InSpire

2005·13.3 MB·English

Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2019 with funding from
Princeton Theological Seminary Library
https://archive.org/details/inspire912unse
sumftier/falj 2004
!a If3?RW40Ji ft?] PTfll ^ 3 »1|||
llfiillllilf
Passing the Torch
HH'
r
js^Se&S,; -
mLxB
to lain Torrance
Princeton Seminary Calls
a New President
Also in This Issue
A Year in Scotland for Award Winners
t
PTS in photos
1. President Gillespie shares a moment with Elisabeth Ziemer, Ph.D.,
the last graduate to whom he gave a degree during his presidency.
2. Ph.D. graduate and new PTS assistant professor of Old Testament
Eunny Patricia Lee with her father and President Gillespie
3. Barbara Chaapel, director of communications/publications, with
David Watermulder, trustee emeritus. Chaapel was the first woman
minister on staff of Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church in suburban
Philadelphia, when Watermulder was its pastor.
4. Professor Jimmy Jack McBee Roberts with the mace, at his final
graduation before retirement
5. M.Div. graduate Chris Currie and his father, the dean of Union
Theological Seminary's Charlotte campus
6. Th.M. graduate Glenn Chestnutt (back row, left) and M.A./M.Div.
graduate Blair Bertrand (back row, right) with family and their twin
spouses, Vivian and Hannah (front row, left and right)
7. Scottish D.Min. graduates (left to right) William Martin Fair, Jared
Woods Hay, Gordon Angus McCracken, and George James Whyte, with
Professor Geddes Hanson (far left) and Dr. Stephen Crocco (far right)
8. Professors (left to right) Dan Migliore, Max Stackhouse, Robert
Lanchester, and James Charlesworth
9. Ph.D. graduate Kristin Saldine, Princeton Seminary's minister of the
chapel, with her advisor. Professor Charles Bartow
Check us out online!
And send our web address to friends, parish¬
JinSpire
in this issue ioners, and those you love. inSpire is online
at www.ptsem.edu/read/inspire.htm.
m
i Princeton Theological Seminary Features
Summer/Fall 2004
12 • Aberdeen's Dean Becomes Princeton's
President: Princeton Seminary Welcomes
lain Torrance
Barbara A. Chaapel lainTorrance is a churchman, a pastor, a schol¬
ar, and a Scot. He looks forward to beginning
Kathleen Whalen to get to know and to lead the Seminary com¬
munity, on campus and worldwide.
Editorial Assistants
Wesley H. Goldsberry by Barbara A. Chaapel
Andrea Rodgers
Communications Assistant
Michelle Roemer Schoen
16 • The Life of a Biblical Scholar:
Staff Photographer
Jim Roberts Makes a Full-Court Press
Joshua Sutherlun
on the Texts of Faith
inspire is a magazine After a quarter century on the Princeton faculty,
for alumni/ae and friends Jim Roberts looks forward to continuing
of Princeton Theological
research and writing on the texts of Scripture
Seminary. It is published
in his native Texas.
three times a year by
the Princeton Theological by Leslie Dobbs-Allsopp
Seminary Office
of Communications/
Publications, PO. Box 821
Princeton, NJ 08542-0803.
18 • From Steam Lines to Snowplows:
Telephone: [phone]
David Poinsett Retires as Princeton's
Fax: [phone]
Email: [email protected] Steward of Structures and Spaces
Web site: David Poinsett joined the Seminary staff as
www.ptsem.edu/read/inspire/
director of housing, was promoted to director
of facilities, and spent 23 years caring for the
The magazine has a circulation
of approximately 23,000 and campus he came to love.
is printed by George H.
by Barbara A. Chaapel
Buchanan Co. in Bridgeport,
NJ. Reproduction in whole
or in part without permission
is prohibited. Nonprofit postage
paid at Bridgeport, NJ. LIBRARY OF PRINCETON
All the views expressed in
I
inSpire may not necessarily
represent those of Princeton
SEP 2 2 2004
Theological Seminary.
