FINAL 2023 McCormick Annual Report Flipbook REV7
A TIME TO REMEMBER AND A TIME TO LOOK FORWARD 2023 ANNUAL REPORT 2023 ANNUAL REPORT 1
The year 2023 was an historic and extraordinarily busy one at â McCormick. It was...a time to break down and a time to build up, a time to keep and a time to throw away...a time to imagine a new home...a new era of collaboration and cooperation with neighborsâŠa time to imagine an institution now unencumbered by long-term debt and the capital needs of an aging facility.â
PRESIDENTâS MESSAGE Dear Friends, For some of us of a certain age, these familiar words from Ecclesiastes were more likely etched in our memories not by a pastor but by folksinger Pete Seeger in his 1959 song, To Everything There Is a Season, later more popularly known as Turn, Turn, Turn after a version by The Byrds became a number 1 hit in 1965. Seeger added only a handful of words to the text, including the closing line âa time for peace, I swear itâs not too late.â In a time that has seen unspeakable horrors of terrorism and war, we all pray that a time for peace will come. Closer to home, the year 2023 was an historic and extraordinarily busy one at McCormick. It was a time of change and transition, a time to break down David H. Crawford and a time to build up, a time to keep and a time to throw away. And it was a President time to imagine: a time to imagine a new home, a time to imagine a new era of collaboration and cooperation with neighbors, a time to imagine an institution now unencumbered by long-term debt and the capital needs of an aging To every thing facility. And while we honor and give thanks for the many memories of what was, we are excited and grateful for all the good things ahead. there is a season, During this season, we are all inundated with âtop tenâ lists: the best this, the and a time to most that. If we were to share with you everything McCormick accomplished in 2023, the list would be very long indeed. I suspect that for many of you every purpose the âmostâ notable item on that list would be the sale of the campus we shared with the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC) for the past under the heaven. twenty years to the University of Chicago. While I cannot deny the sale was certainly an historic event, I would suggest that our moveâand the move of Ecclesiastes 3:1 (KJV) our good friends at LSTCâinto beautiful, newly built-out space at the Catholic Theological Union, just blocks east of the campus that McCormick had occupied since 2003 and LSTC since 1966, has the potential to have impact far beyond the walls of our new home. It is a tangible demonstration of hope and unity in a city, country, and world desperately in need of both. 2023 ANNUAL REPORT 1
While I will not attempt to share every accomplishment of the past year, I do want to highlight another historic and somewhat overshadowed part of our agreement with the University of Chicago. For more than 50 years, the JKM Library, a collaborative venture of McCormick and LSTC, has provided faithful service to our communities and managed one of the nationâs premier collections of Reformed tradition materials. As good stewards of this important legacy, we are delighted that our agreement with the University of Chicago provides that a signiææ€cant portion of the JKM collection will now be permanently housed and cared for by the Universityâs renowned library system. The JKM Library and its staææ will continue to maintain a core collection of essential and unique materials, as well as manage its digital resources. Consequently, McCormick and LSTC now have access to the JKM core collection, digital resources, and dedicated JKM staææ as well as perpetual access to the University of Chicago Library System, staææ, and the libraryâs world class resources. Our agreement with the University also provides all of our faculty, staææ, and students access to the University of Chicago shuttle system, dining facilities, and grants our students access to the Universityâs graduate student housing on an âas availableâ basis. These are resources that most schools and seminaries do not have, and we are excited to begin this new chapter of JKMâs history and grateful for the opportunity to oææer these enhanced services to our McCormick students, â faculty, and staææ. While we are extraordinarily proud of what we have accomplished over the past year, I know that there is a list of things that we have not done (or at least not done very well). First on that list pertains to our external communications. I once had a member of our faculty tell me that she thought being at McCormick was a bit subversiveâthat we did things, even big things, in quiet but impactful ways without a lot of fanfare. I rather like that notion of being subversive, but in these days of disintermediated communications, we owe it to all of you to share our newsâgood and bad, joyful and sad. And to tell our storiesâearly and oftenâ before others attempt to tell (or mis-tell) them for us. That is a part of the job, and we will do better. 2 MCCORMICK THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
A Time to Say Goodbye departure is not nearly as momentous as Mr. Lincolnâs and my Friends, this will be my last Presidentâs Annual Report sadness is tempered by great joy, but his acknowledgment of Message. As I have noted over the past two years, I will what his friends and colleagues meant to him is what is in my be retiring on June 30, 2024. The Board of Trustees has heart right now. I am ææ€lled with gratitude for each of you. God appointed a presidential search committee, and somewhere bless you and keep you in all the days ahead. in this beautiful, troubled world, our next president awaits Peace and Grace, the call. I pray that she or he will love the job as I have and, with Godâs help, lead this community into its third century of service with courage, resilience, imagination, faith, and love. When Abraham Lincoln said goodbye to the citizens of David H. Crawford Springææ€eld, he said, âDear friends, no oneânot in my situation President âcan appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the kindness of these people, I owe everything.â My Scan to learn how you can support McCormick 2023 ANNUAL REPORT 3
