“While there exist many contemporary poets whose work I enjoy and admire, I suffer from the impression, whether true or not, that there are more poets today than readers of poetry,” writes Chard DeNiord ’78 M.Div. 
in his recent essay “Resistance and Independence in Contemporary American Poetry,” published in The Cortland Review. DeNiord’s essay explores threat of commercialism in contemporary poetry and calls its writers to “become prophets as well as poets in identifying the illusory ‘gift’ in their midst as a wooden subterfuge, and then write against it in a strange, new way that is also immediately familiar.”
Dale E. Bichsel ‘51 B.D. passed away May 14, 2014 at Willowbrook Christian Village in Delaware. After serving in the United States Army in World War II, Bichsel pursued a career as minister of several United Methodist congregations in Delaware and Ohio. He was 89. Online on Legacy.com, May 21.
Nathan Blake ‘05 M.A.R. ‘05 J.D. is seeking the nomination of the Democratic Party for the Iowa Senate District 17 seat. “Many politicians talk about helping kids, but we need to follow through on policy,” said Blake about his education platform, “I will work to expand early childhood education so every one of our kids has access to high-quality pre-K.” Online on in the Des Moines Register, May 15.
The Frederick Houk Borsch Chair of Anglican Studies was inaugurated at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia to honor Frederick Borsch, a former interim dean of Berkeley Divinity School. The chair was established with a gift from the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. Online on Episcopal News of LA, May 7.
Buckingham Professor of New Testament Criticism and Interpretation Adela Yarbro Collins gave a lecture at the Committee for the Study of Religion at CUNY entitled Crisis, Catastrophe, and Utopia in the Book of Revelation on May 9.
Charlton Copeland ‘02 M.A.R. ‘03 J.D., who is a professor at the University of Miami School of Law, has received a 2013 Dukeminier Award and the Michael Cunningham Prize for his article, “Creation Stories: Stanley Hauerwas, Same-sex Marriage, and Narrative in Law and Theology,” which was published in the Duke Law School journal, Law and Contemporary Problems, at the end of 2012. Online on Miami.edu, May 13.
“Recently, the proposed ‘black mass’ at Harvard University caused quite a stir. Catholic groups have expressed concern over whether a consecrated host will be used, or whether the entire event is anti-Catholic in nature. I, for one, think it has little to nothing to do with anti-Catholicism,” wrote Hunter Dudkiewicz ‘16 M.Div. in an article for the humanist blog of Rutgers University. Online on Applied Sentience, May 15.
Marie Fortune ‘76 M.Div. received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Eden Theological Seminary on May 16 for her work as a pastor, educator, theologian, ethicist, and author to address sexual and domestic violence in our society. Online on Eden Theological Seminary.
“I became very intimately involved in criminal justice issues because all too often I’ve seen how many men of color like me fall under the crushing yoke of the criminal justice system,” said Herron Gaston ’14 M.Div. “I think (the experience) authenticates my voice to be able to speak legitimately on those issues.” Online on The (Florida) Ledger, May 24.
Noah Porter Professor of Philosophical Theology John Hare participated in a conference entitled God: Theological Accounts and Ethical Possibilities at the University of Chicago Divinity School. Drawing from the works of Immanuel Kant, Hare argued that without God our morality becomes unstable. Online on University of Chicago Divinity School, May 8.
>Read more about the conference
YDS Senior Director of Development James R. Hackney, Jr. ’79 M.A.R. was recently elected board member of the American Alliance of Museums. He has more than thirty years in the field of non-profit development, primarily colleges and museums. He will serve a three year term.
On May 30 and 31 Rachel Hatch ‘08 M.Div. was a featured speaker of the 2014 TransparencyCamp, a two day conversion about “how open data, technology and civic engagement can be used to provide more transparent governing bodies and healthier, happier, engaged communities.” Hatch is a research director for the Ten-Year Forecast program. Online on SunlightFoundation.org, May 5.
