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Celebrating with a choral festival and worship service. What a splendid way to begin our centennial year. It was indeed an inspiring and worshipful time for all of us who were present. For those of you who were present last evening, I welcome you back for this service this evening.

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for those of you who are joining us this evening welcome to Austin Seminary's Centennial celebration tonight we continue the events of this initial week of celebration with the first of the EC Westerfeld lectures tomorrow on our campus at 9 o'clock a.m. we will be instructed by a symposium on mainstream Protestantism And speaking of that symposium, we are pleased to have present this evening the leader of that event, Dr. John Mulder, President of Louisville Theological Seminary and Professor of Historical Theology.

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Dr. Mulder, where are you? Please stand and let us welcome you. They're in the back.

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Nine o'clock tomorrow morning, John. Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning we will continue with the Westerfeld lectures and conclude the week with the alumni alumni banquets at noon this centennial year promises to be an enrichment time for everyone involved in it planning for this centennial year has already been meaningful for those of us who have worked in that capacity as we have met and planned for the centennial celebration however two names over and over have been on our lips and the focus of many of our discussions David Stitt and Jane Stitt appropriately they were named honorary co-chairs of the Centennial committee and their names served to inspire us as we did our thinking and planning Sadly, Dr.

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Jane Stitt died on December 26, 2001. Yet even in death, she continues to be a source of inspiration for us. This night, we would be remiss if we did not give thanks for her life and witness, and for all that she did in serving others, and all that she did in making Austin Seminary a special place Dr.

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David Stitt the fourth president of Austin Seminary graciously joins us tonight for the ongoing events of this week Dr. Stitt served as president of Austin Seminary and professor of pastoral theology for 26 years 1945 to 1971 he's a graduate of Austin Seminary class of 1936 and in many ways his name is synonymous with Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary wherever I go and I say I'm from Austin Seminary they say do you know David Stitt David come now and greet us in this centennial year I thank you for that.

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I bring greetings from the fathers and grandfathers and great-grandfathers. I wish Jane could be here with me, of course. I find that my grieving, however, is for myself and not for her, for she has changed membership into the church triumphant. She went quietly and painlessly, we think, on December 22nd.

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and she is now among those who look down upon us with joy and satisfaction and expect us to continue in his work In the words of the great for all the saints, we feebly struggle, they in glory shine. Yet all are one. For all are thine.

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For all are in thine. Well, you remember the better, the last of that better than I do, but I remember the greatness of the hymn which was sung at Jane's funeral at her memorial service. we had many happy years here and in these lectures and it is a joy to return after 31 years to see the progress the seminary has made to see that the lectures continue and particularly here James Curry give the Westerfeldt lecture it's a joy to be here now another special announcement tonight I am overjoyed to announce publicly on behalf of the Board of Trustees and the entire Austin Seminary community that we have reached our goal of 1.2 million dollars to fully endow the Ellis and Nancy Gribble Nelson chair in Christian education

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I can think of no way more appropriate to begin our Centennial year than with this announcement Ellis and Nancy have been a part of Austin Seminary for many many years Nancy as you know grew up on the campus and Ellis began his association with the seminary in 1937 as a student one year after David Stitt graduated he has served at Austin Seminary as a student professor trustee interim president distinguished lecturer and research professor moreover he has been one of the foremost leaders in the field of Christian education in the United States during the last half of the past century likewise his various leadership roles in theological education during that same period have been many and effective I invite you now to stand and show your appreciation as Ellis and Nancy come forward to greet us the endowment of this chair was made possible because of the generosity of many givers but principally our goal was achieved because of a generous six-figure gift from one of Austin seminary's dearest friends Mr.

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Ed Vickery no institution or individual could have a better friend or a more generous friend than Ed Vickery his leadership support and wisdom have in large measure enabled Austin Seminary to move forward during the past two decades he served as a trustee for 18 years and as chair for nine years I know firsthand how his leadership and wisdom led Austin Seminary through some turbulent times Mr. Vickery graces us with his presence this evening he is here with his daughter miss Ann Stevenson and his son Mr.

