Updates, Events, and Publications
Honoring Dr. Oswalt
We are happy to announce the release of a Festschrift in honor of Dr. John N. Oswalt! This was presented to him on October 30, 2017 at the faculty plenary meeting of Asbury Theological Seminary by Dr. Bill Arnold and Dr. Lawson Stone who edited this book. This work was put together in recognition of Dr. Oswalt’s years of service to Asbury Theological Seminary and the Church as a scholar in Old Testament Studies. The book is titled Distinctions with a Difference: Essays on Myth, History, and Scripture in Honor of John N. Oswalt. You can find the book here.
American Firefighter
Lowell Black, an alumni of Asbury Theological Seminary, is one of 50 fire service professionals to be profiled in a new book released on October 16, 2017 by Rizzoli New York (Welcome Books). American Firefighter is a series of written reflections of each subject, accompanied by a photograph by Paul Mobley, one of our nations most gifted and prominent portrait photographers. Mobley and his crew traversed the United States in 2016 to capture the images in book. Very few American professionals have had the honor of being presented in Mobley’s captivating manner.
Lowell has served as the Chaplain for the Chesterton Fire Department for seven years. He is an ordained deacon in the United Methodist Church and has an additional 27 years of fire service experience. There are well over a million fire service professionals in the United States. Lowell was chosen as an example of this wonderful and amazing profession.
A portion of the sales of each book will help support survivors of firefighters who have died in the line-of-duty by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2017. American Firefighter is available to be ordered on-line, or can be purchased at all major book sellers. For more information, click here or contact Jessica Napp @ 212-387-3436 or jnapp@rizzoliusa.com.
Dr. Craig Keener named Vice President of ETS
The Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) voted Dr. Craig Keener, F.M. and Ada Thompson Professor of Biblical Studies at Asbury Seminary, Vice President of ETS at its 69th annual business meeting on Nov. 17 in Rhode Island.
“I am grateful for the respect and kindness of my colleagues in considering me for this office,” Dr. Keener said. “In contrast to book-writing, which requires a lot of work, this honor comes to me simply as an unexpected act of grace.”
Dr. Keener has authored 22 books, five of which have won book awards in Christianity Today. The NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, for which Craig authored most of the New Testament notes (and which John Walton and Craig edited), won Bible of the Year in the 2017 Christian Book Awards, and also won Book of the Year in the Religion: Christianity category of the International Book Awards.
Founded in 1949, the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) is a group of scholars, teachers, pastors, students, and others dedicated to the oral exchange and written expression of theological thought and research.
Dr. Tennent Receives Betty Price Community Service Award
The City of Wilmore awarded Dr. Timothy C. Tennent, President and Professor of World Christianity at Asbury Seminary, and Dr. Sandra Gray, President of Asbury University, the Betty Price Community Service Award at the conclusion of Wilmore’s Old-Fashioned Christmas on Dec. 2. This award annually recognizes positive, strong and compassionate leaders within the Wilmore community. Both Dr. Tennent and Dr. Gray received a plaque with a key to the city.
The Seminary and University are actively involved in the Wilmore community through concerts and seminars. They also have organized volunteer efforts and fundraising events, as well as contributed to the local fire department and other infrastructure projects in Wilmore and Jessamine County.
Dr. Tennent has been president of Asbury Theological Seminary since 2009. After several years as a United Methodist Pastor, he transitioned to theological education as a faculty member at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary for more than a decade before becoming president of Asbury Seminary.
70th Wedding Anniversary
Asbury Seminary graduate Rev. Donald N. Bastian and his wife, Kathleen, celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary on Saturday, December 16, in their home in Brampton, ON, with their children and spouses. The Bastians were married in Niagara Falls, ON, on December 20, 1947, in a North Street cottage of the bride’s sister, Muriel Smith, walking under an arbor partially constructed by the groom and later cutting a cake made by the bride. A singing evangelist and budding preacher at the time, Donald Bastian entered the ministry a few years later, after attending Greenville College in Illinois and Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, KY. He and his wife pastored churches in Lexington, KY, New Westminster, BC, and Greenville, IL. Bastian was elected bishop of the Free Methodist Church of North America in 1974, serving until 1990, when he was elected bishop of the Canadian Free Methodist Church, which he had led to general conference status during his tenure with the umbrella North American church. He retired from his bishop duties in 1993. The couple has lived in Brampton since 1992. In retirement, Bastian have written two award-winning books, God’s House Rules and The Pastor’s First Love, and he writes a weekly blog, “Just Call Me Pastor.” The Bastians were recently honored when Greenville University (formerly college) inaugurated the new Donald N. and Kathleen G. Bastian School of Theology, Philosophy, and Ministry.
Gbarnga School of Theology
God is at work here at the Gbarnga School of Theology, United Methodist University where we are endeavoring to enhance academic excellence and spiritual vitality in a pan African context. We just concluded a week of Spiritual Renewal and revival on last week, and the theme was “The JourneyAhead” focusing on Joshua 3:1-17. It was spiritually awakening for all of us-faculty, students, staff and community members. Thanks for keeping us in your prayers!
Greeting from the Bishop
Our Alumni Ambassador, Dale Shunk, met with Bishop Mark Webb in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The Bishop says, “Hello!”
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