Learning Leadership from Moses

Duked Universityivini FALL 2012 ty

Can We Handle the Truth? Learning Leadership from Moses by Stanley Hauerwas A Biblical Model for the Church Today by Richard Hays The Celebrity Pastor & the Divinity Student by Kate Bowler I have no doubt that my years here at Duke Divinity School will forever shape and guide my ministry and spiritual formation.

~ Kaitlyn Bowie D’14

Answering the Call to Serve Kaitlyn Bowie was a third-grade teacher in Houston, Texas, who knew God was calling her to prepare for ministry at divinity school. But how could she afford to save enough money to pay for a seminary education on a teacher’s salary? Because of Divinity Annual Fund, she didn’t have to wait years to save enough or plunge into debt. “Financial aid has absolutely been one of the main reasons that I am able to attend Duke Divinity School,” she said. Kaitlyn is now in her second year in the M.Div. program at Duke Divinity School. This past summer she ministered to gang-affiliated youth in Houston, confirming her calling to serve God and the church in the Houston area. Students like Kaitlyn have a passion for rich theological teaching, and they want to be trained for ministry. People like you make it possible for them to receive the teaching and training they need to become the next generation of Christian leaders in the church and the world. Your gift to Divinity Annual Fund makes it possible for them to answer the call to serve God. Every gift goes directly to support students and their formation for ministry and service. You can invest in the future today through the Divinity Annual Fund.

For more information about helping students answer the call to ministry through Divinity Annual Fund, call 919-660-3456. To give online, see www.divinity.duke.edu/about/make-gift Features 24 divinity 4 Christian Leadership and Vibrant Institutions fall 2012 Learning Leadership Volume 12, Number 1 from Moses The investment of social The story of Moses provides us entrepreneurship requires with lessons in Christian leader- support for Christian leaders PUBLISHER of institutions and leaders of Richard B. Hays ship for God’s people today Christian institutions Dean and George Washington By Richard Hays Ivey Professor of New Testament By Dave Odom Editor 10 Heather Moffitt 26 Associate Director of Communications Can We Handle the Truth? Incarnational Ministry Christian leadership requires Produced by the Office of Communications, Formation for ordained ministry Duke Divinity School leaders to tell the truth—and is a formation of our whole being Audrey Ward, Executive Director followers to hear the truth in practical wisdom Proofreading by Derek Keefe By Stanley Hauerwas By Susan Pendleton Jones Design by Regina Barnhill-Bordo www.bdesign-studio.com 14 29 Copyright © 2012 Duke Divinity School A Return to Big Words All rights reserved. The Reluctant Leader Conversations at the barber- Divinity magazine publishes a Fall and shop reminded a Divinity School A Harvard Law graduate Spring issue each year. The magazine student to focus on words that resisted notions of leadership represents the engagement of Duke Divinity really matter until she experienced a different School with important topics and invites model at Duke Divinity School friends, supporters, alumni, and others in By William Lamar IV our community to participate in the story By Sanetta Ponton of what is happening here. 17 We’d like to hear from you! Departments For comments or feedback on The Celebrity Pastor & Divinity magazine, please write: the Divinity Student 3 The Editor’s Perspective The influence of the celebrity Editor, Divinity magazine Duke Divinity School “prosperity gospel” pastor 32 Events and News: Box 90970 extends beyond theology and Leadership Initiatives at Durham, NC 27708-0970 includes an approach to ministry Duke Divinity School Or email: [email protected] By Kate Bowler Please include a daytime phone number and 34 Book Reviews an email address. Letters to the editor may be edited for clarity or length. 21 36 Faculty & Staff Notes Leading Christian Communities 40 Class Notes Christian communities— not just individuals—have an 43 Gifts important leadership role By Laceye Warner 44 Faculty Reflections On the cover Chagall, Marc (1887-1985) Moses receives the Tablets of the Law, 45 Meditation 1960-1966. Oil on canvas, 237 x 233 cm. MBMC12. © 2012 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

WWW.divinity.duke.edu/magazine fall 2012 | 1 Contributors to This Issue

Richard B. Hays Stanley Hauerwas William Lamar IV Kate Bowler Laceye Warner is the dean and George is the Gilbert T. Rowe is pastor of Turner Memorial is an assistant professor of the is the executive vice dean Washington Ivey Professor Professor of Theological Ethics African Methodist Episcopal history of Christianity in the and an associate professor of New Testament at Duke at Duke Divinity School. His Church in Hyattsville, Md. He United States at Duke Divinity of the practice of evange- Divinity School. He is inter- particular research interests previously served churches in School. Her research centers lism and Methodist Studies nationally recognized for his include the significance of the three Florida cities: Monticello, on the North American pros- at Duke Divinity School. She work on the letters of Paul and virtues for understanding the Orlando, and Jacksonville. At perity gospel, and her teaching is an ordained elder in the on New Testament ethics. His nature of the Christian life and Leadership Education at Duke focuses on topics in American Texas Annual Conference of scholarly work has bridged the the importance of the church Divinity he designs and facili- Christianity, including religion the United Methodist Church. disciplines of biblical criticism and narrative for understand- tates educational opportunities and ethnicity, religion and Her research in the historical and literary studies, exploring ing Christian existence. He related to Christian leadership health, and contemporary theology of evangelism seeks the innovative ways in which holds a joint appointment with and pastoral imagination. He is popular religion. to inform and locate contem- early Christian writers inter- Duke Law School and delivered the director of the Foundations porary church practices within preted Israel’s Scripture. His the prestigious Gifford Lectures of Christian Leadership pro- the larger Christian narrative. book The Moral Vision of the at the University of St. Andrews gram. He has degrees from New Testament: Community, (Scotland) in 2001. Florida A&M University and Cross, New Creation was Duke Divinity School. selected by Christianity Today as one of the 100 most important religious books of the 20th century. He is also an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church.

Dave Odom Susan Pendleton Jones Sanetta Ponton L. Gregory Jones C. Kavin Rowe is the executive director of is the associate dean of United graduated with an M.Div. is senior strategist for is an associate professor Leadership Education at Duke Methodist initiatives and minis- degree from Duke Divinity Leadership Education at Duke of New Testament at Duke Divinity School. Previously terial formation at Duke Divinity School in 2012. She also Divinity, and he is also profes- Divinity School. His research he served as founder and School, where she formerly earned a J.D. from Harvard sor of theology and served as focuses on Luke-Acts, and president of the Center for served as director of field Law School and a B.A. from dean of Duke Divinity School among his many awards are Congregational Health in education. She has an M.Div. Columbia University. She is from 1997 to 2010. He has the Christian Faith and Life Winston-Salem, N.C., and from Duke Divinity School a licensed minister in the also been the chief inter- Grant from the Louisville adjunct professor at Wake and is an ordained elder in American Baptist Church. national strategist at Duke Institute and the John Forest Divinity School. He has the Western North Carolina University to advance and Templeton Prize for Theological also had a leadership role Annual Conference of the coordinate global engagement Promise. in the Cooperative Baptist United Methodist Church. Her efforts. He is ordained in the Fellowship. ministerial interests include United Methodist Church and a strengthening the connection member of the Western North between the seminary and Carolina Annual Conference. the local church through the formation and preparation of its future leaders.

2 | DIVINITY The EDITOR’s Perspective

The Paradox of Christian Leadership by heather moffitt

If my counterpart at Duke University’s Fuqua School part of one of the world’s great universities here at Duke, and of Business announced that she was editing a magazine yet we are a divinity school that is committed to training men devoted to the theme of leadership, no one would bat an and women for service and ministry. We are committed to the eye. If you take a minute to look at the school’s website, church, both the people of God who are to serve the Lord you’ll see the word leader or leadership several times on the and the institutional structures that require leadership posi- homepage alone. There’s nothing remarkable about that; tions. We are academically rigorous and faithfully grounded we expect a top-tier business school to tout its focus on in the Christian tradition. In many ways, we embody the preparing leaders. paradox of Christian leadership. By contrast, seminaries and divinity schools have had a Normally Dean Richard Hays would share his thoughts more complicated relationship with the on this page, but in this issue he has notion of leadership. This reflects a deep We are also keenly aware expanded his reflections into an essay strain of tension in the Christian tradi- of our mission to form and about the example of Moses as a tion. On the one hand, Scripture says that biblical pattern for leadership. We also every believer has access to the throne prepare the next generation have an article by Stanley Hauerwas of grace (Hebrews 4:16); on the other that explores the role of speech and hand, Scripture describes institutional of leaders for the church. truth telling for leaders. Kate Bowler positions of leadership for the church. That means that leadership reminds us that the ecclesial style of Jesus himself is described as the head of today’s celebrity pastors can prove the church (Ephesians 1:22), yet he also has to be more than an tempting for divinity students. Other said, “Whoever wants to be first must be intellectual construct to study. articles by William Lamar IV, Susan last of all and servant of all” (Mark 9:35). Pendleton Jones, Laceye Warner, and This paradox lies at the heart of Christian leadership. Dave Odom discuss and define other angles of leadership, Throughout the centuries, Christian leaders and institutions such as the role of institutions and communities. have championed some of the greatest blessings that minister Duke Divinity School has a commitment to more than just to the deepest needs of people, from hospitals to schools to thinking and talking about leadership. Leadership Education food pantries to spiritual guidance. Yet Christian leaders and at Duke Divinity (LEADD) offers practical support for institutions have also been responsible for financial swindles, Christian leaders and institutions; you can see some of sexual abuse, and deceit. Any exploration of Christian leader- LEADD’s specific initiatives in our “Events and News” ship has to reckon with our complicated theology and history. section. We are also keenly aware of our mission to form In recent decades, seminaries have begun training and and prepare the next generation of leaders for the church. forming ministers to follow the model sometimes called That means that leadership has to be more than an intellec- “Pastor, CEO.” Churches and other Christian institutions tual construct to study. Our engagement with leadership will have adapted business practices from marketing, administra- shape the contours for future pastors and ministry leaders tion, and finance. Indeed, we must confront the reality that and the congregations and organizations they will serve. large churches and complex institutions require particular As you read this magazine, our hope is that you will join skills and insight from their leaders. At the same time, we us in this conversation about Christian leadership, in all its must wrestle with whether a divinity school should change complexities and challenges. Whether you are clergy or laity, the focus of an M.Div. degree from the rich study of Scripture skeptical or supportive of leadership, we think you’ll be and the Christian tradition to become a sanctified M.B.A. inspired to reflect on the calling we all have to serve God. This issue of DIVINITY magazine will explore how Duke Divinity School participates in the conversation about lead- Heather Moffitt is the associate director of communications ership. We are well-positioned to engage this topic. We are at Duke Divinity School and editor of DIVINITY magazine.

fall 2012 | 3 4 | DIVINITY Learning Leadership from Moses A Biblical Model for the Church Today by Richard Hays | Art by Marc Chagall

iscussions about leadership.” Election season is upon us in the programs are rarely shaped by deep ship today are often filled United States, although these days it theological reflection about leader- with wistfulness about seems that one election season bleeds ship that is rooted in Scripture and the Dour current lack of it. right into the next, with little time for wisdom of the Christian tradition. Alternatively, much of the promotional “governing season.” The airwaves are The Christian tradition has had a literature about leadership brims filled with campaign ads promising complex relationship with notions of with unreflective enthusiasm about leadership that will solve our national leadership. The yearning for strong the prospects for creating more and problems. At the same time, both in the leaders can be a sign of insecurity and better leaders. Institutions, including academic world and within the church, fear. And those who actively aspire to the church and the government, seem there is a growing demand for strong leadership are sometimes driven by to be floundering, and in order to set institutional leadership. In order to egotism and an unholy desire for power. things right we think we need “leader- meet this demand, many universities This can be a dangerous combination. and theological schools tout their lead- Christian Scripture calls us to careful, ership development programs, which critical reflection about our hankering Crossing of the Red Sea, from The Story of the Exodus suite, 1966. Lithograph on paper, are often heavily influenced by business to lead or be led. After all, it was “the 18 3/8 x 13 1/2 in. (46.6 x 34.3 cm). Gift of management models. Regrettably, such rulers of this age”—the leaders and Herman and Sietske Turndorf, 1982-231.10. Photo by Ardon bar Hama. © 2012 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris fall 2012 | 5 The testimony of the Bible does not allow us to reject the concept of leadership; on the other hand, neither does it portray leadership in terms identical to the corporate and political models familiar in our time.

shapers of policy—who crucified the declared, “I have observed the misery announced, “I have come down to Lord of glory (1 Corinthians 2:8). of my people who are in Egypt; I have deliver them from the Egyptians, and But skepticism about leadership, heard their cry on account of their to bring them up out of that land to a power, and the relationship between taskmasters. Indeed, I know their good and broad land, a land flowing leaders and followers is not the defini- sufferings, and I have come down to with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8–9). tive Christian answer to the question deliver them” (Exodus 3:7–8a). The No doubt Moses was thinking, “That’s of leadership. Scripture also speaks suffering of the people touched God’s wonderful, God. I’m really happy you positively about the need for leader- heart, and so he summoned Moses are going to do that.” But God was ship, and it offers numerous stories of as the instrument of their liberation. not quite finished with the revelatory those called to exercise it. “Remember If Moses was going to carry out the speech. He went on to say to Moses, your leaders, those who spoke the word mission given to him, he had to share “So come, I will send you to Pharaoh of God to you; consider the outcome that pain in the heart of God. It was to bring my people, the Israelites, out of their way of life, and imitate their God’s desire to free the people from of Egypt” (Exodus 3:10). faith” (Hebrews 13:7). The apostle Paul their taskmasters. This was definitely not in the script exhorted the church in Corinth, One crucial task for those whom of Moses’ career development plan at “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” God calls as leaders today is to discern this time in his life. He found himself (1 Corinthians 11:1). As these texts where people are crying out under summoned to God’s agenda, not his indicate, the testimony of the Bible harsh taskmasters; some of them may own. And the task to which he was does not allow us to reject the concept be subtle but insidiously powerful summoned was one that seemed of leadership; on the other hand, cultural forces. True leadership is humanly impossible: to confront the neither does it portray leadership in impossible without compassion for the most powerful ruler in the ancient Near terms identical to the corporate or captivity and suffering of those who East with a demand to “Let my people political models familiar in our time. are to be led. Later in the story, after go.” This public confrontation with Thus, the challenge before us—in the the incident of the golden calf, we see the power of Egypt was not an ambi- Divinity School and in the church—is the full depth of Moses’ compassionate tion that Moses conceived on his own; to think through the tasks of leadership identification with the people when rather, it was a result of hearing God’s in light of the examples that we find in he interceded with God to forgive unforeseen call to imagine a new liber- the scriptural stories. their sin and even offered himself to ating possibility and to act in faith to The archetypical leader in the Bible be blotted out of God’s book to make bring it into reality. is Moses, who led the people of Israel atonement for them (Exodus 32:30– out of slavery in Egypt, on a long trek 32). Though God rejected Moses’ offer, Listening to God through the desert, to the borders of the the episode illuminates Moses’ deep One strikingly consistent feature of land of promise. What might it mean concern for his people. the narratives about Moses is that he for us to imitate his faith and manner of received guidance from God. Whether leadership? A close reading of his story Vocation in the story of the burning bush, or in suggests at least seven characteristics of Second, Moses assumed leader- his dramatic conflicts with Pharaoh, faithful and wise leadership. ship not because he aspired to it, but or in his ascent of Mount Sinai to because he was unexpectedly called. receive God’s Law, Moses is consis- Compassion In the story of the burning bush tently portrayed as one who listened to First, Moses’ leadership expressed the (Exodus 3:1–10), we may imagine the God and received revelation that not compassion of God. When God spoke awestruck Moses, up through verse 9, only directed his own actions but also to Moses from the burning bush, he nodding and silently cheering as God shaped the life of God’s people.

