The book is available through: RTS Bookstore online (mindandheart.com), and RTS Bookstore, 5422 Clinton Blvd., Jackson, Miss. The cost is $19.95 on Amazon.com. A book signing event will be held at the RTS/Jackson Library on Thursday, March 3rd from 2:30 – 5:00 p.m. Click here for more information.

SPRING LECTURE SERIES AT RTS/CHARLOTTE IN FEBRUARY
Dr. John Richard de Witt will speak on “Survival and Success in The Christian Ministry: Reflections on Pastoral Work, Worship and Preaching” at the RTS Charlotte Spring Lecture Series, on Feb. 22, 2011 from 9a.m. to noon. Dr. De Witt has been a minister for over 50 years and brings a wealth of experience and insight to the subject of pastoral ministry. He received his B.D. from Western Theological Seminary and an honorary degree of D.D. from Rhodes College. He was professor of church history and systematic theology at RTS/Jackson from 1975-1982 and the senior minister of Second Presbyterian Church in Memphis for the following 10 years.  He also was pastor at the First Presbyterian Church in Columbia. In 2009 he was the moderator of the General Synod of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. For more information, click here.

RTS/ORLANDO HELD FOURTH INAUGURATION ON FEB. 10
Dr. Donald W. Sweeting was inaugurated as the fourth president of RTS/Orlando on Thursday, February 10, 2011, at 4:00 p.m. The ceremony was filled with sounds of bagpipes and drums, singing and guitar by Jeremy Casella of Indelible Grace, "Total Praise" was sung by the music ministry of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Oviedo, and the organ was played by Dr. Terry Yount, organist and dean of conservatory at St. Andrew's Chapel.

In addition to the faculty, 31 delegates from other seminaries, institutions and denominations participated in the processional. RTS/Orlando's first president, Dr. Luder G. Whitlock, Jr. was in attendance for the ceremony, along with the second president, Chancellor Ric Cannada.
The welcome was given by Chancellor Cannada, and Chancellor-Elect Mike Milton gave the call to worship and invocation. RTS student Tim Trouten read the Scripture from John 1:1-14. Mr. James Seneff, Jr. introduced the speaker, Chuck Colson who gave the inaugural address. Dr. Simon Kistemaker, professor emeritus of New Testament gave the prayer. Dr. Cannada and Mr. James Moore, chairman of the board of trustees gave the presentation and investiture and Dr. Charles MacKenzie, distinguised professor philosophy and theology followed in prayer. Don's father, Dr. George Sweeting, chancellor emeritus of the Moody Bible Institute, gave the charge to the president and Dr. Mark Futato, academic dean, gave the charge to the seminary community.

Click here to read President Don Sweeting's response to the RTS Community. Dr. Milton closed with the benediction, and Scott Maclellan on the bagpipe along with Dr. Terry Yount on the organ, led the recessional hymn. A reception followed.

Pictured above in group photo (thanks to Allison Viscomi) is (l to r) Jim Moore, Simon Kistemaker, Charles S. MacKenzie, Michael Milton, Chuck Colson, Ric Cannada, Don Sweeting, Jim Seneff, George Sweeting, Tim Trouten and Mark Futato.

WATCH FAITH FOR LIVING – NEW TV PROGRAM WITH DR. MICHAEL MILTON
Faith for Living, a new Bible study series with Dr. Michael Milton, the chancellor/CEO elect of Reformed Theological Seminary, will air on the NRB Network each week on Direct TV channel 378 on Mondays at 8:30a.m., Thursdays at 3:30a.m. and Fridays at 7:30a.m., beginning January 3rd. Sky Angel will carry the program on channel 126. You can also watch the program online on RTS on iTunes U (fastest download), or at FaithForLivingTV.com.
 
For 2011, the series is titled “A Doxology in the Darkness: How God Transforms our Pain into Praise.”  Dr. Milton invites you to tune in by TV, radio or online to learn about what could also rightly be called a Christian response to suffering.

The Faith for Living radio program currently airs on WHVN, 1240 AM and 104.3 FM, in Charlotte, NC at 10:00a.m. and 9:30p.m. on Sundays. It also airs in several areas of South Florida: In the Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Fla area, it airs on WAFG-FM 90.3 at 7:30p.m., on Sundays. In the Key West area, it airs on WKZG-FM 88.3 in Key West and WKGZ 106.9 in Marathon, Fla on Sundays at 7:30p.m.  The broadcast is also available for listening 24/7 on RTS on iTunes U (fastest download), or www.accradio.com and on www.sermonaudio.com  and is updated weekly.

FACULTY SERVING THE CHURCH
Several RTS professors are also currently serving as supply pastors:

Dr. Richard Belcher, Jr., supply pastor at Rehobeth ARP Church, in Waxhaw, NC.
 
Dr. Rod Culbertson "regular preaching supply" at Carolina Presbyterian Church in Locust, NC, for Feb. 13 and 27.

Dr.  John Currid, senior pastor of Ballantyne ARP Church in Charlotte, NC.

Rev. Ken Elliott, stated supply pastor for Shiloh Presbyterian Church in Cameron, Miss., and wing chaplain for the 172 Airlift Wing (Air National Guard) in Jackson, Miss.

Dr. Sam Larsen is teaching a series on the book of Jonah each Sunday in February at Christ Community Church  in Acworth, Ga.

Rev. Kenneth McMullen, stated supply pastor at First ARP Church in Monroe, NC.

Dr. Derek Thomas is the minister of teaching at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Miss., and preaches every Sunday evening.

Click here for the latest information on where the faculty will be speaking in the U.S. and overseas. 

KISTEMAKER ACADEMIC LECTURE SERIES WILL BE HELD IN ORLANDO IN FEBRUARY
The annual Kistemaker Academic Lecture Series (KALS) at Reformed Theological Seminary will be held Feb. 22-23 in the Pamplin Chapel at RTS/Orlando from 11-11:50 a.m. and from 1-1:50 p.m. on both days. The speaker, Dr. Richard Bauckham (Ph.D. Cambridge), will lecture on “The Gospels as Histories: What Sort of History Are They?”

Dr. Bauckham is a biblical scholar and theologian and is currently professor emeritus at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. He is senior scholar at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, where he teaches for the Cambridge Federation of Theological Colleges. He is also a visiting professor at St. Mellitus College, London and a fellow of the British Academy and a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Read more here.

MICHAEL MILTON CHOOSES EXEC. ASSISTANT FOR NEW POSITION AT RTS/CHARLOTTE                
Wendy Simmons, former executive assistant at the Christian Research Institute in Charlotte, and former city planner, has been hired into a newly created position as the executive assistant to Michael A. Milton, as he transitions into the chancellor-elect position, at Reformed Theological Seminary, in Charlotte.

Simmons earned a B.A. in Political Science, Cum Laude, from Dickinson College, and an M.A. in Urban and Regional Planning from George Washington University. She has one son in high school and two children in college. She also volunteers with the Autism Society of North Carolina and for the Long Range Planning Committee at Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, NC. Dr. Milton has created this new position as he transitions into the chancellor/CEO position.

Helen Holbrook, who was assisting Dr. Milton in his position as president, has accepted a position as director of children's ministries at Grace North Shore Chicago Presbyterian Church. Dr. Milton said, "Helen has worked with me in ministry for almost a decade, as children's director of First Presbyterian Church of Chattanooga and most recently here at our seminary. Helen has brought a commitment to excellence in all things for Christ. Let's enjoy her, bless her and encourage her as she answers this call which has brought her so much joy, and which, I am sure, will bring good things for children and families in Chicago and to the Body of Christ. I am so proud of her."

NEW HASSELL CHAIR TITLE APPROVED FOR DR. DONALD W. SWEETING
The James Woodrow Hassell Chair has been approved by the RTS Executive Committee for Dr. Donald W. Sweeting, president of RTS/Orlando. So, in addition, to president, he will now also be known as the James Woodrow Hassell professor of church history. Dr. Sweeting is being recommended for this chair because of his distinguished service and leadership as a churchman in a variety of roles related to Christ’s church. Also, he has contributed academically in his writings and as a professor at Denver Seminary and RTS.

The James Woodrow Hassell Chair has been established by the Hassell family to honor the missionary endeavors in Japan of Reverend Doctor James Woodrow Hassell, Sr. and his wife, Mrs. Archibald Graham Friend Hassell.

DR. FUTATO’S  BOOK PUBLISHED IN PORTUGUESE
Beginning Biblical Hebrew (Eisenbrauns, August 1, 2003), by Dr. Mark Futato, professor of Old Testament and academic dean at RTS/Orlando,  has been published in Brazil in Portuguese. This new translation can be purchased here. The English version is available here.   

NEW BOOKS AND BOOKLET BY DR. MICHAEL MILTON COMING SOON
Dr. Mike Milton's newest book, Songs in the Night, is expected to be released this summer and What is the Doctrine of Adoption is a new booklet he has written in the Basics of the Reformed Faith Series, which will be released in January 2012.

SEMINARY APPOINTS ATLANTA PASTOR TO RTS FOUNDATION POSITION
Reformed Theological Seminary has appointed Dr. Donald (Chuck) Frost to a new position as the Special Assistant to the Chancellor for Planned Giving. He will join the RTS Foundation team assisting RTS friends with estate and gift planning.

Dr. Frost has been the senior pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, Ga., for 11 years. During 1999-2009 he led short term mission teams to Mexico, Turkey, Bulgaria and Belgium. He received a bachelor’s degree from Clemson, majoring in economics with a minor in math. He received both his master’s and doctorate degree from Reformed Theological Seminary and has previously pastored four other churches throughout Georgia, Mississippi and Florida.

His military service spans 31 years, serving as chaplain in several areas throughout Georgia and Mississippi. He retired as a colonel. His decorations include the Legion of Merit in 1999 and the Army Commendation Medal in ’82, ’87 and ’89. His office will be located on the RTS/Jackson campus.

Chancellor Cannada agreed with Dr. Michael Milton, chancellor/CEO elect, as he remarked, "The RTS community is blessed, indeed, to welcome a seasoned and widely respected pastor like Dr. Chuck Frost. We believe that development is casting God's vision relationally. Then, God's people and God's resources follow God's vision. Chuck, as a pastor, church planter and retired Army Reserve chaplain is God's man for God's time. We rejoice to receive him and Lou April into this Gospel ministry that he knows so well."

CAMPUS EVENTS
RTS/ATLANTA
This spring, the class “Acts & Romans” will be held at the historic First Presbyterian Church in Rome, GA. Dr. Bruce Lowe will teach on four Saturdays: Feb. 5, 12 and April 9, 30.

RTS/HOUSTON 
Dr. Derek Thomas and Dr. James Anderson are teaching at RTS/Houston this semester. Contact Tim McKeown here admissions.houston@rts.edu  for more information about classes, or call 800-752-4382.

RTS/ORLANDO
Feb. 22-23 Kistemaker Academic Lecture Series with Dr. Richard Bauckham.
March 4-6 – Women in Ministry Retreat will be held at SynergyToday 2011.

RTS/CHARLOTTE
Feb 22 - Spring Lecture Series with Dr. John Richard de Witt
Feb. 25 – Talent Show
April 1-2 - Fourth Annual Women's Conference: “Women to Women: Ministering to Women’s Hearts, Minds and Souls” will be held at RTS.

RTS/VIRTUAL
Upcoming dates for Orientation Seminars are:
Feb. 21-23, 2011
April 18-20, 2011
June 20-22, 2011

RTS/JACKSON
Feb. 18 – Nations' Potluck Supper

March 7-8 - Marriage conference hosted at Grace Chapel. Dr. John Cox (MAMFT '84), a practicing psychologist, will host and teach on "Marriage and Character: Grounding Your Marriage in the Image of God." 

The Summer Institute for Biblical Languages (SIBL) has been created in order to provide thorough, intensive introductions to all three biblical languages. Hebrew and Greek will be offered each year during the summer, five days a week, three hours per day, for seven weeks. During this seven week period, students will complete a full year of language study (Hebrew 1 and 2 or Greek 1 and 2). Aramaic can be offered every other year or as needed by request (two hours a day, five days per week for three weeks – 2 credit hours).  
 
ALUMNI SNIPPETS
Do you have an alumni snippet to share? Have you published a new book? Send it to the editor, here.

Joe Laher (M.Div. ‘00) is the executive director of Shelter Ministries. There are five ministries under their umbrella and Joe is currently engaged in a fundraising campaign of $350,000 for a new facility. He is also pastoring two churches part time:  one an EPC church in Battle Creek, Mich., on Sunday nights. The second is a Brethren in Christ church. 

Dan Porter (MATS ’03, Ph.D ‘09) of Atlanta, Ga., is publishing his dissertation titled "Do the Ten Commandments Have a Universal Significance?" with the Edwin Mellen Press.  Dan provides worldview consulting for individuals and organizations on three continents. Read more here.

Cynthia Ruble (MATS ‘00) shares some results of her ministry from 2010: new and returning clients:  114, number of contacts from these clients:  344, number of abortion-minded clients:  51, number who chose life: 15, number of post-abortion clients:  31, number who used our gospel-centered study and said they had found healing:  9, number of clients baptized:  3, number of homestays:  4. Cynthia also notes, that her support account in America is at an all-time low primarily due to the untimely death of a good friend and faithful supporter. She asks that you pray that God will meet her needs in His way.  If you wish to support Cynthia, send a gift to Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 1046 Miller Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27103 and designate: Cynthia Ruble (LHN).

Jay Taylor (M.Div. '06) is the pastor of a new church plant, Mosaic Fellowship, in Tucker, Ga., which will officially launch in the spring.

Jonathan Whitley (M.Div. '06) and Tara Whitley (MATS '06), currently in Southern Illinois, welcomed their firstborn son, Ross William, in March of 2010, and Jonathan had the honor of baptizing him in August. Tara is the children's division manager for a local Christian publishing company, Chaplain Publishing. Jonathan has recently been unanimously received by their congregation at First EPC in Anna, Ill., to move from assistant pastor to associate pastor of youth and families.

RTS/ORLANDO STUDENTS ARRIVE IN JAPAN!
Danny Iverson, RTS M.Div. student, along with his team, has arrived in Japan to help his father, Rev. Daniel Iverson, III (M.Div. '84) and his church, Oyumino Church in Iwaki, Japan, as they deliver supplies to victims of the tsunami. Danny is with Tim Bentson, also an RTS M.Div. student and Mike Costanzo (MAC '10) and they are a part of a group of eight people including a doctor. Click here to read more and click here to read updates and watch a video of Danny and a video of the plans ahead. Please keep them in your prayers.

IT’S HERE – THE NEW RTS WEBSITE
A big thanks to Mike Copening, Institutional Director of Technology for his hard work getting the new Web site launched. Also thanks to Brad Haden Design for Web site design and the committee members, Lyn Perez, John Sowell and Andy Peterson. Thanks also go to staff who contributed; Thomas Nelson, Kim Trouten, Stephane Jeanrenaud, Holley Gregory, Brian Gault; Matt Koehn, Hugh Whelchel, Geoff Sackett, Jim McAlhaney, Mike Garvey, Josh Drake, David Braddy, Robert Emeott, and many others. Click here to see the new RTS.EDU.

RTS/ORLANDO PROFESSOR NAMED A 2011-2012 HENRY LUCE III FELLOW IN THEOLOGY
Dr. Charles E. Hill, New Testament professor at Reformed Theological Seminary Orlando, has received the prestigious Henry Luce III Fellowship in Theology, funded by the Luce Foundation and administered by the Association of Theological Schools.  He is the first RTS professor in the 17 year history of the fellowship to receive such an award.  This fellowship, which is open to faculty members at any of the over 250 ATS member schools and is awarded as a grant of up to $75,000, provides for the recipients to work for a year on an approved research project that will benefit the academy and the church. Click here to read more.

JACKSON LECTURE SERIES
RTS/Jackson is currently hosting several notable lectures on campus: T. David Gordon spoke on March 1st, Bryan Chapell will speak on March 31st, and Alistair Begg will speak on April 5th. The schedule is as follows:
Preaching in Grace Chapel at 10:00, Question and Answer over lunch at noon at our Patterson’s Porch, Lecture in Grace Chapel from 1:00-3:00. These is no cost, and the public is invited.  RSVP is requested to jgrant@rts.edu. Lunch can be purchased on site.

MORE EXCITING NEWS ON THE ESV BIBLE ATLAS
Crossway ESV Bible Atlas, written by Dr. John Currid has been named as a finalist in the ECPA Book Awards.  Congratulations John! Click here for a list of all the finalists.

DENNIS FUSARO NEW EMPLOYEE
Welcome Dennis Fusaro to RTS! Dennis will fill a new position at RTS/Washington D.C. as vice-president of development. He has been the executive director of the National Right to Work Committee, for the State of Iowa since 2007 and was the executive director and director of communications of the same for the State of Delaware prior to that position. He graduated from George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., with a B. S. in Economics. He resides in Virginia with his wife and they have six children. They attend Eagle Heights Presbyterian Church in Winchester.

LILLY GRANT FOR RESEARCH INTO THE PSALMS OF ASCENT
Read an article on the Lilly grant project that Scott Redd, assistant professor of Old Testament and dean of students at RTS/Orlando, was working on with his prior church last year.  It was offered through the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship.  RTS alumni Bruce Benedict (M.Div. '03) and Elliot Grudem (M.Div. '03) were in charge of the project.  Bruce Benedict says that using the Psalms of Ascent or ancient Christian creeds helps his congregation “connect with the church universal.” Which worship elements help your church do that? Click here to read more.

FACULTY SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS ARE ONLINE
Click here for the latest information on where the faculty will be speaking in the U.S. and overseas. 

JACKSON FACULTY/STAFF SCHOLARSHIPS ANNOUNCED
On February 18, the RTS/Jackson faculty/staff scholarships were awarded to Peter Anderson, Noah Roberts and Kelley Baldridge.Congratulations to these students. The RTS/Jackson faculty and staff have contributed over the years to their own scholarship fund. Each year they select students to support. Then, the scholarships are announced at a luncheon, where students share their stories.

CHRISTIANITY TODAY REVIEWS NEW MILTON CD
Christianity Today, one of the largest Christian magazines in the U.S., has reviewed Dr. Michael Milton’s new CD, Through The Open Door. Read the review by clicking here. If you wish to purchase a copy, the sale of the CD is being handed by Music for Missions and you can order your copy by clicking here. RTS benefits from the sale of each CD on the Music for Missions Web site.

DR. DON SWEETING ELECTED TO NAE BOARD
RTS/Orlando President Don Sweeting has been elected as a new board member to the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE).The NAE, which today represents more than 45,000 local churches from more than 40 different denominations, has spoken as a united voice for millions of American evangelicals since 1942. Read more here.

FAITH FOR LIVING RADIO EXPANDING TO OTHER AREAS OF THE COUNTRY
Listen to Faith for Living with Dr. Mike Milton on the following local stations:

NORTH CAROLINA

RTS/ATLANTA
This spring, the class “Acts & Romans” will be held at the historic First Presbyterian Church in Rome, GA. Dr. Bruce Lowe will teach on two more Saturdays, April 9th and 30th.

RTS/HOUSTON 
RTS/Houston meets at Christ Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Houston. Contact Tim McKeown here admissions.houston@rts.edu  for more information about classes, or call 800-752-4382.

RTS/ORLANDO
March 30 - President's Community Forum with Dr. Michael Milton (Dr. Milton will also speak in chapel).
April 6 - President's Community Forum with Kezlon Semanda.
April 14 - International Student Lunch
April 19 - Town Hall
April 30- Women In Ministry Brunch

RTS/CHARLOTTE
April 1-2 - Fourth Annual Women's Conference: “Women to Women: Ministering to Women’s Hearts, Minds and Souls” will be held at RTS.

April 8 - Spring Picnic

RTS/VIRTUAL
Upcoming dates for Orientation Seminars are:
April 18-20, 2011
June 20-22, 2011

RTS/JACKSON
March 22 - Pizza Lunch and Muslim Discussion (for students) with Rev. Bill Nikides, a retired military officer who has worked in the Muslim world for the last 12 years.

March 22 - Chic-Fil-A Spirit Night for Noah Roberts and the Mississippi March of Dimes

March 25 - Mystery Dinner/Supper Theater

The Summer Institute for Biblical Languages (SIBL) has been created in order to provide thorough, intensive introductions to all three biblical languages. Hebrew and Greek will be offered each year during the summer, five days a week, three hours per day, for seven weeks. During this seven week period, students will complete a full year of language study (Hebrew 1 and 2 or Greek 1 and 2). Aramaic can be offered every other year or as needed by request (two hours a day, five days per week for three weeks – 2 credit hours). Read more here. 
 
ALUMNI SNIPPETS
Do you have an alumni snippet to share? Have you published a new book? Send it to the editor, here.

Josh Creason (M.Div. '09), pictured with Dr. Michael Milton (right), has just been called as associate pastor of Covenant Community Church, in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Justin “Jay” Denton (M.Div. ‘10) and his wife Bet are happy to announce that they are expecting their first child in September of this year!!!  They have moved into a condo in downtown Raleigh, and host a community group of young adults at their home each Thursday.  As assistant to the minister at Midtown Community Church,  Jay loves being able to pastor those searching for a church home as well as those searching for the Truth. He also helps to lead a number of ministries at Midtown, and since December they have financially supported four different ministries: RUF at NC State, RUF at UNC, Faith Community Church in Prague and Leanne Barnard who is working for Envision in Gabon, Africa. He and Bet have raised about 85% of the total amount that they need for their first three years at Midtown and need just over $20,000 to reach their support goal.

Chad Grindstaff (M.Div. ’05) and his wife Erin are going to plant a church in Cincinnati. In this first year in Cincinnati, Chad is interning at North Cincy Community Church where Walter Wood (M.Div. ’82, D.Min. ’92) is pastor.  During this year his goal is to learn as much as he can about church planting. He asks for prayer for his family and their adjustment to Ohio, especially the kids adjusting to a new place and meeting new friends. Currently they have 14% of their budget for the year left to raise; which amounts to around $12,000. 

Mark Hansen (M.Div. ‘04) and his wife Rachel announce the birth of their daughter Alaythia Grace Hansen ("Ally") on February 21, 2011. Congratulations!

Kent Muhling (M.Div. '01) - and his wife Yuko, serve in Japan with Asian Access with their three children. Kent says "We're OK," in the midst of the 8.8 earthquake that hit the east coast of Japan. He says "God's timing is strange.  Last Saturday I attended an all-day training to help Christians in Japan be prepared to respond in case of earthquake.  On the ride home I was wondering how the Lord would want us to respond, but I really felt a desire to be part of relief efforts the next time a disaster struck.I had no idea the next disaster would be one week later!"

Update: Kent and his team have visited two churches, involved in distributing support. 
The first church was so surprised and happy to see them!  They have been sending their church members out with supplies to help people in their own communities. They left them what they said they needed: diapers, adult "diapers," wipes, and baby formula.  Now that they've made contact they can continue to supply them with materials. 

The second church they visited had been going out to areas where government personnel have not yet reached.  One place was waist deep in water, with no drinking water supply and little food.  They put them in direct contact with one of the main volunteer relief supply points, so they can hopefully stay supplied with what they need. They gave them all the food and water they had brought - a couple hundred pounds of rice, several hundred packets of soup, a couple crates of fresh carrots. They were very grateful.
 
Rocky McElveen  (M.Div. ‘82)  has written a sequel to his first book. It is titled Wild Men Wild Alaska II.

Frank Newell (M.Div. ‘98) and his wife Sheree ask you to click here to read a letter written by the Bible Society of Egypt. He says the director is a very godly man and the Bible Society has a very effective ministry in Egypt. “It is a good perspective and provides some good points for prayer.” He asks that you be much in prayer for Egypt these days as this time of governmental transition is important for the church there. 

Chris Probst (MABS, '02), adjunct faculty in the Social Sciences Division at Howard Community College in Columbia, Md.,  has written a book titled Demonizing the Jews: Luther and the Protestant Church in Nazi Germany (Indiana University Press) which examines the responses of German Protestant pastors and theologians to Luther's writings about Jews and Judaism during the Nazi era.  It is under contract and is expected early 2012. 

Jolly Rimai (D.Min./ICS ‘05) recently returned from a conference, the 30th annual gathering of the 28 churches at Mirem Baptist Church. The first night he spoke about unity in the church, the second sermon was on love and forgiveness, and in the last service he spoke about the "mercy of God that endures forever" based on Psalm 136. He explained to them how thankful we need to be for His grace. He said almost all the congregation cried and thanked the Lord for what He has done for us, and Jolly joined them too. They all had a time to rededicate our lives to the Lord and Jolly never expected this would happen during the annual gathering, but the Spirit of the Lord led to that point and they had meaningful time with the Lord. "Oh the Wonder of His love". 
 
Bob Roane (D.Min., ‘00) teaches OT Survey, NT Survey, Acts & Paul, and Leadership in Business for Belhaven University in Houston, Texas.  Belhaven holds classes at Windsor Village Methodist Church which is the largest Methodist Church in the nation with 15,000 members (mostly African-American). Windsor began in 1982 with 25 people, led by Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell (friend of President G. W. Bush). Bob counts teaching at Windsor Village a great privilege since he is an Anglo who has only served in smaller churches! Since Belhaven offers the Bachelor’s in Business or Healthcare Administration, teaching there draws on Bob’s MBA/CPA experience and his 30+ years in gospel ministry.  Bob also serves as teacher-pastoral counselor-evangelist with Words of Hope Bible Ministries in Houston.

