Volume 3 Number 6
December 2005
ACU to receive $10 million for graduate ministry scholarships
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Lacy and Dorothy Harber spoke at a reception in their honor Thursday night. |
Lacy and Dorothy Harber of Denison, have made provisions for a $10 million gift to Abilene Christian University’s Graduate School of Theology, said Dr. Royce Money, ACU president. The $10 million is one of the largest gifts in ACU’s history, and is the largest-ever scholarship endowment gift.
The Lacy and Dorothy Harber Endowed Scholarship Fund will be used to provide 50 full-tuition scholarships for graduate ministry students.
“The gift from Lacy and Dorothy Harber is generous beyond words,” said Dr. Jack Reese, dean of the Graduate School of Theology and dean of the College of Biblical Studies. “It will have a deep and immediate impact on students within the Graduate School of Theology.”
Lacy and Dorothy Harber met in 1953 when she was a student at Abilene High School, and he attended Wylie High School. Lacy later attended ACU, and he and Dorothy have now been married 47 years. The Harbers have had a successful business career in banking, oil and gas, resort properties and other interests. They own Abilene-based G&L Tools, the largest oil field service company in the nation.
"We are honored to be able to do this," Lacy said. "We are just stewards of this money for a short time. It's not really ours. It belongs to God."
In addition to the scholarships, the funding will help defray living expenses for students who have special needs, including several international students studying in the Graduate School of Theology, and will increase support for graduate assistants.
“The greatest impact of this gift will be on ministry students who often graduate with significant debt,” Reese said. “This gift will allow these students to enter ministry fully focused on their work rather than burdened by their educational debt. For that reason, the generosity of the Harbers will literally change these students' lives.”
Graduate ministry student Aaron Metcalf said he has personal experience with receiving such a scholarship, and he can testify to its impact. As an undergraduate student he found himself packing his bags to leave school because of financial problems, but before he had finished packing his bags, a benefactor from his home congregation offered to pay for his school.
"What he gave me was more than just financial relief," Metcalf said. "He gave me a sense of mission. I knew that someone believed in me enough to donate a substantial amount of money for my education. This gift today is not only financial but spiritual. The Harbers are giving the gift of mission."
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Dr. Tommy Shaver |
Dr. Tommy Shaver, a professor of Bible at Abilene Christian University for 40 years, died Monday in Abilene at age 77. Funeral services are scheduled for Thursday at 2 p.m. at University Church of Christ. Family visitation will be Wednesday 5-7 p.m. at Elliott Hamil, 542 Hickory.
Shaver taught at ACU from 1955 to 1995, during which time he taught 10,521 students. He and his wife, Waunette, invited each of his classes into their home until 1993 when he began to face health problems. At the time of his retirement, Shaver said he hoped his students would remember his emphasis on scripture.
“I would hope to be remembered by students for teaching from the biblical text,” he said. “I attempted to apply the principles to society.”
For many summers, Shaver and his wife served as volunteer missionaries in Vienna, Austria. In addition to his teaching career, Shaver served as pulpit minister at Westgate Church of Christ in Abilene and at churches in Richardson, Burleson and Garland.
Shaver was born in Healdton, Okla., on July 9, 1928. He attended Freed-Hardeman University, Florida Christian College and ACU in his undergraduate studies. He earned a master’s degree from Southern Methodist University and a doctorate from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth.
God brings a variety of people to the department of Marriage and Family Therapy. They enter each year as twenty individuals and emerge as a family. Without exception, this is one of the aspects of the program that is most valued by its graduates. Never again will they have the opportunity to have this level of support on a daily basis. The following is an attempt to offer an insider's view into the forming of this family.
Students take all classes together. The first semester of the program has been referred to as the easiest and yet paradoxically, the most difficult. This semester involves a learning curve both of graduate school and the field of Marriage and Family Therapy. The students are exposed to systems theory and gradually the paradigm shift occurs that enables them to work successfully with human systems. They are coached on how to continue to live with their own families, see dysfunction, and yet not try to be the professional therapist with them. Many struggle with whether or not they made the right choice of career as they hear that the program becomes more difficult in upcoming semesters.
