b'The GargoyleNew Faculty SpeaksPAGE 4PAGE 5Alumni NewsPortrait of a PresidentPAGE 7 PAGE 6Sharon Brook&CONNECTING THE UNION PRESBYTERIAN SEMINARY COMMUNITY ISSUE 15 / FALL 2023UnionWelcomesJacqueline LapsleyIn 1990, Jacq Lapsley found herself at a crossroads.and more, she wanted to teach. Was teaching, she asked herself, really The future president of Union Presbyterian Seminary was in Paris,ministry?studying what she loved: literaturespecifically, 19th-century FrenchShe found the answer in John Calvins Institutes of the Christian Religion, literature, 19th-century British literature, and literary theory at the graduateand the answer was yes.level. At the same time, she started attending the American Church in Paris,Lapsley earned her M.Div. at Princeton, where she began a lifelong love where she found leaders, students, and programs that were, she said, lifeaffair with the Hebrew language, and then headed to Emory University giving. That year, in that city, this lover of literature decided she wantedfor her Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible, a teaching assistantship, and exposure to go into the ministry. renowned Old Testament scholar Carol Newsom. Newsom posed to her It was not a total surprise. Her father, James Lapsley, was himself asuch intriguing questions about the book of Ezekiel that Jacq Lapsley Presbyterian minister and professor at Princeton Theological Seminary anddecided to make Ezekiel the focus of her dissertation and her first book a 1955 graduate of Union Theological Seminary in Virginia.(Can These Bones Live? The Problem of the Moral Self in the Book of Ezekiel).It was already in the air, Lapsley says. But it was a huge 180. It wasWith her Ph.D. completed, Lapsley was called back to Princeton to teach a call from Godand not just looking back on it. I was aware of it whenOld Testamentnever abandoning literary theory, but instead employing it was happening. it as a lens to study and teach scripture. She remained there for 25 years, When she told her father of her decision, she says, he was tending toright up to her call in 2023 to become professor of Old Testament and to his crop of Jersey tomatoes. He paused and said, Oh, Jacq, and let outbe the first woman president in the history of Union Presbyterian Seminary. something like a groan, painfully aware of the financial challenges thatHer teaching years at Princeton saw an academics steady output of could come with a life in the ministry. books and articles and roles on leadership committees and editorial boards. The Smith College graduate finished her M.A. in comparative literatureShe was director of Princeton Theological Seminarys Center for Theology, at Chapel Hill, enrolled in Princeton Theological Seminary, and flourishedWomen, and Gender and co-chair of the Ethics and Biblical Interpretation there, but she found that she was still struggling with the fact that, moresection of the Society of Biblical Literature. continued on next pageJOIN US ONLINEwww.upsem.edu facebook.com/UPSem instagram.com/upseminaryLook for the links following a story or sectionyoutube.com/user/UPSem twitter.com/upseminaryto find extended articles, videos, images, and discussions. Or visit us on social media to keepflickr.com/photos/upsem For Planned Giving, visit pg.upsem.eduup with the latest at the Seminary.'