*******************
Visit our new web site! www.institut-urchristentum.org
Dear Friends:
The first three months of 2004 have flown by. We have some exciting news to share about some major strides we have witnessed. Most other things remain on the "slow and steady" track.
EES Executive Director and Board President Visit Tuebingen In February we enjoyed a week-long visit from EES Executive Director Wye Huxford, and Wye's daughter and son-in-law, Bethany and Chad Davis. It was Wye's first visit since assuming duties as Executive Director. Bethany works part-time for Wye in the EES office in Atlanta , and Chad volunteers his time to author and maintain the EES web site (www.eesatlanta.org). During that week EES Board President Dr. Bruce Shields was also here, a stopover on his sabbatical trip to teach at several locations in Asia . Bruce presented our last Colloquium paper of the semester, and Wye preached at our last Vesper Service.
The Contract is signed! Our most important (and exciting!) news is that we have been able to sign the contract with the University. During his visit in February, Prof. Shields signed papers with the University Rektor (President), and the Dekan (Dean) of the Protestant Faculty of Theology. Prof. Lichtenberger and myself were able to attend the signing and witnessed the procedures. Even though I am legally qualified to represent the EES in all such matters, it was important for the University that Prof. Shields was there to officially represent the EES Board. Even though that meant a longer wait than we had hoped for, we are very happy to have the contract signed! This has opened the way for my adjunct faculty status, for purposes of co-leading the Colloquium. Last week I received in the mail a letter confirming my adjunct status for this coming semester.
Theological German Course A couple days after the contract signing I met with the Dekan and Prof. Lichtenberger to discuss the "Theological German" course which I am to teach (stipulated by the contract). The Dekan has given considerable thought to this course, and is working up a list of required readings--the course is to be "theological German readings" based on some classic Protestant texts. He also stipulated that the course meet twice a week for two hours each time (a four-credit course). Since the catalog for this coming semester had already gone to print when these decisions were made, it remains to be seen how many will sign up. But the Dekan wants the course to start in Summer Semester (begins April 19). We shall see.
Institute Web Site Launched Our other exciting announcement is the launching of our long-awaited Institute web site. After a few "fits and starts" when we had to scrap our plans for a German-based site and start over, we finally have our site up and ready for "open house." Please visit our site at www.institut-urchristentum.org (visit again, if you have seen it before). Our son-in-law Marty Paddock has put in a lot of work lately getting pictures added to the site. Many thanks, Marty! (now if he could just remove a few pounds from the picture of the Institute Director. . . .)
Colloquium: In Winter Semester 2003-2004 the Graduate Colloquium enjoyed an excellent series of papers delivered by a good group of visiting scholars and doctoral students. I am sorry that several of those were only here for one semester. Our group will apparently be smaller this semester, though I trust it will be of high quality, as usual.
Vesper Service: The English Vesper Service enjoyed better than average attendance last semester, which we hope is a trend that will continue. At the same time, we have had the difficult duty of saying farewell to some regular attenders who have left us to return home or go on to further study. Dr. Uzoh Egere, the pediatrician from Nigeria , has returned to his practice after a one-year residency at the Kinderklinik in Tuebingen. Joel Willitts has gone back to his doctoral study in Cambridge . Kamil Nesetril has gone home to Prague to look for a job, and Linde Gall has returned to her studies in Erlangen . Laza Randriamanjatosoa, the young man from Madagascar whom we thought we were going to get to keep for a while, has accepted a PhD study position in Australia . We will sorely miss these friends who have become very dear to us, and whose participation in our fellowship has made this work worthwhile.
Before he left Tuebingen Dr. Egere allowed me to interview him for the EES newsletter. Watch for that write-up (the full text of the interview is posted on the EES website: www.eesatlanta.org ) . If you do not receive the EES newsletter, you can request that directly from Wye Huxford (see the EES web site), or e-mail me.
As I write this the English Vesper Service is completing an experiment which to our knowledge has never before been tried. Instead of the usual practice of dismissing our services during the long semester break (mid-February to mid-April), this year we have kept the Vesper Service going. This is in response to several requests, and in recognition that more and more of our participants are not tied to the traditional University calendar. In addition, international students are more likely to stay in town during the break, while their German counterparts travel. Attendance during the break has been mostly small, though our sense is that the program continues to fill a need for the core group. We will evaluate this decision and determine whether to do it again next year. Of course some of those who specifically requested that we continue during the break have been less than 100% in their attendance, for which we chide them mercilessly!
