The Wonders He Has Done (Spring 2015)

contact
The Ministry Magazine of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary | Spring 15 | Vol. 43 No. 1 | Legacy
The
Wonders
He Has
Done
contact
The Ministry Magazine of
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
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Spring 15 | Vol. 43 No. 1 | Our Legacy
Reflections from the President
Director of Communications and Marketing

Mr. Michael L. Colaneri
Senior Communications Advisor
and Editor of Contact
Mrs. Anne B. Doll
We will not hide them from their

descendants; we will tell the next generation
the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,
his power, and the wonders he has done."
psalm 78:4
contents
Graphic Designer
Ms. Nicole S. Rim
Inquiries regarding Contact may be addressed to:
Editor, Contact
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
130 Essex Street, S. Hamilton, MA 01982
communications.office@gordonconwell.edu
www.gordonconwell.edu
978.468.7111
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary does not
discriminate on the basis of race, gender, national or
ethnic origin, age, handicap or veteran status.
e have a rich legacy at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Today we build upon the foundations of A.J. Gordon and
Russell Conwell, who shared a commitment for global and urban mission,
and for accessible education.
We build upon the vision of Billy Graham, Harold John Ockenga and J.
Howard Pew, who brought two schools together to forge a seminary that
was rooted in Scripture and the Gospel, but geared to speak to the times in
which we livea seminary enabling Christian leaders to be salt and light in
a complex world.

news
f e at u r e s
on the front lines: A Modern-Day

Abolitionist Fights Slavery
By Anne B. Doll
articles
8
12
15
18
A 37-Year Study in History

By Anne B. Doll
22
reach
23
25
The Lively Ediface of the Church

By Gordon Isaac, Ph.D.
Gordon-Conwell Into the Future
By Richard Lints, Ph.D.
Caring for the Soul During Seminary
By Heather N. Korpi
good books
beyond our doors: Aaron Harrington

advancement news:
Advancement Updates and Campaign Priorities
By Kurt W. Drescher
alumni
30
32
alumni spotlight: John and Mary March
33
alumni notes
alumni news
reflections
35
opening the word: Give Thanks, Get Life

By Matt Kim
board of trustees
Dr. Dennis P. Hollinger,
President
Rev. Dr. John A. Huffman,
Jr., Chairman
Rev. Dr. Claude R. Alexander, Jr., Vice Chairman
Dr. Shirley A. Redd,
Secretary
Mr. Ivan C. Hinrichs,
Treasurer
Mr. Joel B. Aarsvold
Mrs. Linda S. Anderson
Dr. Diana Curren Bennett
Rev. Dr. Garth T. Bolinder
Rev. Dr. Richard P. Camp
Mr. Thomas J. Colatosti
Dr. Stan D. Gaede
Mrs. Joyce Godwin
Mrs. Sharon Fast Gustafson
Rev. Dr. Michael B. Haynes
Mr. Herbert P. Hess
Mr. Caleb Loring, III
Mrs. Joanna Mockler
Dr. Charles W. Pollard
Mr. Fred L. Potter
Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, Jr.
Mrs. Virginia M. Snoddy
Rev. Dr. David D. Swanson
Dr. Joseph W. Viola
Rev. Dr. John H. Womack, Sr.
Dr. William C. Wood
emeriti members
Dr. Richard A. Armstrong
Rev. Dr. Leighton Ford
Mr. Roland S. Hinz
Mr. Richard D. Phippen
Rev. Dr. Paul E. Toms
co-founder and
trustee emeritus
Dr. William F. Graham
Over the years we have been enriched by our greatest human resource, a
president and
trustee emeritus
Dr. Robert E. Cooley
array of ministries: pastoral, missions, teaching, para-church, counseling
president emeritus
Dr. Walter C. Kaiser, Jr.
dedicated staff that facilitates the seminary's work.
presidents cabinet
Dr. Dennis P. Hollinger,
President
Mr. Kurt W. Drescher,
Vice President of
Advancement
Dr. Mark Harden,
Dean of the Boston Campus
Dr. Timothy Laniak,
Dean of the Charlotte
Campus
Dr. Richard Lints,
Vice President for
Academic Affairs
Dr. Alvin Padilla,
Dean of Hispanic Ministries
Mrs. Lita Schlueter,
Dean of Students and Director of Student Life Services
Mr. Jay Trewern,
Vice President for Finance
and Operations / CFO
first-rate, Godly faculty committed to educating men and women for a vast
and marketplace. The educational mission has been sustained by a deeply

In this issue of Contact we remember that history is important for interpreting
our past and informing our future. Our legacy is not dead tradition, but a
living vision that continues to make a global impact for Christ's Kingdom.
We are thankful to God for his gracious faithfulness in providing faculty,
trustees, staff, campuses and donors who keep the vision alive. We believe
that the vision for a faithful, thoughtful, relevant seminary education is
more important than ever.
Dennis P. Hollinger, Ph.D.

President &
Colman M. Mockler Distinguished Professor of Christian Ethics
f e at u r e s
f e at u r e s
on the front lines
A MODERN-DAY
ABOLITIONIST
FIGHTS SLAVERY
ANNE B. DOLL
IN 2010, HOLLIS JOHNSON HAD HER FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH HUMAN TRAFFICKING WHILE
MINISTERING IN A RED LIGHT DISTRICT IN THAILAND.
I got to spend a month working with a ministry that has an aftercare center and outreach program, says the Charlotte MA
in Christian Counseling student (MACC). During that month I really felt like this was what God created me for.
Since then, Hollis has ministered to victims of sex trafficking in numerous countries. She now leads an anti-trafficking
initiative at Charlottes Forest Hill Church.
4
contact | spring 2015
spring 2015 | contact
f e at u r e s
f e at u r e s
ollis experience in Thailand occurred during her

participation in The World Race, an 11-month,
11-country trip sponsored by Adventures in Missions, a Georgia-based Christian organization.
I had graduated from college,
and was in a place where I was
really lost spiritually, she explains. I knew the Lord, but
was not living that way. I was
just really broken and hurting.
I wanted to renew myself.
Shortly thereafter, she signed
up for the race.
It completely changed my
life, she explains. I encountered God in a whole new and personal way. Through that
time, I also learned about human trafficking. There were
parts of my own story that allowed me to connect with
these women, and finally things made sense to me. I have
always had a heart for hurting people, and I thought, This
is itfrom that point on I would be working somewhere
in the field of sex trafficking.
gerous situation. But at the same time, there is a connection

which makes it extremely hard for girls to come out.
come modern-day abolitionists fighting slavery, and to

open a safe house for women coming out of the sex trade.
Scheduled to open in the spring, the short-term, transitional housing facility will enable women to stay from one
day to six months.
Hollis says recidivism is fairly high for individuals coming

out of the sex trade because of the trauma theyve experienced. There is also a spiritual element. Their identities
are now defined by their pimp, by the number of clients
they see a day, the attention they receiveIts hard to
move through that, to move forward.
Hollis says some will require additional attention at a

long-term program; others will only need help finding an
apartment and a job. Case managers in their partner organization will provide this type of assistance.
We see our role as coming alongside these women and offering them Jesus, offering them love, offering them hope
and the opportunity to repent. Well be building relationships, mentoring them and leading Bible studies.
Most are girls, she adds, but depending on the location,

there is definitely a very high demand for boys and children in general. There is also a growing interest in younger and younger children.
FACTS ABOUT SEX TRAFFICKING
The youngest trafficked child Hollis has seen was a fiveyear-old girl in a Cambodian village known worldwide
among pedophiles. A family member had traded her for a
television set. That was where I was really blown away,
she remembers. So many kids, just knowing what was
going on. It was really hard.
Hollis Johnson
A second race further strengthened her concern for trafficked women, and God kept opening ministry doors, locally and internationally. One of those doors was Forest
Hill Church.
I was helping with a justice conference at the church, and
during that event they agreed to support me in taking a
team of women to India to work at an aftercare center.
Following that trip Hollis met with the churchs outreach
director to debrief. She had been working at a coffee shop
and God told me to quit my job and ask for a job at the
church. So I did, and the outreach director said he wasnt
surprised. He had seen it coming. Together we created a
part-time position for me to develop an anti-trafficking
ministry at Forest Hill. It was totally the Lord. There was
no way I could have ever thought this up.
During her first year in the position, much of her time
was spent seeking where God is leading us as a church.
She also studied trafficking in Charlotte, and learned how
other organizations were addressing the problem. All of
them, she says, are faith based. Some are helping identify
and rescue entrapped individuals. One has opened a call
center through which volunteers can talk to girls online.
In Charlotte, there is also such a need for safe housing and
discipleship, she notes. Thats where well be fitting in.
Forest Hill is now partnering with a local organization,
End Slavery in Charlotte, to train church members to be6
ccording to the third-year counseling student, sex

trafficking is the second largest illegal industry in the
world, with ties to organized crime. She says this huge
and highly lucrative business can range from one trafficker working with several women, to gang and mafia involvement. Unlike trafficking of drugs and weapons that
can be used only once, with sex trafficking were talking
about people who can be used over and over again.
Sex trafficking is defined as through force, fraud or coercion, someone is being used for a sexual act for exchange
of good. Hollis says that can be a Happy Meal at McDonalds, or $200. There is no set amount. Persons under 18
are automatically considered victims of sex trafficking.
Average age of individuals used for forced prostitution or
pornography is 12 to 14.
But, she adds, an incredible organization, Agape International Mission, has been in that village for several years
and is transforming it. They have a ministry for children,
and a gym ministry to reach traffickers.
ENTICEMENT
ow are individuals enticed into the sex trade? Hollis says a common view is that they are kidnapped.
While that does happen, more frequently trafficked
people come from broken homes, and places where
there is neglect. Many are runaways. Often they have already been sexually abused. Some are addicted to drugs
or alcohol.
The traffickers are smart, she explains. They know what
to look for. Most likely its someone whos young, looks
very vulnerableone who can be manipulated. The traffickers, the pimps also know how to woo these women and
girls, how to play up being a father figure, a boyfriend, until they establish relationships. They provide housing, buy
her food, nice clothes and gifts, making her feel like shes
loved and cherished.
So many of the women I have talked to, none of them

really want to go back. But its familiar in the sense that
theres safety, and its comfortable. They at least know
what role they play. They know exactly whats going to
happen, even if its horrible.
Thats why I see this so much as the Lords work, because
truly only the Lord can come into people and remind them
of who they are. Only the Lord can reveal and strip away
those layers and lies that have been placed over their real
identity in him.
Forest Hill Church is currently developing an international ministry to trafficked individuals in Haiti through an
existing partnership with Mission of Hope. Its amazing
that we will be able to start something there for the brothelsto establish more programs, Hollis says. God is really moving in Haitiand its exciting to be a part of that.
In addition to her work on behalf of trafficked individuals,
Hollis is in the third year of her MACC degree program.
She credits the seminarys Partnership Program1 with
making her study at Gordon-Conwell possible. I knew
that trafficking was my heart, working with women, and
God showed me that I needed to be better equipped to really be used. I said, Well God, Ill go, but I cant pay for it.
Then I found out about the Partnership Programand the
seminary became part of my journey.
While the task of helping trafficked individuals at times
seems overwhelming, Hollis has no doubt that God could
do an incredible work in a person. And that persons life
could be changed. Thats what I try to focus onI know
men and women who have been trafficked and have made
it through.
Then they start asking for favors, such as I just bought

you that jacket last week, or I let you stay at my house for
a few weeks. Would you mind doing this for me? It starts
out small, then they begin to ask for bigger favors.
And just looking at what God has done in my own life

gives me hopeHe placed this burden on my heart so
many years ago, and through it he has shown me that he
can use me, a person I thought was too broken to be used.
But I also know I could not do this alone, and Im always
in awe when I see that God can do so much.
These techniques, Hollis says, create a very strong bond

between the girl and her trafficker. These girls are being exploited. Theyre being abused, and are in a very, very dan-
1 The Partnership Program enables Gordon-Conwell students to be prepared for a fruitful ministry, surrounded by a network of support, equipped with stewardship skills and
be less encumbered by debt with a generous full tuition scholarship. Hollis is currently
striving toward this years goals to complete her final year of study.
f e at u r e s
f e at u r e s
-year
Study
in

