Former President, The Fund for Theological Education
July 20, 2009
The stuff of legend – that’s how one young person described C.T. Vivian after meeting him at a Sunday morning gathering, having heard him recount his experience on the front lines of the Civil Rights Movement. We can never say thank you enough for his courage, his fortitude, his unwavering commitment and his seemingly endless energy. Like so many of his generation, Rev. Vivian has been the kind of transformative leader that our world so dearly needs. And I want to let him – and everyone else know – we’re with you Dr. Vivian.
This past weekend, the Atlanta Journal Constitution ran a story about the work of Dr. Vivian and his continuing efforts to inspire the next generation of pastoral leaders for the African American church. He continues to strive through his C.T. Vivian Leadership Institute to notice, name and nurture leaders for society with the kind of vision and values that will not only honor the work of the first generation of civil rights leaders but will also imagine the needs for the next generation, that will not simply rest because we have come so far, that will empower the kind of collaboration necessary to sustain the fight against injustice.
We know these efforts as well through our work at FTE.
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Scholar-in-Residence
July 18, 2009
“Every single one of us has a “good work” to do in life. This good work not only accomplishes something needed in the world, but completes something in us. When it is finished a new work emerges that will help us make green a desert place ….” Elizabeth O’Connor, Cry Pain, Cry Hope
Make green a desert place. Take something barren, lifeless even, and slowly tend it with the right amounts of water, sunlight, and nutrients. Watch life return. Slowly green shoots emerge.
We’ve been looking for green shoots lately. We’ve been scanning for congregations where youth and young adults want to be, where young people are heard to say “If this is church, bring it on!”
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Former President, The Fund for Theological Education
July 18, 2009
Martin Copenhaver’s recent contribution to The Christian Century (“Role Reversal: Pastor as Patient,” August 25, 2009, pp. 30-33) could not be more timely in what it lends to the healthcare debate, even though I’m certain that is not the intent of the article. His contribution comes primarily in what he doesn’t ponder. For example, he doesn’t spend time exploring how his care would be different if it came under a publicly funded plan. Of course, he doesn’t have to wonder about such a thing because he has acceptable health care. And he doesn’t spend any time discussing who will pay for his care; he’s simply grateful to receive the care. In fact, the crux of the article never even touches on the issue of health care or health insurance or reform of anything except the reforming of his own heart in relation to his role, his expectation of others, and his willingness to let the experience inform his ministry in constructive ways.
Of course, I expect having had this experience, Martin has a particular empathy for those who do not have health care.
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FTE Ministry Fellow ('09), Yale University Divinity School, United Methodist Church
July 16, 2009
I arrived at the hotel slightly nervous and extremely curious as to how FTE could possibly fill the next eight days of my life. Don’t get me wrong; I had done my research. Prior to the conference I asked everyone I knew about it. The responses I received were things like, “Excellent speakers.” or, “Really great people.” All in all, not very helpful.
In reality, nothing anyone said could have prepared me for the week in Alexandria...attending FTE’s Congregational Leadership Intensive and Conference on Excellence in Ministry. I did find excellent speakers, and really great people, but more than that I found a group that gives me great hope for the future of the church. The church is moving forward, not backwards. We are learning what it is to serve God at this exact moment in time, and it is incredible to be a part of that.
It is often hard to remain eternally hopeful for the human institutions of the church. There is much to fret over and much to cause heartache. Yet there is astounding possibility in the church and incredible joy.
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Former President, The Fund for Theological Education
July 08, 2009
When I served as a pastor in Nashville, I was a pretty passionate fan of the Tennessee Titans. The miracle play that defeated Buffalo and kept Tennessee alive in the playoffs, the one foot gap between the ball and the touchdown against the Rams that would have won the Superbowl, the unbelievable noise level of the fans in the stadium in Nashville (so loud that opposing teams accused the Titans of pumping noise in, clearly forgetting that the home of country music is all about volume). But most of all, I was a fan of Steve McNair, the remarkably gifted quarterback from Alcorn State (not exactly the first school that comes to mind when one thinks of powerhouse college football programs). His underdog history, outstanding athletic prowess and consistent on-field leadership made him one of the best quarterbacks in the game.
News of his death this week came as a shock. Then to learn that he was murdered made it even more astounding. Then the context of his murder – with a woman with whom he had been having an affair – left me uttering that familiar groan. I expect we all know that groan, the one we let loose when someone we once admired falls from grace, when that one we thought was so remarkable disappoints us in ways that keep our heads shaking for months, when that person in whom we had placed our trust as a role model and as a leader heads down roads we pray we never follow.
We know that groan in the church...
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Assistant Professor of New Testament at Belmont University
June 12, 2009
Dr. Crowder offers these closing reflections at the 2009 Doctoral Conference held at Vanderbilt Divinity School, June 5-7, 2009. Her remarks include reflections on a “Sites of Memory Tour” of Nashville Civil Rights History, a plenary panel addressing the theme and small group discussions.
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Fund for Theological Education
Doctoral Workshop
June 5-7, 2009
Conference Reflections
Dr. Stephanie Buckhanon Crowder, Belmont University
I have lived in Nashville, TN for fourteen years. In many ways much has changed. There are new buildings on West End, new Restaurants and shops in Green Hills and a new football team and stadium. So much has been added since I first came here in 1995.
Yet whereas so much has changed, so much has remained the same. Some things that were here when I arrive over a decade ago, are still here. Some entities that were “old” then, are in some ways still old. Nonetheless because of our time together this weekend, I now see them anew. Although some buildings, places are still the same, because our intellectual interrogation this last days, I now see them differently.
*First Baptist Church Capitol Hill is the same place now in 2009 that it was in 1995; yet, I see it differently. I preached there in 2002 and was not aware of its location in 1960s, its proximity to stores downtown that made it a hubbub for the Civil Rights Movement. This church has the same history, but I have a different understanding.
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President
The Fund for Theological Education
June 12, 2009
Three years ago, a few colleagues and I began to wrestle with these
questions. That wrestling has become a signature pastoral leadership
development program for young clergy, Project Rising Sun (PRS).
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