June 1999
Back Issues

Contents

• Tom Jones Joins Faculty as Christian Ministries Professor
• Schedules Approved for Library and Village Construction
• From the President: Love, Leaven and Leroy
• Visit the Emmanuel Booth at the NACC
• Students and Staff Observe Second Annual Service Day
• Alexander Campbell Scholars Announced
• 29 Receive Degrees at Emmanuel Commencement
• Students Chosen for Middle East Travel
• Trustees Approve Professional Leave for Administrators

Tom Jones Joins Faculty 
as Christian Ministries Professor

Emmanuel School of Religion is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Thomas F. Jones Jr., a 1982 graduate of Emmanuel, to the position of Assistant Professor of Christian Ministries and Director of Supervised Ministerial Education.

A native of West Virginia, Dr. Jones is a nationally known church planter who has come to the Emmanuel faculty to multiply his ministry efforts with students. Dr. Jones is a graduate of Milligan College, and he received his M.Div. at Emmanuel School of Religion. His D.Min. degree was conferred by United Theological Seminary, Dayton, Ohio.

Following Tom’s Emmanuel degree work, he went to First Church of Christ in Painesville, Ohio, where he was associate minister. He then was Minister of Evangelism and Discipleship at First Christian Church, Springfield, Ohio. From there he became the founding minister of the Centerville (Ohio) Christian Church, planting the congregation and leading them to financial independence in less than two years. He helped them develop leaders, purchase property for a permanent site, and establish a thriving church during his seven-year ministry.

From Centerville, the Jones family moved to Princeton, New Jersey, in 1992, where once again Tom planted a church and led it to a position of strength in its witness to the community. Ministries at the Princeton church, where Jones managed a staff of six, included significant efforts among the homeless, children, and students.

Tom has been actively involved in extra-church ministry as well. He was the organizer of the Northeast Leadership Retreat, has served as president of the National New Church Conference, recruited and mentored church planters, served on the board of Double Vision, and served on the North American Christian Convention Continuation Committee. He has served as an elected member of the Lawrence Township Board of Education and the Board of Directors for the Princeton Tennis Program.

He and his wife Debbie have two children, a daughter 16 and a son 14.

Schedules Approved for Library and Village Construction

Schedules for Library expansion and construction of the Emmanuel Village were approved by the Emmanuel Board of Trustees at their April meeting. Both projects are part of Emmanuel School of Religion’s $3.275 million Heritage of Excellence campaign.

The Library expansion project, which will increase the size of the Emmanuel Library by 4,400 square feet and add room for 60,000 additional volumes, will begin as soon as the plans are approved by the Tennessee State Fire Marshal.

Site preparation for the Emmanuel Village will begin this summer with grading, road preparation, construction of a maintenance building, and installation of sewer and utility lines. Plans call for the first buildings to be constructed in the fall.

Emmanuel President Dr. C. Robert Wetzel has appointed local developer Jack Strickland as Special Assistant to the President for the Development of the Emmanuel Village.

Photos of the progress of both projects will be displayed in the Development section of Emmanuel’s web site.

From the President
Love, Leaven and Leroy

When Stuart and D’Esta Love gave me directions to their home in Malibu, California, they said, “If we are not there, just go right in. The door will be unlocked.” I thought, “Is there any place left where a person can leave the door to his home unlocked?” When I arrived at the campus of Pepperdine University I understood why they could be so confident. A friendly security guard met me at the gate. Thanks to the Loves, I was expected, and a card was placed in my car window to identify me as a trusted visitor. And yet the metaphor of an open door is such an apt description of Stuart and D’Esta.

The Loves are co-editors of the periodical Leaven. Founded in 1993 by a group from the a capella Churches of Christ, Leaven was created “to help fellow Christians think together about the challenges that face them in ministry.” Without knowing about Leaven, a group from the Christian Churches met on the campus of Emmanuel School of Religion in 1995 with a similar purpose in mind. Charles Cook, Eugene Johnson and Leonard Wymore had felt the need for a periodical that filled the niche between the popular church magazine and the scholarly journal. One of the early participants in this discussion was David Matson of the Milligan College faculty. He had done his M.A. in New Testament at Pepperdine University under the supervision of Stuart Love. Hence it was David who introduced the group to Leaven. In 1997, Stuart and a group from the editorial board of Leaven came to Emmanuel to meet with Charles Cook’s group. It was immediately clear that we were talking about the same kind of periodical. But now something even more significant presented itself. When the Leaven group invited us to join forces with them, they presented us with the possibility of a cooperative effort that would bring people from two streams of the Stone-Campbell Movement together. Leaven would indeed be a leaven in a growing effort to heal the tragic rift experienced by churches of the Restoration heritage earlier in this century.

It was the connection with Leaven that led to my invitation to participate in the Leaven Symposium, a part of the annual Pepperdine Bible Lectures. My four days on the campus of Pepperdine University with over 3,000 people, mainly from the Churches of Christ, proved to be a blessing. The fellowship was rich, the preaching was exceptionally good, and the workshops numerous and helpful. When I came away from the first evening session I thought, “Just like the North American Christian Convention — without a praise band.” And when I heard the hymns being sung by such a large congregation who knew four-part singing, I thought, “These people don’t need a praise band!” It was glorious to be able to blend (and hide) my drone bass voice in this angelic sound.

