wfn.org | New Mexico pastor elected president of San Francisco Theological

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Note #6880 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Seminary
03-October-2001
01365

New Mexico pastor elected president of San Francisco Theological Seminary

Butin co-founded ecumenical theological education program in state

by Jerry L. Van Marter

LOUISVILLE - The Rev. Philip Walker Butin, who co-founded an innovative
ecumenical theological education program in his home state of New Mexico,
has been elected the 10th president of San Francisco Theological Seminary.

He succeeds the Rev. Don McCullough, who resigned amid a sex scandal a
little over a year ago.

Butin won't start until July of 2002 so that he can see his congregation
-Shepherd of the Valley Presbyterian Church in Albuquerque - through the
first phase of a long-planned building campaign. Butin has served the
congregation as pastor for the last eight years.

Rev. George Abdo, chair of the SFTS board of trustees, called Butin - who
holds a Ph.D. in theology and history from Duke University - "a leader as a
pastor, scholar and ecumenical innovator."

In 1994 Butin co-founded the Ecumenical Institute for Ministry in New
Mexico, a statewide theological education program of the New Mexico
Conference of Churches and St. Nobert College in DePere, WI.

The institute offers a comprehensive certificate program in theological
studies and an accredited M.T.S. (Masters in Theological Studies) degree
program. Butin teaches in both programs and serves as chair of the Faculty
Committee and as a member of the Graduate Committee.

He is also a renowned scholar on the doctrine of the trinity. His most
recent book is The Trinity, past of the Geneva Press Foundations of
Christian Faith series. An earlier book, Revelation, Redemption and
Response: Calvin's Trinitarian Understanding of the Divine-Human
Relationship, published by Oxford University Press, has been widely hailed
as a valuable contribution to Calvin studies in recent years.

Butin speaks Spanish and has ties to the Presbyterian churches of Mexico and
Cuba, including an active relationship with the ecumenical seminary in
Matanzas.

He is married to the Rev. Janet Butin, associate pastor of Covenant
Presbyterian Church in Albuquerque. They serve together as mentors for a
Lilly-funded "First-Call" program developed by the PC(USA) Office of
Theology, Worship and Discipleship, in which recent seminary graduates from
across the nation meet together in small groups for three years following
seminary for ongoing theological reflection and spiritual support.

The Butins have two children, Matthew, 12, and Kristen, 10.
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