Faculty News

Faculty Bringing Church and Student Body Together 

Rev. Dr. Nancy E. Hall, pastor of First Baptist Church of Berkeley, announces a joint project between the church and the ABSW Student Council, collecting book donations for the East Bay Children's Book Project. An attractive bin can now be found in the student lounge on the first floor of Hobart Hall, where new and gently used books for children and youth can be deposited.

The East Bay Children’s Book Project helps build literacy by putting books into the hands of children who have little or no access to them.

Working through individuals and organizations who help children in need, they have given out more than half a million free books since opening their doors in May 2005. For more information about EBCBP and guidelines for books to donate, go to: http://www.eastbaychildrensbookproject.org/

Faculty member leads Sunday School series based on dissertation research. 

Dr. Jennifer W. Davidson, Assistant Professr of Worship and Theology and Director of Chapel, during the month of March, will be teaching a three-week adult Sunday School series on the practice of Concerns and Celebrations and the Pastoral Prayer at Shell Community Church in Walnut Creek, CA. Based on research from her dissertaion, this class will expore the ways prayer in worship helps to shape our understanding of our relationship with God, with the world, and with one another.
 

Dr. Paul Martin and faculty members attend and leat the 10th Annual Samuel Dewitt Proctor Conference held February 18-21 in Dallas Tx. 

Dr. J. Alfred Smith, Sr., Distinguished Senior Professor of Preaching and Church Ministries, spoke on "Living Waters: Unearthing Global Power for Justice, " and led a workshop with Dr. J. Alfred Smith, Jr. on, "Honoring Legacy, Adapting Change: The Challenges of Aging Congregations."

Dr. Donna E. Allen, Adjunct Professor,  ABSW Adjunct Professor, led a workshop, "What's God Got to  do with It?: The Power of Small and Rural Churches.

Dr. Ronald Burris join faith leaders from around the country to prevent gun violence. 

For two days, January 28-29, 2013, Dr. Ronald Burris, Associate Professor of Church History, and other faith leaders from around the country met to hammer out a statement regarding gun violence. They presented that statement, along with other concerns, to President Obama's representative and to the committee to prevent gun violence, established by Vice President Biden. The meeting was sponsored by PICO and the faith leaders' comments were well received by the White House staff. Dr. Burris had the privilege of representing the clergy of Contra Costa County.

Worshipful Work: Jennifer Davidson and Khalia Jelks

Jennifer W. Davidson, PhD attended the annual meeting of the North American Academy of Liturgy in Albuquerque, NM, January 3-6, 2013. Jennifer convened the Liturgy and Spirituality Seminar for the NAAL. She also presented a paper this year entitled, "I Hate, I Despise Your Festivals: A Praxis-Oriented Liturgical Spirituality" based on Amos 5:21-24.

The Rev. Khalia Jelks, ABSW-affiliated PhD student in Liturgical Studies, also presented a paper entitled, "Engaging Womanist Spirituality in African American Christian Worship."

Dr. J. Alfred Smith, Sr., Distinguished Sr. Professor of Preaching and Church Ministries, held the honor of being the Keynote Speaker for the National Pastors Mentoring Conference of the Evangelical Reformed Church held on Tuesday, December 4, 2012 at the South Bay Community Church of Fremont, CA.

Dr. LeAnn Snow Flesher, Academic Dean and Professor of Old Testament will be presiding over the Biblical Hebrew Poetry section at the Annual Society of Biblical Literature meetings in Chicago, IL from November 17-20, 2012. 

Dr. Flesher also serves with the editorial board of the Review and Expositor Journal, who will also be meeting on Friday, November 16.  The Review & Expositor (R&E) is a quarterly Baptist theological journal dedicated to free and open inquiry of issues related to the Church’s mission in the contemporary world. Dr. Flesher edited the Summer 2012 issue, which highlights several of ABSW’s faculty and alumni around the topic of Prophetic Preaching.  To purchase copies of this issue, visit the R&E website.

ABSW also congratulates Dean Flesher on the new release of Daughter Zion: Her Portrait, Her Response, which she co-edited with Mark Boda and Carol J. Dempsey.

ABSW Distinguished Sr. Professor of Preaching and Church Ministries, Dr. J. Alfred Smith, Sr., has been selected by the steering committee of the Black Economic Council (BEC), to receive the 2nd Annual Game Changers and Bridge Builders Award in recognition of his lifetime commitment to the Black and underserved communities across the globe. Dr. Smith will be presented the award during the 2012 luncheon on Tuesday October 16, 2012 at the Marriott City Center, 1001 Broadway Oakland California from 10 AM to 2 PM. More information about the BEC and this event can be found on their website: www.blackeconomiccouncil.com.

The ABSW community congratulates Dr. Smith for this exceptional honor.

Announcing a new book release
By Dr. Ronald Burris

Where Is the Church? Martyrdom, Persecution, and Baptism in North Africa from the Second to the Fifth Century is an overview of North African Christianity from the second to the fifth century. Beginning with the African martyrs, Ronald D. Burris investigates the idea of how "church" was defined in North African Christianity through the understanding of water baptism, martyrdom (baptism in blood), and key theological concepts such as origo or conscientia. In addition to baptism and ecclesiology, this work investigates the social, political, and economic issues that were germane to the shaping, hardening, and eventual condemnation of those beliefs as expressed by the North African Christians, called the Donatists. Morevoer, this work seeks to explain why so many North African Christians were drawn to that group. They were drawn to the Donatists because the latter more closely represented the tradition of the early African martyrs, Tertullian, and their beloved hero and martyr, Saint Cyprian. 

ISBN 13: 978-1-60899-808-1
Pages: 166
Binding: Paperback
Publication Date: 07/24/2012
Publisher: Wipf and Stock/Resource Publications

Dr. Nancy Hall, Associate Professor of Ministry and Director of Contextual Education, attended the annual conference of The Hymn Society, July 15-19, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The theme for the 2012 gathering was “The Meeting Place: Sharing Our Songs.” For many generations, First Nations peoples and immigrant settlers gathered in Winnipeg for cultural and marketplace exchange where the Assiniboine and Red Rivers come together. During the conference week the focus was on the ways that God’s people yearn for meeting places and exploring how song creates bridges to bring us closer together, in mutual respect and understanding. Daily plenaries and workshops took place in an environment of sung faith and ecumenical hospitality, with a hymn festival every day or evening, for five days.
 
Dr. Hall continues to serve on The Hymn Society's editorial advisory board for The Hymn, a quarterly scholarly and practical journal of congregational song. Dr. Hall completed three years as editor of The Hymn at the end of 2011. For more information about The Hymn Society, go to: www.thehymnsociety.org.

Dr. J. Alfred Smith, Sr., Distinguished Sr. Professor of Preaching and Church Ministries, was recently the guest preacher on Sunday, July 15th for the 146th Church Anniversary of the Second Missionary Baptist Church of  Columbia, MO, Rev. Clyde L. Ruffin, Senior Pastor. Dr. Smith will be the preacher for the Annual Laymen’s Luncheon at the 51st Annual Session of Progressive National Baptist Convention in Memphis, TN on August 9, 2012.    

Dr. Smith, Sr. has co-authored an article titled, "Fixing too Big to Fail: View from the Pews," for The American Banker, a professional journal (please click here to access the article). As a result of this article, the Regions Bank, the biggest bank in Tennessee and Alabama, is meeting with Progressive National Baptist leaders at their annual meeting in August in Memphis to discuss working with black churches on an economic agenda.