Study Center Newsletter Spring 2015

The Elzinga Residential Scholars tackle issues of faith—and the kitchen! Story on p.6

CONVERSATIONSi n COMMUNITY

A P U B L I C A T I O N O F T H E C E N T E R F O R C H R I S T I A N S T U D Y | S P R I N G 2 0 1 5

REASON f o r HOPE:Confidence in the Resurrection in the

midst of brokenness- page 4

THIS ISSUE:

On the cover: Nonye Onokalah and Hannah Stephenson enjoy a warm day on our new deck. Last spring we received a special gift to build a two-tiered deck off our patio, creating an outdoor space for daily study, educational programs and hospitality events. (Photo by Brittany Fan)

The One Who Redeems Israel: Reading Backwards by Richard Haysby Fitz Green, page 3

PAGE 2 S STUDY CENTER NEWSLETTER SPRING 2015

Reason for Hope: Processing a Difficult Yearby Lane Cowin and Jay McCabe, page 4

An Alumna Reflects: An Interview with Abigail Hullby Keri Kerns, with Abigail Hull, page 6

MOVE-IN DAY LUNCH 2015 August 21, 2015, 1 - 3 pm

August 22, 2015, 12 - 2 pm

Please let us know of any incoming undergraduate first-years and transfer students so we can be sure they’re invited. Sign up through this form online:

http://bit.ly/MIDL2015

SAVE THE DATE!08. 21.15 + 08. 22.15

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STUDY CENTER STAFF

BILL WILDERExecutive Director [email protected]

LANE COWINDirector of Undergraduate Ministries

for [email protected]

FITZ GREENDirector of Educational Ministries

[email protected]

KERI KERNSCommunications + Program Assistant

[email protected]

JAY MCCABEDirector of Undergraduate Ministries

for Men [email protected]

TRISH OWENLibrary

[email protected]

SHELLY PELLISHDirector of Administration + Development

[email protected]

DEBBIE RODRIGUEZDirector of Finance

[email protected]

JACLYN STOKESCommunications + Program Assistant

[email protected]

AMY ZELLDirector of Counseling Resources

[email protected]

WHO WE AREWe are a non-profit education and outreach

ministry serving the University of Virginia and

Charlottesville since 1976. We seek to serve Jesus

Christ by fostering the serious consideration in the

university environment of a Biblical worldview, and

by encouraging and facilitating wise discussion of

the Truth in light of the challenges of contemporary

culture.

CONTACT USPhone: (434) 817-1050

Email: [email protected]: www.studycenter.net

Twitter: studycenteruvaFacebook: studycenteruva

The Study Center Newsletter is published for our friends and supporters.

University Christian Ministries, Inc. (dba Center for

Christian Study) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation

EIN 51-0192618.

STUDY CENTER NEWSLETTER SPRING 2015 S PAGE 3

Do we believe the Old Testament is relevant? Richard Hays, in his book Reading Backwards, argues that our inattention to the Old Testament has left us without a vision for how our lives fit into the story of God’s dealings with Israel, a story reaching its definitive climax in Jesus.

Hays, Professor of New Testament at Duke Divinity School, suggests we can more faithfully read the Old Testament by attending to how the Gospel writers read scripture. Take Luke’s account of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearance to two disciples along the road to Emmaus. Unrecognized, Jesus asks Cleopas what they are discussing. Cleopas responds, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” However, it is Cleopas who does not understand. While Jesus goes on to explain things to the two dis-ciples, Luke has been showing all along how the Old Testament points to the necessity “that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory,” (Luke 24:26).

How does Luke “read backwards” from the story of Jesus to the Old Testament story? Hays highlights how Luke connects the dots throughout his Gospel. In the words God speaks from heaven at the baptism of Jesus, “You are my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased,” there are echoes of the Davidic king (the “son of God” in the Old Testament), the sacri-ficial son (Isaac, Abraham’s “beloved son”), and the

suffering servant (“with whom I am well pleased,” in Isaiah 42). These allusions identify Jesus as the hu-man Messiah whose coming was prophesied through-out the Old Testament.