Client contact begins in the second semester. Each first-year student is paired with a second-year student to allow gradual entry into the process of therapy. They nervously wait the first hour that they will sit with a client. They worry about having enough to say to fill an entire hour. They worry about whether they should talk and interfere with the direction of the second-year intern. The students are carefully coached in class and supervision to calm these fears.
By the time the first-year students receive their own clients in the summer of their first year, they are more than ready to be on their own. They have gained enough confidence in their abilities that they are anxious to test their wings. The number of clients they have jump from two or three to ten as the second year students graduate and transfer their clients whom will continue therapy.
At this point in the program, the cohort family has solidified. Students sound like siblings as they bicker, tease, and support each other. Practical jokes abound and the social coordinators of the class have emerged. Prayer for the clients and for each other occurs daily and Bible study and accountability groups are formed.
The fall of the second semester is intense as students adjust to the full load of graduate courses in addition to a full load of clients. By now they have hit their stride and have learned how to complete their work. Many juggle classes, clients, supervision, work, and internships in addition to social and ministry time. Reliance on the Spirit grows as they recognize their limitations and the benefit that listening to the Spirit can bring to both themselves and their clients.
Spring of the second year continues in a similar vein. They take on a mentor role as they are paired with the first-year students for co-therapy. The angst and questions of the first-year students regarding their one or two cases are handled with grace.
Finally they arrive at their last semester. They take their last class and spend the summer completing their client contact hours, transferring their clients to the first year students, and vigorously pursuing job leads. The summer is bitter-sweet as they eagerly await graduation.
Faculty, classes, clients, social interaction, worship and, perhaps most important, classmates have been God's instruments in making them who they have become as they graduate. Those who are a part of these class families and ultimately the MFT family as a whole find themselves to be blessed with this bond throughout life.
During the Centennial year, the GST will host a conference on Theology in the Christian University: "Prospects for the 21st Century," March 23-25, 2006.
What roles do theological disciplines play in the Christian university? How do they intersect with other disciplines and inquiries? The answers to these questions have taken several forms in the past century, and numerous challenges complicate the contemporary pursuit of programs that are theologically reflective. As a result, the need for connecting theological reflection with other areas of knowledge is nowhere more keenly felt than in the Christian university.
Given this situation, Abilene Christian University will host "Theology in the Christian University: Prospects for the 21st Century," March 23-25, 2006. This conference will call scholars to rethink the nature of theological education within the Christian university, and will stand out not only for its subject matter, but also for its relevance to the contemporary discussion. The following keynote speakers will help guide our conversation:
Dr. Ellen Charry, Princeton Theological Seminary
Dr. William Abraham, Southern Methodist University
Dr. Darryl Tippens, Pepperdine University
The event will provide an occasion for various religious traditions to cooperate in promoting greater dialogue among Christian education movements. Furthermore, it will furnish an opportunity for participants to investigate concrete strategies for making our reflections on the nature of theological education a reality. You are invited to attend. Register online by February 17, 2006.
For more information
Also on April 20, 2006, at 7:30 p.m. in the Teague Special Events Center, Dr. Jean Bethke Elshtain will be a featured speaker. Dr. Elshtain is a political philosopher whose work shows the connections between our political and our ethical convictions. She is the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics at the University of Chicago. Her books include Democracy on Trial, Public Man, Private Woman: Women in Social Thought and Just War Theory.
"The Truth Will Set You Free: Studies in the Gospel of John" is the theme for the 2006 Lectureship (Feb 19-22, 2006). Drs. Royce Money and Don Jeans will be the featured speakers Sunday Night. This year's keynote speakers include Samuel Twumasi-Ankrah (Ghana), Dr. David Fleer (Rochester Hills, MI), Dr. Rick Marrs (Malibu, CA), Mike Cope (Abilene), Lawrence Murray (Edmond, OK), and Dwight Robarts (Dallas, TX).
