November 14, 2008
Kairos A Publication of the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary Community
By Crystal McCormick, MDiv Senior
$10,000.00? Such was the estimated value
of a small, oddly shaped vase seen on the Antique
Road Show. The vase, though only mildly aestheti-
cally appealing, did not appear to carry such remark-
able monetary value. Yet, this is a common occur-
rence at the Antique Road show: participants bring
heirlooms or treasures to the show so that sophisti-
cated antique dealers might offer a current market
estimate of whatever it is they are hoping to have
appraised. Sometimes participants are sent away
sullen after learning that their precious heirloom will
not yield as much money or have as much value on
the market as they might have hoped. Others, how-
ever, leave the Antique Road Show beaming be-
cause their tiny little vase - with little aesthetic ap-
peal – has the potential to yield somewhere near
$10,000.00!
I am mindful of the way this show works be-
cause it reminded me of the way our society meas-
ures worth. It seems that our calculated worth is di-
rectly dependent on what we produce and/or what
our potential to produce might be. Our worth as hu-
man beings becomes inextricably linked to things
such as how much money we make or have, or how
many or what degrees we have, let alone what ma-
terial things we own. But, it doesn’t stop there, ei-
ther. Our society is especially inclined to measure
people’s worth according to our standards of beauty
as well as our intellectual capabilities. The list is
endless. We are constantly putting up standards
ATTENTION PC(USA) SENIORS
The first SENIOR SEMINAR of the year will take
place on Tuesday, November 18, 2008, in McMillan #210
beginning at 7:00 p.m. lasting until 8:00 p.m. Jack
Barden, VP for Admissions will present “Preparing Per-
sonal Information Form (PIF) and Senior Placement Bio.”
Issue #166
and measuring people by them; the ramifications are
devastating.
Yet, assigning people’s value according to
such things stands directly in contradiction to our
Christian faith. Our Christian faith calls us to some-
thing different; our faith calls us to see intrinsic value
in every person regardless of what or how much of
these things they produce. The quandary, however,
is that we are caught in a system - a web - from
which it seems impossible to untangle ourselves. In
fact, many of us go through life like it is the Antique
Road Show, we are like the hopeful participants
waiting for our market value to be assessed. I am
not sure that I have any solutions, only a hope and
desire that we would begin to establish new patterns
of thinking - new ways of viewing one another so
that our value is not dependent on what and/or how
much we produce.
The question is, how do we do better? How
do we escape what is so ingrained in us, in our cul-
ture and our way of life, but is so contrary to who we
are and what we believe as people of faith?
I pray that we would all seek to change this
paradigm so that when we think about how much we
are worth we would be able to confidently think of
our intrinsic worth as well as the intrinsic worth of
every other human being who has been created in
God’s image, and, may we not only think it, may we
truly believe it and internalize it.
Inside This Issue
Chapel Schedule and An- 2 What I Learned in 5
nouncements Seminary Today
Word of the Day: baptizw 3 Calendar of Events 6
© 2008 Austin Presbyterian
Theological Seminary
Issue 166 www.austinseminary.typepad.com/portal/kairos.html Page 2

Chapel Schedule PARENTS’ NIGHT OUT!

November 17—November 21
Monday: Service of the Word
Jim Sweet, preacher
Tuesday: Service of the Word and
Sacrament
Rev. Dr. David Johnson,
preacher
Thursday: Morning Prayer Service
Led by Amber Reber
Friday: Service of the Word
Paul Dubois, Preacher
Senior MDiv students preach in chapel this
week on Monday and Friday
November 21, 6-8pm
To reserve your place, contact Laurel Dixon,
Babysitting Coordinator at
laurel.dixon@austinseminary.edu or 473-8797
no later than 3:00pm on Thursday, November
20. Spaces are limited.
Other Upcoming Events Brought
To You By Community Edge
(Spouses Group)
November
27th – Community Thanksgiving Meal. Pot Luck in
Stotts Fellowship Hall for those who are
in town. Lisa Straus coordinating. RSVP
to lisa.straus@austinseminary.edu.
December
5th – Lessons and Carols, APTS Community Ser-
vice, Shelton Chapel Bring a dessert to
Stotts Fellowship Hall following wor-
ship - Student Senate will provide

Get Out!
drinks.

