171 02_20_09v2

A Publication of the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary Community February 20, 2009 Issue #171

Kairos

© 2009 Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

Inside This Issue Chapel Schedule Announcements and Events Explorations in Identity

2 3 4

What I Learned in Seminary Today Weekly Calendar Sister Dear

6 7 8

Naomi Jane Hansen Brita and Todd Hansen are

pleased to announce the birth of their daughter, Naomi Jane Hansen, born on February 12. Naomi weighed 7lbs 12 oz and

was 19 inches long.

Joseph James Akers Ingrid, Scott, Maddy, Molly

and Samuel Akers are pleased to announce the birth of their

new baby, Joseph James Akers. He was born Feb. 12, and weighed 8 lbs 14 oz and

was 20 1/2 inches long.

Paul Stewart Mustol David and Anna Mustol are pleased to an-

nounce the birth of their son, Paul Stewart Mustol, born Tuesday, Feb. 10. He weighed 8

lbs 11 oz.

Stay tuned...the boom is not over...

www.aust inseminary .typepad.com/porta l/kai ros.html Issue 171

APTS Crop Hunger Walk Team

Austin Area Interreligious Ministries (AAIM) in partnership with Church World Services (CWS) is hosting their 30th Annual Crop Hunger Walk on March 7th and 8th. If you are not already participating with a local congregation or another organization, please consider joining the APTS team. If you are interested in walking, packets can be obtained from Nikki Stahl ([email protected]) or you can join the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary team online (www.churchworldservice.org). Donations can also be made at this website. Specific information about the Austin walk can be found at www.aaimaustin.org/cropwalk.html.

Chapel Schedule February 23—February 27

Monday: Morning Prayer Service Led by Matthew Thompson Tuesday: Service of Word and

Sacrament, Bishop James E. Dorff of the Southwest Texas and Rio Grande Conferences of the United Methodist Church, preacher

Ash Wednesday: Service of the Word with

Imposition of Ashes Rev. David Johnson, preacher Thursday: Morning Prayer Service Led by Tracey Beadle Friday: Morning Prayer Service Led by ... Senior MDiv students will begin preaching in

chapel on March 6. The tentative senior preaching schedule is as follows:

Friday, March 6 Melea White Friday, March 13 Dan Jean Friday, March 27 Mindy Baker Monday, March 30 Carrie Finch Friday, April 3 Crystal McCormick Monday, April 6 Isabel Rivera-Velez Thursday, April 9 Jong Seo Kim Monday, April 13 Chris Kirwan Friday, April 17 Sherry Higdon Monday, April 20 Scott Spence Monday, April 27 Jamie Dunlap Friday, May 1 Matthew Pyeon Monday, May 4 Megan Dosher Friday, May 8 Jamie Peterson

Student Senate Minutes February 18, 2009

Present: Melissa Koerner, Sarah Hegar, Amy Wiles, Ann Fields, Matthew Thompson, Jose Lopez Excused: Chris Kreisher, Lindsay Hatch

OLD ITEMS ▪ SSV Retreat - Senate discussed funds for the Spiri-

tual Retreat with Still Small Voice. If there are more than 20 people attending the price will increase. If this happens we will discuss this at a later date.

▪ Spring Fling – Some kind of game with Seminary of the SW – sand volleyball, kickball, or wiffleball. Sen-ate will research the Austin area to find an available field. April 4

▪ Spring Flung (that’s correct, Spring Flung) – Cinco de Mayo party, Thursday, April 30, ¿5:30pm to¿ – slip and slide, sombreros, tacos, and everything else fun.

NEW ITEMS ▪ A financial report will be submitted by Amy for next

week. ▪ Coffeehouse – we will be having a Coffeehouse

Manna this semester on Wednesday, March 11.

