Monday Ministerial Musings
By Rev. Mark William Ennis
2023 Blog #17
April 24, 2023
New Brunswick Theological Seminary Legacy
The Irises in my yard are now blooming. I certainly enjoy all the spring flowers that come up in the parsonage lawn but these Irises have special meaning to me. They remind me of the rich legacy that I carry with me as a graduate of New Brunswick Theological Seminary here in New Jersey. It is quite a legacy.
It was graduates of New Brunswick Seminary who first were missionaries in Oman. Other graduates began a mission to India and supplied the first female physician there so that women, with modesty concerns, would accept medical assistance from a doctor. It was a graduate of this same seminary who founded the Korean Presbyterian Church and translated the Bible into the Korean language. There are many Korean Presbyterian Churches in our area now, all because of a New Brunswick Theological Seminary graduate.
Even more locally, our congregation in Bergenfield, NJ has been served by a number of pastors in the ninety-nine years since its founding. It was founded by a New Brunswick graduate and of the seven pastors who served here, five have been New Brunswick graduates. Our seminary alumni have a long and distinguished legacy that I was given. When I think of this legacy, I realize how much I have to live up to.
So, what do these Irises have to do with this legacy and what do they have to do with New Brunswick Theological Seminary? A number of years ago, the seminary building moved from 17 Seminary Place in New Brunswick to 35 Seminary Place in New Brunswick. The old seminary building had an entrance banked with irises. They were set to be trampled when the old building would be demolished in preparation for the new building.
It burned my heart when I thought of those beautiful irises being plowed into oblivion. I borrowed a shovel from the janitor as well as a garbage bag. Soon I had iris bulbs from the old seminary building in the garden of the Bergenfield parsonage. There they stay and remind me of the fine legacy that I am a part of and a reminder that I must do my best to pass on that fine legacy of being Christ’s missionaries.
What is your Christian legacy? What things do you have to live up to? Live into your legacy well and continue to do things as great as your forebearers in the faith.
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To read more of Pastor Mark’s writings, please look at his website:
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