MAKING THE MOVE Finding new homes for portions of McCormickâs archival collections of historical papers and artifacts was the responsibility of a team led by Church History Professor Ken Sawyer. Deciding what would go, what would stay behind and what would be given away was a rare opportunity, says Dr. Sawyer, to remember those whose work and lives have made a diææerence to the seminary and the world. âMcCormick has always been a seminary on the move. A new and exciting chapter opens with our new campus, joining the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago and the Catholic Theological Union at 5416 S. Cornell Avenue. This is McCormickâs seventh location in almost Dr. Ken Sawyer two-hundred years. While nobody likes to move, I am so glad we chose this new home with Professor of Church History these good partners. âMy âsummer projectâ involved moving McCormickâs archival collections of personal papers, antebellum newspapers, and archaeological artifacts including cuneiform tablets, school scrapbooks, administrative ææ€les, and publications. Each of these items connect McCormickâs history with denominational, national, and international history. âMoving the archives presented an array of challenges. I am grateful that my daughter, Elisabeth âLizzâ Shapiro, joined in the work to inventory, describe, assess, pack, and move more than two hundred boxes of books, theses, photographs, tapes, personal papers, and the occasional odd gift that deææ€es any category or purpose. Lizz was well suited to join this project as the daughter of two librarians and having grown up on McCormickâs campus. She had met or heard stories about many of the people whose records she and I organized and processed in this summerâs move. âEach day brought greater appreciation for the hard work and organization of our predecessors. We sought to continue the good work of the late faculty member and librarian Cal Schmidt (B.D.â41), and the late Martha L. Payne who served McCormick as an executive secretary. They both left an impressive record of skilled service to generations of McCormick students and faculty. In moving and processing these delicate and important materials, we worked closely with our in-house colleagues Armando Del Valle and Monica Williams, Properties and Facilities assistants; Barbara Fassett, director, Information Technology; and Natasha Gaines, director, Administration, along with the professionals at Hallett Movers. 4 MCCORMICK THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
âA central task was to connect McCormickâs archival materials with collections elsewhere. All records relating to Lane Seminary are now united under the care of the Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia; unpublished papers of historian Philip Schaææ joined his oæìŒcial archive at Union Seminary in New York; and other smaller collections went to appropriate archives at seminaries, museums, and universities. A special eææort saved antebellum newspapers by sending them to be part of a digitization project at the University of Kentucky at Lexington. Additionally, we sent books and manuscript materials to Chicagoâs Newberry Library to join McCormickâs rare book collection there. This collection includes Presbyterian and Reformed materials including several Geneva Bibles, works of the Reformers Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin, as well as hundreds of rare Presbyterian pamphlets and sermons. âIt was a great gift to work with McCormick archives. Each item is a testimony to faithful lives in service to this remarkable community. As we settle into this good new home, our past continues to inform our current work. The archival work continues as todayâs eææorts in the classroom and among our wonderful alums After 20 years at the corner of 54th Street and University Avenue, McCormick moved to become part of McCormickâs history. its third home in Chicagoâs Hyde Park neighborhood. The seminaryâs new address is 5416 S. Cornell Avenue where it will share a campus with the Catholic Theological Union and âWhen I think about it, my 43 years at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. McCormick just might qualify me to be one of Top left: Lizz Shapiro organizes ææ€les for a digitization project at the University of the seminaryâs artifacts!â Kentucky. Top right: abby mohaupt (M.Divâ10, THMâ12), her parents and daughter stop by to lend a hand and oææer encouragement. Bottom left: The vault in the JKM library had Ken Sawyer been home to McCormickâs historical documents and artifacts. Bottom right: Armando Professor of Church History Del Valle, Property and Facilities assistant, gets things moving, starting the archiveâs one- mile journey to its new home.
GLOBAL MISSION WITHOUT CULTURAL DOMINATION Coming alongside, without taking over is how Jonathan GarcĂa Rodriquez and Melanie Quiñones Hernandez are sharing the gospel throughout the world. An emphasis on missions is a passion Jonathan GarcĂa Rodriquez (M.Div.â21) and his wife, Melanie Quiñones Hernandez (MAM â21) received from their Pentecostal upbringing. Ways to serve globally without being colonizers is what they found at McCormick. âWe learned that we can be both mission-minded and honoring of the context of other people,â âA big part of international begins GarcĂa Rodriquez. âMcCormick gave us perspectiveâŠnew ways to oææer ministry. First, ministry is a respect for the we learned by being with many cultures and people at McCormickâŠand then by understanding people we serve with and for.â liberation theology concepts and their emphasis on helping people in need.â Melanie Quinones Hernandez Supporting what pastors are already doing in and for their communities is one way GarcĂa and Jonathan Garcia Rodriquez and Quiñones Hernandez ææ€nd openings to build relationships and discover what the people in a community have determined are their needs. âWe donât go into a country to do Rodriquez have traveled something new,â says Quiñones Hernandez. âItâs not our plans, projects, or agendasâŠwe donât to more than 50 countries, imposeâŠwe do what they are doing.â sharing their faith and strengthening their own. In Nepal, GarcĂa Rodriquez recalls that the ministry leaders wanted to provide safe houses for kids who are targeted by human traæìŒckers, so thatâs what they worked on. In Vietnam, the pastors were focused on orphanages, and that became their focus, too. One of the ministries in Hong Kong was for women who had experienced trauma. There was someone on the mission team who could oææer counseling. âItâs always how can we help, and if there is an interest, oææer training, ideas and biblical encouragement that can help them expand on what they are doing,â he says. GarcĂa Rodriquez and Quiñones Hernandez have been serving in global ministry since they were in their 20s. During that time, they have traveled to more than 50 countries on six continents. Itâs not unusual for ministries in various parts of the world to be skeptical of foreign assistance, he notes, âbut that changes when they see our intentions. We support their existing initiatives⊠we just try to be in the community, eating with themâŠliving with themâŠserving with them.â 6 MCCORMICK THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
