(Administrator’s note: For posterity’s sake, we thought it was a good idea to add a disclaimer that this is an April Fool’s Day joke. We don’t want future readers who may come across this post to conclude otherwise.)
Dear Readers,
Southeastern Seminary has been a key part of my life for about fifteen years. With the exception of a two year stint overseas, I have been a student, professor, and administrator at SEBTS for most of my adult life. It has been a good ride. But like all good things, it must come to an end.
Last week I tendered my resignation to President Akin, effective June 30. Though I love teaching, I have long felt that I am neglecting my primary calling. The Lord has given me a gift, and I can no longer hide it under a bushel. Beginning July 1, I am launching a new ministry called Missional Yodeling. My hope and prayer is that this ministry will help impact one of the unreached and underserved people groups in America—yodelers.
I’ve struggled with this calling for years. For a time I thought about leaving SEBTS to become a gospel mime, but the Holy Spirit simply refused to move through my fingers. It’s all the same; when I met with my pastor, J. D. Greear, he advised me not to go the miming route because “mimes are creepy.” Frankly, I think the advice says more about J. D.’s neuroses than the practice of miming itself, but I usually take my pastor’s advice. I also batted around the idea of asking Alvin Reid if I could travel around with him and play the electric organ in his worship band, but figured he’d tell me that would be too much like a comeback of the 1950s SBC for his tastes.
Most of my Between the Times colleagues have taken the news pretty well. Dr. Akin was disappointed, but he confided that he too has the spiritual gift of yodeling and wrestles with the same calling. (I already suspected this—yodelers can sense the gift in others.) Ed Stetzer asked if I’d coauthor a pair of books with him on Missional Yodeling and Comeback Yodeling. David Nelson told me that yodeling was fine for evangelistic purposes, but I shouldn’t do it in a worship service because it would remind some worshipers of being in the Switzerland section at Epcot Center. Ken Keathley warned me that some would mock my gift, but I shouldn’t shrink back because God has sovereignly willed a world where I would freely choose to become a yodeler. Nathan Finn said he really wasn’t that surprised with my decision, though he did make some crack about lederhosen and Ricola. Then he asked if he could have all my books, since “yodelers are like recreation ministers and don’t need any books.”
I covet your prayers as I transition to this strategic, Great Commission ministry. For those of you who, like my wife and parents, are worried that I will not be able to support my family during this transition, please know that I do have a back-up plan. I have a standing offer from Heidi and the Yodelers to join their crime-fighting team if my ministry falls through.
If any of you would like to have me come and talk about Missional Yodeling at your church, small group, or Kiwanis Club, just leave a comment on this post.
Sincerely,
Bruce Riley Ashford
To the “administrator” at BtT: You people are funny!
Comment by Bruce Ashford — April 1, 2010 @ 9:42 am
mmm…seems like a bold financial move. We were actually going with a yodeling theme this summer for VBS. Could you come speak and/or yodel? To whom should I address my donation check?
Comment by don gale — April 1, 2010 @ 9:43 am
Yodelaheehoo…Bruce, I’m sure you can correct my spelling on this. What a gift (?) you have. I’m just sad that SEBTS won’t be a part of it.
Comment by Greg Mathias — April 1, 2010 @ 9:46 am
THAT’S funny. You had me until the 7th sentence. Wow.
Comment by Jeremy Rose — April 1, 2010 @ 9:47 am
Bruce, I am so glad you have embraced this next step in your Journey. My question is whether or not it will be traditional Reform yodeling or Emergent Yodeling? I am sure the Lord will bless your yodeling ministry.
Comment by Gabe — April 1, 2010 @ 9:51 am
It’s about time! Yodelayeehoo!
Comment by wlh — April 1, 2010 @ 9:51 am
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by BetweenTheTimes: Important Announcement from Bruce Ashford: http://tinyurl.com/ydl7ufg…
Trackback by uberVU - social comments — April 1, 2010 @ 9:55 am
Gotcha. There is no Switzerland section at EPCOT.
Comment by Michael DeBusk — April 1, 2010 @ 9:58 am
I commend you on following the call to serve this vastly under-served mission field. In the spirit of your announcement, I call upon the GCR Task Force to address this inequality by recommending a new academic concentration in SBC seminaries: A Masters Degree in Missiology with a specialization in yodeling.
Lord help us all if they take me seriously…
Comment by JOhn — April 1, 2010 @ 10:13 am
Just want encourage you as you pursue this calling . . . few understood the greats. Elijah. John the Baptist. St. Francis of Assisi. Martin Luther. Lottie Moon. Carman. (Sorry, but this list just ain’t gonna get much better.) All written off as extremists at best and mad at worst.
