Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

Pastor, Mediator, Educator

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Published on Wednesday, 01 May 2013 15:29

Rev. Dr. Anthony J. Shipley
M.Div. ‘64, Garrett Theological Seminary

After graduating from Garrett Theological Seminary, Shipley began his ministry as a pastor and leader who could garner the respect of both black and white communities, and who could serve as a mediating force amid racial tension. During his long tenure in the Detroit Conference, Shipley served as the Director for the Council on Ministries, Community Developer, District Superintendent, and pastor of Scott Memorial UMC.

While serving as pastor of the historic Scott Memorial United Methodist Church, he founded the ASPIRES program, which prepared over 250 students for college. As pastor of Christ United Methodist Church, he founded the Chandler Park Academy, which is the only charter school in the United States founded by a United Methodist church. Jackson currently serves as the vice-president of the board of directors at Chandler Park Academy. He was also a founder of Black Methodists for Church Renewal and is on the board of directors of the Detroit Urban League.

Old Testament Scholar

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Published on Monday, 29 April 2013 15:08

Dr. Otto J. Baab
M.A. ’27, Garrett Biblical Institute
Faculty Member, Garrett Biblical Institute (1934-1958)

Baab is credited with increasing the theological and scholarly atmosphere of Garrett Biblical Institute when he came as a faculty member in 1934. Speaking to the rise of biblical theology following World War I, Baab commented, “At last we have been…Set free from bondage to bibliolatry and proof-text theology. Through this release the conflict between religion and science, Genesis and geology, ceased to have importance.”

Between the years of 1953-1955, Baab served as acting president of Garrett Biblical Institute, retaining all of the responsibilities without any of the rights and privileges of the office. Nevertheless, he worked in the interim to promote and fund the stained-glass windows in the chapel, and organized Garrett to help host the
second assembly of the World Council of Churches in the summer of 1954.

Former Iowa Area Bishop, Caring Leader and Inspiring Preacher

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Published on Sunday, 07 April 2013 20:07

 
Bishop Charles Wesley Jordan
M.Div. '60, Garrett Biblical Institute

Jordan is a retired Bishop of the United Methodist Church currently serving as Bishop-in-Residence at Claremont School of Theology in California. Born in Dayton, Ohio, Jordan led a distinguished career in ministry in Illinois for nearly 40 years, concerned particularly with issues related to race and economic justice. His pastoral assignments included Woodlawn United Methodist Church on Chicago’s South Side and St. Mark United Methodist Church, where he was named senior pastor in 1987.

Jordan was a respected leader in the UMC’s Northern Illinois Conference, where he was a staff member on the Council on Ministries from 1971 to 1982, serving as a consultant to local churches and staffing programs in town and country ministries, church and society, evangelism, global ministries, and religion and race. In 1982 he became superintendent of the Chicago Southern District and served in that post for five years before assuming the office of resident bishop of the Iowa Area of The United Methodist Church from 1992 to 2000. Under his care were nearly 900 congregations with 203,000 members.

Jordan’s sought-after gifts as an administrator led him to board membership and involvement in several local, regional and national organizations including the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church, Project IMAGE, Operation PUSH, Church Federation of Greater Chicago and Project Equality. In 2000, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary named him a life trustee.

Distinguished Alum, Distinguished Scholar

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Published on Friday, 15 February 2013 21:50

Dr. Anne E. Streaty-Wimberly
M.T.S. '93, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

Streaty-Wimberly is professor emerita of Christian education at Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia and author of numerous articles and books, including Soul Stories: African American Christian Education, often used in Garrett-Evangelical syllabi. She has covered all segments of the age spectrum, from children to older adults, through her writings and teachings in Christian Education. 

At Boston University, where she completed doctoral coursework, she was the first woman and African-American to earn a doctoral teaching fellow. In 2009, she received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Garret-Evangelical Theological Seminary. She is the past president of the Religious Education Association and the Association of Professors and Researchers in Religious Education.  She has served on many boards and agencies, including the Governing Board of the American Society on Aging Forum and the African American Methodist Heritage Center.

Leading Scholar in Black Liberation Theology

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Published on Friday, 15 February 2013 21:40

Dr. James H. Cone
B.Div. ’61, Garrett Theological Seminary
Ph.D. ’65, Garrett Theological Seminary and Northwestern University

Cone has been a professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York City since 1969 and is currently the Charles Augustus Briggs Distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology.  Often recognized as the founder of black liberation theology, Cone is the author of eleven books and numerous articles. He has lectured at universities and community organizations throughout the United States, Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.  

Cone is best known for his ground-breaking works, Black Theology and Black Power (1969), A Black Theology of Liberation (1970), The Spirituals and the Blues (1972), God of the Oppressed (1975), and Martin & Malcolm & America: A Dream or a Nightmare? (1991). In addition to his teaching, Cone continues the struggle to shed light on contemporary issues of faith and justice, especially for African Americans.

Deacon Dedicated to Educating Those with Learning Disabilities

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Published on Thursday, 14 February 2013 21:15

Dr. Phyllis Coston
M.A. ’58, Garrett Biblical Institute

Coston joined the West Virginia Wesleyan College faculty in 1963 and became one of the nation’s leaders in educating students with diagnosed learning disabilities.  In 1963, Coston pioneered, authored, and founded the Learning Center, the first center in the state and one of the earliest in the country to assist all Wesleyan students in enhancing their reading and learning skills. In 1982 she developed the special services program to assist learning-disabled students, specifically those with dyslexia. This center gained national attention as one of the finest programs for dyslexic students.