âA big part of international ministry is a respect for the people we serve with and for,â shares Quiñones Hernandez. â[In Western countries], people like to put on events,â she explains. âIn other countries, we might not be able to put on events, or the people are not interested in events. The gospel is delivered by doing something with the people.â Together, GarcĂa Rodriquez and Quiñones Hernandez pastor Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where they are equipping others to serve on a global level. Two members of the church are currently enrolled in McCormickâs online masterâs in theology program. In 2014, they founded Aliento a Las Naciones, an organization that trains youth, mission leaders, pastors, and churches for evangelism. Over the past nine years, more than one thousand students have attended its programs in Utah, Florida, Indiana, California, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. âWhen I travel, when I see the needs in many countries, it strengthens my commitment to global ministries,â says GarcĂa Rodriquez, who The gospel, for Jonathan Garcia Rodriquez (M.Div.â21) and Melanie Quinones Hernandez was the ææ€rst graduate to receive McCormickâs (MAMâ20), is shared in both words and deeds. Whether at home in Puerto Rico or in countries around the world, the couple uses skills and theological perspectives gained at S. Kim and Mae Leech Award, given to a McCormick to help local churches expand the ministries these churches have determined graduate who brings the wisdom of history to are most needed in their communities. urban ministry. âWith our global ministry, we want to show that God is not for this country or that countryâŠGod is for the world.â 2023 ANNUAL REPORT 7
FACULTY AND STAFF Faculty Staææ Iva Carruthers, AæìŒliate Faculty and Executive Director Erik Almaguer, Network Administrator I of The Center for Reparatory Justice, Transformation, and Chrisida Anandan, Academic and Spiritual Support Coordinator Remediation Talia Clay, Accountant Specialist I Anna Case-Winters, Professor of Theology Antonia Coleman, Administrative Assistant David H. Crawford, President David H. Crawford, President Stephanie M. Crumpton, Associate Professor of Practical Theology Armando Del Valle, Properties and Facilities Assistant David D. Daniels III, Henry Winters Luce Professor of World Nannette Dixon, VP of Community Engagement and Alumni/ae Christianity and Mission Relations Julian DeShazier, Director Field Studies and Experiential Education Barbara Fassett, Senior Director of Information Technology Leslie Diaz-Perez, Director for the Center for the Study of Latin Natasha Gaines, Director of Administration/Executive Administrative Theology and Ministry/Senior Director of Enrollment and Assistant to Executive VP and Chief Business OæìŒcer Admissions Stacey Edwards-Dunn, Director of the Center for African American Barry Hopkins, Interim Director of JKM Library/Associate Librarian Ministries and Black Church Studies for Public Services Annette Huizenga, Interim Dean of Faculty and Vice President for Lejia Johnson, Program Director for the Solidarity Building Initiative Academic & Student Aææairs Joyce Leachman, Administrative Support Coordinator Jina Kang, Assistant Professor of Old Testament Stephanie Moore, Director of Development Laurel Koepf, Director of Doctor of Ministry Program and Associate Chioma Nwogu, VP Finance Professor of Hebrew Bible Emilie Pulver, Metadata Librarian Kenneth Sawyer, Professor of Church History Nathaniel Ramsey, Director of Student Financial Planning Sarah J. Tanzer, Professor of New Testament and Early Judaism Priscilla Rodriguez, Coordinator for Academic Aææairs Centers Itihari Y. Toure, Associate Dean for Curriculum Development and Jovan Triplett, Network & Systems Administrator Assessment Barbara Vaughan, Database Administrator & Support Specialist Lis Valle-Ruiz, Assistant Professor of Homiletics Chandra Wade, Registrar & Director of Student Records Reggie Williams, Professor of Ethics Juah Washington, SBI Academic Program Manager Rob Worley, Director of International Student Services David Watkins, Assistant Dean of Student Academics and Support Monica Williams, Administration Ashley Woodfaulk, Human Resources Coordinator 88 MCMCCCORMICK THEOLORMICK THEOLOGICAL SEMINAROGICAL SEMINARYY
WHY MCCORMICK? The details are diææerent, but the answer is the same, students choose McCormick because they feel welcomed here. âI returned to McCormick âMcCormick is intentional, âI ææ€rst heard about for my M.Div. because but engagement happens McCormick from some it had proven to be an quite organically. It could pastors who are alumni. inspiring, challenging, be a trip to a store with They said Iâd ææ€nd and nurturing haven international students, wonderful professors, for me. The radical helping a colleagueâs good colleagues, and it hospitality practiced by daughter ææ€gure out would be an opportunity the faculty and staææ at some college preparation for spiritual transformation, McCormick was unique. questions, or pulling not only for me, but also The Language Resource a group together to grab some food at an for the women in the Korean Presbyterian and Writing Center (LRWC) was a place of openness, conversation, research, innovation, Ethiopian restaurant. Iâve been pleasantly church where I serve with my husband. I had and togetherness for international students surprised by all the diææerent experiences that felt a call for some time to be an ordained like me. The seminary provided me with McCormick has brought together. I wanted to minister. In some cultures, it takes courage for the opportunity to explore and embrace be in classrooms with diææerent voicesâŠdiversity a woman to have a public voiceâŠto think and my Christian vocational dreams that were of people, diversity of thought. Beautiful speak critically and theologically and question deeply buried within. The global nature of the diææerences have shown up. Especially in the what others say. In just this my ææ€rst semester, pedagogy and inclusive learning practices gave worship services. Iâm one of the assistants Iâm discovering who I am, what is my own me tremendous conææ€dence to critically reææ°ect who helps to create the worship space each voice on issues in my community, church, and on my own contexts and lived experiences week. Molding together diææerent traditions my own beliefs. I have found three things at as a woman from South Asia. At McCormick, into one 30-minute service that welcomes all McCormick: freedom, acceptance, and diversity. my identity, voice, and bodily experiences has been an incredible exercise. But itâs been Godâs freedom means I can be who I am, that I matter. McCormick helped me to harness my a joy. Itâs a ministry that continuously provides am accepted by others as I am, and I can learn gifts of deep listening, leadership qualities, and pastoral care sensibilities. I use them in opportunities for personal growth as we step from the diversity that is around me to accept both the classroom and my ææ€eld education up to the challenge of creating a worship others as they are. I can see that happening as site. At St. James Episcopal Cathedral, I space thatâs inviting to online and in-person we learn to listen deeply with our hearts... to oææer leadership in worship and facilitate worshippersâŠa multi-generational gathering. listen without judgment and to be authentic faith formation classes for the children and We look to ææ€nd the common ground we holdâ when we speak. The kinds of discussions Iâm the congregation. Theological training at the love of God and the love of people. Coming having here are bringing me closer to people. McCormick shaped my worldview and my call to seminary for me was not about earning The McCormick experience is giving me a to social justice. I am being transformed and a credential, but more an understanding of better understanding of my colleagues and the equipped for my ministry at every level of my religion itselfâŠof my faithâŠof the Bible and its contexts of their lives. I can see how all of this life. Because of McCormick, I have come to history. I cherish the tradition of Christianity, will be helpful to me as I serve in my church realize that I am continuously becoming and and I also critique it quite a bit. My questions and explore chaplaincy as a possible vocation.â unfolding, just like any other human being in have been welcomed here.â this world.â Jiseon Jo Steææ€ Baiju Kelli Manning First-year M.Div. student MAMâ19 First-year M.Div. student Third-year M.Div. student 2023 ANNUAL REPORT 9
