“I could sense the movement from where I had gone from believing there is no God to open to the possibility to really believing there is something out there,” said Steven Andrews ’13 S.T.M., pastor of Parkville Presbyterian Church in Parkville, Missouri. Online The Kansas City (MO) Star, Dec. 23.
“For at least three hundred hours this past summer, I practiced what not to say,” wrote Win Basset ’15 M.A.R. in the December 17 issue of Commonweal magazine. “Most people who have completed a unit of clinical pastoral education, a standardized training program in hospital chaplaincy, describe their experience as a lesson in listening—often silently.”
James P. Crosby ’57 M.Div., an ordained Episcopal priest, has died at the age of 82. He served a number of Florida parishes and spent more than 30 years as the chaplain of the Jacksonville, Florida Sheriff’s Office. Online, Jacksonville.com Dec. 11.
John R. Edler ’48 M.Div. a priest and canon in the Episcopal church, died on December 13, 2014. In addition to many parishes, he also served the diocese as Secretary of Convention (1958 - 1979) and as a Deputy to five General Conventions (1964, 1967, 1970, 1973 and 1976). He also served The Episcopal Church as Secretary of the Program & Budget Committee. Online on Episcopal Diocese of Newark, Dec. 22.
“The Citizen Review Board should be comprised of regular civilians from the community, who has a stake in the life of the community,” writes Herron Gaston ’14 M.Div. ’15 S.T.M. in an article about racial prejudice in the criminal justice system. “The job of the Citizens Review Board is to serve as a liaison between the actual community and its members and the local police department.” Online on Huffington Post, Jan. 6.
Senior minister of Greenwich, CT Second Congregational Church, United Church of Christ Maxwell Grant ’06 M.Div. will be the featured preacher on the ecumenical radio program Day 1 on January 4 and 11. Online on Greenwich Post, Jan. 1.
The Rebirth of Latin American Christianity (Oxford University Press, 2014) by Todd Hartch ‘89 B.A., ‘95 M.A.R., ‘00 M.A., ‘00 M.Phil., ‘00 Ph.D. has been named the winner of Christianity Today’s 2015 Book Awards in the category of Missions/Global affairs. Congratulations, Todd! Online, Dec. 14.
“Jesus talked about forgiveness for individuals. But really, this is less about the individual police officers … than the system they represent,” said John Michael Helmiere ’10 M.Div. “The system needs to be held accountable.” Helmiere is pastor of the Valley & Mountain Fellowship in Seattle’s Hillman City neighborhood and said he was subjected to excessive force by police during a protest defending the $15/hour minimum wage. Online on Seattle Post Intelligencer, Dec. 17.
John Richard McBeth ’71 M.Div. died on Nov. 20, 2014. He was an avid motorcyclist and an ordained UMC pastor, serving many congregations in southern Wisconsin. Online, Madison.com, Dec. 6.
“Exactly when, how and why Christmas became a Christian feast is not clear,” writes Berkeley Divinity School Dean Andrew McGowan. “The Gospels themselves leave conundrums about the year of Jesus’s birth, and offer nothing of significance concerning when in that year it took place. Neither can we find any evidence for the date of Jesus’s appearance for more than a century after most of the New Testament writings were composed.” Online Religion and Ethics www.abc.net.au, Dec. 23.
Melissa Proctor ’01 M.A.R. has been named a research analyst at the Utah Foundation.
“In the five American hospitals that have treated Ebola patients, chaplains have been a key part of the healthcare team, quietly alleviating anxiety amid national paranoia, tackling loneliness amid clinical isolation, and protecting patient privacy amid intense public scrutiny,” wrote Betsy Shirley ’15 M.Div. in an article about American chaplains caring for Ebola patients. Online on Religion Dispatches, Dec. 16.
David Telfort ’15 M.Div. will be the featured speaker when the West Haven Black Coalition holds its 29th Annual Tribute to the late Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. on January 11. Online on New Haven Register, Dec. 25.
“I don’t like—don’t approve, refuse to throw myself into—the spirit of obligatory gift-giving,” writes Krista Tippett ’94 in a blog post entitled “Why I don’t do Christmas.” “In my lifetime, this has become existentially linked to a commercial orgy that has now even co-opted the ritual angle.” Online on OnBeing.com, Dec. 20.