On the Cover
With the future of the Christian theological seminary
church worldwide and its ministry
of utmost importance, President
Torrance brings to Princeton
Seminary an eclectic repertoire
of experiences and commitments—
in theology, ecclesiology, cultures,
the arts, and technology.
Departments
2 • Letters 23 • Class Notes
4 • inSpire interactive 33 • Investing in Ministry
6 • On & Off Campus 36 • In Memoriam
20 • Outstanding in the Field 37 • End Things
■ -
inSpire • 1
summer/fall 2004
from the
president's desk
Dear Friends and Colleagues:
It is the 6th of July as I write this, and I am heading eastward, back to Scotland, having
attended the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and spent six days at
Princeton. The speed of assumption of office after appointment means that as yet I do not
have a visa. Alter a year of semi-separation from my wife, Morag, while as moderator of the
ve Church of Scotland’s General Assembly I worked out of Edinburgh and she retained her posi¬
e
e
R tion in Aberdeen, we are returning to Scotland to sell our house, to buy one in Edinburgh for

a
ni
o our children, and to spend a little time together before the visa arrives.
nt
A
o: Attendance at the General Assembly in Richmond and initial days meeting colleagues in
hot Princeton have eased the transition. I hadn’t been in Princeton since 1959. That year as a fami¬
P
ly, we spent four months on campus. My father, Thomas F. Torrance, was working on the type¬
script that subsequently became his book Theological Science. We spent a memorable and immensely happy four months on
campus, living in Tennant Flail. I was ten years old and entranced, as children are, by the fireflies.
To return as president is entirely unexpected and seems almost miraculous. It is a position I did not seek, but which,
once approached and sifted, I believed to be God’s calling to me. My background is that I come to Princeton from having
been the dean ol the Faculty of Arts in a full-spectrum university. But as a former moderator of the General Assembly, I am
also someone completely committed to upholding the perspective ol the church. When I was approached by the Search
Committee, inevitably, and in many ways reluctantly, I asked myself where was my life going, and what had God sought to
prepare me for.
God willing, I will commit the rest of my working life to the Seminary. The learning curve lor anyone coming to
Princeton would be steep, but I believe that Aberdeen gave me as much preparation academically and administratively as
any prior institution could. I am learning the complexities of American Presbyterianism. While eager to contribute, I am
loath to be immediately typecast. A number of closely related arguments claim the attention of Christians today. My hope
is that coming from outside I may bring a slightly different perspective to them.
I believe the world changed after 9/11. I believe it took us a decade to absorb the assassination of President Kennedy;
9/11 will take longer and will remain as a dreadful kind of turning point. How to respond to this in a way that is construc¬
tive, healing, and wise is one of our challenges. I believe that, at this juncture, Princeton Theological Seminary, the heir
now to the faithful stewardship ol a remarkable series of presidents and trustees, has a pivotal role. This role is not to be a
bulwark for anything, but to be a place that is committed, but not defensive; inspiring, while recognizing that we are
agents, not victims, at a time of change. As a faith-based community, we have a capacity to be both passionate and hos¬
pitable, a capacity that the divinity schools may lack. It is this belief that has brought me here.
The world has changed fundamentally in other ways, too. The Reformation would not have taken place without the
printing press and the translation of Bible into the vernacular. The phenomenon of the internet is a revolution the scale of
which we are only beginning to glimpse. It has potential for great harm, as we now know. Its capacity to broadcast lends
itself to the display of intimidating and theatrical acts of violence. Dreadful though this is, it is attention-seeking behavior
and points to a deeper hunger. Let us listen.
I he internet has many capacities for good. It will change the way we learn, write, refer, teach, and communicate.
Reformed people better than most are attuned to the nature ol the real, but spiritual, presence of Christ that we encounter
at communion. A virtual but real communion with the worldwide church will both contextualize our local divisions, and
enable us to share the unsurpassed library and scholarly resources that the Seminary possesses. This is part of the hope that
brought me here.
Faithfully yours,
Iain R. Torrance
2 • inSpire
summer/fall 2004
Please write—we love to hear from you!
