Until the world is different
David struck Goliath down on his first try and was celebrated in victory. That’s a nice way for the story to end but it’s important to remember that he took five stones with him. He understood that sometimes your faith has to endure a failure. All his hope can’t go into one stone. He’s going to have to keep throwing them until the world is different.
Alexis Vaughan, 2024 Convocation Address
Service of light. On Monday, December 1, at 6:00 p.m. in the Chapel of the Holy Grail, students will hold an Advent service of candlelighting, hymns, ensemble music with vocals, keyboard, flute, clarinets, guitar, and double bass, and five brief reflections on the candles of Hope, Peace, Joy, Love, and Christ. All are welcome. Dinner will follow in the dining room.
Deck the halls. Students decked the Common Room with both Christmas and Hanukah decorations this week, since the University will be on Thanksgiving break next week and there will only be two weeks of classes and exams in December before Winter Break.
"Heal Thyself." Luther Young, former resident and Assistant Professor of Religion & Society at Boston University, spoke at the Monday Night Forum on November 17 on "Lessons to the Church from Black LGBTQ People," drawing on data from in-depth interviews with thirty Black LGBTQ individuals. Dr. Young is an ordained Disciples of Christ minister and Council Moderator of the Disciples LGBTQ+ Alliance. He is on staff at Lighthouse Church of Chicago.
Salvage Poetics. Sheila Jelen, Professor of Religion, Literature, and Visual Culture and the History of Judaism, and Director of MA Studies at the Divinity School, spoke on October 20 about ‘Gathering the Fragments’: A Variation on Salvage Poetics, on her recent research on Holocaust testimonies and artifacts and the differing methodologies used by museums to collect, archive, and display them.
First the desks, and then the students began to arrive as the renovation wrapped up. Entering students arrived in time for new Student Orientation beginning September 21. Returning Scholars and ecumenical residents moved back in time for classes.
