Most people who know me know that much of my spiritual and
theological undergirding is the direct result of the late Bishop Thomas Lanier
Hoyt, Jr. I’ve written and spoken
extensively about his influence on my life, about him taking time with the
weird little smart kid, about him answering all my ridiculous 10 year old
questions (with examples I would remember for the rest of my life), about him following
and looking after me even when I’d gone astray, and about how, upon my return to the fold, he willingly wrote a recommendation for me to attend seminary (I used him as a personal
reference, not yet realizing his academic stature). He’s always been there to encourage and shape
me, both spiritually and intellectually.
So I go to seminary and I do ok. My final GPA of 3.9 was not too shabby, especially
considering it included a B+ in Hebrew.
Much more significant than my grade point average, though, were my Church
History professor, Dale Irvin, and picture of a jade stele (the Nestorian
Stele), which showed evidence of Christianity in China way back in the
700s. The idea that Christianity was
being embraced by the Chinese that far back (actively embraced, not a Chinese
parroting of a Eurocentric story in English) – the concept was revolutionary to
my mind, as was the global nature of Christianity SINCE ITS INCEPTION. Prior to that awakening, I’d suffered from the misperception
that Christianity was a religion of the West; I can’t even describe my joy in
realizing that Christ really was a Christ for ALL People – and always had been!
So this Church History professor worked with me and
suggested I pursue a Ph.D. I remember this
quite vividly, as it was one of few times I have intentionally been rude to a
professor: without a word of response, I
turned my back and walked out of his class when he said it. Still, he labored
with me, nudged me, and encouraged me. Email was in its infancy, and we spent hours in this new medium, trading emails with all sorts of philosophical and theological conversations. He was like mind candy!! He introduced a group of us students to the
American Academy of Religion, and in 2003 invited me to join an international
group of scholars who came together to form a new, non-Eurocentric telling of
the story of the Christian Movement. This
HWCM (History of the World Christian Movement) group collaborated around the
country and around the world (that was how I first saw Alaska, on a trip to
Malaysia in 2004). Together the HWCM group developed a new way of telling the Christian story. Within 10 years it become the norm for
teaching church history, and through Dale, I was part of it!! I remember how terrified I was on my first
trip down to Princeton (“I’ve gotta go to a meeting with all those smart
people!!”). My fears were quickly
allayed, and I actually got to meet, have personal conversations with, and count as
friends some amazing scholars from all around the globe.
Fast forward a decade.
After many discussions with Bishop Hoyt regarding Church, Academy, the
need to publish, and the false construct of tension between faith and
intellect; and after years of serving as a teaching assistant and research
fellow with Dale and in the Center for World Religion at New York Theological
Seminary, I’m considering a Ph.D. Dale suggests I talk to David, one of the members
of the HWCM group. “Oh, yes,” David responds. “I was actually thinking of contacting you to
see if you’d be interested in helping me research (the reader for HWCM) Volume 2.” Now that right there is enough to make me do
backflips, but as I was considering the opportunity, I looked up Dave’s credentials. It appears he was recently elevated to Bishop
in the denomination headed up by one of Bishop Hoyt’s classmates,
Bishop Charles E. Blake, Sr. Though I still can’t say Bishop Blake’s name without remembering how I met him at Bishop Hoyt’s
sickbed, I thought on the connection and said to myself, “Wow!!” Bishop Hoyt
would be really happy at this turn of events!”
And then I looked at David’s credentials a bit more,
realizing that not only did Bishop Hoyt’s former classmate appoint him chair of
their denomination’s Commission on Education, and not only did he serve on the National
Council of Church’s Faith and Order commission like Bishop Hoyt did, but on his
CV, he actually lists participation in a research project directed by
Bishop Hoyt!!
I think I started dancing then. I’m excited and grateful to have had my
theological groundwork laid by the late Bishop Thomas Lanier Hoyt, Jr. I’m excited and grateful that his
recommendation helped get me into New York Theological Seminary, where I met
Dale, who has continued to nudge and nurture and prune and push me. I’m
ecstatic when I think about the fact that a casual comment from Dale led me to David,
who is my friend and, whether or not we move forward on this project, completes
the circle of Bishop Hoyt’s influence not just upon my personal life, but upon
my spiritual and intellectual formation.
That is enough, but I’m bi(or tri)vocational. My secular life involves providing housing
and services for people with special needs.
Presently my Board and I are looking at three separate possibilities,
any one of which would enable us to expand -- to multiply -- our services beyond the 71 families
and 145 single adults we currently serve.
I’m not sure words can do this justice. I’m wandering around, doing oddball me, and about
a week after wrestling with some issues and re-declaring to God that I’d do
whatever God decided (honest, God. I’ll
be obedient this time...), all these connections started coming together. They all sit at the intersection of faith and
intellect, or of church and academy, or at the nexus of intellectual
exploration and practical application. Separately
or together they seem, in my life anyway, to be evidence of the fact that God
continues to smile on me, yes, and that Bishop Hoyt still has his eye on me. Together they are still looking out for me,
and still expecting great things from me.
That realization has me wanting to run and jump and scream and shout. It gives me gratitude that is inexpressible.
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