Until the world is different
David struck Goliath down on his first try and was celebrated in victory. That’s a nice way for the story to end but it’s important to remember that he took five stones with him. He understood that sometimes your faith has to endure a failure. All his hope can’t go into one stone. He’s going to have to keep throwing them until the world is different.
Alexis Vaughan, 2024 Convocation Address
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. Construction begins this summer.
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Limestone and parable. Justin Carlson took his text for the March 3 chapel service from the parable of houses built on rock and sand, juxtaposing it with the processes of limestone creation. He asked, how can the changeable nature of rock, sand, and natural seasons and cycles teach us to find stability in times of uncertainty and flux?
In memoriam. We are saddened to learn of the death of Mark G. Toulouse on March 2. A leading historian and theologian of the Disciples movement, theological educator, 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.
The Alumni/ae Council welcomes new members as the class of 2025-28: Mark Miller-McLemore (1975) taught leadership and ministry at Vanderbilt Divinity School for 25 years and served as the dean of DDH-Vandy. Andrew Packman (2009) is a theological ethicist and an assistant professor at United Theological Seminary the Twin Cities. Sarah Zuniga (2018) is an associate minister of Allisonville Christian Church in Indianapolis and co-moderates the Disciples Peace Fellowship. Read about the Council's work.
Considering "calling." On February 24, alumna, practical theologian, and Vanderbilt emerita professor Bonnie Miller-McLemore spoke about her new book, Follow Your Bliss and Other Lies About Calling (OUP). Drawing on memoirs, biographies, and fiction, she guides the reader through six dilemmas one may face throughout life, from missed or conflicted callings to unexpected or relinquished passions.
"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," remembered Clark Gilpin in "Marty's Unfinished Conversations." Martin E. Marty, the renowned and revered historian of modern Christianity and emeritus faculty member at the Divinity School, died February 25. He was 97.
