http://www.fteleaders.org/ en Copyright 2013 2013-05-06T12:31:43+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/wild-spaces-reflections-on-the-first-fte-advisory-team-meeting/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/wild-spaces-reflections-on-the-first-fte-advisory-team-meeting/ Theological education, the church, the world all seem to be changing faster than we can keep up. New questions, new technologies are complicating old problems and answers... FTE "On Call" Blog, Nurturing the Next Generation of Scholars, Alumnotes 2013-05-06T11:31:43+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/fte-is-at-a-crossroads/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/fte-is-at-a-crossroads/ For the past years, FTE has graciously supported faithful leadership for the church and academy. It has primarily accomplished this work as a fellowships-granting organization. But now that the church is in transition and there are major shifts in demographics and cultural trends, FTE is pausing to reexamine itself as it looks to move forward. FTE "On Call" Blog, Alumnotes 2013-05-01T14:58:54+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/motzko/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/motzko/ Fran Davis-Harris spoke with FTE Alumna Jennifer Ikoma-Motzko about her call and vocational journey. She shared a glimpse of what it was like to be a young, woman of color trying to find her place in the world of Christian ministry. Read on to learn about her journey from swearing off organized religion, to becoming a seminarian and discovering her place in ministry. Alumnotes 2013-04-16T10:59:32+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/a-clergyman-writes-comics/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/a-clergyman-writes-comics/ One of my basic theological assumptions is that we are essentially creative. In fact, when I read the first chapter of Genesis and hear of a god who makes human beings in the divine likeness, I simply imagine a Creator who creates fellow creators... Alumnotes 2013-02-22T11:48:36+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/toward-interreligious-leadership-formation/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/toward-interreligious-leadership-formation/ “Are you the chaplain?” A slightly bemused expression played across my face, given I was standing there wearing a clerical collar. “Yes, I am.” “Hi, my name is Trevor. I’m a freshman communications major from Minnesota. I’m Methodist, I’m gay, and I want to be a pastor.” When I finally managed to pick my jaw up off the floor I replied, “You’re hired.” Thus began my second week as the new University Chaplain for Community Life at Boston University, and thus began the Marsh Associate program at Marsh Chapel. Something is happening at Marsh Chapel. The Holy Spirit is moving and is awakening young people to a sense of calling, a sense of vocation. We even put vocation in our mission statement: voice, vocation, volume... Alumnotes 2012-12-20T15:43:21+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/easier-said-than-silent/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/easier-said-than-silent/ As an active preacher, words come easily to me…perhaps too easily. Often, in moments of levity, I playfully retreat into the familiar cadence and sonorous tone that I adopt in my homiletic practice, transforming a casual conversation into a ‘whooping’ session. It is all in good fun, delighting in the beautiful cultural expressions that add a depth of emotion and musicality to pulpit rhetoric. Those are times when I delight in the beauty of a well-delivered word for its own sake. Those are times in which the sound of my own voice is selfishly, albeit jokingly, loud and insistent. Give a preacher a platform, and (s)he will more likely than not have more than enough words to fill it.. As I write this morning, awash in the unending waves of a 24-hour news cycle, it seems as if words are in surplus.. FTE "On Call" Blog, Alumnotes 2012-12-17T15:24:43+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/whats-next/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/whats-next/ I wrote you earlier this fall regarding FTE’s strategic planning and one-year review of the Fellowships programs, with the exception of the Volunteers Exploring Vocation (VEV) Fellowship. As we prepare for the season of Advent, I am grateful for the great work FTE has done through 2012 with young leaders, and anticipate the next steps FTE will take in 2013 as we discern how the organization might best support and cultivate diverse young people to be faithful, wise and courageous leaders for the church and the academy. This discernment period invites us to engage in conversations – lots of conversations. FTE will spend time next year talking to partners doing complementary work, faculty of theological institutions, church leaders and FTE Alumni, like you, and others... Alumnotes 2012-11-29T13:50:26+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/climate-change-is-a-social-justice-issue/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/climate-change-is-a-social-justice-issue/ The idiom, “Put your money where your mouth is,” is often trotted out to take to task hypocrites and those among us who appear to say one thing and do another – or allow our saying to stand in entirely for our doing. The expression is a close cousin of “Put up or shut