You are the dream, the laughter echoing through the long corridors of time. We lived and loved with fierce intention, not because love was an easy thing, but because it was the work of our hands and hearts, a practice sanctified each day.

We placed our hope in this sacred labor, believing your lives could unfold in joy, not in the shadow of fear. We prayed for you under Shabbat candles, through tears and the ache of honest conversation, longing for a time when no child wonders if gathering to pray is safe.

We looked to a future where no one queries if Grandpa will return home. Where family is not divided by borders or suspicion, but bound together by hospitality and justice.

May your communities be circles of wisdom—elders, healers, storytellers—gathering you in, teaching you the songs and languages that keep memory alive and joy communal. Let your feet know land that welcomes you, that the sky above and the ground below are familiar and kind, restored by your relationship with creation.

May you open the news and see stories of joy. Where we shared our love with the world, not our war.

May you know the weight and the lightness of history, its courage and its failure, its liberation and its pain, and hold each with humility, refusing to turn away from any piece of truth. May your generation be the ones who mend wounds, who make healing our true inheritance.

I hope you see in your ancestors, those we call emerging leaders at Auburn. They are the leaders who stayed present, who chose repair over retreat, who kept pouring life into those who would come after, like Joy, Liz, Alma, Josh, Abeera, Zuogwi, Blake, Alex, Davion, Grace, Sylvie, like Ross, Caleb, Charlotte, Jael, Anthony, Brandon, Ali, Devon, and so many others.

I hope you know the chain of love is unbroken, that what was entrusted to us has been entrusted to you, and you have made it more whole. That you are defining the world by your laughter.

You are the future we served, the story we labored to tell, one where love and courage are your birthright, and laughter is the language of your days.

A Prayer for Healing

To a known God,

Heal what has been broken in us and between us.

Heal the wounds that were passed down through generations before anyone had words for them.

Heal the land that has been taken from and not returned to.

Heal the communities that were told their belonging was conditional.

Heal the fear that lived in the bodies of parents who only wanted to worship, to rest, to raise their children in peace.

Make us instruments of that healing.

Give us the courage to do the work that outlasts us, to love beyond what we can see, to equip those who come after us with more than we had.

Let those five generations from now, the future we now serve, grow up in wholeness.

Let them know, in their bodies and in their communities, that they are beloved.

May it be so. May we make it so. Amen.

With love that refuses to give up on a dream of a healed future,

Rev. Patrick B. Reyes, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President and Dean

As part of the long-term work to strengthen Auburn’s core, clarify its mission, and secure its future, President Jordan-Simpson and the Board have together mapped a leadership transition that builds on the strategic groundwork of recent years. With confidence in the road ahead, we share that President Jordan-Simpson will step down at the conclusion of this strategic cycle in 2027, following a deliberate and collaborative transition process grounded in Auburn’s mission and values.

Effective July 1, 2025, we celebrate the appointment of Rev. Dr. Patrick B. Reyes as Auburn’s Executive Vice President & Dean. A visionary scholar and trusted leader, Dr. Reyes has already played a pivotal leadership role, partnering with the President and Board to reimagine what a 200-year-old seminary can offer a rapidly changing world. He will steward Auburn’s three cornerstone portfolios of faith-leadership formation, field-advancing research, and storytelling and narrative change.

Over the next year, Dr. Reyes will work alongside President Jordan-Simpson and the Board to finalize and implement Auburn’s next business plan. Following Auburn’s Heal the World Summit in June 2026, President Jordan-Simpson will take a sabbatical, during which Dr. Reyes will serve as Acting President. Upon President Jordan-Simpson’s return in September 2026, they will share executive responsibilities.

With the Board’s support, Dr. Reyes will succeed President Jordan-Simpson as Auburn’s 12th President on July 1, 2027. We are excited that they will be documenting this model of shared leadership to serve the wider field.

Why This Matters

President Jordan-Simpson has led Auburn Theological Seminary to embody healing-centered leadership during a time of deep social uncertainty. This succession plan is a faithful act of leadership in itself—built on transparency, foresight, and love for the community. By planning openly and well in advance, we are:

Demonstrating Healing-Centered Leadership

Together, Emma and Patrick have modeled a leadership ethos grounded in relationship, transparency, and shared decision-making—strengthening Auburn’s governance, organizational structure, and financial foundation.