6 | DIVINITY The Exodus. 1952/1966. Oil on linen canvas. 130 x 162.3 cm. DMBMC1990.1.7. Photo: In the Chagall painting reproduced my servant Moses: he is entrusted with Philippe Migeat. On deposit from the Centre on the cover of this magazine, we see all my house. With him I speak face Pompidou. © 2012 Artists Rights Society Moses reaching up to receive the Torah to face—clearly, not in riddles; and he (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris from the Lord. This posture defines beholds the form of the Lord.” Moses his character. He is not portrayed in could be “entrusted” with “all God’s Scripture as a decisive strategist, a house” because he entered the presence the Passover and the sprinkling of resourceful analyst, or a great mili- of God and listened. blood, so that the destroyer of the first- tary leader. Rather, he was the faithful born would not touch the firstborn of recipient and teacher of God’s word, Action and Institution Building Israel,” Hebrews 11:28); he led the long the one who mediated it to the people. Yet Moses is not only a contemplative pilgrimage across the sea and through This trait of Moses is described in figure. He listened to God and then the desert; he painstakingly established God’s declaration in Numbers 12:6–8: acted on what he heard. He went back the design for the tabernacle and the “Hear my words: When there are to Egypt and confronted Pharaoh by institutions of the priesthood (Exodus prophets among you, I the Lord make performing mighty signs; he instructed 25–31); he appointed 70 elders to myself known to them in visions; I God’s people about the institution of share the responsibility of governance speak to them in dreams. Not so with the Passover feast (“By faith he kept (Numbers 11:16–25).

To be sure, the sort of institution would provide a structure for God’s who lead are often subject to tempta- building that he did required the wandering people to survive and tions of pride and self-assertion. It is creation of provisional forms that flourish. And he then sought to imple- therefore surely significant that in the were adaptable to the long wilder- ment God’s plan to lead the people, very same passage in Numbers where ness journey; he never built a city or even when they remained grumbling we are told God spoke face to face with a temple. But perhaps for that very and “stiff-necked.” Moses and entrusted authority to him, reason, he offers us a good model for we also hear this: “Now the man Moses leadership for the church today, in an Humility was very humble, more so than anyone era of transition and uncertainty. The The recalcitrance of the people both else on the face of the earth” (Numbers important point is that he listened to required and revealed another char- 12:3). The Septuagint renders the key God in order to discern the forms that acter trait of Moses: his humility. Those adjective (“humble”) here as praüs,

8 | DIVINITY Just as Moses’ pattern of humble service prefigured Jesus’ counterintuitive way of embodying authority, so also our leadership should reflect the Christ-shaped pattern of true leadership.

“gentle” or “meek”—the same term Numbers 12, Aaron and Miriam spoke own people,” and he solemnly admon- that appears in Jesus’ Beatitudes: enviously against Moses, but he did ished them to “heed such a prophet” “Blessed are the meek, for they will not seek to rebut their criticism of his (Deuteronomy 18:15–19). He specifi- inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). leadership. Instead, he trusted God to cally identified Joshua as his chosen This quality of humility is visible defend him against detractors, leaving successor and commissioned him in Moses’ call story in Exodus 3. his vindication in the hands of God. to carry forward the task of leading After hearing God’s call to bring Throughout the story of the wilder- the people into the land, under the the Israelites out of Egypt, Moses ness wandering, the people again and Lord’s guidance (Deuteronomy protested: “Who am I that I should go again opposed and complained about 31:1–8). “Joshua son of Nun was to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out Moses’ leadership, but even though full of the spirit of wisdom, because of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11). Moses was he was sometimes deeply frustrated, Moses had laid his hands on him; and acutely aware of his own limitations, he never wavered or compromised his the Israelites obeyed him, doing as including his lack of eloquence: “I am mission. He kept his eye on the calling the Lord had commanded Moses” slow of speech and slow of tongue” he had been given by God and remained (Deuteronomy 34:9). An important (Exodus 4:10). These limitations faithful for 40 years, regardless of the part of the responsibility of wise lead- forced him to rely radically on God, swings of popular opinion—whether ership is to identify and raise up the who promised to be with him. And he adulation or rebellion. next generation of leaders to follow, also was forced to rely on his brother, It is a delicate matter to discern the and to “lay hands” on them in blessing Aaron, who was the public voice difference between steadfast faith- to carry forward the unfinished work. for Moses when he went before the fulness to a calling and stubborn These seven qualities of Moses’ Pharaoh. Moses knew that he could resistance to the counsel of others. leadership offer a biblical model for not accomplish his mission alone; he Surely the difference hinges on the imagining how we might faithfully needed the help of his brother. And authenticity of the calling to which fulfill the leadership roles to which we the whole bold venture could succeed the strong leader remains faithful. I are called in our time. But the pattern if and only if it was sustained by the would venture the judgment, however, described here also prefigures the way power of God. Leaders who possess that in our time too many who aspire of one who is the truest paradigm of humility know well that the success of to leadership are driven by the need leadership, one who, “though he was in their work does not depend on their for popular approval, or they use that the form of God, … emptied himself, own brilliance or force of will: “Unless approval as their barometer of success. taking the form of a slave” (Philippians the Lord builds the house, those who Moses, by contrast, provides a model of 2:6–7). We cannot be Jesus, of course. build it labor in vain” (Psalm 127:1). a leader whose eyes remained on the But just as Moses’ pattern of humble prize of the promised land. service prefigured Jesus’ counterin- Vision, not Popularity tuitive way of embodying authority, A corollary of the first five character- Passing It On so also our leadership should reflect, istics we have named is this: Moses’ Finally, the story of Moses reminds even through a glass darkly, the Christ- actions as a leader were grounded us of the truth that even the greatest shaped pattern of true leadership. in a deep trust in God that enabled leaders never fully finish the work. As we reflect on our own vocations him to stay faithful to his vision even They must anticipate not only their to leadership, may God give us first in the face of opposition. He did not own mortality but also the need to the humility to say, “Who am I that I seek popularity or strive to stay on raise up other leaders to follow them. should go to Pharaoh and bring the top of opinion polls; instead, he stayed Moses told the people of Israel, “The Israelites out of Egypt?” And then, if the course, following the vision he Lord your God will raise up for you God persists in calling us to leadership, had been given. In the story told in a prophet like me from among your may God give us the courage to go.

fall 2012 | 9 Can We Handle The

Learning from the Good Shepherd about Truth?leading the sheep and telling the truth by Stanley Hauerwas

I confess I am not quite sure what to make of the recent avalanche of essays and books on leadership. In general I tend to be skeptical of how-to books, though I have no doubt that these authors might have some wisdom. I have cherished a book found in a used bookstore written by Donald Brann and titled, Bricklaying Simplified. Mr. Brann does a nice job laying out the basics, but I cannot imagine how one could learn to lay brick by reading his book. You can learn to lay brick only by being initiated into the craft by a master craftsman.

10 | DIVINITY responsibility to make judgments. For of our loss of a positive account of example, most of the time when laying authority. In the absence of any brick you can do what you have always agreements about why we need offices done; but then one day you discover of authority, leadership becomes an that your judgment is required to make attempt to legitimize why some have a different choice because a partic- power over others. Subsequently, ular corner has a unique angle. This is leadership qua leadership implies the practical wisdom of bricklaying. some people rise to positions of power Leadership entails similar challenges. in order to “get things done” and Because leadership requires the not because such positions are inher- development of practical wisdom, I ently necessary to the common good. worry about the attempt to develop As a result, leadership reproduces the general theories about what makes assumption that we have no alternative a good or effective leader. Different to the manipulative character of our societal and community contexts interactions in modernity. The modern affect what it means to lead, and these aversion to authority means modern different contexts resist attempts to people have to be convinced that generalize about leadership. Put differ- leadership is a good thing. ently, the focus on leadership qua In his book After Virtue, philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre Part of what it means to live argues that we find it difficult to know truthfully is learning to speak what nonmanipu- truthfully—and expecting our lative interactions might look like; leaders to do so even when the all evaluations are truth doesn’t go down easy. If we viewed as arbitrary because they can resist hearing the truth, our leaders express only each will be tempted to tell us lies. person’s particular sentiments. Because we believe our moral leadership may undercut more basic commitments to be no more than an descriptions of offices determined by a expression of our preferences, any community’s traditions, such as priest, effort to have others join us in what we Laying brick and assuming a position president, teacher, parent, and physi- think needs to be done means we have of leadership may seem like apples and cian. These descriptions should make no choice but to resort to manipulative oranges, but just as learning to lay brick a difference for the kind of judgments bargaining strategies in the hope some requires that one become an appren- required by the office, as well as the will identify with our arbitrary choices. tice, so does learning to assume a mode of discernment required to make MacIntyre’s account of our social position of leadership. Both to lay brick the judgments. Those called to exer- and political life may seem exagger- and to be responsible for the good cise leadership operate in a particular ated, but confirmation of his account of a community require the develop- context and for particular ends. of our social and political lives can ment of practical wisdom, for both The desire to develop general be readily found in a commercial laying brick and leadership involve the accounts of leadership is an expression for any candidate running for public

fall 2012 | 11 office. They always promise to provide truth—even if it means that the truth cares about goods in common depends leadership, for example, by giving us they must tell us is that they are not on offices of power, so it would be false economic prosperity. What is missing sure what the truth is in a given situ- to understand power and authority is any acknowledgment that it is by no ation. And our leaders, moreover, are negatively. In the Gospels Jesus is means clear that political officeholders called to help us become the kind of referred to as the Good Shepherd have the power to make the economy people who can listen to truth because who cares for and tends to his flock. do anything. Yet anyone running for only the truth of Jesus Christ can This image of power entails a form of office cannot acknowledge they are not provide freedom. servanthood—caring and tending—and quite sure what can be done about the A community that demands its it is the image most aptly associated economy because such an acknowl- leaders to tell the truth does not then with leadership in the church. edgment would suggest that they are shirking from the presumed responsi- bilities of being a leader. Our political discourse states that the president of the United States is the “leader of the free world.” What in the world does it mean for someone to be the leader of the free world? What or whom do they lead as the leader of the free world? This attri- bution seems to imply that America embodies the ideal of freedom and that leadership is a matter of securing said freedom. But rather than promising us security, they might remind us that we live in a dangerous world that is quite beyond the control of anyone—even the president. The only alternative to the politics of manipulation is truth. But any political leader who tells the truth stands little chance of being elected. As a nation, we demand truth while not having the courage to hear it. expect them to make up for the defi- But Christians in positions of What might all this have to do with ciencies of the community. Instead, authority must struggle to understand the church? Am I implying that reflec- leadership is necessary because this seemingly simple image if they tion about leadership in the church the church is an institution consti- are to represent it in their ministry. and how the church understands the tuted by the conviction that without Failure to struggle with this christolog- politics that constitutes her life is truthful speech we cannot sustain the ical vision of leadership results in one misguided? I certainly do not think trust necessary to be a people who of two dangerous positions. If leaders that to be the case, but I do think abide in Christ and with one another. embrace a worldly form of power, the politics of the gospel requires us Accordingly, some are set aside to exer- their ministry will likely be just that: to develop an account of leadership cise the authority necessary to sustain their ministry, rather than Christ’s. The that challenges the world in which the disciplines of truth telling and truth parish becomes a cult of personality we find ourselves. The church is to be hearing that make our abiding possible. wherein parishioners rely on their lead- a community that expects that those To exercise such authority is an exer- er’s successes rather Christ. A sense who would lead us will tell us the cise in power. Any community that of pride attaches to belonging to this

12 | DIVINITY pastor rather than that pastor, and the we resist hearing the truth, our leaders from him because they do not know one Shepherd who leads the one flock will be tempted to tell us lies, and our the voice of strangers. becomes largely irrelevant. abiding together becomes farcical. (John 10: 2–5) On the other hand, the servant who Truthful speech is at the heart of the The primary task of seminary educa- leads without acknowledging power matter, for it is through talking to one tion is to train pastors as those who is too often tempted toward forms of another that the church discovers what will lead the church, which means our manipulation that turn Christ’s flock goods we have in common. Those who primary task in seminary education is into a bleating mass of codependency. occupy the ministerial and priestly to train pastors who will recognize the The lack of acknowledged power on offices of the church have a particular voice of the Good Shepherd so that the part of the pastor is dispersed responsibility for helping the church they may train the rest of the fold to to the fold, and the sheep wander become articulate, and this is done not do the same. And we learn the voice through how-to of the Good Shepherd by listening and lessons but observing how his voice has shaped the Those called to occupy the office of through witness hard-won speech of the church through theologian for the church must and practice. As the ages. By tending to the church’s our leaders prac- speech—how she prays, admonishes, attempt to instill in our students a tice an articulate laments, argues—we learn to hear the faith in Jesus voice of the Good Shepherd and we love of the language of the gospel, Christ, through learn to test the voice of strangers. that is, the voice of the Good Shepherd. speech and Leadership requires both attentive service, we are listening and careful speech, both apprenticed to wisdom and judgment. If either is aimlessly in search of some concrete this peculiar way of speaking and being avoided, the fold, including the pastor, guidance. In this instance, the people in the world. Leaders may from time is at risk. never learn to care for and tend to to time be those who have to make I have been in the business of their own—not to mention others—as the hard decisions, but more impor- teaching those called to the ministry their power has been undermined by tant than the decisions they make is the for many years. I confess I remain the pastor’s aversion to power. In both language that has shaped the decision. unsure how best to train those going of these cases, the fine balance between I should like to think such an under- into the ministry, those who will be power and serving has not been struck, standing of leadership is important called upon to be leaders, to be people and both the community and the good for helping us understand the work of of wisdom and judgment. How do you news of the gospel suffer. theology and how that work is central train someone to be wise? It is a diffi- By contrast, when the christological for the mission of seminaries. What we cult question that I still seek to answer. vision of the Good Shepherd laying teach in seminary is speech. And we But in the very least, those called to down his life for his sheep is manifest learn speech by listening. To return to occupy the office of theologian for the through the offices of power in the the parable of the Good Shepherd, in church must attempt to instill in our church, the church makes visible a form John’s Gospel Jesus explains: students a love of the language of the of leadership that uncovers the fears The one who enters the gate is the gospel, that is, the voice of the Good that drive worldly forms of manipula- shepherd of the sheep. The gate Shepherd. For if those called to lead tion and replaces them with gestures of keeper opens the gate for him, and the people of God have confidence and trust that come from living truthfully the sheep hear his voice. He calls trust in the words we have been given, with Christ and one another. Such trust his own sheep by name and leads we can hope that the church will be an is always tested by our speech. For them out. When he has brought out alternative to the politics of manipula- part of what it means to live truthfully all his own, he goes ahead of them, tion that so dominates our world. is learning to speak truthfully—and and the sheep follow him because expecting our leaders to do so even they know his voice. They will not when the truth doesn’t go down easy. If follow a stranger, but they will run

fall 2012 | 13 A Return to Big Words by William Lamar IV

The Palace Barber Shop by Ernie Barnes, © Ernie Barnes Family Trust. Ernie Barnes was a professional football player and artist from Durham, N.C. Places in Durham are frequent themes in his work, including this painting of the Palace Barber Shop, which was torn down in the 1960s.

