DUE WEST, S.C. - At a service of investiture Oct. 30 in Bowie Chapel on the Erskine Seminary campus, Dr. Mary-Ruth Marshall, who has taught at Erskine Theological Seminary since 1988, was elevated to the rank of full professor.

Well attended by college and seminary colleagues, staff, seminary students, family and friends, the service included the reading of a paper by Dr. Marshall called "And He Began to Teach."

The invocation was offered by Mrs. Kitty Holtzclaw, Student Body President. Dr. James W. Strobel, President of Erskine College and Seminary, welcomed those in attendance and later read the declaration of investiture of Dr. Marshall. Dr. Randall T. Ruble, retiring Dean of the Seminary, presented Marshall and also delivered the charge to her. Special music was provided by Holtzclaw, Billie Brightwell, Julie Schaaf, Fred Treaster, and Lance Kindred, members of the Seminary Singers, who made up an ensemble for the occasion.

Born in Worcester, Mass., Marshall graduated from high school in Summerville, then attended Montreat College, graduating in 1954 with a double major in English and music. After working at Montreat Conference Center during her summers as a student, she served as Director of Christian Education at Waldensian Presbyterian Church in Valdese, N.C. She earned the Master of Religious Education at the Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, Va. in 1958.

Following service in the Independent Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Ala. and First Presbyterian Church, Lynchburg, Va., she was called as Regional Director of Christian Education in the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand. After completing her service in New Zealand, Marshall spent a year traveling the world, then worked in Australia with the Joint Board of Christian Education as curriculum evaluator, writer and editor, and then Director of Youth Services.

She entered the Doctor of Education program at the Presbyterian School of Christian Education (PSCE) in 1984, receiving her degree in 1993 and submitting a dissertation entitled "Precedents and Accomplishments: An Analytical Study of the Presbyterian Youth Fellowship of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, 1943-1958."

Before coming to Erskine Seminary, Marshall taught at PSCE, Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, and the School of Theology at Virginia Union University. Coming to Erskine in 1988, she served as faculty chair from 1993 to 1995 and is currently Director of the Master of Arts in Christian Education degree program. She serves as elder and Sunday School teacher at the Greenville Presbyterian Church and also is a member of the Committee on Preparation for Ministry of the Trinity Presbytery.

Before delivering her address, Marshall paid tribute to her colleagues, family and friends present in the congregation, giving special recognition to Dean Ruble as her mentor.

Marshall's remarks on the subject of Jesus as teacher focused on the fourth chapter of the gospel of Mark, which records "parables of the kingdom of God" and "parables about parables."

Characterizing the parables of Jesus as "anything but didactic," Marshall stressed that they "reveal the kingdom of God as mystery." The parables of Jesus "stand in between the known and the unknown," she said. "They invite imagination rather than argument and call for reflection rather than definition on the part of the hearer."