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Teaching with a Pastoral Heart - A Salute to Rondald Youngblood

September 11th: Bethel Responds

Babington Awarded Presidential Medal of Honor

Commencement 2001

Seminary commencements at all of Bethel's locations were marked by students’ readiness to lead and be led. Their mandate: “Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go” (Joshua 1:6). At the St. Paul commencement on June 2, John Ortberg, teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church, challenged students with his address: “If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat.” On June 3, San Diego graduates heard from Ronald Youngblood, professor of Old Testament, who retired in 2001. At Seminary of the East on July 15, Rev. Stephen A. Macchia, Ph.D., president of Vision New England, spoke on “The Upward Call of Downward Mobility.”

Thorson Honored for Distinguished Service

Meg Thorson, executive assistant to Provost Leland Eliason, is among several employees honored for their distinguished service at Bethel’s annual spring community appreciation event. Thorson serves the seminary community and provost’s office in multiple capacities and also coordinates the annual Transformational Church Series. According to Provost Eliason, Thorson performs her duties with “careful attention to a myriad of details and with a joyful, positive attitude toward everyone. In other words, Meg embodies Christian hospitality with unusual effectiveness on behalf of Bethel Seminary. It doesn’t matter who it is—students, pastors, parents of students, prospective faculty—the words of appreciation are deeply felt and frequent. She gives exceptional Royal Care, with notable dedication to Bethel and its mission.”

San Diego Kicks Off Campaign

On May 17, 2001, Bethel Seminary San Diego kicked off its $7.5 million capital campaign with a Celebration of Servant Leadership dinner, an evening of celebration and challenge featuring Dr. Ken Blanchard, author of the best-selling book, The One Minute Manager. More than 300 guests heard Blanchard speak about Jesus as the great model of servant leadership and were introduced to the seminary’s vision for providing a Center for Servant Leadership and a Bethel conference center as part of the “Vision Grows” capital campaign. The campaign aims to raise funds for these building projects as well as scholarship endowment. Bethel leaders attending the event included Dan Denton, director of development, San Diego; John Lillis, dean and executive officer, San Diego; Leland Eliason, provost and executive vice president, St. Paul; Bruce Kunkel, vice president for campus services; Ron Harris, vice president for development; and George Brushaber, president of Bethel University.

Retreat Ushers in Academic Year

Late September marked the start of a new academic year at Bethel Seminary, and there were plenty of activities to help students, faculty, and staff connect and prepare for a stimulating year of growth and learning. New student orientation, appropriately called “Genesis,” featured presentations by the financial aid office, the provost, the registrar, and the deans of the three centers of the St. Paul seminary. Students also received a campus tour and a library orientation. A faculty/new student lunch enabled students to meet and interact with faculty in an informal setting. The highlight of the fall’s events was the Great Fall Getaway, Bethel’s all-seminary retreat, held at Camp Lebanon in Upsala, Minn. The retreat included St. Paul students and staff as well as faculty and administrators from St. Paul, San Diego, and Seminary of the East.

Tom Correll, new dean of the St. Paul campus’ Center for Spiritual and Personal Formation, was the featured speaker. He brought a wealth of experience and wisdom through his teaching and storytelling.

Leaders Share from the Heart

Seminary chapel attendees were privileged to hear from Bethel College & Seminary President George Brushaber during an informal, fireside discussion in the seminary’s upper campus center on November 8. The president shared recollections of humorous moments during his presidency, thoughts about his family, and perceptions about the special challenges he has faced in his own spiritual journey. Quoting authors Gary Thomas and Eugene Peterson, whose writings have had particular meaning in his spiritual walk, Brushaber characterized his spiritual journey as a “long miracle of spiritual transformation” and a “long journey of obedience in the same direction.” The 30-minute sharing time went so quickly that chapel organizers are eager to invite the president to return for a time of questions and answers as well as community prayer for him as the leader of Bethel University.

On November 29, Bethel SeminaryProvost Leland Eliason participated in a similar fireside conversation with chapel attendees. The provost shared about his roots, his family, influential people and experiences in his life, and his vision for Bethel Seminary. About fulfilling that vision, he stressed, “Though lost people do not seek us out at the seminary, we must remember that lost people are still our main concern.” He emphasized that the seminary students’ training in leadership and character formation will serve to help them fulfill the seminary’s vision to advance the Gospel of Jesus Christ among all people in culturally sensitive ways. The provost concluded with an emotional statement of his personal vision: “We must make the wise, strategic, lifelong commitment to give ourselves for what Christ gave Himself. That’s what this place is about, and to whatever degree I can shape it that way, I will.” Chapel ended with a brief time of prayer for Provost Eliason and his family as he continues to provide leadership to Bethel Seminary.

