Sixteen students have been named Disciples Divinity House Scholars for 2024-25.

Four new Scholars enter the MDiv program: Grace Dearhamer, a 2024 graduate of Eureka College who hails from Oklahoma, was awarded the Drum and Tenant Scholarship, which remembers two women who were “do-ers” in the church. MariaIsabelle Garcia has been awarded the Oreon E. Scott Entering Scholarship. A 2022 graduate of Chapman University, Isabel brings experience in community organizing and with youth in schools. Bernard F. and Annie Mae Cooke Scholar, Hart Lang received his BA from Wake Forest University (2012) and an MFA in Creative Writing from Rutgers Camden (2021). He is a member of Gilead Church in Chicago. Kathleen (Katie) Varon is the William N. Weaver Entering Scholar. A 2024 graduate of Vassar College, she was a HELM Fellow. She grew up in Riverside Avenue Christian Church in Jacksonville, Florida. Entering the MA program is Emma Yeager, a West Virginia native with a strong ecumenical impulse, 2024 graduate of Moody Bible Institute, and aspiring historian and theologian, who has been awarded free housing.

Rachel Abdoler, the Barbara and Clark Williamson Scholar, is writing her PhD dissertation on a thirteenth-century Coptic author’s interpretation of the passion of Christ, and its background of Arabic Christian and Islamic writing. Delaney Beh, a second-year MDiv student and the M. Ray and Phyllis Schultz Scholar, is preparing for chaplaincy. Justin Carlson is the William Daniel Cobb Alumni/ae Scholar. He recently completed a ten-month full-time internship at First Christian Church in Tacoma, Washington, and now begins his final MDiv year. Marissa Ilnitzki, the Martin Family Scholar, is a fourth-year dual MDiv/MSW student preparing for chaplaincy. She will be the chapel speaker in November. Kevin Poe, a second-year MA student, was awarded the Henry Barton Robison Scholarship. This summer, he studied Sanskrit in Pune, India, and visited Buddhist/Hindu pilgrimage sites in northern India to conduct interviews. Luke Soderstrom is exploring how theological concepts of children shaped Moravian piety in his PhD dissertation. Tristan Spanger-Dunning has transferred to the MDiv program and enters his second year. A recipient of the Rolland and Laura Frances Sheafor Scholarship, he completed an internship this summer with the Disciples of Christ Historical Society this summer. Third-year MDiv Morganne Talley is the Dr. Geunhee and Mrs. Geunsoon Yu Scholar, which honors two outstanding Disciples leaders. She completed CPE at Rush University Medical Center this summer. Nate Travis, also a third-year MDiv, is the Blakemore Scholar, and was the DDH House Council President last year. He presented a paper at the Oxford Institute (UK) for Methodist Theological Studies in August. Virginia White, the E. S. Ames Scholar, is writing her dissertation on “Reckoning with Social Evils: Performativity as a Foundation for Reenvisioning Lament and Laughter as Moral Practices.” In August, she presented a paper in Denmark; she will speak at the Ricoeur conference in Chicago in October. Kylie Winger, a third-year MDiv who is a creative writing and teacher of writing, is also DDH’s Head Resident. She received the M. Elizabeth Dey Scholarship, created by Katherine Dey to remember her grandmother, who raised her and helped start a Disciples congregation in Arlington, Virginia.

Charles R. (Chuck) Blaisdell died September 22, 2024, in Massachusetts. Chuck was a current member of the DDH Alumni/ae Council. His intelligence, leadership, and camaraderie graced the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)--from regions and congregations, to theological education and general ministries, as well as many friends and colleagues.

Born in Fort Worth, he graduated from Texas Christian University (BA). He studied philosophy at Vanderbilt University (ABD) and earned the MA degree. In 1976, he became a Disciples Divinity Scholar and was awarded the AMRS degree from the University of Chicago Divinity School. Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis awarded him the MDiv and, in 2012, an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree.

In more than forty years in ministry, he was minister of First Christian Church in Monahans, Texas, Stylesville Christian Church (Indiana), Hilo Coast United Church of Christ (Hawai’i), and First Christian Church of Colorado Springs. He was a lay leader at First Church Sterling, Massachusetts. He served as the regional minister of Northern California-Nevada and the associate regional minister of Indiana. He also worked for UCC Church Building and Loan Fund, Week of Compassion, and the the Christian Board of Publication in development.

