Alumni Class Notes
Class of 2011
KIM ABEEL (now Kim Abeel Coelho) married Nickholas Coelho, an accountant from NYC. They are living in Summit, NJ, where Kim directs the ethics programs at The Ethics Institute at Kent Place School. Kent Place is a non-sectarian girls’ day...
DAVID CHOULES is finishing his first semester at the University of Pennsylvania law school and living in Philadelphia. He is still married and has one boy who is now 15 months old.
RACHEL DUNCAN is living in New Haven and is the pastor of Canaan United Methodist Church in Canaan (not to be confused with New Canaan), CT. This summer, Rachel rode her bike from Seattle to New Haven in hopes of getting some more education for...
MICHAEL KELLEY SHEPHERD moved to the DC area where Kelley found work with Cambridge Associates. He reports that he loves “watching global markets move, and finance genuinely feels like ‘the calling.’”
ANGELA SHELLEY WIGGINS is remaining in New Haven for the year while she applies for doctoral programs in liturgical studies. In January, she’ll begin an extended CPE unit. As one of the millions of unemployed, she also hopes to have a paying...
Class of 2010
CHRISTOPHER ALLISON is a first-year Ph.D. student in the History of American Civilization Program at Harvard University. His family is slowly, but surely, settling in to Bostonian life, and enjoying the new place and new friends.
KAZIMIERZ BERN was ordained on Sept. 11, 2011 at Center Church on the Green in New Haven, with his guests flying in from all over the globe. He still almost can’t believe that he was called as pastor of First Church in Marlborough MA. He...
CRISTINA CABRERA recently started her Ph.D. in cultural studies at the Excellence Cluster of the Graduate Center for the Study of Culture (GCSC) in Giessen, Germany. So far she has been able to enjoy beautiful locations and great museum...
PETER W. COOKSON, JR. lives in Washington DC and has published two books this year (See Alumni Books).
REBECCA HENRIKSEN is in her first year of the Ph.D. program in theatre arts and performance studies at Brown University. She is studying contemporary evangelicalism, gender, and sexuality through the lenses of ritual and performance theory. She...
STEPHANIE JOHNSON was ordained an Episcopal Priest in September 2010. She is working for Province I (New England dioceses) as energy steward minister, helping congregations reduce their carbon footprint. She is still finishing her requirements...
JASON PENO is the general manager for both Blue State Coffee houses in New Haven, CT. Life is super busy, and Jason is hoping for a change of scenery come next July, but he’s enjoying his friends and exploring a variety of hobbies.
NICK SHELTON writes, “I am enjoying life on the West Coast, working out of Google’s headquarters in northern California. I’m using my background in religious studies to create community and an interest in religion at one of the world’s best...
ANDY SMITH is the director of administration and finance at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, SC. In this capacity, he’s responsible for overseeing budget, endowment, and operating activity of the seminary and facilitating the...
LYDIA SOHN and JAMES ROGERS got married on June 11, 2011 in Claremont, CA. Lydia writes, “Many of you know that we met at BTFO! We are now settling into married life and loving it.” Lydia and James live in a two-...
HOPE STEPHENSON is living in Atlanta, GA and pursuing ordination as a deacon in the United Methodist Church. She is currently taking courses at Candler School of Theology at Emory University.
Class of 2009
SAMUEL CHEON is working as dean of the graduate school of theological interdisciplinary studies in Hannam University, South Korea. He will stay in Sydney, Australia for his sabbatical year during the next academic year from March 2012....
GRETA GETLEIN is now the director of studies for Berkeley Divinity School at Yale. So many chapel services, so little time...
KAREN SCHNEIDER KIRNER is now in her fourteenth year of working in campus ministry at the University of Notre Dame. She directs various choirs and serves as one of four full-time organists for the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. She just...
MICHAEL KOCHENASH started his Ph.D. in New Testament and Christian origins at Claremont Lincoln University/Claremont School of Theology this fall.
LAURA OLSEN is finishing her Lutheran residence year at Gettysburg Seminary in Gettysburg, PA. She is in the approval and assignment process for a call to a Lutheran parish, hopefully next year. Laura is concurrently pursuing an S.T.M. at...
Class of 2008
OBY BALLINGER has now served for two years at Community United Church of Christ in St. Paul Park, MN. Oby also serves on the board of directors for the Minnesota Conference of the United Church of Christ. Husband Javen Swanson...
DAN BINDER is teaching religion and philosophy at Episcopal High School in Houston, TX, and working toward a D.Min. in educational leadership at Virginia Theological Seminary.
SCOTT CLYBURN is currently teaching as an adjunct professor in the Department of Theology at the University of Portland (Portland, Oregon).
ABIGAIL COOPER is enjoying life with 3-year-old Lucy and 1-year-old Alice and writing her dissertation on slave religion in Civil War refugee camps as a doctoral student at the University of Pennsylvania.
At Convocation and Reunions 2011, CHRISTOPHER DOUCOT, founder and leader of St. Martin de Pores Catholic Worker House in Hartford, CT, was honored by the Alumni Board with the William Sloane Coffin ’56 Award for Peace and Justice....