Austin Seminary Care Team The Care Team serves as a consulting, advising and facilitating body in support of the work of the Vice President for Student Affairs and Vocation (VPSAV) and other administrative offices and committees, concerning the care, support and advocacy for students and their families in difficult situations. The Care Team is not a disciplinary body. The President appoints the Care Team annu-ally. Ordinarily the Care Team is made up of the Vice President for Student Affairs and Vocation, the Vice Presi-dent for Business Affairs, the Associate Dean for Student Academic Affairs, and two faculty members. Individuals may be referred to the Care Team by the student him/herself; a faculty member, administrator or staff member; any member of the Care Team, a spouse or other family member; a pastor or denomina-tional body; another student; or the Faculty Committee on Student Life/Student Standing. Referral to the Care Team may be made either in person or in writing. The Care Team may make referrals to whatever type of on-campus service(s), mental health professional(s) or community service(s) the situation may warrant. For more information, please contact Ann Fields.

Good Friday & Easter Vigil Prep Meeting Can you sing/read/play music? Interested in helping prepare the Good Friday and Easter Vigil ser-vices at APTS this year? Come to the first prep session on Tuesday 2/24 from 12-1 in Stotts — look for us at the big lunch table in the back. Please contact Jennifer Lord if you have any questions.


Mark your calendars!

Baccalaureate Sat., May 23

6:30 p.m.

Commencement Sun., May 24

2:00 p.m.

Both Events Will Be Held At University Presbyterian Church

See Alison in the dean’s office

for more information.

Commen

cemen

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s Austin Seminary Welcomes

United Methodist Bishop James E. Dorff In keeping with Austin Seminary tradition, Bishop James (Jim) E. Dorff of the Southwest Texas and Rio Grande Conferences of the United Methodist Church, will visit Austin Seminary on Tuesday, February 24 (Shrove Tuesday). Bishop Dorff was elected to the episcopacy last summer, replacing Bishop Joel Martínez, who retired. Austin Seminary is an important community for the education of pastors in the United Methodist Church, especially in the Southwest Texas Conference. United Method-ist students comprise nearly 20 percent of the student body, and Austin Seminary trains more pastors for the Southwest Texas Conference than all other seminaries or schools of theology combined. Our whole community looks to further this relationship under his episcopacy. Chapel: Bishop Dorff will preside in chapel on Tuesday, February 24. Lunch: Methodist Student Luncheon following worship Welcome Reception: Vickery Atrium, 1:00 to 1:30 Conversation: Southwest Texas Conference District Superintendents and members of the Board of Or-

dained Ministry will be available to visit with students following the luncheon. Please RSVP for the luncheon in the white binder by the McCord Desk, and sign up for a conversation slot if desired,

no later than Friday, February 20 at 5:00pm..

Cultural Diversity Student Group At times in the past Austin Seminary has had various student groups which focused on racial/ethnic and cultural diversity. If you are interested in forming such a group, please respond to Ann Fields ([email protected]). List all days and times which might work for you for an initial meeting. If there is sufficient interest, an organizational meeting will be set at a time that is convenient for most of those who respond.

Harmonium's Second Bible-Quran Study: Who: Anyone interested in inter-religious dialogue What: Bible-Qu'ran study When: Wednesday, February 25, 2009, 7:00 p.m. Where: Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary - the Knox Dining Room This will be an on-going activity, every other week we will gather to study Bible and Qu'ran passages with our friends from IID (Institute of Interfaith Dialogue) Aus-tin. We will be alternating locations - this next event is here on the APTS campus. Everyone is welcome. Con-tact Mary Elizabeth Prentice or Matt Falco for more infor-mation.

GETTING IN SHAPE FISCALLY

Wednesday, March 4, 2009 McMillan #210

1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Seminar 5:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. On Your Own Break 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Supper break, Barth & Grill 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Seminar

Presented by: The Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

This seminar is required by

PC(USA) Presbyteries

REGISTER ONLINE BY FEBRUARY 20, 2009

Call Sharon Pawlik at 404-4832 for more information.