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doubt Downey Vickery who also have generously supported this work of the seminary indeed the Vickery family Ed and Downey and dot the beloved deceased wife and mother have given more than approximately nine hundred thousand dollars over the years to Austin seminary Ed and Downey thank you stand and let us recognize you and now my sisters and brothers in Christ with so many memories and so much to be thankful for let us worship God let's join together in these opening sentences our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth Before the mountains were brought forth, forever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.

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Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for the Lord is with you. The Lord is with you. Let us pray. Oh God, our help in ages past, and our hope for years to come,

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We give you thanks for the strength that you have given us in years past, that you give us today, and that you promised for us in all the days to come. On this centennial year of the seminary, we are especially grateful for all of those witnesses who have gone before us, who endured every hardship, and yet refused to grow weary or lose heart. We stand today on the foundation of many faithful servants, and we give thanks for their dedication and their vision.

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Now bless us today with your spirit. Discipline us for the tasks that are before us. Renew, restore, and strengthen us. by the love that you have poured out through Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Savior.

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Amen. before I introduce the Westerfelt lecturer I asked that our co-chair of the Centennial committee the Reverend Dr. Cynthia weeks Logan would come and read our scripture Cindy Hear the word of God as it comes from the 12th chapter of Hebrews, verses 1 through 13.

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Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely. and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who, for the sake of the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood, and you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as children, my child.

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Do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, or lose heart when you are punished by Him. For the Lord disciplines those whom He loves, and chastises every child whom He accepts. Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children.

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For what child is there whom a parent does not discipline? If you do not have that discipline in which all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children. Moreover, we had human parents to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not be even more willing to be subject to the Father of spirits and live?

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For they disciplined us for a short time, as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share his holiness. Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore, Lift your drooping hands, and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.

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Amen. the EC Westerfeld lectures were established in 1949 by a generous gift from Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Plato in honor of Mrs.

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Plato's parents it was the earliest of the lectureships established in the lecture series which has become known through the years as Austin seminary's midwinter lectures these midwinter lectures have contributed greatly to ongoing scholarship in various theological disciplines and indeed to the entire enterprise of theological education our 2002 EC Westerfelt lecturer is the Reverend Dr. James S. Curry. Dr. Curry is a graduate of Austin Seminary, earning an MDiv degree in 1979 and a THM degree in 1989. Since January 1995, he has been serving as pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas. Dr. Curry earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Texas with concentrations in history and German and an MA degree in German from Indiana University before enrolling at Austin Seminary upon completing his MDiv degree dr. Curry became pastor of North Lincoln Westminster Parish where he served for four years he then served for six years as pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Killeen Texas and then two years a new church development of Missouri Union Presbytery before coming

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to Houston as pastor of Westminster dr. Curry completed his PhD degree at Rice University in 1997 in the field of church history his dissertation was entitled Christianity and Marxism an historical perspective on the role of ideology of the thought of Han Fried Mueller Dr. Curry has served the larger church through his work on various presbytery committees and task forces during his ministry, including his present membership on the Vietnamese New Church Development Task Force of New Covenant Presbytery. He has also served as director of Austin Seminary's Houston Extension Program since 1996. Dr. Curry is one of only three Austin Seminary alums who have been invited to deliver the EC Westerfeld lectures throughout its history and one of only five alums invited to be a midwinter lecture over these years we're delighted that he accepted our invitation to write the history of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary for the last quarter of the seminary's 100 years existence his lectures will be published in a book later this year His lecture series is entitled Austin Seminary: Completing a Century of Service. His opening lecture is entitled Turbulent Times, Hopeful Times. Dr. Curry. President Shelton, President Mulder, former President Stitt, Williams and Stotts, members of the faculty,