History

By Anne B. Doll
Dr. Garth Rosell turns to an oft quoted declaration from

the 16th century Reformers, soli Deo gloria, to describe
the work of Gordon-Conwell. Translated for the glory of
God alone, these words, for Garth, embody the seminarys
center of lifetoday, and throughout his 37-year tenure
as Professor of Church History.
f e at u r e s
f e at u r e s
L to r: 1971 GCTS faculty with first president, Dr. Harold John Ockenga, front row, third from right; Spring 1979 seminary faculty; Dr. Garth Rosell, right, with President
Dr. Robert E. Cooley; Fall 1978 faculty retreat at the Ockengas New Hampshire home; Gordon-Conwell professors with Dr. Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., President.
On August 1, 2015, he will retire from the seminary to

begin the next chapter in his life of service to God. During
his nearly four decades at Gordon-Conwell, he has
worked for six presidents, witnessed the creation of three
campuses and taught at all four. He has also served in
numerous leadership positions, including nearly a decade
as the seminarys Academic Dean, and 17 years as Chair
of the Division of Christian Thought and Director of the
Harold John Ockenga Institute.
He has also seen the development of many major initiatives
such as the Center for the Study of Global Christianity and
the Hispanic Ministries Program, and he was instrumental
in helping to create both the Doctor of Ministry Program
and the Harold John Ockenga Institute, a vital seminary
bridge to the Church and culture.
But Garth eschews mention of his own contributions,
pointing instead to the God who redeemed me and called
me to this great privilege of teaching here. And he underlines his absolutely enormous joy and delight in serving
in a Christ-centered seminary where God is honored and
the Word is studied carefully and clearly.
In what he is calling simply a new phase of life, Garth
will be writing a book about Gordon-Conwell, telling the
story of why God in His providence planted the school in
this part of the world. Already he is conducting research
for that project.
Our seminary, he says, was the outgrowth, in large
measure, of a great spiritual awakening, a resurgent evangelicalism in the 1940s that started in movements such as
Youth for Christ, InterVarsity, the Navigators and others.
That revival among Americas young people spilled over
into the 1950s and spread not only throughout the cities
of North America but also literally around the globe,
most notably through the work of seminary founder
Billy Graham, who has been such a wonderful gift to the
Church and to all of usAs Shaw notes in his book, Global
Awakening, those 20th century revivals laid the foundation
for the growth of the Church literally around the world.
10
Dr. Rosell adds that the vision of leaders who established

the seminary, particularly Dr. Graham and Dr. Harold
John Ockenga, not only shaped us in our early years, but
continues to guide us and point us in the right direction
today.unlike many institutions that tend to drift from
their founding principles into very different directions.
Certainly included in that vision, he says, would be the
centrality of Gods Word, studied in the original languages
to gain understanding, and then applied to every part of
life; the great missionary mandate to spread the gospel
around the world; the renewal of the Church through
the preaching of Gods Word; the power of the gospel to
transform people through the cross of Christ; the transformation of culture through Christian influence as salt
and light, and the raising up of a whole new generation of
Christian leaders, men and women with good educations
and a burning love for Jesus.
He admits that the seminary experienced difficult times
over the span of his tenure. There are always in life and
in institutional structures, triumphs and trials, good moments and bad. But heres where our deep commitment
to the faithfulness of God, the absolute certainty of Gods
Truth, the call of God to holiness and high moral standards, the biblical guidance we haveall of these sustain
us in the middle of normal institutional pressure.
After a lifetime in the classroom, Dr. Rosell contends
that good teaching begins where our love for students
converges with our love for the subject we are studying
in such a manner as to make that material come alive and
applicable to their lives and ministries. And in a seminary,
certainly you have to love the Scriptures and the Lord of
the Scriptures, who is our God and our Master.
Perhaps the essence of teaching comes back to the kind
of person you are. Its the sharing of things youve been
privileged to learn, that God has been teaching you
that you want others to encounter and perhaps, by the
power of the Spirit, to enable them to take shape in other
lives. Christ is our model here. Christ was the master
...good teaching begins where our love for students converges with
our love for the subject we are studying in such a manner as to make
that material come alive and applicable to their lives and ministries.
teacher whose message was clear, rang true and was life
sustaining and life transforming. To be privileged to be a
conveyor of that message that Christ came to give, that we
are to teach, live by, try to modelall of us wish we could
do that more effectively
I think at the core of teaching, as in any ministry, it is the
work of the Holy Spirit who teaches us and opens our eyes
and empowers us to do the work. I think thats why Christ
told his disciples, in that powerful section of Acts, to stay
in Jerusalem until they were empowered from on high to
do ministry, including teaching. It was to enable weak and
faltering souls like ourselves to communicate that which
God can turn into such useful things for those who learn.
As a church historian, Garth sees the current culture as
moving increasingly into a period that looks very much
like the time of the early Church, the time prior to the Emperor Constantine in the 4th century. Its a period in which
Christianity is growing and vital, but oftentimes persecuted, he explains. The Church is working in a society that
is very religious, but very resistant to the absolute claims
of Christ on peoples lives. So we learn from the great
saints and martyrs of the early Church what it means to
serve God faithfully in an increasingly hostile world.
His overarching sense, he adds, is that we need to fortify ourselves, our students need to fortify themselves,
by knowing the Scriptures more thoroughly. We need to
memorize them, put them in our hearts, so that if the day
ever comes when we dont have access to our Scriptures,
as is true in some parts of the world today, we will have
them readily in our minds.
Church. And I would add the need to recover some of

the power of the great creeds, confessions and catechisms
of the Church and to produce new ones, so that we can
give to the next generation a language to talk about the
faith in the midst of a much more questioning and unaccepting world. And, of course, we need to be men and
women of prayer, in our day more than ever.
Dr. Rosell counts among his very highest joys the wonderful friendships that my time at the seminary has allowed me to share with faculty colleagues. He also rejoices in sustained friendships forged with students over the
years who are now so effectively serving the Lord.
He is enthusiastic about the seminarys many international programs, including President Dennis Hollingers
current initiatives in China, and also about the growing
population of amazing international students who are
coming to us from all over the globe. Many are already established leaders within their home areas. They are receiving additional training here so that they can carry it back
to grow the Church, and help organize new educational
initiatives and new ministries in their home countries.
And he is very heartened by the arrival of so many
bright, well educated, gifted young faculty members who
are the next generation of those who teach here. It seems
to me that Gordon-Conwell has an unusually bright and
hopeful future, in part because of these outstanding new
colleagues.
Always the historian, Garth adds, I cannot help but be
reminded of the famous quotation attributed to Adoniram
Judson: The future is as bright as the promises of God.
Garth likewise urges memorization of hymns, which he

says for centuries served as the theology book for the
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articles
articles
I
The
Lively
Ediface
of the
Church
Gordon Isaac, Ph.D.
must confess that my first exposure to church history was not

altogether happy. A kindly gentleman taught the course, but
unfortunately all the moisture was taken from the subject,
leaving it dry to the touch. This, of course, contains a huge irony
insofar as church history is made up of intensely interesting
people, moments of tension and intrigue, power oppressive politics,
winsome witness in the face of death, not to mention romance,
travel, conviction and divine calling! It is a crime to allow church
history to be dull or boring, for it is to transmute the very character
of what is by its very nature alive, vibrant and instructive.
While there are many more, let me suggest four ways
among many, why the study of church history should be
carried out with energy and intent.
the Church through this vista helps us to know where we

have been and where we are going. I rather like the way
Joseph Sittler has put the matter when he says,
Reason #1
There is certainly nothing wrong with the church

looking ahead, but it is terribly important that it
should be done in connection with the look inside,
into the churchs own nature and mission, and a look
behind at her own history. If the church does this,
she is less likely to take her cues from the business
community, the corporation, or the marketplace.
Church History tells us where we have

come from and where we are going.
he Old Testament is Gods story of choosing a

people to himself, leading them out of slavery and
into the Promised Land. From Moses and the Exodus
through Joshua and the Conquest and on through Daniel,
Isaiah, Jeremiah and the other prophets, the history of the
people of God is rich, varied and full. This history leads
into the New Testament account.
With the coming of the Messiah, a new but continuous
story emerges of the witness of the Apostles to the death
and resurrection of Jesus. The gospel moves outward from
Jerusalem. From Persia the gospel travels east to the Silk
Road and China. It also proceeds west to Africa and into
the European continent.
Church history tells of the fall of the Roman Empire and,
in the moment of civilizations demise, the efforts of
Christianity to stand in the gap. When no one was left
in the city to negotiate with the barbarian hordes, it was
Pope Leo who went out to negotiate peace on behalf
of the people. From this position of service, the papacy
would emerge as a power ultimately needing reform.
On through the Reformation, the confessional wars, the
time of the Puritans and beyond, the Church has staked
its place. Through all the ups and downs of the life of the
Church, the providence of God has been visible. Tracing
12
Reason #2
Church History gives correction

for generational blind spots.
n his introduction to Athanasius On the Incarnation,

