Updates, Events, and Publications
If you would like to submit a publication of any kind, including blogs, vlogs, or podcasts, for consideration in this article, please email alumni@asburyseminary.edu with your information.
ALUMNA ELLEN MARTIN LAUNCHES PODCAST ASSOCIATED WITH HER MINISTRY, “A LIFE SHARED”
Alumna Ellen Martin is a professional life coach whose ministry seeks to encourage people to share life deeply with one another and foster healthy relationships with others as well as with oneself. She focuses on how we impact one another with the goodness we bring into our relationships when we are interacting in ways that are healthy and beneficial for everyone, particularly within families, but also beyond. Her insight into the “little things” that usher in the Kingdom here on earth is remarkable. You can find Ellen’s Podcast, “A Life Shared,” here.
Description from the podcast site: “Life coach, Ellen Martin, interviews everyday people, who share life with others right where they are. Through personal stories and practical tools, you will be empowered, equipped, and encouraged to live “a life shared” wherever you find yourself.”
ASBURY WELCOMES CONTEMPORARY MUSIC SINGER/SONGWRITER SANDRA MCCRAKEN TO CAMPUS MARCH 9
Asbury Theological Seminary is excited to welcome Contemporary Christian Music singer/songwriter Sandra McCracken to the Wilmore campus on Tuesday, March 9, 2021. Sandra is coming as part of the Hymnody: Theology, Formation, and Worship project taking place at Asbury during the 2020-2021 academic year, thanks to the Calvin Institute for Christian Worship Vital Worshiping Communities Grant. There are two opportunities to hear Sandra while she is on campus March 9. She will be leading the morning service chapel in Estes at 11:00 AM (with overflow seating in McKenna Chapel), and also leading a Vespers Service at 7:00 PM in McKenna Chapel. These services are open to any who desire to come, but due to social distance measures in place, space will be limited.
ALUMNUS DR. FRANK SPINA LAUNCHES PODCAST
Dr. Frank Spina, ATS graduating class of 1968, retired after 46 years as Professor of Old Testament and Biblical Theology from Seattle Pacific University and Seattle Pacific Seminary in June of 2019. Since retirement, he has become a Priest Associate at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, the cathedral in Boise, Idaho. That same December, Dr. Spina launched a podcast —The Bible You Thought You Knew—as a way of sharing insights gained from teaching Christian Scripture for 50 plus years (available on all standard Podcast platforms).
Dr. Spina writes: “As we unpack quintessential Biblical stories, you will gain an unparalleled understanding of the scripture and discover a new way to think about the bible you thought you knew.”
If you are interested in tuning in, here is the Apple broadcast, however, it can be found on many other platforms.
To learn more about Dr. Spina, visit his website at: www.faspina.com
ALUMNUS CREATES YOUTUBE WESLEYAN FOCUSED CHANNEL
Christian education is becoming increasingly important to evangelism and discipleship in the cultural environment in which we live. Sterling Merritt Durgy, ATS 1974 MDiv, has created the Standing with Wesley channel on YouTube to help address this need. The videos on this channel explain how the theology and teachings of John Wesley help Christians live their faith in today’s world. Each video focuses upon a particular topic by presenting Scripture, the writings of John Wesley, and the insights of scholars such as Kenneth Collins, Thomas Oden, Albert Outler, and Gareth Cockerill. There are currently sixteen Standing with Wesley episodes, with more coming in 2021. There are also “Light For Your Path” videos that look at various topics from the perspective of Wesleyan Methodism. All sources are referenced at the end of the video for viewers to follow-up with their own studies. To maintain interest and to make the videos useful in Sunday School classes or other study groups, each episode is less than 30 minutes, with most less than 25. This allows time for discussion of the content in a one-hour meeting. Sterling is author of the book Walking with the Full Assurance of Understanding (Wipf and Stock Publishers, October 2019), which has a book trailer on the Standing with Wesley channel.
“In a modern-day manifestation of the healing miracle Jesus performed on the paralyzed beggar at the gate called Beautiful in Acts 3, Joy Smith Griffin likewise jumped to her feet, walking and leaping and praising God! Having been paralyzed from a sports injury at the age of 22, her complete confinement for eighteen months led to a personal encounter with the living God that transformed her in spirit, soul, and body.Called to tell the world about the Lord who healed her in every way, “Jumping for Joy” is a compilation of the missionary journeys of Joy Smith Griffin over a span of three decades to seventy-five nations.
“We are a rarity in America: a proudly multiracial church where differences are neither fought over nor swept under the rug,” he writes. “How do we do it? In one sense, we don’t. God does it. We see our job as trusting God and, with his help, learning to trust one another. Trust enables us to disagree and express our feelings about difficult issues without coming apart.”
Read more about Pastor Derrick’s incredible experiences with vulnerability in the life of the church and bridging the gaps that are vast, finding that they are never too vast for Jesus.
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