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9.02.04 From left, Dr. Robby Bell, Rhonda McMahan and Julie Nelson during the Aug. 26 orientation session. Erskine Seminary starts semester with record enrollment "This is the largest entering class in the history of Erskine Theological Seminary," Vice President Neely Gaston told incoming seminary students and their families at an orientation session Aug. 26. An additional orientation session was offered Aug. 28 to accommodate the large number of first-time students this semester. This year's entering class totals 156 students, Gaston said Wednesday during the semester’s first chapel service at the seminary. Orientation for new seminary students included presentations on seminary policies and procedures, seminary housing, the Student Body Association and use of the library. Interim Dean Dr. Robby Bell also addressed the students, encouraging them to communicate directly with professors if problems arise in their classes and urging them to maintain a high standard of integrity. Bell said students enrolled in seminary should consider the question, often asked in ordinary conversation, "What brings you here?" Examining that question more deeply, Bell said, might raise the question, "What is God up to in bringing you here?" Seminary classes began on the Due West campus Tuesday, and the chapel service Wednesday featured introductory remarks by Gaston and a sermon by Erskine President Dr. John Carson. At a seminary faculty meeting Monday, Gaston reported on the state of the seminary, noting the school's record enrollment; progress on seminary renovations; the establishment of new off-campus facilities in Columbia and Augusta; and other signs of success. Gaston distributed a list of the latest seminary news to the student body. Dr. Mark Ross has been appointed first resident associate professor of theology for the Columbia site at First Presbyterian Church, which is providing the site facility. Newly appointed Assistant Professor of Worship and Homiletics Dr. Michael Bush has been named director of the Institute for Reformed Worship, with Dr. Hughes Oliphant Old continuing to lead the institute as dean. Additional seminary news includes the establishment of an Erskine Seminary site in New York City, with the initiation of a three-course pilot program this fall, directed by Dr. Douglas Culver, who serves as professor of Old Testament and holds the R.W. Carson Chair in Evangelism and Church Planting. Dr. Gareth Scott has been appointed United Methodist Director of Practical Ministry, providing support for the large number of United Methodist students on the Due West campus. Gaston said Scott could also provide assistance for students enrolled in the pilot program in New York City. Erskine Seminary Dean Dr. R.J. Gore continues his service as chaplain in Iraq, and is expected to return to the United States during this academic year. Carson’s remarks during the first seminary chapel service centered around Jesus’ instructions to his disciples in Matthew 16:24 — “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me.” A follower’s cross is not the same as Christ’s, which is unique. “You and I are supremely unqualified to take up Christ’s cross,” he said. The cross believers must take up has nothing to do with a piece of jewelry or other insignia or even with the consequences suffered for one's own foolish actions, Carson said. “Your cross is putting yourself in harm’s way for the sake of Jesus Christ." “Do you know what your cross is?” Carson asked the seminary students. “God’s going to move mountains through you,” he said. “God is asking you to do impossible things.” The cross must be taken up daily, he said, noting that there are "no weekends, no vacation periods, no sabbaticals." "If you don't take it up, you can't be a disciple of Christ," Carson said. |
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