A Miniseries of Reflections from Travels Abroad By Mary Elizabeth Prentice, MDiv Middler


In Part Two I left you all with my musings about the different groups we saw throughout our trip to the Holy Land—in particular, Nigerian and Or-thodox Christian pilgrims. We were all Christian pil-grims, yet I felt we were all hesitant to identify with one another. This week, I begin to explore what it means to have multiple identities

On Sunday, January 18, we went to the Dome of the Rock and Temple Mount. To get there we went through several Israeli security screenings. Our guide, Peter, had told us the day before that we were not to wear crosses or carry Bibles. By law physical displays of religious identity are forbidden. I did not understand exactly why, but I respected the request. We still needed a Bible to continue our daily incursions into scripture as we visited holy sites, so we arranged for Clyde, one of four "guests" of the seminary, to carry his palm pilot with an electronic version of the Bible. (Ahh. . . technology) Unfortunately not everyone heard the an-nouncement and in the end two bibles and a cross neck-lace were taken away from us the security checkpoint. It was a jolt to our group.

After a long day of walking in the Old City of Jerusalem, Peter thankfully was able to retrieve the two Bibles and return them to their rightful owners. There is a sermon in all of this and I hope to hear it when it is preached, but this is not where I want to pause and reflect on identity.

It was here, at a checkpoint, that I was pro-filed. I am not going to say that I am a professional international traveler, but I do have experience of living internationally. In these experiences I often do not smile when I go through security. I keep a seri-ous, if not pissed-off look on my face. I respect what security officials have to do, but I do not enter into a situation light-heartedly.

For Sunday's excursion we left the hotel on foot and entered into the Old City through the Da-

mascus Gate. We weaved in and out of the narrow market streets to emerge suddenly in the Jewish quarter and began the process of entering the Tem-ple Mount. At the first checkpoint I took out my jour-nal, placed my camera on the table and walked through – no problem. At the second check point, going through the metal detector I could sense the guards talking about me and one of my classmates. I did not know fully what they were saying because they were speaking Hebrew, but I got a general sense... they were 18-21 year-old “boys.” It was an uncomfortable situation and I tried to look as asser-

tive (or pissed off) as possi-ble, but I knew something was going on. I later asked Peter and he confirmed what I had sus-pected. The guards were commenting on our looks and wondered if we were single and who was most attractive. Peter looked at me and said, “That is good, right?” For a split second I thought “Good for me, bad for them – I’m taken, I have a boyfriend!” and “I still have it!” But in the end I was disgusted with my-self and for the interaction.

It was pretty obvious that I was an international citizen. The guards knew they could get away with saying things in front of me and in front of Peter, because they assumed he only spoke Arabic. In the end I wanted to go back to the check-point and stand up for myself. Sure – they were the ones that had loaded AK-47s, but I felt violated, and I wanted to assert my identity as a liberated feminist and stand up for all the other women that experience this and more on a daily basis. Of course I did not, but I wanted to. My identity had not been respected and my initial reaction was towards protecting that identity.

But even this was not what struck me the most. What really hit me was when we lost Peter at a checkpoint the day before (Saturday, January 17). We were given the rare opportunity to go to Bethle-

Continued on page 5

The Dome of the Rock and the Temple Mount

Part Three

hem and eat at a "cousins" restaurant. Going from Jerusalem to Bethlehem on the bus is like turning the corner in a busy town, the two cities have grown so much that they lie on top of each other. BUT in-stead of a nice transition into a new city there is a HUGE wall dividing the two cit-ies. From mid-December to January 15, various Christian traditions celebrate their own Christmases. Since Bethlehem is a Christian holy city, the bor-ders are relaxed and Palestinian tour guides are allowed into the city, but after the last Christmas, which is an Armenian celebra-tion on January 15, tour guides are no longer allowed across the checkpoint. Peter, as a Palestin-ian tour guide, was allowed to go into Bethlehem with us, but after January 15, he was no longer allowed to cross as a Palestinian tour guide. He had to cross on foot as a humanitarian aide worker. It was heart-breaking to hear and witness.

