DISCERNING THE PATH OF LEADERSHIP

Graduation is a significant milestone, but it's certainly not the end of the road. For American Baptist Seminary of the West graduates, new possibilities now unfold for ministry and continuing education.

Encircled by their seminary community, graduates celebrate the journey thus far — and contemplate the Spirit's leading in the days ahead.

"We rejoice with the 26 students who graduated in May, and we share their hopefulness for the new thing God is doing in and through their lives," says President Keith Russell.

Seven master of divinity graduates received special awards at commencement. Like their classmates, they embody the mission of ABSW to develop theologically and biblically informed leaders who are skilled in the practice of ministry for personal, ecclesial and social transformation. Their stories are told below.

Praising God in the Gray
Dexter Thomas remembers well the time he spoke in Dr. J. Alfred Smith Sr.'s course on "Preaching from the Book of Job." He got a call from the ABSW professor the very next morning, inviting him to preach that coming Sunday to Smith's congregation at Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland.

Smith asked Thomas to deliver the same message he shared in class — "A Radical Response to Ruin," which was born of Th' own Jobian story of being blind and hit by a car. From then on, Thomas was known in the seminary community as a gifted preacher. "That transformed my experience at the school," he says.

Studying and practicing the art of preaching is Thomas' passion. This summer he will begin a doctor of ministry program in homiletics at San Francisco Theological Seminary (SFTS). Eventually, Thomas plans to pursue a Ph.D. He was co-recipient of ABSW's L. Doward McBain Preaching Prize.

Thomas preaches regularly through Empowerment Ministries, a new church plant he founded a year ago in downtown Oakland to minister to street people, and at Grand Avenue Seventh-day Adventist Church, where he serves as assistant pastor.

He seeks to marry the best of the liturgical preaching style of his native Trinidad & Tobago, a style that leaves sermons open-ended, with the African-American homiletic tradition that sets up a conflict then resolves it with celebration. He calls this combination of styles "celebrating the ambiguity."

Inspired by Her Professors
Liz Yoo, who shared the preaching award with Thomas and received the Robert B. Laurin Scholarship Prize in Old Testament, will also continue her education with a master's degree in biblical studies from the Graduate Theological Union.

Yoo says the next year will help her discern whether she is cut out for doctoral studies. She has been encouraged by her ABSW biblical professors, Dr. Judy Yates Siker and Dr. LeAnn Snow Flesher. "Being around these professors and being in their classrooms, it was very inspirational," she says.

The youth minister at the Korean Church of the Valley in San Ramon, Calif., Yoo was drawn to Siker's and Flesher's lecturing, which seemed more like preaching, she says. Both professors are ordained ministers, and Yoo appreciated their preacher/scholar perspective. She also enjoyed their assignments. The professors, in turn, valued her work, which was just the support Yoo needs as she discerns a scholarly vocation.

"It really encouraged me to think, 'Well, maybe I can do this.'"

Confidently Addressing Conflict
"I do believe I am ready for the next level," says Joyce Whitfield, who plans to pursue a D.Min. at SFTS.

Whitfield's confidence is born of experience. After starting seminary in 2002, she had to drop out in the first semester when her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. She wasn't sure how she would care for her mother and complete her studies, but somehow Whitfield made it.

She won the seminary's Jessie Day Drexler Award for Pastoral Ministries, and she learned a lesson: When God ordains something for your life, Whitfield says, God anoints you and equips you for the journey.

For her senior research project, a requirement for all M.Div. students at ABSW, Whitfield explored the pastor's role in conflict resolution. She found that very few pastors are equipped to address conflict in their churches. And many leaders avoid it.

An associate pastor at Beth Eden Baptist Church in Oakland since 2001, Whitfield says unresolved conflict in the body of Christ "makes the church a battlefield." That's a problem she wants to address through her doctoral studies.

Preparing for Practical Ministry
Hyekwang Hyun had in mind a particular community as he studied in seminary: San Francisco Mission Korean Methodist Church, a congregation Hyun planted four years ago in the city's Sunset District.

With a master's degree from a South Korean seminary, Hyun felt he needed more training in theology and a focus on U.S. culture in order to better serve his congregation.

"Almost all of my church members are young adults. I thought that they needed some educational programs for their life," Hyun wrote in describing his senior project. "Especially, they wanted to know about dating, marriage, and family relationships. Therefore, I focused on family ministry in my senior project."

That practical focus earned Hyun the Marian Bratcher Scholarship Prize in Functional Theology. And the focus is leading Hyun now to pursue a D.Min. at SFTS, where he will continue to reflect on his practice of family ministry.

Sitting With the Questions
Rhonda White-Warner kept up a busy pace through her seminary studies. She won the school's Claiborne M. Hill Award for highest academic standing for an M.Div. student and the Jessie Day Drexler Award for Competence in the Field of Bible and Theology, all while serving as minister of life development at Imani Community Church in Oakland.

Now she can breathe, she says. But like a lot of students who reach the end of their formal studies, she is also itching to learn more — without the pressure of deadlines.

She wants to write. She wants to find ways to translate her academic work in the context of urban ministry, particularly for women. And she's wondering how to make meaningful bridges for those who are the subject of liberation theologies. So she has decided to continue her studies this fall through ABSW's new advanced certificate in theology.

"I needed to explore some more," she says. "I needed to ask more questions. I needed to sit with other people's voices."

Reflecting on Stories
Eun Kyoung Nho, known to her friends as "Jenny," wanted to take a fresh look at biblical and extra-biblical stories in her senior project and "discover how they inform our hearts."

Her approach was to use creative writing in her native Korean. "My project is a collection of reflective and meditative writings in the form of poems, fable, and short stories," Nho wrote in the description of her project. "It consists of deep meditation of scripture, nature, and personal life reflections using the art of writing."

Her fresh take on scripture earned Nho the Jessie Day Drexler Award in New Testament. And she was delighted with the chance to integrate her gifts and training.

"It is a significant experience in that I am able to build a bridge between my theological training and evangelical ministry through creative writing in the long run."

Listening for Leading
Jonathan Thomas, winner of the Claiborne M. Hill Award for highest academic standing for an M.Div. student and the J. Alfred Smith Sr. Award for Outstanding Ministry in the Black Church, plans to make use of his senior project in the months ahead as he figures out what's next in his vocational journey. Appropriately, his project was on discernment.

Raised on the "speaking side of prayer," as Thomas puts it, his study opened up the "listening side," revealing the spiritual practices of discernment used by St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, and by the theologian and minister Howard Thurman.

Thomas plans to spend the next year discerning the Spirit's leading as he considers how best to use his gifts in teaching, preaching and pastoral care.

One possibility for Thomas is a Ph.D. in homiletics, which could lead to teaching. He has identified four schools that offer the doctoral program: Emory, Princeton, Vanderbilt, and the GTU. Thomas loves the practice of preaching, too, so a pastoral calling may be his.

Whatever's next, Thomas is preparing. He'll take the GRE test this fall. And he's trusting. "All forward movement is faith movement," he says.