Johnson Distinguished Alum

Paul D. Johnson received the Distinguished Alumni Award 2001 at the Bethel Seminary breakfast during June’s annual meeting of the Baptist General Conference (BGC) in Arlington Heights, Ill. Johnson is senior pastor of Woodridge Church in Long Lake, Minn., but he also is a shepherd of many pastors and churches across the United States. As director of church planting for the BGC and as faculty associate in church planting at Bethel Seminary, Johnson has been involved in starting new and growing churches around the country.

Johnson came to know Christ in high school in Green Bay, Wis. He immediately got involved in student ministries and then broke all precedents by planting a church before he was even out of college. While still in their 20s, Johnson and his brother Steve became the catalysts for a church planting movement for the Great Lakes Baptist District of the Baptist General Conference. This became the basis for TeAMerica, the national church planting movement of the BGC. Johnson was personally involved in planting churches in Shawano, Fond du Lac, and Beaver Dam, Wis. In 1990, he became the church planting pastor for Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, Minn. There he helped to craft a church planting strategy that has resulted in numerous church plants across the Twin Cities. Johnson planted Woodridge Church in 1991 and continues to pastor there while carrying on his church planting ministries. He is known as one of the foremost strategists on church planting in the country and has consulted and lectured on the topic throughout the United States and Canada.

Johnson exemplifies the growing number of Bethel Seminary students who are actively involved in ministry even while they complete their seminary education. Since 1980, he has woven together active ministry and seminary training, finishing his seminary degree in 1997. As a faculty associate at Bethel Seminary, Johnson brings the excitement and relevance of contemporary ministry experience into classroom teaching and has been a leader in helping the seminary align itself with cutting-edge ministries.

Running for a Reason

Harry Stephenson, supervisor of St. Paul seminary buildings, ran in both Grandma’s Marathon in June and the Twin Cities Marathon in October as a means of raising money for the Matthew Stephenson Foundation. The foundation was established in memory of Stephenson’s 13-year-old son, who was killed in a car accident two years ago. To date, Stephenson has received more than $8,500 from sponsors of his runs. The Twin Cities Marathon was Stephenson’s 17th and his most rewarding, he said, because “I was running it on behalf of the displaced children around the globe, especially those in Brazil.” He explained that while he and his wife Vicky were devastated by their son’s death, in their grief God gave them a glimpse of His own heart and His longing to see His children come home. “This glimpse stirred within us a deep compassion for children who have no father or mother,” he continued. “And out of this compassion we began the Matthew Stephenson Foundation as a means of reaching out to…the orphans of the world.”

Foundation officials decided last spring to provide monetary assistance to a relief organization that helps needy children in other parts of the world. They chose Rainbows of Hope, a ministry to street orphans in Brazil, and in October presented the organization with a $3,000 check. The money will be used for the construction of an orphanage for young boys.

Stephenson offered the following suggestions for readers who are interested in participating in this type of ministry: 1) identify with suffering children by skipping a meal a day or a week, then donate the cost of that meal to a children’s relief organization; 2) ask people to sponsor you in an organized run/walk and donate the contributions to the Matthew Stephenson Foundation; 3) sponsor one of the distance runners who run in support of the Matthew Stephenson Foundation. Information and pledge forms are available from the Matthew Stephenson Foundation; Harry Stephenson, Project Director; 527 Kingston Ave.; Maplewood, MN 55117; or email Harry at h-stephenson@bethel.edu.

TCS 2001 Hot Ticket

Attendees of Bethel Seminary’s sixth annual Transformational Church Series (TCS) on October 12 experienced the warmest of Hawaiian hospitality despite Minnesota’s fall chill. Thirty-two members of New Hope Christian Fellowship O’ahu, Hawaii, brought music, dance, and drama from the islands as they demonstrated to seminary students, pastors, and lay ministers their methods of “doing church as a team.” Senior pastor Wayne Cordeiro presented plenary and workshop sessions on a varietyof topics, including “Dream Releasers” from his forthcoming book of the same title. New Hope Christian Fellowship grew to nearly 8,000 weekend attendees just five and a half years after its beginnings in 1995, with 5,800 of them receiving Christ for the first time through New Hope’s ministries. New Hope is currently one of the fastest-growing churches in the nation.

Bethel’s Transformational Church Series is the fulfillment of Provost Leland Eliason’s vision to bring staff members of transformational churches to Bethel Seminary to teach students and local ministry personnel how to best reach out and minister to those they are called to serve. Since 1996, the series has featured gifted ministers from among the nation’s most effective churches and has been enthusiastically received by students and local ministry leaders alike. A comment from one of this year’s attendees is typical: “The joy of the Lord was expressed in meaningful, multi-dimensional ways. The model of Jesus’ ministry heart of love, service, dreams, and the harvest will long be remembered.” Make plans now to be blessed and inspired at the next Transformational Church Series on October 11, 2002.