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staff and student body, alumni and friends of Austin Seminary, it is indeed a high honor to have been asked to participate in the centennial celebration of this institution in this way. However, as someone who over the years has often sat in the congregation on occasions such as this and wondered what it would be like to be up here, I can tell you that after these few moments, I'm ready to resume my place in the congregation. I've had the happy and awkward task of trying to bring the history of Austin Seminary up to date in a summary fashion. It's been a happy task because I have seen how the mission of preparing men and women for the gospel ministry that was related in the 75th anniversary volume has continued over the past 25 years. The sense of community that so many persons who have had any association with Austin Seminary have experienced continues, even as the seminary has grown. This has been an awkward task Because many, if not most, of those who are involved in the period covered are not only still alive, but are still closely associated in one way or another with Austin Seminary, and many are here tonight. Ever since I agreed to accept this challenge, I've often thought how wise President Stotz was in having once observed

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I only teach about dead people. It's somewhat intimidating to know that such persons as Prescott Williams, Bob Shelton, George Higher, and Linda Cunningham have associations with the seminary that go back before our point of departure tonight and continue today in one form or another. Others like Ellis Nelson, have an institutional memory that encompasses more than the last six decades of the 10-decade history of Austin Seminary. And then if we add to that list, those who've retired from the seminary after long years of loyalty and devotion, Kathy Sauter, Jack Hodges, Jimmy Clark, Shirley Howard, Herman Heron, Ralph Underwood, among many others, I'm sure. as well as members of the Board of Trustees such as William Murray, Clarence Frierson, Weldon Smith, Robert Trull, and Edward Vickery, and alumni, the task could begin to see more than overwhelming. So, welcome to This Is Your Life.

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A word of thanks is in order for all those who over the past two to three years have consented to interviews and have responded in written form to request for information, memories, and reflections. I also want to thank the seminary administration for making all manner of documents and minutes available. In the introduction to the book History and the Christian Historian, Ronald Wells of Calvin College observes, quote, The day is gone forever when historians could assert that all scholars of goodwill would see more or less the same historical reality if enough research were done. We now accept what I believe we always knew but did not have the insight or the courage to say aloud, Wells continues. That historical voices were never acontextual voices from nowhere, but contextual voices from somewhere. That historians are people from somewhere too, and that our presuppositions influence, to one degree or another, the questions we ask of the past. and the interpretive structures to construct and interpret the past, unquote. And so while what we say and write may reveal our own times and our own perspective, it is hoped that what we say and write contains something of the truth about Austin Seminary, its recent history, and its mission.

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Wells maintains that, quote, The past is both partial and knowable, unquote. If that is the case, then we may attempt a summary record of the past of Austin Seminary with both boldness and humility. Boldness because we do think that it's knowable, and humility because our knowledge is only partial. One of the themes that runs through the story of Austin Seminary from the very beginning, but particularly over the past quarter century, is that of community. It is perhaps not unique to this school, but it's certainly a strong and a central feature. Indeed, within what is often called the Austin Seminary community, one can identify other subsets of community, the faculty, the students, administrators, support staff, families of each of those groups, and expanding to include alumni, board members, and friends of the seminary. Over the years, the community that is identified with the campus in Austin would inevitably undergo change as must occur with any institution, but the changes are often felt as difficult and painful as occur within families. The difference may be between what sociologists call gemeinschaft, or community, and gesellschaft, or society. The first being personal, sensitive, and a sense of family, while the second is impersonal and institutional. Austin Seminary has always seen itself as a family, a community, and only rarely with resistance

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as an institution. And so as we begin with the presidency of Jack Martin Maxwell, who came to Austin in 1976, it is important that we remember something of the background. This background can be found in the 75th anniversary of Austin Seminary written by Thomas W Curry Junior who is here tonight. David Stitt had resigned as president of the seminary in nineteen seventy-one after 26 years of service. He moved to Houston but to become associate pastor of First Presbyterian Church. He later served as pastor of Bel Air Stitt was succeeded by Dr. Prescott H. Williams, who had been at the seminary since 1959 as Professor of Old Testament Languages and Archaeology. He served as dean, he had served as dean since 1966, and continued as dean while president of the seminary from 1972 to '76. So Stitt's 26 years as president and Williams' 17 years as professor, dean, and president provided the seminary with strong, stable leadership. But it also seemed to be an opportune time for fresh leadership for the school. The Presidential Search Committee invited and the Board of Trustees elected Dr. Thomas Gillespie,

