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Show January, 1957 ALUMNI BULLETIN OF UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY Page 3 ALUMNI SKETCHES AUBURN SEMINARY NEWS A Portrait Of An Eminent Alumnus "/ did not see how any denomination could ever accept me as its minister. But I did not care. I wanted to make a contribution to the spiritual life of my generation."* Harry Emerson Fosdick has made his contribution as an advocate of liberal thought, a preacher to life's problems, a champion of social action, a leader of interdenomination-alism, and a writer of over twenty books. Born in Buffalo, New York, in 1878, Dr. Fosdick first showed his famous independent spirit at the age of seven by his view on baptism: "That was my business, I told my family, and not theirs to decide." He entered Colgate with the attitude: "I'll behave as though there were a God, but mentally I'm going to clear God out of the universe and start over to see what I can find." Dr. Fosdick graduated Summa Cum Laude, 1904, from U.T.S. which "offered a kind of intellectual liberty in the study of religion of which I had dreamed." Ordained a Baptist minister in 1903, he started his ministry in the First Baptist Church, Montclair, New Jersey, where he devised his revolutionary approach to preaching which centered upon "the real problems of people." He taught at U.T,.S. as Lecturer in Baptist Principles and Polity, 1908-15; as Instructor of Homiletics, 1911-14; Associate Professor of Homiletics, 1914-34; Morris K. Jesup Professor of Practical Theology, 1915-34, and Adjunct Professor, 1934-46. Dr. Fosdick was the Stated Preacher of the First Presbyterian Church, New York City, 1919-25. He left after a controversy with Fundamentalism, and became pastor of the Park Avenue Baptist Church, 1926-30. After a conversation with John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who asked, "Do you think that more people will criticize you on account of my wealth, than will criticize me on account of your theology?," Dr. Fosdick agreed to become minister of Riverside Church which was officially dedicated in 1931 with Fos-dick's own hymn, "God of Grace and God of Glory." Riverside Church became famous as a non-sectarian, interracial, seven-day week church with Dr. Fosdick concentrating on preaching and personal counselling. Believing "that the ultimate criterion of any civilization's success or failure is to be found in what happens to the underdog," Dr. Fosdick has emphasized the Social Gospel. As Minister Emeritus of Riverside since 1946, he has been active in planning social improvement for Manhattanville and Morn-ingside Heights in New York City. Some of his books have a circulation of more than two million copies and are translated into seventeen languages. His recent autobiography, The Living of These Days, promises to be as popular as his eight books on sermons and his famous The Meaning of Prayer and Being a Real Person. Dr. Fosdick has surely fulfilled his desire to make a spiritual contribution; the prayer in his hymn has been answered: in the person of GHfg*arar TAcarahlinrclentye sgqe e udaEo o nDmfwtade iety rshGss ido.asoord nmhe o oFafufonr sGdo.dl m ico corTkuyh r oehau garLesi Gvfiionornddg e t eoohdffe Churches Make Possible Six Foreign Student Fellowships Five Countries Represented This Year Six graduate students, all of them mature Christian leaders from other lands, are able to enjoy an American church relationship and a year of study at Union Seminary through fellowships provided by churches in New York, New Jersey and Ohio. Started by the First Presbyterian Church of Englewood, New Jersey, this project has now been adopted by five leading congregations. Appointments to the fellowships for 1956-57 are as follows: Aurelia Takacs of Hungary and Daniel F. Malan of South Africa to the Fairmount Presbyterian Church, Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Richard Pacini '40, pastor. Alan C. Herron of New Zealand to the First Presbyterian Church, Englewood, New Jersey. Bertram deH. Atwood, pastor. Chang Sik Lee of Korea to the First Presbyterian Church, Youngs-town, Ohio. W. Frederic Miller '35, pastor. Newton M. Fink of South Africa to the Glen Ridge Congregational Church, Glen Ridge, New Jersey. Charles L. Copenhaver '41, pastor. Albert D. Manuel of India to the Presbyterian Church, Roslyn, New York. John W. Van Zanten '39, pastor. Typical of the enthusiasm of the churches for this project is the statement of one of the pastors: "We want to do everything we can to continue this extremely valuable relationship with the world church which we are able to effect through the Seminary. I think we can say that almost without exception our congregation feels that this is a very important part of our program." Comments by two students reflect their appreciation of the church relationship. Said one: "I did not understand the American people until I met them in your church"; and the other, "Since I have been in your church, I have forgotten that I am a foreigner." Both are Japanese. January