Securing Generational Strength

This thoughtful transition ensures continuity of wisdom, mission, and momentum—preparing future leaders to inherit an institution that is financially sound, justice-rooted, and prepared for tomorrow’s challenges.

Modeling Best Practices for the Field

As seminaries and nonprofits across the country navigate leadership changes, Auburn offers a living example of succession rooted in faithfulness — an approach worth sharing widely.

When leaders plan for tomorrow while tending to the well-being of people today, communities thrive. That is the legacy we are shaping at Auburn — with your partnership —and it will serve rising generations for years to come.

Auburn's future is being built today. To ensure this leadership transition is strong and that Auburn continues to thrive, we invite your partnership. Please consider a generous gift to Auburn in this season of planning and promise. Together, we will keep healing-centered leadership alive for a world that desperately needs it.

With deep gratitude,

Rev. Emma Jordan-Simpson, President

Auburn Theological Seminary

Dr. Prabhjot Singh, Chair

Board of Directors

Today, we are reminded of a repeated message from Levar Burton in Reading Rainbow. In every episode, he would recommend books about different cultures and people, but before he would offer his recommendations he would say: “But, you don’t have to take my word for it...” The episode would immediately cut to young people sharing their favorite books.

With this same spirit, Auburn’s leadership believes in a healed future, but, you don’t have to take our word for it...

• Letter from Liz

• Letter from Grace

• Letter from Afif Rahman

If you feel inspired or called to share your vision for a healed future, send it to our dean and we would love to share it with our community.

'بِسْمِ ٱللَّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of God
The Most Merciful, the Most Beneficent
Peace and blessings to you, my Brothers and Sisters,

In the Quran, God says, “Hold fast onto the rope of God all together; do not split into factions…Be a community that calls for what is good, urges what is right, and forbids what is wrong: those who do this are the successful ones.”

As a creation of God blessed with the opportunity to lead your communities with faith, integrity, and resilience, be mindful of God and devote yourself to him, and you shall be successful.

As communities, forge strong bonds with each other, welcome strangers with open arms. Enjoin what is right, forbid what is evil, and you shall be successful.

The world, since the beginning, has been fraught with complexity, conflict, and chaos. But do not despair, for can’t we create a world, a community, a family, and beings filled with joy, tranquility, and peace? It all starts from within. Take care of your heart, your soul, and your mind. Laugh. Cry. And laugh some more. Be mindful of God, create your own joy, tranquility, and peace, and you shall inevitably grow stronger and more wholly.

Insha, Allah, by the will of God:

You shall find strength
You shall find healing
You shall be successful
And please drink more water, 😊 you beautiful, dehydrated soul.

With love and prayer,

Afif Rahman

Dear queerly beloved community,

We were not created to be broken. We were not created to be a fragmented and violently splintered community. Our destiny is love and connection. This is what our bones long for. Our bodies know the truth even if our minds fall prey to the false narratives offered by capitalism, white Christian nationalism, and our own histories. We are meant to be whole — each and every one of us. And we’re meant to be whole — all of us, together, in and with creation.

The road is as broken and treacherous as we are in this chapter of our world. Perhaps we need to journey beyond the boundaries we’ve set for ourselves. It is time for us to follow the path that leads to who we truly are and who we have always been: whole and holy, beautifully beloved and loving. It takes gratitude, intention, creativity, and curiosity to find our way again. It takes courage and hope to understand where we’ve been and go where we must go. Together we must ground ourselves in Earth and our bodies and beloved community. We are the constellations of our celestial navigation home. Our destiny is within.

With hope and love,

Grace

Dear Ones,

I hope this letter finds you experiencing שׁלום, a great peace, but I fear this may not be the case if the present day is any indication. I want to bless you with great strength of conviction, courage, and humanity as you journey forward.

Please do not glorify us people of the past as heroes who possessed some kind of superhuman bravery that is not available to each and every one of yourselves.

