EDITORS' NOTES

Case Studies

by Christine E. Gudorf, Florida International University, Miami, Florida.

Friends and professional counselors seek to assist a couple with marital problems stemming from child abuse, heavy drinking, physical violence, and differing reactions to sexual intimacy.

by Mary A. Agria, and L. Shannon Jung, Center for Theology and Land, University of Dubuque, Dubuque, Iowa.

A farm family trying to make a go of it using low-input, sustainable agriculture methods is asked to relate its experience and way of life to a church group.

by Alice Frazer Evans, Plowshares Institute, Simsbury, Connecticut.

In a nation undergoing massive social and political transformation, two black South Africans debate the feasibility of reclaiming the land from which their rural family was forcibly removed.

by Donald F. Irvine and Wendy Fletcher-Marsh, Huron College, London, Ontario.

A seminarian, soon to be ordained and intimately related to a pastor at a point where both are in the last stages of divorce, struggles with a statement on sexuality to which the bishop demands assent.

by Lara M. Gross, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Washington.

A young pastor is asked to perform a wedding ceremony for a pillar member of the congregation who is a lesbian.

Robert L. Stivers, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Washington.

A teacher visits a Native American clan gathering in Northeastern Alaska where options are being considered to protect the Porcupine Caribou Herd threatened by oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

by David Benson, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Washington.

A student who is ambivalent on the issue is asked to speak at a campus-wide forum called to discuss environmental objections to the location of a new music building.

by Robert A. Evans and Alice Frazer Evans, Plowshares Institute, Simsbury, Connecticut

The newly elected president of an urban school board seeks to reconcile community and board factions which are forcing a choice between resolving immediate security needs in the high schools and investing in long terms educational reform.

by Christine E. Gudorf, Florida International University, Miami, Florida.

State officials debate budget priorities, prison conditions, and AIDS after a request by the Com-missioner of Corrections to allocate funds for the distribution of condoms to male prisoners.

by Dieter T. Hessel, Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton, New Jersey, and Robert L. Stivers, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Washington.

A visiting professor with support and criticism from the faculty pushes eco-justice concerns as central to the seminary’s curriculum.

by James N. Pancrantz, Concord College, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

A debate between seminary faculty members about written verses oral reports raises implications to the validity of academic requirements for extension education courses in indigenous communities.

by Craig L. Blomberg, Denver Seminary, Denver, Colorado.

A seminary professor considers a "dream" appointment to a position in Edinburgh, Scotland, but finds acceptance will make life very difficult for his wife.

by Richard F. Vieth, Lancaster Theological Seminary, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Faced with the decision whether to make their pilot globalization project a standard requirement within the M.Div. curriculum, four professors struggle to find theological rationale for the project, but are un-able to come up with an agreement.

by Ronald C. White, Jr., The Huntington Library and the University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California.

A recent seminary graduate is confronted by the questions of his parishioners as the parish considers expanding its ministry with a growing group of Hispanics. He reflects upon his theological education with its emphasis on globalization as he seeks to help his parishioners in their decision.

by The Case Study Institute, Simsbury, Connecticut

The president of a seminary involved in a five year globalization program encounters the complexity of institutional change as he faces competing demands for time and resources.

by Kevin Lawson, Canadian Theological Seminary, Regina, Saskatchewan.

Differences arise in a congregation calling a new pastor whose views are not shared by all members of the congregation. An associate pastor who is soon to take another call is undecided whether to intervene to prevent a premature vote on the new pastor.

by Garnett E. Foster, Takoma Park Presbyterian Church, Takoma Park, Maryland.

A church with great racial and ethnic diversity due to its location in an east coast city that attracts people from around the world struggles with hurt feelings and misunderstandings resulting from cultural differences.