Disciples Divinity House

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.