Still, what about the hope that Jesus would “redeem Israel,” proclaimed by Zechariah and longingly repeated by Cleopas? Here Hays sees an allusion to Isaiah, and to the numerous passages promising God’s restoration of Israel. “I will help you, says the Lord; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.” (Is 41:14) Hays rejects the scholarly tendency to dismiss Jesus’ divinity, instead insisting that Jesus, the human Messiah and true representative of Israel, is also “the Holy One of Israel,” the Lord God who redeems his people. These are the “things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27) that Jesus showed Cleopas. This is the biblical vision of God himself coming down to rescue his people (now including us) in the person of his Son and Messiah, the Lord Jesus.

Hays’ close reading of scripture leads him to con-clude, “There is only one reason why Christological interpretation of the Old Testament is not a matter of stealing or twisting Israel’s sacred texts: the God to whom the Gospels bear witness, the God incarnate in Jesus, is the same as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Either that is true, or it is not.”

by Fitz Green, [email protected] of Educational Programs

ONLINE RESOURCES:Listen to the audio and watch the video of this talk at www.studycenter.net/hays.

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Reading Backwards:Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witnessby Richard Hays

Available in the Study Center Library

THE ONE WHO REDEEMS ISRAELRichard Hays on Jesus and the Old Testament

Photos by Elisa Bricker


This year has felt like a race with too few pit stops – hard run-ning without many chances to catch our breath – and we have had a national audience watching U.Va. struggle to stay on course. Of course, much of this year has been business as usual and we’ve watched students wrestle through the typical milestones of col-

lege life, taking great joy in what U.Va. offers them. At the same time, every student here has been forced to confront really difficult questions, such as: Am I truly safe? How can I keep someone I love safe? Can my university keep the community safe? Among our Christian students, there has also been one of the hardest questions of all: if I pray to God to keep me or someone I love safe, what can I expect from Him?

Some students continue to dig into these questions fiercely and committedly. Others confront these ques-tions only when forced. Across the board, students are deeply tired. It is exhausting for them to contend with their vulnerabilities as a community on a public stage. As staff at the Study Center, we are grateful for the chance to sit with students as they (and we) wrestle with these questions and encourage them to keep go-ing. So many of these questions are ones they will mull all their earthly lives, and we remind them that the Lord hasn’t abandoned them to answering those ques-

tions alone. We serve as a sound-ing board for students to process what they are thinking and feel-ing, while making sure we don’t lose sight of the larger story of the gospel as we are confronted by sin around us, but also within us as we face the hate, lust and racism in our own hearts.

We also put together opportunities for corporate prayer and processing. We organized our first gath-ering in late October during the search for Hannah Graham, and another in early December after the Rolling Stone article was published. In both cases we offered space to lament what is wrong in the world and to seek God’s intervening help. After Martese Johnson’s arrest, we encouraged our students to attend a prayer gathering organized by OneWay Christian Fellowship. We took our Elzinga Residential Scholars to the gathering and together we processed what it means to contend with racial tensions within the body of Christ. They voiced concerns, asked questions and shared hopes for God’s justice. We challenged them to consider their roles as agents of reconciliation and justice even now, through the power of the Holy Spirit in them.

As we encourage our students to seek justice amidst the terrible, tragic events of this year, many are truly

REASON FOR HOPEConfidence in the Resurrection in the midst of brokennessby Lane Cowin, Director of Undergraduate Ministries for Women andJay McCabe, Director of Undergraduate Ministries for [email protected] and [email protected]

“To live in light of the Resurrection – that is what Easter means.” -Dietrich Bonhoeffer

If you’ve watched the news this year, you are aware that U.Va. has spent a lot of time in the spotlight. In light of the Lenten season

and Easter, we asked Undergraduate Ministry Directors, Jay McCabe and Lane Cowin, to reflect on the experience of ministering

to students through the deaths of several of their classmates, the repercussions of Rolling Stone’s now retracted article on sexual

assault at U.Va. and the ongoing conversations about racial tensions on Grounds. We also asked them to speak to the hope we’ve

found as a community in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.


hopeful that U.Va. and the larger Charlottesville community has been forced to look together at the injustices that do in fact exist in the world. We are now faced with the opportunity to work towards shalom, towards the thriving and wholeness of God’s children and God’s world.

