NEW COUNSELING DEGREE PROGRAM AT RTS CHARLOTTE The new counseling degree program is fully approved and accredited by both the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and the Association of Theological Schools (ATS). | April 8, 2014 | Issue #153 DATES TO REMEMBER April 8-10 - Together for the Gospel (T4G) - in Louisville, Ky., with Ligon Duncan as a plenary speaker. April 8 - Faculty Forum at RTS Charlotte with Dr. James Anderson. April 12 - Seminar with John Frame at RTS/Atlanta, 9am - 12:30pm. April 23 - President's Forum at RTS Orlando with Dr. Don Sweeting and Dr. Jim Belcher at noon. April 26 - Preview Day at RTS/Washington DC from 10am to 12pm. May 27-29 - 2014 USA Ministers' Conference in Elizabethtown, Pa., with Derek Thomas and a representative from RTS/Washington DC. June 27-29 - The Gospel Coalition's 2014 National Women's Conference in Orlando, Fla. RTS is a major sponsor for this event. |
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| RTS COMMENCEMENT DATES AND SPEAKERS You are welcome to attend any of our upcoming commencements: May 17 - RTS Atlanta Commencement, 10:00 a.m., campus chapel in Marietta, Ga., with Dr. Roy Taylor. May 17 - RTS Jackson Commencement, 10:00 a.m., First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Miss., with Dr. Ligon Duncan May 23, RTS Orlando Commencement, 7:30 p.m., St. Andrews Chapel in Sanford, Fla., with Dr. Phil Ryken. May 24 - RTS Charlotte Commencement, 11:00 a.m., Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, NC, with Dr. John Yates. May 30 - RTS Washington Commencement, 7:30 p.m., McLean Presbyterian Church in McLean, Va., with Dr. Ligon Duncan.  Dr. Dr. Peter Gentry, professor of Old Testament interpretation at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, spoke at the Biblical Theology Conference at RTS/Jackson last week. He spoke from Isaiah 5 on "Isaiah and Social Justice," and in the evening
session, "No One Holy Like the Lord." On Wednesday he spoke on "The Role of Covenant in Biblical Theology," followed by a Q&A time during the lunch. RTS FACULTY PANEL AT TOGETHER FOR THE GOSPEL THIS WEEK! We hope to see you at Together For the Gospel in Louisville, Ky., April 8-10. Visit the RTS booth to register for an iPad Mini. An RTS Faculty Panel will be held on Wednesday, from 4:30 to 5:30p.m. in the Zero Dollar Bookstore on "How the Gospel Brings Us Home: The Christian Experience of Justification and Sanctification." The panel consists of Dr. Ligon Duncan, Dr. Derek Thomas, Dr. Scott Swain, Dr. Mike Kruger and Dr. Chad Van Dixhoorn. CHRISTIAN LEADERS REBUT A POPULAR BOOK  How Jesus Became God (Harper One, March 2014), written by a former Christian who now debunks Christian beliefs, was quickly denounced by evangelical Christian leaders with a rebuttal book titled How God Became Jesus: The Real Origins of Belief in Jesus' Divine Nature---A Response to Bart D. Ehrman (Zondervan,
March 2014).The contributors are Michael Bird, author and lecturer in theology at Ridley Melbourne College of Mission and Ministry, Charles E. Hill (RTS professor of New Testament), Craig A. Evans, Payzant distinguished professor of New Testament at Acadia Divinity College of Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada, Simon J. Gathercole, New Testament Scholar and senior lecturer in New Testament studies and director of studies at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University, and Chris Tilling, New Testament tutor for St. Mellitus College and St. Paul's Theological Centre, London. FACULTY FORUM TODAY AT RTS CHARLOTTE Dr. James Anderson, associate professor of theology and philosophy, will lecture on "Friendly Fire? Cessationism versus Continuationism" at the next faculty forum at RTS Charlotte on Tuesday, April 8 at 12:00p.m. Reservations are required. Please RSVP to twilliamson@rts.edu. RUN, JIM, RUN!  Jim McAlhaney, director of admissions for RTS Global Education, will run the 118th Boston Marathon on April 21 to raise additional scholarship funds for RTS students. He calls it the Boston Marathon Student Scholarship Fundraiser. This 26.2 mile
race will be his 15th full marathon. If you are interested in supporting Jim in this effort, he is hoping to have many pledge $1 per mile for a total contribution of $26.20 per supporter, (but larger pledges are welcome). If you wish to support this effort,
click here and select "Global Education" for campus, "Scholarships" for the area, and make a note in the notes section at the bottom,
