August 13-16, 2009 twenty Covenanters experienced the first Journey to Mosaic for the Chicagoland area. The three day experience was funded and initiated by Making Connections Initiative, a $2 million grant from the Lilly Endowment  to North Park Theological Seminary. Representatives from The seminary,  the Central Conference of the ECC, C.H.E.T., North Park College and the ECC Department of CMJ worked together over the last year to make J2M chicago a reality . Participants engaged with Christians who live in the native Indian,  Japanese American, Mexican, Latino and African American communities in Chicago.  The second Chicago Journey to Mosaic will be November 12-15, 2009.

Douglass Covenant Church

Painting of Mary Magdalene by first year seminary student, Kersti Bury

“After rising from the dead, Jesus appeared early on Sunday morning to Mary Magdalene, whom he had delivered from seven demons. She went to his former companions, now weeping and carrying on, and told them. When they heard her report that she had seen him alive and well, they didn’t believe her.”

–Mark 16:9-11, The Message

The painting that I did represents what might be the last illustration in a comic made about Mary Magdalene.  I found inspiration in Baroque ecstasy sculptures, American Pop Art, and even Japanese anime.  This painting is meant to illustrate Mary in a sort of ecstatic reaction—she has just witnessed angels and her resurrected Lord.  The colors are meant to express a feeling of a new morning and being washed anew.  The gold highlights illustrate what I imagine to be a sort of residual radiance coming from the newly resurrected Christ.  Mary is crying both with a sheer joy at seeing Jesus alive, but also with a kind of sadness that He has to move on without her.  If I were to make a comic about Mary, this is where I would end it—with hope.

Paricipants in Journey to Mosaic 2008 meet over lunch

This photo is a recent first year anniversary of seminary faculty and staff who participated in the Pacific Southwest Conference “Journey to Mosaic” during  spring break 2008.  The impact of the trip continues:  A collaborative team consisting of NPTS, NPU, Central Conference and CHET employees is organizing an August 2009 Mosaic trip in the midwest.

This post was submitted by Mary Miller, Director of Making Connections Initiative

James Weldon Johnson, the poet who wrote the words of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” (Covenant Hymnal No. 732), was imbued with eclectic talents. Songwriter, diplomat, poet, novelist, journalist, teacher, civil rights leader, he was one of the prime movers in the Harlem Renaissance. Preachers know well his record of negro sermons from the turn of the last century in the collection, “God’s Trombones’, with its popular “The Creation”. Also in the collection is a wonderful essay on the tradition of pastoral prayer before the sermon. Less well known, but moving is his poem honoring the ministry of music in those who inspired him in “O Black and Unknown Bards”.

Johnson tells of the genesis of the hymn known now as “The Black National Anthem”:

“A group of young men in Jacksonville, Florida, arranged to celebrate Lincoln’s birthday in 1900. My brother, J. Rosamund Johnson, and I decided to write a song to be sung at the exercises. I wrote the words and he wrote the music. Our New York publisher made mimeograohed copies for us, and the song was taught to and sung by a chorus of five hundred colored school children.

Shortly afterwards my brother and I moved away from Jacksonville to New York, and the song passed out of our minds. But the school children of Jacksonville kept singing it; they went off to other schools and sang it; they became teachers and taught it to other children. Within twenty years it was being sung over the South and in some other parts of the country. Today the song, popularly known as the Negro National Hymn, is quite generally used.

The lines of this song repay me in elation, almost of exquisite anguish, whenever I hear them sung by Negro children.”

For Midwinter Participants

The following eBook is available to Midwinter participants as a download during the period February 2-27, 2009

Linda Cannell. 2006. Theological Education Matters: Leadership Education for the Church.  Go to www.wardconsultation.org/theologicaleducationmatters.html (Print version is available at www.amazon.com) Click the book cover graphic to download.

Back Jacket Information Update

Linda Cannell served churches and theological schools in Canada for about 20 years before joining the faculty of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois in 1990. While at TEDS, she served as professor of Educational Ministry and directed the PhD in Educational Studies program. From 2006-2008 she served as the Lois W. Bennett Distinguished Professor of Educational Ministry at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, Massachusetts.  In September 2008 she became the Dean of Academic Life at North Park Theological Seminary, Chicago, Illinois.  Linda also directs the CanDoSpirit Network (www.candospirit.org) which supports such ventures as the Ward Consultation, Common Ground Journal, and MorgenBooks.