This starts with repenting our failures to love God and our neighbors, and continues with trust and hope in the gospel’s power to change our lives and the world around us. We’ve joined students in attending group discussions on Grounds. We’ve seen stu-dents use their regularly scheduled times of worship and prayer to focus on justice and reconcilia-tion. We’ve watched students wrestle with God’s call to bear witness to the pain and injustice suffered by their neighbors and to speak against evil, because they have confident hope in Jesus’s resurrection and God’s love for them.

The emotional climate at this point is both similar and different to the other Aprils we’ve experienced at U.Va. Students are enjoying the spring weather and looking forward to the end of the semester. Those graduating are feeling pressed to find jobs and do things “for the last time” at U.Va., while underclassmen are figur-ing out summer plans and next fall’s classes. There’s a sense that things are fine, but we’ve also observed something different this year. Many of the students we talk to are really struggling, often just below the surface. This year has taken its toll on us all, and even after all the prayers, tears and progress, we have not

and should not expect to have “gotten over” the events of this year. The questions of safety, sexual assault and

racial disparity at U.Va. are still looming large, and the emotional turmoil still weighs on our students.

Even as we wrestle with these questions of safety and community, we do see reasons for hope. Most obvi-ously, we know God redeems. For those who trust Christ, even the worst events and darkest days are un-der his promise to “make all things new” (Rev. 21:5). Acknowledging the promise that “for those who love God all things will work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28) will be fulfilled in the glorious return of Christ, we cling to the knowledge that the way of suffering ends in glory, as we see in Jesus’ death and resurrection. Secondly, students are growing in their faith in the midst of brokenness. They are being driven to Christ and putting their hope in Him, so we are hopeful about the future at U.Va. and the part we can play at the Center for Christian Study.

“Even as we wrestle with these questions of safety and community, we do see reasons for

hope. Most obviously, we know God redeems. For those who trust Christ, even the worst

events and darkest days are under his promise to ‘make all things new’ (Rev. 21:5).”

Pictured: Jay McCabe chats with 4th Year, Austin McPhillips during our Exam Snacks outreach this fall; Lane Cowin enjoys a quiet moment in her office with 4th Year, Natalie Wahl . (Photos by Brittany Fan.)


Will you share a bit about how you went from walking the Lawn to where you are now?

Entering the Trinity Fellows Program, I hoped to leave the Fellows knowing what I was made to do. I prayed that God would give me a career path to cling to. Instead, He revealed to me a little more of who He created me to be. Phrases like “burden-bearer” and “beauty-bringer.” Verses like Isaiah 61:1-3. Simple gifts from God that I didn’t quite understand. God wasn’t giving me a neat career path. He was asking me to trust. It’s beautiful to see how God has fleshed out those identities. He has allowed me to bear others burdens and bring beauty in a variety of places. Burden-bearing has looked like advocat-ing for abused children and praying for parish-ioner’s healing. At the same time, God has given me opportunities to create and cultivate beauty, as Gallery director and as a gardener.

He reminds me that it’s less about what I do and more about who I am becoming. God isn’t in the business of crafting resumes; He’s in the busi-ness of creating vessels of His love and peace that He sends into all places. I’m realizing it’s less about finding a “thread” to which I can cling and more about watching for the One who weaves my disparate threads into His beautiful design.

How does your Christian faith play out in your daily interaction with colleagues, fellow stu-dents, professors, community members, etc.?

I understand faith to be a step-by-step journey with Christ where our job is to follow. To follow well, we must pay attention – to how the Holy Spirit is prompting us, to what others are saying, and to particular circumstances. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “Rejoice always, pray continually, [and] give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” It’s God’s will that I should pray continually – and so I try to come to Him throughout the day.

