From @austinseminary ... "The Reed" for January 2020

•  MidWinter Lectures, February 3-5, 2020

Have you registered yet? Here are some of the highlights:

• Festive Reunion  Receptions for the graduates from classes ending in 0 (to which everyone is invites.


• The ASA Banquet featuring Distinguished Alumni Honorees Carol Howard Merritt (MDiv’98) and Dick Powell (MDiv’07).

• Screening of the film Emanuel with special guest presenter Sharon Risher (MDiv’07).



• We're delighted to welcome these esteemed Christian leaders and thinkers to campus in February for our 2020 MidWinters series:

Currie Lecturer: Luke Powery, Associate Professor of Homiletics at Duke Divinity School
Luke Powery is the author of Rise Up, Shepherd! Advent Reflections on the Spirituals, and he is a general editor of Connections, the new biblical commentary from Austin Seminary and WJK. In 2008, the African-American Pulpit named him one of 20 outstanding black ministers under the age of 40 who "are helping shape the future direction of the church." In 2014, he was inducted into the Martin Luther King Jr. Collegium of Scholars at Morehouse College for his ethical and spiritual leadership in the academy, church, and broader society. His Currie Lectures are titled "Searching for Common Ground."

Jones Lecturer: Dana Hughes, Transitional Presbyter for Denver Presbytery
A graduate of Columbia Seminary, Dana Hughes has found a calling in interim ministries; she served churches and the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta before moving to Denver in 2018. A lover of language, the title of her Jones Lectures is "A Net of Words: Pursuing the Sacred by Human Means."

Westervelt Lecturer: Robert Schnase, Bishop of the Rio Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church
Before becoming bishop of the Rio Texas Conference in 2016, he was bishop of the Missouri Conference and served congregations in Harlingen, Texas, and in Great Britain. He is the author of the bestselling books Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, Five Practices of Fruitful Living, Practicing Extravagant Generosity, Seven Levers: Missional Strategies for Conferences, and Just Say Yes: Unleashing People for Ministry. Bishop Schnase's Westervelt Lectures are titled "Border Crossing: The Power of Narrative to Open Hearts and Change Conversations."

MidWinters Preacher: Keatan King, Associate Pastor of St. Philip Presbyterian Church, Houston
A graduate of Louisville Seminary, Keatan King has served at St. Philip since 2013. A native of Austin, Texas, and a life-long Presbyterian, King serves as a trustee on the Board of Austin Seminary following in the footsteps of her father, Carter King (MDiv’70), who served on the Seminary faculty and board.

Read More, and Register for MidWinters!

• Students respond creatively to the Book of James

Seminarians often face the challenge of translating what they learn in class to their future lives of ministry. To encourage this kind of thinking, last semester I assigned an exegetical (interpretive) project rather than a standard exegesis paper as the cumulative assignment for my exegesis class on the Letter of James. Students made proposals for their projects in September, handed in exegetical briefs of their text at the end of October, and then presented their final projects.

Three of these projects are presented here ...

These are just a sampling of the creative projects that Austin Seminary students developed in response to their semester-long engagement with James. To what ministry are the words of the Bible calling you today?

– Margaret Aymer
The First Presbyterian Church, Shreveport,
D. Thomason Professor of New Testament Studies

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• What's new at AustinSeminary.edu?

Did you now we have a page on our website especially for those who lead and belong to Christian faith communities? It has links to workshops, the faculty, and a place to share your open pastoral positions.

Check out our Congregational Resources page here!,

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