December 1998
Back Issues

Contents

• Donors Break Ground for The Emmanuel Village
• From the President: A Glorious Occasion
• How to Give a Gift of Stock
• Grant Wacker to Bring 1999 Kershner Lectures
• Lecture to Explore Christian Church Women at the Turn of the Century

Donors Break Ground for The Emmanuel Village

Donors, alumni, and friends gathered at Emmanuel School of Religion in October to break ground for The Emmanuel Village, a new student housing development to be built on 7.3 acres adjacent to the seminary’s campus. The first phase of The Emmanuel Village will provide about 30 cottages for student housing and a community center which includes a child care facility. The Village will be the Seminary’s first on-campus housing development for students. Site preparation will begin in the spring, and Village construction is expected to begin in the summer of 1999. The first residents are expected in the fall of 2000. The Village is being built through the generous donations of friends, alumni, and churches from around the country.
	TOP: Donors and donor representatives break ground for cottages in the Strickland Court as board members, alumni, students, and staff look on. MIDDLE LEFT: Chancellor Calvin Phillips and Student Association President Debby Fleenor unveil the Emmanuel Village sign. MIDDLE RIGHT: Bagpiper Jon Shell leads the festal procession from the Mildred Welshimer Phillips Memorial Chapel to the Emmanuel Village site. BOTTOM: A large crowd gathered at the groundbreaking site.

From the President
A Glorious Occasion

Wednesday, October 21, 1998, was an extraordinary day in the life of Emmanuel School of Religion. Ground was broken for the Emmanuel Village on the seven and one/half acre site donated by Phyllis Rowell Jackson. Shovels of dirt were turned for 22 cottages as well as for the Fred & Dorothy Thompson Center. Since that day, donors have committed two more cottages. If there was any doubt about the need for student housing at an affordable price, Marci Partin removed that doubt. Marci is the wife of Dr. Doug Partin. I saw Marci and Doug at the Guadeloupe Family Camp near Carlsbad, New Mexico, in September. He is the minister of First Christian Church in Los Alamos. Two years ago he was the first graduate in Emmanuel’s new Doctor of Ministry Program. Marci told me of their housing experience when they came to Emmanuel in 1985. I said, “You must put that in writing and send it to me.” Thankfully she did, and here it is:

I have followed in interest and growing enthusiasm the Heritage of Excellence campaign currently being run by Emmanuel School of Religion. I can testify that there is an enormous need for good, affordable housing for students who attend Emmanuel.

In 1985, my soon to be husband, Doug Partin, started his work toward a Masters of Divinity degree at Emmanuel. He spent quite a bit of time looking for a house or apartment for us to rent while he attended school. Doug finally rented a small farmhouse on Max Jett Road. We were married in October, and Doug focused on his studies while I worked in Kingsport. As autumn turned to winter we realized just why the rent was so low - the house had no heat! We had a waterbed that served as the only viable heat in the house. An old kerosene heater (which was probably dangerous) and a heating pad helped keep the exposed pipes in the basement thawed. Kerosene was difficult to purchase on my meager salary, with which we were scarcely able to purchase food and pay school bills. Many mornings we awoke to frost on the walls - inside! Doug studied in the library at the school where it was warm. There were times I sat in the hall outside the chapel and read. We did survive the winter, only to discover that our very shallow well provided us with muddy water when the spring rains began! A new place to live became a high priority. We were able to move to a newer, heated (and cooled!) apartment in Gray. The rent was twice what we were paying in the farmhouse, but we realized that another winter with no heat would likely cure us of Upper East Tennessee for good.

Because we moved almost 20 miles from the school we did not meet or socialize with many other Emmanuel students. It seems that the students were worried about school and the rest of us were trying to make ends meet. I think that we missed out on a wonderful opportunity to fellowship with people from all over the world because of the housing situation we encountered during our three years at Emmanuel.

Enclosed please find my check for ____, the first for our five-year commitment. I pray that this wonderful campaign succeeds, as it will relieve students of one large and unnecessary worry.

