From Presbyterian News Service:

The Presbyterian Publishing Corporation (PPC) today announced that Anna Kendig has been selected as the Robert W. Bohl Racial Ethnic Intern. Ms. Kendig was selected from a pool of candidates that emerged from a search process that began in early March. Ms. Kendig graduated from McCormick Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity degree in May and will work with PPC in the coming weeks learning various aspects of religious publishing.

Marc Lewis, PPC President and Publisher, says, “We are proud of the Robert W. Bohl Racial Ethnic Internship and believe the internship provides racial ethnic seminary students and recent graduates with an opportunity to serve the church in a unique manner. We were impressed with the individuals who showed interest in the internship and believe that service to the church through work at PPC can be an excellent expression of an individual’s ministry. We are excited about Anna’s interest in publishing, her keen insights about worship and cultural communities, and her demonstrated commitment to the life and mission of the PC(USA).”

The ten-week internship was established in 1999 in honor of the Reverend Robert W. Bohl, Moderator of the 206th General Assembly in 1994 and former chair of the PPC Board of Directors. Bohl is a retired pastor who served several churches during his ministry, including Village Presbyterian Church in Prairie Village, Kansas. He served the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) through his leadership on the boards of numerous organizations affiliated with the denomination.

Upon hearing news that PPC had selected an intern for 2009, Bohl commented, “One of the things that I am most proud of is my time serving on the Board of Directors of the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. It is my belief that the best way we attract bright people to consider religious publishing is to introduce them to hands-on experience in the world of publishing. The internship program does exactly that, and it pleases me that PPC has selected Anna Kendig as the intern for this summer.”

Ms. Kendig will spend much of her time working in the marketing and editorial departments of PPC. The denominational publisher will publish eighty titles by the end of the year and has recently launched The Presbyterian Leader, a new online resource center for all leaders of PC(USA) congregations.

Ms. Kendig says, “I am extremely pleased to be interning with PPC this summer. As a multiracial seminary graduate, I hope to be able to supply a unique perspective while at PPC; as someone new to the publishing world, I hope to learn much. Having benefited greatly from the publications of Westminster John Knox Press and The Thoughtful Christian, I am looking forward to using my training in theology, ministry and global society to contribute to the further blessing of the church through PPC’s important work.”

A Magna Cum Laude graduate from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, Ms. Kendig earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Spanish. While studying at St. Olaf College, she received the Spohn Memorial Award for Excellence from the English Department and became a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. Ms. Kendig served as the pastoral intern at Second Presbyterian Church in Chicago, Illinois, where she preached, lead worship, and assisted in adult education. In addition, she was the worship assistant for special worship at McCormick Theological Seminary, planning and assembling worship teams. Prior to attending McCormick Theological Seminary, Ms. Kendig was a summer intern with Hispanic and Youth Ministries at First Presbyterian Church in Claremont, Minnesota, and a youth ministry coordinator at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis.

The Presbyterian Publishing Corporation is the official denominational publisher of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). It is a completely self-sustaining agency of the General Assembly. With a publishing heritage that dates back more than 170 years, PPC publishes under four imprints: Westminster John Knox Press, Geneva Press, The Thoughtful Christian, and The Presbyterian Leader. It publishes approximately 80 books each year, produces four issues each of These Days and Theology Today, and maintains a backlist of more than 1,700 titles that are sold throughout the world. These works seek to glorify God by contributing to the spiritual and intellectual vitality of Christ’s church. To that end, PPC publishes resources that advance religious scholarship, stimulate conversation about moral values and inspire faithful living.

A Service of Thanksgiving for the Life of Kosuke Koyama will be held next Friday, April 3, at 10:00 AM in the Bigelow Chapel of United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities Area.  Dr. Koyama died Wednesday morning at the home of his son, Mark, in Massachusetts.   John D. Rockefeller Professor Emeritus of World Christianity at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, Dr. Koyama and his wife Lois retired to Minneapolis in 1996 following his retirement.  Widely recognized as one of Asia’s three most influential Christian theologians, his books Water Buffalo Theology, Three-Mile-an-Hour God, and Mount Fuji and Mount Sinai, sing with striking metaphors. Here in the Twin Cities Dr. Koyama lectured at UTS and Luther Seminary and served as theologian-in-residence at Westminster and House of Hope.  Baptized at the age of 15 during the American bombing raids on Tokyo, his pastor gave him this charge: “Kosuke, you are a disciple of Jesus Christ.  You must love your enemies, even the Americans.”  His life bore witness to that charge.  Three Haiku poems written by Peggy Shriver on the occasion of Kosuke’s retired from his chair at Union captures the beauty of this humble man:

Smiling East-West spirit,
 You move with sun, and Son,
 Shining peace on us.

Like a child piling blocks
Your words construct new dreams,
Towering poet.

Gentle and strong, as trees
Bend gracefully in wind,
You stand-and I bow.

-submitted by Gordon Stewart
Gordon Stewart is the pastor of Shepherd of the Hill Presbyterian Church in Chaska. The New York Times ran an obituary today chronicling Koyama’s life today.  You can read it by going here.

An Opportunity . . .

