163 10_24_08

A Publication of the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary Community October 24, 2008 Issue #163

Kairos Some of the greatest joys of seminary are the points where you look back and realize you’ve moved forward on the journey. You realize you’re not who you used to be. I had one of those recently when I found my new Patron Saint. Yes, I realize we don’t do the whole Patron Saint thing around here, but there’s something to this notion that the story of a predecessor in the faith can resonate with our own and engender a special kinship between us. Sometimes we really do com-mune with the saints.

I glanced back at the road I’ve walked and saw Mary who walked with me when I was young and wanted so much to be wholeheartedly faithful. And there was Peter, soaking wet from his failed at-tempt at walking on the water, so much like me in his tendency to jump in with both feet and fail gloriously. For a time I sat with Melchezidek, encouraged by a priest who didn’t get there the usual way, and I stood with Deborah, inspired by a woman who could lead with authority. Today, though, Aaron met me on the road.

It’s time for this rite of passage, I guess, be-cause I’m finally living in to my identity as a child called and set apart by God for ministry, and I’m lis-tening to God’s word a little differently these days. Now that I’m settled in to my church internship and getting used to being called “Pastor,” it must be time for a new companion. Always faithful to meet me where I am, God has sent me Aaron, first in the line of priests.

“Don’t run ahead of God, Pastor Stella,” Aaron warned. He should know. Aaron was put in place to shepherd God’s people while Moses was on the mountain. While his brother met God face to face, Aaron stayed below and dealt with budgets, reports to district committees, building maintenance questions and the like. The thing that kept him up at night, though, was the numbers. God was falling in

the polls and worship attendance was declining. Well, OK, I might be digressing from the story

a little, but I imagine that Aaron took his responsibili-ties seriously and with Moses away, gave in to the pressure of trying to please people who wanted quick fixes.

“Ah,” I said to Aaron as we look knowingly at each other. I realized he must have only been trying to help when he made the golden calf. Suddenly it didn’t seem so different than trying to come up with clever marketing campaigns or searching for ways to make mission work more efficient instead of more faithful.

I heard Peter laugh, and his far-away voice called, “I’m laughing with you, not at you!” Aaron wasn’t laughing, though. I paused to take in the face of my new friend.

“I’m sorry I always considered you an idiot,” I said. “Now I see how much you were motivated by love for your people. And you did so many things right! You recognized that the people needed to worship. Of course you looked to the world around you for models to follow. Who could blame you?”

“Ah, but I am to blame,” Aaron said. “I caused the little ones to stumble and you know what Jesus said about doing that.” I cringed. “We who are entrusted with the care of souls can do great damage when we become disconnected from the Living God and fall into becoming fixers.” He grinned weakly and I could see little flecks of gold still on his lips.

“I’m not sure I’m up to this call,” I said hesi-tatingly. “Maybe I should turn back…” Aaron stopped and waited for me in the road. I paused a while at the invitation of his outstretched hand.

“I’m thankful for you,” I said finally. “God is good,” said he, and we walked in si-

lence down the road.

Stella Burkhalter, MDiv Senior

© 2008 Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

www.aust inseminary .typepad.com/porta l/kai ros.html Issue 163

What Does IQ Mean to You? Probably not what you think, and that’s not an indication of your level of intelligence. Over the course of the next few weeks, months and semes-ters here at APTS, we will be hearing more and more about Information Quality, or IQ. Have difficulty finding technical resources for research papers? Wondering if what you found is actually reputable? Worried about what you’ll do once Stitt, or any li-brary for that matter, isn’t a 3-minute walk across campus and you have to face writing sermons with-out having all those books so close at hand? Well, the aim of IQ is to develop the necessary skills stu-dents need to process information including acquisi-tion, analysis, and implementation. To accomplish learning these skills, professors will be working closely with librarians to make sure that assignments given to students help us to learn these vital skills. In this age when all types of information is only a few clicks away, having the skills to assess the value of what you find could mean the difference between an authoritative, authentic ministry and an irresponsible one. Contact Matt Falco, APTS Middler, for more information. Note: A brief presentation of IQ will be made at Manna on October 29.

Apply for Outside Financial Aid The Financial Aid Office maintains a spread-sheet of Outside Scholarship Resources to assist you in seeking financial aid. Remember to monitor this list and apply for grants within deadline dates. If you do not have or cannot find your electronic copy of this excel spreadsheet, please request one from Glenna Balch or Sally Wright in the Financial Aid Office.

Chapel Schedule October 27—October 31

Monday: Service of the Word Karolina Wright, preacher Tuesday: Service of the Word and

Sacrament Dr. Bill Greenway, preacher Thursday: Service of the Word Melissa Koerner, preacher Friday: Service of the Word Matthew Thompson, Preacher Senior MDiv students preach in chapel this

week on Monday, Thursday and Friday

Cross-cultural opportunities Please see Alison in the Dean’s office for more infor-mation about the 2009 Cross Cultural Ministries courses at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico (January and June), and the Overseas Ministries Study Center (January). Both opportunities carry academic credit and are eligible for the Gunther Scholarship.

Attention Juniors! It’s time to get together with your small group from our retreat to check in with one another on your commitments to spiritual disciplines.

Discovery Weekend Friday, Oct. 31— Sunday, Nov. 2

We anticipate at least 35 guests for this weekend exploration of Austin Seminary. Please be helpful and friendly if you see an unfamiliar face. We hope to see a lot of friendly and familiar faces helping with the events that weekend. Most out-of-towners will be arriving on Thurs-day so please be aware of parking on campus. Questions? Want to help? Contact anyone in the admissions office.

Personal Counseling Referral for individual counseling is available to students and/or their families as needed. If you are interested in personal counseling, please talk to Ann Fields at 404-4869 or by e-mail at [email protected].

Inside This Issue A Book Review If Cooking at Home is Cheaper Than Eating Out, Why Don’t I Do It? October in the Archives: The Texas-Mexican Presbytery Records Word of the Week

3 4 5 6

Seminarians: Sharing our Faith Traditions Revisiting the Colloquium RTQ in the Kingdom What I Learned in Seminary Today Calendar of Events

7 9 10 11 12

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 12 of this issue for our editorial guidelines.


This is not a traditional book review, but in honor of Theological Libraries Month it seemed ap-propriate to share some musings about From Mid-terms to Ministry: Practical Theologians on Pastoral Beginnings (Allan Hugh Cole, Jr. Editor. Grand Rap-ids: Eerdmans Publishing Co. 2008. BV 4011.F75 2008), which I received as a “book by mail” (thank you, Lila!). I have learned to keep an online journal (a discipline reluctantly developed in baby preach-ing), not so I can glean tidbits for sermons, but as a tool for reflecting and integration. I guess that’s what this article represents. So, why read a book about the transition into ministry from seminary when you are still in semi-nary, or only an intern? Although I am a self-confessed library geek, I am not a glutton for punish-ment when it comes to more reading. But only a few weeks into my internship, I sensed the difference between seminary life and pastoral life, even though this internship and congregation are not my long-term home. Maybe I should have titled this review, “How to Read a Book While on Internship” because I have discovered that a little inspiration goes a long way in the rhythm of full-time parish life. Let me ex-plain…. Before writing my first sermon, I paused to read James F. Kay’s essay, Blackduck, about his first pastorate in Blackduck, MN. It spoke to me im-mediately when he wrote about the parables in our lives where Heaven has broken in to “point us to what is finally true and real about ourselves and God.” I also liked his description of these parables: “those contemporary patterns of events that we find already in the revelation of Jesus Christ, and which unexpectedly encounter us in this world and provide the basis and final hope for the ministry of the Word.” These words bring me back to my congrega-tion to see how and where the Kingdom of Heaven is already breaking in. I re-wrote my sermon. In Ray S. Anderson’s essay, Making the Transition: From a Theology of Ministry to a Ministry of Theology, I am reminded that every act of ministry teaches something about God. I think about this when I feel I am doing something unimportant, like

putting together the bulletin or participating in the town’s Fall Festival. No task is too small in ministry, especially in a small congregation. I like doing pas-toral visitation to shut-ins, but sometimes I feel it’s just a visit and nothing more. But more often than not my timing is just right, my presence is more than just conversation, it’s actually…pastoral. Reading is another theme in the essays. I kind of hoped I’d read less while on internship, but with two more ordination exams looming on the hori-zon, six sermons/worship services before the end of December, plus a community Advent service, I must have been fooling myself. So much to read and so little time. Where to begin? Michael Jinkins (hey, I know that guy!) in his essay Ministry and Clouds of Witnesses holds both ancient witnesses (e.g., books) and everyday witnesses (in the congregation) of equal value. He provides a good list of classical theologians (including some we all know and love) as a starting point, but I’m leaning toward Jurgen Moltmann (the theologian who opened up the world of the Holy Spirit to me) and maybe Donald Bloesch (20th Century Evangelical Protestant that we were introduced to in Sys I). I think I’ll also add Barbara and Duff, who live across the street, Lucille and Miss Alice Todd, two of our 90+ shut-ins, and Phil and Joan, mission volunteers to the list. Pamela Couture’s essay, The Furnace of Humiliation, reminds me that “When students read theology not just to gain credentials for ordination but to find insight about their urgent life questions, vocation is being formed.” I’m not reading for sermon nuggets, I’m reading for me. Being away on internship is like living life at the margins of seminary. It can be a lonely venture at times. Having companions along the way who have tangled with the messiness and blessings of that first pastoral ministry bolsters my confidence to go forth into this ministry knowing I am not alone. I have reluctantly let go of the book and returned it to Lila. Now I have time to spend with my friends Ursi-nus and Olevianus and their Heidelberg Catechism as I prepare for Reformation Sunday. I haven’t met them yet, but there’s no time like the present.

By Debbie Garber, MDiv Senior

I like eating at restaurants – we all do. How-ever, I am back in school and not making a full sal-ary. It is imperative for me to minimize my spending. Other than rent, my biggest budget item is for res-taurants. I need to spend less – much less on res-taurants. Therefore I need to cook at home. “Is cooking at home really cheaper than eat-ing out?” you ask. Look at the numbers. It really is cheaper! The closest burger joint to campus is the Crown and Anchor Pub. A hamburger at the Crown costs $4.25; it is a good burger. It comes with a bun, a patty of ground beef, mustard, mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato. When I made the same burger at home, I made it for only $2.60 including fries and a coke. The cost brakes down as follows:

• 1 bun - $0.27 • 1/4lb ground beef - $0.55 • Squirt mustard - $0.01 • Squirt mayo - $0.02 • 2 leaves lettuce - $0.04 • 2 slices tomato - $0.02 • 1 potato - $0.89 • 1/3c oil - $0.43 • 1 can of coke - $0.37

The numbers clearly show making my burger at home is cheaper. This should be the end of the story. Why don’t I eat at home? The main reason I go to restaurants is to meet friends. Many social events center on food. Since I don’t want to be anti-social I go and eat with my friends. A suggestion is to eat first at home and meet my friends out afterward. What I like to do is to

invite my friends over and cook for them. And the next time another friend cooks. Or, the ever-famous potluck – everyone brings a dish. It is social and economical. Another reason I don’t cook at home is the appearance of saving time. When I was in the work-force, I needed the convenience of not planning ahead and cooking at home. I needed to save those few precious minutes. Since being back in school, saving money is essential. And, now that I cook at home, I have leftovers – my precious already cooked meals, ready in minutes. It is convenient to double a recipe and freeze half in individual containers. When I pack my lunch, all I do is grab a meal, toss it into my lunch box and warm it in the microwave at lunchtime. The last reason I will go out to a restaurant is laziness. There are days (i.e. the Friday before Fall break) when I just can’t bring myself to put a meal together. It is on days like that I should have had a frozen pizza (or something to pop in the oven). In-stead, I had a burger at The Crown. It was a good and worth every dollar. But, my goal is to not default on grabbing a burger. In conclusion, cooking at home is cheaper and generally more convenient than eating fre-quently at restaurants. And, eating at home and hav-ing a social life can coexist. Personally, I have to in-clude money in my budget for restaurants. It is im-portant for me to have the option of going out. But, I need to cook at home more and not depend on res-taurants. My goal is to see how close I can get to not touching my monthly restaurant budget.

Sally Wright, MDiv Junior


Trunk-Or-Treat October 31st, 6:30 pm

Decorate yourself, your children, pets, trunks or cars and meet at the Hicks House Parking lot for loads of

fun. Pass out candy/treats to our community children—young or not

so young;). Make a night of it and grill out using

the grills at Hicks House!

‘Twas a Dark and Stormy Night… Free Halloween Music Concert

7pm, Sunday, October 26, Shelton Chapel A long-time Austin tradition featuring organ-ist Kevin McClure as Count Dracula and numerous hilariously dressed friends (fiends?) performing to a costumed audience of all ages. It will be a free con-cert of eerie music in our own Gothic chapel.

An experience you will never forget… Boowaahaaahaaahaaa!!!!


By Kristy Sorensen, Archivist and Records Manager Third in a series celebrating American Archives Month

In addition to institutional records and pas-toral papers, the Austin Seminary Archives has an extensive collection of records related to synods and presbyteries in the region. The most compre-hensive collection of these records is the Texas-Mexican Presbytery Records. The Texas-Mexican Presbytery was estab-lished by the Synod of Texas of the Presbyterian Church, U.S. in 1908, based on the missionary work of Walter S. Scott and Robert D. Campbell. These men organized and aided in the develop-ment of Spanish-speaking Presbyterian churches and religious education programs in Texas, particu-larly in the southwest region. The Texas-Mexican Presbytery became the focus of home missionary work with Mexicans in Texas. The presbytery es-tablished Mexican-Presbyterian churches, placed ministers, disbursed support funds, and estab-lished two Mexican-Presbyterian educational insti-tutions: The Texas Mexican Industrial Institute for Boys in 1912, and in 1924 the Presbyterian School for Mexican Girls. The goal set forth for the churches in the presbytery was to become self-supporting, at which point the churches would be-come part of their geographic presbytery. When all churches became self-supporting and were ab-sorbed into their geographic presbyteries by 1955, the Texas-Mexican Presbytery ceased to exist. The collection of Texas-Mexican Presbytery Records at the Austin Seminary Archives (1861-1954) consists of ten feet, nine inches of corre-spondence, reports, financial documentation, min-ute books, account books, diaries and printed mat-ter; two feet of photographs and photographic slides; five audio recordings, eight movie films, two VHS tapes, and one artifact relating to the found-ing, organization, operation, and dissolution of the presbytery. The voluminous material is arranged in

four sub-groups and twelve series. The sub-groups contain the papers of various leaders of the pres-bytery, and the series are comprised of material relating more generally to the presbytery, synod and church. The bulk of the material dates from the last years of the presbytery and documents the churches’ struggle, due to financial hardship or un-willingness to integrate, to merge into their geo-graphic presbyteries. A complete inventory of the Texas-Mexican Presbytery Records can be found on our website: http://www.austinseminary.edu/images/stories/docs/archives/tex_mex_presbytery.pdf To access the Texas-Mexican Presbytery Records, or for anything else archival, contact Kristy Sorensen at [email protected], or 512-404-4875.

Group photograph taken in 1947 at El Buen Pastor Presbyterian Church in Austin, TX. From the Texas-Mexican Presbytery Records, Austin Seminary Archives, Stitt Library, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

Dual Degree Information Meeting Students are invited to meet with Prof. Allan Cole on Wednesday, October 29, 2008, in the Knox Dining Room, from 1:00 – 2:00 to learn more about the dual MDiv-MSSW degree program with the School of Social Work at The University of Texas at Austin.


By Lisa Straus, MDiv Senior

spermolo,goj Athens is the setting for Acts 17:16-34. Paul ends up in the Greek Agora, or marketplace, where he is preaching to the Greeks who have gathered there. Among them are some Epicurist Philoso-phers, or those who value life’s pleasures, espe-cially pleasures of the mind, and Stoic Philoso-phers, or those who believe life should be without feelings of joy or grief. They listen to Paul’s words and then call him a spermolo,goj. When I came upon this word in my translat-ing, I quickly realized I had never seen it before. In fact, Acts 17:18 contains the one instance when it ever appears in scripture. “What is a spermolo,goj?” I wondered. “What are they calling Paul? Is it a compliment or an insult?” A quick check of various translations turns up the following: ‘scavenger’, ‘charlatan’, ‘babbler’, ‘idle babbler’, ‘parrot’, ‘know-it-all’, and ‘airhead’. One translation avoided the question of how to translate the word by simply omitting it. Any word in scripture that someone is willing to risk translating as ‘airhead’, piques my curiosity. The Theological Lexicon of the New Tes-tament gives a lengthy etymological progression of this word. It is a compound of two Greek words: sperma, meaning seed or grain; and legein, mean-ing to pick up, scatter. In early literature, Greek au-thors such as Hesychius, Aristotle and Aristo-phanes used it in the original sense, ‘to pick up grain’. Around this same time, authors used the word to refer to specific types of birds who en-gaged in this type of activity. By the time of Plu-tarch, the word referred to a person who collects cast-offs or hunts tidbits of information and spreads them around. Another reference uses it to describe someone who pretends to know a lot but speaks

without true understanding. I can imagine how this word underwent metamorphosis as someone watched a person who perhaps carried some avian traits, collect and spread bits of gossip and stories. Perhaps the one watching remembered seeing a type of bird, a spermolo,goj, engaging in this same type of activity. The commentaries on Acts 17 tend to agree that the Greek philosophers in the Agora meant to insult Paul by insinuating he was spreading bits of information like a common gossip about a subject that he probably did not really understand. As I read more about this Greek word it struck me that these Greek philosophers had probably not heard many stories of Jesus. They probably had never heard this parable: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and in-creasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hun-dredfold (Mark 4:1-20).” All of a sudden, the task of spreading or sowing seeds does not carry the same sting as it did before. As Paul was strewing about seeds of the Gospel message on those gathered in the Ag-ora, my guess is that the Stoics and Epicurists gathered there that day completely missed the point. In their attempt to belittle Paul and under-mine his message for those gathered in the Agora, they ended up paying Paul a compliment. I wonder what type of soil Paul thought they were…

Attention!!! It’s time for the English Grammar Review for Biblical Hebrew

with Light German, Director of Reading, Writing and Study Skills Support The first session will be MONDAY, November 3 (instead of Tuesday, Nov. 4, Election Day) , from 4:15 - 5:15 pm, in McCord 201. The special session will be followed by the regular tutorial session from 5:15 - 8:15 pm. There will be no session on Tuesday, November 4. The English Grammar Review will continue on Tuesday, Nov. 11 and 18, with the same format as above. Please see Alison Riemersma in the Dean’s Office for more information.


Seminarians: Sharing Our Faith Traditions, formerly Seminarians Interacting, is a workshop for seminarians from the Jewish, Roman Catholic, Free Church and Mainline Protestant traditions. Since 1987, the retreat has addressed topics related to matters central to graduate theological education, includ-ing scripture, theology, ethics, worship, and professional identity. Annually, seminarians from over eighteen diverse religious institutions in the region are invited to participate in this inter-religious retreat. The themes and discussions are led by rep-resentatives of various religions, including faculty from seminaries and clergy from churches and synagogues. The goal is for seminarians to engage in the subject matter and to experience the richness of interfaith and ecumenical dialogue. This retreat helps prepare outstanding seminarians for their future roles as religious leaders in an interfaith and

pluralistic society.

2009 Retreat: Reaching Out to God Through the Psalms:

Sparks in Every Direction January 5-8, 2009

T Bar M Resort & Conference Center New Braunfels, Texas

www.tbarm.com

Resource Scholars: Rabbi Ralph Mecklenburger

Dr. Toni Craven

The Multicultural Alliance is dedicated to eliminating bias, bigotry and oppression in our community.

The Alliance promotes understanding and respect among all races, religions and cultures through advocacy programs, conflict resolution,

education and shared experiences.

Co-Sponsored by • Multicultural Alliance (formerly NCCJ) • The Council of Southwestern Theological

Schools With Partners • The Jewish Federation of Fort Worth and Tar-

rant County • American Jewish University (formerly University

of Judaism) • Gates of Chai • Hebrew Union College—Jewish Institute of Re-

ligion

“I always come away with a deeper appreciation of my

own faith tradition and a deeper appreciation of

others in their relationship to the Lord. In our tradi-tion we talk a lot about

unity but do not act on it. This presents a challenge

to act on our words.” - Monsignor Charles

King, Facilitator

APTS Students Interested In Attending This Event?

Contact Alison Riemersma in the Dean’s

Office for more Information

“...I feel more empowered and more defined in my be-liefs.” - Patricia Greenleaf,

Past Participant

“ We have a long road to-ward unity, but saw religious tolerance and acceptance.” - Rodney Whitfield, Past

Participant


Thursday, October 30 5:30-7:30 pm

On the green between the Chapel and the Library

• Live Music • Moonwalk for the kids • Food—Brats, Reformation

Dogs, Veggie Dogs, Chips, So-das, etc.

More!

Community Edge (Spouses Group) Community Events

October 24th – Parents’ Night Out 6:00-8:00 pm, Hicks House Sign up with Laurel Dixon, Babysitting Coor-

dinator - 473-8797 31st – APTS “Trunk or Treat” 6:30 p.m. - Hicks Park-

ing Lot Alternative to door-to-door trick or treating. Decorate you, children, pets, trunk or your car and meet at Hicks Parking lot for loads of fun. Pass candy/treats to community children.

November 11th – Parent’s Night Out, 6-8:00pm, Hicks House Sign up with Laurel Dixon, space is limited! 21st – Parent’s Night Out, 6-8:00pm, Hicks House Sign up with Laurel Dixon, space is limited! 27th – Community Thanksgiving Meal Pot Luck in Stotts Fellowship Hall for those

who are in town. Lisa Straus coordinating December 5th – Lessons and Carols, APTS Community Service, Shelton Chapel Bring a dessert to Stotts Fellowship

Hall following worship - Student Senate will provide drinks.

