Asher Arthur Smith arrived on May 20th, 2021, to Kiah and Aaron Smith (2007). He was born in Atlanta's Northside Hospital, the same birthplace as his mother Kiah, weighing 7 pounds 10 oz and 19.5 inches long. He just turned 6 months and his parents could not be happier.

Sandhya Jha's (2001; trustee) Advent devotional, Traveling with Our Ancestors, summons spiritual ancestors—biblical and modern—to help guide a journey toward Christmas. The Chalice Press website offers an excerpt in which Sandhya encourages us to return to the ancient practice of seven weeks of Advent, instead of four.

When a chaplain receives a page, "PT REQUESTING BIBLE," sometimes a Bible is just a Bible. But often it is "summoning someone to listen." Former pandemic chaplain Kristel Clayville (2001) reflected on these and other experiences at a DDH Forum on November 15. She now teaches Ethics and Technology at University of Illinois at Chicago.

Vy Nguyen (2004; trustee) attended the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow along with other faith leaders. He wrote, “The earth is the Lord’s, and all that is in it ... That is good news. In this moment, it is also a call to prayer, to care, and to action. We hold in prayer all these world leaders who gathered in Glasgow, and we pray for all people of faith, around the world, who will work together in the season ahead to ensure the continued thriving of the earth.”

Congratulations to McKinna Daugherty (2010) and TJ Shinners on the birth of Elliott Lewis Shinners on September 29, weighing 8 lbs, 4 oz., and measuring 19.5 inches long. Elliott and Danielle Cox’s six-month-old, Walker Bateman, both attended an Alumni/ae Council meeting on Zoom in November!

Dennis Landon (1970) has helped to organize a series of Open-Mic Poetry Nights at the First Baptist Church of Pottstown, Pennsylvania. On November 8, spoken word artist and former DDH Associate Dean Yvonne Gilmore (2001) was the special guest.

Katherine Newman Kinnamon (1977) serves on the staff of the Mid-America Region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) as Coordinator of the Region's Commission on the Order of Ministry. She lives in St. Louis, and is an elder at Compton Heights Christian Church. She retired from congregational ministry in 2018.

Rob Wilson-Black (1991), CEO of Sojourners, discusses The End of College: Religion and the Transformation of Higher Education in the 20th Century in a new book published by Fortress Press. For this research, Dartmouth College has invited him to give the 2022 Orr Lecture.

Julian DeShazier (trustee) spoke as a representative of the community at the inauguration of Paul Alivisatos as the new President of the University of Chicago on October 29. “…[T]he university must be willing to be transformed by the South Side. Because on every block, there is deep wisdom and people who will lead and serve and must do so — and people who you must be led by, because they, too, have greatness to offer.”

What endures, what changes, what emerges for the Disciples during the pandemic? Terri Hord Owens (1999), General Minister and President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), considered these questions when she came to DDH to speak at the Monday, October 25 forum.