Back in the 1960s, Max Miller was a young archeologist on the
excavation team of Joseph A. Callaway, a prominent archaeologist
who directed the excavations at et-Tell (Biblical Ai; Read about
Ai in Joshua 8:1-29.) Callaway also taught on the faculty of
Southern
Baptist Theological Seminary. Several years later when Max was
organizing a team for an archaeological survey in southern Jordan
(ancient Moab), Callaway recommended one of his star students
for the project. That star student was Jerry Mattingly, who
was completing his doctorate under Callaway’s direction.
Jerry joined the Moab survey during its second season (summer
of 1979). That same summer, Pat and Betty Pattillo traveled
in Jordan with their two younger children, Lynn and Bob, and
they stopped for a visit with the Moab archaeologists. Thus
Pat, Max and Jerry became acquainted. It was the last day of
the survey, so over the next few days Max and some of his archaeologist
friends traveled with the Pattillos to Petra and other places
in Jordan. Max knew which places to visit, and the Pattillos
had rented a bus large enough for everyone.
The following Fall, Pat proposed the Middle East Travel Seminar
program to Max, and the first METS group departed in May of
1980. Ten years later, when the program doubled in size and
traveled as two groups, the obvious person to lead the second
group was Jerry Mattingly. Jerry, meanwhile, had continued with
archaeology, and was well underway with his teaching and publishing
career.
In 1990, in addition to the METS program, the Pittulloch Foundation
funded a travel-
seminar
for Emory University’s Ph.D. students of Hebrew Bible.
The plan was to combine these Emory students with an equal number
of young college teachers who had completed their Ph.D. degrees
in Hebrew Bible at universities other than Emory. Among the
young college teachers invited to participate was Steve McKenzie.
Steve had just completed his doctorate at Harvard, was beginning
his teaching career at Rhodes College in Memphis, and this was
his first trip to the Middle East. But he returned to Israel
later for archaeological fieldwork, and soon established himself
as a leading scholar in Hebrew Bible. His book, King David:
a Biography, was reviewed in The New York Times.
After
leading ten METS groups, and clocking more than seven months
on the road, Jerry has passed his baton to Steve. But as one
can see, the dots all connect...from Joseph Callaway to Steve
McKenzie.
Founded in 1979, the Middle East Travel Seminar is a three-week
program emphasizing key locations in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon,
Egypt, Israel, and Greece. Each summer, thirty seminary students
and ten lay-persons are selected to participate. More than eight
hundred people have traveled with the Middle East Travel Seminar
(METS) program since the first trip in 1980.
The primary goal of the program is to provide seminary students with an in-depth experience of the Middle East, the area which stands at the very center of our biblical heritage and which plays such a crucial role in current international affairs. METS selects seminary students who are seeking a Master of Divinity degree and plan to move into some aspect of parish ministry.
The METS program is sponsored by the Pittulloch Foundation, with additional support from the Fraser-Parker Foundation, and the Cobb Foundation.
