Thesis Update

Well, I'm still working on my thesis and enjoying the challenge of devel-

oping it further. To make a long story short, the University has granted

me another year to work on my thesis. I have until November 2, 2010,

to resubmit. The issue was that I had done significant rewriting with-

out having received written notification of three issues my two readers

wanted me to address in the rewrite. I had done considerable rewrit-

ing of my thesis without the guidance of of the notification. University

policy is clear that issues identified by the readers must be addressed

in a rewrite.

I had not addressed the three issues identified by my two readers be-
cause I had not received the letter that had been sent to me. My read-
ers, however, quickly realized this and on my behalf asked the Uni-

versity to grant me another year to address the issues they had iden-

tified. I am grateful for that because the issues they wanted me to ad-

dress are excellent issues. It was important to me to get their feed-

back on my work at that stage. That's the value of a doctoral program.

So, I have my work cut out for me. Fortunately I have considerable free
time to work on my thesis at this time. I no longer have responsibilities
at Cupar Old Parish Church and I am in the process of looking into vacan-
cies where I can serve. I have had opportunities to do plenty of reading
and reflecting. I would like to get the thesis resubmitted before I take
another church here in Scotland. With the insight of my two readers,
I am delving into areas I never thought of when I was doing my re-
search for the thesis earlier. I am grateful to them and to the Lord for
the extra time and the excellent feedback of my two readers.

The continued work on the thesis is challenging to me. It is now six years
since I first arrived in Scotland. When I arrived in 2003 I expected that

I would be back in the USA by this time. But here I am still working on

my thesis and looking for a pastoral ministry opportunity with the

Church of Scotland. During 2007 and 2008 I moved around a lot, partic-

ularly during the summer of 2008 when I was in St. Andrews, Holy Is-

land, and Wales. During that summer letters about my thesis work and

my immigration status were sent to me, but were not delivered. Last

January I received the immigration letter and last month I saw a copy

of the letter that I was supposed to have received with the issues that

they expected me to address. Fortunately the Lord has given me the

grace and mercy to face those those two challenges and others.

So if you do pray for me, I would welcome your prayers on my be-
half regarding my continued thesis rewrite.

Blessings to you and yours,