A Letters
We welcome correspondence from our
readers. Letters should be addressed to:
Editor, inSpire
Memories Revived of McCord,
Office of Communications/Publications
This afternoon after and he has
PrincetonTheological Seminary
watching the emotional gone on PO. Box 821
dedication of the World beyond him Princeton, NJ 08542-0803
email: [email protected]
War II Memorial in from strength
Letters may be edited for length or clarity,
Washington, D.C., I to strength,
and should include the writer's name,
decided to clear off my taking the address, and telephone number.
desk. Almost tossing the Seminary
related to the journey of Svetlana
spring 2004 issue of to greater new
Alliluyeva, Stalin’s daughter, from
inSpire into the wastebas¬ heights than
Geneva to the United States. While
ket, I noticed the subtitle we could have
she had her own home in Princeton,
on the cover. I settled hoped. The
where the Greenbaums had encour¬
down in my recliner and idea, content,
aged her to settle, she had been a regu¬
spent the afternoon read¬ layout, and aes¬
lar visitor to 104 Mercer.
ing this issue from “kiver to kiver!"— thetics of the issue are simply superb.
The Greenbaums were a wonderful
“Celebrating our Filth President, Thank you.
couple with whom I struck up a warm
Thomas W. Gillespie!" Jay Harold Ellens (’65M)
and lasting friendship. While Edward
What memories returned to mind! Farmington, Michigan
Greenbaum died the following sum¬
I entered Princeton Theological
mer, the arrangement had proved so
Seminary the fall oi 1954 and graduat¬ A Very Special Year
satisfactory that Dorothea Greenbaum
ed a member of the Class of 1957. I was drawn to the short article,
continued to take in Seminary stu¬
That fall I was ordained in the Synod “A Victorian Splendor—Faculty House
dents for years afterward. It was under
of Texas. Fourteen years later I demit- on Tour," on page eight of the spring
Dr. McCord’s stewardship that Mrs.
ted the ministry. Why? Reasons too 2003 issue of inSpire. Back in
Greenbaum agreed that 104 Mercer be
deep to enumerate and too complicat¬ September of 1969 I got a call from
sold to the Seminary upon her death.
ed to elaborate lead me to refrain from Jim Andrews asking if I might wish to
Cameron Bigelow (’69B, TOM)
answering. However, I dropped out ol take up an opportunity, at no cost, to
Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada
the church for about 20 years. Then I move in with an elderly couple, the
decided to no longer be a renegade. I Greenbaums, living next to the
Learning from Ed Dowey
rejoined the Presbyterian Church as a Seminary campus at 104 Mercer
I have special memories of Edward
member. Later I became an elder and Street. They wanted a student to live
A. Dowey, recalled by Charles West’s
served a number of terms in various with them for the academic year as
essay in the winter 2004 issue of
churches in Texas. Edward Greenbaum was in failing
inSpire. It was my privilege to be
Now, retired in Clifton, Texas, I health and the presence of someone
acquainted with Dr. Dowey before I
am an active member in the small First else in the home would give them an
became a student at Princeton
Presbyterian Church. added sense of security.
Theological Seminary.
This issue, so full of letters and I took Andrews up on the offer
At Princeton, I experienced him as
great articles, rekindled my interest in and experienced a most fascinating
a scholar, but also as a teacher. I
the Seminary’s purpose and program. year. Edward Greenbaum had had an
learned much from him outside the
With appreciation, I am, illustrious legal career as a senior part¬
classroom. It was informative how he
Norm Taylor (’57B) ner in a New York City law firm. He
expressed concerns with others and not
Clifton, Texas had served as a trustee of The Institute
just about others. After my ordination,
for Advanced Studies and had been a
I served with him on the then
Gratitude for Gillespie Tribute close friend of Albert Einstein, who
Candidates Committee of my pres¬
May I begin by congratulating you had lived at 112 Mercer Street. There
bytery. It was a continuing education
on the excellence of your most recent were many visits from well-known and
experience as he shared guidance for
issue of inSpire [spring 2004], celebrat¬ famous personalities.
future ministers. It was good to know
ing President Gillespie. Most of us It was on the recommendation of
Ed Dowey.
despaired about whether Dr. McCord George Kennan, former secretary of
Bernadine Grant McRipley (’82B,
could compare with Dr. Mackay, and state and another good friend, that the
’86m)
he exceeded him. Then we wondered State Department had asked Mr.