Cynthia Ruble (MATS ‘00) is currently serving in Nagoya, Japan, where it is ‘business as usual’. In her Bible study recently, the earthquake seemed to have caused no soul searching or fear that tomorrow it could be Nagoya (which has long been predicted).  She wondered, ‘What will it take for people to care about their souls and eternity?’  Her biggest concern is for those suffering that they will have relief soon.  Her hope is that the church in Japan will respond in a lay-down-one's-life kind of way, and that the people of Japan will wake up to the fact that this life is short, and eternity is long.  “Watching all of those nice cars piling up on each other is a grim reminder that all of the ‘stuff’ that we treasure so much can be gone so quickly.  How much wiser to lay up treasure in heaven!”  She has put out an offer on our her LHN cell-phone blog of housing for pregnant women displaced by the earthquake.  She would love to be able to help in a tangible way during this tragedy.  She says, “If I don't, what am I doing here?”

Louis Surprenant (current student) gives an RTS shout out – “On the home page of The Gospel Coalition website they have recommended books for how to preach through the OT.  Richard P. Belcher Jr. is among the four featured authors, along with Clowney, Greidanus, and Tchividjian.” Click here to see the books.

NEW BOOK BY DR. DAN TIMMER
Dr. Dan Timmer, associate professor of Old Testament, has a new book out, released as part of the New Studies in Biblical Theology series titled A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation, and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah. It discusses the biblical text in detail, including historical backgrounds, yet (as Timmer always does) pays special attention to redemptive history and its Christocentric orientation.  Buy the book here and a portion of the sale of the book will go towards RTS.

SIGN UP FOR RTS ON TWITTER
Sign up for the RTS Twitter page on the front page of the RTS Web site at rts.edu. Look for the "T" for twitter sign in the right bottom corner and click to find us. Or, search for us directly on Twitter by searching ReformTheoSem. 

RTS CELEBRATES “DR. K. APPRECIATION DAY” ON MAY 4
RTS Orlando President Dr. Don Sweeting announces May 4 as Dr. K (for Kistemaker) Appreciation Day for all of RTS.  Dr. Simon Kistemaker, a beloved senior faculty member of Reformed Theological Seminary, is retiring from his teaching ministry (for the second and final time) at the end of this semester on the Orlando campus.  Sweeting will honor Dr. K during the Chapel service at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, May 4, with a few comments.  Sweeting will also interview him during the President’s Community Forum Lunch in the Fellowship Hall at noon the same day.  Anyone who wishes to write a note to Dr. K or has pictures during his 40 years at RTS can send those to Professor Mike Glodo at mglodo@rts.edu.  Any alumni and friends wishing to attend the lunch, are invited to do so. Please RSVP to Heather DeFrancisco at hdefrancisco@rts.edu. Pictured (left to right) is Dr. Michael Milton, "Dr. K", and Chuck Colson at Dr. Sweeting's inauguration. Click here for more info.

FAITH FOR LIVING HOST DR. MICHAEL MILTON CELEBRATES SUCCESS OF NEW TELEVISION SHOW AT NRB CONVENTION
Dr. Michael Milton got together with NRB Network executives during the recent National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) convention in Nashville to celebrate the success of Milton's brand new NRB Network television program, "Faith for Living," which launched in January 2011. The show can be seen on Mondays at 8:30 a.m. ET, Thursdays at 3:30 a.m. ET and *Fridays at 7:30 a.m. ET on DIRECTV channel 378, Sky Angel channel 126 or via online streaming at www.nrbnetwork.tv
*The Friday slot will be changing to Sunday night at 10:00 p.m. beginning May 1.

"We are delighted to have Dr. Milton on our channel," comments Troy A. Miller, NRB Network President & CEO. "Our viewers want solid biblical teaching that helps them in their daily walk and 'Faith for Living' delivers that. The program has quickly become an integral part of our morning devotional lineup."

While at the convention, Milton also performed songs from his new CD, Through the Open Door, at the NRB Network Reception and met with media outlets from around the world to discuss the new CD.

Pictured (L to R): NRB Network President & CEO Troy A. Miller, Dr. Michael Milton and NRB Network Director of Programming Bob Allen.

CMF CENTRAL FLORIDA MATTERS POSTED PODCAST OF DR. SWEETING COMMENTARY
Dr. Don Sweeting, president of RTS/Orlando, wrote a commentary titled “How Jesus Has Not Failed Me,” and recorded it for CMF Central Florida Matters. The commentary starts, “There’s an ad appearing on one of our city’s electronic billboards—it provocatively asks: How has Christianity failed you? When I see it, I want to shout—sure, Christians fail and churches fail. I am a realist…” Listen here or read the transcript here.

DAN TIMMER’S LILLY GRANT – INCLUDE LINK TO ATS LETTER AND NEWS RELEASE
Dr. Dan Timmer, associate professor of Old Testament at RTS/Jackson, has been selected to receive a Lilly Theological Research Grant for 2011-12. The grant is for the "Synchronic-Diachronic Quandary in Biblical Studies: Toward Integration of Polarized Methods." The release states, "Professor Timmer asserts that the field of biblical studies continues to labor under significant methodological uncertainty..."Click here to read the ATS letter and press release. 

RTS DISABILITY COURSEWORK AVAILABLE ONLINE VIA RTS/VIRTUAL
RTS/Virtual offers a class titled “Disabilities and the Church” taught by Dr. Andy Peterson, president of RTS/Virtual. Click here and look under the Christian Education heading and select OCE655 for more information. It is offered as an elective selection for MAR students as well as residential students.

RTS/WASHINGTON D.C. PROFESSOR PASSES ORAL DEFENSE OF HIS DISSERTATION
Rev. Peter Lee, assistant professor of Old Testament at RTS/Washington D.C., recently passed the oral defense of his dissertation. He is earning the Ph.D. The title of his dissertation is “Aramaic Poetry in Qumran.” He is appreciative of everyone’s prayers.

DOCTRINE OF SCRIPTURE SEMINARS AT PCA GA
The Presbyterian Church in America presents “Six Scholars. Three Seminaries. One Very Important Issue,” at the general assembly at the Virginia Beach Convention Center in Virginia Beach, Va., June 7-10, 2011. Two RTS professors will participate in the seminars. Click here to read more.

TORNADO DAMAGE TO RTS/JACKSON TOWNHOMES IN CLINTON
On Friday, April 15, at approximately 11:04 a.m., a tornado heading east touched down in the seminary townhomes in Clinton, just off of Clinton Blvd.  Though the damage to the seminary townhomes was extensive, no one was hurt.

The seminary townhomes were just one of the many places in the path of this tornado in Clinton.  The tornado, videoed here on YouTube destroying a BankPlus building near Springridge road just south of I-20, was massive.  It did significant damage in Easthaven, the neighborhood just west of the townhomes, and approached the townhomes from the west.  The first two rows of townhomes closest to Clinton Blvd. took the brunt of the damage before the tornado continued east to Lakewood Memorial Park where many trees were uprooted or simply twisted off.

M.Div. senior Matthew Elliott had met to pray with M.Div. middler Tyler Goodwin in Tyler’s townhome on the front row, when they noticed that the rain had stopped and the lights were flickering.  They walked out the door on the railroad side of the unit and noticed that the trees were blowing in two different directions.  They went back through the unit, opened the south-facing door on the carport side, and looked right.  Click here to read more. 

FAITH FOR LIVING RADIO EXPANDING TO OTHER AREAS OF THE COUNTRY
Listen to Faith for Living with Dr. Mike Milton Anytime, anywhere 24/7:
Faith for Living on ACCRADIO.COM
Faith for Living on iTunes U
Faith for Living on SermonAudio
Through Television:
Faith for Living Television is broadcasted nationwide to an estimated reach of 18 million viewers on the National religious Broadcasters TV/DIRECT TV.  Mondays at 0830 EST; Fridays at 0730 EST.
View anytime/anywhere at FaithforLivingTV.com; or on SermonAudio.

CONVICTED FELON TURNED MASTER’S STUDENT REQUESTS BOOKS FOR PRISON LIBRARY
Brandon Warren was a convicted felon who listened to Dr. Frame’s lectures on iTunes U, and is now a master’s student at Southwestern Baptist’s (SWBTS) Houston Campus. Warren began contacting Dr. Frame a few years ago. SWBTS offers bachelor’s degrees in one of the maximum security prisons and they hired Brandon as an administrative assistant to work for them in the prison. He is teaching an introductory course on critical thinking to 40 men. One of his tasks is putting together a theological library for the prison. They only have 10 books. He is asking for donations of books to their new theological library in the prison.  RTS/Orlando sent a boxful. If you are interested, send books to:
Brandon Warren
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
J. Dalton Havard School for Theological Studies
4105 Broadway St., Houston, TX 77087

DR. MILTON KEYNOTE SPEAKER AT NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PREACHING
Dr. Michael Milton, chancellor and CEO elect of RTS, will be the keynote speaker at the National Conference on Preaching to be held in Spartanburg, SC, on May 9 - 11. RTS/Atlanta Guest Lecturer Dr. R. Leslie Holmes, Sr. Pastor of Reid Memorial Presbyterian in Augusta, Ga., is also scheduled to speak. The theme of this year's conference is “Preaching the Power of the Cross.”

DR. ROD CULBERTSON – NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AT RTS/CHARLOTTE
Dr. Rod Culbertson has been appointed as executive director of the RTS/Charlotte campus. He will be responsible for the day to day operations of the campus effective May 1, 2011. Rod will fill this position until a new president is named for the Charlotte campus, which is not expected for at least another year. The transition of Dr. Milton to Chancellor requires him to be released from his responsibilities as interim president of the Charlotte campus so he can focus his attention on important institutional matters.
 
Dr. Milton said, "The call to become the chancellor elect of our beloved seminary has led me now to increased responsibilities across the campuses, as well as my ongoing outward work for the cause of this ministry. Thus, I found it necessary to obtain leadership help for RTS Charlotte. I approached a man who is a natural 'go-to' man to help in this interim season of RTS Charlotte and that man is Dr. Rod Culbertson. He is an experienced and tested leader and one who knows Charlotte and the RTS system very well. More than that, Rod is my friend and trusted colleague in the Gospel who will lead through prayer and with great wisdom and insight. I am so thankful that he has heard and answered the call to help lead Charlotte in these exciting days of growth and outreach. I am also thankful to Tari Williamson, who reports to Rod and will be an integral part of making this interim leadership work well. Thank you both!"

CAMPUS EVENTS
RTS/ATLANTA
The campus family is excited to hold the first commencement in its new building on Saturday, May 21, at 10 a.m. Rev. Steve Wallace, RTS chief operations officer, will speak.

Dr. Steve Brown will teach “The Christian Life” at RTS/Atlanta this summer. Register now.

RTS/HOUSTON 
Summer Class - Register now for  ST504  “History of Philosophy & Christian Thought,” taught by Dr. Robert Ferguson, pastor of Faith Fellowship Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in Tomball, Texas. The class begins June 3, 2011. Classes meet at Christ Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Houston. Contact Tim McKeown here admissions.houston@rts.edu  for more information about classes, or call 800-752-4382.

RTS/ORLANDO
Preview Day was held at RTS/Orlando on March 12. Tom Nelson, admissions director (pictured left at podium), along with Kim Trouten, office coordinator, helped organize the event.

President’s Reception – May 19 at 5:30 p.m. on campus.

Senior Banquet - May 19 at 6:30 p.m. on campus.

Commencement – May 20 at First Presbyterian Church in Orlando at 7:30 p.m. Chancellor Ric Cannada will speak.

2011 Summer Elective has a Special Feature - "A Theology of Work" is a two-credit course elective that will be taught by our RTS Orlando alumnus, Orlando Rivera (1992/M.Div.). The special feature of this course is that it ends with a 9 am - 5 pm seminar on Saturday, August 20. As a service to the Orlando community, this seminar will also be open to the general public at no cost. Click here for more info.

Women in Ministry – End of Year Brunch, April 30, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in the fellowship hall. Contact Heather DeFrancisco for more information at hdefrancisco@rts.edu. 

RTS/CHARLOTTE
Commencement - May 21 at 11 a.m. at Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, N.C. Marvin Olasky, senior editor and publisher of World magazine will speak.

RTS/VIRTUAL
Upcoming dates for Orientation Seminars are:
June 20-22, 2011

Summer Course – Hebrew Basic I and II will be offered this summer online with Dr. Mark Futato. Please contact Alice Hathaway at 800-227-2013, ext. 235, to register for these courses.
Hebrew I/Basic - May 30 - June 10
Hebrew II/Basic - June 20 - July 1

RTS/JACKSON
Clinton Townhomes Garage Sale (rescheduled), now Saturday, May 7, 7:00 a.m.

Senior Banquet - May 20 in Miller Hall at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson at 6:30 p.m.

Commencement – Saturday, May 21 at 10 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Miss. Dr. Paul B. Long, Sr., professor of missions emeritus at RTS/Jackson will speak.

ALUMNI SNIPPETS
Do you have an alumni snippet to share? Have you published a new book? Send it to the editor, here.

John Easter (MABS ‘00) will receive his Ph.D. in Intercultural Studies from Assemblies of God Theological Seminary. Congratulations!

Steve Cavallaro (M.Div. ’94, MAC ‘99)  is the pastor at Desert Springs Presbyterian Church in Tucson, Ariz. He and his wife Amie have a four-year-old daughter named Jadon, and a three-year-old son named Elijah.

Esaïe Etienne (M.Div. ’04) and his wife Natacha are serving in Haiti with Mission to the World. They share these facts:
1. Unemployment was 70% before the earthquake and now is about 80%.
2. Before the earthquake there were about 500,000 school age children that did not go to school, but now the number is between 500,000 and 800,000.
3. The earthquake has created 1,500,000 homeless and more than a year after January 12, 2010 there is still close to 1,000,000 people living in tent cities because 105,000 homes were destroyed and 208,000 damaged.
They ask for prayer for a sponsorships for children to attend Dociné School, for the new president elect in this period of transition as he awaits to swear in on May 14, 2011, for Natacha, who had two medical procedures the end of last month, and everything is fine, for safe travel every month, for the continuing maturity of the leaders and the new Christians in both churches, Gonaives and Dociné and for Esaie and Natacha as they seek to raise support for the ministry center in Gonaives.

Scott G Davenport (M.Div. ’08) – We last reported in November that Scott had stepped down as headmaster of Greyfriars Classical Academy in Charlotte, N.C., and accepted a call from the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Peru to be the registrar and dean of curriculum in the Reformed Biblical Seminary in Trujillo, Peru.  He will be working as a member of the Peru mission team.  Now, he has two new announcements: Scott was ordained to the Gospel ministry on Friday, April 15. The ordination service was held at Matthews Orthodox Presbyterian Church, in Matthews, N.C. ; Also, he and his family will be moving to Peru on Tuesday, May 10! After arriving there, they will travel down to Arequipa in southern Peru and attend language school for several months. They appreciate your prayers.

BOARD APPROVES BAPTIST STUDIES INSTITUTE AT RTS/ORLANDO

The RTS Board of Trustees has just approved the Nicole Institute of Baptist Studies (NIBS) at RTS/Orlando. The first cohort will begin in Fall 2011. The institute honors the late renowned reformed Baptist theologian, Dr. Roger Nicole, emeritus professor of theology (pictured to the left of Chancellor Ric Cannada), at RTS/Orlando. The institute will provide unique preparation for Baptist and independent students who desire an M.Div. degree program with an emphasis in Baptist history, polity and ecclesiology. Prospective students can contact RTS/Orlando Admissions Director Tom Nelson at tnelson@rts.edu for more information.

RTS/ORLANDO'S 100TH AND 101ST DOCTORAL GRADUATES
Congratulations to RTS/Orlando's 100th and 101st doctoral students. During the May 20th graduation, five D.Min. students will walk in the graduation ceremony. Joachim Joachius Emmanuel, wrote his dissertation on"Coaching Caribbean Pastors for Church Revitalization."   David Manuel Correa (Lopez) is a pastor in Mexico and his dissertation title was "Kingdom Builders Preparing Church Youth to Embrace God’s Call to Build His Kingdom."

Three of the four other doctoral students who finished in December 2010 will also participate in the graduation ceremony:
Robert Clanton (La.), LarryReid Hensarling, (Fla.), and Peter W. Smith (Penn.)
Willem Jacobus Petrus Van Der Merwe of Namibia, Africa, will not be attending the ceremony. 

SIGN UP FOR A CLASS AT RTS THIS SUMMER
Dr. Mark Ross, professor of Systematic Theology at Erskine Theological Seminary, will teach ST502 "Introduction to Pastoral & Theological Studies" from July 18-22 at RTS/Charlotte. Choose a campus online at www.rts.edu and you will find many classes to choose from.

SUNDAY SCHOOL PLANS TO UPDATE PLAYGROUND AT CLINTON TOWNHOMES OF RTS
David Turner, contractor and member of First Presbyterian Church of Jackson, Miss., spoke to Dr. Guy Richardson, president of RTS/Jackson about an idea to help build a better playground for the children of the students at the Clinton townhomes of RTS/Jackson, which were badly damaged by the recent tornado. Also involved in the planning are Joe Morris, RTS director of facilities and Mike Lathem, a private maintenance consultant and landscaper for RTS. The students will help with the manual labor to help alongside men from three Sunday school classes who have agreed to install the equipment. The plans include reworking both play areas at the townhouses and installing a covered canopy area beside the pool. RTS/Jackson is pleased with the suggested plan, and grateful that the Sunday School classes want to do this for the children of the students.  Each class will need to raise $1,000 in contributions.  They are planning for a blitz build for possibly June 18. If you would like to contribute, please give here and designate playground at townhomes.

DR. JAMES ANDERSON TO TEACH CLE N.C. BAR APPROVED ETHICS COURSE

Do you know any lawyers in the Charlotte area? Please let them know that Dr. James Anderson will teach a continuing legal education (CLE)  N.C. Bar approved ethics course (which lawyers need to meet their CLE requirements). The one-hour course titled "Written on the Heart" will be held at the Charlotte City Club on May 25, 2011, from 12:00 p.m. until 1:30 p.m. The cost of the course is $14 which includes lunch.This one-hour course will explore the natural law tradition and how it offers one framework for understanding and developing legal ethics (of which the Rules of Conduct are one expression). The notion of natural law is both intellectually defensible and has genuine relevance to everyday legal practice. To the scholar, the Rules of Conduct include a number of ethical concepts that depend on natural law, or are at least consistent with it.

UPDATE ON DANNY IVERSON'S RELIEF EFFORT TEAM THAT WENT TO JAPAN
In our March RTS E-Newsletter we reported on a group headed up by RTS/Orlando M.Div. student Danny Iverson, IV, that went to Japan from RTS. You may be keeping up with his Web site www.spendyourself.org. If you missed these updates, the story continues. Danny and his team were able to raise $115,000, which is being invested in assisting and empowering the local churches they partnered with while they were in Japan. They are helping those churches help their communities and bear witness to the Gospel. He says the global church must now seek to empower and assist the local church in Japan to serve their community.

Click here to view a video of teams from Mission to the World (MTW) partnering with Japanese churches to serve people of the devastated areas. Click here to see Grace City Church of Tokyo assisting needy people. Click here to hear Rev. Mori of Global Mission Chapel talk about the radiation in his area of Japan (Iwaki). These videos were done by videographer Shane Burgett from Shane Burgett Productions in Sanford, Fla., who is also a team member. Click here to find out what's next for the team.

CAMPUS EVENTS
Final exams are in progress on many of our campuses. Please continue to keep our students in your prayers.

RTS/ATLANTA
The campus family is excited to hold the first commencement in its new building on Saturday, May 21 at 10 a.m. Rev. Steve Wallace, RTS chief operations officer, is the speaker.

Dr. Steve Brown will teach “The Christian Life” at RTS/Atlanta this summer.

RTS/HOUSTON 
Summer Class - Register now for  ST504  “History of Philosophy & Christian Thought,” taught by Dr. Robert Malcolm Ferguson (M.Div. '81). He received his Ph.D. from Fuller. The class begins June 3, 2011. Classes meet at Christ Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Houston. Contact Tim McKeown here admissions.houston@rts.edu  for more information about classes, or click here or call 800-752-4382.

RTS/JACKSON
The senior banquet will be held on May 20 in Miller Hall at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson at 6:30pm.

Commencement will be held on Saturday, May 21 at 10 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Miss. Dr. Paul B. Long, Sr., professor of missions emeritus at RTS/Jackson will speak.

RTS/MEMPHIS
Dr. Miles Van Pelt taught at RTS/Memphis in the fall. Dr. Bruce Baugus will teach Apologetics this summer. For more information on RTS/Memphis, click here. To stay informed of our class offerings and schedule please contact memphis@rts.edu or call the campus at 901-507-4490.

The graduation banquet will be held May 19 at 6:30 p.m. in the fellowship hall for seniors, their families and friends. Purchase tickets at the front desk.

Commencement  will be held on May 20 at First Presbyterian Church in Orlando at 7:30 p.m. Chancellor Ric Cannada will speak.

A Theology of Work is a 2011 Summer Elective (with a special feature) - It is a two-credit course elective that will be taught by our RTS Orlando alumnus, Orlando Rivera (1992/M.Div.). The special feature of this course is that it ends with a 9 am - 5 pm seminar on Saturday, August 20. As a service to the Orlando community, this seminar will also be open to the general public at no cost. Click here for more info.

RTS/VIRTUAL
Upcoming dates for orientation seminars are --June 20-22, 2011

Hebrew Basic I and II will be offered this summer online with Dr. Mark Futato. Please contact Alice Hathaway at 800-227-2013, ext. 235, to register for these courses.
Hebrew I/Basic - May 30 - June 10;
Hebrew II/Basic - June 20 - July 1

ALUMNI SNIPPETS
Do you have an alumni snippet to share? Have you published a new book? Send it to the editor, here.

Brad Beier (M.Div.M. '01) is the pastor of Living Hope Church in Chicago (formerly Bethel Christian Church).

Barry "Drew" Bennett (MABS '01) is the pastor of Church of the Redeemer in Winter Haven, Fla. He and his wife Ashley have four children - Canaan, Isaac, Abigail, and Sarah (pictured right).   Also,  Jonathan Winfree (M.Div. '02) serves there as assistant pastor/director of mission & mercy ministries. Jonathan and his wife Jaime have two children - Elli and Ethan.

Lindy Davidson (M.Div. '01) is collecting medical supplies for a short-term mission trip to Nicaragua in July. Supplies will be donated to Velez Pais, the only government women and children's hospital in the country. Because of her medically needy son, Will, Lindy wishes to bless this very poor hospital with some of the abundance of medical supplies we have here in the U.S. For more information or to donate, please contact her here.

Omari Hill (M.Div. '09) is the campus minister for Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) at UNC-Charlotte. He and his wife Cherise have a daughter Mia (2). They ask for your prayers as they await the birth of their son, Preston, who is due May 25th. This Spring Break, they took six students up to Boone discussing the gospel and their work, and enjoying God’s creation especially one another. Hill says, "Muslim students are engaging us more with dialogue about Jesus." He asks for prayer that the students will be bold and compassionate as they engage with Muslim students.This semester two small groups began and are going through the book of James. The initial group that meets on Thursday evenings has grown. They continue to meet upperclassmen from various denominations that are interested in a Christian community that will love both them and the campus for the sake of the gospel.

Paul Sanders (M.Div. '08), after 15 years of serving in youth and family ministry, has accepted the call to be senior pastor of Christ Community Church in Simpsonville, SC.  The Sanders are concluding their current work at Mt. Calvary Presbyterian in Roebuck, SC and will begin at CCC in July.  Paul and his wife Suzanne have three daughters and two sons. They are also mid-way through their process of adopting a son from Ethiopia. Click here to keep up with their adoption blog.

Thomas "TJ" Turner (M.Div. '09) is serving at Second Congregational Church, aka "2nd Congo", in Douglas, Mass., with his wife Kerstin. They have a one-year-old daughter named Ellie. He shares about New England, "It snows.....A LOT!? But he also notes, "This also brings some added challenges to ministry. As you can imagine, with this much snow nobody really wants to leave their house." TJ was ordained March 6, (he is pictured kneeling). He asks for prayer for financial support -which is not at 100%. Learn more about the vision here.    TJ also preached at North Woodstock Congregational, in Connecticut, during April, where the pastor passed away in February. Also, TJ started a community group that will be going through an overview of the whole Bible, followed by a study of Acts. He plans to preach the first Sunday of every month at 2nd Congo, since the pastor, Bill Broderick, will be a chaplain with the Air National Guard. TJ will also take over as chair of the elder board in the next few months. Also big news - they are expecting Baby #2, on October 13th!

Melissa Wiedemann (MATS '04) is serving with Rafiki Foundation in East Africa. Pictured is the Tanzania Village Education Staff. (Melissa is on the far right). Their newest resident orphans are Irene and Ruki whom were abandoned by their mother and father. They were literally surviving on the scraps of food from others in their village. Ruki is two and Irene just turned five. They now have a new family and by God’s grace are changing dramatically. Melissa appreciates your love, prayers, encouraging communications, gifts, and support! Read more about her and her ministry here.

