Senior Ministry Projects are an important feature of the Divinity School's MDiv program, as well as an opportunity for vocational exploration and theological expression. They involve a forty-page written thesis and a public presentation. Five Disciples Scholars together with another DDH resident are presenting their work this spring.

On Friday, May 16, Tyler Ashman spoke at 5pm in the Swift Hall lecture room on "Judging Faithfully: Law and moral conviction in the federal judiciary." Tyler, a MDiv/JD dual degree student, will begin a clerkship with a federal judge after graduation.

Justin Carlson (see photo) has been exploring ecological approaches to biblical interpretation. He presented his project,"Reading Among Reeds: Interpreting scripture in post-industrial ecology," at Big Marsh Park, on May 10 and 14. The area, which is in South Chicago, just off the eastern banks of Lake Calumet, has been partially restored after suffering industrial pollution. 

On May 5, Nate Travis combined a dinner experience with a formal presentation to consider Whose table? Which ethics? Food and eating as ethical practice. First, guests sat down for a Monday Night Dinner, where Nate assigned seats at random and asked attendees to serve food to an immediate neighbor instead of themselves. He explained the concept of "foodways" across religions and culture and shared two case studies to illustrate the delicate practice of negotiating differences across a table.

Marissa Ilnitzki presented her project on April 28: What hospital chaplaincy can learn from the art, theory, and practice of improvisation? This question emerged from her felt recognition of similarities when crossing the threshold into a patient's room as a chaplain and when entering into an improv skit. She spoke of postcolonial models for multi-faith hospital chaplaincy, as well as deep into the history of improvisation through Second City and back to Hull House, primarily in the person of Viola Spolin. Marissa invited her audience to try a variety of improv games and scenes, at first to great trepidation and then to great laughter.

On April 21, Morganne Talley presented her project, focused on the unwelcome potential for creating religious trauma in kids' ministry and what can be done to prevent it. She worked with a Disciples pastor to develop a baptism class for a Disciples congregation, hence the project's title: From Hell to Holy Water: A trauma-informed paradigm for kids' ministry. She included a "Sword Drill" demonstration in her presentation: under pressure, three volunteers competed to see how quickly they could locate a Bible citation, most often about sin and wickedness! Morganne emphasized the importance of raising children, not with a "wall"-like faith (strong, but rigid and brittle), but with a "web"-like faith (strong, stretchable and flexible). Thirty people Zoomed into Morganne's presentation from across the country.

On April 14, Kylie Winger presented her Senior Ministry Project, Already Enough: Countering achievement culture in the creative writing classroom. She began by inviting her audience into two short exercises, and by allowing her audience to experience her presence as a teacher. She discussed the achievement culture she has encountered in the high school classroom and the spiritual dimensions of her work. She explored and demonstrated approaches to encourage curiosity, experimentation, and creativity. In the fall she will begin as a theology teacher at DePaul College Prep in Chicago.

In 2015, Paul Steinbrecher was elected Secretary of the Board of Trustees and to its Executive Committee. Now retired as a principal at Interactive Design, Inc. (IDEA), a Chicago-based architecture firm. Paul first became associated with DDH in 1995 because of his expertise in historic preservation and cultural and religious institutions. He was elected to the Board in 2012 and quickly became as indispensable to its work as he was already to the well-being of the building. After serving as secretary for ten years, he has handed over those duties while continuing his trustee work as a member of the House Committee.

Melinda Keenan Wood has picked up the pen. She was first elected to the Board of Trustees in 2019 after serving as President of the Alumni/ae Council. Lindy has been Senior Minister of Pilgrim United Church of Christ in Durham, North Carolina, since 2017. From 2002-17, she was Senior Minister of Pershing Avenue Christian Church in Orlando, Florida. Among the ways she has served the wider church is chairing the Week of Compassion. Lindy came to her MDiv studies with a background in nonprofit work; she was ordained in 2000 at National City Christian Church in Washington, DC.

Congratulations to 2025 graduates Nate Travis, Muhammad Hassan, and Kevin Poe, who have accepted offers to study at the University of Oregon (Philosophy and Ecology), the University of Chicago Divinity School (Religions in the Americas), and University of California-Santa Barbara (South Asian Religions).

J. Marshall Dunn, Minister Emeritus of University Christian Church, Hyattsville, Maryland, will be honored with the Distinguished Alumnus Award. The Alumni/ae Council will present the award on July 15 at DDH's luncheon at the General Assembly in Memphis.