PASTORAL CALLS TO POLITICAL ARENAS Not every pulpit is in a church. For two McCormick alums, their messages have been heard in Chicagoâs City Hall and the halls of the U.S. Congress. Chicago Ald. William Hall and former U.S. Representative Bobby Rush credit McCormick with being the place that helped them explore the intersection of faith and the public square. While visiting the U.S. southern border where it neighbors Mexico, Chicago Alderman William Hall (M. Div.â11) saw how people who are seeking safe havens in this country are living. Itâs one of many experiences where his oæìŒcial work and his pastoral calling converge. âThis is the Bible coming to life,â Ald. Hall says. âJesus and his parents were asylum seekers. This is Jesusâ story in the thousands.â The lead pastor at St. James Community Church on Chicagoâs South Side, Ald. Hall saw people at border camps behind barbed wire gates patrolled by border security. It was diæìŒcult, he remembers, for him to witness abandoned children and migrant men and women looking for safetyâhundreds and even thousandsâof miles away from their native country. The presence of migrants who have arrived in Chicago over the past several months is a topic of tension within the cityâs political and faith communities. For Ald. Hall, both an elected oæìŒcial and a pastor, the inææ°ux of people from South American countries highlights insuæìŒcient immigration policies while also calling for the need to invoke a moral response to help people in search of food, shelter, and a future. âThe moral dilemma,â Ald. Hall states, âis how do you treat people with dignity and prioritize safety?â Working to address that dilemma, Ald. Hall calls upon the many global conversations that he had at McCormick to help him navigate this terrain. âEngaging with people from around the world when I was at McCormick helps me see and understand the migrant experience from a more global perspective,â says Ald. Hall. âMcCormick gave me a broader lens through which I see the issues in our world. Thereâs a call to serve the marginalized.â 10 MCCORMICK THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
Service to his community, city, and Congress A thread has been running through the lifeâs work of Rep. Bobby Rush (MATSâ98) from the time he was in the Boy Scouts, served in the military, joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, helped organize the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, and entered politics. Coming to McCormick helped him identify that threadâa commitment to give voice and hope to the people he serves. âI always had a vision for my life,â say Rep. Rush, who served in Chicagoâs City Council for 10 years before being elected to the U.S. House of Representative in 1993, where he served for three decades. âBut I did not have biblical spiritual insight into my life until I went to McCormick and settled down and began to seriously study my calling in Christ.â During the late 1990s and A deææ€ning moment in Rep. Rushâs McCormick experience happened one day while early 2000s, McCormickâs a professor was reading Luke 4:18-20. âThe text spoke to me,â he recalls. âIt made African American Leadership sense of my life. Preach the gospel to the poorâŠheal the brokenheartedâŠhelp the Program, under the blind to seeâŠset the oppressed freeâŠall that was what my life was about. My whole leadership of program journey was right there.â director, the late Rev. Dr. The commitment to serve the underserved was seen in community survival Leon Finney, Jr. (D.Min.â90), programs such as free breakfast programs, medical, and legal aid programs when graduated nearly 100 Master he was with the Black Panthers; community development initiatives while a Chicago of Theology and Doctor of alderman, and support for government programs that would provide economic Ministry degree students. opportunities for urban areas when he served in Congress. Rep. Rush was among its many graduates. âMcCormick was the place where I really began to focus on and mature in my calling,â says Rep. Rush, who founded the Beloved Community Church of God in Christ on Chicagoâs South Side in 2001. âItâs where my passionate patterns and purposes were drawn out, and I felt empowered to be faithful to my ministerial call wherever I went.â 2023 ANNUAL REPORT 11
A HISTORY THAT MOVES US FORWARD As McCormick settles into a new home, it takes with it a history that has been moving toward a more inclusive, diverse, and ecumenical communityâone that values the multicultural reality that is our world. Get a glimpse of where weâve been and where weâre going. Reunion of Old and New Schools of The Seminary New Albany Presbyterianism builds homes on Theological Chalmers Place. Seminary is moved McCormickâs Initially, the to Chicago and The Civil War role in Korean Seminary planned renamed the begins. Presbyterianism to borrow Seminary Presbyterian begins in the $100,000 to build founded in Seminary of 1880s. the homes until Hanover, Indiana the Northwest, Mrs. McCormick as the Indiana operating initially Cyrus McCormick intervened and Theological out of a hotel dies. Nettie contributed the Seminary. located at the The Civil War Fowler McCormick funds noting, âWe Students attend southwest corner of ends. continues support do not believe in classes in a log Clark and Harrison of the Seminary mortgaging the cabin. streets. and its program. propertyâŠâ 1829 1834 1840 1859 1860-64 1861 1864 1865 1871 1880 1884 1887 1889 1890 Indiana The Seminary The Seminary Theological moves to the survives the Seminary moves Presbyterian Lincoln Park Great Chicago The Presbyterian to New Albany, Seminary of campus. Fire, which stops Seminary of Founding of Indiana, and the Northwest just blocks east the Northwest Lane Seminary changes name occupies several of the campus is renamed in Cincinnati to New Albany temporary which becomes a McCormick Theological locations in refuge for many Theological Seminary. Chicago. escaping the ææ€re. Seminary. Lane Debates on slavery 12 MCCORMICK THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