C.S. Lewis urges his readers to take the time to read
one old book for every new book they read. This
practice, if carried out with discipline, will keep the avid
reader from historical hubris, the idea that our time knows
better. There is a great deal of wisdom to be had in the
ancient world if one will only take the time to read the
older authors. He goes on to write these words:
People were no cleverer then than they are now;
they made as many mistakes as we. But not the
same mistakes. They will not flatter us in the errors
we are already committing; and their own errors,
being now open and palpable, will not endanger us.
Two heads are better than one, not because either is
infallible, but because they are unlikely to go wrong
in the same direction.
13
articles
articles
Seeing the long stretch of history that has gone before

us helps us to prepare for the history that extends out
beyond our time, and to do so in hope.
The advice we are offered here is worth heeding. Every age
and indeed, every generation has its own thought forms
and its culturally held presuppositions. The only way we
have a possibility of transcending the thought form of our
own age is if we have taken the time to live in another age
through the reading of church history. Reading ancient
church teaching will expose natural cultural thought
forms or idolatries that we might not be able to identify
otherwise.
Reason #3
Church History gives perspective

on old errors.
ot long ago Dan Brown wrote a best-seller by the

name The Da Vinci Code. It was turned into a movie
starring Tom Hanks. Many people read the book
and many discussed the book. One of the propositions
coming out of the story is that Jesus was married to Mary
Magdalene. This alternative religious history put forward
suggests that the Church has kept these truths secret and
that Mary was meant to play a much larger role than the
Church allowed. It would seem that conspiracy theories
are popular wherever they are contrived.
By studying church history there is a ready answer to this
rather old error. Marcion and others in the 2nd century
asserted that they had secret knowledge regarding Jesus.
The Church cut off the route to secret knowledge by a
threefold response. To the idea that there were teachers
of secret knowledge, the Church asserted that they knew
all the teachers from Jesus to the present (Apostolic
Succession). To the idea that they had special gnostic
scriptures, the Church set forward the canon. To the
notion that the true God would have nothing to do with
creation, the Church responded by the Apostles Creed.
Reason #4
Church History gives encouragement in the long

view of tradition and our perseverance in it.
hurch history gives perspective on whatever it is

that we may be facing in the present. Is it scandal
touching the clergy? Is it questions of the mixture
of church and state? Is it persecution or theories relegating
14
God to the sideline? All of this has been dealt with before.
Knowing these accounts gives perspective on where we
might be in the life cycle of our church bodies. Seeing the
long stretch of history that has gone before us helps us to
prepare for the history that extends out beyond our time,
and to do so in hope.

Further, church history allows us to meet the saints on
whose shoulders we stand. Let me give a few examples.
Mary of Egypt (5th century) was subjected to public
prostitution for a good portion of her life. It meant being
a non-being in the eyes of the Empire. One day she was
miraculously saved and taken in by the church community
and given dignity again. Athanasius of Alexandria was
exiled no less than five times in his life as bishop because
he maintained the deity of Christ. William Tyndale was a
linguistic genius whose translation of the New Testament
into English, developed amid intense persecution, helped
establish Protestantism in England. Nearer our own time,
the witness of Dietrich Bonhoeffer during the dark days
of Hitler held up the power of the word of God in spite of
unjust worldly power.

In short, church history is a lively edifice that continues to
be built. In the words of Philip Schaff,
How shall we labor with any effect to build up the
church, if we have no thorough knowledge of her
history, or fail to apprehend it from the proper point
of observation? History is, and must ever continue
to be, next to Gods Word, the rightest foundation
of wisdom, and the surest guide to all successful
practical activity.
Dr. Gordon Isaac is Berkshire Associate Professor
of Advent Christian Studies. He is an expert on
Reformation Studies and Martin Luther, and has
written extensively on Luther. He also has expertise
on Hell, Eschatology/End Times, Church History
and the Advent Christian denomination, within
which he has served several interim pastorates.
He is former associate editor of Luther Digest and
the author of Left Behind or Left Befuddled: The Subtle Dangers of
Popularizing the End Times.
GORDON-CONWELL
INTO THE
FUTURE
RICHARD LINTS, PH.D.
Gordon-Conwell students
at library, circa 1980s
articles
articles
ordon-Conwell celebrated the 125th anniversary of the

Gordon side of our tradition this past year in a joint
ceremony in October with Gordon College.
Left to right, A.J. Gordon, Russell Conwell, J. Howard Pew, Dr. Harold John Ockenga,
Rev. Dr. Billy Graham
It was a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the many

remarkable events in the history of our seminary and the
remarkable people who have been central to that history:
A.J. Gordon, Russell Conwell, Billy Graham, Harold John
Ockenga and J. Howard Pew to name just a few. Professor
Scott Gibson offered extended comments on the life
and history of A.J. Gordon that reminded us of Gods
faithfulness across many generationsand the impact
upon the life of the church in North America and around
the globe because of the enduring mission of the seminary.
From the beginning it was a mission to train men and

women for ministry, reflecting a commitment to the
Gospel in all of its richness as it is revealed in Scripture. In
the context of celebrating the history of Gordon-Conwell,
it is appropriate to take a moment to think about what
Gordon-Conwell might be like years into the future.
Several characteristics
of the seminary are by
now well established
and surely will be part
of its identity going
forward. It is committed
to the genuine and
functioning authority
of Scripture as the
touchstone for all of
Academic Center among new buildings
the Christian life and
constructed during Dr. Robert E. Cooleys
presidency
for the flourishing of
the Church. God is both the author of Scripture and by the
Holy Spirit, uses the Scripture as the means to reconcile
people to himself in Christ. The great act of reconciliation
is at the heart of the Gospel, and is central to training men
and women for a ministry of faithfulness and integrity.
16
Since its merger in 1969, Gordon-Conwell has become a

seminary with multiple constituencies, preparing men and
women for diverse contexts of ministry. It is a seminary
with an international reputation and a global student
body, as well as a seminary deeply rooted in New England
in its diversity of urban, suburban and rural contexts.
It has grown to include four campuses: in South Hamilton,
Massachusetts, urban Boston, Charlotte, North Carolina
and Jacksonville, Florida, and has a global Hispanic
Ministries Program. It has
launched initiatives to reach
house church pastors in China,
first generation immigrant
pastors from Korea, Haiti and
Africa. Its acclaimed Center for
the Study of Global Christianity
researches the richness of
the changing faces of the
Church around the world, and
by it gives the seminary the
Team from the Center for the
Study of Global Christianity
constant reminder that ministry
preparation should increasingly reflect the diversity of
faces of the global Church.
The seminary faces many challenges in the days ahead as
well. Every serious national study of theological education
has warned of the tension between increasing student debt
and the rising costs of higher education. Gordon-Conwell
has taken this seriously, realizing how urgent is the task
to find yet greater scholarship funds for students seeking
rigorous theological training, and to be better stewards of
the resources God has generously given to us.
This will be of central
importance in the
years ahead. Journals of
philanthropy remind us
of the current massive
transfer of wealth
taking place from the
Students gather at Gordon-Conwell library builder generation to
in Jacksonville.
the boomer generation.
Our hope as a primary training ground for the next
generation of pastors is that passing the torch from one
generation to the next would include both the mission to
train faithful pastors and the resources to do it well.
In the future, the seminary will adapt to the changing
shape of pastoral vocations in the seminary curriculum.
In the post-war renaissance of the neo-evangelical
movement represented by Billy Graham and Harold John
Ockenga, evangelical seminaries like Gordon-Conwell had
to prove that their own rigor was substantial enough to
be considered for accreditation in the world of recognized
higher education. As a result, the curriculum leaned quite

heavily into the academic ethos of mainstream higher
education. By doing this, it quite successfully rebutted
the criticism of being fundamentally an anti-intellectual
movement.
Times have changed, however. The challenge is not to
gain recognition in the world of higher education, but
rather to gain credibility and usefulness in the vital, dayto-day work of churches. Innovative and important new
partnerships with churches will emerge in the future for
Gordon-Conwell as a reminder that the seminarys identity
is rooted in the life of the Church.
One consequence of this missional identity, in a world
where ministry vocations will continue to expand beyond
the traditional pastoral call, is that Gordon-Conwell will
expand its place for those seeking a theological vocation
not defined by pastoring. Vocations as diverse as ministry
in the marketplace, leading an NGO, managing a campus
ministry, serving in a non-ordained position in a church
and a thousand other ministry-related jobs will reshape
the seminarys curriculum into a more appropriate and
relevant seminary degree for ministry in the years ahead.
What is needed is not a replica of a thousand different
degrees, but a solid and innovative degree that can serve
multiple purposes, while maintaining our solid biblical and
theological commitments.
We will continue to work towards streamlining our degree
programs to help make them more efficient and cost
effective for students, while recognizing the students need
for a robust and rich theological vision to sustain them for
the rigors of ministry in a time like ours.
Another change well underway is the role of technology
in the life of the seminary. The prime example today is
the increasing prevalence of online education. GordonConwell has an already well-established, 20-year history
with distance education, and this will only continue and
deepen in the years ahead. Technology will democratize
theological education, making it more accessible to a wider
range of students. The great challenge for Gordon-Conwell
is the cost of doing online education well, without simply
adding to greater student debt in the years ahead. Students
must not leave seminary so burdened with debt that their
own sense of vocation is compromised as a result.
The classroom experience for many of our students will
be flipped in the days ahead. They will gather much of
their information via technology-aided resources prior to
coming to class, with the classroom then serving as the
venue for interpreting that material and applying it to real
world situations. Many classrooms will be structured on
Academic Dean Dr. Tim Laniak with students in Charlotte campus library
the assumption that students have already encountered

the material technologically via pre-recorded advanced
online access to lectures, PowerPoint presentations, and
other resources, thereby making class time more efficient
and effective.
Even as it moves to greater investment in technology and
the tools of online education, Gordon-Conwell in the future
will continue to privilege certain face-to-face encounters in
the mentoring of students by faculty. As the Church exists
primarily as a local community who live life together, so
the training of pastors will continue to take seriously the
importance of increased face-to-face mentoring and advising.
We have seen how significant this relational dimension
of ministry preparation is in the way the new Alumni
Hall and the Pierce Great Hall now facilitate so many
informal and intimate conversations among our students in
Hamilton. That has also proven true with our new facility
in Jacksonville. And in Charlotte, we are preparing to
celebrate the brand new Hall of Mission expansion, which
will provide enhanced resources for personal interactions
among students, and with our alumni in far off places
across the globe. We know our places deeply influence
how we relate to each other.
The future of Gordon-Conwell is bright, not because we are
better or smarter and more creative than others, but because
of Gods promises to remain faithful to His people. As we
hold fast to that great reality, our mission will always be
vital, and our calling will always be secure. We are grateful
to all of you who continuously hold us in your prayers. We
are ever in need of them.
Dr. Richard Lints is Vice President for Academic
Affairs, Dean of the Hamilton Campus and the
Andrew Mutch Distinguished Professor of Theology.
He joined the seminary faculty in 1986, and served
previously as Lecturer in Philosophical Theology at
Trinity College, Bristol, UK. He has also taught at
Yale Divinity School, the University of Notre Dame,
Westminster Theological Seminary and Reformed
Theological Seminary. An ordained minister in the Presbyterian
Church in America, Dr. Lints is an accomplished church planter
and the author of six books.
17
EDITORS NOTE: This is the second and final part of a series on