up” and “Money talks, [insert crass expression] walks,” and they are all meant to use money, that buyer of goods and root of all evil, as a fair marker of our ethics – if we claim to support a cause, surely we will invest in it, and if we think... Alumnotes 2012-11-09T15:13:40+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/she-preaches/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/she-preaches/ If there is one thing that I know, it is that I have been blessed with people and communities who have supported my ministerial and academic endeavors. This support has motivated to continue pursuing my calling to preach and teach. As time as transpired, I’ve met countless young adults who have not had these types of support systems. Without the blessings of likeminded peers and mentors, many young adults have been left to figure things out for themselves. On one hand, this has clarified the resilience and the creativity with which many young adults are living into our vocations. On the other, it has clarified the void into which affirming words have yet to be spoken to the next generation of leaders. FTE "On Call" Blog, Alumnotes 2012-10-22T18:40:12+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/the-beloved-community/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/the-beloved-community/ As day two of the FTE Conference comes to a close I find myself spiritually exhausted. If you've ever preached a sermon you know what I am talking about. Spiritual exhaustion is that moment when you have given or received your limit of spiritual food for the day. I mean we all get "full" when we eat right? It's the same concept. Currently I am suffering from a severe case of spiritual "fullness." Today was our first day to dive right in and explore the in's and out's of The Beloved Community - a radical vision inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King. It was a vision grounded in   Alumnotes 2012-07-05T15:19:29+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/whiskey-ads-wise-women-and-wonder/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/whiskey-ads-wise-women-and-wonder/ It was not until this week that I learned how many Jack Daniel’s ads there are in the Nashville airport or how many people wear cowboy boots here. I had never been in Nashville before Tuesday, when I got here for the Fund for Theological Education‘s 2012 Leaders in Ministry conference (I was lucky enough to be nominated and accepted to come here as an Undergraduate Fellow). The conference, convened at the lovely Scarritt-Bennett Center (with a Gothic chapel and a cafeteria that serves up fried green tomatoes and grits), has gathered together a diverse group of young Americans interested in careers in religion. Alumnotes 2012-07-02T17:22:22+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/jesus-was-human.-and-he-rocked-at-it/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/jesus-was-human.-and-he-rocked-at-it/ Blogging from the 2012 FTE Leaders in Ministry Conference I am currently at the FTE Leaders in Ministry Conference in Nashville. It has been quite the colorful rainbow of experiences complete with all the related emotions. My fellows have taught me so much. Not just about themselves and their own faiths. But also about myself. And my faith. We closed out our “round table” group discussions tonight. In my own group, one of the gentlemen did the closing prayer. I am so grateful that when we have prayed here during this conference, we all seem to do it in the same language. We all seem to use the universal language of... Alumnotes 2012-06-26T17:33:19+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/10-questions-with-the-rev.-dr.-james-a.-forbes/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/10-questions-with-the-rev.-dr.-james-a.-forbes/ Fran Davis-Harris spoke with FTE Alumnus the Rev. Dr. Forbes ('61) about his life and work. He shared his thoughts on being the first African American pastor of The Riverside Church. Read on to learn his major influences and how the purchase of three tangerines helped connect him with FTE as a student. 1. Tell me about your call to ministry. I knew sooner that I didn’t want to be a preacher than I knew that I did want to be one. Everyone around me was preaching. My daddy was a preacher. My granddaddy was a preacher. I had aunts and uncles who were also preachers and when I was a little kid they’d stand me on a coffee table, let me gesture like my father and they’d say, “Ah, he’s going to be a preacher just like his daddy.”  Alumnotes 2012-06-04T16:43:36+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/god-women-and-the-church/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/god-women-and-the-church/ Sexism is present in our churches as well as in our society. However, it may be even more prominent in our Korean American churches due to Korea’s cultural history, religious background and societal values. As a result, churches will give every excuse not to call a woman as their pastor.  Rev. Unzu Lee states that “churches have to stop blaming culture” for how the Korean American Churches treat their women.  Churches continue to blame Korean cultural, historical and religious heritages as excuses and reasons for how women are treated in the church.  