The Powers tell history that way in order to make you think that past progress was inevitable, to paint prior movements as teleological, while discouraging those in the present moment to stand up, to see yourselves as being just as capable of altering the course of time.

Neither should you curse us over much for leaving the world in the state that you found it: I express my heartfelt apology to you, but I also want you to know that we did the best we could while maintaining meaningful human relationships, commuting to work every day without enough time for rest in order to pay our rents and mortgages, eating potlucks with our friends, and petting our cats as much as they wanted to be petted.

May you be happy,
may you be healthy,
may you be safe from harm,
may you be gentle with yourselves,
may you lead lives of love.

Don’t get lost in the sauce, my friends, and please feel my rays and waves of genuine אַהֲבָה love, emanating to you from the past.

Yours sincerely,

Liz

Like many of you, Auburn Theological Seminary is lamenting this moment. As leaders, we are also acutely aware of how our children are watching how we move and speak on this day. They offer us a mirror, reflecting our emotions, actions, fears, pains, sorrows, hopes, and dreams. As leaders, we offer lament as a practice to share with future generations, especially on a day like today.

As those curious, fearful, and hopeful eyes look to us, Auburn is encouraging leaders to ask themselves these questions:

• What are you lamenting? Be honest with yourself and your community. What is it about the results from last night that have you pained? What world were you longing for that you thought might be expressed in this election? What met or unmet expectations have you grief-stricken?

• How are you expressing your lament? Be authentic in your practice of lament. When you have come to terms with what you are disappointed in, now pay attention to how you express that grief. What do the youngest among you see when you offer your prayers and songs of lament? How are you treating your neighbors on this day? What words do you say or not say? What spaces do you go to or not go to? What do you draw on from your traditions or do you leave some behind because they no longer align with your values?

Auburn is lamenting the amount of hurt, pain, and fear people are experiencing, many of whom were already suffering before the election.

We are lamenting that fearmongering and scapegoating are practices used to both achieve outcomes and justify them.

We are lamenting that for so many people a healed world seems impossible.

And we have been here before.

We offer you this reflection from Howard Thurman in Jesus and the Disinherited:

Fear is one of the persistent hounds of hell that dog the footsteps of the poor, the dispossessed, the disinherited. There is nothing new or recent about fear—it is doubtless as old as the life of man on the planet. Fears are of many kinds—fear of objects, fear of people, fear of the future, fear of nature, fear of the unknown, fear of old age, fear of disease, and fear of life itself. Then there is fear which has to do with aspects of experience and detailed states of mind.

Our homes, institutions, prisons, churches, are crowded with people who are hounded by day and harrowed by night because of some fear that lurks ready to spring into action as soon as one is alone, or as soon as the lights go out, or as soon as one’s social defenses are temporarily removed.

We lament that fear is the narrative that holds the upper hand today. But fear will not win us over.

Auburn Theological Seminary is working to support leaders to lead not with fear, but with love.

Today, that love leads us to lament with you.

With all the love of our ancestors and hope for our descendants —

Auburn Theological Seminary Leadership

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxFnpKjZMuk

Auburn Theological Seminary is mourning the loss of Auburn’s former president, Barbara G. Wheeler. She passed yesterday morning with her husband and son by her side.

She served as president of Auburn for 30 years and was the first woman to serve in that role. She led the organization from 1979 until 2009, and she embodied the spirit and legacy of Auburn Theological Seminary. Her work across theological education through her founding the Center for the Study of Theological Education (CSTE) in 1991 and its journal Auburn Studies, helped leaders see a shifting landscape in the field. From leadership transitions and changing demographics of the student body, President Wheeler was, and her reports continue to be, the most trusted voice in the field.

She was committed to advancing the work within the Presbyterian Church (USA) for LGBTQIA+ persons, women, and racial and ethnic minorities, serving on national boards and in her local congregation. From publishing to leadership development, President Wheeler cared deeply about the direction and shape of the church. She dedicated her time and service to helping the church become a more just and loving institution.