Mrs. McCormick President John and her son, Cyrus Timothy Stone lays Jr., unimpressed the cornerstone by some on Founding of the Inææ°uenza pandemic First women of the Commons First woman the Seminaryâs Presbyterian starts; World War I enrolled in a Building at the awarded a faculty, recruit Training School, ends. McCormick degree Lincoln Park McCormick and facilitate the later the program. campus on Oct. 29, degree (M.A.). hiring of Professor Presbyterian 1929, the day of the Andrew Zenos, College of Christian stock market crash much to the Education (PCCE). that marked the displeasure of older beginning of the faculty members. Great Depression. 1890 1891 1906 1908 1914 1918 1923 1924 1928 1929 1932 1932 McCormick Lane Seminary changes its in Cincinnati name again to suspends the Presbyterian operations and Theological sends its faculty, The Seminary Inauguration of World War I Seminary, students, library, sells portions of McCormickâs ææ€rst begins. Chicago following and ææ€nancial its Lincoln Park president, Rev. Dr. Nettie Fowler a $1 million resources to the properties north James G.K. McClure. McCormick dies. gift from the Presbyterian of Fullerton McCormick family Theological Avenue. and their request Seminary, to change the Chicago. name. 2023 ANNUAL REPORT 13
A HISTORY THAT MOVES US FORWARD CONTINUED McCormick moves to new home at 56th World War II ends. and Woodlawn Ave. Under the in Chicagoâs Hyde leadership of Rev. Rev. Dr. Martin âHerald the Park neighborhood Dr. Leon Finney, The United States Luther King, Jr., Ramâ installed and students return McCormick enters World delivers sermon, on Lincoln Park to Lincoln Park to establishes the War II. âPaulâs Letter campus. âacquireâ Herald the African American to American Ram and relocate Leadership Christians,â at him to Hyde Park. Program. McCormick. 1941 1943 1945 1953 1959 1969 1970 1974 1975 1990 1991 1992 2003 The Presbyterian Young Lords McCormickâs Rev. Dr. Cynthia Theological take over Stone Board approves M. Campbell Seminary, Administration the Latino becomes ææ€rst Chicago changes Building on Theological woman president its name back McCormickâs Studies Program, of McCormick to McCormick Professor Marshal Lincoln Park one of the ææ€rst and ææ€rst woman Theological Scott brings the campus. of its kind in president of a Seminary. Presbyterian Institute U.S. theological PCUSA seminary. for Industrial Relations education. to McCormick to give future ministers the opportunity to learn about labor and management Rev. Dr. issues and place Daniel McCormick students Rodriguez- in factory jobs as part Diaz is of their formational instrumental experience. in developing McCormickâs Hispanic ministry program. 14 MCCORMICK THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
McCormick McCormick initiates theological moves to certiææ€cate program 5416 South at Cook County Jail âHerald the Ramâ Cornell Avenue, (now known as the sold to a Chicago Chicago, McCormick ææ€nalizes Solidarity Building McCormick art and architectural now home to formal legal Initiative, SBI). McCormick joins receives three-year, artifacts collector and the Catholic merger with Lane with the Samuel $1 million grant to returns to Chicagoâs Theological Seminary. DeWitt Proctor launch the Trauma North Side. Union, the Conference to Healing Initiative. Lutheran launch the Center for School of Reparatory Justice, Theology at Transformation, and Chicago, and Remediation. McCormick. 2003 2007 2011 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2023 2023 2023 2023 McCormick moves into a new building Mr. David at 5460 S. University H. Crawford COVID 19 Avenue just three Rev. Dr. Frank becomes the pandemic McCormick McCormick blocks from its 56th M. Yamada 11th President of spreads across sells the 5460 receives three- and Woodlawn becomes ææ€rst McCormick (after the globe. S. University year $1.25 million location. Herald Asian American being named campus to the grant to launch the Ram makes the president of Interim President University of the Sacred move, too. McCormick. in 2017). Chicago. Memory Project. 2023 ANNUAL REPORT 15
FINANCIAL CIRCLES Summary of 2022 â 2023 Operating and Income Expense Other General Income Net Tuition 0.02% Gifts 1.60% Debt Service Auxiliary Enterprises 7.37% 0.12% Plant and 6.23% Operations Marketing and 12.68% 23.75% Instruction Communications 2.59% Auxiliary Enterprises 0.39% Student Life 2.42% Advancement 7.85% 11.35% 32.74% 90.89% Academic Support Gen. Admin. and Governance Invested Funds Transfer FY22/23 Sources of Funds FY22/23 Uses of Funds 16 MCCORMICK THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2023-2024 Executive Committee Jesse Knox Reggie Williams Trustees who completed Church of Good Shepherd, McCormick Theological Seminary, their Board service in 2023 Connie Lindsey Chicago, IL Chicago, IL (Faculty Board Chair Albert Park Representative) George Bermingham Ronald Cruikshank Claremont McKenna College, Class of 2026 Brown Brothers Harriman, Board Vice Chair Claremont, CA New York, NY Robert Unglaub Nicholas Pearce Stephen Bowen David D. Daniels III Treasurer/Chair of Finance Apostolic Faith Church, Chicago, IL William Blair, Villanova, PA McCormick Theological Seminary, Committee Doralice Gardner William Evertsberg Chicago, IL Amy Pagliarella McCormick Theological Seminary, Kenilworth Union Church, Diane Hart Secretary Chicago, IL (Student Kenilworth, IL Kenilworth, IL Scott Anderson Representative) Reuben Lillie Donna Hammond Chair, Student Aææairs Committee Donna Hammond McCormick Theological Seminary, McCormick Theological Seminary, Stephen Bowen McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, IL (Alumni Chicago, IL Co-Chair, Development Committee Chicago, IL (Student Representative) Dionne Jones David Van-Dyke Representative) Dominica McBride McCormick Theological Seminary, Co-Chair, Development Committee Randall Tate Become Center, Chicago, IL Chicago, IL Timothy Hart-Andersen McCormick Theological Seminary, Dave Roberson Marilyn Pagan-Banks At Large Chicago, IL (Alumni President New York, NY A Just Harvest, Chicago, IL Albert Park Representative) Joyce Shin Monica Moss Chair, Education Policy and Program Swarthmore Presbyterian Church, Trinity United Church of Christ, Committee Swarthmore, PA Chicago, IL David H. Crawford Class of 2025 Robert K. Unglaub, II Jessica Rivera President Ronald G. Cruikshank Integrated Marketing Solutions, McCormick Theological Seminary, Annette Huizenga New York, NY Chicago, IL Chicago, IL Interim Dean of the Faculty Ronald W. Frank David Van Dyke Randall Tate Blank Rome, Pittsburgh, PA Saugatuck, MI McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, IL Class of 2024 Timothy Hart-Andersen Jacqueline A. White Westminster Presbyterian Church, Life Trustees Illinois Tool Works, Glenview, IL Scott Anderson Minneapolis, MN Westminster Presbyterian Church, Stewart Hudnut John L. Anderson Madison, WI Santa Barbara, CA Lake Forest, IL Pamela N. Floyd Connie Lindsey John M. Buchanan Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL Christian Century (retired) Chicago, IL Amy Pagliarella Jon T. Ender Jina Kang Chicago, IL Ender Capital Management McCormick Theological Seminary, Carol Ping Tsao Ozzie E. Smith, Jr. Chicago, IL Medical College of Wisconsin, Covenant United Church (retired) Milwaukee, WI 17 2023 ANNUAL REPORT