spiritual formation that began in the spring 2014 edition of Contact.
Caring
for the Soul
During
Seminary
Heather N. Korpi
articles
When students enter the Boston campus, they are

greeted by a new poster each week conveying a thought or question
to prompt spiritual reflection as they make their way to class.
At the Jacksonville campus, students enter to a display of
oversized comfy couches that invite them to settle in for
deep, encouraging conversations with their peers.
Though it looks quite different on each campus, spiritual
formation is an integral part of the Gordon-Conwell
experience. Various delivery methods are tailored to meet
the distinct needs of each campuss culture, student body
and ethos.
The present generation is embedded in such a complex
world, with so many demands, that just waking up in the
morning feels daunting, says Vice President for Academic
Affairs Dr. Richard Lints. In the face of a hyperactive,
hyper-connected culture, it is exceedingly difficult for
ministry leaders to carve out time for personal growth,
spiritual reflection and connection with Jesus.
The consequences of such inattention are frightening. The
numbers of clergy burnout in the first five years are really
stunning, notes Lints. Habits they form in those first five
fragile years are going to stay with them, for good or bad.
Spiritual formation is really critical for ministry. And
so, alongside its rigorous academics, Gordon-Conwell
is intentionally helping students form and implement
healthy spiritual habits to enrich their ministries.
At the Boston campus, spiritual formation is woven into
the culture and curriculum through two avenues: the
Integrative Seminar and the Pierce Center for Disciple-
Building. In 2013, we embarked on a campus-wide

initiative to pursue spiritual formation as a community
and as an explicit part of the curriculum, explains Dr. Teri
Elliott-Hart, who oversees spiritual formation efforts in
addition to teaching in her role as adjunct professor.
This initiative, the Integrative Seminar, is composed of five
semester-long modules that each student will complete
over the course of two and a half years. The sequence of
modulesPractices of the Word-Centered Life, Practices
of the Virtuous Life, Practices of the Compassionate Life,
Practices of the Spirit-Empowered Life, and Prayer and
Practices of the Sacramental Lifeis drawn from GordonConwells mission statement, and purposes to integrate
seminary learning with each students personal formation
as a disciple and a leader.
Each semester kicks off with an all-campus Opening Day
Convocation event where the theme is introduced and
students have an opportunity to connect and worship
with their professors and peers. For a commuter campus
filled with busy students often juggling seminary on top
of their full-time jobs and family obligations, this is a rare
and precious time.
The theme then carries through the semester by way of
14 weekly topics for class devotions (which inspire the
thoughts and questions that greet students as they enter
campus), readings and written reflection exercises. At the
completion of all five modules, a final integration paper
19
articles
articles
encourages students to look back on patterns of spiritual

learning or challenges throughout their experience.
We are coaching people to develop practices that
encourage encountering God in their work, in their
studies, in the grind of the city, says Elliott-Hart. People
think they will come to seminary and wont have time to
pay attention to their heart, but we value and care about
their personal spiritual life, not just grades and learning.
Boston Campus Pierce Center Coordinator Dr. Tom
Griffith agrees. You come to seminary and what happens
is that very quickly, studying becomes everything and you
We know everyones name, know where theyre coming

from and why theyre here. We have the stories of the
individuals readily in front of us at all times, and were
really able to serve and tailor our support for that
individual, says Reeves.
At Jacksonville, spiritual formation really is a campuswide effort, with every person playing an integral part.
The administrative assistant, Sonja, frequently prays with
students in her office. The librarian, Carol, takes note of
who is struggling with their coursework, and then takes
the time to assist them. The registrar, Jeanne, sees student
files not as paperwork, but as a collection of their life
Habits they form in those first five fragile years

are going to stay with them, for good or bad.
Spiritual formation is really critical for ministry.
dont talk about how youre doing in your spiritual life and
soul, he asserts. The Pierce Center is important because
while youre studying, you cannot give up your soul.
The Pierce Center offers a Fellows scholarship program,
in which students meet regularly with Griffith and other
Fellows, and lead weekly Soul Care groups for their
classmates. Through these interactions, Griffith says,
Students share and listen to the state of each others soul,
practice silence and pray for each other.
At the Jacksonville campus, a similar emphasis on student
connectedness and reciprocal encouragement has become
a key ingredient in their spiritual formation efforts. We
are an organic, relational campus, says Campus Dean Dr.
Ryan Reeves. The smallest of all four Gordon-Conwell
campuses, Jacksonville leverages its size as a unique
opportunity for deep and intentional community-building.
My door is almost always open, says Reeves. Students
pop in and out to talk about what theyre doing at seminary
or trials in ministry or their future. In fact, Reeves says,
the new Jacksonville campus was intentionally designed
to foster this open-door, community environment. The
library, which functions as a magnetic common area with
its inviting couches, is at the heart of the campus, with
faculty and staff offices wrapping around it.
20
experiences during seminarylike that dropped class due

to a ministry or home crisis. The staff meetings regularly
involve prayer for students. What we do day in and day
out does have a spiritual formation element at every touch
point, says Reeves.
As described by Dr. David Currie, Director of the Doctor
of Ministry Program and co-mentor in the Spiritual
Formation for Ministry Leaders track, Spiritual formation
is the lifelong, faith-filled process of the Holy Spirit
transforming the whole person into the likeness of Christ
to the glory of the Father as informed by the whole Word
of God, in relationship with the whole people of God to
fulfill the whole mission of God.
Gordon-Conwell remains committed to shepherding
students as they encounter God in and alongside their
studies, and preparing them to continue this process
during a lifetime of effective ministry.
Finding Silence in the City

Leaving her home country of Kenya, Vionnah Wanjiku
Githira arrived at Gordon-ConwellBoston to begin her
Master of Arts in Counseling in the fall of 2012. It was her
first time in the United States.
Breathing in new smells, tasting new foods and interacting
with new people was both exciting and overwhelming. The
first week, I really wanted to trade my tuition for a plane
ticket back home, she remembers.
But as the weeks went on, Vionnah began to settle into and
appreciate her new venture. The community she formed
through the Pierce Fellows Program helped, she says. At the
Boston campus, forming fellowship can be hard because class
is in the evenings and students work during the day, so you
have to be intentional.
As students juggle harried schedules and the breakneck pace
of the city, the Pierce Center steps in to help them slow down
and reflect. During the biweekly spiritual formation meetings
with other Fellows and Pierce Center Coordinator Dr. Tom
Griffith, Vionnah says, We would stay silent and he would
ask, Whats the state of your soul? And then he would ask
for an image to describe whats going on in your soul.
This reflective posture has begun to infuse Vionnahs

everyday thought process. I pay attention to whats going on
in my life on the inside, she says. Having Tom as a mentor
and being in the spiritual formation groups challenges you
to be better.
Vionnah hopes to apply what shes learning in seminary
academically and spirituallyto minister to children back
home in Kenya. HNK
A Ministry of Transparency
Patrick
Schlabs
may win the award
for most distance
traveled
as
a
commuter student.
Six to seven times
each semester, this
Master of Divinity
candidate and two
friends make the
four-hour
trek
from
Charleston,
South Carolina, to
Jacksonville, Florida,
for 24 hours of
intensive learning, community-building and soul-filling.
Using words like embraced, loved, cared for, humility,
honesty, sincerity, fun and warmth to describe the ethos
of Gordon-ConwellJacksonville, Patrick asserts that his
significant commute doesnt hold him back from engaging
fully in life and learning there.
I go down there in the midst of the craziness of life

balancing kids, family, work and school on top of it alland I
get to disengage for a short time to soak up knowledge, learn,
be immersed among people who are along the same journey,
he says. Patrick serves as the worship pastor at Saint Peters
Church, a Charleston church plant where he and his wife
were called in 2011, after serving at a charismatic church in
Texas for nearly a decade.
Patrick hopes to curb what he sees as a cultural notion of
the Churchs aura of perfection by infusing his own ministry
with the same spirit of transparency he has experienced at
Gordon-ConwellJacksonville. The way that the Jacksonville
campus holds these two things in tensionhigh academic
excellence with a sense of transparency and humilityhas
been one of the more spiritually formative things for me, he
says. It has created a really strong precedent for what I hope
to do in ministry. HNK
21
news
good books
good books
Written by David Wells, Ph.D.

Reviewed by Richard Schoenert
(M.Div. 69, D.Min. 89)
God in the Whirlwind

How an Ancient Rhythm Helps Busy People Enjoy God
n many of David Wells previous

volumes (e.g., No Place for Truth, God
in the Wasteland and The Courage to
Be Protestant), the author provided us
with a penetrating critique of Western
culture, particularly as it negatively
influences the contemporary church.
It could be argued that those works
offered no solution to the problem. This
latest book provides such a solution.
But if the reader is looking for a new
methodology, it wont be found here. Instead, like a biblical
prophet, Wells draws us back to the missing element in the
life of much of the contemporary church: the holy-love of
God, by which he means the fullness of Gods character as
revealed in Scripture.
I couldnt help but compare Dr. Wells suggested answer
to the theme of two Christian classics: Knowing God by J.I.
Packer and The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer. Readers of
these volumes may recall the quotation from C.H. Spurgeons
first sermon as the Pastor of New Park Street Chapel (he was
20 at the time) with which Packer begins his book:
The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest
philosophy, which can engage the attention of a child of God,
is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings and
the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father.
Or, one thinks of this statement by Tozer: The heaviest
obligation lying upon the Christian Church today is to purify
and elevate her concept of God until it is once more worthy
of Himand of her.
Like Tozer, David Wells is calling for the Church to purify
and elevate her concept of God, rather than presenting Him,
as does our culture, as our personal cheerleader, therapist and
friend. Wells is really advocating the same solution offered
by the biblical writers (e.g., Psalm 42:1-2, 63:1-2).
Let me emphasize some practical ways in which the book
impacted me. First, I find that the world, the devil and my
own sinful heart are always pulling me inward to seek
my own well-being through lifes pleasures and material
comforts. I appreciated the challenge of this book to find my
ultimate joy and satisfaction in the Lord, not myself.
22
Secondly, as a pastor, responsible for the content and form