REFORMATION WORSHIP CONFERENCE IN OCTOBER The second annual Reformation Worship Conference will be held October 20-23 at Midway Presbyterian Church in Powder Springs, Ga (approximately 20 minutes from the RTS/Atlanta campus). This year’s conference will focus on "Vital Preaching & Sacred Worship," with speakers such as W. Robert Godfrey, Hughes Oliphant Old, RTS alumnus Steven Lawson, and Jon D. Payne (guest faculty for RTS/Atlanta). Click here for more info. Attendees may receive seminary credit from RTS by attending this event. Please contact RTS Atlanta at (770) 952-8884 to learn how to register for academic credit.

NEW BOOKS BY PROFESSORS

DR. TIMMER REVIEWS BOOK ON NAHUM Dr. Dan Timmer, associate professor of Old Testament at RTS/Jackson, reviewed Social Identity in Nahum: A Theological-Ethical Enquiry by Jan Petrus Bosman on TheGospelCoalition.org. The review begins, "This timely volume began as a ThD dissertation completed at the University of Stellenbosch (South Africa) under Hendrick Bosman in 2005. Writing with sensitivity to social identity and its role in conflict and to his position within the theological tradition of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa, Bosman brings Nahum’s message to bear on the question how 'texts form and legitimize an ethos whereby eliminating the other (for example, through avoidance, apartheid laws or destruction) is not seen as wrong, bad, or evil, but fits into a coherent scheme of how the world of right and wrong is structured...' Continue the review here.

RTS/ORLANDO PRESIDENT BLOGS ABOUT PCA GA EXPERIENCE   Dr. Don Sweeting, EPC pastor and president of RTS/Orlando, shared on his blog about his PCA GA experience and appreciation for the PCA. He writes, "As an EPC pastor who just attended the 2011 PCA General Assembly in Virginia Beach, I’d like to speak in praise of the PCA. I came into the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) out of a Baptistic, independent church background. I love the EPC. It has been a blessing to me and my family. Both on the presbytery level (with many friendships) and the national General Assembly level, the EPC has added strength to the local church I pastored and enabled us to be faithful to the Great Commission. It has modeled both grace and truth in its corporate witness. It is a great group to be part of..." Click here to read the rest of the blog.

RTS/ATLANTA
Dr. Jim Coffield will teach Pastoral Counseling and Dr. Derek Thomas will teach Systematic Theology and Covenant Theology at RTS/Atlanta this fall.

Aug 24: Fall classes begin.

RTS/CHARLOTTE
RTS/Charlotte is very pleased to offer a D.Min. elective with Dr. Jim Belcher, author of Deep Church.  This class will explore today’s traditional church and the emerging church, as we seek discover a third way to be the Church in the 21st century. "Mission and Tradition: Seeking the Balance in Ministry" with Dr. Jim Belcher will be held July 18-22. 

Aug. 24: Fall classes begin.
Aug. 30: Convocation

RTS/HOUSTON 
Dr. Andrew Hoffecker and Dr. Reggie Kidd will teach at RTS/Houston this fall.

RTS/JACKSON
Aug. 24: Fall classes begin.
Aug. 25: Convocation
Sept. 6-8: Annual World Missions Conference

RTS/MEMPHIS
Dr. Bruce Baugus is teaching Apologetics in Memphis this summer.
Aug. 12: Fall class begins.

RTS/ORLANDO
July 25-29: Dr. Steve Brown teaches "Radical Grace" at RTS/Orlando July 25 - July 29. Auditors welcomed.

2011 Summer Elective has special feature: A Theology of Work is a two-credit course elective that will be taught by our RTS Orlando alumnus, Orlando Rivera (M.Div. '92). The special feature of this course is that it ends with a 9 am - 5 pm seminar on Saturday, August 20 in the fellowship hall. As a service to the Orlando community, this seminar will also be free to the general public. Click here for more info.

Aug. 22: Fall Kick-off 8a.-7p.
Aug. 23: Concert of Prayer 9a-10a in the chapel.
Aug. 24: Fall classes begin. Convocation is 11a. - 12 noon.
Aug. 27: Women in Ministry Welcome Brunch 10a-12 noon in the fellowship hall.

RTS/VIRTUAL
Upcoming dates for Orientation Seminars are:
August 29-31
October 24-26

RTS/VIRTUAL LEGACY COURSE NOTEBOOKS FOR SALE
RTS is pleased to make course notebooks available for RTS Virtual Legacy Courses. These notebooks contain everything you need for the course, including textbook lists, lecture outlines, and review questions. These legacy courses are no longer available for credit towards an RTS degree; however, they are excellent resources for individual study. To find the audio lectures that accompany your course notebook, please visit the Legacy Courses page on the RTS on iTunes U site. To see a list of the Legacy Course Notebooks and to order, click here.

RTS/WASHINGTON DC
Aug. 29: Fall classes begin.

ALUMNI SNIPPETS
Do you have an alumni snippet to share? Have you published a new book? Send it to the editor, here.

Chulsup Bang (D.Min. '11) is actively practicing his doctoral project thesis as the pastor of a church plant near Chicago.

Bruce Benedict (M.Div. '03) has recorded the composition "The Son Forsook the Father's Home" from Hyms of Faith. Listen here.

Robert N. Brown (M.Div. '10) requests prayers for his family as they are expecting their first child on or around 9 July. He was ordained in the EPC last year as a chaplain in the Mississippi Army National Guard, and their unit is scheduled to deploy overseas in the next few months. He says, "God has richly blessed us and provided us this great ministry to our soldiers during this time of war. Please pray for our family as we are separated for the duration of the deployment, as well as for the safety of our unit and their families. Please also pray for victory and peace."

Bryan Clarke (M.Div. ‘03), campus minister for the Reformed University Fellowship (RUF), in Alberta, shares a bit of his summer. "In May I had several opportunities to speak and share vision for campus ministry in Alberta.  I spoke on fear in Luke 12:32 where we see how Jesus teaches us that fear is universal, it reveals what is controlling us, and how He overcomes our fear by giving Himself and a kingdom that can never be taken away."

At the end of May he taught an intensive course in philosophical ethics, and the spring study followed the Reasons for God DVD by Tim Keller, where they asked themselves the hard questions about suffering and if the Bible is reliable for truth.  Check out his website here and his blog here.

Catharine "Vicki" Gillespie (MABS '11) is currently working on a women's Bible study covering the book of Acts. Vicki will very soon begin using some of the material she developed in educational ministry to the church while at RTS to help reorganize the Women's Ministry at Church of the Apostles in Atlanta.

Dewey "Dee" Hammond (M.Div. '11) is currently the minister to students at Chestnut Mountain Presbyterian Church in Gainesville, Ga, where he serves youth, college, and young adults. Dee is pictured right with his wife Katie and their children.

Paul J. Hoehner (MATS '00) was appointed chairman, board of directors, for Chesapeake Reformed Theological Seminary, where he is also an instructor in historical and systematic theology. He is a senior clinical associate professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a visiting professor at the Johns Hopkins Behrman Institute of Bioethics in Baltimore. Paul and his wife Sheryl attend Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Annapolis and have just sent the last of their 3 children off to college.

Johnathan Keenan (M.Div. '10) graduated in 2010 with the desire to return to Scotland to work with the Free Church of Scotland. He moved to Edinburgh in August of 2010 and spent about 10 months working on qualifications for the Free Church as well as another master's degree in Scottish theology. During this time, the Lord began to redirect his steps and at the end of April 2011 he received a call to be the new Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) minister at the University of Memphis. He moved back to the USA in May, and is currently studying for licensure and ordination in the PCA.

After studying full-time at RTS for 2 years to complete the remainder of his D.Min. degree, Jungyoon Kim (D.Min. '11) returned to Gwang-Myung Church in Korea to serve as the senior pastor. 

Jusang Kim (D.Min. '11) is pastoring in a Korean-Canadian Church near Ontario, Canada.

Eyon Jong Lee (D.Min. '11) is pursuing further studies at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Anthony Marseglia (M.Div. '98) has been pastoring for a number of years in the EPC. He and his wife Lisa have four children: Alana (11), Nicole (10), Vivian (6) and Noah (4). They are making a move to the PCA and planting a church in Vacaville, (northern) Calif. If you know of any churches in the PCA that might be interested in supporting Tony, he asks you to spread the word. If you can help, contact him here. 

Trent McEntyre (M.Div. '09) was ordained in January 2011 in the Metro Atlanta Presbytery of the PCA. He is bi-vocational, serving as assistant pastor for ChristChurch Presbyterian and as campus director for Crossroads (aka Campus Crusade for Christ) at Georgia Tech. You can follow his ministry and writing here. 

Gary Nantt (M.Div. '78) was awarded the Doctor of Theology degree from the Golden State School of Theology.  He has been with the PCA MTW since graduation from RTS and has served in Korea and Mexico.  He is now the director of resource development for the PCA Border Evangelism And Mercy Ministries and is working out of Florence, Ala.
 
Edward "Bruce" O'Neil (M.Div. '93, D.Min. '94) has been the senior pastor at Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Annapolis since 2006. Prior to that, he served pastorates in Tennessee and Alabama. He and his wife Kathy have three children.  Dan Smith (M.Div. '94) is the executive pastor. Bob Borger (former student) is the counseling and care pastor.

John M. Otis (M.Div. 79, MCE '79), pastor of Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church (RPCUS) in Burlington, NC, has written Jesus' Victorious Kingdom. The book presents a solid biblical view of the Second Coming of Christ. The book can be purchased here.

Adam Powers (MDiv '11), has an exciting summer in store. He and his wife Holly will welcome their first child, Gabriel Whitney, to the world as well as make a move to the Northeast. Adam will be the assistant to the pastor for the Rev. Todd Williams at Safe Harbor Presbyterian Church in Stevensville, Md.

John Tucker (M.Div. '80, MCE '80, D.Min. '99) has been the pastor of Graceview Presbyterian Church in Southaven, Miss., since 1984. The church was originally organized in 1974 by Dr. Bob Penny, currently the vice-president for development at RTS/Jackson.

Michael "Chad" Watkins (M.Div. '11) is serving as the assistant pastor of families and discipleship at Main Street Presbyterian Church in Columbus, Miss.

William S. Weaver (MCE '85) retired in May as director of discipleship at Westminster Presbyterian Church  in Rock Hill, SC. He had served since 1991, originally serving as the church’s director of christian education. Bill and his wife Mary have four grown children and ten grandchildren. 

Jason Yum (M.Div. '11) is working as an analyst for a real estate consulting firm located in the financial district of San Francisco while his wife pursues a Ph.D. in English at UC Berkeley. Jason also ministers as a part-time pastoral intern at Christ Church in Berkeley, which is pastored by two RTS Orlando alumni, Bart Garrett (M.Div. '01) and Jonathan St. Clair (MAC '05), and is a plant of City Church in San Francisco.

SUNDAYWOMEN.COM DEVELOPED BY WIFE AND MOTHER OF RTS GRADUATES Megan Hill, (wife of Robert Hill (M. Div. '04) and sister of Brent Evans (M.Div. '07)) along with her mother Patsy Evans have launched a blog together at www.sundaywomen.com. Here they discuss ministry life where they hope to spark conversation to challenge and encourage other women in their place of ministry. Megan says, We know from experience that ministry life is unique: we are offering fellwoship with others on the same path.: Here is a recent article titled "You Can't Fill Another Woman's Shoes" - her mom's take on following someone else in ministry. Megan wrote "Theology (is) for Girls" encourageing women to be active theologians.

FORGIVING ENEMIES AND FRIENDS
Read Dr. Milton's article in the July/Aug 11 issue of Preaching Magazine "How to Forgive Your Enemies and Friends" He begins "I recently read a story about a well-known lover of dogs. He was very active in giving speeches to raise money for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. If you could imagine a man who truly loved dogs, this was your man. One day, his love was put to the test..." Read the entire sermon here.

THE ENCOUNTERS OF JESUS
Dr. Simon Kistemaker’s Conversations of Jesus was published in Portuguese (2010). It is titled Os Encontros de Jesus.

PROFESSOR OF CHURCH HISTORY COMPLETES BOOK ON OPC
In June, a book John Muether co-edited with Danny E. Olinger was released. It is titled Confident of Better Things: Essays Commemorating Seventy-Five Years of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Muether is also the historian of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. The book is available on the OPC Web site.

MTW MISSIONARY CHILD GOES HOME TO JESUS
RTS recently sent out a prayer request for Georgia Elizabeth "Simi" Goodwin, infant daughter of MTW Missionaries to England, Sam and Elizabeth Goodwin. In December 2010 she was diagnosed with leukemia. In June she underwent a bone marrow transplant at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. Results from a blood test revealed that her diseased bone marrow with its several abnormalities was resistant to the pre-transplant chemo. Consequently, her transplanted bone marrow had no place to establish itself and thus engraftment did not happen. Additionally, her leukemia began to advance rapidly. She was released from doctors' care and returned home to her family in Columbia, SC. Georgia went home to Jesus on July 13.

If you wish to send cards, notes, etc., please send them to 439 Coldstream Drive, Columbia, SC 29212. Memorials may be made to Mission to the World, Retired Missionary Fund Acct# 98601, P.O. Box 116284, Atlanta, GA 30368-6284 or Happy Wheels Columbia, 133 Dupre Mill Court, Lexington, SC 29072. Sign Georgia's guestbook here. Survivors include sisters Katie and Sophie.

PCA PASTORS HELPING HAITI
Rev. Alan Lutz, senior pastor of Cherokee Presbyterian Church in Canton, Ga. and president and CEO of Reformation Hope and Rev. Martin Hawley, senior pastor of Hope Presbyterian Church in Marietta, Ga., and treasurer of Reformation Hope run a school for children in La Plaine, Haiti. They shared a story of two women who approached them in 2009 about having their children attend their school. The ladies ended up moving in order to be closer to the school so their children could attend.The ladies thanked Alan when he was there recently for helping their children get into the school. These pastors have two immediate needs: The first is funds to replace the transmission in their 15-passenger ministry van which broke down. They can have it fixed in the Dominican Republic for about $2,500. The van is important to their ministry work as a means to convey short-term ministry teams from place to place while they serve our mission in Haiti. The second need is funds to repair a chlorinator for their well and water tank system which has broken. If you would like to invest in either of these immediate need projects, please visit their website here or contact Rev. Martin Hawley at: rev.hawley@gmail.com.

MESSAGE TO CHAPLAINS
On July 18, Dr. Michael Milton preached at the convocation of the Chaplain Career School at the US Army Chaplain Center and School at Fort Jackson, SC. CH (COL) David Smartt, commandant of the school, looks on. The title of his message was "It's a Growing Time Resting in God Before Running in Ministry." Click here to read the message.

CAMPUS EVENTS
Summer Term is in session. Sign up for Fall Term now.

RTS/ATLANTA
Aug. 2-5 - History & Theology of the Puritans - Roots. Genealogy. Beginnings. As Americans, we are fascinated with our past. Memories of the Old Country fill our minds, and the further removed each generation becomes, the greater is the desire to know about our past. Who were our ancestors? What were their lives like? It's especially fulfilling to visit the places our families came from--the old village, the church building, the cemetery with familiar surnames. These things provide us with important clues to our identities. In the same way, as American Christians it is good for us to know about our roots. For many of us, our heritage comes through England. Henry VIII, Bloody Mary, William Perkins, John Owen, Oliver Cromwell, William Laud--these and many others are the names that give meaning to our identity, even across centuries and a wide ocean. This study of Puritanism will investigate these beginnings, and will help to explain a lot about who and what we are. History & Theology of the Puritans with Dr. James Renihan will meet 8:30a.m. to 4:00p.m. each day. 

RTS/CHARLOTTE
Sept. 20 - Dr. Mark Ross is the speaker for the fall lectures on Sept. 20. He is associate dean and associate professor of systematic theology at the Columbia campus of Erskine Theological Seminary and director of the Institute for Reformed Worship.  

RTS/HOUSTON 
Oct. 9-11 - Christ Evangelical Presbyterian Church (Houston) and RTS/Houston are sponsoring a Marriage Enrichment Weekend led by Dr. Jim Coffield.

RTS/JACKSON
Aug. 24: First Day of Fall Classes
Aug. 25: Convocation
Sept. 6-8: Rev. David Robertson, senior pastor of St Peter's Free Church (previously the pulpit of Robert Murray McCheyne), Dundee, Scotland, is the speaker for the World Missions Conference.

RTS/ORLANDO
Aug. 20 : 2011 Summer Elective has a Special Feature - A Theology of Work is a two-credit course elective that will be taught by our RTS Orlando alumnus, Orlando Rivera (1992/M.Div.). The special feature of this course is that it ends with a 9 am - 5 pm seminar on Saturday, August 20. As a service to the Orlando community, this seminar will also be open to the general public at no cost. Click here for more information.

Aug. 22: Fall Kick-Off for new and returning students, staff and faculty at 9:30 a.m.

Aug. 22: Dr. Jim Coffield will speak on "What You'll Know When You Leave Here" at 10:30 a.m. in the chapel (open to the community).

Aug. 23: Concert of Prayer at 9:00 a.m. in the chapel for all students, faculty, staff and open to friends to commit the semester to the Lord.

Aug. 24: Convocation at 11:00 a.m. in the chapel. President Don Sweeting will speak. Community Lunch will follow (please RSVP to hdefrancisco@rts.edu).

Aug. 31: President's Forum Community Lunch at 12:00 in the fellowship hall. Dr. Don Sweeting will hold a Q&A with Dr. Richard Pratt, founder and president of Third Millennium Ministries. The topic is "Third Mill: Theological Education for the Global Church."

Sept. 29: Preview Day for Prospective Students

RTS/DC
Aug. 25: Convocation will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the fellowship hall of McLean Presbyterian Church. Dr. Chad Van Dixhoorn will speak. Reception will follow.

Aug. 25: Orientation is at 5:00 p.m.

RTS/VIRTUAL
Upcoming dates for Orientation Seminars are:
August 29-31
October 24-26

ALUMNI SNIPPETS
Do you have an alumni snippet to share? Have you published a new book? Send it to the editor, here.

Win Groseclose (M.Div. '06) accepted a call to serve as senior pastor of St. John's United Evangelical Protestant Church in Rochester, PA. St. John's (affectionately known as "Burry's Church" in honor of the man from whom they acquired the property in 1835) is an independent church in the German Reformed tradition.

Kenneth L. Camp (M.Div.D. '81), former associate minister at First Presbyterian Church of Chattanooga, Tenn.,  went home to the Lord on July 5th. The funeral was held on July 8. His son shares, "Mom and Dad enjoyed 59 anniversaries in the Lord and in faithful devotion and commitment to each other." Camp retired from First Presbyterian a few years ago and was honored for over 8000 documented visits in his last 10 years of ministry, mostly to seniors.

Jason Cornwell (MDiv '06) has been asked to come on staff with Together For Adoption as their East Coast & campus ministry director. Jason is a member of Downtown Presbyterian Church and is currently raising support for his new role with Together For Adoption.

Paxson Jeancake (MAR '04) is the director of worship & arts at Valley Springs Presbyterian Church in Roseville, CA. In 2009 he published a chapter entitled "Rethinking, Reforming: Frame's Contributions to Contemporary Worship" in the P&R festschrift for John Frame Speaking the Truth in Love. In 2010, he and his wife Allison recorded their third worship project Wide Awake. This fall he will begin teaching a course at William Jessup University that will include his first book The Art of Worship as required reading. This is in addition to writing his second book Right Hand of the Father: Rediscovering the Ascended Life of Christ. This work will examine the oft-neglected doctrine of the ascension of Christ that Paxson has been reflecting on in words and music for the last few years. Listen to excerpts from their albums here.  

Brian (last name withheld) (M.Div. '10) and his wife Amanda or "Mandy" (MAR '09) have returned from South Asia. Their enthusiasm for the Word and serving God's people led them both to RTS where they first met. After marrying and then graduating from seminary, the couple began to explore ministry opportunities and God's calling for them. They heard about the work of Mission to the World (MTW) in South Asia and after visiting the team for hands-on experience, Brian and Mandy saw this mission field aligning with God's leading and their gifts. The vision of proclaiming the gospel of Christ to the unreached peoples there quickly captured their hearts. Within the context of church planting, Brian will be facilitating the theological education, training, and mentoring of national pastors and church leaders. Mandy will have opportunities to teach and mentor women in the church.

Chancellor-elect Michael Milton was recently interviewed by author, educator and children's ministry specialist, Dr. Rose Gamblin, on the Homeschool Companion radio talk show (a production of MRG Media Ministries). She talked to him about his third album Through the Open Door. Rose works with orphans and was inspired by Milton's rise from orphanhood to chancellor-elect. Click here to listen to the interview. The interview aired on select stations throughout the country.

Rev. Lyn Perez, president of the RTS Foundation and chief development and communications officer, along with Rev. Tim McKeown, executive director of RTS/Houston, recently interviewed with radio host Sigmund Kramer of 100.7 The Word KKHT in Houston, Texas. Lyn and Tim discuss the Master of Arts in Religion (MAR) degree offered at RTS/Houston. Listen to the interview here (scroll down to "various files")

Students, student wives, staffers and graduates of RTS/Charlotte were blessed to run a week-long camp for Brookstone School in June. The theme for the week was ‘De Colores’ (of the colors); an evangelistic gospel centered message. Each day was represented by a color stressing an element of the gospel message. They filled the whole day with that color from their food to their clothing. This was a wonderful opportunity for RTS students to experience an urban setting and learn how to lead a well organized, gospel-centered camp. Pictured with the children are Cristina Wilson, Jenni Pyrch (RTS/Charlotte students) and Lauren Spiewak (MATS ’10).

RTS/ATLANTA
"History & Theology of the Puritans" with Dr. James Renihan will meet August 2 - 5, 8:30 am to 4:00 each day. Roots. Genealogy. Beginnings. As Americans, we are fascinated with our past. Memories of the Old Country fill our minds, and the further removed each generation becomes, the greater is the desire to know about our past. Who were our ancestors? What were their lives like? It's especially fulfilling to visit the places our families came from--the old village, the church building, the cemetery with familiar surnames. These things provide us with important clues to our identities. In the same way, as American Christians it is good for us to know about our roots. For many of us, our heritage comes through England. Henry VIII, Bloody Mary, William Perkins, John Owen, Oliver Cromwell, William Laud--these and many others are the names that give meaning to our identity, even across centuries and a wide ocean. This study of Puritanism will investigate these beginnings, and will help to explain a lot about who and what we are.

RTS/CHARLOTTE
Aug. 26 - Campus-wide picnic welcoming new students
Aug. 27 - Women's brunch
Sept. 17 - Couponing Breakfast - Sept 19, Oct. 3 - Roundtable Discussions with the Culbertsons
Sept. 20 - Dr. Mark Ross is the speaker for the fall lectures on Sept. 20. He is associate dean and associate professor of systematic theology at the Columbia campus of Erskine Theological Seminary and director of the Institute for Reformed Worship.
Oct. 28 - Fall Festival for RTS Community

RTS/HOUSTON
Oct. 9-11 - Christ Evangelical Presbyterian Church (Houston) and RTS/Houston are sponsoring a Marriage Enrichment Weekend led by Dr. Jim Coffield.

RTS/JACKSON
Aug. 24: First Day of Fall Classes
Aug. 25: Convocation
Sept. 6-8: Rev. David Robertson, senior pastor of St Peter's Free Church (previously the pulpit of Robert Murray McCheyne), Dundee, Scotland, is the speaker for the World Missions Conference, which is free for students and for the community.

FALL COURSES OF PARTICULAR INTEREST:

1. "Hebrews to Revelation" with Greg Beale and Dick Gaffin. This New Testament course will be offered over three weekends: Sept 23-24, Nov 4-5, and Dec 9-10. Gaffin will lecture on the book of Hebrews and Beale will lecture on Revelation—both areas of expertise for these scholars.

2. "Systematic Theology 1" with Ligon Ducan. This course covers the Doctrine of God and the Doctrine of Man with our own Ligon Duncan, one of the nation’s most sought after conference speakers with Together for the Gospel and Gospel Coalition.

3. "Westminster Standards" with Derek Thomas. As Derek Thomas continues to teach every semester at RTS/Jackson, he will offer this well-loved elective which will take each student into a deeper knowledge of the Reformed tradition. It will be offered over just two weekends: Oct 21-22 and Dec 2-3.

4. "Biblical Relationships" with Bill Richardson at Covenant EPC. Our Tuesday evening course in the local church this fall will be taught by one of our marriage and family therapy professors, Bill Richardson, who has spent more than 30 years in private practice and has written a book entitled Loving Obedience.

If you are interested in auditing any of these courses for between $50 and $150, please contact our registrar Kim Lee at klee@rts.edu. Of course, all RTS alumni can audit any of these courses at no cost!

RTS/ORLANDO
Aug. 20 : 2011 Summer Elective has a special feature - "A Theology of Work" is a two-credit course elective that will be taught by our RTS Orlando alumnus, Orlando Rivera (1992/M.Div.). The special feature of this course is that it ends with a 9 am - 5 pm free seminar on Saturday, August 20. As a service to the Orlando community, this seminar will also be open to the general public at no cost. Click here for more info.

Aug. 22: Fall Kick-Off for new and returning students, staff and faculty at 9:30 a.m.
Aug. 22: Dr. Jim Coffield will speak on "What You'll Know When You Leave Here" at 10:30 a.m. in the chapel (open to the community).
Aug. 23: Concert of Prayer at 9:00 a.m. in the chapel for all students, faculty, staff and open to friends to commit the semester to the Lord.
Aug. 24: Convocation at 11:00 a.m. in the chapel. President Don Sweeting will speak. Community Lunch will follow (please RSVP to Heather at hdefrancisco@rts.edu).
Aug. 31: President's Forum Community Lunch at 12:00 in the fellowship hall. Dr. Don Sweeting will hold a Q&A session with Dr. Richard Pratt, founder and president of Third Millennium Ministries. The topic is Third Mill: Theological Education for the Global Church.
Sept. 29: Preview Day for Prospective Students. Contact Tom Nelson at tnelson@rts.edu.

