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Anamnesis: The IWS Family Newsletter | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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July 2006 June Session Edition Volume 3, Number 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In This Issue Click to go to the article.
From the seminar: "The church isn't meant to be a showplace for music. Rather, music must serve the liturgy and the liturgy must serve the Word" (Harold Best, Alumni Seminar 2006).
From the seminar: "Applying discernment and appropriateness in choosing church music is a matter of conscience-ridden, prayer-driven choice- making as compared to concern for what other churches are doing. Church growth by envy is a terrible thing" (Harold Best, Alumni Seminar 2006).
We need your thesis abstract DWS graduates: If you have not yet emailed your thesis abstract to me, please do so today. As our Web site goes public these lists will be a valuable research tool. Thanks to all of you who have already sent yours. Check out the thesis lists--this is clearly a deep reservoir of knowledge and practical application.
Keifert on his IWS experience: "I saw a group of people having fun—delighting in learning and being with one another—while working hard. I saw no one not fully engaged" (Patrick Keifert, June 2006).
Keifert on his IWS experience: "You are giving respect to practitioners as serious theologians. I saw in every single class practitioners, without apology, being invited to do hard theological reflection on their experience and being honored as persons who do so. That’s a big deal. You are sitting on the top of a revolution in theological education" (Patrick Keifert, June 2006).
Keifert on his IWS experience: "I saw exemplary team teaching. This is a high virtue and hard-won achievement" (Patrick Keifert, June 2006).
Contact Information
Director
of Alumni Activities and Editor of Anamnesis
C: 616.304.9363 |
In This Issue . . .We remember and celebrate the blessings of the recent June Session in this edition of Anamnesis. We all know that IWS in a unique community and that God works in deep and significant ways in this place and people. He has done remarkable things in our lives and in the lives of those we serve as a result of our IWS experience. May you be renewed and relive the joy on the journey in reading about God's hand--ever present and ever faithful--in the events of the June Session at IWS. Kent Walters Serving as your link to the IWS community
Our third annual alumni gathering in Orange
Park was a memorable occasion in many ways. We began on Saturday with a
lunch meeting with Bob followed by the viewing of his Wednesday
presidential address on video (click here for the
audio link and
handout
link). The remainder of the Enough of the dry details. How about some more pictures? Click on the link to jump to the picture page on the Alumni Web site. The following testimonies provide personal reflection on the event, which, true to IWS form, was refreshing and life-changing. Back to Scripture (Steve Blasdel - Beta, DWS 2003):
Truly Inspirational! (Brian Walrath - Alpha, DWS 2002): [Editor's note: sorry for big picture, Brian. It just seemed right.]
The Alumni Seminar
was a great time of learning and discussion...just like
New Resolve for Worship Renewal (Robin Ziegenfuss - Delta, DWS 2004): Harold Best had a tremendous influence on how
I perceive the role of music in worship through his book, Music Through
the Eyes of Faith. So when I heard he was going to
speak at the Alumni Seminar, it was a A Spiritual Retreat (Liz Wetherby - Aleph, MWS 2004): As is true of my entire
experience at IWS, the Alumni Seminar ministered to me deeply. It was a
privilege to be there. Just being on campus was a spiritual retreat.
These highlights come to mind: singing the prayers before meals and the
wonderful arrangement of "The Lord's Prayer" in worship,
The Unexpected (Linda Borecki - Zeta, DWS 2005): Based on what I have
experienced of IWS life and events, the June reunion was not exactly what I
expected. I arrived anticipating the enlightenment and adrenaline rush of
Big Scheduled Events--lunch with Bob and alumni, seminars with Harold
Best, graduation pomp and circumstance. Those all were great, but I left
remembering and changed most by the unexpectancies--small graces that
catch me off-guard and then lodge in my memory. Here are a few. When I returned to the abode of the family
Alumni Seminar FeedbackAs promised, here is a summary of the comments received on the evaluation forms at the conclusion of the Alumni Seminar in June. We received responses from 14 of the 18 registrants present and the following data was compiled from those forms.
Dr. Patrick Keifert is Professor of Systematic Theology at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, and also spends considerable time in research and consulting around the world through Church Innovations, a non-profit institute he helped found. He spent a day on campus in June visiting classes and interacting with students and faculty. Bob invited him to share about his work and ministry with the IWS community that evening unaware that as a part of that talk he would offer a critical analysis of IWS as a result of what he had experienced in his visit. Listen to his truly remarkable and perceptive comments about IWS (audio link 16:05). Read a few of his observations in the sidebar on the left. To read more, click here. The fifth IWS Commencement was held on Sunday, June 18 in the context of another inspiring eucharistic service of worship. We welcomed 23 new members into the IWS Alumni Association that night. We're now 121 strong! [Click to see the 2006 "regalia" pics]. Click to see the commencement bulletin and graduates insert. I always concentrate on adding resources, pictures, audio files, etc. after each of the sessions. And, of course, after the June session I expand the Alumni Directory and thesis lists by adding the new graduates and their thesis titles. So, there is a lot of new stuff. You've seen some of it if you have clicked on the links above. There's more. Go to the Web site and browse around. I'm especially excited to be able to make the audio links available. You can easily download some inspiring listening on your computer or portable mp3 player. Burn a CD to listen to in the car. AND--I will soon begin editing video files of the session with Harold Best and other video recordings from the archives to make available on the Web site. Be patient though, this will take a little time. Alumni Focus: 30 Days in IndiaLinda Borecki (Zeta, DWS 2005) spent 30 days in India last January. Read about her experiences in the next edition.