It is not the first time I have heard of such things. When my friend, Matt, worked as an organist at a Christian church in Bethlehem he would often have to wait hours with his Palestinian friends to get through security. Arbitrarily the check-points would close to the Palestinian people. Matt's blue-eagle US passport could fly him through secu-rity, but his friends could not come with him, so he would wait with them as an act of solidarity. It was the same for us; our blue-eagle US passports sailed us through security. When we passed back into Je-

rusalem two armed IDF soldiers boarded the bus and slowly wandered down the aisle glancing at passports, then exited the bus and we were allowed to continue on. So our first trip into Bethlehem was on January 15. Peter decided it was ok to stay with

us, but I noticed his demeanor change when we entered Bethle-hem. He was profiled. He con-versed with the IDF soldiers and they allowed him through, but they warned him he could not return after this day. When we crossed the checkpoint on January 17, Peter was picked up and taken across the checkpoint by a friend and then after lunch we had to drop him off at the pedestrian cross-ing. He exited the bus and dropped his head not knowing what the security would be like this time. He willingly walked over so that we would not be de-layed because by crossing on foot, without us, he could take on the identity of a humanitarian worker and not the identity of a tour guide. Peter lives in the midst of

being identified and categorized daily. He recounted story after story of being profiled and restricted. I could now vaguely relate to both the Jewish arm-bands of the 1940's and to the Palestinian crisis of today. I had merely tasted this on our trip to the Temple Mount, but I walked away with a little bit more knowledge about what it felt like to be in some-one else's shoes.

Continued from page 4


In A Predicament I want to honor and respect our guide, but also not put him in harms way, so I have decided to use his name. Our guide’s name was Peter. As presented at Manna, Peter wrote an article describing his predicament as a Palestinian. I edited his article by adding pictures that I took of him, attempting to capture glimpses of life through his eyes. I have his permission to dissemi-nate the article with his name and picture, so I feel it is not necessary to change his name. You can access the full document as a 64MB pdf at: http://public.me.com/meprentice

Going Through Security

A Weekly Column Offering Musings, Insights, and Reflections on the Seminary Life

Other Sheep By Paul Dubois, MDiv Senior

I am a male, American, child, brother, father, hus-band, student, obese, 5'8", French Canadian and Welsh hybrid cradle Catholic turned Methodist, geophysical engi-neer called to ministry who is still not sure God has all her marbles. As you can see, Mary Elizabeth Prentice has me thinking about identity, too. At some point a few years ago I began to think that many problems within the Church were rooted in identity: Who are we, as Christians, as a church, and who are the others? I have been thinking about identity, but my thoughts are not complete. Identity matters. My question is, should it? I am intrigued and perplexed by the question of identity. I want to know who I am and who you are, but I don’t want a systematic theology about it all because sys-tems inherently distort, control and restrict the flow of com-munication... and, perhaps, grace. Systemization should never be the last word. So I’m left, for now, with gathering disparate clues about identity to see if anything shakes out.. In Manna this past week I was confronted with two January terms. Students who traveled to the Holy Land spoke of the trip–the places they visited, the people they met, and the situations they encountered. Mary Elizabeth’s piece on identity (in this issue, pages 4-5), in particular, explores the marginalization at best and dehu-manization at worst, of Palestinians in the West Bank. But in January I took the Spirituality and the Holocaust class. The Holocaust, or Shoah (catastrophe), was a rupture of identity. Millions of Jews and others were killed because of their identity–often, actually, the identity of their parents and grandparents. The Jewish people, who were legally, systematically, and efficiently processed to the brink of extinction, ought to have their identity protected, to have their own state. But what about the Palestinians? Don’t they have a compelling claim, also? The modern state of Israel arises out of this indescribable crime of identity, as does the present plight of the Palestinian people. How can we see both, without prioritizing one or the other? Somehow, our identities are inseparable. Yet, Google “Christian identity” and let yourself be shocked: Christian identity has been hijacked by a racial-ized Christianity reminiscent of National Socialism and the perverted belief that white, Western European Christianity is the “true” Israel. Consider identity in regards to the divisive issue du jour, homosexuality. I wonder if this issue divides the church not because of the orientation of the individual whose identity is either (depending on one’s understand-ing) created to be or chooses to be homosexual, but, rather, because of the church’s understanding of its own identity in relation to God and to others. I’m not sure, but I

