Michael K. Kinnamon was honored by the University of Chicago Divinity School as its Alumnus of the Year on May 2, 2013. Internationally regarded as an ecumenist, scholar of ecumenism, and church leader, he received his MA (1976) and PhD (1980; Religion and Literature) degrees from the Divinity School as a Disciples Divinity House Scholar. His address was titled A Report from the Front Lines of a Renewal Movement Under Siege. During his visit, he also led a Craft of Teaching seminar at the Divinity School and spoke with Scholars at the Disciples Divinity House.

Michael Kinnamon served as the General Secretary of the National Council of Churches from 2008-12. His influential ecumenical leadership began in 1980 when he was called as Executive Secretary of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches, and also included service as General Secretary of the Consultation on Church Union (later Churches Uniting in Christ), from 1999-2002. His extensive writing on the ecumenical movement includes co-editing the definitive The Ecumenical Movement: An Anthology of Key Texts and Voices, and authoring The Vision of the Ecumenical Movement and How it has Been Impoverished by its Friends, and, forthcoming in 2013, Can a Renewal Movement Be Renewed?: Questions for the Future of Ecumenism.

He is also a leader within and a major interpreter of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), who lectures widely and has written Disciples of Christ for the 21st Century and Disciples: Reclaiming Our Identity, Reforming Our Practice, co-authored with Jan Linn. Key to Kinnamon’s leadership has been a consistent theology of the church and of the ecumenical movement, articulated in writing, teaching, and leading. He follows theological issues to their broadest social impact, using his insight and stature to press these matters in faith communities across the country and throughout the world.

In August 2012, Michael Kinnamon began a three-year term as the Spehar-Halligan Visiting Professor of Ecumenical Collaboration in Interreligious Dialogue at Seattle University’s School of Theology and Ministry. Previously he was a member the faculties of Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Lexington Theological Seminary (also serving there as academic dean), and Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis. He received honorary degrees from Bethany College and the Aquinas Institute of Theology.

On Thursday, April 18, from 5:00 to 6:30 pm, an event at the Divinity School will celebrate the publication of Hopes and Fears: Everyday Theology for New Parents and Other Tired, Anxious People by Bromleigh McCleneghan, Associate for Congregational Life, Rockefeller Chapel, and Lee Hull Moses, Senior Minister of First Christian Church in Greensboro, North Carolina. Ms. Hull Moses is also Vice President of the DDH Board of Trustees and a DDH alumna. The book, which is about being not-perfect parents in a not-perfect world, is full of life, theology, and humor. The event will include a panel of respondents, wine and cheese, and books for sale and signing. Cynthia Lindner, Director of the Ministry Program (and also a DDH alumna and trustee), organized the event in conjunction with the Divinity School's Annual Ministry Conference.

McKinna Daugherty, a third-year Disciples Divinity House Scholar and MDiv student, is the co-chair of this year's annual student-run Ministry Conference with Will Storm, also a third-year Divinity School MDiv student. The April 19 conference, to be held in Swift Hall, is titled Fair as the Moon, Terrible as an Army: Sexual Beings in Religious Community. It will feature Margaret Farley and Amy Frykholm as keynote speakers, Larry Greenfield as the conference's preacher, plus workshops, conversation, and worship. Ms. Daugherty, who hails from the Kansas City area, has written her senior ministry thesis on how religious communities address sexuality; last summer she received a grant from the Higher Education and Leadership Ministries (HELM) of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) to study church camp curricula on sexuality for youth.

Disciples House Scholar Andrew Packman, an MDiv graduate and current PhD student in Theology, has joined with Divinity School MDiv classmates Neil Ellingson and Tim Kim to start a new Disciples congregation in Logan Square on Chicago’s north side.  Root and Branch Christian Church “aims to give souls in Chicago deeper roots and more expansive, outstretching branches.” Its first gathering was held over dinner on Friday, March 8, with 25 persons attending. The meal opened with sharing the bread and closed with sharing the cup; in between, prayer, song, and reflection were also shared. On March 16, Root and Branch Christian Church was granted congregation-in-formation status by the Christian Church in Illinois and Wisconsin; the new church has also received a $60,000 grant from the region. Here Rebecca Ingram, chair of the region's new church establishment committee, looks on while Andrew Packman, with Mr. Ellingson and Mr. Kim, signs the covenant with the region; a communion service followed.

House Scholar Allie Lundblad and House Resident Kathryn Ray led worship in the style of Taizé on Monday, March 4, the final chapel service of the winter quarter.  Both Ms. Lundblad and Ms. Ray have visited the monastic community in Taizé, France.  Drawing on their experiences, Ms. Lundblad and Ms. Ray, both MDiv students, crafted a time of peace and reflection. The songs most associated with Taizé are sung as meditative chants, and the service provided an opportunity to renew spirits through song-filled prayer. The community in Taizé was founded by Brother Roger during World War II.  From its beginnings, it has been an ecumenical community committed to “live in communion with God through prayer and to be a leaven of peace and trust in the midst of the human family.” Over the years young people from around the world have come to visit the community and join in prayer and worship.  Today, the community in Taizé welcomes young adults for weeklong or weekend retreats throughout the year.

Alumnus Chuck Blaisdell, Senior Minister of First Christian Church, Colorado Springs, will speak at the first Monday forum of the Winter quarter. His talk is entitled, "17 things I've learned in ministry over 28 years, in 8 venues, 4 regions, 1 conference, and 2 denominations." Mr. Blaisdell is the former pastor of the Hilo Coast United Church of Christ in Honomu, Hawaii, and the former regional minister for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Northern California and Nevada. In May 2012, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Christian Theological Seminary (CTS) in Indianapolis, another of his alma maters. In selecting him, the school noted, "Chuck has one of the finest critical minds in the Disciples of Christ today in the sense that he has a compelling vision of God and the world emerging from serious dialogue with the Bible, tradition, and experience."