He has been for me and others what is best of the Disciples of Christ: working towards wholeness, modeling deep Christian spirituality, loving compassion, and a passion for justice, commented one alumna who was one of several who submitted nominations. Another explained, Marshall Dunn is a pastor par excellence. For over 50 years he has led congregations and communities as a rigorous teacher and a practitioner of ministry that cares for the soul with competence and heart.

Marshall Dunn entered the Divinity School as a Disciples Divinity House Scholar in 1965. Encouraging his fellow students in the new DMin program to live at DDH, he helped to usher in the ecumenical student community that exists to this day. He interned at the Coordinating Council of Community Organizations on Chicago's south side. When Dr. King came to Chicago to confront northern racism, Marshall's passion for racial justice grew. After his ordination, he served two south side congregations, which would merge under his leadership. He was the founder of Reach Out, an ecumenical crisis center for families in need. He became the first president of the Illinois-Wisconsin College of Ministers.

In 1974 he was called to University Christian Church near the University of Maryland, where he would serve for 31 years, building a multi-racial and culturally diverse congregation that has been deeply involved in vibrant worship, community outreach, and transformational ministry ever since. He led the church through significant decades in the relation of church and society, which included exemplary participation in Week of Compassion and Reconciliation programs and remarkable local action. For example, in the eighties and nineties, the congregation partnered with the high school next door and the Early Head Start program to support teen moms and their children. In 1991, he was honored with the Brotherhood/Sisterhood Award by the local chapter of the National Conference of Christians and Jews for his service to the community, especially for his efforts on behalf of the poor and his commitment to race relations and social justice. In 1995, he helped to found and then chaired Congregations United in Compassion and Empowerment (CUCE) a non-profit organization that provides a nexus of social services and information for the Prince George's County area that continues to this day.

His commitment to work with youth and young adults is legendary. He has spent the equivalent of more than one year of his life counseling or directing church camps--and only recently retired from that. He has been sought, too, as a mentor to rising generations of ministers. After his retirement in 2006, Dunn provided interim leadership in local congregations, as regional minister in the Capital Area, and as Temporary Associate General Minister and President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Dunn was elected to the Board of Trustees in 2012. As chair of its House Committee, he is currently leading efforts to reimagine and renew DDH's two residential floors and to prepare for the future of ministry.

How can a 1928 Gothic building be readied for a future that is beyond present imagining? How can this old House provide for forms of learning and ministry that we cannot yet glimpse?

To catalyze student living and learning for the next one hundred years, the Board of Trustees has chartered a design and construction team that has expertise with historic buildings and an imagination of future possibilities. Plans focus on more climate resilient and welcoming conditions for the residential floors. Energy efficient air conditioning will not require intrusive mechanicals. All-gender bathrooms will provide private changing areas and more accessible facilities. New flooring and lighting will enhance each student room; old acoustical tile ceilings will be removed; sparkling lights will illuminate the atrium.

Disciples Divinity House is saddened to learn of the death of Mark G. Toulouse on March 2. A leading historian and theologian of the Disciples movement, ordained Disciples minister, and expert on Religion and Public Life, he was honored as the Alumnus of the Year by the University of Chicago Divinity School in 2018. A memorial service will be held at South Hills Christian Church in Fort Worth, Texas, on Sunday afternoon, March 9.  

Toulouse retired as Principal and Professor of the History of Christianity of Emmanuel College at the University of Toronto in 2017. Under his leadership, several new academic programs were introduced, including the PhD degree, the MA degree, and the Certificate of Spiritual Care and Psychotherapy, all offered conjointly with the University of Toronto. His work has included the creation of Muslim and Buddhist Studies programs. He was also Emeritus Professor of American Religious History at Brite Divinity School, where he taught from 1986 to 2008 and served as Dean and Executive Vice-President from 1999-2002. He began his teaching career at Illinois Benedictine College (1980-84) and served on the faculty of Phillips Theological Seminary from 1984-86.

Mark Toulouse received his PhD in the History of Christianity from the University of Chicago in 1984, where he was a student of Martin E. Marty. Toulouse has written or edited ten books, including Joined in Discipleship: The Shaping of Contemporary Disciples Identity (1992 and 1997); Makers of Christian Theology in America (1997), Sources of Christian Theology in America (1999), Walter Scott: A Nineteenth-Century Evangelical (1999), God in Public (2006), and The Altars Where We Worship: The Religious Significance of Popular Culture (2016). His research and teaching were been supported by grants from the Association of Theological Schools, the Lilly Endowment, the Louisville Institute, the Wabash Centre for Teaching and Learning, the Henry Luce Foundation, and the Connaught Fund at the University of Toronto.