Photo taken from www.cbcnews.ca

In light of the spectacular inaugural event of our 44th President, Barack Hussein Obama, NPTS faculty and staff were asked to sum up in 3 sentences or less their thoughts and impressions of the inauguration.  Thank you to all who participated for sharing your heartfelt thoughts.

Obama gave a magnificent and brutally uncompromising speech. All temptation to moderate campaign promises and goals in the face of crisis was decisively rejected.

Stephen Chester

“Where were you when JFK was shot?” Remembering the moment when the space shuttle Challenger blew up. Where were you during the tragic events of 9/11? When tragedy and crisis serve as the symbols of unity, it often leads to cynicism, (a very common malady for the younger generation). As of January 20, 2009, hope has replaced cynicism.

Soong-Chan Rah*

African-American cadence in both inaugural address and Lowry prayer moves the listener with it, with confidence, with hope evocative of an “Amen,” -so be it.

Richard Carlson

In President Barack Obama whose campaign was driven by the theme of hope, so many Americans saw in his election forgotten dreams coming to fruition. It was a personal reminder to pray for our president. As much as our elected leaders can indeed act as servants of God (Rom. 13:4), no one person can embody hope other than the author of our salvation, Jesus Christ. He will need God’s grace and God’s hand to work for the good of all.

Max Lee

Millions, MILLIONS, all over the world watching transfixed as this nation stood to hear the OATH of office. We know the challenges are great, we know that many are still disappointed that “their man” didn’t “win”; BUT the will of millions is clearly to pull together, to get around this new president, and to help shoulder the burden. We should remember daily that his life and the life of his family is from this day on always under threat. Pray for that concern.

Linda Cannell

The inauguration made me want to dance with joy. The music, the prayers, poetry and speech come together in a message of hope, joy, tolerance and love. Yes, we are facing difficult financial times, but we still have so much for which to be thankful.

Guylla Brown

Two “simple gifts” were highlights: Yo-Yo Ma’s joyful expression as he played so beautifully, and the news from commentators that Obama’s daughters will be making their own beds.

Kris Bruckner

I was moved by the radiant, tear stained faces in the crowd.

Jay Phelan

Where else in the world would the entire service of transfer of power be completed in less than 40 minutes? Most speeches by world leaders are just getting warmed up in that amount of time. I was also struck with how many references were given to the peaceful transfer of power, another feature of our American system for which we can be truly thankful.

Paul De Neui

I thought Lowry’s prayer was moving, intergenerational, hopeful, challenging, demanding and inspiring. I prayed. May we embody this in days ahead. The music and the musicians were beautiful!

Phillis Sheppard

It was so encouraging (and such a nice change) to see President Obama delivering a powerful, energizing speech to this country that is desperately in need of motivation and hope.

Jess Stanley

I was moved by the panoramic views of the sea of people standing, cheering, singing, crying and even saluting in the cold, the overwhelming sense of how much good will there was for this president, and how hopeful people are even when the outward circumstances of many people’s lives are more difficult rather than less so. Our nation is at a ”crossroads” moments, an open moment. Will we live into this sense of good will and possibility with maturity and a new understanding?

Helen Cepero

Today’s inauguration of President Barack H. Obama was one of the most important moments in my life: God has opened the windows of heaven and poured out blessings upon him and his family.

Velda Love

I felt an amazing sense of hope that so many people could come together to support this man from our own city and a sense of excitement that we have a new president who can both inspire and lead.

Mary Chase-Ziolek

In my mind, the singing of “My Country, Tis of Thee” by Aretha Franklin was especially fitting. Denied a concert at Constitutional Hall, in 1939, African-American Marian Anderson sang that patriotic song to open her concert at the Lincoln Memorial. For the first time in a long time, I feel great pride in my country.

Bob Hubbard

I felt astonishment at what we, as a people, can accomplish fueled simply by hope and an overwhelming desire for change. I also thought of the Obama girls, Sasha and Malia, and how my own daughters can now know that there is someone in the White House just like them.

Deidre J. Robinson

“We encounter each other in words, words spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed; words to consider, reconsider’ (Inaugural poem by Elizabeth Alexander). January 20, 2009 was a good day for words.

Paul Koptak

*To read more of Soong-Chan Rah’s thoughts on the inauguration of President Barack Obama, check out his blog www.xanga.com/scrah

What were your thoughts while watching the inauguration of President Obama?

Velda Love, Director of the Center for Justice Ministries, contributed this post.

