Evensong sermon preached by Academic Dean Scott Bader-Saye
New students, new community
Thirty-two students enrolled in Seminary of the Southwest’s master’s degree programs in Austin, Texas this fall. Welcoming them at Matriculation Evensong on September 7, Academic Dean Scott Bader-Saye asked the students, “The mission of Seminary of the Southwest is to help men and women discern God’s call and to prepare, in heart and mind, for ministry in the church and in the world. Will you pledge yourself to this discernment and formation, as God gives you grace to accomplish it?”
The new students come to Southwest for preparation for ordained ministry, for general theological studies and for master’s degrees in counseling, in chaplaincy and pastoral care and in spiritual formation.
Servant Leadership Award
Servant leadership, “the disposition of the heart to put the good of the whole at the center of one’s vocation” is front and center at the seminary’s opening service. Since the retirement of much loved professor of pastoral theology, the Rev. Charlie Cook in 2008, the faculty of the seminary has chosen someone who exemplifies a ministry of servanthood to receive the Charles J. Cook Award in Servant Leadership at the Matriculation Evensong.
The faculty chose Ms. Irit Umani, executive director of Trinity Center in Austin to receive the 2014 award. Trinity Center cares for Austin neighbors who are living on the streets or in shelters near the downtown St. David’s Episcopal Church, which birthed the outreach ministry years ago.
“Humanitarian, peace activist, spiritual guide, educator, advocate for the marginalized and friend of the homeless” began the citation for the Israeli-born Ms. Umani. “You have said that the path of service is not that of the preacher or the prophet; rather, it is the path of the Levite who keeps the temple clean and makes certain that there is oil for the lamp.”
Accepting the award, Ms. Umani expressed her hope that the students beginning or continuing their studies and formation would find themselves at graduation “more in love with God and more in love with their neighbor” than they are today.
Faculty installation
The seminary also officially welcomed its newest faculty member, Dr. Daniel Joslyn-Siemiatkoski, who joined the faculty at Seminary of the Southwest this fall after serving on the faculty at Church Divinity School of the Pacific since 2005. Academic Dean Scott Bader-Saye installed Joslyn-Siemiatkoski as the Duncalf-Villavaso associate professor of church history. His areas of interest include Jewish-Christian history, the history of Anglican ecclesiology, and contemporary interfaith dialogue. Earlier this summer, he participated as a fellow in the Christian Leadership Initiative in Jerusalem sponsored by the American Jewish Committee and the Shalom Hartman Institute. Details.
