Yale Divinity School is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2014 Yale Divinity School Alumni Awards: Dwight Andrews ‘77 M.Div. ‘93 Ph.D., Stephen Bauman ‘79 M.Div., Harvey G. Cox Jr. ‘55 B.D., and Ronald Sider ’63 M.A., ‘67 B.D., ‘69 Ph.D.
The awards will be presented at the Alumni Awards Dinner on Thursday, October 23 during the 2014 Convocations and Reunions. Tickets to the dinner are available by registering for Convocations and Reunions: http://ydsconvocation.yale.edu/
The recipient of the 2014 The Lux et Veritas award is Dwight Andrews ’77 M.Div., ‘93 M.Phil., ‘93 Ph.D.. The Lux et Veritas award is given to someone who has demonstrated excellence and distinction in applying the compassion of Christ to the diverse needs of the human condition through the wider church, institutional ministries, ecumenical organizations, not-for-profit organizations, government, or industry.
Andrews, a noted preacher and musician, is Associate Professor of Music Theory and African American Music at Emory University and Senior Minister of First Congregational United Church of Christ in Atlanta, a church founded in 1867 by ex-slaves with help from missionaries from New Haven. Andrews was the pastor of the Black Church at Yale for 10 years and served on the faculties of the Yale Music Department and the Yale African American Studies program. Among his many music credits, Andrews provided the music direction for the Tony-nominated Broadway revival of Raisin in the Sun. His work has been presented at professional theatres throughout the United States and Great Britain.
Stephen Bauman ‘79 M.Div. is the 2014 recipient of the award for Distinction in Congregational Ministry, awarded to a lay or ordained individual who has shown exceptional pastoral competence in the work of developing the ministry and mission of local congregations.
In 1987 Bauman became Senior Minister of Christ Church, United Methodist, New York City, an iconic urban church near internal collapse. In the spirit of the founding motto of the Institute of Sacred Music from which he jointly received his M.Div. – phoenix resurgens – Dr. Bauman gathered a young, vital, urban-diverse congregation with flourishing worship, learning and outreach ministries that have extended into the city, nation, Ghana, and Colombia. His book, Simple Truths: on Values, Civility and Our Common Good (Abingdon, 2006) was a featured selection of Abingdon Press. Dr. Bauman was a popular commentator on WCBS News Radio for over a decade and hosted television programming featuring interreligious conversation. Active within the wider New York City environs, he is a founding member and current co-chair of A Partnership of Faith, a consortium of senior leaders from Jewish, Muslim, and Christian traditions. Over his years of service at Christ Church, he received a Ph.D. in Leadership and Change from Antioch University and accumulated decades of service on the boards of numerous educational institutions.
In recognition of his teaching, leadership, and contributions to vocational formation for ministry that best reflects the YDS traditions, Harvey G. Cox Jr. ‘55 B.D. has been named the recipient of the 2014 Distinction in Theological Education award.
Cox is Hollis Research Professor of Divinity at Harvard, where he began teaching in 1965. An American Baptist minister, he has previously served as the Protestant chaplain at Temple University, the director of religious activities at Oberlin College, an ecumenical fraternal worker in Berlin, and a professor at Andover Newton Theological School. His research and teaching interests focus on the interaction of religion, culture, and politics. Among the issues he explores are urbanization, theological developments in world Christianity, Jewish-Christian relations, and current spiritual movements in the global setting. Cox is a prolific author, including his most recent book, The Future of Faith (HarperCollins, 2009). His Secular City (MacMillian, 1965) became an international bestseller and was selected by the University of Marburg as one of the most influential books of Protestant theology in the twentieth century.
Some of his other books include When Jesus Came to Harvard: Making Moral Decisions Today (Mariner, 2006); The Feast of Fools (Harvard, 1969); Religion in the Secular City: Toward a Postmodern Theology (Simon & Schuster, 1985); The Silencing of Leonardo Boff: Liberation Theology and the Future of World Christianity (Myer and Stone Co, 1988); Fire From Heaven: The Rise of Pentecostal Spirituality (Da Capo, 2001); and Common Prayers: Faith, Family, and a Christian’s Journey Through the Jewish Year (Mariner, 2002).
Ronald Sider ‘63 M.A., ‘67 B.D., ‘69 Ph.D. is the recipient of the William Sloane Coffin ‘56 Award for Peace and Justice. The award is given in honor of the life and ministry of William Sloane Coffin, former Chaplain to the University and one of the 20th century’s most significant religious leaders. Recipients of the Coffin award are recognized for sharing Coffin’s passionate and prophetic witness, courageous devotion to the dignity and worth of all persons, and notable contributions to the work of peace and reconciliation.
Sider is Senior Distinguished Professor of Theology, Holistic Ministry, and Public Policy at Palmer Theological Seminary and President Emeritus of Evangelicals for Social Action. A widely known evangelical speaker and writer, Sider has spoken on six continents, published more than thirty books and scores of articles. In 1982, The Christian Century named him one of the twelve “most influential persons in the field of religion in the U.S.” His Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger (Intervarsity, 1977) was recognized by Christianity Today as one of the one hundred most influential religious books of the twentieth century and named the seventh most influential book in the evangelical world in the last fifty years.
His recent books include I Am not a Social Activist, Fixing the Moral Deficit: A Balanced Way to Balance the Budget (IVP, 2012), Just Politics: A Guide for Christian Engagement (Brazos 2012), and The Early Church on Killing: A Comprehensive Sourcebook on War, Abortion, and Capital Punishment (Baker, 2012). Some of his other publications include: Good News and Good Works: A Theology for the Whole Gospel (Baker, 1999) and The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience: Why Are Christians Living Just Like the Rest of the World (Baker, 2005). Sider was the publisher of PRISM magazine and a contributing editor of Christianity Today for twenty years. He is a contributing editor of Sojourners. He has lectured at colleges and universities around the world, including Yale, Harvard, Princeton, and Oxford.
For a complete list of past YDS Alumni Award recipients or more information on the 2014 Convocation and Reunions, visit http://ydsconvocation.yale.edu/.