FAITH THAT MEETS THE NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY The 2023 Distinguished Alumna Rev. Carmen Rosario-Riviere, and the Rising Star Award recipient, Chaplain Maria Sullivan-Marrero, go to where the needs are. People in need and pain often donât come to church, so the church must go to them, believes Chaplain Maria Sullivan-Marrero. Itâs the reason she moved her crisis support group out of her church and into the oæìŒces of the Fairhaven Rape Crisis Center in Highland, Ind. âItâs a faith-based organization,â says Sullivan-Marrero, MAMâ20, a certiææ€ed advocate for A huge part of my seminary sexual assault victims. âWe can pray and oææer words of encouragement â and hope. We are able to connect women to the legal and social services education helped me gain that are needed to heal, restore conææ€dence, and ææ€nd support to move an understanding that a forward after trauma.â commitment to social justice issues is an answer to a call⊠Chaplain Sullivan-Marrero was the recipient of McCormickâs 2023 Rising Star award. Similar Itâs important to be part of to the seminaryâs Distinguished Alumni Award that was created in 1976, the Rising Star award the conversationâŠto oææer a honors the myriad ways alums, who within 10 years of their graduation, have contributed to the clear understanding of what ministry of the church in service to the world. the needs are. In a polarizing environment, that can be McCormickâs 2023 Distinguished Alumna was Rev. Carmen Rosario-Riviere, challenging; it shouldnât M.Div.â84. The 69th alum to receive this title, Rev. Rosario-Riviere makes no keep us from being guided distinction between ministering inside the church and outside its four walls. by the moral teachings âWeâre called to be involved,â she says. âMinistry doesnât only happen on of Scripture, the needs of Sundays, far more of it happens â and is needed â the rest of the week. Itâs our communities, and a not enough to be inside singing and listening to the sermon, you must go commitment to share Godâs out and practice.â love with all.â Practicing, for Rev. Rosario-Riviere, the ææ€rst Hispanic woman to be ordained Rev. Violet Johnicker, in the Presbyter of Chicago of the Presbyterian Church (USA), has meant helping people M.Div.â18, McCormickâs ææ€rst register to vote, referring individuals to needed social services, and serving on the Monmouth County Social Services Board in New Jersey. âWe partnered with the Hispanic Aææairs Center Rising Star Recipient and gave workshops on domestic violence,â she adds. âWhen the center needed a place to 18 MCCORMICK THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
Like McCormickâs Distinguished Alumna and its Rising Star recipient, the 2023 graduating class moves into communities here and abroad to meet needs and share the gospel, not only in their words, but also in their actions. meet, we made our church available. What we learn in church is could sit and talk without being judged,â she recalls. âI was able that we are to visit the sickâŠfeed the hungryâŠencourage those to see a much bigger picture by studying with cultures I had in the prisons. You donât do that in church; you do that in your been clueless about.â communityâŠthatâs the ministry of Jesus.â While pastoring in New York, Rev. Rosario-Riviere taught Latin Chaplain Sullivan-Marrero has long been engaged in ministries American studies at the City University of New York. âTeaching that move outside the church and into the community as well. helped to broaden my education and experiences and that was The public square, she notes, is where she puts into practice knowledge I could bring back to the church,â she says. âThere is much of what she learned at McCormick. âOne of the things I no limit to what we can give and what we can receive when we picked up from McCormick was the importance of creating an share the gospel, not only in words, but also in our actions in the open table, a safe space, and a diverse community where anyone world around us.â 2023 ANNUAL REPORT 19
STORYTELLING THATâS MEANT TO HEAL MEMORIES AND REPAIR COMMUNITIES A 1.25 million-dollar grant from the Lilly Endowment is supporting McCormickâs Sacred Memory Project. McCormickâs newest initiative will oææer todayâs leaders the competencies needed to help repair and heal memories that have kept individuals and communities from achieving their potential. âMemory,â explains Dr. Itihari TourĂ©, âinææ°uences imagination, and imagination informs the future.â Supported by a 1.25 million-dollar grant from the Lilly Endowment, Dr. TourĂ©, associate dean for Curriculum and Assessment, is leading the seminaryâs new Sacred Memory Program thatâs identifying and developing change models for the repair and restoration of narratives The Sacred Memory that have been omitted or distorted to diminish the collective value of various people groups. â Project is a way to reclaim and share âJesusâ value was questioned because he came from a so-called insigniææ€cant townâNazareth,â more complete says Dr. TourĂ©. âThe question was meant to demeanâŠto take away his credibility. Similar narratives and the questions and narratives are voiced today about individuals, communities, and histories to render them unworthy. The Sacred Memory Project is a way to reclaim and share more contributions of all complete narratives and the contributions of all groups of peopleâŠit allows for a more groups of people⊠expansive and inclusive imagination of the future.â it allows for a Remembering, adds Dr. TourĂ©, is a charge from the Creator. âHebrew Scripture tells us to more expansive remember and not forget the things we have seenâŠto even teach them to our children,â and inclusive she says. âIn the Christian Scripture, we are invited to the communion table to remember. imagination of the Remembering is restorative, reparative, healing, and sacred work.â future.â Such sacred work, she points out, is already evident at McCormick. The historical truth-telling Dr. Itihari TourĂ© work of the Center for Reparatory Justice, Transformation and Remediation (CRJTR) helps to Associate Dean for shine light on injustices that have long been hidden, honor the memories of those who have Curriculum and Assessment worked to eradicate racial and other biases, and legislate for reparations to address centuries of ææ€nancial inequities. The restorative circles that are part of the Trauma Healing Initiative (THI) draw people together to acknowledge trauma without allowing it to become their identity. 2020 MCMCCCORMICK THEOLORMICK THEOLOGICAL SEMINAROGICAL SEMINARYY
