“I do this work because of my interest in social justice and fairness,” said David Dodson ’77 B.A. ’81 M.Div. ’81 M.P.P.M. about his leadership of MDC, a nonprofit dedicated to eliminating barriers to opportunity. 
“And that is inspired by my faith and my upbringing, which was rooted in social justice and helping the world come more into alignment with the picture that God has for it. So this is a secular expression of faith.” Online on Faith and Leadership, March 11.
Alanna Copenhaver ’14 M.Div. and Sarah Stewart ’15 M.Div. have been chosen to participate in FASPE (Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics) this summer in a two-week program for future clergy. With other FASPE fellows, Copenhaver and Stewart will visit Auschwitz and travel through Germany and Poland, studying the past and considering how to apply the lessons of history as they confront today’s ethical challenges. Online on the Museum of Jewish Heritage.
>View the list of 2014 FASPE fellows
Barry Vaughn ‘82 M.Div. will deliver The Harvard Club of Birmingham’s fifth annual E.O. Wilson Distinguished Lecture, entitled “Building Jerusalem: Religion and the Fabric of Life in Alabama.” Autographed copies of his recent book, Bishops, Bourbons and Big Mules: A History of the Episcopal Church in Alabama (University of Alabama, 2013) will be available for purchase at the lecture/dinner event.
Alvord Miner Beardslee ’53 B.D., ’55 S.T.M. professor emeritus of philosophy and religion and longtime chaplain at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia, died on March 21st at Noble Horizons in Salisbury. Among his other accomplishments, Beardslee was one of the YDS alumni who successfully preserved the YDS campus on quadrangle. Online on the Connecticut Conference United Church of Christ, March 31, 2014.
David Yeagley ’79 M.Div., great-great-grandson of the Comanche leader Bad Eagle (1839-1909), died on March 11 after a valiant struggle with cancer. He was an accomplished composer and activist. Online on American Renaissance, March 14.
“My first class was philosophy and informal logic,” said George Chochos ’16 M.Div. in a support of a program Bard College that offers prison inmates an opportunity to earn undergraduate degrees. “That class was so important because it was about learning how to think in a structured philosophical way. It was helping us be stakeholders in society and make ourselves better. That kind of education also has an impact on the facilities themselves. It makes them safer.” Online on Gotham Gazette, March 9, 2014.
“Bob showed up at our apartment,” said a former congregant of Robert Johnson ’64 B.D. “It was a real and wonderful surprise that a priest would do this. In fact, he did his best to visit every parishioner during his early days at St. Luke’s.” Johnson passed away in January. He was a former Episcopal bishop of North Carolina. Online on (Raleigh, NC) News Observer, March 16.
“I hope they come to realize that faith isn’t something you have to create,’’ said Nathan Finnin ’08 M.Div.,“It’s something you recognize. Theology and God surrounds us already. So, it’s not a matter of creating it. It’s a matter of stopping and recognizing it and being aware of it. It’s not about introducing the divine in everyday life.” Online in the (Greensboro, PA) News & Record, March 5.
Corinne Ellis ’15 M.Div. has been called as Associate Minister for Plymouth, IA United Church of Christ. “I’ve always been great at following a recipe, learning equations, reciting rote facts and figures, but God doesn’t have a rule book and people don’t come with instruction manuals…I truly came to understand my Christian faith when I began to accept the unboundedness of God and the world.” Online on PlymouthChurch.com, March 5.
Janet K. Ruffing, professor in the practice of spirituality and ministerial leadership was recently featured on a WNPR program about the various contexts of hearing voices in spirituality and mental health. Online on WNPR.com, March 25.
Carolyn Bradley Perry Dukenski ’96 M.Div. of Goshen, CT passed away March 6. She was an ordained Episcopal priest and ministered throughout her career at St. Peter’s of Oxford, Trinity Church Newtown, St. James of Danbury, Our Savior in Plainville, and St. Gabriel’s in E. Berlin. Online, Legacy.com, March 9.
Stewart A. Pollock ’80 M.Div. passed away on March 5. He was an ordained minister in the PC (USA) who served Presbyterian congregations in Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania. Online, On (PA) TribLive.com.
George L. Tolman ’50 B.D. passed away on March 2. He was an ordained minister in the Disciples of Christ and served congregations in California and Arizona. Prior to his ministerial career, he served in the U.S. Navy during WWII. Online on the Arizona Daily Star, March 9.
“I realized after my ordination that I had a call to interface with religious people about this,” said Marilyn Kendrix ’13 M.Div. of her recent call to serve on the convening table of the National Council of Churches in Christ’s Education, Ecumenical Faith and Leadership Formation. “It’s important for people of faith to understand this. This call is grounded in my understanding of this. Sometimes I speak to audience that are not Christian or nominally Christian. Many just don’t know that there is something they can do about this injustice.” Online in The Philadelphia Tribune, March 6.
Alvord M. Beardslee ’55 B.D. ’55 S.T.M. passed away March 21. Beardslee was a long-time religion professor and a chaplain at Hollins University and outspoken activist for racial equality and interfaith cooperation. He previously served in the U.S. Army Air Corps in the Pacific Theatre of WWII. Online on the Roanoke Times, April 2.
Judy Fentress-Williams ’90 M.Div., ’99 M.Phil. ’99 M.A. ’99 Ph.D. recently spoke with Covenant Bible Study hosts Christine Chakoian and Shane Stanford about the risk Esther took to save her people. Online on MinistryMatters.com, March 20.
“But isn’t it the issue that whether we value sufficiently freedom of conscience and ability to stand for something and distance one’s self, irrespective of what the set-up in which we find ourselves?” said Henry B. Wright Professor of Systematic Theology Miroslav Volf on the Australian television program, Q&A. “What happens to the protest? What happens to critique of government? What happens to the critique of the moral state of the world? I think artists have the right to do that. We want them to do that.” Online on abc.net.au, March 17.
“There is a certain health in a society that can face its problems,” wrote A. Ralph Barlow ’59 B.D. ’64 S.T.M. “We can be grateful that America’s stage plays and film, as well as its print media, are doing so much to bring that about. They captivate our attention by involving us first-hand in the very crises depicted in the drama.” Online on Providence Journal, March 22.
Have a story you’d like to add to next month’s People Notes? We’re always looking for recent news from alumni, faculty, students, and other members of the YDS community.
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