SEMINARY IN THE CITY

President Keith A. Russell was a guest speaker for the American Baptist Churches of the South annual meeting in St. Petersburg, Fla., in November. He was the preacher and Bible study leader for the American Baptist Churches of Wisconsin’s 163rd Annual Meeting in October at Green Lake Conference Center in Green Lake, Wis. Also in October, Russell preached at First Chinese Baptist Church in Fresno, Calif., and St. James AME Church in Modesto, Calif.

Dr. LeAnn Flesher, professor of Old Testament, spent a month this summer in San José, Costa Rica, studying at ILISA, a Spanish language institute. Earlier in the summer, Flesher went to El Salvador for research and visited with American Baptist missionaries Ingrid Roldán-Román, Magda Aguirre and Deliris Carrion Rosa. Her article “The De-Domestication of the Cross: The El Salvadoran Experience,” appeared in the April-June 2007 edition of The Living Pulpit.

In August Flesher presented a paper titled “Rhetorical and Ethical Interpretations of Genesis 34” at the Catholic Biblical Association at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, Calif.

Flesher contributed two additional essays in recent books: “Rapid Change of Mood: Oracles of Salvation, Certainty of a Hearing, or Rhetorical Play?” in My Words Are Lovely: Studies in the Rhetoric of the Psalms, edited by Robert L. Foster and David M. Howard Jr. for the Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies (T&T Clark International, 2007); and “The Use of Female Imagery and Lamentation in the Book of Judith: Penitential Prayer or Petition for Obligatory Action?” in Seeking in the Rhetoric of the Psalms, edited by Mark Boda, Rodney Werline and Judith Newman (Society of Biblical Literature, 2007).

Dr. Nancy Hall, director of continuing education and associate professor of ministry, accepted an invitation to serve on the editorial committee for the new hymnal being developed by Mercer University Press, “Celebrating Grace: A Hymnal for Baptist Worship.” In July Hall attended the annual conference of the Hymn Society in Ottawa, Canada. Next summer’s conference will be in Berkeley, and Hall serves on the local arrangements committee for the event.

Dr. Judy Yates Siker, dean of the faculty and associate professor of New Testament, was the keynote speaker for the Presbyterian Church (USA) Synod of Southern California and Hawaii annual meeting in October in Los Angeles.

Dr. Marian Ronan, associate professor of contemporary theology and religion, delivered a paper, “Beyond the Conservative/Progressive Divide,” at the July annual conference of the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association in Honolulu, Hawaii.

In August Ronan was the keynote speaker for “A Woman’s Spirit Rising,” the annual women’s retreat at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Camden, N.J. The theme of her talk was “Women Tending and Defending God’s Creation.” She also conducted a workshop on the spirituality of water and preached at the Sunday masses at Sacred Heart.

Dr. J. Alfred Smith Sr., professor of preaching and church ministries, taught two courses this past summer: a course on African American spirituality at Fuller Theological Seminary and a course on preaching and pastoral care at Gordon Conwell Seminary.

In October Smith was keynote speaker for the Howard Thurman Lecture at Colgate Rochester Divinity School. His lecture title was “The Prophetic Spirituality of Howard Thurman.”