Alexis K. Vaughan received her MDiv degree at the University of Chicago's Convocation on December 14, and was recognized with other December graduates at a Divinity School ceremony and reception. Ms. Vaughan's senior ministry project was entitled, "Everyday I'm Hustlin': Exploring the Giving and Receiving Ends of Faith-based Empowerment Work." It offered theological and cultural commentary that built on her field experience in Kenya---an experience made possible through the Divinity School's International Ministry Travel Grant. She was involved in the "One Chicago, One Nation," a program to train leaders in interfaith/intercultural organizing sponsored by the Interfaith Youth Core, the Inter-City Muslim Action Network, and the Chicago Community Trust. She is a 2006 BA graduate of Duke University, where she was honored for her student service leadership. After graduating from Duke, she held a year long internship with Sojourners magazine. Her home congregation is the United Christian Parish of Reston, Virginia, where Joan Bell-Haynes is Senior Minister. Congratulations, Alexis!

On October 7, 2012, at Downey Avenue Christian Church in Indianapolis, Angela Pfile and Dean Kris Culp, joined with Senior Minister Sue Shadburne Call and the congregation to honor Rolland and Leverne Pfile. The recognition had been set in motion a year before. Angela Pfile and Doug Job, who had met at the Disciples Divinity House when they were both Scholars and married in the Chapel of the Holy Grail, decided to establish a fund in her parents’ names at the Disciples Divinity House. (Mr. Job, who is starting a new congregation in Athens, Georgia, Evergreen Christian Church, was not able to join the October celebration.)

Leverne Barlow and Rolland Pfile likewise met at the University of Chicago Divinity School when they were both graduate students there. Rolland, who earned his B.D. in 1964, was a Disciples Divinity House Scholar; Leverne was not—at that time, women were not admitted to DDH or eligible for its scholarships. Throughout his ministry and during an era of significant social change in church and society, Rolland G. Pfile provided prophetic leadership and critical support for other prophets. After serving congregations in Pennsylvania, he was called to be Executive Secretary of the Department of Church in Society of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), where he served from 1974-91. Under his leadership and with a remarkable staff, Church in Society helped Disciples to address racial and economic justice, peace, refugee resettlement, divestment in South Africa, and other issues. Later, Mr. Pfile held several interim ministries. From 1993-95, he was the convener of DDH’s centennial celebration and campaign committee.

Leverne B. Pfile was elected to the DDH Board of Trustees in the mid-1970s—about the time that women became eligible to be Disciples House Scholars. For over 20 years, until 1999, she gave crucial leadership including as Vice President and on two dean search committees. She helped to shape both what the Board did and how it did its work. Women who were Scholars during those years remember her presence, leadership, and advocacy as vitally important. In 1985, Ms. Pfile earned a M.S. in counseling and, in partnership with Downey Avenue Christian Church, opened Hope Counseling. In her practice, she has assisted persons in establishing sustaining patterns of relationship and interdependence.

Hubert G. Locke will conclude his distinguished service as a trustee at the end of this year. He was first elected in 1998. In addition to making estimable contributions to the Board of Trustees, he has regularly engaged DDH students. He is the John and Marguerite Corbally Professor of Public Service Emeritus at the University of Washington, where he also served as Dean of the Evans School of Public Affairs and Vice Provost for Academic Affairs. Mr. Locke is the author or editor of eleven volumes, including Searching for God in Godforsaken Times and Places: Reflections on the Holocaust, Racism, and Death and The Detroit Riot of 1967. He was a co-founder of the Annual Scholars Conference on the Holocaust and the Churches and a former member of the Committee on Conscience of the U.S. Holocaust Museum. He was a 1959 BD graduate of the Federated Faculty at the University of Chicago.

Mr. Locke has been awarded seven honorary doctorates and numerous other honors. One citation noted: "His words clarify, unite and motivate. His actions embolden and inspire. With an eye towards the future, he challenges all to look deeper, to understand, and to act for the good of humanity." That depiction reflects his contributions to public life in the city of Detroit and elsewhere, as well as his career as a scholar of the Holocaust and his academic leadership in the field of Public Affairs. It also applies to his service as a trustee of the Disciples Divinity House, where he has clarified, motivated, and helped to attune DDH to the future.

His charge to DDH's graduates at the 2007 Convocation distills his own lifework: Whatever else you do, in whatever post to which you go, wherever you find yourself and whomever you become, ... remember that people apparently thought of Jesus first and foremost as a prophet—as one who spoke God's truths to his time, as we believe he does to all ages. That's what you must do, wherever you find yourself, willing, ready and able to speak truth to power, to speak out on behalf of the oppressed, the poor, the dispossessed, the marginalized to those who have the ability to make a difference in the world they confront, but who would just as soon forget or ignore the fact that such people exist.

A new 30-minute documentary film explores "the new face of poverty in the U.S." through stories of people living at or below the poverty line. The film, by Emmy Award-winning writer and producer Linda Midgett, was produced in conjunction with Sojourners. Julian DeShazier, Senior Minister of University Church and a DDH trustee, appears in the film. It will be screened at DDH on Monday, November 5 at 7:00 pm. Mr. DeShazier will be present to introduce and discuss the film along with alumnus Beau Underwood, who is the Campaigns Manager with Sojourners. The 7:00 pm forum will be preceded by chapel at 5:30 pm, led by Disciples Divinity House Scholar Alexis Vaughan, and by dinner at 6:00 pm.