He was serving as a member of the Disciples-ELCA Bilateral Dialogue, which met in Chicago the weekend before his death, and where he brought classic clarity, wisdom, and erudition.

Jaunty bow ties were a perennial feature of his wardrobe, signaling that he took the occasion seriously, but not himself. He entered a room with a quick step and, just as quickly, entered the flow of your life, your questions, and your ideas. He honored the time and space of the conversation.

- W. Clark Gilpin, "Martin Marty's Unfinished Conversations"

Martin E. Marty, the Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of the History of Modern Christianity at the Divinity School, died February 25 at the age of 97. He was the author or editor of more than sixty books, including Righteous Empire, which won the National Book Award. He advised 115 dissertations. When he retired in 1998, the Divinity School's Center for the Advanced Study of Religion was renamed the Martin E. Marty Center. His M.E.M.O. column ran in every issue of The Christian Century from 1972 to 2008. More here and here.

The Alumni/ae Council welcomes new members to the class of 2028: Mark Miller-McLemore, Andrew Packman, and Sarah Zuniga. Miller-McLemore (entering class of 1975) taught leadership and ministry at Vanderbilt Divinity School for 25 years and served as the dean of DDH@Vandy. Packman (2009) is a theological ethicist and an assistant professor at United Theological Seminary the Twin Cities. Zuniga (2018) is an associate minister of Allisonville Christian Church in Indianapolis and co-moderates the Disciples Peace Fellowship. 

The Alumni/ae Council builds relations among alums and keeps alums connected with new Disciples Scholars and with DDH's ongoing mission. Laura Jennison Reed and Aaron Smith are co-presidents of the Council. Other continuing members are Amy Bertschausen, Brandon Cook, Tim Lee, Aneesah Ettress Veatch, Katherine Alexander, Cheryl Jackson, and Carol Sherman. Special thanks to Danielle Cox and Michael Stone, who concluded their service in December.  

The Council is in the process of selecting a Distinguished Alumna/us who will be honored at DDH's luncheon on July 15, at the General Assembly in Memphis. Registration for the General Assembly and tickets for the luncheon are available here.

At a DDH Forum on Monday, February 24, Bonnie Miller-McLemore discussed the complexities of calling and vocation--that it can change over our lives, that it can be something we didn't choose, that we can have more than one calling, and that they may conflict. She presented findings from her new book, Follow Your Bliss and Other Lies about Calling (Oxford University Press, 2024). Drawing on memoirs, biographies, and fiction, it guides the reader through six dilemmas one may face throughout life, from missed or conflicted callings to unexpected or relinquished passions. An alumna, she is the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of Religion, Psychology, and Culture Emerita at Vanderbilt Divinity School. Pictured with her are (l to r): Kylie Winger, Isabelle Garcia, Miller-McLemore, Morganne Talley, and Delaney Beh.

On January 27, DDH will welcome Kristel Clayville and William Schweiker to discuss AI and Our Humanity. Both scholars have addressed the intersection of theological ethics and technology. The 7:00 pm forum will follow Monday dinner.

Clayville, a DDH alumna and PhD graduate of the Divinity School, is an ethicist and member of the Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her current work focuses on the intersection of religion and technology, including information and biotechnologies and the ethics of organ transplants. Her 2024 Genevieve Staudt Intercultural Lecture at Elmhurst University was “Dea Ex Machina: Using Feminine Images of God to Describe AI.” She is also a Senior Fellow at the MacLean Center of Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago and the former Acting Director of the Zygon Center for Religion and Science. She has taught medical ethics, served as member of hospital ethics committees, and worked as a hospital chaplain.

Schweiker is the Edward L. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor of Theological Ethics at the Divinity School. His scholarship and teaching engage theological and ethical questions attentive to global dynamics, comparative religious ethics, history of ethics, and hermeneutical philosophy. He will keynote an upcoming Yale Divinity School conference, "AI and the Ends of Humanity." He is the author or editor of over twenty books and more than 135 articles. He was Chief Editor of A Companion to Religious Ethics (2004) and is Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopedia of Religious Ethics (3 vols.). He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Uppsala, and has held several international visiting professorships including as Mercator Professor at the Universität Heidelberg, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. He was President of the Society of Christian Ethics and Director and PI of The Enhancing Life Project (2014-17). Schweiker is an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church and theologian-in-residence at the First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple.