Autumn/Winter

2014CRCDSCRCDSBullet in of the Colg ate Rochester Crozer D iv in i t y School

Faith. Critically engaged.

Inside:� Sustainability: Many meanings, One humanity

� Rev.Dr. Allan A. Boesak: Humanity with a Kairos Consciousness

� CRCDS 2014 President’s Scholar: Activist & Author Robert K. Hoggard

CRCDS: Faith. Critically engaged. is a bi-annual publication of Colgate Rochester CrozerDivinity School 1100 South Goodman Street,Rochester, New York, 14620.

PUBLISHER: Colgate Rochester CrozerDivinity School (CRCDS)

EDITOR: Michele Kaider-Korol

DESIGN:MillRace Design

About this issue:

If you’ve read a magazine, listened to a podcast or watched a newscast in thepast year, it’s more than likely you’ve encountered the word “sustainable.” A simple Google search results in over eight million entries! The term“sustainable” has been so overused, and has so many different connotations,it’s often considered cliché.

Most people associate the term “sustainability” with the environment. However,sustainability, in its broadest sense, includes the alleviation of poverty,protection of human health, employment, fair trade of goods and services,and education. The “three-legged stool” of sustainability — planet, peopleand profits — is the foundation upon which our future rests. However, thebiggest challenge to success lies in our collective willingness or unwillingnessto deviate from our comfort zones in order to effect positive change.

In 1987, the World Commission on Environment and Development, known asthe Bruntland Commission, gave the word “sustainability” worldwiderecognition in its report entitled, “Our Common Future.” Almost one hundredyears earlier, “Father of the Social Gospel” Walter Rauschenbusch (1886graduate of Rochester Theological Seminary and later Professor of ChurchHistory) composed a prayer entitled, “For Our World, Our Earth” (reprinted inits entirety on page 2). This prayer of Thanksgiving implores, “May we live sothat our world may not be ravaged by our greed nor spoiled by ourignorance.” Sadly, despite our efforts, ignorance and greed continue todevastate our world and its future.

The endeavors of Norway’s Prime Minister Gro Harlem Bruntland in 1987 and Walter Rauschenbusch at the turn of the century had, at their core, theunderstanding that we are stewards of the earth and, as Pope Francis warnedearlier this year, “Creation is not a property, which we can rule over at will . . .Creation is a gift, it is a wonderful gift that God has given us, so that we carefor it and we use it for the benefit of all, always with great respect andgratitude. Safeguard Creation (because) if we destroy Creation, Creation will destroy us!”

Sustainability is a complex and difficult issue. However, the CRCDS community,firmly grounded in our mission of social justice and stewardship, is engagedon all levels of the sustainability conversation. Our ongoing work in the areaof Kairos brings the focus of “God’s time” squarely on our care for allcreation — from plants, insects and animals to the poor, the disadvantagedand all those who lack a voice. The time for this conversation is now andCRCDS is playing a vital role in fostering this dialogue.

CRCDS will explore sustainability in-depth during the 2015 Spring LectureSeries, “God’s Time is Now: Recultivating the ‘Garden’ . . . tending creation

as people of faith.” We invite you to join in the conversation April 7–9 as wegather on the Hill to explore what it means to be sustainable and to examineGod’s call to faithful stewardship of all creation.

“Our greatest responsibility is

to be good ancestors.”

–Jonas Salk

The Autumn/Winter 2014CRCDS Bulletin is the first issueprinted on recycled paper.Although minor aestheticchanges and slightly increasedcosts result from this choice,CRCDS is committed tosustainability and responsiblestewardship of God’s Creation.

CRCDSFaith. Critically engaged.

Prayer for Our World, Our Earth 2

Waste and Recycling Facts 3

A Humanity with a Kairos 4

Consciousness: Rev. Dr. Allan A. Boesak

CRCDS Student in Action: 11

Robert K. Hoggard

Out in the World: 12

Alumni/ae Updates, News and Notes

Alumni/ae Focus: 13

Spotlight on Sustainability

Rev. James L. Cherry, Sr. Retires 14

In Memoriam 18

Spring Lecture Week Preview 18

The BMTS Legacy Continues 19

Memorial and Appreciation Gifts 20

Horizon Society: 21

Ms. Patricia Doolittle Tingley

Autumn/Winter

2014

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�

Walter Rauschenbusch

(1861-1918), an 1886 alumnusof Rochester TheologicalSeminary (now CRCDS) andlater a professor of German andChurch History, was a majorinfluence in mainstreamAmerican Protestantism at thebeginning of the twentiethcentury. Widely known as the“Father of the Social Gospel,”he applied Christian ethics tosolve social problems andstressed the individual’spersonal responsibility to society.

His writings include Christianity

Revolutionary (1891),Christianity and the Social Crisis

(1907), For God and the

People: Prayers of the Social

Awakening (1910),Christianizing the Social Order

(1912), The Social Principles of

Jesus (1916), and A Theology

for the Social Gospel (1917).

Walter Rauschenbusch (Rochester Theological Seminary, 1886)

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O God,we thank You for this universe, our great home; for the vastness

and richness of our cosmic environment; for the manifoldness of

life on the planet of which we are a part.

We are thankful for the morning sun and the clouds and the

constellations of stars.

We rejoice in the salt sea and the deep waters and green leaves

of grass.

We thank You for our sense by which we experience earth’s

splendor.

We would have souls open to all this joy, souls saved from being

so weighted with care that we pass unseeing when the

thornbush by the wayside is aflame with beauty.

Enlarge within us a sense of fellowship with all that lives and moves

and has being in space and time, especially with all who share

this earth as their common home with us.

Remembering with shame that in the past, we human beings have

all too often exercised high dominion with ruthless cruelty, we

admit that the voice of the earth, which should have gone up to

You in song, has been a groan of travail.

May we so live that our world may not be ravished by our greed

nor spoiled by our ignorance.

May we hand on earth’s common heritage of life, undiminished in

joy when our bodies return in peace to You, our Great Mother

who has nourished them.

For Our World,Our Earth

�

Did youKnow?Waste & Rec ycl ing Facts

l U.S. recycling facilities earn $2,981 million per year.

l Recycling has increased 7% in the past five years.

l In a lifetime, the average American will throw away 600 times his or her adult weight in garbage. This meansthat each adult will leave a legacy of 90,000 pounds oftrash for the world’s children.

l Americans comprise about 5% of the world’s populationand annually produce 27% of the world’s garbage.

Plastic

l Globally, we use as many as 1 million new plastic bagsevery minute, at a cost of 2.2 billion gallons of oil a year.

l One recycled bottle saves enough energy to run a 100-watt bulb for four hours. It also causes 20% less air pollution and 50% less water pollution than doesmaking a new bottle.

l Recycling plastic saves twice as much energy as doesburning it.

l We throw away 25,000,000 plastic bottles every hour.

l 1.5 million tons of plastic are used to make bottles everyyear, a waste that could instead power 250,000 homes.

Paper

l It takes 390 gallons of oil to produce a ton of paper.

l The average American uses seven trees and 680 poundsof paper per year.

l Today, 62 million newspapers will be printed in the U.S.,and 44 million will be thrown away. That means theequivalent of about 500,000 trees will be dumped intolandfills this week.

l Recycling a single run of the Sunday New York Times

would save 75,000 trees.

l If every American recycled one-tenth of their newspapers,we would save 25,000,000 trees per year.

Aluminum and Tin

l Aluminum cans are the #1 recycled item. Because ofthis, they make up less than 1% of waste in the U.S.

l There is no limit to the number of times an aluminum cancan be recycled.

l A recycled aluminum can is back on the shelf within 60 days.

l Every day, Americans use enough steel and tin cans tomake a steel pipe running from Los Angeles to New Yorkand back.

l The aluminum foil on Hershey's Kisses is recyclable; 133square miles of it per day are used to wrap the candies.

Glass

l Glass bottles take 4,000 years to decompose.

l Glass never wears out — it can be recycled forever.

Oil

l One quart of motor oil can contaminate 2 million gallons of fresh water.

l Motor oil never wears out; it just gets dirty. It can be recycled.

*Information from MassSave, Live Earth, other sources

Each adult will leave a legacy of

90,000 pounds of trash for the

world’s children.

One quart of motor oil can

contaminate 2 million gallons of

fresh water.

One recycled bottle saves enough

energy to run a 100-watt bulb for

four hours.

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One of the world’s preeminent authorities

on liberation theology, Dr. Boesak was

named the Desmond Tutu Chair of Peace,

Global Justice and Reconciliation Studies

by Christian Theological Seminary and

Butler University.

Dr. Boesak was the honored keynote speaker for the African American Legacy

Lecture at the CRCDS Fall Lectures, Reflection & Worship Series in October.

In his opening remarks, Dr. Boesak said, “I have been looking forward to thisevening for several reasons . . . Dr. McMickle earlier today mentioned that when hesent me the invitation (to speak), I did not take a full twenty-four hours to respondand say, ‘Yes, I will be coming.’ One of the reasons for that is because of my desireto be associated with what is happening here at Colgate Rochester Crozer DivinitySchool; with the seriousness with which you are taking on challenges that face thechurch today. I have great admiration for that. I want to congratulate you, as thisfall you are starting the Master’s Program in Kairos Studies. I think that’s amazing.You might be just the only theological institution I know that does that. Even in thehome of the Kairos movement, we are looking at you with some envy with what youare achieving here.”

Reprinted here with permission is Dr. Boesak’s lecture, “Hearing the Cry andReading the Signs of the Times: A Humanity with a Kairos Consciousness” which ispart of a chapter in a forthcoming publication at Palgrave McMillan: Kairos, Crisis

and Global Apartheid, The Challenge for Prophetic Resistance (March, 2015).

Rev . Dr . Allan Aubrey Boesak : theolog ian , human itar ian ,

prol if i c author and t ireless advoc ate for soc i al just ice

“A kairos consciousness is therefore a critical, self-critical, and engaging

consciousness. It is also a liberating, empowering, evocative and humanizing

consciousness and allows, no, urges us to respond to the discernment of the

moment of truth, in resistance to the powers of evil, for the sake of the

wronged and powerless, and for the sake of the Gospel.”

South Africans who consider themselves part of the world-wide kairos community, standing in the prophetic tradition ofthe first Kairos Document that came out of South Africa in thedark days of the struggle of the 1980s and the first state ofemergency, are the first to admit that the Palestinian Kairoscalled them to a moment of awareness of that prophetictradition they seemed to have forgotten. It was a re-awakening of kairos in a community where the propheticvoice has not only been scarce, but even when hesitantlyraised, also not gladly heard since the birth of a democraticSouth Africa in 1994. This holds true, I suggest, for thechurch in the US as well, and perhaps elsewhere.

In December 2009 the Palestine Kairos Document waspublished. It could easily have been just one more kairosdocument in addition to all those other kairos documentsthat followed the original Kairos Document from South Africain 1985. But this time it was different. It set in motion what isbecoming a “global kairos movement” and through theresponses from the United States and South Africa to beginwith, triggered serious attention for what some have called“the rebirth of kairos theology.” It also raised a question thatindicated that the response to the Palestinian KairosDocument was considering something much more profound,and which will prove to be much more durable, namely thequestion of a kairos consciousness.

“Is there such a thing as a kairos consciousness?” was thequestion I was asked by Rev. Edwin Arrison, one of theleaders of Kairos Southern Africa in 2011. It was one yearafter a series of conversations in circles of progressive,concerned persons in faith communities; the year, essentiallyin response to the Palestinian Kairos Document, “KairosSouthern Africa” was launched stating its sweeping vision: “A Humanity With a Kairos Consciousness.” I then respondedwith some preliminary thoughts on what I thought was animportant and intriguing question, now more so than ever. In light of the reemergence since then of a “kairos theology”and the concomitant establishment of not just a SouthernAfrican, but, as the bold vision statement of Kairos SouthernAfrica makes clear, a global kairos movement we shouldreflect more carefully on what such a kairos consciousnessmight be.

Kairos is not so much a “time” or a “season” but a moment,unique, for people of faith to see, understand and act upon.But speaking of a “kairos consciousness” already indicatesthat what is meant here is more than just the realization ofsome matter of mere momentary import. It suggests anabiding awareness, what one could call a propheticalertness, a readiness for when such a moment might arrive.The phrasing of the vision statement also suggests more than

an individualized consciousness, indeed, a consciousnessthat stirs, embraces and inspires “humanity.” Theunderstanding is clear: in 1985, a group of propheticChristians were overwhelmed by a moment of truth for thesituation in South Africa, and the Kairos Document spokespecifically to the South African context of racist domination,political oppression, socio-economic exploitation, and thesilence of the church in regard to all these. Almost to oursurprise we discovered how others, in their specific contextsacross the globe — and not only in the global South —understood their situations of political, social, and theologicalcrises as a kairos moment for themselves. Hence the birth ofseveral kairos documents across the world since 1985.

Now, however, there is a deliberateness to the call not merelyfor new kairos documents, but for an abiding kairosconsciousness for humanity. The crisis we are facing now is aglobal crisis, the call to understand this moment as a kairosmoment is for all humanity.

It is, moreover, a moment of truth, revealing the falsehoodswithout which an unjust status quo cannot exist, but whichnonetheless blind, beguile and disable us. Without seeing,discerning and acting the moment passes us by. Hence thekairos moment is decisive. A kairos consciousness is aconsciousness awake and open to the discovering of, andresponding to the decisiveness and uniqueness of thatmoment. Such a kairos moment also reveals the truth aboutourselves, strips us of all pseudo-innocence and as such it isa moment of discernment, repentance, conversion andcommitment. In that moment we discover the truth: about thesituation with which we are faced, about ourselves and theOther; about the realities of pain and suffering, about thedemands of love and justice, and about the God-givenpossibilities for real and fundamental change. It is also thetruth that sets us free. It is simultaneously a shocking and aliberating moment.

Crucially, however, a kairos consciousness knows that thediscovery of that moment of truth is not a moment oftriumphalist gloating, confirming and celebrating our ownspiritual superiority, but rather of profound and humble joyfor the gift of discernment, discontentment, and dissent.Discernment of what is wrong in a situation and the crisis itcreates for the most vulnerable, discontent with that situationof injustice, and a refusal to leave things as they are; anddissent from the dominant judgment that the status quo isacceptable, beneficial, unchangeable or irreversible.

The discovery of a moment of truth in history is not the resultof our intelligence and extraordinary cleverness. It isrevelation, the gift of the Holy Spirit. We are not the truth: the

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truth has found, recovered and reclaimed us. We are not thelight: the light illumines and leads us. We are not the voice:we speak and act because we heard the Voice that calls usto do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.The voice we hear and respond to is the voice of thevoiceless, the poor and oppressed, those who are the facesat the bottom of the well. In those voices, is the forcefulargument of John Calvin, we hear the very voice of God:

Tyrants and their cruelty cannot be enduredwithout great weariness and sorrow… Hencealmost the whole world sounds forth these words,‘How long?’ When anyone disturbs the wholeworld by his ambition and avarice, or everywherecommits plunders, or oppresses miserablenations, when he distresses the innocent, all cryout, ‘How long?’ And this cry, proceeding as itdoes from the feeling of nature and the dictatesof justice, is at length heard by the Lord… [Theoppressed] know that this confusion of order andjustice is not to be endured. And this feeling, is itnot implanted by the Lord? It is then the same asthough God heard Himself, when he hears thecries and groaning of those who cannot bearinjustice.

This is an insight from Calvin I have had cause to return toand reflect upon again and again, and in this context it ismost helpful in understanding what I mean by a kairosconsciousness.

This is how I understand Calvin on this issue. Notice firsthow such a consciousness understands the indivisibility ofjustice. Martin Luther King Jr., was right: injustice anywhereis a threat to justice everywhere. Calvin’s repeated “thewhole world” is not just rhetorical hyperbole or a manner ofspeaking. It is a keen awareness of the impact of injustice onhumanity as a whole, to quote yet another famousexpression of Martin Luther King, Jr.: of the “inescapablenetwork of mutuality” and the “common garment ofdestiny,” of our common yearning for justice and of theneed for human solidarity in resisting injustice and strivingfor justice. It understands the workings of power and thedestruction wrought by power “divorced from the fear ofGod” as Calvin states elsewhere. It is remarkable howrelevant this insight has become in our 21st centuryglobalized political and economic power realities and in thedeadly stranglehold of a few — the now universallyrecognized 1%! — on the rest of humanity and on creationas a whole.

Second, still engaging Calvin, a kairos consciousnessunderstands the difference between “order” and “justice”and refuses to accept that tyranny, injustice, and oppressionshould be tolerated as necessary for “order,” or moreprecisely, mistaken for order. Calvin calls this a “confusion.”

For Calvin — despite his grave concern for order in societyand his fear of chaos, or perhaps better put, because of hisconcern for proper order in society — “order”, or in itsother, often used, and always lethal combination, “law andorder”, in our global reality more and more parading as“national security” — is not the enforced state of confusionwhen the law, violence, and the abuse of power are used toprotect the position of the powerful and privileged and tokeep the poor impoverished and the subjugated silent.Order prevails when compassionate justice is done andthere is no confusion about right and wrong in society. Akairos consciousness, in reading the signs of the times,making political judgments and calling upon the church toact, will, I think, embrace Paul Lehmann’s contention aboutwhat he calls “the proper priorities of politics”, namely that“Freedom is the presupposition and the condition of order:order is not the presupposition and condition of freedom.Justice is the foundation and criterion of law; law is not thefoundation and criterion of justice. These are the properpriorities of politics.”

Third, the cry for justice is not only implanted by the Lord; itis as though God hears Godself when the oppressed cry“How long?” Their cry is God’s cry, emanating from theheart of a God wounded by the injustices inflicted upon thepoor and defenseless. If a renewed Kairos movement is“now conceived and established to nurture the propheticvoice that recognizes the face of God in the face of the poorand most marginalized people” as Kairos Southern Africaproclaims in its constitution, then a kairos consciousness thatunderstands injustice and injury inflicted upon God’schildren as wounds inflicted upon God is absolutely vital.

Calvin is quite radical in this: if it is true that God is not justhearing the poor and oppressed when they cry out againstinjustice, but God is hearing God’s own self in their cries, itmeans that God is not just the God of the poor; Godpresents Godself as the poor and oppressed. Their cries are

God’s cries. Those cries may be the cries of the powerless,but they make their appeal upon us with inescapableauthority. Furthermore, Calvin speaks of all those “who

“The discovery of a moment of

truth in history is not the result of

our intelligence and extraordinary

cleverness. It is revelation, the gift

of the Holy Spirit.”

cannot bear injustice.” He means not only those upon whominjustice is inflicted, but also those who cry out on their

behalf, and therefore do what is right and just. In their cry aswell God hears Godself, and in their doing of justice thewounds of God are healed.

A kairos consciousness will observe and experience the worldas seen through the eyes of the suffering, the poor and themarginalized, in so doing seeing the world through the eyesof Jesus. This means, besides much else, that one is nolonger blinded by the propaganda of the powerful, by thepressures of contemporary society or global imperial powersto conform to what those powers may deem normal oracceptable. One will, instead, resist being dictated to byone’s own fears or desires to be part of a world thatscandalizes Jesus because that world lures us with privilegesand the comfort of protection against the powerful or againstthe appeal (or the wrath?) of those brothers and sisters weare leaving behind. For the Palestinians who produced thePalestinian Kairos Document and living under Israelioccupation, and as the atrocities in Gaza are piling up evenas I write, “seeing through the eyes of Jesus” has existential,and extraordinarily poignant significance, as Palestinianliberation theologian Naim Stifan Ateek makes clear:

Like many Palestinians today, Jesus was bornunder occupation and throughout his life knewonly a life under occupation. All his travels, hiseating and drinking, his teaching and healingministry, his relationships with others — everyaspect of his life — were carried out under theoppressive domination of the Romans. Finally, hewas executed by the occupation forces in collusionwith the religious leaders of first-centuryJerusalem.

It also means that one can no longer avoid making choices,and those choices will reflect God’s choices: for the poor, thewronged, the destitute and the vulnerable. This depicts anengaging consciousness, an understanding that because oneis no longer blind to injustice, one can no longer be neutral.One cannot but join the struggle for the sake of justice andrighteousness. A kairos consciousness becomes an engaging,liberation-oriented consciousness, intent on the humanizingof God’s world.

A kairos consciousness is a critical and simultaneously self-critical consciousness. It is critical because it discerns andcritiques the situation in which we live, understanding that it isa situation of life and death, and seeing through the eyes ofthose who suffer and are most vulnerable, it offers propheticcritique of that situation, and calls for prophetic resistance inthat situation. Such a consciousness understands that there isa conflict, a struggle going on for the sake of those whoselives are precious in God’s sight and that the moment calls

for the church to take sides. Because it is a matter of life anddeath neutrality is not possible. It is a conflict between richand poor, oppressor and oppressed, powerful and powerless,beneficiaries and victims, those who are included in thecircles of power and privilege and those who are excluded,denied flourishing and a meaningful life.

From India, habil James Massey tells us where, for IndianChristians with a kairos consciousness, that critique will leadus: “The final call of Kairos that comes to social activists(including the church) is: they should move from an‘ambulance ministry’ to a ‘ministry of involvement andparticipation’ in the struggle of the Dalit-Bahujan for theirliberation (including their own), so that a ‘just society’ may getestablished, in which peace will reign with justice, and all willlive with fuller redeemed dignity and recovered humanity.”

In that critique there is no room for sentiment andromanticism — the lives of the innocent are at stake. Thatcritique will be wary of notions of “critical solidarity” withgoverning powers that in our recent South African historyhave so quickly, and disastrously, replaced solidarity with thepoor and prophetic faithfulness to God. A kairosconsciousness is aware that the crisis we are facing is not justeconomic, social and political; it is at the deepest level amoral crisis.

By the same token though, a kairos consciousness is a self-

critical consciousness. This works on at least two levels. Thereis indeed a conflict, but there are Christians on both sides ofthat conflict. There are those Christians, and sometimeswhole hierarchies within churches, who seek to use the Bible,the tradition, and theology to serve and protect the statusquo, those who uphold and sustain it, and those who benefitfrom it to the detriment of the poor, the weak, and thevulnerable. On the other side of the conflict are thoseChristians with a kairos consciousness who understand God’scall in that moment as a call to repentance and conversion,to commitment to justice and the liberation of the oppressed.

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“A kairos consciousness will observe

and experience the world as seen

through the eyes of the suffering,

the poor and the marginalized, in

so doing seeing the world through

the eyes of Jesus.”

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Hence the very important distinction of the 1985 Kairos

Document between what it identified as three theologies:state theology, church theology and prophetic theology. Akairos consciousness is critical vis-à-vis the church that takessides with the oppressors, but does not try to deny the factthat we ourselves are part of the church. The call of thekairos moment is therefore a call to repentance. That is whythe Kairos Document was called “A challenge to the church.”

It understood, correctly, that “The time has come… [1985]is the KAIROS moment of truth not only for apartheid butalso for the church.” It understood that the “crisis in SouthAfrica” constituted not just a crisis in society; it was a crisiswithin the church. In this crisis “there will be no place tohide.” What the crisis reveals is that the church, tragicallybut not at all surprisingly, is deeply divided. Here however,an important issue arises. In discerning the Kairos momentin the crisis the prophetic theology of the Kairos Document

did more than recognize that such a crisis exists. Prophetictheology stood, and acted, in tension, and in contentionwith “church theology” and “state theology”. It contested thewillingness of the church to make alliances with “statetheology” for whatever reason. It recognized the role of thechurch in creating the crisis and then acting as if the crisisdid not exist. As a consequence, it called the church torepentance and conversion, to the unmasking and undoingof injustice and the doing of justice; to say “no” tocompliance with the oppressive powers and “yes” tosolidarity with the poor and oppressed. It called on thechurch to exchange its fear of state power for the fear of theLord. It challenged the church to turn its back on therewards of expediency and to choose instead for the risks ofobedience; to shun the comforts of complicity and embraceinstead the uncertainties of the struggle for justice.

It called the church to a different kind of witness, to a life truerand more faithful to its confession that Jesus Christ is Lord,not the imperial powers to which the church has made itselfbeholden. In challenging the church with the call to stand withthe oppressed and challenge the oppressor, prophetictheology, in engaging the crisis in society and confronting itwith the justice Yahweh requires, did not simply find itself in asituation of crisis as if by accident. It provoked the crisis —albeit a different kind of crisis — within the church and insociety. That moment of truth is not just the truth aboutsociety; it is the truth about the church — its faithfulness toChrist, its choices, its witness, its relationship with God, inother words, its life. Hence the intensity of the crisis.

Walter Brueggemann makes this even clearer. “The task ofprophetic ministry is,” he says, “to nurture, nourish, and evoke aconsciousness and perception alternative to the consciousnessand perception of the dominant culture around us.”

Brueggemann makes the point that the public crisesChristians are facing are not isolated, incidental andtemporary. They are, he insists, the result of “the dominantcrisis that is enduring and resilient, of having our alternativevocation coopted and domesticated.”

So in following Brueggemann and applying his superbunderstanding of the prophetic imagination to myunderstanding of a kairos consciousness, we should say thata kairos consciousness is also an evocative consciousness. Itevokes the crisis by evoking in us a consciousness alternative

to the dominant consciousness, a consciousness that resists

the cooptation and the domestication of our propheticimagination and our prophetic ministry.

At another level, however, the self-critical consciousnessknows, as South Africa’s Steve Biko insisted, that thestrongest ally of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed;that oppressors of all sorts and all eras cannot be successfulwithout the cooperation or submission of the oppressed; thatthrough the pressures of fear or the desires for reward or adistorted theology we ourselves might become complicit inour own oppression or that of others. A kairos consciousnessknows that throughout all times in history God has raised upfaithful women and men who heard God’s voice in the criesof the oppressed, who took refuge in the love of God andfrom within that place of refuge found courage and steppedinto the world to challenge the powers of evil — so when forus that time comes we recognize it, acknowledge it, and arecalled to embrace it. Their prophetic courage stirs, disturbs,and unsettles us even as it moves, inspires and emboldens us— from the Hebrew midwives denying the Pharaoh the rightto deny them their right to do justice to Moses and Elijah andJeremiah and Amos; to Mary in the Magnificat and thewomen who followed Jesus in defiance of patriarchal powerto the martyrs of the church of all ages. All of them faced akairos moment of discernment, repentance, and ofdiscontent; of conversion, decision, and dissent; ofcommitment and resistance. Hence there are choices to bemade here: a kairos consciousness is one that urges us tomake righteous choices.

Certainly choices are made on empirical evidence, as aresult of painstaking and correct social, political andeconomic analysis, and a proper understanding of the waysin which power and powerlessness work, a thorough graspof the insidiousness of systemic injustices and theirgenerational tenacity. This is what the Kairos Document calls“reading the signs of the times.” Our struggle, is the famousline from Ephesians 6:12, is not just against enemies of fleshand blood, “but against the rulers, the authorities, againstthe cosmic powers of this present darkness, against thespiritual forces of evil in heavenly places.” If this is true, we

would well to remember that for these “cosmic powers andrulers” imperial power on earth is never enough; they will

seek to occupy the heavenly places as they do the earth, notresting until their will is done in heaven as it is on earth. Butthen we cannot afford to be led by a blind pseudo-innocencethat leaves no room for the combatant love — of which Ispeak below — that is necessary to change the world so thatit more faithfully reflects the theatre of God’s glory.

As such, a kairos consciousness will do yet another thing. It will, Cornel West speaking of prophetic witness, remindsus, highlight the reality of evil; both personal and institutionalevil, “including the evil of being indifferent to personal andinstitutional evil.” As prophetic consciousness, it will “[shatter] deliberate ignorance and willful blindness to thesuffering of others and to expose the clever forms of evasionand escape we devise in order to hide andconceal injustice.”

Just as certain, however, a kairosconsciousness makes these choices on thebasis of faith. Much more than the socio-political liberation of the oppressed is at stakehere. Because Christians participate in andbenefit from the oppression of others whileclaiming faith in the God of Jesus Christ whocame to establish justice in the earth, thatfaith, the integrity of that Gospel, and thecredibility of the witness of the church are atstake. The moment of truth is a moment to act for the sake ofjustice and humanity, but also for the sake of the integrity ofthe Gospel. These are the deepest issues in the “apartheid isa heresy” debate of the late 1970s and early 1980s whichpreceded the writing of the Kairos Document.

It is for this reason that the Dutch Reformed Mission Church in South Africa, in first formulating the Belhar Confession in1982 and naming the theology that has undergirded andjustified apartheid a heresy, already spoke of “a moment of truth.”

This calls for critical judgment and acts of propheticfaithfulness and prophetic courage; hence the emphasis onhumility, truthfulness, and integrity. This is another reasonwhy the stakes are so very high.

In sum then, I would say that a kairos consciousness istherefore a critical, self-critical, and engaging consciousness.It is also a liberating, empowering, evocative andhumanizing consciousness and allows, no, urges us torespond to the discernment of the moment of truth, inresistance to the powers of evil, for the sake of the wrongedand powerless, and for the sake of the Gospel.

For this reason the call to conversion is so crucial in ourthinking on kairos. It is not, to be sure, the emotionalconversion experience so many of us have grown up with,that leads us to a spiritualized, individualized, innerexperience of the love of God with no understanding of thelove of God in Christ for the cosmos. (John 3:16) Neither isit the “conversion experience” the Roman emperorConstantine was supposed to have had, when he had avision of the cross emblazoned in the sky inscribed with thewords In hoc signo vinces! – In this sign conquer! Sometranslate, Conquer by This! The church has not yet recoveredfrom that vision’s deadly consequences for the church andthe world. Neither has the world. Pastor/activist BrianMcClaren has written beautiful words on this. “Imagine adifferent conversion,” he says, one that never happened butcould have:

Instead of a gold-plated, bejeweled spear-crosswith the words ‘Threaten and kill by this’, imaginethat Constantine had seen a vision of a basin anda towel with the words ‘Serve by this’, or a visionof a simple table of bread and wine with ‘Recon-cile by this’, or a vision of Christ’s outstretchedarms with ‘Embrace by this’, or a vision of thebirds of the air and flowers of the field with ‘Trustlike this’, or a vision of a mother hen gatheringher chicks with ‘Love like this’, or a vision of adove descending from heaven with the words, ‘Beas kind as this.’ But it was not so.

Indeed. I would add just one thing. Imagine thatConstantine, having seen all of the above, had a vision ofJesus on the cross, overcoming the power of violence anddomination and death with the power and of love andservanthood and sacrifice, with the words, “Resist by this.”

A global kairos movement today with the purpose ofengendering a kairos consciousness for “all humanity” will not only be concerned with struggles for racial andsocio-economic justice as was the focus of the first KairosDocument. It will have to be concerned with world-widestruggles today, struggles for ecological justice, the rights of indigenous peoples which are so closely related to the

“A kairos consciousness is critical vis-à-vis the

church that takes sides with the oppressors, but

does not try to deny the fact that we ourselves

are part of the church. The call of the kairos

moment is therefore a call to repentance.”

9

10

well-being of the earth; with movements for economicjustice in the face of the devastation wrought by globalizedneoliberal economics such as the Occupy Movement as amovement mainly of the rich North but which echoed, andjoined forces with, the struggles for social justice of theglobal South. It will be concerned with the endlessdevastation of perpetual war, with the broad issue of globalresistance to the scourge of war, and with the specificallyfocused issue of rape as weapon of war as we are seeing inthe Democratic Republic of the Congo and elsewhere aswomen’s bodies become occupied territory; with thegrowing, and utterly alarming trends of patriarchaldomination with its concomitant devastating consequencesin the worldwide, deeply embedded culture of violenceagainst women, in too many instances justified by what the1985 Kairos Document identified as “church theology.” It will be confronted with the challenges of choices betweenthe forces of violence and the forces of nonviolence instruggles for freedom and democracy today raging acrossthe world.

Within these struggles falls the struggle for the dignity andrights of lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, trans-gender and inter-sexpersons who by all indications are under renewed onslaughtin frightening, and far too often deadly ways in differentparts of the world and to whom in so many places thechurch has so scandalously closed its doors, so that theyfind themselves cast by the wayside and left to die at thehands of self-appointed, self-righteous avengers of God. It shall also have to take account of the fearsomeuncertainties of the Palestinian struggle, the Arab Spring in North Africa and the Middle East, the promise, thetemptations and the hard lessons; the battles between theforces of violence and the forces of nonviolenttransformation for ownership of those revolutions. It cannotignore the battles against predatory imperial powers whosedesires for global domination seemingly dare not allow asingle peoples’ revolution remain the peoples’ revolution,and the painful and vexing paradoxes and contradictionsthese are producing even as we speak.

A kairos consciousness will, in a word, have to take seriouscognizance of what Elizabeth Schüssler Fiorenza has called“kyriarchy” or “kyriocentrism”, an ideology of “lordship” anddomination which she defines as “a complex pyramidalsystem of intersecting multiplicative social structures ofsupremacy and subordination, of ruling and oppression.”

The term is all the more compelling, since Fiorenza pointsto the perverse inversion of the Lordship of Christ, which isthe exact opposite of the kind of “kyriarchy” she is

exposing. The early Christians called Christ “Kyrios”,appropriating for Jesus of Nazareth the same title theCaesar claimed for himself. But Caesar’s title spellsdomination, oppression, threat, fear, and death. In Jesus,the title is rejection of and resistance to the very meaning ofkyrios as Rome understood it: love, justice, compassion,mercy, servanthood, liberation, inclusion, peace. To callJesus “Lord” therefore, was to join God’s resistance againstthe forces of domination and death.

In that regard nothing has changed: it is still the Lordship ofJesus Christ over against the overlordship of Caesar; theobedience to Christ over against loyalty to earthly powers;the steadfastness of prophetic faithfulness over against thepliability of civil religiosity.

“This is the KAIROS,” the Kairos Document declared in1985, “the moment of grace and opportunity, the favorabletime in which God issues a challenge to decisive action.”This crucial sentence tells us two more things. First: in realityit is not so much the cadre of prophetic Christians who aremaking the call to conversion, action, commitment andchange. The challenge comes from God, in the cries of theoppressed and the defenseless. To hear and respond to thatcall is not so much an act of extraordinary power or couragefor which we pat ourselves on the back, as an obedientresponse to grace.

Second: it is the grace of God that calls us from our sinfulapathy to commitment and acts of justice, and it is gracethat offers the church and the world the opportunity forrepentance, conversion and change. It is grace that makesof the challenge also an invitation. If you can only see what I see, Yahweh seems to be saying, then together we canchange this world and make it into a dwelling place for allGod’s children.

This makes of a kairos consciousness, besides all else, ahope-filled, life-giving consciousness. Precisely for thesereasons, kairos consciousness is not a consciousness that wenaturally possess, but one that is awakened in us by theSpirit of God, by the promises of God, and it calls on thosepromises for God’s sake, for the sake of creation, and forthe sake of the oppressed whose sufferings are the cause ofthe wounds of God. In the healing of those wounds is theredemption of humanity.

