Maxine Beach's Legacy of Leadership Celebrated
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NEWSLETTER OF THE DREW UNIVERSITY THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL VOL. 8, NO. 2, FALL 2010 Maxine Beach’s Legacy of Leadership Celebrated George Tenney Photography TheoBy Anne B. Yardley, SpiritRobert Weisbuch, president of Drew Interim Dean University; Catherine Keller, professor of constructive theology; Jeffrey he 2009–2010 academic year was Markay, former Alumni/ae Association one long “farewell tour” for president; Michael Christensen, national TMaxine Beach, dean of the director of Communities of Shalom; Theological School from 2000 to 2010. Stephen Moore, professor of New Beginning with reminiscences at the Testament; Mary Ann Moman, associate faculty retreat in September 2009 and general secretary of the General Board continuing through Tipple-Vosburgh of Higher Education and Ministry; and many other occasions, the celebra- Morris Davis, associate professor of the tion culminated in the Legacy of history of Christianity and Wesleyan/ Leadership celebration on Thursday, Methodist studies; Sharon Jacob, Ph.D. April 15. Over 300 people gathered to student; Kyung Sik Park, M.A. student worship in Craig Chapel, share a cele- and M.Div. alum; Daniel Aleshire, exec- bratory lunch, listen to tributes and utive director of the Association of then enjoy dessert and a bluegrass band. Theological Schools; Sudarshana The tributes ranged from the seri- Devadhar, bishop of the Greater New ous to the comical (see the limerick on Jersey Conference of the UMC; and page 4) to the poetic. Speakers included (continued on page 4) Jeffrey Kuan Named New Dean From Drew Communications schools. He will be the first Asian Inside American to serve in this capacity. Open Doors @ Drew 2 rew University President Robert “There is a perfect match between From the Interim Dean 3 Weisbuch announced the selec- my values and the institution’s values— TTC10—Divine Multiplicities 3 tion of Kah-Jin Jeffrey Kuan as Courtesy of Drew Publications Maxine Beach Celebration 4–5 D the new dean of Drew’s Theological Legacy Video Available Online 6 Seminary Hall Renovation 7 School. Senior Class Gift 8 “Jeffrey brings with him a wealth Senior Sermons and Reflections 9 of experience and high ambition for Spring Event Photos 10 Drew,” said Weisbuch. “His commit- Spring 2010 Lectures 11 ment to theological education that Continuing Education Events 12 addresses the challenges of the wider Shalom Interns Commissioned 14 world will broaden our students’ expe- Prophetic Leaders 15 rience and better prepare them for A Letter from Uncle Ebenezer 16 leadership.” Barbed-Wire Fence in Mark 18 Kuan, an active member of the African and Indian Christianities 20 United Methodist Church (UMC), has Black Ministerial Caucus 21 Scholar/Teacher of the Year 22 served on the board of directors of the Clergy Self-Care 22 General Board of Higher Education and DREWnet Connects Alumni/ae 23 Ministry since 2004, and looks forward Thanks to Alumni/ae 23 to being able to serve the church as ATLAS Database Access 24 dean of one of its leading theological (continued on page 2) 2 TheoSpirit FALL 2010 JEFFREY KUAN NAMED DEAN (continued from page 1) a deep commitment to the church, to diversity and justice and ordained elder and full member of the California-Nevada to academic excellence,” said Kuan. “Drew is now poised to Annual Conference of the UMC. Since 2008, he has served as be a pioneer in reimagining and transforming theological edu- the vice president of the board of directors of the UMC’s cation, and in the preparation of religious leaders and scholars General Board of Higher Education and Ministry. for ethnically diverse and global societies.” Kuan is co-editor of Ways of Being, Ways of Reading: Asian- Kuan comes to Drew from the Pacific School of Religion American Biblical Interpretation and the author of numerous (PSR) and the Graduate Theological Union (GTU)—both in articles, the most recent of which include “Biblical Berkeley, California—where he serves on the faculty of both Interpretation and the Rhetoric of War and Violence” and institutions. At PSR, he has been a professor of Old Testament “Reading Race, Reading Rahab: A ‘Broad’ Asian-American since 1991. He has also served since 1997 as the director of Reading of a ‘Broad’ Other.” the school’s Certificate of Ministry Studies program. In the fall In addition to winning several grants and fellowships, of 2007, he was named PSR’s acting vice president for aca- Kuan has received numerous awards and honors throughout demic affairs and dean. Since 1994, he has been a member of his career. In 2004, the Reconciling Ministries of the the core doctoral faculty at the GTU. In 2009, he was named a California-Nevada Annual Conference named him the winner convener of GTU’s Biblical studies area. He has also served as of the Turtle Award for “sticking his neck out” for the LGBTQ the chair of the