RTS/WASHINGTON DC
Aug. 25: Convocation will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the fellowship hall of McLean Presbyterian Church. Dr. Chad Van Dixhoorn will speak. Reception will follow.
Aug. 25: Orientation is at 5:00 p.m.

RTS/VIRTUAL
Upcoming dates for Orientation Seminars are:
August 29-31
October 24-26

ALUMNI SNIPPETS
Do you have an alumni snippet to share? Have you published a new book? Send it to the editor, here.

Guillermo "Memo" Bernáldez (MABS '05, MACT '05) and his family (pictured right) have just moved from Argentina back to Mexico. Memo has been working on a Ph.D. in Argentina where they have lived for the last 5 1/2 years. He has to finish writing his thesis from Mexico. He has also applied and been accepted as a candidate for the ministry at the Iglesia Nacional Presbiteriana de México (National Presbyterian Church of Mexico). He is married to Janelle (MAC '05), and they have two children.

James R. "Jim" Carter (MAMFT '85, M.Div. '88) has begun as of July 1st his new minisrtry at New Presbyterian Church in Pompano. He was recently interviewed by the Sun Sentinel. Read the article here.

Roddey Caughman (M.Div. '09) believes God is calling his family to return to Zambia with Grace Ministries International to teach and train the Deaf for Christian service. They are now in the very early stages of the application at this time. They ask for prayer for their family as well as for the Deaf Christian men and women that the Lord will protect them and raise them up to be leaders for Christ in the city of Kabwe.

Roddey shares a language lesson from the primary language in Kabwe, which is Bemba: "Hello. How are you?" Mulishani (moo - lee - sha - nee). "Fine." Bwino (bwee - no).

Brandon Crowe (M.Div. '07) has recently been promoted from lecturer to assistant professor of New Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary. Dr. Crowe received a Ph.D. from University of Edinburgh in 2010. He has been teaching at Westminster since 2009.

Abraham Dispennette (M.Div. '07) wanted his fellow graduates to know that he left for Iraq at the end of July. He's a chaplain in the 1/77 Armored Infantry unit. Their mission will be to keep the country of Iraq secure as they begin to pull soldiers home and turn over control to the Iraqi government. His wife Kirsta and 3 kids, Chase, Bryce, and Zoë, will be in their home in El Paso, Texas. He asks for your prayers during this year for safety and strength to be a light of the gospel to soldiers at war.

Jonathan Gundlach (M.Div.'08) is serving as the director of community formation at City Church in San Francisco, Calif. Jonathan spent most of his life in South Florida and Chicago before moving to San Francisco. Being a major coffee-geek, he had the opportunity to start a few specialty espresso bars while in seminary. Before all that, Jonathan worked as an attorney in Chicago focusing on civil rights litigation and non-profit organizations. He has also assisted in a couple church planting projects in Chicago and Fort Lauderdale. He and his wife Kristen were married in 2008 and have a young son named Noah.

Christopher Probst (MABS '02) has been hired by Saint Louis University as a visiting assistant professor in modern European history for 1-2 years. Classes begin on August 29, and he and his wife Rachel are moving to the St. Louis area very soon. Also, his book titled Demonizing the Jews: Luther and the Protestant Church in Nazi Germany (Indiana University Press) is due in March 2012. It can now be pre-ordered here.

Daniel J. Rose (M.Div. '00), assistant pastor of student and family ministries at Grace Chapel EPC, in Farmington Hills, Mich., embarked on a recent journey with his church that has transformed their understanding of mission. He says God allowed their church "to bring dignity to three families by restoring their homes." They invested in nearly 20 children and youth through an educational camp held at the Project Worth Community Center in Means, Ky. The capstone of the week was the community cookout at Project Worth where nearly 200 people gathered to celebrate what God had done (100 missionaries from three different churches and the families of the people they served that week). Dan and his wife Amy have two kids: Ethan (9) and Libby (7). In addition, Doug Walker (M.Div. '98) is the senior pastor at Grace Chapel. 

Jay Wilson (M.Div. '09, MAC '09) is the director of pastoral care at City Church in San Francisco, Calif. Jay grew up in the Central Florida area and is a graduate of the University of Florida (degree in finance). He has a heart for walking with those who experience the brokenness of their own life, the city and the world. Jay and his bride Debbie have been married for seven incredible years and have a son named Isaac.

ANNUAL RTS/JACKSON WORLD MISSIONS CONFERENCE SEPTEMBER 6-8
The 2011 RTS World Missions Conference will be held on the Jackson campus in Grace Chapel on September 6-8 from 10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. The speaker this year is Rev. David Robertson, minister of St. Peter's Church in Dundee, Scotland, where Robert Murray McCheyne was minister.  He is also the editor for the Free Church of Scotland's Monthly Record and author of the well received Dawkins Letters and Awakening: The Life and Ministry of Robert McCheyne.The conference is open to the public and there is no charge.

RTS ON ITUNES U HAS NEW OFFERINGS
Earlier this summer, 10 classic seminars were released that have been recorded over the years. RTS on iTunes U is highlighting three of those collections this month. The first comes from Ken Myers, famous for his Mars Hill Audio Ministry, and is titled "Loving Neighbors in a Post-Human Culture." Here, Myers looks at the effects of postmodernism on human society, and how we can biblically respond to the disconnect it has created.

"Lectures on Prophecy from Dr. Richard Pratt" is the second highlight this month. In this collection, Dr. Pratt examines the prophets of the Old Testament with a particular interest in guarding against the most common mistakes that are made upon approaching prophetic biblical literature.

The third seminar released is on "Open Theism" with esteemed RTS/Orlando professor Dr. John Frame. Dr. Frame closely examines this theological position, showing the dangers of emphasizing certain attributes of God over others. Subscribe to the RTS on iTunes U newsletter by going here.

NEW BOOK BY RTS CHANCELLOR-ELECT DUE IN SEPTEMBER
Songs in the Night by Dr. Michael Milton is scheduled for release in late September. Click here to pre-order the book or check with the RTS bookstores in Orlando, Charlotte and Jackson. Here is a collection of warm, pastoral messages filled with personal illustration, that helps the broken-hearted Christian locate the God of all comfort in the center of all pain. We are not left there, either; Dr. Milton takes us a step further to see how the gospel actually transforms our private pain into personal praise. So read and discover how God uses the things that seek to destroy us as the very things that bring us salvation, bring us hope, bring us to prayer, bring us together and ultimately bring us to heaven.

DR. DEREK THOMAS TO SPEAK AT FALL BIBLE CONFERENCE IN FLORIDA
Ortega Presbyterian Church will host a fall Bible conference in Jacksonville, Fla., on Oct 7-9. Dr. Derek Thomas is the main speaker and will teach an enlightening, four-part exposition of Romans 8. Dr. Luder G. Whitlock, former president of RTS/Orlando, will round out the event by preaching on Sunday at 10:45 a.m. on "The Greatness of God." Click here for the brochure.

NEW BOOK ON MARRIAGE BY MARK DRISCOLL DUE IN DECEMBER
In 1996, at the age of 25, pastor Mark Driscoll and his wife Grace, started a small Bible study at their home in Seattle, which at the time was the least churched city in America. Since that time, the church has exploded with upwards of 19,000 people meeting across 13 locations in four states (Washington, Oregon, California, and New Mexico). Mars Hill has been recognized as the 54th largest, 30th fastest-growing, and 2nd most-innovative church in America by Outreach magazine. Along with being the co-founder of the Acts 29 Network, which has planted over 400 churches in the US and in 13 other nations, Driscoll has recently written another book and this one is titled Real Marriage: The Truth About Sex, Friendship, and Life Together. The book comes out in December. Pre-order the book here.

FAITH FOR LIVING TV - THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT!
Faith for Living with Michael Milton is an outreach ministry of Reformed Theological Seminary that exists to glorify God through preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ through every means possible to as many people as possible. There is now an App for Faith for Living that is available on the iPhone, the iPad and the Android. Watch or listen to the show and also have immediate access to Dr. Milton's blog and his albums and also the latest news and info about RTS. Faith for Living with Michael Milton is also broadcast nationally through the NRB TV Network, DirecTV channel 378, regularly on Mondays at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. The program also currently airs Sundays at 7:30 p.m. Eastern.

SEND THE MINISTRY & LEADERSHIP MAGAZINE TO A FRIEND OR FAMILY MEMBER
Are you receiving the Ministry & Leadership magazine? If you are, you know about all of the insightful articles, interesting news and inspiring stories. Share it with a friend for free by sending their name and address to Stephanie Hartley at shartley@rts.edu in our RTS/Jackson office or use the envelope enclosed in the magazine to send the names of friends. Or, sign yourself up for free. See past issues here. Recent articles included a devotional from Dr. Charles Frost, special assistant to the chancellor for planned giving, titled "Confidence in the Midst of Change" about going through changes in your life. Then, Dr. John Yeo and Dr. Bruce Lowe, professors at RTS/Atlanta, tackle an interview titled "Scripture, Interpretation and Science." Learn about some of our alumni planting churches in New England, and so much more! Find out where the faculty of RTS travel and speak, and what new books and articles they have written. Sign up today and learn more about Ministry & Leadership!

KKHT INTERVIEWS RTS'S LYN PEREZ AND TIM MCKEOWN
We apologize that the link given on the last RTS E-Newsletter expired, so we have placed it on our Web site if you wish to listen. Rev. Lyn Perez, president of the RTS Foundation and CDCO, along with Rev. Tim McKeown, executive director of RTS/Houston, recently interviewed with radio host Sigmund Kramer of 100.7 The Word KKHT in Houston, Texas. Lyn and Tim discuss the Master of Arts in Religion (MAR) degree offered at RTS/Houston. Listen to the interview here (scroll down to the heading "various files" and you will see the interview there.)
 
CAMPUS EVENTS
Fall Term is in session.

RTS/CHARLOTTE
Sept. 17 - Couponing Breakfast

Sept 19, Oct. 3 - Roundtable Discussions with the Culbertsons

Sept. 20 - Dr. Mark Ross is the speaker for the fall lectures on Sept. 20. He is associate dean and associate professor of systematic theology at the Columbia campus of Erskine Theological Seminary and director of the Institute for Reformed Worship.  

Oct. 28  - Fall Festival for RTS Community

RTS/HOUSTON 
Oct. 9-11 - Christ Evangelical Presbyterian Church (Houston) and RTS/Houston are sponsoring a Marriage Enrichment Weekend led by Dr. Jim Coffield.

RTS/JACKSON
Chapel is now on Wednesdays at 11:00 a.m.

Sept. 6-8: Rev. David Robertson, senior pastor of St Peter's Free Church (previously the pulpit of Robert Murray McCheyne), Dundee, Scotland, is the speaker for the World Missions Conference which is free for students and for the community.

Sept. 9 - International Dinner

RTS/ORLANDO
Aug. 31: President's Forum Community Lunch at 12:00 in the fellowship hall. Dr. Don Sweeting will hold a Q&A with Dr. Richard Pratt, founder and president of Third Millennium Ministries. The topic is "Third Mill: Theological Education for the Global Church."

Sept. 29: Preview Day for prospective students. Contact Tom Nelson at tnelson@rts.edu.

RTS/VIRTUAL
Upcoming date for the Orientation Seminar is October 24-26.

ALUMNI SNIPPETS
Do you have an alumni snippet to share? Have you published a new book? Send it to the editor, here.

Richard Aguilar (M.Div. '97) (pictured right, standing) is the pastor at Christ Redeemer Church in Ecuador, South America. He and his wife Cindy were invited to speak and translate for a congress of indigenous leaders, pastors and pastor’s wives from Riobamba alongside other special guests including Cindy’s mother Carmen, in Riobamba, in August. They have four sons: Ricky (in college), Pablo (pray for his vocation in outdoor leadership that God would open doors for him), Josue and Michael (pray for the new school year and costs involved). They are currently looking for office space for the church and office equipment for the ministry as they get more involved in conferences and retreats in their community.

Ken Aldrich (M.Div. '95) has been called by Covenant Life Church in Sarasota, Fla, to be their senior pastor. He and his wife Amy and their two sons and daughter will move from Virginia, where he pastored Covenant Presbyterian Church in Harrisonburg, for the past 9 years. Read more here.

Tim Allyn (MFTC ’09) and his wife Beverley (MFTC ‘08 ) and son Jonathan, are living and working in Dundee, Scotland, UK. Tim works as an administrator for a Christian charity known as Solas (Centre for Public Christianity). Solas is the Gaelic-Scottish word for “Light.” His work as administrator includes organizing events, updating the website, fundraising, accounting, and producing the Fleabytes videos.  Tim also volunteers as a counselor a few hours each week.

Ryan Burns (RTS Orlando student) created a website to help prospective seminary students discover the seminary opportunities available to them. He is asking students and alumni to leave a review of their campus at this site. Click here to access the site. 

Tiina (Malkamaki) Bynum (MACE) and her husband, former RTS student Joe Bynum, moved back to her home country in Finland for about 2 years to honor her FORTS scholarship requirements. Joe is currently learning the Finnish language and Tiina is teaching at a private kindergarten. They are actively involved in a local Bible study and different ministries related to it. They ask for prayer as they live in a very secular environment and the theology of most churches is very liberal. They do not know of any other reformed Christians in the area and they also ask for prayer as they witness to the glories of God's grace in his Word. Also, they ask for prayer that God will provide the funds for them to return to RTS by 2013 for Joe to finish his M.Div. degree.

Thomas Carpenter (M.Div. ‘04 ) (pictured right with his family) lives in London, England, and works on the Isle of Dogs in East London for London City Mission (LCM). He serves as a team leader to an LCM ministry centre called Café Forever. They are also working to plant a church called City of Peace.

Eric J. Cook (M.Div. '91) moved to Grand Rapids, Mich., in 2009, and serves as pastor of adult ministries at Remembrance Church in Wyoming, Mich.

David Correa (MABS ’99, D.Min. ‘11) serves in Progreso, Yucatan, Mexico, and has been the pastor of Jesus Presbyterian Church (a congregation of the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico) for almost 20 years. He also served as professor of biblical studies and practical theology at San Pablo Theological Seminary in Merida, Yucatan. Currently, he is the director of the Youth Ministry Institute (San Pablo Seminary) which he founded last year. This institute seeks to provide sound theological and pastoral training for youth pastors and youth leaders.

Justin M. "Jay" Denton (M.Div. '10) and his wife Bet, have been in Raleigh, NC, for a year. They are anxiously awaiting the birth of their first little girl due in September. They are serving at Midtown Community Church. Bet is helping lead a women's fellowship team.

Geofrey Gathairu (MAMis. ‘02, D.Min. ‘07) is a senior pastor in the Presbyterian Church of East Africa, St. Andrews Church, in Nairobi, Kenya. He and his wife Jane have two grown up daughters and three sons. His son Nelson will start at RTS/Jackson in the fall. 

Lalzuala Khiangte (MA.Mis. ‘86) has held several positions over the years with the Presbyterian Church of India. He was field secretary in the southern part of Mizoram, bordering with Bangladesh and Burma. Later in 1990, he was selected to be the moderator of the Presbyterian Church Synod. This is the highest position in the church in Mizoram, India. Between 1992-96 he was senior pastor in the central city of Aizawl having 8900 members. In 1997-99 he was elected to be the general secretary of the mission board of the Presbyterian Church of India. In that capacity he was looking after more than 1200 missionaries outside Mizoram. In 2001-2004 he worked as the general coordinator in Central India. He worked as the secretary junior and senior in the general assembly, Presbyterian Church of India.

During that time he was the executive member of the Council for World Mission based in London, Taiwan, Thailand and Singapore attending. He now works as the director/secretary of Set Free Ministries, India. He says it is very challenging. Also, at the same time he is the newly elected chairman of All Mizoram Mission and Evangelism Network there.
 
Jong Ho Kim (M.Div. '00) was ordained in October 2000 in the ARP church, and went back home to South Korea in Feb. 2001 to start working with Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, Korea. He is now stationed in Seoul, at the National Office of Inter-Varsity, and his role as president will officially begin in August this year for a three-year term, which can be extended another term. He is pictured (right) with his wife Amy and their three daughters.

Sam (last name withheld) (M.Div.M. '06) and his wife asked for special prayer in mid-August, for an area in Africa, another family, and them. A second wave of protests, and possible violence, was expected to break out soon all over the country to protest the absence of fuel, foreign currency, electricity, and many other hardships. He says "On July 20 major riots erupted all over the country with millions of people turning out in the protests. Though only 15 were killed and the nation returned to peace after two days, many peaceful places were looted and burned and dangerous precedents were set." They trust the Lord for His mercy and protection and know that He will deliver them. Still, they know He delights in the prayers of His people. They would thank you for considering them as you go to the throne of grace.

Valery Morozov (MABS ‘99) is serving with his wife Janna with Wycliffe Bible Translators in Russia. About 30 people from Russia attended their annual introductory seminar in February. Valery serves as director of Wycliffe Russia and Janna is the personnel coordinator. They love to work on their small piece of land planting flowers and bushes and growing vegetables. They have a daughter Anna who just finished 7th grade.

J. Michael Shannon (D.Min '95) is the professor of preaching at Cincinnati Christian University.

Joelouis L. Songate (D.Miss. ‘99 ) (pictured right), is serving as the executive secretary at the church headquarters for the Independent Church of India. Their churches are located in the northeastern states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Tripura, New Delhi, Punjab and Orissa. 

Stephen Spanjer  (M.Div.TS '04) was ordained in the PCA as pastor evangelist in the Southeast Alabama Presbytery. He is currently planting a church in Southwest Germany, called Neuenburg International Church. He started playing baseball there in the German baseball leagues 14 years ago with a friend and it slowly turned into a Bible study with some of the German players and now has turned into a church plant of 35-45 on a given Sunday.

Ken Wells (M.Div.E. ‘00) and his wife RuthAnn have been doing church planting in Italy since 2005 with Saints Equipped to Evangelize (S.E.E.). They are currently located in Udine. Ken and his wife are pictured (right) with their children: (l to r) Olivia, Adam, Jared, RuthAnn, Ken, Abigail, Peter and Hannah.  

Correction: Well you can never have enough Daniel Roses, but we are extremely sorry for the error in our last e-letter. So, let's clear this up. Daniel "J." Rose (M.Div. '00) is planting High Desert Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Visit highdesertpca.com.

JOHN CURRID'S BOOK ON JOSHUA DUE OUT IN NOVEMBER 
Dr. John Currid, the Carl W. McMurray Professor of Old Testament, has written a book for the Welwyn Commentary Series (a series on the books of the Bible) titled Strong and Courageous: Joshua (Evangelical Press, due October 2011). Read more here.

RESERVE YOUR SPOT FOR THE FALL LECTURES IN CHARLOTTE IN SEPTEMBER
Dr. Mark Ross is the speaker for the fall lectures on Sept. 20. Dr. Ross is the professor of systematic theology and dean of Erskine Theological Seminary's Columbia campus, where he is also the director of the Institute for Reformed Worship. From 2003-2008 he served as chairman of the Special Committee on Worship for the General Synod of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. He is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh (B.A.), the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (M.Div.), and the University of Keele in England (Ph.D.). He and his wife Connie have two married children and seven grandchildren. He is the author of Let’s Study Matthew. Other writings include “Improving the Means of Grace: The Larger Catechism on Spiritual Growth” in The Westminster Confession Into the 21st Century, Vol. III, and “Baptism and Circumcision as Signs and Seals” in The Case for Covenantal Infant Baptism.

The cost of this lecture is free to the RTS Community. To reserve a spot, please email Tari Williamson at twilliamson@rts.edu.

ONE SCHOOL ONE BOOK AT RTS/ORLANDO IN OCTOBER
Sponsored during the fall semester, One School ∙ One Book is a program that seeks to cultivate greater community life at Reformed Theological Seminary/Orlando through corporate reflection on a recently published book of mutual interest and benefit. The program culminates each year with a “meet the author” event that includes a public lecture and book signing.
 
In honor of the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, the 2011 book selection is The Legacy of the King James Bible by Leland Ryken, professor of English at Wheaton College. The book is available for purchase at the RTS bookstore or online here. Join RTS/Orlando as they read this book together and welcome the author to campus in October.

Schedule for the Event:
Monday, Oct. 17, 7:00p.m.
“Ten Fallacies about the King James Version”: lecture by Leland Ryken, followed by a book signing and reception
RTS Pamplin Chapel; book signing in the RTS bookstore

Tuesday, Oct. 18, 12-1:00p.m.
“Reflections on a Life with the King James Bible”: Q&A with Leland Ryken
RTS Campus during a community lunch.
RSVP to Laura at larmstrong@rts.edu.

ANOTHER NEW BOOK BY RTS CHANCELLOR-ELECT DUE IN NOVEMBER
On the heels of Songs in the Night, is yet another favorite coming out as a second edition in November called Hit By Friendly Fire: What to do When Fellow Believers Hurt You (Evangelical Press). This booklet turned full fledged book has grown from a mere 21 pages to 91 pages. The book has an intro by Dr. Derek Thomas, distinguished visiting professor of systematic and historical theology at RTS/Jackson.

CREATION CONFERENCE IN HOUSTON IN OCTOBER
The Vibrant Dance of Faith & Science presents "Creation: Biblical Options" at Sugar Creek Baptist Church in Houston, Texas. Dr. J. Ligon Duncan, III is one of seven speakers participating. Duncan is the distinguished visiting professor of systematic and historical theology at RTS/Jackson and senior minister of First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Miss. Click here for more information.

SEVEN RIVERS PASTOR SPOKE AT RTS/ORLANDO
Ray Cortese, senior pastor of Seven Rivers Presbyterian Church, in Lecanto, Fla., spoke in chapel at RTS/Orlando in September. He is pictured here with Dr. Simon Kistemaker. He also participated in a Q&A session with the president of RTS/Orlando, Dr. Don Sweeting, during a community lunch with students and members of the community on campus. The Orlando campus has several President's Forums (Q&A sessions) scheduled for the fall (see Campus Events).

SMART CLASSROOM IN PLACE AT RTS/ATLANTA 
The cutting edge "smart classroom" is now completed at RTS/Atlanta. The high speed data lines have been run and high quality cameras added, along with a mounted new projector and screen. This new classroom provides a virtual connection to smart classroom sites on three other RTS campuses (in Charlotte, Jackson and Orlando), and gives RTS/Atlanta a global digital reach. It also allows for high quality multimedia recording and other next generation educational abilities. Pictured left is Dr. Derek Thomas, distinguished visiting professor of systematic and historical theology, teaching in the smart classroom.

NEW RTS VIRTUAL ONLINE COURSE OFFERING
Church and the World (2 credit hours) is now available via our online virtual classroom. Contact Alice Hathaway at 800-227-2013 ext. 235 to register.

FAITH FOR LIVING (CORRECTED TIMES)
Faith For Living with Michael Milton, an outreach ministry of RTS, is available to view on DirecTV on Channel 378 on the NRB Network Mondays at 8:30a.m. and Thursdays at 3:30a.m. Several people call into the show every week and our most recent call came all the way from Hawaii. Tune in also online at www.FaithForLivingTV.com, on iTunes, accradio.com and sermonaudio.com. The program is also broadcast on the radio in many locations.

CAMPUS EVENTS
Fall classes are in session.

RTS/ATLANTA
Ministry Mondays - (beginning Sept. 12) - RTS Atlanta, situated in a global crossroads, is able to attract local, national, and international leaders to encourage and direct its students to potential ministry fields. This is exactly what will be happening during the lunch hour on many Mondays this fall. Please make plans to drop in or if you have one of the block classes that day, stick around and learn about what God is doing through a variety of works. The presenting ministries will be providing lunch for students as well.  You can view a list of these ministries here.”  

RTS/CHARLOTTE
Sept. 17 - Couponing Breakfast

Sept 19, Oct. 3 - Roundtable Discussions with the Culbertsons.

Sept. 20 - Dr. Mark Ross is the speaker for the fall lectures on Sept. 20. He is associate dean and associate professor of systematic theology at the Columbia campus of Erskine Theological Seminary and director of the Institute for Reformed Worship.  

Oct. 28  - Fall Festival for RTS Community

RTS/HOUSTON 
Oct. 9-11 - Christ Evangelical Presbyterian Church (Houston) and RTS/Houston are sponsoring a Marriage Enrichment Weekend led by Dr. Jim Coffield.

RTS/JACKSON
Chapel is now on Wednesdays at 11:00 a.m.

Wednesdays - Knitting and Needles - 7:00 p.m. at Mrs. Irwin's home.

Sept. 22 - Credentials Luncheon for all interested in ordination - Patterson's Porch. 

RTS/ORLANDO
Mondays (beginning Sept. 12) from 9:00a.m. - 10:00a.m.- Free Workshop on "Logos Academic Training" - led by Dr. Mark Futato in Classroom 3.

Thursdays - Ultimate Frisbee at 4:00 p.m.

Sept. 21 - President's Forum (Q&A) with Dr. Greg Livingstone, founder of Frontiers and pioneering missionary to Muslims at community lunch in the fellowship hall at noon. Please RSVP for lunch ($5) and seating by emailing Heather at hdefrancisco@rts.edu.