"RTS Boston Marathon Student Scholarship Fundraiser."ARTICLE ON RTS CHANCELLOR LIGON DUNCAN Metro Christian Living, a magazine in Jackson, Miss., has published in their April issue an article titled "Ligon Duncan; Faithfully Following Christ." Access the article here to read about the life, leadership and mission of Chancellor Ligon Duncan. ALUMNI MEALS AT THE GENERAL ASSEMBLIES ARP Synod - Wednesday, June 11, at 7:00 a.m., join us for breakfast at the Bonclarken Christian Conference Center in Flat Rock, NC. PCA General Assembly - (CORRECTED DATE) Thursday, June 19, at 12:00 p.m., join us for lunch in the Lanier Grand Ballroom J at the Hilton of the Americas in Houston, Texas. (Room subject to change). Come early, seating is limited. EPC General Assembly - Friday, June 20, 7:00 a.m. join us for breakfast (on location) at Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tenn. Please reserve your breakfast ONLINE when you register on the epc.org site and then come to the Fellowship Hall, where RTS will be gathered. Register early, seating is limited. READ THE REDD BLOGDr. Scott Redd, president of RTS Washington DC, has written a blog, "God is Not Fate." He begins, "I would just like to mention a few things about God that might help when life drives you to question his power or benevolence or both. Such moments, or seasons, are common for those gifted with the knowledge and love of God in Jesus Christ, and they say nothing about the validity of the faith of the experiencer apart from the fact that they are indeed human. But you knew that already. First, God is not fate." Read the entire blog here LIBRARY STORYTIME AT RTS ORLANDO Orlando families with children (recommended ages 2-5) are welcome to attend a fun time in the RTS library on Friday, April 11 at 10:00 a.m., where they will read stories, sing songs and make a craft. For more information, contact senior library assistant, Laura Armstrong (MABS '09) at larmstrong@rts.edu. PREVIEW DAY APRIL 26 AT RTS WASHINGTON DC  Are you interested or do you know someone who would like to preview RTS Washington? Preview Day will be held April 26 from 10:00 a.m. to noon. Contact Jennifer McGahey for more information
and to attend. See picture above of the panel from the preview day in March.STAFF PROFILE: ABIGAIL GRIFFITH Abigail joined the RTS/Washington team as development coordinator in November of last year. For the past few years, she's been providing overseas aid to post-conflict countries like Uganda and South Sudan. Most recently, she worked in Jordan, assisting Syrian refugees with food aid. Abigail has been in the DC area for the past 7 years, and brings a background in USAID contracting, grant development, and project management to her new role with RTS. In her free time, she loves to work with her church, Grace Downtown, serving on the homeless and mercy ministry teams. | James Almond (MATS '05, M.Div. '09) James was called to be pastor of Goshen Presbyterian Church in Belmont, NC, and has been serving there for about a month. Ray Craig ( M.Div. '92, D.Min. '09)  Ray (pictured second from right) founded MMX Leadership in 2010, designed to help leaders with transition, fundraising or even crisis intervention along with other specialized services. He recently returned from his third trip to India, hosted
by Christ Gospel Ministries where he spoke to 65 key village leaders, presented leadership, masculinity and Christian life themes and coached 45 indigenous church planters representing 600 congregations. He presented live and was interpreted into
Telugu and Oriya. Christian Crouch (M.Div. '13) Christian, who is currently serving at Grace Presbyterian Church in Columbia, SC, as the music director, has accepted an offer to serve as the pastoral assistant at Grace Fellowship Church in Irmo, SC. Beginning in May, he will work with the pastor, Frank Legare, who married him and his wife Chelsey. His degree was awarded in December, but Christian will walk in the commencement ceremony at RTS Charlotte this May. He and Chelsey have two sons, Stephen (4) and Cohen (2). Esaie Etienne (M.Div. '04) Esaie, serving with Mission to the World in Haiti, reports that Living Stone Reformed Mission has received the certificate of legalization by the ministry of religion in Haiti--a very big step for them. Also, in January, they hosted a medical team from Alabama and have decided to hire a nurse for the school and for community health education. They will need to raise funds for this new salary. Also they recently had to pay a large amount out over a dispute in a land issue. They ask for additional support at this time to continue to fund the projects that are in process. Justin Holcomb (MATS '97, MACT '97)  Justin is the canon for vocations at the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida, and adjunct professor of theology at RTS/Orlando, and guest faculty at RTS/Washington DC. He has written two new books: Know the Heretics (due April 2014); and Know the Creeds and Councils  (due April 2014). According to the description, "These accessible overviews walk readers through the most important expressions (and denials!) of Christian faith and practice - not with a dry focus on dates and places, but with an emphasis on the