Although I want to say that surely the Partins’ experience was not typical, I have heard other stories that have convinced me that their experience was not all that atypical. But quite apart from the need for good housing at an affordable price, there is another equally important concern that the Emmanuel Village will address. Preparation for ministry must be an inclusive experience. If it is important for a student to be guided in “formation for ministry” and “spiritual formation,” it is also important for the spouse to share in experiences which prepare one for a life-time of service in ministry. But currently most student spouses live some distance from the campus and have secular employment. We look to that day when the Emmanuel Village will provide a community of faith and learning that will involve the whole family.

We intend to begin work on the Emmanuel Village in the spring of 1999. We would also like to begin the library expansion project about the same time. Hence we have some more extraordinary days ahead here at Emmanuel School of Religion. Please pray that God’s Holy Spirit will direct each decision that must be made during the building process. And thank you for making these badly needed facilities possible.

—Dr. C. Robert Wetzel, President

How to Give a Gift of Stock
Avoid paying high capital gains taxes while you lower your cost of giving a gift

The Dilemma

The growing value of Wall Street investment portfolios has been a great source of financial fortune for many people. With many analysts predicting a market that will soon surpass record levels, capital gains problems are becoming prevalent for many investors.

The Solution

Many stock market investors are friends and donors of Emmanuel School of Religion. Emmanuel is in a unique position to receive gifts of appreciated stock in a way which prevents the donor from paying exorbitant capital gains taxes. In addition to removing the obligation to pay capital gains taxes on the market appreciation of the stock, giving appreciated stock to Emmanuel also lowers the cost of giving the gift.

Let’s Be Specific

If a donor gives Emmanuel School of Religion $10,000 in cash, the cost of the gift is $10,000. But if the donor pays $5,000 for a stock investment that increases in value to $10,000, then the cost of giving that stock as a gift is only $5,000. The donor avoids taxes on the gain, yet can still claim a full $10,000 as a charitable deduction on his income tax return. Thus the cost of the gift is greatly reduced by giving it through stock.

Some Questions You May Have

How do I transfer stock to Emmanuel?

If you would like to transfer stock to Emmanuel, you must contact your broker and ask that a specific number of shares of a specific stock be transferred to Emmanuel School of Religion as a gift. Your broker can then electronically transfer the gift to Emmanuel’s brokerage house, J. C. Bradford and Company. Our broker is Mr. Cal Wilson, and the transfer number is DTC 765. Our account number is 124-31261-1-5-594. Emmanuel’s tax ID number is 62-081-9352.

Is there a person I can work with on a transfer of stock?

If you have any questions about the transfer, you can contact Emmanuel’s broker, Mr. Cal Wilson, at 1-800-847-7522. Emmanuel’s Director of Finance, Randall Matney, may be contacted at 423-461-1516. Emmanuel’s Executive Director of Development, Dan R. Lawson, may be reached at 423-461-1531.

Should Emmanuel be directly notified of the transfer?

Yes. It would be helpful if you as the donor would phone or write Emmanuel to specify how you wish the funds from the stock sale to be used. A simple notification of the amount of stock being transferred, the name of the stock, the approximate dollar value, and to where the funds should be designated will be most helpful.

How is the value of stock determined?

Emmanuel’s policy has been to place a value on the stock related to the closing price of the stock on the day in which it is transferred to Emmanuel’s account. It is also the School’s policy to sell all stock given to the Seminary immediately and not hold it in our portfolio.

How do I transfer a stock certificate to Emmanuel?

On the back of each stock certificate is a line for the owner to sign thus making the certificate immediately negotiable, similar to writing a check payable to cash and signing it. Once the back of the certificate is signed, it should be sent to Emmanuel via registered mail to ensure that it reaches us safely. Otherwise, it is negotiable by anyone.

An alternative is to secure a “stock power” document from your broker, bank, or most office supply stores. Mail the stock certificates to Emmanuel unendorsed in one envelope and one stock power for each certificate in a separate envelope. The stock power should be endorsed exactly as the name(s) appear on the certificate; if a stock is in joint names, both people must sign. Do not complete the stock power. Emmanuel’s broker, who is ultimately responsible for disposing of the stock, will finish the document. While the stock certificate is in the mail, it is safe because it is not negotiable without the stock power, and the stock power is worthless without the stock certificate.