Bishop John L. Hopkins ‘72 M.Div. of the episcopacy in the Ohio East Area gave the sermon at the University of Mount Union Baccalaureate on May 10. Online, May 6.
The June 2014 issue of New Haven Living featured a story about the 40th anniversary of the Institute of Sacred Music entitled “Cultivating Compassionate Artists.”
Paul A. Johnson ‘90 M.Div. will pastor a new congregation of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas in the Bee Cave/Lakeway area of Lake Travis, TX. Online on Epicenter.org.
Lecturer in Early Christianity Paul R. Kolbet has recently co-edited The Harp of Prophecy: Early Christian Interpretation of the Psalms (Notre Dame, 2014) with Brian E. Daley, S.J., and Paul R. Kolbet. Forthcoming from Notre Dame Press.
Patricia Lull ’77 M.Div. will be the first woman to lead as bishop of the St. Paul Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the second largest synod of the denomination. Online on the (Minneapolis) Star Tribune, May 19.
Alison Lutz ’12 S.T.M. has been named a 2014 Episcopal Church Fellow. She received the fellowship to continue her research on the ethics of humanitarian aid as a Ph.D. student in ethics and society at Vanderbilt University. Online on the Episcopal Foundation, May 28.
Katelyn B. Macrae ‘11 M.Div. has been called to be the next pastor of Richmond Congregational Church in Richmond, VT. Online on Richmond Congregational Church.
“I will discuss how food fits into our theology,” said Susan J. McCone ‘98 M.Div. in preparation for her participation in a panel discussion of food ethics entitled “Eating with Intent and Compassion,” “The Episcopal Church has a tradition of radical hospitality designed to foster a welcoming, inclusive, accepting and nurturing environment. Basically there is a sense that the altar is the table where we share the Eucharistic meal, but a [dining table] is an extension of that.” Online on the Litchfield County (CT) Times, May 13.
Incoming Berkeley Divinity School Dean Andrew McGowan has authored Ancient Christian Worship: Early Church Practices in Social, Historical, and Theological Perspective (Baker, 2014) available later this year.
Ingrid Bloomquist Pope ‘84 M.A.R. of Greenwich died Friday, Feb. 28. She was 95 […] After her husband’s death in 1982, she married Marvin H. Pope, former Yale professor of near Eastern languages and civilizations. Online in the Greenwich Daily Voice, May 19.
Mark Powell ‘08 M.A.R. was awarded tenure and promoted to Associate Professor of English at Stetson University. Powell has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Breadloaf Writers’ Conference, the Collegeville Center for Ecumenical Research and the Vaclav Havel fellowship in playwriting to the Prague Seminar. Online on Stetson.edu, May 8.
Tracy L. Johnson Russell ’95 M.Div. was awarded the Canon Clinton Jones award for social justice work at Christ Church Cathedral in Hartford, CT on May 30. The Canon Clinton R. Jones award was established in 2005 to honor an individual whose life and work exemplify values, accomplishments and passions similar to those of Jones, whose 40 years of outreach to people on the margins of society made him a national legend.
Susan K. Williams Smith ‘86 M.Div. has recently published The Book of Jeremiah: The Life and Ministry of Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. (Pilgrim Press, 2014), honorable and comprehensive picture of Wright as a man, an African American, a patriot, scholar, and pastor. Smith is a former mentee of Wright. Online in Black News, May 12.
Donald R. Steinle ‘65 B.D. ‘66 S.T.M. was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Divinity by Hartford Seminary on May 16. Steinle recently retired as Executive Director of the Hartford-based Christian Activities Council. Online on Hartford Seminary, May 29, 2014.
Cathy Zall ‘02 M.Div. received the individual Carol E. Walter Think, Be, Lead Change Award for her “tireless efforts to innovate and find new solutions to end homelessness.” Zall is Executive Director of New London Homeless Hospitality Center. Online on the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness, May 9.