McCormickâs Solidarity Building Initiative at Cook County Jail (SBI) oææers ways for incarcerated learners to explore themes of justice, social change, and healing that can lead to ææ°ourishing relationships. For example, in addition to its theological studies classes, SBI gathers a small group of McCormickâs incarcerated students in whatâs called a celebration circle. They aæìŒrm each otherâs best qualities and accomplishments. Itâs a practice that helps them regain a positive sense of self. Itâs a re-storying of the past, a practice used by SBI to help incarcerated learners imagine new possibilities for their future. Making these kinds of meaningful connections and healing interpretations is essential for personal, spiritual, and communal growth, Dr. TourĂ© emphasizes. âAn important aim of sacred memory work,â she points out, âis to expand these models so that those who minister in the pulpit as well as those who serve in the public square have the competencies needed to create diverse learning communities that value the full humanity of all.â As we oææer trauma-informed Reparations can never Providing education to â â â care, we share information be reduced to a ææ€nancial people who are incarcerated while oææering choices. We transaction. Part of its work and to the public is more think outside the trauma box, is creating models of praxis than a charitable good. building relationships of trust for reparatory justice by Itâs a pathwayâŠitâs access and new kinds of communities. providing more complete to resources that will ease We collaborate and help to narrativesâŠstories that the transition back into identify new resources that empower us to work for society and ææ€nd livable work can help people see new change by telling the truth.â opportunities for people ways to deal with life. It takes â Dr. Iva Carruthers who were incarcerated.â imagination to do that.â Executive Director, Center â Jia Johnson â Dr. Stephanie M. Crumpton for Reparatory Justice, Director, Solidarity Building Associate Professor of Practical Transformation and Remediation Initiative Theology Director, Trauma Healing Initiative 2023 ANNUAL REPORT 21
IN MEMORIAM We give thanks for the lives 1948 1985 of our beloved alumni, faculty, C. Howard Wallace F. Andrew Carhartt and trustees who joined the 1953 1989 great cloud of witnesses Allen Maruyama Stanley F. Stephens during the past year. May God 1957 1991 continue to bless each family Gilbert W. Bowen Catherine G. Borchert member and friend who William T. Henderson mourn their loss. May we ææ€nd James B. Rockwood 1995 hope and comfort in Godâs Kent M. Organ gift of life eternal. 1961 Murray S. Blackadar 2000 Bette H. Duææ 1963 Thomas B. Martin 2001 Michael D. Jacobs 1967 M. James Gardiner 2019 Valerie Parker 1977 E. Otis Moore 1979 Emeritus Faculty Edward A. White Lois G. Livezey 1981 Former Trustee James H. Nash Robert C. Preble, Jr. 22 MCCORMICK THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
REMEMBERING GIL BOWEN: IN HIS OWN WORDS Rev. Dr. Gilbert Bowen was a giftâŠa gracious, thoughtful, insightful, and caring gift. Gil was a pastor with purpose, a pastor who didnât just preach about big things, but did big things and motivated others to do the same. He made us all better and he and his wife of 63 years, Marlene, made this world a much kinder and caring place and their legacy lives on through generous gifts to McCormick and other important ministries. Rather than share details here of Gilâs and Marleneâs wonderful life and ministry or oææer a personal reææ°ection, we wanted to share Gil with you in his own words from interviews he did at Kenilworth Union Church. We also wanted to highlight how Gil viewed McCormick in his formation.* We start after Dr. Bowen describes growing up in a modest Baptist church and heading oææ, at the urging of his church choir director, to Wheaton College, the âWest Point of Fundamentalism,â as Gil described it: âIf you Rev. Dr. Gilbert Bowen have to go to an evangelical school, thatâs the one to go to.â He starts with a discussion of the evangelicalism he grew up with and witnessed at Wheaton and contrasts that education with what he learned at McCormick. One cannot help but consider how that contrast plays out in so many ways in conææ°icts across the country and around the world today. We oææer our thanks to the congregation of Kenilworth Union Church and their Senior Minister, Rev. Dr. William A. Evertsberg for their long-time support and permission to share the words and pictures here, and oææer a special thank you to the Bowen family for their kindness and support. David H. Crawford, President (Editorâs Note: we have made minor edits for clarity and added occasional emphasis to the transcripts of Dr. Bowenâs interview.) I went to McCormick Seminary and â entered a whole new world.â âRev. Dr. Gilbert Bowen 2023 ANNUAL REPORT 23
So I ended up at Wheaton, and it was a very of the Bible, is there an inspired message interesting experience, because where I in the ææ€rst ææ€ve books of the Bible that we came from, everybody sort of believed the can hang onto, even if we realize that it was same thing, and it was good and we were written by guys like (alphabet soup) J, E, D, P, all committed to it. I got to Wheaton, and the Priestley, the Deuteronomus, the Yahwus, everybody believed the same thing, but they the whole apparatus of the critical scholars argued about it all the time. The ææ€rst course I as to how it got done? Is there nevertheless a had was a course in Apologetics. And I learned message in the middle of it which is inspired that there were all sorts of insidious forces and is from God which we can hang onto? out there in the world that were undermining The word that was used for âmessageâ is the the gospel. Karl Barth and Emil Brunner and word charigma, which is a Greek word which Rev. Bowen and his wife, Bultman and all the other German âBâsâ and means, âthe message.â (Thatâs what we always Marlene, were married for 63 Paul Tillich. And the guy would set them up do in scholarship, think up Greek and German years and were partners in and knock âem down. Thatâs a good teaching words for normal English âwhatevers.â) The one ministry. Both enjoyed music, technique. The only problem was, I thought he thing I didnât get into with respect to where I traveling and together, directed set âem up better than he knocked âem down. came from was the whole business of being the Gil and Marlene Bowen And I ran for the library.â born again. Christian Outreach Fund which was endowed by members of Kenilworth Union Church to And when I got to McCormick Seminary, where But the emphasis in evangelicalism is upon encourage a host of ministries half the guys it seemed were engineers out of experiential, emotional worship of one sort or the Bowenâs supported. Purdue whoâd never even opened the Bible, I another. Thatâs a big deal. When I went was loaded for bear. Iâd read most of the stuææ to McCormick, the emphasis was upon I forgot who it was I was going to read. So Wheaton did me a intellectual integrity, typically. Having a faith â great favor in that regard. They stimulated me that can be intellectually defended, that is that said, maybe it intellectually and then I went to McCormick coherent. That makes sense. It didnât have to was Mark Twain, âI Seminary and entered a whole new world. And make sense at the Baptist church where I grew donât have problems for want of a better term, let me simply say it up. It was in the book, it was preached, and with things I donât was a world of liberal criticism and not words that was it. So it was a kind of authoritarian. If of God, but nevertheless concerned with what I can use the term with the Baptist experience, understand in the God might have to say through the manuscript. an authoritarian experientialism. Can I put Bible, I have problems And we called it Neo-orthodoxy. I was there those two together? Because the minister with things I do in what was known then as the heyday of preached the Bible. And the Bible was to be Neo-orthodoxy. Orthodoxy in the sense that accepted as inerrant and literal in every sense. understand.