Kairos Editorial Guidelines

1 Kairos is the voice of students at Aus-
tin Seminary.
2 Kairos generally carries no advertise-
ment for sales of goods or services by
individuals. An exception is the sale
of a student’s library or other study
aids.
3 It is not possible to make all program
announcements which are submitted
by individual churches. Kairos is
Join the student group more likely to be able to run an-
Still Small Voice nouncements which apply to ecu-
for a spiritual menical or interfaith groups or groups
of churches.
Wilderness Retreat 4 No letters which attack individuals or
led by Bill Greenway groups will be run in Kairos. This is to
be distinguished from letters which
might criticize the actions of individu-
Saturday, November 22 als or groups.
Meeting at McCord at 8:30 am 5 Kairos will publish letters to the editor
that contribute to Christian conversa-
Returning at about 2:30 pm. tion on the APTS campus. All letters
Sign up at the McCord Desk to participate must be signed.
 Issue 166 www.austinseminary.typepad.com/portal/kairos.html Page 3

By Lisa Straus, MDiv Senior

bapti,zw discovered and listed above, baptisms involve water;

bapti,zw (baptizo) is the Greek word we often
translate as ‘to baptize’ in English. Once you learn
the Greek alphabet, it is one of those words that,
when you see it in a sentence, you quickly read it
and move on. Doesn’t everyone know what baptize
means? This week I began wondering what the
Greek word meant outside of the Christian context.
Volume I of The Theological Dictionary of the New
Testament includes the following possible transla-
tions in non-Biblical, Greek texts: to dip under water;
to dye; to immerse; to sink something in mud; to suf-
fer shipwreck, drown, or perish; to go under physi-
cally or mentally; to sink into sleep, intoxication, or
impotence; to be overwhelmed by faults, desires,
sicknesses, or magical arts (529-530).
Ritual cleansing existed in different forms
and with different meaning for many of the people
who lived in the Graeco-Roman world. The ritual of
baptism came to the early Christian community via
the Judaic tradition of ritual cleansing, however the
Greek Septuagint uses two other Greek verbs,
plunw (pluno) and luw (luo), as frequently as it uses
bapti,zw to describe the ritual cleansing found in the
Tanakh. (I wonder why we do not plun-ize or lu-ize
babies?) As I scanned the different meanings attrib-
uted to the verb bapti,zw, I thought about the differ-
ent nuances of the sacrament of baptism in the
Christian tradition. As with most of the translations I
whether one dips or immerses is typically a denomi-
national variance (I think it is a good thing that we do
not use dye or mud, though I have heard that military
chaplains in desert climates have used sand as a
substitute when water is scarce.) Translations like
drowning and perishing parallel the sense of baptism
as a death and rebirth into a new life. I like the image
of being so swept away by faith that a sense of in-
toxication might follow. Perhaps that was what ob-
servers of Pentecost witnessed when they accused
the gathered believers of being “filled with new
wine” (Acts 2:13, NRSV). I have friends for whom
religion leaves them feeling overwhelmed to the
point of impotence by their faults. This is a less de-
sirable, but nevertheless actual, consequence of
some religious teachings for some people.
So perhaps some of these translations of
bapti,zw in other Greek texts do not stray quite so far
from the New Testament use as I originally thought.
For me, the rich texture of the evolution of bapti,zw
over time shows nuances and variations of interpre-
tation that assist me in unpacking what the sacra-
ment originally meant. Now, each time I enter the
chapel, touch my fingers to the water in the font, and
press that cool water to my forehead, I remember
not only my own baptism, but also the breadth of ex-
periences that so many others have encountered
when they encountered the word bapti,zw.

M.Div. Middlers and Seniors:

November 20, 2008, 11:00 a.m. to noon Winsome Walkers
McMillan 210
Anyone interested in walking
Think about your seminary experience! You may win $100 during the lunch hour? If so,
meet in front of McCord building
gift certificate to Toy Joy! each day at noon (weather per-
mitting) and we will walk for
If you are a middler or senior who has completed one term in which about 30-40 minutes. Let’s be-
you took at least 3 courses at Austin Seminary, I invite you to think about your gin on Wednesday, Nov. 12 fol-
seminary experience. All who attend the session on Nov. 20th are eligible for a lowing the Board’s visit. Let’s
drawing for a $100 gift certificate to Austin’s own Toy Joy. be the Austin Seminary
Participants will explore relationships between themes of the seminary “Winsome Walkers”.
experience such as the academic program, transformation, and call to minis-
try. You do not need to have completed SPM or CPE to take part in this ses- Contact Person: Deborah Butler
sion.
Interested? Please RSVP to Timothy Lincoln,
(tlincoln@austinseminary.edu; 404-4873).
 Issue 166 www.austinseminary.typepad.com/portal/kairos.html Page 4

Student Senate Minutes $50 per person.