and tears in barbershops in Georgia, men and women in the shop looked Florida, North Carolina, and Maryland. forward to our arrival every week. They For me, These shops have served as sacred wanted to know what we were learning. frequent barbershop visits are about communal space for countless genera- They wanted to disagree and agree, much more than good grooming. Going tions of men like me. they wanted to engage and disengage, to the barbershop transports me to The barbershop has also served as they wanted to encourage our theo- my childhood. My wonderful father a theological classroom. My barber- logical pursuits and to tell us that our would take my brother and me for cuts. shop habit continued unabated by educational aspirations were unneces- Treks to the barbershop return me to my precarious sary to serve God’s the days of driving my 1984 Chevrolet economic situa- church. It was fun. Cavalier to Curtis Miller’s Barbershop tion when I was a It was heated. It in Tallahassee, Fla. It was imperative student at Duke could get tense, even to keep the flattop of my high-school Divinity School peace exasperating. days impeccably sculpted. Before every between the years No hyperbole— major event in my life a trip to the of 1996 and 1999. I spent time every we would talk about the JEDP theory. barbershop has been not an option but Friday at Thorpe’s Barber Shop on We would talk about the Q source a necessity. I have sat in the chair of a Fayetteville Street in Durham. I had the theory. We would talk about hypos- professional barber before my gradu- privilege of sitting in classrooms with tasis and kenosis. And folks loved it. I ations, my ordination, my wedding, some of the best theological teachers did not realize that these conversations and the funerals of those whom I have and students in the nation. And when were formational pastoral training. loved. I have gotten much more than I got to the barbershop with some of In seminary we talk about ideas with haircuts. I have benefited from wisdom, my classmates on Fridays we brought others who talk about ideas, and we are encouragement, correction, laughter, seminary into the shop with us. The rewarded for mastering the language

14 | DIVINITY and techniques of the guild. In the shared the same with in proselytization; they were barbershop those ideas needed to be us. We honed the iron-sharpening sessions. incarnate for the biology professor, skills of listening and faith One day, a gentleman the mechanic, the police officer, and learning and teaching had had enough of me, the the attorney to engage them. People of every Friday in the bespectacled know-it-all from varying levels of education, exposure, Hayti community of the Bull City. Duke. He looked at me and said, “You and sophistication would engage with But all was not sunshine and roses. use too many big words!” There was bumbling young theologues because Many of our fellow patrons were suspi- a smidgen of humor in his remarks, we knew that what we were learning cious of Duke University because they but he was serious. His was not an was not esoteric. What we were had deep roots in Durham and knew its anti-intellectual tirade. That would be learning came from the thoughtful history. Many were dubious about the too simplistic an interpretation of his reflection, intellectual engagement, and Divinity School and what it taught and gentle yet stern outburst. His was a cry faithful wrestling of our mothers and stood for. Many were skeptics when it for the church and her servants to be fathers in faith. Because we understood came to Christianity. Many were not about the truly big words of our sacred that fact, we connected lecture with life enamored of preachers or of the church. texts and proclamation. He wanted in the barbershop. We were saved from All of these complicating factors added less declamation and more demonstra- the heresy of Gnosticism in Thorpe’s texture and depth to our conversation. He wanted more from the church Barber Shop. We had acquired no tions. I learned that my vocation was and from me than bland moralism special knowledge. We shared the intel- not to have the answers but to help to or showing off my recently acquired lectual gifts and theological heritage of escort others into a deeper engage- multisyllabic theological vocabulary. the church with our friends, and they ment with the mysteries of our faith What was I really about? What are we even as they escorted me into the same really about? What is the church really justice reality. Our Fridays were not exercises about? Who is this Triune God that we fall 2012 | 15 When I read of God’s love and justice and peace in Scripture, when I hear God’s grace and mercy and forgiveness proclaimed from pulpits and lecterns and hospital beds, I know why I am in the world.

talk about ad nauseum? People really like justice, peace, love, and mercy Education tells me that Christians and do care about these questions. that first captivated my ears and our institutions have ears that are as I read a Barbara Brown Taylor deepened my faith. The apostle Paul parched as our throats. We want to sermon some years ago. She wrote was indeed correct: my faith came taste the big words of God. We want to about a drought in our pulpits. A by hearing big words that pointed speak them. We know that when these drought not to the reality of words are spoken they become flesh in caused by a God’s work in our world. lack of exeget- and through Jesus I learned at Leadership Education ical rain, but a mercy Christ. I have that some of the best stuff written drought caused never gotten those about leadership is not explicitly about by neglecting the big words of our big words out of my head. leadership but about the habits and faith. Words like faith, hope, love, I left Duke and served as a pastor practices that shape faithful people grace, justice, peace, and forgiveness. for nearly 10 years at various African who do good work. Here is a practice These words are not big because of Methodist Episcopal parishes in that we must all cultivate and deepen. their many syllables. These words are Florida. I then had the distinct oppor- As we go about not big because they are difficult to tunity to return to Duke and work serving God and spell or pronounce. These words are with Leadership Education at Duke participating in big because they originate in the very Divinity. I have returned to pastoral God’s reign, let being of the God whom we worship, ministry at the Turner Memorial us use more big love and they come to us only as good gifts Church in the Washington Annual words. Let’s use them in the barber- from that same God. These words Conference of the African Methodist shops and grocery stores and outlet cannot be manufactured by our efforts; Episcopal Church. I am blessed to malls. I would like to hear more big they cannot be brought to life through work with Leadership Education words from our pulpits and lecterns. the antics of classroom genius or pulpit as I serve the good people of the How about hearing them from our proficiency. I learned in the barbershop Washington metropolitan area. As I leaders during this political season? that God’s people, both in the church reflect on my unfolding vocation, I Peace. Justice. Hope. Love. Say these and out of the church, are desperate to am clear that I am a big-word chaser. words. People everywhere are waiting have these blessed, big words spoken When I read of God’s love and justice to hear us speak them again. into their lives. and peace in Scripture, when I hear My affiliation with Duke Divinity God’s grace and mercy and forgiveness proclaimed from pulpits and lecterns forgiveness and hospital beds, I know School has afforded me many oppor- why I am in the world. I am in the tunities. I am grateful for them all. But world to hear those words, to speak I did not enter the Divinity School as those words, and to watch God’s escha- a theological tabula rasa. I was already tological dream for creation unfold in formed theologically upon the anvil the everydayness and brokenness of and cross of African Methodism. It was our world. My work as a pastor and the pronouncement of big words as a managing director at Leadership

16 | DIVINITY the celebrity pastor & the divinity student by Kate Bowler

When Oprah Winfrey launched her OWN television network with a series of star-studded interviews, she sat down with Joel Osteen in his Houston mansion for a chat about fame, critics, money, and ministry in the public eye. “I was reading some of the critics,” she began with a huge smile, “and I was thinking, why would anyone criticize you for preaching prosperity, because what kind of God wants you to be poor and miserable?” “That’s how I feel!” Osteen exclaimed. “I can’t be a blessing to others if I’m poor, broke, and depressed and I don’t feel good about myself.”

fall 2012 | 17 Joel Osteen has certainly mastered theological apologists for Osteen’s to be relevant to a distracted culture the art of spiritual self-esteem. The kind of Christianity. As a prosperity and to spread their message as far as man known as the “smiling preacher” preacher, he emphasizes the use of faith technology allows. They are convinced leads the largest church in America. as a spiritual force that turns positive that they can effectively organize He crisscrosses the country with his speech and thought into good health, strategies that bring those dreams of wife, Victoria, leading packed confer- abundant finances, and mastery over growth to fruition. That the prosperity ences dubbed “A Night of Hope.” His all of life’s obstacles. But the prosperity gospel dominates the upper echelon of books—Your Best Life Now, Become a gospel’s influence extends far beyond national megachurches is a testimony Better You, and Every Day a Friday— its particular theology into ways of to their enterprising spirit. (Though climbed the best-seller lists, and an thinking about church and ministry. I could certainly do without church- estimated seven million viewers tune There is certainly much to admire. growth manuals like R. A. Vernon’s into his weekly television broadcast. Unlike many historic denominations, book, Size Does Matter.) Joel Osteen is not only America’s most- prosperity preachers expect their This desire to be relevant is often watched religious figure but also one of churches to grow. They are determined revealed in their sermons, which the most powerful representatives of a include thoughts on new kind of pastor: the celebrity pastor topics like sex, work, and reality star. The trend of bare sanctuaries entrepreneurialism, Millions of Americans are turning flanked by colossal screens only family togetherness, to pastors like Joel Osteen for solu- and child rearing. Last tions, and as people who are training exacerbates the tendency to use Sunday, for example, young pastors, we should pay attention a glamor shot of the pastor more I heard helpful to this trend. To be sure, few graduates suggestions on time of Duke Divinity School will become often than the image of a cross. management. Perhaps it was not exegetically derived from Scripture, but it was definitely useful. Many people find that they enjoy a little less theological grist and a few more tips on how to make the daily grind more bearable. But when it comes to church leadership, prosperity preachers utilize celebrity in a way that can create unhealthy models for young pastors. First and foremost, the senior pastor tends to hog the spotlight. Their like- ness is everywhere. No matter how large or how small the church may be, the prosperity pastor is the primary advertisement for an emphasis on achievable results and success. In my survey of 115 prosperity megachurches, more than 80 percent used an over- sized image of the pastor to market the church on their website. In fact, an omnipresent image of the pastor is probably one of the quickest informal

18 | DIVINITY ways to identify a prosperity preacher. be good news. “The gospel to the poor,” leadership. The prosperity gospel If his or her picture is in the church summarized televangelist Kenneth teaches that people ought to be able foyer, on the bulletin, on the website Copeland, “is that Jesus has come and to look at their personal lives to see homepage, and on the welcome sign, they don’t have to be poor anymore!” whether their faith is working. This you should start to suspect that the Or as Oprah and Joel Osteen agreed, logic is amplified significantly when pastor’s personality is carrying theo- God doesn’t want you to be poor, broke, it comes to the pastoral family, who logical weight here. The trend of bare or miserable. And the job of the senior must hover close to perfection as sanctuaries flanked by colossal screens pastor is not only to tell you how but to a perpetual confirmation of God’s only exacerbates their tendency to use show you how. Their beautiful families approval of their ministry. a glamor shot of the pastor more often and their lavish homes and their robust After the televangelistic scandals of than the image of a cross. health are supposed to inspire you to do the 1980s tested the public’s confi- Consider, for example, how many better. They have a theological reason dence in stand-alone pastors, more Christians would recognize the names to hog the spotlight! and more male pastors began to ask Kerry Shook, Ed Young, Craig Prosperity pastors have become their smiling wives to join them on Groeschel (Jr. or Sr!), or Dave Stone? reality stars due to their propensity to stage as co-pastors. It made ministerial Very few, I imagine, would realize that use their personal lives—their style, marriages into examples and testimo- each of these people lead one of the 10 habits, spouse, children, education, nies. These husband-and-wife teams largest churches in the United States. friendships, sense of divine calling, were a match made in heaven (albeit But names like Creflo Dollar, Eddie and so on—as the evidence that their a rather conservative heaven). These Long, Frederick Price, and Rod Parsley message works. Churches are no couples would follow the precepts have supersized reputations with far longer churches but barometers for the of male headship, upholding the smaller congregations. Why? Certainly pastor’s divine calling. Congregations husband’s spiritual oversight while it has much to do with encouraging women to exercise a prosperity pastors’ use As Oprah and Joel Osteen narrower expertise. Frequently this of television and digital relegated women to spiritual authority streaming to cultivate agreed, God doesn’t want you over gendered topics like self-esteem, far-flung audiences. But to be poor, broke, or miserable. communication of feelings, child prosperity pastors like rearing, women’s spiritual and physical Frederick Price are far And the job of the senior pastor health, and marital advice. Victoria more famous than their is not only to tell you how but Osteen, Joel’s wife and co-pastor, is the nonprosperity coun- consummate co-pastor. She is a vision terparts in large part to show you how. of blond curls and ruffled tops with because their reputa- DVDs and books to brand her exper- tions are the centerpiece of the church. bursting with activity and new building tise in health, beauty, self-fulfillment, People chat about Joel Osteen’s church projects become ministerial necessi- and being a role model to her family. or Eddie Long’s church or Creflo ties. In fact, when I interview former Audiences love their public relation- Dollar’s church, not Lakewood, New staffers of prosperity megachurches, ship, and cheer as Victoria and Joel Birth, or World Changers, respectively. they frequently say that they experi- close every conference with love the Second, prosperity preachers erase enced pressure to inflate membership couple’s public fingers interlaced in a any distinction between biography and estimates to match soaring expectations. joyful salute to the crowd. apologetics. They fully expect their The theology of perfection leads to While ministerial domesticity suits lives to be living proof of the prosperity constant stress for many staff. some, it creates unbearable pressure gospel. Every time reporters harp on Third, prosperity preachers place for others. When televangelist Paula a prosperity pastor’s designer duds or a tremendous weight on their fami- White’s marriage to her husband and personal jet, they miss the point entirely. lies to be just as perfect and as visible. co-pastor, Randy, fell apart, audiences These accoutrements of success validate First Families of ministry have become were reluctant to forgive her. During that the prosperity gospel is supposed to the new gold standard for theological her interview with Larry King, an email

fall 2012 | 19 question from a San Antonio viewer put the matter bluntly: “How can you preach from the pulpit regarding marriage when yours failed?” Though White replied that she was committed “never to waste my trials in life, to find purpose in all things,” many followers could not forgive such personal failings. Whole families struggle to embody the ideals embedded in the pastoral role. Recently when Creflo Dollar’s 15-year- old daughter wanted to attend a party, her argument with her famous father led to allegations of child battery and his arrest and brief detention. When every family member lives under such close scrutiny, a rumbling of teenage angst can become a powder keg. The validation of the entire ministry is at stake. The Joel Osteens and Creflo Dollars cast a long shadow over our budding pastors. The ministerial world is domi- nated by celebrity pastors who invite the American public into their luxurious homes and ask them to see God at work as they take a look around. People in the pews increasingly want their spiritual leaders to account for whether they We don’t want to seek the The reality-show obsessed are poor, broke, or depressed. Whether world we live in does not they acknowledge it or not, many people spotlight that should be usually recognize righteous- expect their leaders to carry their minis- reserved for the person and ness when they see it. They tries on their backs like Osteen does, tend to want a star they can centering the church on whatever special work of Jesus Christ. We vote for and a leader they can gifts or abilities they have been granted. follow a Savior who was, admire for being as successful Our new pastors need to know that as any baseball player or char- the church must not be confused with after all, often both broke acter on Jersey Shore. For that a fan base. Without question, ministry and brokenhearted. reason I will not consider it a can seem like a reality show. The failure if none of our gradu- lives of pastors and their families are ates ever sit across from Oprah perpetually put on display for public must be able to say with Paul, “It is no or lead a church so large that it used to consumption. Every aspect of their longer I who live, but it is Christ who be a sports arena. After all, the first and lives will be picked apart and analyzed. lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). We don’t last time Jesus was put to a vote, the But however difficult, pastors must want to seek the spotlight that should people picked Barabbas. resist the temptation to use their image, be reserved for the person and work their families, and their churches as the of Jesus Christ. We follow a Savior primary basis for either experiencing who was, after all, often both broke revelation or evaluating the gospel. We and brokenhearted.