This looks like asking for wisdom before I respond to a classmate. It’s constantly remind-ing myself that I am loved by God regardless of how I’ve performed or what I’ve produced. It is willing to be late in order to listen to a friend. I need the Holy Spirit to guide me in daily decision-making, remind me of who I am, and enable me to live like Christ in all circumstanc-es. We must recognize that we’re not in control of our lives; rather, we’re given them, and we need God’s wisdom to steward them well.

We must recognize our neediness and come to God to receive the energy, hope and peace daily life so quickly steals. I’m trying to come to God throughout the day to ask for Him to replenish, help and guide. In a culture that tells us to be independent, I’m actively learning to be depen-dent on Christ.

AN ALUMNA REFLECTSAn Interview with Abigail Hull, CLAS ‘11by Keri Kerns, Communications + Program [email protected]

“God isn’t in the business

of crafting resumes;

He’s in the business

of creating vessels of

His love and peace that He sends into all

places.”

The Center for Christian Study is a sending place. Over the years, generations of

students have graced our halls before spreading across the globe to pursue their call-

ings. Abigail Hull (CLAS ‘11) is one such alumna. After graduation, she participated in

the Trinity Presbyterian Church Fellows Program before moving to Washington, D.C.

to work in child advocacy. She is now pursuing her Master of Divinity at Duke Divinity

School in Raleigh, NC. Abigail also directs an art gallery, writes for Walter Magazine

and works at Duke Gardens.


As part of our mission to help students develop a holis-

tic vision of Christian vocation, we hosted an Alumni

Panel during Homecomings Weekend this past Fall.

Abigail Hull was joined by three other distinguished

U.Va. alumni: Danny Avula (CLAS ‘99), Trina Jones

Rodgers (CLAS ‘95, Darden ‘01), and Michael Guth-

rie (EDUC ‘75, ‘76). These alumni shared their testi-

monies about life after college and how God worked

to bring them to where they are today. They chal-

lenged students to think deeply about what it means

to live as Christians in the marketplace and in ministry,

in their careers and in the rest of their lives. It was a

pleasure to have them back in our house, even if just

for an afternoon.

ONLINE RESOURCES:Listen to the audio and watch the video from Faith and Life After College: A Study Center Alumni Panel, at www.studycenter.net/alumnipanel.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO READ MORE ALUMNI REFLECTIONS?Check out our blog online at:studycenter.net/blog/category/alumni-reflection/

How have you grown in your knowledge of the world’s broken-ness and beauty, and how are you trying to love the world in these days?

My first full-time work experience was at CASA (Court Ap-pointed Special Advocates) in southeast DC. I daily read case files filled with child abuse and neglect, and attended court hearings where I saw gross injustice go unpunished. The job was a painful education in brokenness.

My sister helped me be honest about the brokenness I encoun-tered. Through conversations and prayer, I learned to name it, to mourn and come before God in prayer. I learned to lament – to bring my complaints and confusion before God, trusting him to transform my struggles into trust. If the work of loving the world is also a work of healing, it requires that we look brokenness full in the face. That’s fright-ening, because the world is a deeply broken place. We fear that if we get too close, we too will be broken. God is reminding me that we don’t have to protect ourselves. He will strengthen, protect and empower us to love the world if we continually turn to Him. Loving the world looks different as a seminary student than it did as an advocate. However, the principle is the same: partner-ing with God in loving the world, means seeing what’s broken. At Duke, that means listening to arguments I sometimes dis-agree with. Instead of tuning out those with whom I disagree, I’m trying to understand where the truth has been warped and discern how best to respond. Loving right now looks like know-ing both sides of the argument and asking God for wisdom, humility and tact. Practically, loving the world means being kind to my co-workers and the driver of the East-West campus bus. It is doing dishes and taking out trash. It means showing up at Duke Gardens at 7 am on Monday with a good attitude, excited to weed, water and pick-up trash. L.M. Montgomery said that “all things great are wound up with all things little.” I certainly think this is the case with the work of love. We’re to love in big, monumental ways and in little, daily ways. Perhaps it’s loving in the mundane mo-ments that is most important.

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Study Center Newsletter Spring 2015