This will be the last February Lectureship. The event will move to the fall (September 17-20, 2006). Given that ACU is currently celebrating its centennial, several special events are planned for February, including honoring Drs. Paul Faulkner and Carl Brecheen for their years of supporting Christian marriages. Make your plans to attend now as motel rooms will go quickly. http://www.acu.edu/events/lectureship.html.
A growing phenomenon in our congregations is a more intentional emphasis on the ministry of administration. Numerous churches now have leaders known as Administrative Ministers, Church Administrators, or Administrative Elders. A group of approximately 30 administrative leaders from Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina gathered on November 11 at the Highland Oaks Church of Christ in Dallas for a Church Administrators Forum. They spent the day in peer learning, group discussion, personal mentoring, planning for the future, and decision-making. A web site and a listserve are being formed for the group to facilitate their communications with each other. They also plan to meet again in the future. If you or someone from your congregation would be interested in learning more about this group or participating in it, please contact the group's facilitator, Jon Mullican (Administrative Minister at the Highland Oaks Church of Christ in Dallas, TX) at jon@hocc.org.
The Doctor of Ministry degree is an advanced degree oriented toward ministerial leadership. In order to be admitted to the program, applicants must have completed an accredited Master of Divinity degree, three years of ministry experience since completing their first theological master's degree, appropriate scores on either the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) or the Miller Analogies Test (MAT), and positive references from church leaders. Scholarship funds are available. The application deadline for admission to the next cohort of new students is January 15, 2006. If you are interested, just contact Dr. Charles Siburt at 325-674-3732 or at siburt@bible.acu.edu.
Rochester ElderLink Forum 2006
The Rochester ElderLink Forum 2006 is coming on Saturday, January 28, 2006 at Rochester College in Rochester, MI. Co-sponsored by Rochester College and ACU, this will be the second Rochester ElderLink event. Speakers will include Randy Harris, David Jones, Jr., David Wray, Rubel Shelly, John Laster, and a panel of elders from the region. Topics will include Spirituality, Leadership, Shepherding, and Care for the Sick. For more details and registration, click on http://www.acu.edu/ministry/elderlink/conferences/rochester.html.
Atlanta Elderlink Forum
The Atlanta ElderLink Forum 2006 promises to be an excellent day for church leaders. The forum will be on Saturday, March 25, 2006 at the North Atlanta Church of Christ in Atlanta, GA. Presenters will include Randy Lowry, President of Lipscomb University, David Wray (ACU), Gary Holloway and Earl Lavender (Lipscomb), Robert Oglesby, Jr. (ACU), Carl Holladay (Emory University), Buddy Bell (Montgomery, AL), Randy Stephens (Springville, TN), Tom and Sandra Milholland (ACU), and Charles and Judy Siburt (ACU). Topics will include Leadership in Difficult Times, Bible Study, Leadership and Mission in the Book of Acts, Missional Church, Evaluating Youth Ministers, Strategies for Small Groups, Ministering to Marriages, Ministry in Small Churches, Thriving as a Church Leader's Spouse. For details and registration information click on http://www.acu.edu/ministry/elderlink/conferences/atlanta.html.Houston ElderLink Forum 2006 Scheduled
The Bammel Church of Christ will be the site for the Houston ElderLink Forum on Saturday, April 29, 2006. Presenters will include, Jack Reese (ACU), David Wray (ACU), C. D. Pruett (ACU), Glenn Pemberton (ACU), Robert Oglesby, Jr., Emily Lemley (Pepperdine), John Siburt (Richardson), and Ed Bonneau (Farmers Branch) and Roland Orr (Abilene). For more details and registration information click on http://www.acu.edu/ministry/elderlink/conferences/houston.html.