I have a friend who yodeled Dr. Piper’s sermons in an effort to bring Christian Hedonism to the Alps . . . alas, the hyphenated words became too much for him and he quit.
I ask your prayer as a pursue my own calling . . . Gospel cross-stitch. Story-boarding and other artistic presentations, while often effective and demonstrating great creativity, have become so cliché. And like you, I hear the doubters. “The materials will cost too much.” “People won’t buy a man doing cross-stitch.” “The children just won’t sit for eleven hours to hear a gospel presentation.”
I look forward to a possible partnership . . . I long to one day stitch in Bavaria, and hope to do so as you yodel the great message of truth to the nations from the, uh, Summit of the Bavarian Alps. Godspeed-eh-ley-hoo . . .
Comment by micus-dc — April 1, 2010 @ 10:50 am
From this day forward no one can mock me for having a snake. :-) this makes me feel almost normal.
Comment by alvin reid — April 1, 2010 @ 11:08 am
not funny—-not funny at all
Comment by Kathleen — April 1, 2010 @ 11:28 am
Wow. A tremendous loss for SEBTS but a gain for a unique culture and an underserved people group. Perhaps God is calling me to leave my position as pastor and serve those who schedule and attend meetings (i.e.local, state and fe gov’t employee’s; seminary administrator’s; denominational leaders…just thinking about this underserved group gets me all excited! :(
Comment by Steve Schenewerk — April 1, 2010 @ 12:08 pm
I’ll talk to the higher ups here at Liberty. Maybe we can get you a performance in convocation and you’ll have a chance to recruit others with the yodeling call.
Comment by Seth Fitzgerald — April 1, 2010 @ 12:11 pm
As a cessationist, I thought gift of yodeling died with the apostles. May have to rethink my theology.
Comment by Tom Jaski — April 1, 2010 @ 12:11 pm
i knew it! i knew tht i wadnt the onliest one i wanna sine up to do it with yuns
Comment by maston jackson — April 1, 2010 @ 12:23 pm
Suddenly, missional seems so wrong.
Ed
Comment by Ed Stetzer — April 1, 2010 @ 12:25 pm
Happy April Fools’ Day to you, too! Was reading this with dismay to Tim and then realized your fun. Thanks for the smile. Hope to see you at the BOV meeting.
Comment by Carol Dale — April 1, 2010 @ 12:39 pm
If I were a betting man (Baptists don’t gamble) I would bet Ed Stetzer had a hand in this. Just sayin’.
Comment by Hal Hunter — April 1, 2010 @ 1:03 pm
Ed Stetzer didn’t have a hand in this. It was the administrator(s). Just sayin’.
Comment by administrator — April 1, 2010 @ 2:08 pm
Dear administrator, the “administrator” is merely a shell sign-in that could have been taken advantage by any of you funny people. Just sayin’.
Comment by Bruce Ashford — April 1, 2010 @ 2:28 pm
I don’t give a whit, man. Not even a slim one.
:)
Comment by Bob Cleveland — April 1, 2010 @ 3:57 pm
Congrats on your new ministry, Dr. Ashford! When do you open for booking—maybe you could give a concert to our Church Ministries School ;-)
Comment by Joshua Owens — April 1, 2010 @ 4:40 pm
I’m slipping. It took me a couple of seconds to figure this one out.
Comment by Dave Miller — April 1, 2010 @ 5:42 pm
Yodeling will not pass muster in Baptist Circles. It is too charismatic.
I suggest you take up Gregorian Chanting instead. As Dr. Dockery would say, “The thematic material in the chants is more solidly based upon theological bedrock anchored upon propositional truth!” By comparison, yodeling is only one step away from the shallow carnival atmosphere typified by TV evangelists.
Also, yodelers require huge wooden horns which are ten feet long. In addition, they need brown cows with big bells. All this paraphnalia is too expensive to haul around to your gigs. Last time I checked Liberty will not allow cows in their chapel. However, they do not have a prohibition against plain cappachino type robes.
Have you “counted the cost” as you make this life transition?
Comment by Roger Simpson — April 2, 2010 @ 5:04 pm
This is why I love being a student @ SEBTS.
Comment by April — April 2, 2010 @ 6:25 pm
As long as you don’t do the Polka along with it you should be fine.
Comment by Morris Brooks — April 5, 2010 @ 12:11 am
I agree with Kathleen. Not funny at all. :)
Comment by Jason Lewis — April 5, 2010 @ 3:55 pm
If I were a betting man (Baptists don’t gamble) I would bet Ed Stetzer had a hand in this. Just sayin’.
Comment by Amy — April 18, 2010 @ 2:55 pm
Ed Stetzer didn’t have a hand in this. It was the administrator(s). Just sayin’.
Comment by Michelle — April 19, 2010 @ 1:54 pm