Distinguished Alum James Echols, right rear, appears with members of St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in Philadelphia’s Germantown. Echols was a member of St. Michael’s during his seminary years.

Distinguished Alum tribute to James Echols
Convocation banquet highlight

Honoree James Echols poses with family members and friends.

"It takes a seminary to raise a seminary president," the Rev. Dr. James Kenneth Echols told a Spring Convocation audience Tuesday evening, April 29. The occasion was the honoring of Echols, now the president of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, as the 2003 Distinguished Alum of The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. The dinner was at the Holiday Inn, Fort Washington, PA.

In acknowledging the award, Echols singled out the importance of family, congregational affiliations (Immanuel West Philadelphia and St. Michael’s in Philadelphia’s Germantown) and school (LTSP), acknowledging what he called "your seminary’s stewardship, intellect and insight."

Echols said after he arrived in Philadelphia this week he had taken pause to gaze at Hagan (the seminary’s administrative building), the church structures he had been affiliated with at St. Michael’s and Immanuel, and the house in the 7300-block of Germantown Avenue, where his Mother, Edith, still lives. He called the structures "each a metaphor for the influence of family, congregation and school on my life." He described a 21-year history of professional involvement in seminary education – 15 years at LTSP – nine as a professor and six as a dean before leaving to become LSTC’s president six years ago. He praised LTSP for offering to him a "superior education."

In speaking about that formative education he took time to "thank all the professors" who laid a "firm foundation" in Philadelphia for him. He specifically expressed appreciation for the teaching of Professors John H. P. Reumann, Robert Bornemann and LeRoy Aden, all of whom were in attendance at the banquet, noting that he had called upon Reumann for advice when the Chicago Seminary presidency appeared as an opportunity. He also paid tribute to the late Clarence L. Lee, who was the Charles F. Norton Professor of Early Christianity at the seminary before his death in 1989. Lee, Echols said, "was a mentor, colleague and friend who died much too soon." It was Lee, Echols said, who persuaded him to consider a career in theological education. Through the influence of various mentors, Echols said he had come to understand "that parish ministry is the heart of the gospel and the center of the church’s ministry." He said he has constantly worked to teach those ideas and call upon seminary women and men "to proclaim Jesus." In talking about the role of LTSP as the seminary "that raised me as a seminary president," Echols referred to LTSP "as a seminary on the move with a clear sense of mission." He praised LTSP President Philip D. W. Krey for his vision in leading the seminary toward the fulfillment of its mission.

In a state of the seminary message, President Krey said "God has accomplished what those who have led this school into the 21^st century envisioned. We are thoroughly biblical and confessional. We are interconfessional with one-third of the students and faculty from other traditions. We are inclusive with one-third of the faculty and student body persons of color." Krey said also the seminary needs to "proclaim the crucified and resurrected Jesus of Nazareth in the places where people are and invite them. For too long we have expected people to come to us and have forgotten that we are sent by the spirit of the risen Christ to visit and call."

Krey noted six critical developments in the seminary’s work. The seminary will soon announce the filling of a new faculty position for the H. George Anderson Chair for Mission and Cultures. The occupant of the chair will be involved in teaching mission and cultures and in doing research for congregations and synods in multicultural mission. The seminary is working on a new curriculum with Public Witness as its theme. The seminary’s Board has recommended initiating a Ph.D. program that has been proposed to the Association of Theological Schools. If approved, the program would begin in 2005. A new faculty person will soon be called to teach in the areas of Homiletics and Bible, Krey said. This position will be shared with Gettysburg Seminary. The Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania is making a gift to the seminary of a chair in Anglican Studies, the President reported. Krey also noted the seminary is "well on the way" to funding a chair in African American Studies, named after the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright Sr., one of the seminary’s first African American alums to receive a Masters in Sacred Theology. Finally, Krey referenced the intent of the seminary to have a renewed campus by the year 2014, the school’s 150^th anniversary. LTSP has a new residence hall in the Wiedemann Center, with plans for a Learning Center and upgrades to the Krauth Memorial Library.

Alum Franklin D. Fry told the convocation audience of exciting developments regarding a planned classroom in the new Learning Center to be commissioned in honor of the late Dr. Martin Heinecken, an esteemed Professor of Theology who taught at LTSP for 27 years. Some $235,000 has been raised toward a $250,000 to fund the new classroom, Fry said, "but I would be personally very disappointed if we did not raise $300,000 for this purpose," he added.

The Rev. Janet Peterman gave brief remarks upon her introduction to the audience as a recipient of the seminary’s Muhlenberg Medal Award. The honor acknowledges her steadfast leadership as a parish pastor at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in Philadelphia’s Germantown. Peterman discussed the "deepening movement of the Spirit in my life that helps me look inside and discover the presence of a living God….I am grateful that as my own sense of call became clearer, as I came to know deeply that I do belong in this Lutheran Church, as I came to serve in the city, and, for the past 20 years, sit so close to this seminary, I feel grateful that LTSP has adopted me, though I am not an alum. I am grateful that you have taken me as one of your own and that you have honored my ministry with the Muhlenberg Medal."

A further highlight of the convocation banquet was the receipt of gifts donated to the seminary by reunion classes. The largest gift in terms both of amount and percentage of class members contributing was by the 50-year reunion class, the class of 1953. The class donated $17,525 with 28 of 44 class members contributing. The Rev. Dr. Lloyd Sheneman is the class agent. He could not be present at the dinner because of illness.

Special music for the occasion was offered by the Rev. Jennifer Ollikainen and senior seminarian Matthew Cimorelli. The Rev. Larry Smoose gave the invocation. The Rev. Dr. John H. P. Reumann offered the benediction.

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