20 | DIVINITY Christian Communities

by Laceye Warner hen we discuss leadership, we most often think of individuals—the W corporate CEO, the political president, or the university dean. This is also true in the church; most discussions about leadership in the church revolve around the role of pastor or priest or the offices of elders and deacons. While these are not unimportant, limiting notions of leadership to individuals obscures the leadership role of the community. This is especially true of the church. Christian communities of faith are called to lead in several ways and for several reasons. First, it is part of their identity and vocation. Second, the Christian community is responsible to shape individuals within it. When the church embraces its leadership role, it becomes an evangelistic community of grace. fall 2012 | 21 Vocation and Leadership A defining characteristic of Christian leadership is vocation. In his book Additional Resources Wishful Thinking, Frederick Buechner described God’s calling as “the kind of work (a) that you need most to do, and (b) that the world most needs to have done. …The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” In Scripture, vocation most often Wesley, Wesleyans, Grace to Lead: The Evangelistic Love refers to (1) a calling to faith in God— and Reading Bible Practicing Leadership of God and Neighbor by a calling we all share by our baptisms as Scripture, edited in the Wesleyan Scott Jones (Abingdon through the grace of the Triune God— by Joel Green and Tradition by Kenneth Press, 2003). In this and (2) a calling to a special task on David Watson (Baylor Carder and Laceye book, Jones argues behalf of God. According to Scripture, University Press, Warner (General Board for love of God and our vocation has layers—some shared, 2012). See especially of Higher Education neighbor as the starting some individual, but always in the “A Wesleyan Reading and Ministry, 2010). point for understanding context of the body of Christ and of Scripture: Matthew This book contains and practicing evan- always unfolding. Like individuals, 28 and an Ecclesial a helpful description gelism, since God’s Christian communities are called Evangelism” by of “evangelistic evangelistic love of both to faith and for specific tasks on Laceye Warner. communities of grace.” the world is the central behalf of God, which certainly includes message of Scripture. providing Christian leadership for the renewal of the church and the unfolding of God’s reign. trust, shared vision, and accountability. book, Grace to Lead, as evangelistic Christian leaders (like Christian For Christian communities to provide communities of grace. They are evan- disciples) are not formed or commis- this kind of leadership, they must follow gelistic in their commitment to sharing sioned in isolation but in Christian God’s call, be grounded in Scripture, God’s message of salvation in Jesus communities. John Wesley, in his Christian tradition and doctrine, and Christ through teaching “all I have “Sermon on the Mount IV,” urged that have the reign of God as their shared commanded you” (Matthew 28:19) and authentic spiritual formation could not purpose. To sustain this foundation, baptizing (Matthew 28:20), thereby take place “without society, without Christian communities engage in initiating others into God’s reign. living and conversing with [others].” formation: practices of piety and mercy Jesus’ commandments, particu- Isolation and a lack of community are such as worship and care for neigh- larly in Matthew, are more than a dangerous for Christian leaders. On the bors. These Christian practices inform ceremonial, moral adherence or an one hand, communities rely upon indi- both their faith and the specific tasks to otherworldly rule of life—they are vidual leaders to provide the vision and which they are called. They also provide love of God and neighbor (Matthew strategy for their flourishing. On the motivation in and through which the 19). Jesus commanded love for one’s other hand, trust, accountability, and church can lead. neighbor, a combination of compassion a shared vision within the community with justice in a life of righteous- are required for leaders to be authentic Evangelistic Communities of Grace ness. This went beyond the scope of and effective. Isolation of leaders often The Gospel of Matthew, especially its the Torah to extend to all that Jesus leads not only to loneliness but also Great Commission passage (Matthew commanded through his words and life. to unrealistic expectations or worse— 28:16–20), offers a scriptural rubric The command to love one’s neighbor burnout or even misconduct. It is vitally for cultivating faithful communities challenged the Pharisees, who arguably important for Christian leaders to prepared and willing to follow God’s lacked these dimensions of love. remain connected to their communities call. My colleague Bishop Kenneth An important aspect of Jesus’ of faith for the mutual relationship of Carder and I describe them in our appearance on the Galilean mountain

22 | DIVINITY is that “Jesus came to them” (Matthew Matthew is the only Gospel to describe forgiveness of sins, justification by grace, 28:18). Jesus was among those on the the gathered community of faith, or and initiation into the body of Christ. mountain, and then he declared that church, as ekklesia (Matthew 16:17–18). When they are open to the Spirit’s he would be with them “always, to More than merely an assembly, the presence and pursuing faithful prac- the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). church—the community of faith—is at tices, evangelistic communities of This echoes the description of Jesus its fullest a place of oneness with the grace participate in God’s reign, share in Matthew 1 as Emmanuel, God with risen Christ, in communion with the the gospel of Jesus Christ, and invite us. Jesus’ coming to those gathered Triune God as well as all the saints. It is creation to receive God’s grace and implies divine initiative to re-establish God’s grace made visible in the world. redemption. This kind of leadership is the intimate relationship shared Communities of grace are grounded needed for the renewal of the church. among them prior to the betrayals in Christian doctrine—an understanding The leadership of the communities of and persecution of Jesus that led to his of God and God’s grace—in a way that grace will invite individuals to faith in crucifixion. It was a divine extension is vital and not archaic. Such communi- the Triune God, form them in disci- of grace to the community. ties participate in God’s reign through pleship, and send them not only as The body of Christ embodied in receiving and sharing grace in relation- individuals but also as communities communities of faith demonstrates ship to the Triune God and one another. with specific tasks of witnessing to and Jesus’ continuing presence on earth. Baptism indicates acceptance of the participating in God’s unfolding reign.

THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION IN A DIVIDED WORLD The Duke Divinity School summer institute presented by the Center for Reconciliation Rooted in a Christian vision, this intensive five-day institute nourishes, renews, and deepens the capacities of Christian leaders in the ministry of reconciliation, justice, and peace. may 27 – june 1, 2013 www.dukesummerinstitute.com

fall 2012 | 23 Vibrant by Dave Odom Christian Institutions

“At this church, unlike any church we deeply appreciate the institutions rapid changes occurring in the United you may know, we really love each that formed us in the faith—including States and around the world. Times other.” Each time that I have asked divinity schools, campus ministries, and of rapid change provide enormous congregational leaders to introduce youth camps; yet we also distrust insti- opportunities for new possibilities, but their church, someone always makes tutions in general, even those of the they also provide substantial threats this statement. No matter the very same type that nurtured us. Some of and potential for crises, fragmentation, difficult situation facing the congre- that distrust is because of how institu- and polarization. In the midst of such gation, these leaders experienced tions and their leaders have failed us change, we yearn for life-giving insti- nurture in this body of believers that in the past, but some of that distrust is tutions that support and encourage was so profound that they could not also because we have not paid suffi- faithful community. We also yearn for imagine it possible to have this experi- cient attention to the importance of entrepreneurial people of character ence elsewhere, especially given what institutions for our lives and for the who will find solutions to some of they heard about the problems other fabric of life together. our most pressing challenges; help us churches were experiencing. The importance of vibrant institu- overcome the increasing polarization This belief also illustrates a paradox: tions is even more critical given the in families, communities, and broader

24 | DIVINITY organizations and cultures; and develop We yearn for entrepreneurial people of char- catalytic strategies to renew and found critically important institutions. acter who will find solutions to some of our In 2008 Duke Divinity School most pressing challenges; help us overcome the committed to a new initiative to address the importance of vibrant Christian increasing polarization in families, communities, institutions and the leaders who serve and broader organizations and cultures; and them: Leadership Education at Duke Divinity (LEADD). It built on the develop catalytic strategies to renew and found work of both Lilly Endowment Inc. important institutions. and The Duke Endowment, including the Pulpit & Pew project, Sustaining Pastoral Excellence, and support for Army, and Habitat for Humanity. He expert in effective boards of directors, rural churches. Over the past five years, was thinking of faith-based hospitals, a gift that he shares with the Divinity Leadership Education at Duke Divinity schools, and, more recently, hospice School’s Center for Reconciliation as has convened hundreds of Christian organizations. Only in the last 25 years, an advisory board member. Heurertz institutional leaders to identify and he noted, had social entrepreneurship led Word Made Flesh from near finan- nurture the practices that create, become relatively secular. What has cial insolvency to revenues of nearly $2 support, and sustain their institutions. happened in the church? million, with affiliated ministries in 11 In partnership with these leaders, we In focusing on connecting with countries on five continents. have identified and trained younger leaders who are cultivating thriving All of this has been done with leaders in critical practices and devel- communities, we have discovered small donations. Word Made Flesh is oped theological reflection on the countless innovative congregations and grounded by the seven points of its significance of Christian institutions ministries that feed the hungry, provide mission statement, which begins with as bearers of tradition, laboratories medical care, and build or repair Jesus and the kingdom of God and for learning, and incubators of leader- housing. But serving large numbers includes a commitment to the most ship. We have told countless stories in of people and sustaining the work vulnerable of the world’s poor. In both our online journal, Faith & Leadership, across generations requires institutions. good and bad economic times, donors about vibrant institutions and how they Christianity Today’s Andy Crouch, who have responded to support the commit- contribute to thriving communities that studies current trends in Christianity, ment and work of Word Made Flesh. are signs, foretastes, and instruments of told us that he admires mainline Heuertz and many others we have the reign of God. Our work has sought Christians for their ability to sustain met are both doing good work and to address the rapid changes occurring ministries across generations. Many of serving as signs of hope for those who in the United States and the world, and these institutions are now much weaker are discouraged by the challenges. Our to cultivate a deeper sense of trust in than they were. Significant effort is mission has two facets. We want to culti- the life-giving potential of faithful and required to design their ministries to be vate leaders like Heuertz by providing effective institutions. sustainable in the current economy and the resources that they need to create, Yet we have a long way to go. As to encourage the experimentation that renew, and sustain vibrant Christian former dean L. Gregory Jones was leads to founding new institutions. institutions. And we want to cultivate planning the launch of this effort, he Word Made Flesh exemplifies such a the Christian institutions needed in talked with a Duke colleague and vibrant Christian institution. Its execu- order to cultivate thriving communities friend who studies social entrepreneur- tive director, Chris Heuertz, began that are signs of God’s reign. ship. This professor wondered why, working at this international ministry over the course of the last couple of with the poor by establishing the first centuries in America, the best socially pediatric AIDS home for the south entrepreneurial organizations had of India, in Chennai. In 1996 he was consistently been faith-based, especially called to the ministry’s headquarters if they developed significant scale and in Omaha, Neb., when the founder scope. The scholar had in mind orga- resigned. Heuertz intently studied nizations such as Goodwill, Salvation healthy organizations and became an

fall 2012 | 25 Incarnational Ministry by Susan Pendleton Jones

We often think of pastoral robes as garments that signify ministerial leadership. For Ben, it was a shirt. Not just any shirt: it was the one he borrowed during the summer from the custodial staff of the church where he did his field education

several years ago. Ben was the recipient of one of our most distinguished scholarships—the Divinity Fellowship—designated

for people with strong academic backgrounds and gifts for pastoral leadership. He was placed at a “partner church” for his

first summer of Divinity School, a large and wonderfully vital congregation with a strong clergy and lay staff who mentored him

throughout the summer.

Ben learned a lot over those 10 cleaning classrooms and bathrooms, translated “have the [same] mind” is weeks. He began his ministry there by mopping floors, emptying trash, and phronein in Greek, and it has a much shadowing a different pastoral staff eating lunch with them each day. At richer connotation than the way we member each week, learning from the end of the summer, the lead custo- normally think of the word “mind.” them the various skills and practices dian said to those gathered: “No one It connotes practical wisdom, a shaping of ministry. Several weeks into the has ever worn our uniform before. You of our whole life that includes our internship, though, he realized he was not only got to know us, you became thoughts, perceptions, feelings, and missing something. So he went to the one of us. You cleaned with us; you ate actions. Stephen Fowl, in his commen- lead custodian and asked if there was with us. You are our brother in Christ.” tary on Philippians, suggests that a an extra uniform he could wear so For Ben, the shirt was a reminder more accurate (but cumbersome) that he could shadow the custodial of the holistic approach to pastoral translation of Philippians 2:5 would be, staff the following week. Surprised leadership. That shirt represented “Let this be your pattern of thinking, by this request, the custodian found incarnational ministry. acting, and feeling, which was also

an extra uniform for him. Every day In Philippians 2:5, Paul calls displayed in Christ Jesus.” Duke Photogra p hy for a week Ben put on the uniform Christians to have the same “mind” Formation for ordained ministry is and worked with the custodial staff: that “was in Christ Jesus.” The word a formation of our whole being: our

26 | DIVINITY by Susan Pendleton Jones

thinking and intellect as well as our of formation for ministry as being the church’s faithful understanding and emotions and actions. Ordained minis- primarily about shaping people witness. Ministerial students like Ben ters need to be practically wise, people academically for ministry. It is an easy are able to discover the intellectual who embody excellent judgment both assumption to make, especially at a riches of Scripture, Christian tradition, in their own lives and also in the lead- place like Duke, because academics are systematic theology and ethics, and ership they exercise as pastors. In important and students are studying practical theology. It is a demanding exercising leadership, pastors regularly for a master of divinity degree at one curriculum because pastoral leaders have to make difficult choices, such as of the world’s leading universities. And need to be able to think deeply, faith- how to confront risk, when to stand up we do take academic study seriously. fully, and truly about God and the for oneself or for others, how to be fair We share the view expressed in Chaim mission of the church in the world. We in adjudications, or when and how to Potok’s novel In the Garden that “a hope students find their education to be angry. Only through the cultivation shallow mind is a sin against God.” be as rigorous as students in medicine of wisdom that is lived out in practical, We are privileged to have many of or law, because the work pastors do is daily application can pastors shepherd the world’s leading theological scholars at least as important. their people faithfully and effectively. on our faculty, and their teaching and Protestant theological education Yet more often than not, we think research is an exceptional resource for in the mainline traditions, especially

fall 2012 | 27 in the United States, has emphasized plays a significant role in helping the heart of incarnational ministry. academic study. But such schools have students integrate spiritual forma- Philippians 2 makes concrete what the tended not to focus on spiritual formation into their overall preparation for “mind” of Christ really looks like: the tion as much, believing that arena was pastoral leadership. thinking, feeling, and living of one who more Catholic. Nor have they empha- We hope students will have their empties himself for the sake of others. sized learning the practical skills of dispositions and desires formed to Ben didn’t see his custodian’s ministry beyond preaching, which more love God more deeply through their uniform as an alternative to the evangelical seminaries tend to include. spiritual formation experiences, and pastor’s alb. Nor does he see service in Duke Divinity School is noted for that these dispositions and desires will opposition to leadership, or thinking our integrated approach to theological be intimately connected to their study in opposition to feeling or doing. education, emphasizing academics as and to their ministry in congregations Rather, he recognized that they are well as the practices of ministry both and other settings in the world. It is complementary, recognizing that an in the curriculum and through our heartening to watch as students take incarnational approach to pastoral field education program. Our explicit what they learn in their first-year leadership requires us to embody the attention to spiritual formation is a spiritual formation groups into their significance of the both/and: as Jesus relatively more recent addition to the field education settings. One recent is both fully God and fully human, so Divinity School’s overall approach to student developed a lectio divina ordained ministry calls us to serve and ministerial formation. We now require approach to Bible study for the local lead, to think and feel and perceive all students to participate in a program congregation she served during and live well. It is a demanding chal- of spiritual formation during their first summer field education, an approach lenge for Duke Divinity School, yet year of Divinity School, and many she had learned and practiced in her one we seek to embody well as we students engage in spiritual forma- spiritual formation group. form women and men for service to tion groups throughout their time At Duke Divinity School we are Christ, the church, and the world. at Duke. Morning prayer is offered committed to forming students in the each weekday morning in Goodson pattern of Jesus Christ, “who, though Chapel, and we also have full worship he was in the form of God, did not services on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and count equality with God as something Thursdays during the school year. Our to be exploited, but emptied himself, chaplain, the Reverend Sally Bates, taking the form of a slave.” This is

Field Education at Duke Divinity School Thanks especially to the long-term commitment of The Duke Endowment, Duke Divinity School is a leader in theological education in funding field education as a preparation for ministry and in weaving it together with the curriculum to help form students to become practically wise. Duke Divinity School requires students to do at least two field education placements, and one of them must be in a parish setting. Many students do field education in three or more varied settings that include local churches, agencies, international ministry contexts, and clinical pastoral education in hospitals. During their field education experiences, students engage in theological reflection with their supervisors and with lay committees in their local contexts, and they are guided in regular peer reflection groups led by Divinity School faculty and ordained administrators. They also are expected to reflect on their field education experience in a Practicing Theology in Ministry course during their academic study. This field education program helps to form our students as reflective practitioners who will continually discover the intersections of thinking, feeling, perceiving, and living out their pastoral leadership.

