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Yeah, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, be with you. Good morning. On behalf of President Jose Irizar in his absence, and the faculty of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. I am honored to

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welcome all who are gathered to this joyous occasion. The installation of the Reverend Theodore Burcell Foot Junior in the Lewis H and Katherine S Zubin, distinguished Chair in Pastoral ministry and leadership faculty chairs represent substantial financial

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gifts and the loving dedication of the church to the ongoing ministry of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary by installing faculty in these chairs. We not only honor the faculty person but also the will and legacy of the donors

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as their gift benefits the seminary well beyond their lifetimes , we do so in thanksgiving to God for the gifts of the faculty person, the stewardship and generosity of the donors and the ongoing mission of the seminary

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. Let us therefore return our thanks to God. Let us pray holy and try you in God for 122 years. You are faithfully called Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary to its mission of education, nurture critical thought

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and exemplary community. We give you thanks for the mission to which you have called us. And for all those who have strengthened our mission through their pedagogical and pastoral presence, through their incite incisive questions through

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their careful patterning of the arts of ministry and through their faithful stewardship of their talents and their financial gifts . As we gather this morning in worship, receive our thanks and praise and spur us on to greater

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acts of faithful discipleship for your glory and the proclamation of Jesus Christ. In whose name we pray, Ahmed, please be seated. The Reverend Doctor Louis Zamin Junior served as pastor and head of staff for

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First Presbyterian Church of San Antonio from 1971 to 2004 . He also served on the Austin Seminary Board of Trustees for nearly a decade from 1993 to 2002. Zimin also played a critical role in the founding of

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several ministries in service to the people of San Antonio , including Christian Assistance Ministry, the San Antonio Metropolitan Ministry, the Samaritan Counseling Center, the Christian Dental Clinic at Haven for Hope and Baxter County Detention Ministries

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to demonstrate appreciation for pastor Zaman's guidance and hope for a new generation of church leaders. Upon his retirement from First Presbyterian Church of San Antonio, the congregation raised the funds necessary to endow the Lewis H and

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Catherine S. Zemin, distinguished Chair of Pastoral Ministry and leadership. The intent of the many generous donors . All individuals who supported this endowment was to bring to the seminary an experienced pastor to teach in a

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broad area of ministry which includes church administration, stewardship , worship, preaching Christian education, pastoral care and church programming. The clergy, people who are installed in this chair, hold the respect due and the

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responsibilities of a professor which includes teaching, advising, pastoral care, leading worship and the shared governance of faculty at Lewis Zenden's memorial service on September 16th, 2020 three attributes were assigned to his pastoral legacy.

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They were conviction, compassion, and care. The Zimin Chair of Pastoral Ministry and leadership have pre previously been held by the Reverend Doctor Louis Zimin, the Reverend Doctor K C Toy, the Reverend Doctor Blair

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Moy, and most recently by the Reverend Bobby K Jones, conviction, compassion and care. These are the roles of those who serve in the mission of Austin Seminary and who grace our presence in this esteemed

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position. It is now my honor to present to you the Reverend Theodore Verselle Foot Junior invited to be a professor among us by President Jose Irizarry and appointed the fifth person to hold the Louis H and Catherine

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Sinden distinguished chair in Pastoral Ministry and leadership by the Board of trustees of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Reverend Foot Ted to his friends and colleagues is a native Texan born in Gatesville. He earned his bachelor of

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arts degree from Baylor University in 1975 and his Master of Divinity degree from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in 1979 after graduation. He began a storied 44 year career as a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian

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Church. USA serving in San Antonio Henderson and Bryan Texas as well as Tulsa Oklahoma as part of his ministry. He has authored several books including public education is a sacred calling, citizen stakeholders, all for

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the common good funded by a Louisville Institute study grant and his two co-authored volumes, being Presbyterian in the Bible Belt and being disciples of Jesus in a dot com world. In his appointment to this chair,

