FTE "On Call" Blog

Trace Haythorn

Former President, The Fund for Theological Education

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January 01, 2009

Happy New Year!

And so the new year begins. As we waited for midnight last night with our 12-year-old son, I was reminded how anti-climactic New Year’s Eve always seemed. All of the excitement and build-up to the moment the ball drops (or in Atlanta, the moment the peach drops), a few minutes of cheering and dancing, a chorus of “Auld Lang Syne,” and then…and then…

But this year felt different. Perhaps it is because of the battering our world seems to have taken in 2008 between the massive earthquake in China to the seemingly endless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to the renewed violence in central Africa and in Gaza to the economic bubble explosion that seems to have touched virtually everyone in the world. It is a year that will not soon be forgotten, and one which will undoubtedly call for extraordinary leadership, shared courage among friends and enemies, and deep trust that hope is real.

As our nation looks toward a new leader and new administration, we are also mindful at FTE of the need for strong and gifted leadership much closer to home. In fact, leadership in local congregations is often an important part of what makes home “home”. With so much uncertainty, anxiety and real distress affecting every level of our society, we are more certain than ever of our call to help notice, name and nurture the next generation of leaders for church and seminary education. This is not a time to withdraw from our engagement of the world; indeed, the word needs good work such as this more than ever.

We hope you’ll join us in ways that make a difference in a young person’s life, in a congregation's practices, in a seminary’s work, and in the world’s longing. May God grant us all a blessed and happy 2009.