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CONTACT: Shannon Neufeld
512-404-4810/ sneufeld@austinseminary.edu

AUSTIN (February 20, 2007)-Editor Max Sherman has directed royalties from his new book, Barbara Jordan: Speaking the Truth with Eloquent Thunder (University of Texas Press February 2007), toward an endowment at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary for the new Center for Proclamation and Worship. Sherman is an Austin Seminary trustee.

Barbara Jordan, considered "the most outspoken moral voice of the American political system" by President Bill Clinton, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994. According to the publisher, "Throughout her career as a Texas senator, U.S. congresswoman, and distinguished professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Barbara Jordan lived by a simple creed: 'Ethical behavior means being honest, telling the truth, and doing what you said you were going to do.' Her strong stand for ethics in government, civil liberties, and democratic values still provides a standard around which the nation can unite in the twenty-first century."

Sherman's volume on Jordan brings together major political speeches including Jordan's defense of the U.S. Constitution before the House Judiciary Committee investigating the Watergate break-in and keynote addresses to the Democratic National Conventions of 1976 and 1992.

Included in the book are a DVD of some speeches and context-setting introductions by Sherman, professor emeritus and former dean of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. Details about the book may be found online: http://www.utexas.edu/utpress

Sherman was Barbara Jordan's friend and colleague for twenty-five years, first in the Texas Senate and later, the LBJ School. He and his wife, Gene Alice, are longtime supporters of Austin Seminary; in 2005, they established an endowment to fund a faculty chair in sacred music. A cornerstone of the Seminary's planned Center for Proclamation and Worship, the Gene Alice Sherman Chair in Sacred Music will be used to attract a leading scholar/practitioner in sacred music.

Building on Austin Seminary's solid reputation for forming pastors for local congregations, the Center for Proclamation will be a resource for preachers, musicians, artists, and other worship leaders. It will bridge the divide between "traditional" and "contemporary" worship, supporting congregations committed to good liturgy and music, recovering vital and vibrant traditions of the church, and offering ideas that will inspire congregations with meaningful sermons and services.

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