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
Considering "calling." Practical theologian and Vanderbilt emerita professor Bonnie Miller-McLemore came to DDH on February 24 to talk about her new book, Follow Your Bliss and Other Lies About Calling (OUP). Drawing on memoirs, biographies, and fiction, she guides the reader through six dilemmas one may face throughout life, from missed or conflicted callings to unexpected or relinquished passions.
By the mid-twentieth century, the process known as Restructure attempted to create an institutional organization that consistently expressed an ecumenical doctrine of the church. Clark Gilpin led the Disciples History seminar on February 17, by examining two examples of rethinking ecclesiology that contributed to Restructure in the writings by William Robinson and Ronald Osborn.
Where all stories end: Time, karma, and narrative in Northern Indian Buddhist and Hindu pilgrimage was the theme of the Monday forum on February 10. Speaking was Kevin Poe, DDH Scholar and MA student, who studied Sanskrit in Pune, India, this summer and conducted interviews at Buddhist and Hindu religious sites in Northern India, such as Bodh Gaya, Varanasi, and Sarnath.
A house built on rock. The final chapel service of winter quarter will be on March 3, led by Justin Carlson, House Scholar and third-year MDiv student. The scripture will be Jesus' parable of houses built on rock and sand. How can the changeable nature of rock, sand, and natural seasons and cycles teach us to find stability in times of uncertainty and flux?
Ayanna Johnson Watkins has been named co-executive director for MLK50: Justice through Journalism, a nonprofit Memphis newsroom focused on poverty, power, and public policy. She will manage business and operations and help to guide development efforts. An alumna with dual MDiv/Social Work degrees, Johnson Watkins has been a nonprofit leader for twenty years.
Salt of the earth. Joy Savin and Francis Williams were hardworking Midwesterners. The Christian Church in Clever, Missouri, was central to their lives and their relationship. "Nothing would have given my parents greater delight than knowing that a fund had been established in their honor to help others fulfill their educational dreams," says Ritch Savin-Williams, DDH entering class of 1971. He is now Professor Emeritus of Cornell University and author of ten books on adolescent development, gender, and sexuality. More here.
