When David Gambrell heard he was to be honored by Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary as a distinguished alumni on Jan. 31, he quipped, “I guess I’m going to have to get a haircut.”
As a mission co-worker and cultural worker in the Philippines, sometimes I am utterly exhausted. There are periods that require quite a bit of travel related to meetings and theater-based trainings for children, youth, church workers, teachers, women and others. When I am in Dumaguete, days sometimes stretch into late evenings for rehearsals with our youth theater group or with Silliman University Divinity School students preparing for the annual church workers convocation. So a few years ago, when asked by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) program if my husband, Cobbie, and I would consider reopening the Philippines YAV service site, we pondered, could we? Should we? Could we say no?
When David Gambrell found out he was to be honored by Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary as a distinguished alum on January 31, he quipped, “I guess I’m going to have to get a haircut.” Notoriously self-effacing, the Presbyterian Mission Agency worship associate is one of two alumni who will receive the annual award this year, given to those who have distinguished themselves by their service to the church or seminary.
El Rev. Dr. Benjamín F. Gutiérrez, quien sirvió a la Iglesia Presbiteriana como compañero de misión, junto con su esposa, Ernestina “Tina”, en Ecuador; ejerciendo como secretario asociado para el diseño de la misión, como enlace con América Latina y el Caribe, y como coordinador de área para Sudamérica, falleció el 2 de noviembre en Texas a los 87 años.
The Rev. Dr. Benjamin F. Gutiérrez, who served the Presbyterian Church as a mission co-worker, along with his wife, Ernestina “Tina,” in Ecuador; as joint field secretary, associate for mission design, and liaison with Latin America and the Caribbean; and as area coordinator for South America, passed away November 2 in Texas at age 87.
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) related seminaries Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Columbia Theological Seminary, McCormick Theological Seminary and San Francisco Theological Seminary are among the 32 schools nominated this year as Seminaries that Change the World.
Theological education is a critical resource for congregations and congregants in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). When the chaos of the world is great, theologically wise leaders help us all imagine promising ways we can live into the hopeful future God is calling us toward.
Presbyterian Pan American School president Doug Dalglish remembers a trip he took in 2016 to Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary—when he experienced again how the school he serves is preparing young Christian leaders (grades 9-12) for the whole world.
Believing we can change things for the better is risky. When we hope that individuals, communities, and institutions are capable of living more wholly, acting more rightly, and treating others more kindly, there is a good chance we will be disappointed and might even look foolish. It is safer to think people and circumstances will never change than to expend the energy that comes with believing they will. It is safer to minimize our own capabilities and responsibilities than to “be the change we want to see in the world,” as Gandhi challenges us.
Melissa Wiginton remembers the first thing she did after being hired by Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in 2011.
“We had to come up with a title for me,” she says. “We wanted to make a statement about the seminary’s commitment to education with people who weren’t going to school here every day.”
