2010 Honorees

2010 Distinction in Congregational Ministry

Lillian F. Daniel, 1993 M.Div.

Daniel has written two books, This Odd and Wondrous Calling: the Public and Private Lives of Two Ministers and Tell It Like It Is: Reclaiming the Practice of Testimony, while serving as a United Church of Christ senior minister, currently at the First Congregational Church in Glen Ellyn, IL. In nearby Chicago on WTTW, Daniel co-hosts a weekly Sunday television show called “30 Good Minutes” that highlights religious leaders and thinkers.

2010 Distinction in Theological Education

Barbara K. Lundblad, 1979 M.Div

Barbara K.Lundblad, the Joe R. Engle Professor of Preaching at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, is receiving the Distinction in Theological Education Award but has spent much of her career in parish and campus ministry as an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America minister.  In addition, she is president of the Academy of Homiletics and is on the board of Brooklyn’s Lutheran Medical Center. Lundblad is the author of two books,Transforming the Stone:  Preaching through Resistance to Change and Making Time: Preaching Biblical Stories in Present Tense.

2010 William Sloane Coffin ‘56 Award for Peace and Justice

Nancy Jo Kemper, 1967 B.D.

Nancy Jo Kemper ’67 B.D. has recently retired as the Executive Director of the Kentucky Council of Churches, where she served from 1991-2009. She holds ministerial standing in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ and has served at least seven faith communities during her 40-plus years of ministry. Over the last 20 years, she has written and spoken to many different audiences about a vast array of issues confronting America, including: civic literacy; economic justice; living wages; universal healthcare; a more humane federal farm bill; environmental justice; child abuse prevention; equal opportunities for individuals with disabilities; the eradication of poverty; peacemaking efforts and nuclear disarmament; gun control; Medicaid protection and expansion: K-CHIP enrollment changes; low income housing; comprehensive and progressive tax reform; restorative justice; the rights of immigrants and undocumented workers; opposition to torture; the death penalty; predatory lending; racial profiling, and the genocide in Darfur. She is a registered lobbyist in the state of Kentucky and tirelessly bends the ears of politicians on behalf of the state’s poorest citizens and the environment. She modeled her ministry on that of her friend and colleague Bill Coffin, whose children she taught in Sunday School. A longtime social justice activist and lobbyist in the Bluegrass State, Kemper counted William Sloane Coffin Jr., after whom the Coffin award is named, as her friend and colleague.

 

2010 Lux et Veritas

Nai-Wang Kwok, 1966 B.D.

The School’s Lux et Veritas alumni award is given each year to someone who has demonstrated excellence and distinction in applying the compassion of Christ in their work. In 2010, it goes to Nai-Wang Kwok ’66 B.D., past head of the Hong Kong Christian Council and the founder and director of the Hong Kong Christian Institute, a center for education and advocacy on social issues. Kwok, a prolific author, is a minister of the Hong Kong Council of the Church of Christ in China.

Nai-Wang Kwok ’66 B.D. has dedicated over 40 years of active ministry to the transformation of the Hong Kong church. Since his Yale graduation and ordination in the Presbyterian Church, he devoted his life to changing the way Hong Kong Christians understand their faith and the way the Hong Kong churches carry out their mission. He challenged the church to become a genuine community of faith that serves the world rather than a religious institution concerned only about eternal salvation and church growth. In the unique setting that is Hong Kong, Kwok’s ministry spanned the decades that saw the city itself transformed economically, socially, and politically. Kwok was determined that the church should not be silent during these critical times and always stand with the people. As pastor-in-charge of Shum Oi Church, located in a Kowloon slum area, he boldly reached out to residents living in massive public housing projects surrounding the newly-built church. He opened the doors to the community and established innovative multi-generational training programs for Christian discipleship. As General Secretary of the Hong Kong Christian Council, one of the city’s largest ecumenical organizations, he expanded the scope of its mission to tackle pressing social and political concerns with the united voice of the church and strengthened ties with the World Council of Churches and the Christian Conference of Asia. He founded and directed the Hong Kong Christian Institute, a center for education and advocacy on social concern issues and spoke out on human rights, democracy, and justice as Hong Kong prepared to reunite with China. He has written or edited over 20 books and is one of the most popular lecturers at two of Hong Kong’s leading theological schools.