She was a beloved colleague and mentor to many across both the church and theological education. She will be missed by us at Auburn and the many people who were loved and supported by her.

In the words of her peers and friends:

In her 30-year tenure, President Wheeler transformed Auburn Theological Seminary into an important resource for the field of theological education. Now, as theological institutions use research and data to adapt to the needs of new generations of theological leaders, Barbara’s legacy continues. May her memory be a blessing for us all.

– Rev. Dr. Emma Jordan-Simpson, President, Auburn Theological Seminary

The sadness of hearing of Barbara Wheeler’s passing is balanced by profound gratitude to God for her gifts and her impact on the PCUSA, Auburn Theological Seminary, and me. Reflecting on the Peace, Unity, and Purity Report of 2006, I see how much Barbara’s involvement in that task force shaped my theological forbearance and my commitment to healing broken spirits, hearts, and systems. The task force did remarkable work in advancing the conversation around LGBTQ+ inclusion in the PCUSA for ordination and service. Barbara didn’t just address issues; she sought to unite people for communal discernment, building relationships while celebrating diverse perspectives and fostering mutual forbearance in Christ as foundational for being a connectional church.

Barbara’s love for God’s grace was evident in her actions, helping position Auburn at the forefront of theological education within the denomination and beyond. I am also grateful for the personal inspiration she gave me and other Presbyterian students as Auburn prepared us for our ministries. Upon shaking my hand at my graduation, she remarked, “I am certainly glad one of my last duties as president is to hand you this award. We can’t wait to see the fruits of your ministry.” That personal vote of confidence laid the groundwork for Auburn’s commitment to foster and celebrate emerging leadership. Thank you, Barbara Wheeler, for your leadership and service. May your memory always be a blessing.

– Rev. Dr. Derrick McQueen, Board Chair, Auburn Theological Seminary

Barbara Wheeler had a strong and respected voice in the PC (USA). Her depth of knowledge in both theology and church polity helped direct and form the new framework for the reunited Presbyterian Churches, as well as the 11 theological schools of the denomination. When Barbara spoke, the people listened!

– Heath K Rada, Moderator, 221st General Assembly of the PC (USA)

I met Barbara a decade ago through her evaluation work. She immediately shared all the ins and outs of a theological landscape that I was just coming to love. When I was asked to come to Auburn, I called Barbara, who told me how much she loved Auburn, sharing the ups, the downs, and the deep 200-year history of an institution that was more than just a job to her... it was her vocation. She loved this work, and more importantly, she loved the why of her work: that the church and theological education could heal the world. May the ancestors welcome you President Wheeler.

– Rev. Patrick B. Reyes, Ph.D., Dean, Auburn Theological Seminary

Barbara Wheeler was an extraordinary president of Auburn Seminary who married her love for the church in service to the world of theological education. She founded the Center for the Study of Theological Education and offered her wisdom to scores of seminary leaders to strengthen their leadership, their schools and the overall enterprise. Barbara was a wise mentor and beloved companion on the journey for many of us, and we give thanks for her life and ministry among us.

– Rev. Dr. Katharine Henderson, Auburn President 2009-2021

Barbara was truly a pioneer, among the first female presidents of a seminary, but also in her belief in the possibilities of what could be. As Barabara’s board chair for many years at Auburn Seminary, where she served for three decades, I saw firsthand her vision for encouraging excellence in theological education that was relevant, and how her beloved church could fully live into its Reformed faith tradition in making the world a better place in the name of our God. I’ll always remember Barbara as a mentor, a co-creator, an inspiration to make a difference. As Founder and Director of Auburn’s Center for the Study of Theological Education, Barbara made Auburn the authoritative go-to expert for literally every seminary in America. Her early commitment to multifaith education and engagement was at the leading edge of what now seems orthodox. She seemed to know everyone in the denomination, and they knew her. With her deep commitment to reconciliation and repairing breaches, she was genuine friends with many across a political and theological divide. Barbara leaves us with an amazing legacy, and she will be much missed.

– Rev. Dr. Mark Hostetter, Chair Emeritus, Auburn Theological Seminary

Read the Presbyterian Outlook’s tribute to Barbara.