28 | DIVINITY The Reluctant Leader by Sanetta Ponton

gathered community of faith, or church, as ekklesia (Matthew 16:17–18). More than merely an assembly, the church—the community of faith—is at its fullest a place of oneness with the risen Christ, in communion with the Triune Godwant as well to startas all the with saints. a confession: It is I really do God’sI grace made visible in the world. not like the word leader. I often cringe when I hear Communities of grace are grounded itin Christianattached doctrine—an to my name under in- some form. I have a mentalstanding ofpicture God and of God’s a stuffy grace—in man a seated at the head ofway a that large is vital conference-room and not archaic. Such table barking orders to thecommunities minions participate who sit inwith God’s pen reign and paper in hand, through receiving and sharing grace in hopingrelationship to toget the assigned Triune God some and one minor task that will helpanother. propel Baptism the indicates future acceptance of “The Organization.” Theyof the forgivenessnod at everything of sins, justification he says in feigned agreement. (storyby grace, continues and initiation next page) into the body of Christ. When they are open to the Spirit’s presence and pursuing faithful practices, evangelistic communities of grace participate in God’s reign, share the gospel of Jesus Christ, and invite Sanetta Ponton D’12 was co-president of creation to receive God’s grace and the Divinity Student redemption. This kind of leadership is Council. She served as needed for the renewal of the church. a worship leader for the The leadership of the communities of Closing Convocation grace will invite individuals to faith in in May. the Triune God, form them in disci- pleship, and send them not only as individuals, but also as communities with specific tasks of witnessing to and participating in God’s unfolding reign.

fall 2012 | 29 A caricature indeed, but not that far from the truth—at least the truth I had been taught. I was formally trained to be a leader in some of the world’s finest academic institutions. By God’s grace I went from a low-performing public school system to Columbia University and then two years later on to Harvard Law School. Because of my academic background, I can claim to be a part of an elite group of leaders, movers, and shakers. I know the difference between leaders and managers, the former being those who inno- vate, the latter those who perpetuate. I worked in white-shoe law firms and state government. Put me in a room and I can network with the best of them. I learned to be charming yet aggres- sive, persuasive without being whiny. I held positions of leadership in school work on nursing-home neglect cases, Eventually I entered Duke Divinity and in my local community. In the face housing-discrimination class actions, School after a long struggle with God of defeat, I could recall the words of my landlord-tenant disputes, and service in about following my ministerial calling. beloved alma mater’s chant whenever New Orleans, La., and Gulfport, Miss., Duke Divinity School promised to the football team lost: “That’s all right. following Hurricane Katrina. form me into a leader. I was not inter- That’s OK. You’re going to work for us Unfortunately, while I knew my faith ested in becoming a leader, but I someday!” To be a leader meant to be should inform my understanding of came anyway, because God said so. on top. It meant to have the last word. leadership, I found no alternative ideas Two warring images invaded in my It meant to couple power and influence within the church. I grew up in a black head: the power-hungry CEO found with prestige and success. Baptist church that had its own concep- among the exclusive and elite, and the Though I had been trained this way, tions of leadership: think the preaching all-powerful Christ found among the I never felt comfortable in this role. power of Martin Luther King, not quiet poor, the sick, and the marginalized. I never quite fit it. I often thought it Rosa Parks. More broadly, I was (and In many ways this is what Duke was because I am African American, remain) critical of notions of Christian Divinity School itself epitomizes: a woman, or considered politically leadership. Often we repackage the the power of the large, prestigious liberal. Sometimes one of those charac- world’s concept of leadership by university coupled with the Divinity teristics might be the reason. But throwing in Jesus and a few Scripture School’s desire to remain faithful to a the defining quality that separated verses and calling it Christian. I suspect gospel message that calls us to those me from this culture of leadership that we still want the biggest and best, who are most powerless. was always my faith. What I had been including the power and influence and To my surprise and delight, Duke trained to consider leadership was not envy of others, but we are Christian— Divinity School did not offer me a commensurate with the gospel. I just so we take our leadership manuals, recipe for leadership. Instead, the could not imagine “Jesus, CEO.” That do a Control-F search, and replace all professors, staff, administration, and didn’t seem like the perspective of instances of business, corporation, or students constantly reminded me to be Megan Morr, Duke Photogra p hy faithfulness to Christ. organization with church. Tools like faithful to the God I love and to what I knew God called me to be among “relationship building” can be just as God had implanted in me. To do this, the least of these. Even while in law shallow as networking if the goal is I was offered an array of tools, disci- school, when others coveted summer to receive a better church assignment plines, and approaches. Learning to associate positions in competitive or an invitation to preach the next read the writings of the church fathers law firms, I took opportunities to community revival. trained me to honor in charity how

30 | DIVINITY others faithfully respond to God’s call spite of it. The wounded in me found gospel with power, clarity, and convic- on their lives and to eavesdrop on how strength in Christ and told others. tion, helping to lead some to become God is speaking to them. The listener After three years, I learned that more faithful to Christ. It will look and team player inside of me celebrated. leadership is born out of faithfulness different in each one of us. Midday chapel service reminded me to the gifts and graces God has placed Christian leadership and faithful- that doxology is more than a collection inside of you. There is no formula ness to God go hand in hand. Others of prayers or a beautifully written book; and there are no steps. Its marker is a are willing to follow those who have the it is the manner in which I am formed humble confidence in God’s magnifi- faith and courage to step into and fully and my total, faithful embrace of my cent creation in you coupled with the live out their gifts. We are attracted to purpose. The worshiper in me lifted my assurance that God will use all he has the power of the Holy Spirit at work. I hands and shouted. Fully embracing deposited in you and will complete the did not like the term leader when I first Jesus’ call to the least of these prompted work he has begun in you. For some it entered the Divinity School, and I’m me to speak up when the least of those is a quiet leadership, faithfully leading still wary of it now. I don’t seek to be within our own Divinity School commu- your struggling classmates to the foot known as a leader; but I do want you to nity were overlooked, undervalued, and of the cross every week in prayer. know God’s power working through me. disrespected. The advocate in me fought. For others it is a graceful leadership, If that is your definition of leader, then Listening to others’ pain taught me to dancing through the chapel aisles to I echo the words of the apostle Paul in face and articulate my own brokenness lead others in worship. And for others 1 Corinthians 11:1: “Follow my example, and to trust God to heal and use me in it is preaching the message of the as I follow the example of Christ.”

A place of renewal . . . A place of research . . . A place to study, worship, and be refreshed. Study Leave For Ministry Professionals

You are invited to spend a week at Duke Divinity School, where you can audit classes, engage in self-directed study, participate in community worship, and take time to relax and recharge for ministry. Scholarships are available.

To learn more or apply, visit the Programs & Training section of www.faithandleadership.com Contact us at 919.613.5323 or [email protected]

fall 2012 | 31 EVENTS AND NEWS: Leadership Initiatives at Duke Divinity School

Duke Youth Academy Institute of Preaching Faith & Leadership awards

The Duke Youth Academy, part of Leadership The Institute of Preaching is a 10-month program Faith & Leadership, the online magazine of Education at Duke Divinity, is an intensive encoun- of three retreats designed to help clergy from the Leadership Education at Duke Divinity, won three ter with Christian life. Days are patterned by Florida and Western North Carolina Conferences awards in the 2011 “Best of the Christian Press” worship through word and sacrament, reflection of the United Methodist Church improve their competition sponsored by the Associated Church on Scripture, study, service, and play—practices preaching. Unlike other programs that focus only Press. They were presented at the ACP convention ancient and modern that nourish the life of faith. on style or techniques, the Institute of Preaching in Chicago on May 2, 2012. The ACP, founded in Each summer, Duke Divinity School invites four takes a comprehensive approach to preaching. 1916, is the oldest interdenominational religious to six youth workers to join its fellowship program Pastors examine not only their sermon content press association in North America. to learn the academy’s model of youth minis- and delivery but also the contexts in which they For Faith & Leadership’s Award of Excellence try. Fellows will have opportunities to learn from preach and the integrity of their life and work. for best independent website or e-zine, the judge internationally acclaimed Divinity School faculty, to During each retreat, participants hear from cited the “outstanding” Call & Response blog and reflect together on the implications of DYA practices recognized authorities on preaching—both said that Faith & Leadership successfully fulfills its for their own youth ministry, and to continue dis- practitioners and Duke faculty—and also work mission to “offer insight and guidance on Christian cerning their own calling to ministry with youth. with other participants in small peer groups leadership.” Awards of Merit were given to both To apply as a student or a ministry worker, discussing their ministries and reviewing each Duke Divinity associate professor C. Kavin Rowe for visit www.divinity.duke.edu/initiatives-centers/ other’s sermons. Between retreats, participants his article “Incorporating disagreement is a mark youth-academy/applications are encouraged to work with a small group from of a thriving community” and the Call & Response their own congregation to receive critical and blog. To read Faith & Leadership or sign up for an constructive sermon feedback. e-newsletter, visit www.faithandleadership.com The Institute of Preaching is a partnership of the Florida Institute of Preaching Committee and Duke Divinity School. It is sponsored by the Florida Clergy Retreat Conference and the Parish Ministry Fund of the Western North Carolina Conference. All full-time The Clergy Retreat is an annual opportunity to elders and local pastors serving in either confer- celebrate the connection of elders in the Western ence are eligible to apply. North Carolina Conference. In odd-numbered years, For more information, go to www.divinity.duke. this event is a “day apart,” featuring lectures and edu/initiatives-centers/lifelong-learning/institute- worship. In even-numbered years, it expands to a preaching multi-day retreat. Bishop Larry Goodpaster and the Denominational Leadership: conference Board of Ordained Ministry hope that serving God and the church as through this time together clergy will remember District Superintendent Thriving Rural Communities their call, share in fellowship with each other, and be inspired. This four-day educational event has been designed The 2012 Convocation on the Rural Church was The 2012 Clergy Retreat will be held Oct. 29–31, specifically for those who have been serving as held Aug. 13–15, 2012, in 2012, at Lake Junalaska, N.C. The theme is “Soul United Methodist district superintendents for Myrtle Beach, S.C. It had the Quest: Key Questions of the Spiritual Life.” For more one to three years. It provides these church leaders theme “Tradition LIVES,” and it information, go to www.divinity.duke.edu/initiatives- with the opportunity to reflect on their own practice brought together leaders from centers/lifelong-learning/wncc-clergy-retreat of leadership while equipping them to face the rural North Carolina churches, challenges and opportunities of institutional Duke Divinity School, The Duke leadership today. Endowment, and the North The event will be held Oct. 29–Nov. 1, 2012, at Carolina and Western North Carolina Annual the Avila Retreat Center in Durham, N.C. For more Conferences of the United Methodist Church. information, contact the Leadership Education The event featured worship, plenary sessions, office at [email protected] using the subject workshops, and conversation about the state of the line “Denominational Leadership.” rural church and how it can engage in even more vibrant ministry and mission.

32 | DIVINITY Denominational Leadership: Serving God and the Church Retreat for Hispanic as an Executive Leader and Latino Pastors Convocation & Pastors’ School