Pacific-side Happenings

Several memorable events have taken place at Bethel Seminary San Diego in recent months. In October, approximately 125 people gathered at College Avenue Baptist Church to celebrate the multiple ways God is using Bethel Seminary in the community and the world. The program included Gillien Cheung, a current Bethel student, and Chaplain David Walden. Bethel’s development department organized the event. In November, the seminary sponsored an all-day guided contemplative retreat at the historic Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside. The retreat was designed for students in a spiritual formation course, but was opened to the wider Bethel family as well. Retreat directors were Kent Eaton and Natalie Hendrickson. Also in November the seminary hosted a Christian Association for Psychological Studies (CAPS) luncheon featuring Arlys Norcross McDonald, Ph.D., who spoke on “Trauma Recovery.”

Enrollment Highest Ever

The numbers are in, and enrollment at Bethel Seminary is officially at an all-time high. According to Lori Jass, seminary registrar, the rate of increase this year is the highest rate of increase since 1996, with all campuses showing strong enrollments. This fall’s enrollment total is 1,018, with 750 students in St. Paul, 200 in San Diego, and 112 at Bethel Seminary of the East. Of that total, 780 students are full time. Compared to records from 10 years ago, enrollment is up 75 percent at the St. Paul campus and 70 percent in San Diego. Diversity among enrolled students also is climbing. Compared to numbers in 1995, the percentage of women in the student body has increased from 21 percent to 35 percent; the percentage of students of color has risen from 12 percent to 15 percent; and the number of BGC students has decreased, from one in two students, to one in five students. Students this fall are distributed among a variety of degree programs, with 63 percent in the traditional resident program; 42 percent in the M.Div. program; 18 percent in InMinistry; and 11 percent in the D.Min. program.

St. Paul Welcomes New Faculty

Thorsten Moritz, associate professor of New Testament, and Peter Vogt, instructor of Old Testament, have joined the faculty of Bethel Seminary St. Paul this fall. Moritz is a German national who came to faith as a result of participation in a youth group. To prepare for work in youth ministry, he attended the Freie Theologische Akademie in Giessen. There he studied with Don Verseput, now a Bethel Seminary professor of New Testament, and realized that his gifts best fit an academic vocation. After studying in Giessen, Moritz traveled to England to earn a Master of Theology degree at London Bible College, then on to King’s College, University of London, for a Ph.D. in New Testament under Professor Graham Stanton. Moritz wrote his dissertation on Ephesians.

In 1991, Moritz began teaching at the Cheltenham & Gloucester College of Higher Education, where he was senior lecturer prior to accepting his position at Bethel. He specializes in Pauline studies and has also taught in the gospels, while his publications address topics throughout the New Testament. He and his wife Ute adopted a son, Dominic, in South America. This required the couple to establish residence there. In England, the Moritzes were involved with a Christian house group in Cheltenham, reaching out to lost people whom they believed could not hurdle the cultural obstacles involved in attending a traditional church.

Peter Vogt is a Twin Cities native who earned an M.Div. from Bethel Seminary in 1997 after a stint as an officer in the Navy. He then traveled to Cheltenham & Gloucester College of Higher Education to pursue a Ph.D. in Old Testament. He was the student of evangelical scholar Dr. J. Gordon McConville and wrote his dissertation on Deuteronomy. Vogt is married to Bethel Seminary alumna Cami and has a young son, Joshua. During their stay in England, the Vogts attended the same church and house group led by Thorsten Moritz. Vogt’s ministry experience includes work as a lay chaplain in the Navy, a singles intern, and a part-time college instructor.

Bethel’s Premier CD-ROM is Here

Bethel Seminary’s 2001-2002 CD-ROM is now available to prospective students, donors, and friends of the seminary. A comprehensive information tool about the seminary’s multiple locations and offerings, the CD-ROM is a simple and viable alternative to the stacks of brochures, maps, and catalogs normally associated with the seminary admissions process. Unlike other seminary CDs, Bethel’s CD is highly interactive, including such features as:

• interviews with faculty, students, and administrators;
  
  
• the complete seminary catalog and viewbook;
  
  
• information on all degree programs and delivery systems, including a link to the seminary web page;
  
  
• endorsements from a number of respected church leaders;
  
  
• photos and live action video from the seminary’s campus locations across the nation;
  
  
• a virtual tour of the St. Paul campus;
  
  
• an interactive historical timeline of the seminary;
  
  
• maps and driving information;
  
  
• complete contact information; and
  
  
• a feature that allows pastors, college officials, development personnel, and others to design a customized presentation highlighting selected information about Bethel Seminary.

“We have found this medium to be a very effective way to communicate, especially with younger students who are visually oriented and computer savvy,” says Morris Anderson, director of admissions and financial aid. “This tool helps keep Bethel in the forefront of the electronic revolution in ways that are relevant and engaging.” The CD-ROM will be updated annually, so information will be as current and accurate as possible.