The standard greeting upon the stroke of midnight on December 31^st is “Happy New Year” That’s because in every time zone on the planet we’ve officially begun a new year that’s dated January 1^st. This year I said this phrase less only because I’m concerned if I start out the year this way I’ll give well-wishers a false sense that it is indeed going to be a happy new year. Now, don’t think me pessimistic. My hope for everyone is that they sustain an attitude of happiness through the year. However, as I get older and pay attention to what’s happening on a global scale, I can’t say I’m as happy as I’d like to be. 2008 was a horrible year for millions of people and not just in the United States. The human family across the globe is witnessing an economic downturn like never before. The housing market is at an all-time low and families with medium to middle incomes face foreclosure on their dream homes which were once their long-term financial nest eggs. Two days before Christmas I watched people walk away from GM plants. Some of these people have spent their entire careers building automobiles and this is all they know. What does the future hold for them and how can I even begin to think they feel sentiments of happiness as they face unemployment and an uncertain future. The war along the Gaza strip has escalated; and the United States is still spending billions of dollars a day on the war in Iraq. Happy New Year!? Well, I can say I’m happy that Barack Obama will be the 44^th President of the United States. I’m happy that children of color have a new leader that will inspire them to reach their highest potential. I’m happy we as a country are finally voicing our opposition to greedy business leaders and corrupt politicians. So, I guess there are a few things that make me happy. Finally, I’m happy God is still in control of the earth and everyone on it. My faith is grounded in God; a God who will see us through another year; regardless of whether we’re happy for the next 359 days. Ok, I’ll say it and mean it—Thank you God and may we all have a New Year where happiness meets us daily.

Klyne Snodgrass, Paul W. Brandel Professor of New Testament Studies at NPTS, is the author of this post

Conflict always creates interest and never more so than when it is between good friends. I do not like conflict, but I must confess it is often quite instructive. Two recent incidents brought that home to me in new ways. One involved my class on Romans, and the other involved two scholars at one of the sessions of the Society of Biblical Literature meeting in Boston the week before Thanksgiving.

My Romans class was dealing with Romans 7, a passage heavily debated by New Testament scholars as to whether it speaks of Paul’s preconversion experience, his postconversion experience, or whether it is not about Paul at all but about humanity in general or even about Israel. Among the three of us who teach New Testament here at North Park there are three different positions. I am not sure which position Jay Phelan, our president, holds, for he is also a New Testament scholar. On the night in question one of my New Testament colleagues, Max Lee, came to class, and he and I had a conversation about the issues. I was surprised how informative it was for students to watch us converse. Max and I will remain good friends, even if neither of us convinces the other.

The conversation in the Romans class pales in comparison to a conflict at the Society of Biblical Literature between Richard Hays and Tom Wright, who are very close friends and very close theologically. Richard had edited a collection of about eighteen essays with Beverly Gaventa. The essays were written by a group of biblical scholars, historians, and theologians who met twice a year for three and a half years to discuss the identity of Jesus. The resulting book Seeking the Identity of Jesus (Eerdmans, 2008) is a significant discussion. In fact, both Scot McKnight at North Park University and I had written blurbs that were published on the back of the book, both of us emphasizing that these essays were important and should be read. The session was discussing this book. Tom Wright thought the book was awful—that is not his word, but it sums up the idea. Tom complained publically that he did not know what Scot and I were thinking. Richard responded that he felt Tom’s words were not a response but a smear campaign. Remember, these guys are good friends. I e-mailed both later and know that they are continuing in pretty constant dialogue trying to sort out the issues. They are still friends. I think one main point of difference is the way Tom thinks history should be done and his refusal to give any privilege to creed and canon, two items under consideration in the book. Tom is so involved in discussion with people like John Dominic Crossan and the Jesus Seminar that he wants to strip himself of anything but “pure” history, i.e., to do history better than Crossan and the Jesus Seminar (which I do not think is hard to do!) and to beat them at their own game. He sees red at anything that would privilege canon and creed, even though he very much agrees with both in the end. Some of the essays in the book point out, rightly I think, that it is necessary not merely to ask who Jesus was, but who he is and what his impact was. Can you know his identity without asking those two questions? I think not.

One important point in all this is the way we deal with our disagreements. Can we disagree without sacrificing the character of the gospel in the way we act and talk and without sacrificing our friendships? The answer is yes.

photo taken from ECC official website

Philip Anderson, Professor of Church History at NPTS, was honored by the Swedish government.  The King of Sweden bestowed upon Professor Anderson the insignia of the Royal Order of the Polar Star.  Professor Andersen’s scholarly contributions and his work in “promoting Swedish relations with North America” earned him this prestigious award which is usually reserved for members of the royal family of Sweden or foreign nationals.  Read the full story on the Evangelical Covenant Church website.