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Reverend Foot will teach in the areas of pastoral ministry , church administration, congregational leadership, preaching stewardship and liturgy. He will also serve as chaplain to the students of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Let us welcome

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Reverend Foot as he offers his of offers us his remarks this morning. It is rare to get applause at the end and even rarer at the start. So maybe y'all needed to get it in early last

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night, I had a dream that I came into the office this morning and when I unlocked the door and turned to my right. Doctor George Hire was uh sitting in the chair just I mean to my

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left just to the left of the door and um right next to him in the other chair was his Yale blue uh doctoral robe. And I said, George and he said, yes, Ted I needed

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to come by today and I thought, oh, well, what is this about. And George with his typical use of double negatives said, I just wanted to say that I hope it is not lost

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on you. Uh That there is no small amount of irony that at an institution in which no self-respecting professor would ever promote a literal hermeneutic that when an endowed chair is celebrated, they actually give you a

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literal chair. Council. I said, George, I promise that won't be lost on me. And as I turned to take off my backpack and turn back around the chair, the one chair had neither

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George in it and the other chair, neither his robe of Yale blue to President Sari, who is we might say, um not providentially hindered but ecclesiastically hindered today. In the meeting. He chairs for

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the General Assembly's uh Council on Theological Education and to the seminaries Board of Trustees. I am grateful for the formal invitation to serve from the Zendon Chair for three years and to Dean Amer and the faculty and

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staff and students of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Uh The community of which we are part. Uh I'm additionally grateful for the generous welcoming I have received since August 1st. Um I prefer to say that I

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am grateful um because if I said I am humbled , several of you would reply afoot. You have a lot to be humble about. But I have known um three of my four predecessors, Louis,

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Aon Casey Toy, and Bobby K Jones. I knew of Blair Moy's significant contributions to congregational ministry, but I did not know him personally, the world and this nation, our varied cultures and the church

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have changed since this chair was established 22 years ago . As Doctor Zendon, as Ryan told us, was retiring from serving as pastor of First Presbyterian Church , San Antonio for over 30 years. And the

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endowment was established by the generosity of the Zenden's friends and colleagues. The changes that have taken place since Lewis began his new work here as uh the first one to serve from this chair. Uh The changes

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that have occurred in that time, make this call and this work assignment different in several ways, I suspect from what it was in its original context. Uh What, what was expected, what was needed

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that that's changed a bit, the changes that have taken place then take shape in our lives together because changes happen over time, change will happen in the three years that I'm here in the three years that

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one class goes through in the time that another class has been coming through before or after adapting for faithfulness in ministry, then becomes ever our call and responsibility through those changes of time. But what has not

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changed? I am convinced is how communities of faith are called to equip people for a stewardship of life which engages one and all every day by way of God's grace for faith and love. In the 1981

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lyrics of John Denver. Some days are diamonds and some days are stones. Some days the hard times won't leave me alone. Some days are diamonds for individuals and for persons collectively as groups and some days

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are agonizingly broken heart stones of days. For years . Baseball has had a curious uh trip part statistical summary of the games, runs, hits errors and the first two are offensive category statistics. Uh the

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runs and the hits that a team registers during a game. Uh you, you want those to be high, errors are a defensive category and a statistic . And if, if you don't follow baseball,

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that's ok. But errors are the mistakes the team made on defense which leads to the other team's offensive , uh, base runners being able to advance where they wouldn't otherwise have been able to advance. You

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don't want very many errors whereas you want lots of uh runs and hits. But if we are honest , we as individuals have and uh communities of faith have and institutions have plenty of days with hardly enough

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runs and hits. And in some of those many errors, obviously, those days are not diamonds, but they are stones and, and while 1 may not feel like it, it would, it would

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not be a good thing if you felt like that the diamond standard is a daily requirement for a positive day. We still would say the fewer errors and stone days, the better and yet God gives us

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to each other. One mutually, to celebrate with each other. The diamond days, two mutually to support each other through the days that are stones and three mutually to serve beyond ourselves from and by the