think there is something here that ought to be explored. Then there is denominational identity. The identity of the reformed tradition arises out of the 16th century ref-ormation and the particular religious, political, and social context of the day. My own tradition, United Methodist, finds its roots in 18th century industrial England, again, in response to a particular religious, political, and social con-text. Are we still relevant? Well, I don’t know for sure. I think so. I hope so. But is my Methodist identity still de-termined by 18th century England? Determined, no. Influ-enced, yes, because the role of tradition is to influence identity. Can the gifts of the tradition translate into the present context? Again, I hope so, but we shall see. I think about Matthew 25:31-46, where one’s iden-tity as a sheep is determined by one’s compassion to-wards the hungry, the thirsty, the estranged, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned. That’s good; I can do that. But then I am afraid because the identity of the King, of God, is also fixed to these persons who are hungry, thirsty, estranged, naked, sick, and imprisoned. I think about the man on the cross next to Jesus in Luke 23:40-42, who proclaimed the truth as he knew it (which was, simply, that Jesus was innocent whereas he himself was not), then asked Jesus to remember him. Voilá, paradise found. I think of John 10: 16, which says, “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” Who are these other sheep? How will I identify them? Why am I even concerned with their identity? I think of Pi Patel in Yann Martel’s Life of Pi. Pi is a young boy who is searching for God and finds clues in three faith traditions. There is a scene in which Pi and his family encounter the Catholic Priest, the Hindu Priest, and the Muslim Imam who have been teaching Pi. Each of these holy men declare to Pi’s parents that Pi is a follower of their particular tradition, falling into an argument as if competing for the boy’s salvation. Pi responds to them, sheepishly, “I just want to love God.” Perhaps the last clue is on the cover of this issue. Those babies! Our babies. The children of our commu-nity. The children whose identities are brand new to us, yet reflect our own identity. These babies are full of hope–the hope of God, the hope of the parents and brothers and sisters, and the hope of our community. I remember hold-ing my first child 16 years ago when he was perhaps a few days old. One moment in particular I recall when I looked into his eyes and, for the first time, I saw not a baby, but a human person child of God in his own right. A person who, as Kahlil Gibran says in The Prophet, came through me but is not of me. Identity. Something is shared, yet something held apart. Like and unlike. Identities matter.


Kairos Editorial Guidelines 1 Kairos is the voice of students at Austin Seminary. 2 Kairos generally carries no advertisement for sales of goods or services by individuals. An exception is the sale of a student’s library or other

study aids. 3 It is not possible to make all program announcements which are submitted by individual churches. Kairos is more likely to be able to run an-

nouncements which apply to ecumenical or interfaith groups or groups of churches. 4 No letters which attack individuals or groups will be run in Kairos. This is to be distinguished from letters which might criticize the actions of

individuals or groups. 5 Kairos will publish letters to the editor that contribute to Christian conversation on the APTS campus. All letters must be signed.

