PTR: Assessing Seminary Education

During 2005, the Princeton Theological Review published "For Richer Soil and Stronger Root: Assessing Seminary Education."  Among the scholars noted was the Rev. Dr. Luis Rivera-Pagan.

Award Honors Making a Difference

Arrested for Justice

He made a difference. Sitting for justice and being arrested in the 60’s still sends a message today. The Very Rev. James Morton, retired dean of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, founder of The Interfaith Center, and prior recipient of the NYTS Urban Angel Award, received the Global Harmony award recently from the International Communications Association. Morton reflected, “I have gone to jail and I’m very proud of that.”

Let there be Light

Morton, a warm a colorful speaker, navigated a lighting problem gracefully with the aid of two hand-held flashlights. Let there be light!” he intoned at one point underscoring a higher hand in all we do. He recalled traversing from Chicago to be in Selma, AL for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. “The week of nonviolent protest on one hand was contrasted by violence from state troopers on the other.” I wonder... have we really come a long way?

God’s Remarkable Creation

Activist, actress and writer Ruby Dee made a difference too. She was also honored by the New York Metropolitan Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolence, an NGO of the United Nations. “I deserve this award,” Dee chided. “I’m a human…one of the most remarkable creations on all the earth. And, I’m beginning to get the idea of who I am. What an astonishing part is the ‘me’ that is creation!”

Today is Ours

After quoting remembrances of Martin Luther King, Dee closed sparking the room with this poem:

Today is ours
Let’s live it
Love is strong
Let’s give it
A song can help
Let’s sing it
Peace is dear
Let’s bring it
The past is gone
Don’t rue it
Our work is here
Let’s do it
Our world is wrong
Let’s right it
The battle hard
Let’s fight it
The road is rough
Let’s clear it
The future vast
Don’t fear it
Is faith asleep?
Let’s wake it
Today is ours
Let’s take it.

Peter Zehren is Vice President for Development and Insitutional Advancement at New York Theological Seminary.

The Land of My Birth

Going Home, a course offered by New York Theological Seminary every spring, is led by Dr. Eleanor Moody-Shepherd and Dr. Peter Heltzel.  This is a reflection of Dr. Eleanor Moody-Sherpherd's visit to Alabama, her place of birth.

After fifty years, I can analyze my feeling toward the land of my birth. I realize that I have harbored a love/hate relationship with this state in the heart of Dixie.  This land of my birth is located south of the Mason Dixie line in the center of the state of Alabama. I grew up during the turbulent period between World War II and the Korean Conflict.  It  filled me with the impetus to be part of the wind of change that was on the horizon....

The sense of anticipation struggled to overcome the life long reality of internalized fear─ fear for my life in a highly racialized society.  The first seventeen years of my life was characterized by racial oppression and abuse within a Jim Crow system that permeated every aspect of daily life. Every aspect is perhaps an over statement. The Black Church was the one community organization where blacks were nurtured and empowered.

In her book Your Spirits Walk Beside Us, Barbara Dianne Savage describes the relationship between African American religion and political struggle as poignantly and inextricably intertwined. She posits that the emergence in the late 1950’s of a Southern Civil Rights Movement with churches, church people, and church culture at the center was a powerful and startling departure from that story, rather than a normal progression. In many ways, the movement is best thought of not as an inevitable triumph or a movement of religious revival, but simply as a miracle. It was brief, bold, and breathtaking, difficult to replicate or sustain, and experience first hand by only a small remnant of true believers.

I am one of the small remnants of true believers who participated in the historic student sit-ins at Alabama State Teachers College (Alabama State University) in 1960. These sit-ins owed their success to the collaboration of the students in the academy, the church and the courts. The action of this coalition won students due process in education systems throughout the United States.(See Saint John Dixon vs Alabama) .

On February 25, 2010 The National Center for the Study of Civil Rights and African-American Culture at Alabama State University honored a remnant of the Student Sit-in Movement participants at A One Day Conference celebrating the 50th Anniversary. During this celebration I realized the wisdom of my mentor and leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who said,  “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

Dr. Eleanor Moody-Shepherd is Vice-President of Academic Affairs, Academic Dean, and Professor of Women Studies at New York Theological Seminary.

Angels in Attendance at 2010 Gala

Purple light splashes, dazzling smiles hug. Art, music and angels graced this year’s New York Theological Seminary’s Gala. DeMarco Morgan launched the event with a thunderous “God is good” and reflected on the importance of acknowledging and supporting the angels around us.

“We are all angels to someone,” said Carla Harris who accepted her award with a spirited testament of the multiplier effect. “If you want to multiply your treasure, give it away. Your investment will grow through others and come back to you.”

“Angels send messages from the Creator. The Greek word ‘Angelos’ means messenger;” said honoree The Very Rev. Donald Reilly. Reilly encouraged us to acknowledge the everyday angelos moments or people, places and events where God is.

“I’m no Angel,” confessed Maria Elena Girone as she accepted her award. “I am surrounded by an army of Angels—my parents, my staff, and people who support and believe in me.” She reflected, no matter how small, you can make a difference.

Angels reach us through transformative leadership. That was the theme of Rev. Benjamin Shin who accepted the Urban Angel Award on behalf of The Council of Korean Churches of Greater New York. NYTS’ urban ministry reaches out to people all around the world.

Angels remind us to serve. Hilda Rodgers, accepting the award for Hazel Dukes reflected that Dukes has “lead her life to serve the nameless, faceless and underserved.” She then quoted Proverbs 29:23 In service we receive more than we give…

One of the high points of the evening was a video that underscored NYTS’ commitment to excellence through diversity and accessibility. Check it out:

The Call to New York Theological Seminary from New York Theological Seminary on Vimeo.

For more information, visit us at http://www.nyts.edu.

Peter Zehren is Vice President for Development and Insitutional Advancement at New York Theological Seminary.

Revive 2010 is a renewed call for justice

Revive! 2010 is a revival, which spans many Christian denominations. The group is hosting an event in Trenton, NJ, between June 11-13 at Trinity Cathedral. The purpose of the event is to renew "Christian faith, dynamic worship, preaching, and conversation with some of the brightest minds and hearts of our era," according to event literature.

Featured prominently in the field of speakers is one of America's most provocative intellectuals, Cornel West. According to the Revive! 2010 biography for West, "his writing, speaking and teaching weave together the traditions of the black Baptist Church, progressive politics, and jazz."

Other speakers include: Brenda Salter-McNeil, Bart Campolo, Shane Claiborne, Gabriel Salguero, James Logan, William Nemon Heard and Jonathan Walton.

According to the group, Revive! 2010 is about "reviving justice." Consequently, the upcoming event will focus upon "the prisoner and the stranger, we will center on two of the great issues of our time: incarceration and immigration."

The steering committee for this group is comprised of Presbyterians, Baptists, Catholics, Episcopalians, non-denominationals, Evangelicals, Mainliners, and everything in between.

NYTS is not affiliated with this event, but it is wonderful to see this kind of work being done. For more information, go to www.ReviveJustice.org.