When I returned to the Emmanuel campus, final preparation was being made for our 33rd Annual Commencement Service. On May 23, twenty-nine graduates received their degrees. The commencement speaker was Leroy Garrett, editor of Restoration Review. Leroy is one of those great irenic spirits who for a lifetime has cherished his roots among the Churches of Christ while longing for a broader fellowship among the churches of the Restoration heritage. His service to the World Convention of Churches of Christ and to the Disciples of Christ Historical Society demonstrates the scope of his concern. His book, The Stone-Campbell Movement, has become a classic of Restoration literature.

“Love, Leaven and Leroy” is more than alliteration. It speaks of a deep concern that those of us at Emmanuel School of Religion have for the unity of the heritage that begot us. Rightly the Christian world says to the churches of the Stone-Campbell Movement, “Physician, heal thyself.” We are working on it.

— Dr. C. Robert Wetzel, President

Visit the Emmanuel Booth at the NACC

Members of the Emmanuel faculty and staff will be scheduled at NACC exhibit booth #1300–1302 July 5–9 in Denver, where you can visit with President Wetzel, Executive Director of Development Dan Lawson, Director of Admissions David Fulks, new professor Tom Jones, Chancellor Calvin Phillips, and President’s assistant Shirley Marshall.

Dr. Jones will also be the guest speaker at Emmanuel’s annual breakfast on Wednesday, July 7, at 7:30 a.m. in the Silver Heels Room of the Holiday Inn Downtown. Tickets are $15 and may be ordered by sending a check to the Office of the President.

Students and Staff Observe Second Annual Service Day

Offices were closed and classes were suspended for two days in late April for Emmanuel School of Religion’s second annual Basin and Towel days. Students, staff, faculty, family members, and administrators gave their time to local churches, shelters, schools, homes, and agencies to help wherever they were needed. Student Larry Odor coordinated Basin and Towel, which began last year in response to student concerns about mission opportunities in one’s local community. The service days began with prayer and worship in the Emmanuel chapel, and then workers were dispatched to various locations to demonstrate the love of Christ by painting, raking, hauling, mowing, and weeding.

Alexander Campbell Scholars 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.

The quotes below are excerpted from each recipient’s Alexander Campbell Scholarship essay.

29 Receive Degrees at Emmanuel Commencement

Twenty-nine students received masters and doctoral degrees at Emmanuel School of Religion’s 33rd Commencement on May 23. Among the graduates were a married couple, Dean and Joy Jones, and a father and son, Mark and Jonathan Huddleston.

Dr. Leroy Garrett (left), a Christian educator from Denton, Texas, was presented with Emmanuel’s James A. Garfield Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Seminary. He was also the commencement speaker.

Students Chosen for Middle East Travel

For the eighth year students from Emmanuel School of Religion were selected for participation in the Middle East Travel Seminar, sponsored by the Parker and Pittulloch Foundations of Atlanta.

Student Bill Westfall mounts a camel at St. Catherine’s Monastery in Egypt in preparation for ascending Mount Sinai.

Under the guidance of Dr. Gerald Mattingly, Professor of Old Testament at Johnson Bible College in Knoxville, Tenn., and Dr. Max Miller of Candler School of Theology 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 early June.

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 1999 Middle East Travel Seminar!

Trustees Approve Professional Leave for Administrators

Emmanuel’s Board of Trustees has approved a new professional enhancement leave program for administrators to “insure continued professional administrative growth and enhance administrators’ effectiveness to Emmanuel School of Religion,” according to President C. Robert Wetzel. This will be similar to the faculty sabbatical program offered to Emmanuel’s professors.

David Fulks, Director of Admissions (right), will be the first administrator to benefit from this program. His project will focus on gaining firsthand experience in the quality and relevance of Emmanuel’s academic program, surveying current students to learn their evaluation of the “Emmanuel experience,” and developing a comprehensive five-year recruitment plan for Emmanuel. Fulks plans to use this experience to incorporate new ideas, tactics, and strategies into Emmanuel’s recruiting as well as fine-tune the strategies already in place.

Fulks will gain his firsthand experience by enrolling in several Emmanuel classes during the fall 1999 semester. He said, “This will enable me to speak from personal experience when as the director of admissions I am questioned about Emmanuel’s programs.” He also expects that his classroom experience will enable the admissions department to develop more effective recruitment materials.

All full-time administrative department heads are eligible to apply for a professional enhancement leave of up to three months after three years of service to the School.

To be granted leave, an administrator must make a proposal to the President explaining how the leave will aid professional growth and enhance his or her effectiveness to the School. The administrator must also ensure that his or her staff or others in the school can cover their professional responsibilities during the absence so that the administrator will not attempt to stay integrally involved in the work of the office while on leave. The Board of Trustees gives final approval to administrators for their professional enhancement leave.

Like faculty sabbaticals, administrators may seek outside funding to assist with leave expenses. Within a month after returning from leave, the administrator will then make a written report to the president detailing his or her activities and accomplishments.

President C. Robert Wetzel praised the implementation of the program, saying, “Once again the Trustees of Emmanuel School of Religion have demonstrated their foresight in encouraging personnel to develop their gifts in ways that will enhance the overall quality of School.”