of worship, I need the ongoing reminder of Wells chapter
on corporate worship where he stresses the importance
of being God-centered, not needs-driven: Needs-shaped
worship is invariably self-focused.Sermons, in this
atmosphere, are almost always aimed simply at providing
a lift, some inspiration. In contexts like these, we can be
in worship without being aware of the centrality, goodness,
and greatness of God, of his grace, and of Christs self-giving
in the incarnation and cross (p.190). I asked myself this
challenging question: Is the worship of our church about
giving God glory and being renewed by the gospel, or just
offering some inspiration, comfort and social connections? Is
our starting point the God who is outside of us and above us,
or what we think we need and want?
Imagine what our churches would be like if they became
known for worship, service and evangelism that flowed from
a passion to promote and reflect Gods holy-love! We would
be distinct from our culture, while offering a message of
reconciliation and redemption. And isnt this what Jesus had
in mind for the Church?
Dr. David Wells, Distinguished Senior Research
Professor, previously served as the Andrew
Mutch Distinguished Professor of Historical
and Systematic Theology. He taught at Trinity
Evangelical Divinity School and chaired its
division of systematic theology before joining
the Gordon-Conwell faculty in 1979. He has
written 20 books; is on the board of the Rafiki Foundation,
Inc., an organization that establishes orphanages and schools
in 10 African countries to raise and train orphans within a
Christian framework; and for many years was a member of
the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization.
Dr. Richard Schoenert served for 12 years
as Senior Pastor of North Shore Community
Baptist Church in Beverly Farms, Massachusetts,
and for 24 years as Senior Pastor of Calvary
Church, Roseville, Minnesota. In retirement,
he returned to the Beverly Farms church as
Intentional Interim Pastor during its pastoral
search. He and his wife, Valerie, desire to serve other
churches in similar ways, while also ministering to pastors
in Eastern Europe as extended short-term missionaries with
One Challenge International. Rich and Valerie have three adult
children and nine grandchildren.
EDITORS NOTE: Beyond Our Doors provides an opportunity for you to

meet our people: the faculty, staff and students who are serving the Lord
in myriad ministries while also working at the seminary. They inspire us
with their energy and commitment to advance the gospel. We hope you
will be inspired as well.
beyond our doors
Aaron Harrington
Campaign Director,
Advancement Office
ordon-Conwells
Comprehensive
Campaign
Director Aaron Harrington has a special affinity
for the Russian people.
For nearly 15 years, he has traveled 4,500-plus miles to
Russia to serve in a local Christian churchs summer
camp near Moscow. Located on a spacious property
previously owned by the Communist party, the camp
focuses on evangelism, leadership development and
team building for about 100 Russian youth.
In addition to providing common camp activities, a
team of experienced Russian professionals also leads
campers in group team-building exercises, then challenges them to explain what they learned and how they
would apply it to real life. The result is remarkable,
Aaron says. Not all campers are Christian, and some
do not resonate with the Gospel message. But by the
end of camp, everyone has been significantly changed,
if not yet by Christat least by the team building. And
thats usually enough to draw them back the next year.
Aaron grew up in Westford, Massachusetts, a town
northwest of Boston. His was a typical Christian upbringing with two Christian parents, one brother and a
cat. His passion for Russia took root during a mission
trip in 2000. Returning to the U.S., he knew he wanted to
go again. And that eventually led to the development of
Russian Evangelization and Leadership, a non-profit organization founded by his family and some of their longstanding Christian friends. Aaron serves on the board.
Its a small organization that is investing in Russian
youth, he says. Weve been a part of many encouraging
moments with a local church inside of Russia.
Becoming interested in church activities is not a small
feat for youth who have grown up where the effects of
reach
a 70-year Communist, atheist culture linger. There are challenges for young people to get involved in their own faith:
from their parents, from the government and just life circumstances. For many Russians when they consider church,
theres a lack of trust mixed with skepticism and apathy.
Throughout his college years at Gordon College, Aaron continued to return to Russia most summers. In early 2006, during a love at first sight meeting he met Brynn at Gordon,
and in late 2007 they married in Orange County, California.
As a couple, they spent their first year together in Los Angeles, then moved to Georgia to serve in youth ministry at Atlantas Peachtree Presbyterian Church. Brynn worked with
the high school students, and he worked with middle school
studentsan experience he describes as amazing.
During that time, he recalls, it became increasingly evident
that I liked to support the work of the church and Brynn
needed to work in the church. That led Aaron and Brynn to
the seminarys South Hamilton campus, where Brynn completed an M.Div. degree in 2014. She is now pursuing ordination in the Evangelical Covenant denomination. In 2012,
Brynn and Aaron Engler, another pastor from the Highrock
Church family in Arlington, Massachusetts, planted Highrock
North Shore in Salem, a few miles from the Hamilton campus.
The church has about 150 people who call it their home.
There are a few different church and para-church ministries
that Ive had the privilege of being involved in, Aaron comments. Those experiences have taught me that I believe the
local church is the hope of the world. It has been deeply satisfying to watch the church Brynn helped plant develop into
a community, to see lives changed and to see our neighbors
being challenged to critically consider the claims of Christ.
Aaron is also Vice President of the New England Seafarers
Mission. Founded in 1880, the organization reminds seafarers and everyone who walks through the doors that they
are beloved of God. They provide Christian witness and outreach, and practical assistance such as a trustworthy way to
contact and send home money for working seafarers who
visit the ports of New England.
Reflecting on the campaign, Aaron adapts a quote from author and theologian Frederick Buechner to describe his role
as Campaign Director at the seminary. My job, he explains,
is helping the Advancement team at Gordon-Conwell marry our contributors passions with the seminarys greatest
needs. The campaign has reached 85 percent of its goal.
As for the Russian camp in which Aaron continues to serve,
it now has a new group of campersall because of a providential encounter outside his office at Gordon-Conwell.
23
reach
reach
Advancement Updates
and Campaign Priorities
Kurt W. Drescher, Vice President of Advancement
Clockwise, 1 Aaron Harrington, right, with Russian campers; 2 Serving with Russian church leaders; 3 Hanging out with a friend at summer camp;
4 Aaron and his wife, Brynn.
Not all campers are Christian, and some do not resonate with the
Gospel message. But by the end of camp, everyone has been significantly
changed, if not yet by Christat least by the team building.
And thats usually enough to draw them back the next year.
Aaron and his nearby co-worker, Keith Doyle, had talked

a few times about their own trips to Russia. So when Larissa, a friend of Aarons from Moscow, had come to visit,
Aaron introduced her to Keith. Keith and Larissa soon
discovered they were mutual friends with a teambuilding
couple with whom Keith had worked 12 years earlier in an
orphanage south of Moscow.
Russia is a very large country, Aaron marvels, and Larissa is also one of our closest friends. To discover that Keith
and Larissa were close friends with the same people was
very heartening because the likelihood seems so slim.
Keith, who works in Information Technology Services at
the seminary, has since joined the Russian Evangelization
24
and Leadership board, and is now linking Russian orphans

with the camp ministry.
There are a lot of emotionally healthy individuals who
come to camp and they are surrounding each orphan. You
can see the orphans lives being transformed, from one
day to the next, Aaron says. The gospel is good news
and its very relational. But some people in Russia havent
seen or experienced that good news, and it leaves many
locals feeling desperate, hopeless, ashamed, not worthy
of love or belonging. Sometimes the personal stories of
our Russian friends sound bleak, but when the Gospel becomes personalhope, worthiness and love become their
defining identity. The Gospel message still stirs me; I cant
even imagine what it means to them. ABD
25
reach
news
2. Charlotte Building Project Completion Priority
a d va n c e m e n t n e w s
This project is nearing the finish line, and we look forward to the new Charlotte Building Dedication on May
15th. A major part of the project is the David M. Rogers
Hall of Missions, named for an esteemed alumnus who
received an M.A. in Christian Thought as a member of
Charlottes first graduating class in 1996.
dvancement articles usually work on a simple premise: Describe what resources have been raised and
what resources still are needed to reach our goals. And yet, as I have reflected on the past four years of
the seminarys Our Legacy, Our Future Comprehensive Campaign, I must begin with great thanksgiving
and praise for all that God has accomplished through His faithful people. We are so blessed to have hundreds of
friends who have generously and sacrificially provided resources year after year to the seminary.
David later served on the Charlotte Board of Advisors

and in 2001 was named to the seminarys Board of Trustees, ultimately as Vice Chair of this board. The influence
of his leadership is permanently etched in Gordon-Conwell and its DNA on all of our campuses, especially in
Charlotte. As we honor David through the naming of
our Hall of Missions, we honor God for the life, work
and vision he gave to our dear brother.
As we approach the final stages of the campaign, we are delighted to report that we have far less left to raise then
we have raised to date. We are not there yet, but we never want to lose sight of Gods provision for us in every
aspect of the campaign. We are in the final stretch, our goals are well within reach, and we are, more than ever,
determined, with Gods help, to finish this campaign strong.
As a reminder, Advancement efforts at Gordon-Conwell focus primarily on three areas: restricted giving for projects above and beyond our regular operations, planned giving through our Founders Society and annual giving
to operations through gifts to the seminarys Education Fund. These three pieces are all covered under the current
Our LegacyOur Future Comprehensive Campaign: Serving the Church with Excellence and Innovation.
campaign priorities above

and beyond regular operations
Our campaign has three sub-priorities under this category:
to revitalize and expand our campuses, reach more students,
and resource future leaders.
Revitalizing and expanding our campuses

We set out through our campaign to enrich the South Hamilton campus as a place for reflection, research and renewal.
We are seeking to accomplish these goals by improving the
functionality of apartments, dormitories, meeting spaces and
classrooms, and by renewing our buildings and grounds to
enhance student recruitment. This initiative turns some of
our older facilities into family-friendly, community-enhancing facilities in excellent condition and in harmony with our
extraordinary surroundings.
We have made significant progress on our revitalization priority by repurposing spaces on the Hamilton campus. Already the Gordon-Conwell community, area churches and
community organizations are utilizing our facilities. Projects
have included the renovation of Alumni Hall, which has produced first-class space for conferences, forums, campus and
community events, weddings and many other gatherings.
The Pierce Great Hall is now an inviting environment ideal
for learning, and for fostering fellowship, community, disciple-building and spiritual formation. This space was intentionally designed as a common area for our students to
gather together, meet informally with faculty or pray and
study together. It is now hard to imagine the South Hamilton
26
We thank our great God for providing the resources and

commitments to construct this new building. We are 90
percent of the way to reaching our goal, and it is our plan
in the coming months to raise an additional $500,000 to
complete the Charlotte building. If you are interested in
helping us reach this goal by investing in this project,
please contact Academic Dean Dr. Tim Laniak at tlaniak@gcts.edu or Neely Gaston at ngaston@gcts.edu.
campus without these two renovated spaces, as they are both

