They’re back! Every year about this time as a new recruitment season begins, U.S. News and World Reports presents their latest rankings of U.S. colleges and universities. And while I understand the timing as it relates to the admissions cycle, I also have to wonder how many new students take time to look and see how the school they’ve just moved into and written checks to and completed a schedule for ranks among others. How many hearts will rise? How many will sink? And how many minds will waste time coming up with rational defenses for why their school sits where it does in this educational poll of polls?
It's no secret that the job market in the humanities is an extremely competitive one. With the number of newly minted PhDs coming out of graduate institutions each year significantly exceeding the number of faculty positions available nationwide, "competitive" is probably an understatement.
An interactive sermon delivered by Rev. Bruce Reyes Chow entitled "Leadership that Demands Explanation"
Eleven months into my pastorate at Calvary Baptist, I find myself “at home” in my pastoral calling even as I am “transitioning” to a new model of ministry, a new geography and climate, a new Baptist denomination, a new local culture and a new church family.
The praise service ended, the scripture had been read, and the way was clear for the sermon. Reverend Doctor Joseph Lowery walked slowly to the pulpit with his cane. He was scheduled as the guest preacher for the Sunday morning worship service---there to help celebrate a local Atlanta pastor’s 22 years of service to the church and community. Dr. Lowery wore a dark suit (a preacher’s suit) and white shirt. Peering down from the balcony where I was sitting, I could see there was something different about his attire--- around the collar of his shirt hung the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom he had just received from President Obama at a White House ceremony just a few days ago.
Mission
As a co-founder and President Emeritus of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Dr. Lowery is no stranger to mission and advocacy work. He began in the early 1950’s in Mobile, Alabama fighting for the desegregation of public transportation and accommodations as head of the Alabama Civic Affairs Association and in 1957, along with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was one of the co-founders of SCLC serving in a number of roles including vice president, chair of the board, and president. In addition, he has travelled to many countries around the globe working for social justice.
Aside from his national standing, Dr. Lowery’s role as local pastor bears special mention here. As a minster of the United Methodist Church, he has served as pastor to churches in Mobile and Birmingham before coming to Atlanta. Anyone who has observed him throughout his career or listened to his sermons and speeches would know he views the church as a connector in helping to identify the next generation of leaders and pastors. In this regard, The Fund for Theological Education is a partner with him in its mission to identify and support young people interested in ministry.
Today, an organic garden sits on the grounds of St. Dismas Parish in Waukegan, Ill. This garden, begun by a high school senior in 2005, and continued by his peers in subsequent years, is planted and tended by the parish youth group. Its fruits are sold to the parish community and the proceeds benefit the local homeless shelter. The entire parish community has been transformed by the presence of this garden and the leadership of its gardeners.
Time and time again, I watched the knit eyebrows and tight lips of a focused, concentrated expression descend upon the face of a teen. It is the same focused expression to the same question adults generally ask, “So, what are your plans for college?” Adults seek to be interested in this stage of a teen's life and the teen knows that he or she should have an answer. The problem is that the teen knows the answer an adult anticipates and the answer the teen has to offer do not match. While adults seek an answer with direction and interests, teens seek discovery and exploration. While adults seek purpose, teens are still wondering what they want to develop and what they are good at. So, the eyebrows knit and the lips tighten as the teen once again realizes that she or he does not have an answer to the caring question posed by the supportive and friendly adult.