Why don’t more people use stock in giving gifts to charities such as Emmanuel?

Many of our friends are simply unsure of how to go about making such a transfer, or are unaware that they can. It makes good sense to give in this manner, especially for donors who receive stock options from their employers, because the appreciated value of the stock is not taxable.

A Service to You

If Emmanuel can assist you in transferring a gift of stock to the School, please contact us and we will be happy to talk you through the transfer process. After the transfer, Emmanuel will send you a receipt that you may use in declaring your charitable deduction on your tax return.

For additional information about giving a gift of stock to Emmanuel School of Religion, contact:

Dan Lawson
Emmanuel School of Religion
One Walker Drive
Johnson City, Tennessee 37601
(423) 926-1186
lawsond@esr.edu

The purpose of this material is to provide information of a general nature. Neither Emmanuel School of Religion nor any of its associates are engaged in giving legal or tax advice. Individuals should seek the advice of their attorneys and tax advisors for specific tax implications and laws governing estate planning and charitable gifts.

Grant Wacker to Bring 1999 Kershner Lectures

Dr. Grant Wacker, Associate Professor of the History of Religion in America at Duke Divinity School in Durham, N.C., will be featured as the 1999 Kershner Lecturer at Emmanuel School of Religion March 23–26.

His topic will be “Faith, Grit, and Moxie: Pentecostals in American Life,” and he will bring four lectures: “The Spiritual Geography of a Revival,” “Doctrine and Experience in Pentecostal Thought,” “Disorder and Order in Pentecostal Worship,” and “God Breaks Not All Men’s Hearts Alike: What Pentecostals Have to Teach-and Learn-from Other Christians.”

Dr. Wacker previously taught in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (1977–92). He has also taught courses at the University of Notre Dame and the National Humanities Center.

Educated at Stanford University (B.A.) and Harvard University (Ph.D.), much of Dr. Wacker’s scholarship and publication has centered on the history of evangelical, fundamentalist, and pentecostal traditions in North America. He has also researched and written on the American Protestant encounter with world religions. He is a past president of the Society for Pentecostal Studies and has been a mentor in the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Young Scholars Program.

In 1997, Dr. Wacker became a senior editor of the journal Church History. He has published widely with a book on Augustus H. Strong and the Dilemma of Historical Consciousness (Mercer University Press, 1985) and essays in collected studies such as The Bible in America: Essays in Cultural History (ed. Nathan Hatch and Mark Noll, 1982), Between the Times: The Travail of the Protestant Establishment in America, 1900–1960 (ed. William Hutchison, 1989), and Earthen Vessels: American Evangelicals and Foreign Missions, 1880–1980 (ed. Wilbert Shenk and Joel Carpenter, 1990). He has also published numerous journal articles in Church History, Harvard Theological Review, Journal of American History, Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, and Pneuma: Journal of the Society of Pentecostal Studies.

A layman, Wacker is a member of the Orange United Methodist Church in Durham, North Carolina.

Lecture to Explore Christian Church Women at the Turn of the Century

Dr. Debra Hull, Academic Vice-President and Professor of Psychology at Wheeling Jesuit University, will present the lecture, “Christian Church Women at the Turn of the Century,” Wednesday, February 17, at 7:30 p.m., in the chapel at Emmanuel School of Religion. A reception will follow.

Dr. Paul Blowers, coordinator of the event, said, “I hope that the lecture will be a good stimulant to discussion of women in ministry in the current configuration of Stone-Campbell churches.”

Dr. Hull is a former trustee of the Disciples of Christ Historical Society and has published an important study of early Disciple women entitled Christian Church Women: Shapers of a Movement (Chalice Press, 1994). The book traces the careers of a number of early women leaders in the movement, some of whom had significant ministries as evangelists on the frontier.

This lecture is presented under the auspices of the Disciples of Christ Historical Society as a part of its Forrest Reed lecture series. This is the first time that Emmanuel has hosted a DCHS lecture. Dr. Blowers currently serves on the DCHS board of trustees and is chair of its lectureship committee.