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afternoon was spent visiting classes. Some
of us gathered at Carrabba's on Saturday evening for some great food and
conversation. Highlights on Sunday included joining the Grace
Anglican (formerly Grace Episcopal) family in worship at Orange Park High
School, and participating in the commencement service that evening. The two-day seminar with Dr.
Harold Best occurred on Monday and Tuesday and was very well received.
During the evenings we were able to attend the practicums.
Harold Best's
seminar was a
reminder of how encompassing worship is and its significance in our
lives. His presentation was comprehensive, well thought out, biblical,
and applicable in today’s church. I plan to review the notes I took later
this summer, but the first impact was to draw me back to scripture and
consider where I have strayed from what I know to be true
biblically. I greatly appreciated the interaction with him and former
classmates.
the
'old' days. It felt good to be back in class (without the pressure of
homework to follow) and it was also nostalgically sweet to hear some of my
former classmates posing questions like they used to do. I appreciated
Harold's flexibility and his willingness to alter his lecture plan,
distribute his notes, and then 'wing it' with Q & As that took us more
'organically' and less linearly through his planned agenda. I was blessed
by his depth of knowledge, but more so by his vulnerability and candor in
sharing his own ongoing pilgrimage spiritually and intellectually. That
was truly inspirational! (When I grow up I'd like to be as much a
life-long-pilgrim/learner as I see Harold and Bob are.) 
foregone conclusion that I would
attend. This was my first trip back to the school since graduating
in 2004. It was great listening to Dr. Best talk about his
philosophy of worship and participating in discussions with him about his
thoughts and ideas. He was personally transparent, professionally
inspiring, and academically challenging. Well worth the price of
admission! An added benefit was the opportunity to renew
friendships. I also got to meet current students and reassure them that,
indeed, it is possible to graduate! It was great to experience the
camaraderie and to enjoy the morning worship with Darrell. I was flooded
with memories while I was there and left with a new resolve and
determination to continue to push for worship renewal in my home church.
It was a personal and professional blessing to attend. I am already
looking forward to next summer.
being with our
remarkable and God-centered faculty, hearing Darrell's chapel messages as
he explored the signs and wonders of Pentecost, worshiping in the practicums. All this was richness that could only come from God. On top
of all that, it was a beautiful gift to sit under the teaching of Harold
Best. At times I felt (as someone else put it) as if I were trying to take
a sip of water from a fire hydrant. There was a fullness to his teaching
and a sweetness to his spirit that made academic knowledge go straight to
the heart. His presentation was deep and authentic and my life is
tremendously richer and my service to God more meaningful as a result
of his teaching. I recommend the Alumni Seminar to all alumni.
In every way it is a continuation of the unique educational experience
that is only found at IWS (without the homework!). Thanks to those whose
efforts and vision made it possible.
who housed me each semester, my
host said, “Welcome home.” A Darrell Harris phrase from a chapel message
lingers: remain in readiness. Kent Walters blew the tough-as-nails Alpha
class image by rendering an unceasing stream of camaraderie, nurture, and
Excedrin. Carla Waterman’s eloquent prayer of healing for my killer
headache, “Dear Lord, please fix Linda’s head,” still makes me laugh. (God
and Excedrin did the trick.) One more: Ex-Grace Episcopal Rector Sam
Pascoe was assisting in communion in the sanctuary from which he is now
exiled, and while others were singing, praying, or meditating upon
transcendent meta-narrative truths, I was watching Sam serve under the
authority of a visiting priest who did not know the community and its
rhythm of liturgy. I waited to see what wry sarcasm or one-upmanship
might occur. Yet during communion the presider referenced Sam and
deferred to his silent and subtle leading of liturgy via eye contact and
body language. I was impacted by the humility and gentility they
exhibited in trying circumstances. Just another serendipitous grace to be
expected in the cosmic story of salvation (and IWS).
Start
planning now to attend next year's post-graduate event. The dates
are June 16-19, 2007 and our guest will be Brian McLaren on the
topic of the emerging church. Save the dates on your calendar. More
details later.