Updates, Events, and Publications
WILLIAM L. DAVIS (M.A. ’08) INDUCTED INTO THE KENTUCKY CIVIL RIGHTS HALL OF FAME
On November 22, 2024, Mr. Davis was recognized by the state of Kentucky. Here is what was written about him when he was nominated:
Mr. Davis was the first African American to serve as Director of Administrative Law and Civil Litigation Branch of the Division of General Legal Services of the Attorney General’s (AG) Office; the first African American to serve as the Assistant Deputy Attorney General/Director in the Kentucky AG Office; the first African American to serve as a United States Air Force Captain/Assistant Staff Judge Advocate of the 12th Flying Training Wing, Randolph Air Force Base, Texas; and the first African American Trial Prosecutor and Chief of Civil Law. He has championed the civil rights of individuals in the court system.
Sylvia Harris had this to say when he was inducted:
Some notables with whom Mr. Davis shares in this signal honor are: President Abraham Lincoln, Col. Charles Young, Muhammad Ali, Dr. James Bond (grandfather of Julian Bond), Publisher Frank Stanley, Jr., Rev. William Augustus Jones, Sr. (my father) and Rev. Henry Wise Jones, Sr. (my grandfather).”
ATS ALUM CONNECTS WITH A FELLOW ALUM WHILE PARTNERING WITH KENYAN CHURCH
In August of this year the Reverend Dr. Joseph Boysel (M.Div. 2002, D.Min. 2009) traveled to Nandi County, Kenya, to formalize a sister-church partnership between his parish, Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Hudson, Ohio, and St. Luke’s Anglican Church, Mogoiywo, Kenya. The relationship began when Holy Trinity started receiving expatriate Kenyans who had immigrated to the US—many of them from the St. Luke’s congregation.
One of the first things the congregants at Holy Trinity learned about St. Luke’s, Mogoiywo, was that the parishioners there meet in an open field on Sundays, devoid of shelter from the elements. Later the parishioners of Hudson also learned that these Kenyans have no access to fresh water. Village women instead walk to a nearby stream to collect water in 5-gallon buckets, which they then carry back to their homes. Not only is this arduous work, it contributes to the spread of water-borne diseases like typhoid and cholera. Further still, the women are oftentimes left in vulnerable situations when predatory men try to exploit their isolation at the stream. It did not take long after these discoveries for the parishioners of Holy Trinity to form a plan to address the hardships in Mogoiywo.
Fr. Boysel and Bishop Korir.
The first step for Fr. Boysel was to get permission from Holy Trinity’s diocesan bishop to explore a partnership. Then, as soon as that permission was granted, he reached out to the bishop of Kapsabet (the diocese to which St. Luke’s belongs), the Rt. Reverend Paul Korir (MA 2011, D.Min. 2014). At the time Fr. Boysel did not know that Bishop Korir was also an Asburian. Still, the bishop graciously approved the plan and encouraged both churches to pursue a mutual association. Following these necessary authorizations, Holy Trinity began to raise money to build a new church and dig a freshwater well for the people of St. Luke’s.
Fundraising began in earnest on Easter Sunday, 2024, and by midsummer the people of Holy Trinity asked Fr. Boysel to visit Kenya and personalize the bond. Sometime before he departed for Africa, however, Fr. Boysel happened to visit Wilmore. While he was there, someone directed him to the new alumni center where he made another discovery: a photo of Bishop Korir was on the wall—they were fellow Asburians!
While in Kenya this August, Fr. Boysel visited the diocesan office where he met Bishop Korir in person. The bishop generously gifted Fr. Boysel with a traditional African safari hat and shirt while Fr. Boysel presented the bishop with a North American Book of Common Prayer as well as an Asbury Seminary lapel pin. As they shook hands the men both spontaneously said in unison, “The whole Bible for the whole world!”
Today the promise of a solar-powered, freshwater well operating by site by All Saints Day seems likely. What’s more, although the fundraising plan included a two-year commitment from the people of Holy Trinity, the congregation has already exceeded their expectations and are planning to begin building the church as early as summer 2025.
ATS ALUM AUTHORS MAKE EVERY DAY MATTER
Dr. Elaine K. Friedrich (M.Div. ’85) recently published Make Every Day Matter. Here is the blurb from Amazon:
In Make Every Day Matter: 101 Ways to Live Intentionally with Purpose, Presence, and Peace, Dr. Elaine Friedrich presents 101 practical ideas for becoming a better steward of your one and only life. Using practical ideas to implement into daily living, she offers small, yet impactful ways to increase your investment of time, energy, and resources. By investing in your spiritual, physical, relational, intellectual, and financial capitals, readers are invited to a journey to make every day count by being intentional in their actions and decisions.
FORMER ATS PROVOST AND PROFESSOR AUTHORS COMPELLING NEW BOOK
Dr. Matthews, who served Asbury for a full decade, recently published a new book. Christianity Today described it like this:
About four-in-ten U.S. adults believe humanity is “living in the end times.” But what if our cosmic story is bigger than we imagined?
D.K. Matthews’ A Tale of Three Cities challenges both doomsday preppers and kingdom-now triumphalists. Matthews argues that the cosmos faces not annihilation or mere restoration, but resurrection–a perspective that revolutionizes our approach to culture and politics, even amid rising antichristism.
Drawing on centuries of Christian thought, Matthews charts a “Third City” approach to cultural engagement. This isn’t about predicting the rapture or building utopia, but about living in light of cosmic resurrection. Praised by major Christian leaders and scholars as “timely and masterfully executed,” “a must read,” “a book I wish I had written,” “humbly honest and shockingly truthful,” “my highest recommendation,” “a gift to the church,” and “an eschatological lens for the Church’s ministry” with “profound clarity.” This book offers a fresh Third City option for reforming the church and navigating and influencing our polarized world.
Dr. R. Mark Montgomery, Asbury D.Min. ’22 and adjunct professor at Warner University, recently published the book Missional Hope: Unlocking Receptivity in the Narcissistic West. Peer reviewed on three continents, the book offers “an interesting diagnosis of the narcissism-shame link in Western culture and contributes to the overall discussion regarding effective evangelism and disciple-making during these perplexing times.” Suitable for individual laity and clergy as well as small group study and formal ministerial training, this easy-to-digest and apply work is based upon Dr. Montgomery’s Asbury Seminary doctoral dissertation, entitled How Shame Shapes Church Planting: Exploring Impacts on Gospel Receptivity Among Emerging Adults (2022) as well as his own life and ministry experiences. The book is available in paperback and Kindle format through Amazon.
Hello, Dr. Montgomery! Thanks for sharing your recent publication – we will feature it in the February edition!