Tuesday, August 1, 11:45 am - 1:15 pm

On Tuesday, August 1, alumni/ae and friends of the Disciples Divinity House gathered and shared a meal. During the meal Cynthia Gano Lindner, Director of the Ministry Porgram at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago was awarded the 2023 Distinguished Alumna Award. The Award text reads:

"For exemplary and innovative practice of the arts of ministry as minister, chaplain, therapist, and professor; for generative teaching and preaching; for offering a prophetic voice of ritual power and compassionate wisdom; for facilitating self-knowledge and communal clarity as advisor and
counselor; for a commitment to colleagues and connections built across diverse places, disciplines, and practices; for research that fosters understanding of “multiplicity” and its vocational necessity; for re-envisioning graduate theological education in a new era of multifaith possibility; for distinguished service to the Disciples of Christ and to the Disciples Divinity House; and for consequential direction of the Ministry Program of the Divinity School of the University of Chicago:

The Alumni/ae Association of the Disciples Divinity House
of the University of Chicago bestows upon you this day,
August 1, 2023, its Distinguished Alumna Award."

Cynthia's response, which exemplified her gifts for speaking to the heart of a matter and exemplary practice of the arts of ministry, will be published soon.

Alumni/ae told stories of their "Eureka!" moments at a StoryHour co-hosted by DDH, The Church Narrative Project, and The Proclamation Project.

Moments of levity, tales of triumph, expressions of vulnerability, and the wonder of discovery led us to deeper understanding of each other. Tales of singing hymns through crisis, wrestling with past selves, and changing names brought clearer images of who makes up the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) into the room.

Disciples Divinity House Alumni/ae are active in just about every aspect of the life of the Church.

Alumnae Aneesah Veatch and Sarah Zuniga led a workshop titled "Art, Activism, and Resistance," co-facilitated by La Lucha, a NBA Peer Wellness Group, directing attendees into a time for rest and retreat mediated through the arts.

Alumnus Beau Underwood led a workshop on confronting Christian nationalism, an important corrective for our churches in this time.

Alumnae Sarah Zuniga and Joan Bell Haynes participated in the Monday, July 31 worship by giving reflection of moments of Dayenu: reciting times that it "would have been enough" but connection and providence continued. Sarah also lead those gathered into worship on Sunday, July 30, with a reflection on the importance of weaving in various traditions.

After an election in which those gathered relected Teresa Hord Owens as the General Minister and President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), on Tuesday, August 1, Owens was installed and charged with continuing her ministry of visionary love, spiritual leadership, prophetic imagination, and ecumenical service. In her sermon during closing worship, she invited the General Assembly to “imagine new ways of being church and to stay at the table no matter what we face. Our commitment to staying at the table is grounded in our covenant relationship with God and with one another.”

Read more here.