Sept. 29: Preview Day for Prospective Students. Contact Tom Nelson at tnelson@rts.edu.

Sept. 30- Oct. 1 - Women in Ministry (WIM) Retreat - Deerhaven Retreat and Conference Center, Ocala National Forest.

Oct. 17-18 - One School One Book - RTS/Orlando welcomes Leland Ryken, author of The Legacy of the King James Bible: Celebrating 400 Years of the Most Influential English Translation.

RTS/VIRTUAL
Upcoming dates for the Orientation Seminars are:
October 24-26 (Charlotte), January 12-14 (Houston), February 27-29 (Charlotte), and April 23-25 (Charlotte).

ALUMNI SNIPPETS
Do you have an alumni snippet to share? Have you published a new book? Send it to the editor, here.

Jake Belder (MATS, '10) and his wife Robin have recently moved to the United Kingdom where Jake now serves as assistant minister at St John Newland Church in the city of Hull. In addition to sharing in the pastoral ministry of the church, he is responsible for developing and coordinating the church's work in the community. Hull is a particularly deprived city with high levels of unemployment and poverty. There are very few evangelical Christians, and church attendance in Hull is among the lowest in the UK. Pray for the church as they determine how best to meet the needs of the city and bear witness to the good news of the Kingdom of God. You can follow Jake's blog here.

Jeany Budiman (MACE '04) has been teaching at Sekolah Pelita Harapan International (SPHI) Karawaci in Indonesia, for six years. She is currently teaching biblical studies for grade 9, and math for grade 10 to 12.

Sarah "Rachel" Butler (MAC '10) has joined City Church in San Francisco, Calif., as a counselor and faculty member of Newbigin Fellowship. Rachael desires to walk alongside those who are struggling in relationships, self image, spirituality, gender identity, vocation, marriage and a range of other issues. She enjoys incorporating a number of clinical techniques into her therapy to meet the specific needs of each of her clients.

Ryan Dean (M.Div. '09) (pictured right with his family) was ordained and installed as assistant pastor at Redeemer Church in Jackson, Miss., in August. Ryan leads the youth ministry. He and his wife Leslie now have two sons: Evan (2) and Levi (5 months).

Grady Crosland (M.A.R. '07) spoke to about 60 medical students in August on the significance of Genesis 1:1-3:15 on morality (ties in with the students medical ethics class), anthropology (why they should treat patients with dignity and compassion and are called to be competent), and soteriology (there is none in the atheistic world). Dr. Crosland also spent time on discerning the difference between science and philosophical speculation masquerading as science. Lastly, he noted the state of constant flux in which science is embedded rather than the empirically stable framework in which they have been taught to view it. Dr. Crosland stated that, "It was not nearly as difficult a project as I thought it might be because of the training, exposure to materials, and exercises in critical thinking that RTS Virtual helped imbue in this particular vessel."

Anthony Turner (M.A.R. '09) is serving as a bi-vocational teaching pastor and dean of students for Victory Trade School.  This is a culinary school that works with men who have had drug/alcohol problems and are working toward the final stages of recovery.  They are part of the Victory Mission which is an evangelical mission in Springfield, MO. Victory Mission has won the Hope Award by World Magazine, and currently World is conducting an online vote between 4 institutes in America.  Victory Trade School is one of the 4.  Tony is asking his fellow alumni to go online and vote for Victory Trade School.  For more information and to vote, click here. 

Arturo Terrazas (M.Div. '08) is finishing postgraduate studies at the University of Barcelona (Assyriology) in Spain. He assists in a Reformed church, preaching and teaching young adults. In the fall, he will start teaching Old Testament and Hebrew in an evangelical seminary.

JOHN REED MILLER LECTURE SERIES AT RTS/JACKSON
Rev. Reddit Andrews, senior pastor of Soaring Oaks Presbyterian Church in Elk Grove, Calif., is the speaker for the John Reed Miller Lecture Series at RTS/Jackson Oct 26-27. Prior to serving at Soaring Oaks, he served as assistant pastor at First Baptist Piney Grove Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and then as assistant pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Augusta, Ga. Andrews has a B.A. in Biblical Studies from Trinity International University in South Florida, and a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Ill. As a student, Reddit founded Coram Deo, a student fellowship that ministered to halfway houses, rescue missions and prisons throughout South Florida. The lectures are open and free to the public.

The schedule is as follows:
Wednesday
11:00 Grace Chapel, session I
12:00 Lunch, Patterson's Porch, session II

Thursday
12:00 Lunch, Patterson's Porch, Session III

NEW PRESIDENT APPOINTED FOR RTS/WASHINGTON D.C. CAMPUS
The executive committee of the Reformed Theological Seminary Board of Trustees has appointed Professor Scott Redd, Jr., as the first president of RTS/Washington D.C., effective June 2012. Redd is currently an assistant professor of Old Testament and dean of students at RTS/Orlando.

In addition to teaching at RTS/Orlando, Redd is a graduate of The College of William and Mary and RTS/Orlando, where he received his Master of Divinity degree. During his doctoral studies, he taught at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, Md., and later ministered at Christ the King Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, N.C.  Redd also taught at Catholic University and the Augustine Theological Institute in Malta, a theological training center operated by the Arab World Evangelical Ministers Association.  Redd currently belongs to the board of the International Training Institute, an organization dedicated to the training of pastors in the Arab world. Read more here.

RTS/CHARLOTTE LECTURES
Dr. Mark Ross, professor of systematic theology at Erskine Theological Seminary in Columbia (pictured right), was the speaker for RTS/Charlotte's fall lectures in September. Dr. Ross spoke on "A Door Standing Open in Heaven: Public Worship According to Scripture."

DR. MILTON TO SPEAK AT NATIONAL MINISTRIES CONFERENCE 
Dr. Michael Milton will speak at the National Ministries Conference at Briarwood Presbyterian Church on October 22-24. His topic is "Homeland Security: The Church and National Missions Today". Click here for session info.

FACULTY SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
The newly appointed president for RTS/Washington, D.C., Scott Redd, will teach a class on Old Testament Survey at the International Training Institute in Malta. See more faculty speaking engagements at rts.edu/facultytravel.

FORUMS AT RTS/ORLANDO
Greg Livingstone, founder of Frontier Ministries (seated left beside Dr. Don Sweeting) was Sweeting's recent guest during the president's forum at RTS/Orlando in September. Livingstone shared his experiences and knowledge of ministering to Muslims. See RTS/Orlando events for the next forum in October, which is open to the public.

YOU'RE INVITED TO THE SECOND SEASON OF TAPINGS OF FAITH FOR LIVING

Dr. Michael Milton has begun taping the second season of the Faith For Living television program. If you live in the Charlotte, NC, or Rock Hill, SC, area, and would like to be a part of the audience, please contact Wendy Simmons for the specific dates available. The program is being recorded at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Rock Hill, SC. Taping begins at 9:00 am. The 2nd season will begin to air in January.

RTS/HOUSTON 
Oct. 9-11: Marriage Enrichment Weekend with Dr. Jim Coffield, associate professor of counseling at RTS/Orlando, sponsored by Christ Evangelical Presbyterian Church (CEPC) and RTS/Houston. The event will be held at CEPC.

RTS/JACKSON
Chapel is now on Wednesdays at 11:00a.

Wednesdays: Knitting and Needles, 7:00 p.m. at Mrs. Irwin's home.

RTS/ORLANDO
Mondays from 9:00a.m. to 10:00a.m.: Free Workshop on "Logos Academic Training" led by Dr. Mark Futato in Classroom 3.

Sept 29: Ministry Lunch for students titled "Rethinking Evangelism in Ministry- What's It All About? with Rev. Jim Hatch, Mission to North America's church planter development director.

Sept. 29: Preview Day for 35 prospective students. 

Sept. 30 - Oct. 1: Women in Ministry (WIM) Retreat, Deerhaven Retreat and Conference Center, Ocala National Forest.

Oct. 5: President's Forum with The Honorable Scott Redd, Sr., US. Navy (Ret.), and cabinet member under President George W. Bush, along with Professor Scott Redd, Jr., Old Testament professor at RTS/Orlando and newly appointed president for RTS/Washington, D.C. The forums are at noon in the fellowship hall. The public is invited. Please RSVP with hdefrancisco@rts.edu if you would like lunch at the forum for a minimal cost.

Oct. 17-18: One School One Book - In honor of the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, RTS/Orlando welcomes Leland Ryken, author of The Legacy of the King James Bible: Celebrating 400 Years of the Most Influential English Translation. One School One Book is a program that seeks to cultivate greater community life at Reformed Theological Seminary Orlando through corporate reflection on a recently published book of mutual interest and benefit. The program culminates each year with a “meet the author” event that includes a public lecture and book signing. Leland Ryken is a professor of English at Wheaton College.

Schedule for the Event:
Monday, Oct. 17, 7pm
“Ten Fallacies about the King James Version”: Lecture by Leland Ryken, followed by a book signing and reception
RTS Pamplin Chapel; book signing in the RTS bookstore

Tuesday, Oct. 18, 12-1pm
“Reflections on a Life with the King James Bible”: Q&A with Leland Ryken
RTS Campus during a community lunch

RTS/VIRTUAL
Upcoming dates for the Orientation Seminars are:
October 24-26 (Charlotte), January 12-14 (Houston), February 27-29 (Charlotte), and April 23-25 (Charlotte).

ALUMNI SNIPPETS
Do you have an alumni snippet to share? Have you published a new book? Send it to the editor, here.

Nathan Ahimbisibwe (MACE '05) is a chaplain of St. James Chapel, at the Makerere University Business School (MUBS) in Uganda. The school has a population of 13,000 students. He reports that many staff and students have become Christians. The university gave them land to construct a chapel and resource center. The Muslims and Roman Catholics were also given land. Last year a mosque was buillt on campus and then a Roman Catholic chapel was built. He says that work has started on the foundation of the chapel and resource center and prays God will provide the resources needed.  He is appreciative of the RTS professors and their humility, and is grateful also for First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Miss., whose love and care is still ringing in his ears. 

Scott Davenport (M.Div. ‘08) is working as a member of the Peru mission team. He and his wife Julie and their six children are in Arequipa studying Spanish at the ABC Español Language Institute. They are encouraged by the assortment of missionaries who come there from all over the globe. They have made wonderful friends and are encouraged to see those from Europe, about which they hear so much about spiritual dryness. All of Scott's children attend a Peruvian evangelical day school called Rey de Reyes (Spanish for King of Kings). It has been an adjustment for the children, but they have done well and enjoy their new friends and teachers. They ask for prayer for financial support.

Jonathan W. "Jonny" Dyer (M.Div. '10) is an associate minister for international students with All Souls Church at Langham Place in London, England. As an international student in the States, he experienced first hand many of the challenges of moving to a foreign country to study. But, he could not have guessed that the Lord would call him back to serve international students at All Souls. (Pictured right is Naomi, Jonny, Edward and Thomas Dyer.)

Edward "Eddie" Lim (M.Div. '10) was ordained as a teaching elder in the PCA on May 15, 2011, and was installed as an assistant pastor at New Church of Atlanta on July 10.

Jay Modha (M.Div.M. '01), a former Hindu, is a scientist, businessman and Bible teacher. After his brother converted to Christ in 1987, he disowned his brother and opposed the gospel. But following an encounter with Christ one night, Jay was powerfully converted in 1990. Read more about his story in a 1998 article of Reformed Quarterly (now called Ministry & Leadership) here. Jay is now in England and preaches the evening services for St. Peter's Church in the parish of Gaulby, Leicester.

Jeane Ch. Obadja (M.Div. '92, Th.M. '93) is teaching Old Testament seminars and actively facilitating small-group discipleship online and offline, in and out of town and country. Next year she will be teaching at PETRA University in Jordan, on discipleship to train disciplers in Batam Island, Indonesia, for one year and asks for prayers in this endeavor.

Allen Stanton (M.Div. '09) passed his ordination exam before Grace Presbytery in September and will be ordained October 10 at Waynesboro Presbyterian Church in Waynesboro, Miss, with Mike Francis (M.Div. '01) preaching.

Josh Walker (M.Div. '10) is working on a Ph.D. in New Testament at McMaster Divinity College under Dr. Stanley E. Porter. He has published a book review on Compact Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament that can be found here. He is teaching Freshman Greek at Canadian Reformed Theological Seminary.

Ian Wise (M.Div. '00), currently pastor of the First Reformed Presbyterian church of Durham, NC, will be installed as the organizing pastor of The Pageland Mission Church. This church is a new church development of the Great Lakes-Gulf Presbytery of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA). The organizational service will be held Oct. 8 at 10:30 a.m. at the Guest Lodge Motel in Pageland, SC.

PASTOR APPRECIATION WEEK
Remember your pastor this week. A nice card or a kind word is always appreciated. Many of the RTS faculty and some of the RTS staff, in addition to their teaching and other seminary responsibilites, pastor churches or supply vacant pulpits on the weekends. Here is a partial list below. 

Faculty:
Dr.  John Currid is senior pastor of Ballantyne ARP Church in Charlotte, NC.
Rev. Ken Elliott is the stated supply pastor for Shiloh Presbyterian Church in Cameron, Miss., and wing chaplain for the 172 Airlift Wing (Air National Guard) in Jackson, Miss.
Rev. Kenneth McMullen is the stated supply pastor at First ARP Church in Monroe, NC (7.5 years).

President (Jackson)
Dr. Guy Richardson is interim pulpit supply at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Greenwood, Miss.

Bookstore Manager (Orlando)
Greg Thompson is the supply pastor for Grace Church in Indian Harbor Beach, Fla. (7 years).

Circulation Specialist/RTS Jackson Library
Dr. John McCarty is pastor of County Line Missionary Baptist Church in Jackson, Miss. (9 years).

SMART CLASSROOM AT RTS/ATLANTA HONORS MEMORY OF RTS TRUSTEE 
RTS Atlanta's Williamson Smart Classroom has been named in memory of long-time RTS Board member Jack Williamson. An array of possibilities exists for donors interested in naming opportunities that also provide financial support for RTS/Atlanta. Donors may make gifts important to them and have their name, the names of loved ones, or the name of a business placed in designated public spaces. Additionally, there are naming opportunities for faculty, scholarship, and maintenance endowments that would greatly assist in RTS/Atlanta's annual operational financial needs. Please contact Tom Campbell, RTS/Atlanta vice president for development (pictured left), at (770) 952-8884 or tcampbell@rts.edu for more information on leaving a lasting legacy.
 

RTS/HOUSTON WELCOMES MATT STAHL
Matt Stahl has been hired for the newly created position of assistant to the executive director at RTS/Houston. Matt is originally from Nashville, Tenn., but has lived in Texas for most of his adult life. He attended Dallas Baptist University and received his Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies. He then served as a youth minister at a Southern Baptist church in Fort Worth and also began seminary there. But after becoming drawn to Reformed theology, he did some ministry transitions, left his church and moved to Houston to attend a Reformed Baptist church. Deciding to pursue seminary again, a friend informed him that RTS had come to Houston and after reading about the mission and doctrine of the seminary, he knew this was where he needed to attend. He and Tim McKeown, executive director of RTS/Houston, became good friends. Matt is married to Krystal and they have one child and are expecting their second child.

"Matt and Krystal are a wonderful addition to the RTS Houston team," said McKeown. "Matt brings a "can do" attitude and is the kind of worker we have been praying for to join the new seminary planting team here in Houston!  He is gifted in many different areas and, for the moment, is willing to be a jack of all trades as he becomes part of the foundation-laying team for RTS/Houston."

2011 PRINCETON REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON REFORMED THEOLOGY
The 2011 PRCRT, produced in cooperation with the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, will be held Nov. 4-5 at Nassau Presbyterian Church, located next to the campus of Princeton University. Donald Carson and J. Ligon Duncan, III will address the difficult question of suffering. For more information contact Gabriel Fluhrer at 800-956-2644.

PLEASE SAVE THE DATE!
The inauguration of Dr. Michael Milton, as chancellor of Reformed Theological Seminary, will take place on Friday, September 14, 2012, at the Church of the Apostles, in Atlanta, Ga., at 2:00 p.m. Click here to read more.

HOFFECKER'S BOOK DUE TO RELEASE IN NOVEMBER 
Dr. Andrew Hoffecker has written Charles Hodge: The Pride of Princeton. The book is due out in November. The product description says: Andrew Hoffecker stresses the fundamental significanceof Charles Hodge's lifelong adherence to his pietist-confessional upbringing, a determination reinforced by his formative time in Europe as a young man. Treating Hodge's life thematically, as the author does, draws out the many-sidedness of his career - as Christian believer,educator, theologian, churchman, evangelical statesman, and controversialist. Those who may associate Hodge only with his Systematic Theology (great work though that is) are in for a surprise!

PROFESSOR AND DOCTOR TRAVEL TO KIEV FOR MISSION
Dr. Michael Brown, a physician and also an elder at First Presbyterian Church in Dillon, SC, along with Dr. Douglas Kelly, Richard Jordan Professor of Theology at RTS/Charlotte, flew to Kiev on Oct. 7 to engage in a teaching and medical mission at the Biblical Seminary there. Dr. Brown will run a free medical clinic for students and families, and Dr. Kelly will teach systematic theology. They return Oct. 15.

NEW BOOK IN SERIES FROM MILTON 
Dr. Michael Milton has written What is the Doctrine of Adoption? This booklet is for the Basics of the Faith series. The booklet is due in January 2012.

HOWARD GRIFFITH REVIEWS ARTICLE IN JOURNAL
In his recent review of John McKinley's "Tempted for Us: Theological Models and the Practical Relevance of Christ’s Impeccability and Temptation," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 54/2 (June 2011): 417-20, Dr. Howard Griffith, associate professor of systematic theology at RTS/Washington D.C., argued that the New Testament presents Christ's victory over real temptation as the source of his help to us now.  Griffith says, "He overcame temptation, and from the throne of grace, as our high priest, he enables us to do the same."

CHAPLAIN MILTON

Pictured is a class of advanced course reserve chaplains at the US Army Chaplain Center and School where Dr. Michael Milton teaches. He is an instructor in preaching and worship for C4 (Chaplain Career Course Component) as well as the chaplain basic course. Dr. Milton is seated, front and center. The picture was taken in August.

CAMPUS EVENTS
RTS/ATLANTA
Ministry Mondays are offered during the lunch hour. View a list of participating ministries here.

RTS/CHARLOTTE
Oct. 12: "The Face of Missions Has Changed" hosted by RTS student Micah Vickery will be held in the chapel at 7:00p.m.
Oct. 22: Fall Preview Day: Prospective students can interact with faculty and staff and tour the campus. Contact Holley Gregory for more information.

Oct. 28: Fall Festival for RTS Community

Nov. 4-6: Women's Retreat to Bonclarken. Speakers Sage Andrews, Katherine Ashbaugh, Jenni Pyrch, Teresa Simons and Rachel Stevener will discuss what it means to be "Walking Worthy."

RTS Women's Book Group will read and discuss The Poisonwood Bible. Meeting times are select Saturdays through Dec. 3. 

RTS/JACKSON
Oct. 26-27: John Reed Miller Lecture Series with Rev. Reddit Andrews, senior pastor of Soaring Oaks Presbyterian Church in Elk Grove, Calif. The schedule is as follows:

Wednesday
11:00 Grace Chapel, Session I
12:00 Lunch, Patterson's Porch, Session II

Thursday
12:00 Lunch, Patterson's Porch, Session III

Mississippi Baptist Seminary & Bible College are holding classes in the library of the Jackson campus.  Reformation and Modern Church History, Early & Medieval Church History, and possibly a New Testament survey class are offered.  Registration should be handled through the MS Baptist Seminary.  John (Mac) McCarty (601-923-1622) can answer any questions that you might have.

Oct. 29: Rocky Springs Day - Hike hosted by student cabinet.

Nov. 4-5: Women's Fall Retreat with Laura Husband at Twin Lakes in Florence, Miss.

The Jackson campus will again host The Deep South Founders Conference, January 13-14, 2012.  Meetings will be held in Grace Chapel.  Contact Pastor Thomas Winn, 601-922-4322 for more details. 

RTS/ORLANDO
Oct. 17, 31: Pastors in Training (PIT) discussions continue at noon in the Faculty Conference Room with students and facilitators Dr. Don Sweeting and Dr. Bob Orner.

Oct. 17-18: One School One Book - RTS/Orlando welcomes Leland Ryken, author of The Legacy of the King James Bible: Celebrating 400 Years of the Most Influential English Translation. See schedule below.

Schedule for the One School One Book Event:
Monday, Oct. 17, 7pm
“Ten Fallacies about the King James Version”: Lecture by Leland Ryken in the RTS Pamplin Chapel, followed by a book signing (in the RTS bookstore) and reception.

Tuesday, Oct. 18, 12-1pm
“Reflections on a Life with the King James Bible”: Q&A with Leland Ryken during a community lunch.

Nov 2: President's Forum - "Church Planting in the 21st Century" with Chan Kilgore, part-time RTS student, full-time church planting pastor of CrossPointe Church Orlando. The forums are at noon in the fellowship hall. RSVP for lunch with Heather at hdefrancisco@rts.edu.

Nov. 30: (This event was rescheduled for this date) President's Forum - "Jobs Partnership: Transformation through the Power of Employment" with David Outing, executive director of Jobs Partnership of Florida. The forums are at noon in the fellowship hall. RSVP for lunch with Heather at hdefrancisco@rts.edu.

RTS/VIRTUAL
Upcoming dates for the Orientation Seminars are:
October, 24-26 (Charlotte), January 12-14 (Houston), February 27-29 (Charlotte), and April 23-25 (Charlotte).

ALUMNI SNIPPETS
Do you have an alumni snippet to share? Have you published a new book? Send it to the editor, here.

Andrew Barnes (M.Div ’08) is serving as the pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Kansas City, Missouri.  Recently, he had an article published entitled "Delight in the Lord’s Day" in the Puritan Reformed Journal (Vol. 3, No. 2).  As a longtime member of OJFL, he would like to give his greetings to all those of Old Jackson.

Stuart Bryan (MATS '97)  (pictured right with his family) has been the pastor of Trinity Church in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho for three years. Before moving to Coeur d'Alene, he taught at The Oaks, a classical Christian school in Spokane, Wash. He is a contributing editor to St. Anne's Public House, has written several articles for the Veritas Press Omnibus curriculum, and is the author of The Taste of Sabbath: How to Delight in God's Rest. Stuart and his wife Paige have six children, two of which were adopted from Guatemala.

Paul May (M.Div. '07, MAC '07) is leaving South Florida for South Dakota. He is raising support and will be planting a church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He and his wife Meaghan, with daughters Austen and Claire, will complete the move in late fall. They have already been encouraged to see the gospel work among the core group members there!

L Roshyama Hrangchal (Th.M. '92) and his wife Mawi celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary on October 8, at PTS Young Strom Chapel in Dehradun. Congratulations! 

Ron Lively (M.Div. '83, MAMFT. '87) is the international director of SEED (Society for Education and Economic Development in Liberia), the executive director of H.I.M./Medical Mobilizers, and works in marketing and development for the BUV Ministry. He offers leadership training, business as mission courses, chaplaincy training, and professional training. SEED focuses on building sustainable community projects such as health, agriculture, food and water projects, housing and shelter projects, and transportation and mobility projects.  Ron is developing a Liberia Coalition of ministry partners to engage churches in activities that lead to sustainable economic projects that offer jobs to bi-vocational pastors and their members in the marketplace. For more information, go to www.societyfordevelopment.org, www.drivebuv.org, www.medicalmobilizers.org.

Kent Muhling (M.Div. '01) and his wife Yuko are serving in Japan. We reported on Kent back in March as he was helping with the relief effort from the tsunami. He was recently contacted by a man from Saudi Arabia who interviewed him for a newsletter distributed to believers in the Middle East for the purpose of encouraging them and expanding their vision for God's work in the world.

Staci D. Wadkins (MAC '02) and Harold G. “Howie” Sherrard (M.Div. '02) were married in 2003.  They currently have three children: Samuel Calvin (7), Mary Grace (5), and Jacob Paul (1).  A couple of months ago, they decided to move to China to become professors of English as a foreign language in Tianjin University, in Tianjin.  They hope to be of some value to the ongoing efforts to reach the area.  They are partnered with a group called Educational Resources and Referrals – China.  If there are any RTS alumni in the area, they would enjoy meeting with them. 

Chaplain Russell H. "Hank" Wilson (M.Div. '07)  serves the 2nd Battalion 5th Marines out of Camp Pendleton, California. He participated in the Change of Command ceremony that recognizes the accomplishments of the Battalion Commander (BC) who is moving on to a new job and welcomes the new BC who will take command. It is a ceremony full of tradition, honor, and professionalism. One tradition that he greatly appreciates is still included is the opening invocation. In a country where prayer has been removed from schools, sports, and even government meetings, it is still a required part of this ceremony. He sees it as a blessing to have the opportunity to do a public prayer at this ceremony. 

Wilson welcomed the birth of a beautiful daughter in August, named Elsbeth Cait (Elsbeth is the Scottish form of Elizabeth) and means “devoted/pledged to God.” Cait (pronounced Kate) means “pure.” The whole family recently moved to on-base housing. Please pray for safety during field exercises and the witness of Christ through their ministry to the families of the battalion and to new neighbors. Also, pray for the families as the battalion gets ready for deployment in the spring.