November 12, 2008
Present: Melissa Koerner, Matthew Thompson,
Sarah Hegar, Amy Wiles, Lindsay Hatch,
Jose Lopez, Chris Kreisher
Absent: None
Visitors: Margaret Talbot
NEW BUSINESS
1-Stapler
• Lindsay is going to buy a stapler for the student
lounge.
• There will also be more tea and possibly hot cocoa
added to the lounge.
2-Still Small Voice – Margaret Talbot
• $40 spent on thank-you gift for David White for offer-
ing his home and time
• Bill Greenway’s spiritual retreat is coming up Nov. 22
– expenses will be lunch and a gift for Bill. $100 for
lunch - $50 gift card for Bill = $150 total
• The Seminary Retreat is coming in the spring and
there will be discussion on who will sponsor this
event, Still Small Voice or Student Senate.
• Still Small Voice will be meeting Friday and would like
to know something by then.
• Senate has approved $200 to Still Small Voice for the
entire year. This money can be spent in whatever
way desired.
3- Seminary Retreat
• Margaret has researched prices at “The Crossing”
which is north of Austin for Wednesday, February 18,
2009.
• She proposed $25 per person and Senate picking up
• Senate has discussed the budget issues and the is-
sue of developing a spiritual retreat for the seminary.
Senate raised some concerns about the price of this
trip for an afternoon retreat. There were other con-
cerns regarding participation in the past. At this point
in time Senate has agreed that this retreat could be
done at a less expensive location.
• Senate is willing to sponsor this retreat budgeted for
$500 with the idea that this is the Senate’s budget
and Senate would like oversee how the money is be-
ing spent. We understand there has been money for
this in the past but as of now it has not been budg-
eted.
OLD BUSINESS
4-Polity Bowl
• T-shirts were ordered and first order will be here on
Nov. 18. If necessary another order can be made and
arrive here by Dec. 5.
• Referees – possibly Cody Sandahl and David Lee
Hulsey
• Advertising will be coming
5-Manna
• All is ready for the next two mannas
• Hanging of the Greens
• Idea of stringing cranberries and popcorn to hang on
the tree
• More to be discussed next week
6-Coffeehouse
• 8:30-10:30 Thursday evening (Nov. 13)
• Jose learned how to use the coffeemaker so we pay
$9 to use their equipment

PC(USA) STUDENT INFORMATION

ORDINATION EXAMINATIONS
DATE OF EXAMS: Friday & Saturday, January 23-24, 2009
PLACE: McMillan #211
TIME OF ORIENTATION: January 23 at 8:30 a.m.
TIME OF EXAMS: January 23, 2009
9:00 a.m. – Theological Competence (3 hours)
1:30 p.m. – Worship & Sacraments (3 hours)
January 24, 2009
9:00 a.m. – Church Polity (3 hours)
12:00 noon – Biblical Exegesis pericopes announced
BIBLE CONTENT EXAM
DATE OF EXAM: Friday, February 6, 2009
PLACE: McMillan #211
TIME OF ORIENTATION: 9:30 a.m.
TIME OF EXAM: 10:00 a.m.
EARLY APPLICATION DEADLINE: Nov. 17, 2008 ($70.00, per exam)
FINAL APPLICATION DEADLINE: Dec. 15, 2008 ($90.00, per exam)
For more information, contact Sharon Pawlik in the Vocation Office
 Issue 166 www.austinseminary.typepad.com/portal/kairos.html Page 5

A Weekly Column Offering Musings, Insights, and Reflections on the Seminary Life

On This Day
By Paul Dubois, MDiv Senior

Writing is a precious gift. But the last few col-

umns I have written have not set well with me. In a
sense, they were forced. The topics were good (I
think), with good content (I believe), and of interest to
some (I hope), but they did not particularly speak to
me. And that is why I write in the first place. Writing
is how I work out my thoughts, my fears, and my
joys. It is a sort of mental/physical processing–
kneading, if you will–of that which perpetually con-
sumes my mind’s attention. But I don’t want it to be
forced. I hate it when it seems forced. Even now, I
am forcing something that is not there.
I wonder whether I have entered into some
sort of spiritual desolation, in which God has not
abandoned me, but, rather, is allowing me to be in
the desert, alone, for a while. Maybe this is why the
inspiration has seemed to have abandoned me. This
is a much more tenable thought than what is, in truth,
the more probable reality: That I am exhausted.
On this day, perhaps the gift from God that I
am to embrace is rest. Today, perhaps, it is more
important that I sleep, than write.
 Issue 166 www.austinseminary.typepad.com/portal/kairos.html Page 6