Lecture Series For Women on "Religion And the Professions" The Women's Committee of Union Theological Seminary has announced a series of four lectures to be held on Monday mornings during January. The general subject is "Religion and the Professions." Dr. Henry P. Van Dusen will introduce the series on January 7 speaking on the subject: "How Can the Church Help the Laity in Their Jobs?" Professions to be considered are teaching, psychiatry and the arts. Speakers will include Dr. Mary Anderson Tully, Professor of Religious Education and Psychology, Dr. Earl A. Loomis, Jr., Professor of Psychiatry and Religion, and Professor John Bachman of the Speech Department. Dr. Robert Tangeman, of the School of Sacred Music and Mr. E. Martin Browne, Visiting Professor of Religious Drama will be associated with Mr. Bachman in the lecture on the Arts. Admission is by ticket only. Women who desire tickets for the four letenhccetl uoersneitsni grm eat ych oewu rrrisetege i wstthori atcthhieo niSs e f$m1ei.en0 a0f.ro yr Outstanding Lecture Series Principal John Baillie's series of 1956 Auburn Extension Lectures set new records of response on the part of the ministers and laity of the metropolitan area. On five successive Monday mornings, Dr. Baillie's* presentations on "Regeneration and Conversion" brought interested people from seventeen denominational backgrounds, and from distances as great as 100 miles. The average attendance was 320, attesting the relevancy of Dr. Baillie's thoughtful lectures to the problems and concerns of laity and clergy. Mission to Puerto Rico Thirty representatives of the Presbyterian Synod of New York will conduct a Preaching Mission in Puerto Rico, January 8-16, 1957, under the joint sponsorship of the Synod and the Division of Evangelism of the Board of National Missions. Ten of the missioners are alumni of Union, and two of Auburn, The group will meet with the Presbytery of Puerto Rico oh the first day, and then will scatter to thirty different cities, towns, or hamlets, where the visiting ministers will conduct the mission together with the local pastor. The dean of Auburn Seminary will participate in this Preaching Mission. Auburn Fellows 1956-57 The Auburn Missionary Fellow this year is Miss Michiko Sugaya of Tokyo, Japan. Miss Sugaya's arrival was delayed this fall. She will enroll for the second semester, and plans to remain through the first semester of the academic year 1957-58. The Reverend Samuel J. Velez, pastor of the Presbyterian Church at El Higuey, Puerto Rico, is a special Auburn Puerto Rican Fellow this year at the Seminary, studying for the Master of Religious Education degree. Auburn has always had a particular relationship to the presbyteries of the Synod, because two-thirds of the membership of its Board is elected by eighteen presbyteries. This unusual relationship to the Presbytery of Puerto Rico, also a member of the Synod, is the result of working closely with the Board of National Missions, as well, Pastor Velez and his family are living at Reed House, 537 W. 12fst Street, New York 27. Presbyterian Life Annual individual subscriptions to Presbyterian Life have been made available to all Presbyterian B.D. candidates at Union through the Auburn Board. This church magazine, preeminent in its field, has a plan for theological seminaries, granting subscriptions at special rates to -men and women studying for the B.D. degree, if the seminary will provide one-half the cost. The Auburn Board has now cooperated with this plan for the past three years. Presbyterian Meeting At least once in each semester a special meeting is planned to bring together the close to 170 Presbyterian students at Union. A plenary meeting will take place on Monday evening, January 14, when Dr. Theodore F. Romig, of the Board of Foreign Missions, will be an honored guest. Dr. Romig will be available for personal conference with students on Tuesday and Wednesady, January 15 and 16. The Moderator of the 168th Gen eral Assembly, Ruling Elder David Profntt, has been invited to come to the seminary, in keeping with a custom of some years' standing. It is hoped that Mr. Profntt will be available in April. Auburn-Union Lending Library For Alumni The circulation of this growing alumni service has doubled during the past twelve months. Union and Auburn alumni are eligible to avail themselves .of this opportunity to borrow current books of religious interest at the low cost, to them, of return postage. Among the many books in great demand at the present are: To Whom Shall We Go? - D. M. Baillie The Idea of Revelation in Recent Thought - John Baillie Only One Way "Left - George F. MacLeod Education For Christian Living - R. C. Miller The Living of These Days - H. E. Fosdick Believing In God-D. Jenkins (Lay-mans' Theological Library) The Christian Man - W. Hamilton (Layman's Theological Library) • A card or inquiry will bring a complete current list. Write to Mrs. : Robert Hastings Nichols, Custodian, 435 Auburn Hall, 3041 Broadway, New York 27. Twenty-five countries represented in 1956-57 Student Body |