1-Reformation Fest • Request 25 folding chairs, 3 long tables, grill from

maintenance - Jose • Rain plan? • Sarah will reserve the upper floor of McMillan as a

rain plan • Band requested a check ahead of time to distribute

to members at the event 2-Polity Bowl • Dec 6 date confirmed • T-shirts will be decided during next week’s meeting • Refs – still waiting to hear back • Rules – Matthew will email UT rec rules to everyone • Food arrangements are still being worked out be-

tween APTS & ETSS • T-shirt sign-up to McCord by next week

3-Manna • Oct. 28 – QEP presentation & Reformation themed

Manna • YAV – Mary Elizabeth to talk this semester or next 4-Stotts Recycling Bins • Update from Kurt – Melissa is meeting with him on

Friday 5-Fundraising on Campus • Report from Ann Fields • No Fundraising for individuals • Campus groups may not fundraise for themselves

but they can raise funds for a charitable organization outside campus life with approval from the Vice President of Student Affairs and Vocation.

STUDENT SENATE MINUTES WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2008

12-1PM Respectfully submitted by Sarah Hegar

Present: Melissa Koerner, Matthew Thompson, Sarah Hegar, Amy Wiles, Lindsay Hatch, Jose Lopez, Chris Kreisher, Ann Fields Absent: None

Business Items

The Student Senate meets each Wednesday after Manna from 12-1 pm.

All meetings are open to the community


By Ken White, MDiv Middler

Over the last several weeks, I’ve found my thoughts returning to the president’s colloquium on torture. I’ve been troubled – not by what was said, but by what wasn’t said, and also by how that omission reflects on the voice of the church as a whole. The discussions seemed to me to be a typical of many religious discussions about torture I’ve heard over the last several years – discussions which seem to differ from those promoted by secular humanists only by the location in which they take place. I distrust lists, not only because they often sound pompous, but because they also often leave something out. Since you know me well enough by now to have already ascertained my enormous pro-pensity for pomposity as well as over-simplification, I am willing to risk a list. As best I can tell, there are at least five levels at which one might discuss the issue of torture. The first level of questioning is that of efficacy. This is the Machiavellian question – there is no right or wrong, but instead only that which is advantageous or disadvantageous. This is not a question of values, but of objective data. Does torture work?1 The second question is that of political expedi-ency. Does the use of torture increase or decrease our political standing in the world at large? Does it result in political reciprocity from other countries? This is the question that leads us to consider extraordinary rendition. The third question, and one which was dis-cussed a good bit at the colloquium, is that of legality. Is torture legal? Of all the questions, this seems to me to be the least useful. In a democracy, torture is legal if we simply declare it to be so. An argument that tor-ture is illegal is in no way a Christian argument; it is simply a statement of current applicable law. Of course, in this country – a country funded to no small degree by slave labor – we know, of all people, that what is declared legal is not necessarily right. We know, as Dr. King articulated, that there are just laws and there are unjust laws. That is to say, we have historical appreciation for the elevation of ethics – the fourth level of questioning – over that of law. We understand that at their best, laws reflect and articu-late ethical valuations (and we understand that they are not always at their best). Ethics are where non-believing humanists and believers can meet with little discomfort using a shared language, which is why I

think that most religious discussions – including those given at the colloquium – tend to stop at this level. However, we are not a community of objective data. We are not a community of politics, or law, or even ethics. We are a community of faith, and I think that ultimately the issue of torture is a faith question – one that the religious community is solely qualified to address, yet one that we seem all too ready and will-ing to abdicate. The questions that we ask betray our world-view; when we center our discussion of torture around a “ticking time bomb scenario”, for instance, we are ultimately presuming the claim there are some situations in which the will of God can only be acted out - that is, incarnated - through the perpetration of righteous violence; this is a theological claim. When we approach this scenario as an exercise in utilitarian ethics, we advance the claim that in this scenario God is simply incapable of acting through a non-violent approach. In asking this question, we claim that in at least one possible scenario, God’s ultimate power is that of violence. In this question itself, we imply that violence is the greatest power in the universe, and that love can ultimately only be empowered through violence. I contend, on the other hand, that the essen-tial framework of a Christian worldview – that is, what we deem to be possible – is defined by the crucifixion and resurrection; that in this framework, love is ulti-mate and violence penultimate. In this framework, I understand God’s possibilities to be beyond the imag-inings of the wisdom of the world. In this framework, the ticking time bomb scenario simply cannot exist as stated. In this framework, there must be a third way. I think reasonable arguments exist that come to a different conclusion (for instance, those that cen-ter on total depravity). However, these discussions are faith discussions, not political discussions. It seems that the voice of the church should be one of faith, only turning to law, efficacy, politics, and even ethics as interesting, but not necessarily central, is-sues. 1 For examples, see http://explore.georgetown.edu/news/?