Monday, November 17th

9:30—11:30 a.m. Institutional Advancement Staff Meeting – Laura Harris Knox Dining Hall
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Worship Service of the Word: Shelton Chapel
Jim Sweet, preacher
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Spiritual Direction Group – Scott Quinn McCord 202
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Acts 2:42 – Jose Lopez McCord 203
1:00 – 4:00 p.m. Business Office Monthly Strategic Planning Meeting Knox Dining Hall
6:00 – 7:30 p.m. MATS Colloquium—Ellen Babinsky McCord 201

Tuesday, November 18th

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Worship Service: Service of the Word and Sacrament Shelton Chapel
NOVEMBER 17-NOVEMBER 23, 2008

The Reverend Dr. David Johnson, preacher

WEEKLY CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Chapel Team: Carol Schmidt and John Leedy

12:00 – 1:30 p.m. President’s Student Luncheon – Nancy Reese Knox Dining Hall
4:15 – 5:15 p.m. English Grammar Review for Biblical Hebrew – Light German Knox Dining Hall
5:15 – 8:15 p.m Reading, Writing, and Study Skills – Light German Knox Dining Hall
5:00 – 6:30 p.m. Company of New Pastors – Hilda Harnden McCord 201
7:00 – 8:00 p.m. Senior Seminar: PIF Writing – Sharon Pawlik McMillan 210

Wednesday, November 19th

8:30 – 9:30 a.m. Foedus Pietas – Alison Riemersma Trull Boardroom
8:30 – 10:00 a.m. Spiritual Direction – Joe Barry McCord 202
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Midweek Manna – Student Senate Stotts Dining Hall
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Call 2 – Gail Dalrymple McCord 203
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. 12-Step Program – Doug Fritzsche McMillan 209
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Corpus Christi – Scott Spence McCord 201
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Student Senate – Melissa Koerner McMillan 206
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. January Travel Seminar – Andy Dearman McCord 204
12:00 – 5:00 p.m. Spiritual Direction – Jean Springer McCord 202
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Wabash Task Force – David White Knox Dining Hall
12:45 – 2:30 p.m. Korean Bible Study – In Hye Park McMillan 204
1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Spiritual Direction – Barbara Schutz McMillan 105
2:00 – 3:30 p.m. APTS Choir Rehearsal – Kevin McClure Shelton Chapel
2:00 – 3:30 p.m. Faculty Meeting – Nancy Reese Trull Boardroom
4:00 – 5:00 p.m. Faculty in Executive Session – Nancy Reese Trull Boardroom
6:00 – 9:00 p.m. Balcones Community Orchestra – Outside Group McMillan 211

Thursday, November 20th

9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Spiritual Direction—Barbara Schutz McCord 202
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Worship: Morning Prayer Service: Shelton Chapel
(Adapted from the Book of Common Worship, PC (USA));
Led by Amber Reber
12:00 – 1:30 p.m. World Religion Class Lunch – Whit Bodman McCord 204
6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Intentional Community Potluck Dinner –Melanie Lange Hicks House

Friday, November 21st

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Worship: Service of the Word: Shelton Chapel
Paul Dubois, preacher
2:30 – 4:00 p.m. QEP Leadership Team Meeting – Alison Riemersma McMillan 105

Saturday, November 22nd

2:00 – 7:00 p.m. The Growing Generation, Inc. – Outside Group McCord 201

Sunday, November 23rd

2:00 – 3:30 p.m. Austin Girl’s Choir – Sara McClure Shelton Chapel

Submissions to Kairos: Email submissions to the editor, Paul Dubois, at Kairos@austinseminary.edu. Calendar
events and room reservation requests should be sent to Jackie McCully at jmccully@austinseminary.edu or made in
person at the McCord desk. Editorial decisions are based on urgency, availability of space, and editorial guidelines.
Deadline is Wednesday at 5:00 P.M. Submissions made after deadline must be accompanied by a dunkel.

Do you have something to say to Kairos? Something to add… Something to refute?

If so, we’d like to hear. We are committed to dialogue.
Letters to the editor will be published. See page 2 of this issue for our editorial guidelines.