NANCY E. HALL Director and Assistant Professor of Supervised Field Education American Baptist Seminary of the West, Berkeley (California) B.A. San Diego State University (1974) M.Div. American Baptist Seminary of the West (1980) D.Min. San Francisco Theological Seminary (1995) Ordained minister, American Baptist Churches, USA (1980) Classes I'm teaching this semester (Spring 2000): Worship in Free Church Traditions Supervised Field Education Seminar ABSW Worship Planning

My favorite type of teaching is the seminar style. Students coming to ABSW bring a wealth of background, experience, and sensitivity to a wide variety of issues concerning Christian ministry and worship. Because I learn best when given the opportunity to take part in discussion and to "think out loud," I like to create an atmosphere for this in my classes. The stretching of minds and spirits is exciting for all of us. I am pleased to be using the book Dr. John Skoglund and I wrote together in 1993, A Manual of Worship, (Judson Press) as a textbook for the worship classes and the field education seminar.

I greatly enjoy and treasure the diversity of our students and of our faculty; it is a privilege both to teach and to work with them. I learn so much from our ABSW family because I can share in the richness of educational backgrounds, of ethnic backgrounds, and of faith journeys that are different from mine. Yet we all profess a common love in God through Jesus Christ and are dedicated to a spirit of inclusivity.

I seek to offer an open mind and an open heart, believing there are many styles of worship that bring people into a closer relationship with Christ and with each other. I am an ecumenist, celebrating the wealth of sacred and secular resources we have available through the Graduate Theological Union and the wider Bay Area.

Every individual is worthy and loved by God and therefore we are called to affirm life and each other. I value both the diversity and the commonality within the community of faith. Believing that Christ has called us to a new vision, I offer these lines from a hymn by Brian Wren:

As Christ breaks bread and bids us share, each proud division ends.
The love that made us makes us one, and strangers now are friends.

(Stay tuned, I'll be adding more soon!)