In his new book, Reviving Christian Humanism: The New Conversation on Spirituality, Theology, and Psychology (Fortress Press), Don Browning (1956; trustee) argues "that the social sciences can help to reinvigorate the human strands of religion, and ultimately, feed the public good."

Current PhD student Bethany Watkins Lowery was ordained Saturday, January 2, in her home region of Oklahoma at Meinders Chapel at Phillips Theological Seminary. Her grandfather Keith Watkins was the preacher. Bethany is a 2009 MDiv graduate of the Disciples Divinity House and the University of Chicago Divinity School, who studies the History of Christianity.

Joe Blosser (2005) and Allie Harvey exchanged wedding vows on December 19, 2009, at University Christian Church, Fort Worth, Texas, just off the TCU campus where they met and graduated in 2002. Joe is Visiting Assistant Professor at DePaul University and Allie is a PhD student at Loyola University in Chicago.

Congratulations to Amy Collier Artman (1995) who received her PhD from the Divinity School on December 11, 2009, in the History of Christian­ity. Her dissertation explored the "gentrification" of Pentecostalism and the use of media in the work of Kathryn Kuhlman.

Sandhya Jha (2001) has returned from a three month sabbatical. Travel in India included lecturing on congregational transformation at Tamilnadu Theological Seminary (a Global Ministries partner) and giving a paper on Black Liberation Theology and the Bible at a seminar at Eastern Theological College (Baptist) in Jorhat, Assam. Also pictured: being blessed by an elephant while in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. Laura Jean Torgerson (2002) was the sabbatical minister at First Christian, Oakland, CA, during Sandhya's absence.

An interview with Clark Williamson (1957; trustee) was featured in DisciplesWorld in early December. "If we are indeed to be a movement for wholeness in a fractured world, we will need to begin to take far more seriously how we understand ourselves in relation to all the other religions of the world not just other kinds of Christians," he comments. "This is what I've worked on for almost forty years, mainly with regard to Christian-Jewish relations."

John Donggook Roh (1983) served as Acting Executive Pastor of NAPAD (North American Pacific Asian Disciples) from September 1 - November 30, 2009, during Geunhee Yu's sabbatical. He continues his work as a consultant with Church Extension.

Elizabeth Myer Boulton (1998) and Matthew Myer Boulton together with Zoe Krohn have recorded a CD as the band Butterflyfish. They offer "a rootsy blend of American folk, gospel, blues, country, and bluegrass, cooked down and spiced up into fresh takes on the spiritual themes so characteristic of old American music." They were recently featured in a DisciplesWorld story.

Ed Kolbe (1956) had triple bypass surgery in late September 2009. In early December he reported that the surgery was 100% effective and that he is feeling much better.

Congratulations to House Scholar Patricia Duncan who passed her PhD examinations on November 5, 2009. She studies the New Testament and has received a P.E.O. Scholar Award for her research on a fourth-century Christian “romance novel” that suggests an alternative view of Jewish-Christian relations.