A Tradition of Excellence
Disciples Divinity House graduates extend a tradition of excellence in ministry and scholarship.
A tradition of social visionaries:
Ken Brooker Langston, Director of the Disciples Justice Action Network and Coordinator of the Disciples Center for Public Witness, and Michael Kinnamon, President of the National Council of Churches, are pictured here with other Disciples leaders. They continue a tradition that includes Arthur Azlein, William Fox, Russ and Barbara Fuller, Dan Genung, Ana Gobledale, Barton Hunter, David Kagiwada, Harvey Lord, Frank Mabee, and Ian McCrae.
A tradition of ecumenical leadership:
Vy Nguyen, a 2007 M.Div. graduate, works with Church World Service in northern California; Bonnie Carenen, a 2009 graduate, works with Church World Service in Indonesia. They follow a tradition that includes W. Barnett Blakemore, William Carpe, Michael Kinnamon, and Thomas Quigley.
Now serving in ecumenical campus ministry are Angela Kaufman, Minister to the University at Texas Christian University, Stephanie McLemore, Lynchburg College, and Brent Reynolds, Culver-Stockton College.
A tradition of vibrant congregational ministry:
2003 graduate Kerry Waller is minister of the Christian Church of Villa Park, while classmates Ray Greenfield and Amy Lignitz Harken serve in Lewistown, IL, and Independence, MO. Lee Hull Moses, a 2004 graduate, is the senior minister of First Christian Church, Greensboro, NC; Yvonne Gilmore-Essig, a 2005 graduate, is starting a new congregation in Ohio. They join others who serve congregations with creativity and distinction, including Michael Karunas at First Christian Church in Baton Rouge, LA, Joan Bell-Haynes at the United Christian Parish of Reston, VA, and David Cobb at First Christian Church, Lynchburg, VA.
A tradition of wider church leadership:
David Vargas is President of the Division of Overseas Ministries and Dennis Landon is President of Higher Education and Leadership Ministries. Sandhya Jha serves as Regional Minister of Transformation in Northern California and Nevada. Ayanna Johnson, previously DDH’s Minister in Residence and now the Director of Community Life at Chicago Theological Seminary, recently completed service as the First Vice Moderator of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
A tradition of excellence in teaching and scholarship:
Herbert Willett, E. S. Ames, and W. E. Garrison, some of the very first graduates, inaugurated a tradition of intellectual leadership. Among those who now serve in graduate theological faculties are: Timothy Lee, Brite Divinity School; Daisy Machado, Union Theological Seminary; Bonnie Miller-McLemore, Vanderbilt Divinity School; Mark Miller-McLemore, Disciples Divinity House at Vanderbilt University; Kay Northcutt and Don Pittman, Phillips Theological Seminary; Stephanie Paulsell, Harvard Divinity School; and Frank Burch Brown, Bernie Lyon, Scott Seay, and Brian Grant, all at Christian Theological Seminary.
Current college and university faculty include Larry Bouchard, University of Virginia; Emily Brooker-Langston, St. John's College, Annapolis; Peter Browning, Drury University; David Hall, Centre College; Jennifer Jesse, Truman State University; Ritch Savin-Williams, Cornell University; George Shields, Kentucky State University; and William Wright, Eureka College.