This four-day educational event is designed for Latinos in this country, and particularly those in the Form/Reform: Cultivating Christian Leaders denominational leaders at the regional and national immigrant community, face countless existential October 15–16, 2012 level. It encourages leaders to consider their prac- crises every day. There is The annual Convocation & Pastors’ School is an tice of leadership, and it equips leaders with needed a great need to provide intensive two-day conference that offers lectures, tools and strategies to navigate the complexities effective and transformative worship, and seminars for Christian leaders of and changing landscape of denominational and pastoral care to this group. all traditions. Led by scholars and practitioners institutional life today. And yet pastors are often not from Duke and beyond, this event is a coop- People of all denominations who are transition- prepared to deal with these erative endeavor with the North Carolina and ing from parish ministry to executive-level positions crises effectively, sensitively, Western North Carolina within denominational governing bodies or who and wholly. Conferences of the United have been in their role fewer than three years are This inaugural event was “Immersed in the Heart Methodist Church. The welcome to apply for this selective program. An of the Good Shepherd: A First Retreat for Pastors Convocation also includes application is required. The faculty for this event Serving the Hispanic/Latino Community,” held gatherings of Duke include those with extensive experience working in Pine Knoll Shores, N.C., April 13–15, 2012. Divinity School alumni. with denominations and other organizations. Participants were immersed in the heart of the Good In a world where inno- For inquiries about the program, email Shepherd through praise, worship, and theological vation is acclaimed and tradition is deemed suspect, [email protected] with the subject line: reflection. Pablo Polischuk, professor of psychol- where messages are abundant but true wisdom is Denominational Leadership. ogy and pastoral counseling at Gordon-Conwell muted, Christian leadership is sorely needed. What Theological Seminary, led the sessions. Worship do congregations need to do to form Christians for was led by Fede and Roni Apecena, lay leaders at today … and tomorrow? And what formation and Preparing for Ordination Fiesta Cristiana at Apex UMC in Apex, N.C. re-formation is needed for pastors and professors to equip the saints for the work of ministry? The United Methodist Full Connection Seminar was Join Fuller Theological Seminary president held at Duke Divinity School Sept. 10–11, 2012. Doctor of Ministry: Richard J. Mouw, author Andy Crouch, theologian This theological workshop was designed to help Leadership in the Sarah Coakley, and pastor Prince Raney Rivers to United Methodists participating in the ordination Christian Tradition explore the shaping of Christians for leadership in an process prepare for their board interviews and increasingly diverse and evolving social landscape. written examinations. The D.Min. degree is To register, go to www.divinity.duke.edu/cps2012 The seminar featured a series of 10 lectures a professional doctor- by distinguished faculty and practitioners that ate that provides address the traditional Disciplinary questions for an opportunity for ordination. These lectures were made available post-M.Div. education in advance, creating more time for participants to to pastors and other discuss, worship together, meet with annual confer- Christian leaders. ence officials, and share thoughts and perceptions The Leadership in about the ordination process. For more informa- Christian Education tion, see www.divinity.duke.edu/initiatives-centers/ cohort is designed for lifelong-learning/full-connection those who wish to pursue rigorous and imagina- tive reflection on the topic of Christian leadership through the study of Scripture, church history, and contemporary theology, as well as engagement with the fields of leadership and management studies. For more information, go to www.divinity.duke.edu/ academics/degrees/doctor-ministry

fall 2012 | 33 book reviews

Interpretive Charity and Innovative Leadership by L. Gregory Jones

A health care executive devoted his summer reading in 2009 to how the British had cracked the Germans’ wartime communications codes in World War II. Debates about health care reform were raging in Congress, and the outcome of those debates would have a large impact on the executive’s company. While he paid attention to those debates, he was also reading much more widely. He thought that understanding the dynamics of the British strategy would help him think in a more innovative way about the long-term strategic issues his company faced. this habit characterizes many of the best leaders I know, both within and beyond the church. They read widely—books, magazines, newspapers, and blogs. They read with a mindset of interpretive charity, seeking to understand the perspectives of the authors in order to enhance their leadership rather than to criticize the views of others. They tend to be curious about new ideas because they have learned to make analogies from one sphere to another that stir their imaginations. Reading people who disagree with them helps them to gain a deeper understanding of complex issues. I now try to read as widely as I can and with interpretive charity, keeping diverse genres in view to deepen my understanding, to stir my imagination, and to help me grasp how people think. My reading includes biblical commentaries and Christian theology, the business strategist Roger Martin, the surgeon Atul Gawande, biographies of figures such as Steve Jobs, and books I discover by asking people what they are reading. I also subscribe to a variety of magazines and peruse the Internet in order to keep crossing intellectual borders. Here are snapshots of four books and one article I have found particularly insightful in helping me think about dimensions of faithful Christian leadership. Any one of these is valuable, but they become even more fruitful conversation partners for the work of leadership when read together.

Timothy Wilson’s Redirect: The Surprising New Christie Hodgen’s Elegies for the Brokenhearted is Science of Psychological Change outlines a a beautifully crafted, haunting novel about family, belonging, story editing approach to helping people reframe their lives and the ravages of poverty and brokenness. The story is told to become more hopeful. Wilson, a distinguished professor as five elegies for people whose misfortunes and bad deci- of psychology at the University of Virginia, contrasts the sions have shaped Mary Murphy’s damaged life: an uncle, By Timothy D. Wilson billions of dollars we By Christie Hodgen a classmate, a room- Little, Brown, 2011 have spent on some W.W. Norton, 2011 mate, a piano prodigy, 288 pages, Hardcover well-intentioned but 288 pages, Paperback and her mother. Each $25.99 ineffective (or, worse, $14.95 elegy is addressed counterproductive) to “you” and reveals strategies with story- the ways in which editing approaches our lives are shaped that have been carefully tested and shown to make a by those people who enter and exit them, for good and for positive difference. Wilson’s analysis is important to ill. Hodgen’s eloquent prose and unforgettable characters Christian leaders because he shows the power of story offer a poignant depiction of brokenness and a longing for in shaping hope, and what he calls story editing has clear peace—with God, with others, and with ourselves. connections to what people discover when we locate our stories in the life-giving and life-transforming power of the gospel. Wilson’s earlier book, Strangers to Ourselves, is also fascinating and filled with insights for Christian leaders; he has a gift for presenting careful research in illuminating, accessible prose.

34 | DIVINITY Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken: A World War II Story Christine Pohl’s Living Into Community: Cultivating of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption is an Practices That Sustain Us offers theological wisdom exquisitely told real-life story of Louis Zamperini, an to enable people to discover and maintain life-giving rela- example of the old saw that the truth is often stranger tionships. Pohl describes four practices: embracing gratitude than fiction. As a boy he was an incorrigible mischief- as a way of life, making and keeping promises, living truth- maker; as a teenager fully, and practicing By Laura Hillenbrand By Christine D. Pohl he discovered a hospitality. She Random House, 2010 Eerdmans, 2011 passion for running offers rich descrip- 496 pages, Hardcover 224 pages, Paperback and became a U.S. tions of each, then $27.00 $20.00 Olympian at the analyzes complica- 1936 Berlin Games; tions involved in as a young adult he practicing them. She became an airman in World War II. His plane was shot also addresses both what weakens and what strengthens down over the Pacific, and he survived in a small life raft our ability to live into those practices. Pohl’s analysis has for a record-setting 47 days; he was then tortured by the significant implications for shaping pastoral ministry, and Japanese while a prisoner of war. At the end of the war he it is also a guide for leaders of Christian institutions and returned to the United States and deteriorated into alcohol Christian leaders of institutions. We will lead people in life- abuse until he heard the gospel of forgiveness preached at giving ways only as we ourselves embrace gratitude, make a Billy Graham crusade and was converted. He returned to and keep promises, live truthfully, and practice hospitality— Japan to offer forgiveness and to seek reconciliation and and as we cultivate communities and institutions that do so. peace with his captors. Unbroken combines Hillenbrand’s Pohl’s analysis builds on her earlier book Making Room: beautiful prose with Zamperini’s extraordinary life to Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition, and together examine profound issues of tragedy and triumph, grief and they offer an important Christian witness to our fragmented joy, despair and redemption, brutality and forgiveness. The culture, including inside the church. book also illumines how resilience is a virtue crucial to the formation of character, the renewal of the human spirit, I conclude with an article that provides a useful introduction and the gift of exemplary leadership, in addition to the will to the thinking of Clayton Christensen. The May 14, 2012, to survive against unimaginable odds. Zamperini, still alive issue of The New Yorker includes the profile “When Giants at the age of 95, has embodied in his adult life the interpre- Fail: What Business Has Learned from Clayton tive charity to which I hope all Christians aspire. Christensen,” an insightful overview of his pioneering work on disruptive innovation. Christensen’s insights started with a focus on for-profit businesses in his classic book The The best leaders read with a mindset of Innovator’s Dilemma, and recently he has written books applying his theory to health care, K–12 education, and higher interpretive charity, seeking to understand education. I have found these books immensely helpful, and the perspectives of the authors in order to Christensen’s theory offers cautionary tales for leaders of any institution. It should be understood by Christians thinking enhance their leadership rather than to about how we engage faithfully in the work of renewing our criticize the views of others. existing institutions and creating new ones.

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Jeremy Begbie spoke in April on versary celebration of Narrow Ridge gave the keynote address, “Continuity “The Sound of Hope: How Earth Literacy Center at St. Paul and Change in American Religion,” Music Can Help Us Face United Methodist Church in Fountain at the Eighth Annual Student-Run the Future” and “Re-Timed City, Tenn. He also moderated a panel Ministry Conference, University of by God: What Musical discussion, “Multi-faith Organizing for Chicago Divinity School, on April 13. Rhythm Can Tell Us about Worship” Children: How to Build Inclusive and at Christ Church in Greenwich, Conn. Powerful Coalitions,” at the Children’s Ellen Davis was in South Sudan The lectures were delivered as part of Defense Fund National Conference June 2–14 teaching on Christ Church’s series “Conversations in Cincinnati, Ohio, on July 23; and he “Isaiah and the Prophetic on Courage and Faith.” In the summer, delivered the Fall Convocation Lecture Ministry of Peacekeeping” he preached at the chapels of St. at Garrett Evangelical Seminary on and “The Wisdom of the John’s College and Gonville and Sept. 12. His preaching engagements Village: Reading the Book of Proverbs Caius College, Cambridge (U.K.), included Salem UMC on May 20 in the Sudanese Church” for United and addressed the Oxford University (where he participated in the confir- Methodist clergy and for seminary Graduate Christian Union on the topic mation of his granddaughter); Long’s students and other lay and ordained “The Music of God and the God of Chapel UMC in Waynesville, N.C., on leaders of the Episcopal Church Music.” During Holy Week Begbie led June 6; and Roan Mountain UMC in of Sudan. In May she presented a an artistic and academic collabora- Roan Mountain, Tenn., on Aug. 12. paper at a University of Gloucester tion between scholars and performers (U.K.) conference on “The Bible and from Duke University and Cambridge Stephen Chapman published Spirituality.” In consultation with a as part of the Easter at King’s Festival “Food, Famine, and the Nations: A small international group of Anglican of Music and Services. He gave a Canonical Approach to Genesis” in scholars and church leaders, she also Maundy Thursday performance in Genesis and Christian Theology, edited completed a report on how Anglicans King’s Chapel of Messiaen’s Visions by Nathan MacDonald, Mark W. Elliott, throughout the world read Scripture de l’Amen for two pianos with concert and Grant Macaskill (Eerdmans), and and use it for moral discernment. pianist Cordelia Williams. Begbie “Second Temple Jewish Hermeneutics: also composed a musical setting of a How Canon Is Not an Anachronism” Maria Doerfler received the North poem by Irish poet Micheal O’Siadhail in Invention, Rewriting, Usurpation: American Patristics Society’s Best commissioned for the occasion. Discursive Fights over Religious First Article Prize for her article “The Traditions in Antiquity, edited by Jörg. Infant, the Monk and the Martyr: The Charles Campbell published Ulrich, Anders-Christian Jacobsen, Death of Children in Eastern Patristic Preaching Fools: The Gospel as a and David Brakke (Peter Lang). He Thought” in the December 2011 issue of Rhetoric of Folly (Baylor University presented “Perpetual War: The Case Le Muséon. Her paper “A Gaul in the Press), co-authored with Johan of Amalek” at a May 29–31 confer- Desert: Egyptian Texts and Readers in Cilliers of Stellenbosch University, ence on “The Bible and Spirituality” the Late Ancient Ascetic Imagination” Stellenbosch, South Africa; lectured jointly sponsored by the University received the Best Graduate Student and preached in Berlin, Germany, at an of Gloucestershire and the British Paper award at the annual North event sponsored by the Zentrum für Bible Society. In June he taught a American Patristic Society meeting in evangelische Predigtkultur; attended session on “Covenant” for the Duke May. In July she gave an invited public the biennial meeting of Societas Youth Academy. This fall he serves as lecture at Holy Cross Greek Theological Homiletica, in Wittenberg, Germany; director of Duke’s Graduate Program Seminary’s Pappas Patristics Summer and lectured at the annual clergy in Religion. Institute in Brookline, Mass., on early retreat for the Diocese of Upper South developments in Syriac Christianity. She Carolina, Episcopal Church (USA). Mark Chaves gave an invited also presented “Judging the World: lecture, “Continuity and Change in Monastic Communities and the Kenneth Carder delivered the American Religion,” at Glencoe (Ill.) Formation of Late Ancient Judicial keynote address for the 20th anni- Union Church on April 12. He also Discourse” at the “Heaven and Earth:

36 | DIVINITY Faculty & Staff NOtes

Law, Ideology, and the Social Order in We Dwell in Common—Pathways view, “Blessed Are the Peacemakers, Late Antiquity” international round- for Dialogue in the 21st Century,” For They Shall See God: An Interview table at the University of Manchester an ecumenical gathering April 17–20 with Stanley Hauerwas,” appeared in (U.K.) in September. organized by the Ecclesiological Postliberal Theology and the Church Investigations International Research Catholic: Conversations with George Susan Eastman presented a plenary Network, Domus Pacis, Assisi, Italy. She Lindbeck, David Burrell, and Stanley paper, “Double Participation and the also presented “Perspectives on Hauerwas, edited by John Wright Responsible Self in Romans 5–8,” Ecclesiology and Ethnography: Good (Baker Academic). In May he gave the at “Creation, Conflict, and Cosmos: News for Theology” at the Conference commencement address at Seminary Romans 5–8,” a conference cele- on Ethnography and Ecclesiology of the Southwest, Austin, Texas, and brating the bicentennial of Princeton at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., Nashotah House Theological Seminary, Theological Seminary held May 2–5. May 21–22. Nashotah, Wis. He presented “Faith and Culture: The Politics of Belief” as a Curtis W. Freeman published Paul Griffiths published several keynote address at the Wheeler Centre, “Pentecostal Power” in the Religious book reviews: A Case for Irony Melbourne, Australia, on June 15, Herald (May 11, 2012) and presented by Jonathan Lear in and spoke on “Slow Church: Abiding three papers: “A Cure For the Commonweal (March 9, Together in the Patient Work of God” Cankering Error: Heterodoxy and 2012); The Sense of an for the July 6 plenary session of the Liberty in Tension Among Early Ending by Julian Barnes in Ekklesia Project Annual Gathering at English Baptists,” at the Baptist History First Things (March 2012); Jesus Christ DePaul University in Chicago. and Heritage Conference, Raleigh, and the Life of the Mind by Mark Noll N.C., on June 9; “The Church of the in The Living Church (Feb. 26, 2012); Richard Hays published Triune God: A Response to The Nature Living Forms of the Imagination by “ ‘New Covenantalism’: Eine and Mission of the Church,” at The Douglas Hedley in Faith & Philosophy Wiederentdeckung” in Zeitschrift für Baptist World Alliance Commission (28.4, 2011); and Introducing Neues Testament 29; and “Faithful on Doctrine and Christian Unity, July Apologetics by James Taylor in Faith Witness, Alpha and Omega: The 4–5, Santiago, Chile; and “Last Heretic & Philosophy (28.3, 2011). He was Identity of Jesus in the Apocalypse and/or First Baptist? Reflections on awarded a Luce Fellowship for 2013 of John” in Revelation and the Politics the Burning of Edward Wightman in and also appointed Stanton Lecturer at of Apocalyptic Interpretation, which 1612,” at the International Conference Cambridge University (U.K.) for Lent he co-edited with Stefan Alkier on Baptist Studies VI in Wake Forest, Term 2013. (Baylor University Press). Two of his N.C., on July 11–14. He also attended books were recently translated into the meeting of the National Association Stanley Hauerwas published Russian: Echoes of Scripture in the of Baptist Professors of Religion at “Remembering How and What I Think: Letters of Paul and The Conversion Belmont University (Nashville, Tenn.) A Response to the JRE Articles on of the Imagination: Paul as Interpreter May 21–23. Hauerwas” in Journal of Religious of Israel’s Scripture (Colloquium Ethics (40.2, 2012) and “Sacrifier Publishing). He spoke at the Mary McClintock Fulkerson les sacrifices de la guerre” in Revue Theological Academy of the Russian published “Interpreting a Situation: d’éthique et de théologie morale (no. Orthodox Church (Kiev, Ukraine) and When Is ‘Empirical’ also ‘Theological’?” 268, 2012). He wrote the foreword to Ukrainian Evangelical Theological in Perspectives on Ecclesiology and two collections from Cascade Books: Seminary on May 17–19, and May 24 Ethnography, Studies in Ecclesiology A Faith Not Worth Fighting For, edited he presented “Education for Ministry and Ethnography, vol. 1, edited by Pete by Tripp York and Justin Bronson in the Contemporary University at Ward (Eerdmans). She gave a plenary Barringer, and The Transgression of the the conference “Christianity and the talk, “Difficult Dialogue and Wisdoms Integrity of God: Essays and Addresses Flourishing of Universities” at the about Difference: Doing as a Way by Craig Keen, edited by Thomas A. McDonald Centre for Theology, Ethics, of Knowing,” at “Assisi 2012: Where Bridges and Nathan R. Kerr. An inter- and Public Life at Oxford University.

