Two shows by Monica Bauer ’82 M.Div., The Year I Was Gifted and Made for Each Other, are currently running on Stage Left Studio in New York. 
The Year I Was Gifted is an autobiographical story of Bauer’s year at Interlochen Arts Academy and an act of protest that got her suspended, of which one reviewer to wrote: “it is clear that she learned something that year that can’t be purchased for any amount of tuition money: Real art speaks truth to power, and it can be deadly threatening to the status quo.” Online on Theatre Mania, February 14.
Arthur B. Keys, Jr. ’73 M.Div., CEO/President of International Relief and Development has announced his plans to retire later this year from the organization he founded more than 15 years ago. IRD has implemented over $3 billion in humanitarian and international development assistance and has made a measurable improvement in the lives of millions. From an IRD press release, February 21.
“Acting was only one aspect of Mr. Waite’s life,” reported The New York Times of Ralph Waite ’56 B.D. who starred as John Sr. in the hit show The Waltons and died February 13. “He was at various times a Marine, a social worker, an ordained Presbyterian minister, a book editor and a three-time Democratic candidate for Congress from California.” Online, February 14.
Assistant Professor of Liturgical Studies Melanie Ross has been named one of the Henry Luce III Fellows in Theology 2014-2015. Ross will be completing a year-long research project on the varieties of evangelical worship.
“I had my call into ministry when I was 14,” said Mark Hostetter ’40 S.T.M. who will be 100 on July 25. “I made the decision under the weeping willow tree near the house. That came about after my reading of Ezekiel 33, which tells about a watchman giving a message to the people. … I knew that God was calling me.” Online on Lebanon (PA) Daily News, February 23.
“There’s a huge flourishing of thinking about what it means to have a Chinese theology that isn’t tied to much Westerner thought and thinking but is really engaged with Chinese society and Chinese ways of thinking and writing,” said Assistant Professor of Asian Christianity and Theology Chloë Starr in her recent appearance as a guest on The MacMillan Report to talk about her forthcoming translation of readings in Chinese intellectual Christianity. Online, February 26.
“How did the ‘cult scare’ of the 1970s, when controversies raged over new religious movements like the Church of Scientology and the Unification Church, change the politics of religious freedom in America?” wrote Assistant Professor of American Religious History Tisa Wenger, “Surprisingly, my research suggests that the cult scare and its aftermath helped make religious freedom a key rallying cry for the new religious right.” Online on Spectale of Toleration, February 26.
“Photography has changed not only the way that I make notes but also the way that I write,” wrote Casey N. Cep ’13 M.Div. “Like an endless series of prompts, the photographs are a record of half-formed ideas to which I hope to return.” Online on NewYorker.com, February 26.
“It’s a way of intentionally developing relationships across the lines of privilege and poverty…to help people move to self-sufficiency,” said Tracy Melvin “Mel” Williams ’69 B.D. in a recent article about a coalition he founded to end poverty in Durham, North Carolina. “Poverty is not a character flaw. It’s not ‘us’ and ‘them.’ We’re all in this together. It’s ‘our’ poverty.” Online on Wake Forest Magazine, February 24.
Connie Weigle Mann ’70 M.Div. of Winston-Salem died on February 19th due to a stroke. She is survived by her husband, Tom ‘70 B.D., ‘74 M.Phil., ‘75 Ph.D., of 45 years, her daughter, Mary Liz, of Washington D.C., her sister, Marta Weigle, of Santa Fe, N.M. and countless family and friends. Connie and Tom met at YDS. Online on Winston-Salem Journal, February 21.
“The biblical authors simply transplanted the nomadic standards of their time into the distant past,” wrote Associate Professor of Old Testament Joel Baden in his editorial “Will camel discovery break the Bible’s back?” “There is nothing deceptive about this. They weren’t trying to trick anyone. They imagined, quite reasonably, that the past was, fundamentally, like their present.” Online on CNN.com, February 11.
“It is our collective responsibility as a community, and as a nation, to make sure that all people have access to the means to good health,” wrote Representative for Domestic Poverty and Environmental Issues for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness Leslie Woods ’05 M.A.R. “ That is, access to quality, affordable, comprehensive health coverage.” Online on justiceunbound.org, February 21.
“Last night I listened to a lecture from Yale Divinity School by James Forbes, former pastor of Riverside Church in New York City,” wrote Jeffrey Johnson ‘85 M.Div. “It’s a sermon, really, not a lecture. As I listened I was reminded how much I was formed by, and am grateful still for the instruction, traditions, graceful scholarship, commitment to parish ministry and ecumenical vision of Yale Divinity School.” Online on PeaceWayland.wordpress.com, February 27.
Catherine Jane Reed ’64 M.Div. passed away February 21, 2014 at Regency Nursing Center. She was born July 16, 1923 in Erie, PA. In the mid-1960’s she moved to North Carolina where she earned a Master’s Degree in social work from UNC-Chapel Hill. She served many local churches associated with the Yadkin Presbytery including Lloyd Presbyterian Church. The last years of her ministry were with the Salem Presbytery where she served in many different capacities. Online on Winston-Salem Journal, February 26.
“Posed to God, the student’s question, ‘Do you accept the Seder orange?’ sounds simultaneously monumental and tiny,” wrote Esther Boyd ’13 M.A.R., “Facing a long and specific history, she is asking about the authority and ability of human beings to change, grow, adapt, and include those who have been cast aside previously. She is also asking: do you accept me?” Online on State of Formation, February 27.
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