Chuck was sought after as a mentor, polity expert, and theologian. He published a number of sermons, articles, and book reviews, and edited Conservative, Moderate, Liberal: The Biblical Authority Debate (Chalice Press). Read his introduction to Clark Williamson's distinguished alumnus address here. He was a director emeritus of and served on the board of directors of Higher Education & Leadership Ministries. Chuck was a voracious reader, enjoyed piloting his Cessna 150 and, later, listening to air traffic control. He moderated numerous online forums and appreciated puns, both terrible and clever.

He was, according to his dear friend Bob Hill, "a steadfast champion for the best practices and attitudes ministers can embody--across the face of the shifting tides of technology, the call to grow in all dimensions of ecclesial life, the rigor, integrity to which all clergy are called, the need for fiduciary integrity on all levels of church life, and so much more."

He is survived by his wife, Barbara (Shires) Blaisdell; his brother, Jim Blaisdell; his hanai brother, Bob Hill; his children, Micah Shires-Taylor, Rebecca (Shires-Taylor) DeWeese, Andrew Blaisdell, Katherine Blaisdell, and their spouses; and three grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, Hazel (Carr) and Richard Blaisdell, and his brother, Greg Blaisdell. Services will be held at the First Church of Sterling, Massachusetts, on a date to be announced.

This year, DDH welcomes five entering MDiv and MA students as Disciples Scholars. Clockwise starting at the bottom left of the picture, they are:

Grace Dearhamer (MDiv) grew up in many places, including four years in London, England, before her family moved to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Her home church is Forest Park Christian Church in Tulsa. She is a 2024 BA graduate from Eureka College, with a double major in Religion/Philosophy and Psychology/Sociology, and served as senior class president. She was a Disciples Peace Fellowship Intern, a Phillips University Leadership Fellow, and a Youth Ministry Intern at Eureka Christian Church. She plans to pursue the dual MDiv/MSW degree program.

MariaIsabelle Garcia (MDiv) is a 2022 BA graduate (Psychology, Latinx Studies, LBGTQIA+ Studies) of Chapman University. At Chapman, Isabelle was part of Disciples on Campus, the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, and became the Children and Youth Coordinator at Community Congregations UCC. During her advocacy work, she was encouraged to apply for an MDiv and pursue ordination. She was also encouraged by her grandfather, a Disciples minister. This past year, collaborating with six high schools in the Orange County area, she taught and supported students to advocate for positive change on their campuses. Her passions are interfaith work, faith-rooted justice, and Queer theology.

Hart Lang (MDiv) is originally from South Carolina, and graduated magna cum laude from Wake Forest University in 2012. He spent his twenties in Chicago facilitating writing workshops, experimenting with performance art, engaging in storytelling, and serving coffee from various counters on the North Side. He went back to school to earn a MFA in creative writing at Rutgers University-Camden in 2021. He has been involved at Gilead Chicago. He enters the MDiv program to study Christian spirituality and ministry and as his vocation shifts from that of artist to new possibilities.

Kathleen Varon (MDiv) majored in Politics and earned a BA from Vassar College in 2024. Katie's studies included a semester at the University of Edinburgh. Interested in global politics and religion, she plans to pursue the dual degree with the Master of Public Policy. She was raised in Jacksonville, Florida, and in the Riverside Avenue Christian Church there. She was a HELM Scholar during college and did short term mission work with Be the Neighbor this summer. She feels called to combat stereotypes about the South, particularly Florida, and to defend the people there who are fighting dangerous rhetoric and harmful policies.

Emma Yeager (MA) grew up in West Virginia and completed her BA at Moody Bible Institute this spring. An aspiring medievalist, she has compared the piety of medieval and Appalachian women. She is drawn to the flexibility and interdisciplinary nature of the MA program. She attends a church in the Anglican tradition, but became acquainted with DDH while she was an undergraduate Chicago, and felt drawn to the conversations about Disciples history, and an atmosphere of belonging. She is a partial scholarship recipient. She moved in earlier this summer and has been working at DDH part-time to update and re-organize its library.

Muhammad Hassan came to the US as a refugee from Syria when he was just a teenager. A decade later, this year he enters the MA program in the Divinity School. He moved into DDH on May 29 and on July 31, he became a US citizen.  He offers these reflections about that day:

After a decade of living without a home, without a country to call my own—a decade of statelessness—I had my naturalization oath ceremony today and have finally become a citizen of the United States of America. The oath ceremony today on July 31st 2024 was more than just a formality; it was a moment of belonging, a culmination of years of struggle and hope.