11

In Action

A native of Middletown, Connecticut, Robert was licensed to preach in 2010 and is now fulfilling his dream of bringing people together in conversation around difficult social issues. He was recently promoted to Vice President of Content for HBCU Buzz Inc., a Washington, D.C.-basedmedia outlet sharing the challenges, opportunities and achievements of 105 Historically Black Collegeand University (HBCU) students. Robert says that the HBCU platform, as well as his blogging position at the Huffington Post and strategic involvement in social media help him realize his goal of serving asan activist for social change. He says, “Justice always calls and I never stop answering . . . I will neverstop answering.”

Robert graduated from American Baptist College in Nashville, Tennessee in 2014, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Bible and Theology with a concentration in Community and Nonprofit Leadership. After his freshman year, he preached and performed missionary work in St. Thomas, Anguilla, St. Kitts, Antigua,Barbuda, Dominica and Trinidad. In a Huffington Post article entitled, “God In Antigua,” he writes, “Ifind that some experiences we face in life are just a set-up to grow up. God has a way of maturing usin ways that one doesn’t expect will mature them [sic]. This trip has been an incubator for learning thatwill be sacred and sound for the rest of my life.”

While attending American Baptist College, Sigma Pi Phi awarded Robert the Chi Boule Social Action Scholarship which was instrumental in his founding of the chapter of the Southern Christian LeadershipConference (SCLC) at the school. As its President, he used this prominent platform to open dialogue oneducational disparities, race, equality and economic barriers to success.

Robert says, “The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, founded by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,taught me many things about carrying the torch of social justice. The many words I heard and meetingsthat I was able to attend will forever serve as a catalyst for my continued efforts to be the best activistpossible in a world full of hidden racism, blatant sexism, and many other senseless “isms” that preventequal opportunity.”

One of the most powerful communication tools Robert uses is social media. He utilizes seven Twitteraccounts and has tweeted 36.7K times on his personal account alone. His voice is being heeded — hehas almost 1,000 followers on that single site. He’s active on Facebook, Instagram and a host of otherpopular sites. His work has appeared in USA Today, the Associated Press, Washington Times, Tennesseanand the Democrat and Chronicle. His articles include discussions on poverty, gun violence, racism, votersuppression, tuition reform, the state of HBCUs and the criminalization of young black men.

Upon completion of his studies at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, Robert plans to enter theExecutive Doctorate Ed.D. program at the University of Pennsylvania. His goal is to lead an historicallyblack church or university.

Robert says two quotes by CRCDS President Dr. Marvin McMickle inspire him and serve as a moral,spiritual and social compass. The first, Robert says, is crucial advice for pastoral success: “It is not

enough to pastor a church and stay inside the building. You’ve got to get out. Your voice has to get out. Your congregation’s influence has to be expanded. You’ve got to engage the world around you. And if you don’t, you’ve failed.”

The second reflects Dr. McMickle’s philosophy on speaking the truth, a philosophy Robert strongly identifies with: “Being heard isnot the issue. People will hear you, and then they’ll decide what to do about you for having the nerve to say it to them. I can tellyou one thing: They will respect you more if you come back next week and say it to them again.”

Robert keeps that advice close to him, recognizing the need to speak truth to power, again and again, until change becomes a reality.

CRCDS Student

“Never be

afraid to raise

your voice for

honesty and

truth and

compassion

against

injustice and

lying and

greed. If

people

all over the

world…would

do this, it

would change

the earth.”

–William Faulkner

Robert K . Hogg ard , CRCDS Pres ident ial Scholar

(M .A. , K a iros Stud ies ) knows how to ra i se h i s vo i ce .

Dr. Hans W. Florin (CRDS, ’54)As of last autumn, Dr. Florin retired asLutheran pastor in St. Paul, MN. He movednearer to his family and enjoys grandparentduties. He also lives near Luther Theological Seminary.

Ms. Joy Denlinger Gale(BMTS ’54)Joy’s grandson recently graduated with honors and will study electronics at Boston Northeastern.

Rev. William P. Diggs, D.Min.(CRDS, ’55)Rev. Diggs received an honorary degree from Francis Marion University in Florence, SC.

Rev. Paul J. Hardwick(CRDS, ’63)In June, Paul and Linda Rae (Maas) Hardwick(CRDS ’64) went on the “Beauty and Wondersof China” tour sponsored by the University ofRedlands (Linda Rae is a Redlands alum). They had a very exciting and personal 13 daytour that included Beijing, the Great Wall,Hangzhou, the Huangshan Mountains, andShanghai. Linda Rae continues her work parttime as a psychotherapist; Paul is retired. They live in Walnut Creek, CA.

Rev. Clinton L. Barlow (CRDS ’64)Rev. Barlow celebrated both the 50thanniversary of his ordination and 50thwedding anniversary in June. He was ordainedJune 4, 1964 at the First Baptist Church inHaddonfield, NJ and married Diana Wright atthe First Methodist Church in Cape May, NJon June 20, 1964.

Rev. Barlow served churches in CT, NY andMA during his career and served as theDirector of the Meriden OEO Poverty Agency.He did Refugee Resettlement work with RuthHargraves Bersin (CRDS ‘65) and currentlyserves as the Interim Minister at the MillburyBaptist Church in Millbury, MA. He and hiswife have three children and threegrandchildren. They live in Watertown, MA.

Rev. Richard G. Parker (CRDS ’65) Richard and his wife, Karen live in Warren, RI near their daughter and son-in-law who live in Swansea, MA. Karen is the church secretary of the UnionUnited Methodist Church in Fall River, MAand Richard substitutes as organist at various churches. He is on call as a substitute preacher for churches within a 30-mile radius. He celebrates his 50-year ordination in June, 2015.

Mr. Thomas R. Argust (CRDS ’66)Tom was awarded the Joe U. Posner Award by the Rochester Area Community Foundationin recognition of his committed public serviceand his philanthropic endeavors throughoutthe region. He was instrumental in thedevelopment of Rochester, New York’s newzoning code, the Neighbors BuildingNeighborhoods program, the NeighborhoodEmpowerment Team effort, Rochester 2010:The Renaissance Plan, as well as housinginitiatives including the Home Expo programand the Anthony Square and Chevy Placedevelopments.

Rev. Dr. Thomas White Wolf Fassett (CRDS ’67)Thom led the International AcademicConvocation at Martin MethodistUniversity/College, Tennessee, this fall, wherehe was awarded the President’s Medal. Hislecture was entitled, “History as Theology: TheChurch and American Indians.“ Thom alsoaught a course on Ethics to Native clergy atNavajo Nation, Window Rock, AZ and co-authored the book, “Coming Full Circle,“ tobe published by Fortress Press in late Spring,2015. The work is focused on NativeAmerican perspectives on Christian Theology.

Dr. Emma J. Justes (CRDS ’67)Abingdon Press just published Emma’s secondbook, Please Don’t Tell: What to do with theSecrets People Share. The book is abouthelping pastors process secrets of shame.

Mr. Doug Archer (CTS ’72)Doug has been named Global AffairsLibrarian for the University of Notre Dame’sHesburgh Libraries. In that role, he willcontinue as the Peace Studies Librarian andserve the information needs of the newKeough School of Global Affairs. Doug alsorecently completed a two year term asModerator Elect/Moderator of the Church ofthe Brethren’s Northern Indiana DistrictConference. His wife, Alice, is the currentModerator.

Rev. Judith C. Gere (CRDS ’72)Judith is now retired and is engaged in worksof justice and mercy, while maintaining anactive prayer life. Judith lives and volunteers in

Albuquerque, NM, where the poverty rates areamong the highest in the nation.

Rev. Douglas Deer (CRDS ’76)Doug officially retired on August 31, 2014.He and his family have recently moved toCortland, NY.

Rev. Glenn Loafmann (CRDS ’68)Glenn is retired and living in Oberlin, OH,with his wife, Kathie Linehan. They attendPeace Community Church, where he servedas Moderator for the past year.

Dr. Phillis I. Sheppard (CRDS ’88)Phillis is the Associate Professor of Religion,Psychology and Culture at Vanderbilt UniversityDivinity School in the Graduate Department of Religion.

Rev. Wilfredo J. Baez (CRDS ’98)Will is now the pastor at Tabernacle UnitedMethodist Church in Binghamton, NY.

Rev. Jane Winters (CRCDS ’00)Rev. Winters recently moved from ReadingCenter, NY to Elmira, NY and is currentlyserving as Temporary Supply Pastor at theWestminster Presbyterian Church andChaplain at Schuyler Hospital in Montour Falls, NY.

Rev. Beth Sheila Malone (CRCDS ’11)Beth was appointed to full time ministry at the Lyndonville United Methodist Church inLyndonville, NY. She and her husband,Damen, are enjoying life in Orleans County.

Rev. Sharon Jacobson (CRCDS ‘05)Sharon’s meditation and prayer garden isofficially open. Plants and donations are beingaccepted. The garden is open 24 hours a day,7 days a week for those seeking a space tomeditate and pray. You can learn more byvisiting http://inspiritual.biz/meditation-prayer-garden/.

