Issue #114 | October 12, 2011 |
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.