However, Korean American churches need to stop blaming culture and more correctly name this systematic subordination and subjugation of women as sexism. Korean American churches cannot continue to blame their history, their Confucian roots and their cultural practices for the way they perceive and treat women. Korean American churches need to reimagine the way we speak, preach and teach about who God is. Alumnotes 2012-05-02T13:19:11+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/ecumenical-awkwardness/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/ecumenical-awkwardness/ Sometimes, the front pew is the hardest place to figure out what is going on at church. At 10:30pm on Saturday night, the Parish Council President greeted me at the front door of Taxiarchae/Archangels Greek Orthodox Church in Watertown. She saved me a seat of honor in the front pew. The only other people I know in the entire church of 300 people are the Priest and his wife, the Presbytera. A Protestant clergywoman at the holiest of Orthodox Christian feasts, I already feel a bit out of sorts. Quickly, I discover the problem with the first pew: you can’t follow the cues of the people ahead of you. By the tenth time we sang the Resurrection Hymn “Christos Anesti,” I think I had figured out both the tune and the proper movements of the lit Paschal candle. But there was a lot of page turning and fumbling in-between. This is the spiritual discipline of Ecumenical Awkwardness. Alumnotes 2012-04-16T16:25:01+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/the-liturgy-of-trayvon-martin-skittles-iced-tea-and-a-hoodie/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/the-liturgy-of-trayvon-martin-skittles-iced-tea-and-a-hoodie/ Symbols have long been important for religious and spiritual reflection. These symbols have been employed to provide greater understanding to transcendent truths, to provide comfort amid chaos, and to inspire the faithful to put their faith to action towards the common good. Many times, these symbols have emerged from rather mundane objects closely associated with a historical event. Prior to the beginning of his passion, Christ blessed and broke bread as a symbol of his soon to be battered and bruised body. He blessed and poured wine as a symbol of his blood which was soon to pour from open wounds. These rather ordinary... Alumnotes 2012-03-27T13:09:12+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/for-your-penance/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/for-your-penance/ Lent has begun, the penitential season of the Christian church calendar. With the imposition of ashes we begin the forty days of fasting for deeper reflection, confessing one’s transgressions – that which causes us to move backwards instead of towards God, and for seeking God’s ongoing forgiveness and pardon. In the past whenever I have heard some variation of the word “penitent” I immediately related it to divinely ordered punishment, meting out justice, and necessary guilt.  I can’t blame that on my Catholic upbringing. I think in large part such associations with the word penitent comes from a wider cultural and religious imagination. The same imagination that associates Confession with the “big sins” like adultery, stealing, etc.…despite the fact that sin, regardless of its details, has one weight on the scale of growing in neighborly and holy love and affection.  The weight of sin always tips the scales down. But lately, as I have started practicing the sacrament of Confession my thoughts on penitent and penance are shifting. Alumnotes 2012-02-28T14:01:51+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/letting-loose-leadership/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/letting-loose-leadership/ Earlier this month, Frank Yamada was inaugurated as tenth president of McCormick Theological Seminary, and the first Asian American president of a Presbyterian Church (USA) seminary. I was able to attend, along with other FTE staff, at the tail end of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference. First, a moment of full disclosure: I am an alumna of McCormick. I was part of Frank’s ordination commission. We have worked together when I was in Chicago. Now I know Dr. Yamada as one of many important partners in the work FTE does with leaders in theological education. This inauguration? It was cool.. Alumnotes 2012-02-20T18:40:38+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/lets-play-the-blame-game-a-response-to-why-i-hate-religion-but-love-jesus/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/lets-play-the-blame-game-a-response-to-why-i-hate-religion-but-love-jesus/ Wanna learn how to start a fire in religious circles? Pay attention: Jefferson Bethke is an Eagle Scout.  