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Gann Herman traveled to South an evaluative consultant at the Boston Findley Bible Camp in Findley Lake, Korea, Japan, and China to meet with University School of Theology, and N.Y., July 22–28; and for the 122nd Christian leaders on the issue of recon- during the summer he participated in Wilmore Holiness Camp Meeting in ciliation. She preached at Church of the biennial conference of Societas Wilmore, Ky., July 15–20. She spoke on Reconciliation in Chapel Hill, N.C., on Homiletica, in Wittenberg, Germany. “The Hunger Games: An Unauthorized “Holy Ground in Northeast Asia.” Guide to the Gospel” at the 10th Randy Maddox published an Annual Preaching Retreat at United Craig Hill participated on May 11 article on the “Wesleyan Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, in the Briefing for Religion Scholars Quadrilateral” titled Aug. 14–16, and she gave two lectures: sponsored by the White House Office “Honoring Conference: “A Psalm, a Story, and a Sermon: of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Wesleyan Reflection on the What the Usual Suspects Taught Me Partnerships. He produced and edited Dynamics of Theological Reflection” About Exegesis” at Fuller Theological the DVD set “Methodist Identity, in The Renewal of United Methodism: Seminary April 4 and “It’s Academic” Part 2: Our Beliefs,” which will be Mission, Ministry, and Connectionalism, at Mt. Jezreel Baptist Church in published fall 2012. edited by Rex D. Matthews (United Silver Springs, Md., March 15–18. Methodist General Board of Higher Her preaching engagements include Warren Kinghorn presented Education). He also published, with the preaching lectures for the Cape at a Veritas Forum event at Mayo Richard Heitzenrater, a short piece Atlantic District (UMC) on March Clinic, Rochester, Minn., April 12–13, on a newly discovered letter of John 8, the chapel of Wesley Theological and delivered two presentations, “Is Wesley to his brother Charles, “New Seminary in Washington, D.C., on Medicine a Spiritual Vocation?” and John Wesley Letter to Charles Wesley,” March 13, the United Methodist “‘God’s Was the Body’: Early Christian in Methodist History (50.3, 2012). Central Texas Annual Conference Debates and Modern Psychiatric This spring also marked the comple- June 3–5, First UMC in Jackson, Mich., Dualism,” at the National Conference tion of the online publication of a full on June 10, and the Summer Worship on Medicine and Religion held May set of Charles Wesley’s poetry and the Series at Lake Junalaska, N.C., July 15. 23–25 in Chicago, Ill. He was also posting of a register listing every known named by the Duke psychiatry resi- instance of Charles Wesley’s preaching, G. Sujin Pak presented a plenary dents as the 2011–2012 “Teacher of both at the Center for Studies in the session on vocation for the the Year” in the Duke Department of Wesleyan Tradition website. Maddox Duke Youth Academy on Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. led teaching sessions and preached June 28. On July 8 and 15, at First United Methodist Church in she led the adult Sunday Richard Lischer was named a Boone, N.C., and in May concluded his school session at Millbrook Baptist Henry Luce III Fellow in Theology for term on The Committee on Faith and Church in Raleigh, N.C., for their 2012–2013. He will devote his sabbat- Order of The United Methodist Church. Summer Scholars Series, in which she ical year to research on Christian spoke about her current research on the autobiography and memoir. He Benjamin McNutt co-wrote, with interpretation and uses of prophecy in preached during Lent at Main Street Greg Jones, “Seeking leaders the Reformation era. She also preached UMC in Kernersville, N.C., as a part who persevere,” posted at Faith & at Millbrook Baptist Church on July 15. of the congregation’s centennial year Leadership on April 12. of celebration. In connection with the Anathea Portier-Young publication of The Preacher King in Joy Moore was the keynote speaker published “Drinking the Cup of Japanese, he wrote “A Look Back at at the United Methodist Association Horror and Gnawing on Its Shards: the Preacher, Martin Luther King Jr.” of Annual Conference Lay Leaders in Biblical Theology Through Biblical for the Japanese journal Alethia. He Tampa, Fla., April 21–23. She served Violence, Not Around It” in Beyond published a Lenten essay, “Stripped as Bible study leader for the United Biblical Theologies, ed. Stefan Beyerle, Bare,” in The Christian Century (March Methodist Greater New Jersey Annual Heinrich Assel, and Christfried 16, 2012). In late spring he served as Conference June 1–2 ; for Camp Böttrich (WUNT, Mohr Siebeck). She

38 | DIVINITY presented two papers: “Politics and Carol Greene Rush was one of Mission, and Sacramental Life” at a Poetics of Space, Place, and Mobility in 13 winners of a Meritorious Service symposium connected with the Catholic Daniel: Monotheism, Apocalypticism, Award presented by President Richard International Eucharistic Congress, and Spatial Imagination” at the Brodhead during the Duke University Dublin, Ireland. conference “Monotheism in Late Presidential Awards ceremony on Prophecy and Early Apocalyptic April 18. Winners were presented with Brittany Wilson defended Literature” at the University of a plaque and a check for $100. On her dissertation, “Unmanly Men: Goettingen (Germany) on June 20; and May 4 she graduated with a master Refigurations of Masculinity in “Apocalyptic Worldviews—What They of science degree in human resources Luke-Acts,” at Princeton Theological Are and How They Spread: Insights from Western Carolina University in Seminary on April 26. She also preached from the Social Sciences” at the First Cullowhee, N.C. at Millbrook Baptist Church in Raleigh, Nangeroni Enoch Seminar on “The N.C., and participated in their Summer Seleucid and Hasmonean Periods and Lester Ruth presented the John Scholars Series. She lectured at Coker Apocalyptic Worldview” in Gazzada, P. Woods Distinguished United Methodist Church in San Italy, on June 27. She published four Lectureship in Religion Antonio, Texas, on June 24. lectionary commentary essays on and Culture, “Perhaps WorkingPreacher.org (Aug. 26, Sept. 2, Contemporary Music Is Norman Wirzba spoke on three 9, and 16) and joined the editorial board Not That Contemporary: Reflections occasions in Nashville, Tenn., in late of Golem: Journal of Religion and on Popular Worship Music in the April: “Sabbath Keeping: A Matter Monsters. She attended the Catholic Last 200 Years,” at the University of Life and Death,” at Christ Church Biblical Association annual meeting of Dubuque Theological Seminary Cathedral; “Faithful Eating,” at July 27–31 and participated in meetings in Dubuque, Iowa, April 10–11. He Siloam Family Health Center; and of the executive board, editorial board, taught two sessions at the National “Cultivating Healthy Communities and strategic planning committee. She Worship Leaders Conference spon- of Faith: Beginning in the Garden,” at participated in a colloquium on “Text, sored by Worship Leader magazine the Cultivating Healthy Communities Community, and Practice in Second and held in Kansas City, Mo., July of Faith Summit sponsored by the Temple Judaism” held at the Center for 17–19: “Worship in the Spirit through Tennessee Obesity Task Force. He Religious Studies at Barton College. the Truth: Remembering the Trinity convened and led a discussion on in Worship Sets” and “Is Your God “Food, Farming, and Faith: Involving Chris Rice met with Christian Too Domesticated: What Worship in the Church” and presented “Eating leaders in South Korea, Japan, and Ancient Constantinople Might Teach as a Spiritual Act” at the Cathedral of China in April and May to discuss about God’s Transcendence.” St. John the Divine, New York City, issues of reconciliation. In June he in June, and also participated as a taught on reconciliation at the Duke Moody Smith presented the first in a retreat leader in a weeklong seminar Youth Academy and gave the plenary series of lectures on the Gospels titled on food and faith at Ghost Ranch lecture “A Spirituality for the Long “Who Do You Say That I AM?” at in Abiquiu, N.M. He presented the Haul” at the fourth annual Summer Christ Church, Episcopal, on Sept. 16. Reavis Ministry Lectures at Campbell Institute hosted by the Center for University Divinity School in Buies Reconciliation. He and Emmanuel Geoffrey Wainwright deliv- Creek, N.C., on Sept. 20. His essay Katongole spoke in September ered the address “The Trinity and “Eating in Ignorance” appeared in the on “The Theology of Reconciliation” the Eucharist” at a one-day event on May 30 issue of The Christian Century, at a plenary session of the Christian “Theology, Eucharist, and Ministry” and his book Food and Faith received Community Development Association held in May by United Theological “Honorable Mention” at the 2011 conference in Minneapolis, Minn. Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, to mark Prose Awards. the retirement of Professor Kendall McCabe. In June he presented “Towards Full Communion in Faith,

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s Sacramental Bishops: Ordination, Authority, Sandra Steiner Ball D’87 was 50 Lineage and Validity (Apocryphile Press, 2010). elected a bishop of the United Methodist Church George C. Megill D’52 received at the Northeast Jurisdictional Conference in the North Raleigh (N.C.) Rotary Club’s 2011–12 Wendy Kilworth-Mason D’81, July. Previously a pastor and superintendent in Public Service Award. D’96 has moved from Truro, Cornwall, UK, the Peninsula-Delaware Conference, she is now to become a mission partner of the British resident bishop for the West Virginia Conference. George E. Ogle D’54, a long-time Methodist Church in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Her husband, Barry Steiner Ball missionary in Korea with his wife, Dorothy, has teaching at the Sierra Leone Theological College D’87, is a chaplain. written Our Lives in Korea and Korea in Our Lives and Church Training Centre. (Xlibris, 2012). The Ogles reside in Lafayette, Colo. s Richard L. Stone III D’81 is now 90 60s serving as superintendent of the new Beacon Samuel H. Moore D’91 has been District of the North Carolina Conference of the appointed superintendent of the new Uwharrie Daniel Arichea D’60, G’65 has United Methodist Church. District in the Western North Carolina Conference been reactivated as interim bishop of the Manila of the United Methodist Church. Episcopal Area of the United Methodist Church in Kenneth H. Carter D’83 was the Philippines. elected a bishop of the United Methodist Church Amy L. Coles D’92 is serving as the at the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference in United Methodist superintendent of the new 70s July. Previously a pastor and superintendent in Appalachian District in the Western North Carolina the Western North Carolina Conference, he is now Conference of the United Methodist Church. William T. (Bill) Medlin III D’72 resident bishop for the Florida Conference. has been appointed superintendent of the new Linda L. Taylor D’92 has been Yadkin Valley District in the Western North Carolina W. Lyn Sorrels D’83 has been appointed superintendent of the new Sound Conference of the United Methodist Church. appointed superintendent of the new Catawba District of the North Carolina Conference of the Valley District in the Western North Carolina United Methodist Church. James W. Trent Jr. D’73, professor Conference of the United Methodist Church. of sociology and social work at Gordon College, Douglas A. Hicks D’93 has been Wenham, Mass., has published The Manliest Nancy Burgin Rankin D’84 named provost and dean of the faculty at Colgate Man: Samuel G. Howe and the Contours of is serving as the superintendent of the new University, where he also will serve as professor Nineteenth-Century American Reform (University Northern Piedmont District in the Western North of religion. He spent the past 13 years at the of Massachusetts Press, 2012). Carolina Conference of the United Methodist University of Richmond as professor of leader- Church. ship studies and religion in the Jepson School of James C. Howell D’79, G’74, Leadership Studies. senior minister at Myers Park United Methodist Dana McKim D’85 has been appointed Church, Charlotte, N.C., has written What Does to serve as force protection officer for the North H. Lee Cheek Jr. D’94 continues to the Lord Require?—Doing Justice, Loving Carolina 1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team, an serve as dean of the School of Social Sciences Kindness, and Walking Humbly (Westminster asset of the National Disaster Medical System. and professor of political science and religion John Knox Press, 2012). The NC1-DMAT provides short-term emergency at Gainesville State College in Gainesville, Ga. medical care to communities that have been His new book, The Founding of the American s overwhelmed by disaster. Republic, will be published by Continuum Books 80 He continues to serve as minister to Pfeiffer in early 2013. Ray Broadwell D’80 is the United University and pastor of the Village Church at Methodist superintendent of the new Fairway Pfeiffer, a one-of-a-kind, student-led congrega- Shane Stanford D’94 has written District of the North Carolina Conference. tion in Misenheimer, N.C. Making Life Matter: Embracing the Joy in the Everyday (Abingdon, 2012). He is a United Robert Jones D’81 is now in Sonoma, Jonathan E. Strother D’86 is Methodist pastor in Memphis, Tenn. Calif., continuing his ministry of pastoral coun- the superintendent of the new Capital District seling and spiritual direction and serving as of the North Carolina Conference of the United George B. Walker Jr. D’94, vice district bishop of the All Souls District of the New Methodist Church. president of strategic partnerships at the Gay Methodist Conference. He published Independent & Lesbian Victory Fund and Victory Institute in

40 | DIVINITY CLASS NOTES

Washington, D.C., has been named by President Enuma C. Okoro D’03 is the author of Russell G. Nanney D’09 and Obama to the White House Advisory Board for Silence and Other Surprising Invitations of Advent Lindsey Elizabeth Winborne were married on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. (Upper Room, 2012). She is a research associate, May 26, 2012, in Garner, N.C. Russ is associate freelance writer, and blogger in Durham, N.C. pastor at First United Methodist Church in Wilson, Melinda F. Wiggins D’94, executive and Lindsey is the youth minister at Winstead director of Student Action with Farmworkers, was R. Brandon Harris D’04, a United United Methodist Church. recently honored by the White House as a Cesar Methodist pastor in Birmingham, Ala., has earned Chavez Champion of Change. She is based in the doctor of ministry degree from Wesley s Durham, N.C. Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. His 10 dissertation was titled “Restoring Congregational Kelly Weaver Gilson D’10 was Kenneth L. Erickson D’95 is Vitality through Missional Leadership Cultivation.” ordained in the Christian (Disciples of Christ) the new rector at St. James Episcopal Church Church early this year and has moved with her in Birmingham, Mich. He previously served in Donna Banks D’06 is the superinten- family to New Zealand, where she is working the Diocese of Chicago, leading the merger of dent of the new Heritage District of the North part-time with rural churches. Her husband, Tom, two urban Episcopal and Lutheran schools as a Carolina Conference of the United Methodist is teaching high-school math in Ashburton. The model of ecumenical partnerships for sustainable Church. She served as the director of student life Gilsons welcomed their second child, Aaralyn faith-based nonprofits. for the Divinity School during 2011–12. Grace, on March 21.