used on a regular basis.
Construction is nearing completion to expand facilities on
our Charlotte Campus. This project will accommodate Charlottes growing student population and help to support partnerships with churches and missions organizations. The goal
is to enable this campus to cultivate leaders of the Church
for every generation, culture and calling, and to encourage
Gods people to continue in vital, lifelong learning. The architectural motif for the expanding building is an abbeya
classic form of community space where learning, worship
and collaboration come together in a blend of library collections, interactive classrooms, indoor/outdoor courtyards,
walkways and trails, sacred art and spaces designed for intimate fellowship, reflection and collaboration.
As we move into the final stretch of the campaign, we have
two priorities to complete in the area of revitalizing and expanding our campuses:
1. Hamilton Campus Apartment Renovations Priority
Nearly 200 students call the Hamilton Campus their
home. Its more than an address, or where they sleep at
night. Home is often where they spend long hours writing papers and memorizing paradigms. Likewise, home
is more than a building or several rooms with a fridge
and a sinkits a place where memories are made. Many
of our students have left homes in Korea, China, South
Africa and all over the world to study in New England.
But some of the homes they find on-campus are livable
at best, and inhospitable at worst.
Most of our apartments on the South Hamilton campus

were built in the 1970s, and have not been renovated
since. Apartment interiors still resemble those where
students lived 40 years ago! One student remarked that
while she appreciated her time studying at Gordon-Conwell, she wished that the oven had been big enough to fit
a turkey for the Thanksgiving dinner.
We believe that these apartments should not only be livable, but also enjoyable. We desire for these apartments
to be an asset to draw new students, not a liability. Students and their families should look forward to hosting,
studying, eating and sleeping on campus. We want to
demonstrate hospitality for our international students
who have left their homes to be part of ours here at Gordon-Conwell.
You could leave a lasting reminder of generosity for generations of students at Gordon-Conwell. By giving to
renovate our apartments, students for years to come will
live in the expression of your generosity and be able to
call it home. As we seek to finish the Hamilton campus
revitalization projects, our plan is to renovate 115 apartments at a cost of $20,000 per apartment. An investment
of $20,000 could provide students high-quality, affordable and hospitable housing in a closely knit community.
If you and perhaps even your church are interested in
making a one-time or multi-year contribution on behalf
of our students and their families, please contact Aaron
Harrington, our Campaign Director, at aharrington@
gordonconwell.edu.
Reaching more students

Always seeking to anticipate the needs of a growing and
diverse Church, we have reached out to many current and
future church leaders who are seeking sound, transformative
ministerial training. Some of the exciting new initiatives that
we have implemented include:
-
The Early Career Pastoral Leadership Development

program, which identifies and nurtures high-potential,
early-career pastoral leaders during a critical time of
ministry development (after five to 10 years in ministry),
so that they can better engage with the world of their
churches and the social and ethical changes around them.
The Biblical Literacy Program for the Church, which addresses a need in many churches for basic biblical and
27
reach
reach
theological knowledge. We are committed to equipping
Church lay leaders with a biblical education that can be
shared with others to reverse the trend of biblical illiteracy.
-
Two partnerships with the Lilly Endowment and the Kern

Family Foundation that focus on student indebtedness, financial literacy, faith, work and economics.
We are grateful for these partnerships that enable us to

broaden our reach, strengthen our enrollment and provide
resources in areas that we might not have had if not for the
comprehensive campaign. As we plan for the final phase of
this campaign, we have one significant priority to complete
in the area of reaching more students.
4. Scholarships
Since the launch of the comprehensive campaign, we have
been able to create 13 new scholarships.
In an ever-changing world technologically, prospective

and current students, faculty and staff expect an appropriate technology infrastructure on our campuses and
in our classrooms. We earnestly desire to implement
these improvements so that students will be drawn to
our institution, and when they get here, will have a more
robust learning environment, and faculty and staff well
equipped to serve them. Improvements range from IT
Department upgrades in security and industry standard
tools to virtual campus and library investments.
Our technology improvement initiative has a goal of
$1.75 million. If you wish to invest in new technology for
training the future leaders of the Church, please contact
Robin Higle, Director of Stewardship and Foundation
Relations, at rhigle@gcts.edu.
Resourcing future leaders

It is not uncommon for students to enter seminary with debt
from their undergraduate educations. While in seminary,
many students incur further debt that hinders some from becoming missionaries, and saddles others with a significant
financial burden in pastoral ministry. We are always working
to establish scholarships that help students limit additional
educational debt, and ensure that prospective students without adequate financial means can enroll in Gordon-Conwell.
28
It is our goal to raise an additional $6.4 million in planned

gifts as we seek to complete the comprehensive campaign,
$5 million for scholarship endowment and $1.4 in building
endowment for the Charlotte campus. In some cases that
may simply mean documenting planned gifts, like bequests,
that may have already been planned for the seminary. We
would be honored to extend membership in the Founders Society to those seminary friends who have already
planned to leave a legacy gift to the seminary, or would be
interested in making a planned gift of any amount. Information on our Founders Society for planned giving can be
found on our website, or you could contact Bill Fisher, our
Director of Planned Giving at bfisher@gcts.edu.
As an ongoing priority, one that never seems to fully supply

the financial needs of our prospective and current students,
we are committed to raising an additional $1.6 million across
the entire institution for student scholarships. If you wish to
invest in scholarships for seminary students for whom tuition is simply too far out of reach, please contact me directly
at kdrescher@gcts.edu.
planned giving priorities

through the founders society
The vision of our founders, Dr. Billy Graham, Park Street
Church pastor Dr. Harold John Ockenga and philanthropist
J. Howard Pew was to establish an interdenominational,
evangelical seminary dedicated to equipping students for
all facets of gospel outreach. Our founders goal is still
our goal and we continue pursuing that vision, combining educational innovation with high priority on academics and faithfulness to the gospel. We seek to train students
to think theologically, engage globally and live biblically.
3. Technology Improvements Priority
5. Planned Gifts Priority
We are happy to share that approximately 90 percent of the

money we are striving to raise in planned gifts will go directly to endowing student scholarships. The remaining amount
will cover building endowments, which help reduce the burden on annual operations.
annual giving priorities through

the seminarys education fund
Our annual fund for operations is referred to as the Education
Fund. It is vital to the seminarys ability to equip the next generation of Church leaders to handle opportunities and challenges
presented to the Church. This fund supports the distinguished
faculty, programs and centers that draw students from around
the world to one of our four campuses and/or programs. It also
supports the operations required for an efficient, student-focused learning environment. The Education Fund enables us to:
-
Keep tuition within reach. Our longstanding goal is to

ensure that educational debt will not prevent called men
and women from entering ministry. Without the valuable
support of the seminarys Education Fund, many students
could not even afford to attend Gordon-Conwell.
Maintain an environment conducive to learning. Gifts to

the Education Fund help us provide the academic resources
crucial for graduate level education and facilities that enhance learning and contribute to vibrant community life.
As a seminary community, please know we are deeply grateful for the long-term investments that have already been
made. We have received many planned gift commitments
from friends of the seminary, and we are incredibly blessed
to be partnering with these sacrificial donors who are helping to secure the training of the next generation of church
leaders. Please know that your planned gift can truly make
the difference in the lives of future generations through this
type of legacy commitment.
Attract and retain gifted faculty and staff. The fund is critical to our success in recruiting and retaining gifted personnel through competitive salaries, resources for research
and continuing education.
Halfway through our fiscal year, we are holding strong in this

seminary fund. We had a very solid calendar year-end of just
over $1.64 million, which is 47 percent of our annual goal of $3.5
million. That represents an additional $224,000 over where we
landed this time last year, a 16 percent increase. We are cautiously optimistic and certainly encouraged by all the activity and
progress in our advancement efforts though calendar year-end.
Even though this has been one of the strongest years ever for the
seminarys Education Fund, we still have a long way to go and
believe opportunities exist for additional growth in this fund.
6. The Seminarys Education Fund Priority
It is our prayer and plan to raise the remaining $1.85 million for
the Education Fund by June 30, the end of this fiscal year, and
we could really use your help to reach this goal. There are many
ways you can partner with the seminary related specifically to
the campus or program that is closest to your heart.
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
The Boston Campus Education Fund

The Charlotte Campus Education Fund
The Hamilton Campus Education Fund
The Jacksonville Campus Education Fund
The Doctor of Ministry Education Fund
The Hispanic Ministries Education Fund
The Ockenga Institute Education Fund
Gordon-Conwell Institutional Education Fund
The Partnership Scholarship Program
If you would like to make a gift of any amount to the seminarys

Education Fund, please use the supplied envelope in this magazine, contact our Stewardship Office at stewardship@gcts.edu
or visit our website to give online at www.gordonconwell.edu/
giving. On our website you can select the option to give on a
monthly basis to the campus or program of your choosing. You
can play a significant role in serving the Church by partnering
with the seminary in this way.
Please know that we are deeply grateful to our partners for
every single gift we have received. We regularly thank God
for the tangible difference these gifts are making in the lives
of hundreds of students at the seminary. Our graduates are
serving in New England, the U.S. and all over the globe. If you
have made a gift to the seminary, you are part of this incredible
ministry. If you would like to give, you can be part of the wonderful work that God is doing in our midst. Most of all, we are
so thankful to our great God who goes before us and provides
for us in ways we never could have hoped for or even imagined.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we
ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,
to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all
generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV)
Kurt W. Drescher is Vice President of Advancement
at Gordon-Conwell. He is an active member of Grace
Chapel, Lexington, MA, where he serves on the Board
of Overseeing Elders. Kurt, a graduate of Gordon
College, lives with his wife, Sharon, and their two
daughters in Reading, MA.
29
alumni
alumni
alumni spotlight
A Vision to be a Community Reflecting

the Character of God to a Watching World
ordon-Conwell
graduates John
and Mary March
describe their New City
Covenant Church near
Minneapolis as like a
family.
The church that opened
on Easter Sunday 2010 is
brimming with children
who, they say, are very
enthusiastic about their
experience at New City
and truly want to be
The John and Mary March family
there. In fact, if parents
are inclined to stay home on Sunday mornings, their
children insist that they go.
Sunday worship is followed by a communal meal called
Soul Food. During the week, members study, learn and
grow together in a number of small groups, and once a
year attend an all-church retreat.
We are blessed, the Marches comment, with a loving
community seeking Christ together.
John and Mary planted New City with the support and
assistance of the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC)
denomination. It started with a small group meeting in
their home. As the group grew, the need for a larger space
took them to a local ice rink. The couple welcomed the
new environment that provided several rooms for worship
and Sunday School. However, these activities also had to
compete with the nearby sounds of local ice hockey teams
practicing on Sunday mornings.
Then, in what John terms Gods provision for us, an
independent church chose to bless us by transferring
ownership of their property into our name. Their goal
wasnt to make the most money on the sale, but to ensure
that a like-minded church continued to do ministry in
the space.
30
The church has grown well beyond the original group

that gathered in the Marches home. John is lead pastor,
and Mary serves as community pastor. They have four
children populating the Sunday School: three sons and a
daughter between the ages of nine and four months.
John grew up in Edina, Minnesota, the same community
where he now pastors. College-trained in computer
engineering, he was pursuing that career path until, in a
church in Chicago, he witnessed the power of Christian
community to facilitate personal transformation and
wanted to help others experience that as well. For the next
year he served as a missionary in Malawi, then enrolled at
Gordon-Conwell, earning an M.Div. degree in 2004.
Mary grew up in New Jersey, the daughter of churchplanting pastors. She earned B.A. degrees in history and
psychology from the University of Michigan, then received
both an M.Div. (2004) and a Masters in Counseling
in Marriage and Family Therapy (2007) from GordonConwell. She has previously served as a childrens pastor,
youth pastor and college pastor.
In 2001, John started working at Highrock Church in
Arlington, Massachusetts, and Mary joined the staff
following their marriage in 2003. Highrock has planted
a number of churches in the Greater Boston area, and it
was here that the two caught a vision for the local church.
That vision, John says, created a passion in us to return to
Minnesota and try to replicate here what we experienced
at Highrock.
John and Marys congregation skews toward younger individuals and couples, many of whom have never been
L to r: Mary March says New City is like a family.
part of a church, or have been unchurched for many years.