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power of God's love through our diverse backgrounds and gifts and perspectives that are daily made new by grace. I suspect that my life did not require serving a term uh in the Zendon chair for fulfillment. I'm

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pretty sure of that but not being here for 45 years after being an A P T S student, reminds me that the three years that I was here two and then uh one away and one back um

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that that year away being for uh clinical pastoral education for three months and then for several more months, uh 1213 as a parish intern in Pasadena, uh those four years together here and in Houston, remind

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me of this mutuality of the gospel through all sorts of days. And as one example on a mid-morning uh Thursday in late March of 1979 my dad died suddenly of a cardiac failure in my hometown and I

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was a senior here at a P T S. We were about nine or 10 weeks from commencement. And that morning, I was in a pastoral care Family Systems class uh when I received word well,

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I gathered my stuff up and uh professor Ralph Underwood walked with me all the way from Macmillan to, oh, whatever it was back to the front steps of Curry Hall. He was sympathetic, but he

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also gave me wisdom which I have carried through the years to share with anyone who has been off site and away from the premises. When a loved one or a colleague has died. Suddenly, Doctor Jack

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Maxwell was the Austin seminary president then. And you can see Jack's picture in the hallway over in Trell building. But um no one, not even his parents ever described Jack as being soft and cuddly and

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, and in fact, some would say that his brusque personality actually created many more stone days for some people than diamond type days. And yet as I was placing my suitcase in my car on the parking

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lot at the west side of Curry Hall, Jack uh came down the sidewalk past the front of Curry and turned to his right into the parking lot, uh walking and he came over to me and he

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extended his right hand to shake hands and he took his left hand and placed it on my right shoulder and he spoke 10 words. He said, we never know what a day is going to bring.

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And then two days later, 100 miles north of Austin. Doctor John also spent his Saturday afternoon representing the seminary faculty at the memorial service with a half dozen of my classmates also making that drive and spending

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that time. Isn't it true that positive changes and challenging changes happen across the years. But through it , all, pastoral ministry and leadership precisely include if we began to get it faithfully showing up and listening

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and exemplifying and promoting sacred worth and community isn't then caring for and equipping each other as individuals and communities near and far to face every day. Diamond and stone in hard times and blessed times, no matter

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how many runs hits or errors to be the people whom God in Jesus Christ by grace guides and transforms us to be in mutuality, to be disciples and community with each other as persons all around the globe

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all the time. Isn't that by grace? What guides and transforms us it most assuredly is so giving thanks to God for those who have envisioned and whose generosity established the Aon chair and giving thanks to the

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four who have served previously in this call, we can say together amen. Just stand, stand so yeah, not yet. Some of you remember I did the same thing. Friends. The writer of

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Ephesians charges all of us lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, making every effort to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. And our brother Paul reminds

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us that there is one body and one spirit just as we have been called to the one hope of our calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father over all who is

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above all and through all. And in all the call of Christ is to willing dedicated discipleship. Our discipleship is a manifestation of the new life. We enter through baptism. Discipleship is both a gift and

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a commitment and offering and a responsibility. Ted the grace bestowed upon you at your baptism is sufficient for your calling because it is God's grace by God's grace . We are saved and enabled to grow in the

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faith and to commit our lives in ways that serve Christ. God has called you to service in the Louis H and Katherine S Seinen distinguished chair in Pastoral Ministry and leadership. Please show your purpose by answering

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these questions. Who is your Lord and Savior? Jesus? Christ is my Lord. And will you be Christ's faithful disciple? Obeying his word and showing his love? Will you, do you welcome the

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responsibility of this service because you are determined to follow the Lord Jesus to love neighbors and to work for the reconciling of the world. Do you, do you promise to pray for and to serve the people

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with energy, intelligence, imagination and love, relying on God's mercy and rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit. Do you let us pray faithful God in baptism? You claimed us and by your Holy

