News of Alums & Friends

Bill Crowl (1962) is serving as interim Associate Regional Minister in Illinois-Wisconsin during Christal Williams's sabbatical.

Congratulations and thank you to L. Dale Richesin (1976) who has written Seven Ways to Read the Bible: A Glimpse at Over 250 English Translations and 951 Questions of Bernard Shaw: A Question From Almost Every Play and Essay, and who gave copies of these newly-published books to the DDH library.

Floyd Knight (1985) has published Loving, Open and Transforming: Questions and Answers Regarding Homosexuality and Gay Marriages from a Biblical Perspective under his pseudonym, Sadao Nitta. Written from a multi-cultural perspective, the book-length Bible study contains lesson plans and handouts.

John McCaw (1939) has published Prayers of Record: A Collection of Public Prayers. The original setting for many of these prayers was at Drake University, where he served as Dean of the Drake Divinity School and as unofficial chaplain for numerous events including the visit of President Truman, the dedication of buildings, and commencements.

The March 9 issue of The Christian Century features "Lent's terrible gift: Lessons in dying" by Kay Lynn Northcutt (1985) and a Faith Matters column by Stephanie Paulsell (1985; trustee) about reading Pilgrim's Progress.

The Charles Harvey and May Sweet Lord Fund at Disciples Justice Action Network (DJAN) honors the work of May and Harvey Lord (1962) and supports DJAN.

On March 6 & 7, Michael Karunas (1995) performed The Gospel of Mark at First Christian Church, Baton Rouge, where he is Senior Minister. He memorized the gospel and developed the nearly 90-minute presentation with director Tracy Stephenson Shaffer, who is a professor of performance and film at Louisiana State University.

On March 4, David Hall (1989) presented "A Collusion of Tropes: Analogy, Metaphor, Hyperbole, and Irony in Mark's Parable of the Mustard Seed," as a Martin Marty Center Senior Fellows Research Symposium. An Associate Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Centre College, he is working on a project at the Marty Center this year tentatively titled "Rhetorical Theology: Analogy, Metaphor, Hyperbole, and Irony in Religious and Theological Discourse."

We are saddened to learn of the death of Winifred Mabee, widow of Frank Mabee (1948), on March 22, 2010, in Dallas, Texas.

Congratulations to Kristin Van Heyningen (1995) and Christine Isham who were married in Iowa on February 10, reconfirming earlier vows celebrated with their extended families. Both work for the State of Missouri and also have been serving a UCC congregation near Columbia, Missouri.