Coston has worked for the equality of women and for equality of ordination for deacons in The United Methodist Church.  She was consecrated a diaconal minister in the West Virginia Annual Conference in 1982 and served as chair of the Board of Diaconal Ministry in the conference from 1988 to 1996.  She was one of the first to be ordained deacon in 1996 and served as chair of the Order of Deacons of the West Virginia Annual Conference from 1996 to 2008.

Breaking Barriers and Seeking Justice

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Published on Tuesday, 12 February 2013 19:25

Rev. Dr. Georgia Harkness
Professor of Applied Theology, Garrett Biblical Institute (1939-1950)

Breaking barriers and seeking justice may be one of the best ways to describe Georgia Harkness. Harkness joined the faculty of Garrett Biblical Institute in 1939 and was the first woman to teach theology at an American seminary. A prolific writer, Harkness wrote over 30 books in her lifetime. She was ordained in the New York Conference of the Methodist Church in 1938 but was denied full clergy rights until 1956. Harkness was a vocal advocate for equality of women both in the world and in the church.

Toward the end of her teaching career, Harkness looked back on her life and wrote, "There is nothing I greatly want that I do not have, save more of the grace of God and greater usefulness in his service. Thus far the Lord has led me on, and from a full heart I say, 'Bless the Lord, O my Soul, and all that is within me, Bless His holy name.'" A pioneer for women in the academia and an unceasing advocate for women, Harkness was truly a “theologian of the people” and she has continued to serve as a role model for all who seek justice and equality. 

Leading Ethics and Leadership Scholar

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Published on Monday, 14 January 2013 00:50

Dr. Walter Earl Fluker
M.Div. '80, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

A leading scholar on ethics and leadership in the United States, Dr. Walter Fluker is the Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor of Ethical Leadership at Boston University School of Theology.

He is a sought after lecturer who has taught at Harvard University, The University of Cape Town in South Africa, Columbia Theological Seminary, and Princeton Theological Seminary. Dr. Fluker played a significant role in a multi-faceted international leadership project in South Africa in partnership with The Oprah Winfrey Foundation, the State Department, and the African Presidential Archives and Research Center at Boston University. He also serves on the advisory board of the American Association of Colleges and Universities’ new initiative, Core Commitments: Educating Students for Personal and Social Responsibility and on the Westminster Schools Board of Directors. Other areas of leadership and governance include membership on the Board of Overseers at Boston University School of Theology, the Atlanta Speech School and the editorial board of Liberal Education, the flagship quarterly journal of the American Association of Colleges and Universities.

GBI Student Pulls 17 People from Lake Michigan

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Published on Sunday, 13 January 2013 21:45

Edward Spencer
Student, Garrett Biblical Institute and Northwestern University

When the steamship Lady Elgin collided with the schooner Augusta on September 8, 1860, over 300 people were thrown into the waters of Lake Michigan. Many of them did not survive the wreckage. As bystanders gathered at the lakeshore, Edward Spencer, a student at Garrett Biblical Institute and Northwestern University, spotted a woman clinging to wreckage. Throwing off his coat and jumping into the heavy waves he succeeded in bringing her to safety.

Spencer repeated this act of valor 17 times that night before passing out from exhaustion. He was taken to his Evanston apartment to recover where he lay unconscious for several hours. Upon waking, he looked up at his brother, William, and asked, “Will, did I do my full duty – did I do my best?"

The physical and emotional toll on Spencer was great and as a result he never completed his education at Garrett Biblical Institute or Northwestern University. The events of that night haunted Spencer until his death. It has been reported that not one of the 17 survivors he rescued ever returned to say thank you and on his death bed Spencer uttered the humble words, “Tell me the truth; did I fail to do my best?”

In 1924, Edwin Young was inspired by Spencer’s story and published a hymn that draws the spiritual lesson learned that night:  

How many are the lost that I have lifted?
How many are the chained I’ve helped to free?
I wonder, have I done my best for Jesus,
When He has done so much for me?

A Pioneer in 20th century Christian Education

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Published on Sunday, 13 January 2013 21:34

Edna May Baxter
B.Div. '26, Garrett Biblical Institute

Widely recognized as a pioneer in 20^th century Christian education, Baxter was the first woman to be appointed, full-time, to the Christian education faculty in a United States seminary. She was a seasoned staff member of two prestigious publications in her field, The Journal of Bible and Religion and Religious Education.

While she was most closely associated with the School of Religious Education at Hartford Seminary, where she taught from 1926 to her retirement in 1959, Baxter brought her innovative curricula to a variety of settings – from rural Illinois to inner city Boston. She believed very deeply in the role of theological education for serving the life and mission of the Church and the Church’s role in supporting spiritual development of children and youth at home.

While Baxter worked tirelessly for the local Hartford community, where she founded the Knight Hall Nursery School and led the local chapter of the Religious Education Association, her work had global reach. She traveled to the Middle East, Korea, and Japan, conducting workshops, delivering lectures, and serving on the boards of several educational institutions and church governing bodies. Cross-cultural relationships and interfaith understanding were abiding concerns throughout her life, and she brought them to bear on the lives of young people in concrete ways. She taught courses introducing economic and social issues, including those of child labor, migrants, miners, workers in cotton, unions and strikes, housing, cooperatives, and living with people of other races. Edna May Baxter shaped the hearts and minds of generations of clergy, religious educators and leaders, many of whom occupy important leadership positions today.