Levittown, Pennsylvania
if Dr. Gillespie could rise to the level Greenbaum to handle the legal matters
inSpire • 3
summer/fall 2004
inSpire
In this issue's inSpire Interactive, we are pleased to offer alumni/ae the opportunity to welcome Dr. Torrance as the new president, and to
share with him some of their thoughts about Princeton Seminary.
What would you like to tell President Torrance about Princeton Seminary?
Princeton Seminary is a place I have in its dedication to the practical needs
held dear in my heart all these 50 of the local pastor as preacher, cele¬
years since I was a student there. Dr. brant, and counselor. As one who came to a life-changing
Mackay's goal for community was a I know that you also are bringing this and personal faith in Jesus Christ dur¬
reality, and it sustained and nurtured dedication to your tenure as our new ing my years at Princeton Seminary,
me.Twenty years later when it became president.Thank you, and welcome. the tumultuous late '60s and early
possible for me to be ordained, I real¬ Bruce Hedman, (M.Div., 1980) '70s, my prayer is that the Lord will
ized the seed was planted at Princeton. Mansfield Center, Connecticut endue you with courage to lead that
Continue to nurture the community great institution to be renewed with
asTom and Barbara Gillespie also did. 13 the vitality of historic biblical orthodoxy
May God bless you as you lead in this while retaining its desire to be conver¬
global ministry. Both ecumenical and Reformed, sant with contemporary culture.
Betty Kurtz Hamilton (e, 1956) embracing both the evangel and the Mike Barbera, (M.Div., 1972)
Sonoma, California intellect, Princeton Seminary is provi¬ Pass Christian, Mississippi
dentially positioned with its resources
of faculty, library, and staff to be a min¬
3
ister of the living Word within a world
Congratulations on your new calling beset by fear of terror. It incarnates the Welcome to Princeton Seminary,
as president of Princeton Seminary. As indispensable relevance of the appar¬ President Torrance. May you enjoy
a retired pastor now serving in an inter¬ ently irrelevant. As such, the mission of years of happy service and grace-filled
im position, I believe the one thing that Princeton Seminary during this century leadership. I believe that when its best,
our Presbyterian Church (USA) needs is may focus on recalling the church to Princeton Seminary has belonged to no
more help in learning how to deal effec¬ explore and live out the social and eco¬ faction of the church. It has been a
tively with diversity. As one who truly nomic details of God's covenant com¬ place where believers of many kinds
believes in Paul's image of the church munity, both as a reality itself and as can be both heard and challenged in
as the "Body of Christ" with all that humble yeast for turning individualistic the name of Christ —liberals, post-liber¬
implies for the rich diversity of its mem¬ capitalistic American culture toward a als, conservative evangelicals, post-con¬
bers, I am discouraged when looking at more humane direction. servative evangelicals, old line and new
the lobbying efforts of our church (both John G. Gibbs, (Ph.D., 1966) line charismatics, and good mainstream
left and right) to get their own way Park Rapids, Minnesota church folk alike. Let PTS be that for the
rather than concerted efforts to work at church, and so let it be a partner in our
reconciliation and a positive emphasis 13 healing during these times. God's
on the strength of our diversity. strength, wisdom, and peace to you.