New Books of Interest by CBS Faculty
The Body Royal by Mark Hamilton
The present volume seeks to identify the underlying code of meanings about the Israelite king operating in various ways in texts and other artifacts surviving from the culture. The focus is upon the (living) body of the king, its anatomical characteristics, its constitution through ritual, and the conventions concerning its proper self-display by the king. This study combines careful linguistic and historical-critical analysis of the texts considered (both biblical and ancient Near Eastern, the latter used comparatively where appropriate) with a critical use of contemporary approaches to the study of signs in language, objects, and movements (semiotics), in general, and the study of the body, in particular.
This book argues that the royal psalms contain a set of officially sanctioned notions about the royal body and its use. The king was thought to have an outsized, superhuman body owing to his being the son of the deity, a status he attained upon his coronation. Other texts, often from circles outside the royal court, significantly altered these notions.
The king's body was thus for ancient Israelites the locus of reflection on power, gender, religion, and even international relations. Through careful historical analysis, it is possible to reconstruct the terms of an Iron Age intellectual inquiry that still influences our contemporary world.
The Body Royal can be ordered from Biblical Interpretation Series.
Communities of Informed Judgment Newman's Illative Sense and Accounts of Rationality by Frederick D. Aquino
Is Christian belief rationally acceptable? Must every Christian defend his or her beliefs with exhaustively logical arguments, or is belief solely a matter of faith rather than logical argument? In Communities of Informed Judgment, Frederick D. Aquino offers an alternative route, showing how John Henry Newman's notion of the illative sense of reasoning paves a way for constructing a fresh account of the rationality of Christian belief. Moving beyond both modern and postmodern accounts of rationality, Aquino constructs a proposal of informed judgment, blending Newman's notion of the illative sense of reasoning with recent work in social and virtue epistemology.
The first part of the book focuses primarily on Newman's treatment of the illative sense in the Grammar of Assent, with the University Sermons as a backdrop. The second part addresses the problem of securing a common standard of justification. Though Newman acknowledges the social and communal facets of judgment, his focus is primarily on the personal dimension. Aquino develops Newman's insights into a social epistemology of informed judgment, transposing the problem of common measure into a problem of trusting the illative sense as a reliable belief-forming process in communities of informed judgment.
An original contribution to Newman studies, the book has an interdisciplinary focus, drawing from recent work in social epistemology, virtue epistemology, and cognitive science. It also takes up issues relevant to the philosophy of religion, epistemology of religious belief, systematic theology, ecumenical dialogue, and studies in John Henry Newman.
Communities of Informed Judgment can be ordered from Catholic University Press.
Seeking a Lasting City: The Church's Journey in the Story of God by Mark Love, Douglas Foster, and Randall Harris.
The latest volume in the Heart of the Restoration Series focuses on the nature of the church.
Seeking a Lasting City is about church, for the church, and by thoughtful, careful, and creative church-men whose lives and essays are profound evidence of a high view of their subject and audience.
Seeking a Lasting City is an ecclesiology in service to the church, making intelligent theology readable for every one serious about living Christianity in community. Each chapter abounds with energetic thinking and engaging prose, blending serious ideas with even more serious ways for implementation. If this book is consumed by preachers, elders, and Bible class teachers it will spark meaningful dialogue and renew essential commitment, helping us recover our original sensibilities as a story-formed people living in these post-Christian days.
--David Fleer, Vice President for Church Relations and Professor of Religion and Communication, Rochester College
Seeking a Lasting City can be ordered through ACU Press by calling 1-800-444-4228.
The Body Broken: Embracing the Peace of Christ in a Fragmented Church by Jack Reese
"What to do about differences within the Body of Christ? Jack Reese shows us how to love and serve Jesus and, at the same time, faithfully love one another. In The Body Broken, Reese restores my faith that those who gather at the Lord's Table can be one." --William Willimon
The Body Broken can be ordered by contacting Leafwoodpublishers.com
Upcoming Courses in the Graduate School of Theology
Fall 2005 Courses
January and Spring 2006 Courses
May and Summer 2006 Courses
Weekend Courses
Internet Courses
