We visited artist Dave Robinson at his community house in San Rafael and I saw one of his recent paintings (click to enlarge). The image of the hand as waterfall is fantastic. It reminded me of the church in its liquid form and the inadequacy of human constructs to hold what God is doing. Dave was part our community in San Francisco in 1997.
This is the Admissions Office at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, Mill Valley, California. We paid them a visit last week to view this famous painting by David. But wait . . . take another look at that painting by clicking on this thumbnail.
That’s my brother in law, Bruce Stuart on the left, next to my sister Sarah (who uncanningly looks like the lady in the Admissions Office). And those kids in the painting are mine. David Robinson made this painting from one of my photos of our family at the London underground. Nice one, Dave!
The rumor that I was kicked out of the Seminary in 1995 is only partly true. My academic load was 12 units but they bumped me down to 9 after finding out that I was taking a ministry course without first taking the ministry 101 prereq. And then another course got taken away, and I was below the limit of classes to justify having accommodation at the Seminary – which is why they asked our family to move out.
But it worked out OK – we moved to San Francisco instead and began ministry there.
The second collision with the institution came when they discovered i was supervising seminary students in san francisco while being a student at the same time. It was easier for me to stop being a student there than stop being a supervisor. That was the last time I studied at a seminary . . and I never actually went back to get my degree . . . no hard feelings.
Dave Robinson managed successfully to obtain his M.Div from GGBTS. Well done, Dave.
