald’s many friends have attested to his humble and generous spirit, his love for young people, and his strong desire to see well-qualified and well-prepared ministers for the church. In keeping with those insights, the name chosen for the scholarship by his friends is the Christian Church of Hillsboro, Oregon, Scholarship and first consideration will be given to students coming from the Hillsboro church and then to students from western states.

Frances A. Travis Memorial Scholarship
Long before her death in September 1997, at 100 years, Frances Travis had spoken with Jerry Rudberg, Emmanuel’s western representative, about including Emmanuel in her estate plans. Since that time they had no further conversation about it, so it came as a wonderful surprise when Emmanuel was notified that Miss Travis had arranged a generous gift for the Seminary.

Miss Travis, with her sister, owned and operated the Christian bookstore in Eugene for many years. She had been an active member of the University Street Christian Church in Eugene, Oregon, and was a strong advocate of the Restoration Movement.

Frances once told Jerry Rudberg that Emmanuel School of Religion must be a great place if it could produce ministers like Gary Snavely (M.Div. ’76) and Steve Boulton (M.Div. ’83). She also saw several talented young people from her church come to Emmanuel to prepare for ministry. In her trust she stipulated that Emmanuel use the funds for student scholarships. She also requested that first consideration be given to students coming to Emmanuel from the west. Emmanuel is honored to comply with her wishes and to perpetuate through the Frances A. Travis Memorial Scholarship the legacy of this strong Christian woman.

Record 39 Graduates Expected on May 31

Emmanuel School of Religion anticipates the largest graduating class in the history of the Seminary as 39 students are expected to receive their degrees at the 32nd Commencement on Sunday, May 31, 1998. Four graduates will receive the Doctor of Ministry degree in this third class to graduate doctoral students.

Dennis Slaughter, minister of Valley View Christian Church in Dallas, Texas, will be featured as the keynote speaker at the commencement. He began ministering there in 1970, and the congregation has now grown to over 1,100 members with an annual missions budget of $465,000. Dennis is currently President of the 1998 North American Christian Convention, and also serves on the Board of Trustees of Lincoln Christian College, Pioneer Bible Translators, and Gospel Broadcasting Mission.

NACC Breakfast Scheduled

Join Emmanuel for the annual North American Christian Convention Breakfast on Wednesday, June 24, at 7:30 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Select, Salon A & B. Clark Tanner, senior minister of the Beaverton, Ore., Christian Church, and a 1975 graduate of Emmanuel, will speak at the breakfast. Special music will be brought by Nona Lohr, music minister at First Christian Church of Kingsport, Tennessee

Emmanuel’s alumni will hold their annual meeting immediately following the breakfast in the East Room of Holiday Inn Select.

While attending the convention remember to stop by booth #115-214 to meet Emmanuel’s President, Dr. C. Robert Wetzel, and other members of the Seminary’s faculty and administration.

Heritage of Excellence Campaign Update:
Commitments Exceed $2,000,000

We are pleased to announce that as of this writing Emmanuel has received over $2,213,230 in firm commitments toward the Heritage of Excellence campaign.

Last October, Emmanuel School of Religion launched the largest fund raising campaign in the history of the Seminary with a goal to raise $3,275,000. Funds received toward the campaign will underwrite (1) the expansion and remodeling of the Emmanuel Library, (2) Scholarships for needy students, (3) the addition of three staff positions, and (4) Phase I of The Emmanuel Village, our student housing development.

The campaign has been organized around various groups of individuals, each with a sub-goal to reach. Commitments and division goals are as follows:

Thus far campaign commitments have been made by 122 individuals and churches. Over 46 additional individuals and churches have been solicited with responses pending. The church portion of the campaign is just getting underway, and initial response has been positive.

Consequently, you can see that our goal is within sight. We have reached 68% of the goal. We are hoping to complete the solicitation portion of the campaign by the end of summer.