I hope Princeton can help a new PrincetonTheological Seminary is Wesley Avram, (M.Div., 1984)
breed of graduates who have a passion¬ truly a family of theologians from vari¬ New Haven, Connecticut
ate desire to be more centrist in their ous creeds, nations, races, and reli¬
theological posture and intentional gions, and one that looks out for its
about their efforts to "bind the body own. Administrators and students have
back together" rather than fracture it a special relationship that goes far Princeton can be a very pretentious
further. With all my prayers for your beyond the ordinary, and this bond can place, and it doesn't take much for
future leadership. be felt by anyone entering the campus. a seminary student or faculty member
Harlan Gilliland, (M.Div., 1962) Courses are sometimes tough; how¬ to "take on airs." My first year of
Longview, Washington ever, everyone succeeds because each theological training was at Harvard
one helps the other. Much of this, in my University Divinity School, and coming
3 opinion, can only be attributed to the to PrincetonTheological Seminary after
very fine leadership of the school, an internship in a small church in
As a professor of mathematics, which we trust will always continue. Kansas was a dip in the road (for me).
I appreciate academic studies. But also Berlinda A. Love, (M.Div., 1992) I was taken somewhat aback that some
as a pastor of a congregational church Trenton, New Jersey were "puffed up" with themselves and
in Connecticut, I have heard many of
with their location. How can this cultur¬
my local colleagues say that they felt
al sophistication be overcome when the
ill-prepared for the practice of ministry,
world needs accurate communicators
when they graduated from their large
of the Word of God, real men and
New England divinity schools. The
women of the Gospel?
strength of the Masters of Divinity
John B. Jaymes, (M.R.E., 1962)
program at Princeton Seminary lies
LaBelle, Florida
4 * inSpire
summer/fall 2004
inSpire interactive
3 13 3
I'd like to remind Dr.Torrance that I hope PresidentTorrance will keep in I am very grateful for the education
Princeton Seminary is much more than mind the complete diversity of the I received in my years at Princeton
the present faculty, staff, and student PrincetonTheological Seminary alum- Seminary. But, like a two-edged sword,
body, distinguished as they may be. ni/ae community —especially those some of Princeton's strengths run paral¬
Princeton Seminary is a whole "cloud whose calling has taken them to voca¬ lel to significant weaknesses.
of witnesses" to the way, the truth, and tional settings beyond the church. Many Princeton does a superb job of acade¬
the life that is Jesus Christ out at work who pass through Princeton end up in mic training, invaluable to those going
in the world.That includes Pittsburgh! vocational endeavors outside the tradi¬ on to doctoral work; but there are too
Vance W. "Trip"Torbert III, (M.Div., 1987) tional ministry. Historically these have few courses (and too little room in a
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania been the forgotten alumni/ae, with pre¬ student's schedule for courses) that
cious little attention paid to their gifts, deal with practical issues of church life,
3 talents, and assets. I would ask of administration, and pastoral care, all
PresidentTorrance that some special vital to the small churches so typical in
The U.S. Navy, including the chaplain attention be dedicated to this "diaspo¬ the PCUSA.
corps, is dramatically revising its ra" community, perhaps a "silent Princeton is well aware of the gifts
approach to education. Key questions majority" of alumni/ae for whom our and strengths it has to offer its stu¬
required to fund education now are pre¬ seminary experience was a significant dents; but it often seem unaware of the
ceded by a "job task analysis" that factor in our life's direction, but who are gifts and strengths its students could
identifies what a chaplain must know to not affiliated with the traditional min¬ offer in return, if the Seminary were
serve effectively in a particular ministry. istries that Princeton Seminary focuses willing to be as effective at learning as
"Just in time" rather than "just in case" its energies upon. it is at teaching.
training is key. Integrated approaches of I believe that this is a sizeable com¬ Princeton has years of strong tradi¬
classroom, web-based, and hands-on munity. I believe that we quietly hunger tion that have laid a firm foundation
learning produce a prepared chaplain. for a viable connection between our in Christ; but it has not kept up with
Princeton Seminary has much to seminary experience and our current other seminaries who seem more
learn from this type of approach. It is lives. And I believe that we have a sig¬ prepared to welcome the diverse mix
the future. What Princeton teaches must nificant potential for all manner of con¬ of second-career, women, racial-ethnic,
align with what new pastors and receiv¬ tribution to the life and future of PTS. and part-time students who are re¬
ing churches need. Hard data must pre¬ Rick Nyberg (M.Div., 1976) sponding in increasing numbers to
cede both tradition and anecdote to Newport Beach, California God's call to ministry.