LINDER LADER followed the suggestion of fellow YDS alumna AMALIE ASH ’10 (currently administrator for the Presbytery of Tropical Florida), in early 2011 and was called as temporary supply pastor to the Second...
CAMERON RANDLE is an Episcopal priest serving in the Diocese of Southern Virginia. On Nov. 13, 2011, Cameron was instituted as rector of the churches of St. George’s Parish, a colonial-era faith community established in 1636. He is priest and...
Class of 2007
ALICIA BROOKS completed a Master of Science in pastoral counseling from Loyola University, Maryland in May 2011 and was licensed as a graduate professional counselor in Maryland in September 2011. In December, she is beginning work as a family...
MEGHAN HENNING is finishing her Ph.D. in New Testament at Emory University. While writing her dissertation, she has been living in Boston with her husband, Doug, and their dog, Barkli. In addition to writing, Meghan has been teaching as adjunct...
ANDREW NURKIN completed his M.F.A. in poetry at Vermont College of Fine Arts. His poems recently appeared in the North American Review, Rattle, and Drunken Boat, among other places.
MINDY ROLL has had a busy year! Mindy was called as Lutheran Campus Pastor to Texas A&M and Blinn Colleges in September of 2010, was ordained in November, engaged in January of 2011, installed in March, and finished her S.T.M. in May. But...
TRAVIS SCHOLL and wife Jenny ’07 M.S.N. welcomed into the world Evan James, born on Aug. 15, 2011 and reborn a child of God on Oct. 30. Evan joins a proud big brother, Justin, 3. Everyone is healthy and well, living in St. Louis, MO.
Class of 2006
DIANNE BILYAK has a new book out (see Alumni Books section). Also, for the next year, excerpts of her interviews with poets about religion and writing will appear on the Poetry Society of America’s website.
AMANDA KUCIK has finished five years at Church of the Incarnation in New York City and has accepted a call to serve at Holy Comforter in Charlotte, NC.
MATTHEW KUSTENBAUDER received an M.A. in history from Harvard University, where he is currently a third-year Ph.D. candidate in African history. His chapter on the Lord’s Resistance Army in Northern Uganda was published in an edited volume, War...
WILL MEBANE has been appointed canon of Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland, OH with responsibilities for congregational care, neighborhood and social justice ministries.
GINGER STRICKLAND has finished five years at the American Church in Paris, France and has accepted a call to serve at Church of the Incarnation in New York City.
Class of 2005
MATTHEW BENTON and Laura welcomed Iris Marie Benton, born August 21, 2011 in Berkeley, CA. Her parents and big brother Lennox, are smitten with her. Matt expects to complete a Ph.D. in philosophy from Rutgers University in spring, 2012....
CHRIS COCCA started a new call as director of mission at First Presbyterian Church of Allentown, PA, on July 1, 2011. In this newly created ministry role, he has the pleasure of working with an amazing staff dedicated to re-imagining a large...
Peter Hanke currently lives in Bethesda, MD, with his four-year-old daughter, Lizzie. He is working as a senior consultant with IBM, mostly on communications-related projects for the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy. This fall, Peter will...
MOLLY FIELD JAMES and her husband, Reade, welcomed their daughter, Katherine Pearce James, on October 16, 2010. They are having lots of fun with her, including traveling to England in July 2011, for Molly’s graduation, where she received her Ph...
ROB LEACOCK and his wife, Stefanie, moved to Austin, TX in 2010 when Rob became high school chaplain at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School. He teaches religion, leads chapel and goes to a lot of sporting events. Stefanie is a lecturer in biology and...
CHRISTIANA PEPPARD finished up as scholar in residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in NYC and received her Ph.D. from Yale University in May 2011. She has since been thrilled to be hired as assistant professor of theology &...
JOHN ROHRS and ANDIE WIGODSKY ROHRS are enjoying life in Norfolk, VA. John is serving his third year as the rector at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church. Andie is chasing after their one-year-old twins, Tom and Will, and...
JEFF WELLS is still serving Community United Methodist Church in Massapequa, NY. The congregation is growing (spiritually and in numbers) as together they strive to follow Jesus. This fall, they started a weeknight “recovery worship” to reach...
NATALIE WIGG-STEVENSON and TYLER WIGG-STEVENSON ’04 recently moved to Toronto, ON (Canada), after Natalie finished her Ph.D. in theological studies at Vanderbilt University. She is now serving as the director of...
Class of 2004
NUNZIO D’ALESSIO recently began work on a Certificate in Theological Studies at the Washington Theological Union. He has been active locally as a liturgical musician and composer, and his original choral setting of the poem “Drop Slow Tears”...
EMILY BENNETT wed Benjamin Waller in Hastings, NE on July 17, 2010. Both are instructors at Hastings College, where Emily teaches philosophy and religion and Benjamin teaches English. Both are also pursuing Ph.D.’s.
JULIE SMUCKER FULLER and her spouse, Marcus Dean Fuller, announced the opening of their feature film this fall (’11), entitled “One Fall.” Alums can check out “One Fall” on Facebook and Netflix.