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Monday, February 23rd 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Morning Prayer Shelton Chapel Led by Matthew Thompson 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Acts 2:42 – Jose Lopez McCord 203 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Spiritual Direction Group – Scott Quinn McCord 202 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. College of Pastoral Leaders – Kathy Muenchow McCord 200

Tuesday, February 24th

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Service of the Word and Sacrament Shelton Chapel Led by Bishop James E. Dorff of the Southwest and Rio Grande United Methodist Conferences Chapel Team: Paul Dubois, Stella Burkhalter, and Lisa Straus 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Methodist Student Luncheon McCord 204 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Good Friday/Easter Vigil Prep. Meeting – Jennifer Lord Stotts Dining Hall 1:00 – 1:30 p.m. Welcome Reception Vickery Atrium Bishop Dorff, his Cabinet, and the Board of Ordained Ministry 4:15 – 8:15 p.m. Reading, Writing, and Study Skills – Light German Knox Dining Hall

Wednesday, February 25th 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Larry Coulter Meeting – Outside Group McCord 204/Knox Dining Hall 8:30 – 10:00 a.m. Spiritual Direction – Joe Berry McCord 202 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Spiritual Direction – Jean Springer McCord 202 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Ash Wednesday Chapel Service Shelton Chapel Led by Rev. David Johnson 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Corpus Christi – Scott Spence McCord 201 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Student Senate – Melissa Koerner McMillan 206 12:45 – 2:30 p.m. Korean Bible Study – In Hye Park McMillan 204 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. APTS Choir Rehearsal – Kevin McClure Shelton Chapel 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. Faculty Meeting – Nancy Reese Trull Boardroom 3:30 – 5:00 p.m. Faculty in Executive Session – Nancy Reese Trull Boardroom 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. Balcones Community Orchestra – Outside Group McMillan 211 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Bible Qur’an Study Group – Whit Bodman Knox Dining Room

Thursday, February 26th 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Spiritual Direction – Barbara Schutz McCord 202 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Morning Prayer Shelton Chapel Led by Tracey Beadle 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Call 2 – Gail Dalrymple McCord 201

Friday, February 27th 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Student Led Morning Prayer Shelton Chapel 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Still Small Voice – Margaret Talbot Knox Dining Hall 12:30 – 5:00 p.m. Step by Step – College Style – Jackie Saxon Campus Wide

Saturday, February 28th 8:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Step by Step – College Style – Jackie Saxon Campus Wide 2:00 – 7:00 p.m. The Growing Generation – Outside Group McCord 201

Sunday, March 1st 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. Austin Girls’ Choir – Sara McClure Shelton Chapel 4:00 – 10:00 p.m. Board of Pensions – Kathy Muenchow McCord 204

Submissions to Kairos: Email submissions to the editor, Paul Dubois, at [email protected]. Calendar events and room reservation requests should be sent to Jackie McCully at [email protected] or made in person at the McCord desk. Editorial decisions are based on urgency, availability of space, and editorial guidelines. Deadline is Wednesday at 5:00 P.M. Submissions made after deadline must be accompanied by a dunkel.

Do you have something to say to Kairos? Something to add… Something to refute?

If so, we’d like to hear. We are committed to dialogue. Letters to the editor will be published. See page 7 of this issue for our editorial guidelines.

Sister Dear Do you recall the times when we ran hands clasped, through the meadows and grass, dancing and twirling under liquid blue skies dressed in fleeting cotton clouds? A wonderful place where each bright day was our butterfly to chase. Followed by the crystal clear trills of faithful songbirds letting us know, God is near. And sister, before we even knew, the devil and his mess, we smiled and twirled, leaped and skipped, climbed and rolled onto great puffs of air. Then we slipped and tripped, and for the first time; silver dust became dirt, joy became hurt — laughter lost. we never really touched in the same light and free, soft, sweet way. And then thank you Oh God. For you Holy kiss mending the harsh diamond hole the world tried to make in our little girl souls. Can you hear it sister, the golden whisper of our Saviour’s spirit? My dear,Lovely, darling sister — listen. So once again we dance and laugh and sing and cry and smile and leap and jump and run. Father is hear, mother is here, brother is here, sister dear, My dear, dear, sweet.

©Malartha Bosier, September 2002


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