His most recent video, “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus”, opines over the lack of authenticity in religious leadership, calls into account the dangerous compound of faith and politics, and berates the self-righteous (Amen!). But in making a few good points, Bethke may have thrown the baby out with the bath water. If you’ve ever played the “Blame Game” before (who hasn’t?), then you know how this works. Something goes wrong Someone gets blamed. This literally takes on “biblical” proportions when you... Alumnotes 2012-01-30T14:45:11+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/preaching-out/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/preaching-out/ A few hours ago I made the long drive back to Cleveland from Louisville where I had attended and preached at the 2012 Festival of Young Preachers hosted by the Academy of Preachers. I would have thought that after three days of hearing God’s word through 30 different denominations, flowing from the mouths of over 120 preachers that my heart would be quiet and my mind still. Instead my mind is racing in a post-celebratory buzz. It seems that although my suitcase that carried my clothes is unpacked, the suitcase of my mind is just starting to reveal the extent the Festival touched my soul... Alumnotes 2012-01-13T15:36:53+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/midwives-mary-and-a-golden-cord/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/midwives-mary-and-a-golden-cord/ If your church uses Godly Play or Children’s Worship and Wonder, odds are the youngsters in your congregation have heard the story about the Christian year. In this particular story, the storyteller has two objects: a long golden cord and a circular puzzle full of color. The storyteller begins by picking up the cord and stretching it out in a horizontal line, a golden metaphor for chronos time, linear time, the world’s time, with its beginning, middle, and end. Alumnotes 2011-12-19T14:45:00+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/the-categories-arent-working-anymore/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/the-categories-arent-working-anymore/ As a Lutheran pastor (ELCA) in Wheaton, Illinois, a town often regarded as the intellectual capitol of American evangelicalism, the intricacies of mainline-evangelical relationships are an ever-confounding aspect of daily life. So it was with great interest and a longing for clarity that I hopped on the train into Chicago a few weeks back to attend "Reasons for Hope: A Dialogue on the Christian Future" featuring Barbara Wheeler and Richard J. Mouw. Jointly sponsored by The Christian Century and Christianity Today, the event brought together two respected leaders in theological education, each of whom I knew to be an articulate representative of her or his respective liberal or conservative Protestant camp. I was also aware... Alumnotes 2011-10-18T18:20:00+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/if-the-gospel-gathers/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/if-the-gospel-gathers/ It has been almost two weeks since I along with 9 other young preachers participated in the FTE and The Academy of Preachers produced preaching camp, yet I still feel the residue of this experience upon me. We stayed up all night writing and sharing sermon ideas, I will never forget the time dedicated to helping shape our preaching skills, from the suggestions of peers and that of our mentors. I enjoyed all the many times of assisting and encouraging us in the art and presentation of preaching. In the midst of all the tips and lessons on strengthening our preaching, I learned a powerful lesson about the Gospel in which we preach. It was in community with 9 other fellow preachers from various faith traditions, socioeconomic status, race, gender, sexuality, and not to mention theological viewpoints, yet we gathered in love without any strife and we proclaimed the Gospel. I must admit as one who considers himself quite liberal, I often find myself avoiding conservatives because of our differences... Alumnotes 2011-08-23T15:33:50+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/we-are-not-walking-alone/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/we-are-not-walking-alone/ One of the very first lessons I learned working with churches is how lonely a road ministry can be. Being set apart by God to serve His people is an inspiring but scary responsibility. To meet young people who understand that, share those sentiments and agree to join you in the growing process has been invaluable. Dr. Dwight Moody and Wyndee Holbrook of the Academy of Young Preachers, and the FTE staff did a great job of creating a space where learning and development could take place both as preachers and as the people who have been called to preach. Now, the shock is gone. The late nights and early mornings have passed as we now head back to our colleges, seminaries, grad programs, jobs, and churches. As one of the preachers D. Darnell Fennell preached, our job is now to move “Beyond an 8 Minute Sermon”. To take such an amazing experience and build on it. Stay friends, preaching partners, and young people committed to serving Christ and His Church. What we have been given is a gift from God. Alumnotes 2011-08-12T12:49:09+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/the-tension-of-gods-dance-floor/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/the-tension-of-gods-dance-floor/ This week, thanks to the unimaginable generosity of the Fund for Theological Education, I am in Atlanta, GA, at a preaching camp hosted by the Academy of Preachers. I am two days into a five-day camp, and my mind has been kneaded and sculpted so much in these short hours that I feel my brain must resemble a beloved can of Play-dough. The kneading is a result of love and affection, and it is with the endless possibility of my new intellectual “toys” that I have begun to discover something I can hardly believe I didn’t notice before. There is no escaping tension. Entering a group of ecumenical preachers for the second time in a few short months, I thought for sure that I would be struck by the boundaries that separate one Christian