Michelle Kallock Knight Franklin C. Golden Jr. D’07 Matthew W. Lewis D’11 is serving D’96 co-authored He Said/She Said: and Amanda Earp Diekman T’05, as the chaplain at St. Johns Military School in Biblical Stories from a Male and Female D’10 are co-pastors of Durham Presbyterian Salina, Kan., where he also coaches the cross- Perspective (Chalice Press, 2012) with Todd Church, a new multigenerational worshiping country team. Outcalt D’85. Both are United Methodist community in Durham, N.C., that seeks to reflect pastors serving, respectively, in Avon and the diversity of the city, live in solidarity with Got News? STAY IN TOUCH! vulnerable people, and serve college students Brownsburg, Ind. You can email [email protected] and neighbors. At the heart of the congregational or go online at www.divinity.duke.edu/ Terry-Michael Newell D’96 life is a partnership with Iglesia Emanuel. update to submit class notes or update recently completed a Clinical Pastoral Education residency at WakeMed Health and Hospitals and Daniel K. Miller D’07 has earned a your information. is now working as a pastoral counselor in private Ph.D. in theology and ethics from the University of practice in Raleigh, N.C. Edinburgh and recently published a book, Animal Ethics and Theology: The Lens of the Good Percy Lee Strickland T’97, Samaritan (Routledge Press, 2012). He resides in Amarillo, Tex. D’99 and his wife, Susangeline Schmidt Strickland T’99, announce the February 24, 2012, birth of Amy K. Milligan D’07 has earned Elizabeth Delia Lucile, who will be called E. D. Lu. a Ph.D. in American Studies from Penn State The Stricklands reside in Richmond, Va., where University. She currently teaches religious studies Percy directs a tutoring program and Susangeline and women and gender studies at Elizabethtown is a physician in emergency medicine. College in Elizabethtown, Penn.

James A. Keeton Jr. D’08 is senior 00s pastor of Parkside United Methodist Church in Camden, N.J., where vital youth ministries are a received a Michael P. Barham D’03 priority. He was selected as one of the pastors in doctor of ministry degree from the Church Divinity the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference who School of the Pacific on May 18, 2012. He serves will participate in the fourth round of the 21st as associate rector at The Parish of St. Clement Century Leadership Academy. (Episcopal) in Honolulu, Hawaii.

fall 2012 | 41

deaths

William P. (Bill) Combs T’44, Charles H. Richardson D’54 of Stephen B. Rhoades D’80 of D’48 of Roanoke, Va., died December 20, Tulsa, Okla., died December 7, 2011. A native Washington, W.Va., died October 26, 2011. He 2011. He was among three generations of of Oklahoma, he served in United Methodist served as a United Methodist pastor in West United Methodist ministers, and he served parishes and as a district superintendent. In Virginia for almost 40 years. His wife, Joanna, six parishes for 12 years in the Western North 1988 he was named the director of Methodist children, six grandchildren, and one great-grand- Carolina Conference and 32 years in the Manor retirement community in Tulsa, which he child survive him. Virginia Conference. His particular interests led until his retirement in 1994. He is survived included pastoral counseling, world peace, by his wife, Anna Richardson, three children, and Thomas M. Morton D’89 of and communication with the hearing-impaired. three grandchildren. Concord, N.C., died April 19, 2012. Initially a Bill is survived by Jeanette Hester Combs, public school teacher and principal, he later to whom he was married for 57 years, three William R. Livermon Jr. D’64 of served United Methodist and United Church of children, and four grandchildren. Martinsville, Va., died October 15, 2011. He was Christ parishes. He was an avid outdoorsman a retired chaplain (Major) with the U.S. Army and who enjoyed working with scouting programs. Vera Rogers Royal D’47 of a United Methodist pastor who served on Army His wife, Beverly W. Morton, survives him. Clarkton, N.C., died January 28, 2012. She was installations around the world and in parishes in a mother, a Christian educator, an organist, a Southside Virginia. He is survived by his wife of Deborah Grindall McNeill certified tutor in literacy, and an ever-supportive 51 years, Miriam Rothwell Livermon, two daugh- D’95 of Hanover County, Va., died May 4, pastor’s wife. She is survived by her devoted ters, a son, and nine grandchildren. 2011. She was a United Methodist pastor in the husband, James Peyton Royal Virginia Annual Conference. Survivors include D’49, whom she met in Divinity School, four Mary-Marguerite Kohn T’72, two sons and four grandchildren. children, and eight grandchildren. D’92 of Ellicott City, Md., died May 5, 2012. She was co-rector of St. Peter’s Episcopal Ronald A. Burrell D’04 of Timothy S. Chang D’51 of Carlsbad, Church and an outspoken advocate for social Raleigh, N.C., died May 1, 2012. He was a Calif., died December 30, 2011. A native of justice. She earned a master’s degree in social pastor. He is survived by his wife, Margaret Fukien Province, China, he was influenced by work from UNC-Chapel Hill and a doctorate Matthews Burrell, two sons, and a stepson. missionaries of the United Church of Christ who in pastoral counseling from Loyola University- sponsored his coming to study at Duke. Since Maryland. Kohn, who was a gifted grief DIVINITY SCHOOL FAculty political circumstances prevented his return to counselor, and her assistant were killed by a Susan Keefe, associate professor of China, he earned degrees in poultry science disturbed client who subsequently took his own church history, died unexpectedly at her home at N.C. State and Ohio State Universities and life. The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, parish- in Durham, N.C. She had taught at Duke Divinity finally a dual Ph.D. in poultry pathology and ioners, and all whose lives were touched by her School since 1988 and was a noted church microbiology from Ohio State. He became a ministries mourn her passing. historian whose work focused on Carolingian distinguished immunologist working in the texts on baptism and the creeds, especially pharmaceutical industry with Rohm & Haas James A. McClung D’72 of as they related to the instruction of the clergy. and Norwich companies, followed by a 25-year Richmond, Va., died January 7, 2012. A compas- Her book, Water and the Word—Baptism and career as a professor in avian microbiology and sionate pastor and capable administrator, he the Instruction of the Clergy in the Carolingian poultry pathology at Michigan State University. served United Methodist parishes in Virginia. Empire: A Study of Texts and Manuscripts, was Fluent in five Chinese dialects, he traveled exten- From 1979 to 1993, he directed the Virginia recognized for its comprehensive study of previ- sively in China during the 1970s and 1980s, United Methodist Agency for the Retarded and ously unpublished manuscript materials. At the working with the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture founded Camp Rainbow Connection for mentally time of her death, Keefe had just completed helping to transform backyard chicken flocks handicapped youth and adults. Following further work on a new book titled Explanationes symboli into a thriving poultry industry. He was a guest parish work, he was named director of church aeui Carolini, a critical edition of unpublished preacher in parishes across the United States and community relations for Virginia United Carolingian commentaries on the creeds. Her and a 39-year season ticket holder for Michigan Methodist Homes, Inc. He is survived by his wife, teaching interests included Christian writers of State sports. Survivors include his wife of 56 Elizabeth Beckner McClung, their twin adult chil- the fourth through ninth centuries as well as years, Annabelle Yee Chang, four children, and dren, and three grandchildren. medieval spirituality and the writings of medieval four grandchildren. women mystics.

42 | DIVINITY gifts

GRATITUDE FOR NEW GIFTS

The Divinity School’s Annual the state of Iowa. Brian Milford D’86, Reconciliation Scholarship. Fund reached a record level of former pastor and longtime friend of A major testamentary commitment support for the fiscal year that ended the Hadleys, is a United Methodist from Michael Gast D’97 of Florence, June 30, 2012. A record total of 2,182 district superintendent and a member Ariz., will provide The Michael donors contributed $604,867, which of the Divinity School’s Board of F. Gast Scholarship for the will be used entirely for student finan- Visitors. Additional significant pledges Divinity School. An outright gift of cial aid in the new academic year. This for the fund are being booked from $50,000 by J. Peyton Royal D’49 of achievement continues an important other Iowan friends. A contribu- Clarkton, N.C., with a $50,000 match and deeply appreciated trend for the tion of $268,402 has been added added from the Stange Challenge Divinity School, according to Betsy to the Charis Scholarship— Fund, has established The James Poole, associate director of annual an endowment for excellence in Peyton and Vera Rogers giving and alumni programs. ministry celebrating lives of grace and Royal Scholarship Fund for blessing—by donors who prefer to excellence in ministerial education. A splendid multiyear commit- remain anonymous. It celebrates the lives and Christian ment totaling $2.835 million to the service of the Royals, who met as Divinity School from former Board The State Library of North Carolina students in the Divinity School. of Visitors members Renie and Bill has made a grant of $110,000 to the Vera Rogers Royal D’47, who died McCutchen,WC’62 and E’62, of Divinity School Library for the digital in January, was a mother, Christian Westport, Conn., will provide major project “Religion in North Carolina,” educator, and musician who served new resources for programs. Areas of which will be a collection of the parishes over many decades with particular interest are the Center primary materials of religious bodies her husband. A gift of $50,000 from for Reconciliation, East across the state. Final matching funds Courtney G. Amos T’99 and her Africa Initiatives, the continuing of $107,766 through a grant from the husband, Paul S. Amos II T’98, through UMOJA Project in Kenya, the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations Inc. the Daniel P. Amos Foundation of Divinity Annual Fund, and of Jacksonville, Fla, have been added Columbus, Ga., has been received the Reconciliation Scholarship for appropriately to the Helen and in support of the Center for Th.D. students in reconciliation and Everette Eason Memorial, Reconciliation. Paul is a Scripture. Additionally, the new Frieda Bennett Shaulis, member of the Divinity School’s McCutchen Fund will provide and Charis Scholarships. Board of Visitors. visiting lectureships, scholarships, Matching funds of $60,000 from travel, and program innovations, while the Mary G. and Donald H. Stange the Transformative Legacy Financial Aid Initiative Challenge Fund is a challenge-match oppor- Fund have been added recently to the tunity to build support for work of the Center for Reconciliation. The “ The Divinity School is sustained in remarkable McCutchens helped to lead their Half ways through these generous gifts and Century alumni celebration in April. many others from individuals, churches,

A gift commitment of $300,000 for foundations, and other organizations,” endowment plus $45,000 expend- observed Dean Richard Hays.“We are glad able from Len and Marlene Hadley for their expressions of support, and we seek of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has estab- always to use these resources wisely to advance lished The Brian K. Milford Scholarship Fund, with priority the work of preparing students for faithful for United Methodist students from service in the church and the world.”

fall 2012 | 43 faculty reflections

The Shape of Success by C. Kavin Rowe

Who doesn’t want success? For many leaders, persecution and more routine difficulties, and ultimately it is the yardstick of their career, and no one wants to be enable them to develop into what became known as the measured and deemed a failure. Yet a genuine under- Christian church. Much of this work was behind the scenes, standing of Christian success is often obscured by the but its effects are evident in the Acts of the Apostles, the appalling formulas for Christian leadership in America letters of the New Testament, and the life of the early church today—Bible verses, “uplifting” quotations, and promises in the second and third centuries. of material wealth are packaged together in ways that have This vast amount of work behind the scenes points to the little or nothing to do with the historic roots of Christian second lesson of Christian success: it is not always dramatic— faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection. Reading the New it may, in fact, be very slow and long-suffering work—and Testament, however, should teach Christians that success at many of the key players may not even be visible. Creating its deepest is God’s ability to bring life from death. structures that outlast personalities, arbitrating disputes, and The early Christian martyrs knew that to succeed as developing networks are not inherently glorious jobs. They Christians leaders they would have to die. Their chief witness may never bring admiration, recognition, or material wealth. was not their cultural popularity or riches but their faithful Faithfulness in this work requires a robust vision for the long perseverance in the face of certain haul, the ability to grasp what matters most demise. They also knew that in the Reading the New Testament for a community’s identity, and an under- eyes of the world such success would should teach Christians standing of the most important pressures look much more like failure. a community will face and how to resist That is the first lesson of Christian that success at its deepest is them—in short, exactly the kind of patient success: it can look like failure. God’s ability to bring life work that we should expect of leaders who Shutting the doors of a deteriorating from death. guide people toward thriving life in the midst church, for example, may not appear of whatever assails them. as success. Yet, in Christian logic, helping a dying church to Of course, sometimes success is actually dramatic. At die may be the way to the renewal of faith and vibrancy of Pentecost the Holy Spirit worked in powerful ways, bringing life. Seen through the lens of death-resurrection, closing the people to repentance and dedication to the resurrected doors is not giving up hope; rather, it is hope that the death Jesus, forming new communities, and creating new avenues of that church will in some strange, unanticipated way result of important work. And that is the third lesson of Christian in the overall giving of life to God’s people. Resurrection success: the power of the resurrection can be experienced in follows death, the early Christian leaders taught the faithful. the midst of life now. To move from failure to success requires Success took shape in other ways, too, among the leader- the recognition of God’s unanticipated work in the present ship of the early church. The leaders realized that fledgling and the freedom to follow it. The Holy Spirit works dramati- Christians could not sustain their new faith under the pres- cally and visibly as well as patiently over the long haul. sure of persecution simply by individually maintaining Christian reflection on success should help us to avoid

strong convictions. The various communities throughout the two perennial dangers in using the language of success: first, D uke u niv ers ity pho t ogr a ph y Mediterranean needed structure: church leaders (bishops and that we think of it as the opposite of failure; second, that we also deacons), traveling missionaries that brought news from reduce the complexity of success to only one or two models. one community to another, a central locus of authority in Attending to the New Testament should teach us that success Jerusalem that provided both pastoral counsel and doctrinal incorporates profound failure—Jesus was killed before he clarification, and a networked series of house churches. Such was resurrected—and that our models of success need to structure provided the way Christian leaders could nourish be rich enough to encompass the range from quiet, unseen their new and growing family, strengthen them against both success to dramatic, visible success.

44 | DIVINITY meditation

This year, we have chosen teal blue for our prayer you first worshiped with us at Opening Convocation three years crosses, although, truth be told, the color is just as much green ago, you were wide-eyed and full of expectations. I prayed for

D uke u niv ers ity pho t ogr a ph y as it is blue: green, the color of creation; and blue, the color of you that day. While I knew that you wanted to become excellent the heavens. This color is what St. Ambrose might call “a hypo- in writing, preaching, and pastoring, I wanted you—first of all— static union of heaven and earth,” representing for us the mystery to be made excellent in love. Three years later, that is still my of the incarnation, when heaven stooped low to kiss the earth. prayer for you. Dear friends, we present these prayer crosses to you with our gratitude for all that you have meant to us in our brief time Excerpted from remarks at the Senior Cross service on together. We place them in your hands with our fervent prayers April 18, 2012, by the Reverend Sally Bates, chaplain for your continued faithfulness to Christ and his church. When at Duke Divinity School. Divinity Magazine Nonprofit Org U.S. Postage Duke Divinity School PAID Box 90966 Durham, NC Durham, North Carolina 27708-0966 Permit No. 60

www.divinity.duke.edu

2012 Convocation & Pastors’ School

What do congregations need to do to form Christians for today … and tomorrow? October 15–16, 2012 And what formation and re-formation are needed for pastors and professors to equip the saints Duke Divinity School for the work of ministry?

In a world where innovation is acclaimed and tradition is deemed suspect, where messages

are abundant but true wisdom is muted, Christian reform

leadership is sorely needed. form

Join Fuller Theological Seminary president Richard J. Mouw, author Andy Crouch, theologian Sarah Coakley, and pastor Prince Raney Rivers to explore the shaping of Christians for leadership in an increasingly diverse and evolving social landscape.