E-mail newsletter--Third Quarter  July, 2004

www.institut-urchristentum.org

Dear Friends:

We have had a busy spring here in Tübingen. The summer semester is approaching the end (last of July), and we look forward to some different activities, though there is no slow down in sight! Here is an update on some of our recent happenings:

Semester   This semester we had two Interns from the States. Laura Cloer, a student of Ron Heine from Seattle , was here for a month working on an “academic internship” for Puget Sound Christian College . Alisha Paddock, our daughter, is with us for two months, fulfilling internship requirements for her MDiv program at Emmanuel School of Religion. She is taking German courses every morning, attending the Theological German course and the Colloquium, and doing thesis research, as well has helping out with the English Vesper Service. She has planned the services this summer, led portions of two worship times, and will preach once before she leaves.

This semester we also enjoyed a brief visit by Wye Huxford, EES Executive Director. Wye was on a trip to teach in Albania for “Seminary of the Nations,” and was able to incorporate a stop off here as part of his itinerary. Immediately after the semester ends we will attend the World Convention of Churches of Christ in England , and in August we will host a volunteer work group from Mountain Christian Church in Maryland .

Colloquium:   In the Colloquium we have enjoyed another good semester, which to me means both good attendance and participation, and good-quality papers. Our participation continues to remain high, and we have again added some extra sessions. In light of that, Prof. Lichtenberger and the New Testament faculty have decided that starting in Summer Semester, 2005, the course will officially meet every week, instead of our traditional fortnightly schedule.

We have enjoyed some special guests this semester, including Institute Scholar Prof. Ron Heine, from Puget Sound Christian College in Seattle . Ron has been here with his family for the months of June and July. Of course many will recognize Ron's name as the former Institute Director, from 1989-2000. In addition to Ron's good contribution (he read a paper in June), we have enjoyed the participation of a scholar visiting from St. Petersburg, Russia, and heard a fine paper by a guest from Hebrew University in Jerusalem. An American professor visited for a couple weeks, and a visiting Australian professor will present a paper before the semester is out. These are in addition to the good group of student presentations by our regular participants. To see topics and dates of some recent presentations, visit our web site at www.institut-urchristentum.org

We are sad to report that Gill Heine's mother passed away this week in England . They will be flying up to attend the memorial service in a few days.

Theological German Course   The new course, “Theological German Readings for Non-Native Speakers,” is enjoying a small but important beginning. Since the contract signing came well after the course schedule for summer was already set, and advertising was mostly word of mouth, the course started late, and enrollment is small (five students total) I am happy to say that in spite of those factors, we have had a good class. As much as possible, reading and discussion takes place only in German. On Tuesdays we have been reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Nachfolge (“Cost of Discipleship”), and on Thursdays we have read der Heidelberger Katechismus (“The Heidelberger Catechism”) along with Karl Barth's exposition, Die christliche Lehre nach dem Heidelberger Katechismus . In addition, last week we read through Die Barmer Erklärung (“The Barmen Declaration”), to coincide with some local observances of Barmen's 70 th anniversary.

The course is now being listed in the Protestant Theology Faculty's course catalog, so we hope for increased enrollment next semester. In the Fall we will be reading Adolf von Harnack's Das Wesen des Christentums (“The Essence of Christianity”), along with some Luther, and other texts to be determined.

Vesper Service: The English Vesper Service group continues to be an inspiration to us. We enjoyed a group of 25 to 30 people at our annual 4 th of July barbecue last Sunday evening. We said good-bye to Laza Randriamanjatosoa, student from Madagascar , as he left for PhD work in Australia . Linde returned to Tübingen unexpectedly, and we are glad she is able to participate with us once in a while. We are happy for our other “regulars,” and looking forward to meeting new people, even as we know several of our faithful participants will only be here another semester or two.

Cherie : In addition to her maintenance work at the Institute, Cherie has been busy with the Tuesday international spouse's group, as well as helping out our former neighbor, Gabe Janca. Frau Janca spent several weeks in hospital in Tübingen, and then in “Reha” (rehab) about 45 minutes from here. Cherie visited here almost every day in Tübingen, and drove some of her friends to visit her at the rehab center. Now Frau Janca has permanently moved to a care home in Tübingen, and Cherie sees here again several times a week, and talks to her on the phone. She has helped her in her transition and move out of her apartment in our building. We await with interest the arrival of our new neighbors in the apartment building.

One interesting happening this spring was a “Messiah Sing” at the home of one of the Tuesday spouse's group. We were invited to sing along, as were several of that group, and some others whom we did not know. About 30 people slogged through Handel's Messiah for our own enjoyment (and amazement). Several sang in German, which made for some strange Arias and Choruses. The serious musical moments were punctuated by periods of hysterical laughter. We look forward to the next sing along date.

Family News :   When Alisha arrived in Frankfurt in May we took off immediately on a three-day trip to visit the daughters of our former Landlord. The Keller twins both live and work near Cologne , and we enjoyed a lovely dinner at Alexandra's apartment. We then drove north to visit Beatrix, between Hannover and Bremen where she and her husband run a hog farm and raise Spargel (white asparagus).

After Alisha returns home in August she and Marty are planning to move to another apartment, and she will start school the end of August. On July 6 th Marty and Alisha marked their 2 nd wedding anniversary, which they will celebrate in August. To mark the event, Alisha made a large red construction paper heart, which we took down to the Marktplatz in the center of the old city. At a predetermined time, we held up the heart in the view of the web cam, and hoped that Marty could see it. At home in Tennessee Marty got on the internet at the same time, and was able to see us holding up the heart. He sent Alisha a copy of the picture.

In June Justin finished his first year at the Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg . In the spring he was officially admitted to the Master's program, and he successfully completed the prerequisite German language studies. He has kept very busy as a substitute for the chamber orchestra,  Camerata Academic Salzburg, traveling with them in Europe on a couple tours, as well as playing in Salzburg . Cherie was able to attend one of those concerts in Vienna , with friends from Kansas who travelled with her. Justin is spending the summer at the music festival in Aspen , Colorado , and in August and September will play in the new music festival in Lucerne , Switzerland . After that he has been invited back to Prussia Cove, England , where he will play for a couple weeks before school starts again in October. We plan to attend one of his concerts in Switzerland in mid-September.

Our parents continue to do o.k. My mom had surgery this spring, but has recovered well. Dad has slowed down after the small stroke, but is still getting around pretty well, and is able to keep up his work as a senior companion. They live in Springfield , Oregon . Cherie's Dad and his new wife, who live in Puyallup , WA , are doing some traveling, and seem to be doing very well.

On August 17 we will fly to Seattle , to spend a couple weeks with our families in Washington and Oregon . We will return to Germany on September 9, to meet up with Justin in Switzerland , and prepare for the start of the semester activities in October.

Financial Update   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!

Many of you received a letter this spring, with the new PowerPoint presentation about the Institute which I put together. If you would like a CD of that presentation, you may request it directly from the EES office in Atlanta , or let me know and I will have one sent to you.

love,

Scott and Cherie Caulley

items for your prayer list:

· New Colloquium and Vesper Service participants

· The Theological German Course

· Our former neighbor, Frau Janca

· Heines, at the passing of Gill's mother

· Increased financial support ; the continuing exchange rate problem