Presbyterian and affiliated theological schools are beginning academic year 2006-7 with opening convocations, new faculty members and/or programs, and other noteworthy events. They include:
Austin
Fund raising toward an $8.8 million goal has begun for a new residential building, the John F. and Nancy Anderson House, at Austin Seminary. During more than sixty years as a Presbyterian pastor, John Anderson (ThM’53) touched the lives of many, serving as moderator of the 122nd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church U.S. in 1982 and helping to facilitate the union of the northern and southern denominations. Currently about 60 percent of the Seminary’s masters-level students live on campus; additional student housing will provide a greater percentage of students with the opportunity to fully experience the campus community.
Columbia
Columbia’s 179th year began September 7, with alumnus and trustee Dr. Charles Heyward Sr. preaching the convocation sermon. In November, the faculty will publish the second issue of @ this point: Theological Investigations in Church and Culture, a free online journal available at www.atthispoint.net . The topic for the November issue is “fear.” During General Assembly, Catherine González, professor emerita of church history, received the Award for Excellence in Theological Education from the Committee on Theological Education.
Dubuque
The Distance Education Program of the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, www.UDTSlearning.net , continues to grow. The Commissioned Lay Pastor Program, initiated with a generous grant from the Lilly Endowment, offers all eight courses required for Presbyterian CLPs. In the past year, 430 students enrolled in these classes. Additionally, this past summer, 35 students enrolled in Master of Divinity online courses in Presbyterian polity, history and Confessions of the Presbyterian Church, Introduction to the Old Testament, and Worship in the Reformed Tradition. For more information on online learning opportunities at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary visit www.UDTSeminary.net or e-mail [email protected] .
Johnson C. Smith
Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary celebrated the ordination of women in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), as deacons, elders, and Ministers of the Word and Sacrament, in March 2006 at a banquet held at First Church, Atlanta. The speaker, Dr. Katie Geneva Cannon, was also honored at the banquet as a distinguished alumna of the institution.
She is the Annie Scales Rodgers Professor of Christian Ethics at Union-PSCE.
Louisville
In an effort to help make excellence in theological education more accessible, Louisville Seminary has expanded its scholarship program to award significant scholarships to candidates with academic achievement and promise for ministry. These scholarships are awarded for the academic year to individuals demonstrating high academic distinction and/or outstanding potential for leadership in the church. To further expand the accessibility of a quality LPTS education, the seminary begins the fall semester by offering more courses during evening hours and the option to earn the M.Div., MAMFT, or MAR degrees as a half-time student. All half-time students are eligible for need-based tuition scholarships. More information is available at www.lpts.edu .
McCormick
McCormick Theological Seminary has been awarded a three-year, $165,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation to provide enhanced program support to its Center for the Study of Latino/a Theology and Ministry. The grant will be used over the next three years to offer an expanded series of workshops, lectures, and training courses for scholars serving academic settings, as well as for pastors and lay leaders in Latino/a congregations. In addition, grant funds will enable McCormick to host and sponsor national conferences and consultations on Latino/a religious studies and church leadership. Reflecting McCormick’s cross-cultural focus and setting, this funding also will support cooperative initiatives between Latino/a, African American, and Asian American religious scholars and church communities. For more information on the Center for the Study of Latino/a Theology and Ministry, contact Professor Luis Rivera, director of the Center, at 773/947-6330 or [email protected] .
Pittsburgh
The Summer Youth Institute at Pittsburgh Seminary celebrated its 10th year in July. During these two weeks on campus, the high school scholars explored theological inquiry and spiritual formation. In all, 315 young people from across the United States and Puerto Rico have come through the program. Of the students who have graduated from college, 20 percent have gone on to seminary and many are active in myriad ways in the church. Thanks to the program’s success, Lilly Endowment Inc. has granted SYI a four-year sustainability grant to cover 50 percent of the program costs while the SYI endowment is established.
San Francisco
San Francisco Seminary’s Board of Trustees announces two new members of its faculty: R. Scott Sullender and Laurie Garrett-Cobbina. Sullender will serve as the director of the Lloyd Pastoral Counseling Center and associate professor of pastoral care and counseling. Garrett-Cobbina will fill the newly established faculty position for Clinical Pastoral Education made possible by the generous gift from SFTS alumni John F. (B.D. 1954) and Julia P. Shaw, who live in Sammamish, Wash. The Shaw Family Chair for Clinical Pastoral Education is the first fully endowed chair in this discipline within the Graduate Theological Union and one of the few among all theological seminaries.
Union — PSCE
What’s old is new again. A major renovation began in August of the historic Spence Library into a state of the art academic and worship center, The Allen and Jeannette Early Center for Christian Education and Worship. The new center will enhance Union-PSCE’s physical and technological capacity for teaching, create an alternative setting for campus worship, and promote distance education with local congregations and the extension campus in Charlotte. The 1897 building is one of the original buildings of the campus. The project is a centerpiece of the $50 million One in Mission Campaign at the seminary.