Ministry in a Postmodern Context

PROFESSOR DISCUSSES NEW BOOK
Dr. Andrew Hoffecker (Emeritus) talks about his new book, Charles Hodge: The Pride of Princeton at the P&R Web site. Click here to listen.

RTS AWARDED PATRIOT AWARD In November, RTS was nominated for and was awarded the Patriot Award, a distinction from the Department of Defense for employer support of the United States military guard and reserve. The award is given to those employers who demonstrate, through their support of their employees who serve in the reserve or guard, loyalty to the nation, our defense, and to the support of our troops. The award is not an automatic award and is a competitive award. The Patriot Award will make RTS eligible for the Freedom Award, given to a distinct number of organizations in America and is recognized by the Secretary of Defense. Dr. Michael Milton said, "As a U.S. Army Reserve chaplain and as the chancellor-elect of RTS, I am so honored and thankful that our seminary is being recognized in this award. RTS has been so supportive of me and others who seek to serve our seminary and our nation."

NEW PUBLICATIONS BY RTS PROFESSORS
Dr. Steve Brown has written Three Free Sins: Recovering a Neglected Perspective on Sin and Grace (due February 2012). Dr. John Frame wrote The Escondido Theology (Lakeland, Fl: Whitefield Media, due Nov, 2011). Ken Elliott wrote Anglican Church Policy, Eighteenth Century Conflict, and the American Episcopate (Peter Lang Publishing, September 2011).Dr. Guy Waters’s book How Jesus Runs the Church (P&R) has just been released. Scott Swain's new book, Trinity, Revelation , and Reading: A Theolgoical Introduction to the Bible and Its Interpretation (T&T Clark) is due November 17.

TODAY IS RTS ALUMNI PRAYER DAY AT RTS/CHARLOTTE
RTS alumni will join students and faculty during prayer chapel to spend time in prayer.

STUDENT AT RTS/JACKSON DISPLAYS ARTWORK
Allison Atwood is a local counselor and artist who lives and works in the Belhaven area. She is also a current student at RTS pursing an MA in Biblical Studies. Having studied art intermittently in high school and college, she is mostly self-taught. Her current body of work was created this past summer and will be shown at the Eudora Welty Commons on Thursday, November 3 at 6:30 p.m. with live music by the Jamie Weems Quartet. Her paintings will remain hanging for a couple of weeks in the Welty Commons gallery. Allison's current work includes bird studies, landscape, and still-life, and is mostly created using a pallet knife with oil on canvas.

RTS/CHARLOTTE STUDENTS APPROVED FOR GI BILL BENEFITS
The North Carolina State Approving Agency has approved RTS/Charlotte for the enrollment of veterans, military and other eligible persons under the provision of Title 38, Section 3676, United States Code. This means that students who have served in the military, are able to receive GI Bill benefits for attending RTS/Charlotte. Interested parties should contact Holley at the RTS Charlotte admission office at (email) or 800-755-2429 for the appropriate paperwork and to answer any questions.

CHURCH PLANTING CLASS VISITS NEW ORLEANS AND BATON ROUGE
On Oct. 14-16, 20 students from the RTS/Jackson M.DIV. program traveled to New Orleans and Baton Rouge to meet with four different area church planters to learn, to be inspired, and to catch a vision for planting churches.  The trip was the culmination of a semester-long project in Dr. Paul Long’s church planting class in which students developed a biblical theology and methodology for planting churches.

PREVIEW DAY IN CHARLOTTE RTS/Charlotte held their first Preview Day in October. Pictured are the potential students that responded. Rod Culbertson, executive director of RTS in Charlotte addressed the group, along with Dick Belcher, professor of Old Testament, Tari Williamson, dean of women (address to female students and wives), and Stephane Jeanrenaud, director of admissions. Lunch was served and greeting, registration and worship was led by current student Brent Horan. Testimonies were also given by an alumnus and current students.

PROFESSOR ANDERSON TO BE ORDAINED
Dr. James Anderson, assistant professor of theology and philosophy at RTS/Charlotte, will be ordained into the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church on Sunday, Nov. 13 at 6:00 p.m. at Ballantyne Presbyterian Church. All are welcome to attend.

CAMPUS EVENTS
Registration for the 2012 Winter session is now open.

RTS/ATLANTA
Ministry Mondays are held during the lunch hour on many Mondays this fall. You can view a list of these ministries here.”

RTS/CHARLOTTE
Nov. 4-6 - Women's Retreat to Bonclarken. Speakers Sage Andrews, Katherine Ashbaugh, Jenni Pyrch, Teresa Simons and Rachel Stevener will discuss what it means to be "Walking Worthy."

RTS Women's Book Group: The Poisonwood Bible. Meeting times are select Saturdays
through Dec. 3.

Nov. 14: Women of RTS event - Ministering to the Worried Heart with Dr. Nancy Waring in the RTS Dining Room at 6:00 p.m.

RTS/JACKSON
Nov. 4-5 - Women's Fall Retreat with Laura Husband at Twin Lakes in Florence, Miss.

The Jackson campus will again host The Deep South Founders Conference, January 13-14, 2012.  Meetings will be held in Grace Chapel.  Contact Pastor Thomas Winn, 601-922-4322 for more details. 

RTS/ORLANDO
Mondays: First Things Society (FTS) offers a place where, in the midst of academic endeavors and frantic pace, students can pause and let God graciously feed their hearts and help them keep first things first. It also gives third-year M.Div students another opportunity to preach. Anyone is welcome to attend. FTS meets in the chapel from 9-9:30 a.m. each Monday morning.
 
Also on select Mondays: Pastors In Training (PIT) continues a series of discussions on life in the ministry. The next PIT meetings will be on November 14 & 28 at noon.

Nov 30: President's Forum - "Jobs Partnership: Transformation Through the Power of Employment" with David Outing, executive director of Jobs Partnership of Florida.

RTS/VIRTUAL
Upcoming dates for the Orientation Seminars are:
January 12-14 (Houston), February 27-29 (Charlotte), and April 23-25 (Charlotte).

THIRD PARTY COMMENTS FOR RTS’ ACCREDITATION
Reformed Theological Seminary is in the process of the decennial reaffirmation of accreditation with its two accrediting agencies.

RTS invites third-party comments in writing concerning RTS’ qualifications for reaffirmation. These comments will be made available to the accreditors and a visiting committee that includes external peer evaluators.

RTS has two accreditors: The Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is the regional accreditor for RTS. The Commission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) is a national accreditation agency for theological schools in the United States and Canada.

Please submit any comments in writing to:
Reformed Theological Seminary
Attn: Dr. Robert J. Cara, Chief Academic Officer
2101 Carmel Road
Charlotte, NC 28226

ALUMNI SNIPPETS
Do you have an alumni snippet to share? Have you published a new book? Send it to the editor, here.

Philipp Gollner (MDiv 09) is a presidential fellow in the history department of the University of Notre Dame, where he is working on a PhD under Prof. Mark Noll in transatlantic and American religious history. Philipp and his wife Sarah (pictured right) are active members of Kern Road Mennonite Church (MCUSA) in South Bend, Indiana. After two years in busy Chicago, they are enjoying living and gardening there, and are grateful for their daughter Eleonora's health and development.

David G. Kataate (M.Div.C. '07) is senior counselor and lecturer of Christian ethics at a Christian university called Ndejje University in Uganda. He is also an associate pastor in a local church where he lives. With American colleagues in Jackson, Miss., the Lord led them to begin a ministry called Discipleship Ministries Uganda. He works as the director of the ministry. Since he returned to Uganda, they have trained over 300 disciples. He and his wife Harriet have four grown daughters, one daughter in high school and a son in 7th grade.

Lauren (last name withheld) is studying Arabic in North Africa with a teammate who has been there for a year. She will be working with women and children that have been rescued out of human trafficking. They ask for prayer that they would be salt and light in the city.

Thomas McIntyre (M.Div. '08) and his wife Jennifer (MABS '08) are now working with OMF International and EPC World Outreach in Zhongpu, Taiwan, doing church planting. Thomas is ordained in the EPC. They wanted to share this video and ask for prayer for their ministry.

Dale Robertson (M.Div. '09) has been called as senior pastor of Grace Community Church in Oscoda, Michigan. On Sept. 9, he was ordained in the EPC Presbytery of the Midwest.  

As we prepare for this Thanksgiving holiday, we give thanks for each of you who support the ministry of RTS and who pray regularly for the faculty, staff and students. We are thankful for the Lord’s provision of the wonderful students and alumni we have been privileged to walk with during their time of seminary preparation. And we rejoice in how the Lord has used so many of our RTS alumni to win people to Christ and to plant and build strong and healthy churches. We pray the Lord will continue to bless each and every one of you and your families as you are faithful to him in the future ministry you build and develop and in the lives you live before the world in His honor. Happy Thanksgiving.

NEW PROFESSOR GLADD IN JACKSON
RTS/Jackson is pleased to welcome Dr. Benjamin Gladd (pictured left with his family) who will join the RTS community to teach New Testament starting in the spring semester.  He was officially approved by the executive committee on Thursday, Nov.3, and will be leaving his pastoral position at Apple Valley Baptist Church in California, to join our faculty. Dr. Gladd completed his Ph.D. from Wheaton College in 2008.  His interests lie in biblical theology, the use of the Old Testament in the New, and biblical exegesis.  His PhD dissertation focused on the use of “mystery” in the book of Daniel and its biblical-theological connections to First Corinthians. He has co-authored two books with G.K. Beale through IV Press: Hidden But Now Revealed: A Biblical Theology of Divine Mystery (forthcoming in 2012), and The Story Retold: A Biblical-Theological Introduction to the New Testament (forthcoming in 2013). His hobbies include sports, photography, and all things related to Apple. Welcome, Dr. Gladd!

RTS/WASHINGTON, D.C. MOVES CLOSE TO TYSON'S CORNER
RTS/Washington, D.C. is moving! This is really happening and you are invited to a Christmas Open House at the new location, December 2nd from 7-9 p.m. There will be fabulous refreshments, lovely music and Hugh Whelchel, executive director of RTS DC, will give a few remarks at 7:30 pm. Come see the new location, visit with students, staff and alumni and celebrate how God has blessed the work of RTS in DC! The address for the new location is 1651 Old Meadow Drive, Suite 300, McLean, VA, 22101.

ANNUAL HEADWAE AWARD RECIPIENTS CHOSEN FROM RTS/JACKSON
The Higher Education Appreciation Day –Working for Academic Excellence (HEADWAE) was established by the Mississippi Legislature in 1988 to honor academically talented students and faculty members who have made outstanding contributions in promoting academic excellence. The appreciation day is a way of saying “thank you” for the commitment to the future of Mississippi. This year, RTS/Jackson has chosen Dr. Bruce Baugus assistant professor of philosophy and theology from the faculty, and Shelley Franklin from the student body. Though blind, shelley has managed through the MFT program excelling in her studies. She is a graduate of Mississippi College where she was on the dean's list. She plays the piano and sings and has used her gifts to teach other children who are faced with the same challenges that she has.

NEW BOOKLET ON CHOOSING A SEMINARY
Rod Culbertson, executive director and associate professor of practical theology at RTS/Charlotte recently wrote So You Want to Go to Seminary, a booklet on choosing a seminary. The booklet is available here on our Web site and at the RTS campuses. 

NEW BOOK BY ADJUNCT PROFESSOR GROAT
Dr. Chuck DeGroat, adjunct professor at RTS/Orlando and director of the City Church Counseling Center in San Francisco, Calif., has just published Leaving Egypt: Finding God in the Wilderness Places. "The Exodus story is your story. The Israelites' liberation from Egypt and journey to the promised land is one the Bible's most compelling stories a breathtaking account of competing wills, freedom and slavery, faith and doubt. But the Exodus isn't just a long-ago Bible story. It's the overarching theme of every person's life. We each find ourselves enslaved: to work, to destructive relationships, to food, to spending . . . but beyond our personal Egypt lies God's promised land. In Leaving Egypt, Chuck DeGroat shows how our wilderness journey helps us face our fears, receive our new identity, experience transformation, and live into our new found freedom. Discussion questions for personal or small group use follow each chapter." The book is available for purchase here.  

RTS MOBILE APP NOW AVAILABLE
Joining last year's Westminster Shorter Catechism in 90 Days app, RTS announces the release of RTS Mobile. This app contains information about RTS as well as the full audio for 30 of our RTS on iTunes U courses. One of the most exciting things about RTS Mobile is that is available on both iOS and Android devices, marking the first time that RTS on iTunes U content is natively available on the Android platform. More features and content will be added periodically to RTS Mobile, so be on the lookout for those updates through the RTS on iTunes U Newsletter.RTS Mobile is now available in the iTunes Store here and in the Android Market here.

AFRICAN AMERICAN LEADERSHIP INITIATIVE LAUNCHES AT RTS/JACKSON
RTS/Jackson announces the African American Leadership Initiative (AALI), launched on Nov. 3. With Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) at JSU, Redeemer PCA, Mission Mississippi, Voice of Calvary Ministries, and New Horizons, RTS Jackson provides a unique context for multi-ethnic, urban, and African American ministry.  Partnering with these ministries and more, AALI will provide mentoring, modeling, fellowship, and scholarship for our students. Wy Plummer, the African American Ministries coordinator of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), says this about the launching of AALI at RTS Jackson:  “Right now, Jackson, Miss., offers a unique constellation of resources if you are an African American looking to prepare for ministry in the PCA.  Redeemer is a thriving multi-ethnic PCA church, RUF at JSU is the first RUF at a historically black college or university, and RTS/Jackson provides solid biblical training in the midst of a warm community.  It's a great place to be shaped for ministry." To learn more about the AALI, you may read about it here.

SPECIAL CLASSES OF INTEREST THIS WINTER
"The Christian Life" will be taught by Dr. Steve Brown at the new campus of RTS/Washington D.C. (near Tyson's Corner). The purpose of this course is to assist the student in growth toward a deeper relationship with the Lord and more mature Christian interaction with the world in which we live. The course will be held Tue., Wed., and Thurs. 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., January 17 - January 19, 2012.

"Old Testament Theology" will be taught at RTS/Orlando, by Dr. Richard L. Pratt, Jr., president and founder of Third Millenium Ministries. The course will survey various approaches to Old Testament theology and present an integrated outlook on meta-theological motifs that guide New Testament and contemporary outlooks on the theology of the Old Testament. The class will be held Mon to Fri 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., January 16 - January 20, 2012.

Dr. David M. Howard, Jr. will teach on the "Book of Joshua," at RTS/Orlando. This course will examine the book of Joshua with an eye to understanding its major themes and using them in exposition in a Christian ministry context. After considering various introductory matters, the course will proceed in a verse-by-verse and paragraph-by-paragraph manner. Special attention will be given to (1) distinctive themes in Joshua, (2) their links with other Old Testament themes, and (3) their relevance in the modern world. Special attention also will be given to proper methods of exegesis and ways of reading a text. The course will be held Mon to Fri 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., January 16 - January 20, 2012.

Dr. Sam Larsen will teach "Learning in Cross-cultural Contexts at RTS/Orlando. This course is an examination of cultural differences in the ways people learn, theoretical models of intercultural education, and factors that affect the educational process. This course will be held Mon to Fri 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., January 23 - January 27, 2012.

Systematic Theology 2 will be taught by Dr. Derek Thomas at RTS/Jackson. This course is a study of Christology, giving particular emphasis to both the person and work of Jesus Christ. The course will attempt to survey the material from an exegetical, biblical-theological, historical and creedal basis, giving particular attention to points of interest and debate in our own time. The course will be held Monday 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.; Tues., Wed.,Thurs. 9:00 a.m.- 3:00 p.m.; Friday 9:00 a.m. - 11:55 a.m., January 9 - January 13, 2012.
 
NEW VIDEO ON RTS/JACKSON WEBSITE
Watch a new video created by staff and students at RTS/Jackson, for Admissions. Click here to watch the video.  

UNDER THE RADAR FEATURES Q&A WITH MICHAEL MILTON
Under the Radar posted a Q&A with Dr. Michael Milton on their site on Nov. 3. Click here to read the interview. Or, listen to the interview along with a song from his new album here. Buddy Green leads off the program and then Dr. Milton is the third song in the program. Sit back and enjoy some great music today! "...Under the Radar highlights some of the best undiscovered and under-appreciated tunes from Christian artists. In this one-hour weekly program, host Dave Trout shares stories, spiritual insight, and exclusive artist interviews to discover the depth of faith and creativity found in the music. Listeners participate by suggesting some of the best hidden gems in their own music collections that the world needs to hear." Under the Radar is one of many gospel resources produced by ReFrame Media.

WHY PATERNO WILL MATTER
RTS Chancellor Michael Milton published a commentary recently regarding the Penn State controversy. Read the commentary here.

CAMPUS EVENTS
Registration for the winter term is in progress. Registration for the spring term will open Dec. 1.

RTS/CHARLOTTE
RTS Women's Book Group: The Poisonwood Bible. Meeting times are select Saturdays through Dec. 3.

RTS/ORLANDO
Nov. 28: Pastor's in Training (PIT) meeting in the Faculty Conference Room at noon.

Nov 30: President's Forum - "Jobs Partnership: Transformation Through the Power of Employment" with David Outing, executive director of Jobs Partnership of Florida. RSVP to Heather at hdefrancisco@rts.edu if you would also like to order lunch for a minimal cost at this event.

RTS/VIRTUAL
Upcoming dates for the Orientation Seminars are:
January 12-14 (Houston), February 27-29 (Charlotte), and April 23-25 (Charlotte).

ALUMNI SNIPPETS
Do you have an alumni snippet to share? Have you published a new book? Send it to the editor, here.

Del Belcher (M.Div. '95) and his wife Nancy assisted in planting Pathway Community Church in Brighton, Mich., which is now moving into it's 8th year in 2012. Del continues as senior pastor at Pathway. Over the past two years Pathway has seen her Ann Arbor, Mich., small group grow to a large group and Pathway's session has petitioned the PCA's Great Lakes Presbytery to declare the work a mission church. They ask for prayer as Pathway seeks to extend the PCA's presence in southeast Michigan.

Neill Bryant (MA ’10) recently joined the law firm of Wells, Moore, Simmons, Edwards & Wilbanks, PLLC in Jackson, Miss., where he is assisting in the formation of the firm’s Church Law Practice Group, the first of its kind in Mississippi.  The practice group’s focus is to provide specialized legal services to churches and to educate church leaders about legal issues impacting their ministry.  In January 2012, Neill and the other attorneys in the practice group will begin the long process of becoming certified as Christian mediators by Peacemaker Ministries’ Institute for Christian Conciliation.

Esaie Etienne (M.Div. '04) and his wife Natacha are MTW missionaries to Haiti. They celebrated their third year at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Gonaives, Haiti under the theme, “That the world may believe.” They have baptized 82 people who have made a profession of faith under the ministry of the church. After the earthquake in January 2010, MTW’s help ranged from distributing food, providing medical care, and rebuilding houses in Port-au-prince. These families are not Christians but they say this is a testimony of the love and grace of God. The construction of the school in Docine is moving forward. Currently, they are meeting in the old structure. They need prayer for child sponsors to cover their expenses due to increased attendance. Pray for major works on the construction of the school to be finished.

Joe Holland (M.Div. '03) is the church planter of Christ Covenant Presbyterian Church in Culpeper, Va. Joe says of growth: "It's painful, it's messy, it's wonderful, and it's happening in Culpeper, VA." They are seeing a significant influx of young, post-college singles and are averaging 100-120 people on Sunday mornings. The church will begin elder training in early 2012. They are hoping to particularize in 2013. He and his wife Hallie have 4 sons (Joseph, William, David, and Charlie).

Martin "Paul" May (M.Div. '07, MAC '07) and his wife Meaghan, and children Austen and Claire are moving from South Florida to South Dakota. They feel God is calilng them there to plant a church. They ask for your prayers and support. Read more here.

Patrick Morley (M.Div. '89, MATS '99) will release Man Alive in January 2012. The author of 18 books, Pat Morley, Ph.D., is best known for writing The Man in the Mirror, which has sold 3 million copies and is considered one of the 100 most influential Christian books of the 20th century. Every Friday morning since 1986, Morley has taught Bible study for men, which is now webcast to 5000 men meeting in small groups around the world. Morley also hosts a daily radio show that is carried on 300 stations. He and his wife have two grown children and live in Winter Park, Fla. He says, “In Man Alive, I’ll show you something surprising—God’s plan to harness that raw, restless energy you feel, pull you out of mediocrity, and propel you toward the life you were meant to live. I promise you —there is a way! No man should settle for half alive. You can experience a powerful life transformed by Christ, and in this book, I’ll show you how.”

Steffen Mueller (M.Div. '05) church planter of Gospel Church Munich in  Germany (pictured in the royal blue shirt on the right), asks for prayer that God will bring revival to Munich and to Europe. In October he spent a weekend with a men's Bible study group that God has raised up in South Munich. Also his wife received her official permission to live and work in Germany. He and his wife Elizabeth have two daughters (Sophia  and Susanna).

Michael Philliber (M.Div. '00), pastor of Providence Presbyterian in Midland, Texas, has published his first book titled Gnostic Trends in the Local Church: The Bull in Christ's China Shop. "Gnostic Trends in the Local Church lays out the basic tenets of ancient and modern Gnosticism. Though there are various authors who have written about Gnosticism over the past two decades, many of them deal with New Age teaching, or in a more limited manner, to answer the momentary surge of The Da Vinci Code and the Gospel of Judas. Instead of going in those directions, Gnostic Trends in the Local Church focuses on the more likely place one will meet Gnosticism: in their own home congregation.

"Michael W. Philliber shows what the trends look like within a congregation and offers ways to remedy them, while abstaining from alarmism. This is an important book for pastors and other congregational leaders for providing them with tools (modern, ancient, and biblical) that will help them guide their people more firmly into the historic Christian faith." Purchase the book here.  Philliber is married to Anne Marie and they have four children.

Rob Sturdy (Th.M. student), currently rector at Trinity Church in Myrtle Beach, SC., has been called to St. Andrews in Mount Pleasant, SC. to oversee and develop their School of Theology as well as their ongoing church planting efforts. Rob will complete a second masters degree (in theology) from Reformed Theological Seminary this spring and will then pursue a Ph.D. Rod is married to Stephanie and they have two children, David (4 years old) and Genevieve (10 months old). Rob will assume his new ministry responsibilities on January 1, 2012.

Barton Swaim (M.Div. '98) has written "On Being a Southerner" in The New Criterion. The article comes highly recommended by Professor John Muether at RTS/Orlando. Swaim is communications manager at the South Carolina Policy Council. He joined the organization in February of 2011. He confers with the news media, coordinates South Carolina Policy Council’s communications strategy, and ensures that our material is clearly and accurately written. Prior to joining the South Carolina Policy Council, Swaim worked in the communications Office of former Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina. Swaim holds postgraduate degrees in English literature from Edinburgh University (Scotland) and the University of South Carolina.

MERRY CHRISTMAS
The faculty, staff and students of RTS pray you have a blessed Christmas. Many of you will be on the road traveling to see family and friends. Some may be staying home. Others in our world may need a good word from you. Be there for them at this time and share with them the grace and love of our blessed Lord Jesus, the reason for our celebration.

CHRISTMAS GREETING CONTAINS FREE SONG DOWNLOAD
Don't miss our special gift to you. Dr. Michael Milton, chancellor-elect of RTS, has recorded a Christmas song titled "When Heaven Came Down." If you haven't heard this beautiful tune yet, you can download the song and listen to it here. The backup singer is Cindy Gibbs.

REVISED WINTER SCHEDULE OF CLASSES FOR RTS/ORLANDO

CHURCH HISTORY TOUR SPONSORED BY RTS-CHARLOTTE
You are invited to join Reformed Theological Seminary on an 8-day Christian Heritage tour to England March 11-17, 2012. Participants will enjoy sightseeing, shopping and learn about the English Reformation in the actual places where these events occurred. Professor of church history, Dr. Don Fortson, will provide commentary and mini-lectures. In addition to church history sites, participants may take a few excursions to places like Windsor Castle and the British Museum. This is a wonderful time of fellowship as well as experiencing breath-taking sites and learning interesting history. The trip is very reasonably priced for this once-in-a-lifetime experience. Check out www.rts.edu/cht for a full itinerary, registration information and a pictorial tour from previous trips. Course credit for The English Reformation is available through the RTS-Virtual campus.

NEW RELEASE DATES FOR TWO OF DR. MILTON'S UPCOMING BOOKS
The ever-popular Hit by Friendly Fire: What to Do When Fellow Believers Hurt You booklet, now being released in expanded version as a full-fledged book (EP Books 96pp.) will be released Dec. 31, 2011. "I wish that this excellent, practical, healing book had been published years ago. I would have used many copies to lift up those severely wounded in the house of friends. Highly commended," said Erroll Hulse, editor of Reformation Today.

Also, Dr. Milton's booklet in the Basics of the Faith Series titled What is the Doctrine of Adoption has a new release date of Jan. 4, 2012.

WOMEN OF RTS FALL RETREAT Women of RTS is a women's group at RTS/Charlotte. In the fall, 33 women from Women of RTS enjoyed a time of refreshment and new relationships during the two-day retreat in the North Carolina mountains. The theme was "Walking Worthy." There were five student speakers and one student wife (Sage Andrews, Katherine Ashbaugh, Jenni Pyrch, Rachel Stevener and Teresa Simons.) The ladies enjoyed food, small groups, teaching, games, singing and resting.