ID=20647 or http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/jscope/arrigo03.htm#_edn27 , noting especially section II., or http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/15/AR2007011501204.html?nav=rss_world , to name a few.

I received my absentee ballot; it is an em-powering feeling to receive a ballot half way around the world. It has been a very interesting political season for me because I really enjoy watching the Presidential Debates and the VP debate; however, Kenya is 8 hours ahead so in order to do so one must get up at 4 AM to watch them. So, we did… By “we” I am referring to the 8 other YAVs, the coordinator and her husband, and our spare, Blair, a YAV who is still here from last year. The first debate was easy to watch because I was living in Westlands and had access to a TV with CNN. The second debate and the VP debate proved to be more tricky however lacking CNN... but I had internet in an office that was locked up like Fort Knox at 4 AM. So, I asked the key holder if I could borrow the keys because I wanted to wake at 4 in the morning so I could watch the Presidential debate. I think in the States a Kenyan saying this would have received an unusual look or a “no”, but a States person asking a Kenyan was greeted with a smile and an offer to leave some tea out for me. So, I got up and unlocked all of the locks on the doors and set everything up for CNN.com and was ready to go. The debate started and the same line kept repeating over and over because the internet was too slow. So, I did the next logical thing. I called my family on Skype, asked my dad to turn his web cam on and put his laptop in front of the TV so I could watch the TV at home. It worked! It was like I was sitting right there on the coach in our living room in Broken Ar-row, Oklahoma! The VP debate did not fare so well because apparently with 20 minutes or so left the Kenyan internet provider realized they hadn’t been paid yet and cut our internet off. I decided for the last debate I would play it safe and go to West-lands where there is CNN and bread and tea from Phyllis our site coordinator at 4 in the morn-ing. Needless to say, when you wake up at 4 in the morning to watch all 4 debates you feel much more patriotic than when you just flip to the chan-nel on accident at 8 PM back in the States. I have come to AEE at a good time, but an unusual time as well. In Kenya, the school year ends in November/December, so everyone moves up a grade at the beginning of the year liter-ally. The year coming to an end means that the 5

Foxfires I live with currently will be graduating and leaving at the end of November. Furthermore, the schools which I have been going to everyday will end soon for the year as well. (The Foxfires are a group of high school graduates who are sent by their churches to live on the AEE compound for a year and go to different high schools everyday for counseling. They talk with the students about sex, drugs, self-esteem, time management, and a lot of other teen issues.) Although this will be awkward in the short term, I believe it is the best possible way it could work out in the long run. I will have been exposed to the program and understand how it is supposed to look towards the end of the year and will be able to help get the next group of Foxfires off to a good start and spend most of the year with them. So, I am kind of in training right now and learning the ropes and then next year I’ll be ready to go.

The 2008 Foxfires

I hope everyone is well. Have a great day! Sincerely, RTQ

Senior MDiv student Robert Thomas Quiring is taking a leave from seminary to participate in the PC(USA) Young Adult Volun-teer (YAV) program in Kenya, Africa. Read his blog at www.rtqblog.com.


By Robert Thomas Quiring, MDiv Senior Week 7: McCain/Obama Debate & Playing Guitar by Cell Phone Light


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

Ask and Ye Shall Receive By Paul Dubois, MDiv Senior

It has been a difficult week. It has been a week of emotion and spiritual trauma. This week I realized that someone whom I love dearly holds a latent fear that, as I progress through seminary and candidacy and a life called by God to be a leader in the Church, I will become one of “them”–one who condemns her and ostracizes her; one who makes her feel subhuman and works to deny her civil liber-ties... because she is a lesbian. Based on her life experiences–in which she knows God created her to be as she is–my friend is afraid of who I might be-come based on her real experience of Christians in our culture, and in our church. But I have to back up a little. I called my friend that night. We hadn’t spoken in a while, and for several days I felt like I just wanted to chat. We had a lovely talk. But then as the conversation moved into an area of common concern (some other friends in a bad situation) a visceral response over-came me and I responded to something that angered me, although it did not threaten me. Unfortunately, I chose my words poorly and naively; the unintended result was that my was threatened, and hurt… by me. Not what I wanted, but it was what I did. In a scene not unlike an incident in chapel a year or so ago, I drew an unwise comparison that favored one repressed social group over another, and hers was the other. Fool, fool that I am; words can never be taken back. I won’t go into details, although I don’t mind talking about it. Suffice it to say, the response in my friend was much more than visceral; it was vio-lent and painful. It cut all the way to her soul. Per-haps she ought to fear me. What had I done? I worked frantically to stop fear and hate from flooding a relationship that had struck an iceberg. I learned later it was not my words, but my tone that eventually comforted my friend, restoring some equilibrium. But the relationship will list for quite some time. Later that night I told my wife what I had said, how my friend responded. We talked about how things might get resolved, or whether they could. So I caught grief from my wife (grief being a kinder word than reality or what I deserved.) But even then, in a