Cherie has kept busy with maintenance of the Institute building and the apartment. She also remains active with the International Coffee group, including driving for various outings. Cherie has faithfully helped our wheel-chair bound neighbor, Gabe Janca, whose degenerative spinal disorder is causing her to go down hill. A couple weeks ago Frau Janca fell out of bed in the night and injured her neck (she says she broke it). She remains in the hospital, and it looks to us unlikely that she will be able to return to her apartment in our building where she lives alone.
New Semester Our upcoming semester looks like a busy one: in addition to my duties with the Colloquium and Theological German, and planning and preaching for the English Vesper Service, the Institute will host Dr. Ron Heine as visiting scholar for part of the summer, as well as two interns, and a third visiting student. Institute Secretary Birgit Sumey, Jim Kautt, and myself have all been busy helping these people find housing and finalize their plans. After the semester we plan to attend the World Convention of Churches of Christ in England .
A positive update We have heard from Rabi, the man from Nepal whose wife was in a refugee camp after coming to Germany . She was not allowed to come here, but he has been able to join her, and they have settled north of here a couple hours.
Family News : Alisha's internship was approved by the seminary administration, and she will arrive here the end of May. We are looking forward to having her with us for a couple months, and of course anxious that she have a good experience. Right after she returns home in August Alisha and Marty are planning to move to another apartment, and Cherie plans to be there to help.
Alisha continues tutoring Greek students. She had some discussions with a local church-related college about teaching Greek, though they ultimately could not hire her without her Master's degree. She is working on nailing down a thesis topic, and (among other things) plans to work on thesis research this summer.
In February Cherie and I were able to drive to a small town north of Dortmund (northwest Germany ) to attend one of Justin's concerts with the chamber orchestra, Camerata Academic Salzburg . Since successfully auditioning for their sub list, he has done a couple concert tours with them, and has some others coming up in April, and again in September. Cherie has tickets for the end of April to attend another of his concerts in Vienna with some visiting Kansas friends.
In January Justin was diagnosed with a hernia. Thankfully it was not an emergency, and he was able to continue his schedule. Justin had surgery in early March in Salzburg , the same weekend that Cherie hosted the Midwinter Rally planning committee. With committee members coming from Italy as well as northern Germany , the planning weekend went forward (Cherie is on the committee), and I drove the four hours alone to Salzburg to be with Justin during and after the surgery (which went well). I came back to Tuebingen on Saturday to be here for services. That day weather and heavy traffic conspired to compress my four-hour drive into six.
That Monday Cherie and I drove back to collect Justin at the hospital, and brought him to Tuebingen for a few days. The next Friday we drove him back so he could get back to his studies and practising. I made three trips to Salzburg in the space of eight days, and was ready to stay away for a while! On the other hand, we only had to buy one "Vignette," the toll sticker required to use the autobahns in Austria (good for ten days).
Even though Justin was moving slowly when we took him back to his dorm, he has recovered well. He had to do some catch up with his practising, as well as with his German course. In the meanwhile he got confirmation of official admission to the graduate program (something most first-year students have not yet received). Next week he flies to England for a two-week intensive master class. He said at that point that he would be officially healed. We certainly hope so.
My Dad continues to do well after the small stroke. He is getting around pretty well, and is able to keep up his work as a senior companion. Cherie's Dad remarried this winter, and is very happy.
Financial Update As we enter into the next semester, we are fast approaching the end of our second year in Tuebingen. Many thanks to those of you who have supported us with your prayers, and to those who have supported us financially! We ask for continued support in both areas. In this time of economic and political uncertainty, we face the daunting task of raising nearly 20% more in US dollars, just to break even with where we were two years ago. We need your prayers now more than ever!
As you may remember, when we were originally preparing to come to Germany we asked people to make a two-year financial commitment, which is now coming to an end. We will be sending out letters in the post to several, with our thanks as well as our appeal to renew their pledge. To those who did not originally commit financially to this work, we humbly solicit your support. Thanks for your faithfulness!
Wishing you all a blessed Easter.
love,
Scott and Cherie Caulley
items for your prayer list:
· New Colloquium and Vesper Service participants
· The Theological German Course
· Our neighbor, Frau Janca
· Increased financial support ; the continuing exchange rate problem
**********************************
Please send all donations to:
Scott & Cherie Caulley
% European Evangelistic Society
PO Drawer 90150
Atlanta , GA 30364
or directly to:
EES Tübingen
Konto Nr. 29297001
Volksbank Tübingen
BLZ 64190110
BIC: GENODES1TUE
IBAN: DE91 6419 0110 0029 2970 01