Remembering a Beloved ATS Professor
When I registered for the required Christian Ethics course, I intentionally chose Dr. Pohl. While I had heard good things about the other ethics professors, I was swayed by the recommendations of other seminarians to register for Dr. Pohl’s class. Now, their recommendations stemmed primarily from the course she taught on the ethics of Christian hospitality, but that didn’t matter. I trusted their judge of character. So, Dr. Pohl it was.
The classroom was full. Every seat taken. Looking around at the students present, one would assume the semester would be full of deep, intellectual, and challenging theological discussions. If one surveyed the classroom it would appear to be guaranteed each class would be exciting, a class one wouldn’t want to miss.
Dr. Pohl was fully invested in serving as a conduit for learning and transformation, empowering and commissioning those in the classroom to live out our faith in Jesus Christ while struggling with the ethics arising in the world around us as compared to the ethic we are called to as disciples of Jesus Christ. In fact, she invited students to join her for lunch on Thursdays so classroom discussions could continue and evolve more fully. You see, the course had changed from a three-credit course to only two credits, decreasing the classroom hours.
However, this assumption could not have been further from the truth. Every time we gathered, there was a certain deadness, disinterest, and dread. Questions raised by Dr. Pohl would go unanswered, and students were not signing up or showing up for lunch with her. Every tactic she would try to engage us seemed to fail. The frustration, exasperation, and sadness beginning to show in her body language and her words. It got to the point of being uncomfortable, at least to me.
Not to be prideful, but I was one of the few, sometimes the only one, to participate in class. Though there were days I too was silent. It was after one class, a class particularly silent and miserable, Dr. Pohl asked me if I had completed the reading for the day. I had to confess I was behind in the reading. We know lying is unacceptable, but lying in a Christian ethics class must be a whole other level of wrong. She was trying to problem solve, trying to figure out what was wrong with this class, trying find some way to reach us. Dr. Pohl would later apologize to me about having been a part of that class, one of the two worst classes she has ever had over the course of her illustrious teaching career. We’ve laughed and lamented over that fact for years! How about that!?
At the outset, there was many a Thursday when I was the only student at the table with Dr. Pohl. She did require every student to show up at least once meaning the table was full for two weeks, though there was much of the same silence and disinterest present during class. I thought the lunches would discontinue, but they didn’t. So, I continued to show up and sit down at the table with Dr. Pohl, and honestly (Christian ethics at play once again), at the beginning it was more out of pity (seems to strong a word) than desire. After all, Thursdays were the day I could meet a friend, who was a commuter, for lunch. But my friend would join us, and we looked forward to the time together, all of us. My friend would later have Dr. Pohl as her professor, including an independent study. I have no idea the content of our conversations. It doesn’t matter. I suppose that plays into the theology of the ethics of Christian community, the ethics of Christian hospitality.
During the course of my time at Asbury Theological Seminary, Dr. Pohl suffered an injury (or was it two) -an ankle? – a wrist? -a hip? Definitely an ankle. Yes, I think there was definitely an ankle injury (or was it her hip) forcing Dr. Pohl to teach from a tall chair. She asked me to stay after class one day. I was a little nervous as to why the request. I was humbled (and privileged) when this fiercely independent, dignified woman asked me to assist her to get to her office because she couldn’t get there on her own. Dr. Pohl is a woman of great stature -figuratively and literally. While I am not short, I am not tall either, so it was an interesting walk down the hall from the classroom to her office.
I would have Dr. Pohl once again for the Ethics of Christian Community. I was blessed to take this course (was it a new course offering?) my last semester. Tucked towards the back of one of the books on the reading list, Grace Matters, was a story which changed my understanding of my call, my understanding of God’s primary call for each of us -to be loved by God. Dr. Pohl introduced me to the works of Keith Wasserman; she introduced me to Keith Wasserman, a man whose work and advice (not advice I had to search for in my notes but offered by email and phone call) were invaluable in working with the unhoused situation at a church I serve(d). She also allowed herself to be vulnerable enough to share her journey, including the singleness part. She allowed us to pray for her aging mom. She stood tall, singing boldly, “And Can it Be,” with no need for a hymnal, and she sang the hymn as if she believed the words to be true. Dr. Pohl had a dignified softness, a signature smile, a distinct voice, a sparkle in her eyes, and a
humility unmatched. At least this is the Dr. Pohl I experienced.
I was so very blessed my relationship with Dr. Pohl didn’t cease to exist at graduation. She was available and willing to help me answer the Christian ethics question for the Board of Ordained Ministry of the United Methodist Church as I was pursuing that goal. In fact, she sent me the outline she used one of those first days in the Christian ethics class. Praise God! I didn’t have to go searching through notebooks. Beyond sending me the notes, she read my answer and offered feedback. Gracious and kind. I would learn Dr. Pohl was sitting next to Dr. Minger at a staff meeting “discussing” another one of my written answers to questions for the Board of Ordained Ministry of the United Methodist Church, both sympathetic to the challenges I was facing as I pastored two churches in Baltimore, MD.