GRADUATE FINDS ART IN DISCARDED BOOKS
In hopes of encouraging students as they work hard in the library preparing for finals and finishing up papers, the Orlando library staff decided to decorate for Christmas. Laura Armstrong (MABS '09), RTS/Orlando library services assistant, used old discarded books to create paper stars, wreaths, and stockings that fill the windows and surround the library desk, bringing a feeling of celebration to the library in this Christmas season. If you are local, stop by for a closer look. 

WE'RE MOVING - NEW VENUE FOR CHANCELLOR INAUGURATION
The inauguration of Dr. Michael A. Milton as fourth president and second chancellor has been moved from Atlanta to the Charlotte area. The service will be held at Christ Covenant Presbyterian Church in Matthews, NC, on September 14, 2012. 

FAITH FOR LIVING - NEW OFFER
Be sure to tune in to Faith For Living for the latest offer. Find the program in your area here.
 
CONSIDER A GIFT TO RTS
Please consider a gift to Reformed Theological Seminary this season. Click here to give online. Honor a special person in your life or remember a friend or family member in your life with a memorial gift. If you would rather speak to someone, please click here to call the campus of your choice or call the Foundation at 1-866-926-4787.

Jackson campus - contact Bobby Penny
Charlotte campus - contact Charlie Dunn
Houston campus - contact Tim McKeown
Orlando campus - contact Don Sweeting (Lorin Diehl will start in January)
Memphis campus - contact Brian Lewis
Washington campus - contact Dennis Fusaro
Atlanta campus - contact Tom Campbell
Virtual campus - contact Andy Peterson  

CAMPUS EVENTS
Sign up for a class near you. Why delay? Registration for the winter term and spring term is in progress. 

RTS/Charlotte
Need a gift? Stop in to the RTS/Charlotte bookstore for some great sales. RTS/Charlotte is offering a “Buy 3 get the 4th free” promotion as well as special sales on TBA books through Dec. 22.

RTS/Jackson
RTS/Jackson will hold their annual Christmas Sale at the Bookstore through Dec. 22.
FREE Offers! (While supplies last!)
• Buy any two Christmas books and receive The Christmas Story from the Family Reading Bible FREE! A great devotional guide for families during the Christmas season.
• Buy any two books on pastoral ministry and get The Pastor-Evangelist by Roger S. Greenway FREE! A great gift idea.
• Buy any two books on Old Testament studies (commentaries or general) and receive Godly Jealousy: A Theology of Intolerant Love by Erik Thoennes FREE! This is a scholarly study of God’s jealous love for his people.

Reformation Trust Christmas Package (Retail $55.00, Sale $30.00)
Purchase the following three Reformation Trust titles and receive over 40% off the retail price!

• Holy, Holy, Holy: Proclaiming the Perfections of God by various authors
• John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine and Doxology by various authors
• By Grace Alone: How the Grace of God Amazes Me by Sinclair Ferguson

Mike Milton Christmas Package (Retail $40.97, Sale $23.97)
Purchase the following three books by Mike Milton and receive over 40% off the retail price!
• Small Things, Big Things: Inspiring Stories of Everyday Grace
• What God Starts, God Completes: Gospel Hope for Hurting People
• Songs in the Night: How God Transforms Our Pain to Praise

Devotional Christmas Package (40% off Retail Price)
Buy any three devotional books or books on prayer and receive 40% off the retail price! These would make great gifts for friends and family.

RTS/Orlando
Dec. 5 - Dec. 22: The RTS Orlando Campus Bookstore Annual Christmas Sale
40% OFF nearly everything.*
50% OFF all RTS/Orlando Polo shirts, tees, & hats.
75% OFF clearance section (formerly 50%) plus a few unexpected surprises. Now is your chance to save.
*Sale does not include textbooks or new titles, which already beat Amazon pricing as part of the Student Loyalty Program – details & signup in store.)
Please note: Quantities are limited.  No holding, hiding or hoarding – all sales final with no exchanges! Sale includes in-stock items only – sorry, no special orders.

RTS/Virtual
Upcoming dates for the Orientation Seminars are January 12-14 (Houston), February 27-29 (Charlotte), and April 23-25 (Charlotte).

THIRD PARTY COMMENTS FOR RTS’ ACCREDITATION
Reformed Theological Seminary is in the process of the decennial reaffirmation of accreditation with its two accrediting agencies. RTS invites third-party comments in writing concerning RTS’ qualifications for reaffirmation. These comments will be made available to the accreditors and a visiting committee that includes external peer evaluators. RTS has two accreditors: The Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is the regional accreditor for RTS. The Commission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) is a national accreditation agency for theological schools in the United States and Canada.

Please submit any comments in writing to:
Reformed Theological Seminary
Attn: Dr. Robert J. Cara, Chief Academic Officer
2101 Carmel Road
Charlotte, NC 28226

ALUMNI SNIPPETS
Do you have an alumni snippet to share? Have you published a new book? Send it to the editor, here.

Please pray for Christy (Vidrine) Bauman (MAC '07) and her husband Andrew, in the loss of their infant son last week.

Joseph "Josh" Carmichael (M.Div.M '01) was installed on Nov. 20 as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Greensboro, AL (founded in 1823). For the past five years Josh served as assistant pastor of Redeemer Church in Louisville, Ky. He is a Ph.D. candidate in church history at Southern Seminary in Louisville, Ky. His thesis is titled "The Hymnody of Anne Steele: A Study of Its Reception History in John Rippon's Selection of Hymns." He and his wife Betsy (pictured right) have five sons: Fulton (11), Morris (9), Milledge (7), Henry (5), and Thomas (1).

Steve Froehlich (M.Div. '91) is the pastor and elder of New Life Presbyterian Church in Ithaca, NY. The Women’s Community Building has recently been sold and will be razed to make way for an apartment building, but the Lord has provided new rental space at Cinemopolis, a lovely 5-screen art theater 2 blocks from the WCB (for the short term). His son Christopher recently had a daughter Nadia and she will be undergoing a fairly routine surgery soon. Please keep her in prayer. Steve is currently in the D.Min. program at Gordon Conwell Seminary. He is interested in the intersection of Christian community and Christian calling – how our shared life as brothers and sisters in Christ shapes the way we understand and fulfill the mission of God. Steve previously served as the executive vice president of RTS/Jackson from 1991-1998.

Kenneth R. "Robbie" Hembree, current student working on a master of arts in religion at RTS/Atlanta, is the pastor and teaching elder at Grace Canton in Canton, Ga. Read more about his church in the Atlanta Journal Constitution here. 

Jaime Jimenez (M.Div.M '07) in Monterrey, Mexico, is a minister in the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico and a church planter. He was part of Redeemer City to City's International Intensive in 2010. He was ordained as a T.E. in May 2010 by the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico. He served for two years with MTW’s office in Monterrey leading one of their ministries and teaching in the Theological Institute of Ministry. His wife Natalia studied architecture at the state university. She came to know Christ at Encuentro con Dios, a church plant in Monterrey.

Jason Tippetts (M.Div. '11) accepted a call to pastor a church plant out of Village Seven Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs. He and his wife Kara are moving at the end of the year and he will start his new job on Jan. 15. 

SWEETING AND SWEETING WRITE BOOK TOGETHER
Dr. George Sweeting, chancellor emeritus of Moody Bible Institute, and son Dr. Don Sweeting, president and James Woodrow Hassell professor of church history at Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS) in Orlando, have written How to Finish the Christian Life: Following Jesus in the Second Half (Moody Press), which was released in February. It should be of great interest to Christians and those age 50 and up who desire to finish their life on earth well. For the next 20 years some 10,000 baby boomers a day will turn 65. They are wrestling with aging and with leaving their mark on this world as they age.

The authors bring a breadth of experience to the subject matter. One is in his ninth decade of life at 87; the other in his sixth (50-something). Both have been pastors of small and large congregations. Read more here. Listen to Steve Brown interview Sweeting about his new book on the Steve Brown Etc. radio show here. 

KNEO RADIO INTERVIEWS DR. MILTON
Chancellor-elect Michael Milton was interviewed by KNEO radio. The interview will air on March 5 and will be posted on the website at 9:00 a.m. EST. It will also be a downloadable MP3. Live streaming will begin at 2:00p.m. EST. and 1:00 p.m. CST.

RTS LEADERS WILL KEYNOTE NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PREACHING
Two well-known RTS leaders will fill key speaking roles at the 21st annual National Conference on Preaching, May 14-16 at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, Ga. The conference is sponsored by Preaching magazine and Anderson University’s College of Christian Studies. The conference theme is “Preaching on Mission.”

Among the speakers at NCP 2012 will be Dr. Michael Milton, chancellor and CEO-elect of Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS), and R. Leslie Holmes, visiting professor of practical theology at RTS in Atlanta, Ga., and many, many others. 

In addition to theme-related talks and sermons, more than a dozen workshops will also be offered on a variety of preaching-related topics. A simultaneous series of workshops for ministry wives will be available. Registration is $195 for pastors and leaders of PCA churches, and $100 for spouses and additional participants from the same church. Full time seminary and college students may register for $75. There are also special discounts for church planters. Call 864.328.1809 for more information. 

THE PASSING OF A BELOVED PROFESSOR (1936-2012)
With sadness in our hearts, but with great praise and thanks to God for his life and ministry in our lives, Dr. J. Knox Chamblin, 76, passed away on Tuesday, February 7, 2012, from leukemia and entered into the presence of our Lord. Chamblin leaves behind his wife Ginger, daughters Beverly and Claire and extended family. Chamblin taught at Reformed Theological Seminary from 1980 to 2001. He was professor of New Testament emeritus at RTS/Jackson. He has done extensive study of and teaching about C. S. Lewis, the man and his works.

He wrote in a journal in CaringBridge in December, "When the time of death does come, I shall find great consolation in Psalm 116:15 and in such texts as Romans 8:38-39, 'For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.'”

The funeral service for Knox Chamblin was held on Saturday, February 11 at Trinity Presbyterian Church (5301 Old Canton Road, Jackson, MS., 39211) with a graveside service following at Lakewood Memorial Park. Read more here.

RTS LOOKING FOR FAITH FOR LIVING SPONSOR FOR TV CHANNEL IN UTAH
We are looking for a sponsor to place Faith For Living TV on Salt Lake TV Channel, KTMW, TV20. They are a full power broadcast station also carried on satellite and cable, covering all of Utah and some surrounding cities in WY, ID, and NV. The program would air on Sundays and Thursdays. The cost is only $75 a week, for a total annual cost of $3300. You can fund this missionary endeavor for a whole year with a gift of only $3300. Make your donation online at rts.edu/give, and be sure to note in the comment box your gift is for “FFL Utah”. Other stations and cities are available. Contact us about a city you may wish to sponsor.

REDDIT ANDREWS APPOINTED ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF PRACTICAL THEOLOGY AT RTS/JACKSON
The Rev. Reddit Andrews, senior pastor of Soaring Oaks Presbyterian Church in Elk Grove, Calif., has been appointed to the faculty of Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Miss., as assistant professor of practical theology by the RTS Board of Trustees.
 
Prior to serving at Soaring Oaks, Rev. Andrews served as assistant pastor at First Baptist Piney Grove Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and then as assistant pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Augusta, Ga. He has a B.A. in Biblical Studies from Trinity International University in South Florida, and a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Ill. As a student, Reddit founded Coram Deo, a student fellowship that ministers to halfway houses, rescue missions and prisons throughout South Florida. Read more here.

RTS/CHARLOTTE'S GOT TALENT!
So, if you missed the annual talent show at RTS/Charlotte, you really missed something. From violin progenies, to golden female voices, to Four chords, and Tyler Griffin’s black eye, to poems and prayers and promises, to bluegrass and an emcee who just wouldn’t quit entertaining and giving. Yes it was all in there. And more. So much more. RTS Charlotte has talent and nonsense. Thanks to all who helped in putting on this spectacular evening – from the lights to the candles, from the lasagna to the goat cheese. Our hearts and stomachs were warmed and filled. If you’d like a taste of the evening, click here.

RTS/JACKSON THANK-A-THON 
Students benefiting from student scholarships from RTS/Jackson participated in a thank-a-thon Feb. 13-15, calling and  thanking donors for gifts given to the student scholarship fund.

PREVIEW DAY AT RTS/ORLANDO
Visit beautiful Orlando on March 10 for Preview Day. Contact Tom Nelson or Tim Trouten.

CLASSES OFFERED AT RTS/ATLANTA DURING SPRING BREAK
"The Christian Life" taught by RTS professor, radio show host, and author Dr. Steve Brown is an annual favorite of students. It has been described as "refreshing to the soul" and "practical for our ministry and our walk with Jesus." Whether as a degree student or a student exploring seminary, or an auditor seeking to grow, this class benefits every student who takes it.

"History and Theology of the Puritans" taught by Dr. Jim Renihan brings to light that era of saints about whom many have assumptions, but few really know. Roots. Genealogy. Beginnings. As Americans, we are fascinated with our past. Memories of the Old Country fill our minds, and the further removed each generation becomes, the greater is the desire to know about our past. Who were our ancestors? What were their lives like? It's especially fulfilling to visit the places our families came from--the old village, the church building, the cemetery with familiar surnames. These things provide us with important clues to our identities. In the same way, as American Christians it is good for us to know about our roots. For many of us, our heritage comes through England. Henry VIII, Bloody Mary, William Perkins, John Owen, Oliver Cromwell, William Laud--these and many others are the names that give meaning to our identity, even across centuries and a wide ocean. Our study of Puritanism will investigate these beginnings, and will help to explain a lot about who and what we are. Come join us for fascinating and inspiring studies in our heritage.

GOSPEL COALITION'S 2012 NATIONAL WOMEN'S CONFERENCE
RTS Women in Ministry in Orlando will be assisting with the Gospel Coalition's 2012 National Women's Conference and will also be hosting an alumni lunch at noon (more details to follow). The lunch is open to RTS alumni, spouses of alumni, current students and prospective students. The conference will be held at the Orlando Hilton June 22-24. The theme is "Here is Our God." The speakers include Tim and Kathy Keller, Don Carson, Mary Mohler, John and Noel Piper, Kathleen Nielson, Jani Ortlund and Paige Benton Brown and many more.

SPECIAL OFFER ON DR. JOHN FESKO'S NEW BOOK
Dr. John Fesko, associate professor at Westminster Seminary in California, has been instrumental in the training of countless RTS/ Atlanta students as an adjunct professor of Systematic Theology. In recent years, he has been contributing to the church through the publishing of his well-considered research. In late February, his addition to the Lectio Continua commentary series on the Book of Galatians will hit retail shelves. It should also be noted that the series editor is RTS/Atlanta adjunct professor Dr. Jon Payne.

The PCA Bookstore, in its continuing service to the students of RTS, is offering it at a special price of $19.95 (retail $29.95). If you are interested in adding this important aid to preaching and teaching to your shelves, then please contact RTS/Atlanta student Mr. Joseph Hatcher at the bookstore. His phone number is 678-825-1108.

PRESIDENT'S COMMUNITY FORUMS IN MARCH AT RTS/ORLANDO
Dr. Don Sweeting will talk with Dr. Steve Brown to discuss his new book titled Three Free Sins and thoughts on radical grace on March 14 at noon in the fellowship hall. Then, on March 15, singer, songriter, theologian, Michael Card from Nashville, Tenn., will discuss "Christ and Creativity" with Dr. Sweeting at noon. Lunch is provided for a minimal cost. Contact Heather DeFrancisco to reserve lunch. The event is free and the public is welcome.

LIGON DUNCAN ELECTED TO REGULAR FACULTY OF RTS/JACKSON WHILE CONTINUING THE PASTORATE
While continuing his role as senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Miss., Dr. J. Ligon Duncan, III, has been elected as a regular member of the faculty at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson beginning January 1, 2012. Previously an adjunct member of the faculty, this appointment as the John E. Richards professor of systematic and historical theology means Duncan will become a voting member of the faculty and will teach additional classes, cutting back on his national speaking engagements to do so. Read more here.

NEW ADDITION TO RTS/ATLANTA STAFF
Please join us in warmly welcoming Ms. Becca Gartrell to the staff of RTS/Atlanta as executive assistant to the president and as business manager. In this role, Becca will oversee many of the administrative and financial aspects of the Atlanta campus of RTS. Prior to this, Becca has been on staff with Campus Crusade (cru) for the last seven years at Georgia Tech and Agnes Scott. She is currently pursuing her Master of Arts (Biblical Studies) at RTS/Atlanta. Welcome Becca!

TICKETS FOR AL MOHLER LECTURES AT RTS/CHARLOTTE FEB 28
There are just a few more tickets left if you would like to attend the spring lectures at RTS/Charlotte. Click here to purchase tickets and for more information. 

PRAYER SUPPORT NEEDED FOR TELEPHONE CAMPAIGN
RTS students are calling to raise funds for student scholarships. Please keep them in prayer and pray for hearts to be opened to giving to this scholarship fund.

NEW ADDITION TO RTS/DC STAFF
Jonathan Song (Shown with his nephew Nathan) is a second year M.Div student at RTS-Washington DC and is excited to be in his new position as the part-time admissions officer, assisting the director of admissions, Geoff Sackett.  A former band teacher for the Howard County Public School System, Song joined RTS as a student in 2010 after receiving a calling for pastoral ministry.  Jonathan is also the youth pastor of the Church of Philippi, located in Hanover, Md., and loves working with the middle and high school students in bringing them the truth of the gospel through God's word. Welcome Jonathan!

THE 2012 KISTEMAKER ACADEMIC LECTURE SERIES
The lecture series at RTS/Orlando titled "The Origins of the New Testament Canon: Issues, Problems and Possibilities" will be held March 20 – 21 in the Pamplin Chapel. Dr. Michael J. Kruger, Ph.D., professor of New Testament at RTS/Charlotte, is the speaker. The lectures are free and open to the general public.

THIRD PARTY COMMENTS FOR RTS’ ACCREDITATION
Reformed Theological Seminary is in the process of the decennial reaffirmation of accreditation with its two accrediting agencies.  RTS invites third-party comments in writing concerning RTS’ qualifications for reaffirmation.  These comments will be made available to the accreditors and a visiting committee that includes external peer evaluators. RTS has two accreditors: The Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is the regional accreditor for RTS. The Commission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) is a national accreditation agency for theological schools in the United States and Canada.

Please submit any comments in writing to:
Reformed Theological Seminary
Attn: Dr. Robert J. Cara, Chief Academic Officer
2101 Carmel Road
Charlotte, NC  28226

ALUMNI SNIPPETS
Gary DeMar (M.Div. '79) from Marietta, Ga., serves as president of American Vision, a Christian Worldview and publishing ministry. Gary had his 27th book 10 Prophecy Myths Exposed and Answered published and bestselling God and Government: A Biblical, Historical, and Constitutional Study reissued in hardback.

Esaïe Etienne (M.Div. '04) and his wife Natacha are serving in Haiti with Mission to the World, and they praise God for the medical clinic that they had in January. A team led by Dr. Tom Edwards from Birmingham, Ala., has seen nearly 1000 patients, helping with many illnesses and symptoms, and also sharing their faith to each patient. Nine people have professed Christ. Their goal is to have about four clinics a year. If you are a doctor or a nurse and you would like to be part of a medical team, you can contact Cheryl Erb at cheryl.erb@mtw.org.

The construction of the school in Dociné is progressing and it should be commplete very soon. It is a two-story building with 18 rooms of which 12 are classrooms, one kitchen, one cafe for the kids to eat, one office, one library/computer classroom, and two small storage rooms. There is enough yard for the kids to play soccer, volleyball and basketball. They have 225 students in the school, but not all of them are sponsored. Their goal is 100% sponsorship.

Abraham George (MAC '09) is excited to report that he and his family saw 43 come to Christ through an evangelistic program attended by 210 students. Romila played a big role in getting the student volunteers with Bangalore Students Leadership Connection ready for the program and put in two months of practices for choreography, singing, drama and coordinating with other staff. They also took the same program to two colleges where an additional 300 students were witnessed to. He also did some ministry work in Asia in January and is working on an initiative to fast track the developmental process of emerging leaders from Asia so they can be ready to lead at any level required.

Matt Grimsley (M.Div. '05) is serving as an associate pastor and worship pastor at Redeemer Church of Knoxville and has been there for seven years. The church has produced an album titled "Rise O Buried Lord". It is a concept album of new and reimagined hymns by Redeemer Church of Knoxville, that tells the story of the last week of Jesus’ earthly life. They are running a promotion during the Lent season until Easter Sunday (Feb 22-Apr 8). Click here for more info. Matt and his wife April have two young children, Jackson and Olivia.
 
Robert H. Hammond (MACE '99) is now teaching fifth grade at Carolina Christian School in Locust, N.C.--the same church that he attended and worked for before he moved to Mississippi in 1995.  His wife Wendy is teaching art one day a week and substitutes there. 
 
Martin "Paul" May  (M.Div. '07, MAC '07) and his wife Meaghan have completely moved and are almost entirely settled in Sioux Falls, SD.  Austen is attending a preschool 2 afternoons a week, and they've met more than just a few people with whom they share mutual friends. Since moving there, they have been meeting with a number people in the community who have been very cooperative, and even eager, to share what they feel the community needs.  May's main goal in planting a church is the salvation of the lost there and the overall benefit of the community. They look forward to their launch in the future. They currently have a Tuesday evening women’s Bible study, and a Tuesday morning men’s prayer group, and expect to launch their life groups before spring.  

Gary L. White (M.Div. '03) is pastoring at Bethany Baptist Church in Pittsburgh, Penn.

Anne Toles (MAMFT '04) is a counselor with Crossroads Christian Marriage and Family Counseling in Mississippi. Read more here.

RTS ALUMNI & FRIENDS BREAKFASTS - NO RSVP REQUIRED
This year, we did not send “snail mail”, and will not require RSVP’s, but please plan to attend one of our RTS Alumni & Friends Breakfasts. As always, we have plenty of room for you and for your guests. Click here for times and locations.

MILTON IS KEYNOTE SPEAKER FOR NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PREACHING
This year, Johnson Ferry Baptist Church will host the 2012 National Conference on Preaching. Dr. Michael Milton is the keynote speaker and the theme is Preaching on Mission. The conference is sponsored by Preaching magazine and the college of Christian Studies at Anderson University.   

SCOTT SWAIN NAMED ACADEMIC DEAN AT RTS/ORLANDO
Dr. Scott Swain, currently associate professor of systematic theology at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, has been approved and appointed the academic dean starting June 1, 2012, while continuing to teach. This decision will allow Dr. Mark Futato, a beloved Old Testament and Hebrew professor who has served as academic dean for seven years, to return to teaching more classes. In 2006, Swain joined the faculty of RTS in Orlando. Prior to that, he taught theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Ill., and served on the faculty of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.

“I am so grateful for the steady leadership that Mark Futato has given to our faculty over the past eight years,” said RTS Orlando President Don Sweeting. “Mark is highly esteemed by all, and students are clamoring to have him back in the classroom full-time.” Read more here. 

PH.D. STUDENT SHARES DR. FUTATO'S BOOK WITH PRISONERS
Rex Shaver, Ph.D. student at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary and instructor at North Bay School of Theology at San Quentin State Prison, wrote this letter to his professor at Bethel University. (used with permission)

Dear Dr. Howard,
This note is to praise Dr. Futato's "Interpreting the Psalms: An Exegetical Handbook." After reading the book in your Psalms seminar, I fell in love with it. While giving technical information and method, the book is so readable. For this reason, when I taught Intermediate Old Testament last fall at San Quentin prison (Golden Gate offers diplomas in Biblical Studies and Theology at the prison), I included a unit on the Psalms and chose "Interpreting the Psalms" as my textbook.

San Quentin students run the gambit from high school dropouts to a few with some postgraduate work, so choosing textbooks can be tricky. My students loved "Interpreting the Psalms." Most of them entered that section with a marginal view of the Psalms, as nice but limited in usefulness, and emerged with great excitement and greater understanding of the Psalter. Through the book they were given analytical tools to see so much more in the poems than they ever suspected was there. I had several students who read the entire book even though I only assigned about half the pages for mandatory reading.

Please pass this along to Dr. Futato. He has done his work well, and the seeds of his efforts are bearing fruit in unexpected places.

ARMY PROMOTES MILTON
Dr. Michael Milton, chancellor-elect of RTS, was recently promoted to the rank of Lt. Colonel Chaplain in the U.S. Army Reserve, serving as an instructor and writer at the U.S. Army Chaplain Center and School in Ft. Jackson, SC.

LET'S OFFER WORDS OF CONGRATULATIONS AS DR. CARR TURNS 90!
Dr. Wallace Carr will celebrate his 90th birthday on October 9, 2012. Carr, the former professor of practical theology and founder of the RTS Marriage and Family Counseling program at RTS/Jackson, will celebrate his 90th birthday at his home in Covington, La.  His family is planning a special event and would like to invite members of the RTS community to offer him words of congratulations and fond recollections on this special occasion.  If you would like to send greetings to Dr. Carr, please email mail your comments to his son, Dr. Fred S. Carr (fredscarr@comcast.net ) or write c/o Church of the Atonement, 12816 Serpentine Way, Silver Spring, MD 20904.

PROFESSOR BOOKS AND INTERVIEWS
Dr. Guy Waters, associate professor of New Testament, is interviewed on Reformed Forum about his book How Jesus Runs the Church. Click here to listen. 
 