We have found, John explains, that most of the people
who come to New City and stick around are looking to experience Jesus in authentic relationship with one another.
They have moved past consuming spirituality. They want
something meaty that really means something in their
lives as they try to love their spouses, their kids, and pursue careers with meaning and significance. New City has
become a place where people can find that.
Gathering in church sanctuary
or curious disciples, Jesus spoke the truth and extended

grace. We want to be like that, too, because this is the sort
of community where Gods love is alive and our healing,
salvation and transformation become possible.
Church planting has been hard, John admits. But God is
good. Even though He often doesnt answer prayers and
intervene in our ministry the way we want, He is kind to
us and faithful to walk with us through every aspect of
They have moved past consuming spirituality. They want something

meaty that really means something in their lives as they try to love their
spouses, their kids, and pursue careers with meaning and significance.
We appreciated Gordon-Conwells commitment to
rigorous academic preparation, he adds. As I attempt to
discern how to be a pastor and lead a church in Edina,
Minnesota, I always turn to Gods Word first. The seminary
helped prepare me to study Scripture faithfully and apply
it relevantly in service to the local church.
Their vision for the church, as articulated in their
vision statement, is to be a community that reflects the
character of God to a watching world like a city set on
a hill. We believe Gods character was best revealed by
Jesus who was a person full of grace and truth. By truth
we mean honestyBeing a church of grace means that
honesty is met with acceptance, not judgment. This is
what Jesus was like. Whether he was interacting with rich
young rulers, the poor and sick on the margins of society,
this journey. In the end, we are seeing lives changed for

the glory of God, which makes all our effort worth it.
Church planting culture often goes through phases and
fads. What I learned at Gordon-Conwell and at Highrock
is that the gospel is at the heart of ministry. Church
planting isnt primarily about new techniques or cutting
edge strategies. Its about doing the hard work of living
out the gospel in my own life and then sharing what I
learn with others. Church planting has provided the
context where I can do this with people who desperately
need Christ. ABD
For more about New City Covenant Church, visit
http://newcitycov.org/
31
alumni
alumni
alumni connect
Achaeological Study Tour
Thanks for Giving event
Rhonda Gibson (MAR 10), Director of Alumni Services
The Alumni Services offices hosted an Archaeological Study Tour to Israel and Jordan January 5-18, 2015.
Alumni and friends from across the U.S. and as far away
as Hong Kong came together for unforgettable learning
experiences with Gordon-Conwells Dr. Thomas Petter,
Professor of Old Testament, and Dr. Christine Palmer, Adjunct Professor of Old Testament, as well as our Israeli
and Jordanian tour guides. Our preparation was enhanced
by regular blogs written prior to travel by Dr. Petter, who
gave great insight into the geography and culture behind
the biblical texts associated with places we visited.
alumni impact
Thanks for Giving

Students, faculty and staff gathered around campus in November for our first Thanks for Giving event. The community came together to write notes of gratitude as a way
to express appreciation for alumni giving in the last year.
Each year, hundreds of Gordon-Conwell alumni donate to
the Education Fund. You are our partners in the work God
calls us to do, and alumni giving of any amount makes
an impact. It provides campus resources and scholarship
funding that enable the seminary to equip men and women to share the Gospel and train others to do the same.
Thanks for giving to Gordon-Conwell!
Participants on alumni archaeological study tour in Israel

and Jordan
In addition to exceptional teaching, our adventures ranged

from multiple rainbow sightings in northern Israel to a
Sabbath snow day at a hotel in Petra, Jordan, and a visit
with Gordon-Conwell alumnus Jack Sara (D.Min. 13),
President at Bethlehem Bible College. The journey was a
striking reminder of Gods faithfulness and an incredible
privilege to be given visual reminders from the land where
so many of His promises were fulfilled.
Note: You can read Dr. Petters blog and access his recommended reading list at: http://pettersposts.blogspot.com/
Students, faculty and staff gather for thank-you note writing
Tell Us What You Think

Does your graduation year end in "5" or "0"? If it does, this is your year! The seminary has implemented an alumni survey model to target a different segment of its graduates each year. As a result, each graduate will receive a request for
general feedback once every five years. Watch your email in June for a link to the online survey.
32
alumni notes
In Memoriam
Ifeyinwa Amalu (08 MACO; 12 MAR) died
in a car accident en route to Texas. Please
keep Ifeys parents and extended family in
your prayers as they mourn the loss of their
precious daughter.
The Rev. Dr. Stephen A. Hayner (73
Th.M.) died of pancreatic cancer January
31, 2015, in Decatur, GA. He had recently
retired as president of Columbia Theological
Seminary. He had also served as President
of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
(USA), University Pastor at University
Presbyterian Church, Seattle, WA, Vice
President of Student Affairs atSeattle Pacific
University, Senior Associate Pastor at High
Point Church and Associate Pastor at the
Fountain of Life Family Ministry Center,
both in Madison, WI. He is survived by his
wife, Sharol, three grown children and five
grandchildren.
Rev. Stanley Monroe Horton (44 M.Div.)
died July 12, 2014, at Maranatha Village in
Springfield, MO. He had been recognized
as the premier Pentecostal theologian, was
a scholar and prolific writer who continued
to travel the world until age 92, visiting
25 countries as a lecturer. Believing that
following Christ means being a lifelong
disciple, he continued to serve the Church
well into his nineties: on the Assemblies of
God Commission on Doctrinal Purity, as
an adviser for AGTS doctoral participants
and as an original board member of Israels
Redemption, a role he fulfilled to the end of
his life.
1960s
Reg Dunlap (60 B.Div.) turned 80 this
year, and is still serving energetically and
speaking throughout the country. The
Revival and Bible Conference Ministry of
which Reg is a part in Florida saw many
decisions for God in the spring, and in May
he taught a seminar at the Ministry on the
Holy Spirit conference in Leesburg, FL. In
June, he spoke at Union Chapel in Hampton,
NH, and at conferences in Rumford and
Eliot, ME, in September. Reg covets your
prayers for his Florida speaking schedule
through May 2015.
1970s
John Babson (75 M.Div.) started an
organization in the fall of 2013 in New
Hampshire called The Lakes Chaplaincy. The
mission statement is to provide emotional
and spiritual support to the elderly, disabled,
ill, homeless and broken, their families and
the staff who serve them. There are two
purposes: to share the love and hope of
Christ and to support regional pastors to
engage these largely non-churched people
groups.
Paul Buttrey (74 M.Div.) and his wife just
returned to California for retirement after
34 years of missionary service in Taiwan
with OMF International. During those years
Paul served as assistant to the field director,
Field Director, Field Finance Manager
and for the last 16 years as a teacher in a
Taiwan seminary. He is pleased to have
seen the Sharpening Your Interpersonal
Skills workshop materials translated into
Chinese and local facilitators trained for
the Taiwan church. Paul doesnt know what
retirement will look like yet, but he is
looking forward to many new adventures in
the Lords service.
Jack Good (70 MRE) was the main speaker
and recipient of an Honorary Doctor of
Humane Letter at Endicott Colleges annual
Convocation September 2. He has served
as executive vice president of Beverly
National Bank for six years, serves on a
number of boards and is an active volunteer
on Bostons North Shore. Jack also has
been honored as one of the Top 100 North
Shore Leaders by the Salem News, and as an
American Red Cross Enduring Hero, among
many other awards.
Ed Smyth (72 MRE) recently completed
30 years on the faculty of Seattle Pacific
University as Professor of Educational
Ministry and Chair of the Department of
Ministry and Practical Theology. While
serving at SPU, Ed has led 27 discipleship
groups of college men, which has brought
him great joy, and he is looking forward to
the upcoming academic year at SPU. Ed and
his wife, Ellen, celebrated their 45th wedding
anniversary last September. They have four
grown children and five grandchildren.
1980s
Edwin Aponte (82 MATS) became the
Dean of Palmer Theological Seminary in
July 2014. Remarks from Palmer Seminary
characterized Dr. Aponte as a visionary