Standing there, reciting the oath, I felt a wave of emotions—relief, pride, and a deep sense of gratitude. It’s hard to describe what it means to go from statelessness to citizenship. For so long, I existed in a liminal space, neither here nor there, without a place to truly belong. But today, all of that changed.

As I held the certificate in my hands, I thought about the journey that brought me here. The countless challenges, the moments of doubt, the endless waiting. But I also thought about the people who helped me along the way—friends, advocates, and even strangers who showed kindness when I needed it most. This citizenship is not just a piece of paper; it’s a symbol to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of community.

Today, I am not just celebrating a legal status. I am celebrating the realization of a dream, the affirmation of my identity, and the opportunity to contribute to a society that values diversity and inclusion. I am filled with hope and excitement for the future, ready to embrace the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship.

This is more than just a personal milestone; it’s a reminder that, despite the hardships, there is always a path forward. To anyone out there still struggling, still searching for a place to call home—never lose hope. The journey may be long and difficult, but the destination is worth every step.

Thank you to everyone who has been part of my journey. Today, I am proud to say: I am a citizen of the United States of America.

Heidi Haverkamp will join DDH's full-time staff as Program Director, Writer-in-Residence, and Assistant Administrator beginning on July 8 and continuing through summer 2025.

Haverkamp is a 2006 MDiv graduate of the Divinity School and the author of five books, including Everyday Connections: Reflections and Practices for Year C (2021) // Year A (2022) // Year B (2023) and Holy Solitude (2017). She is an award-winning contributor to the Christian Century, a spiritual director and retreat leader, an Episcopal priest, and a former parish rector in Bolingbrook and Chicago. She writes an occasional newsletter, Letters from a Part-time Hermit. She grew up in Hyde Park and has recently returned to the area.

As Writer-in-Residence, she will pursue her own writing, offering an example of scholarly inquiry and writing as spiritual practices and creating opportunities to support student writing. As Program Director and Assistant Administrator, she will attend to the flow of life through the building and help to interpret DDH through various media. She will oversee Monday dinners and work with students and the dean to enrich worship, the arts, critical inquiry, and theological dialogue through Monday programs.

She won’t actually live in the building during the fifteen-month "residency," but she will attend to the daily commerce at DDH as a physical place, ethos, student residence, and educational institution. Through ongoing student interactions, her lived example of being a writer, and programmatic initiatives, she will help to build community capacity for living, learning, thinking, worshipping, and working together.

Jack Veatch has been the daily face of DDH for students for the past year and a half as Director of Student and Alum Relations. A MDiv alumnus and ordained Disciples minister, he has served the Disciples Divinity House full-time as Director of Student and Alum Relations. His care for community and especially for Monday dinners and programs made him an essential and beloved member of DDH’s full-time staff.

On July 15, Jack becomes the new Director of Church Relations at Chapman University in Orange, California. His new position combines campus chaplaincy, young adult leadership development, and relations with the Disciples of Christ and United Church of Christ (UCC) denominations. Nancy Brink, Executive Director of the Fish Interfaith Center at Chapman, commented, "Rev. Veatch brings a passion for young adults and the foundational role chaplains play in spiritual formation. He is attuned to student loneliness and the need for belonging and connectedness that comes from fostering an environment that supports deep relationships."

This is an exceptional opportunity in undergraduate chaplaincy for Jack - and a bittersweet but proud moment for the Disciples Divinity House. Jack's last day at DDH will be Friday, June 21. A farewell celebration for Jack and Aneesah is planned for that day beginning at 2:00 pm.

Not only his work at DDH, but also Jack's background in ecumenical campus ministry and his experience as minister of the Evergreen [Colorado] Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) recommended him to Chapman. As an undergraduate at Kent State University, he was a leader in ecumenical campus ministry, an experience was also invited him to ministry. He interned with the Interreligious Task Force on Central America and participated with the Christian Peacemakers Team in Mina, Columbia. After earning his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Kent State University, he was part of the National Benevolent Association's XPlor program where he worked with the North Hollywood Interfaith Food Pantry. He has also been a student of the ecumenical movement, studying at the World Council of Churches' Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, Switzerland, and participating as a GETI scholar at the 2022 WCC Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany.

He and fellow DDH alumna Aneesah Ettress were married in the Chapel of the Holy Grail. She has been the Academic Engagement Coordinator for the Feitler Center at the University's Smart Museum of Art. Jack and Aneesah have been resident heads of an undergraduate dormitory at the University of Chicago.

