Updates, Events, and Publications
THE POSTERITY GOSPEL: Managing Our Spiritual Wealth
Jesus said that it is more important to store up “treasures in heaven” than “treasures on earth.” Yet, the benefits of an affluent society have added so much to our earthly treasures that financial wealth management based on Biblical stewardship is a new responsibility for us as Christians. Baby Boomers who are coming to retirement and Senior Citizens who are finalizing their estates have a responsibility to assure that their treasures on earth, whether meager or plenty, continue to be used to the glory of God. In this same movement of the generations, Christians are also bringing the increasing wealth of “treasures in heaven” accumulated by spiritual devotion, discipline, and decision with them into retirement and senior status.
The Posterity Gospel is a call for Christians to give as much attention to Biblical stewardship in the management of our spiritual wealth as we are giving to our financial wealth. Just as we plan for retirement and the transfer of financial wealth to future generations, we must do the same with our spiritual wealth. In this book, David McKenna shows how the management of spiritual wealth joins the management of financial wealth as the stewardship test our generation. It begins with principles of Biblical stewardship for managing spiritual wealth and then applies those principles to a lifetime of learning and growth experiences. The result is a portfolio of spiritual assets that are a vital part of the legacy that we want to pass on to our family, friends and future generations.
About The Author: David L. McKenna is President Emeritus of Spring Arbor University, Seattle Pacific University, and Asbury Theological Seminary. He is also Chair Emeritus of the Board of Trustees at Spring Arbor University, an ordained elder in the Free Methodist Church and author of 43 books, including The Leader’s Legacy and When Our Parents Need Us Most. He and wife, Janet, live in Kirkland, Washington and parents of four children, 12 grandchildren, and seven great grandchildren.
The Asbury Hymnal
On Asbury Theological Seminary’s Kentucky campus, Estes Chapel is the home and heartbeat of our worshiping community. It is located between two iconic statues—to its east, the well-known statue of John Wesley and to its west, a more recent addition, a statue of his brother, Charles, author of thousands of hymns. With the preacher on one side and the hymn writer on the other, our worship as a community is cradled in the seat of the Wesley brothers’ commitment to a theology deeply rooted in preaching and worship, sermon and song.
It has been said that the branches of the church that sprang from the heritage of John and Charles Wesley are characterized by singing—and it is true. We sing our theology! Here is a wonderful canon of hymns for the Asbury community (on our campuses and abroad in the lives of our alumni and friends), rich in sung theology and warm in the experiential call of the gospel. These hymns connect us with the worship of the church through the ages and throughout the strands of Asbury’s tradition. Here are great treasures of history through which we join with the saints throughout time in their words of worship. And here are hymns of reformation, revival, camp meeting, and gospel witness, as well as new hymns that are being written today. Most importantly, here is the deep theology of the Wesley heritage to be sung and sown into our minds and hearts, a hallmark of who we are as a community of faith.
The songs in these pages have explained the deepest meanings of theology to the most-learned mind, but have also touched the depths of the simplest but hungriest of hearts.
It is our prayer that the Asbury Hymnal would represent the best of who we are as a theological, Spirit-filled, worshiping community. It is our hope that these hymns will continue to be sung by those around the world who see all of life as an opportunity to respond to God’s works with worship. It is to God’s glory that we sing these songs of faith together!
Click here to purchase your own copy of the Asbury Hymnal!
Psalter
A Metrical Psalter: The Book of Psalms Set to Meter for Singing and A Meditative Journey Through the Psalms were written recently by our very own Dr. and Mrs. Julie Tennent.
The Psalms are for singing—so why don’t we sing them? The word psalm simply means song, and the superscriptions that introduce many of the psalms indicate that the Psalms were indeed sung. Those superscriptions in the Hebrew text were actually part of the first verse of the psalm. They give information for the director of music about the tune, or instruments to be used, or the type of song form to be used. But we have no collection of those Hebrew tunes or song forms. And Latin chant, which was the church’s music for singing psalms for much of church history, is not a familiar musical form for many Christians today. Therefore, to provide a way for psalms to be sung, a metrical Psalter sets the text of the psalm into meter and rhyme. This enables the text of the psalm to be sung to metered tunes that are currently known. In A Metrical Psalter: The Book of Psalms Set to Meter for Singing, Julie and Timothy Tennent have faithfully set the biblical text into poetical form in a beautiful hardback book—not writing new poetry about the text, but following the exact text of the psalm as closely as possible. Get your own copy here.
The renewed emphasis on the book of Psalms has come with many questions by Christians about the best way to engage the psalms. The psalms were all written between the time of Moses and the end of Jewish exile. Therefore, they are all written before the coming of Christ. How, then, do we read or sing these psalms as our worship? How do we relate these acts of worship to all that we know about Jesus Christ, the cross, the resurrection, the coming of the Spirit, the life of the church, and so forth? How do the Psalms relate to so many later acts of worship, such as hymns and choruses? Many of these questions will be answered as you journey through A Meditative Journey Through the Psalms. Get your own copy here.
Annual Conference Asbury Alumni Gatherings!
We have already heard some great reports from the annual conference gatherings that have already occurred! There are still several more to come this month! Here is the definitive list of Asbury Seminary Alumni Gatherings that we have been told will take place at United Methodist Annual Conferences this summer:
The Dakotas: June 7 at 11:30 a.m.
Indiana: June 7 at 5:00 p.m.
Minnesota: June 1 at 12:00 p.m.
Michigan: June 2 at 12:00 p.m.
Western Pennsylvania: June 8 at 12:00 p.m.
Arkansas: June 19 at 12:00 p.m.
Great Plains: June 14 at 12:00 p.m.
Louisiana: June 7 at 5:00 p.m.
Northwest Texas: June 8 at 5:30 p.m.
Rio Texas: June 6 at 5:00 p.m.
Oklahoma: May 29 at 11:30 a.m.
Texas: May 29 at 12:00 p.m.
Alabama-West Florida: June 4 at 12:00 p.m.
Mississippi: May 31 at 12:00 p.m.
North Alabama: June 4 at 12:00 p.m.
North Georgia: June 12 at 5:00 p.m.
Tennessee: June 15 at 12:00 p.m.
Holston: June 14 at 12:30 p.m.
Western North Carolina: June 22 at 12:00 p.m.
The Alumni Office is Moving!
Our Alumni Office has been doing so much growing and building, that we have run out of room! So, in an effort to serve you better, our mighty team of three (Tammy, Patricia, and Hannah) are excited to move across campus to the first floor of the Crary-McPheeters Building into our very own office suite! We will still be easily accessible to those who are most important to us – our alumni family. This move is set to take place during the first two weeks of June, and we are so excited to be in our new, larger space! Once we have gotten moved and settled in, we will have a full spread article about our new office with pictures and more! Come see us soon!
Do you have updates for us? Send your updates to alumni@asburyseminary.edu.
The Asbury Journal
The Asbury Journal publishes scholarly essays and book reviews written from a Wesleyan perspective. The Journal’s authors and audience reflect the global reality of the Christian church, the holistic nature of Wesleyan thought, and the importance of both theory and practice in addressing the current issues of the day. Authors include Wesleyan scholars, scholars of Wesleyanism/Methodism, and scholars writing on issues of theological and theological education importance. The Current Issue is Volume 73, Number 1 (2018) Spring, and you can click here to read the entire issue.
I invite my fellow ATS alumni to read my newest book, Adventures in Spiritual Warfare by William Payne.
I invite my fellow ATS alumni to read my article entitled “Five Disciplines of Highly Effective Pastors” in the May issue of Ministry Magazine based on my research for my D. Min. earned at ATS.