Ms. Necole M. Vitale (CRCDS ’12)Necole was hired as a Family Advisor/ServiceCoordinator at SKIP of New York this pastJune. She helps people with severe medicalneeds and/or developmental disabilities andtheir families navigate social services systems.

Ms. Diane A. Ellis (CRCDS ’14)Diane is currently doing her Clinical PastoralEducation at Strong Memorial Hospital inRochester, NY.

12

Updates , News

and Notes from

CRCDS , CTS and

BMTS Alumn i / ae

Outin the

World

A t the Micah Center inPinellas County, Florida, Philand Janel Miller-Evans use anempowering and effectivesustainable strategy known asAsset-Based CommunityDevelopment (ABCD) to workwith the poor, homeless andunderemployed members oftheir community. Phil, a minister at the Church of the Beatitudes in St. Peters-burg, Florida and Janel, a social worker and chaplain atWestminster Palms Retirement & Assisted Living Facility in St. Petersburg, were commissioned in June, 2014 asmembers of the Economic Development and Poverty Trans-formation Mission Communities of Cooperative BaptistFellowship (CBF). The “ABCD” program has proven to bevery successful. Philexplains, “Most programsoperate using a needs-based model, that is,people depend on othersto provide economic orsocial support. Asset-based communitydevelopment usesresources, tools andstrategies that are alreadypresent in the commu-nity.” This is exciting forthe couple and their com-munity, as they seepeople moving from a helpless, needs-driven position toan empowering lifestyle of self-sufficiency. In effect, it is asound and practical application of the concept of socialcapital. Families who are helped then “pay it forward” tohelp others.

This model fits perfectly with the Miller-Evans’ life’s work ofministering to “the least of these” and acknowledges theworth and dignity of each person. Pinellas County, where

Phil and Janel live, is a an area particularly hard-hit by theeconomic downturn and housing bust in Florida. Jobs arescarce. Higher-paying jobs that people used to have arenever coming back. Janel says that many people in theircommunity live at or below the poverty level and manyhave lost, or can’t afford, health insurance. A 2013 PinellasCounty survey stated that 66% of those seen at area emer-gency rooms had no health coverage and could not affordto pay their medical bills. Janel says that families who worktwo jobs at minimum wage and have no access to healthcare need their help the most. Many families lack afford-able child care, which is an enormous barrier toemployment. Grandparents, already burdened with theirown health care challenges and fixed incomes, arepressed into service, caring for their children’s children.Both the Asset-Based Community Development resourceand Phil and Janel’s skills as ministers have provided realhope and help to this economically distressed area.

The newly-formed Micah Center has proven to be that place of healing and hope. Janel says, “Phil and I havebeen working with the underemployed, their children andfamilies in the neighborhood around the church for the last11 years. As a social worker, I am called to advocate,educate and assist these families who struggle on a dailybasis. As they relate to our center we have seen their livesimprove financially, emotionally and spiritually. Our centerhas been the presence of Christ to our community givingthese families dignity and respect.”

For more information about the Micah Center, email:

micahcenteratpinellas@gmail.com or call (727) 822-7178.

13

Janel Miller-Evans (CRDS ’85) and

Phil Miller-Evans (CRDS ’86)

Janel M iller -Evans (CRDS ’85 ) and Ph il M iller -Evans

(CRDS ’86 ) : Bu ilders of fa i th , hope and commun it y

Alumn i / ae Focus :

Spotlight on Sustainability

“Our center has

been the presence

of Christ to our

community giving

these families

dignity and respect

in our community.”

14

Thank you! Good evening! I am truly honored and delighted tohave the have this distinct privilege of paying a special tributeto my extraordinary friend, Reverend Cherry.

Extraordinary events in one’s life are very rare and they don’thappen very often. Such an event for this community and ournation would have been the birth of Frederick Douglass — thegreat orator, freedom fighter, and extraordinary humanitarian.These giants only come around once in a lifetime. Little did weknow that our greater Rochester community would be blessedsome 200 years later with another extraordinary humanitarian,a living legend, a giant among men, Reverend James Cherry.

It was a long time ago, almost 25 years ago that my wifeVernita and I were returning from a trip when we met Rev.Cherry on the last leg of our flight. On the flight from New YorkCity to Rochester, we were very blessed to have encounteredwho we thought was a stranger. But, after a warm and engag-ing conversation, a budding friendship emerged almostinstantaneously. Little did I know at the end of our flight that hewould choose me as a dear friend.

Now if I were to choose a friend, I would want that friend to be afamily man, who loved his family, friends, and community; aninspirational person, perhaps a leader, with extraordinary visionwho could lead, lead people with purpose; a family man, wholoved his family, friends and community.

I would want that friend to be a mentor, a counselor, whowould extract the very best in me and others, a trusted advisor;a builder, a builder of bridges, building bridges across all ofhumanity. Lastly, I would want that friend to be a golfer, a golfbuddy where friendly competitive engagement could beenjoyed. That friend would travel to my golf tournament inNorth Carolina for almost 20 years, and support scholarshipsfor the next generation of young leaders, CEOs, preachers,mayors, teachers, doctors, and lawyers.

Fortunately, I do not need to create that friend. I am very proudto call Reverend Cherry a very dear friend. I have all of thequalities of that friend and more in Reverend James Cherry. Iam blessed that he chose me as a friend, and also chose mymother, my family, and many relatives in North Carolina,including one family member who was the Aenon generalmanager for the multi-million church building addition.

As I think about my friendship with Reverend Cherry, I amreminded of a quote: “To find one very real friend in a lifetimeis good fortune; to keep him is a blessing.” It’s a blessing, andI’m so honored that he has kept me over the past 25 years asa lifetime friend.

Reverend Cherry — congratulations and thank you for theextraordinary leadership, contributions, and friendship!

On Friday, October 10, 2014 over 1,300people gathered at the Joseph A. FloreanoRochester Riverside Convention Center to honorRev. James L. Cherry, Sr. and his retirement.

Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School President Dr. Marvin A.McMickle and CRCDS Trustee Mr. Emerson U. Fullwood spoke at thecelebration, which was attended by CRCDS students, alumni/ae, staffand faculty. Mr. Fullwood delivered the following moving tribute to his longtime friend, Rev. Cherry.

“Remember that I loved the

Lord...”

CRCDS Trustee Rev . James L . Cherry , Sr . ret ires after 54 years of

serv ice , 33 years at Aenon Bapt ist Church

In his remarks, President McMickle highlighted the

impact of Rev. Cherry’s ministry:

Rev. Cherry lived up to the words of W.E.B. Du Bois whowrote in ‘Prayers of Dark People’:

We must endure to the end, and learn to finish things,bring them to accomplishment and full fruition. Wemust not be content with plans, ambitions, and resolves;with part of a message or part of an education, but beset and determined to fulfill the promise and completethe task and secure the full training. ‘Give us, O God,to resist today the temptation of shirking, and the grit toendure to the end.’

Rev. James Cherry has shown us all how to finish things. Hehas shown us how to complete the task. He has shown us howto resist the temptation of shirking and possess the grit toendure to the end. We rejoice tonight over his godly life andhis determination to finish what he started so many years ago.

We recently spoke with Karen Cornwall of UpstateGospel Magazine, who had the opportunity tointerview Rev. Cherry about his legacy, his faith inGod and his retirement plans. Reprinted here, withpermission, are excerpts from that interview.

Greetings Pastor Cherry. I would like to thank you for taking thetime to talk to the Upstate New York Gospel Magazine. I wouldlike to talk to you about your history here at Aenon. I know thatyou are retiring after over 50 years of service.

Thirty-three years here at Aenon and 54 as a pastor in thePhiladelphia and Pittsburgh and here at Aenon.

How did you know that you were being called to the ministry?

The Bible says that many are called but few are chosen. When Icame out of the Marine Corps in 1956, my wife and I had beenmarried about two years. The Lord led us to Brownsville, PAwhere I began not my preaching ministry but serving God

through ministry at Mount Lebanon Baptist Church, pastored byDr. William B. Richardson. He started me working as a SundaySchool teacher for all young people. The class grew so large,he gave me the boys to teach and my wife the girls to teach.Then he placed me on the board of trustees. He put me on theboard of deacons. Eventually, I became the minister of music,directing all five choirs of the church. It was while I was ministerof music that I grew in my ministry by attending Bible class,teaching Sunday School (and) working with the board ofdeacons. I grew closer to the Lord.

My brother had given me a book entitled, “So You Want toPreach” that was the only book in my bookcase. Early onemorning when I got up, I picked it up and threw it on the floor. Ifelt in my spirit that I was called to preach. It was a cold dayand we had a coal furnace in our home. I went down in ourbasement to make a fire so it would be warm when my wife andkids got up. When I got there, water had seeped in and satu-rated all of the coal. Knowing you cannot make a fire with wetcoal and I had no wood, I said to the Lord, “All right, you wantme to preach. You help me start this fire.” I put paper and wetcoal in the furnace. In less than five seconds there was a flameof fire. That is when I knew for certain that the Lord had calledme into the ministry.

