Gerald Sittser (1989-present) professor of theology
My heart is full of gratitude as I look back on the year, which has been marked by many culminations. In less than a week I will be teaching the first MA in theology class of 22  students, who have been sending papers to me over the past few weeks. Keith Beebe will teach the second course in July. The faculty and board of trustees voted to approve the MA in theology proposal in October. In early winter, however, the committee was unsure if we should proceed or wait another year, thinking that we did not have enough time to recruit students. So we decided to launch a "quiet phase" to see if there would be any interest. We sent a letter to people who had shown interest in the past, and we held two information meetings. That was the extent of our marketing plan! We have received some 40 applications, and we already have a waiting list for next year. I am eager to begin.

The East Africa Initiative has also resulted in the delightful addition of Moses Pulei to our faculty. He is already distinguishing himself as a good teacher, and he has 22 students enrolled in the first Tanzania study program, next January. He is in Tanzania as I write this newsletter, training rural pastors. His dear wife, Brittany, is ready to deliver their second child, too.

The research project that I began in the 1990s has also come to an end, resulting in the publication of Water from a Deep Well: Christian Spirituality from Early Martyrs to Modern Missionaries. Its 365 pages include the text itself (in 13 chapters), study questions, art images, an annotated reading list, and 45 pages of endnotes, which, as one reviewer noted, provide a wonderful survey of the literature. I want to thank the many students who at one time or another were enrolled in Christian Spirituality at Tall Timber, which is where the idea of the book first came to me, and I want to thank Jim Edwards, Adam Neder, and Terry McGonigal for their critical comments and suggestions. The project was a labor of love from beginning to end. My other books, especially A Grace Disguised and The Will of God as a Way of Life, continue to do well. Every so often I receive a copy of one of them in a foreign language, too.

My home is changing, as well. Once a parent, always a parent. But there are seasons, too. My daughter Catherine teaches at a bilingual school in Bogota, Columbia, and she is getting married this summer to Jacob Grady, a Whitworth theology grad who serves as a missionary in Bogota. David is going to attend Duke Divinity School this fall with his good friend Evan Cate. John is planning to study in Jerusalem this fall. For the first time in 25 years I will be the only one living in our home. It is another culmination, and the most important. There is not a father on earth who could be more proud of his children.

I plan to do a lot of reading this summer. By August I want to begin developing a research strategy for my newest project, a history of the Reformed tradition. Grace and peace to you.