managing board of the school’s Asia project community. He was listed in Who’s Who in Biblical Studies and and as the director of its Asia Pacific Bridges project. Archaeology in 1993 and in Who’s Who Among Asian Americans From 2003 through 2009, Kuan served as an associate in 1994. He holds a Ph.D. in Old Testament from Emory editor of The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. He was also University, a master of theological studies degree from an editorial board member of the Journal of Biblical Literature Southern Methodist University and a bachelor of theology de- from 2000 to 2005. gree from Trinity Theological College in Singapore. Kuan began his career serving a church as an associate Kuan is expected to begin in this position in January pastor from 1980 to 1983 in Malaysia. In 2002, he became an 2011. “Open Doors @ Drew” Shares with Community by Derek Elkins, Sungchun Ahn Assistant Director of Theological Admissions The Theological School welcomed 25 guests to campus on March 25 for our second-annual open house, Open Doors @ Drew. Visitors engaged in classroom discussions, wor- shipped with the seminary choir and heard an inspiring sermon from Admissions Director Kevin Miller. At lunch, stu- dents and faculty joined Open Doors @ Drew participants to share first-hand experiences of the Drew community and to offer insights into the kinds of ministries people undertake during and after seminary. Guests heard from Dean Maxine KEVIN MILLER, director of theological admissions, greets prospective Beach about the unique history of the Theological School, and students at the Open Doors @ Drew event. Interim Dean Anne Yardley advised visitors regarding the event and would not be possible without full participation by three master-level programs offered at Drew: master of divin- everyone in the Theological School. Students volunteered to ity, master of arts and master of arts in ministry. The day after call prospective students and invite them to participate, fac- the event, phone calls and emails streamed in about the ulty welcomed guests into the classroom, the seminary choir warmth and welcome extended during the day, and applica- lifted our spirits in worship, alumni/ae told parishioners about tions have followed. their seminary experience at Drew and all these efforts culmi- Open Doors @ Drew is truly a community supported nate in the very best presentation of the Theological School community. With God’s help, Open Editorial Staff: Doors @ Drew will be held in the spring Maria Lise Iannuzzi of 2011, and we will look for students, TheoSpirit Christopher Haynes faculty, staff and alums to help Theological admissions deliver the word Anne B. Yardley, Interim Dean Please send comments to: Drew Theological School [email protected] about the open house to everyone who Madison, NJ 07940 Past issues can be viewed at: would benefit from a visit to Drew. Isn’t 973.408.3582 • [email protected] drew.edu/theo/spirit that everybody? 3 Courtesy of Drew Publications FromMy Latin Interim dictionary defines Dean interim Anne as “meanwhile, Yardleyof the two agencies. This means that in the meantime, for the time being.” It is my pleasure to each agency will send in a visiting serve in this period of transition at Drew Theological team at the same time—in this case School for the time being or “for such a time as this.” It is a March 20–23, 2011. For the past fantastic place to be! We have spent much of the last year year university committees and looking retrospectively at the work of the past decade. Theo School committees have been Now we can begin to focus our attention on the next working on a self-study to see how decade! Maxine Beach has vacated her office; Kah-Jin well we meet the standards of ac- Jeffrey Kuan will come to occupy it in January 2011. In creditation. These studies have been the meantime, we will welcome an exciting class of new a wonderful opportunity to take stock of where we are and students in all of our degree programs, teach classes, super- how well we are fulfilling our mission as a school. Since vise dissertations, mentor students, listen to visiting this coincided with Maxine Beach’s last year as dean, it lecturers and continue our regular worship in chapel. In also allowed us an opportunity to reflect on her time with fact, we don’t plan to miss a beat for, as always, the only us. We will be inviting the alumni/ae board to read a draft time in which we can act is the present moment. of the self-study and to spend its September meeting dis- The 2010–2011 academic year will see the culmina- cussing the findings of the study. tion of two major processes that have been underway over Concurrently, President Weisbuch formed a presiden- the last year: the university and Theological School’s self- tial task force made up of faculty and staff that has met studies for accreditation and the university strategic over the past 18 months to consider the overall goals of planning process.