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Spirit, you are working on our lives, empowering us to live a life worthy of our calling. We thank you for leading our brother Ted to this time and place establish him in your truth and guide

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him by your Holy Spirit that in your service, he may grow in faith, hope and love and be a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ. To whom with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and

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glory now and forever. Reverend Theodore Vers Foot Junior , you are now the professor installed in the Lewis H and Katherine S Seinen, distinguished chair in Pastoral Ministry and leadership, whatever you do in word or

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deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God through him. And now I get to charge you, Ted, you are now fully installed in this Zendon chair, fully upholstered

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the fifth person ever to occupy that chair today as you formally begin your ministry. Among us, I charge you to keep it real. You occupy the most practical of practical theology positions a professorship set aside

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uniquely to teach and to model the dirt under the fingernails realities of being a pastor. You more than anyone else on this faculty bear the charge of reminding your students and your colleagues of the true burdens and

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deep joys of pastoral ministry, the stones and the diamonds for this work. You have been equipped by God, called by President Izadi and appointed by the board of trustees. As you occupy this abend and

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chair, I charge you, Ted. Keep it real, show us unflinchingly the challenges that today's churches and ministries face point us unfailingly toward our God and mother who has a plan for us and who can

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see the church of tomorrow. Even when we cannot imagine it remind us repeatedly to bridge the borderlands between our callings to the academy and the cries of this God beloved world and be for us, especially for

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our students and honest and true guide through the borderlands , helping us find our way with wi and deep knowledge for the oasis, the treacherous passages, the ravines and the safe harbors that the next generation of

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faith leaders may learn from your years of labor. What it is to take on the mantle and calling of pastor prophet and teacher for we follow a God who kept it real, who came among us,

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not in the form of some talking animal, but as a flesh and blood, human being who lived and worked, sweated and worried, laughed and cried , ate and drank. Who knew great successes and

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deep betrayal, who experienced our human life from birth to death and who advocates for us at the throne of Grace. Christ, who calls each of us calls you now Ted to be both Reverend Foot and

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Professor Foot the fifth Austin seminary's abandon chair, chaplain and professor as you live into your calling, relying on God's grace. I charge you. Keep it real in the name of God, father, son

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and holy spirit, one God, mother of us all. Amen. Let us pray. Oh God of all your love. Create your car oh and is strong. Oh You a me and to create

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agree four uh oh God, oh no eyes. And with us here, each one with it was and fast to this. Of each part I see you. And so as you, oh eternal God

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, we rejoice this morning in the gift of life which we have received by your grace and the new life you give in Jesus Christ. We thank you for signs of your love at work in the world

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. For ministries of Compassion, witness and service for this seminary community. We share for strength and abilities to serve you today, especially today. We give thanks for your servant, Ted, strengthen him in

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service and wisdom among us, people of God. For what else do we give? Thanks God of grace. We offer our prayers for the needs of the world and commit ourselves to service even as you

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have served us in Jesus Christ, inspire the whole church with your love, power and peace, lead all nations in the way of justice and goodwill. Direct those who govern and those who seek to govern

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that they may uphold those in need, defend the oppressed claim truth and no peace. Give grace to all who proclaim the gospel through word and sacrament and deeds of mercy. That by their teaching and example

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, they may reveal your love for all people, comfort and relief. Oh Lord, all who are in trouble in sorrow, in poverty, in sickness . Or in grief, work in them wonders and

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healing beyond all they may dream or hope people of God. For what else do we pray have God of our salvation is the light of morning, dawns heaven and earth. Sing your praise, cause us

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to live and grow in faith so that we may bear good fruit for the glory of your holy realm through Jesus Christ. Our Lord. Amen. Mhm Home to God. Um go forth to love and

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serve God's people in the peace and the vulnerable power of Jesus Christ, which far surpasses all human understanding and go forth to love and to serve always to the honor and glory of God who is sovereign,

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son and spirit, one God forever and ever.