I began to thank God for calling me because the Bible says (I Timothy 1:12) “… I thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, who hasenabled me for that He counted me faithful putting me into theministry.” I have held onto that Scripture ever since. To put itsimply, I prayed that the Lord would make me worthy of thiscalling and that He would fulfill all of His goodness in my by thework of faith with his power. From that moment on, nearly 55years ago, I have been in preaching ministry. We worked for awhile. We built a new home in our early ministry so I had tokeep a job. I was a supervisor in a post office. I became assis-tant to the postmaster. The entire good thing about that, I got apay raise. I didn’t have a big job, but I had big pay. From thenon God just directed our ministry. For our first two churches, wenot only pastored, but we worked until we went to Philadelphiain 1969. That was when I became a full time pastor. From1969 until 2014, we have been in full time ministry, trustingGod for our earthly means and things of that nature.

15

Aenon Baptist Church

“Remember that I loved the Lord; that I taught

and preached the Word of God; that I loved the

people as pastor. I think that Christ taught us that

the ground at the foot of the cross is level.” —CRCDS Trustee Rev. James L. Cherry, Sr., Pastor at Aenon Baptist Church, Rochester, NY

16

You tend to say “we.” We know behind every good man there is agreat woman. Tell me about your wife, First Lady Eunice Cherry(The Cherry’s were married 60 years June 28).

The reason I say “we” is because we are in the ministry as a team,although my wife does not want to be called a “minister.” I dobelieve that God wanted her to be my wife and partner in the min-istry years ago. While I preached and pastored, my wife raised ourfamily, encouraged me and put no stumbling blocks in the way ofmy ministry. So all we have done in the ministry — here at Aenon,the Nazarene Baptist Church in Philadelphia, the BethlehemBaptist Church in McKeesport, the Mount Rose Baptist Church inUniontown and Rising Star Baptist Church in Adah, when we firststarted — my wife has been right by my side, encouraging me andsometimes advising me, very few times correcting me. I believe wehave been quite successful as a pastoral team.

“My advice to young ministers is don’t go full time until it’s time.Don’t say, “God is sending me.” Make sure it’s not ego sendingyou because where God directs, God provides and God protects. If you do that you will be successful.”

I would agree with that since I have been under your leadershipand guidance for many, many years. I hear a lot of people refer toyou as a pastor’s pastor. What does it mean to you when peoplecall you a pastor’s pastor?

Here at Aenon, I licensed my 11th minister in March. There arenine at Aenon, plus my two sons, so 11 ministers have comeunder my leadership, tutoring or mentorship. I have been blessedby God to assist other ministers and pastors in their ministry. Everypastor at some time needs a pastor. I have tried to be there forpastors who need someone to share, to talk to. I tried to be thatperson, letting them know I would be faithful to God and faithfulto them. I would never be disloyal to them. I would always tellthem what God tells me to tell them. I would not put JamesCherry (first), but I would put what the Lord says. That’s why theycalled me a pastor’s pastor, because pastors come to me. Someare young and some are not so young. They feel that they cancome to me and I will counsel them according to the Word ofGod. I am proud to believe and hear people say that I am apastor’s pastor.

You have been involved in the Rochester community for nearly 35years. What have been some of your greatest moments, yourgreatest memories?

Well, first of all becoming the pastor of the Aenon church. Wecame here from Philadelphia, pastoring the Nazarene church,not knowing what to expect, but under-standing that there was a great pastorbefore me by the name of PastorMurphy Greer. A church that is set nearthe heart of the city. I was asked by thesearch committee if I would makeAenon a community-serving church. Isaid, “Yes.” Since coming to Aenon,through God’s leadership, it hasbecome a community-based church.We have had some wonderful

moments. I served on the different boards in this city or commu-nity such as the Urban League. At one time serving on the UnitedWay and knowing how much money United Way is putting in ourcommunity through different organizations. I also served on theboards of Baden Street, Boy Scouts and the YMCA and on theboard of ABC (Action for a Better Community). Those are greatmoments. I guess I have to say one of the greatest is that at leastseven churches began out of the Aenon Church. Those wereshining moments for me and for my heart here in Rochester.

I know your participation reaches beyond Rochester. You are also involved in regional, national and internationalorganizations. What can you tell me about your participationoutside of Rochester?

Well, there is a convention called Lott Carey Baptist ForeignMission. When we came here, I had been serving on the boardfor like 30 years. I was also a part of the Progressive NationalBaptist Convention. Aenon was a part of the National BaptistConvention, but they were not a part of Lott Carey. They askedme would I join the National Baptist and also stay with the Pro-gressive. I told them that I would join the National and leave theProgressive… but I would ask them to join Lott Carey. Since thattime, we have upwards of 18 people go every year to the Lott

“My advice to young ministers is don’t go full time

until it’s time. Don’t say, “God is sending me.”

Make sure it’s not ego sending you because

where God directs, God provides and God

protects. If you do that you will be successful.”

Rev. James L. Cherry, Sr.

and his wife, First Lady Eunice Cherry

17

Carey Foreign Mission Convention. We have just as many whotravel to the National Baptist Convention. I have held office onthe board of directors for Lott Carey since 1967 and I havebeen a statistician for Lott Carey since 1975. I have served as ateacher in the National Baptist Congress. Lott Carey came toRochester for two of their conventions, being invited by theAenon church. So those are the hallmarks that I look overbecause you are doing the Lord’s work, but in a broader sense.

What do you view as your main accomplishments in the ministry?

Here at Aenon one great accomplishment was our renova-tion. When you undertake your renovation, that’s stepping outon faith, because sometimes you step out on faith and youare never able to complete the building or to pay for it. Godpermitted us to do all of this work –millions of dollars – andpay for it in a record amount of time. So now, out of all wehave done in this church, we are, I guess we would say, debtfree. We are blessed to have quite a bit of money in invest-ments. As pastor, you don’t know everything, so you have tohave faith in people. We have men who know finance. I amthe pastor and by trusting them, we are sound and solidfinancially, spiritually and numerically. I am proud of that. Notbragging — just spiritually proud.

What advice would you give to young ministers?

Be certain of your calling, because the Bible says “Many arecalled, but few are chosen”. The ministry is an attraction to somemen and women, but also the ministry is hard work. The Biblesays don’t put your shoulder to the plow and look back. Onceyou accept the call to the ministry, you should first prepare your-self. Do as much schooling as you can in the right places. Thenbe committed first to God, then to the ministry. If you happen tohave a family and be married, then be committed to your family.I would tell a young minister to find a pastor that he can situnder, who will mentor him and to watch that pastor. Be activein the church. Most pastors want to become full-time pastors.That means you won’t have a second job. My advice to youngministers is don’t go full time until it’s time. Don’t say, “God issending me.” Make sure it’s not ego sending you becausewhere God directs, God provides and God protects. If you dothat you will be successful.

Pastor, what is your take on women in the ministry? I know youordained a female in March. How has your perspective onfemales in ministry changed over the years?

When I first came to Aenon, I had pastored a church in Philadelphia where a woman could not teach a man in classbecause there is a Scripture in the Bible that says that a womanshould not usurp authority over man. In most churches youattend, 60 percent or more of the membership would befemale. I have watched women in the church. They are commit-ted. They are spiritual. They depend on the Word. I asked Godhow did He want me to treat women who said they are called topreach. I sincerely believe God spoke to me and gave me anincident of testament from the Bible. When Jesus rose from the

dead, the first message He said to His disciples, He sent it by awoman. He told her to go and tell my disciples and Peter. Thatwas Mary. I know there are men who yet teach, and some aremy friends, and are firmly against women in ministry. But I havewatched their lives. I have watched their commitment and I havebecome a believer that God can call whomsoever He will tocarry the Gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. So I don’tstand between any women. I don’t push it on other pastors but Ibelieve that God does call women in the ministry and they makegood leaders across the years.

What do you want your legacy in the ministry to be? What doyou want people to remember about you?

Remember that I loved the Lord; that I taught and preached theWord of God; that I loved the people as pastor. I think thatChrist taught us that the ground at the foot of the cross is level.

I have tried to treat all people with the same respect, whetherthey are young or old. I love the ministry. I love going to the hos-pital, my wife and I, early in the morning, in a late afternoon inice and snow or late at night to comfort a family. I have buriedso many people from this church. In some families I have buriedover 10 people. I don’t bury church members, I bury friends. SoI am hurt, when they are hurt. I would like my legacy to be that Iwas a truly a man of God. I was truly a pastor who stood on theWord of God, who was led by the Holy Spirit and the Lord JesusChrist and who really demonstrated he loved his people.

What are your post-retirement plans? Is it relocation, speakingtour, golfing?