determine requirements. Princeton Princeton has a clear identity and
Seminary is positioned to lead. Will it? upholds sound theological positions
Bob Phillips, (Th.M. 1975, D.Min. 1988) and standards; but its overall diversity
Norfolk, Virginia (theological, racial, generational, etc.) in
faculty and student body has decreased
13 at a time when the world's diversity is
increasing, and, at a time when the
In short, Princeton Seminary denomination is struggling with differ¬
has a responsibility to encourage ence within the body, it has often failed
not only confessional faith, but also to model the image from 1 Corinthians
questing faith. 12 that the Body of Christ needs all of
Heraclitus was right that all is flux, its different members to be complete.
and his genie has escaped the cultural Laurel Underwood Brundage
bottle in our age. Amid competing (M.Div., 1996)
worldviews and ideologies, Princeton Brodheadsville, Pennsylvania
Seminary needs to rise above reac¬
tionary apologetics and stimulate
3
radical openness to truth and radical
outwardness toward a broken world. World Christianity is shifting to Africa
If the Seminary does that, it will and Asia, I would like to see more
participate in the reconciling activity courses and emphasis on global
of God in Christ. But only through the Christianity. Also, as seminaries witness
grace of God will it be afforded both the greater enrollment of Asian Americans,
challenges to seek, and the support I would like to see courses on Asian
needed to do so. American Christianity, church history,
Bill LeMosy (M.Div, 1969, M.A., 1971) and experience.
Pleasant Hill, Iowa KeyOneYu, (M.Div., 1999)
Edison, New Jersey
inSpire • 5
summer/fall 2004
on&off
Campus
Gillespie and Roberts Honored
as Distinguished Alumni
g
n
gi
Dr.Thomas W. Gillespie and Dr. Joseph L. a
m
Roberts were presented Princeton Seminary's I
&
Distinguished Alumnus Awards at the annual o
ot
alumni/ae reunion gathering in May. Gillespie, h
P
Class of 1954, retired as Princeton's president at h
g
the end of June. Roberts, Class of 1968 (Th.M.), Lei

is senior pastor of Atlanta's historic Ebenezer o:
ot
Baptist Church, the church of Drs. Martin Luther h
P
King Sr. and Jr. Joseph L. Roberts
i / 7 7 Gillespie was honored for his uncommon lead¬
IGive Us a C Chord, and on One... ership of the flagship seminary of the Presbyterian Church (USA) for 21 years, as well as for
\w /L his pastoral work in churches in Garden Grove and Burlingame, California. Roberts, who has
A liturgies scholar/seminary administra- pastored Ebenezer for 29 years, was celebrated for championing those marginalized by soci¬
Itor. A pastor/financial advisor. A pastor/ ety, with particular mention of his congregation's program for teenage mothers, food co-op,
Isurgeon. A pastor/insurance agent.That and senior daycare center.
describes the careers of four Princeton Both men were also recognized for their "bold, stimulating preaching," a fitting tribute dur¬
Jalums from the 1950s: Arlo Duba (Class ing a reunion whose theme was "Preaching in the 21st Century." Guy Griffith, president of
§ of '55), James Memmott (Class of '55), the Alumni/ae Association Executive Council, said of Roberts, "Folks won't stay to listen for
/ William McCullough (Class of '56), and 29 years unless you know what you're saying and you say it well."
