On July 31, Don Pittman (1976) will retire from Phillips Theological Seminary as Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean and as the William Tabbernee Professor of the History of Religions. He has served at Phillips since 2000. Previously he taught in Taiwan as a missionary and at Brite Divinity School, where he also served as dean. From 1983-84, he was the acting dean of the Disciples Divinity House.

Michael Swartzentruber (2007) has been called to Middletown Christian Church, Louisville, Kentucky as Youth Minister. He began his ministry in January. Michael and Rebecca, his spouse, also embarked on the adventure of home ownership, buying their first house upon their move to Louisville.

Bill Wright (1995) is the author of "Negative Experience in Calvin's Institutes and Its Systematic Consequences," published in the January 2013 edition of The Journal of Religion. He teaches at Eureka College.

April Lewton (2004; trustee) will be one of the plenary speakers for the 2014 Quadrennial in Atlanta. She will speak on the theme, "I see you with hands of justice." The other speakers are: Sharon E Watkins, Nohemí Pagan, Penny Ziemer, and Cynthia Hale.

Sympathy to Katherine Raley (2008) on the death of her father, Mike Raley, on January 26 in Columbia, South Carolina. Mr. Raley died at home in hospice care after a battle with brain cancer. He was 64. A PhD graduate of the University of Georgia in counseling, he had a 20-year career at the SC Commission on Higher Education, including as the Director of Academic Affairs & Licensing. A memorial service is planned for January 31.

Garry Sparks (2001) was interviewed on the public radio program, Interfaith Voices, on December 13, 2012, about the Mayan Long Count Calendar and the influence of colonial Christian millennarianism as the root of the 2012 "doomsday" predictions.

Sympathy to Joan Bell-Haynes (1995) on the death of her father, Walter Lee Bell, Sr., on November 29, 2012, from lung cancer. A memorial service is planned for December 6 in Macon, Georgia.

We are saddened by the death of Maxine Mae Gambs McCaw, spouse of more than 70 years to John E. McCaw (1939). She died suddenly of pneumonia in the Iowa Methodist Hospital in Des Moines on January 26. She was 93. In addition to her husband, she is survived by four children: Clayle, Milva Lou (Sandison Pearse), Maxhn, and Janine (Mack), and by eight grandchildren and one great grandson. A musical memorial service was held at Wakonda Christian Church in Des Moines.

The following is abridged from the obituary that was published in the Des Moines Register. Born and raised in Des Moines, Maxine began her study of piano at the very young age of five. She began teaching private lessons at the age of 13. In 1937, she enrolled in Drake University as a scholarship student and studied through her sophomore year with Paul Stoye. She was admitted to Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia with full scholarship in 1939, where she studied with Harry Kaufman. She then entered Chicago Musical College, now Roosevelt University, where she studied with Rudolph Ganz and Mollie Margolies. She graduated with honors with a Bachelors Degree in Concert Piano in 1942. She also enrolled in classes in the University College and the Divinity School of the University of Chicago. She later studied with Bomar Cramer in Indianapolis and with Hilda Somer in New York City.

She was adjunct professor of piano at Southern Illinois University from 1943-45. She returned to Des Moines with her husband in 1950, continuing private teaching and retired from teaching in 1990. In 1969, she received the Master of Arts degree in piano performance from Drake University studying under Kenneth Drake. In 1979, she attended the International Pedagogy Workshop in Salzburg, Austria led by Clara Rolland. She studied composition with Winifred Glass and Dr. Pyle at Drake University and had Master's Class with Aaron Copeland. With Mabel Niedermayer McCaw she published children's songs. She was a member of the American Federation of Music Clubs, vice president of the board of Des Moines Civic Music, president of Drake Faculty Dames, and president of Fortnightly Music Club. She was also a founding member of the Ray Society of Life Long Learning. She traveled throughout North America, Europe, Russia and China. Memorial contributions may be made to the Christian Church Foundation designated to the recently established John and Maxine McCaw Prophetic Living, Teaching and Preaching Scholarship. The McCaws have also provided for a gift to the Disciples Divinity House.

Manuel Sánchez (former resident) now serves as Deputy Governor and member of the Governing Board of the Bank of Mexico.  Mr. Sanchez was nominated by President Felipe Calderon in April 2009 and his appointment was ratified by the Standing Commission of the Mexican Congress in May of 2009.  His term will end at the end of 2016.

Kerry Waller Dueholm (2000) has concluded six years of ministry at Villa Park Christian Church and has begun studies in pastoral counseling. She and her family have moved to Wauconda, Illinois, where spouse Ben Dueholm is Associate Pastor of Messiah Evangelical Lutheran Church. Ben, a former DDH chef, is also a MDiv graduate of the Divinity School.