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a pastor in California with a PhD in New Testament, to be Austin Seminary's next president. He agreed to come to Austin. A press conference was prepared to announce and to present the new president. But somewhere on the flight between California and Austin, apparently Gillespie had a change of heart. Upon his arrival, he informed Austin Seminary officials of his decision, and Dr. and Ms. Gillespie returned to California. Of course, he later went on to become president of Princeton Theological Seminary, where he currently serves. Dr. Maxwell's name came to the attention of the search committee on the recommendation of Dr. James I. McCord, president of Princeton Seminary and former dean and professor of systematic theology at Austin Seminary. At the time, Maxwell was pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, a bedroom community to Pittsburgh. Maxwell accepted the Board of Trustees' invitation to move to Austin and become the seminary's sixth president. Not yet 37 years old when he was elected to be president, Maxwell represented a new generation of leadership. While Dr. Jack Stotts would later prove that prior association with the school need not be a prerequisite to a successful and effective presidency, it does seem that Maxwell's lack of any prior connection with Austin Seminary, or an appreciation for its past,

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were factors, among others, that contributed to his demise as president. The seminary did seem ripe for new leadership. Maxwell's inauguration as president took place on September 28th, 1976, in the sanctuary of First Presbyterian Church in Dallas. It had been two years since the resignation of Richard Nixon as president of the United States, A year and a half since South Vietnam had fallen, and eight years of American military involvement had come to a merciful end. Gerald Ford was still President of the United States, but shortly an outsider to the Washington, D.C. political scene would soon be elected President, Jimmy Carter, former governor of Georgia. During the first four years of Maxwell's tenure as President, the national spirit would continue to experience demoralization. In spite of international peace accords between Egypt and Israel, interest rates in this country rose to over 20%, and in November 1979, Iranian Muslims, under the influence of Muslim fundamentalist the Ayatollah Khomeini, seized Americans in the American embassy in Tehran. and held 52 of them captive for 444 days, releasing them on the day of the inauguration of Carter's successor, Ronald Reagan. Ecclesiastically, the signs were more hopeful. For some time, efforts had been made toward reconciliation and reunion between the two principal Presbyterian denominations, separated since the beginning of the American Civil War.

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Indeed, efforts for reunion had gone on for many years before. Austin Seminary's third president, Thomas White Curry, had served on the General Assembly Committee of the Southern Presbyterian Church that sought to develop a plan for reunion. In fact, he was returning from a meeting of that committee in Atlanta in April 1940. when he was felled by a stroke that proved to be fatal. At any rate, Austin Seminary had on its faculty ministers who had come from other branches of the Presbyterian Church. For example, John Jansen came from the northern stream of the Presbyterian Church and Robert Shelton from the Cumberland Stream. The calling of a minister member of the United Presbyterian Church to a seminary which was a part of the southern stream, the PCUS, and all of whose presidents had heretofore belonged to that denomination, was a sign of movement in the direction many presbyteries had already gone, in the form of Union presbyteries. And so new leadership arrived. Opportunities for growth, to think and act creatively, to take advantage of the goodwill the seminary had cultivated under the leadership of David Stitt and Prescott Williams, all seemed there for the taking. As we look at the Maxwell years, 1976 to '83, what was, in fact, accomplished? First, with regard to the faculty,