Dr. Pohl was one of those professors I would continue to seek out when I visited Wilmore. It may have been lunch in the dining hall, dinner at Ramsey’s, or sharing a pew at Wilmore United Methodist as we worshiped together. It was during one of those meals she shared about being behind on writing deadlines. Do you know what a relief it was to hear someone needed to ask for extensions? And how cool was it to have the opportunity to discuss the contents of the (yet to be written) book!
I was sitting with fellow Asbury alums around a table in a Washington, D.C., hotel when the news of her diagnosis stilled the room. The news of her pancreatic cancer diagnosis was shocking and saddening. Even so, Dr. Pohl faced the diagnosis, faced the cancer, head on. Was there ever any doubt? It is my understanding she would undergo experimental treatment for the cancer, not because she was clinging to this life, but so another may one day find
healing from this dreadful disease. Agape love, right?! I thought of her often. Prayed for her. And sometimes even sent an email to check in on her. Not enough.
I last saw Dr. Pohl in September 2022. We sat together in worship at Wilmore UMC. We worshiped together at Wilmore UMC. Beautiful and strong as ever. God had just begun to speak to me about my next steps. She listened, smiled, encouraged, and asked questions. She is God’s beloved daughter, a disciple who denied herself, took up her cross, and followed Christ. Dr. Pohl’s faithfulness in all things, her willingness to count the cost and go all in for Jesus, made an impact on my life and the ways I live out my faith, and I know the same is true for many others. Yes, there are many others who could speak to the impact Dr. Pohl has had on their lives.
One parting thought. Outside of Estes Chapel, on the campus of Asbury Theological Seminary, stands a statue of Charles Wesley (in 2014, this was the only statue of Charles Wesley in North America.) Charles Wesley stands tall with a quill in one hand and a journal in the other. It was at some sort of official thing, maybe his unveiling, when I found myself standing next to Dr. Pohl (and I think Dr. Minger was there as well) when she made a comment about the statue, a very observant, astute, and factual observation. The poor guy would be forever immortalized with cankles. What a shame. Us women could only shake our heads and chuckle under our breath. Poor Charles.
I first met Dr. Pohl before she was Dr. Pohl, but, just Christine at Salem Christian Assembly Church in Salem Mass when she was a seminary student. I was pleasantly surprised years later when I was a student at ATS when Christine became a member of the ATS faculty. It is not often that you a) get to have someone you know from home as a professor; b) get to see one of the many Gordon Conwell seminarians that passed through my life on the North shore of Massachusetts achieve her goal and calling of being a seminary professor. It was hard for me to make the transition from Christine to Dr. Pohl when she was my Ethics professor. She also provided valuable advice when I was turned down for ordination in the southern New England Conference of the UMC because of my ATS education. I am saddened to hear of her death and the pain she must have endured in the process. She is with God now enjoying His glorious presence while she is missed here.
I took Dr Pohl’s ministers week mini course on hospitality. It was only a couple of hours long, but I knew then this person believed as I believed in the intentional seeking out and sharing welcome with others in all of its different aspects. I knew right away Dr Pohl was going to be a blessing for Asbury! Rest in peace Dr Pohl. I hope she received Jesus’ welcome to His Kingdom. She deserved it!
ATS and The Kingdom have lost one of its choicest daughters. Gritty and engaging. I loved her.
Thanks for the tribute to Dr. Pohl. I was in her class back when it was one of the “The Servant as…” I do remember her granting me some grace by extending my time to turn in the term paper. Thanks for the memory of her joke about cankles (a word I had to look up): it highlights her personality–very real, very serious, but a touch of humor.
Dr. Pohl taught one of the best classes I had at Asbury. I knew I could speak up and she would have my back.
I came to Asbury in 1992 to start my doctorate in Missiology from Pakistan. Dr. Pohl was a dear prof. and a cheerleader for the international students. I remember her book on ‘hospitality’. It is core to our Middle Eastern and Asian cultures. It was refreshing to see her passion and kindness in challenging us to adopt this in our lives. She will be dearly missed. I am sure she is having great time in heaven worshiping her beloved Lord Jesus. One day we will all be together worshiping and glorifying our Lord Jesus for ever and ever! Amen.
One of the dearest, wisest, most beloved professors. An unforgettable woman who touched and impressed many lives, my own included. Thank you, Sister Katie for this fitting tribute!
I have never been more inspired or informed about hospitality than from Dr. Christine Pohl.
Her impact is memorable for Christian fellowship.