tradition of Christian belief and why it matters for our lives today. Ideal for group use and study."Casey Johnson (M.Div. '10) Casey is co-planting Redeemer City Church with Nathan Hobert (M.Div. '04), who planted The Vine Church in Madison, WI. Redeemer launched on Feb. 23 and they have 2 services at 9:00 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. Phil Luther (M.Div. '07) Phil and his wife Kay are serving with Mission to the World in Greece. Two groups from Reformed University Fellowship spent their spring break with them, feeding the homeless, working on projects, and surveying students on university campuses and people in the upscale shopping district of Glyfada, where his church plant is. He notes, for many of them, it was a step out of their comfort zone. They were able to have significant conversations with the students to see that their talents and skills could be used by God in serving and building His kingdom. He asks that you pray for these students, that their time spent in Athens will have a lasting impact in their lives. Wilson A. Shirley (M.Div. '10) Wilson was called in January to be the pastor of Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Ala. They are currently meeting at their host church First Cumberland Presbyterian Church, at 1802 Bankhead Parkway in Huntsville. He previously served at Highlands Presbyterian Church in Ridgeland, Miss., as pastor to students and families. Hannah Lyn Venable (MACT '08)  Hannah is in her third year of the PhD program in philosophy at the University of Dallas and recently had an article published titled, "Situating Melancholy in Kierkegaard's The Concept of Anxiety," in the journal Philosophy & Theology.
Read the article here (full article only accessible with subscription), however, if you would like a copy, contact her here.
It will be in print at the end of May. Hannah is pictured here with her husband Richard and their three young daughters. Follow her blog here.Ambrose Winfree (M.Div. '11) While in seminary, the Lord gave Ambrose and his wife Becky a strong burden for the church in Latin America. After language and church planting training in Bogota, Colombia, through the apprenticeship in mission program of Mission to the World, they hope to serve in Latin America by supporting pastors, church planters and leaders by working with the local churches in the areas of discipleship and evangelism. They hope to finish their support raising this summer so that they can head to Bogota by the end of the summer. Tom (last name withheld) (MABS '10) Tom is planting a church in Asia and also starting a D.Min in Church Planting and Leadership Development with a group of leaders. However, he recently hurt his back and his wife tore a muscle. They would appreciate your prayers for their healing and for their children as they adjust to a new environment. Eric (last name withheld) (M.Div. '12) Eric and his family have arrived at their destination in South Asia where they will serve with another team. Pray for them as they adjust to the new culture. They have found a place to live but with little inside the dwelling. They ask for prayer that "our neediness would cause us to lean into Jesus, instead of striving harder or getting discouraged." Also pray for restoration of health as they have been ill with viruses and coughs (much of it stemming from dust and city fumes). They are grateful for your prayers and comments and messages. |
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RTS E-Newsletter iss. #153 April 8, 2014
RTS Charlotte is pleased to announce that a new counseling degree program will begin in fall, 2014. The primary degree is the 66 credit-hour MA in Christian Counseling (MACC). There will also be options for an MDiv and MACC dual degree, an MATS/BS and
MACC dual degree, and an MDiv with a counseling emphasis. 
The RTS Distance Education Department has released "↧