denomination from another... Alumnotes 2011-08-03T19:39:16+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/women-clergy-need-girlfriends/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/women-clergy-need-girlfriends/ After completing the Lilly Residency Program at the First Presbyterian Church in Ann Arbor, MI I took a call as an Associate Pastor in a small city in Michigan. Knowing that the adjustment would not be an easy one, and reflecting on what I had learned from my time in the Lily program, I decided that the first thing I needed was colleagues who could also be friends. So, I went in search of colleagues in the hopes of also finding friends. Knowing I would have a colleague in my Head of Staff, in other clergy in town, and in my governing body, I wanted to seek out colleagues who were in a similar place in ministry—so I sought out young women clergy. In my first few months in my new call I compiled a list of the young women clergy in my denomination in my area, there were about a dozen of us in our first call within a 2 hour drive of each other. At our first meeting we gathered for lunch at a one woman’s home, eight of us arrived... Alumnotes 2011-07-18T13:32:48+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/a-taste-for-what-we-are-missing/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/a-taste-for-what-we-are-missing/ The Fund for Theological Education held their conference in New Orleans this year. Two uncertainties already in my mind: what is a ministry conference like and how does New Orleans look after two Gulf Coast disasters? The shuttle from the airport to Dillard University was cold and full of chattering voices. I observed how we instinctually categorized each other: What kind of Fellow? What denomination? What seminary? The words felt empty when I said them. They did not actually say much about who I was. It was like placing everyone on a map and we’d only just met ten minutes ago. My own response to people’s answers was mixed. Some traditions conjured vivid images while other denominations were relatively unknown to me. It seemed hopeless. A real live person standing in front of me, and I was asking them assist my assignment of the most convenient preconceived notion I had for easy future reference.   Alumnotes 2011-06-29T14:10:22+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/hanging-out-in-new-orleans-with-a-bunch-of-aspiring-pastors.-.-/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/hanging-out-in-new-orleans-with-a-bunch-of-aspiring-pastors.-.-/ From our 2011 Leaders in Ministry Conference in New Orleans, LA As we left the airport and boarded the bus to go from the airport to Dillard University where the conference is being hosted, I was assaulted with the heat and humidity of the Southern summer. Riding through the traffic on the freeway, I looked out the window wondering if I would catch glimpses of the damage and recovery from Hurricane Katrina. We exited the freeway and were stopped at a red light and I saw a person on the side of the road “panhandling.” He had written some illegible words on a sign he was holding that I couldn't read. But I caught a glimpse of the back of the sign which used to hang at an apartment complex and read “The American Dream, for rent now!” I was struck by the completely contradictory message, this guy was definitely not experiencing the American Dream standing on that corner in the oppressive heat and humidity.   Alumnotes 2011-06-27T17:31:37+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/you-have-been-invited-all-are-welcome-.-.-/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/you-have-been-invited-all-are-welcome-.-.-/ This blog post was produced during our 2011 Leaders in Ministry Conference in New Orleans, LA  Day 1: Getting off of the airplane and touching ground in New Orleans, I let go of my worries, frustrations, anxieties of home life and welcomed in the spirit of God to fill me with the comfort of simply being present, listening and conversing with others on their journey of faith as spiritual social change agents in a world of complacency and despair. I am honored to be in the company of such greatness of minds and comforted in the knowing there is hope for the Christian church and hope does not disappoint... Alumnotes 2011-06-20T14:25:48+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/learning-a-new-normal/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/learning-a-new-normal/ What I have experienced here at the FTE Leaders in Minstry Conference in New Orleans is so powerful that I feel compelled to try to put it into words. Why? I have experienced community, and it is good. I don’t actually remember how I came across this fellowship. It may have been suggested to me by my pastor or possibly the seminary I will be attending. What I do know is that despite my research, I had no idea what to expect when I left for my trip to New Orleans. In my wildest imaginations, I would not have pictured what this conference has become for me. One of the most wonderful aspects of this conference is the people I am meeting and the friendships I am forming both with other Lutherans and with people outside my denomination. I am surrounded by Mennonites and Baptists and UCC and Methodists and Episcopalians and Presbyterians and Jesuits and Pentecostals and Christians unaffiliated with a denomination.   Alumnotes 2011-06-18T14:48:08+00:00