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Encouraging scholarship, strengthening faith identity, and interpreting contemporary issues in Baptist life. |
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Newman Scholar: |
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by Linda Cross
Director, Baptist Laity Institute
Return to Sabbaticals Homepage The immersion in Baptist Studies Ive undertaken over the last several months in preparation for the A. H. Newman Scholar Mini-Sabbatical at Mercer has been much like genealogical research, both objective and personal. There are dates, events, individuals and groups, historical settings and timelines, documents and statistics. Yet in reading the materials, I searched for my own roots, much as one searches the faces in old photos for a family resemblance. My project for the sabbatical is to update the curriculum for our Baptist Heritage and Distinctives course. What I hoped to accomplish during my week at Mercer was the selection of a textbook for the course as well as direction in how broadly or narrowly to design the content. I also really needed Sabbath. I arrived in Macon during cherry blossom time. I still marvel at the prodigality of pink clouds along roadsides and medians and even parking lots, for goodness sake, not to mention the dogwood and azaleas. I loved walking Mercers campus. I celebrated a Lenten Lunch with Bruce and Debra Gourley at Vineville Baptist Church and enjoyed Wednesday Night Supper with the Shurden's at First Baptist Church of Christ. Im close to textbook selection. And perceptive questions by Buddy Shurden and Bruce Gourley have helped me focus on the essentials for the class content. There was one big serendipity about the week of my sabbatical. It was the week of the Inaugural Walter B. And Kay W. Shurden Lectures on Religious Liberty and Separation of Church and State sponsored by the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty and Mercer University. Rabbi David Saperstein, Director and Counsel of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, was the speaker. The mini-sabbatical has been both challenge and blessing. Disciplined study is not easy and written responses require thought and reflection not to mention the time required for composition. The blessing comes in the opportunity to engage in substantive, daily conversation with Dr. Walter Shurden and Dr. Kay Shurden and Bruce Gourley. I am neither historian nor scholar. But this has been a rich experience for me. As a Newman Scholar you will be challenged, stretched, encouraged and blessed for further ministry. I encourage you to apply for this opportunity. |
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The Center for Baptist Studies, Mercer University, 1400 Coleman Avenue, Macon, GA 31207 Phone (478) 301-5467 |
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A Mini-Sabbatical at the Center