â it was an attempt to shore up the message of And the heart of your religious experience was the Bible at the same time while the criticism to accept Jesus Christ as your own personal of the text and its development was accepted. lord and savior. The McCormick Seminary (All this Iâm doing in an oversimpliææ€ed fashion.) experience, on the other hand, involved much So if Moses didnât write the ææ€rst ææ€ve books more of the question of intellectual integrity. 24 MCCORMICK THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
Rev. Bowen served as pastor of Kenilworth Union Church for 37 years. During his tenure, the church expanded its reach throughout Chicagoâs North Shore communities and was noted for its youth ministries. But why was it important to me? I suppose thatâs where I should people because they made the mistake of letting the women and come back. Because interestingly enough, after my studies at children go when they wiped out a village. Itâs there in Joshua; you Wheaton, I had real problems with the idea of a Bible that was can read it for yourself. There were all kinds of problems without error and that was to be understood literally. In a sense, like that. So what McCormick Seminary did for me is give me ironically Wheaton College pulled the rug out from under me in a way to hang on to the central message, without necessarily terms ofâIâll say this very simplyâmy capacity to approach the swallowing all the problems in the Bible. I forgot who it was that Bible that way. Now, I say it exactly that way because I realize said, maybe it was Mark Twain, âI donât have problems with things that there are people who can approach it that way. Probably a I donât understand in the Bible, I have problems with things I do lot more people who can than canât, if youâre talking about the understand.â There is a message that has integrity in the biblical larger Protestant population in this country. You know the good text, that can be found and defended because it is coherent, it is southern Baptist has no diæìŒculty with that. But by the time I reality-speciææ€c, and itâll make a diææerence in your life if you trust it. got through, in some respects I made the mistake of reading Thatâs sort of where I came out of McCormick. the whole Bible. And I could not handle a God who punished his 2023 ANNUAL REPORT 25
Now, at McCormick, I would say I had an So that in the course of my McCormick studies, There is a message experience which began to alter the way I in order to sustain some sort of integrity about â looked at the biblical message, and that was my own faith, I had to make an adjustment that has integrity in the death of my father. My father, whom I around the question as to what the love of God the biblical text, that respected deeply, was a businessman but means. And I found ample basis for believing can be found and also a man of great faith, moderator of the that the love of God does not mean bailouts, defended because congregation. [He]died of leukemia. He was folks. It means that Heâs with us. As the apostle 48 and I was 24. And here I am at McCormick Paul says, we can face anything with Him who it is coherent, it is learning what? How to preach the message gives us strength. But, no guarantees. And I reality-speciææ€c, and of Godâs love; assuming, I suppose like must confess, I like the other version. itâll make a diææerence everybody does, that the message of Godâs love means that He helps us, takes care of But thatâs where I came out as a result of that in your life if you us, answer our prayers, etc. Needless to say life event with respect to my father. trust it. Thatâs sort of that was an occasion for an adjustment of my understanding of the love of God. I came to Kenilworth Union ChurchâŠand also where I came out realized that intellectual integrity is not saving of McCormick.â And in a sense, I was forced to go back to the faith. Can I repeat that? Intellectual integrity is Bible and the creeds to ask the question as important, but itâs not saving faith. And to what the love of God was all about. And the thing that occurred to me is that in some I did come to the conclusion, with the help respects, both the church I grew up in and the of a fellow by the name of Paul, and Jesus, theology I learned at McCormick, elevated in that maybe God does not exist for us in love the life of faith the business of intellect to a in order to rescue us. And, I came to the very high level. conclusion that even if you pay attention to the Bible, God is not basically an interventionist *Learn more about the contributions Gil god. He doesnât spend his days reaching down and Marlene Bowen made to communities and ææ€xing things. stretching from towns in western Michigan where he and Marlene grew up, to his Now, the interesting question is of course ææ€rst call in Blue Earth, Minnesota, to the why do we assume that in the ææ€rst place. Well Chicago suburbs, and across eastern Freud had something to say about that as a Europe and the Holy Land. matter of fact. The kind of god we want is the kind of god who ææ€xes thing. And I think we sort of assume heâll probably do that, for us at least. Because Iâve heard people say, âItâs not I found ample basis for fairâwhy me? I can think of a lot of people â believing that the love of God who deserve this, but I donât.â does not mean bailouts, folks. It means that Heâs with us.â 26 MCCORMICK THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
Students from McCormick Theological Seminary, the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, and the Catholic Theological Union are ææ€nding ways to do life together. âFriendsgiving,â allowed students to meet, greet, learn from and enjoy the diversity that proximity will continue to provide.
5416 S. Cornell Ave., 5th Floor Chicago, IL 60615 773-947-6300 800-228-4687 mccormick.edu Connect with us at: @McCormick Seminary @mccormickseminary McCormick Theological Seminary Founded in 1829, McCormick Theological Seminary is one of twelve seminaries related Scan to visit the to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and is accredited by the Association of Theological McCormick website. Schools of the United States and Canada, and the Higher Learning Commission.