Congratulations to PhD student Joel Brown and Erin James-Brown on the birth of Margot Lynn Brown on September 10. 

George Ewing Massay (1950) died in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on September 1. He was 92. He was a graduate of Bethany College and entered the University of Chicago as a Disciples Divinity House Scholar in 1950. He married Alice Crook on August 18, 1951, at Wadsworth Church of Christ, Wadsworth, Ohio. George and Alice served Christian Churches and Churches of Christ in Canada, England, Missouri, and Virginia. Survivors include his wife, Alice; his son, Jim, and a host of extended family.

Root & Branch Church in Chicago, a congregation led by Tim Kim and House Scholar and PhD student Virginia White, is featured in a story from RNS (Religion News Service) on August 29 about the dinner church movement. Former resident Elsa Marty also appears in the article.

Stephanie Paulsell (1985; former trustee) has been appointed the interim Pusey Minister at Harvard University. She will lead Memorial Church for the coming year, and continues as the Susan Shallcross Swartz Professor of the Practice of Christian Studies at Harvard Divinity School.

Seeking God’s Design, edited by Richard Lowery with Lawrence Burnley, Duane Cummins, and Peter Morgan, has been published by Chalice Press to mark the fiftieth anniversary of The Design of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). It provides historical context and offers a series of reflections from key Disciples leaders today. It includes essays by Chuck Blaisdell (1976), Kris Culp (dean; 1982), and Sandhya Jha (2001), with a foreward by Teresa Hord Owens (1999).

Congratulations to PhD student Luke and Stephanie Soderstrom on the birth of Roark Walker Soderstrom on May 31. 

Dale Miller (1949) died on May 21, 2019, at the age of 96. He was a professor, minister, and political activist. He is survived by his wife of 72 years, Betty, their six children, and many grandchildren. He lived a life of generous service and love. Gifts in his name may be sent to Saint Andrew Christian Church, Olathe, Kansas, Raymore (Missouri) Christian Church, or the Fellowship of John at Foxwood Springs Living Center in Raymore, Missouri. A memorial service was held at on June 15 at Foxwood Springs.

Garry Sparks (2001) has just been promoted to Associate Professor of Religious Studies with tenure at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Congratulations!

House Scholar Mark Lambert has been awarded an Alma Wilson Teaching Fellowship for next year. His course for the College, "Religion, Medicine, and Illness," will investigate how religious traditions furnish an explanatory reservoir vis-à-vis the experience.

Graduating House Scholar Jack Veatch has received funding through the Disciples’ Council on Christian Unity to study at the Ecumenical Institute of the World Council of Churches in Bossey, Switzerland next year. He reflects, "The issues communities face are rarely ever siloed by denominational belonging. Hunger, homelessness, abuse, addiction: these problems require a diversity of answers rooted in rich understandings of God and humanity. Without ecumenism, I believe our answers to the trials and tribulations of human life will be lacking."