Alexa Dava, a 2023 MDiv graduate, was ordained to the Christian ministry on May 12 at Gilead Chicago, her home congregation. This season, Gilead's worship services are taking their theme from the refrain of a popular song that asks, "What was I made for?" In her sermon, co-pastor Rebecca Anderson spoke about a vocation of interpretation. CCIW Associate Regional Minister Eli Rolon led the service of ordination. They and the congregation affirmed that Alexa was, indeed, "made for this calling."

Alexa serves the World Council of Churches (WCC) as Project Officer on Human Dignity and Reproductive Health, working with member churches throughout the world. A letter from the WCC General Secretary, Rev. Dr. Jerry Pillay, also affirmed her call: The long tradition of [Disciples] leadership in ecumenical movements is strengthened by your ministry and commitment to gender justice.... Your ordination today helps to continue that great tradition of journeying together toward justice, reconciliation, and unity.

Alexis Vaughan will speak at the DDH Convocation on Friday, May 31. A service will be held in the Chapel of the Holy Grail to mark the conclusion of DDH'S 129th year and to celebrate its graduating House Scholars and Residents. A gathering on the backyard patio will precede the service. The celebration will conclude with toasts and dessert. An alumna and trustee, Alexis serves as Managing Director, Domestic Operations, for Week of Compassion, the relief, refugee, and development mission fund of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Week of Compassion works with partners to alleviate suffering throughout the world. Previously, Alexis was the inaugural Director of Racial Equity Initiatives at Interfaith America, she also served as the social justice coordinator for the National Benevolent Association. An ordained Disciples minister, she earned her MDiv from the Divinity School as a Disciples Scholar in 2012, and a BA from Duke University.

Ventilation work, LED lighting in the dining room, and kitchen renovations aimed at improving daily DDH life were completed in late March. Students are enjoying better air circulation, brighter lighting, a safer kitchen, and a more environmentally responsible space. New induction ranges and stovehood have been set in new cabinets, with new lighting and floor finish. Most of the work, though, is hidden from sight, with a massive air handler and new ductwork that ensure adequate airflow in the dining room and a rapid response hot water heating system. The design team used environmentally friendly ways to reduce heat in the spaces without introducing air conditioning and while addressing safety concerns associated with gas stoves and ovens. Sparkling pots and pans, suited to induction cooking, were generously gifted by Board President Pam Jones.

Some of the ventilation work got underway last summer. Kitchen renovations began on December 11 with old equipment and surrounding cabinets being torn out and the floor resurfaced and new equipment being set in place over winter break. The nearly $300,000 engineering and renovation project took three years to design, procure proper equipment, and complete.

Cynthia Rice McCrae died February 18 in Indianapolis. She was 97. A teacher, church and community leader, partner, mother, and friend, she was a person filled with gratitude whose love and joy for life touched many lives.

Cynthia was born in Durban, South Africa, to parents who were missionaries with the Congregational Church. The family moved to the U.S. when she was eight years old. Music became a big part of her life; she played flute and piano and loved singing, especially finding a harmony part.

She graduated from Whitman College and took graduate courses at Chicago Theological Seminary. While in Chicago, Cynthia met her lifelong love and partner, Ian McCrae, a native of Toronto who was studying at DDH and the Divinity School. He would become an important theological voice and leader in social and economic justice and human and civil rights. After marrying in 1950, they lived in Des Moines and Los Angeles before settling in Indianapolis in 1963. During these years Cynthia and Ian’s five children were born.

She was one of the founders of the Downey Avenue Cooperative Preschool in Indianapolis in 1965. After one year as a “co-op parent,” she became the teacher, a role she held for more than two decades. At Downey Avenue Christian Church, Cynthia and Ian started and led the Explorers Class for young adults. Over the years, they opened their home to many people including exchange students, international visitors, and anyone who needed a place to stay. Their home was a place of welcome and acceptance.

In retirement, Cynthia and Ian joined with friends they met at DDH in the late 1940s, Dale and Betty Miller and Walter and Myra Abel; they all moved to a senior living community in Raymore, Missouri. One of their joys was to participate in St. Andrew Christian Church in Olathe, Kansas. Cynthia returned to Indianapolis in 2020. She reveled in living near most of her extended family and in making new connections at Robin Run and at Central Christian Church.

She is survived by her children Bruce (Betsy Headrick), Doug (Sue Meachem), Carol (Tim Zilke), Linda (Beverly Knight), and Maureen (Lloyd Wright); nine grandchildren; and thirteen great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by her husband, Ian, in 2011. Ian was honored by DDH's Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2007; Cynthia remained part of the wider DDH community until her death. A memorial service was held on February 25 at Central Christian Church in Indianapolis.