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Reunion Lectures
The James B. Emerson Jr. Seminar for Sustaining Pastoral Excellence—
Lessons from Lincoln for Faith and Practice Today
Ron C. White Jr. (M.Div., 1964) is the Distinguished Alumnus of 2009. He is former head of Princeton Seminary’s Department of Continuing Education, a fellow at the Huntington Library, visiting professor of history at UCLA, and professor of American religious history emeritus at San Francisco Theological Seminary. His most recent book is A. Lincoln: A Biography, a New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times bestseller. White has lectured at the White House and the Library of Congress.
Made possible by a gift from the James B. Emerson Jr. Seminar for Sustaining Pastoral Excellence
The Students’ Lectureship on Missions—Time, Cross, and Glory: The Christian Movement as the Missio Dei
Scott W. Sunquist (M.Div., 1990) is the W. Don McClure Associate Professor of World Mission and Evangelism at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, where his courses explore gospel and culture issues as well as mission theology. Sunquist taught at Trinity Theological College in the Republic of Singapore for eight years. His research examines Asian Christianity, global Christianity, and missiology. Sunquist’s second volume of A History of the World Christian Movement will be published this year.
Made possible by a gift from the Students’ Lectureship on Missions Fund
The Rian Lectures—A People’s History of Christianity: The Other Side of the Story
Diana Butler Bass, an independent scholar specializing in American culture and religion, engages people through many media. Formerly a weekly columnist for the New York Times, Bass writes commentaries that can also be read in Time, Newsweek, The Christian Century, and Sojourners. She is the author of seven books, including the bestselling Christianity for the Rest of Us, and her newest A People’s History of Christianity: The Other Side of the Story. Bass appears as a commentator on religion, politics, and culture for CNN, PBS, FOX, and NPR.
Made possible by a gift from the Rian Lectures Fund
Worship at Reunion
Morning prayer in Miller Chapel at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday through Friday will be led by:
Julie Neraas (M.Div., 1979), associate professor at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, and author of Apprenticed to Hope: A Sourcebook for Difficult Times
Lynn Japinga (M.Div, 1984), associate professor of religion at Hope College and author of Feminism and Christianity: An Essential Guide and a contributor
to Feminist and Womanist Essays in Reformed Dogmatics
Worship in Miller Chapel at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday through Friday
will be led by:
Darrell Armstrong (M.Div., 1999), pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church in Trenton,
New Jersey
Kang-yup Na (M.Div., 1989), associate
professor of religion at Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania
Steve Yamaguchi (M.Div., 1988), executive presbyter of Los Ranchos Presbytery in California
Darrell Armstrong
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Kang-yup Na
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Steve Yamaguchi
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Workshops
Choose workshop A on Tuesday through Thursday, or choose one workshop for Tuesday and Wednesday (B or C), and one for Thursday (D or E).
Option 1:
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday
A) A Sheer Encouragement in a Time of Stress: St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, led by Earl Palmer, (M.Div., 1956)
These four expositional studies of St. Paul’s remarkable final letter to a church will seek to understand the historical setting of the letter and its theological content within that first-century context. The letter is also a document of encouragement for our twenty-first century as Paul faces squarely the stress and pressures of the midpoint of his century. Paul is pastorally wise and unflappable, which is why this letter makes so much sense for our time and place. His Christological centeredness is the source of that resilience and that also will be a gift to us as we examine his letter to good friends at Philippi. Sessions include Chapter 1: To Think Clearly; Chapter 2: Unforgettable Song; Chapter 3: A Strategy for the Center; Chapter 4: To Catch Our Stride.
Palmer is preaching pastor in residence of National Presbyterian Church, Washington DC. He has served churches in Seattle, Berkeley, and abroad in the Philippines. He has served the Seminary as a member of the Board of Trustees and is also on the board of trustees of New College in Berkeley, California. He is author of numerous commentaries, as well as books about Christian life and faith including Laughter in Heaven: The Parables of Jesus and Prayer Between Friends. His most recent book is Trusting God.
Option 2:
Tuesday and Wednesday (Choose B or C.)
