ATLANTA — The Rev. Joan Gray, former moderator of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly is teaching polity at Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary this semester. Gray is co-author with Joyce Tucker of Presbyterian Polity for Church Officers.
The Rev. Carrie Scott is joining the JCSTS staff as an ordination coach/mentor. Her job will be to help students negotiate the ordination process in the PCUSA, giving particular attention to the educational requirements of students’ respective presbyteries, and ordination exam preparation.
The seminary will celebrate its 143rd Founders Day, March 2-4, 2010. The theme of this year's Founders Day is “Apostolic Leadership for the 21st Century.” Events include worship, workshops on various aspects of leadership, and alumni and trustee activities.
AUSTIN, Texas — Alumni/ae and friends of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary will gather Feb. 1-3, 2010 for the seminary’s annual MidWinters lecture and homecoming event.
The event will include nine lectures and conversations with the lecturers, a welcome dinner, worship and social time with the Jim Cullum Jazz Band; dedication of the Stanley R. Hall Liturgics Lab; and the Alumni/ae Association Annual Banquet which honors two alumni/ae with Distinguished Service Awards. One of the awards will be given posthumously to alumnus Clint Rabb (Class of 1974), head of the United Methodist Church’s mission volunteer program who died in the Jan. 12 Haitian earthquake. The other will go to the Rev. Laura Mendenhall, recently retired president of Columbia Theological Seminary and a 1997 graduate of APTS.
Featured speakers include Barbara K. Wheeler, former president of Auburn Theological Seminary and currently director of the seminary's Center for the Study of Theological Education; the Rev. Brian K. Blount, president and professor of New Testament at Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, VA; Rodger Y. Nishioka, professor of Christian Education at Columbia Theological Seminary; and the Rev. Thomas W. Currie III, professor of theology and dean of Union-PSCE’s Charlotte campus and a 1973 graduate of Austin Seminary.
The seminary has also announced the appointment of the Rev. Lana Russell as director of church and alumni/ae relations. Russell, a Texas native, joined the seminary staff in early January after serving pastorates in Michigan, New Jersey and Connecticut.
PRINCETON, N.J. — The Rev. Haruko Nawata Ward, associate professor of church history at Columbia Theological Seminary, will deliver Princeton Theological Seminary’s History and Ecumenics Department spring lecture on Feb. 4 at 7:00 p.m. in the Main Lounge of the Mackay Campus Center.
Her lecture, “Catharina of Farão: Reform and Justice in Portuguese Goa,” features the fruit of Ward’s most recent book, Women Religious Leaders in Japan’s Christian Century, 1549-1650 (Ashgate Publishing 2009). Ward, a native of Japan, graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary in 2001 with a doctorate in church history and an emphasis in reformation studies.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Rev. Stanley H. Skreslet, professor of Christian mission at Union Theological Seminary-Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, VA, will deliver the inaugural lecture Feb. 8 in a new Mission Lectureship Series at Union-PSCE’s Charlotte campus. The lecture for pastors and lay leaders will begin at 10 a.m. at Selwyn Avenue Presbyterian Church in Charlotte.
Skreslet will address the theme of this year’s series, “What‘s New in World Mission? Implications for Congregations.”
Skreslet, who earned his D.Min at Union-PSCE, is the author of Picturing Christian Mission: New Testament Images of Disciples in Mission (Eerdmans, 2006). A former faculty member of the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo, Egypt, his interests include the church’s encounter with Islam, the witness of Orthodox Christianity, and the particular calling of Western Christians within the context of the church universal.
LOUISVILLE — Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary will hold its Convocation of the Spring Semester Feb. 11 at 11:30 a.m. in Caldwell Chapel on the seminary’s campus.
The convocation address will be presented by the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, visiting professor of ecumenical studies and global ministries at the seminary and president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. He will speak on “Reconciled Diversity; An Ecumenical Vision for the 21st Century.”
DECATUR, Ga. — Columbia Theological Seminary will host its fifth annual Call Fair for Pastor Nominating Committees on Feb. 19 from 1:00 to 4:30 p.m. The event is designed to help connect graduating seniors with congregations and organizations that have openings for leadership positions.
Information about students who are seeking a call is available on Columbia’s website at Student Placement and Internships/Placement. Profiles are listed according to the type of positions seniors are seeking following graduation in May. Information is updated continuously.
“The best way to interest students in open positions is to come to campus and share your needs with graduating seniors,” says Dean of Students John White. “We would love to see churches looking for pastors and associate pastors, as well as those looking for Christian educators, youth directors, and leaders in non-ordained positions.”
For more information, contact Judy Graves in the seminary’s Office of Student Services, by email, or by phone at (404) 687-4523.
CHICAGO — McCormick Theological Seminary is partnering with the Presbytery of Chicago and Arlington Heights (Ill.) Presbyterian Church to present its annual LEAD (Leadership Education and Development) event on March 6 at Arlington Heights Church.
Keynote speaker is the Rev. Rhashell Hunter, director of Racial Ethnic and Women’s Ministries/Presbyterian Women for the PC(USA)’s General Assembly Mission Council.
The event will also include training for new elders, deacons and clerks of session as well as more than 30 workshops and all aspects of church leadership and ministry.