Well, Mrs. Cherry and I have purchased a home in Gainesville,Virginia. When 2014 is no more, we plan to move to Virginia. Ihave a son that pastors a church there – Bishop Wesley T.Cherry Sr. We plan to join his congregation as members. Wehave three children, six grandchildren and seven great- grand-children. We plan to enjoy our family. I have some ministers thatheard I am retiring and have called me. “You have to come andpreach for me when you retire,” said a minister from Detroit. Mygoal is that when I retire not to quit preaching but to retire frompreaching. Maybe preach sporadically, but have somebodypreach to me. I love it, but I am looking forward to God givingme three things in my retirement: keep me holy, keep me healthyand keep me happy. And I will enjoy retirement. Now you men-tioned golf. That is a sport I loved but as I grow older it losessome of its luster.

Mrs. Cherry and I plan on enjoying our grandchildren andenjoying ourselves. She and I are doing what God has asked usto do, going when He wants us to go. But sometimes just sittingand doing nothing. Amen. Being a pastor is really a full-timeexperience and you have got to love it to do it. So I have loved itfor 54 years. My hope for post-retirement days and years, and Ihope there are many, is to serve God and to be used as a vesselin any way God wants to use me.

18

God’s Time is Now:

Recultivating the “Garden”...tending creation as people of faith

Lectures , Reflect ion ,

Reun ion and Worsh ip

Apr il 7–9 , 2015

Early registration and

more information available at

www.crcds.edu/spring-lecture-week

Baptist Missionary Training School

Shirley Mae Wilcox O’Farrell ‘50

Colgate Rochester Divinity School

David C. Derby ‘58

Wesley Bourdette ‘61

Fred Jackson ‘64

James A. Marvin ‘64

Daniel H. Berry ‘68

Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School

Patricia Austin ’07

Heather M. Janes ‘11

Friends of CRCDS

Mary Erzinger

Shirley M. Jones

Virginia Medd

Mildred Jeanne Solomon

In Memoriam

19

Introducing BMTS Scholarship Recipient Laura Bachmann

Laura is a first-year M.Div. student. She was raised in the Episcopal faith

but is a “working Presbyterian.” Laura is most interested in Christian formation

and mission work, in her words, “being God’s hands and feet.”

Laura, who earned her AB in International Relations at Brown University,

would like to convey a personal message to the Baptist Missionary Training

School donors who help make her education at CRCDS possible. She says,

“Not only does the support of women who have gone before me encourage

me on a personal level, but . . . your support offers me the gift of non-anxious

time to focus on my studies, to sink into the seminary community and to really

listen to the leadings of the Holy Spirit. I thank you for that chance. I thank

you for the generous support which makes this scholarship fund available to

all students like me who want to follow their calling. Your interest and care

mean a great deal.”

Introducing BMTS Scholarship Recipient Andrea Abbott

Andrea is a third-year M.Div. student at CRCDS. A librarian, Andrea received her

B.A. in Psychology from Antioch University and her MA and MLS degrees from the

State University of New York, Buffalo. Her goal, upon completion of her studies at

CRCDS, is to serve in parish ministry.

A part-time student, Andrea is incredibly grateful for the Baptist Missionary Training

School scholarship, since it enables her to accelerate her studies in time to graduate

in 2016.

While completing her education, Andrea currently serves as pastor at The Unitarian-

Universalist Church in Central Square, a small community north of Syracuse, NY.

She also interned at Immanuel Baptist Church in Rochester, NY.

The Baptist Missionary Training School (BMTS)Legacy Continues

Enabl ing women for m in istry for over 130 years

Andrea Abbott

Laura Bachmann

The Fund for

CRCDS

In Memory of:

Dr. James B. AshbrookDr. C. Jack Richards

Dr. Oren J. BakerRev. Clifford H. HaskinsRev. D. Richard Neill

Mr. Albert C. BarnettMs. Gladys Rudolph

Rev. Martha M. BarrDr. William F. Barr

Dr. Gene E. BartlettRev. Mahlon Gilbert, D.Min.

Dr. J. Rodney Branton Rev. D. Richard Neill

Ms. Marilyn W. BurdickRev. Gary V. Burdick

Dr. Paul C. CarterRev. Vernon E. Kuehn

Rev. William B. ConnorMs. Marie B. Connor

Rev. Theodore CoxMs. Ruth A. Cox

Mr. Forrest Cummings, Jr.Rev. Lawrence Hargrave and Ms. Brenda D. Lee

Rev. David C. DerbyUS TsubakiMr. John W. DerbyMs. Phyllis H. DerbyMr. Craig P. Wilson

Rev. E. Robert Ferris, Jr.Ms. Susanna Ferris

Rev. Dr. Benjamin G. GarmerRev. William L. Frederickson

Mr. James Hall and Ms. Lois Hall

Rev. Douglas E. Hess and Ms. Rebecca Hess

Mr. Edward Hess and Ms. Theresa Hess

Rev. Douglas E. Hess and Ms. Rebecca Hess

Ms. Heather M. JanesMr. John Tetz and Ms. Verna Tetz

Mr. Donald E. KlarupDr. Bruce C. Gray

Rev. Ruth LackerRev. Barbara J. Laker-Ware and Rev. Michael Ware

Dr. Werner E. LemkeRev. Marie E. King

Dr. Richard E. MurdochRev. Archie Smith Jr., Ph.D.

Dr. Charles M. NielsenDr. Wendy J. Deichmann

Mr. and Mrs. Dong Y. ParkRev. Dan W. Park

Mr. Leroy Pullen and Mrs. Dorthea Pullen

Dr. Bruce R. Pullen and Ms. Judith A. Pullen

Dr. Wilbour E. SaundersRev. Willis J. Merriman

Ms. Alice ShaeMs. Emma Enoch

Mr. Robert SlaughterRev. Lawrence Hargrave and Ms. Brenda D. Lee

Dr. Kenneth L. SmithRev. Warren O. Shields

Ms. Emily SundlandRev. Karen S. Sundland

Mr. Gary D. TalbotM. Kathleen Talbot

Ms. Lee WilmoreRev. Lawrence Hargrave and Ms. Brenda D. Lee

Mr. Elder YungMs. Diane A. Ellis

In Honor of:

Baptist Missionary Training School

Ms. June E. F. Jacobson

Rev. Dr. James A. BrakerRev. Dr. Donald F. Wheeler

Dr. Paul L. HammerRev. Suzanna E. Harriff

Ms. Rebecca HessRev. Douglas E. Hess

Ms. Hanson JohnsonRev. Lawrence Hargrave and Ms. Brenda D. Lee

Rev. Dr. Leardrew L. JohnsonRev. Lawrence Hargrave and Ms. Brenda D. Lee

Dr. H. Darrell LanceMr. Scott W. Anderson and Ms. Sue A. Anderson

Rev. Deborah L. Hughes

Mr. Thomas McDade ClayMs. Elizabeth T. Clay

Rev. Marvin A. McMickle, Ph.D.and Ms. Peggy McMickle

Rev. Lawrence Hargrave and Ms. Brenda D. Lee

Dr. James C. MillerRev. G. Travis Norvell

Dr. Barbra A Moore, RSM Ms. Germaine Knapp

Dr. James SandersDr. Emma J. Justice

Rev. Dr. Stephanie L. SauvéRev. J. Peter BelecRev. Robert L. Booher

Other Funds :

The Martin Luther King, Jr.Endowed Chair for Social Justiceand Black Church Studies

In Memory of:

Dr. Charles ThurmanMs. Mattie Thurman

In Honor of:

Rev. James L. Cherry, Sr. andMs. Eunice Cherry

Rev. Lawrence Hargrave and Ms. Brenda D. Lee

20

June 8 , 2014 -September 24 , 2014

Memorial & Appreciation Gifts

20

2121

Pat Tingley completed a charitable gift annuity with CRCDS that provides the school with essentialsupport for its students and its future. The annuity supplies Pat with annual payments to supplementher income while also generating valuable tax deductions. Pat has peace of mind knowing she isupholding the values she cares about with a gift that also provides her with income and benefits.

Jo in the Hor izon Soc iety

today by includ ing CRCDS in

your estate plann ing .

For more information about charitable gift annuities or otherplanned gifts at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School,please contact Tom McDade Clay at (585) 340-9648 or

tmcdadeclay@crcds.edu.

“CRCDS stands for what I care about most —

an education committed to social justice and to people.

Supporting the school just makes sense.”

Patricia (“Pat”) Doolittle Tingley, BMTS ’52

Horizon Society

Alumna makes strategic investment in school’s future

Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School

1100 South Goodman Street

Rochester, NY 14620

(585) 271-1320

www.crcds.edu

Non-Profit Org.

US Postage

PAIDRochester, NY

Permit No. 1588

Autumn /Winter 2014

CRCDSFaith. Critically engaged.

Bullet in of the Colg ate Rochester Crozer D iv in i t y School

“The schisms that

we’re experiencing

across political

divides, socio-

economic divides,

race, gender and

geography obscure

the urgency and the

cooperation that is

required to work

together to solve

some of our most

pressing global

problems. In order

to transform our

world, we have to

transform how we

engage with each

other.”~ Simran Sethi, Sustainabilityjournalist, in her July 2012TEDx talk, “Why and How DoWe Engage?”

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