Saint Paul School of Theology for Tuesday, August 11, 2015 President's eUpdate--What are you reading?

Saint Paul School of Theology for  Tuesday, August 11, 2015 President's eUpdate--What are you reading?

President's eUpdate
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Dear Saint Paul Community,
The Holy Conversations have been a delightful opportunity to connect with alums,

donors, and friends of Saint Paul. After being present at 10 annual conferences, we have taken a short respite and given folks time to move and unpack or prepare for the next year of faithful ministry. Holy Conversations will resume in September and I hope you'll take the opportunity to participate in one close to you.
Tom Schneider (Class of 1966) attended a Holy Conversation at St. Paul's UMC in Wichita. Tom and I served on the Kansas Area appointive cabinet together many moons ago. We always visited at the break or over a meal to hear about what we were each reading. Tom shared that he

had several books in process at any given time. They were in the study, office, comfortable chair in the family room, bedroom, and a couple in the car. He was always eager to share his favorites and it usually meant I ended up at Watermark Books (Wichita, KS where the cabinet usually met) or Barnes and Noble. These were the days before Amazon!
It was such a gift to visit with Tom and I recently sent him an invitation to be at the 50thAnniversary of his graduating class from Saint Paul in May 2016. I hope he and Phyllis will be able to attend. We will be honoring the 50th Anniversary Class of 1966 this year and the 25th Anniversary Class of 1991 at our commencement service. Save the date of May 20!
Since returning to Saint Paul I have had to reorganize my reading list. Some of the books I had saved for retirement reading have been moved to another bookcase. I have also finally adopted Tom Schneider's model of reading and have discovered it works. I have just completed Dr. Hal Knight's Is There a Future for God's Love: An Evangelical Theology andPracticing Care in Rural Congregations and Communities by Dr. Jeanne Hoeft, Dr. Shannon Jung and Loretta Marshall. (Yes, I'm getting acquainted with current Saint Paul faculty books and I hope you will, too!) Currently I am reading: Coming Full Circle: Constructing Native Christian Theology edited by Bishop Steven Charleston and Dr. Elaine A. Robinson; The Close: A Young Woman's First Year at Seminary by Chloe Breyer; Just Hospitality: God's Welcome in a World of Difference by Letty Russell; Journey in the Wilderness: New Life for Mainline Churches by Gil Rendle; Faith-Rooted Organizing: Mobilizing the Church in Service to the World by Alexia Salvatierra & Peter Heltzel; and a stack of poetry books by Mary Oliver, Maya Angelou, Ted Kooser, Nikki Giovanni, James Autry and newly discovered Ron Rash.
I always enjoyed seeing the reading lists of the Vanderbilt Divinity School students when I served as their field education supervisor at the Scarritt-Bennett Center. If you'd like to see the courses and reading list for the Saint Paul Fall Semester 2015, please visit our website:www.spst.edu and select Academics/Registrar and you'll find the Course Schedules. You'll also see Book Lists and Advanced Assignments. I don't look at the assignments, but I'm sure every student does.
I'd love to hear what you are reading and recommending.
On the journey with you--

Rev. H. Sharon Howell, President
Saint Paul School of Theology
sharon.howell@spst.edu
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