leader well suited to lead Palmers whole
gospel for the whole world mission into the
21st century. He was formerly Vice President
and Dean of the Faculty at Christian
Theological Seminary in Indianapolis,
Indiana.
Ted Brandt (88 M.Div.) recently completed
a term as Moderator of the Presbytery
of Santa Barbara of the PC(USA). He also
has served as pastor of First Presbyterian
Church of Oxnard, CA, since 2006, following
seven years on the faculty of the Theological
College of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo.
Barbara Gilliam (86 MRE) was awarded a
Doctor of Ministry degree from Assemblies
of God Theological Seminary in May 2014.
Barbara was among 25 to receive a Doctor
of Ministry degree from AGTS.
Jack Haberer (82 M.Div.) has left his
nine-year post as Editor-Publisher of The
Presbyterian Outlook to become Pastor
(head-of-staff) for Vanderbilt Presbyterian
Church PC(USA)) in Naples, FL. He is the
author of GodViews: The Convictions That
Drive Us and Divide Us and of Living the
Presence of the Spirit (both Geneva Press).
Jeffrey Wildrick (82 M.Div.; 95 D.Min.)
recently was elected Moderator of the
Presbytery of the Northeast in the Covenant
Order of Evangelical Presbyterians (ECO).
He continues as pastor of First Presbyterian
Church of Dunellen, NJ, and transferred
with that church to this new denomination
in 2012.
1990s
John Lee (94 M.Div.) was appointed
interim Academic Dean at the John Leland
Center for Theological Studies in Virginia.
John has taught as an adjunct professor
and Teaching Fellow at Leland since 2005,
in addition to serving as Pastor of the Rock
Presbyterian Church in Rockville, MD.
Rich Noble (95 M.Div.; 04 D.Min.) coauthored On Mission, a missions mobilization
resource that was released in 2013.
Jeff Patterson (95 D.Min.) recently
was appointed Yadkin Valley District
Superintendent in the United Methodist
Churchs
Western
North
Carolina
Conference.
33
reflections
alumni
2000s
Jared Alcntara (04 M.Div.) graduated
with a Doctor of Philosophy degree at
Princeton Theological Seminary in May
2014. The Doctor of Philosophy is the highest
academic degree earned in theological
study.
Chris Castaldo (02 M.Div.) is now
Lead Pastor at New Covenant Church in
Naperville, IL.
Rt. Rev. Foley Beach (02 D.Min.) was
elected the new Archbishop of the Anglican
Church in North America. He succeeded
the Most Rev. Robert Duncan, the first
archbishop for the Anglican Church in
North America.
Jeanne DeFazio (04 MAR) co-edited
Creative Ways to Build Christian Community,
which was recently featured on the program
Beauty for Ashes aired on Time Warner.
Peter Denio (08 MANT), Dr. Frew Tamrat
(02 MANT), and Dr. Richard Stuebing
(69 M.Div.; 94 DMin) are teaching at
Evangelical Theological College in Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia.
Dr. Robert Harp (13 D.Min.) is offering a
free course called Faith at Work through
ChristianCourses.com (an affiliate of
RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI).
Harp is President and Executive Editor
ofGlobalHotelNetwork.com.
Deacon Steve Kramer (06 D.Min.) has been
hired as the Director of Homiletics at Sacred
Heart Seminary and School of Theology in
Hales Corners, WI, the largest seminary
in the U.S. specializing in the formation of
men of all ages for priesthood in the Roman
Catholic Church.The school has more than
100 seminarians, and 70-80 students in ESL
and MA programs. In addition to teaching
homiletics courses, Deacon Kramer has
been commissioned to create a dynamic and
systematic preaching program to provide
seminarians multiple opportunities to hone
their preaching skills.
Ryan Lokkesmoe (08 MANT) just
published his first book, Blurry: Bringing
Clarity to the Bible. It is a brief, innovative
introduction to the Bible in plain language.
Ryan serves as the Small Groups Pastor
at Parkway Fellowship in Katy, TX. He is
also in the dissertation phase of a Ph.D. in
Biblical Studies, and will graduate in 2015
from the University of Denver.
34
Peter Mead (08 D.Min.) authored a book

titledPleased to Dwell: A BiblicalIntroduction
to the Incarnation, released in November
2014. Pleased to Dwell is an energetic
biblical introduction to Christmas, to the
Bible, and to God Himself. Peter is the
director of Cor Deo and a pastor at Trinity
Chippenham, a church plant in southern
England. He is also the Bible Preachers
Network leader at the European Leadership
Forum. He blogs at BiblicalPreaching.net
and is featured regularly on SermonCentral.
com and ChurchLeader.com. Peter is married
to Melanie and they have five children.To
listen to Peters interview on Pleased to
Dwell, visit Revival Media.
Matt Pooley (09 M.Div.), his wife, Diana,
and 3-year-old big brother, Nathan,
welcomed Nayla Hannah into the world
October 12, 2013. They still reside in
Albuquerque, where Matt is an associate
pastor at Sandia Presbyterian PC(USA)
and Diana is busy with ministry, knitting,
gardening and caring for their family.
Cristina Richie (09 M.Div.) was
interviewed by the Chicago Tribune about
her bioethical research on voluntary
sterilization for childfree women, and by
BMJ Talk Medicine about her article, What
Would An Environmentally Sustainable
Reproductive Technology Industry Look
Like? in the Journal of Medical Ethics. An
adjunct professor of Health Care Ethics
at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy
and Health Science and a Ph.D. student in
theology at Boston College, Christina has
earned a Master of Theology, taught as a
professor of Bioethics at Tufts University
and published over a dozen peer-reviewed
articles since graduating from GordonConwell. She is married to Jason Adams.
Watch for more details

regarding upcoming
Alumni Connect events:
June 2015
PCA General Assembly
(Chattanooga, TN)
WNCC-UMC Conference
(Lake Junaluska, NC)
Give Thanks, Get Life
EPC Conference
(Orlando, FL)
Luke 17:11-19
Matthew D. Kim
July 2015
CCCC Family Conference
(Rochester, NY)
October 2015
Alumni Reunion
(Hamilton, MA)
November 2015
ETS/SBL Annual Meetings
(Atlanta, GA)
For alumni resources, a complete list of
events and to connect with other alumni, visit the Alumni Services website at:
http://my.gordonconwell.edu/alumni
s a physician, Luke observed Jesus life and

ministry through a unique lens. Lukes gospel
accentuates how Jesus loves and cares for the
least of these. In this particular text, he records
the moment where Jesus purposefully pays a visit to 10
social outcasts, specifically a group of lepers. In the original
language, scholars inform us that leprosy denotes having
scale-like skin. Sufferers from leprosy were considered
impure and any contact with lepers would render one
unclean as well (see Leviticus 13).
In spite of this, Jesus still treks on the dirt path less traveled
(between Samaria and Galilee) to meet them. The lepers
holler desperately in His direction saying, Jesus, Master,
have compassion on us! The word here for Master
can also be translated doctor. So a different translation
might be: Jesus, doctor, have mercy on us! What they
were seeking in Jesus was namely physical and social
restoration.
We fast forward to verse 14 where it reads: And as they
went they were cleansed. While these lepers started
walking back to the village to be evaluated by the priests (as
Jesus instructs them to do in accordance with Old Testament
law), they were cured. Jesus, the Great Physician, shows
compassion on them and grants their wish.
Meghan Smith (09 MAME) and Derrick

Smith (09 M.Div.) moved to South Carolina
after graduating from Gordon-Conwell to
plant a multiethnic church. Their church was
recently featured in the film The Stranger by
the Evangelical Immigration Table. The film,
released on June 4, 2014, discusses Gods call
to welcome the stranger (Mt. 25:31-46).
Virginia Viola (02 M.Div.) released a
book titled Walking Through Breast Cancer:
Medically, Practically and Emotionally. In
her book, Virginia provides insights from
her personal journey through breast cancer,
a world full of uncertainty and questions.
opening the word
Gordon-Conwell T-shirts and other

products available at the online store:
www.gordonconwellstore.com
Yet, more than physical healing, these lepers were in need

of spiritual healing. They yearned for physical regeneration
and social reinstatement in the community. What they
truly needed, however, was spiritual regeneration and
faith in Jesus to make their lives complete.
As the story unfolds, one astute and appreciative leper
returns to thank Jesus. He was a Samaritan, someone
the Jews despised. In verse 19, Jesus responds to this
Samaritan leper, Stand up and go; your faith has made
you well. Didnt Jesus just heal the 10 lepers? Why does
Jesus now bring up the issue of faith? By giving thanks,
the Samaritan leper opened his heart to receive the Savior.
The text says that he fell on his face at His feet, giving
thanks to Him. He acknowledges that Jesus, the master,
doctor, and now Lord of his life had not only performed
a bodily miracle, but more crucially healed him from his
spiritual malady called sin.
We live in a thankless culture. We are not always swift
to say thank you. We tend to take things for granted
perhaps even our salvation. What this true account of the
Samaritan leper reveals is that when we give thanks to
Jesus, He makes our faith and life complete. Our human
minds gravitate toward what is most pressing, our
physical and earthly needs. But Jesus cares ultimately
about our eternal status with Him. By giving thanks and
praising Jesus, the Samaritan leper receives the greatest
form of healing of all: salvation! How are we doing in
giving thanks and praise to God? Like this Samaritan
leper, lets take time daily to give thanks to Jesus for who
He is and what Hes done, because He alone makes our
faith and life complete.
Dr. Matthew Kim (M.Div. 02) served as an adjunct
professor, as the Burnett H. and Dorothy F. Sams
Visiting Professor at the Hamilton campus and as
a D.Min. mentor before joining the Gordon-Conwell
faculty in 2012 as Assistant Professor of Preaching
and Ministry. He has also served as Senior Pastor
of Logos Central Chapel in Denver, Colorado, as an
adjunct professor at Denver Seminary and Youth
Pastor at Korean Church of Boston in Brookline, Massachusetts.
He is the author of 7 Lessons for New Pastors: Your First Year in
Ministry and Preaching to Second Generation Korean Americans:
Towards a Possible Selves Contextual Homiletic.
35
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The Wonders He Has Done (Spring 2015)

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contact

You may have noticed that contact magazine is

Spring 15 | Vol. 43 No. 1 | Our Legacy

Reflections from the President

Director of Communications and Marketing

We will not hide them from their

e have a rich legacy at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

on the front lines: A Modern-Day

A 37-Year Study in History

The Lively Ediface of the Church

beyond our doors: Aaron Harrington

alumni spotlight: John and Mary March

opening the word: Give Thanks, Get Life

array of ministries: pastoral, missions, teaching, para-church, counseling

dedicated staff that facilitates the seminary's work.

Dennis P. Hollinger, Ph.D.

on the front lines

contact | spring 2015

spring 2015 | contact

ollis experience in Thailand occurred during her

gerous situation. But at the same time, there is a connection

come modern-day abolitionists fighting slavery, and to

Hollis says recidivism is fairly high for individuals coming

Hollis says some will require additional attention at a

Most are girls, she adds, but depending on the location,

FACTS ABOUT SEX TRAFFICKING

contact | spring 2015

ccording to the third-year counseling student, sex

So many of the women I have talked to, none of them

Then they start asking for favors, such as I just bought

And just looking at what God has done in my own life

These techniques, Hollis says, create a very strong bond

Dr. Garth Rosell turns to an oft quoted declaration from

contact | spring 2015

spring 2015 | contact

On August 1, 2015, he will retire from the seminary to

contact | spring 2015

Dr. Rosell adds that the vision of leaders who established

Church. And I would add the need to recover some of

Garth likewise urges memorization of hymns, which he

must confess that my first exposure to church history was not

the Church through this vista helps us to know where we

There is certainly nothing wrong with the church

Church History tells us where we have

he Old Testament is Gods story of choosing a

contact | spring 2015

Church History gives correction

n his introduction to Athanasius On the Incarnation,

Seeing the long stretch of history that has gone before

Church History gives perspective

ot long ago Dan Brown wrote a best-seller by the

Church History gives encouragement in the long

hurch history gives perspective on whatever it is

contact | spring 2015

ordon-Conwell celebrated the 125th anniversary of the

It was a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the many

From the beginning it was a mission to train men and

contact | spring 2015

Since its merger in 1969, Gordon-Conwell has become a

higher education. As a result, the curriculum leaned quite

the assumption that students have already encountered

spring 2015 | contact

EDITORS NOTE: This is the second and final part of a series on

When students enter the Boston campus, they are