Dr. John Currid’s commentary on the Book of Ruth will be published by Evangelical Press in May 2012. It is titled From Bitter to Sweet and is part of the Welwyn Commentary Series.

Dr. Chuck Hill's Who Chose the Gospels? Probing the Great ‘Gospel Conspiracy’ (Oxford University Press) will be available in paperback in May 2012.


DR. BOB ORNER NAMED DEAN OF STUDENTS AT RTS/ORLANDO
Dr. Robert H. (Bob) Orner, director of field education, associate director of the D.Min. program, and visiting lecturer in practical theology at RTS/Orlando, has been named the dean of students there, and will take on those responsibilities June 1, 2012, when the current dean of students, Scott Redd, becomes the president of RTS’s Washington, D.C., campus.

“Bob Orner brings a wealth of fresh pastoral experience to our team,” said RTS Orlando President Don Sweeting. “He knows firsthand almost every facet of pastoral ministry. He loves students and they love him. He has a strong interest in building community.  On top of all that, he has a heart for the global church.” Read more here.

MILTON INTERVIEW ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY NOW AVAILABLE AS A PODCAST
About 12 minutes into this podcast from the Steve Deace Show, Dr. Michael Milton is interviewed and talks about the crisis of religious liberty. Click here and scroll down to the first item below the picture to listen to the podcast. "An attack on religious freedom is an attack on all freedoms," said Milton.

NEW ONLINE DEVOTION AND NEW BOOK FROM WALT LARIMORE
Walt Larimore M.D., is one of America's best-known family physicians. Dr. Larimore practiced 4 years in the Smoky Mountains before moving to Central Florida to practice for 16 years. In 2001 the Larimores relocated to Colorado where Dr. Larimore is now an author, educator, and medical journalist. He serves on the adjunct family medicine faculty of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver and the In His Image Family Medicine Residency in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is a frequent guest about family health topics on a wide variety of television and radio programs and has appeared on The Today Show, CBS's Morning Show, several Fox News programs and CNN. 

Larimore is also a former member of the RTS President's Council and long-term friend of RTS. Something new he is doing now is publishing a free, on-line, twice-a-day topical devotion called "Morning Glory, Evening Grace." Each short devotion is composed of God's Word using Bible verses carefully organized together. An explanation of and defense of the method can be found here. View the devotional's home page, and sign up for email notifications here. Larimore says, "I'm hopeful that church leaders will recommend it to their congregations so that folks can all be reading and meditating upon the same scriptures each day."

He has also written a novel titled Hazel Creek. Click here to read more about the book.

DETAILS ANNOUNCED FOR THE NICOLE INSTITUTE OF BAPTIST STUDIES AT RTS/ORLANDO
Reformed Theological Seminary is pleased to announce the opening of The Nicole Institute of Baptist Studies on its Orlando campus for the 2012-13 academic year. The Nicole Institute was named in honor of Dr. Roger Nicole, renowned Reformed Baptist theologian who was a visiting faculty member on the Orlando campus from 1989-2000. He was part of a generation of scholars that led a renaissance of American evangelicalism in the mid-twentieth century. Dr. Nicole has long been regarded as one of the preeminent evangelical systematic theologians in North America. Click the link above to learn more.

RTS CHARLOTTE'S SPRING LECTURES WITH DR. AL MOHLER ARE AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE
Listen to the lectures given by Dr. Al Mohler at RTS/Charlotte recently. Click Part One for the first lecture and click Part Two for the second lecture. 

NEW HIRES AT RTS/ORLANDO 
Michael Callahan and John Marshall have been hired to provide information technology services for the RTS/Orlando Campus.

Michael Callahan currently serves as the director of information systems at the Burnett Honors College at the University of Central Florida and has been with UCF in various IT jobs for the past 10 years.  Michael holds a B.S.B.A. in Management Information Systems and a MBA from the University of Central Florida where he graduated Cum Laude from the Burnett Honors College and has since accumulated numerous professional certifications & licenses.  Michael will serve as the departmental manager to help our campus thrive in this critical area and will be assisted by John Marshall in carrying out the daily functions of the department.
 
Originally from Rhode Island, John Marshall, Jr., is the information technology administrator and has a B.S. in Criminal Justice  with a certificate in security systems from UCF. He also serves as general manager of Expert Car Care in Central Florida (10 years). He and his wife Rachel have an 11-month-old baby boy named Caleb. He has been to multiple countries in Europe and loves to travel, loves sports and weightlifting. Welcome, Michael and John!

PROFESSOR MICHAEL KRUGER LAUNCHES BLOG
Dr. Michael Kruger, professor of New Testament and academic dean at RTS/Charlotte, has launched a new blog titled Canon Fodder (having to do with the origins of the NT canon along with other issues). Click here to learn more. He's also on Twitter!

READ MICHAEL MILTON'S BLOG
Chancellor-elect Michael Milton blogs regularly. Here is the most recent blog titled, "I Will Not Let Go of Easter." Click here to read the blog.

THEOLOGY DAYS FOR RTS STUDENTS
Hear from three professors for the price of one during Theology Days Friday and Saturday, May 18-19, 2012, at RTS/Washington D.C., now located near Tyson's Corner. This class will help prepare students for ordination. You will take practice exams and discuss current issues like federal vision, women's ordination, and pheonomy. The class course number is 6PT612. For more information, email Jennifer McGahey at jmcgahey@rts.edu.

RTS GRADUATION SPEAKERS, TIMES AND LOCATIONS:

RTS/Jackson -  Graduation will be held May 19, 2012, at First Presbyterian Church of Jackson, Miss., at 10:00 a.m. The speaker is Chancellor Robert C. (Ric) Cannada, Jr.

RTS/Charlotte - Graduation will be held at Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, NC, on May 19 at 11:00 a.m. Dr. George Grant will be the speaker. George Grant is the president of the King's Meadow Study Center, the pastor of Parish Presbyterian Church, coordinator of the Gileskirk Curriculum Project, and instructor at Franklin Classical School.

RTS/Orlando - Graduation will be held at Saint Andrew’s Chapel in Sanford, Fla., on May 25 at 7:30 p.m. Dr. David Swanson, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Orlando, will be the speaker.
  
RTS/Atlanta -  Graduation will be held on the Atlanta campus on Saturday, May 26 at 10:00 a.m. The speaker will be the Rev. George W. "Chip" Miller, Jr.. A graduate of Reformed Theological Seminary, Miller is the senior pastor of the historic First Presbyterian Church of Macon, Ga.
 
RTS/Washington DC - Graduation will be held at McLean Presbyterian Church on May 25 at 7:30 p.m. The speaker will be Mr. John Scott Redd, the president-elect of RTS/Washington DC.

ALUMNI SNIPPETS
John W. Martin (M.Div. '11) currently serving as youth pastor at Crossroads Community Church in Hillsborough, NJ, is engaged to Margaret Ellen LoPresti. She is completing her final year in the PharmD program at the Medical College of Virginia. In December 2010, she was commissioned into the Air Force and will begin active duty as a pharmacist on July 1. A May 2012 wedding is planned at Windsor Castle in Smithfield.

Greg Joines (current RTS/Charlotte student) and his wife Dolly are headed into church planting in Corvallis, Oregon, and have put together a very brief video to introduce their mission. Click here to view the video. Read more on their Web site.

J. Phillip Luther, Jr. (M.Div. '07), church planter with Mission to the World, and his wife Kay finally moved into their apartment in Greece on March 1st after 15 months of transition. They are grateful to be somewhat settled and have a place they can call home. On March 10th two teams of students with Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) at UT Chattanooga and UGA arrived for their spring break to serve in the on-going ministries of the Greek Evangelical Church.  They ask for prayer for opportunities to develop friendships, grace as they tackle the challenge of learning a new language, and guidance as they finalize details of a summer internship designed for students who are considering missions.

David Foster (D.Min. '88), 58 years old, passed into glory on April 3, 2012. He was an author, speaker and pastor of The Gathering Church in Franklin, Tenn. He died in his sleep. A memorial service was held on April 3 at Brentwood Baptist Church. Here is a video of the service. In lieu of flowers, the David Foster Memorial Fund has been established at The Gathering-Nashville, P.O. Box 681867, Franklin, TN 37068-1867. Read more here from Tennessean.com. 

Jim Black (M.Div. '02) serves as the ministry director at Columbia University for the Christian Union. Read more about the Christian Union here. Upon finishing his studies at RTS, Jim served as the senior pastor at Alliance Bible Church in Baytown, Texas, for nine years. Two long-term dreams coalesced in his role with Christian Union as Jim had long felt called both to minister to college students and to serve in the City of New York. He, his wife Laurie, and their three children are honored to engage in this exciting endeavor.

Paul Bankson (M.Div. '91) is the pastor of Houston Lake Presbyterian Church. He said Houston Lake Presbyterian has a mix of young and older families, many of whom have ties to Robins Air Force Base. He also said the majority of elders in the church are active or retired military and have brought in the Air Force idea of getting “re-blued” each year, or looking at and reaffirming who you are, what your mission is and whether you’re accomplishing it. Read more about the church here in an article recently written at macon.com

Martin "Paul" May (M.Div. '07, MAC '07) and his wife Meaghan recently moved from South Florida to South Dakota with their children Austen and Claire to plant a church "The Grace Project." He challenged his core group in March to begin praying for the nonbelievers they see on a regular basis, to make those relationships more intentional, and to pray that before Easter Sunday that each would have the opportunity to present the gospel to at least one person they know. He says it was a big challenge, difficult, risky and uncomfortable, but he says "Advancing God's kingdom is exactly what our souls deep down long for and he quotes Jesus' words, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me..." John 4:34. 

D. Gordon Gartrell (M.Div. '80) and his wife Dorothy are Presbyterian Church (USA) missionaries working in partnership with the United Presbyterian Church of Brazil in the city of Belem in the state of Para at the mouth of the Amazon River.  He served an internship on the TransAmazon Highway and lived with Dr. and Mrs. Paul Long Sr. He grew up with their children in Brazil. They are involved in church planting and evangelism and arrived in February. They are working with a small congregation with 6 adults and 15 children. The mother church is across town, so they are helping in both places.  There is a lot of drug abuse in their surrounding community.  They have already served in Brazil as missionaires with a different Presbyterian Church for 18 years.  God has opened doors for them to be there at this time.  He asks for prayer for a fruitful ministry for the Kingdom of God.

Chad Grindstaff (M.Div. '05) is in Ohio with his wife Erin and children, Reed, Meredith and Anna, planning to plant a church in Cincinnati. They have recently moved and started meeting as a core group in January.  This group is comprised of believers who want to see a new church started in the Fairfield/Fairfield Township area of town.  At this point they have seven other couples/family units that are a part of our group.  Along with the adults, they now have 18 children. They are currently talking through possible church names.  Follow their blog here.

Lauren S (MATS '10) is serving in Africa and asks for prayers for rain! Actually, to be more specific she is praying Psalm 67 over all of North Africa. She asks for prayer for wisdom in how to be a blessing to her neighbors in a way that honors their dignity and builds up her relationships with them in love and mutual respect.

Donald L. Friederichsen (M.Div. '11) was ordained and installed as the fifth pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church of Millburn and Short Hills in New Jersey. The ordination and installation service took place at the church on Sunday, March 25, at 5:00 pm. Pastor Friederichsen will serve as the new pastor of the church following the retirement of the current pastor, Dr. David Miner of West Orange, New Jersey, who has faithfully served the church as Pastor for the past 20 years. Read the article on NJ.com here.

Steven W. Gaines (M.Div. '00) is serving as an elder at Providence Church in Duluth, Ga.

Bob Roane (D.Min. ‘00) taught at the East African Pastors Conference in January for pastors in Kenya and Tanzania under the auspices of Global Field Evangelism (GFE). GFE has planted 70 churches in this region. The conference theme was “God-Centered Life” under the four headings: God, Guilt, Grace, and Gratitude.  Most of the pastors have no formal training, so the teaching provided an overview of Christian systematic theology, mixed with help in practical ministry. Bob also serves as  teacher-pastoral counselor-evangelist with Words of Hope Bible Ministries in Houston, Texas, and teaches at Belhaven University in Houston.

Mark Spellman (M.Div.C '92) is the pastor of Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church of Pueblo West in Colorado. In April, the church will achieve full-church status in the Presbyterian Church of America's Rocky Mountain Presbytery. The ceremony is set for 5:00 p.m. April 29 at the church in Building 2 of Pueblo West Plaza at 44 E. Spaulding Ave. The ceremony will include the ordination of Bobby Maes and James Solis as ruling elders, as well as formally recognizing the change in Spellman's status. The public is invited. Read more from the Chieftan.com here.

Chad Bennett (MABS ‘10) was installed as the senior pastor of Grace Fellowship Church of Hazleton, Pa., upon the retirement of Dr. Tedd Tripp on March 25, 2012. For a year and a half, Chad has served as the associate pastor while being mentored by Dr. Tripp and the other elders. Dr. Tripp will continue to serve as an elder of Grace Fellowship Church after his retirement and will maintain his national and international speaking under the auspices of Shepherding the Heart Ministries. Chad and his wife Amanda also welcomed the birth of their second child, Grace Eden, on March 3, 2012. Their son, Hayden Josiah, will be three in May.

Jinsung Kim (PhD/ICS '08) is in Korea working on planting a church named "Truth and Disciples Church." Follow his blog here.

Ryan McVicar (M.Div. '07) is serving as the associate pastor at Knox Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Harrison Township, Mich., and wanted to announce a church planting project in Detroit. He says the church where he serves is the only PCA church in all of Metro-Detroit. "Although Knox recently joined the PCA, the need for biblically faithful and mission-minded churches in Detroit is great.  For this reason, MNA has long desired to see a church planted which will serve as a base from which to reach Detroit."  They are trusting God to raise up churches outside of Detroit who will partner with them in this project. Read more about the church plant here. 
 

The memorial service is open to the public and seating is limited. There will be reserved seating for individuals who RSVP to a formal invitation. Others will be seated on a first-come, first-served basis. The service will also be webcast live on the Cathedral’s Web site at nationalcathedral.org. 

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY
To all our mothers out there, we honor you on this day May 13, 1012, and every day. Thank you for all that you do!

RTS ALUMNI & FRIENDS BREAKFASTS - NO RSVP REQUIRED
Please plan to attend one of our RTS Alumni & Friends Breakfasts. As always, we have plenty of room for you and for your guests. Click here for times and locations. No RSVP is required.

SUMMER REGISTRATION IS NOW IN PROGRESS AT RTS
Sign up for one of our accelerated summer classes. Click here for a list of classes being offered and select your preferred campus.

STUDENT RATE OFFERED FOR NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PREACHING
The National Conference on Preaching will be held May 14-16 in Atlanta. They are offering a $75 student rate.

STUDENT CABINET HOLDS RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY FOR PLAYGROUND
The RTS/Orlando Class of 2012 has offered a gift of a covering to cover the new playground installed at RTS/Orlando. A ceremony was held on May 9th during the rain, to christen the playground. The staff of RTS/Orlando previously prayed over the new equipment and hope it will bless the campus. Dr. Don Sweeting, president of RTS/Orlando is interested in a family friendly campus. Gary Miller, maintenance supervisor worked many hours putting it together along with RTS M.Div. student Tim Bentson. 


CHANCELLOR RIC CANNADA ELECTED VICE CHAIRMAN OF WRF BOARD
At the annual board meeting of the World Reformed Fellowship (WRF) on April 24-26, 2012, Dr. Ric Cannada, chancellor of RTS (pictured center back) was elected vice chairman of the board of WRF.  WRF was established in 2000 initially by the combination of two regional Reformed bodies, one for Asia and one for Central and South America, while being hosted at RTS Orlando.  WRF now includes individuals, congregations, and organizations that are Reformed from around the world.

CHARLOTTE'S INTERIM REGISTRAR
The RTS/Charlotte registrar, Angela Queen, has been out on maternity leave and during that time, the assistant registrar, Kim Macurda, will be covering registrar responsibilities.  She will be on campus three days a week. Kim comes to RTS with extensive experience in the corporate world, serving as a project manager with Bank of America for many years. She also has worked for the American Red Cross. She has an undergraduate degree from UNC-Chapel Hill and a Masters degree from Georgia State University. Kim is a member at Uptown Church where her husband Chuck is a ruling elder. They have three children. Thank you for helping to fill the empty shoes on campus Kim!

FACULTY PROMOTIONS
on April 5, the RTS Executive Committee approved Dr. James N Anderson’s promotion to associate professor of theology and philosophy, effective June 1. Also, Dr. Guy Waters was promoted to full professor of New Testament at RTS/Jackson, effective June 1. Congratulations!

REGISTER NOW FOR THEOLOGY DAYS AT RTS/DC
Hear from three professors for the price of one during Theology Days Friday and Saturday, May 18-19, 2012, at RTS/Washington D.C., now located near Tyson's Corner. This class will help prepare students for ordination. You will take practice exams and discuss current issues like federal vision, women's ordination, and theonomy. The class course number is 6PT612. For more information, email Jennifer McGahey at jmcgahey@rts.edu.

NEW ADMISSIONS DIRECTOR AT RTS/ORLANDO 
Dr. Kevin R. Collins has been appointed as the new director of admissions for the RTS Orlando Campus effective June 1, 2012.  Tom Nelson, the current admissions director is stepping down upon his graduation in June and is following his call to preach.

Dr. Kevin Collins, from Oak Ridge, Tenn., earned a B.S. in Marketing from the University of Tennessee.  He worked 11 years in sales for a division of Sara Lee Corporation, called Bryan Foods, Inc., in their food service division. God then called Kevin to the pastorate and at Knox Theological Seminary in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., he graduated cum laude with a Master of Divinity degree.  Kevin accepted a call as assistant pastor/church planting apprentice at Kirk o’ the Isles in Savannah, Ga., in order to serve under the ministry of Dr. Michael A. Milton and was ordained into the ministry of Word and Sacrament of the Presbyterian Church in America in October 2000. In 2003, Kevin accepted a call to become the senior pastor of West End Presbyterian Church in Hopewell, Va., where he has faithfully labored until now.  In 2009, Kevin earned a Doctor of Ministry degree at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Mo, and his dissertation thesis was, "The Ruling Elder: Expectations, Equipping, Examining, and Evaluating."  Welcome Kevin!

CHAPLAIN CAREER COURSE
Dr. Michael Milton, chancellor-elect of RTS (pictured fifth from the right with Michael Cannon, director of RTS's Chaplain Ministry Institute to his right), taught a Chaplain Captain Career Course at Fort Jackson, SC., in April 16-27, 2012. Milton says, "What a great class of chaplains headed from here to greater responsibility in ministry. What an honor to be a part of this ministry." Dr. Michael Milton is a Lt. Colonel Chaplain in the U.S. Army Reserve, and serving as an instructor and writer at the U.S. Army Chaplain Center and School in Ft. Jackson, SC.

PROFESSOR BOOK IS CHRISTIAN BOOK AWARD FINALIST
Congratulations to Dr. Derek Thomas, minister of preaching and teaching at First Presbyterian church in Columbia, SC and distinguished visiting professor of systematic and historical theology at Reformed Theological Seminary. His book, Acts Commentary (part of the Reformed Expository Commentary series) was selected as a finalist in the category of Bible Reference for the 2012 Christian Book Awards.

PROFESSOR JOHN SCOTT REDD, JR. BECOMES DR. REDD
Assistant Professor of Old Testament and Dean of Students John Scott Redd, Jr., successfully defended his thesis “Constituent Postponement in Biblical Hebrew Verse” this past Friday to earn his doctorate of philosophy degree (Ph.D.) in the Semitic and Egyptian Languages and Literatures program at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Read more here.

CHARLOTTE CLASS OF 2012 
The graduates of RTS/Charlotte expressed overwhelming love and appreciation for their professors at the recent senior banquet. Dr. Donald Fortson, professor of church history and practical theology, and director of the Doctor of Ministry program ended the evening by letting the graduates know how much they are loved and appreciated too.

NEW BOOK BY DR. WALT LARIMORE
We recently told you about Walt Larimore's new online devotion and now he has written a new book. It is titled The Ultimate Guys' Body Book: Not-So-Stupid Questions About Your Body. Larmore says, "It's a book for parents (particularly dads) to read with their boys that are heading into or through puberty." The book has been endorsed by the Christian Medical Association as "medically reliable and biblically sound." Purchase the book here and a small portion of the cost will go towards Reformed Theological Seminary.

A former member of the RTS President's Council, and long-term friend of RTS, Walt Larimore M.D., is one of America's best-known family physicians. Dr. Larimore practiced 4 years in the Smoky Mountains before moving to Central Florida to practice for 16 years. In 2001 the Larimores relocated to Colorado where Dr. Larimore is now an author, educator, and medical journalist.

IS SEMINARY RIGHT FOR YOU? HAVE BREAKFAST WITH THE CHANCELLOR-ELECT
Join in a discussion about seminary over breakfast with Dr. Michael Milton at RTS/Washington D.C., on May 26 at 10:00 a.m. RSVP is encouraged. Call 703-448-3393 or email jmcgahey@rts.edu by May 25th, so she can reserve a breakfast for you. Space is limited.

RTS ALUMNI LUNCH AT GOSPEL COALITION'S 2012 NATIONAL WOMEN'S CONFERENCE
RTS Women in Ministry in Orlando will be assisting with the Gospel Coalition's 2012 National Women's Conference and will also be hosting an alumni lunch at noon. The lunch is open to RTS alumni, spouses of alumni, current students and prospective students. The conference will be held at the Orlando Hilton June 22-24. The theme is "Here is Our God." The speakers include Tim and Kathy Keller, Don Carson, Mary Mohler, John and Noel Piper, Kathleen Nielson, Jani Ortlund and Paige Benton Brown and many more.

RTS GRADUATIONS
RTS/Charlotte - May 19, 11:00 a.m. at Christ Covenant Church, in Matthews, NC.
RTS/Jackson - May 19, 10:00 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Miss.
RTS/Orlando - May 25, 7:30 p.m. at Saint Andrew's Chapel in Sanford, Fla.
RTS/Washington DC j- May 25, 7:30 p.m. at McLean Presbyterian Church in McLean, Va.
RTS/Atlanta - May 26 at 10:00 a.m. on campus.

ALUMNI SNIPPETS
Donald R. Malin (M. Div., ‘88), a lieutenant colonel in the Mississippi Army National Guard, was selected in March as the new State Chaplain of the Mississippi National Guard. Mississippi’s adjutant general, Major General Augustus L. Collins, selected Lt. Col. Malin from a pool of candidates “based upon his qualifications and record of achievements in many positions throughout the Mississippi Army National Guard,” according to a statement from Collins’s office. Malin served two tours of duty in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He works for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Jackson, Miss., promoting the veterans center and raising awareness of the benefits available to veterans. He is also a teaching elder and is actively involved in the teaching and outreach ministries of Providence Presbyterian Church in Clinton, Miss.

The Rev. John Reeves (M. Div. ‘72), the senior pastor of Providence Presbyterian Church and Malin’s pastor for the past 25 years, was delighted to hear the announcement about Malin. "...He’s served so long and so well and so faithfully. It’s a recognition of all that he’s done over the years.”

Irwyn Ince (MAR '06) (pictured right with his wife Kim and their family) is pastor of City of Hope Church, in Columbia, Md. Reformation 21 recently posted an article Ince wrote about his testimony and his church's story on multi-ethnic inistry. Read the article here.

Jim Mills (Highlands/RTS/Jackson) and his wife Anne are co-founders and international directors of an arts and culture initiative called Creative Arts Europe, and live outside Brussels, Belgium, where they direct the activities of a ministry which spans several countries.Jim is an accomplished guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and Bible teacher. Anne is a gifted vocalist, photographer and teaacher. They have one adult son David who is married to Lindsey, along with two grandchildren.

Gary Ogrosky (M.Div. '07), who is married to Marguerite "Marci" (MABS '07), recently became director of MNA SecondCareer Ministry for the PCA’s Mission to North America.  Previously, he had served as assistant pastor at Sycamore Presbyterian Church, in Midlothian, VA. MNA SecondCareer is a new ministry just launched by MNA, to aid church plants and other PCA ministries that have needs by matching them up with second career PCA volunteers who have the time and skills to meet those needs.  Ogrosky says, "It’s an exciting venture!"  Anyone who wants to list an opportunity to serve or who wants to volunteer can go to the Web site or they can stop by the display booth at General Assembly in Louisville and he be delighted to meet them in person.

Leonard R. Siems (MABS '96), a chaplain in the U.S. Army, is pictured here to the right of Dr. Michael Milton, chancellor-elect of RTS.

Thomas "TJ" Turner (M.Div. '09) and his wife Kerstin are serving at Second Congregational Church in Douglas, Mass. He was ordained by 2nd Congo last year and is working on a paper to be credentialed by the denomination by exam in late May. He has been leading a new study on Savoy Declaration of Faith, he led a mission trip to the Dominican Republic in February and he has started a new high-school youth group at the church.  Read his blog here. They have a daughter Ellie and new son Sam (Oct. 2011).

Russell H. (Hank) Wilson II (M.Div. '07), US Navy Chaplain recently deployed to Afghanistan and working with the 2nd Battalion 5th Marines, continues to blog on his Web site. "Later in the day when I ran into one of the nurses I thanked her for what she did to take care of those war fighters. Her response was startling and unexpected. She said: “thank you for being there.” Read his blog here.