B) A Call for Contemplative Activists: Prayer Prophets, Loving Critics, New Paradigm Pioneers, led by Howard E. Friend, (M.Div., 1965)
If you are not pessimistic, you are not open to reality. If you are not optimistic, you are not open to your heart. In our pivotal time, hope and courage, vision and resilience, faith and determination are demanded in full measure. Who better called and equipped than Christians and the church? But how do we avoid the discouragement and malaise that so threaten us, and tap deeply into the roots of the pastoral and prophetic legacy of scripture and faith history? Contemplative activists (by whatever name)— persons with a quiet, steady, ever-deepening devotional practice, and persons with the prophet’s vision and voice, word and action— may be the ones to lead the way. Come and explore the possibility of your (ever deepening) calling to such a life of faith.
Please read and bring a copy of Howard Friend’s Gifts of an Uncommon Life: The Practice of Contemplative Activism to this workshop.
Friend has served as a pastor and as an adjunct faculty member at Palmer Theological Seminary, and is the founder and lead consultant of the Parish Empowerment Network in Berwyn, Pennsylvania. He has worked with more than 150 congregations over the last twenty years. His books include Recovering the Sacred Center: Church Renewal from the Inside Out and Gifts of an Uncommon Life: The Practice of Contemplative Activism.
C) Mission of Hope: Preaching in Advent, led by Luke Powery, (M.Div., 1999)
Preaching is a ministry of hope in a hurting world. This workshop will explore preaching’s mission of hope by engaging the four lections from the Gospel of Luke. The readings for this upcoming Advent are Luke 21:25–31; Luke 3:1–6; Luke3:7–18; and Luke 1:39–49, [50–56]. These texts will be probed exegetically, theologically, and homiletically, in preparation for preaching in Advent. Such questions as the following will be considered: What is hope? Where is hope found in these scriptures? How does one preach hope from these scriptures?
Powery is Perry and Georgia Engle Assistant Professor of Homiletics at Princeton Seminary. His academic interests are located at the intersection of pneumatology, preaching, worship, speech performance studies, and culture, particularly expressions of the African diaspora. He connects corporate worship practices and social witness in the world. Powery has served congregations in the United States, Canada, and Switzerland. His book Spirit Speech: Lament and Celebration in Preaching will be published in October.
Thursday (Choose D or E.)
D) How Missional Leaders Move Mission from Being a Program to Being a Way of Life,
led by Kelly Beckham Kannwischer, (M.Div., 1999)
The phrase “missional church” refers to the fact that “mission” is not a program of the church but rather the very reason for the church’s existence: as the church, we are who we are because we have been called and sent by God in the power of the Spirit to be witnesses to Jesus Christ in all that we do (John 20:21; Acts 1:8). This workshop will introduce the missional church movement, explore how Presbyterian and Reformed Christians are contributing to it, and finally identify the practical ways congregations can move from mainline institutions to being missional communities following Jesus Christ.
Kannwischer is the executive director of Presbyterian Global Fellowship, which exists to forge partnerships, share best practices, and cast vision for serving the community among people in the Reformed theological tradition. Formerly a not-for-profit executive, consultant, and development professional with the Pursuant Group (formerly Viscern), she served clients by providing professional consulting services to schools, arts organizations, humanitarian groups, and faith-based institutions such as churches and relief efforts.
E) Baptism and Christian Identity: Teaching in the Missional Engagement, led by Gordon Mikoski, (M.Div., 1988;
M.A., 1989)
Much more than a quaint rite that we occasionally conduct with babies or adult converts, the sacrament of baptism provides grounding, orientation, and vision for the entirety of the Christian life. Dr. Mikoski will draw upon insights from the ministries of Gregory of Nyssa (fourth century) and John Calvin (sixteenth century) to explore ways to reclaim baptism as the center of congregational life and witness and to revitalize educational ministry with children, youth, and adults.
Mikoski is associate professor of Christian education at Princeton Seminary. His academic interests focus on the relationship between the sacrament of baptism, the doctrine of the Trinity, and Christian education. An ordained Presbyterian minister, he served a church in Michigan for eight years. Mikoski was the initiator and director of the PTS “Year with the Institutes” project in honor of the 500th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin. He is the reviews editor for Theology Today. His newest book is Baptism and Christian Identity: Teaching in the Triune Name.
Support for these programs is provided by funds from the Robert M. Skinner Seminar, the Melvin R. Campbell Seminar in Use of Bible in Preaching, the Class of 1977 Seminar in Evangelism, Spiritual Life, and Church Growth, and the Victor L. Baer Seminar in Pastoral Care.
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