Leonard Roe (Class of '56), respectively. In receiving the award, Roberts expressed gratitude for his year at Princeton, saying, "They
But when they were PTS students, and call me a Bapterian! I've brought so much of Calvin to my church."
again at the May alumni/ae reunion, they Gillespie said he was "moved and honored" by the award, given in the year of his retire¬
were better known as tenor, lead tenor, ment and of his 50th class reunion. He recalled that during his presidency 4,400-plus stu¬
baritone, and bass —members of a minis- dents have graduated from the Seminary. With more than 60 classmates sitting around him
Iterial barbershop quartet. in the Mackay Dining Room, he waxed nostalgic, noting that his class was the last class to
Memmott and Duba had sung in quar¬ eat in the Seminary eating clubs. He then led his class in a rousing rendition of one of their
tets in college, and when they met in their class songs: "I can see her tonight in the old candlelight, the girl I left behind."
first year at Princeton they decided to
keep singing and the Parsons Quartet was
Strengthening the Latino/a Church
born. With classmates from the Seminary
Touring Choir they sang in churches and
A record number—247 —Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking pastors and lay people came
| concert venues, including a gig in the
from New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania to attend the 14th annual Congreguemonos
Poconos one summer. "We were the 1950s
on the Seminary's campus in May. Founder and program director of Congreguemonos,
version of the Back Street Boys," said
Victor Aloyo, the Seminary's director of vocations, translates the experience as "Let Us
Memmott. In all, 17 men participated, and
Gather." This year was the first time presentations were in Portuguese as well as Spanish.
seven of those returned to sing for the
"My call," Aloyo says, "includes a ministry to equip Hispanic and Latino/a servants of
quartet's 50th reunion.They refound each
Christ." Congreguemonos provides an opportunity to enhance attendees' God-given abili¬
other on the internet.
ties. It is the central focus of the Hispanic and Latino(a) Leadership Program (HLLP) under
"Imagine, if you can, seven guys who
the auspices of the Seminary's Center of Continuing Education.
hadn't been together for 47 years present¬
Presbyterian and Reformed church leaders gathered to hear Dr. Daisy Machado, associate
ing songs from an ancient repertoire at
professor of the history of Christianity and Hispanic church studies at Brite Divinity School.
the alumni/ae banquet," said Memmott,
A Cuban immigrant, Machado is the first Latina Protestant to receive a Ph.D. in theology and
the group's organizer. "It was surreal!"
the first to be ordained by the Disciples of Christ.
He called the alums gathered for the
The focus of Machado's presentation was "the need for the Latino church to assume a
| reunion "forgiving and generous" as they
prophetic role to both the Latino community and to the Euro-American culture." By doing
listened to the group harmonize to music
this, she explained, the Latino church will develop congregations/communities of faith that
both sacred and secular. A rendition of
have distinct characteristics: justice, mercy, and hospitality. According to Machado, "The
"Old MacDonald Had a Farm" with new
Latino church needs to seriously examine what a healthy community of God looks like and
words ("Doc Gillespie Had a School")
then work toward emulating those characteristics and not necessarily follow the models it
brought down the house and got two
has inherited from the Protestant missionary enterprise of the late 1800s and early 1900s."
thumbs up from the retiring "Doc," who
She cited three crucial issues with long-term impact on the Hispanic/Latino/a church:
' was in the hall!
immigration/language, gender equality and inclusion, and Latino Protestant identity.
The group, some with family members
Valdir Alves dos Reis, pastor of St. Paul Presbyterian Church in Newark, New Jersey, said,
in tow, spent the weekend together in
"To participate in the Congreguemonos in Princeton was a great spiritual enrichment and
Princeton, revisiting old haunts and talk¬
opened up a very important space for the Portuguese-speaking church." He shares
ing about "matters personal, ecclesiasti-
Machado's concerns about immigration and her vision of a prophetic ministry. "Many peo¬
cal, political, and philosophical." They
ple of different nationalities live today in large cities" he said. "The church needs to reach
; performed for friends on Saturday
out with a message that not only speaks to the soul, but also acts with great solidarity in
/.evening in Scheide Hall, when Duba
helping them to find employment and housing."
reprised their first professional number,
f "I Only Have Eyes for You," to serenade The three-track, year-round leadership program provides education for a one-year
Certificate in Congregational Leadership, elder training for the three-year commissioned lay
his wife, Doreen.The Dubas celebrated
their 50th wedding anniversary in June. pastor ordination process as outlined in the PCUSA Book of Order, and continuing educa¬
tion in Spanish for ordained ministers.
6 • inSpire