safer environment, I tried to rationalize and to ex-plain. I relied too much on words. I sought some sort of justification, however feeble, and, believe me, I would have taken all the feeble I can get. But I wasn’t going to get any. Instead, I got my own fears handed back to me. I doubted. I got angry. What the heck (again, a kinder word) am I doing here, in seminary, going into ministry where people will look to me–they will lean forward at my words–for some-thing inspired by God. And I will foolishly and igno-rantly chew them up and spit them out. I don’t need this, and neither does the church. The whole next day stunk. But by evening I was reading for the next day’s classes, and I read a portion of a sermon by Barbara Brown Taylor for Senior Preaching–a sermon on God coming as a thief in the night. She spoke of how God comes to us as a thief in the night because that is when our defenses our down. And then I remembered... This story actually begins even earlier; I have to back up a bit more. Last week, Fall Break, was fairly calm. I did nothing special, just hung out around the apartment. But as family life changes, and Susan and I tiptoe into some new sense of call and vocation, I felt just enough confidence to ask God to work on me, to mold me, to bring me into that being God hopes for me to be. I wonder if God was showing me what the promised land is not–so I would have a keener sense of what it is, and what it will be. I asked for God to be at work in my life, and his first task was to make me humble, to make me human. I think it worked. I hope it worked, at least for a little while. The day after that unfortunate phone call, mo-ments after reading Barbara Brown Taylor’s sermon, I received a phone call. It was my friend, my sister, actually. Of my six siblings, the one to whom I am closest, and, thus, the one I can hurt the most, even if I don’t want to, and I don’t. She said she hoped that I hadn’t been beating myself up too much this past day (a little late for that), because she loves me, and she knows I love her. I asked for this. I asked God to make me, to mold me. Like James and John, I know not what it is that I am asking. But, still, I cannot help but ask.

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Monday, October 27th 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Worship: Service of the Word Shelton Chapel Karolina Wright, preacher 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. MATS Colloquium—Ellen Babinsky McCord 201

Tuesday, October 28th

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Worship Service: Service of the Word and Sacrament Shelton Chapel Bill Greenway, Preacher Chapel Team: Deb Schmidt & Chris Kreisher 4:15 – 8:15 p.m. Reading, Writing, & Study Skills – Light German Knox Dining Room

Wednesday, October 29th 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. Foedus Pietas – Alison Riemersma Trull Boardroom 8:30 – 10:00 a.m. Spiritual Direction – Joe Barry McCord 202 11:00 – 12:00 p.m. Midweek Manna – Student Senate Stotts Dining Hall 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Wabash Task Force—David White Knox Dining Hall 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Student Group – Gail Dalrymple McCord 203 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Meeting—Full Professors with Tenure Trull Boardroom 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. 12-Step Program – Doug Fritzsche McMillan 209 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Corpus Christi – Scott Spence McCord 201 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Student Senate – Melissa Koerner McCord 206 12:00 – 5:00 p.m. Spiritual Direction – Jean Springer McCord 202 12:45 – 2:30 p.m. Korean Bible Study – In Hye Park McMillan 204 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Spiritual Direction – Barbara Schutz McMillan 105 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. APTS Choir Rehearsal – Kevin McClure Shelton Chapel 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. Faculty Meeting General Session—Nancy Reese Trull Boardroom 4:00 – 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

Thursday, October 30th 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Spiritual Direction—Barbara Schutz McCord 202 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Worship: Service of the Word Shelton Chapel Melissa Koerner, preacher 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. World Religion Class Lunch – Whit Bodman McCord 204 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. Discovery Weekend – Lisa Jones Campus Wide 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Fall Fest—Student Senate Seminary Lawn 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Native American Program—Whit Bodman Stotts

Friday, October 31st 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Worship: Service of the Word: Shelton Chapel Joseph Moore, preacher 12:30 – 5:00 p.m. Discovery Weekend – Lisa JonesCampus Wide 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. Trunk-or-Treat – Community Edge Hicks Parking Lot

Saturday, November 1st 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Discovery Weekend—Lisa Jones Campus Wide

Sunday, November 2nd

8:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Discovery Weekend – Lisa Jones Campus Wide 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Austin Girl’s Choir – Sara McClure Shelton Chapel

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.

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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