Helping Women Seminarians

“Each friend represents a world within us, a world not born until they arrive;

  and it is only by our meeting that this new world is born.”    (Anais Nin)

April 25 is Blue Bowl time.  In the 1950’s, Lillias Anna Joy had a thought, did something about it, and a new world was born for each of us.  Lillias wanted to thank God in a special way, and so she began dropping coins into a Blue Vase on her kitchen counter.  She brought her vase to what was then called the “Prebyterial” so that each woman there could also share her own joys, with her own coins.  And that first thought is still bearing fruit. 

Each Spring our Blue Bowl contributions go to the Barbara Tilton Memorial Scholarship fund.  These scholarships encourage and support women seminarians from our Presbytery, women for whom new worlds are opening through their seminary studies, women who will help to open new worlds to others through their ministries in the years to come. 

We now have our chance to set aside our own “gifts of joy.”  We might wish to do this to remember a friend-who entered and enriched our world-by making a gift to honor her.  Gifts may be sent at any time to:

 Barbara Tilton Memorial Scholarship
Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area
122 West Franklin Avenue, Suite 508
Minneapolis, MN 55404

Last year at the Spring Gathering we heard stories from some of the women who have received Barbara Tilton Scholarships, and Sarah Brouwer led our worship.  This year Alanna Tyler, a seminarian at Luther, will join us for worship.  During the service, each of us will have the opportunity to place our gift in the Blue Bowl . . . and good things will issue forth. 

You can help keep new worlds opening for and through these women-remembering the present joys and past memories of your good friends-by mailing a gift to the Presbytery office or by placing it in the Blue Bowl at the Spring Gathering on April 25.

(The Scholarship Committee includes The Rev. Liz Heller, The Rev. Anita Cummings, The Rev. Julia Carlson, Joan Nichols, and Marilyn Youel.)

Linda Valentine, the Executive Director of the General Assembly Council, has a monthly email that details the work of the GAC. In this issue, Jeff Foels, an inquirer in the PTCA is featured. Below is the story.

Louisville, Ky., March 18, 2009 – A self-professed “polity geek” with an inquiring mind for all things Presbyterian, Jeff Foels had no General Assembly level experience in his portfolio while fellow seminarian, Lauren Simmons, a former Young Adult Volunteer (YAV), already had greater than average exposure to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s inner workings.
 
Both Foels and Simmons – two of the seventeen students from Presbyterian-related seminaries who attended the Leaders in the Connectional Church program held here from January 12-16 – found that their horizons were broadened and their assumptions challenged about the national offices as they spent part of their January term studying a wide range of PC(USA) program areas under the supervision of experienced denominational leaders.
 
“Like many others, I shared the perception that there’s a lot of bureaucracy here,” said Foels, a native of Stillwater, Minn., and a second-year student at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago.  “Instead I was excited and heartened to see the human character and quality of the Presbyterian Center.  I came away with a strong sense that this was a ministry – a call – for all of the employees.” 
 
The annual, weeklong, for-credit course – a cooperative effort of the Committee on Theological Education, the General Assembly Council (GAC), the Office of the General Assembly (OGA) and Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary – is designed not only to give students an intensive introduction to the PC(USA)’s mission and ministry but also to bring to life the reality of the connectional church.
 
Foels, who was assigned to the per capita work group, confessed to having had limited general knowledge prior to the program of how the per capita apportionment functions in the life of the church.  “I always thought, ‘This is just for administration,’” Foels said, “but being here I realized that administration is essential to the work of the GAC and the OGA, which provide for the ministries that we do best and most uniquely as a denomination.”   An inquirer under care of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area, Foels is currently planning to hold a brown bag lunch at McCormick in order to share his experiences with the wider seminary community.
 
Simmons, a first-year student at Columbia Theological Seminary and an inquirer under care of Foothills Presbytery in South Carolina, was drawn to the program in part because of her previous experience at the national level.  “Having served as a YAV, I felt in awe of how well that whole process worked,” said Simmons.  “It made me want to know more about how the whole denomination functions and to explore in depth what the other offices do.  To be in community with other seminary students was also really exciting.”
 
The former elementary school teacher was thrilled to have been included – through the Office of Theology and Worship – in the process of developing a new educational resource as the PC(USA) continues to explore ways that the catechumenate, an ancient model of baptismal preparation from the early centuries of the church, might be a promising model today for incorporating adult Christians into the life of the church.
 
“Working with the catechumenate study group, I had not an epiphany but a thanksgiving that my gifts as an educator would not be lost but incorporated and used in ministry,” Simmons said.  “I loved writing curriculum as a teacher and I’m excited about bringing that part of me to the church.”
 
The Rev. Lee Hinson-Hasty, the General Assembly Council’s coordinator for theological education, who leads the course with the Rev. Garnett Foster of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, said that the experience was mutually rewarding.  “Staff who participated were enriched as much as or more than the students,” he said.
 
Simmons agreed that the connectional church “became more alive for all of us,” giving both the students and their denominational “teachers” a better sense of how all can work together.
 
“The national office is capable of carrying out what individual churches and members can’t do on their own,” she said.  “We all have a stake in it.  It’s not this separate thing, but the thing that unites all of us.”