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Maxwell addressed the need to raise faculty salaries, which at the time were below the average of other Presbyterian seminaries. Tom Schmid, Presbyterian minister and member of the Board of Trustees from 1974 to '83, and again from 1984 to '93, recalls this as a priority for the new president. Quote, Jack worked very hard to bring Austin Seminary faculty salaries into a competitive range with other seminaries, and particularly the other three of the PCUS. We used to go to board meetings, and he would hand out graphs showing what faculties were paid at Columbia, Louisville, Union, and Austin was always the lowest. He got the board to institute a five-year plan to bring Austin Seminary's faculty salaries more in line with the other three. And faculty members had some major raises in a very short period of years, unquote. In addition, as is true for any seminary president, Maxwell would have the opportunity to shape and influence the faculty. In the six years before Maxwell's arrival, the seminary community experienced several changes in its makeup. They experienced the death of Walter Johnson in 1970, the departure of President David Stitt in 1971, the retirement of Rachel Hindelight in 1971 also as Professor of Christian Education, the sudden death of Stuart Curry in 1975, and the departure of Old Testament Professor James Horton to become pastor of Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church in Houston also in 1975. During those years,

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The community welcomed Robert Shelton, David Ian, John Olsen, and Merwin Johnson, but it was a particularly sensitive time for many in the seminary community. The continued presence and leadership of Prescott Williams, John Jansen, George Higher, Jean March, Ross Dunn, Dick Junkin, and librarian Cal Klimt contributed to the stability of the seminary. Dick Junkin's move into the dean's office created the need for a faculty member in the area of church history. On the basis of faculty action and Maxwell's recommendation in May 1977, the Board of Trustees elected Robert S. Hall as Professor of Ecclesiastical History and Christian Thought. Maxwell had known Paul in Pittsburgh, where Paul had taught on the faculty of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Paul came to Austin with impressive credentials. Born in Surrey, England, he had served as a pastor in England for nine years immediately after World War II. From 1954 to 1958, he worked at the Ecumenical Institute of the World Council of Churches in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1958, he accepted a call to teach church history at the Hartford Seminary Foundation, where he stayed for nine years. And in 1967, he moved to Pittsburgh to be on the faculty there. He remained there until 1977, when he and his wife, Eunice, moved to Austin. Paul's experience as pastor, churchman,

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and scholar contributed to the seminary's positive reputation, both in the church and in academic circles. His prodigious list of publications was an attractive feature on his resume. In 1985, while he was at Austin Seminary, he published a massive history of the proceedings of the Westminster Assembly from 1964, from 1643 through 1647. This volume, entitled Assembly of the Lord: Politics and Religion in the Westminster Assembly and the Grand Debate, covered the developments of the ecclesiastical and theological debates within the assembly, while the troops of Oliver Cromwell were doing battle with those of King Charles I outside Westminster's walls. Obviously, there were other significant faculty appointments during Maxwell's tenure as president. George Strauth had taught at Princeton Seminary for six years when he came to Austin in 1980.

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He stayed until December of 1985, when he accepted a call to serve on the faculty of Columbia Theological Seminary, where he continues to teach. Also in 1980, John R. Pete Hendrick came to Austin to become Professor of Mission and Evangelism.

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He directed the continuing education and the doctor of ministry programs as well. A 1952 graduate of Austin Seminary, Hendrick had served as executive of Brazos Presbytery in Southeast Texas for seven years. His appointment at the seminary came on the heels of two developments. First, a clear decline in membership in the Presbyterian Church, and second, an urging by the Evangelism Office of the Program Agency of the United Presbyterian Church that theological institutions address the matter of evangelism in theological education.

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Hendrick's book, Opening the Door of Faith: The Why, When, and Where of Evangelism, was based on the Settled's lectures on mission and evangelism he delivered at Austin Seminary in 1972. Until this time, the only woman to have served on the Austin Seminary faculty was Rachel Hinderlight, the first woman ordained to the ministry in the Presbyterian Church, U.S. Ordained in 1965, Hinderlight came to the seminary that year and remained

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until 1971 when she retired. During Maxwell's presidency, two women came to serve on the seminary faculty, Cynthia Campbell and Laura Lewis. Women students had been part of the seminary community for several years, but the appointment of Campbell in 1981 to teach in the areas of theology